Company Name: ASK
Company MSP 501 Rank: 85 on Hot 101
CEO: Mike Maddox
Headquartered: Lansing, MI

Primary Services:

Twitter: @justasknet

ASK, the Lansing, Michigan-based MSP that specializes in security, wants you to get back to basics with three business fundamentals.

To wit, the company invites customers to enlist their help with protecting cash flow, increasing staff productivity and growing their businesses. If offers a series of workshops on these topics to help clients get – or stay – on the right foot.

This year, ASK landed on our brand-new list – the Hot 101 – dedicated to companies evolving and growing their MSP businesses. It’s part of our MSP 501 program.

Supporting more than 100 companies’ and organizations’ technology needs in Michigan, ASK has been instrumental in helping clients through the COVID-19 crisis. Gov. Gretchen Whitmer designated ASK a critical infrastructure business.

We caught up with CEO Mike Maddox, who offers a deep dive into how ASK helps customers.

Channel Futures: What is one thing you wish vendors would do that they don’t?

Mike Maddox: We believe that technology’s value for business is only derived from its ability to deliver results in the form of increased profits, reduced inefficiency and enhanced collaboration. Based on this belief, we work with all of our clients on a Technology Alignment Process which maps their technology road map to their short- and long-term business strategy. It would be great if technology vendors took the same approach to their products and solutions. Technology should not be a transactional purchase. It needs to be bought based on a carefully planned and measured road map which builds efficiency over time.

ASK’s Mike Maddox

The Technology Alignment Process involves a deep understanding of the client’s pain points and business strategy. From there, a technology plan can be built with a road map for short, medium, and long term. This road map needs to be implemented and evaluated as conditions change and ultimately measured against expected and actual ROI.

Vendors would benefit from presenting their products and solutions in terms of how they fit into the larger ecosystem within the client environment and how they deliver ROI. Too often they are presented as point-in-time products and solutions that simply answer a specific need or needs. That forces a transactional approach which only serves to commoditize their offering.

CF: What was the single biggest technology or business decision that drove your company’s growth in 2019? How did it do so?

MM: In 2019, our leadership team decided to implement EOS (Entrepreneurial Operating System). This program is based on the work done by Gino Wickman and described in his book. “Traction.” Our move to EOS allowed us to foundationally change our organizational dynamics to achieve new levels of efficiency and lay the foundation for future explosive growth.

The decision to move to an EOS model was based on our rapid growth from a small IT company with a handful of employees to a sizeable entity with multiple “moving parts.” What worked when we were very small was no longer working as well. Our vision was to continue the rapid growth of the past. and we knew that we would …

… need to change to maintain that pace. EOS provided the foundation for that change by clarifying our direction, getting the right people in the right seats, and establishing greater accountability and decision making at all levels of the organization.

We also found that EOS led to a much stronger alignment with our clients. The more that they understood who we are – our core values, mission and niche – the more they were able to leverage our skills to benefit their organizations. This has been the most rewarding part of the journey and has led to unprecedented client satisfaction and retention.

CF: If applicable, why are you a business owner instead of working for someone else? What is the allure of entrepreneurship to you?

MM: I have experienced both “worlds” in my career — having worked for one of the world’s largest tech companies and having built my own business. While there are many advantages to working for someone else, I knew early on that I would not be happy spending my career doing that. I think entrepreneurship is not something you “do”; it’s something you “are.” Entrepreneurs think differently and quickly become frustrated and dissatisfied when constrained by corporate bureaucracy.

The ability to get up every day knowing that you can dream big dreams and then attempt to turn them into a reality is blessing that almost defies description. It also comes with its own share of challenges: uncertainty, risk and constant change. It is not for everyone, and I appreciate that it helps to be a little crazy to be truly entrepreneurial. You also must accept that failure along the way is part of the deal.

But for me, there is nothing like the feeling of waking up and knowing that you had a role in building something totally unique and different. The entrepreneurial organization also fosters relationships that are closer and more personal — as everyone is striving to work for a cause that is greater than just a paycheck.