MSP 501 Profile: Xantrion Focuses on the People Aspect of Technology

Company Name: Xantrion
Company MSP 501 Rank: 494
President and Co-Founder: Anne Bisagno
Headquartered: Oakland, California

Primary Services:

• IT assessments
• Computer network design, implementation, monitoring and support
• Fixed-fee outsourced IT
• Private cloud services
• Server virtualization
• Disaster preparedness, thin client deployment, and security and regulatory Compliance for computer networks

Twitter: @Xantrion

Xantrion is most certainly a 501er you’ll want to keep an eye on. President and co-founder Anne Bisagno comes at the business from a unique perspective.

Bisagno started Xantrion in 2000, drawing on a career that spanned technology and marketing, including developing software and working in operations at Chevron. She firmly believes that focusing on service and making it a top priority is what sets businesses apart. 

This may seem like a simple, almost “duh” concept, but it is this distinction, plus the company’s growth in recent years, that landed Xantrion firmly on our 2020 MSP 501 list.

We sat down with Bisagno to chat about her business approach, the company’s emphasis on service and where Xantrion is headed.

Channel Futures: Is the influx of private equity and increase in M&A activity impacting your business? How?

Xantrion’s Anne Bisagno

Anne Bisagno: The influx of private equity and increase in M&A activity is positively impacting our business. Every firm that gets purchased is one less competitor. In comparison to firms which grow organically, most roll-ups lose economies of scale the larger they grow.  

This loss of efficiency is due to the challenges posed by the disparate technologies and processes of the companies they acquire. It’s also rare that an acquisition improves morale among employees. Low morale results in reduced service quality and lack of focus on security — witness the recent compromises of these roll-ups that have made the news.  

CF: How does your experience as a racial minority or a female change your approach to doing business?

AB: There are two significant ways being female has changed my approach to doing business. 

1. We had a focus on equity, diversity and inclusion in our company even before the George Floyd protests. It started with training and developing a culture of inclusion. More recently, we have adjusted recruiting to attract a more diverse candidate pool.
2. We have always had a focus on the people aspect of technology. We go out of our way to hire and train people who are considerate of the human side of an IT issue. As a result, our people know that the way they explain an issue and absorb the end-user’s frustration is just as important as actually fixing the issue.

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

AB: The primary allure of entrepreneurship, as owners, is that we are able to create a positive work environment for our team.