Managed IT Services in Action: Insights from Sycamores’ Journey

In today’s economy, business and finance leaders are being asked to do the impossible: reduce costs while driving growth. At the same time, IT complexity, cybersecurity risks, and talent shortages are driving up technology expenses.

According to research from Gartner, CXOs at mid-size enterprises feel that 48% of their investments in digital initiatives were wasted and not delivering value.

For many organizations, IT still sits in the “cost center” column of the balance sheet. However, as the recent webinar “Transforming IT from Cost Center to Strategic Asset” revealed, the right strategy can reposition IT as a strategic business partner—fueling agility, innovation, and measurable results.

“If you don’t act—and just try to keep the lights on—you’ll fall behind both financially and competitively,” said Todd Richie, Managing Director of Client Advisory at Synoptek, opening the discussion. “Doing nothing costs more than transformation.”

The webinar, featuring Todd Richie and Norman Racine, CIO of Sycamores, explored how organizations can evolve from reactive IT management to a model that delivers measurable business value through managed IT services.

CXO Impact: Why This Matters Now

For CIOs, CFOs, and other executives, IT cost decisions are no longer just about cutting line items. They directly affect:

• Business agility — the ability to respond to regulation, market shifts, or supply chain disruptions.
• Revenue growth — with cloud migration services, analytics, and AI driving new business models.
• Risk posture — as outdated infrastructure and cyber gaps lead to breaches, downtime, and compliance penalties.
• Workforce productivity — with modern platforms enabling employees to do more with less friction.

If your IT strategy isn’t aligned with business outcomes, it’s holding your organization back.

“CFOs and CIOs now share the same challenge,” Richie noted. “Technology decisions directly shape the organization’s cost structure, risk exposure, and ability to scale profitably.”

The Cost of Inaction in IT Infrastructure Management

Richie cautioned that staying in maintenance mode is often the most expensive decision a CFO can make.

What if you do nothing and try to keep the lights on?  Finance leaders increasingly face budget pressures to deliver growth, but legacy systems, stalled modernization efforts, and outdated processes make it harder to realize and scale efficiency gains.

Smaller teams and those with traditional IT models often spend more to keep the lights on, missing out on compounding returns from technology investments that drive shareholder value and long-term growth.

“We see mid-market CFOs spending 60–70% of their IT budgets just to maintain legacy environments,” Richie said. “That’s capital that could be driving innovation and returns.”

Delaying IT cost optimization is costly:

• Competitive Erosion: Rivals leveraging AI, visibility, and automation can deliver faster, cheaper, and more reliable service. Once customers reset their expectations, winning them back is nearly impossible.
• Escalating Costs: Legacy systems, manual processes, and tech debt inflate operational spend each year. Talent scarcity compounds the issue.
• Lost Agility: Without cloud migration services and modern infrastructure, organizations struggle to pivot quickly when market conditions change.
• Risk Exposure: Cybersecurity gaps and downtime create reputational, compliance, and financial risks.
• Opportunity Cost: Funds tied up in outdated IT limit investment in digital transformation initiatives that could fuel long-term growth.
• Missed Compounding Returns: The longer you delay modernization, the more efficiency and revenue gains you forfeit.

The gap between digital leaders and laggards is widening. Organizations embracing cloud, automation, and managed IT services build resilience, agility, and efficiency. Those who don’t risk falling permanently behind are unable to compete on speed, cost, or customer experience.

“Business leaders are focused on outcomes—growth, agility, customer experience,” Richie added. “IT needs to align to those priorities, not operate in a silo.”

Bridging this digital divide isn’t optional; it’s essential for survival.

A Proven Approach: Managing IT Cost in Three Key Steps with Managed IT Services

Richie introduced a practical three-step framework CFOs can use to bring financial discipline and agility into IT cost management and IT infrastructure management.

The webinar introduced a structured framework to transform IT spending into business value:

1. Current State Benchmarking

• Assess IT’s current role: support function, cost center, or strategic partner.
• Evaluate service levels, IT spend, and security posture.
• Document labor, hardware, software, and facilities costs.

1. Opportunity Assessment & Prioritization

• Identify inefficiencies and opportunities to reduce hidden IT costs.
• Prioritize based on impact, timing, and risk.
• Align initiatives to business objectives and engage stakeholders.

1. Implementation Planning & Execution

• Build a roadmap, develop a change management plan, and execute in phases.
• Track results, report progress, and continuously optimize.

“It starts with understanding how you got here—your org structure, assets, and tech debt,” Richie explained. “Then we build a roadmap that makes IT funding predictable and tied to measurable ROI.”

Powerful Tactics to Reduce Hidden IT Costs

Some of the most impactful levers shared in the session include:

• Shifting from CapEx to OpEx: Migrating to subscription-based services and the cloud improves cash flow while lowering financial risk.
• Consolidating and modernizing infrastructure: Retiring legacy systems reduces maintenance costs and improves efficiency.
• Leveraging managed IT services: Outsourcing routine functions reduces downtime, ensures compliance, and frees internal teams to focus on strategy.
• Automating routine tasks: Using analytics and AI for monitoring, reporting, and process optimization reduces labor costs and errors.

These tactics not only cut costs but also improve business agility and resilience, especially when integrated with cloud migration services and Microsoft Azure migration strategies.

Turning IT Spend into a Strategic Investment for Growth

The path to IT cost optimization isn’t just about reducing costs; it’s about creating measurable business value. The webinar highlighted strategies such as:

• Aligning IT with the organization’s growth and customer experience goals.
• Using Microsoft Azure migration to enable scalability, security, and access to new capabilities.
• Driving innovation with data-driven insights from modern analytics platforms.
• Building agility into IT operations to respond faster to market demands.
• Positioning IT as a source of productivity gains and revenue generation, not just an expense line.

Case in Point: Sycamores’ Story

To bring this framework to life, Norman Racine, CIO of Sycamores, shared his organization’s transformation journey.

Sycamores, a leading nonprofit organization specializing in behavioral health and child welfare, serves over 37,000 children, youth, and adults annually. Like many nonprofits, it faced pressure to deliver more services with limited resources, all while modernizing its technology environment.

“About seven years ago, we had a small but dedicated IT team,” Racine said. “We were good at fixing things but not necessarily at driving the business forward.”

With Synoptek as a partner, Sycamores:

• Migrated to Azure Entra for secure identity management.
• Deployed advanced analytics for data-driven decision-making.
• Leveraged managed IT services to optimize operations and reduce costs.
• Implemented Microsoft Azure migration as part of its modernization roadmap.

Business Results That Matter

The results of Sycamores’ IT transformation were tangible and impressive:

• $2.9M in additional revenue generated over three years.
• $4.1M saved through accelerated runtime and reduced downtime.
• $1.5M in efficiency gains from shared services.
• 161 hours per employee per year gained in productivity.

“Those aren’t just IT metrics,” Racine noted. “They translate directly into financial stability, staff efficiency, and our ability to serve more people with the same resources.”

By repositioning IT as a strategic partner through managed IT services, Sycamores strengthened its operations and amplified its impact in the community.

Technology Driving Business Success

Richie summarized the broader takeaway for finance leaders:

“When IT becomes measurable, predictable, and strategic, it stops being a cost burden and starts becoming a performance multiplier.”

The takeaway is clear: IT is no longer just about keeping the lights on. When approached strategically through managed IT services, IT enables:

• Efficient service delivery.
• Stronger compliance and trust.
• Accelerated innovation.
• Maximized return on every technology dollar.

This is the power of IT cost optimization through IT infrastructure management, transforming technology into a tangible business asset.

Both speakers emphasized that now is the right moment for CFOs to take a closer look at their IT spend.

“Every dollar tied up in technical debt is a dollar you can’t invest in growth,” Richie concluded. “Optimizing IT cost isn’t about cutting—it’s about reclaiming value.”

Take the Next Step: Strategic IT Spend Optimization Advisory Session

Is your IT strategy driving growth or holding you back?

Take a complimentary Strategic IT Spend Optimization Advisory Session where you can:

• Compare your IT spend and operational efficiency with industry standards.
• Identify tailored strategies to ensure every IT dollar delivers maximum value.
• Receive practical recommendations to strengthen ROI and drive measurable business impact.