Day 6 – 12 Days of Unscripted with SST
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IT & Business Outcomes
For Day 6, we revisit Episode Six of Unscripted with SST, where we were joined by Peter Kujawa, VP & GM of Service Leadership, and Beau Elston, SST’s COO, to address a key question: How should businesses truly approach IT today? In the episode, we discussed how IT is no longer just about “keeping the lights on”; it’s a strategic function that drives efficiency, scalability, security, and growth. Peter and Beau explained the different mindsets that businesses adopt toward IT: viewing it as a basic expense, merely checking compliance boxes, aligning it strategically with business goals, or embracing it as a genuine competitive advantage. Only the mindset of strategic alignment enables companies to reduce noise, enhance performance, and gain an edge in their market.
The episode explored why break-fix thinking remains so prevalent and why it is among the most expensive, risky, and growth-limiting strategies a business can adopt. We emphasized what modern, strategic IT truly involves regular QBRs, roadmap planning, intentional budgeting, documented standards, and alignment between leadership and IT or the vCIO. The conversation also highlighted early signs that a business has outgrown its current IT model: unpredictable costs, delayed resolution times, lack of documentation, and technology becoming a barrier rather than an enabler.
Through real-world stories of success and failure, Peter and Beau made a compelling case for why businesses must shift from reactive thinking to intentional planning. One client saw a 63% reduction in support tickets and passed a compliance audit with no findings after adopting a strategic IT model. Meanwhile, a manufacturing company with no backups, no patching schedule, and no roadmap lost five days of productivity after a preventable failure. Episode Six made one thing clear: IT isn’t just a set of tools it’s a business outcome engine. When leadership treats it that way, the organization becomes more secure, more efficient, and better positioned for long-term success.
