KDIT Services

Custom Tailored Services

For the past three years, KDIT has been providing an array of bespoke IT services for the SMB sector in California’s Orange and LA counties.

Some of these services include: IT infrastructure, management, networking, security, and help desk support. The company also resells hardware and software, and takes on critical projects such as Microsoft-related implementations, integrations, and migrations.

A Different Breed of MSP

On the surface, KDIT might sound like just another MSP, so we spoke with CEO/Founder Kevin Derenard in order to learn more about his company and to gain insight into what it means to be an IT service provider. Giving Kevin the chance to dispel the aforementioned presumption, we asked him to define how KDIT sets itself apart from its competitors…

“Our experience first and foremost,” Kevin explained. “I was a Microsoft consultant and ran enterprise infrastructure for several years, so my background is dealing with rapid growth and decreasing budgets.” Keeping these factors and over 20 years of combined experience in mind, the company is able to tread the middle road and find balance when building out services for customers.

Speaking specifically on the competitive climate in the IT service industry, Kevin noted, “We know there is a lot of competition and a lot of big companies out there. Since we are smaller and more niche, we can be more flexible or nimble compared to those companies and we don’t have the same constraints that they do.” Kevin continued by referencing the tailored approach KDIT takes, stating, “That’s our main advantage—we’re more focused on specific cases, rather than trying to force people into a bucket.”

“At the end of the day, we just try to establish personal relationships with each of our customers, so they’re not talking to a robot, or being taken advantage of.”

- CEO/Founder Kevin Derenard

Keeping with the theme of advantages, we asked what the company’s biggest strengths were.

Kevin acknowledged his prior experience again and explained, “We’ve walked in the same shoes as most of our customers, so we know where the paying points are; and we know certain things might be out of reach for those customers. We’ve found, over time, that a lot of people get shock and awe from pricing—what IT really costs—not seeing the benefit of it. Our goal is to have IT help facilitate their business instead of being a burden, and to provide the service at a cheaper price than what a full-time employee might cost them.”

The ability to illustrate the benefits of IT to customers who might not understand, or initially value the services KDIT provides, appears to be a direct response to a major challenge the company faces.

“When we have conversations, we try to simplify things, knowing everything is really complicated on the back-end. When we’re talking to executives or IT decision-makers, we try to paint things in a simpler picture, so they’re not inundated with too much technical information,” explained Kevin before tying it all together. “It’s hard to differentiate yourself when there are so many competitors doing that same thing. At the end of the day, we just try to establish personal relationships with each of our customers, so they’re not talking to a robot or being taken advantage of. A lot of people have problems with ‘clock-watchers’—lots of service companies like mine that bill by the hour—even by the minute in some cases. I don’t want to be in a position to ask my customer if it’s okay to bill them. They should know and trust that we’re not wasting their time and they’re getting good value for what we’re putting in.”

Going The Extra Mile

Kevin started KDIT with the goal to provide good services and prices while following the venerable “Golden Rule.”

He goes above and beyond for customers, affirming, “I provide IT services and can do anything IT related. When customers come to me with more unique problems, I tell them, ‘I can help you find a contractor for this’ or ‘I can help find you someone to get cabling done’ because I have experience doing all of that.”

This is where the service provider really sets itself apart from its competitors and reveals the full extent of value it can provide to customers.

“I’ve facilitated office build-outs—stuff that we don’t personally do ourselves, but we have partnerships with companies that can get that work done,” Kevin concluded. “Even if I don’t make any money on it, I’ll be that point of contact for them so that they don’t have to worry about it.”