Annual Report 2022
Trusted Experts Accelerating Digital Transformation
Dear Reader,
My first trip to a data center was completely unplanned.
Relatively fresh out of college, I was hell bent on (what I thought was) an ingenious thesis: developing a beautiful portfolio of Dunkin’ Donuts and 7-Eleven gas stations throughout Northern Virginia. I was pitching a small group of investors, when someone suggested that one of my proposed donut locations might be better suited for a data center. “A data center?” I asked myself, “What the heck is a data center?”
A few days later I stepped inside an unassuming industrial building and watched awestruck as a thriving high-tech, high-security world filled with humming equipment and blinking lights unfolded in front of me. I knew it was the future. My mind immediately went from donuts to data centers. I never looked back.
Since that day in 2006, I feel fortunate to have brought to market numerous large-scale digital infrastructure projects while witnessing an ever-evolving range of technologies and innovative business models transform what I would consider to be the bedrock of the internet. I also found a home amongst the community of dedicated digital infrastructure and IT professionals who share my passion for this rapidly growing industry. Yet, I also discovered that many IT professionals lack access to the resources—expertise, data, tools, and support—necessary to have full confidence in their mission critical decisions and operations.
In 2017, when I set out to start UPSTACK, I used my discovery to inspire what would become our company’s mission—to be the leading platform to empower our industry’s top talent with technology and unmatched advisory services to better optimize their digital infrastructure. Today, The UPSTACK Platform combines the industry’s leading experts, dedicated customer experience resources, and our own proprietary technology to transform how businesses of all sizes design, source, and select digital infrastructure solutions.
At UPSTACK, our unwavering aim is to help our customers in enhancing and accelerating their digital transformation. As I look back on the past twelve months, I am proud to say we have been able to both enhance and accelerate our own transformation, the results of which you will find highlighted in the pages that follow. Most importantly, I hope that we will continue to deliver even greater value to you, our customers.
Respectfully,
Christopher Trapp, Founder & CEO
The UPSTACK Platform
More Than the Sum of Our Parts
Leading Technology Experts
A dynamic group of technology professionals that collectively bring a wealth of real-world experience and specialized solutions expertise with a laser focus on positive outcomes for all clients.
Dedicated Customer Experience Resources
UPSTACK’s Customer Experience team provides an elevated and dedicated approach to customer success, service delivery, and customer support.
Advanced Technology Ecosystem
UPSTACK’s operating system for digital infrastructure is a cohesive ecosystem that we are developing to streamline and optimize the entire IT project experience and improve efficiency.
Through the powerful combination of these three pillars—leading technology experts, dedicated customer experience resources, and advanced technology—UPSTACK uses actionable business intelligence to design, source, and select customized technology solutions for our clients. It all adds up to time saved, budgets optimized, deadlines met, and risks averted.
Business Performance
The Year In Numbers
Valued Customers
From enterprise to SMBs across a range of industries
New Projects Managed
Leveraging UPSTACK’s full solutions expertise
Better Results, Faster
%
Improvement in duration from project start to install
Financial Stewardship
$400M+
Annual technology spend under management
UPSTACK Employees
We go by the name “UPSTACKers”
All data as of December 31, 2022.
Milestones
Major Milestones at a Glance
January
March
June
June
October
December
Customer Experience
A Fresh Experience
The third pillar of The Platform, UPSTACK’s dedicated Customer Experience resources, is continually being enhanced. In early 2022, UPSTACK formed a Customer Experience team that is focused on finding new ways to deliver the best possible service experience to customers.
Customer Success
A seasoned customer success manager serves as an extension of a client’s team. From providing supplier-neutral recommendations for efficiently and effectively solving complex challenges to negotiating pricing to providing proactive strategic account management, we are fully committed to optimizing infrastructure.
Service Delivery
We assign a dedicated project manager to ensure the successful delivery of solutions on every project so our customers can stay focused on their business. By engaging directly with suppliers, we work to ensure solutions are delivered on time or ahead of schedule while providing timely updates along the way.
Customer Support
Our team works on behalf of clients to submit trouble tickets, escalate service issues, and ensure issues are resolved as quickly as possible.
Read our customer stories to understand the value of partnering with UPSTACK:
“Our Customer Experience team stands apart for its tireless dedication to assisting our customers with solution recommendations, ensuring timely service delivery, and providing ongoing support. Our comprehensive approach to CX is designed to maximize the value our clients receive from partnering with UPSTACK.”
Leadership
People Powered, Culture Led, Results Driven
The UPSTACK leadership team is responsible for crafting the strategic vision of the business and guiding its execution while never losing sight of its goal to reimagine how digital infrastructure is designed, sourced, and sold.
– Benjamin Smoot, Chief Operating Officer
Customer Stories
UPSTACK delivers value across many industries and organizations of all sizes. Read these select customer stories to learn how.
Healthcare
Improving Patient Experience and Staff Satisfaction with Call Center Support
The Chautauqua Center, a Federally Qualified Health Center (FQHC), was struggling to handle increasing call volumes with existing solutions. UPSTACK designed a fit-to-environment omnichannel Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) solution that…
Read the full case study.
Finance
Modernizing a Regional Bank Through Improved Connectivity
A regional bank with a legacy point-to-point network needed to improve connectivity between branches to deliver the best possible customer service experience…
Read the full case study.
Food & Beverage
Food Distributor Protects its Secret Sauce
Read the full case study.
Expertise
Working with UPSTACK to Drive Better Outcomes
Today, technology executives and IT teams are tasked with creating value throughout the enterprise, using technology to drive strategic initiatives and competitive advantages, and enabling key stakeholder groups to be more productive and effective.
But no CIO, CISO, or even the whole IT team can do it alone without running the risk of making the wrong decisions, experiencing delays, and facing budget overruns, all while failing to achieve the desired business outcome. Here are six reasons why turning to an expert, vendor-neutral advisor—like UPSTACK—makes sense.
Voices
Go Deeper: Voices of Our Experts
Cloud Computing
Re-engaging the Data Center: Colo and Hybrid Cloud
Public cloud computing is gaining in popularity as enterprises look to scale up, remain agile, and be responsive to the ever-changing business environment. Gartner forecasts worldwide spending on the public cloud will increase by 20% this year…
Read the full post
Healthcare
Risk assessment in healthcare IT: The role of compliance in protecting patients
Digital technologies are transforming healthcare by reducing human errors, facilitating the coordination of care, and improving efficiencies within medical practices. Healthcare IT enables providers to more easily manage the practice, big or small, so they can focus on serving their patients…
Read the article
CX Automation
Enhancing Customer Experience: Maintaining High NPS and CSAT Through CX Automation
As we mentioned last month, customers spend more when they have a great support experience with your contact center. Not just that, when you have created a great customer experience (CX), it can become a strategic differentiator and core…
Read the full post
Cybersecurity
What’s in Your Security Arsenal?
Make no mistake; your company is under siege whether you know it or not. And it’s unlike any other conflict in that the enemy is nearly invisible but potentially lethal to the health of your business and the strength of our economy…
Read the full post
Coming Soon
IT Trends on UPSTACK’s Radar
Pairing market data with expert insights, hear from UPSTACK’s group of leading technology experts on the shifting IT landscape—from emerging technologies and evolving threats to next-wave IT strategies and the providers that are leading the charge—and how to circumvent the biggest challenges businesses may face in the months ahead.