Add Customer Value Throughout the IT Lifecycle With End-to-end Support

Advisors influence 70% of IT deals, but the real hidden value lies in the comprehensive services they add across every stage of the customer lifecycle—before, during, and after the purchase.

Customers today expect more than just a referral. They want a trusted partner who delivers tailored pre-sale advice, smooth implementation, and proactive ongoing support—from network monitoring to technical assistance. 

This blog explores how advisors can advise and support their customers with confidence by leveraging partner expertise, streamlining procurement, ensuring seamless deployments, and providing proactive managed services—meeting customer expectations at every step and driving greater customer lifetime value with minimal internal investment.

We've also prepared an IT lifecycle management reading bundle for a deeper look at specific areas, including SaaS, mobility and network management, hardware, energy, and AI. See the links at the bottom of this article.

About this article

This article is part of our Thrive 2025 Blog Series, offering a glimpse into the trends and insights we’ll be exploring at Thrive 2025 in Austin, August 25-27. Watch for new posts on our blog page through August. This article draws on insights from several speakers who will address this topic at a session titled Add customer value throughout the IT lifecycle with end-to-end customer support.

Beyond the sale—Creating end-to-end value

The IT channel is evolving rapidly. According to recent Canalys and AppDirect surveys, 98% of partners now extend their role well beyond simply referring products. On average, partners are active across five or more stages of the IT lifecycle—spanning advising, designing, procuring, building, adopting, and managing technology solutions.

This shift reflects a broader industry trend: 84% of channel revenue now comes from software and services, signalling a transformation in partner business models away from one-off transactions toward ongoing, value-based relationships.

Staying transactional and limiting involvement to referrals risks missing significant ROI, eroding customer trust, and leaving revenue on the table. To thrive, advisors should embrace the full IT lifecycle and deliver consistent value throughout—supporting customers from initial strategy to long-term management.

Your customers count on you not just for pricing or quotes, but for keeping everything running smoothly and being a trusted technology partner. 

—Rick Duran, VP, Specialized Services, AppDirect

By actively engaging across each lifecycle stage, from providing advice, through to procurement, integration, and ongoing management, advisors not only deepen customer relationships but also unlock new revenue streams and improve customer lifetime value.

6 proven steps to achieving exceptional end-to-end IT lifecycle support

1. Deliver confident guidance, even when you're not the expert

You don’t have to know everything to give great advice. Savvy advisors know how to lean on their partners and vendors for the expert help they need—when they need it. Here’s how you can step up your game and become the go-to advisor your customers rely on:

• Build strong vendor partnerships— Find providers who offer real support—from deep technical knowledge to training and consulting. When your customers ask tough questions, you’ll have experts backing you up, so you can give confident answers without doing it all yourself.

• Stay tuned in to your customers’ IT health—Conduct regular reviews of how their technology is working for them, and their next business challenge. Use tools or checklists your partners provide to spot issues early—this shows you’re looking out for them, not just selling products.

• Help customers plan for the future—Work with your customers to map out what their IT should look like in a year or two, based on their business goals. Bring in your partners’ insights to show the real benefits and savings. This transforms advice into a clear plan, not just ideas.

• Keep customers in the loop—Share useful updates, tips, or news regularly—through emails, calls, or quick webinars. When customers feel informed, they trust you more and see you as a partner, not just a seller.

• Focus on business, not just technology—Talk about how IT helps their bottom line—cutting costs, saving time, or keeping things running smoothly. Use numbers and facts from your partners to back it up. This makes it easier for customers to understand and act upon your recommendations.

2. Make procurement easy

Technology procurement is complex, and your customers rely on you to make it simple and effective. To do this well, partner with providers offering broad, vendor-neutral solution catalogs that allow you to tailor offerings precisely to each customer’s unique needs. Whether you're building a comprehensive solution for your customer that involves network and mobility management services, hardware, software, energy, AI, or any other business tech solution, look for a provider that covers the full technology stack to simplify you and your customer's life.

Working with partners who bring negotiation expertise to the table ensures your customers receive the best pricing and contract terms, protecting them from hidden costs and unfavorable conditions.

• Ensure your provider offers tools that make quoting and proposal creation easy—Back-office tools help you quickly generate professional, customized quotes and proposals. These tools should streamline pricing, discounts, and bundling—saving you time and helping close deals faster.

• Seek expert sales support services—Find providers that offer sales enablement support—whether it’s help qualifying leads, assisting with deal discovery, or even closing deals through referral programs. This support expands your reach and lets you focus on building relationships without getting bogged down in administrative tasks.

• Look for centralized procurement and contract management—Customers want a clear view of all their IT assets, contracts, and spending in one place. Providers that offer centralized dashboards and automated contract renewal management reduce hassle and improve transparency.

• Leverage providers’ negotiation expertise—Work with partners who have deep experience handling vendor negotiations and contract terms across multiple suppliers. This expertise translates into better pricing, favorable terms, and protection against hidden costs.

3. Ensure seamless implementation backed by professional services and tools

Worry-free implementations build trust and position you as a reliable partner. It’s important to choose solutions that are scalable and that easily integrate with existing systems, supported by ongoing lifecycle management tools that adapt as customer needs evolve. Engaging your provider’s solutions engineer at key stages, from pre-sale to implementation, goes a long way in reducing potential problems and speeding up time to value.

Choose vendors that offer end-to-end deployment and project management services

Deployment is a critical phase, as successful implementations build customer confidence and lay the foundation for deeper involvement and lasting partnerships. Providers who offer comprehensive deployment and integration services help you relieve customers of operational burdens, ensuring smooth rollouts.

Effective project management and communication tools are essential to keeping all stakeholders aligned, and facilitating clear updates, milestone tracking, and transparency that prevent delays and misunderstandings.

Ensure your provider has back-office tools to manage orders and service changes

Post-deployment, providers should offer integrated back-office solutions that automate order tracking, moves, adds, changes, and cancellations. This simplifies post-sale operations and keeps customers satisfied with responsive support.

Plan for growth

Ensure solutions are scalable and compatible with existing systems. Providers who offer ongoing lifecycle management tools help you adapt as your customers’ needs evolve.

4. Adopt and optimize with automation and analytics across the IT lifecycle

End-to-end support means helping customers not only implement but also adopt, manage, and continuously optimize their technology investments. Look for providers who offer automation tools that simplify routine lifecycle tasks such as provisioning, renewals, and billing. These tools reduce manual work and errors, freeing you and your customers to focus on higher-value activities.

Seek data-driven platforms that provide transparency into technology usage and spending. This visibility enables you to identify underutilized licenses, optimize subscription levels, and recommend timely adjustments aligned with evolving business needs.

Choose providers with proactive lifecycle management features that track key contract milestones and usage thresholds. Early alerts let you engage customers ahead of renewals or upgrades, ensuring IT investments remain efficient and relevant.

Look for reporting and analytics capabilities that provide actionable insights. These tools empower your customers to make informed strategic decisions while positioning you as a trusted advisor invested in their long-term success.

5. Provide proactive managed support to keep IT running smoothly

Beyond adoption and optimization, ongoing managed support is essential to ensuring your customers stay up and running 24/7.

Choose providers that offer 24/7 monitoring and help desk support—Proactive managed support maximizes uptime and solidifies your role as a dependable partner, enabling early detection and resolution of issues, minimizing downtime, and keeping business operations running smoothly.

Look for lifecycle management services that handle maintenance and security—Comprehensive lifecycle management services—including patching, performance tuning, and security monitoring—keep systems updated and protected as customer needs evolve.

Expect real-time alerts and health reporting tools—Real-time visibility into system status and trends and health reports provide the actionable insights you need to address problems proactively before they impact operations.

Build trust through regular check-ins and optimization advice—Routine check-ins and recommendations regarding performance optimization demonstrates that you’re committed to ensuring your customers' IT environment adapts to changing needs and conditions.

6. Build lasting relationships by treating customers as long-term partners

"While the tools tech advisors use give them a competitive advantage, their relationships are their core strength."

—Emanuel Bertoliin, Chief Revenue Officer, AppDirect

Research shows 69% of SMBs prefer working with one advisor who simplifies their IT needs. Becoming that trusted partner means stronger loyalty, less churn, and more opportunities to grow your business.

OFFERING END-TO-END LIFECYCLE SUPPORT IS YOUR COMPETITIVE EDGE

• Treat every interaction as an opportunity to demonstrate your commitment to their success—Whether it’s a new sale, a routine check-in, or a support call, use these moments to demonstrate that you’re invested in their long-term success, not just the immediate deal.

• Look beyond today’s needs to uncover hidden opportunities—Take a proactive approach by examining their broader business challenges and evolving technology landscape. Suggest solutions or improvements they might not have considered but that add real value.

• Provide consistent, end-to-end support across the IT lifecycle—Make their life easier by being the single point of contact who manages their technology journey from strategy and procurement through deployment, adoption, and ongoing optimization.

• Build confidence through transparent communication and regular insights—Keep customers informed with performance reports, usage analytics, and clear recommendations. This openness reinforces your role as a knowledgeable, dependable partner.

The bottom-line goal: Simplify your customer's IT journey

With the complexity businesses face today, advisors who deliver true end-to-end support across the entire IT lifecycle will stand out. By confidently advising, streamlining procurement, ensuring smooth deployment, driving adoption and optimization, providing proactive managed services, and building lasting relationships, you meet evolving customer expectations and unlock new growth opportunities.

Take the first step—Evaluate your current approach, identify areas to expand your lifecycle support, and partner with providers that enable you to deliver seamless, proactive service. 

Your IT lifecycle management reading bundle

Our Thrive Blog Series includes a bundle of articles aimed at helping you gain a thorough understanding of lifecycle management in specific areas, including SaaS, network and mobility, hardware, energy, and AI. 

• Streamline Software Management to Cut Costs and Reduce Risk

• How Outdated Network and Mobility Management is Costing You More than You Think

• 7 Signs You Need Better Hardware Management—And What You Can Do About It

• How to Easily Win Lucrative Energy Deals

• Fast-tracking AI Value: Strategies for Immediate Impact

Join us at Thrive for a deep dive

We’ll explore this theme in depth at our Thrive 2025 conference in August, August 25-27, as leading advisors share their experience and expertise in a panel session titled Add customer value throughout the IT lifecycle with end-to-end support.

Whether you’re an IT leader, advisor, or provider, Thrive is your opportunity to align strategy, execution, and insight to unlock the full potential of your technology investments.

Register today and check out the many other available sessions and panels.