Nowadays the technological world offers increasingly more convenience and accessibility. Google, YouTube, and TikTok how-to influencers lure eager minds into thinking they can do anything. And that’s a great attitude if you want to pick up the guitar or change a faucet. On the other hand, I think we can all agree that, unless you happen to be a certified and insured plumber, you probably should not attempt to change a gas line based on a TikTok tutorial.

On the heels of what felt like COVID perpetuity, countless people, young and old, continue to reinvent themselves. Some have pivoted their lives out of sheer boredom, some have been shaken up with a life’s too short syndrome, and some have changed course because the economy ejected them into new personal and/or professional directions. At minimum, the general public has been in the mindset to try new things.

I’m the first to admit that taking on projects outside of one’s core competency can be, to say the least, emotionally rewarding. For me, there’s an extra-special satisfaction from accomplishing something ventured inside unfamiliar territory. And no matter how imperfect the outcome or how much extra time it takes, I feel a little spring in my step when I move on from the completed task. So don’t ever stop experimenting, learning, and tackling new things!

With that being said, business owners have a lot more to consider when they’re confronted with can I do this myself? dilemmas. Work on it, not just in it is a saying coined by business author Michael Gerber. It speaks to the notion that business owners should resist the tendency to micromanage every aspect of the company. Whether you think you can save money or do something better yourself (and maybe you can), taking on projects and tasks that aren’t among your core competencies will propel you down an ultimately expensive rabbit hole. The same can be applied to your team. If your employees are tasked with work beyond their core skills, consider the looming cost to your business from not failing fast enough.

So it’s super important to leverage your resources and know when it makes sense to outsource certain areas of the business. At Vertican, we make build versus buy and in-house versus outsource decisions often. From our perspective, just because a firm can build their own infrastructure doesn’t mean it’s economical to do so.

There was a time when we did everything ourselves; 40 years ago, we were a modest, bootstrapped company writing our own software – that’s what we do. Processing payroll in-house back then made sense because we were a small group with limited means. Today, using a payroll provider is an obvious practice and a necessity. We recently invested in a Managed Service Provider (MSP) because, now more than ever, the world demands businesses be proactive in monitoring and taking preventive measures against cyberattacks on a 24/7 basis.

Vertican runs on the trailblazing innovation and expertise of our subject matter experts (SMEs). We collaborate closely to ensure our operations never stray from the company’s goals and vision. But we are not the SMEs in a lot of the operational and housekeeping things that need to get done. And I’ll be the first to tell you that it’s not always easy to recognize when you’re getting caught up in those weeds. As a scaling organization, we are learning every day how to leverage internal and external resources in the most efficient ways possible.

We recently decided to build a new website. While our team has the skills to manage and maintain a website, we recognize that the expenditure of time and level of expertise that goes into building a cutting-edge design and optimized user experience is outside of our wheelhouse.

Vertican is the leading subject matter expert in collections technology, not payroll technology, not cyber security, and not website design. We continue to scale because we know where and when to be hands-on and where and when to look outside of the organization for the best partners.

This is an important reminder for our clients too. It’s a costly assumption that having in-depth product knowledge means users can DIY issues without using the proper channels. I’m all for changing a faucet, but I’m also all for saving time and frustration. So reference Vertican’s product help manuals and system requirements, attend our valuable Mastermind educational sessions, and when you reach out to Client Success, help us help you by providing all the required details and documents. Don’t dig holes too deep to climb out. Later this month, Vertican will introduce a one-stop Help Center which will point users to resources like documentation, troubleshooting tips, and understanding technical and professional support, so that all our product users have quick and clear access to what they need when they need it.

When you partner with Vertican, you’re leveraging both our internal experience and outsourced investments so that you can run your business as efficiently and cost-effectively as possible. If we all focus on our core competencies, we will have all the resources we need at our fingertips.

Gary Hickey in the Spotlight

What is your title and when did you begin working at Vertican? I work as the Service Group Leader for the IT Infrastructure Team. I have been with Vertican from the start, and with YGC even before that.

What sort of work did you do before joining Vertican? I have worked in IT my whole career, from small implementation companies to running global networks for larger companies, like Russ Berrie and Pepsi-Cola International. I also ran my own automation company in the publishing industry for several years.

What is a typical day at Vertican like for you? Working with my Infrastructure team, monitoring systems and jobs, running projects and supporting all our employees and clients.

What do you like most about working for Vertican? I love puzzles and problem solving. I like to use my inquisitive nature to find out how things work and make them better or most cost effective or come up with a solution to a business or technical issue.

If you could learn anything new, what would it be? I would love to learn how to play the piano.

What was your very first job and how old were you? I have had lots of different jobs, but the first ones were delivering newspapers at thirteen and working in a library and a liquor store when I was in high school.

Word on the street is you were in a movie? Tell us about it and how that began. One of my nephew’s senior projects at Ithaca College was to create an independent film. His dad and I were asked to play a pair of cops who had to take down a perp. Many hours of work that amounted to about 10 seconds of screen time.

What is something about you that may surprise your colleagues? I was a professional singer for 13 years.

What (else) do you like to do outside of work? I love hiking and spending time with my family.

Share something exciting you did in the last 12 months. I am probably the most excited about living in a family of gourmands. Love all the homemade bread, fresh pasta, and charcuterie boards.

Do you have a favorite movie, artist and/or book? I am an Anglophile and love comedy so British comedies are at the top.

Movie: Brazil

TV: The Outlaws

Musical or Other Artists: Johannes Vermeer

Book or Author: Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein

Please share a favorite quote. “Two wrongs don’t make a right, but three lefts do.”