Corey Kirkendoll Named NSITSP President

One of the founding members, Kirkendoll focuses on strengthening the community!

Heading into his tenth year as President & CEO of 5K Technical Services, Corey Kirkendoll announced his ascent to President of the National Society of IT Service Providers committing to three key priorities:

🤝🏽 Strengthening our community by building deeper connections among IT service providers nationwide.

📋 Establishing industry standards by developing regulations and best practices that elevate professionalism across the board.

💡 Advocating for our profession by promoting education, ethical practices, and the credibility IT professionals deserve.

Please join me in congratulating Corey! Here’s the profile I recently wrote about NSITSP President Corey Kirkendoll:

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Profile: Corey Kirkendoll, MBA, CISSP, CCSA, CHP, CCIE

5K Technical Services is a certified and award-winning IT management firm specializing in the technology needs of small and midsized companies, providing services ranging from managed IT and cybersecurity to cloud solutions and IT consulting.

5K works closely with CEOs, IT Directors, operations/office managers, and administrators to help them get more done with less, leveraging their 15 years of experience to ensure technology choices support business goals. Their goal is to use their technical expertise to level the playing field for smaller companies so they can compete and be successful.

The philosophy behind 5K’s customer relationship building says they want business leaders to spend time on revenue-generating activities. If they’re spending time managing IT they are not spending time running your business.

Their customer value proposition says, “Let 5K Technical Services take IT off your plate so you can focus on growing your business.”

He Wanted to Know What Was In Those Boxes

5K Technical Services’ President & CEO Corey Kirkendoll’s first involvement with computers came in 1990 while he was in college and took a job driving speed trucks, loading IBM computers and cash registers on trucks to be shipped out.

He didn’t know what was in the boxes, but he was curious!

Opportunity called to Corey when IBM opened up a new terminal and needed people to “come over and be more techie!” His hand went up, he made the move and immediately started learning the systems that ran what was in those boxes, learning to troubleshoot them and more. Very soon one of the managers took notice of how quickly Corey learned the new skills. She invited him to come over to work in their data center.

Now he found himself loading tapes, performing backups, learning RPG and expanding his skill sets. The transition from warehouse coveralls to button-up shirt and tie changed his demeanor, and transformed his life.

IBM soon moved Corey to Research Triangle Park to work in the PC division where he was first exposed to PC-DOS, OS/2, Novell networks and Windows.

After a few years a new company moved into Research Triangle Park called Cisco. When they reached out to Corey, he realized the opportunity to expand his extensive knowledge of token ring technologies to add ethernet technologies and more. He would remain and grow with Cisco for the next 19 years.

An Opportunity to Sharpen Market Focus

Working toward his MBA, Corey’s final paper described and defined an IT support business uniquely designed to service small and medium-sized businesses (SMB). Encouraged by feedback from his professors, Corey determined to build that company.

The first customer he attracted all those years ago back in 2006 is still a 5K customer today.

As more and more customers followed, Corey connected with well-known IT channel advisors including Erick Simpson, Karl Palachuk, and others. He credits them with providing him the guidance he needed to build his company properly the first time which accelerated his growth.

In the market he has focused on, Corey appreciates the critical role his company plays in the lives of his customers. “To be a true MSP,” explains Corey, “it’s important to be ethical in what we do and how we serve our clients. We need to always earn their trust. It’s important to recognize that our failure could take somebody’s family down, their livelihood, perhaps multiple families down. We have to maintain a level of diligence 100% of the time.”

We’re in the Relationship Business

“It’s never just about the technology,” explains Corey. “If you listen to my podcast you’ll always hear me say it, we’re in the relationship business.”

He continues, adding, “They don’t really care what technology stack you’re running, whose technologies you have ‘under the covers.’ They won’t know and really won’t care because what they do care about is that we’re securing them. That we’re going to answer when they call. I ask customers to tell me where they want to go, what they want to accomplish, and my job is to get them there and keep them there.”

Corey speaks of taking on a new customer and their losing their father a week later. Corey and his entire team showed up at the funeral to show support. He explained to them, “You’re part of the 5K family!!”

Asked where he got the name “5K Technical Services”, Corey smiles and explains, “I’m Corey Kirkendoll and it’s me, my wife, and my three kids.” For Corey Kirkendoll it’s all about families.

The Process of Becoming

While Corey relates with pride how much he gained from the IT channel advisors he consulted early in his career he becomes quietly reserved when you point out that he has now become one of those well-known, widely-respected IT channel advisors new MSPs turn to for leadership and advice.

“They need our leadership and guidance from a technology and skills standpoint to help them maturely get to where they want to go,” explains Corey. “That’s where I believe we’re all going to play the biggest roles, those who really understand. That’s where its all going to come from.”