In the post-digital world, businesses do not struggle because they lack technology (which is really a baseline), but because their technology, vendors, people, and priorities are fragmented.

The IT provider manages the network. A marketing agency runs campaigns. A web developer maintains the website. Someone internally administers Microsoft 365. Another vendor manages hosting. The internet provider only gets involved when something breaks.

In other words, whilst each siloed supplier may be doing its job, no one is looking across the entire environment.

The result is familiar: too many vendors means disconnected decisions, unpredictable costs, duplicated effort, and important work that falls between the gaps. And that’s in the best case scenario. The worst case scenario is you have a bunch of vendors who blame each other for issues and create read headwind for growth.

Smartt's FlexHours program was created to solve that problem. FlexHours gives your business access to Smartt’s multidisciplinary team across managed IT, cybersecurity, cloud services, connectivity, web development, digital marketing, and AI through one flexible relationship, along with infrastructure components such as hosting ad connectivity.

The Problem With Traditional Service Models

Most professional-service relationships are built around fixed categories. You hire an IT company for technical support, a web agency for your website, a marketing agency for campaigns, and additional specialists whenever a new need appears. That model can work when priorities are stable and every project fits neatly into a predefined scope. But business rarely works that way anymore in today’s AI-driven, post-digital age.

A marketing campaign may require landing-page development, analytics configuration, CRM integration, cybersecurity review, and technical support. Opening a new location may involve internet connectivity, Wi-Fi, Microsoft licensing, devices, cloud systems, website updates, local advertising, and employee onboarding.

These are complex and interconnected parts of the same outcome, and FlexHours bring them together instead of forcing your team to coordinate those dependencies on their own like in traditional vendor arrangements.

What Are FlexHours?

FlexHours is Smartt’s flexible service model for accessing a broad range of digital and IT capabilities through one team, one relationship, and one pool of resources.

Your FlexHours can be allocated across services such as:

• Managed IT and technical support
• Cybersecurity and compliance
• Microsoft 365 and cloud administration
• Connectivity and network management
• Hosting, backup, and business continuity
• Website development and maintenance
• Digital marketing and advertising
• SEO, analytics, and AI visibility
• Branding, design, and content
• AI consulting, automation, and enablement

Instead of committing to a separate contract for every discipline, you can apply your available resources where they will create the most value. This way, a your priorities change from month to month, FlexHours changes with them.

More Than Hours

Even though the name FlexHours describes how resources are allocated, the real value goes beyond time.

FlexHours gives your business access to an operating relationship along with infrastructure components (like hosting, connectivity, and productivity licenses). What makes us very different is that as an integrated provider, Smartt can develop an understanding of your systems, goals, constraints, team, and plans. This additional context and experience allows us to help with immediate requests while also identifying dependencies, risks, and opportunities that may not be visible when each vendor sees only one part of the business.

For example:

• A website request may reveal a security issue.
• A marketing initiative may require improvements to analytics or CRM workflows.
• An employee onboarding problem may point to a broader need for identity management and standardized processes.
• A slow office connection may not require more bandwidth at all. The underlying issue may be Wi-Fi, network configuration, hardware, or how cloud applications are being used.

Because Smartt works across these areas, we can look at the problem as a whole rather than treating every request as an isolated task.

Benefit #1: Flexibility Without Fragmentation

Flexibility is often associated with hiring freelancers or bringing in specialists only when needed. Whilst this may reduce fixed costs, it also creates fragmentation. Every new supplier must learn the business, understand the systems, coordinate with other vendors, and work within decisions they may not fully understand.

FlexHours gives you flexibility without continually rebuilding that context. You will have access to specialists across multiple disciplines that operate as part of the same team, so that people working on your infrastructure can coordinate with the people working on your website, your marketing team can work with your developers, and your cybersecurity requirements can be considered before a new platform or integration is deployed, etc.

Benefit #2: Use Resources Where They Matter Most

Business needs do not arrive in equal monthly increments.

One quarter may be focused on strengthening cybersecurity and modernizing internal systems. The next may involve a website launch, conference campaign, or expansion into a new market.

A rigid retainer can leave you paying for work you do not need while seeking additional budgets for work that falls outside the agreement.

FlexHours allows resources to move with your priorities.

For example:

• During planning season, hours may be used for audits, roadmaps, budgeting, and strategy.
• Before a product launch, resources may shift toward web development, analytics, content, and advertising.
• During a period of rapid hiring, the focus may move to onboarding, devices, licenses, security, and collaboration tools.
• Following a security review, more hours may be assigned to remediation and process improvements.
• When operations are stable, available capacity can be used to improve systems rather than waiting for something to break.

This gives your business room to respond to change without renegotiating a new engagement every time priorities move.

Benefit #3: From Reactive Support to Continuous Improvement

Many service relationships are reactive. (Something breaks, a ticket is opened, the issue is fixed, and everyone moves on.) Reliable support remains important, but fixing problems is only the starting point. FlexHours allows Smartt to help improve the environment over time.

That may include:

• Standardizing employee onboarding and offboarding
• Strengthening access controls and security policies
• Improving backup and recovery processes
• Consolidating vendors and software subscriptions
• Updating an aging website
• Automating repetitive workflows
• Improving reporting and analytics
• Reducing technical debt
• Preparing systems for growth
• Evaluating where AI can improve productivity

In short, instead of consuming the entire relationship through emergencies, FlexHours creates capacity for proactive work that reduces future emergencies.

Benefit #4: Built-In Essential Services

FlexHours can also include many of the foundational services your business already needs.

Depending on the package, this may include or provide preferred access to:

• Microsoft 365 licensing and administration
• Security and productivity tools
• Managed hosting
• Backup and disaster recovery services
• BestConnect internet connectivity
• Monitoring and support
• Strategic planning and reviews

This helps consolidate recurring technology needs within one relationship. Rather than managing separate providers for connectivity, hosting, licenses, support, development, and marketing, your business can reduce vendor overhead and create clearer accountability.

Benefit #5: Access to a Multidisciplinary Team

Hiring a full internal team with expertise across IT, cybersecurity, web development, cloud systems, marketing, analytics, design, and AI would be unrealistic for many small and mid-sized businesses. Hiring one generalist is more affordable, but no single person can be an expert in every area.

FlexHours provides access to a broader team without requiring you to build every capability internall, so you can draw on different specialists as the work requires while retaining continuity through the Smartt relationship.

This is particularly valuable when the problem itself is not clearly defined. For example, you may know that sales leads are being lost, employees are wasting time, systems feel disconnected, or the website is underperforming. Or you may not know whether the answer lies in technology, process, marketing, development, training, or some combination of them. FlexHours gives you a team that can help diagnose the problem before prescribing the work!

Real-World Applications

Use Case #1: Supporting a Growing Team

A company is hiring quickly and opening another office. FlexHours can be used to coordinate connectivity, network setup, Microsoft 365 accounts, cybersecurity policies, device preparation, onboarding workflows, website updates, and recruitment campaigns.

Instead of treating each requirement as a separate project, Smartt can coordinate the work around the expansion.

Use Case #2: Improving Lead Generation

A business wants more qualified leads. The immediate request may be for advertising, but the broader solution could involve improving the website, building landing pages, fixing analytics, connecting the CRM, clarifying the offer, improving search visibility, and creating a follow-up process.

FlexHours allows the team to work across the entire lead-generation system.

Use Case #3: Strengthening Security

A business identifies gaps through a cybersecurity assessment. Resources can be redirected toward access controls, staff training, backups, endpoint protection, Microsoft 365 security, documentation, and incident-response planning.

Once the immediate risks are addressed, the focus can shift back toward ongoing improvements and business priorities.

Use Case #4: Modernizing an Aging Website

A website redesign may involve more than visual changes. It may require content strategy, technical SEO, hosting improvements, security, analytics, integrations, conversion tracking, accessibility, and ongoing campaign support.

FlexHours provides access to the different skills required without forcing the project into disconnected scopes.

Use Case #5: Introducing AI Responsibly

A business wants to use AI but is unsure where to begin. Smartt can help identify practical use cases, establish governance, select tools, automate workflows, train employees, and connect AI initiatives to measurable business outcomes.

The goal is not to adopt technology for its own sake. It is to improve how the business operates.

Use Case #6: Predictable Investment, Adaptable Priorities

FlexHours provides a more predictable way to budget for professional services while preserving the ability to respond to change. You establish an ongoing level of investment, and Smartt helps allocate that capacity across the work that matters most. Longer-term commitments may also provide Transformation Credits that can be applied toward larger improvements and strategic initiatives. This creates a balance between day-to-day support and forward-looking transformation, so that your budget can help move the business forward instead of just keeping existing systems alive.

Use Case #7: One Team. More Possibilities.

FlexHours is designed for businesses that want a partner capable of working across technology, operations, customer experience, and growth.

You gain:

• Fewer vendors to coordinate
• Broader access to specialized expertise
• More predictable costs
• Greater flexibility as priorities change
• Better alignment between digital and IT initiatives
• More capacity for proactive improvement
• Clearer accountability for outcomes

This way, you can operate your business with greater confidence, agility, and impact.

Build What Your Business Needs Next

Your business will not need the same mix of services next quarter that it needs today. FlexHours gives you a flexible foundation that can support immediate problems, ongoing operations, and larger transformation initiatives within the same relationship.

Whether you need to stabilize your IT environment, strengthen cybersecurity, rebuild your website, launch a campaign, improve your systems, or explore how AI can support your team, FlexHours gives you access to the right expertise when the need arises. You focus on where the business is going, while Smartt helps make the technology, digital systems, and execution support that direction.

Contact Smartt to learn how FlexHours can simplify your vendor relationships, strengthen your operations, and create more capacity for growth.