That type of thinking puts IT executives on a treadmill of missed opportunities and poorly defined goals. "We need to deliver real results, and our customers need to feel that," DiSano said.

Axispoint's products and services focus on the entertainment, media, sports, financial services and health care industries, and the company puts a lot of stress on ideas and technologies that hold value and can be used across those verticals, DiSano said.

When clearly focused, a solution provider is able to stay ahead of clients' needs and respond more quickly to market changes, DiSano said.

Customers' ideas come not only from CIOs and CTOs, but from CEOs, marketing and operations executives.

Solution providers that are ready to get involved with those customers early in the process will have the luxury of helping to develop those ideas, they'll also have a better sense for how much capital is behind them.

"If we don't think it's going to pan out, we're not going to take the business," DiSano said.