Deployment
The base dashboard: one platform, your own cloud account, every connected system.
The same core dashboard every client gets, set up in your own Microsoft cloud account on Azure. It pulls in data from the systems we connected and adds a standard IT spend report, so what you pay for technology is visible in month one.
Sample client, month 2. Illustrative tiles.
In one sentence
One report on your business and your systems, running in your own Microsoft cloud account, which you own.
- Advisory review
- Delivery
- Monthly watch
One engagement, in this order. You can start at the stage that fits you.
Deployment
What this work involves
Every client gets the same base. That is the point: a proven set of reports, set up the same way each time, in a Microsoft cloud account you own. There is no custom build to fund before you see a number.
The dashboard pulls in data from the systems marked in the applications assessment and replaces the old reporting flagged there. A standard IT spend report is included, so leadership sees what the technology costs next to what the systems actually do.
You own the platform and the data. If the engagement ends, both stay in your account on your subscription. The Azure and security subscriptions it runs on are bought from Third Shift and arrive on one monthly bill.
Who does what
You keep your team, and we take this part.
- You — Own the account, the platform, and the data.
- Third Shift — Build it, connect the systems, and keep it honest.
- Your IT firm — Keep the systems and the network running.
- Cloud and security vendors — Run the subscriptions you buy from us.
Who it is for
A fit when
- Leadership that wants one place to read the business and its systems
- Firms that want to own the platform rather than rent a vendor's portal
- Companies already on Microsoft 365 or Azure
Scope
What it is not
- Not a custom analytics project with a six-month design phase
- Not hosted by us. It runs in your own account
- Not a way to sell you more cloud. Subscriptions are quoted up front
Where this has run
Profiles using this work.
- Tax season copilots, zero policy.
Regional accounting firm · ~45 staff - Reporting was three exports reconciled by hand.
Light manufacturer · ~120 staff - They asked for automation and needed a foundation first.
Professional services firm · ~30 staff - Patient data was being entered into a public AI tool.
Multi-site healthcare practice · ~60 staff - Grant reports took a week, though the data was already available.
Regional nonprofit · ~25 staff - Two Microsoft accounts, one renewal, and Copilot waiting.
Regional insurance agency · ~70 staff - A capable IT firm with no one directing its work.
Regional wholesale distributor · ~90 staff - The IT director left mid-project, but the project continued.
Regional construction firm · ~180 staff
Who buys this
Industries that start here.
- Accounting, tax, and CPA firms — Client financials in personal AI accounts, and partner reporting rebuilt by hand every quarter.
- Legal, consulting, and agency firms — They asked for an automation, and the environment needed a written rule first.
- Light manufacturing and industrial — An unenforceable ban upstairs, and a monthly report assembled from three exports by hand.
- Wholesale distribution and logistics — A capable MSP, no one directing it, and fill rate answered by three exports and a phone call.
- Construction, trades, and engineering — Job costing that depends on one person's spreadsheet, and an IT director who left mid-project.
- Medical, dental, and specialty practices — Patient letters drafted in an unapproved AI tool, and no rule to point to when someone asks.
- Nonprofits and associations — Grant reports that take a week, volunteers using free AI on donor lists, and no IT staff.
- Insurance agencies and brokerages — Two systems of record, shared carrier logins, and a renewal calendar no one watches.
The order
Part of the sequence, not the whole of it.
In the method this work usually leads into Dashboard maintenance (Monthly watch). Nothing obliges you to buy it: the order is how the work is delivered, not what you have to purchase.
Questions
Questions about base dashboard deployment
What does the base dashboard include?
The base dashboard includes the same core set of reports for every client. It runs in your own Microsoft cloud account and pulls data from the systems marked in the applications assessment. It also includes a standard report on what your technology costs next to what it does. There is no custom build to fund before you see a number.
Who owns the dashboard and the data?
You own the dashboard and the data. The platform runs in your own Microsoft cloud account, on your subscription, under your name. If the engagement with Third Shift ends, the platform and all of its data stay with you. We hold no keys you cannot take back.
How is the service billed?
Billing has two parts. Your Azure and security subscriptions are bought from Third Shift and arrive on one monthly bill, with a wholesaler supplying them behind us. Microsoft 365 licenses bought from us in the marketplace land on the same bill. Our own work, such as maintenance, the AI security watch, automation, and vCIO, is either a set monthly fee or billed by the hour.
How long does deployment take once the assessments are done?
Once the assessments are done, setting up the dashboard usually takes a few weeks. The base platform is standard, so most of that time goes into connecting your systems in the order the applications assessment set. The first old reports are usually replaced within the first month of it being live.
Start here
Start with the review.
The first conversation covers your environment, and this work is scoped from what it finds.