2003: CENTARE GROUP RECEIVES FUTURE 50 AWARD
This article is a "reprint" from the Small Business Times.
Centare Group - 2nd Year Winner
Location: 125 N. Executive Dr., Suite 104, Brookfield
Web Site: www.centare.com
Year founded: 1999
Product or service offered: Custom software applications and system integration.
Leadership team: Dave Glyzewski, president/partner; Ed Chaltry, chief technology officer/partner; Jim Maslowski, vice president of business development
Target clientele: Small, medium and Fortune 500 businesses that look to technology as a strategic advantage in solving business problems.
Business organization memberships: MMAC, COSBE, Milwaukee Rotary Club, Brookfield Chamber of Commerce, Wisconsin WebSphere Users Group, Wisconsin Java Users Group, Wisconsin .NET Users Group.
Your Big Goal for your company: We want Centare Group to be known for its focus on the success of its customers, while also providing a rewarding and fulfilling environment for its employees.
Who are the business figures, locally or nationally, that you admire? And what traits do those people exhibit that makes you admire them? Ulice Payne Jr., president and CEO of Milwaukee Brewers, for his ability to build excitement and a winning attitude around an organization that had little excitement around it previously is extremely impressive.
What's your take on business conditions in your industry for the next several months? Business conditions seem to be improving overall. The market has had growth over the course of 2003 and the IT services market seems to be on the rebound. Demands for increased productivity from the existing workforce are driving the need to upgrade and extend existing business systems, as well as providing a compelling ROI for creation of new systems. We anticipate that some customers will begin to make investments in technology that they have been postponing for some time.
What your firm did to remain competitive during the recent economic slowdown: We engaged in a number of initiatives over the past year and a half to compete in an increasingly difficult market: 1. We outsourced management of our HR functions to the WaterStone Group, a professional employer organization (www.waterstonegrp.com). This enabled us to focus our efforts on what we do best, servicing our customers. 2. Invested in additional business development resources. Instead of just focusing on cutting costs we emphasized new business development. 3. Diversification of our service offerings to include Microsoft's .NET development framework and a Technology Audit line of business. 4. Took advantage of a favorable real estate market to upgrade office space to align with our planned growth. 5. Elevated our partnership status with IBM to Premier Status, the highest level within the partner program. Additionally Centare Group began selling IBM software to compliment the services we provide around the WebSphere brand.
About Centare Group
Founded in 1999, the Centare Group is a software development consulting firm with approximately 35 employees headquartered in Brookfield, Wis. It has developed software solutions for clients around the world and was recently named to the Inc. 5000 list of the fastest-growing private companies in the country. The firm concentrates its efforts in:
- Software development using .NET, Java/J2EE and Actuate technologies
- Business process improvement
- Systems integration
- Business process improvement
- Complex reporting technologies including Actuate and Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services
- Mobile solutions development
- Strategic technology assessments
- Training and implementation of agile software development practices
For more information about Centare Group, visit www.centare.com or call 262-827-1010.