Oakbrook Terrace software developer booming
Like any rising company, Oakbrook Terrace-based Geneca is changing as it grows.
"Some of the big challenges we've had are similar to any consulting company, where you're transitioning from focus just on profit, to focus on people, to focus on process," said Mark Hattas, 35, president and CEO of the custom software development company.
That evolving focus now means helping clients predict the benefits of a new system or project being recommended by Geneca, but Geneca could never have gotten to that level if it hadn't developed strong relationships with its clients through its focus on people.
"Geneca represents to me a firm that's above what I call body-shop consulting," said Tony Dillion, the chief technology officer at FTD Inc., which has worked with Geneca for close to three years. "It's not just being a programmer."
According to Dillion, Geneca goes beyond IT help to provide strategic insight into projects it works on and offers a high level of productivity. Geneca is also a big part of FTD's sales development team, and Dillion said he couldn't be happier with it.
"I don't think there has been a single business day that I haven't had somebody from Geneca on-site at our place working on something or another," Dillion said.
According to Hattas, who has a degree in electrical engineering, focusing on people is part of Geneca's culture, thus creating a beneficial climate for both clients and employees.
Matthew Peters, a technical partner at Geneca, has worked for the company for four years and said Geneca strives to not only attract and keep the best people, but to train the people it has.
Peters said he meets with his eight-person development team daily and works hard to make Geneca an enjoyable environment for both clients and personnel.
"Our culture values hard work," Peters said. "But we also believe in investing in team building and just having fun."
Additionally, this year Geneca implemented streaming video broadcasts from Hattas to create a virtual water cooler where employees can hear about the latest Geneca news, company strategies and the achievements of employees.
The idea of working so hard to create strong relationships is a foreign concept for some software development companies, according to Peters. He said that many developers will just want to come in and sit at their computers and program, but Geneca is different, and clients know that.
"Many vendors say they want to know your business, but Geneca has earned that knowledge," Dillion said.
Dillion said that Geneca offers afternoons with their most senior resources at no charge to discuss issues important to FTD. The meetings are substantive and not sales oriented meetings, according to Dillion, and he gets to set the agenda.
"They know we care about their company because we care about them," Peters, who keeps in constant contact with his clients, said.
According to Peters, Geneca has even on occasion helped its clients hire their own technical people. The company also makes sure that customers have control over projects Geneca does for them. Peters said that he thinks it is a positive sign that most of Geneca's work comes from referrals.
Geneca's strategy has worked. When Hattas and his business partner, Joel Basgall, 42, a serial entrepreneur who owned another successful software company, started the company nine years ago, their main goal was to make enough to pay their bills.
But in 2006, Geneca brought in $11.3 million, a 126 percent increase from 2005, and another increase of 24 percent is expected when 2007 numbers are finalized.
In moving up to its focus on process, Geneca has created a new "Getting Predictable" campaign that strives, according to Hattas, to offer something most IT companies don't: peace of mind.
He contends that many businesses tend to tolerate unpredictability when it comes to IT companies. But it's unreasonable, he declares, for a company that is investing a large amount of money in software development to tolerate uncertainty and risk. Hattas says his company is taking this problem head-on.
"One of the big projects that we've been undertaking is ensuring that we can bring executives and companies high comfort level and a high degree of certainty and predictability that their project is going to be done against the business success criteria that are important to them," Hattas said.
Geneca's wants to offer its clients predictability when it comes to budgeting, time, functionality and other business drivers. Geneca's goal is to create a model that can be replicated in possible future Geneca offices elsewhere.
"Over the next 10 years, the plan is to grow to over $100 million and expand geographically into other markets," Hattas said.
The company is planning to re-brand itself this year with a new logo, new Web site and new material that supports its Getting Predictable message.
"As we've grown up as an organization, we need the company to look more like what our clients see us as," Hattas said.
Business profile
Name: Geneca LLC
Business: Custom software development
Headquarters: Oakbrook Terrace
CEO: Mark Hattas
Revenues: $11.3 million in 2006, expected $14 million in 2007
Employees: About 80
Latest push: "Getting Predictable"