The technology industry managed to remain viable throughout the Great Recession, partly because companies in other industries were searching for an edge or ways to become more efficient and do more with less. Brookfield-based Centare Group Ltd., managed to do that and more by changing their business model and offering more to its clients.
“We’re changing the way we approach our business relationships,” said Dave Glyzewski, president of Centare. “In the past, our focus was building software. We still do all the things we used to do, but we can start the conversation at a higher level and help our clients transform their business in ways we couldn’t before.”
Centare recently completed its move to 300 N. Executive Dr. in Brookfield, across the street from their former location, which was at 125 N. Executive Dr. The new space is approximately 50 percent bigger than its former space and the new layout allows for a more open and collaborative environment, Glyzewski said.
“There was no way to accommodate our growth in the previous space,” he said. “Plus, (in the previous space) we were disconnected and had two separate suites, which was not conducive to team building or collaboration.”
In addition to software development, Centare has expanded its mobile development team and has also emerged as a leader in agile practice and SCRUM training, Glzyweski said.
SCRUM is a world-renowned software development model created and led by Ken Schwaber and Jeff Sutherland. Centare employees Chad Albrecht and Gary Pedretti have worked with Ken Schwaber to become the only SCRUM.org certified partners and trainers in Wisconsin and Illinois. The agile training and coaching has propelled Centare’s growth in new directions, Glyzweski said.
“The agile/SCRUM component of our business, under the leadership of Chad, has really changed the culture of our organization,” Glyzweski said. “It allows us to offer so much more to our clients in addition to software, mobile and web application development. It essentially allows us to offer them the ability to transform their organization.”
Agile/SCRUM is a software development model that insists that software development doesn’t have to be, nor should it be, a slow moving and expensive process.
“Technology moves so quickly that the old business model simply can’t work for software development,” Schwaber said. “The agile/SCRUM model encourages teamwork, collaboration and producing an actual working product in a shorter amount of time.”
According to Glyzweski, the business environment is ready for this type of model, which has also fueled his company’s growth.
“Companies can’t afford to spend three years developing one piece of software,” he said. “They will be passed by.”
Centare has hired 23 full time employees since January. The company plans to hire at least 17 more before the end of the year, which will bring its total to more than 100 employees, more than double where the company was at three years ago.
“That’s significant for us,” Glyzweski said. “We’ve really tried to stick to our model of hiring full-time salaried employees to get the work done.”
That’s somewhat unique in today’s technology space, he said.
The company also opened physical office space in Chicago and Madison, places where the company has always had a presence.
By the end of 2012, Centare’s revenue is projected to grow to almost 300 percent more than where it was at the start of the Great Recession five years ago.
“Our goal is to sustain this level of growth,” Glyzweski said. “Having this new space allows us to control our environment and our growth in a way that allows us to effectively be an asset for our clients. We’re focused on developing and fostering relationships. We’re not just looking for additional revenue. Our focus is to provide the services and the skills our clients are looking for that will help them become better businesses.” n
