Taking On A Giant

What would give a small systems integrator the nerve to try to gain the confidence of a corporate giant? Why did it risk getting laughed out the door or not even getting a meeting? A combination of factors helped in the process; but mostly persistence, patience, and personnel broke through barriers.

ANSTEC Technologies, Inc. (ATI) is a 30-employee systems integrator and consulting services provider with locations in Somerset, NJ and McLean, VA. It was founded in 1995 by Satyendra (Shri) Shrivastava, president and CEO. Annual sales have grown from $770 thousand in 1996 to more than $6 million in 1998. One of the factors contributing to this near-800% growth is ANSTEC's entry into the Fortune 100 world.

You would think that a Fortune 100 company would have all the people resources it needs. So, why would the company have to go outside to find these people? Bill Matlack, vice president and general manager, stressed, "A lot of companies you deal with have their strength in software development, but not at the system architecture level or the turnkey system solution level. When it comes to program management, life-cycle systems development and support, or systems architecture design and definition, there's not a lot of strength out there. That's our niche."

How To Break The Fortune 100 Barrier
Matlack had previously worked for Computer Sciences Corporation and had a wealth of connections in the systems architecture field. Matlack was familiar with the benefits and obstacles of working with large contracts.

"It takes perseverance to reach the technical people," said Matlack. "We try to find out who the CIO or CTO (chief technology officer) is for the area of the corporation we are interested in," said Matlack. "They will try to push you off to their procurement division. Then you have to fight through the issues of whether you have a master service agreement with them."

Matlack continued, "Major corporations have a master service agreement with selected vendors. The vendors, especially on the technical side, provide technical service and support. When the large corporation needs a consultant in a specific area of expertise, it sends a request for proposals (RFP) to its approved vendor list. Those people respond, and they are the ones who have the opportunity for business with that corporation. The hard part is getting on the approved vendor list and getting a master service agreement. It's a matter of differentiating yourself from the competitors on the list."

"Typically, we don't have a master service agreement because they are very hard to come by. So, we have to convince the purchasing people through the technical people. The technical people have an interest that is significantly different from other company needs. That need merits an exception to the standard vendor list."

Finding a way into the prospective client's threshold is just the beginning. Just because you have an appointment with a decision maker, it doesn't mean you'll leave with a contract. Matlack added, "Once we get to meet with the CIO or CTO, we describe our overall services. Typically, the client is already using outside consultants to some extent. So, we can often leverage ourselves into a corporation through consulting work."

Getting a large client to trust a small integrator isn't easy. The decision maker takes a risk whenever a contract is signed. If the service provider doesn't adequately deliver the services outlined in the contract, it can look bad for the decision maker. There's a saying in the business, "No one ever got fired for hiring IBM."

Jim Meola, vice president, ATI, Washington, D.C. operations, recalls, "ANSTEC undertook a small study effort for Prudential Investments in August 1996. At the completion of the study, Prudential contracted for ATI's assistance in implementing a large-scale workflow and imaging application. It turned out to be ATI's cornerstone project. This contract grew from a $45,000 fixed-price task to a $9 million-plus award-winning project in two years. Microsoft's Bill Gates presented Prudential Investments CIO Marian Lucia with an award for the best MS Windows application within its industry."

Matlack added, "With Prudential, we started off with two people, part of an existing project, and we grew that to upwards of 40 people, through building confidence in our capabilities. We also had to deliver what we promised."

Another example of a consulting contract that grew was with Merrill Lynch. Matlack said, "At Merrill Lynch, we started with a consulting contract - a fixed-price contract. We were asked to assess the environment, define document or ‘as is' processes, find a target vision, and then develop an architecture that could be implemented in support of the requirements. From that, we ended up getting another contract to implement a document management suite for one of Merrill Lynch's operational groups. We parlayed that into about three other turnkey system business projects with Merrill Lynch."

Technical Experience Provides Leverage To Make Sale
Personnel is really what makes the company, in ANSTEC's case. Though it is a young company, Jim Meola feels that the people it has hired represent a much more mature picture. Bill Matlack addressed the issue of talent. "The prospective client has an understanding before we walk in. We will have briefed them on the resumes of the available people. An understanding of those people is what gets you in the door. Then, it's a matter of being able to communicate your ideas in response to their requirements. The client has an understanding of how the ideas should be implemented, and if you're both on the same wavelength, that's great. Then, if you have additional ideas and concepts that they haven't considered, it's that much better. From that type of conversation, you begin to evolve confidence in the client that you can do the work. From that point on, it's a matter of getting under contract to do the work."

Systems Architects Are More Than Just Programmers
"Providing a consistent level of talent at the senior level becomes more difficult as you grow," warned Matlack. "Demand for senior-level talent is so high, that you're competing constantly. You can find programmers easily; but, if you're looking for senior systems architects, that's another story. You need to know how to write code if you want to become a senior systems architect. Many people don't make the jump from programmer to architect. That's where the leverage is."

Typically, ANSTEC systems architects start out as computer systems programmers before joining the company, according to Matlack. They gain experience in all facets of software design and become familiar with a wide variety of technologies. Examples are COM (component object model) and D-COM (distributed component object model) from Microsoft; and CORBA from OMG (Object Management Group). They don't get that in school. They only learn fundamentals there. Future systems architects need time and experience in solving a business problem. They gain knowledge of the various aspects involved in solving a business problem, and it's not just developing software. It's understanding the products that are out there and the tools that are required to develop solutions - and making sure they all integrate properly. It takes about 10 to 12 years to get to that level. They get that experience at firms like Computer Sciences Corporation and Lockheed Martin, said Matlack. "A natural training ground is a large systems integration firm."

"ATI," said VP Jim Meola, "combines technologies by integrating ‘best of breed' products into its infrastructure framework. An example is integrating the Plexus Floware product, using a wrapper to the infrastructure." It takes a systems architect to do that. Meola added, "A wrapper is used to summarize the fact that what you're doing is writing an interface from one application software item to another application software item. The wrapper is just that term used to signify that you're designing an interface to allow different pieces of software to talk to each other."

Persistence Without Pushiness
After the first meeting with a client, typically nothing has been sold yet. Matlack said, "It's only an introduction, an opportunity for the client to think about where to use you. The client will look for something small, something that won't pose too much risk. It's easy to give a contract to a larger company like Arthur Anderson, because it's safe. It's not as safe to say, ‘I have this small, private organization that I think can do the job' and give them a substantial piece of business."

Matlack said that clients usually don't say no at the first meeting; they just say they don't have a need at the time. So, in the months that follow, you have to find out if they are doing anything different. "The issue is to find some common ground and build on that. Let them get to know you and what it is you do. Try to find a way to build a relationship. Then find a small job you can succeed at. Then, once you succeed, you build a base. The key is success, though." Matlack pointed out that one of the reasons ANSTEC continues to succeed is because now it has Fortune 100 clients that provide good references.

A systems integrator has to know how much it can handle, though. ANSTEC recently decided not to go after a large State of New York contract. The opportunity came up quickly, and ANSTEC hadn't marketed it extensively. There were 10 significant vendors pursuing the contract. ANSTEC's proposal resources were already tapped in another sales cycle. Matlack advised, "You may take on something too big or have conflicting obligations. You want to take on something you can handle."