How Vis.align Keeps Reinventing Itself

Vis.align was founded as a technology-distribution house, but later morphed into an infrastructure integrator. During the past several years, as product sales cooled, the company shifted focus again, to building managed-services and help-desk outsourcing to complement its application-development business. "We made the decision to get out of the product business, and it was difficult," Horrocks says. "We had to cut off our right arm, but it eventually allowed us to grow."

Without that right arm, Vis.align's revenue fell,more than 30 percent in 2001,but Horrocks remained confident in the new approach, which blended expertise in networking, infrastructure and software with savvy business consulting for clients undergoing restructuring or mergers. Horrocks' team worked diligently to construct consulting methodologies that revolved around everything from clients' IT infrastructures to the behavioral patterns of the customers' top-performing employees.

The result was nothing less than revolutionary. Now the company goes to market with organizational effectiveness solutions. "Our business is helping enterprises and midmarket customers find ways to reduce expenses and improve their levels of service and cost structures," Horrocks says.

The new model is working. For the past two years, Vis.align has renewed all of its managed-services contracts. After several transitions, Vis.align is using the lessons it learned to win business. Not bad for a 14-year-old.

Vis.align was No. 428 on the VARBusiness 500, a ranking of the largest North American solution providers.