Neudesic CEO Says Collaborative Culture Fuels Success
The solution provider grew 372 percent from 2004 to 2006. Neudesic's clients these days range from J.P. Morgan Chase to cyberhomes.com.
Rohani recently spoke to CRN about how this $15.7-million VAR has been able to grow so quickly while retaining top talent in a fickle marketplace.
CRN: Why do you think Neudesic has been so successful?
Rohani: We have the best talent. Price is no object for us. Our guys have written 22 books, are regular speakers at events—they are known people. Typically, the consulting model is to hire college grads, pay them $45,000 and bill them out at $100 an hour. But that model has become commoditized. Ours is an inverted pyramid: Most are top guys. A few are offshore; we have a presence in India. That model has worked for us. Once we get the job done, a client might need enhancement or features added; we can hand that sort of thing off to our India practice, Neudesic Tech India.
CRN: Is it hard to retain top talent?
Rohani: Braintrust is part of our company. If you have an idea, we can become your VC. We've funded two in particular. The first, PriceSpider.com, is a comparison shopping site. Our India practice was also the idea of one of our engineers. In India, operations have 40 percent turnover generally. There is virtually zero percent in ours.
CRN: Do you pay more?
Rohani: We do pay more, because we can. We are more agile and can leverage what we have where we need it.
CRN: What's the culture like?
Rohani: We have an extremely collaborative culture. If someone has a question [and] posts an e-mail about it, he'll get 50 answers. What I love about our team is commitment to the profession. People aren't afraid to say, "I can learn" here.
CRN: What can small solution providers do to withstand the test of time?
Rohani: I have seen system integrators come and go. Very few were around more than 10 years ago. The reason is that many grow to 50 to 100 employees and then become victims of the economic business cycle. They haven't expanded outside their local region. Massive amounts of people are needed nationwide. We have 11 offices. So when one [local] economy goes down, another region picks it up.