I've been an IT professional most of my life, working inside big companies like Merrill Lynch and PricewaterhouseCoopers. About eleven years ago, I decided to set up Ingenious with a friend. We started small, but very soon got bigger, and it's gone from there really.
There's a base of about 40 companies that we work with on a regular or on-going basis, they range in size from one-person operations to companies with over 200 employees. The one and only thing they all have in common is that they are all small or medium-sized businesses, and need technology help. They range from architects to PR companies.
IT consultants have a reputation for talking impenetrable technobable, confusing and even intimidating their customers. We're not like that. Of course we're a bit geeky (we're in IT, after all), but we speak plain English – and most importantly, we recognise the wider business issues. Customers need a trusted advisor they can turn to, who provides good value for money. We fulfil that need, which is why we're still alive and growing. What's the problem with computers? It's pretty simple. People are a bit scared by computers and made to feel stupid when actually it's the computers that are pedantic and often illogical. This is something I've learned the hard way. Many times!