The Thought

Working at Accenture and implementing ERP systems for utilities we learned the latest technology to leverage the internet. We could make the systems available from anywhere. The core technologies were complex, expensive and not widely used by companies outside of the Fortune 500.

Back in 1999 companies were formed to offer hosting for SAP and Peoplesoft. Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) was the term for outsourcing staff with technology. BPO combined offshore data centers with agency staffing. What if we could offer advanced technology to smaller companies and do it from America? We were the first in the SMB market and had no competition. We wanted to swim in blue water away from the large firms and developed a business plan for our new company

The Concept

At Accenture you work with the best and brightest people. Accenture has virtually unlimited internal resources. Going out on our own, we knew that we could not be all things to all people. So, our plan included creating a Network of experts in the technology, software and industry to provide an excellent customer experience.

Turning the Internet into a Competitive Advantage.

• Focus on small to mid-sized businesses.
• The Internet is our wide area network.
• A network of business professionals deliver the service.

As businesspeople and computer geeks, we could not come up with a creative name, so I-Business Network was founded.

Core Culture

It was the late 90’s and ERP systems were being implemented like crazy before the promised Armageddon of Y2K would hit. Corporate culture was to work long hours and sacrifice for the good of the company. Although our projects were on-time and under budget, the expectation was to work after hours and some weekends. However, we wanted to work to live, and did not want to live to work, we founded a company with work life balance.

We are technology oriented, and know that most businesses are sales or operations focused. Technology provides great tools and is one of our core competencies. However, we know the customer is always the primary focus. Around the customer are people, process, technology and data. Our people are professional and believe that process drives improvement, with technology as the tool. This culture enables our team to even the playing field for the smaller company to compete with the large enterprise.

The Evolution

Although we planned to be just a “hosting” company, software companies serving our market did not have programs for us. So we began reselling software and created cloud programs with Sage, SAP and Advanced Software! There was no concept of Software as a Service, so we created monthly payment programs and “indefinite financing agreements.” We pioneered the use of virtualization” and were the first to offer multi-tenancy.

With the rise of cyber attacks and the ever increasing cost of cyber security it became evident that our lifestyle company would need to re-invent itself again as a consulting company on our core competencies of Digital Transformation, Cloud, SMB ERP and optimizing them through continuous improvement methodologies.. As Client Advocates, we support and champion for our client’s vision, mission and project objectives.