The timing could
not have been better. In 1987, Dana Zahka
formed a new company just as the Information Age was shifting
into higher gear. Businesses of all sizes were quickly expanding
young computer systems into full grown, enterprise-wide networks.
Select Inc. grew steadily during this period. Our strategy
was simple. Become each client’s most reliable technology
partner. Our client portfolio became more diversified as
we added new kinds of companies to the financial services,
healthcare and high–tech industries that anchor New
England’s economy.
By the turn
of the century IT infrastructures were not just fulfilling
a business-support role. Most had in some form or another
become the business. Financial services firms in particular
were starting to look at technology as an essential medium
for enabling customer-facing service which soon became a
competitive advantage. They also needed it to solve more
sales and operational challenges as the cost burden of depending
heavily on technology became clear.
This started to come through in new kinds of requests from
our clients. Business Continuance, for example, became a
key strategic focus for us and still is, especially since
9/11. A single hour of downtime in a brokerage system can
cost more than $6,000,000 depending on the size of the firm.
We found ourselves planning redundancies and disaster recovery
solutions into infrastructures as a response to a serious
business challenge.
As this side of
our business grew, it began to shape itself as a discrete
part of our offering. Recognizing its potential, we looked
outside to acquire an elite group of infrastructure experts
to complement our Select-grown strategists and succeeded with
the acquisition of the Aztec group in 2001. With this team
in place, we started developing a comprehensive menu of business-critical
infrastructure strategic services. At this point Select was
still one company.
A year later we decided it would be better to divide ourselves
into two: The Select Product Group continues to provide
best-in-class hardware solutions and works hand-in-hand
with StrategIT - our new infrastructure, business-critical
consultancy.
