The high performance world of information technology shifts about as fast as megabits can download and upload. Your company needs to constantly look for network speed and storage advantages and ways to maximize data and voice systems.
Several mid-Michigan IT firms offer a wide range of technological solutions that can increase efficiency and drive revenue growth for your company.
NuWave Technology Partners
NuWave Technology Partners, founded in 2005, has been built on the premise its name implies. The partner to numerous Lansing-area businesses is focused on the latest telecommunication solutions, computer networking and website and software development.
We like to push the envelope on technology. I like to say, We like to be bleeding edge to keep our customers leading edge,'' says Chad Paalman managing partner and vice president of business development for NuWave. 'But it's not just about technology. It's also about the people.'
NuWave, which has offices in Lansing, Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids, likes to think of itself as being a vital contributor to each customer's financial success. 'Just like a CPA or an attorney, our goal is to be our client's trusted IT business adviser. Our highly skilled consultants, engineers and technicians provide superior customer service at a time when people are increasingly frustrated by foreign tech support and companies that can talk tech, but fail to understand the more important business side of the equation,' Paalman says.
Much of NuWave's recent growth has come from the healthcare market, which is being 'driven by some pretty amazing incentives for medical service providers to convert their practices to an electronic health record (EHR),' Paalman adds. The government sector has also shown positive signs of growth for the company.
In the residential market, NuWave's home services division provides trouble-shooting and repair for home PCs and wireless networks and even installs and supports home entertainment systems, but clearly the company's focus is on the business sector.
'Technology planning, network design and implementation and support for data and voice systems remain the core of our business. The number one trend in IT is using the Internet as a platform for collaboration, communication and data storage, or cloud computing,' Paalman explains Our understanding of networking, telephony and Web technologies makes us an ideal partner.'
NuWave, which received the 2009 Michigan 50 Companies to Watch Award, has over 50 full-time employees across Michigan and at a recently opened branch office in southwest Florida. The company recently started looking at internships as a means to help fill high-tech positions the company offers.
NuWave executives definitely have an eye toward future growth and are focused on geographic and vertical market opportunities. 'We recently completed the first phase of a significant project for a Fortune 500 company that had us working throughout the Midwest,' Paalman says. 'The next phase of the project will have us doing work overseas. We are exploring other opportunities in expanding international markets that could grow our organization in ways we haven't imagined yet.'
Arialink
Lansing based Arialink has grown to 47 full-time employees since Jason Schreiber founded the IT company back in 1995. The miles and miles of fiber optic cable used for the company's advanced broadband has grown, too. The region's largest independent fiber optic network is used by Arialink's thousands of commercial and residential customers for Internet, telephone and data connectivity services.
'We are a bit different from our competitors in that Arialink provides direct fiber hookup rather than using leased lines from the phone companies. We own our own fiber, which means we can offer service that is about 30 percent faster for about the same price,' says Schreiber, president of Arialink.
In the data transfer game, speed is king, especially with the growing popularity of cloud computing. 'Speed is our greatest competitive advantage,' Schreiber says.
Cloud computing allows companies, through shared resources and software, to compute via the Internet on demand to off-site servers.
'It's time sharing in a way. Small and medium businesses can leverage the economies of scale and save money. However, cloud computing is limited by available bandwidth and a lot of mid-Michigan companies have been unable to take advantage of [cloud computing],' says Schreiber.
Arialink's fiber optic network, which will expand by another 10 miles this fall with completion of a link connecting Williamston to Fowlerville, is broadband with unlimited capacity. We have invested approximately $15 million building out our fiber network. It runs nearly $50,000 a mile to install. But it allows us to provide services with connectivity that is virtually unlimited,' Schreiber adds.
Arialink, a privately held company headquartered in Lansing but with services across the state, provides Internet access, Web hosting services, wide-area networking and telephone services, including Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP).
'VOIP remains a critical element of our business. It's a cloud computing technology that is pervasive and very popular,' Schreiber says.
Schreiber is confident Arialink, with about 90 percent of its business commer cial, is poised for future growth when the economy rebounds in the state.
'The remaking of Michigan's economy is really happening. We are working with groups like Capital Area Michigan Works! and Lansing Community College as the profile of mid-Michigan workers evolves. We have better qualified new hires now. This community is growing in vital ways and we are excited to be a part of it,' Schreiber adds.
Arialink
Jason Schreiber, President
Ray Signs, Vice President of Business Development
Tim Lebel, Vice President of Sales
230 N. Washington Square
Lansing
517-492-1350
www.arialink.com
NuWave Technology Partners
Rick Paalman, President
Chad Paalman, Managing Partner and Vice President of Business Development
6539 Westland Way, Ste. 19
Lansing
517-322-2200
www.nuwavepartners.com
