Events: Top 100 | Channel Elite Awards | Event Calendar  

Computer Dealer News, November 18, 2005, Vol. 21, No. 17
The president of Evron Computer Systems tries to be modest when asked how his employees would describe him. “I hope they would say I’m thoughtful about what we are as a company and where we’re going,” said Larry Noble.
The road to success for Evron has relied heavily on his sense of the industry.
In 1983, the Markham, Ont. company started as a systems integrator, supplying application software and network infrastructure.
“We’re now a provider of financial systems solutions for small and mid-sized businesses,” he said, “and we also offer the network infrastructure to support those solutions.”
Not long after the birth of Evron, Noble, along with his wife Rhona, who handles the administrative end of the business, learned the importance of strategic partnerships.
“We’ve tried to focus on building alliances with organizations we consider to be leaders in the industry both to better ourselves and be able to provide reliable solutions to our clients,” he said.
Some of Evron’s principal partners include Microsoft, IBM, and Sage Software.
The relationship with suppliers is also a key component to good business, according to Noble. As a member of Tech Data’s Tech Select program, Evron has access to a network of business partners across Canada, enabling it to provide countrywide support to clients, he said.
For now, Noble is content with his existing partnerships. “You can only have an intense relationship with a limited number of organizations,” he said.
Mainly serving the manufacturing, distribution and service sectors, 90 per cent of Evron’s clients are companies that have up to $100 million in sales.
The mandate continues to be understanding clients and developing solutions to meet their needs, explained Noble, which is why his strategic partnerships are with organizations that are going to be around a long time.
“We’ve made conscious decisions on which product lines we’re going to work with. It’s a question of us developing an expertise with the product and developing relationships with manufacturers, so when clients have problems we’re in a better position to help them.”

Software development
A growing area has been in the company’s own ESP field services software business which is gaining sales in the U.S.
A Windows-based application, ESP was originally developed to manage Evron’s services department.
Although it can run stand- alone, typically it integrates into a back office financial applications like suites from Sage Software, Epicor and Platinum.
“The software is based on .NET Web services and we use XML as the standard when sending transactions,” said Noble.
Evron’s revenue in 2004 was in the $5 million range. Noble expects it to be similar this year, but with a different income mix.
“In the last five years, sales of hardware went down from 40 to 20 per cent and software services has been going in the opposite direction.”
Currently, Evron’s business is about 50 per cent in services, 30 per cent software and 20 per cent hardware.
“We find it easier to sell (ESP services) in the U.S. because there are more opportunities and larger organizations, so the return on investment becomes more dramatic,” said Noble.
He admits the biggest mistakes he has made involve judging people.
“We’ve become less naive. People who are top performers are that right away and those who aren’t, never become.”
The long term goal for Evron, said Noble, is in extending development of the field service software. Sign up for our Computer Dealer News Newsletter
<< Back

Related Articles
NexInnovations could not take next step The builder IBM's software lab turns 40

© 2010 ITworldcanada.com - All rights reserved.