Speaker: Chris McKee, CEO, Venturity Financial Partners
What business challenge(s) was your company looking to solve prior to using Fluid IT?
Chris McKee: You know when I consider the long time challenge that we had that we really looked to Fluid IT to help us with is... I mean we've been a longtime customer of Fluid It. So we actually got on board early days because we didn't really want to build the technology department and we wanted to be able to draw on the expertise of a larger organization. That was really the thing that Fluid IT brought to bear is it kept us from having to try and build that in- house. And even if we built it in-house I don't know that we have gotten access to the really broad technology knowledge and skills that the Fluid IT team has. So 20 years later we're still using them for that same reason. They still have a breadth of knowledge and expertise that continues to support our growth as we grew from five people in those days to 50 people in the U.S. And 30 overseas. So it's been a great relationship.
How has that situation changed or improved with Fluid IT?
Chris McKee: What's really changed about our situation over the last 20 years since we first engaged Fluid IT we've grown significantly. We've grown from five people to 50 people in the US and 80, excuse me, 30 people overseas. And in that time, Fluid IT has really been able to support us throughout. Because what they really bring is expertise that keeps us from having to try and hire an internal IT department that would... no matter how many people we hired, be more limited in scope than what Fluid IT can bring to the table with their expertise and flexibility.
Can you encapsulate what Fluid IT has meant to your company?
Chris McKee: In a nutshell, what Fluid IT has meant to Venturity is really being able to support us through our whole life- cycle as we've grown from a few people to a lot. And, as we've grown from what in those days was probably half a million dollars of revenue to almost $10 million today. We just haven't really had to worry or think about our IT support. They've been there throughout and being able to grow with us and support us as we've continued to grow. I can't see any point at which I'd ever really need an in-house IT department and will probably rely on them even more as we continue to grow.
