IT Firms Find Common Launching Pad
Published Jan 24, 2008
David Hickson founded Intellamed in 1986. His company employs 124 people.
You can’t get in the front door without gaining a sense of urgency about Andrew Nelson’s company.
TomorrowNow, the name on the sign, says a lot about The Research Valley firm’s global aspirations. And the momentum is building. In early 2005, TomorrowNow merged with German software giant SAP to develop an information technology business with nearly boundless potential for growth.
“We’ve only got 1 percent of a market estimated to be worth anywhere from $8 billion to $20 billion,” Nelson says. That market is the third-party maintenance and support function that serves corporate software needs. TomorrowNow specializes in PeopleSoft and J.D. Edwards software support.
In the wake of Oracle’s acquisition of those software mainstays, TomorrowNow now has its eye on Oracle business and on providing superior but significantly less-expensive support services.
Nelson has the pedigree of an industry insider. Working first for the Accenture consulting firm and then for PeopleSoft, Nelson founded TomorrowNow in 1998. Seven years later, the company is cresting a wave of new growth with an infusion of capital from SAP and designs on more business. The company also has data to back up its power play. A recent independent survey by Knowledge Infusion revealed 80 percent of J.D. Edwards customers thought they were paying too much for maintenance and support and would consider a third-party provider like TomorrowNow.
“The results of the survey validate what we’ve been hearing from the marketplace,” says Nelson, who plans to continue growing TomorrowNow from Research Valley. It’s an environment, he says, that suits his company and many similar info-tech firms sprouting from the region.
“Every great company starts with the absolute commitment of a small group of people and organizations complemented by strong community support,” Nelson says. “The Research Valley Partnership is the heartbeat for that effort in the Bryan-College Station community.”
David Hickson can attest to that truism. As a recent past chairman of the partnership, Hickson says the strategic advantages offered by like-minded companies working together in a progressive region are invaluable.
Hickson left a Union Carbide job and a 90-minute Chicago commute behind when he returned to Research Valley in 1986 and eventually launched Intellamed.
Now, a 124-employee firm that acquires, maintains and disposes of crucial medical equipment for a market of 10,000 smaller U.S. hospitals, Intellamed has developed online auction platforms and other added-value systems for medical centers with a deep need for such a strategic advantage. Creating a new niche, like TomorrowNow, has Intellamed growing at an annual clip of 25 percent.
Both the company growth and the assets of Research Valley are allowing Hickson to headquarter his company in the Bryan-College Station area, where recruiting highly skilled employees has not been a problem.
“Believe it or not, it’s easy to attract good people to this area,” Hickson says. “Primarily, it’s three things: It’s a great place to raise kids. This area still has a lot of amenities a big city would have because of Texas A&M. And thirdly, we’re not that far from a big city.”
Houston’s Galleria is little more than an hour away, he says, but Research Valley offers an unmatched combination of low cost-of-living and high quality of life.
Story by Gary Perilloux
Photo by Stephen Cherry
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