Organic growth

Organic growth

The biggest challenge for Mindshare Technology has been taking on only as much business as it can handle by offering custom software for companies.

Mindshare Technology in Tampa recently developed a technology solution for an expansion of a childcare system. It also does work for major banks, Ford Motor Co. and the Department of Defense.

Greg Povolny, 41, a former IBM executive who started Mindshare in 2002, envisioned a broad ranges of companies. "We don't focus on one industry, but we do offer custom solutions," Povolny says.

Mindshare has been successful in offering software as a service, or SAAS, an industry acronym. The company can operate the software on its Web site. About half its business is large-scale commercial software and half is customized. It also has a technology solutions arm.

The company tries to offer clients options, so instead of selling a big enterprise solution, its software plugs into a company's existing infrastructure - a faster and sometimes less expensive option.

Originally from Long Island, Povolny studied computer science at Marist College then worked for IBM. He came to Tampa to start Technology Investments, later known as CommerceQuest. That company set out to do plug-ins to IBM middleware, or large-transaction processes such as databases and messaging products.

Mindshare was self-funded by Povolny. After about a year of R&D, one of its first customers was Ford. Mindshare implemented an automated inventory-response system, which matched the activity on the Ford Web site with supply. The system made automatic phone calls, making sure prospects knew where vehicles were.

Povolny admits that when he started Mindshare, it was a good time to leave CommerceQuest, but not the best time to begin a new company in the U.S. economic cycle. His plan was to start a company that would work in and around the middleware space.

Mindshare has also focused on data analytics, developing ways to analyze and organize information for clients, and that's become a core focus. Mindshare does a lot of work in sales process improvement, for example in the automotive and credit unions industries.

Since the economy has softened, Mindshare has had to adapt doing more work for community-based care organizations and public agencies.

One of its most recent projects was for the Florida Department of Children and Families. The new software and technology solution helped the department track children, holding the entire chain of command accountable. These agencies require different kinds of solutions than private companies.

"That's where we are competing now," Povolny says. "It could be our biggest growth area in the next 12 months."

The biggest CEO lesson Povolny and his 12-person staff has learned has been how to control spending around infrastructure costs, keeping people, hardware and software at the same pace as income.

"We are growing in a natural fashion, growing by design," Povolny says. "People want to grow it faster, with cash or staff infusion." But that's caused problems for other companies, including CommerceQuest.

"If there's a massive project, sometimes our infrastructure doesn't match," Povolny says. "We don't have an in-house help desk."

Another difference for Mindshare is experience in building software systems Most of the staff has been in the business for at least 10 years.

- Dave Szymanski