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 It's hard to believe that
Alicomp is celebrating its fifteenth anniversary. Who would have thought back in 1987 that fifteen years later we would have successfully serviced over two hundred clients, gone from a 3.5 MIPS,
20 Gigabyte environment to what is today just over a 1,000 MIPS, 7,000 Gigabyte environment. Fifteen years ago there were many more companies providing Outsourced Technology Solutions than there are today
and three out of every four that existed back in 1987 are gone. We have survived. Not only have we survived, but each and every year since 1987 Alicomp has enjoyed double digit growth in revenues and
operating income. Who would have thought Alicomp would have earned the right to provide services to the most demanding organizations that one can imagine: institutions
that require system up time of 99.999% each and every day of the year? Who would have thought that Alicomp would have competed successfully for business even our largest competitors desperately sought?
The answer is no one would have thought it except, perhaps, the farsighted Alicomp management and staff who all along
knew that it had the "right stuff" to make Alicomp a viable and successful business.
In my opinion, it's no accident that we achieved the above results. Consider that both myself and Lorraine Drake, our
Executive Vice President, have had long and multifaceted corporate careers; careers that have given us unique insights necessary to operate a successful service business. I started
out as an internal auditor, working for Blue Cross of New York and then moved on to Mobil Oil for a short stint. I wound up on Amalgamated Life Insurance Company's door step in
December of 1972 as an internal auditor and by 1981 worked my way up to become the Chief Financial Officer of the company. In 1986 the Board of Directors instructed the Senior
Executives of the Amalgamated Life Insurance Company to find ways to diversify our products and services. I knew we had a strong MIS division, and along with Lorraine Drake, who
managed MIS in 1987, commenced creating an organization that would not only support the needs of our parent company, but could also sell services to outside clients. Alicomp was
incorporated as a separate business unit on May 21, 1987, and the rest, as they say is history.
If I had to decide on what our most important success factor has been, it would be that we, the executives and staff
members of Alicomp, really care about our customers. Couple that with the support of Amalgamated Life Insurance Company and the other Amalgamated affiliates, wise
business decisions along the way, and a good sense of what the marketplace needs and you have the formula for our success.
Furthermore, Lorraine and I are uniquely qualified to put ourselves in the user's shoes (having both been users at one
time). Lorraine managed the Amalgamated Life Insurance Company MIS Department for many years, and I had a two year stint managing that department in the early nineties.
Add that to the fact that Lorraine and I take personal interest in each and every opportunity and are involved in every aspect of the sale and provision of services. It then becomes
somewhat clearer as to why Alicomp has been so successful.
As we enter the beginning of the new millennium, the need for Alicomp services has grown. We have helped many of our
clients get through critical Year 2000 issues that faced them while at the same time providing new and different services, many of which our clients find extremely helpful. As a result,
we expect another record year this year and beyond.
I eagerly look forward to writing about Alicomp another fifteen years from now.
akurek@alicomp.com
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 Customer care is a primary source of Alicomp’s success in keeping our present clients and in attracting new ones. Some of our newest clients came to
Alicomp in search of an alternative vendor because they were not satisfied with the level of services that they were receiving. Others, in exploring outsourcing, saw the benefits and then
turned to Alicomp to manage their mainframe data center requirements.
Because of the highly competitive field of outsourcing, we at Alicomp continuously assess and reassess our
Customer Relationship Management process with clients and we have a passion to maintain the three most important components of making clients happy and keeping them so:
Service, Service, Service!
There are two levels of teams necessary in quality customer care. The first is developing highly experienced
and highly dedicated teams who work with our clients. Those teams include technical specialists, help desk staff and client service personnel. With those teams in place,
as a vital component of our infrastructure, we can acquaint ourselves with all aspects of a client’s culture which includes their business priorities, IT objectives and
practice requirements. With all factors being considered, Alicomp then aligns itself with the client’s culture so that we function as an integral part of their organization, not as an outsider.
Art Kurek and I listen to our clients’ needs and do whatever is necessary to be of assistance. On two
occasions I recently sat in on an interim basis when a client’s CIO had major health emergencies, each covering a period of several months. As one client told
me: “Alicomp does more than ‘talk the talk’; Alicomp ‘walks the walk’ for its clients”. Alicomp’s dedication and expertise, in helping its clients in this competitive,
ever-changing climate, are fundamentals of our service orientation.
By listening every day to our clients, Alicomp serves them!
By responding every day, we uphold our commitments!
If you are thinking about reassessing your present IT working environment and would like to discuss it, I would
be happy to chat with you.
public@alicomp.com
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