It has become something of a tradition for me that, each year around this time, I find myself reviewing how InfoEd did over the last twelve months. I use this time as an opportunity for more aggressive introspection.
You see, InfoEd Global sets its goals high and aggressively. Our plans extend for years into the future. Yet each day, as the market throws us curves and unexpected “pleasures,” we’re forced to make hundreds of smaller decisions; doing what we feel is best for both company and clients alike, with the expectation that these decisions successfully support our greater plans.
The best of plans can quickly get bogged down in the details. It is therefore fitting to use this time of reflection to step back, “see the forest for the trees,” and gauge what we have done well and what we need to improve upon. What I see helps me to define, and redefine, the corporate short and long term goals.
Well, based on what I saw this year, we still intend on taking over the world – we’ll keep that goal!
First, I am proud to say that we well exceeded last year’s goals in every metric by leaps and bounds. InfoEd Global not only grew, but grew in excess of our stated 2011 plan.
Sales in 2011 were beyond our targets and as a result, we’ve hired additional staff to manage the additional service and consulting requirements that come with the additional installations. In these financially turbulent times, InfoEd Global stands apart, bringing new jobs into the economies in which we operate. In Albany, NY, where we’re headquartered, InfoEd Global moved up to become the third largest software development company in the region.
Speaking of new hires, with so many coming onboard in 2011, one sometimes forgets that the metal of a company’s workforce is not gauged by the number of names on the payroll. Rather, it is the benefit that results from the work of long-term, committed employees, and the value that their knowledge and experience brings to our clients. Retention, therefore, is very important to the company and to me personally. Though the InfoEd Global team increased by nearly 30% in 2011, an equal percent of our team has been with the company for over 5 years – half of those have been here more than 10 years!
In 2011, InfoEd Global moved its corporate headquarters (we needed someplace to put all those new hires), and we successful launched our new InfoEd Global brand. That change came about as a result of the growth we have experienced around the world, and the success of our move into these international markets. I think we’ll keep that goal too!
More importantly for you, our clients old and new, 2011 has seen the genesis of a new era in InfoEd product development. ENABLE, which you will continue to hear more about, has already had a tremendous impact on the methodology and results for the select projects that we’re prototyping, and shortly, delivering.
Sure, we made some mis-steps alone the way, and not every decision was a good one. But all and all, as I take-in the whole of what we’ve accomplished, I cannot help but feel that it has been a really great year. We have made tremendous progress where many companies have not been so blessed. As I look at our accomplishments, I cannot help but be thankful and proud. And by all indications, 2102 will be even more successful that this year. I am more certain than ever before that we chose the right path and the right people to continue to move us successfully forward.
Of course, none of it would happen without you – our clients. So, most of all, I want to take this time to wish you all a great holiday, and thank everyone for walking this path with us, and being a part of the InfoEd Global Family.
