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| February 7, 2005 | ||
| Corning Data Services has the solution | ||
| by Casey Dickinson, Journal Staff | ||
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| 'CORNING,
NY -- Corning Data Services, Inc. (CDS) has the solution for business
management. The 25-year-old tech company sells software and hardware
used to manage all aspects of business. Corning Data's products are
known in technical and business circles as Enterprise Resource Planning
(ERP) systems.
"We sell, install, and implement world-class Enterprise Resource Planning systems," explains Scott Peterson, president and chief executive officer of Corning Data Services. CDS has customers in 14 Northeastern states, including the state governments of New York and Pennsylvania. The two state governments are its largest hardware customers. Peterson describes the company's core market as "Maine to Michigan to Maryland." The company has 75 employees and approximately $20 million in annual revenues. Peterson's invocation of "world class" is no technical hype; his products come from world giants of the tech business. CDS product lines include hardware from IBM and software from Oracle, Sweden-based IFS,and eight other manufacturers. Corning Data Services is continually evaluating new products, says Peterson. It added enterprise products from IFS in July. CDS has been an IBM business partner since 1984. CDS has three lines of business: Oracle sales and service, IFS sales and service, and IBM hardware, says Peterson. The combination allows the company to control the installation and implementation of enterprise systems. "We give them one throat to choke," jokes Peterson. Oracle is most popular ERP software in North America. IFS is popular with specific markets, including defense contractors, says Peterson. Prices for the software vary depending on customer needs Corning Data's target market is businesses with annual revenues below $200 million. Peterson and his wife Gayle started the company in 1980 when IBM mainframes were the standard for business computing. Over the past quarter-century, the couple has seen the computing power of a room-sized mainframe condensed into today's portable devices. Initially CDS served the Southern Tier market by making custom software. As computing became more a fixture of the business, the company began selling software written by others. CDS expanded its business to implementation and customization as it added new software products, says Peterson. The company became an IBM premier business partner in 1995. IBM has several levels of dealer designations indicating the relationship with the computer-maker. Dealers can apply for the first two levels of IBM partnership while the highest level "Premier" designation is by "invitation only," according to IBM. Explaining CDS' business to people unfamiliar with enterprise software is sometimes difficult, says Peterson. The integrated ERP-software packages allow companies to manage financials, logistics, manufacturing, supply chain, and customer relations. The broad coverage of the enterprise software gives rise to the shorthand term "solutions" to describe how the systems solve a broad range of management difficulties. CDS is the nation's second largest seller of Oracle's EnterpriseOne ERP system. Recruiting qualified technical personnel is one of the problems in the computer business, says Peterson. CDS maintains a full-time recruiter to add new personnel. The company's business is closely tied to the economy because technical spending is often first on the chopping block when the economy heads south. Generating business leads is also a challenge for the company. Over the past two years, CDS has been able to grow its annual revenue by more than $5 million. "The ERP business is in a constant state of flux," says Peterson. Changing with the market has kept CDS successful over the past 25 years, he adds. The company keeps its overhead low in order to stay ready for market changes. Most of its work is done at customer locations throughout its 14-state footprint. The company maintains a small executive office in Johnson City. "Excessive overhead can paralyze a company," says Peterson. ERP customers typically spend nine to 18 months selecting and implementing systems. The ERP systems will run for many years before the customer begins thinking about another system, he explains. Additional challenges, he adds, include the fierce competition in the ERP business and commoditization of computer hardware. Corning Data Services is adding server-consolidation products to its lineup this year. The product, known as "VMware" allows companies to multiply the capabilities of their computer servers. "VMware allows a single server to operate as if were a complete server farm," says Peterson. Contact Dickinson at cdickinson@cnybj.com CEO PROFILE
COMPANY FACTS
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