When the tech bubble burst, Herndon, Va.’s iDirect Technologies found itself in a daunting position: the company had no revenue, no customers, and it was burning cash faster than a sailor on leave. In 2001, a new management team, led by president and CEO John Kealey, came in to salvage the company from the technology scrap heap.

“We inherited a company that had raised a lot of money and made a lot of interesting business decisions that weren’t going to pan out,” Kealey said. “Those decisions left the company in a very difficult financial position. The good news is we inherited a company with a great technology and a strong market opportunity.”

The company’s satellite-based broadband access equipment, first developed in 1994, was finally coming of age. To take advantage of the opportunity the technology created, Kealey and his management team worked hard to establish a new culture, instill financial discipline, and develop a marketing strategy that would differentiate it from the competition.

Five years later, the results speak for themselves. From 2000 to 2004, iDirect recorded an astounding 14,538% leap in revenue, and in 2005, the Washington Business Journal listed it as the third fastest growing company in the metropolitan DC area. “It’s amazing to step back and see what this organization has accomplished in five years,” Kealey said. “We’ve always believed satellite transport offered inherent benefits ideal for certain customers, and it was up to us to overcome the technical hurdles and deliver them.”

Cooperative relationships
Founded in 1994, iDirect Technologies designs, develops, and markets satellite-based broadband access solutions targeted at the enterprise, government, carrier, and educational sectors that have the need for fast, flexible, and geographically dispersed two-way Internet/intranet access.

Service providers and network operators use iDirect’s satellite modems, routers, and compression servers to offer satellite-based IP services and to optimize bandwidth usage. The small company has come a long way since the tech bubble burst, and it is now a $100 million organization with regional offices in Europe, Asia, and Latin America.

Critical in iDirect’s success has been its strategy to develop cooperative relationships with its customers. The majority of the company’s customer base consists of network operators that are selling a service to end-users. IDirect uses a dedicated sales team that generates leads to help those network operators find end users of their own. “Why do we do that?” Kealey asked. “It’s partly selfish. If we land a customer for a network operator client, they have to purchase our equipment. But what it really does is help us differentiate ourselves from the competition.”

iDirect’s top three competitors not only sell equipment, they also act as network operators and sell service. Those companies often compete with their own customers for end users, Kealey explained, creating a conflict of interests. “When a company partners with us, they know they’ll never compete with us for customers. We develop a cooperative relationship that’s beneficial to each party. The more profitable we make our customers, the stronger our relationship with them will be, the more product they’ll buy from us, and the more difficult it will be for our competitors to get in there.”

As a result of the cooperative strategy, iDirect is no longer the little fish in a big pond. According to Kealey, the company is currently as big as its largest competitors and growing at a much higher percentage rate. “They’ve got the same market opportunity we do,” he said, “but we’re taking better advantage of it.”

Full speed ahead
A customer-driven culture implemented by Kealey and his leadership team strengthens iDirect’s cooperative relationships. The company operates under the unique mantra “Everyone is in sales” and asks employees at all levels to recognize how their jobs impact the customer experience.

“Not everyone has a quota, but everyone interacts with the customer in some way,” the chief executive said. “From reception to engineering to logistics, everyone in this company does something that will ultimately impact the customer. If we all work together to create a positive customer experience, the more likely that customer is to do business with us in the future.”

Speed is also an essential element of the company culture, Kealey noted. iDirect’s customer base of network operators typically makes long-term platform decisions when they purchase new products. If iDirect isn’t quick to jump on opportunities, potential clients may disappear for a number of years.

“We make sure our people understand growth provides us with benefits such as nicer office space, better tools and infrastructure, bonuses, salary increases, and career opportunities,” Kealey said. “All of those benefits are driven by the fact we’re growing the company at a fast pace. The only way we’ll do that is if every time we touch the customer, we are absolutely committed to making that a successful interaction. Then we earn the right to get more business, which gives us the opportunity to invest back in our company and our people.”

People power
In November, iDirect began the next phase in its rapid evolution when it was acquired by Vision Technologies Systems, the US branch of $2.95 billion Singapore Technologies Engineering.

“Singapore Technologies is a large supplier to the Department of Defense,” Kealey said. “We have a strong relationship with the DoD, but it’s so incredibly large, it’s difficult for a company our size to get its arms around the opportunities. Singapore Technologies provides us with more insights into how we approach the DoD market, and we think it will pay big dividends.”

As iDirect continues its rapid growth, Kealey said it would continue to depend on its 175 employees to overcome the obstacles. “I look at everything we’ve done, and I see it’s our people that have been the key to our success. Who builds the relationships with the customers? Our people do. Who researches and develops the technology? Our people do. Everything we’ve achieved is a byproduct of our people, and they will drive the success of this company in the future.”