Burton White and Jeff Gallimore.
Burton White, one of the founders of business and technology consulting firm Excella, feels like it's 2002 all over again when it comes to the current talent pool.
"We started the company in 2002, right after 9/11, and a lot of people said, 'You're crazy! What are you doing starting a company now?' And our view at the time was while it might be hard on the client side to find clients, we feel like we're probably going to have access to a lot of great talent. Back then we took advantage of that and we hired a bunch of great people who were really the launching pad for our firm. So in a similar way now, if anything we see this a potential opportunity."
And with the breadth of services the firm offers, solution strategy, project management, business analysis and application development among them, the opportunities are everywhere. "The engagements vary pretty significantly," White says, adding financial success metrics are secondary to his primary concern: consultant and client satisfaction. "We've made a point of really focusing on a core philosophy: Take care of your clients; take care of your people; the rest takes care of itself."
