Sarasota company's specialty is Holy Grail for tech consultants

By MICHAEL BRAGA
michael.braga@heraldtribune.com

When Uflex USA closed its Seattle office and consolidated operations in Manatee County earlier this year, it decided not to hire a new information technology manager.

Instead, the 30-employee outfit, which makes and distributes steering and control systems for yachts and other pleasure boats, gave the work to Akuwa Solutions Group, a 3-year-old Sarasota technology consulting firm.
"If we have a problem with our network, they can walk us through it or can fix it remotely," said Jackie Culbreath, strategic projects manager for Uflex. "Sometimes I see the cursor on my computer moving and I'm not doing anything. It's really Big Brother."

Being able to remotely manage computer networks for small- to medium-sized businesses has long been the Holy Grail for technology consulting firms.

A lot of companies say they can do it, but Akuwa really delivers, said James Williamson, co-founder of Method Factory, a Sarasota-based software development business, which has partnered with Akuwa on several projects.

"Information technology is a headache for so many small- to mid-size companies," Williamson said. "It's difficult to get accountability from an inside person, who may not totally understand the technology."

With Akuwa, companies don't need an inside person, Williamson said. They can get better service on an hourly basis at a dramatically reduced cost.

Akuwa manages computer networks for 20 Florida companies and one in California.

The companies range in size from Meyer & Gabbert's five-employee Sarasota office that specializes in demolition and recovery of building materials, to Plantation-based Prudential Florida WCI Realty, a real estate brokerage and property management firm with 3,500 computer users around the state.

But the sweet spot for Akuwa is firms with 15 to 75 employees, said Steve Walter, one of Akuwa's three co-founders. These are the companies that really need to outsource their IT function.

Chuck Hickey, Akuwa's chief technology officer, monitors the computer networks of all these companies from Akuwa's headquarters just east of Interstate 75 near Fruitville Road.

That entails keeping an eye on a map of Florida on his computer screen that bears icons representing each of Akuwa's clients.

If the icons on the map are green, all is well. But if they turn red, Hickey knows that something's wrong and he clicks on the icon to isolate the problem.

A new screen pops up on his computer showing a configuration of the client company's computer network -- its servers, switches, routers, firewalls, desktop computers, and printers.

The piece of equipment that's causing the problem will appear in red. By clicking on the piece of equipment, Hickey can drill down to make a final diagnosis.

It may turn out that a desktop computer is infected by a virus or that a printer needs to be plugged in.

Then, Hickey calls someone at the company to explain how to fix the problem, or he fixes it himself remotely.

"The company doesn't have to wait for a technician to arrive," Hickey said. "The problem can be taken care of in minutes."

Both Hickey and Terry Nelson, Akuwa's managing partner, formerly worked for Zenith Insurance Co., the California-based workers' compensation insurance carrier that bought Sarasota-based Riscorp.

While they were at Zenith, Hickey and Nelson managed a computer system that linked about 40 offices around the world.

"What we did was to take all of what we learned at a large company and applied it to serve smaller companies," Nelson said. "That enables smaller companies to get Fortune 500 service."

Remote monitoring of computer networks for clients, however, is not the only service Akuwa performs.

The partners bill themselves as technology consultants who assist business owners to set up computer networks, buy equipment, select and install software, and establish emergency backup systems.

Most recently Akuwa has been pushing Sprint PCS connection cards, permitting executives to have high-speed Internet access from their laptops, whether they're traveling in a car down I-75 or sitting in a hotel room in Tulsa, Okla.

"This will work anywhere a cellular phone will work," Nelson said.