Company Name: Azavar Technologies
Executive Name: Madhu Thota
Title: Technical director
Product/Service: Web strategy and application development
Company Size: $1 million to $3 million
Web Site: http://www.azavar.com

ITA: In about 10 words, what problem does Azavar Technologies solve for your clients?
Madhu Thota: With the right technologies, we help our clients to crystallize and implement their Web strategy.

ITA: What motivated you to join Azavar Technologies?
MT: I started out as a tunnel-visioned techie before moving on to other roles. Here was an opportunity to build a bleeding-edge team, put in practice tools that ensure quality and on-time product delivery and be part of a management team that shares this vision.

ITA: How does Azavar Technologies differentiate from its competitors?
MT: While we have a healthy respect for industry processes, we believe their value is in helping deliver faster, cheaper and better solutions. We take a non-dogmatic approach and combine cutting-edge technologies with fit-for-purpose, result-oriented processes.

This is a key differentiator for our customers. They are often hesitant to embrace newer technologies and have typically been poorly served by traditional consulting practices.

ITA: What is Azavar’s primary source of income?
MT: Project-based consulting and Web solution delivery.

ITA: How has your business sector evolved over the last five years?
MT: Irrespective of size, almost all our clients now expect a richer and unique Web presence driven by analytics. They have a much lower tolerance for cost overages. On the technology side, we now have tools that help make this happen at a lower cost.

We just rolled out a virtualized platform that has greatly enhanced our development and maintenance capabilities while various software tools allow for richer and faster product development.

ITA: How is Azavar Technologies funded?
MT: Our revenue is 100 percent project-based income. We have been consistently profitable over the past 5 years.

ITA: What are the biggest challenges you face as an Illinois-based IT company?
MT: Local talent in design, development and management. We continue to play second fiddle to the west cost in attracting quality talent from other Midwestern states.

ITA: What are your thoughts in general related to the Illinois IT community?
MT: Coming from San Francisco area, one aspect stands out. In Illinois, we tend to be more reactive. The focus tends to be on solving existing business challenges that our clients bring to us as opposed to proactively identifying opportunities and working on innovative solutions.

This probably has something to do with not enough technologists in decision-making positions who are receptive to technology-driven solutions.

ITA: In Web site design, what trends are you recommending now for your clients to keep up with the changes of the Internet?
MT: First, your site is your key marketing tool. Invest in it. Second, it has lifespan of a couple years. Keep it fresh. Third, take charge with a content management system included in every site. We train our clients to maintain the site content and avoid needless maintenance contracts with vendors.

ITA: What trends do you see heading into 2009 that are relevant to the industry and your company?
MT: Our small and mid-sized clients will continue to move ahead with adoption of new technologies that provide tangible productivity gains and competitive advantages. It will be a challenge to see the same with our larger clients.