In July I wrote about what makes a great strategic partner: customer focused, exceptionally talented, and with happy, loyal customers. Now let me introduce you to one of Waident’s trusted partners, Woodmark Technologies, Inc.
When I hear a client complain that they are having trouble extracting useful information from their disparate data sources, I immediately think of Woodmark. These clients are experiencing pain with their data — so I call in the data doctor. Well, actually Woodmark’s tagline is “Making Your Business Systems Smarter,” but you get the idea. They automate manual processes, connect different systems to share data, and help companies analyze critical business information.
Let me give you an example. One of our law firm clients needed to track a database of cases, with multiple users requiring different reports about where the cases stood at any point in time. The mess of Excel spreadsheets was becoming unmanageable and developing reports was painfully manual, time consuming to produce and prone to errors. Woodmark worked with this firm to restructure their data into a more robust format so it was cleaner and easier to query. Next they developed the reports the client needed to make smarter, more timely business decisions.
What I think is unique about Woodmark is that they’re that perfect sized organization for most of my clients — big enough to have the expertise my clients need, but still small enough to provide the kind of personalized attention that clients want. Not only do they develop custom applications for companies who want to automate business processes, but they also implement a business intelligence tool called “QlikView,” which allows clients to twist and turn the data in real time to discover information hidden in their data.
When Woodmark co-founder Greg Woodard looks to the future, he sees more and more companies using technology to give them a business advantage. They are using technology to serve up useful information not only to internal users, but also to their external users like customers and investors. Increasingly Woodmark is developing secure customer portals that integrate internal data sources to allow these external users to interact with their information.
If you and your data are in a painful place, check out Woodmark. I can make the introduction, or talk to Greg Woodard — and tell him John sent you.
