Way back in computer Stone Age of 1988, before he formed Symbiosis International, G. Umakanth was an IT consultant/one-person business. But when he bid on a particularly large contract, the potential client was wary. The solution? Umakanth told them, “I am a single-person company right now, but if you don’t trust me … that I can deliver this, then take me as a consultant—see if I can deliver on my promises.” His client agreed, and “two months later, they said that … I was ready to do business with [as a company].”

Thus Symbiosis, which provides custom software solutions for companies throughout Michigan and the United States, was born. Today, with 20 employees and plans to hire one or two more in 2007, Symbiosis has also expanded its customer base. Umakanth said that whereas 20 months ago the overwhelming majority of their business was in Michigan—and a good portion of that in the Lansing area—today half of their business comes from out of state—from as far away as Arizona and California.

Servicing these companies requires Symbiosis to keep employees on location for the duration of the project, typically six to 12 months. Ironically, it was because Umakanth himself had led this high-tech nomadic lifestyle when first coming to the United States in 1984 that he decided to open his own company. But how did he come to choose the Lansing area?

The answered can be summed up in three words: beautiful blue skies. Well, not quite. Quality of life—along with a healthy dose of family in the area—is what brought him here, and he’s never regretted his decision. And, with his office in Okemos recently doubling in size to accommodate his growing business, Symbiosis International is here to stay.

A quick tour of the lobby, replete with letters of recognition, awards, and testimonials, makes it clear that Symbiosis is a well-respected part of the mid-Michigan IT community. Clients big and small, from IBM, the Michigan DNR, to Auto-Owners Insurance, sing their praises. “We have been pleased with Symbiosis International’s performance,” wrote Robert Buchanan from Auto-Owners. “They are easy to work with, communicate well, and have been very accommodating. Their technical experience and extensive research and development skills have been very valuable .…”

Asked to describe one of their custom software solutions, Umakanth said that a service in growing demand is the setting up of “data warehouses” for large companies. A data warehouse is a “collection of data from various departments in a company,” he explained. “Their operational data are consolidated in a historical database. It allows people to analyze what happened in the past years and years.” And, whereas companies formerly bought bigger and bigger hard drives for individual workstations, today’s data warehouse centralizes the terabytes of information and lets everyone with access have equal, and instantaneous, access to the data.

What does it take to work at Symbiosis? “The ability to learn new skills very fast, because the technology grows so fast that we have to be on top of it,” Umakanth said. “So what we look for is not just experience in a particular technology; we want people who can learn things very fast. We provide a lot of training, so their career jumps up very fast.” Additionally, “We hire for the long term. And that’s a commitment that we give not just to our employees, but also to the clients. It’s always a long-term commitment. This is not a hire-and-fire company.”

And where do these people come from? “We rely on Michigan State University,” he said. “We usually take people as interns … and they try out and we try out, and we find the people we want. And if they do not get a job with Google or Microsoft, then they come here.” The majority of the people have a master’s degree in either engineering or computer science. But what they have after coming to work at Symbiosis is equally important: the opportunity to succeed. Umakanth explained: “We encourage our own employees to be entrepreneurs. Within the company, they can pursue their own interests. The company will provide a safety net, and share the risks and the rewards with the employees. We call it ‘intrapreneurship.’”

Umakanth summed up by saying that his company goes “for the very challenging projects, against very big companies, and have won many bids against big companies.” How? “We are technology independent, meaning that we have to provide a … business solution to the client.”

And they do IT well very.

Author: Jack Schaberg
Photography: Terri Shaver