| International IT Firm Gives Local Service |
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| Sogeti, an international IT consulting firm, uses offices around the country and world to give local service. |
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Source: DaytonDailyNews () |
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By
Staff Writer (DaytonDailyNews.com)
Tuesday, December 02, 2008 |
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| VERSAILLES — When Midmark Inc., one of the nation's largest suppliers of medical examination equipment, decided to make a splash on the Internet with a new Web site, the company found global help right in its own backyard — Sogeti information technology consultants. |
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| With its U.S. headquarters in Centerville and branch offices around the world, Sogeti dispatched a local team of consultants to help Midmark develop a Web presence that best captured its mission and its products using the latest Microsoft software. |
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Overnight, Midmark has found its Google search engine positioning improved by the site's new architecture and its use of more search-friendly keywords, said John Huelsman, Midmark's vice president of information technology. |
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| "I'm very pleased with how it looks and its navigation features," he said. |
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| Sogeti's philosophy of "local touch — global reach" not only reduces travel costs for its clients but enables its staff to better understand the local needs of clients. |
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| A subsidiary of the Paris-based Capgemini organization, one of the world's leading providers of consulting, technology and outsourcing services, Sogeti USA has 25 branch offices from New York to Seattle while its international division, Sogeti Global, has 300 offices worldwide. |
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"Our consultants live here. They pay the same taxes. Their kids go to the same schools," said Laura McGlone, an account executive at Sogeti USA in Centerville. "It's the only way to assure you receive local accountability." |
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| Sogeti USA executive vice president Mike Pleiman said its branch office approach makes it easier to recruit top-flight IT consultants. "We get people who are tired of leaving on an airplane on Sunday and returning home on a Friday night," he said. "Here you may put in long hours, but you return home at the end of the day." |
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| Sogeti USA has more than doubled its revenues since 2002, from $150 million to nearly $350 million, said chief executive Navin Goel. |
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| Goel and Pleiman decided to move Sogeti's U.S. headquarters from New York City to Centerville in late 2001. "Because we deliver so many of our services at our clients' sites and our branch offices, why do we need an expensive place like New York for our national headquarters?" Pleiman said. |
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| They don't regret the move. "The Dayton area has got good people, has a great work ethic and we can drive right into our parking lot," Pleiman said. |
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| Source: DaytonDailyNews () |
