Thursday, June 20, 2002

Doing Just Fine Thanks
Recession certainly was not a problem for CPI Solutions

By Roger Harris

In a year when the recession wracked the technology economy and survival was all some high-tech companies could manage, CPI Solutions did more than merely survive.

It thrived.

Despite the tech slump, the computer network services, integration and consulting company saw revenues jump 81 percent for the fiscal year ended March 31.

Chief Executive Officer Arnie Friedman looks for another strong year in fiscal 2003, with revenues projected to grow to $7.2 million from $4.7 million. The Westlake Village company plans to add eight employees this year to its staff of 20 to handle the increased work.

Driving this year's growth is demand for integrated voice and video over Internet technology, an emerging business communications tool that some analysts expect could be a $17-billion-a-year market by 2006.

"Cisco (Systems Inc.) calls it AVVID, architecture for voice video and integrated data," Friedman said. "It truly integrates all voice processing communications, all video, all data onto a single infrastructure."

Business communications integration has gotten a lot of lip service over the last couple of years, but 2002 looks like the year the technology will mature, Friedman said.

"That's where the growth is going to be," he said. "All of our clients' ears are perked up. They're ready for it."

Using one Internet Protocol network to handle all voice, video and data traffic can reduce a company's network costs and improve the efficiency of its communications systems, according to Cisco. Businesses now must use multiple lines to handle the same tasks.

Demand for network security products and migration to the Microsoft Windows 2003 Active Directory service also will be growth markets this year, Friedman said.

CPI, which is certified by the major networking companies such as Microsoft, Cisco and Citrix, thrived in a down economy by doing what politicians are so often blasted for doing. CPI reinvented itself.

The process began in the mid-1990s when co-owners Arnie and Sherri Friedman saw how the Internet was changing the way businesses could buy computer equipment.

At that time, CPI largely was a hardware and software reseller.

With the rise of the Internet, many businesses looked to cut out the middleman by going online to buy computer products directly from manufacturers. The Friedmans saw the handwriting on the wall and transformed CPI into a company that analyzes a client's computer needs, then designs, installs and supports a computer network that meets those needs.

"We shifted to a truly value-added model where we lead with our professional services and consulting," said Friedman, who previously was an executive with CMC, a Santa Barbara computer networking company that later was bought by Rockwell International.