We are inundated with acronyms today. From government agencies to the latest format for high-definition video discs, everyone seems to be speaking and writing in the new shorthand.

.NET (called simply “dot net”) is one of these new, relatively speaking, acronyms. It is a platform or framework conceived and built by Microsoft. It runs on the more recent versions of Microsoft’s operating systems (such as Microsoft XP or Windows Server 2003).

To understand .NET, it may be helpful to think of a .NET application in terms of layers, starting at the bottom:

• An operating system such as Windows XP or Windows Server 2003.
• The .NET framework, which runs on/with the operating system.
• The actual application (such as MS Outlook).

Within the world of business, we generally look at growth as a good thing. This thinking goes back much further than the recent past, as evidenced by the business acumen of Alexander III (often called Alexander the Great). Not being content to conduct the business of his day (which amounted to a series of hostile takeovers) within the area near Greece, Alexander continued down into Africa as well as traveling as far east as India. However the growth of his business empire was not sustainable in the long term and the corporation began to break apart shortly after his death.

More recently, during the dotcom years of the late 1990s, companies expanded at remarkable rates. As an example, we have the creation of 650,000 new jobs in the US within the internet economy in 1999. Then, midway through 2000 everything changed. December 2000 alone saw more than 10,000 layoffs in this sector of the economy. Many of these layoffs were entire companies collapsing under the weight of unrealistic expectations.

At the same time many internet companies were racing down the highway to incredible growth; Omnitech was born. Initially, we had 7 people participating in the business either as owners or employees.

Our approach to growth has been decidedly old-school: we only add people to the payroll when we generate the revenue to pay them. Of course, this meant that while companies like Commerce One had staffed up to thousands of employees they couldn’t keep busy, Omnitech was slowly adding employees who stayed busy from the first day they came in the door.

Developing the company in this way has allowed us to be selective in our employment process, hiring those individuals who are highly qualified to provide the solutions which our clients need. In addition, we ensure that we add those employees to the Omnitech team who strongly desire to work here.

In short, since we have never focused on reaching a certain size or even expanding as quickly as perhaps we could, we have been able to put our effort into ensuring that we meet our clients’ ever-changing needs. Growth within Omnitech, when it does occur, is a byproduct of diligent endeavor and excellent client support.

It is sometimes difficult to remember that every organization, whether a newspaper, a state government, or a a school, exists only because of people: people who work for the organization and people who are served by the organization.

This principle is true for Omnitech as well. We are who we are today because of people: our employees and our clients.

When Omnitech was incorporated back in November of 1998, the world of online technology was approaching an apex. People with good (and sometimes not so good) ideas were being chased by venture capitalists with briefcases full of cash. New technology companies seemed to sprout from cracks in the concrete at business parks everywhere.

We began without whiz-bang ideas, venture capital or even a cool sock puppet to help out. Instead, Omnitech began with a handful of people who were good at what we did and who had determined that combining efforts as members of a single team would allow for every one of us to be more effective, efficient and, ultimately, more successful. We started with people who knew how to meet our clients’ business needs.

In the beginning, our employees (most of whom had been independent software developers) brought their clients with them. Once again, we didn’t have many clients, but those we had trusted us to take care of them – and we did.

Since those days, we have grown to about 40 employees. Our client base has expanded several times over the last 9 years. Though much of our business is based in the regional market, we now have clients around the nation and in several countries overseas. Regardless of where on the map our clients may be, we continue to bring them the best technology solutions for their needs.

When you have a medical need, you visit the doctor. When you have a business need which would benefit from a custom software solution, we’d like you to visit us. We are in the technology business: the business of using technology to meet the needs of people like you.