There’s something to be said about a small business that has survived a quarter century in an industry as turbulent as IT.
That is just what WW Works, a Burlington, ON-based IT provider has done.
The business, started by its founder and CTO Wade Weppler, has carved a niche for itself. In the 25 years it has been around, it has established itself in primarily the long-term care and retirement home industries, among others.
With a staff of just 15, it also tends to focus on smaller and medium-sized clients.
“We understand the challenges of looking after the residents of a long-term care facility,” said Steve Eccles, the company’s vice president of sales, who has been with WW Works for just over three years. “Nurses and support staff just want the tech to work so they can focus on providing care.”
Part of this process is making the technology as simple to use as possible. In a setting like long-term care facility, it’s not just the staff, but also patients that need access, Eccles said. The company also prides itself on being vendor and device agnostic.
“Standards work well in those environments,” Eccles said.
The company has also seen its share of challenges, namely attracting and retaining talent in a highly competitive market. Like other IT providers, it’s also seen its client base of smaller businesses embrace cloud, albeit “in bits and pieces,” according to Eccles.
He also describes that transitioning to managed services has been one of the best moves for the company, as it has allowed the discussion to focus more on strategy than about reacting to issues.
Looking forward, WW Works wants to expand to work with wineries in the Niagara region.
What may seem like a drastic change in verticals is not all that strange to Eccles.
“A lot of companies want the same things,” Eccles said. “You have to be able to talk about technology in a language that they understand and put it in a way that makes it less frightening.”
