Armed with his grandfather’s advice, “do something better or do something never been done before,” Greg Christensen is the founder and President of Emergent, an end-to-end IT solutions company. WashingtonExec reached out to Christensen to find a small business prospective on the federal procurement process and the secret to Emergent being named one of Inc. Magazine’s “Fastest Growing businesses” this year.
WashingtonExec: Please tell us a little bit about your background and position at Emergent.
Greg Christensen: Prior to becoming the President and CEO of Emergent, I gained valuable experience in the Federal IT industry soon after graduating from college in 1989. In 1993, I joined Oracle Corporation as a Federal Sales representative and then, moved to positions in sales and management. I ended my tenure with Oracle as a Regional Sales Manager focusing on serving the U.S. Army. From Oracle, I went to TIBCO, leading the creation of their Federal Sales team.
After a successful tenure with TIBCO, I had the opportunity to reconnect with friends and colleagues from Oracle by joining and leading the Federal Sales team at Mythics, Inc. At that time, Mythics was not much more than a start-up. We quickly built the organization into one of Oracle’s largest and most successful resale and consulting organizations serving the Federal, State & Local and Commercial markets throughout the U.S.
While at Mythics, I realized there was a need for a company like the Emergent we have grown to be. Emergent is more than a technology reseller and is a new type of provider that we have coined as a ”Vendor Integrator”. The concept of a Vendor Integrator breaks from the traditional Federal IT resale model where you work to carry as many vendors as you can and are simply a procurement mechanism to help streamline that process.
With Emergent we are looking to bridge the gap so we work to specialize and carry targeted complimentary vendors. Therefore, we assist in not only streamlining the procurement process but, more importantly, helping to integrate, install and manage complex multi-vendor technologies.
WashingtonExec: As a small business, what do you think of the federal procurement process?
Greg Christensen: I wholeheartedly feel that there is a strong need for procurement reform, but the complexities of the procurement process are also some of the significant value propositions of Emergent. We are experts in navigating through this complex process and ensuring that the procurement is completed efficiently with the most competitive pricing possible. Our goal is to save the U.S. taxpayer dollars by delivering cost effective IT solutions that help our customers achieve their missions.
The Emergent management team has over 100 years of combined Federal Procurement experience. We’ve seen just about everything and have a deep understanding of how to get things done in the Federal space.
WashingtonExec: With potential cuts in federal spending, do you Emergent changing its business plan in any way?
Greg Christensen: You will see Emergent focus on solutions that enable our customers to work smarter by leveraging new technologies like open source, cloud and other emerging mobile technologies. This approach allows our customers to be more productive with a lower investment of time and money. In order to support this approach, Emergent has combined these technologies with integrated business unties like Solution Architecture and Consulting to deliver the Vendor Integration services to our clients. This approach has been highly successful with our clients and, in turn, has fueled our own growth.
WashingtonExec: Emergent was on Inc. Magazine’s 500 fastest growing business this year, what do you attribute to your company’s success?
Greg Christensen: It was a great honor being named as one of the Inc 500 fastest growing businesses and it has generated quite a bit of excitement within Emergent. I believe our growth is directly attributed to the amazing people who work at Emergent, who truly are the foundation of our sustained success.
Through our close customer relationships and robust partnerships with our complimentary software, hardware, cloud and cyber security vendor communities, we are helping solve some of the most complex IT challenges worldwide delivering the right level of people, processes and technologies.
WashingtonExec: What is the best piece of advice that you have ever received?
Greg Christensen: My grandfather was a very strong influence in my life. He guided me through tough times and good times until he passed away about 15 years ago. He was a very capable businessman and was well respected by many. I still remember clearly sitting next to him in his living room when I was about 23 or 24 years old and asking him for business advice. The conversation turned specifically to starting my own business. My grandfather told me that I need to either, “do something better or do something that has never been done.” This advice really hit home with me, and it has been the driving force throughout my career.
With the creation of Emergent, I think I’ve taken that advice, but maybe a little differently than my grandfather had intended. The concept of a Vendor Integrator is a new concept, but it is essentially taking both a consulting company and a value added reseller and integrating them into one cohesive company. This approach is a challenge to successfully manage as most value added resellers sub out the majority of their consulting work. While many consulting companies can resell products, they typically don’t focus on demand generation, marketing and sales support as well.
Ultimately, we work with our team to embrace the challenge of being presented by our customer’s biggest challenges and to deliver the best-fit solution to them. With that, we can say, “Problem Solved.”