Prasanna Amitabh
Zenius Corporation is a HUBZone-certified, minority-owned small disadvantaged business, with over 20 years of expertise developing and providing professional IT services. Zenius advocates for data transparency, and offers services to modernize and optimize legacy systems, poised to support evolving legislation.
We recently caught up with Zenius’ Chief Executive Officer, Prasanna Amitabh, to talk about Zenius’ history and founding, and reflect on its future:
- Why did you start Zenius Corporation? Where did you see the demand going that inspired you to branch out on your own?
I worked with big corporations for most of my career. I enjoyed my work, and was fortunate to work on some remarkable programs like the world’s largest online education portal for the US Army (GoArmyEd), and a grants management system for Department of Education (G5). These were very fulfilling, and challenging, but I always felt that there were ways to offer faster and more efficient services to our clients. There were too many bureaucratic hurdles. I decided to branch out with some like-minded partners to bring big company expertise with the agility and cost-effectiveness of a small business.
- What areas of business are you focusing on? Why those areas/what’s your expertise?
We are focused our areas of expertise where we believe there is a big unmet demand: management tools for grants and finances, as well as IT assessment and optimization.
For example, the federal government awards more than $800 billion in grants directly to individuals and organizations, every year. This is a tremendous administrative burden. The with disconnected systems present opportunities for fraud and abuse because there’s no good way to track spending. Our software is designed to be more efficient and put more money back in the hands of grantees.
Similarly, we know that 80 percent of federal IT spending every year is spent on maintaining legacy systems. We offer a flexible methodology (IT Ecosystem Assessment (ITEA)) that offers a roadmap to address near-term issues and illuminate a path to modernize operating systems over the long term.
- How many people work for Zenius?
Currently, we have more than 20 people working for Zenius, with surge capacity as demand requires. In 2017 we are projecting a growth of at least 300%. Over the years, we have cultivated a vast network of subject matter experts and technical advisors, who are always available to us when we seek advice. As a HUBZone small business, we can provide our partners with access to government set-asides.
- What’s the next big thing for Zenius?
We also believe that future of technology lies in mobility and the expanding internet of things. We do what we do because we have capability and the expertise to build digital solutions that can make the world a better place. That is my vision, along with my partners, and the vision we have as a company.
