KTL Group is no stranger to OBJ’s Fastest-Growing Companies list, making the cut for the fifth time in six years.
“The market for us right now couldn’t be better,” says CEO Matthew Harding. “That’s ironic because the government is consolidating and there’s doom and gloom in the marketplace and on the news. I think for the larger firms like the IBMs of the world, they have to lay off head count. But for the smaller firms such as ours, there’s a huge opportunity to sneak up the middle and grab some of that business.”
© File photo KTL Group CEO Matthew Harding.
Mr. Harding says the industry struggles with many of the same problems it has had for the past 25 years, but the solutions are different.
“There’s a lot of consolidation now. In the old days, you bought a piece of hardware, you installed some software on it and life was good,” he says. “The actual tools I have in my tool chest to work with now are different.
“We’re diversifying from being a technology-oriented company to being a solutions-oriented company. We’re transforming our customers’ IT environments to adapt to today’s challenges,” says Mr. Harding.
“Some of that involves technology, but some of that involves business process re-engineering or architecture or business analysis. It’s not enough just to provide one thing anymore.”
It’s a 17-year-old company, but Mr. Harding says KTL is constantly innovating, adapting and upgrading the skill sets of employees, based on what it hears that its customers want.
KTL Group works with all levels of government as well as private sector industries throughout Ontario.
“We’re specifically targeting business transformation and migration type customers – (those) who are looking, at a large enterprise level, to transform the way they do business,” says Mr. Harding.
So what exactly is the company doing right?
“A lot of people are content to say, ‘We’ll sell you something, but if it works or not, that’s your problem.’ But we’re very, very outcome-focused,” says Mr. Harding.
“We go to customers and say, ‘Here’s what you should expect to see and, by the way, if you don’t then you don’t pay or you get your money back.’ It’s very clear if there’s no outcome, there’s no funding for anybody.”
FOUNDED: 1997
LOCAL HEAD COUNT: 25
MAJOR MARKETS: Government, aerospace
PRODUCT/SERVICE: IT solutions and management consulting
THREE-YEAR REVENUE GROWTH: 99.77%
Alexia Naidoo 