JULY 2014
H
business elite canada
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as personally rewarding by giving a regular day’s pay to
Grayconians for each work day spent volunteering in
the community.
Approximately 15 per cent of clients are not-for-
profits and charities. Graycon donations and gifts-in-
kind currently amount to $1.8-million. Good turns and
good returns to increase Grayconian happiness and cli-
ent satisfaction are kept in a fine balance. This balance
is maintained largely owing to a levelheaded approach
that emphasizes the human element of IT consulta-
tion and determining specific client needs over merely
technical expertise that may not be catered to what
will best serve a particular client.
“Lets be honest, what our clients want—be it an in-
vestment bank, an oil company, a car dealer—is to fo-
cus on their business. So if they could get the job done
with HB pencils, they would. IT needs to enable busi-
nesses and enable their business goals. I find a lot of
IT companies show up talking about technology as if
it mattered, but it doesn’t matter as more and more
IT, in and of itself, becomes a means to an end. It’s be-
coming more and more of a commodity. What matters
is how you deliver the Lego blocks, so to speak, in a
ruthlessly efficient way, and let businesses get back to
selling more cars, extracting more oil, and protecting
and enabling their business.”
According to Gray, the bottom line when it comes to
what clients need is the difference between the smart-
est tech expert in the room and the one who can com-
municate the business value of a solution or service
in an enthusiastic and positive way that demonstrates
the customized benefit to businesses. Consequently
Gray says he is in the business of not just IT, but IT con-
sultancy that is selling smart people’s time and effort
to allow businesses to simply focus on their business
goals. Gray indicated that Cisco Systems, has been a
particularly loyal partner, but there are many others, as
well. Graycon’s longest client has been with them for
22 years, and there are some people that have been
with the company for almost two decades!
“This speaks to karma and Grayconian happiness.
It’s about running a balanced business, and a balanced
scorecard that ensures the bottom line is not only met,
but exceeded for everyone here,” said Gray.