PointBridge Surges onto IT Consulting Scene
Two-year-old firm is recognized leader in providing Microsoft collaboration, communications consulting services.
PointBridge (www.pointbridge.com), a Chicago-based Microsoft solutions provider and relative newcomer to the consulting scene, has in two short years earned a strong reputation as an industry leader in collaboration and communications consulting. Since 2004, the firm has won multiple awards and honors including:
- Midwest District Partner Excellence Award from Microsoft (June 2006)
- Microsoft’s Worldwide Partner of the Year for Advanced Infrastructure Solutions (2005)
- Microsoft’s Exchange Solution of the Year Globally (2005), and
- Gold Partner for Advanced Infrastructure, Information Worker and Security Solutions from Microsoft (2005).
“Technically brilliant and reliable” is how PointBridge clients characterize the firm and its people. Founded in 2004 by Michael Gersten, Lance Russell and Todd Golden, PointBridge was started to help companies improve performance by leveraging Microsoft technologies to advance and extend the collaborative work environment. PointBridge serves mid-sized companies and multinational corporations including:
Abbott Laboratories
Arthur J. Gallagher & Co.
BJC HealthCare
Brookfield Properties
Centegra Health System
Chicago Tribune
CNA Insurance
Cummins Inc.
Deere & Company
Exelon Enterprises
Federal Signal Corporation
Fidelity National Financial
First Midwest Bank
HSBC
Jim Beam Brands Co.
Kirkland & Ellis
Mittal Steel
Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation, Inc.
Océ-USA
Orbitz
RR Donnelley
Schawk, Inc.
ServiceMaster
Tellabs, Inc.
Trizec Properties
Trustmark Mutual Holding Co.
U.S. Army Southern Command
U.S. Air Force Central Command
USG Corporation
University of Chicago
Wheaton Franciscan Services
Wolters Kluwer
Wolverine Trading
In addition to a strong vibrant relationship with Microsoft, PointBridge nurtures alliances with six other software vendors to ensure it can respond with flexibility to client needs. Along with Microsoft, PointBridge partners include: Quest Software, NetPro, Casahl, SoftChoice, SourceCode Technology, and Symantec.
PointBridge Service Offerings and Methodology
Founded to provide technology solutions that connect people to people, and people to information, PointBridge executives firmly believe that the company’s mission is to improve business performance for its clients. The firm’s portfolio of solution offerings includes Collaboration Strategy, Portals & Content Management, Messaging & Communications and Applications Infrastructure.
Collaboration Strategy
“The right collaboration strategy ultimately enables employees to work more effectively with one another, partners and customers,” says Mike Gersten PointBridge CEO and co-founder. “Real-time collaboration increases employee productivity and drives out costs by minimizing the time and resources required to organize, manage, and secure information.”
According to Gersten, the right collaboration solutions allow employees to work in a collaborative manner at any time and from any location.
Portals & Content Management
“Many organizations are weighed down by a multitude of disconnected communication and collaboration tools,” says Lance Russell, Director of Marketing and Alliances and co-founder. “These companies often face poor customer satisfaction, lost business opportunities, security and compliance risks and increased operational costs.”
In fact, according to Russell, a recent study indicates that the cost of managing document production and sharing is estimated to be as much as 40 percent of total employee costs. He notes that PointBridge’s expertise in developing solutions featuring Microsoft Office 2007 and SharePoint 2007 can reduce operational costs and improve employee productivity.
Messaging & Communications
“Email, instant messaging and real-time collaboration tools enable employees to work better, smarter and faster,” explains Todd Golden, Director of Business Development and co-founder. “Many organizations are seeking to abandon disorganized and disconnected applications that inhibit collaboration. Others are looking to improve the ease of communication within and beyond the enterprise.”
For both, PointBridge has experience helping organizations implement Microsoft-based solutions that improve the quality and speed of communication, enhance organizational agility and accelerate information sharing.
Application Infrastructure
“A company’s ability to communicate and collaborate rests upon the strength of its underlying application infrastructure,” notes Gersten. “At PointBridge, our consultants are experienced in designing and building core Microsoft infrastructure solutions that support our clients’ business applications.”
PointBridge's Microsoft experts are award-winning consultants with proven experience in improving systems performance thereby providing faster access to information, improved security and increased scalability.
PointBridge Methodology
PointBridge bases its delivery methodology on the Microsoft Solutions Framework (MSF) applying proven project management processes and best practices that ensure consistent delivery.
“It’s not just the solution we develop for clients that drives customer satisfaction,” says Russell, “it’s how we deliver the solution to clients; how we document it and train the client’s team. All of these factors contribute to how the solution works and how our clients feel about PointBridge.”
Looking to the Future
In two years, PointBridge has stormed out of the gates to earn market leadership in delivering Microsoft-based solutions to complex workplaces. Going forward, the executive team including Gersten, Russell and Golden; Ethan Matyas, Director of Professional Services; Patty Ravencroft, Director of Human Resources, and Julie Lewis, Director of Finance, will push to attain two goals: continued excellence in client delivery and enhanced opportunities for consulting professionals.
To help achieve those goals and augment the executive team, the firm named a three-person Advisory Board. The Board members are highly acclaimed technology industry experts who bring to PointBridge significant experience in the areas of business development, market trends and operations.
Representing a mix of perspectives including corporate IT and entrepreneurial points of view and Microsoft and strategic partners’ points of view, the three-person board includes: Darko Dejanovic, Senior Vice President & Chief Technology Officer of The Tribune Company and Tribune Publishing; Viresh Bhatia, former CEO and co-founder of InstallShield® Software Corporation, and Geoff Nyheim, Vice President of Microsoft’s Central Region Enterprise business. The Board brings one more dimension of market insight to the PointBridge team.
Moving ahead, the firm plans to leverage its early success and experience in delivering solutions built with Microsoft’s Office 2007, SharePoint 2007, and Exchange 2007 when Microsoft formally launches the tools in coming months. Simultaneously, with the help of its outside Advisory Board, PointBridge will continue to assess market needs and technology advances to understand and bring to clients the solutions they need to continuously improve business performance
About PointBridge, LLC
PointBridge ( www.PointBridge.com ) is an IT consulting firm delivering advanced Microsoft solutions for the most complex business and technology environments. The company's commitment to Microsoft technologies, combined with the experience of its people, has led PointBridge to become one of the fastest growing Microsoft partners in the US Midwest District.