Business Weekly - Cambridge, UK

Judge researcher Hannah Dent’s investigation showed that of last year’s Deloitte & Touche Technology Fast 50, a total of 56 per cent did not make it this year.

So how did those that did make it overcome the challenge? The Judge-Deloitte study says: “The environment that technology firms operate in is permeated with change. For firms to make effective choices in such an environment, both strategy and the decision making process must come to terms with non-static opportunities.

“The environment of change is here to stay and in order to sustain growth firms must accept and exploit change rather than be overwhelmed by it.

“According to the Wharton School, ‘Understanding the evolving competitive environment and its future has never been more important. The quality of the management of these issues will differentiate winners from losers and define long term success in the industry.‘

“The challenge for management is to invest in talent and capabilities to generate sustainable growth in a rapidly evolving and therefore challenging world.

“This requires an understanding of what causes new technology firms to grow and the internal and external factors affecting growth.”

The Judge-Deloitte research was based on interviews with the CEOs of eight of this year’s Eastern Region’s Fast 50 firms. Whilst each firm is obviously unique, common processes can be observed that can be of value to aspiring businesses.

The study finds that the knock-on effects of the highly publicised ‘tech shake out’ on the firms interviewed was mixed and dependent on the size of the clients. With regards to the ability of companies to raise finance, unlike the funding famine of a few years ago, the money seems to be out there, it’s just a question of tapping into it.

Nearly all of the companies interviewed felt that they had been constrained by the shortage of suitably qualified people due to the fact that such employees are in high demand in this growth industry. The study looks at how exactly these and other issues have been addressed.

Predictions made about the near future of the broad technology sector include the world of customers consolidating, therefore forcing firms to address sales and marketing areas in order to strategically target larger firms.

A lesson to technology entrepreneurs from interviewees was the need to balance the creative needs of the business with the pressures to deliver both the product and financial outputs that are part of being a successful company.

The findings were explored by a panel of technology experts, including BT Brightstar’s Harry Berry and representatives from ARM and nCipher at Deloitte & Touche’s ‘Exploiting Technology’ seminar on Tuesday at Hinxton Hall, Cambridge.