Maverick Technologies, a Columbia, IL-based systems integrator, has carved out a successful channel niche by combining IT services with industrial automation expertise.

The unique combination recently resulted in Maverick being named systems integrator company of the year by research firm Frost & Sullivan.

Dasari Siva Kali, a Frost & Sullivan analyst, said that the researcher recognized Maverick because “the company has helped its customers optimize their business processes by providing them with fully integrated solutions from plant floor to boardroom. Maverick consistently wins over the competition because of its excellent project execution capabilities, and superior domain knowledge.”

Maverick, founded in 1999, has pumped up sales to $80 million annually, a more than five-fold since 2003, by coupling IT services and industrial automation to address its customers’ key issues. “We offer our clients not only the ability to work in plant floor automation, but also to connect that to business solutions,” said Brad Wise, Maverick vice president of consulting.

Wise added that Maverick tries to take a unique approach to solving client problems. “Our typical engagement is to consult. We tie business solutions with automation solutions based on customer needs. Where we differentiate ourselves from a system integration perspective is we can offer business solutions tied into manufacturing and enterprise resource planning.”

Maverick’s client list includes enterprise companies such as Boeing, Dow, Dupont, Enterprise Rent-A-Car, Kraft, Quaker and Nestle. The company’s targeted verticals span a range of industries from chemical, food, beverage and manufacturing to oil, gas and energy.

“Our vertical focus can change from year-to-year,” Wise explained. “We are diversified across a number of verticals. Right now, oil and gas is a major market for us,” he says.

Last year, Maverick struck an alliance with Yokogawa, a Japanese company selling industrial automation and design, to jointly provide main automation and control for Chevron’s global refineries. The work calls for the modernization of eight global Chevron refineries.

“We formed an alliance that was selected as the best-in-class solutions partner from an engineering perspective,” Wise said, adding the agreement should be worth “hundreds of millions of dollars over a period of time."

Maverick's biggest challenge now is navigating the volatile economic climate. While the demand for IT goods and services often is based on new technology, economic conditions dictate the nature of capital investment for new projects. “With the pending economic downturn, we hope that manufacturers continue with capital investment to do projects,” Wise said. “Our solutions offer ROI that can make them self-funding.”

The company plans to expand its international presence in the near future. Currently, it conducts about 20 percent of its business internationally, mostly through strategic partnerships.

Maverick's award from Frost & Sullivan was one of several recognizing leading companies that encourage growth in a particular sector, spot emerging trends in the market, offer a unique approach to solving business problems or create new technologies to spark vertical industry growth.

TAGS: vertical, international, enterprise, IT, industrial automation

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