Technology – Sales Growth
When the five founders of Summit Data Communications Inc. left Cisco Systems, their initial business plan was to bring to market products that would be worthy successors to those soon to be discontinued by their former employer.
That was five years ago. And, since then, the metrics detailed in that business plan have been met and surpassed.
Summit provides high-performance wireless LAN radio modules and cards for business-critical mobile devices like computers and portable printers. The co-founders and co-owners — Ron Seide, Chris Bolinger, Jim O’Riordan, Jarrod Rafferty and Andy Wilson — knew they had a valuable product, and it didn’t take long to prove.
Within six months of the company’s inception, it saw its first revenue shipment. Also, Summit was profitable in its first year. In the last four years, it has seen two years of growth. And, in those two years, sales increased 569 percent.
Looking at the details, the success can be measured in many ways. Summit’s average monthly unit volume for its line is greater than that of the peak of Cisco’s line and gross margins for the successor line exceed that of the predecessor line.
While the line of products certainly plays a large role in putting Summit on a path to success, the leadership team, led by President Ron Seide, credits its staff for the company’s quick achievements.
Summit started with five employees, and today, it employs an engineering, sales, operations and administrative staff that totals 22 people. Summit knows developing and delivering a great product is important, but you have to back it up with customer service.
When issues of high importance occur, Summit engineers set aside their other priorities in order to address the customer’s problems as quickly as possible. At times, that has meant Summit flying engineers on less than a day’s notice to the customer’s site to diagnose and fix the problem. It’s even meant writing and deploying new software in the field. Summit’s ability to provide such support from its experienced staff is one of the key differentiators that have set it apart in the market.
Summit’s employees and products have garnered the company 60 active clients around the world.
How to reach: Summit Data Communications Inc., (330) 434-7929 or www.summitdatacom.com
