Closing Thoughts: Mark Shirman, president and CEO, GlassHouse Technologies
Earlier this month, Gov. Deval Patrick signed the Massachusetts Identity Theft Prevention bill into law. While the law puts heavy requirements on businesses with regard to the protection of customers' personal information, GlassHouse Technologies in Framingham develops software systems that help prevent the kind of large-scale personal data theft that was suffered by millions of TJX Cos. customers earlier this year. Mark Shirman is the founder of GlassHouse.
In March, GlassHouse acquired MBI and its sister company MBI Turkey, a data storage service company with a large presence in the Middle East and Europe. And only last month, GlassHouse acquired RapidApp, a Chicago-based server virtualization consulting company. Here, Shirman talks about the company's recent expansion and plans for the future.
What does GlassHouse Technologies do?
We are a services company that helps companies manage their data infrastructure. "Transom" is a unique business model that integrates software tools we've developed with services, and delivers a predictable result to our consumers. That relates to a reduction of costs, increase in service levels and decrease in risk.
We do this for companies on a global basis. Our service might include helping a company with backup environments, storage or compliance.
How do you explain that to people who don't work in IT?
What I basically say is, "Did you read about TJ Maxx in the paper? We make sure that doesn't happen. Did you read about Sarbanes Oxley? We make sure companies stay compliant."
We focus on making sure data is not lost. If there's a Katrina, if there's another 9/11, we make sure companies can recover their data.
How should the acquisitions of MBI and RapidApp help GlassHouse?
On a couple different levels. It gives us the ability to expand geographically. MBI has a very strong presence in the Middle East. That gave us access to those markets. RapidApp is in Chicago, so that gave us access. It's also somewhat synergistic to services we already offer. MBI extends our service line and extends our geographic reach with a company culture that was very similar to ours.
Services companies are very dependent upon people. When you acquire people, you need to make sure they think about the way they deliver opportunities and systems, make sure they deliver to customers the way you do. It allows you to extend your family relatively seamlessly.
What are Glasshouse's plans for future growth? Are there more acquisitions to come?
It's a combination. Our organic growth tends to be very robust. We'll be acquisitive as opportunities arise. We throw away much more than we close on. It's a combination strategy.
How does a guy with degrees in economics and finance get to run an IT company?
I'm not your typical technology CEO. I'm comfortable with it. Out of graduate school, I started working on projects where I could see information flowing through an organization. I wouldn't call myself a technology wonk, but I am a person who understands services businesses, and that's kind of my area of expertise.
There's a lot of talk about talented, young people leaving Massachusetts for places with a lower cost of living. Has that affected GlassHouse? Has the company had to offer inducements or incentives to recruits?
So far, that's not really the case. We are an international company. We recruit from all over. If people like doing this kind of work, they want to come work at GlassHouse, they get an ownership of the company, and that allows us to recruit people fairly unfettered. A lot is made of how difficult it is to become a lawyer here, or some other profession, when the reality is, it's just crowded. There are a lot of niches here.
This interview was conducted and edited by Matthew L. Brown.
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