Joanne Taylor, CEO of Provista Software International, recognized the benefits of cloud technology long before it became popular. “I read recently that there were 800 federal data centers that were going to move to the cloud,” she said. “We see more and more of this happening at all government levels. So one of the ways it affects our clients, obviously, is it's driving them to think outside of the box. Our products are already cloud-enabled. We anticipated this, and now we're there.”
Cloud technology can also reduce costs because maintenance, upgrades and day-to-day operations are handled by the hosting company. That makes it a particularly attractive option for agencies that are forced to cut spending. “They need to be leaner and smarter,” explains Taylor, “and that is really influencing industry decisions right now.”
Provista specializes in public safety asset management. Taylor explained, “We've introduced a suite of products we call ‘PR*VIDE’ to address the challenge of managing evidence, assets and inventory. We’re focused on two products. PR*VIDE manages assets for first responders: police, sheriffs, firefighters, marshals, paramedics or any of our domestic war fighters. PR*VIDE EVIDENCE manages evidence, and we all know how important that is. If something goes wrong with chain of custody or if evidence is missing, it can mean the difference between winning and losing a trial.”
Both of these public safety products help government agencies to cut costs, so it’s no surprise that their popularity is rising steadily. “These agencies have vast amounts of assets that they have to manage, ranging from bullets and bulletproof vests and vehicles to horse trailers and aircraft,” she said. “Our product helps them manage the assets, which extends the life of the assets. If you can extend the life of the assets, obviously you get better use of your investments. And if you can better use your investments, you will put more feet on the street.”
Provista is also an IBM Premier Business Partner. “One of the advantages of this relationship is that we have access to their labs, their technologies, their experts and their software, and that really gives us a competitive advantage and allows us to stay ahead of the technology curve,” Taylor said.
While helping their clients reduce costs, Provista has also had to watch its own spending in order to weather the economic downturn. But Taylor sees a silver lining. “Maybe it's a positive because by learning how to run leaner ourselves, we can bring that knowledge into the products we develop. I started the company in 1985, so we've certainly seen both ups and downs in the past,” she said. Taylor also believes that the need to save money has led business and government to become more creative. “It's driving governments to seek cost effective alternatives rather than continuing to do business as usual, so it's making people think a little bit outside of the box and find smarter solutions,” she said.
www.provista.com
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