FINALISTS
Joseph Melookaran, president; Mithra Amaran, executive vice president; David Brown, executive vice president; Raqibul Huq, vice president; Maria Will, vice president, Technology
As president of JMA Information Technology, Joseph Melookaran had a vision of what the company could become in the future. In 1994, JMA was formed as a professional service firm providing public accounting services in the Kansas City area.
During the Y2K problem, Melookaran realized the opportunity in the technology sector and converted the accounting services business to a premier technology solutions firm. JMA was faced with three major obstacles in its early years: the “tech bubble burst,” a decrease in its revenue stream and the loss of their
software provider. During 2000, JMA recognized the necessity to re-engineer the business to meet the needs of their customers and adapt to the changes of the IT sector post Y2K. The re-engineering of the business allowed it to not only survive this tough economic time but to grow and expand the business. Two years later, the company’s survival was threatened again by their largest customer cutting back staffing resources. Given the strong cash flow levels, JMA was able to regroup and diversify its customer base. This taught the company how to adapt, how to be flexible and how to be more resourceful.
JMA, through the help of Melookaran, executive vice presidents David Brown and Mithra Amaran and vice presidents Maria Will and Raqibul Huq, has since built up a framework of certain key factors for excellence such as high customer satisfaction, excellent work performance,
rewards tied to results, values tied to behavior, innovation in service delivery, communication that is simple, direct and honest, and seeing employees as partners.
This framework created an environment of aggressive pursuit for opportunity and innovation in any niche areas in the growth segment of the technology sector. This resulted in a sustained and deliberate transition from consulting and staffing to network security, routing and switching, IT outsourced services, information management, and mobility practice in the later years.
How to Reach: JMA Information Technology, www.jma-it.com
