Smart move ups revenue for DevelopIntelligence

LOUISVILLE — In an industry stocked with instructors taking an off-the-shelf approach to training, Louisville-based DevelopIntelligence LLC stepped out-of-the box to tread a fresh path that has led to off-the-hook growth.

“We’re a software development training company, and our primary focus is helping teams adopt new technology,” said Kelby Zorgdrager, president of DevelopIntelligence. The company, founded in 2003, originally provided pre-designed training, but shifted its focus a few years ago.

“In 2009, we put this stake in the ground saying we were going to do this fully customized approach … it’s been a big contributor to our success,” Zorgdrager said.

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DevelopIntelligence now creates customized classes around clients’ needs, he said, on software tools such as Java, JBoss and Apache. A customized training class provides differentiated instruction for the employee expected to produce code using a new technology versus the manager interested in the concept and impact a new technology will have on a project.

The change resulted in revenue growth of 141 percent, from $256,000 in 2009 to $617,000 in 2011. The growth places DevelopIntelligence No. 4 on the Boulder County Business Report’s Mercury 100 list of fastest-growing private companies based in Boulder and Broomfield counties reporting annual revenue less than $2 million.

“It’s a better profit margin, and we get to do a better job because we can customize the training to the customer,” Zorgdrager said. DevelopIntelligence largely serves Fortune 100 companies throughout the country such as Apple, Motorola and Yahoo. A customized approach supports clients using an array of software applications, something a pre-made training program linked to a certain software or company doesn’t permit.

Quality instructors energized growth, too.

“We call them practitioners,” Zorgdrager said. “They go through a rather lengthy, five-step interview process,” including teaching sample lessons.

Most practitioners split their time between software development and teaching, he said. The practitioners write books and attend conferences in their field. The company currently employs a core staff of five people with 30 practitioners across the U.S. and a couple in Canada and Europe, Zorgdrager said.

DevelopIntelligence plans continued growth in coming months with expansion into the mobile computing and cloud computing space, Zorgdrager said.