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In 2009, Idea2 founder Grace Schroeder was a unified communications consultant, having just left Qwest Communications (now CenturyLink). She picked up on a daunting problem – out-of-the-box CRM solutions were not all that their name promised.
From those early days, she said, she was driven by the belief that “the root of all evil is a poor data model.”
“In my travels, I noticed that a patch of developers building CRM solutions were having issues customizing frameworks like Sugar CRM and VTiger due to the inflexibility of the data model and the out-of-the-box features,” said Schroeder. “Their clients needed the data to relate in ways that weren't out-of-the-box. The developers had to crack the framework, make adjustments, and re-build the connections that pre-existed. Surely there must be a faster and easier way to create custom applications and data models from scratch!”
[ibimage==30364==Medium==none==self==ibimage_align-right]It proved slower going than she anticipated, she said, but her team managed to build a small client base through an early iteration of what would become Idea2, a simple way to build private-label cloud applications. “We continued to get a few customers as the entire world turned on its ear vis-a-vis the API explosion and the proliferation of cloud applications that come in like waves of colorful Chiclets gum on the beach.”
Having honed an ear for what clients would need, she retooled the program and aimed directly for the cloud integration space. Her client roster now includes major players in broad-line distribution, healthcare, and media.
As a consultant, Schroeder learned to listen not to experts, but to clients. “We have done many things counter to conventional wisdom. I am convinced that had we fixed ourselves around conventional advice in the early days, we would not be here today. The best path I've found is to find companies to pay us for what we do.”
Schroeder's business has seen a shifting lineup of developers, and that's as it should be, she said. "Dev team V1 was great for the prototype, but did not have the architectural skills to construct a platform that delivered on the promise. Team V2 brought us to MongoDB early, which gave us core understanding around what noSql could mean to business applications. Serendipitously, the V2 developers left to re-join the world of gaming, opening the door for today's team who had experienced head-slamming against the wall of disparate cloud APIs for years. Since cross-application workflow is a key component of Idea2, our team's experience is priceless."
