VAI Shows Confidence in 2010 with New Hires

February 2, 2010 Alex Woodie

While many i/OS shops in the midrange are scaling back and a few are folding up in the midst of the Great Recession, ERP software developer VAI is ramping up its business, as it senses now is a great time to help others become more efficient through IT automation. The Long Island, New York, company recently announced the addition of two new programmers to its development staff, and says it plans to hire many more through the course of the year.

VAI is an anomaly in many ways. While dozens of smaller ERP software developers in the System i space have faded into oblivion or been gobbled up by amorphous blobs of equity cash, VAI has stuck to its guns, confident in its capability to deliver real business benefits to its users. Instead of taking the fast money that VAI CEO Bob Vormittag acknowledged was sitting on the table, Vormittag opted to stay committed to the slow, tedious, and unglamorous work of writing, selling, implementing, and supporting business software.

To be sure, 2009 presented a challenge for VAI (which used to go by the name Vormittag Associates), as it has for nearly everybody. For VAI, the macro-economic troubles were manifested publicly as its annual on-site user group conference was replaced with a virtual event on the Web. Still, the company managed to add names to its client roster in 2009.

The belt-tightening now appears to have been only a temporary setback in VAI’s long-range growth plan. Today, the company is continuing its quest to carve out a comfortable niche serving the ERP application needs of small to medium-sized companies in the manufacturing, distribution, and retail industries.

Last month VAI demonstrated its commitment to continued growth by hiring two new programmers. As a senior program analyst, Phil Mercadante will oversee the design and implementation of new features to S2K Enterprise, VAI’s RPG-based ERP suite. Mercadante comes to VAI following an 18-year stint as director of systems development at E-Z-EM, a manufacturer of medical devices based in Lake Success, New York. Prior to that, Mercadante spent 11 years as an independent technical consultant on the AS/400 platform.

VAI also hired Charles Butler. In addition to RPG and System i skills, Butler brings VAI a range of other skills, including PHP, SQL, LANSA, EDI, and DB2 Web Query. Butler comes to VAI from E1 Entertainment, a digital content consolidator and distributor of DVDs and CDs. Butler also spent 10 years as a senior analyst and programmer with Dynax Solutions, an IT consultancy and project management firm.

While 2009 was “an exceptional year for many reasons,” according to Bob Vormittag, VAI is expressing increased confidence in 2010.

“Especially in today’s economy where new business is harder to acquire, business leaders must implement smart solutions that extend access to accurate and timely enterprise data to keep existing clients competitive and increase profit margins,” he states in a press release. “As we close the book on 2009 and look ahead to 2010, we are resolute in our mission to supply our customers with an advanced arsenal of ERP applications to continually enhance efficiencies, improve the customer experience, and maintain an emphasis on using technology to grow the business in this rapidly changing market.”