TechTeam’s Bob Burleson: Three must’s for midsize company growth in 2010

You might call Bob Burleson a high-tech chief financial officer. For six years, Burleson worked at a biotech company that he grew to nearly $60 million in annual revenue — half through government contracting, the other through commercial sales. Then, in May 2006, Burleson came on board TechTeam. Burleson has since helped the company double in size — from $40 million in revenue, to over $80 million — through organic growth and acquisitions. To accomplish that growth, Burleson has improved the company’s reporting and the forecasting capabilities, as well as integrated varying back-office systems from various acquisitions. Here Burleson offers three ways other mid-sized companies can drive greater results in 2010.

HIGHLIGHTS

• Since becoming CFO in May 2006, Burleson has helped TechTeam grow from $40 to over $80 million in annual revenue through organic growth and acquisitions.

• Burleson credits that success to improvements in TechTeam’s reporting and forecasting capabilities, as well as integration of varying back-office systems.

• While impacted by DoD insourcing, TechTeam is diversifying with additional contracts, such as USA Contact with NIH, says Burleson.

1. Institute monthly forecasting. “In my opinion, an organization has to develop a monthly rhythm,” says Burleson. “Not just a monthly closing of the books,” he says, “but re-forecasting expectations of performance … that helps you allocate your resources for the remainder of your forecasting.” Burleson has seen first-hand the benefits of implementing this approach. When he came to TechTeam, its forecasting capability was limited. “There wasn’t a lot of feedback occurring … it was more on a haphazard, data call basis,” he says. Burleson got division vice presidents and project managers more involved in providing insights into day-to-day operations. Today, the company holds monthly management reviews with all senior executives, who are asked to forecast every month. Says Burleson: “We meet every month. We do data calls with them. We use the phone and email, as well as at least one face-to-face meeting, if not more, to discuss expected results.”
2. Bring all back-end systems under one roof. When Burleson arrived at TechTeam, the company had two subsidiaries on two separate operating platforms. “One was using a DelTek  product, the other small accounting tactics,” says Burleson. Burleson brought both under the same platform, DelTek products. “Once I got that going, it provided additional capabilities to design reports that could be combined,” he says. Today, TechTeam has additional legal entities, but you wouldn’t know it — thanks to uniform reporting systems and platforms. “It just appears as one business,” says Burleson. Having combined subsidiaries under one platform has had another benefit: It’s helped TechTeam more efficiently absorb future acquisitions. “With our growth we did manage to bring in the Vector Research and RL Phillips acquisitions … we integrated them on day one,” says Burleson, of the acquisitions that occurred between May and September 2007.
3. Look at yourself as an internal service provider. Burleson does just that in his role leading the finance and business operations at TechTeam. “You have to continue to look to improve the services you deliver to others in your organization yet keep your costs down at the same time,” says Burleson. Burleson and his team look for ways to automate reporting. They also continually ask VPs what information they need to improve the management of their organization. “I’ll sit there and I talk quite a bit with each division vice president to understand their concerns and make sure we are trying to meet those needs,” says Burleson. Those are formal sessions. Burleson also holds informal discussions with them, by making the rounds of the organization. “It is in the informal setting that you get in touch with them, see what they’re really concerned with — and how we can keep enhancing what we provide to them,” he says.

What’s ahead: TechTeam in 2010

The stronger infrastructure Burleson has put in place is helping TechTeam navigate current industry challenges. Insourcing, among them. “It impacted us quite a bit in the most recent quarter, in the DoD area,” says Burleson. Still, Burleson is optimistic, thanks, as well, to a diversified portfolio. “We’ve always been focused outside of the DOD area also,” he says, citing TechTeam’s work for NIH. TechTeam recently won a USA Contact vehicle with nine awardees.

“We think that [USA Contact vehicle] is going to provide quite a bit of opportunity for us,” he says, adding: “We’ll continue to provide quality service to our customers, there is still opportunity for a fair amount of growth.”

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Posted by Staff Writer on Friday, December 11th, 2009. Filed under Executive Spotlight. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. You can leave a response or trackback to this entry