The weather was beginning to turn a bit brisk as if Mother Nature was trying to let us know that fall was soon to approach. On that 9th day of September 1990, ICS Advantage the idea became a company. Albeit the basement did not give the impression of an office that belonged to a computer software company nor did a computer built from a Heath Kit seem adequate to generate custom software that could run a company. However, despite these auspicious beginnings ICS prevailed, succeeding in its mission of providing quality technology solutions to businesses and associations.
Jeff Rudolph started ICS using his skills he learned at AT&T Bells Labs and Illinois Institute of Technology. The first project was to design, develop and deploy an application to fulfill the order entry, inventory control, purchasing, manufacturing and accounting needs of High Sierra Sports Company. The system tracked orders from entry, to manufacturing, to its voyage across the ocean, through U.S. Customs, to the companies warehouse and ultimately to the customer who placed the order.
The second project was the development of construction management software to monitor and manage the construction of O’Hare’s International Terminal for the Department of Aviation, City of Chicago. That project led to the doubling of ICS’s staff to two! Mike Dreyer joined Jeff in the basement to complete the International Terminal Project. Once the project was complete ICS was involved in converting all of the Department of Aviation’s mainframe-based systems involving construction management and bond fund accounting to a PC based network system. This required increasing the staff to three with the addition of Mike Colbert. With three people crammed into Jeff’s basement, the time was right for a “real” office. They loaded up a borrowed pickup, jammed it full of computers, home made desks and moved to an office in Naperville.
The O’Hare project grew in scope and they started additional projects for other clients, including, Newspaper Services of America, Cargill, The Tape Company among others. The additional clients required additional staff and thus the growth model for ICS was created. The model is based on hiring additional experienced staff to augment current staff for new projects, continue to train existing staff and seek new work as current projects complete. This is opposed to using contract employees to supplement staff and/or taking on more projects without the resources to adequately staff them. This methodology serves both ICS’s clients and staff well.
After three years of developing software, ICS began installing and supporting computer networks. The primary motivation for the expansion of services was to provide their clients with an end-to-end to solution and the beginning of what they now call the “one throat to choke” project management philosophy (one point of contact for the entire project). The networking group now easily handles local and wide are networks, data center management, support, service and Internet connectivity and security.
By 1995 the quality of furniture and equipment increased and they moved into an expanded space (actually they moved into 4 expanded spaces) in their Naperville office and had a thriving business based on providing solutions based on Microsoft software tools and networking software.
In 1997 ICS became a member of the Sikich Group, a consortium of successful service firms(accounting, HR, technology, marketing, insurance, asset management and others) to provide a complete array of business services and products.
In 1998, ICS completed the strenuous requirements to become a Solution Center for Navision Financial software. This allows ICS to provide robust backend accounting and business solutions that can tie into the Internet and desktop applications, and further expanding the ability to provide end-to-end solutions.
In 2002, ICS merged with Softbite Solutions a 20-person company specializing in the support and sales of Microsoft’s Great Plains and Solomon ERP solutions. In addition, they did extensive software development on the desktop and on the web. With ICS’s focus on Navision, Microsoft’s other ERP software and our development group it was a perfect opportunity to merge and prosper.
In 2003, ICS earned the designation of Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. Microsoft Gold Certified Partners are the top level of Microsoft solutions partners who demonstrate a high level of expertise and qualify for one or more Microsoft Competencies. The designation places ICS Advantage in the upper echelon of Microsoft solution providers.
In 2005, ICS acquired Computer Application Solutions, Inc. (CASI). CASI had been a Navision Solution Center since 1999 and has a strong experience base in IBM AS400 application development. Later in the year, ICS purchased the networking services assets of DataShare Corporation, an Indianapolis firm founded in 1991. Both of these acquisitons bring us closer to our goal of growing our business throughout the Midwest.
In January 2006, Sikich Group and its member firms began operating under the single name, Sikich LLP. ICS Advantage became Sikich Technology division. We made this change to better serve our clients, more closely reflect our operating structure, and more clearly communicate our resources and capabilities.
Today, Sikich Technology division is one of the Midwest’s leading technology consulting firms, a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner and a leading Microsoft Business Solutions reseller ranked among the top 1% of all Microsoft Business Solution partners worldwide. With over 65 employees and offices in Aurora Illinois, Indianapolis Indiana and St Louis Missouri, Sikich has taken the lead in providing system infrastructure, application development and Microsoft Financial Management Systems to clients and is one of the few in the Midwest that can offer the complete suite of Microsoft Dynamics, namely Microsoft Dynamics GP, Microsoft Dynamics NAV, Microsoft Dynamics SL and Microsoft Dynamics CRM.