Hawaii’s tech experts offer a wide range of innovative products, services and solutions. That’s just the nature of their business.
Pacific Business News asked local tech companies from this week’s List how they are promoting innovation in the Islands to attract new clients and workers.
What are the main advantages of operating a technology company in Hawaii?
Michael McMurdo, CEO, Cetra Technology Inc.: The biggest advantage to having a technology company in Hawaii is that Hawaii does attract many talented and smart people who want to live and work here.
Dave Swirsky, vice president of sales, Banyan Networks: Our proximity to the rest of the Pacific and growing regions such as Guam. Our people are loyal and committed to the community, customers and our company.
Ken Van Orman, director of product management, advanced services, Hawaiian Telcom: As a long-standing technology company that has served Hawaii for 140 years, our team has solid knowledge about the local marketplace, the business needs and challenges on every island as well as access to a wide array of resources and partnerships with renowned technology experts. Our employees understand the culture and unique needs of Hawaii customers.
What are the main disadvantages of operating a technology company in Hawaii?
McMurdo: As with other industries across the board, Hawaii’s high cost of living does make it more challenging to offer competitive pay and retain employees.
Swirsky: Access to skilled labor and support from equipment manufacturers.
Van Orman: One of the main disadvantages is the shortage of qualified IT and cybersecurity professionals in Hawaii.
How do you promote innovation within your company? How did it lead to a new product or service?
McMurdo: We problem solve complex technical issues daily, so innovation is a necessary part of our business. Several of our clients have very specialized and complicated systems that require the depth and breadth of our team to come up with innovative solutions.
Swirsky: We encourage employees to innovate. ... Our engineers and technicians are constantly improving how we do things, either through new technologies or new processes. That directly improves customer satisfaction and retention.
Van Orman: Hawaiian Telcom promotes innovation by investing in training and certifying our employees in industry-recognized disciplines [like] Cisco, Microsoft [and] Fortinet. We also have a technical talent development program that helps us retain world-class employees throughout our family of companies.
Richard Zheng, president, Servpac Inc.: Servpac has the only Tier 4 data center in Hawaii. It’s the highest industry standard and raises the bar for Hawaii’s data center market.
With the ongoing labor shortage, has your firm deployed software that uses AI or machine learning to augment your workforce productivity?
McMurdo: We constantly strive to improve productivity through technology, so this is an ongoing effort for us. We are currently working on adding a couple of technology solutions over the next 12 months.
Van Orman: We created managed IT services to help local businesses augment their technology teams. This customizable solution gives businesses options to meet the needs of their individual business.
