Matt Wynn-Jones (Counterparts Technology)
For aspiring entrepreneurs, browsing through countless pages of self-help start-up guides is almost a prerequisite for starting a business.
Backed up by streams of Tony Robbins YouTube clips - confidence is key, remember - founders find satisfaction in sharing stories.
But amid the noise and inspirational quotes, one piece of advice always remains the same… just start.
And start, Counterparts Technology did, in 2015.
Armed with industry expertise and experience, the Sydney-based solutions provider seized on a sizeable gap in the market, zoning in on lucrative mid-market and government sectors.
Spanning security, data centre optimisation and workplace enablement, Counterparts’ core competencies are bolstered by capabilities covering consulting, procurement, project and managed services.
Yet starting out is one thing, maintaining momentum is another matter entirely.
“Our success is a result of our focus on our three core areas of cyber security and risk management, personal and workspace technology and hybrid cloud and data centre optimisation,” Counterparts Technology founder and managing director Matt Wynn-Jones told ARN.
In operating as a fledging solutions provider, the business has grown from strength to strength, recruiting a host of key customers along the way.
“We have also maintained our focus on how we engage with our clients with our consulting and advisory services, our vendor and procurement services and our project and managed services offering.
“By delivering disruptive and innovative solutions, we can demonstrate to clients how we can improve technology outcomes while reducing overall technology cost.”
According to Wynn-Jones, the business continues to take advantage of increased demand for advisory services across the country, through the launch of Counterparts.Consulting.
“We will continue to enhance this area of the business as we continue to integrate the solutions services group business which will further increase our resourcing and consulting expertise,” he added.
Backed up further by the recent launch of Counterparts.Express - a new online technology store - Wynn-Jones said Counterparts is targeting a new breed of buyer, spanning large and small customers, as well as students and home users.
“Customers are now informed buyers and generally know exactly what they want,” he added.
“This is a highly competitive landscape and even with the recent arrival of Amazon in Australia, we have an established, trusted and secure platform that provides a simple, easy, pain-free way to access half a million products that, in most cases, will be delivered next business day.”
From a technology perspective, Counterparts goes to market with strategic vendors such as HP, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, Aruba, Veeam and Sophos.
Delving deeper, the provider also aligns with Microsoft, Lenovo, Nutanix, Adobe and Trend Micro solutions.
“We have streamlined our vendor and partner engagement program to focus on tighter alignment and implemented our own tiered partnership levels for vendors to ensure true alignment and focus,” Wynn-Jones explained.
“This approach will enable us to remain broad in our solutions offering while developing deeper and stronger capabilities and focusing on the true value of our strategic, alliance and approved partnerships.”
Leveraging expertise across Sydney, Brisbane, Melbourne and Perth, Counterparts continues to expand across Australia, in a bid to provide national coverage for an expanding customer base.
“We have launched our new branding, logo and website earlier this month for Technology, Consulting and Express businesses,” Wynn-Jones added.
“This provides a simplified, clean, fresh new look and feel and will allow us to streamline our communications and engagement with both customers and partners. This new identity also provides us with a clear distinction and separation from our competitors as we continue to grow.”
Having developed a robust and flexible core, Wynn-Jones said the business is “well placed” to grow client engagement further in 2018, with additional headcount planned for the new year.
“Trust, respect and integrity are still core to how we do business and we are committed to these principals,” he added.
“We couldn't have achieved the levels of growth without the support of our excellent and hard working team and the fantastic support from our customers, suppliers and partners and we are well on track for another successful year ahead.”
