No. 20 - Rochester Top 100

Entre Computer Systems

About Entre Computer Systems: Computer application and web services.

Rank on Top 100: 20

Top Executive: Andre Godfrey

Employees: 68

Website:www.entrecs.com

We asked Andre Godfrey, president, to talk about his business.

Question:How did your business get started?
Godfrey: Entre Computer Services opened 23 years ago in August of 1984 and the concentration of effort was on sales of computer equipment and peripherals. Ten years later the world had changed and we changed with it. That was 1994 and our direction became computer services, specifically providing businesses with the skills sets and IT direction they had difficulty reproducing internally. Today, we provide business solutions which include IT Managed Services with both remote and on-site support, consulting, network and server engineering with purposeful intent to provide world class support for Microsoft solutions. Entre Computer Services has also grown to include web and application development as a core competency.

Question: What does it mean to your business to be on the on the Top 100?
Godfrey: The Top 100 is an annual powerful and positive business message, underscoring the word "positive". We're very proud to have made the list several times, particularly in view that the Top 100 is revenue based and our emphasis changed from higher ticket equipment to computer services. The public relations garnered by making the list is terrific and the actual luncheon is an opportunity to see people and share that success.

Question: What Rochester Business Alliance services do you find to be most helpful?
Godfrey: Entre Computer Services and the Rochester Business Alliance share a sense of community and from a business perspective the Rochester Business Alliance helps provide that community through seminars and business forums in which we participate. It is also our collective voice for county, state and federal issues.

Question: What hurdles must our local economy overcome?
Godfrey: The same hurdles all businesses face worldwide. Provide value to someone and get paid for that value. All communities have inherent advantages and disadvantages. Instead of thinking in terms of "hurdles", a more productive approach may be to understand your advantages and sell your value around them.

Question: What are the biggest opportunities you see ahead, as well as the biggest challenges?
Godfrey: Our opportunities lie in continuing to build a business model that helps align information technology to our customers' business direction. Today, that's providing IT Managed Services and taking the pain out of day-to-day IT operations. That's a true value. Our challenges lie in adapting to the changing technical and business environment. Taking on that challenge is part of our value as well.