Service Focus
With the functional goals in mind to increase IT performance and enhance situational awareness while reducing the costs of IT operations and maintenance, 1901 Group LLC was created in April 2009 to fill a market void calling for a more effective model for design, development, implementation and support of IT applications, IT infrastructure, and IT security services.
In order to provide a more effective service delivery model, 1901 Group started with a clean slate, having no bias or financial obligation to support legacy investments. Engineering backwards, 1901 Group identified the importance of being able to harness the value of exponentially
growing technology information in an efficient and cost effective manner, and then drew a parallel between the evolutionary path of manufacturing and the maturation of IT management.
The parallel pointed to a simple yet subtle answer as to how to achieve the goals of increased performance and reduced costs, and that answer was to build an efficient and cost effective environment that utilized standards including the Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), Lean Six, and Agile Development. In addition to using industry best practices like ITIL, the subtle challenge to building a truly efficient and sustainable model was to infuse leveraged resources (people, processes, facilities, and technology) focused on being not only good at reacting to requirements but also being positioned to be proactive and predictive in nature.
Staying consistent with the parallel between the evolution of manufacturing and the maturity of IT management, 1901 Group draws on the metaphors of an IT service factory and an IT development factory to communicate the efficiencies achieved through process discipline, focused repetition, behavioral analytics, and continuous improvement. The IT factories are housed in custom built, 24/7 service operations center strategically located in Blacksburg, Virginia on a the campus of the Virginia Tech Corporate Research Center.
Metaphors aside, the IT service factory and IT development factory are only possible due to the dedication of 1901 Group’s talented IT professionals and their commitment to providing the highest quality of service to 1901 Group’s clients.
The concept of an efficient work environment or IT factory, in itself, is not unique; however, 1901 Group’s alignment and leverage of both IT managed services capability and IT development capability provides a unique efficiency and cross-training opportunity that gives 1901 Group a pragmatic competitive differentiator.