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Creatrix Inc. |
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August 29, 2016 Issue |
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CEOCFO MAGAZINE |
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Identity Management and Custom Software Company providing Software Engineering, Systems Integration, and Biometrics Expertise |
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Creatrix Inc.
Interview conducted by: Lynn Fosse, Senior Editor, CEOCFO Magazine, Published - August 29, 2016
CEOCFO: Mr. Elhini, what is Creatrix? Mr. Elhini: Creatrix is an Identity Management and Custom Software company with big business capabilities and small business agility. We specialize in software engineering and systems engineering, architecture, and integration with expertise in biometrics, case management, vetting, and credentialing. We are a consulting services company but we also have software products. Our most significant product to date is our identity management software suite, Biometrix™. Biometrix is focused around simplifying the integration of biometrics technologies into a company’s infrastructure.
CEOCFO: Why might someone turn to Creatrix? Mr. Elhini: There are three primary reasons, two that are time-related in terms of where they are in the initial stages about thinking about their project and one that is functionally-related, which is what they want to do. If you think about when you would engage, one thing we are good at is design. If you are early in your project and you are thinking of how you want to do this, how you would benefit, or what applying a certain technology would do, we can start at that point and help guide the customer in choosing the technologies and the method(s) for using them to maximize return on investment. The other time you could use Creatrix is for remediation. We have done a lot of remediation – such as, another company came in and made a false claim or implemented something that does not work. Many times we can come in and fix that to more or less save the investment. I would say that it is not as advantageous as bringing us in early but it is better than losing everything. When it comes to “doing” Creatrix can provide a myriad IT services, talented candidates, as well as our software suite Biometrix™.
CEOCFO: Are you surprised that so many people do not look for a second opinion or bring in someone early to prevent bad choices? Mr. Elhini: Not really. I think there are a couple of things that contribute to that. One is people like being told what they want to hear. If you want to hear that a new, wonderful system is going to cut costs by 60% and only cost 50,000 dollars versus a million dollars, you are going to go with the guy that says it costs 50,000 dollars. When you look at how things are being bought recently, especially in the government arena, it is very price sensitive.
CEOCFO: The tagline on your site is “Create, innovate, accelerate.” What are these three steps of a typical engagement? Mr. Elhini: Those are concepts that we think of when we look at solving a problem. The creativity part is very important. Are you thinking of new ways to solve the problem that have not been used before? The innovative part is where you look at things that may have been done that can be advanced. Sometimes you apply creativity to that and sometimes you apply analysis to that to get that innovation. They are related but they are unique. The accelerate part is where we want to accelerate organizations towards their goal. Those three principles drive how we solve problems, how we approach the customer, and how we help our customers achieve their goals.
CEOCFO: Would you tell us where biometrics comes into play? Mr. Elhini: Because we have had so much experience in government around identity management, we have seen what biometrics can be used for and we have also seen that the integration phase of a biometrics project can be incredibly costly, risky, and time consuming. Over the last ten years, we have taken what we have witnessed, learned from our experiences, and created our biometrics platform, which simplifies the integration of biometrics technologies. The question is what you can use biometrics for. It depends on the industry. Law enforcement and military might use it for identifying a subject who they encounter, for commercial uses like finance or healthcare, you might use it for verifying someone’s identity or protecting sensitive data. It is much stronger than a password. Biometrix™ came to fruition by witnessing and acknowledging that there are various applications that can benefit our customers if biometrics are applied effectively and efficiently as well as when biometrics are securely and adequately protected.
CEOCFO: Are these two separate sides of the business? Mr. Elhini: Our software is its own sort of entity. We have thought about spinning off a software company to manage the intellectual property related to the development and maintenance of our new identity management software, Biometrix™, but we have not gotten to that point yet. In some ways, however, the lines are blurred as we overlap the software and services side of the business in that the software was created to be experienced with the services. It is also related to the knowledge and expertise in biometrics and identity management that we have gained over the years as we have performed the services. Do the customers engage us for only one? Not really, because if they buy Biometrix, they also end up using our consulting services. The range of the services might be more limited and more focused to the software but generally speaking, there will be some form of the normal consulting services whether that is additional software engineering, systems integration, or systems architecture work.
CEOCFO: How do you reach out to prospective customers? Mr. Elhini: We target prospective customers. We identify a market segment that we think we can get into. We work through our larger partners to get introductions. We are not working with a percentage model. I had some pretty good sales training at Sun Microsystems at the beginning of my career. When you look at closure rates for what will term a cold call – which is you and the customer are not aware of each other and you engage them – when you’re not sure what their needs are and they do not know if they need what you have, your closure rate is about 1%. As a small company, we cannot afford a closure rate at 1%. We have to work through our own network, a social network if you will, of contacts and partners to identify where we can partner with potentially a larger company and deliver a solution to someone that is looking for that solution. We are very strategic and focused in how we sell.
CEOCFO: When you are looking at a problem, what details might you include in your review that less experienced people do not recognize as important? Mr. Elhini: I think that the biggest thing that we have looked at is how to use this “thing,” whatever this thing may be. I think that sometimes that is lost – in other words, they will say to look at this incredible product that they have created and tell you it will fix your problem. You will look at it and say that you are not sure how it will solve your problem. What Creatrix does, on the other hand, is look at how you work and do your job and understand what it is that you need to become more efficient. You need to do is put yourselves in the shoes of the person that is going to use the product, and Creatrix does that.
Mr. Elhini: It is pretty good. We want to grow, so we would like our bottom line to be better, but we are profitable and we have highly satisfied customers and employees. To me, that is a very simple measure of performance. At our size and industry niche, I look at three things that contribute to survivability and the ability to grow: (1) Do you have satisfied customers? (2) Do you have satisfied employees? And, (3) are you profitable? If you have all three, that is good, you covered the bases. Now you need to do the things it takes to grow. We are at that point. We are at a good place and are well positioned for the future.
Mr. Elhini: I think the most important reason to choose us is we have big business capabilities with small business agility. That comes from the years of experience we have had working on large programs and in large companies, solving difficult problems. However, we do not have a whole infrastructure of bureaucracy that prevents us from moving on opportunities adeptly, making decisions quickly, or serving our customers effectively. Any organization that grows to an incredibly large size ends up with a fairly large bureaucracy that for better or for worse is designed to protect the organization but not necessarily designed to effectively solve problems in a timely manner. |
“Creatrix is an Identity Management and Custom Software company with big
business capabilities and small business agility. We specialize in software
engineering and systems engineering, architecture, and integration with
expertise in biometrics, case management, vetting, and credentialing. We are
a consulting services company but we also have software products. Our most
significant product to date is our identity management software suite,
Biometrix™. Biometrix is focused around simplifying the integration of
biometrics technologies into a company’s infrastructure.”
Creatrix Inc.
Contact: Anna Fleeman Elhini 410-916-3623
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Identity Management, Creatrix Inc., Biometrics, CEO Interviews 2016, Sami Elhini, Anna Fleeman Elhini, Identity Management and Custom Software Company providing, Software Engineering, Systems Integration, and Biometrics Expertise, Business Services Companies, Technology Company, custom software, IT, systems engineering, systems integration, systems architecture, fingerprint, iris, government contracting, woman-owned, Creatrix Inc. Press Releases, News, Business Services Stock, Companies looking for venture capital, Angel Investors, private companies looking for investors, identity management companies seeking investors, biometrics companies needing investment capital |
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