Corporate Profile

 

Xylotek is a full-service, IT consulting firm based in the technology hotbed of Kitchener-Waterloo, Ontario. One of Canada's fastest growing companies, it was established in 2005, and has built a loyal and diverse customer base, resulting in revenue growth of more than 800% since inception. In 2009, for the second straight year, Xylotek was named to the PROFIT HOT 50, which is the definitive ranking of Canada's Emerging Growth Companies. It earned the #46 spot. Published in the October 2009 issue of PROFIT Magazine and online at PROFITguide.com, the PROFIT HOT 50 ranks young firms by two-year revenue growth. Last year Xylotek was #40 on the list. Earlier this year, Xylotek was honoured by the Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce as it took the award for Business of the Year for firms with under 20 employees.

 

"In a very short period of time, Xylotek has compiled an impressive record of service to their clients and community," said Joan Fisk, President and CEO of the Greater Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce. "It has quickly emerged as a local and national leader in the highly competitive IT sector."

 

To be recognized as Business of the Year (Under 20 Employees), a firm must be a member of the Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce, and in the past year must have demonstrated innovative and proactive leadership, measurable success as a business and employer, act as a good corporate citizen, and have made exceptional contributions by promoting community betterment.

 

Xylotek has a focus on system and network administration, and handles everything from specific projects to complete IT department outsourcing. It takes a preventative mindset approach to all system and network administration activities, and regards such issues as fault tolerance, redundancy, and security as key considerations for any task involving network or systems design. The objective is to ensure the reliability, recoverability, and integrity of a customer's data, and also to position customers so they can successfully deal with any possible system or component failures and other recovery needs.

 

"Consider us high-tech aspirin," says CEO and co-founder Douglas Grosfield. "We feel that our role is to maximize how technology can benefit an organization, and also to alleviate technology pain whenever it may occur. We make sure that we are available on a 24/7 basis. This is crucial in our business."

 

In today's high-tech world, integration can often lead to a scenario of plug and pray. Despite considerable expense in terms of time and money, many organizations face nightmare dilemmas where system instability, lack of availability, repeated crashes, slow network performance, and poor security are common. Everyone wants their user base experience to be positive, but it doesn't always work out because of a lack of understanding about the ripple effect when a new piece of technology is introduced.

 

Grosfield and fellow systems engineer Mike Topp started Xylotek in June, 2005. The company now has a staff of 12 and revenue of about $2.5 million. It enjoys a close relationship with its team of business coaches who help the staff maintain a high degree of service and accountability. Xylotek is a member of the Kitchener Waterloo Chamber of Commerce and Communitech, and regularly attends functions from both these organizations.

 

Xylotek has over 200 customers who hail from various sectors including insurance, healthcare, manufacturing, transportation, aerospace, legal, financial, automotive, government, as well as charitable organizations. Clients range from small- and mid-size companies to large-scale data centres. They include OCAS (Ontario College Application Service), Colleges Ontario, Ontario Power Generation, Cambridge Memorial Hospital, Magellan Aerospace, , Clemmer Steelcraft Technologies, and Local Area Health Networks.

 

Xylotek recently introduced a new enhancement to its service offerings with XFactor, which is a hosted, proactive 24/7 monitoring-and-alerting system for clients. Xylotek's Corporate Partnerships and Vendor Relationships include: Microsoft Registered member Partner, IBM xSERIES ePARTNER, Sun Microsystems Partner, HP Partner, Computer Associates Gold Partner, Symantec Partner, FortiNet Silver Partner, and Cisco Partner.

 

Xylotek is a proud supporter of many charities, including the Children's Wish Foundation, Child Find Canada, BEAT (Bikers Ending All Types) of Cancer, Prostate Cancer Ride for Dad, the Breast Cancer Society of Canada,CIBC Run for the Cure, and Ride with Lance 2009.

 

Executive Profile: Douglas Grosfield

 

Douglas Grosfield is the President and CEO of Xylotek Solutions Inc. As a co-founder of the company, which is ranked #40 on the PROFIT HOT 50 - the definitive ranking of Canada's Emerging Growth Companies - he is responsible for managing business activities, new business development, and finance. He works with a wide variety of customers from such sectors as aerospace, manufacturing, healthcare, insurance, and high-tech.

 

Prior to establishing Xylotek, he was a Senior Technical Consultant with CedarCreek Networking in Kitchener, an IT Support Specialist and Operations Team Leader with Gore Mutual Insurance Company in Cambridge, and a Technical Team Leader with Karis Remote Access Systems Inc. in Mississauga. Mr. Grosfield earned his Microsoft Certification at Conestoga College, and spends considerable time each year in such vendor-specific training facilities as IBM, HP, Cisco, Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, FortiNet, and Barracuda in order to gain and maintain industry-specific skills and certifications.

 

Mr. Grosfield lives in Kitchener with his family, is an avid motorcycle enthusiast, and a competitive martial arts practitioner.

 

Executive Profile: Chris Pickard

 

Chris Pickard is the Chief Operating Officer of Xylotek Solutions Inc. He joined the company in 2006, which was one year after its founding. As COO of Xylotek, Mr. Pickard is responsible for managing business activity, business development, and internal operations. Mr. Pickard is a Senior Technical Consultant, Systems Engineer, and Design/Implementation Support Specialist.

 

Prior to joining Xylotek, he spent several years at Karis Remote Access Systems in Mississauga where he was promoted from System Administrator to Director of Operations, and then to General Manager in charge of sales and service.

 

Mr. Pickard has a B. Sc. from the University of Waterloo, and was the recipient of the Imperial Oil Scholarship. He also obtained a Diploma in Information Technology from the DeVry Institute of Technology. He lives in Binbrook, Ontario with his family, is an avid motorcycle enthusiast, and enjoys listening to live music.

Executive Profile: Michael Topp

Michael Topp is the Chief Technology Officer of Xylotek Solutions Inc. He is a co-founder of the company, and is responsible for the design, implementation, management and support of customer IT solutions. In addition, he reviews and recommends new product offerings from technology partners.

 

Prior to co-founding Xylotek with Douglas Grosfield in 2005, Mr. Topp spent three years as a Senior Technical Consultant with CedarCreek Networking Inc. in Kitchener, and five years as a Network Administrator and Senior Systems Engineer with Ontario College Application Services in Guelph. He has also worked in the technology skills area with Dofasco, Mohawk College, and AECL.

 

Mr. Topp has a Computer Systems Technology Diploma from Mohawk College in Hamilton. He is a Nortel BCM Sales Specialist, a Nortel BCM Design Specialist, and a Nortel BCM Support Specialist, and has extensive professional training expertise. Mr. Topp lives in Kitchener with his family, and is a student of history and modern science.