History–A Local Government Software Powerhouse Emerges
In 2009, Intelligent Information Systems (IIS) acquired Farragut Systems to bring together two like-minded, forward-thinking companies in the public sector software market. The management teams of both companies have joined forces under a new FARRAGUT brand.
Together, the new FARRAGUT offers:
- A deep understanding of the needs of local government
- Expertise in public sector software
- A unique corporate culture guided by three core principles—integrity, practical innovation and service mindedness
A Quest for Greater Meaning: IIS
Owners Shail and Sucheta Jain, have broken the conventional wisdom of how to successfully operate a software company. It was a departure that was no accident.
“We founded IIS in 1992 armed with a determination to break away from a paradigm where customers and employees were treated like a commodity,” said Shail.
Their vision was to create a company where people came first—both customers and employees. It would be a workplace where employees could find meaning in their work and have the confidence to be inventive in their thinking. And, perhaps most of all, it would be the kind of company that customers could trust.
From the very beginning, Shail and Sucheta wrestled with a question: How could they straddle the knowing-doing gap—the difference between putting up a mission statement on the wall and the reality of having each employee carry out the company’s principles?
First and foremost, they decided that their principles—integrity, practical innovation and service mindedness—would underlie all relationships, services and goals. Second, to allow them to operate in line with their principles, their company would maintain zero debt, zero VC funding and zero exit strategies. The target was a sustainable living company that would outlive its founders and last 100 years or more.
This was radical thinking in the early 1990s. As other technology companies joyously embraced the dot-conomy, Sucheta and Shail avoided the golden ring and grew their business slowly and deliberately. At first, IIS focused its enterprise software services on a broad range of business sectors, but over time, it honed in on two segments: local government and insurance.
Coming Full Circle: FARRAGUT
While IIS was bringing together a large cadre of skilled software developers steeped in the challenges and issues related to local government, two entrepreneurs in Colorado, Mike Wierzbinski and Bill Campbell, likewise observed that public sector enterprise software was lagging behind the business sector.
Farragut Systems, founded in 1994, initially focused on leveraging GIS to help local governments improve the management, accessibility and quality of location-based information across the enterprise. Like IIS, over the years, Farragut Systems has favored investment and service over short-term returns.
The new FARRAGUT merges the collective strengths of both companies to help local governments:
• Integrate data across departments
• Improve public service
• Streamline operations
• Make better decisions
• Increase revenue and lower operating costs
How? By not innovating for innovation’s sake. Our products uphold our principle of practical innovation. We create public sector software that solves real problems. Then we do what we say we will do, stand by our products, and hold your hand every step of the way.
