Bill Stover: Co-founder and chief executive, DataGlyphics Inc., St. Petersburg
By KRIS HUNDLEY
Published February 23, 2004
Q. As CEO of a Web developer and hosting company, do you see any indication technology spending is increasing?
We've had existing customers come to us saying, "We've finished our budgets. Let's meet to talk about what we can do." Over the last couple of years, work has been more on an "as need-to" development basis, rather than "What are our goals?" So that's a good sign.
They're seeing some movement in their products and sales, so they can start spending a little more. And the Web is not absolutely necessary, so it relies more on discretionary income.
Q. If they've got a Web site, how are they updating it?
They want sites that truly are dynamic contributors to their day-to-day business rather than just marketing brochures. Nokia phones is one of our clients and we developed their Latin America site. Just like any organization, their budget shrunk as the economy shrunk. But they came to us recently, asking us to build country-specific sites that speak specifically to a certain target audience. That theme seems common.
Q. Will we ever get back to the days when people threw enormous amounts of money into their Web sites?
We started this company in 1998 and I've watched the waves go up and down. And while I don't think we've ever had clients that threw money away, I don't think a lot of people necessarily learn from their mistakes.
