ipDatatel sees greater than 700 percent growth in past three years Rapid growth lands the company on the Inc. 5000 list for the third year in a row
By Spencer Ives
Updated Wed August 24, 2016
SUGAR LAND, Texas—ipDatatel, a provider of alarm communication hardware and software, saw 742 percent growth between 2012 and 2015, putting the company 512th on the Inc. 5000 list, a designation for the fastest-growing private companies in the United States.
The Inc. 5000 list compiles companies that have shown sustained growth for three consecutive years. Russell Vail, ipDatatel CEO, told Security Systems News that the company grew to about $13.5 million in annual revenue at the end of 2015, up from around $1.5 in 2012.
“Through the next three years, we want to get to that $50 million mark,” Vail said. “We think that's the next stage of the growth trajectory.”
Vail said that having three years of good growth in a row can be a daunting task. “You can have one good year of growth. Can you have two good years of growth? … Can you put several of those years of growth together?”
2016 is ipDatatel's third time on the Inc. 5000 list; it ranked 319 in 2014 and 331 in 2015. Founded in 2007, ipDatatel is based here, in the greater Houston area. The company has also been featured on a list of the fastest growing companies in Houston for several years.
Companies growing quickly need to think and plan in smaller time frames, according to Vail, such as accomplishing tasks in three months instead of a full year. “All of your time frames get compressed. So, you really have to have a concentrated effort to think about where you're going to be in a very compact time frame,” he said.
“I think the biggest challenge on a fast-growth company is building the management layers, building the structure in which to support the next big [phase] of growth,” Vail said. The company will have about 50 employees by the end of this year, doubled from what it was in 2013, according to Vail.
The company is looking into the Internet of Things ecosystem and how ipDatatel can be involved. “We want to make sure that our communications platform can handle that connectivity,” said Vail.
Comments