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The Year Was 1994
Interlogic Graphics & Marketing
An opportunity seized, a business is born!
Chris Sgaraglino, owner and founder of InterLogic Graphics & Marketing (ILGM), was touring California as a professional mountain biker when he noticed an advertisement in the newspaper for a contest sponsored by Vocomm, an Internet service provider based in Big Bear, Calif.
The company was looking for the right person to build its web page, and was having difficulty finding people with the technology and knowledge to create the web page. Sgaraglino had an electrical engineering degree and experience in graphics development, so he submitted an entry. He won. And he started developing other companies' web pages. Thus, in 1994, his company, ILGM, was born. And the company has never been in debt.
From Big Bear, Calif., Sgaraglino took ILGM to Las Vegas, where he partnered with another information technology company to build an online magazine for the city - INFO Las Vegas. After completing that project, Sgaraglino brought ILGM to Colorado Springs in 1997 and contracted with MCI to build an internal communication web site application for a Y2K project. Then USA.Net contracted Sgaraglino to build all of its internal sales software applications. And contracts for web site building and software applications for such well-known individuals and companies as Kenny Loggins, Manpower, Colorado Real Estate and National Geographic followed.
More than 33,000 web sites, national and international, are now using one of ILGM's applications. But, ILGM is much more than a web site developer. Sgaraglino has found a niche that could render their competitors impotent.
Sgaraglino explains: "When you contract with a company for web page development, you normally pay them a fee up front, and the normal fee is $5,000 to $10,000. That fee provides you with basic web site development. However, as the business changes, the web site has to be edited, and that can cost up to $500 for each web site edit. Plus, the business is paying a regular monthly host fee, usually in the $100 range." And, Sgaraglino says, "Many start-up companies or other businesses cannot afford those up-front fees and editing fees, so we offer something different to offset their initial costs."
ILGM's distinction is that it wants the business owner or web site manager to edit their own web site, as changes are realized. So, Sgaraglino has written and developed an application or engine, based on the Adobe ColdFusion application server, that allows companies to update their web site "anywhere or anytime in the world."
"When you scan a web site, you see the front page," said Sgaraglino. "what we have done is create a back-end that allows one to update the current information on the core website."
It is as simple as going in to the administration page, typing the new information and hitting a key that automatically updates the web page.
"Anyone who types can do it," said Sgaraglino, "and it can be completed in seconds." "We are giving them the tools to be the creative force behind their own web site, while giving them total control over their web site." Sgaraglino says that design houses (Web site development companies) have complete control as long as they are responsible for constant editing and management of the web site.
The economic advantage to companies using ILGM's system is critical. A stagnant web site can be deadly to the business. The ability to update it any time, anywhere, can prevent that stagnation. Small and medium-sized companies can eliminate the $60,000 per year high-tech employee -- who is hard to find anyway - and designate web site updates to anyone who can type. That's particularly important to cities and counties that must constantly update their web sites.
ILGM defies market costs right now by charging a small initial fee and hosting the software for as little ar $19.99/mo and includes the core applications for the web site, hosting, email, analytics and the application capability to manage and update their web site at "anytime, anywhere."
ILGM will train the business in the process of updating web sites, but it is "just a matter of typing," said Sgaraglino. ILGM has all kinds of products available for web site development, from shopping carts to customized applications. As Sgaraglino said, "Our niche applies to a lot of people."
By MaryLou Doehrman -- Contributing Editor Clorado Springs Business Journal
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