DEALER PROFILE - Equal opportunities from the big InCity

Company name - InCity

Company founded - 1994

Company headcount - 70

Year end - 31 July

Company turnover - #2.85 million

Net profit - #450,000

Board members - Warren Butcher, director; Andrew Keywood, director; James Royan, director; Steve White, director

Why don't the directors have specific job titles? The board members are on an equal footing, so they are all classed simply as directors.

Also, InCity employees do not have job titles because we are attempting to break the false correlation between job title and career progression.

Reseller base - The City of London

Main lines sold - Microsoft, Sun Microsystems, Eastman Kodak

Main accreditation held - Microsoft Solution Provider, Sun Micro-systems, Eastman Kodak, International Standards Organisation (ISO) 9000

Key accounts - Not disclosed

Why not? It is the policy of our company never to publicly disclose its client base. Much of the work we do for the leading financial institutions in the City is of a very sensitive nature so confidentiality is imperative.

Main distributors used - Ingram Micro, Metrologie, CHS Electronics and ICL Multivendor Computing

Main rivals - As practitioners of IT to the City, we have different competitors according to the type of project we are working on. There is no single company that is our main competitor.

Main challenges - InCity will face over the next year I believe it will be keeping up with client demand for more complex bespoke development.

Banks are demanding much more intricate packages and all of our developers are currently working to full capacity on the company's existing projects.

Also, good IT people are as hard to find as ever. We need individuals with outstanding skills but also personable characters. It is important for our company profile that they present a professional approach when they work at client sites.

We are taking on additional people in all areas and moving to new premises.

This will help to aid expansion, but there will always be a shortage of good programmers and developers. It is a common problem for every organisation in the IT industry.

Thing to watch over the next 12 months In my opinion, one of the main things to keep an eye on will be the take off of Document Workflow Management

Why will it take off? For our core market, it is pretty relevant. Despite the promises of a paperless office, companies in the City are still generating a huge amount of paperwork. As costs are scrutinised and streamlining is becoming more prominent, companies are looking at the best ways of increasing their efficiency.

The management and access of information is becoming increasingly time consuming and costly. Electronic document management is cost-effective and easy to use. With the advent of more compliance and regulation in the financial sector and the launch of more products, institutions want low start-up and management costs to control the documents and information they generate.

What is the role of distributors? In my view, they provide a market between the reseller and manufacturer, in the same way as bonds traders do between government stocks and investors.

The distribution channel is necessary. It lets manufacturers develop technology and allows resellers to concentrate on coming up with the most appropriate packages for their customers.

Do you usually purchase kit over distributors' Websites? The only thing we buy through e-commerce at the moment is software. With hardware, resellers prefer to negotiate pricing and develop a relationship with the distributor.

The internet is good for many buyers and one seller, but no so much for one-to-one sales.

Give your opinion on the current Microsoft trial I'm disappointed that it has gone to trial. It does seem that both sides are going to have to invest a lot of money and resources into it.

If the principle is - as Microsoft says - to have the right to innovate.

I don't see why the US government wants to interfere. But, if the government is trying to break a monopoly that could strangle the market, I can see the reasoning behind it.