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Here’s the 3rd in my Toronto Tech Week Series where I chatted with Michael Assad, Co-Founder of Edentity

Q - Where did the idea for Agility come from? You also have Edentity, what does that company offer?
Edentity Web Systems is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner that provides Web content management solutions, Web portal solutions and custom Web applications. We use our proprietary software system Agility CMS to develop and host content managed Websites. The name Agility came from a brainstorming session where we established that one of the key differentiators of our software over our competitors is its flexibility or agility.

Q - What has been your “a-ha moment when you knew you had something good to offer the marketplace”?
Every time we do a demo of our product we have another a-ha moment. Clients are always impressed by aspects of our product and we are continuously told that Agility is better than [insert market leading CMS].
Q - What can we expect next from the Agility?
We will continue to tailor Agility to the needs of the Media and Entertainment industry. This means continued support for user generated content, adding components to convert user submitted videos and images on the fly, continually updating the user interface to stay with the times (AJAX, etc.) and improving support for the Agility developer community
In the (4.5) years in business for Edentity, what have been some of the biggest changes that you’ve seen impact Toronto’s technology industry?
Large companies have been a moving away from working with interactive agencies and are doing more in house and involving contactors and smaller companies. Enterprises can realize a huge cost savings by putting together their own teams rather than paying enormous agency fees. This has given us a great opportunity to work with larger companies who typically have larger budgets.
Internet technologies have changed drastically. ASP.NET was once the untouchable standard for Web development, but PHP and Rails are catching up and passing in some areas.

Q - If you were to start all over again, what would you do differently?
Jon and I started the business when I was right out of school which was a challenge since I didn’t know many people. If I had to do it again, I would have waited a few years before starting a business. However, being an entrepreneur is in my blood, so I’m not sure I could have waited even if I had known what I was in for. Apart from waiting, I would have spent less money on sales, marketing and PR. We see very little return on these investments because we have grown almost entirely by repeat business and referral.
Q - Have you seen any major changes in Toronto technology community over the last 2 years?
The Toronto tech community is vibrant. There are lots of ideas floating around and lots of excitement. One thing I will say though is that there is too much talk and not enough action. I blame the lack of executors (as opposed to idea guys) and the lack of early stage financing.

Q - Are there any companies that are really impressing you in Toronto?
I love JumpTV. I think they have a great value proposition for all of their constituents and I think they are going to be a huge Canadian success story. RIM (although in Waterloo) is one of my favorite companies. I am impressed about how they have managed to keep their lead with the onslaught of competition from big and powerful players. Around Canada in general, I think the coolest thing going in technology is video game development. Canada has the best game developers from PEI to Victoria and it’s getting bigger all the time.

Interview #1 - Vernum Lun - TheGoodBlogs.com

Interview #2 - Robert Berger - ROSS

Advertisement: Toronto Tech Week - May 25 - June 1

Categories: Interviews, Toronto Tech Week