Costly errors increase demand for business intelligence
Jordan Johnson likes to think of the company he works for, Strategic Insight Group, as a “private CIA.”
Based in Fort Worth but with a worldwide reach, SIG is a private investigative group. Its office is carefully controlled to protect client confidentiality, and a team of analysts sifts through documents and data to provide specialized reports. Clients include large financial and investment groups, law firms and other businesses, and SIGÂ’s goal is simple: to collect and present as much data as possible to a client so the client company can make the best use of its resources.
“Mistakes have become intolerably expensive,” said Dee Smith, CEO and founder of SIG, which has its beginnings in 1995. And since mistakes are so expensive, it’s more and more important that companies be well-equipped to make decisions that aren’t going to backfire later, he said.
Smith has a background in research and analyzing information, from music theory, geology, deciphering hieroglyphics and various national and international work, including venture capital. Born and raised in Fort Worth, Smith created Strategic Research & Development LLC, the full name of SIG, at a time when data was becoming more easily accessible via the Internet, which was gaining momentum.
Today, the company operates in more than 65 countries and has part-time employees across the globe. It’s unveiled a new product for companies to gauge how vulnerable to fraud they may be — because most fraud is perpetrated from within a company, Smith pointed out — and business has increased as the economy has declined. However, from doing in-depth background checks or profiling business markets to performing security assessments or investigating companies an investor may be interested in, SIG is still a low-profile company.
Johnson, vice president of business development for SIG, joined the company about a year ago and his role is to show companies how SIGÂ’s intelligence could help their business. Until recently, nearly 100 percent of the companyÂ’s business was by referral, he said, and with national companies (especially in the financial world) taking heavy hits from poor decision-making, thereÂ’s more of a need for companies to be proactive about knowing their status and protecting their resources: human, monetary and otherwise.
“What we found is most companies aren’t doing enough,” Johnson said.
Johnson and Smith pointed to the fraud stress test as an example of reactive behavior on behalf of companies. By examining a companyÂ’s structure and employees, SIG analysts (of which there are about a dozen in Fort Worth) can pinpoint weaknesses, such as a financially desperate employee whoÂ’s fallen on hard times and may be tempted to act unwisely or a computer system that isnÂ’t secure. Instead of proverbially closing the barn door after the horse runs out, Smith said, SIGÂ’s pinpointing offers clients an opportunity to make definite steps to be more secure. Paying a fee for SIGÂ’s services pales in comparison to paying for investigation and legal fees on top of losses in the future, he said.
“The saying ‘The devil’s in the details’ — it’s absolutely true in our business,” Smith said.
Details on their own arenÂ’t much of a help, though, Smith explained. The key to SIGÂ’s approach is to come at a subject from every angle possible and then look for patterns or indicators in the web of information. Taking this wide approach to a topic, such as not only looking at a potential company for investment but also the leader of the company, gives better insight. For example, a potential company may check out, but a wide approach may reveal the leader has a history of personal bankruptcies and throw up a red flag to an investor.
By using a specific methodology and employing analysts who have background in research — like ex-law enforcement officials or government employees — SIG is able to provide a product that is unique and doesn’t rely on off-the-shelf data, Smith said. All of the data it obtains is legal, and nothing underhanded happens in the course of research, but the company has discovered shady situations in the past, he said.
In light of the recession, though, Smith said everybody seems to have realized how success requires caution.
“None of us has, in this economy, the luxury of thinking nothing will happen,” he said.
And before something does happen, itÂ’s best to take a dose of preventive medicine, Johnson said. SIG quietly is taking a proactive stance and sharing what it does with a wider audience, he said.
“In a large part, people don’t realize a company like this exists,” he said.
