The History of Envision
Envision Technology Advisors was started in October of 1998 by Todd Knapp. Working out of a basement on Hope Street in Providence, with an "office" that sat beside a hot water heater, Todd rapidly discovered that he needed help. While Todd had the vision, he needed to surround himself with people that could organize and execute. Enter Brent Ouellette, Envision’s first hire and an integral part of the success that Envision has enjoyed. Together, Brent and Todd began offering technology services, including Y2K preparation (remember that?) to a variety businesses in and around Rhode Island.
Over the years, the company has grown, adding additional staff and services – each time with a focus on hiring only the best people who brought unique and valuable skills to the organization. In 2001, after an extensive search, Envision acquired a Web Development company in order to ensure that our customers would have access to the best possible resources as they expanded their online presence. Envision also moved from one basement office to another - trading their first office for a location on North Main Street in Providence with more room to house the quickly growing group.
Delivering on Virtualization
As it happens, 1998 was a good year for startups. As Envision began its fledgling business, so did VMware. Almost immediately, the company caught the attention of Envision’s team. Envision began attending VMworld in 2005, after the release of Virtual infrastructure 3.0. In 2007, Envision changed gears and hasn’t since deployed a single physical server. Virtualization quickly became the primary focus at Envision as the company emerged as a recognized leader in virtualization services throughout New England. Envision's virtualization services eventually grew to include virtualization assessments, desktop virtualization, management, disaster recovery, and cloud federation.
Recognizing that educating the customer base needed to be the first priority, in 2008 the company held their first VMworld by Proxy event. Since that time, this event, which is free to attendees and which recaps the best of VMworld, has grown from a half day event to a full day conference attended by hundreds of the largest companies throughout New England, making it one of the most successful VMworld recap events offered anywhere.
A Best Place to Work
A consistently growing company since the beginning, Envision's numbers have continued to climb as new engineers, web developers, a sales team and our Ground Control Mission Directors have joined the team over the past few years. Through all this growth, the company's commitment to excellence in customer service and employee satisfaction has remained, and in 2009 Envision was recognized for the first time as a "Best Place to Work in Rhode Island" - an award they have also received every year since.
Leaders in Virtualization
In late 2011, Envision's commitment to virtualization was recognized by VMware as the company was award their highest level of partnership, being named a "Premier Partner." This designation, along with the company's innovation with virtualization services and the continued success of the VMworld By Proxy conference, further cemented Envision's place as a leader in virtualization and technology consulting services.
Another Move
As the summer of 2012 wound down, Envision would once again make an office move. With the company now at 30 full time employees and continuing to grow, they were in need of some additional space. After two basement offices, Envision decided it was time for some windows, moving just outside Providence to the Hope Artiste Village in Pawtucket, Rhode Island. With 26-foot ceilings and dozens of windows throughout, the new space more than tripled the size of the company's office.
Envision's new location may be a far cry from that space near the hot water heater that Todd and company first sat in, but the organization's core mission from those early year's still remains intact:
- To be the best at what we do
- To have have fun doing it
- To create a profitable organization where our employees can thrive