San Jose Mercury News, Tue, Apr. 29, 2003
Mike Cassidy: When angels have technical problems, CGNET is there
By Mike Cassidy, Mercury News
So, you think you've seen ugly computer problems?
Try talking to the crew over at CGNET Services International in Menlo Park.
For two decades, the small and very quiet company has been running technical obstacle courses in some of the poorest and most remote places in the world.
Rwanda, Eritrea, Yemen, Bangladesh, Haiti, Sri Lanka. You name it: From Afghanistan to Zimbabwe, CGNET has been there.
Stocked with about 30 alumni of the Peace Corps and other humanitarian organizations, the company goes about building computer networks for non-profits working to save the planet, improve education and better farming practices.
"They're all on a mission,'' says CGNET founder Georg Lindsey. "A mission from God.''
CARE, Save the Children, the David and Lucille Packard Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the W.F. Kellogg Foundation -- about 80 organizations working in more than 90 countries.
And, yes, Lindsey and his team support their good works. But they're a for-profit company that stands four-square behind the idea of making money. Lindsey came out of non-profits -- heart-disease prevention, public broadcasting. He never cared for fundraising, the whole hat-in-hand routine.
"Wouldn't it be nice,'' he figured, "to be able to do good stuff and have people pay you for what you do?''
Lindsey started with one project -- studying the ways computer networks could help develop better agricultural practices in the developing world. The company has grown from there by word of mouth.
CGNET's business story is decidedly un-sexy. From a 12,000-square-foot warehouse filled with servers and cubicles and decorated with posters promoting peace and social justice, workers toil to connect the world's disconnected. The overwhelming majority (about 95 percent) of its clients are non-profits. Last year's revenues were about $6 million.
The work, however, is an entirely different story. Oh sure, CGNET gets the basic tech-support calls. The smoldering server in Senegal. The rusted disk drive in Dakar.
But workers have war stories, too. Real war stories.
Like having to build a work-around to hold and store e-mail addressed to the 900 workers at the African Development Bank's Ivory Coast office. Worried about growing political unrest, workers left the Ivory Coast location and scattered to sites throughout Africa and Europe. CGNET eventually re-established the 900 accounts and the workers were back in touch from new locations.
In Afghanistan, a CGNET worker recently received some friendly advice. The worker had climbed atop a roof in Kandahar to take pictures. A local resident happened by.
"You better get down,'' CGNET's Jim Estes said the resident told his colleague. "We've had some trouble with snipers here.''
The world is a complicated place, which in fact is CGNET's bread and butter. Lindsey says the company is positioned for growth.
Technology is getting cheaper, meaning small non-profits can now afford to build networks connecting remote areas with civilization.
New technology -- wireless, in particular -- has increased the reach of networks. And three CGNET customers recently scheduled meetings to talk about building networks in Iraq.
No, three meetings won't mean a windfall. But the meetings are a reminder of one sad truth that works in CGNET's favor:
Solving the world's problems remains a growth business.
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Hey! Have an only-in-Silicon Valley story? Contact Mike Cassidy at mcassidy@mercurynews.com or (408) 920-5536.
Copyright 2003 San Jose Mercury News.