Growth for Calian Group: An Exclusive Interview with CEO Kevin Ford

Calian Group (TSXV:CGY) is a well established Canadian tech company that is undergoing something of a makeover. The 34 year old company has been slowing branching beyond the tech sector and, on April 5, 2016, the company changed its name from Calian Technologies to Calian Group to reflect this shift.
The Investing News Network sat down with President and CEO Kevin Ford to understand what the name change means for the company. Additionally, Ford offered us some key insight into the direction of the company and his top predictions for growth markets. Investors, it’s time to take notes.

Calian Group moves beyond tech

After assuming the CEO position this time last year, Ford started interrogating what the company was about and where Calian is headed. The company is largely known for its IT and professional services, which span IT consulting and IT products, and systems engineering and manufacturing in the defense and aerospace sector. However, Ford explains that this is only “two thirds of what [Calian] does.”
The company is also making inroads into health services and training services. In the healthcare sector, Calian helps Canadian private and public sector organizations to deliver high quality health services. Meanwhile, on the training site of things, the company’s instructors are experts in adult education and capable teachers in both in-class and scenario-based formats.
All told, Calian is about much more than technology, and company’s new name reflects this new reality. As Ford phrases it, the new name helps to “align with the company’s strategy.”

Future directions for the company

Although the company is currently moving beyond tech, this isn’t to say that it’s healthcare and education sectors won’t become re-intertwined in the future. Currently, Calian is focusing on the practitioners side of healthcare, including, doctors, pharmacists and medical clinics. However, Ford promises to be looking into “the opportunities to leverage innovation” as well. This emphasis on healthcare and tech innovation could emerge from Calian itself or, more likely at this stage, be manifested through partnerships in the field. Either way, the company isn’t abandoning tech, it’s just shifting how the company looks at its holistic identity. “The innovation element is something that [Calian] wants to embrace” on all fronts.
In the short term, Calian is focusing on its shift in strategy away from tech, towards a broader market presence. For Ford, this is all encompassed by the company’s name change. Although it’s a “minor word, it’s a major strategy” shift for the company. As part of that, the CEO is hoping to raise the profile of what the company is up to, and “continue to drive return for shareholders.”

Top areas for growth

So where will these returns be coming from? Ford identified several key areas of growth, which could be of help to investors deciding upon their next investments.

• Ford identifies the company’s engineering and manufacturing capabilities as a top area of growth. Although Calian doesn’t build anything applied, it is involved in creating the ground infrastructure for satellites. As the market for satellites increasesin the next several years, the company appears poised to benefit from this market growth.
• Furthermore, the healthcare sector is another large area of growth. All sources point to healthcare as being a major sector of growth in the next decades, so Calian has positioned itself to take advantage of an aging population and increasing healthcare needs. Ford sees challenge and opportunity in the company’s efforts to make things “work in the context of a very challenged system.”
• Finally, the internet of things (IoT) marked another major sector with potential for Ford. More and more items require bandwidth, from wireless car phones to smart household appliances. Companies that are ready to provide the infrastructure for this shift will be in an incredibly strong position, as the world makes its shift to the IoT.

Those were Ford’s predictions about the market’s top areas of growth. Investors keen on his vision could consider Calian as a good site of investment. The areas of aerospace engineering and manufacturing, healthcare, and the IoT are all taking off, making theme very promising areas of investment.
 
Don’t forget to follow us @INN_Technology for real-time news updates.
Securities Disclosure: I, Morag McGreevey, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.
The Investing News Network does not guarantee the accuracy or thoroughness of the information reported in the interviews it conducts. The opinions expressed in these interviews do not reflect the opinions of the Investing News Network and do not constitute investment advice. All readers are encouraged to perform their own due diligence.