Greg Butterfield's a hands-on guy. But he's not a bossy boss. He believes if you give an employee the right tools and just the right amount of guidance, then let him or her run with it, success will follow.
That approach has taken Altiris Inc. from a company on the edge of financial disaster to one that's growing and just last month held an initial public offering. All that in a time when the economy — and the technology sector in particular — has been unusually rocky.
When Butterfield joined Altiris in 1999, the company was young and floundering financially, but he brought with him 15 years' experience as a sales and marketing executive and helped turn things around.
Altiris offers robust Web-enabled solutions that let organizations easily manage clients and servers and thus reduce the cost and complexity of information technology. Based in Lindon, it grew out of Keylabs, a commercial facility offering software companies "proof of concept" testing. Company technicians created personal computer "cloning" and deployment software to simultaneously change the operating systems on hundreds of computers very quickly. That was the birth of what would become the now-independent Altiris' business solutions products.
Butterfield's plan included taking Altiris public to fund other goals and visions for the company. He's into strategic acquisitions , looking for opportunities that enhance the company's strengths.
He believes in hiring the best people in the industry and paying them for results. His admirers say he's approachable and keeps his employees well-informed about the business and its plans.