Ugo Chiulli, Progressive Computing; George Latimer, Westchester County Executive; Robert Cioffi, Progressive Computing
The Progressive Computing team celebrates 30 years
Robert Cioffi and Ugo Chiulli were raised in Yonkers. They attended and graduated from both Gorton High School and Iona College, became friends, and eventually informal business associates at Iona College during the technology revolution in the 1980s. Today, Robert and Ugo are co-founders of Progressive Computing and are celebrating the company’s 30th anniversary.
Progressive Computing started in 1993 as Robert and Ugo developed software programs for local businesses with open-source DOS. At that time, much of the servicing was “break-fix”-. Progressive would receive a phone call when a partner needed something repaired. Eventually, Progressive Computing grew to provide a host of services as the technology of doing business became more complex and nuanced.
Progressive was among the first to adopt a subscription-based service, offering numerous benefits like guaranteed response time, continued IT support and backup, strategic planning, consulting services, and cyber security protection. Years ago, Mr. Cioffi (COO), Mr. Chiulli (CEO), and Robert Patterson, the company’s Sales and Marketing Director, adopted a unique approach of forming and participating in several peer groups of technology-minded individuals from different industries and disciplines. They would meet quarterly to discuss their business, challenges, and opportunities in the IT industry and would discuss ways to address these issues.
This valuable peer group insight allowed Progressive Computing’s leadership team to put best practice ideas into practice, keep on top of the ever-changing industry, anticipate new trends, and give advice and consultation to their growing portfolio of partners. Progressive Computing has expanded to over 70 clients with revenues exceeding $5 million annually.
During the Covid outbreak, as many businesses were losing revenue and reducing their workforce, Progressive committed itself to keeping the company whole and riding out the pandemic. Progressive’s leadership team stayed in touch with all of their partners, helping them through the difficult transition of managing the pandemic’s effects on their business. Progressive Computing not only emerged stronger from the pandemic, but the Covid experience helped to make businesses more aware of the natural evolution to cloud-based serving, a strategy Progressive had advocated for years.
Progressive’s core values are Respect, Commitment, Team, and Humble Confidence. The latter value is an attitude of quiet confidence that Progressive specialists have when consulting, or troubleshooting an issue, without overreaching or seeming to flaunt their expertise. Interestingly, Progressive has four employees who have been with the company for over 20 years; they embody these core attributes that the company’s employees embrace today.
The hiring process at Progressive is rigorous; each new hire must pass the core values interview before moving on to the next level. Of course, any business fortunate enough to have its employees perform and live by their company’s core values will be better suited to be successful, as Progressive Computing has been since 1993.
Progressive is keen on supporting community-based efforts. From working with The United Way of Westchester and Putnam, Arts Westchester and other nonprofits, having active membership in The Business Council of Westchester to holding high-tech classes at Rutgers, Progressive appreciates the community that has helped them thrive since the company started. We also help provide leadership at various nonprofits. Robert Cioffi is on the board of The Business Council of Westchester, Robert Patterson on the board of the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce, and Ugo Chiulli a board member of Community Resource Center.
The future for Progressive is promising, with the growth of cloud services, the importance of cyber security, and the likely prospect that the company considers the acquisition of entities that can help elevate the customer experience in the coming years; Progressive is well positioned for continued success and growth.
For more information, visit https://www.progressivecomputing.com/
