Wesley Flores is a man of many hats; enjoying the status of a recognized business transformation and solutions leader, a visionary IT professional, a solution architect, a renowned international speaker, blog writer, business management consultant, and an ardent leader behind one of the renowned IT, Data, & Analytics solution company, Simatree.
Simatree is a specialized business and technology professional services firm. They target solutions for the clients that meet their most strategic objectives with a focus on insights from data. They support advanced data solutions and digital transformation programs across a range of industries.
Owing to his invaluable experiences, Wes Flores is successfully going on the path of being a solution architect; solutions that involve strategy, business processes, systems, and data architecture. With 25 years of experience across the end-to-end information technology ecosystem with deep expertise in the data & analytics field, Wesley has a proven track record and a passion for setting up high-performance teams and
implementing world-class information management platforms. He has acted in IT leadership roles as CTO to
support CIO’s success through driving mature and lasting IT strategies. He has the ability to effectively
communicate key strategies, gain stakeholder alignment, and drive user adoption in support of key technology and organizational goals.
“I learned how to design and build software very early in my career, which helped me to understand how databases and applications can do amazing things. My path continued from building software to building out large-scale enterprise data platforms, which opened a larger world of technology. Yet, the common goal of all these implementations was to meet the needs of the user and to make the process fundamentally better. To this day, I still enjoy finding solutions that others may miss or recommending the approaches that bring superior results,” states Wesley.
What Factors influenced Wes Flores to be a Speaker?
In the words of Wes Flores- he believes understanding the “people, process, and technology” paradigm is key to solving problems holistically. It has led him to focus on the full life cycle of application and data development projects. This allows him to get a deeper understanding of the purpose of a project and how to achieve an optimal solution for it. Data is the common thread that ties everything together, which has also fascinated him. He has often thought about data. If he sees a problem, he has already started to envision the data model needed to solve it. He has been passionate about solving problems because he has always enjoyed helping others. He sees activities such as writing or speaking enable him to help in broader forums.
Client Strategies & Ethics
The clientele of Simatree includes the Public Sector, Insurance, Telcom, Healthcare, and Retail to name a few. One of the early clients once said to Wes Flores, “the proof is in the pudding”. For some reason, this has always resonated with him. He believes that following best practices are important, but without delivery, they are only good ideas. They build trust through execution. One thing to watch out for is a potential expectation gap with clients. Effective communication is the key to managing the expectations of clients upfront.
Hurdles on the Way
Growing is hard when you launch a start-up, especially for a business that relies heavily on a proven track record such as consulting. Simatree’s partners had extensive networks within certain industries and areas of expertise that allowed them to gain opportunities based upon their personal brand. From this point, Wes’s goal was to establish a new reputation for the company across industries. Wes and the whole team have been excited about the successes they have been able to bring to their clients thus far and the new ones on the horizon.
The Driving Force
While talking about his driving force, Wes Flores shared, “I think that we all need help to get to where we are today. We can rarely take credit for accomplishment all on our own. I do feel that my personal faith and my teams have had the most impact on my career success. My faith has helped to keep me grounded in keeping the right priorities at work and home. I also believe in the value of building amazing teams to empower them, finding the right talent, and supporting their growth. Having an amazing team does not happen easily and it has been my privilege to have amazing teams over the years. My teams have had an amazing impact on me personally and on the program successes we accomplished together.”
Contribute to a More Balanced and Equal Industry
When asking Wes Flores about a more balanced and equal industry, he shared, “We can do a lot every single day to keep our business practices balanced and equal. In fact, I think this carries into all aspects of running our business, serving our clients, and building empowered teams. I have been fortunate to have Business Partners that strive to ensure we do not carry biases into the workplace. This is something that is frankly infectious, so as business leaders, we should understand that we need to lead by example. I see the positive effects of this tone that is set by our leadership and I am very proud of it.
Favourite Book– A Cry in the Wilderness by Keith Green
Future Roadmap
In a world that is exploding in data more rapidly every day, this drives strategic needs and opportunities for Simatree’s clients. This enables the team to be a critical strategic partner with the clients, including how technology and venture investments can support their strategic objectives. This continues to lead to more exciting opportunities to serve new and expanded transformation programs. The expansion of data use cases around process automation, data quality, artificial intelligence, and the like continue to open new solutions every day. There have been vast needs and opportunities around both innovation and transformation. Ultimately, Simatree is focused on becoming a recognized leader for these programs across multiple industries.
Feathers in the Cap
Simatree has been awarded several awards including:
- Selected as the Most Innovative Business & Strategic Advisory Firm 2020 by Acquisition International.
- Listed as one of CEO Views Top 50 Most Innovative Companies to Watch in 2020.
- Named one of Silicon Review’s 30 Fastest Growing Companies to Watch 2020
- Named one of CIO Applications Top 10 Analytics Solution Providers for 2019.
Wes Flores has been awarded several awards including: - Information Management Magazine’s – TOP 25 Information Managers
- Computer World BI & Analytics Perspective’s- Best Practices in BI and Analytics
A Piece of Advice for Aspiring Female Entrepreneurs
Our own perspective can either be hindered or energized based upon the prejudices that exist around us. Wes Flores suggests women not limit themselves by others’ negative views, as to not allow those prejudices to change their own mindset, and when you are faced with roadblocks and challenges, you can look to those you admire for encouragement. Some of the most important accomplishments in the world were accomplished amidst great adversity. The right thing is often not the easiest, so stay true to your passions and pursuits, things have a way of opening for you.