At age 53, Chuck Vermillion sold his first firm and retired with grand plans for golf, fitness and some handyman projects around the house. That first year of retirement turned into a laser focus on golf and not much else. The workouts and handyman projects didn’t get done.
“I knew that if I didn’t work out or didn’t fix that squeaky door, I could do it whenever. And, unfortunately for me, and many others, whenever means never,” Vermillion said. “I’m driven by deadlines. Hobbies and handywork don’t have deadlines. I failed in my retirement. I’m not wired for that.”
Today, Vermillion is CEO of AccountabilIT, which provides IT support and cyber-security services to businesses, government agencies, nonprofits and other organizations large and small.
AIT has completed four acquisitions and plans to complete an additional one to three per year for the next several years. In the coming five years, the company plans to deepen its security offerings while aligning with Microsoft advanced specializations, focusing on cloud security, identity access management, information protection and governance and threat protection. It also plans to invest in cybersecurity consulting offerings.
Vermillion was a pioneer in the managed services industry, starting his first company in 1997. He saw great success with this customer-focused approach and grew his first business to approximately $50 million in revenue in just under 14 years, ultimately selling for $95 million in 2011. Within a short time of entering the managed security services space, at AccountabilIT he created a customer-focused organization that has been identified as one of the top 250 managed security service providers (MSSPs) worldwide four years in a row by MSSPAlert.
Vermillion said his business philosophy centers on three primary constituents, ranked in order of importance: the customer, employee and investor.
“If you focus on delighting the customer, and then ensure your employees are well-compensated, motivated and in alignment with your culture of ‘customer first,’ the investor returns are essentially the fruit of the labor,” he said. “This strategy has served me well over the 25 years of my entrepreneurial career.”
Vermillion is chairman emeritus of the Arizona Technology Council. He previously volunteered as a board member for the Boys and Girls Club of Phoenix and served as a board member for the Miracle League of Scottsdale. In 2009, Vermillion was honored with the Governor’s Celebration of Innovation Ed Denison Business Leader of the Year Award. In 2013, the Phoenix Business Journal chose him as one of 15 Phoenix area Tech Titans.
No matter what happens with his current firm or any other work on the horizon, Vermillion is certain he won’t return to retirement. Why?
“I’m never quitting,” he said.
