Optek Solutions offers new approach to IT

By Pat Rediger

The middle of a pandemic is probably a less than ideal time to be starting a new business venture, but the timing was right for Kevin Aebig. He had been doing a little consulting work in the IT sector in addition to his regular job, and it wasn’t long before he captured the attention of Athabasca Basin Development (ABD), an Indigenous-owned investment company.

Aebig enjoyed helping companies with their IT issues, but he didn’t have a team or enough hours available to take his consulting practice to the next level. But ABD was on the lookout for business opportunities and IT services was an area that offered possibilities. The field was a new one for ABD, which has investments in a range of different sectors, part of a continuing trend of Indigenous companies and investors finding new niches and opportunities across the province.

After developing a business case together, ABD brought in Peter Ballantyne Group of Companies, and the two organizations decided to invest in Optek Solutions with Aebig as CEO.

“We put together a case that included our methodology of moving our clients to cloud solutions, which was a little different than what the industry would consider normal,” recalled Aebig. “There’s a lot of similarities, but we’re a little disruptive on how we approach things.”

More growth, means more opportunity and jobs for the people of Saskatchewan.

Traditionally, IT firms establish a large headquarter with consultants who are on-call to deal with different clients’ needs, often visiting them on-site to solve problems. With the pandemic and the growth of remote working, Aebig realized there was an opportunity to create a different approach. He set about finding the best IT support staff in the province and make them available to clients as required from their remote locations.

“We learned and used some of the tools that came out of the pandemic, so our model is primarily remote based. We have people from across Saskatchewan and we can provide better coverage to our clients. They don’t need to be in a specific office building to provide support and being this flexible provides us