Red Hawk Technologies Founder Named Visionary Leader at Cincinnati Best in Tech Awards

The nonprofit information technology association for Greater Cincinnati, The Circuit, recently awarded Red Hawk’s Matt Strippelhoff the 2022 Visionary Leader Award for his reimagining of the software and application development process. Each year, the award recognizes an innovative risk-taker whose bold leadership is a catalyst for growth and success.

“I was humbled to be nominated and thrilled to be chosen. The Greater Cincinnati area is filled with innovative leaders with outstanding talent: I’m honored to have been singled out,” Matt said. 

Matt’s vision drives digital transformation by creating a better way to serve the mid-market, ultimately disrupting traditional models of developing software as if it were a project or through staff augmentation contracts. Instead, the Red Hawk Technologies’ operational and financial model bundles software development, enhancement, maintenance, technical support and DevOps services for a fixed monthly fee. 

“This business model provides mid-market companies with the financial and operational stability they need to continue investing in transformational tech to outpace their competition, open up new revenue streams and leverage their data to deliver more value to their end-customers,” Matt said. “With the old model, the costs of development were unpredictable and companies found themselves in ongoing break/fix contracts and not investing in maintaining their digital assets.” 

In part due to this visionary business model, Red Hawk has increased sales over 30 percent and added a significant number of multi-year recurring revenue contracts to the company’s portfolio. Customer retention has risen to 100 percent among clients that opted for the new service model. The approach has also created a way for Red Hawk’s software developers to stay in the game and off the bench. 

“My favorite part of the journey has been seeing our team rally behind the vision and bring it to life,” Matt said. “This challenge provided us an opportunity to reimagine how software engineering services could be delivered to mid-market clients. Our goal was to provide the financial predictability and operational stability they needed to continue innovating.” Currently, Red Hawk is responsible for the development, health and performance of digital assets for over a dozen of Greater Cincinnati’s most reputable and innovative mid-market companies.

Each year, the Best of Tech Awards are given out to recognize achievements, celebrate successes and highlight the significant contributions of local organizations. The awards focus on companies and individuals making the most of technology and working hard in the local community. Greater Cincinnati and Southwest Ohio are home to a depth of technology leadership, talent and resources. The Best of Tech acknowledges this hub of expertise, innovation and collaboration in the Midwest. 

The Circuit connects the IT community and provides members with industry education and the opportunity to gather and collaborate. The association develops programs and events based on members’ needs and interests and includes a wide variety of organizations, from Fortune 500 through start-ups, vendors and technology companies. Members include everyone from CIOs to individuals working in an information technology role.

Interested in learning more about the Cincinnati Best in Tech Awards or in Matt’s leadership initiatives? Contact Red Hawk and we’ll happily answer your questions. We hope to see you all at next year’s Cincinnati Best in Tech Awards ceremony.