About

Founder Fred Michanie and a partner, both former Intel developers, design and deploy an online solution for CalOES to track and report on emergency calls in order to help safety officials improve emergency response. With this project, an Argentine immigrant fulfills the American Dream, and DirectApps, Inc. is born.

Now working solo, Fred brings on two new partners, Air Force Veteran Rick Nelson and former Green Beret John Sercu, to grow the business. Together, they carve a niche in innovative, fully-online solutions for existing business problems. The partners also acquire a Seattle-based staffing agency to fill teams for larger projects.

To reflect the company's new direction and expanded offerings, the Direct Technology brand is born. This comes with a new mission and vision: To fulfill the promise of technology, and to give people more responsibility and opportunities to grow their careers faster than anywhere else. 

With the launch of our Energy Solutions Group (ESG), Direct Technology takes up the fight for national energy efficiency. Working with utilities, reporting agencies, and other energy organizations, our Energy Efficiency Collaboration Platform (EECP) simplifies everything about EE and DSM program management.

Remember that first breakout project Fred did? With Rick and John's sales acumen, that initial public safety solution develops into our first nationally reaching flagship product: the first ever fully-online Emergency Call Tracking System, or ECaTS, which now helps save lives in over 30 states.  

The age of digital transformation hits government, and we go back to our roots. With Davood Ghods, who spent over 20 years working for the State of California (including a term as Chief of the Office of Technology), we start up our government practice to expand our public-sector offerings from tried-and-true SaaS solutions to end-to-end IT consulting.

Sacramento Business Journal ranks Direct Technology as one of the coolest offices to work in in the Sacramento area - how could they not? With game tables, a popcorn machine, a keg, and a passion for wellness and charitable events, our office culture buzzes with more energy every year.

With increasing demand in all industries for contract IT expertise, Direct Technology's internal IT team expands and creates a division to bring infrastructure, cloud, cybersecurity, and managed services to new external clients. Since then, we have been the running champion for the Sacramento Business Journal's #1 IT Consulting Firm award. 

Direct Technology's very first project, all grown up and poised for further growth, sells for $80 million to West Corp. It's a bittersweet moment, but allows every ECaTS employee and the software itself to gain new potential and opportunity for success.

Thanks to major wins by Direct Technology employees and explosive growth in new markets like EE, government, and IT services, we're named among the fastest growing companies in the region - and it only gets better from here.