Divine Solutions began as a sole proprietorship in 1992, when James Divine began developing employee management software for a small restaurant management company in Indiana. While we'd love to brag that this first solution was a huge success, it was more of a learning experience for James and for the management company. The design and software was sound, but one critical piece of the puzzle was missing. No one had considered the end user, in this case middle-aged restaurant managers, who had never used a computer before. A huge lesson was learned on this project that has stayed with James to this day, focus on the people, not the technology, and success will be yours.
In 1996 Divine Solutions developed one of the first online news websites for a small newspaper in Indiana. At this time in the technology revolution, this put the small paper (now owned by Gannett) miles ahead of other papers in the area, and brought an entire new dynamic to the delivery of news and advertising to the area.
After a move to Milwaukee, Wisconsin in 2000, Divine Solutions (DS) expanded it's services to the hardware, networking and telecommunications arenas. By partnering with local providers and national telecoms, DS was able to offer complete technology solutions to businesses in the Milwaukee community. These businesses spanned a number of markets, including retail, staffing agencies, non-profits, community banks, municipalities and even colleges.
It was during this time that James Divine formed a partnership with the owner of a retail logistics company, a small business that was competing with worldwide giants such as Avery Dennison and Monarch for barcoding solutions to retailers. This relationship proved to be one of the most valuable to Divine Solutions, for this is when we realized that a small business with 5 employees could compete, successfully, against juggernauts if they had some secret weapons; outstanding customer service, solid technology, and most importantly, the ability to be flexible (which the big boys always lack). This partnership, which continues to this day, has been the shining example of how small business and technology can have powerful results.