Above: Representing IDT’s “youth movement” are Tooba Ahmad, IT manager (left), and Christian Valvano, solutions account manager.
It’s a well-worn dictum that reinvention is the hallmark of successful companies. The office technology industry is no stranger to that, having managed through more changes over the last 30 years than in the past 300. Integrated Document Technologies (IDT), the Fairfield, New Jersey-based one-stop dealer, has faced its fair share of business reinventions driven by economic downturns and a keen eye for expanding in growing markets.
The most recent catalyst for pivoting was the COVID-19 pandemic. “We lost a lot during COVID. We lost a lot of our clients either because they went out of business, or, like, everybody else, we had companies in our part of the country that didn’t go back to work for years,” said Liz Perillo, president of IDT. She recalls one major client that installed around 20 machines that didn’t make a single click, with staff not returning to the office for over two years.
The strategy: downsize, work smarter, focus on rebuilding. IDT assembled a 15-member team that learned how to multitask better and take ownership of their responsibilities. Two years ago, IDT opened an office in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, a growing area in a thriving state where, Perillo said, they’re about to start rehiring back to their former levels.
Florida is booming. Businesses have relocated there at a quick clip—more than 500 in 2023, according to the Florida Chamber of Commerce. Startups are proliferating; state GDP grew more than 20% from 2019 to 2024; and people are moving there in high numbers, driven in part by an enviable warm climate. (Although when we spoke to Perillo, West Palm Beach was a cool 38 degrees.)
“The West Palm area and the Miami area, they call it Wall Street South now. Goldman Sachs, all the big financial guys have offices down here. Miami is a big hub, too. But West Palm is really growing. Vanderbilt University has built a campus down here for their engineering program and their business department. So, they’re really attracting a lot of young, successful people. West Palm is very exciting,” she said. The other office remains in New Jersey, managed by her husband, Gerard.
In print: Liz Perillo and IDT appeared in Florida’s local Palm Beaches business news this past summer.
Staying static is not a sound office technology strategy
The other thing about reinvention is not to remain static. Perillo said her father (more about him later) told her, “If you don’t stay in front of technology, you go out of business.” For IDT clients, which span the country and generally fall in the mid-market space with 20 to 200 employees, that means a full gamut of products and services, from hardware to managed services.
“We were able to grow our business within our current customer base. But we expanded into all technologies. So we do security systems, IT systems, IT services,” she said. “You can’t just sell hardware, so we provide a whole solution. And what’s also very nice is we’re able to really meet the customer’s needs, because we’re independent. So, we can do exactly what the customer needs, not what we can sell. So that’s also a big, important factor,” she added.
And, what of AI? “I think the technology is exciting,” continued Perillo. “Our job, as solution consultants, is to teach our clients how to use the technology. So, we don’t see any real issues. It’s always fun to have something new to talk about. AI is only helping us. I mean, the software solutions and the integration into our products are changing the way we do business.”
Interestingly, Perillo is not really stressing about the challenges facing the industry. Constant pivoting is the name of the game for any business owner who wants to succeed, she believes. “The circumstances change, but the issues that we’re having today, we had in some form, the last 10 years and 10 years before that, and 10 years before that. Every generation has something. Technologies are always growing and changing. I’m not saying we don’t have challenges, but they don’t scare me,” she noted.
On the other hand, finding people is more of a challenge, Perillo added, especially young people who want to work really hard and put the effort and time in to build a successful career. But she does acknowledge that many people can make a lot more money in other industries that can pay much more, such as finance, where some starting salaries can hit $300,000. It’s very difficult to compete against that.
Deep office technology roots with Xerox
Perillo’s roots go back decades in this industry. Her father, Edward Rosen, worked at Xerox in the 1960s. She says he was one of the first men to hire women back then. He left and started two companies. One was Vydec in 1972. The company developed one of the first stand-alone word processors, and the market for the machines grew quickly. But, it was clear that the days of stand-alone word processors were numbered, so the company was sold to Exxon. His next venture, a company called Ziyad, developed sheet feeders, a technology he licensed to OEMs.
“As a young kid, all the kids would be out playing. I would have to sit inside and, you know, watch a 35-millimeter slide projector. He would show me presentations and stuff like that,” she remembered. “And, I’ll never forget, he named 10 companies, and this was a presentation he was giving. And he would say, what do all these companies have in common? And what they had in common was that they all went out of business.”
IDT began more than 30 years ago. Ed Rosen also worked for Xerox, but starting her career there was never the plan for his daughter. It just kind of happened, as things do, launching a partnership that now has spanned decades. Perillo started with Xerox Direct in sales and then started an agency within the Xerox umbrella. Eventually, she moved from an agency to an independent dealer.
On the street in Manhattan, New York City, an IDT truck shows off the dealership’s allegiance to KMBS. Xerox is also a longtime partner.
“Xerox had this thing called an agent program, which everybody knows now, but not everybody knew it then. Instead of going into management, I went the entrepreneurial way and started an agency. It’s your own business, but with a big security blanket underneath,” she explained.
Perillo rented her own space, bought her own telephones and computers, hired staff, and had a contract with Xerox that said she could sell in a specific geographic area. Xerox paid her a commission, and she would pay her sales reps. “It was a really nice program to develop entrepreneurs. It taught me how to run and manage a company,” she recalled.
In 2005, she changed the contract with Xerox and added the Konica Minolta line to her offerings. “I’m very lucky,” she said, modestly. “Both manufacturers are super. Konica Minolta does tremendous partner building, and Xerox has always been a leader in technology and programs. We found the right mix of two important partners.”
IDT is committed to Florida, expanding its operations there and taking full advantage of the opportunities such a growing market offers. She and Gerard go back and forth between Florida and New Jersey. And their children, Gerard and Victoria, have started working for the company. Gerard is an account manager, and Victoria works in finance and manages the customer experience.
What started 31 years ago has turned into a full-family experience, positioning the company for the long run. “So we’re going to all do really, really well, or we’ll all kill each other, one or another,” she joked.
Internship program: This fresh-faced trio of IDT full-time employees began their careers as summer interns.
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