Consonus laying off 14 workers

Cary data management company follows pattern among Triangle tech outfits

Consonus Technologies, which wanted to sell stock to the public last year, is now laying off 14 workers to better position itself for an uncertain 2009.

The layoffs, which will leave the Cary data-management company with about 200 employees, have already begun and will be completed shortly, CEO Mike Shook said.

"What we did is some minor tweaking around the edges," Shook said. "We just think it is judicious to make sure we are really looking at our cost structure." The company's work force is spread across 13 offices and "very, very few" people are being laid off at the Cary headquarters, Shook said.

He added that, although the company has cut back in areas where performance was lackluster, it also is adding employees in areas that are performing well.

Shook said Consonus had a better-than-expected 2008 but the company is being cautious because "quite candidly, we just don't know what to think about the economy right now." Consonus manages data centers and provides information technology services for businesses.

Consonus hoped to net $21.1 million after expenses by selling 3 million shares of stock to the public in 2008, but it set those plans aside in September when the market for initial public offerings, or IPOs, soured.

Shook said Consonus would be cutting jobs even if its IPO plans had borne fruit. Revenue, which has been growing, could be flat in the first half of 2009, Shook said.

Filings Consonus made with the Securities and Exchange Commission as part of its IPO plans showed that the company had $822,000 in cash and more than $40 million in debt as of June 30. Shook said the company is making its debt payments from its cash flow and isn't planning to raise additional cash from investors any time soon.

Other Triangle technology companies that have laid off employees or disclosed plans for layoffs in recent months include Alcatel-Lucent, Allscripts Misys Healthcare Solutions, Amkor Technology, ChannelAdvisor, Hatteras Networks, IBM, Lenovo, Lulu.com, Nortel Networks, Qimonda and Sony Ericsson.

"People are looking hard at their cost structure," Shook said. "We're doing just what everybody else in our industry is doing."