Before it became a global advisor to IT departments, Info-Tech Research Group was little more than a fax machine and an idea.
In 1997, Founder Joel McLean was teaching at Western University’s Ivey Business School when he spotted a gap. IT leaders were struggling to keep up with a rapidly changing digital landscape.
“Southwestern Ontario is proving that success stories don’t just happen in the GTA or Kitchener-Waterloo.”
Trisha Beausaert, Info-Tech
He imagined a subscription-based service, unusual for the time, that could provide them with timely guidance and practical tools to improve performance.
“The goal was to advise IT leaders on what’s happening in technology so that they don’t have to scour the internet and figure out what’s going on,” said Gord Harrison, Info-Tech’s Chief Research Officer.
The initial solution was a newsletter, sent by fax machine, to interested IT professionals. And as the Internet era began to take shape, McLean bet that businesses would fund a new process to access support and knowledge.
He was right.
Nearly three decades later, Info-Tech has scaled to serve more than 30,000 customers worldwide, with a large part of its exponential growth happening in the last five years. The firm is currently under the leadership of CEO Tom Zehren, who stepped into the role in early 2024.
The company offers Chief Information Officers and IT professionals access to reports, best practices, and guidance on IT trends, strategy, and implementation, as well as ready-to-use project plans, digital tools, process maps, and documents. It also offers training for IT professionals and access to a network of experts who can coach or consult on specific IT challenges, and has grown to support other departments outside of IT, including human resources, marketing, and software buying.
From its headquarters in London, where a third of its workforce still resides, Info-Tech has grown to over 1,500 employees and a membership spanning industries from healthcare to education. And since 2022, Info-Tech’s workforce has grown by 30 percent globally.
But they didn’t get to this point alone.
In the early aughts, the company became a member of TechAlliance, a regional innovation centre supporting startups and scaling companies throughout Southwestern Ontario. It allowed them to connect with other business leaders, which was especially beneficial in a smaller region, where everyone is eager to help each other.
“There’s nothing like sitting with someone who’s growing a company from scratch and figuring out how they’ve taken advantage of the community and seeing how the support has helped them build their business,” said Harrison.
TechAlliance provided business opportunities, recruiting support, and amplified Info-Tech’s story, all of which contributed to the firm’s steady growth.
Info-Tech is one of more than 2,100 companies TechAlliance has supported since 2002 through free coaching, advisory services, and events. As a result, these companies have collectively accessed over $2.2 billion in funding.
“They’re making sure that innovation is happening in Southwestern Ontario, and specifically that the London region is amplified, seen, heard, and gets the access and the focus it deserves,” said Trisha Beausaert, Info-Tech’s VP of Public Relations and Communications. “It’s been helpful to have our community partner help amplify our story, not only to prospects and members, but also to talent.”
With strong roots at home, expansion outside Southwestern Ontario became Info-Tech’s obvious next step.
The company has so far expanded its presence in the United States, Canada, Australia, and the United Kingdom, with more international announcements expected later this year.
“The language of tech is universal,” Harrison added. “IT departments face the same challenges across the globe, so the market is huge.”
As it grows abroad, Info-Tech’s culture has remained central to its identity. After more than 25 years in business, the company has built a reputation as an employer of choice, supporting both employees and alumni. Its HR division, McLean & Company, was recently recognized with two Canadian HR Reporter Readers’ Choice Awards in 2025 for its employee engagement surveys and leadership and team development.
With talent increasingly attracted to London for its community energy, lower housing costs, and top-tier post-secondary schools, Info-Tech sits within a cluster of growing firms reshaping Southwestern Ontario’s place in the national tech conversation.
“In terms of being an innovation corridor, Southwestern Ontario is proving that success stories don’t just happen in the GTA or Kitchener-Waterloo,” said Beausaert. “There is a hotbed of highly innovative global organizations that were founded right here that have gone the distance.”
Info-Tech, she believes, is just one of those stories.
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All photos provided by Info-Tech.