Phil Castle, The Business Times

Michael Ligrani pulls out his smartphone to make a point. He could use his phone to make calls, check his email or complete countless other tasks.

But using the software Ligrani’s company has developed, he also could control a natural gas field located nearly anywhere in the world.

As co-founder and chief executive officer of Iron-IQ, Ligrani manages a Grand Junction-based operation that provides software to help customers connect equipment, processes and people on the cloud. Those connections extend from the field to data centers to mobile devices just like the phone in his hand.

Iron-IQ serves the upstream oil and natural gas industry with what’s called a supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) platform that remotely monitors and controls pumps, tanks, valves and other equipment.

But Ligrani expects Iron-IQ to expand its product line to serve other industries, among them mining, water treatment and solar and wind energy.

With what he anticipates will be a 1,000 percent increase in annual recurring revenue in 2022 over 2021, his goals for the next three to five years include becoming the top SCADA provider in the energy industry and then the top SCADA provider overall.

Those efforts haven’t gone unnoticed.

Iron-IQ recently received a $250,000 grant from the Advanced Industries Accelerator Program administered by the Global Business Development Division of the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade. Ligrani says the money will be used to recruit and train additional staff.

Iron-IQ also is among the latest finalists in the Colorado Companies to Watch awards program honoring fast-growing businesses in the state.

While Iron-IQ serves a global market, Ligrani says he’s grateful to base the operation in Grand Junction, close to his roots as the descendant of a local farming family. 

Iron-IQ will add to what he envisions as a growing tech sector in the Grand Valley bolstered by the quality of life as well as a work force educated at Colorado Mesa University.

Iron-IQ was created by the merger of an energy industry software company and SCADA provider, Ligrani says. The result was a firm offering expertise in software and SCADA technology. “We found a market fit.”

The energy industry has long used remote monitoring and controls, but Iron-IQ offers in its Patch-IQ the latest generation of cloud-native software, he says. 

It’s a matter of helping the energy industry transition from older systems to Patch-IQ. The sector is among the early adopters of technology that makes operations safer and more efficient and environmentally responsible.

Patch-IQ offers a number of benefits over legacy SCADA, he says, including lower costs. Some case studies found a
50 percent reduction in SCADA costs. Remote monitoring and control means employees don’t have to be dispatched as frequently to a site, in turn lowering labor costs.

Moreover, the software can be easily scaled up and down as needed, he says.

By operating in the cloud, the software is both easily accessible, but also more secure than older systems, Ligrani says. That makes companies less vulnerable to cyber attacks targeting infrastructure.

An Iron-IQ team monitors the software around the clock, he says. “We take security extremely seriously.”

In addition, cloud-native software doesn’t require customers to provide or maintain extensive hardware.

While Iron-IQ customers operate mostly in the continental United States, the energy sector is global, Ligrani says. “The market is vast. We’re winning hearts and minds all over the industry, too.”

To keep pace with growth, Ligrani says he expects to add 12 to 19 employees over the next year, increasing what’s now a staff of 27.

Looking ahead, he envisions the same kind of software that serves the energy industry also can serve other industries, including the mining, water treatment and solar and wind energy sectors. 

That could promote additional growth for Iron-IQ and its operations in Mesa County, he says.

Iron-IQ operates out of offices at 610 Rood Ave. in Grand Junction. For additional information, call (877) 664-9355 or log on to https://iron-iq.com.