8/30/2011 – ‘I’ Stands for Innovate
We have to evolve. As human beings, as individuals, as a species, as a group, as the universe, we must evolve, become more than we are this minute so that we can become more than we are in the next and so on.
Nowhere is this forward momentum more necessary than in business and, more importantly, technology. Over the past 100 years, technology has experienced a massive growth spurt, taking it from an infant learning how to crawl to a full-blown young adult, who is probably gearing up for a quarter-life crisis. Without this growth, we would still be riding in horse-drawn buggies, sending messages via a telegraph and using encyclopedias to look things up.
Instead, we are experimenting with electric and solar-powered cars, using electronic messaging as our primary method of communication and carrying around pocket-sized computers (i.e. smartphones) so that the Internet, the modern-day encyclopedia, is never further away than our back pocket.
All of this can be credited to innovation. At DROSTE, we’ve been riding the wave of innovation, often being the first in our industry to create new technology or apply previously developed tech in a new way. As our software has evolved, we’ve reinvented the way our clients handle their business, migrating manual processes to automated ones and often increasing efficiency by removing a step or three of the process.
While some companies have embraced innovation whole-heartedly, it is actually consumers who have adopted it with a vengeance. We’ve seen more and more customers willing to learn and adapt to this new method of living, conducting business and interacting at a startling rate, often surpassing business’ adoption of these new processes or hardware. In many cases, consumer use has spurred companies into action, making it impossible for them to compete in the marketplace without adopting new technology.
A primary example of this is the iPhone. Designed and marketed as a personal device, upon its release, companies realized the iPhone and its operating platform had the power to transform the way they interacted with their consumers. The mobile application, now simply called an ‘app,’ became part of our vernacular and the organizations that learned how to harness this technology first were viewed not only as innovative and forward-thinking, but as invested in their customers and the customer experience. Two elements very important for success.
As we’ve done previously with software applications, we at DROSTE have developed a way for our clients to reach their consumers on their smartphones, further engaging with the customer and enhancing their footprint in the marketplace. Our first iPhone app, launched late last year, iOrder is DROSTE’S initial step into the client-consumer realm. Allowing consumers to place their deli or bakery orders before even arriving at the store and then simply swing by to pick them up, is yet another example of innovative technology making people’s lives easier. And DROSTE is helping to bridge the gap by offering cost-effective, innovative solutions that businesses of any size can take advantage of.
How innovative is your organization? Could you be more innovative? Unlike so many other things, innovation is a state of perpetual motion—moving forward so that others can move forward with us.
8/16/2011 – The Benefits of “Almost” Being There
Cloud is the latest buzzword in the world of Information Technology, Computing and Data Warehousing. While companies as varied as IBM and Amazon have their own versions of the Cloud (and their own definitions), it appears to be a concept that’s going to stick. But before we jump feet first onto a cumulonimbus, let’s take a step back and dig a little deeper into this concept of Virtualization.
Virtual Servers are the foundation of the Cloud. Before Virtual servers we needed a box with memory and hard drives for each function we wanted to support—picture a giant CPU. We needed at least a file server, an email server and a web server. The problem was three boxes are three times more expensive than one box and even the most organized and efficient IT departments could only utilize about 10% of the capacity for each of those servers.
Also, three boxes means three times the space to store them. In addition to size, servers take a lot of energy to run and a lot of A/C to keep cool. If you were in business in the ’80s and ’90s you no doubt suffered from one or more server outages due to overheating.
Additionally, while servers can be backed up, a server crash was not a little thing. Often, in order to restore the data, the entire operating system would have to be rebuilt, all of the software reinstalled and then the data reinstated on the new box. This process could take up to three days, meaning your productivity just bottomed out while your IT guys sweated it out in a server room that’s about 95 degrees with the air conditioning on.
Enter the virtual server, a far more elegant solution and precursor to the Cloud. By using virtual servers technology, we at DROSTE were able to reduce the number of our physical servers from fourteen to three. Not only did this reduce our carbon footprint but it lowered our overhead costs as we didn’t have to maintain over a dozen machines. Additionally, in our case, a virtual server using de-duplication, can backup the 14 virtual servers in the space required by three physical servers. As the amount of data organizations and the world at large need to store grows, this type of storage efficiency will be key.
More importantly, virtual servers offer some practical solutions to common problems. For one, they allow for easier and quicker disaster recovery, often taking no more than half a day to restore from back-ups. For our company, the virtual server has served as a terrific test environment for our team and our clients as we can deploy software without affecting the client’s other third party programs or systems. And a test environment can be cloned from an existing environment quickly, allowing for faster testing and troubleshooting to identify and rectify problems.
In the coming weeks, I’m going to talk more about the Cloud and how it differs from its precursor, the virtual server. For businesses of all sizes these virtual solutions cut costs in a variety of areas, including hardware and IT. As the amount of data grows and the demand for secure storage solutions rises, the Cloud will become the Virtual Server of the 21st Century.
8/1/2011 – Apple Does Mobility Better Than Just About Anybody
A few weeks ago, Apple released its earnings statement for Q3 2011, and revealed its best quarter in the company’s 30+ years history. Additionally, Apple has sold more than 25 million iPads since the device’s debut a little over fifteen months ago. On the heels of this great news, Apple has officially released their newest operating system, Lion and is planning to launch a cloud offering this fall (iCloud).
Perhaps none of this is particularly surprising for the tech innovator, however, it is important to note such success as it heralds a significant shift in the consumer computer world. While Microsoft and other PC tablet makers’ rush to catch up to Apple and its unparalleled success with the iPad, it appears that Apple has once again established itself as the leader in quality personal and business computing equipment. Despite its higher price point, consumers have globally made the statement that they’re willing to shell out a couple hundred more bucks for quality product.
However, what may be most telling is what type of affect such high numbers of penetration will have on the business world. In what ways will businesses use iPads and iPhones in their day-to-day operations? With a lower price point and robust computing power, it would seem that an iPad might be a very cost-effective replacement for a desktop computer, allowing for greater mobility and multi-tasking. As employers and their employees are tasked to do more with less, it would seem outfitting your sales team with $500 iPads is a justifiable expense for the increased connectivity.
Retailers have long struggled with lower tech equipment that provides limited screen space and freedom of movement. A device like the iPad could be a great alternative to handheld scanning/inventory guns: the batteries last longer, the computing power is greater and the screen is big enough for you to see everything you need. As current handheld devices continue to become outdated, the iPad may become the next go-to warehouse device.
Currently at DROSTE, we’re in the process of determining how this new technology might be incorporated into our offerings. We recently met with a time clock maker that has a biometric clock with a 10-inch touch screen interface. Can you imagine how useful that could be? Companies could use the devices to deliver messages to far-flung employees, create an onscreen interface for employees to view their schedules or request time off and even review company events or announcements. We are still exploring all the possibilities such new technology offers, but it is an exciting time to work in technology. I’m sure Steve Jobs would agree.
Source: Apple Sells 9 Million iPads & 20 Million iPhones in Third Quarter, Mashable, July 20, 2011