ABL TECHNOLOGY ONLINE  
JULY 24, 2012
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TECH MEMBER NEWS - IN BRIEF
 

Cibola Systems Wins Climate Leader Award
The California Air Resources Board has honored Cibola Systems for its voluntary, proactive commitment to green energy and a green economy. Cibola Systems was one of 16 winners (out of 78 applicants) selected for their achievements in carbon reduction and renewable energy. (Lisa Perrine, West Los Angeles)

Delphi Display is Total Solution Provider for QSR Tech
A wireless drive-thru headset system - Insight Inform, has debuted from Delphi Display Systems, making the company the only single-source provider of all the technology components that make up a state-of-the-art Quick Service Restaurant drive thru, including order confirmation systems, timing systems, outdoor digital pre-sell menu boards, outdoor digital menu boards, and wireless headsets. (Ken Neeld, Orange County)

Microsemi Adds Radiation-Tolerant Source Driver
The first in a new family of octal source driver integrated circuits for aerospace and other high-reliability power electronics control applications has been introduced by Microsemi. The AAHS298B is radiation-tolerant to 100kRad (Si) total dose and screened to meet operating temperatures ranging from -55 to 125 degrees Celsius and class S and B screening levels. It can be used in conjunction with Microsemi's radiation-hardened and tolerant programmable logic products and diodes to easily implement redundant power management solutions. (Russ Garcia, Orange County)

SYSPRO: "Covers Both Ends of Spectrum"
In Changing the Way Products are Bought and Sold, analyst Cindy Jutras, founder of Mint Jutras, blogs about two SYSPRO offerings for SMBs: "SYSPRO Point of Sales, together with its ERP solution, blends the manufacturing and distribution of goods with retail, providing a direct selling process in a single integrated solution. The SYSPRO App Store provides a direct purchasing process for customers, while maintaining control over that process. And it has the potential to aggressively expand the footprint of the solution. It would appear SYSPRO has both ends of the spectrum covered." (Brian Stein, Orange County)

INSIGHTS FOR ADAPTIVE BUSINESS LEADERS

Dave Berkus blogs on:  Avoiding Complacency
In Move your team from competence to excellence, Dave cautions that while there is nothing wrong with consistency - "It brings a normalcy to everyone’s jobs that most people welcome," - it often comes inside a creative vacuum, and competitors often jump into holes created by slowing innovation.  And, in Plan for your R&D Tax, Dave explains that companies should "tax" themselves by reserving some percentage - say 10% of their net revenues - for research and new product development. (Dave Berkus, San Gabriel Valley & West Los Angeles)

Subbu Murthy blogs on: Graduating from "Old School"
In Are you an old-school CIO?, UGovernIT's Subbu Murthy provides a good litmus test to see if you are an old-school CIO. It includes: "If you are spending less than 30% of your IT budget on projects that bring innovation and increased value to the enterprise, you are old school. If you are spending more than 50% on innovation, you are worthy of admiration." (Subbu Murthy, West Los Angeles)

UPCOMING ROUND TABLES & EVENTS

8/2 - Orange County Round Table
8/3 - San Gabriel Valley Round Table
8/10 - West Los Angeles Round Table

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS - IN BRIEF
 

Publisher’s Comment:  Make It Work’s Closure – a Cautionary Tale
With the laying off of 600 Geek Squaders, followed by the closure of Make It Work (MIW), there are lessons to be learned about staying attenuated to the velocity of change - written by both MIW CEO Eric Greenspan and RadioINK's Publisher, Eric Rhodes. (Eric Rhodes is the second commenter following Eric Greenspan’s July 3rd blog.)

Of all the reasons I can think of for belonging to ABL, perhaps the ability to stay current - by dialoguing with other intelligent, informed industry leaders - on how the market is changing is the most important. The candid comments heard around the monthly Round Table at least limit the ability for CEOs to get drunk on their own Kool-Aid.

When even the nation's most venerable institutions are seeing the need to change their structures to take advantage of enabling technologies, and to adjust to new economic realities, how much more so should those who are leading the very companies that are enabling that change.  Mimi

Mimi Grant, President
Adaptive Business Leaders Organization

5 Things Marissa (& You) Can Learn from Steve Jobs
Therese Poletti and her Tech Tales colleagues at MarketWatch.com think Yahoo is an Internet company that could be revived, and because its new CEO Marissa Mayer can't consult with Steve Jobs - who orchestrated one of the greatest turnarounds in Silicon Valley - they’ve compiled a few tips that might help.
     1. Review all of Yahoo's product lines with a brutal and unsentimental eye. And don't be afraid to kill products that are not profitable or have too long a horizon to become something. Time is of the essence. Upon returning to the company in 1997, Jobs narrowed Apple's focus to four product areas: consumer, professional, desktop, portable, before eventually embarking on new arenas, such as digital music, smartphones and tablets.
     2. After getting Yahoo focused on its core strengths, unleash a marketing campaign to tell consumers and partners about them. For years, each new Yahoo CEO has had a muddled answer to what Yahoo really is. If Mayer can determine how to truly enunciate Yahoo's mission, she might want to develop an ad campaign that would resonate with consumers, much like Apple's "Think Different" ads told people what Apple was all about, without showing a single product. And don't fall into the trap that former HP CEO Carly Fiorina did, by putting herself in the ads, a major misfire. The mantra of re-invention at HP was marred when Fiorina became the face of an ad campaign, speaking in front of a mock-up of the fabled HP garage, a move that was widely derided in the Valley.
     3. Stop the leaks from inside Yahoo. Jobs was known for endorsing the view that "loose lips sink ships" and fostered a culture of super secrecy, often firing those who spoke to the press out of turn. While we in the media love leakers, this can be viewed as an act of disloyalty and it can also be a way to find out who isn't on your side.
     4. Go with your gut instincts, as Jobs always did. Perhaps that will lead to a re-evaluation of the cluttered Yahoo home page. Even though the company has gone through a few redesigns, Yahoo.com still looks as messy as ever. Mayer's focus on user interface and the influence of Google's clean look will hopefully spill over to Yahoo.
     5. Find some stars within Yahoo, and get them to stay. Find others from outside and recruit them. Just as Jobs persuaded star designer Jony Ive to stay at Apple and recruited Tim Cook to be its operations chief, Mayer needs to find the star engineers, web designers and algorithm geeks inside Yahoo, and persuade new recruits to believe in the mission. And from there, hopefully product innovation will occur. (MarketWatch, 7/19/12)

10 Emerging Technologies that Will Shape IT’s Future
Among the technologies shipping but not yet widely adopted, InfoWorld sees the following 10 having the greatest impact over the long haul (from #10 to #1):  HTML5; Client-side hypervisors; Continuous build tools; Trust on a chip; JavaScript replacements; Distributed storage tiering; Apache Hadoop; Advanced synchronization; Software-defined networks; and Private cloud orchestration. Complete article (infoworld.com, 7/19/12)

VC Fundraising Up, but Funding Down
According to Dow Jones, 82 U.S. venture funds raised $13 billion in the first six months of the year, a 31% increase in fundraising activity compared with the first half of 2011. Dow Jones did not break down geographic spread of the VC fundraising, but said that the venture capital fundraising was particularly robust in the early-stage area, with 43 early-stage funds raising $3.1B, more than double the $1.3B raised by 40 funds last year in the same period. (socaltech.com, 7/9/12) 
     Meanwhile, in Southern California, the latest MoneyTree Survey, from PricewaterhouseCoopers, the National Venture Capital Association, and Thomson Reuters, tabulated $837.3 million in funding during Q2 of 2012, down from Q1, and slightly below investments in Q2 of 2011. The region saw the most investments in Los Angeles, with $329.0M in funding, followed by San Diego, with $304.7M in investment, then Orange County, with $203.6M in funding. Nationally, the report tallied $7.04B invested in the quarter, down 12% from the $8.01B invested for the same period last year. (socaltech.com, 7/20/12)

Did Twitter Leave LinkedIn for Pinterest?
In Twitter and Pinterest, LADezign blogger David Nordella details how the split up between Twitter and LinkedIn may have been caused by a strategic alliance between Twitter and Pinterest. (ladezign.com, 7/19/12)

HEALTH IT MEMBER NEWS - IN BRIEF
 

AT&T Debuts Mobile Language Interpretation Service
On Demand Interpreter from AT&T is now available to healthcare providers, government agencies, and businesses. Callers can reach professionally trained interpreters in a matter of seconds, 24/7, with just two keystrokes on a mobile phone. It's ideal for supporting first responders in emergencies, healthcare providers in hospitals and homes, law enforcement officers, and virtually any organization with field personnel. (Judi Manis, Orange County; Marina Younani, San Francisco)

HeartMath Offers Online Course to Become Provider
A distance-learning program is now available to become a HeartMath licensed 1:1 Provider, who instruct in personal development, corporate resiliency and performance, stress relief, wellness and sports performance.  Meanwhile, replays of HeartMath’s webinar, Understanding Heart Intuition, are available online. (Bruce Cryer, Silicon Valley)

Independa to Integrate Emergency Response System
The GreatCall 5Star Urgent Response system will be integrated into Independa's  Artemis wireless monitoring platform. It uses mobile and GPS technology for immediate, accurate location of the care recipient. (Kian Saneii, San Diego)

QSI Gains New Client & Awards
The NextGen subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. will provide Southwest Community Health Center with NextGen Ambulatory EHR, Practice Management, and Electronic Dental Record across its 12 locations in Connecticut.  Meanwhile, QSI won two gold, five silver, and seven bronze Stevie awards in the 10th Annual American Business Awards. The golds were for Executive of the Year - Health Products & Services, Steven T. Plochocki, CEO; and Best Marketing or Sales Brochure or Kit - Online/Electronic.  Also, the Motley Fool recently featured QSI in its article: 1 Health-Care Tech Stock Ready to Face the Giants. (Steve Plochocki, Orange County)

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The China Study: The Most Comprehensive Study of Nutrition Ever Conducted and the Startling Implications for Diet, Weight Loss and Long-Term Health
by T. Colin Campbell, Ph.D. & Thomas M. Campbell II
(recommended by John Tanner, Tanner Research, Inc., who says: "I feel this book is so important, that if you're an ABL Member and you drop me an email at john@tanner.com, I'll send you this book for free.")

The 4 Disciplines of Execution: Achieving Your Wildly Important Goals
by Chris McChesney, Sean Covey, and Jim Huling
(recommended by Richard Burke, RxTimer Cap)

Start-up Nation: The Story of Israel's Economic Miracle
by Dan Senor and Saul Singer
(recommended by Reuben Sandler, Intelligent Optical Systems, Inc.)