660views | May16,2019,06:13pm

CanYouTakeComputingEntirelyInto

TheCloud?TheCreatorOfCloudWRXIs

DeterminedToTry

Entrepreneurs

Usingthesoftskillsfororganizationalsuccess

DavidK.Williams Contributor

Therearetimesthereasoningforyourbusinessseemsobvious,butthejobofdescribingit tothemarketseemsexceptionallyhard.ThisiswhatthefounderofIOXO,David Turcotte,initiallyfound.Butthemorehedescribeshisidea,themorepeople’seyesopen wide.

ImetDavidlastweekataregionalnetworkingevent.Asalawyerbytraining,he’shada handintheformationandlegalstrategyofmultiplecompaniesincludingForumSystems V3Systems(acquiredbySphere3D),Fusion-IOandAccessDatabeforedelvingintothe CloudWRXtechnologyhe’snowadvancingatIOXO.

Whytakeyourcompany’scomputingentirelyintothecloud?Whenyouthinkaboutit,th reasonsaremany.Thefirst,andmostobvious,isthecostofequipmentandIT.Imagine themoneyyoursmallormid-sizedcompanywouldsaveifyouneverhadtobuy, provision,maintain,updateormanageanothercomputer,serverorlaptopagain?

CloudWRXeliminatestherequirementforonpremiseIT PEXELS.COM

Witha“cloudworkstation”solution(alsoknownasDesktopasaService,orDaaS),team memberscanaccessandusetheirfully-supporteddesktopanytime,anywhere,fromany deviceorthesimpleandportablelaptopreplacementIOXOprovidesforitsCustomers. 

WhatisaCloudWorkstation(orDaaS)?DaaSstandsforDesktopasaService.It’stermforaCloud-basedComputerorWorkstation,whichmeansyoucannowaccessand useyourfully-supportedbusinesscomputeranytime,anywherefromanymobiledevice becauseyourWindowsPClivesintheCloud.CloudWRXgoesfurtherstillbyautomating managementandsupportoftheonlineworkstationsandaddingdatabases,email, securityandcomplianceresourcesasrequired.Foralowmonthlyfeeperemployee,a companyeliminatestheneedforonsiteorcontractedIT.

Securityandsafetyincreases,astheplatformprotectionisend-to-end.Usersaresafe fromtheriskoflostorstolenlaptops,,hackedWiFi,virusandmalware.

Businessesareevenprotectedfromdishonestemployees,asuserscan’tdownloador removethecompany’sdigitalfilesfromthecloud,andanytransmissionviaemail attachmentsiseasytotrace.Complianceiscoveredaswell,astheplatformadherestoto HIPPAA,HITECH,PCI,HITRUST,FINRAandSOXcompliancestandards.

Theinterfaceislightningfast(fasterthaneventhebeefiestlaptop)andallowsemployeestobeupandrunningimmediatelyfromanylocationwithinternetaccess.Ifthedeviceislostorstolenorunavailable,it’snoproblem.UserscanlogintotheCloudWRXinterfacefromanymobiledevice(whichinthecaseofatheftorlosswouldtypicallybetheirphone).Uponreturntotheofficethecompanycanhaveareplacementdevicereadywithinaminute. 

Immediately,Ihaddozensofquestions.

WhatwouldbecomeofITprovidersinthisscenario?Forthosewhoaremostenlightened,theywillevolvetobecomeagentsandvalue-addresellersforthenewarenaofcloud-basedservices,Turcotteexplained.

WhataboutorganizationsalreadyusingvirtualizationservicesbasedonVDI(VirtualDesktopInfrastructure)?Businessesusingorfamiliarwithwell-knownsolutionsfromcompanieslikeVMWareandCitrixshouldbeideallyprimedforthebenefitsoftakingvirtualizationtoanadditionalrealm,hebelieves.Interestingly,thecompanyisheavilyengagedinactivitieswithMicrosoft,andmadeanannouncementlastweekofintegrationwithFileShadowtoprovideusersofvirtualdesktopswithaneasypathto“provisionedstorage”tokeepalloftheirdata(bothworkandpersonal)protectedandseparate,butinstantandeasytofind. 

WhoaretheidealcustomersforCloudWRX?InTurcotte’sopinionthefirstandobviousmarketissmallbusinessesof100employeesandbelow,withSME’sof1,000andfeweremployeesengagingquicklyaswell.Inessence,they’llhaveaccesstothelevelofITandservicesthelargestenterprisesenjoyforafractionoftheprice.Althoughitislogisticallypossible,thelargestenterpriseswilllikelybethefinalsectortomigrateentirelytothecloud,hebelieves.

IOXO.CLOUD

DavidTurcotteisthefounderandCEOof

IOXO.cloud.

SoforIOXOorforanybusinesswitharadicallynewandbettersolution,whatcouldstandinthewayofrapidacceptanceandadoptionofanidealikethis?

HowtoaccomplishaParadigmShift

Turcotteisnotaloneinthischallenge.Evenanobviousandingeniousideaisanuphillclimbinthefaceofecosystemsandideasdeeplyentrenchedinthepast.ManagementexpertSteveDenninghasprovidedsomeideastoForbesreadersonthisphenomenoninthepast.

Forexample,asDenningnotes,“In1539,Copernicusoverturnedmorethanathousandyearsofdoctrinethatthesunrevolvesaroundtheearthwithhistheorythattheearthisoneofanumberofplanetsrevolvingaroundthesun.Noamountoftweakingtheoldtheoryledtoprogress.Scientistshadtolookattheprobleminatotallydifferentwaytosolvetheproblem.”

It’stoughtogettheworldtorespondquicklytoaparadigmshift,Denningnotes.Thewillingnesstomovecomeswhen“workingevermorediligentlywithintheexistingparadigmleadstofrustration,notprogress,”hesays.“Instead,scientistshavetolookattheprobleminafundamentallydifferentwaytosolvetheproblem.”

Denningpointstoonesuchexampleasthegiantshiftinmanagementfromthefirm-centricviewoftheworld(thatthefirm’sprimarypurposeistomakemoneyforitsshareholders)toourcurrentcustomer-centricviewoftheworldinwhichthepurposeofthefirmistoaddvalueforcustomers(andlikewise,customeracceptancedeterminesthecompany’svaluationanditsrighttoexist.

Howcanafounderwhoseproductrequiresaradicallynewvantagepointadvancetheirideatocriticalmass?

Education,education,education.Carrythetechnologywithyou.Letthoseyoumeetwithandpresenttoobservetheproductinaction.Astheylearn,theymove(oftheirownvolitionratherthanastheresultofyourstruggletosellandpersuade).

FollowmeonLinkedIn.Checkoutmywebsite.

IamthefounderandchairmanofDKWVentures.Iamaserialentrepreneur,haveleddivisionsand

companiesandaC-levelexecutiveforcompaniesrangingfromstartupst...ReadMore

Workwithanalystswhoareforwardlooking.Thelargestgroupswillnotbeyourbestadvocateswhenitcomestoenactingaradicalchange.Findthedeeplyknowledgeableindividualsinyoursectorwhoarewillingtodiscoverandevangelizeanewpointofview.Thesetrustedinfluencersbecomemoreinfluentialstillastheybringagreatideaforward.Yoursuccesswillmagnifyastheyspeak.Bepresentandvocal.Givespeeches.Writeeducationalarticles.AregionalcompanyI’vemetpresentedtheirARtechnologyatanecommercetradeshowlastyear,fortybrandsimmediatelysteppedforward.Athirdemployedthecompanyimmediatelywithanotherthirdnowinprogress.Fromasinglepresentation,thecompany’sproductadvancedfromnovelideatocriticalmass.Choosestrongpartners.Theleadingorganizationsthatstandtobenefitmostfromyourinnovationmaybewillingtostepforwardquickly.Astheydo,yourparadigmbecomespervasivefarmorequicklythanyoucouldhaveachievedonyourown.Evangelizealways.ItwasfuntoobserveTurcottetalkingabouthiscompanytotheotherexecutivesattheeventwherewemet.Aswesatdownforourdinner,henotedthatwithoutmakingasinglepitchhe’dacquiredthreenewcustomersthateveningbysimplyrespondingtothequestionsthey’dasked.Hisanswers,asvalue-addinformation,lednaturallyandquicklytoanunderstandingofwhathiscompany’stechnologycouldbedoingforthem.

Inanutshell,whenyourcompany’sideaisradicallydifferent,youarefacinganuphillclimb.Butifyouhandletheopportunitywell,youhavethefirstmover’sadvantageinestablishingafootholdandevenanindustrythatcanforgeoutbroadlyandwithoutcompetitionbeforeotherswilleventuallyhaveachancetorespond. 

DavidK.Williams

Reprinted from Forbes.com8/12/19