Author: mj

by Guido Marchetti, cloud solutions lead, MJ Flood Technology

We’re a traditional IT company, selling a range of IT services which we wrap around a number of vendor technologies. And like most of the industry, we charge for those services as upfront capital expenditure.

But that’s about to change, with our launch of the country’s first Office 365 online store.  This is the first online store of its kind that combines Office 365 licensing, setup and support services, payable through a low-cost, predictable monthly fee.

Why have we done this?  The answer is simple; our customers want it.

We’ve seen a significant industry shift with software vendors moving from a capex model to software as a service and now hardware vendors are following suit with infrastructure as a service.  Capex payment models are out of vogue.  Customers are demanding opex models, which give them flexibility and protect cash reserves.

And these opex models, typically based on cloud services, also allow customers to scale up and down to suit their operational requirements if the billing platform is monthly (and most are).  Customers ranging from the smallest micro business to the largest enterprise are now migrating the delivery of IT services to these models.

But there’s one element that has thrown a ‘spanner in the works’, so to speak.  And that relates to the services portion of any project.  It’s great being able to buy infrastructure or software as a service, but what about the IT services required to configure all of this?

Well, to overcome this challenge, we’ve taken a leaf or two from the telco book.

We’ve worked with a number of pan-European telcos over the past number of years.  Their raison d’etre is to sell fixed/mobile minutes via monthly billing.  But they’re increasingly moving their business model to full service ICT providers and they’re taking their traditional monthly billing model with them.

This gave us great insight into the customer journey and the engines required to deliver this.  Telcos have clever ways of making costs ‘easier to swallow’ and this approach, together with our recent appointment as a Microsoft CSP (Cloud Services Platform) partner (one of very few on the island of Ireland), gave us the freedom and flexibility to disrupt the market and revolutionise the way in which customers pay for software, hardware and related IT services.

We’ve now created a model that allows customers to pay for their software (in this case Office 365) and their services, as a subscription-based, predictable monthly fee.  It negates the need for upfront investment in IT and commoditises IT service delivery, in the same way customers pay for light, heat and power.  IT services are just another utility and we’ve wrapped everything into a single bundle with a per user fee that can scale up or down, depending on our customers’ requirements.

And it’s all self-service.  Customers can go online, add licenses or purchase additional services, such as premium telephone support to accompany them through their product lifecycle.

We’re the first IT services reseller to have this all-inclusive offer in the market and we are excited about how this model will evolve into the future, as other hardware and software solutions are added.  Watch this space for some more innovative service offerings that are aligned to the new IT model of subscription based transactions.

The Connected Healthcare Symposium

As health technologies, digital media and mobile networks converge, the ability to connect patients, devices and clinical practitioners with each other and additional assets within the healthcare environment has the potential to deliver more integrated care with better patient outcomes.

From care-at-a-distance and remote collaborative solutions, to centralised medical device tracking and location-aware patient management, the possibilities are endless.

Join us in Dublin, Cork or Galway with speakers from Cisco, Stanley Healthcare and Davra Networks and understand how connected healthcare could address many of the challenges faced by the sector today.

Dublin: 8th March, 2016 | Conrad Hilton, Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 1

Cork: 9th March, 2016 | Hayfield Manor, Perrot Avenue, Cork

Galway: 10th March, 2016 | Cisco, Oranmore Business Park, Galway

10.30am – 1pm with lunch

To register, simply complete the form below.

by Guido Marchetti, cloud solutions specialist, MJ Flood Technology

The second in our series of Internet of Things (IoT) articles examines the automotive industry and how IoT services and solutions might start to change our driving experience and behaviour through innovations in the cars that we drive.

The simplest manifestation of IoT is the fact that by 2018 every car will have to contain a black box of sorts that will automatically notify emergency services of a crash or incident that the vehicle has been involved in. This will mean that your car will be a ‘connected car’ to a service that will ensure a prompt emergency response in the event of an accident.

Already there are watch groups and activists stating that this geo-location information could be used for lots of other purposes. One such purpose could be an insurance company using the data to prove that you were driving recklessly and the cause of a road traffic accident. Another concerns law enforcement tracking your location using this information.

While there are the inevitable privacy concerns in both cases, there are also huge positives. For example, insurance premiums are due to rise between 20% and 50% this year alone and these steep increases are due to the significant costs of road accidents and associated litigation fees.

In essence, good drivers are punished, but what if instead of having to pay the full amount to a driver who caused the accident, the contracts changed so that due to liability on the part of the policy owner the insurance company only pays for the repair of the victim’s vehicle and not the policy holder? I for one would be in favour of this as my premium has risen for the last two years based on the accidents of others. Not very fair that, is it?

Another practical example is the ability of police to track stolen vehicles. If they can quickly track and locate the vehicle and return it to you promptly, this greatly reduces the risk of the car being involved in an accident and removes the likelihood of having to chase suspects in high speed altercations which are dangerous for all road users. They can simply wait until the car comes to a stop and then seize it.

Porsche currently have a service like this for Porsche owners in Europe which has a 98% return rate of stolen cars – an incredible statistic but I wonder what the return rate would be without this ability?

But let’s look at a few more advanced examples and specifically at one of the biggest innovators in this space – Tesla.

Now here’s a company that is pushing the envelope when it comes to connected cars and associated automation. Let’s ignore the fact that it is a completely electric car for a moment (for car buffs out there, it can produce 691BHP with one of its models) but the car can update itself and add services over your Wi-Fi.

For example, Elon Musk recently announced that Tesla would launch Auto Pilot – I assume you can buy it as an extra but once you do it will download the update required to your car’s operating system. And hey presto you have a new life changing feature.

Auto Pilot will use sensors that are built into the car to take control of the car and drive you to your destination. Now I’m sure there is a point that you will have to assume control but with motorway driving such as Dublin to Cork, you could theoretically sleep on the way if you’re brave enough or even work using the car’s Wi-Fi.

As it’s a connected car, it could in theory create its own Wi-Fi for passengers to connect to and use while the car drives itself.

Their announcement also highlighted a new self-park feature. You can just imagine the look on your neighbour’s face as you step out of your car and wave hello as your car proceeds to park itself. It’s amazing but scary too.

We are already seeing other marques adopt the mantra of the connected car. BMW have done it as have VW and Ford, the latter choosing to do theirs in partnership with Microsoft. These type of services will become the norm and finding applications for them will be the key. With all stakeholders in the automotive industry working with each other to share information and to make driving a safer experience, perhaps the concept of the fully automated car is not such a wild fantasy after all.

But as part of that fantasy, we also need to consider the changes afoot in our cities, our smart cities. I already mentioned car sensors for Auto Pilot and GPS trackers, now imagine a city with road infrastructure that’s connected and can communicate with your car.

In my next blog, we will look at connected cities and what that might mean for us as people living within or just visiting those cities.

by Guido Marchetti, thumb cloud solutions specialist, dosage MJ Flood Technology

You have probably seen lots of news articles about the Internet of Things (IoT) or as Cisco term it, pharmacy the Internet of Everything. There’s no doubt that we’re in the midst of the famed technology hype cycle but the question is, are we about to nosedive into the trough of disillusionment?

Almost every week there seems to be some IoT-related event which fuels more discussion and debate around the topic.

At MJ Flood Technology we co-sponsored two high profile IoT events in recent months; the IoT Summit which was targeted at a wide business audience and Manufacturing 4.0, a connected manufacturing event, uniquely targeted at that vertical sector.  Both events were incredibly well attended by companies of many different hues.

I won’t try to hide it: I am personally very excited about the possibilities that IoT conjures up and the prospect of being able to connect the unconnected to deliver a better world for everyone.

To help you understand more about IoT, I’m going to use the next few blogs to look at ways in which IoT is going to impact our lives – ways which we only thought possible in movies like ‘Minority Report’.

IoT is the convergence of a number of technologies – wired or wireless networks, end point devices such as sensors, smartphones or cameras etc. and applications, connected over the internet or network to a centralised system that enables you to gather and manage information from these end point physical devices with a view to using it for more informed decision-making.

And with the emergence of IoT comes market disruption. We will see disruption on a number of different levels even at an employment level. Automation of some services for example could lead to significant changes within manufacturing and transport, which are two areas we will discuss separately along.

IoT presents us with a platform to rethink how we do things.   We will be able to gather information about the world around us in ways which were not possible in the past, and that information will drive further innovation.

The size of the IoT opportunity is massive with an estimated 50 billion connected devices expected by 2020. The evolution of Big Data and machine learning will introduce us to new ways of interrogating data and using it to change the world around us.

There are some of us who fear a Skynet type of attack from this, and have valid concerns around security and prevention of job losses and so on. And there’s no doubt, the economic impact could negatively affect employment.

For example, Amazon are already piloting drone deliveries, which could potentially displace the courier or local delivery man. But then again, a drone can’t deliver a wardrobe so they’re probably not going to face extinction quite yet. But it might reduce the overall headcount in logistics.

Think about your day for a moment. You’re probably already using an IoT solution in your daily life. If you’re a fitness enthusiast, you probably have an app on your phone that allows you to count calories, track your exercise and recommends an adjusted calorie intake to record a target weight over a period of time. That is an everyday example of IoT in full use.

And there you see the formula. The end point is your mobile device, the data is collected by the App and distributed to a back end service that crunches the numbers and tells you your stats, and then opens you up to socialising with your friends via other cloud services to brag about your weight loss or muscle mass gain. This is the Internet of Things in action, in real life.

So as we charge ahead at a frantic pace, IoT technologies around us will start to appear in many sectors.

Future blogs will focus on a number of these sectors. We’ll look at existing use cases for the technology and future ones too, all with the ultimate goal of making things better, and helping you to understand the new world we live in.

In next week’s blog, I’ll selfishly look at the automotive industry and how IoT is going to impact the cars that we drive. Until then…………………

Dublin, 30th November, 2015: – MJ Flood Technology today announced that it is the recipient of the Cisco Premier Partner of the Year award. Presented to exemplary channel partners, the Cisco Ireland Partner Awards recognise the achievements of a select group of Cisco partners and their innovation within the Irish market for FY15.

MJ Flood Technology wins Cisco Premier Partner of the Year award for 2015This brings to three, the number of awards scooped by the MJ Flood Technology team. In 2013, the company took the Rising Star award and last year saw its recognition as Select Partner of the Year.

“The past twelve months have been a fantastic time to be working with such a wide array of well-respected, industry-leading channel partners and distributors, which has enabled us to achieve so much together,” said Adam Grennan, country manager with Cisco Ireland.

MJ Flood Technology is one of the names that ranks highly on this list, and it’s our true pleasure to recognise their exceptional work and the quality of execution as Cisco award winners.”

Commenting on the award, James Finglas, managing director with MJ Flood Technology said:

“Industry digitisation or Internet of Things presents us with a significant opportunity to help customers exploit market disruption. We’re currently working on innovative projects with retail and healthcare clients to capitalise on that and our business strategy for next year will see an extension of that focus to other industry sectors.”