So making this as close to permanent as possible (again, nothing is permanent) will require all sides coming together to create a city that has the right balance of infrastructure, housing, and education to meet the needs of our city/region for decades to come. Co-operation is most common when economic times are good, so let’s hope those conversations are happening now. The fact that our sub-terranean drill “Bertha” is stuck under the city, and is sinking, while the two sides argue doesn’t bode well for our future…
BIM- What kind of impact do you think the growth in the tech industry in general will have on other businesses in Seattle and surrounding areas in the next 5 years?
Scott- We will continue to see strong growth and this means more startups, more investments, and yes, it will be good for the local economy and businesses that are in and around the tech industry. I also believe that this will have a positive effect on none tech businesses because we typically see companies in tech rich areas adopt new technologies more readily than areas that are not so rich in technology.
Karl – I see “cloud” driving the financial performance of companies throughout the city/region. Businesses will make more money and be able to expand thanks to the financial, operational, and technical benefits to the cloud. In summary, they will be able to conduct business without the constraints of asset decisions from 5 years ago. This should drive a significant increase to our economy for the next 5 years as companies are more profitable, and technology assets and investments will not hold them back. The increased flexibility will let them go after new opportunities and develop new increase to include more financial support in order to keep the startups and ideas in the greater Seattle area.
Personally, I think Seattle is the epitome of thinking creatively, but I’m not sure it’s the “Big” thinker that our competitors are (NYC, SF, Austin, Boston). Which one wins out will remain to be seen. My money is on the money centers (SF and NYC). Again, Top 5 isn’t a bad place to be in comparison. And if financial support can catch up, we have a shot at being Top 2 or 3 because eventually the money will want to be closer to the ideas.
If used correctly, we could see our healthcare icons become the leaders of the industry (e.g. Providence). Leveraging technology to make incredible advances in health service delivery will happen here first because of our comfort with technology, our forward-thinking hospitals, and the number of new ideas coming out of startups in the PacNW. I think this is an area to watch Seattle grow in, and we stand at the precipice of becoming #1 in short order.
BIM- How does VirtualQube fit in to Seattle’s tech growth?
Scott- Business owners need cloud experts to show them the way, and partner with them to keep things running smoothly. Our model is designed to be sustainable, we take the stand of having integrity in everything we do in and out of the datacenter. We make business and technology decisions that we stand behind for the long term, the stakes are high for business owners and good decisions help businesses thrive.
By helping organizations make the decisions that are right for their respective businesses, regardless of which Cloud platform gets used, and then helping them ensure that those decisions are implemented successfully, VirtualQube can help fuel the overall growth in Cloud computing. The more Cloud computing success stories there are, the more confident other organizations will be that they can be a success story, too.
Because VirtualQube has years of experience with the underlying technologies that power the Cloud, we are uniquely positioned to guide businesses through this journey to Cloud computing. While many cloud start-ups are still re-selling someone else’s solution, we actually designed our own and know exactly how to architect systems that deliver the best IT experience available.
The cloud allows for rapid development of proven resources and solutions that scale up or down on demand. With a company like VirtualQube, businesses have flexible choices and no longer need to have skills and expertise in-house with few exceptions, they can consume all of this as a service. Pay-by-the-glass, if you will. VirtualQube helps its clients realize a new operating model for IT. A VirtualQube solution may be the last IT migration you’ll ever need, that means no more buying servers, basic software or licensing.
Many companies, especially small and medium enterprises, are unsure about how they can or should leverage Cloud computing. For years business owners have struggled to provide an effective and stable IT platform that meets the needs of the business and has a predictable and reasonable cost. Misunderstood by many the cloud is simply a vast array of compute resources that represents a highly flexible, and if done right, a better way to compute than the old method of buying some servers and software. The Cloud provides the first real opportunity for companies to get out of the IT business. Businesses run smoother and have higher morale when stuff “just works.” This doesn’t mean it’s “ALL wine and roses” but the vast majority of our clients tell us that they don’t even think much about IT anymore as its just there on demand, the servers and software are for the most part managed, monitored, and routinely upgraded by our expert team.
VirtualQube exists to help businesses with this journey. Businesses are running on aging infrastructures built to standards 5-10 years ago and are ready for a new paradigm for computing. Now that infrastructure solutions are becoming standardized and integration/interoperability across systems is rapidly maturing, businesses have a new way forward. VirtualQube takes a user-centric approach to helping owners solve businesses problems with technology. We understand our clients requirements and challenges and design the right solution. We work with all of the major players, providing our clients and partners with a comparison of vendors and our own in-house designed hosting solutions. This presents a very powerful blend of consulting, deployment, and support of systems such as Microsoft Office 365/Azure, Amazon Web Services, Citrix, and our own.
It’s easy to see why moving to a cloud based solution will relive companies of the IT burden, allowing them to focus on what they do best. Seattle is fortunate to have such a strong position in the tech industry allowing businesses to flourish with local solutions like VirtualQube to help raise efficiency and profits.
