Elkie Holland, MD of Prospectus IT Recruitment catches up with Mike Ruane, CEO of Revelation Technology to see Revelation's reaction to Gartner's 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2014.
ELKE: Gartner always predict and identify the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for each year. They’ve recently released their list of top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2014. Looking at what they have identified, how is Rev stacking up?
MIKE: Some of the strategic trends are not found in our workspace. For example, 3-D printing and smart machines don’t really intersect that much with our core competencies. However a number of the other items on the 2014 list do.
ELKIE: Fair enough. So, which items on the list do affect you?
MIKE: Well, we already handle a couple of them already. As far as Mobile Device Diversity is concerned, so long as the mobile device has a browser, the device will work with any OpenInsight for the Web (O4W) apps. We’re in great shape there. We see this as an emerging trend – the use of browser-based apps, as opposed to platform specific ones. Being able to run or relatively generic devices gives our customers incredibly broad reach. Think about it: every one with a device that has a browser is a potential user or customer. It’s an amazing idea.
ELKIE: How about the Cloud? Gartner mentions it a few times in this year’s list…
MIKE: As far as Cloud/Client Architecture is concerned, we’re actually in pretty good shape there as well. Gartner describes this as where ‘The cloud is the control point and system....the client environment may be a native application or browser based’. Revelation Software’s combination of native OpenInsight applications and browser based O4W applications seems to match that trend exactly. We want to make sure that we give our customers, and their customers, the ability to get to their data. We give them both desktop and mobile access.
ELKIE: Now, what about the trend that Gartner calls Hybrid Cloud and IT as a Service Broker?
MIKE: The idea of Hybrid Cloud or IT as a service broker, at this point in time, is one where private cloud systems and data can be integrated with public clouds. For Revelation customers, this would mean the capability to have OpenInsight or O4W applications work with either cloud-based databases, such as Mongo DB, or public clouds like Amazon of Microsoft’s Azure. Our connector technology has already been extended so that our developers can make use of a number of these public clouds, and we continue to enhance those technologies.
ELKIE: What about this idea of Software Defined Anything?
MIKE: Software Defined Anything, or SDx, is the idea that on the cloud things need to communicate and inter-operate easily and automatically. There are four major areas of focus with SDx: Network, Storage, Data Center, and Infrastructure. This technology is still in its infancy, but Revelation is aware of the concepts being discussed, and is following the emerging standards. When they are implemented, we will be incorporating them into our product lines.
ELKIE: Is there anything else you’d like to add, or tell us about?
MIKE: No, not really. As a technology company we’re always looking for the next Big Thing, making sure that if we or our customers will make use of it, Revelation will make the appropriates changes or extensions to the OpenInsight and O4W product lines. We want to make sure we take care of our customers.
ELKIE: Thank you Mike for your time and chatting with me about this. Looks like Revelation is ready and geared up.
