Wednesday, July 2, 2008

Investment in wireless The Wireless World is an interesting one to follow as the industry sorts itself out. Much of the early contentiousness seems to be ebbing as companies discover that the proposed ISA100 standard won't eliminate any from competition. Company strategies are also beginning to take shape. The stimulus for these thoughts is news of the completion of the Series B round of financing by Apprion. See this news item I wrote for Automation World following an interview with CEO Mike Bradley. Apprion's strategy is to look at the vast diversity of wireless--sensor networks, video communication, personnel location, VoIP, and more--and say that this all needs some coordination and management. So it plays nicely with all the varieties of radios and protocols. The closest strategy to this would be the One Wireless strategy of Honeywell Process Solutions. The frontrunner in early press in the wireless area--Emerson Process Management--focuses its strategy on sensor networks tied to its leadership position in instrumentation. Some interesting thoughts about all this would ponder the questions: would Honeywell's One Wireless displace the Emerson focus on sensor networks? Or could you envision Honeywell's solution layered over Emerson and they both win (sort of). Or Apprion as a serious competitor to both? With industry veteren Bradley at the helm, I would not be counting Apprion out. Or would Apprion's end game be to sell to a large company? Someone suggested Rockwell to me. But maybe a software company that wants dearly to tap into that plant information--say SAP--would like it? It's really too early for that speculation, but serious competition and maturing of strategies will certainly bring some comfort to engineers as they consider if, or when, to implement wireless solutions. And congratulations to Bradley for bringing in more capital--the company total is now $23 million. And a new partner--Motorola. This could really make things interesting. 5:37:20 PM    comment []

running a business Just spent a couple of days returning home from Florida and most of today catching up. We left Florida late because my daughter-in-law's plane from Seattle arrived at Atlanta along with a bank of thunderstorms. Not having a lot of extra fuel, her plane was diverted to Huntsville, AL. Her connecting flight was also diverted--to Chattanooga, TN. That flight left long before her flight, so she spent Sunday night in Atlanta. I picked her up at noon in Orlando on Monday. Ah, the experience of travel. Speaking of travel, here's an article in the Chicago Tribune about the $15 charge for checking a bag at American, US Airways and United. I seldom check, but there may be a rush to get bags you can carry on. My son's company put out a newsletter dividing the cost of fuel by the number of employees. The pilot's union, rightly so, called this a nonsensical ratio. How about dividing the cost of fuel by number of passengers and seeing what additional fare would cover the cost. Let's put it this way, the $15 would cover that with $10 to spare. Hmmm. Meanwhile, in this Trib article, it shows that well-run companies can still make money. I'm not surprised that Southwest is handling the crisis--and I'm not surprised that American, US Air and United aren't. I am surprised that Continental isn't. The board evidently pushed out Gordon Bethune as CEO a few years ago in order to have a bean counter in charge. Unfortunately, Bethune knew the industry and leadership. Kellner knows numbers and spreadsheets. He's a manager, not a leader. Peter Drucker said, "Management is doing things right, leadership is doing the right things." Seems to apply. A lot of managers are making short term decisions that may raise money in the short term, but who among them is building a business? And we poor frequent travelers will suffer. Don't know if I'll ever be able to cash in my miles. 5:18:50 PM    comment []