Earlier this week, I published an interview with Adam Cole. He shared many great useful insights. Subsequent to the interview, Adam took on a new role which I wanted to point out. Adam is currently, Vice President of Information Technology at CCTN (Canadian Clinical Trial Network). Adam is thrilled to play an integral role in building a world-class research oriented business from the ground up. With a partnership between JDRF and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, the $34 million CCTN aims to accelerate clinical research in diabetes, by developing and conducting high profile clinical trials with leading universities and medical centers.

I updated his profile in the interview blog and recommend that you have a look at the interview: http://blogs.technet.com/b/cdnitmanagers/archive/2010/07/19/adam-cole-internationally-awarded-technology-executive-and-serial-innovator-shares-his-success-factors.aspx

Best regards,
Stephen Ibaraki

Over the last few weeks I have been getting more and more emails from individuals wondering when the abstracts for the 50+ sessions available at TechDays 2010 will be posted.  The wait is over!  You can view all of the sessions and their abstracts at www.techdays.ca/sessions  - remember to click on each track to see the sessions that are available in that track.

I am really excited about this year’s content.  We have sessions on how to develop applications in Silverlight for both the PC as well as Windows Phone 7.  We have an entire track with great sessions where you will learn the tips and tricks of deploying Windows 7, Office 2010, Office Web Apps, and more in your organization, as well as how to troubleshoot when things go awry.  The Collaboration: The Next Generation track has sessions on migrating to SharePoint 2010 as well as Exchange 2010, and how to protect the content in these critical business applications, and more.  You will also learn how to take advantage of Microsoft-based development tools and good development practices and procedures to optimize the development and testing of applications whether developing as a group or individually.  Finally, you will learn how to effectively use virtualization in a variety of scenarios, protect your infrastructure, and tricks on how to make Active Directory work for you. 

The best part is that you don’t have to pick sessions from only a single track.  You can make your own customized agenda of TechDays 2010 sessions allowing you to grow the skills you need in your job.  If you have not yet registered for TechDays 2010, register now at www.techdays.ca and then click on the “My Schedule” link in the top right to build your agenda; if you have already registered, go to www.techdays.ca and sign in with your Windows LiveID to start building your schedule.

One more thing…there are six tracks at TechDays 2010 but you will notice that www.techdays.ca/sessions only lists sessions in 5 of them.  The Local Flavours track and its content is up to you and your peers!  We are looking for passionate individuals (developers, IT professionals, designers, IT architects, etc.) who have an idea for a great session to let us know and submit their session for possible inclusion at TechDays 2010 in your city.  The submission form and information on the process can be found at http://www.techdays.ca/sessions?Track=Local+Flavours.  Please download both documents, fill out the submission form with your great session idea and email to us at td_can@microsoft.com. 

TechDays 2010 is shaping up to be the best yet.  Please visit www.techdays.ca for more information or to register and take advantage of the Early Bird rate of $349.99 plus tax - (about 50% off the full conference fee of $699.99).

If you have a question about TechDays, send me an email at td_can@microsoft.com and I’ll get you an answer.  I REALLY do love getting your emails.

Damir Bersinic

TechDays 2010 Program & Skills Manager

Microsoft Canada

This is the next blog in the continuing series of interviews with top-echelon and renowned professionals. In this blog, I interview Adam Cole: Internationally Awarded Technology Executive and Serial Innovator who speaks on entrepreneurship, global industry contribution and volunteerism, keys to continuing innovation, software development, project management, process innovation, relationship management, consulting, teaching, writing, graduate education, healthcare trends/challenges.

Enjoy!
Stephen Ibaraki

For over fifteen years Adam Cole has been an executive, senior manager and advisor to some of the world's most exciting companies. Cole started his own successful healthcare IT consultancy out of university and quickly grew it to over fifteen employees based solely on word-of-mouth.

Currently, as Vice President of Information Technology at CCTN (Canadian Clinical Trial Network), Adam is thrilled to play an integral role in building a world-class research oriented business from the ground up. With a partnership between JDRF and the Federal Economic Development Agency for Southern Ontario, The $34 million CCTN aims to accelerate clinical research in diabetes, by developing and conducting high profile clinical trials with leading universities and medical centers.

Cole's projects have won international awards including a ComputerWorld Smithsonian Honors Laureate (via a nomination by Michael Cappellas, President of Compaq Global), first place in the annual Kinetic Process Innovation Awards, and awards in innovation, financial contribution, and customer service (Cole's department scored 100% on the Customer Satisfaction Survey, a first in McKesson history, the world's largest healthcare company.) Cole attributes his solutions consistently winning awards and positive media exposure to a business-oriented approach to innovation, engaging the customer, and providing genuine business value.

Mr. Cole's articles regularly appear in Microsoft's Canadian IT Managers forum, in industry specific publications, and Cole has been an invited presenter to IDC and Microsoft hosted conferences, as well as having project appearances in the mainstream media including the Toronto Star and primetime Global TV. Mr. Cole is a graduate in Math from the University of Waterloo and an MBA candidate from the University of Fredericton. Cole is a member of CIPS, PMI, COACH, ACM, ISPE and Mensa. Cole believes strongly in IT professionalism and has worked to promote such as a National Director at CIPS, the association of the IT professional.

To listen to the interview, click on this MP3 file link

DISCUSSION:

Interview Time Index (MM:SS) and Topic

:00:51:
Can you profile how you got into computing-what triggered your interest?
"....Today we take it for granted, but 30 years ago state-of-the-art was flashing LEDs and toggle switches. The closest most people had come to a computer was a four-function calculator and that was impressive...."

:02:10:
Which experiences most shaped your life and work?
"....Getting married and having my two daughters....My life has been full of rich experiences but none so profound that it stands out amongst the rest.....but you cannot overestimate the influence of corporate culture on the quality of what a company produces. I am a huge proponent of leadership by example...."

:02:58:
Past, present and future -- name someone who inspires you and why is this so?
"....What I really look forward to is when you turn the microphone around and allow someone to interview you for this series....Another really big source of inspiration is not a person per se. Although he does have a name....TED.COM....."

:05:01:
Over your distinguished career, what are your top lessons you want to share with the broad audience?
"....The three Ps - People, Process, Product; the interface is the system; perfection is the enemy of 'good enough', communication is an art, and context is king....."

:06:51:
Interesting. Now tell me about "the interface is the system". It sounds very Marshall McLuhan.
"....McLuhan may be most famous for his quote 'the medium is the message'. An information technology systems analogy would be 'the interface is the system'. It is about the context of interaction and how important that is relative to the content...."

:10:00:
Can you describe what you mean by "perfection is the enemy of 'good enough'"?
"....In software development I am a firm believer in the philosophy of Agile. Many small iterations, continuous incorporation of user feedback, and a key focus on providing value as quickly as possible...."

:12:01:
Adam touches upon some other top lessons.

:13:54:
What factors make for effective communications and writing?
"....Know your audience....Be prepared...."

:14:04:
How does one become successful at consulting?
"....Know your strengths, play to them, and be transparent about where you are not strong - or better yet, know individuals who can compliment your weaknesses and work with them as appropriate.....Identify a niche and be able to fill it better than anyone else...."

:14:53:
You have a long and remarkable history of global contribution through non-profit organizations, including winning awards for this work. Why should members of our audience get involved?
"....When my training budget was frozen a couple of years back I encouraged my staff to join user groups and get involved in the IT community. In retrospect I think hour for hour and dollar for dollar one gets more value from this than from formal training...."

:15:47:
Does professionalism matter in IT? What does professionalism mean and why should we care?
"....Professionalism matters because it cumulatively provides the employer and society confidence in the work being conducted...."

:16:46:
You teach post-graduate courses and you have worked on your post-graduate studies in Business. What useful tips can you pass on from your work and studies?
"....You get out of it what you put in to it. It is really that simple...."

:18:13:
You have launched successful companies-can you describe what is required to be an entrepreneur by using one of your companies as an example?
"....Define your niche (avoid being too opportunistic as focus and consistency is important to growth)....know what distinguishes you from the competition (but don't obsess over the competition)....be a good listener....be a good networker and salesperson....always hire people who compliment your weaknesses and are smarter than you...."

:22:29:
You led a department with a 100% score in customer satisfaction; the first to attain this remarkable achievement in one of the top global companies. Share with us how others can model your performance?
"....Treat everybody with respect....Avoid problems in the first place....Recognize people's strengths on your team and understand that generally everybody wants to succeed....Lead by example....."

:24:27:
What are your recommendations for effective software development?
"....From a technology perspective, video games are amazingly complex: intuitive and compelling user interfaces, immersive graphics, advanced artificial intelligence, 3 dimensional sound, highly engaging game play, massively multiplayer universes, true to life physics, cross platform compatibility, resilient network communications, and amazing reliability. These are all highly desired attributes, even by the standards of the most financially endowed business projects....I would like to see the developers in the business world start adopting strategies from the gaming world...."

:29:22:
What are the top challenges and solutions in healthcare technologies?
"....The healthcare IT industry is currently struggling to build systems such as Electronic Medical Records (EMR) and Personal Health Records (PHR) which engage doctors and patients and ideally motivate behavioral changes. This is fertile territory for gaming mechanics...."

:33:42:
What are the software development and platform issues that need to be addressed in business?
"....As a software development industry we need to achieve more reliable results....I am a fan of high-level platforms which provide rich business development frameworks and require minimal to no coding to accomplish many standard business tasks.....Businesses that adopt these platforms discover many automation efficiencies....."

:35:29:
How does one achieve process innovation?
"....Top three strategies are to keep projects small, take a grassroots approach and always be results-oriented...."

:38:47:
As a long-time heath care industry contributor and innovator, what do you see as the burning issues and what are your recommendations?
"....It is clear that our current model of healthcare is unsustainable....While there is no single silver bullet, there are plenty of things we can do....implementing the checklists....clinician buy-in, a results-orientation, social media and gaming mechanics, as well as a host of other opportunities...."

:40:13:
Please provide your views on the IFIP IP3 program on professionalizing the profession. [http://www.IPThree.org].
"....I fully support anything that we as an industry do to mature and bring consistency and reliability to what we offer...."

:41:54:
You are such a busy person - what do you do to relax?
"....I've got my family and I love spending time with them....Recently I picked up running....One of the things that I do when I go out on lengthy runs: I'll take my mp3 player with me and I listen to one of your podcasts. It's another great way to keep myself educated on current trends...."

:42:50:
I'm going to ask one more question, what is your favorite gadget?
"....The smartphone....."

This is the next blog in the continuing series of interviews with top-echelon and renowned professionals. In this blog, I interview “Leading International Authority and Scientist, Dr. Stephen Seidman, Dean Texas State University, CSAB President who talks about software engineering, the computing profession, professionalism and certification, and computing education.”

Enjoy!
Stephen Ibaraki

Stephen B. Seidman is Dean of the College of Science at Texas State University in San Marcos, TX. He received the B.S. degree in mathematics from City College of New York in 1964 and the Ph.D. degree in mathematics from the University of Michigan in 1969. Before joining Texas State in August 2009, he held administrative positions at several universities. These positions include Dean of the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics at the University of Central Arkansas (2006-09), founding Dean of the College of Computing Sciences at New Jersey Institute of Technology (2001-05), chair of the Department of Computer Science at Colorado State University (1996-2001), and head of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Auburn University (1990-96). Dr. Seidman also held faculty positions at New York University and George Mason University.

Dr. Seidman has an active interest in computing education and professionalism. He played a leading role in the development of an international standard for software engineering certification, and he has worked with the IP3 effort to develop a program to accredit computing societies certify information technology professionals.

Dr. Seidman is a long-term IEEE Computer Society volunteer. He has been a member of the IEEE-CS Board of Governors (2003-05) and the IEEE-CS Executive Committee (2005-08). He has served the Computer Society as Secretary (2005), Treasurer (2006) and Vice-President for Educational Activities (2007-2008). Dr. Seidman has been a member of the CSAB (US computing accreditation) board since 2006; he is currently (2009-11) serving as CSAB president.

To listen to the interview, click on this MP3 file link

DISCUSSION:

Interview Time Index (MM:SS) and Topic

:00:49:
Can you discuss your prior roles and some key lessons that you wish to pass on?
"....My research interests have been in social networks, high-performance computing and software architectures. I've also been very involved in professional society activities, primarily dealing with computing education, professionalism, and accreditation...."

:03:17:
What do you consider to be your top contributions?
"....In computer science - developing formal models for module interconnection languages and software architectural styles....Professionally - helping to create an international standard for software engineering certification schemes....Serving on the team that developed an international approach to IT professional certification...."

:03:58:
In your prior roles, what were the most difficult challenges that you were not able to overcome at that time? What would you do differently now?
"....Achieving acceptance for my approach to modeling software architectural styles....Trying to build consensus in a newly created computing college....Dealing with political battles and turf wars in a professional society...."

:04:59:
What were the key disruptive forces driving change in your life and how can we learn from your experiences?
"....The primary disruptive force - the rapid growth of computing, its emergence as multiple academic disciplines, as well as the constructive and destructive conflict between these disciplines...."

:06:14:
In each of your current roles, what are the biggest challenges and their solutions?
"....As Dean of the College of Science at Texas State University, the challenges are to bring the college to fulfill its research potential while preserving the quality of undergraduate education in all of our disciplines, and that includes computer science, mathematics, natural/physical sciences, engineering and technology, and also to nurture the growth of the Ingram School of Engineering within a college of science....As president of CSAB, to continue the growth of computing accreditation in the United States across an every expanding array of disciplines...."

:08:17:
How does the widespread adoption of the phrase "software engineering" since 1968 impact the way software development is taught in universities?
"....The fact that the word is now there has given conventional, traditional engineers a claim over software engineering and has often forced software development to be taught in the colleges of engineering, often separated by academic borders from the teaching of computer science...."

:10:03:
What does it mean for computing/informatics to be a profession and how do views of computing professionalism vary across countries?
"....My work on an international standard for software engineering certification made me aware of cultural and national perspectives on professionalism...."

:11:19:
How does the word "engineering" as applied to computing disciplines differ between countries?
"....In North America, "engineering" is applied primarily to disciplines dealing with physical systems (e.g. computer, electrical, chemical, mechanical, aerospace, etc.). This can be extended to software, but not without difficulty. In Spanish-speaking countries, the term can be used much more broadly (e.g. information technology engineering)...."

:12:41:
What should all undergraduate students learn about computing and informatics?
"....They should become comfortable with negotiating an increasingly information-centric world and with the tools that can help them to do so...."

:13:39:
Can you apply the last question to pre-university students?
"....This is also the case for pre-university students. Unfortunately, most IT offerings at the pre-university level (at least in the US) deal only with the use of familiar business software tools (word processors, spreadsheets, presentation software)...."

:15:49:
What impact does the adoption of international standards have on the development of more reliable software?
"....Most software engineering standards deal with process, not product. This topic needs serious attention...."

:16:12:
How can partnerships improve computing education?
"....Computing education requires a partnership with industry. For example, software engineering students need to work on industrial-strength software systems, just as first-year medical students need to work on cadavers. Such systems are not generally available for academic use...."

:17:06:
You choose the areas - can you provide your predictions of future trends and their implications/opportunities?
"....Embedded systems will play an ever increasing role in all aspects of our lives....Computer games have become an important sector of the computing industry...."

:18:09:
If you were doing this interview, what questions would you ask and then what would be your answers?
"....'What was your first experience with computing?'....'How did you choose computing as a profession?'....'How did this feed back into your academic career?'...."

Last March, my colleague Damir and I spent 5 weeks traveling across Canada on the Align IT Tour, talking to IT managers about business productivity and why IT needs to be strategic when building this into their infrastructure. We were joined in each city by a panel of local Microsoft partners and experts on implementing solutions geared to making businesses more productive, whether it be better collaboration, more accessible business intelligence or easier document management.

This episode is the first of a 4 part series where I speak to partners in Halifax and Ottawa to gain their insights.

Additional resources:

• AlignIT tour resources page – here you’ll find information about the tour, recordings of the sessions and panel Q&A, links to relevant resources, etc.
• Microsoft business productivity site - highlighting SharePoint and Office 2010 solutions
• Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS) – if you’re thinking about business productivity but don’t have the resources to host a solution on-premise, you’ll want to go here. Try online services free for 30 days.

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Subscribe to the podcast (so you don't miss an episode)

The Align IT program is dedicated to keeping IT leaders informed about what really matters in business and technology. We do that through in-person events, web casts, our blog and of course, this podcast series. You can find more information about the Align IT program at www.microsoft.ca/alignit.

Comments, suggestions and ideas for future topics can be left below as a comment or emailed directly to the Align IT program feedback alias at alignit@microsoft.com. You can also reach us on our toll free comment line at 1-800-693-3827.

[This post also appears on the BIEB Canadian Experts Blog]

A large part of any effective IT organization is communication – especially communication within your organization. And although you may be presenting the same or a similar message to everyone, it’s important to consider your audience and tailor the message accordingly. Ignore this at your peril and risk having your important email end up unread in the Deleted Items folder.

A few things to consider when putting together your message:

1. Always think of what motivates your audience. Write or speak with the thought “What’s in it for them?”. For example, if you’re talking to the sales department, you’ll want to focus on how the change will help them sell more product, meet their quotas and get their bonuses. If you’re talking to the executive team, you’ll want to focus on how the change will save or make the company more money.
2. Consider what type of thinker you’re talking to. There are typically 3 levels of thinkers in any organization:

   Type of Thinker	What They Think About	How Far Out They’re Thinking
   Strategic	Policies	2-5 years ahead
   Tactical	Process	6-24 months ahead
   Operational	Procedures	0-6 months ahead

   For example, if you’re talking to a strategic audience (i.e. the executive), think about the ramifications what you’re proposing will have on the company in the next 2-5 years. Will this make us a recognized market leader? Will it put us in a good position for an expanded product line? If you’re talking to the business unit level managers, will it mean we can focus less on day to day problems and more on research and development? If you’re talking to the customer service representatives, how this will help them streamline problem resolution?
3. Remove the technical jargon and speak or write in layman’s terms. Have someone typical of your target audience read any written communication prior to it going out. Concepts that are perfectly clear to you may be clear as mud to someone in a different role.
4. Anticipate objections like a sales person does when their trying to sell a product to a customer:

   “Not able to pay the entire amount now? No problem, we can put you on a payment plan.”
   “It doesn’t do xyz? Have you considered doing that a different way and using the abc feature?”

   What? You say you’re horrible sales person? Tough. Learn how. We’re all trying to sell something, whether it be an idea, a proposal, a project or a product. This skill will serve you well no matter what role you’re in.

Thanks to my ITIL instructor, Barry Brown, for the ideas and thoughts for this post! For more information about ITIL training and ITIL certification, check out Pink Elephant’s website.

Ruth Morton
IT Pro Advisor

I’m a process person, so when my boss suggested I go on ITIL training, I jumped at the chance. Seriously. I love this stuff! And I was delighted to find that we had an excellent instructor – Barry Brown from Pink Elephant. He has a great way of using stories and analogies from his life to illustrate his point. One of the things we’ve talked about is why IT doesn’t plan better. Below is The Deming Cycle, a 4 stage cycle for process management developed by W. Edwards Deming. Basically, it goes like this:

First you Plan the project. Then you Do the project. Next you Check or audit your project. Then you Act by analyzing differences noted by your audit. 

Sounds good and has been proven to work.This simple model has been credited with having a significant impact on the manufacturing processes in Japan as well as in other countries and businesses around the world, time and time again. But IT tends to jump right into the middle, to the Do stage, and skimp on planning, short circuiting the process and potentially leading to all sorts of undesirable effects from overworked IT staff to short-sighted solution implementations. Why is that?

Here’s a theory – often Business doesn’t give IT time to plan. It’s not that Business doesn’t know about the benefits of planning. Here at Microsoft we’re just wrapping up the planning for our new fiscal year which started July 1 and let me tell you, there was so much planning being done by the Business that my head hurt. Somehow though, in many companies, the expectation is different when it comes to IT projects. 

Perhaps it starts with the Sales department (those troublemakers!) when they promise the customer a service that IT doesn’t have the capacity or infrastructure to handle. But the promise has been made and IT is good at what they do, so they deliver. Because IT delivers, Business assumes this is the norm. The next time, it’s the Customer Service department that procures an application, and then turns to IT for the implementation. And so on and so on.

Now before you go blaming the suits, consider this: IT is responsible for managing this expectation, not Business. How do you do this? Meet with the key Business owners in your company. Go for lunch. Have a coffee together. Be proactive about building those relationships, having those conversations and helping Business understand how a more proactive IT department, one that has a seat at the decision-making table and that is part of the planning process, can help the company sell more widgets, save more money and become a leader in the marketplace.

[This post also appears on the BIEB Canadian Experts Blog]

Are you a developer looking to launch your new web application? Or perhaps you are an IT Pro or IT Architect trying to understand what “the Cloud” means to you.  Or maybe you have a need for some compute time to run some computations or are looking to extend your organization’s applications to the “Cloud”.

Regardless of who you are, or why you are thinking about the cloud, Microsoft is making it easy for you try out Windows Azure as well as SQL Azure and AppFabric.

If you visit http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/offers/ and select the introductory special you will be able to try a limited amount of the Windows Azure platform at no charge. 

This offer is available through October 31, 2010 and is limited to one per customer.  For full details and disclosure take a look at http://www.microsoft.com/windowsazure/offers/popup.aspx?lang=en&locale=en-US&offer=MS-AZR-0001P

If you are in Canada and have question about Windows Azure, my team and I are here to help and can answer your questions.  We would love to hear what you are using Azure for.  Please feel free to email us at cdnazure@microsoft.com.

Kevin Remde is the host for a number of webcasts for IT managers which you can access on TechNet Edge. In this particular one, he talks with Joey Snow, a Microsoft evangelists out of Redmond who focuses on evangelizing Windows Server and Windows Azure with IT professionals world wide.

They talk on the following:

[02:10] Defining Windows Azure as a cloud services operating system where developers can develop apps to run in MS run data centres.
[03:08] What Azure really means to IT - being able to respond to usage patterns, scale infrastructure and plan spending.
[07:18] Azure and virtualization as solutions for limited space, power and cooling.
[08:50] The difference between Azure and Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS).
[13:15] Combining an on-premise and off-premise solution – when to do what, where do I store my data.
[17:51] How Azure works - is it Windows; how it uses virtualization.
[22:35] Is Microsoft a serious player in cloud computing? How long has Microsoft been doing this and how invested are we?
[25:45] The security of having the data of several organizations in one place.
[28:20] Data redundancy in any one particular data centre.
[30:27] What is used to rollout, scale and manage Windows Azure?
[36:30] Additional resources.
[40:37] Transitioning a local application to the cloud - using the Azure training kit and the local development fabric.
[43:00] Reselling licensing for Windows Azure applications.

This is the next blog in the continuing series of interviews with top-echelon and renowned professionals. In this blog, I interview Richard LaBerge, Executive Vice-President, CMO, who talks about 3-D technology.

Enjoy!
Stephen Ibaraki

Mr. Richard LaBerge is, since February 2000, Vice-President and Chief Commercial Officer at SENSIO®. SENSIO® develops and markets Stereoscopic 3D digital compression, decompression and display formatting technologies.

Richard is in charge of the company's commercial development. Mr. LaBerge occupied various positions within financial institutions such as Mouvement Desjardins from July, 1991 till January, 1996 and Business Development Bank of Canada from February, 1996 till January, 1997. In 1998, still at Desjardins, he contributed to the marketing of various products adapted to the company's needs. Furthermore, as an analyst-programmer, he worked for Raymond, Chabot, Martin, Paré and Cie from November, 1987 till September 1988 and for Rothman Pall Mall, a company located in Australia and specialized in manufacture and distribution of products of tobacco, from December, 1986 till October, 1987. At the same time, he occupied since May, 1994 the position of Executive Vice-President of SAJE. He obtained in June, 1991 a MBA from l'École des Hautes Études Commerciales - HEC (University of Montreal).

To listen to the interview, click on this MP3 file link

DISCUSSION:

Interview Time Index (MM:SS) and Topic

:00:31:
3D has especially come to the forefront since the release of the movie Avatar and then its spotlight at CES. What do you make of James Cameron's movie phenomenon, the technology, and what this means to the way we do business in the future?
"....He has shown to the world that 3D can be the next thing in entertainment....Cameron brought 3D as an immersive experience. It's like a window into a new world...."

:01:44:
What is the current state of live 3D broadcasts and your take on future trends? How will this move into organizations?
"....You have to see 3D live broadcasts as another source of 3D content....3D live comes in as a great add-on...."

:02:53:
What impact will 3D have on the consumer such as with TVs, PCs and game consoles?
"....When people change their TVs, PCs, or game consoles they will buy the new one 3D enabled and they will have an immersive experience and that will come from multiple platforms...."

:03:54:
Can you talk more about the CES conference?
"....CES is the largest consumer electronic exhibition or conference and it is held every year in Las Vegas....3D was one of the major attractions this year...."

:05:28:
Can you provide an overview of 3D technology?
"....When you watch a 3D movie you have the left and right eye. If you want to do that, normally you need to double the bandwidth to carry the information. Sensio® has developed the technology that allows you to take the left and right eye and combine them into one single video stream the same size as the 2D bandwidth. This is the first part of the technology and is called encoding. The second part is called the decoding which is at the receiving end. This is in the home or at the cinema where it receives the encoded signals and gives you back the left and right eye at full resolution....The last part is called formatting where the cable from the same source is able to put the output to any type of 3D display....This is what Sensio® technology does; we are in the transport of 3D signals through the existing 2D infrastructure...."

:07:37:
Can you profile the state of 3DTVs and monitors?
"....Right now, all the major manufacturers have said that they will be coming up with 3D capable monitors and TVs....In the US it will start in the July time frame...."

:09:30:
What can you say about the overall 3D industry and where it is heading? What will 3D look like in 2012?
"....You want to have the whole technology working. For awhile there were pieces of that chain missing. This year the whole chain, all the technology is there to make it happen. The next step will be deployment, and this is what you will see 2010 and 2011 - the mass deployment. In 2012 you will see 3D starting to become a commodity in the market...."

:11:02:
Please share details of your background and career lessons for success.
"....Nicholas Routhier and I started the company ten years ago. Both of us came from the financial world but we had a passion for electronics and 3D and we wanted to bring 3D into the consumer market....There are many challenges and you have to have perseverance but it is very rewarding and stimulating to feel like we have probably been one of the enablers to help to create this at this time...."

:17:12:
What are top lessons and tips can your share from the projects you have worked on?
"....Have a good strategy....Communicate the strategy internally to your team and externally to partners, investors, customers....Have a good structure on how to deliver...."

:18:22:
What do you see as the top challenges facing us today and how do you propose they be solved? If you were conducting this interview, what question would you ask, and then what would be your answer?
"....'What other competitors do you have?'....This year will be a confusing year for people and this is normal for 3D. It happened when HDTV first came in several years ago. It will be the year of building and putting down the foundation for 3D...."