Talk by John Lervik, CEO (Emeritus) of FAST Search & Transfer, Norway, given at the Stanford Engineering School, European Entrepreneurship & Innovation Program (http://me421.stanford.edu), March 8 2010. Sponsored by Innovation Norway.
9. FAST, a Microsoft Subsidiary FAST is transforming search into a key enabler for mission-critical applications and an IT infrastructure necessity Publicly listed on Oslo Stock Exchange since 2001 (ticker FAST) #1 in revenue growth Over 3600 installations 750 employees in 32 locations 150 alliance and OEM partners Tromsø Stockholm Oslo Helsinki Copenhagen Toronto London Chicago Amsterdam Boston Paris Munich Salt Lake City Frankfurt Milan Seoul New York San Francisco Rome Tokyo Washington DC Dubai Dallas Atlanta Madrid Hong Kong Mexico City Singapore Rio de Janeiro Sao Paulo Sydney Cape Town Melbourne FAST was one of the fastest growing software companies in the world Going forward: FAST, a Microsoft Subsidiary 9
12. (1) Clear Vision- & Challenging Targets MARS FAST vision more expansive & elaborate than others from start FAST: Search is much more than search Will change the way the information stack will work within an IT infrastructure Will change the way people market and sell products online Will change the way data is processed and analyzed Competitors: Look at this feature… it is quite nice, isn’t it You never go farther than your dreams…!
13. (2) The BestPeople – As a Team Innovation and growth is a result of ambition and will power Hence, prime focus is on people: Attract the right people and keep them motivated For FAST people had these characteristics: Extreme capabilities Have great level of ambition People that are team oriented There is no substitute for hard work…
14. (3) Game Changer Ambition eBusiness BUSINESS SEGMENTS FAST InStream Client Specific Search Apps FAST Marketrac FASTProPublish FAST AdVisor FASTImPulse Client Specific Search Apps FASTMobile Client Specific Search Apps SEARCH DERIVATIVEAPPLICATIONS (SDAs) RDBMS (JDBC, ODBC, SQLNet, DW, DM) Legacy Data (e.g. ISAM, VSAM, IMS) Applications (e.g. ERM, CRM, Help Desk) DMS (e.g. M’Soft CMS, Documentum) eMail Systems (e.g. Notes, Exchange) From Search as a Feature To Search as a Platform ApplicationEnablement (OEM) KnowledgeDiscovery First ever printed memory Patent protected; Award winning Roll-to-roll manufacturing Millions to 100s of millions of units FAST ESP™ ENTERPRISE SEARCHPLATFORM (ESP) Files (e.g. Word, Excel, pdf, images, mp3) WWW (HTML, XML, WML, JavaScript) Direct Push Message Queues (e.g. TIBCO, MQ-Series) Private Webs (e.g. news feeds, Intranets) Portals (e.g. WebSphere, WebLogic) REAL-TIME UNSTRUCTURED STRUCTURED
15. Decisions Insight Information Data & Content (4) Customer-Driven Innovation – Choose the Best & Most Demanding Clients Learning by doing….
16. (5) Innovative, Result-Oriented Culture “VIP” Culture: Vision, Integrity, Passion Passion “Yes, we can” attitude “Quiet confidence” No use for an innovation culture without substance: Built on extreme capabilities Driven by market demand Corporate culture is not a coincidence...! Make sure all of the organization is aligned from engineering to sales E.g. HR, legal, finance: Support innovation, growth, and efficiencies