DIGITAL DISRUPTION IN A DATA DRIVEN WORLD
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DIGITAL DISRUPTION IN A DATA DRIVEN WORLD w w w.ra di usne t wo r ks . com
Marc Wallace, CEO and Co-founder of Radius Networks, talks digital disruption in a data driven world
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n an increasingly data driven world, businesses are identifying ways to unlock
new opportunities and markets as they turn to data to reach their digitally enabled customer bases. US-based 04
Radius Networks works with major brands to capture and utilize proximitybased data in order to reach the right people at the right time. As businesses continue to seek new and more innovative ways to use data, Radius Networks Customer Location Platform, which includes tableside and curbside service, asset tracking, and proximity cloud analytics, fits right at home in the current business landscape. However, as co-founder and CEO Marc Wallace explains, bringing disruptive technologies to market is no small feat. “The real challenge that we faced was from an R&D perspective. We were building a very new technol-
Engineer and Support meeting (left to right: Jason Wieringa, Brian Cabrera, Bhavin Vyas, Ami Desai, Alex Stone, Sam Kim, James Nebeker)
ogy concept, leveraging Bluetooth or wireless on mobile devices and this was a very novel thing,” he explains. “Nobody really knows how to use it or how to implement it and that caused teething problems.” Having co-founded the business with partners from previous, successful ventures in 2011, Wallace has spent the best part of his career in the technology and internet space. It was through this experience that the team saw an
Chief Technology Officer, David Helms
opportunity in using wireless signals as a means of engaging people on their w w w.ra di usne t wo r ks . com
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smartphones. “You would walk into a
Over the last seven years, Radius
venue and your phone picks up a Wi-Fi
Networks has worked with major
signal and we saw that you could use
brands across the US and is active
that as an opportunity to engage and
in more than 60 countries worldwide,
say ‘welcome’ or ‘go here’,” he explains.
with more than 27 patented technol-
“That’s why we built Radius Networks.
ogy solutions within its portfolio. The
It was all formed around that initial
company’s success is clear to see,
concept of engaging with people based
but Wallace notes that the key to that
on their location and proximity to certain
success lies in the people involved,
points of interest. That was the begin-
as well as a smart approach to capital
ning of Radius Networks.”
investment. “Once we knew what we
E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E
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Marc Wallace Marc is a serial entrepreneur. He is the co-founder and CEO of Radius Networks, Inc., located in Washington, DC. Radius Networks is a location technology company focused on helping businesses locate, engage and transact with their customers. Prior to Radius Networks, Marc co-founded several other successful startups, such as District Taco, a Mexican-food fast casual chain in DC, where he serves as Chairman, and SwapDrive (backup.com), an online backup company acquired by the Norton division of Symantec in 2008. Before creating SwapDrive, he served at Orbital Sciences Corporation as an aerospace engineer and engineering manager across multiple successful rocket and spacecraft launch campaigns. Marc holds a B.S. in Engineering from Cornell University and a M.S. in Information Systems from George Washington University.
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were doing we developed strong expertise in the area,” he says, “but it took a number of years to really get to a productization that our customers, huge brands, could see true value in and a return of investment (ROI).” “The first four years of the company were really defined by R&D, but over the last few years we’ve moved into the operationalization phase. We are taking a product that is maturing and pushing it worldwide, so we have to be able to scale it and have third parties and partners that can sell and install the product.” 08
With a career defined by technology it would be easy for Wallace and his team to assume that partners, suppliers and potential customers will have the same understanding and knowledge of innovative technologies, but as Wallace noted previously, proximity solutions are a very novel concept. The key to working with stakeholders and obtaining their ‘buy-in’ is communication and Wallace recognises this. Radius Networks has cemented itself within the market for a number of years and can begin to point to successes and tangible value that its solutions have brought for customers. “Real dollars,” says Wallace. “We have real dollars that our technology can enable through efficiencies, savings and of course drawing customers to
“We install thousands, almost tens of thousands of locations a year, so in order to do that across the world, we need strong partnerships” — Marc Wallace CEO and Co-Founder Radius Networks
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘RADIUS NETWORKS — CURBSIDE PICK-UP’ 09
Craig Brooks and Maie Lee
their stores. We also have very solid data that can back up and highlight the ROI that we can bring.” Sales figures, through Quick Service Restaurants (QSRs) or instore delivery, are the key metrics that can speak to the impact of Radius Networks but there are also the less tangible metrics such as customer satisfaction that can really be the difference. Wallace can point to customer satisfaction increases of close to 25% over stores that do not use Radius Networks’ solutions from convenience alone and that he feels is in itself “real ROI”. Another key metric that Radius Networks w w w.ra di usne t wo r ks . com
has been able to store is wastage. Through its ability to pinpoint customers and drive them through a sales process, the company is able to help businesses manage the process entirely. “Let’s look at food ordering, whether its instore or delivery,” says Wallace. “We’re able to help a business manage the process, drastically cutting waste and wrong orders in half. People are getting the right order. They’re getting their food, not somebody else’s food, and they’re getting it
After the customer places an order from kiosk, mobile, or counter, the staff can view their exact location for order delivery
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in a timely fashion so that their food doesn’t need to be thrown away. It’s very important, and a big ROI factor for a lot of those businesses.” Radius Networks is defined by data as much as it is defined by technology, and so the company collates and stores mountains of data. This inevitably raises the question of what Radius Networks is doing with sensitive data. Wallace says that the company saw a fork in the road a number of years ago in the collection of location specific data. 11 E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E
Dan Estrada has 20 years of start-up, technology business development experience. He is the Chief Strategy Officer of Radius Networks, Inc. leading the global business strategy and expansion initiative. Prior to joining Radius Networks, Dan successfully executed the worldwide channel distribution strategy for cloud service start-up, SwapDrive, from the company’s inception through its acquisition by Symantec for $123 million. Post SwapDrive acquisition, Dan successfully led the worldwide business development efforts for Symantec for the launch of Norton Online Backup, and served as VP, Business Development for SnappCloud, a leading White Label App & Content Delivery Platform for PC & Tablet OEMs. Dan is currently an advisor to several early stage companies.
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“It can be very personalized and so we decided very early on not to aggregate personal data and sell it to third parties that were not related to our clients,” he says. “We work directly with the brands, and we will provide data back to those brands almost on a pass-through basis – rather than storing data long term on our systems that are related to their customers. “We will honor their relationship directly with their customers. When end customers are using our solution through one of our clients, they can be assured that whatever agreement they have in place from a privacy 12
standpoint – we honor that. That is all part of the GDPR system, so we follow that standard.
“We like being the center of expertise that our customers can turn to in order to give them an idea as to where the wind's blowing with regards to technology” — Marc Wallace CEO and Co-Founder Radius Networks
Customers can place an order while on-the-go and opt to dine-in, pickup in-store, or pickup curbside.
That’s how we operate and we don’t plan on changing that.” Working with clients in more than 60 countries, Wallace recognizes the importance of a trusting client relationship and being able to provide tailored solutions that fit different countries and different market dynamics and demands. To this end, Radius Networks has dedicated teams assigned to its biggest brand partners that work directly with them and are “embedded on site”. “It’s all about dedicating resources to that client and allowing them to focus directly on what their customer needs,” he explains. In this regard, the way in which Radius Networks goes above and beyond to provide additional services and give value to the client proves crucial. Despite its product offering, Radius Networks is not a ‘call us if you need us’ hardware company; it differentiates itself in the way it provides its solutions as a service. The company will install a solution, provide further solutions and then provide a service of services on that solution ranging from maintenance, monitoring analytics and feedback. “It’s similar to if you’re getting cable at your house,” says Wallace. “You get a set-top box. It’s hardware, but you’re paying a monthly subscription for the service that will be maintained and updated. That w w w.ra di usne t wo r ks . com
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translates to real-time data that we
When working with some of the bigger
obtain from the field that allows us to
clients in the market, whose ability to
understand how the system is being
take solutions to market is measured in
used and then be able to optimize other
years, Radius Networks has to continu-
processes around that.”
ously bring innovation to the table in
As the market leader in an ever-
order to succeed. “We’ll work with them
evolving technology landscape, Radius
and say, ‘Okay, here’s what’s next, here’s
Networks must ensure that its offering
what’s three years down the road or
continues to be at the very forefront of
five years down the road’, and bringing
the latest technology trends. Wallace
it to them so that they can get it into the
says that the company’s technology
pipeline early and start to mature the
and ability to implement solutions must
product, because it will take years to
always be years ahead of its customers.
get that out,” he says.
With Radius Networks location technology, the customer can simply drive to the store and have their groceries delivered directly to them, no action required.
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E X E C U T I V E P R OF IL E
Rebecca McFarland a creative and experienced marketing and event specialist with a honed expertise in branding and design. She is currently the Vice President of Marketing at Radius Networks, located in Washington, DC. She leads all marketing initiatives, including branding, design, product promotion, strategy, and advertising. Prior to joining Radius Networks, Rebecca was the Head of Marketing and Associate Publisher at Washingtonian Magazine, where she drove profitability through new business initiatives, multi-platform campaigns, events, and community partnerships.
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“We like being the center of expertise
Nixdorf, Coates Group and Fujitsu to
that our customers can turn to in order
assist with service support and delivery.
to give them an idea where the wind’s
“We install thousands, almost tens of
blowing on the technology.”
thousands of locations a year, so in order
Despite considerable success over
to do that across the world, we need
the last seven years, Radius Networks
partnerships to do that,” says Wallace. Technology partners have also been
hasn’t been able to achieve this growth alone and Wallace can point to key
instrumental in enabling the rapid
strategic partners that the company
development and deployment of the
has worked with that have been funda-
products, such as AOPEN and EM
mental in allowing the company to
Micro. “They have been key, not only to
achieve. Radius Networks has called
provide the right solution but helping
upon the support of NCR, Diebold
us to evolve the solution.”
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Left to right: Craig Brooks, Maie Lee, Joe Grajewski, Ken McInerney, Amanda Wilson.
CLICK TO WATCH : ‘RADIUS NETWORKS — CUSTOMER LOCATION SOLUTION’
The industries of today will not be the
requirements, we have the ability to
same as the industries of tomorrow
quickly and nimbly do that,” he says.
and technology will continue to steer
“We control the entire stack of our
that evolution. Radius Networks must
solution and we have incredible exper-
be ready for whatever tomorrow will
ience in this space. That’s a huge
bring for its clients. Wallace believes
advantage that we have over anybody
that the hospitality market will become
else that is either in the market or
key in the near future for the company
trying to get into the market.”
and that Radius Network’s approach to service, as well as its experienced team, is what will be fundamental in order to remain as the market leader. “If we need to react to the increasingly varying customer demands or w w w.ra di usne t wo r ks . com
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