Sync NI Magazine - Summer 2015

SUMMER 2015

Issue 17 JUSTGIVING 08 EVERNOTE 13 SANTANDER 16

Business.

Tech.

Money.

10 Fathom_ Do we really believe in UX? 14 Meagen Eisenberg Optimising Technology & Data

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

Welcome to the Summer edition of the Sync NI magazine foreword

from Michael Murdock, CIO Chain Reaction Cycles

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ABOUT SYNC NI Sync NI is the leading media outlet for Northern Ireland’s Technology and Business Industries.

The Sync NI website and magazine keeps readers informed on the latest technology and business news, jobs, and events from Northern Ireland, and abroad.

CONTENT & EDITORIAL Nicola McNair Email: nicola.mcnair@syncni.com Phone: 028 90820944 Kat Maguire Phone: 02890820941 Email: kat@syncni.com

A

t the time of writing the riders competing in The Tour de France have long left the Grand Depart in Utrecht and are progressing through the stages in determined pursuit of the coveted Yellow Jersey.

which is “guaranteed to increase revenues” but this will be folly unless they are embedded into a framework of vision, strategy and measurable goals.

Yes, people are still absolutely at the core of achieving and maintaining competitive advantage and technology is the enabler but we must provide the environment within our businesses to allow our, often young, raw talent to think globally and not be constrained by traditional thinking.

To maintain competitive advantage these world-class athletes are focusing on marginal gains in every aspect of their sport. Whether it’s the strategy, technology, teamwork, diet or psychology, the overarching principle is to find and prise out every possible minuscule gain.

We are fortunate to have a very good talent No single one of these tiny gains will achieve pool in Northern Ireland and technology gives winning glory but all of them combined may just access to a global stage where we have the place them ahead of the pack. opportunity to compete at the highest level.

The relentless pursuit of marginal gains is not easy, it requires tenacity, focus, teamwork, belief and fearlessness.

Businesses require the same behaviours to achieve the same gains. Long gone are the days of the single big ticket prize in business and it’s all about continuous improvement, the relentless pursuit of marginal gains.

But sometimes free uninhibited thinking can trump the baggage of experience. Need we be reminded of the origins of Facebook and Spotify?

Could the next WhatsApp be laying baron in some young Northern Irish mind at risk of floundering for the lack of a supportive ear? Let’s encourage, nurture and support talent at all levels within our organisations.

Overturning every stone in the business and honestly asking yourself how can this be improved, how can we find another marginal gain? How can we get ahead of the pack?

Just like “Les Domestiques” in Le Tour who ride alongside and solely exist for the benefit of their team and leader, we that are the current management of business, need to be Les Domestiques for our young talent to enable them to have the opportunity to give Northern Ireland competitive advantage.

Technology can certainly assist us in finding the opportunities but it is tenacity, focus, teamwork, belief and fearlessness that will deliver the results. We can be swamped in data, be dazzled by the latest technology

Michael Murdock, CIO at Chain Reaction Cycles

ADVERTISING & MARKETING ENQUIRIES Caoimhe Caldwell Phone: 02890820942 Email: caoimhe.mckenna@syncni.com Natalie Gray Phone: 02890820944 Email: natalie@syncni.com Roisin Mooney Phone: 02890820944 Email: roisin@syncni.com SUBSCRIPTIONS Email: subscribe@syncni.com GENERAL ENQUIRIES Sync NI 28 Adelaide street Rochester Building Belfast BT28GD Phone: 028 90820944 Email: info@syncni.com Website: www.syncni.com

COPYRIGHT No part of this publication may be reproduced without the written permission of the copyholder and publisher. SyncNi accepts no responsibility for the accuracy of contributed articles or statements appearing in this magazine and any views or opinions expressed are not necessarily those of SyncNi , unless otherwise indicated. No responsibility for loss or distress associated to any person acting or refraining from acting as a result of the material in this magazine can be accepted by the authors, contributors, editors or publishers. SyncNi does not endorse any goods or services advertised, nor any claims or representations made in any advertisement in this magazine.

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

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Contents

03 Foreword 06 Terry Prone: Communication Matters 07 Introducing Pop Notch 08 Just Giving on Big Data 10 Do we really believe in User Experience?

12 Opening Access to Finance 13 Cristina Riesen from Evernote 14 Optimising Technology & Data 16 Santander InnoVentures 17 Froude Hofmann 18 Proofpoint 19 Everybody’s Gone Surfin’ 20 Space Sharing & Flexible Work 21 Cloud Simplified 22 Exclusive Interview with Justin Cooke 23 Banking Disruption 24 TV Series Acquired by Netflix 25 Upcoming Events 26 Sync NI - Logging Off

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

Terry Prone: Communication Matters

I

know. I know. You think communication is an add-on.

Accreditation comes first. Or capital. Or a prestigious Board.

Right? Wrong.

Good communication isn’t an add-on. It’s the bloodstream of a great business. Professions and businesses that put communications on the back-burner end up getting sued and defrauded. They fail to sell to potential customers. They lose existing customers. They develop a high staff turnover and a workplace atmosphere as merry as a morgue, where staff spend hours of every day sending emails to cover their asses or prove other staff members to be incompetent wasters.

Companies that focus on communication become more successful. Same is true of medical teams who are pleasant and courteous to each other: they tend to have better relationships with patients, too.

q Do put internal communications first

Happy companies/teams do better in the marketplace.

Hire people who talk more about your business than about themselves. Train them in the essential communications skills: watching, listening, questioning and presenting. When customers notice and tell you, make sure you praise the person involved with everybody else around, so they become a role model.

q Do give people the gift of your attention

It’s a freebie you have at your disposal every day: your capacity to pay attention to other people. No business process is as important as the human being in front of you. No computer screen, ditto.

q Do good apologies

If you have to. Of course, nothing will ever go wrong with your customer relations. Of course, you’ll never have a product recall. But if the wind isn’t always with you, something may go wrong and you may have to make amends. Amends start with going to the customer, if it’s an individual customer, and getting the full awful story from them.

As you listen, restrain your desire to get the encounter over, and restrain even more fiercely your desire to say something asinine like “This has never happened before.” Just shut up and make notes. When the complainant stops, look at them and indicate you know that’s not the end of it. When you have the story, indicate some understanding: “God, that must have been so difficult.” A good apology is never conditional.

Don’t tell them you’re sorry if the wording of your message was understood by them to be offensive. Be unconditional, generous and unstinting in your apology. And add what you’re going to do to make it up to them.

Terry Prone

q It can be an internal customer

Can be an internal customer. Let’s say you’re due to make a presentation to the head of another department. Find out how long they like presentations to last. If their preference is for ten minutes and you do an hour, they’re not going to love you.

q Don’t use tricks

Peppering your communications with first names and power words doesn’t work.

q Don’t multitask

Concentrate on the person in front of you. Don’t text/tweet at the same time.

q Don’t use powerpoint

Unless the audience won’t get the essential points without it. It was invented by Satan.

q Don’t take drugs to cope with nerves

Nerves mean adrenalin is pumping into your system.

Adrenalin makes you think faster, perform better. Yes, it makes your hands shake and your throat close up. Get through the first three minutes and you’ll be grand.

q Don’t say “To be honest with you”

It suggests you normally aren’t honest with us.

SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

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Introducing Pop Notch

D

eclan McBride is passionate about popcorn. So passionate, in fact, that he decided to make popcorn his career. Thus, in 2014, Pop Notch was born, a premium popcorn brand that is, in Declan’s own words, “unashamedly tasty”.

Inspired by a trip to Canada twenty years ago, Declan spent years perfecting his popcorn recipe in his hometown of Draperstown, Northern Ireland.

Finally, when the time was right, Declan launched the Pop Notch brand.

Declan’s passion for popcorn is rooted in an uncompromising commitment to quality. Indeed, Pop Notch was launched in response to what Declan views as the “floofy tasteless nonsense that gets passed off as popcorn these days”. Whilst most popcorn is made from butterfly corn, Declan only uses a special type of mushroom corn which produces extra-large and fluffy popcorn pieces.

Furthermore, all Pop Notch coatings are made from scratch by Declan using natural ingredients, and hand mixed to make sure each piece has a delicious crunch.

The timing couldn’t have been better.

Popcorn is enjoying something of a renaissance in the snack food market.

Naturally gluten-free, with a lower fat content than crisps, and lower sugar than chocolate, it’s not difficult to see why consumers are turning to this nutritious and tasty snack. Indeed, popcorn consumption in the UK increased by 114% between 2013 and 2014.

It’s this commitment to quality that makes Pop Notch stand out. Yet, whilst Declan had perfected production in his hometown of Draperstown, distribution was a challenge. So, in April 2014, he teamed up with another Northern Irish entrepreneur; Michael Heaslip of Food Stories, a sales and distribution start-up based in Crawfordsburn, Co. Down.

Yet with increased consumption came increased competition as snack food giants such as Walkers and Tyrells launched their own lines of popcorn. So what makes Pop Notch different?

Together, Declan and Michael built a loyal following of Pop Notch connoisseurs. Within 14 months of trading, Pop Notch is being sold by over 200 independent retailers across the UK

and Ireland. It is also listed with ASDA NI, Applegreen and BWG (SPAR), and supplied to 7 fine food distributors. The challenge, of course, is further growth, with the multiples topping Michael and Declan’s hit-list.

Pop Notch has also recently expanded its customer offering. Sticking to its three core flavours; Sweet & Salty, Salted Caramel, and the unexpectedly moreish Marshmallow, Pop Notch will be launching Snack Packs of these flavours this month. This is to appeal to busy people looking for a tasty and nutritious snack on the go.

A determinedly local brand (all production takes place in Draperstown) Pop Notch has big ambitions and big ideas for the future. In fact, Michael and Declan are currently developing a top secret, innovative new product, unique to the popcorn market. Due to launch later this year, we’ve been sworn to secrecy… but rest assured; it will be delicious!

Watch this space…

Follow Morrow Pop Notch Follow Communications

@MorrowComms  @PopNotchNI

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

J

ustGiving was arguably one of the earliest ‘social’ applications on the web – though the label had not yet been invented when the website was launched by co-founders, Zarine Kharas and Anne-Marie Huby, in February 2001.

Enabling people to collect charity donations securely online seems blindingly obvious now, but JustGiving only stumbled upon it after several

on Big Data social platform for giving in the world, with more than 12m registered users and almost €3 billion raised for good causes.

The first breakthrough moment for JustGiving was the creation of a prototype page to be used by fundraisers running the London Marathon. Until that point JustGiving had been acting as a donations portal for people to make individual

and the Best Use of the Web Award.

The significance of this moment for JustGiving was how powerful an ‘ask’ from a supporter to their network could be.

In the last three years we have seen a genuine revolution in giving and the ability for JustGiving to super serve its community. With the social web and the rise of advanced data analytics shaping every aspect of our lives, from how we

Fundraisers crossing the line

iterations of its service. That was one of the many lessons learnt in the early days of the business, and continues to drive JustGiving now: it takes a lot of experimentation to gain traction. A tech business rarely gets something right first time.

JustGiving’s motivation, however, has always been the same: to use the best the web has to offer to help good causes connect with more supporters and raise more money as a result.

Today, JustGiving is the fastest-growing

donations. By digitising the process of collecting sponsorship money, JustGiving created the tools for fundraisers to galvanise the support of their friends and family around the world for a fundraising event, JustGiving unlocked a new form of giving on the web that propelled one individual fundraiser to raise £10k in a single event for the National Autistic Society. This innovation was recognised the following year when JustGiving was awarded the New Media Age Effectiveness Grand Prix Award

date, to how we consume music and how we shop, JustGiving was quick to recognise the enormous potential of digital disruption on the world of giving.

However, whilst many companies are successfully using techniques based on data analytics to personalise their products and services, many of these techniques do not apply when it comes to giving. Take for example user segmentation: the causes that one person cares about might be very different from the causes that

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

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Visual of the GiveGraph

somebody else in the same segment cares about.

At JustGiving, we combined our years of experience and deep understanding of people’s giving behaviour with the science of social networks. We were especially inspired by the work of Nicholas Christakis who showed how we are all embedded in vast social networks of friends, family, co-workers and more, and that traits can spread from person to person within these networks.

their social networks. So over three years ago, we created a data science team to begin to unpack the potential of JustGiving’s 14 years of giving transactions and social network data.

Our GiveGraph™, the world’s largest graph of giving behaviour, now contains more than 80 million nodes, thousands of causes and 285 million connections.

The person’s location in the network impacts that individual’s life profoundly.

Who a person is connected to is much more indicative of what they are likely to care about than their segment.

It models people’s interactions and giving behaviour, mapping out connections and analysing patterns and trends. Most importantly, GiveGraph now underpins every aspect of our product, and determines what every JustGiving user sees in their personalised home page, and the timing and content of the notifications they receive.

On Facebook we share our friendships, interests and experiences.

We tweet to express our opinions and share news. We curate our professional lives on LinkedIn. When we want to develop and share our musical tastes we turn to Spotify. The same applies to caring. When a person engages in some way with a good cause, they are expressing what they care about and they influence, and in turn are influenced, by the connections in

When we compared the results of matching supporters with causes by the GiveGraph with those achieved by traditional marketing methods, such as demographic segmentation, we discovered that the connections made by the GiveGraph were 91% more likely to result in a donation. By understanding and analysing people’s networks and behaviours in real time, the GiveGraph was able to identify what a person cared about, when they

wanted to give, and how they wanted to give.

The prospects for giving presented by big data are enormous. Creating hyper-personal experiences for new generations of supporters in an increasingly noisy digital universe, and ensuring seamless user journeys across all channels will be the only way to retain the audience’s attention.

Digital natives are bombarded with information on a daily basis and have developed unforgivingly high expectations from the brands and causes vying for their attention.

GiveGraph is our response to the big challenge of capturing the imagination of a new generation of givers.

Having enabled €503.7 million in giving in 2014 – a 23% rise on the previous year – and with a continued focus on the development of worldclass technology and innovation, we are excited about JustGiving’s role in transforming digital giving and ensuring no good cause goes unfunded.

Follow JustGiving

 @JustGiving

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

Do we really believe in User Experience?

T

he great chasm remains between the popularity of the term UX and the quality of websites we endure on a daily basis. How can it be that many agencies evangelize UX as part of their pitch yet the standard of websites remains so, well, so so?

“Blondin”. As he finished each crossing and got back onto terra firma, the crowd would go wild for him, chanting his name “Blondin, Blondin, Blondin!” Occasionally in response Chevalier Blondin would tease them by asking who in the crowd wanted to make the return trip on his back on in the wheelbarrow.

I wonder if we don’t believe in experience-design as much as we claim. Or perhaps we only believe in it to the point where it doesn’t suit us to believe in it any more.

Blondin understood that there was a difference between the crowd believing he could do it and the crowd *believing* he could do it. As a user experience professional I observe that

Charles Blondin was born in France in 1824 and after exhibiting an extraordinary skill for balance as an infant, was sent at the age of five to Lyon’s École de Gymnase to hone his acrobatic skills. After just six months training he made his acrobatic debut as “the boy wonder” specialising in acrobatics and tightrope walking and according to Encyclopedia Britannica he quickly become hugely popular in his native France.

Aged thirty he travelled to the States and quickly started to perform in New York, when the idea struck him to tightrope walk the 350m across the Niagara Falls.

there is a difference between businesses believing experience design can improve their bottom line and *believing* experience design can improve their bottom line.

This became a feat he completed many times and with every conceivable permutation; blindfolded, in a sack, trundling a wheelbarrow, on stilts and eventually carrying his manager on his back and stopping halfway and eating a meal.

It seems that it is easy to buy into it when the principles are conceptual. Stakeholder engagement? Check. User surveying and testing? Check. Customer journey planning?

Check. Content strategy and desired outcomes? Check.

Wire-framing, creative design, interaction design? Check.

Submitting to the resultant evidence to make informed userdriven design decisions? [ Sound of tyres screeching to a halt / needle scratching across the record / cartoon character looking down after running off the end of the cliff. ]

The crowds would go wild for him and he repaid them richly by embarking on more and more dangerous variations on the already pretty treacherous theme. His popularity was such that for a period of time he was to tightrope walking what Hoover is to vacuum cleaning; he owned to the word.

Anyone involved in the profession was simply referred to as a

It seems that the theory is straightforward, and research

SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

achievable with good project planning, but the implementation not-so-easy as it means not having our own way. We have to give up that little feature, or content, or page element that we liked. It might be a focus on our division’s product or service, a beloved carousel, a design expectation, an embedded Twitter feed, adding “something that moves”, including unnecessary content that we like, or any number of completely arbitrary design decisions.

One of the reasons that we ask our clients to buy into process at the start of our projects is because we can’t know where the evidence might lead us, and we must leave our expectations and biases at the door if we are to truly serve our customers.

It feels counter-intuitive to cede control of our website experience to our users, but when you think about why they visit our website in the first place, it’s impossible to imagine designing it any other way. By Gareth Dunlop

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Gareth Dunlop Gareth Dunlop owns and runs Fathom, a user-experience consultancy which helps ambitious organisations get the most from their website and internet marketing by viewing the world from the perspective of their customers.

Specialist areas include user-testing, usability and customer journey planning, web accessibility and integrated online marketing. Clients include Three, Tesco Mobile, PSNI, Permanent TSB and PropertyNews.com. Visit Fathom online at fathom.pro.

Not yet a believer? Want to know what UX strategy can do for your organisation? Get in touch with the team at Fathom.

Follow Fathom_

 @Fathom_UX

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

Ripple Labs: Opening Access to Finance q What problems does Ripple Labs

solve?

We are trying to solve the problem of networks around the world being siloed, for example the value exchange system in the US doesn’t talk to the system in Australia. You can literally send your FedEx package of cash to the US faster than you can send it through the banks, it takes multiple days and is expensive.

We solve that problem, we allow value to be sent in seconds. Not just digital assets but currencies can be settled in seconds without the risk of things failing in the process.

Before the internet, information used to get locked up in libraries and research institutes and you couldn’t get to it and share it easily. That’s the way it is with money today, this is a huge problem for the consumer and any corporation that is involved in global trade. We shepherd a movement to evolve finance so that payment systems are open, secure, constructive and globally inclusive.

q Why did you create your own virtual

currency?

What is interesting about these technologies is since they are all about value confirmation without a central operator, you can for the first time create a digital asset. Digital assets will enable liquidity providers to make more efficient markets and loosen up liquidity. Market makers will find digital assets useful but not yet consumers. Most people are primarily concerned with sending money quickly at the cheapest possible cost.

q How do you change negative

attitudes to digital assets?

We think the most important part is exchanging existing currencies. That’s what most people are doing every day but they just want to do it faster. In terms of digital assets, people don’t want to get their head around these, they want their banks to take care of this and that’s ok.

q Is security a big concern?

You always have to be focused on security! With a distributed system it is more durable and immune to attack. As an infrastructure it is an improvement on security.

q You raised $28 million in financing

with investment from companies like CME and Seagate. Was that tough?

We are in a pretty good fundraising environment, there is plenty of money flowing into financial technology in particular. Raising money is always hard but relatively, we are in a very good period. CME and Seagate are both in Belfast which is super cool. They were both strategic investors. CME saw our technology and wanted to be part of it.

For us they are huge company and can move mountains, so they are a great partner.

The partnership with Seagate is to do with their global supply train, they operate all over the world. They face challenges because of inefficient value

Chris Larsen, CEO Ripple Labs

exchange systems so our solutions could help them save a lot of money.

q What trends do you think are going

to be big in Fintech in 2015/16?

We are at the beginning of a really strong cycle and this is actually very good for Belfast, the city is a logical capital for Fintech. These are the early days of this internet of value, it’s just getting going but the cat is not going back in the bag.

The implications for financial services is incredible. There has not been that much Fintech innovation in the past 20 years compared to information and we are now at a point where there can be. That’s pretty exciting!

Follow Ripple Labs

 @RippleLabs

SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

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Cristina Riesen from

q Evernote has more than 100 million users worldwide.

When did the rapid growth take place?

We have reached 100 million users organically, mainly via word of mouth, people telling their friends that Evernote is great. We started with a couple of people coming together and struggling to manage information, we needed a solution and that solution was Evernote. We realised that if we needed a solution like Evernote then there would be a high chance that millions of other people would also see the need.

We have also always focused on the product itself, we did not invest in marketing and advertising to begin with. The growth of Evernote was fuelled by people’s love of the product and brand.

q How do you make sure your product offering is

constantly evolving to meet the needs of your users?

It is very difficult to keep a balance in product development.

You have your own ideas as a company and you incorporate the feedback of your users. We try to balance resources and product vision and integrate user feedback but sometimes people don’t know what they actually need from a product so it’s up to us to innovate. We constantly assess our users, we noticed that over a third of our users were work users so we are now building for the modern workforce.

q You have developed apps for wearables. Do you think this trend is going to continue?

We are super excited about the potential of wearables in general. It is brilliant to develop something for the masses in the case of the Apple Watch. It is the very beginning of the wearable tech journey so of course much needs to be done in terms of user experience but I think it’s a great start. The concept of wearable tech has very much to do with how we perceive technology in our lives, it should not be there to replace you or think for you, technology should give you superpowers! It should anticipate what you need and it should bring what you need to you in context. Technology should be human centric, an enabler.

q The current model is freemium, will it stay like this?

From the very beginning we had to make a strategic decision about how we will make money. It was clear to us that if we wanted people to trust us with their data then we couldn’t make money from their data. We have free, premium and business versions of Evernote and this model works for us.

q What challenges has Evernote faced?

As the company grows we have to think about how we can make sure the startup company culture is not lost. Companies experience growing pains and we need to make sure none of these endanger Evernote. For us the answer to this lies in hiring the right people to take our company on its journey.

On a product side one of our major challenges is working out how to expand our audience into those who are not so tech savvy. How can we ensure that first time users get a really great experience?

q Your CEO has said that he wants Evernote to be 100 year startup. What does this mean?

We have no exit strategy, the ultimate goal is not to exit.

As we grow we are mindful not to become one of those rigid structures that kills innovation and creativity. We must continue to reinvent as we grow!

Visit online Evernote

 evernote.com

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

Meagen Eisenberg Optimising Technology and Data Sync NI had the pleasure of catching up with MongoDB’s CMO, Meagen Eisenberg. MongoDB has over 10 million downloads and is used by thousands of organizations, from startups to the Fortune 100. q Why do you think MongoDB has been so successful?

MongoDB is the leading next-generation database. Rather than approaching data in a relational way, as traditional databases (like Oracle) do, we take a more flexible approach which is better suited to modern applications like the internet of things and big data analytics.

What’s been core to MongoDB’s success is that we designed a product that was really easy to develop with and it was Open Source, which made it a frictionless process to adopt. The code basis of Java, which many developers know really well, made it even more familiar.

The ease of development at an early stage helps with overall adoption but it’s not enough on its own. The real value we provide is the rich functionality and high scalability that modern applications demand. Our philosophy is to combine the best of relational databases with the agility and performance of NoSQL. We have customers like MetLife who need to get one view of multiple data sources. The team there was trying to merge more than 70 different streams of information, so the customer service reps could get one single view of the truth for each customer. It was taking them years to figure out the schemas with a relational database. Then with the help of MongoDB, they were able to put a prototype together in two weeks and fully develop a solution for their customer support reps in 90 days! All of a sudden something that took them logging into multiple different accounts was now available in one place. It was a powerful change and it was a much better customer experience.

It’s about making the most of technology and all this data that’s out there. Ultimately MongoDB is helping startups scale

like enterprises and giving enterprises the agility of startups.

q MongoDB has recently worked with Tableau on a new

feature – how will this improve the customer experience?

We developed a connector that made it possible, for the first time, to connect industry standard data visualization tools to modern application data. Previously users have been unable to take advantage of the huge ecosystem of SQL-based data analysis and visualisation tools. The connector we launched opens up a new horizon of possibilities for everyone from data scientists to executives.

Ultimately it’s about empowering organisations to better understand their data with whatever tool they’re comfortable with. To that end, we worked with joint customers of Tableau

SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

But now you have the consumer in control. The balance of power has shifted dramatically thanks to 1) technology and 2) the proliferation of connected devices. So the consumer is in control and there is a mountain of data being generated, which creates a whole new set of challenges. As marketers we are in part responsible for this ocean of data. We’ve created the content and delivered it through the plethora of channels available. We are the reason people are obsessed with their devices. We have created all the web content, videos, rich media ads, apps for mobile phones and social chatter that aims to capture a consumer’s attention.

So out of necessity marketers have evolved into technologists. We need to provide these minimum user requirements of the empowered modern day consumer. Another big trend is that marketers are gaining a huge and growing portion of a company’s IT budget. Back in 2012, Gartner predicted that in five years (by 2017) CMOs would overtake CIOs in terms of IT spend. So this has obviously made the CIO pay attention.

Software (NYSE: DATA) to help us define the critical feature set and to validate the performance and scalability of the integration.

q Customer experience demands are

forcing CIOs to merge with CMOs, what are your thoughts on this?

Marketing and technology have changed significantly. We don’t live in the Mad Men world anymore. Back then all you had to do was tell a great story and tell the consumer about your product and that could be enough to drive the customer to purchase.

It’s these converging trends that lead me to believe the CMO and CIO must partner or perish. It’s important that they collaborate and communicate together for effective productivity. The CIOs will have the valid information on the technical side, while CMOs will have data on sales, marketing campaigns and innovative ideas. It’s absolutely vital to combine these elements to make the most of technology and deliver the outstanding experience modern customers demand.

q Do you have a marketing tip you

can share with us?

Networking is, of course, great, but one thing I have always found useful is meeting with vendors regularly. Be it a social media platform or a data analysis tool, the teams that work for these vendors are aware of all the

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most important trends in marketing. In some cases they are actually the ones creating the trends. Not only do they have a great view of the industry, they are also highly motivated to share it with you as a potential customer. Even if you’re not thinking of investing right now, it’s still worth hearing from these vendors to find out what the latest and greatest thing in marketing is.

Marketers are often generalists but to be effective, you have to know the different tools that are offered and how they can benefit your organisation.

q What’s your impression of EnterConf

so far?

I think it’s great! The atmosphere is fantastic, and I love how the food vendors and exhibitions have brought a glimpse of Belfast into the conference. It has a cultural feel and the destination of T13 has such a cool vibe.

q What convinced you to speak today?

I was already familiar with the Web Summit and knew it attracted good names. So when Paddy Cosgrove’s team got in contact and invited MongoDB to speak we were flattered to be considered with the rest of the names speaking here.

q How do you balance such a busy life?

Ha! Well I have three young children – all girls – so it’s not easy. I want them to see how hard I work in this industry and be their role model. Getting the balance right for them is challenging. I think it’s harder nowadays for parents than it was for my parents.

We have to manage our time well so that our children have limited access to television and tablets, while encouraging the likes of coding and IT at the same time. For my family and me it’s really about time management and prioritising events – be that a dance recital or a presentation to the board.

FollowMongoDB

 @MongoDB

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Santander InnoVentures Collaboration between Banks & Fintech Startups Sync NI were delighted to meet Mariano Belinky, Managing Principal of Santander InnoVentures at MoneyConf last month. We asked Mariano some questions about Santander InnoVentures, the $100 million fund launched in July 2014 to get closer to the wave of disruptive innovation in the FinTech space.

What encouraged Santander to open up and provide support to startups?

Last year Santander came to the realisation that after 10 years of focusing on the banking crisis and regulation, we had skipped a generation of users who were very rapidly changing their behaviour and how they consume financial services.

Innovation allows them to have a better business Cyanogen is the largest open source operating system for mobiles not controlled by Google or Apple. This investment was all about giving our clients options so that when developing financial apps they were not limited to Google or Apple.

We decided we needed to get back on the train and really start to capture and partner with innovation and bring it to our customers.

Those are the real attackers in the fintech space, not the startups of this world but Google, Apple and Facebook.

Although we are an independent organisation we work closely with Santander’s global innovation department. They are our natural partners within the bank and help us determine our key focus.

Is scalability a big issue for companies?

It is but it is part of the value that we bring to our companies, we are able to help them grow with speed. It is an issue but at the same time it is an opportunity!

You have invested in companies like MyCheck and Cyanogen. What is it that made you want to invest in these companies?

Each of these companies represented a valuable proposition to our customers.

In terms of MyCheck We have a large merchant user base and hospitality represents a significant chunk of this.

The fund is nearly a year old. Have you seen big changes in fintech sector in this time?

Definitely. A year ago banks basically said no to anything to do with Bitcoin but now we see the likes of UBS setting up labs to explore the use Blockchain.

That’s major and that is going to be a real disruptor for the industry.

MyCheck represented a company with new ideas on how transform a specific industry, in this case creating a frictionless user experience in hospitality, it’s like Uber for restaurants.

Who or what company inspires you in fintech?

There are many! The degree of disruptive innovation in the sector is tremendous.

Mariano Belinky, Santander InnoVentures

You launched FinTech 2.0 at MoneyConf. What are the main call to actions?

We wanted to correct the idea of ‘us’ versus ‘them’. What we are doing in the manifesto is saying we are a bank that is willing to partner with companies and help them grow and scale. We are not there to copy ideas.

Let’s work together, we are building a new ecosystem where we need each other. We need for collaboration in fintech has never been greater.

Companies need our expertise, our knowledge of regulation and compliance, our scale and in some cases even our brand. Our Fintech 2.0 manifesto is about dramatically changing the banking system. Santander is committed to achieving innovation by partnering with fintech startups.

Have you enjoyed MoneyConf in Belfast?

It has been brilliant! We hope to be in Belfast again next year.

Follow Santander InnoVentures

 @SanInnoventures

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Froude Hofmann makes a technology leap with Sage ERP X3 solution from Pinnacle Global industrial design and manufacturing company Froude Hofmann has chosen Sage Strategic Business Partner Pinnacle to undertake a major Sage ERP X3 implementation. The project forms part of an extensive restructuring of the business.

F

(L-R) Simon Drain, Divisional Director Spares & Service and Marketing Director of Froude Hofmann, joins Richard Sadler, Business Development Director of Pinnacle, announcing the appointment of Pinnacle to undertake their Sage ERP X3 implementation.

rom the company’s head office in Worcester, Simon Drain, Divisional Director - Spares & Service and Marketing Director, says: “Pinnacle is helping us to replace disparate legacy systems and islands of unconnected data with a fully integrated solution. Managers will share a unified picture of the business as it is today, not as it was last week. Today, we need to compile data from multiple sources and this inevitably introduces a time lag. Sage ERP X3 will give us end-to-end visibility of the business and greater autonomy in being able to generate accurate, timely management reports to monitor our costs and profitability.”

installation and on-going support.”

The search for a new enterprise resourcing planning solution started a year ago and Sage ERP X3 is set to go live by the end of 2015.

For Pinnacle, Richard Sadler, Business Development Director, says: “We are delighted to have been chosen to help Froude Hofmann make the transition to a more powerful ERP solution. Sage ERP X3 will support the company’s growth ambitions by strengthening its ability to compete on the world stage.”

Commenting on the evaluation and selection process, Group Finance Director Charlie Wright says: “Having extensively reviewed the market, we had demonstrations of four systems.

A comparison of complexity, capability and total cost of ownership narrowed the field down to Sage ERP X3. Most comparable systems appeared to have similar functionality available, but we were more convinced that Sage could provide what we wanted out of the box, without significant and costly bespoke work, and, of course, Sage has a solid reputation in the marketplace.”

Commenting on the choice of Sage Business Partner, he adds, “Importantly, Pinnacle didn’t try to sell the system to us.

They listened to our requirements and spent a considerable amount of time learning about our business. They then helped us understand how the final system would work and benefit us. This all ultimately gave us confidence in their ability to provide what they were suggesting, with a successful

Simon Drain expects Sage ERP X3 to have a wide-ranging impact on the business: “There will be over forty users in finance, sales and marketing, project management, purchasing, production control… in fact, it’s difficult to think of an area of the business that won’t be touched! Everyone from the different disciplines involved in the discussions with Pinnacle to define our business requirements and workflows is extremely positive about the potential to improve efficiency and Pinnacle’s ability to deliver what we need.”

Simon Drain concludes: “We have a great product range, for which there is demand in the market. Our previous solution, installed back in the mid-90s, has been constraining our growth and we have increasingly had to do things manually, capturing data away from the system. With Pinnacle’s support, we’re set to apply extensive automation and eliminate a whole swathe of duplicate data entry. We expect to see a dramatic difference in the way we do business going forward, with better quality management information, available with just a few clicks, and streamlined processes to maximise our commercial opportunities.”

Visit online Pinnacle



pinnacle-online.com

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

Proofpoint, Local Talent Developing Market-leading Security Technology

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minute and 22 seconds – that’s how long IT security teams have to detect and block a phishing attack before it gets clicked. The Proofpoint NI team are developing a solution that effectively protects Small and Medium Enterprises from these attacks.

Developing an Advanced Email Security Solution for SMEs Attackers with malicious intent are increasingly using email as an entry vector through the use of phishing messages. Small and medium enterprises need to be protected against advanced email threats entering their network and sensitive data leaving their network. SMEs are actually easier targets for cyber criminals because they are generally protected by less sophisticated software due to constraints on resources. Unfortunately attackers have worked this out and now realise that targeting a smaller enterprise can actually mean a bigger reward in the end.

Proofpoint understand the need for SMEs to be protected against advanced email threats and have established a team in Belfast who are at the centre of the development and operation of Proofpoint Essentials, a cloud-based threat protection and email continuity solution focused on the needs of the smaller enterprise. They have been working hard since the launch in April 2013, following the acquisition of a

local email security company, to create an email security suite which provides users with advanced, next generation technology in an easy to manage solution that does not consume valuable IT resources.

A Global Organization with a Local Story Founded in 2004 by Colm McGoldrick, Mail Distiller a Northern Ireland based provider of SaaS email security solutions became part of Proofpoint Inc. a leading organization with a global market presence which has allowed the firm to grow its operation in Belfast.

From a local perspective, the acquisition has created the opportunity for 94 new positions which are rapidly being filled.

Having recently outgrown their last office, the team have moved to a larger, newly refurbished space in Weaver’s Court, Belfast with all new facilities and programs designed to enhance the employee experience.

Between the operations team handling 15,000+ physical servers, 100,000’s virtual servers and 8 datacentres and the software engineers continually enhancing Proofpoint Essentials as well as the other Proofpoint products, employees are always involved in exciting and challenging projects including a new feature release every month. Working alongside the industry professionals in Silicon Valley, there are plenty of opportunities for the NI employees to

develop new skills and get involved in creating market-leading security technology.

The office currently has 40 personnel across Development, Operations, Support and Account Management and they are still growing the team significantly, particularly across Software Engineers, Professional Services, NOC Engineers, Network Engineers and Linux Administration.

The Proofpoint Difference With global headquarters in Sunnyvale, California, Proofpoint, Inc. is the top SaaS vendor positioned by Gartner in the Leaders Quadrant of its 2014 Magic Quadrant for Secure Email Gateways. The team have created a work environment which thrives on innovation and a culture that is based on collaboration, creativity, support and a flexible work/life balance.

Proofpoint believes that their employees make the company’s success happen and all the global teams work together to create amazing, winning results. By taking skills and personal development very seriously as well as recruiting the best and brightest, the organization has and continues to produce a great team of experts here in Northern Ireland.

Follow Proofpoint

 @Proofpoint_SME

SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

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Everybody’s Gone Surfin’…

The innovation behind Skunk Works Surf boards As surfers we know only too well the wear and tear surfboards endure and this can be attributed to one common denominator in the manufacturing process: the use of glues and adhesives, which break down and stop working especially when exposed to warm sunshine and then cold water. We knew a solution was in order and what we have created with our heat bonding technology, advanced materials and patented design is a highly robust foam surfboard. The heat bonding solution cleverly compresses the different sections of our board into one single, solid unit eliminating seams and joints to ensure there are no lines of weaknesses.

Innovation is woven into our business ethos – we are conscientious about the need to support local, thus every piece of material used in our products is sourced in the UK and Ireland. It’s also vital to us that every material we use is 100% recyclable.

California dreamin’ Our journey on the NI Tech Mission was genuinely inspiring.

Whilst there, we encountered an amazing sense of visionary excellence. Pitching to secure investment is daunting but what lifted our spirits was the fact that these investors possess incredible zeal and vision – they see beyond any initial product imperfections and are committed to helping your product achieve its full potential. This investor mind-set could certainly be replicated further over here. This was an unbelievable experience for us that has materialised into such valuable opportunities.

The Pitch to Rich experience We first saw Sir Richard Branson’s message for #VOOM: Pitch to Rich 2015 on Channel 4 and instantly thought “we have to do this”. It’s about having faith in your product and being shortlisted in the ‘New Things’ category is a major accomplishment for us. Of course, the entire pitching process can be stressful but experiencing something as high calibre as this is a once-in-a- lifetime opportunity!

The surfing culture in Northern Ireland What’s fantastic is the obvious shift in perception – surfing was never heavily represented in Northern Ireland but now as more and more people take to our shores to experience this thrilling sport, times are certainly changing. Plus, surfing has no age limitations, adding to its enjoyment and accessibility. At Alive Surf School in Portrush, our classes cater for children from five years upwards, with no upper age limit.

Add to this the beauty of Northern Ireland’s ocean scenery and the reassurance that you can learn to surf with fully qualified instructors in a controlled environment - the surfing community here is only getting stronger!

What’s next?

We are excited about our future: our vision is to make the most high-performing surfboards in the world and with this we gradually aim to move into new areas where there is an obvious need for our technology. We want to contribute to the Northern Ireland economy especially in terms of providing sustainable employment and becoming a radical centre for innovation. We have also received interest from a marine engineer showing that our technology holds massive potential, so the long-term focus is on executing this.

Follow Skunk Works Surf

 @skunkworkssurf

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

Space Sharing, Hotdesking and Flexible Work O

magh Enterprise Company offers 80,000 square feet of office and industrial workspace that provides accommodation for over 70 companies employing 300 staff.

What does the company have to offer?

The company offers flexible office solutions including virtual offices, hotdesks, co-working space and a range of industrial units. It also provides conference hire facilities, meeting rooms, an on-site restaurant and free car parking.

Do you have access to fast broadband?

Super-fast broadband is available through Project Kelvin, which is located in the centre. As a result, broadband access speeds of 10Gps plus are available to tenants with high broadband needs.

Has the Company attracted any international clients?

IMTI Systems, who are a New York based company moved in almost 2 years ago. They design and maintain Risk management and premium audit systems for insurance companies worldwide. Lorraine McCutcheon worked for IMTI Systems in New York for a number of years, however wanted to return home to Tyrone. The President allowed Lorraine to relocate to an office in the Omagh Enterprise Centre due to broadband speeds, as this was crucial to the business. They have since employed 2 additional programmers in the Omagh office.

Oracle has been based in the centre for almost six years with Barry McGillin working from the centre having previously being based in the Dublin office before getting the opportunity to

Omagh Enterprise

move back home. Given the availability of superfast broadband he continues to manage an international team while commuting to San Francisco as needed.

Do you have many clients returning home from overseas?

Last year we had a client, Tom Rutherford, who contacted us from Australia about taking a desk in a coworking environment. Tom works for Sandstone Technology and wanted to move back home to Omagh, as he had the opportunity to continue working for his employer, while based in the enterprise centre. A few months later Tom’s wife Arlene also rented office space in order to work for a different Australian employer.

Do you have many clients who wanted to cut their commute?

A tenant who practices law and specialises in the technology industry, recently approached us about renting flexible office space. He was spending 20 hours every week commuting but has now taken a desk in the co-working space, which he shares with other technology companies. As a result, his work/life balance has improved as he can spend more time with his family.

Do you feel you are in a good location in Northern Ireland for business?

The company is centrally located as it is just over an hour’s commute to Belfast, 45 minutes from Derry and 30 minutes to the nearest border town.

It is also is located on the by-pass to Derry and is a flagship building for the businesses of the area.

Where would you see Omagh Enterprise in 5 years time?

We have the physical and broadband infrastructure in place to attract and accommodate more businesses and start-up entrepreneurs. As a result, we are reaching out to businesses to let them know about the benefits of doing business from the centre.

Do you have any networks businesses can have access to?

In April 2014, we set up @ DigitalOmagh, which now has over 100 businesses ranging from social media marketers to software developers in a close knit network. As a result, we host a meet-up for the companies in the network every 6-8 weeks which has been a success with entrepreneurs in making links and doing business with each other.

Visit online Omagh Enterprise

 

omaghenterprise.co.uk

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Follow The Cloud Simplified

 @CloudSimplified

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SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

.COM

FEATURED ON

Exclusive interview with Justin Cooke

T

he first South East region SEED* Digital Development conference took place yesterday in Banbridge. Sync NI was lucky enough to catch up with key speaker and the founder of Tunepics, Justin Cooke, who is helping to encourage successful digital strategies.

So Justin for those who don’t know, can you tell us about Tunepics…

Basically, it’s a Social Media platform where users can upload a photo and attach music and emotion to it. We see a huge opportunity with music at the core. With Tunepics it’s about location, emotion and data. For instance, if I took a photo of Belfast – which I’m going to do – and typed in ‘Belfast’ this will pull up all the songs with the word ‘Belfast’ in it. This helps users to discover more music, while the colour tool helps us collect real time data to form a catalogue of music. For example, we could find out when people listen to Adele in Belfast it makes them feel sad.

Tunepics is magical- it has had over a million downloads, won Apple App of the year, and we’re hoping to recruit new people – they could even be from Belfast!

When you watch a film there is always music over a heightened moment and I haven’t come across someone who hasn’t had a song that means a lot to them.

Combining image, sound and emotion seems so simple now you’ve developed Tunepics- but what made you go for it?

I was walking down the road one day and took a picture of some leaves and it

Justin Cooke, Founder of Tunepics

reminded me of Paolo Nutini’s “Autumn Leaves”. It was an emotive moment!

So after I did some research I knew I wanted to develop this idea.

What message did you want to convey at the inaugural SEED digital conference?

I’m really excited to be here and when SEED approached me I was excited about their ethos. What’s important to me is working with someone whose views align with mine.

The power of digital is amazing and so too are the endless opportunities for companies in Northern Ireland. Small companies can be agile. One of the best examples is UBER – it is such a simple idea. UBER didn’t reinvent the wheel they took advantage of an opportunity and now they are one of the biggest taxi companies.

I’ve been lucky to work with great companies such as Google, Burberry and TOPSHOP. So I’ll share my experience, and my passion at the conference.

What would you say to encourage

people to get involved with digital?

Test and explore! If a cinema were to collect data it would make the difference between free popcorn or me returning for a 4th time or ultimately not going back at all. It’s important to learn to adapt behaviours. When I worked at Chelsea FC we had Mourinho record a message so that it could be sent out to a million different people.

Some could complain that the message wasn’t personalised but it was more about the message being powerful. It’s about making an emotional connection with a brand – if you care about the brand, the brand cares about you.

And finally a cheeky question to end, what’s your favourite Tunepic filter?

Number 3- pink. I like seeing things through rose tinted glasses. I’m a dreamer and I’m really excited about our animated weather options. This will give people the option of taking a picture, say of a field, and making it look like snow is falling in order to portray their emotion.

Visit online Tunepics

 

tunepics.com

FEATURED ON

.COM

SYNCNI MAGAZINE SUMMER 2015

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Rabobank’s Roadmap in Banking Disruption (L-R) Simon Drain, Divisional Director Spares & Service and Marketing Director of Froude Hofmann, joins Richard Sadler, Business Development Director of Pinnacle, announcing the appointment of Pinnacle to undertake their Sage ERP X3 implementation.

Michael Dooijes discusses the ‘Foutain of Youth’ and how to save years.

I

f I could save you two years of your life, what would you do with it? – Dooijes. We spend a lot of our life in queues. On average we spend 15 days a year in a queue, which works out around two years of your life. That’s why Rabobank aims to let you do what you want to do, and achieve the goals you want to achieve.

Banks Banks need to understand the need to collaborate with start-ups in the industry, and learn to be awake and embrace change.

Banks have a lot of assets with their customer data and customer relationships. If we leverage these assets in the

best way possible, we can shape the future instead of being dictated by it.

Dude, where’s my consumer?

Three points Dooijes highlights for innovation; q Welcome new ideas and business models – organisations should be open to risk. Innovation is risk! However, it is key to note that some ventures will not work. q Buy small or buy high – if you can’t work on innovations of your own, buy some in. q Give Innovation room to breathe – let it do what it does best.

Fundamental change in your organisation Gordan Ramsey’s Kitchen Nightmares wants to inject new life by changing the cosmetics of the kitchen, but he doesn’t change the team. The same metaphor should be applied with the banks! The importance of shifting your strategy and culture is equally as important as who deals with it.

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FEATURED ON

.COM

Television Series Developed By NI Media Company Acquired by Netflix

T

oo much television is said to be bad for kids, but from September on young animation lovers will be able to bingewatch Derry company Dog Ears’ educational series Puffin Rock across any device they please.

The pre-school show has been acquired by streaming giant Netflix, making it available on demand for the first time to regional subscribers of the Internet service around the world.

Set on a beautiful island off the coast of Ireland, Puffin Rock introduces a combination of pre-school themes and soft natural history learnings to young viewers with narration by Chris O’Dowd, known his roles in The IT Crowd, Moone Boy and more.

Dog Ears created the show with twice Oscar-nominated animators Cartoon

Saloon, based in Kilkenny, and Penguin, the world’s largest publishing company.

The 13-episode season is to premiere exclusively on Netflix in the US. Canada, Latin America, Benelux, France and Germany while the service’s other international markets are to receive the series at a later date.

‘We couldn’t be more excited to be partnering with such a diverse group of creative talent on these new Netflix series for kids,’ says the company’s Vice President of Global Independent Content Erik Barmack.

‘The flexibility of our platform allows us to continually bring the best TV shows from around the world to our members, and these titles compliment and extend what we currently offer particularly for preschoolers and grade school adventure fans.’

Meanwhile a second season of Puffin Rock has already been commissioned by original broadcasters RTE. Speaking to Culture NI earlier this year, Dog Ears creative director John McDaid said: ‘It feels like a miracle that the second season is commissioned and finance secured to produce it. The wind is behind us and the momentum is there and we hope to increase the team from the present number of 14. Our key rationale is now that we can keep this team together and go straight into producing series two.’

Puffin Rock received funding from the Northern Ireland Screen Fund supported

by Invest NI and part funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

Follow Dog Ears

 @CheersDogEars

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Event Spotlight

Upcoming Events

Digital DNA- Digital Futures

 DANI Awards 2015

// 14th Oct 9.30am, City Hall Belfast

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he Digital Futures Programme will launch in June 2015 and include a sixweek roadshow in schools across Northern Ireland. Through participation in the event, young people will be inspired to become involved in computer programming, software development anddigital design at a range of levels, and ultimately become interested in entrepreneurship and careers in the area.

The programme will engage young people and be open to all postprimary schools in Northern Ireland.

It all culminates with the main event in City Hall Belfast on 14 October, 2015 where teams will compete

 Finding your USP

to be rewarded with a prize that could change their lives.

This is a fantastic opportunity for local companies that are focused on talent acquisition to engage & inspire tomorrow’s future.

Visit online Digital DNA

 digitaldna.org.uk

ICONS Festival // 24th Sep, Titanic Belfast

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CONS Festival is a four-day festival of inspiration and action across Tech, Music and Screen. Our ambition is clear - this is where the icons of today can inspire the icons of tomorrow.

BY DANI (Digital Advertising NI) WHEN 18th Sep, 7pm-12am WHERE St Columbs Hall, Derry TWITTER @DANIAwards

showcasing new technologies and career opportunities.

Drawing together global talent across Music, Tech and Screen; more than 100 leading

BY Business First Network WHEN 4th Aug, 5.30pm-7.30pm WHERE Culloden Hotel and Spa Bangor Road, Belfast TWITTER @the_bfn

 INVENT Awards 2015

BY NISP Connect WHEN 8th Oct, 6pm-12am WHERE Titanic Belfast, 1 Olympic Way, Belfast TWITTER @InventNI

Promote your event to NI’s tech & business community By featuring on Sync NI’s website & magazine your event will reach 1000’s of readers & active users.

Email info@syncni.com today to find more...

Festival Features: q A high-level conference with global speakers on three stages. q A startup competition with an amazing prize.

q Exclusive live music afterparty. q ICONS Careers Carnival

employers; workshops on key industry themes and trends, ICONS is an event not to be missed.

Visit online ICONS Festival



festivaloficons.com

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Logging Off...

For our Sync NI summer magazine we thought it was important to acknowledge and celebrate the great happenings of Northern Ireland. Whether this is in the form of our local businesses or the international names we attract, we believe the potential surrounding us was something to shout about.

This summer, Belfast welcomed Money Conf and Enter Conf for the first time. Whilst being media partners for the event, we took the opportunity to interview some amazing personalities!

It soon became apparent that everyone was equally impressed with the T13 event and with what Belfast had to offer.

With Money Conf already confirmed for 2016, it is not surprising the likes of Mariano Belinky, Managing Principal of Santander InnoVentures, wants to return.

We are equally looking forward to next year’s exhibition.

Aside from drawing in great names – Belfast is home to many small brands with big ideas! Skunk Works Surf is a prime example of this; they have an innovative product and a lot of faith in what they’re selling. We applaud their efforts of using technology to produce a bespoke product.

Pop Notch is also an intriguing story of a passionate brand. We enjoyed learning about Declan McBride, someone who managed to turn his bright idea into a reality with a lot of dedication and hard work. We also enjoy Pop Notch’s moreish Marshmallow popcorn!

Our feature on Proofpoint further highlights that a company with a global market presence has allowed MailDistiller, a based provider of SaaS

email security solutions, to develop. The acquisition has created over 90 jobs, with Proofpoint Essentials still recruiting throughout the year – so keep an eye on Sync NI’s Job board for the latest job opportunities.

As outlined by Michael Murdock in our forward, we have a ‘very good talent pool in Northern Ireland’. People are core to sustaining a competitive advantage, and technology is the enabler! We believe the emphasis on continuous improvement is necessary to maintain a steady growth rate.

Belfast is repeatedly proving to be a great hub for businesses to settle and for technology to grow.

Thank you for reading and visit syncni.com for a daily roundup of the latest happenings in the Northern Irish Tech & Business community.

Follow Sync NI

 @syncni

Join the conversation!

Tweet @syncni with your tech & business news and you could feature on the Sync NI website! #syncni

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