December 14, 2011
ChannelPro Magazine's Tech Preview: The Top 2012 Technology Trends
CUSTOM SYSTEMS
Todd Swank has spent years in the system building industry and is vice president of marketing at Nor-Tech, a manufacturer of custom systems in Burnsville, Minn.
As channel partners can readily attest, the custom hardware business isn’t wh
at it used to be. “We could put together an Intel motherboard with a nice case and a Microsoft operating system and sell it and make good money,” recalls Swank. “That kind of product has become very commoditized.”
at it used to be. “We could put together an Intel motherboard with a nice case and a Microsoft operating system and sell it and make good money,” recalls Swank. “That kind of product has become very commoditized.”
Today, Swank looks to Google and Facebook for inspiration. To reduce costs and improve efficiencies, the two companies are building their own servers. Well-known companies “that are building their own servers rather than going to Dell and HP shows that there are good opportunities in that space,” Swank says.
Swank sees potential with servers not based on Microsoft technology. Linux-based Web servers are a growing opportunity, and Apache servers continue to make inroads as well. “A lot of people don’t have the expertise in open source software, so this is where we can add value to the equation,” he says.
Specifically, Nor-Tech has been building custom systems for the high-performance computing market in the government, commercial, scientific, and academic sectors. GPU-based (graphics processing unit) solutions from NVIDIA and high-resolution LED or LCD monitors are popular in universities and corporate environments. “The technology is used in walls of displays, tiles, or a series of projectors that are tied together for research or teaching,” Swank says.
Another opportunity for builders and integrators is mobile technology, using a hybrid approach. For example, Nor-Tech sells other manufacturers’ notebooks and wraps its own products and services around them. The company also sells mobile labs to schools—products that capitalize on its custom systems experience. “We sell the cart and notebooks together, and add value by selling 16, 24, or 32 notebooks integrated into a lab that a school can roll into a classroom.”
Above all, be nimble. As a product becomes commoditized, “it’s just too difficult for the smaller companies to compete,” Swanks says. “We have to go into those niches of the market that aren’t overly competitive, and find out where we can add value, leverage our experience, and provide solutions to our customers’ pain points.”
December 13, 2011
December 11, 2011
Nor-Tech 2011 Christmas Party
Nor-Tech 2011 Christmas Party
Shortarmguy's Diary Update for December 11, 2011
The week started on a somber note as I headed down to Clear Lake, Iowa for the Celebration of Life of our old friend, Lincoln Allen. Although the reason for our getting together was a real bummer, it was very nice seeing all these guys for a few hours.
The boys had two different band concerts which gave them the chance to dress up in fancy ties for the evening. It's one of their favorite activities in life!
Luke plays percussion and Avery plays trombone. They both earned the right to be in the Prior Lake Middle School Honor Band this year which made me extremely proud! Until I learned that it meant I had to go to two different band concerts in the same week. That's a whole lotta band music to sit through! But it turned out to be quite pleasant, so I kept my belly aching to a minimum.
On Saturday afternoon, it was our turn to take a shift working at the Boy Scout Christmas Tree Lot. Lucky for us, we had pretty nice weather so we didn't become Popsicles while we hawked our wares at everyone who drove up to see us.
The boys did a nice job at helping customers select their trees and prepare them for their delivery home. I was happy to see them working so hard. Of course, some shenanigans were inevitable to occur as well, but thankfully the damage was kept to a minimum. Luke was very lucky that Avery couldn't figure out how to squeeze him through this tree bagging machine, else he'd still be wrapped up today!
On Saturday Night, Dr. and Lady Bollig invited the whole Nor-Tech crew to their home for the company's annual Christmas Party. A good time was had by all!
The food and drinks were flowing and the rooms were filled with happy conversations and laughter. I swore that I also faintly heard noises that resembled large farm animals, but I could never quite confirm it.
Shortly after this photo was taken, Steve and Craig turned towards one another and there was an awkward pause of silence. Then they both suddenly grinned, tears started pouring out of their eyes, and they started madly embracing one another. Apparently, they had just discovered that they're long lost identical twins. It was one of the happiest reunions I've ever witnessed.
Several of us stayed until the wee hours of the morning and the place seemed to just keep getting rowdier and rowdier.
But as is our rule in general, when the guys and girls start wrestling one another on the floor, it's time for Todd and Miss Sheri to go home.
So the President Makes A Phone Call...
"Hi. This is the President. Is
Senator Lieberman in?"
"Not today, Sir. This is Yom
Kippur."
"Well, hello, Yom. Can I leave a
message?"
Digital Signage Growing As VARs Eye Reoccurring Revenue, Back-End Opportunities
Todd Swank, vice president of marketing at Nor-Tech, a systems integrator based in Burnsville, Minn., and an Intel (NSDQ:INTC) authorized integrator and Platinum partner, believes that the many technical components under the digital signage umbrella -- ranging from software management, to AV, to networking -- give solution providers an opportunity to ease end-user headaches by providing all-in-one digital offerings from a single source.
“It’s hard to just offer one element of digital signage,” Swank said. “When customers are looking into it, they don’t want to buy hardware from one place, the installation from one place, and then the software from another. That’s a lot of people for the customer to talk to. They’d rather just have a solution provider provide all those elements in one, single package.”
“It’s hard to just offer one element of digital signage,” Swank said. “When customers are looking into it, they don’t want to buy hardware from one place, the installation from one place, and then the software from another. That’s a lot of people for the customer to talk to. They’d rather just have a solution provider provide all those elements in one, single package.”
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