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BUILDING BLOCKS TO A BREAKTHROUGH By Mike Matesic, CEO, Idea Foundry
N
othing in life is ever wasted. Expe-
riences gained throughout one’s ca-
reer have a tendency to pile up,
recast themselves, and open door-
ways to new opportunities. Just ask Greg Quig-
gle, CEO of AardvarQ, LLC.
AardvarQ’s AppStore Framework en-
ables device manufacturers to offer an in-
novative user experience for their B2B
customers via a fully configurable on-line
storefront. In addition to providing a
steady flow of valuable productivity appli-
cations for their devices, AardvarQ enables
device manufacturers to obtain detailed
usage profiles for their installed base
through a Web-based Device Dashboard.
Consider a common field service technician. While
completing a regular workload of three to five jobs per
day, the technician will likely run across the need to ac-
cess schematics, text message a supervisor for assis-
tance, swipe a customer’s credit card, or check/update
parts inventory. If using an AardvarQ-enabled device,
the technician can go to the manufacturer’s “App Store”
as needed to download and install these types of appli-
cations, dramatically increasing productivity and cus-
tomer service.
Quiggle developed AardvarQ after spending almost
two decades in the test and measurement industry,
where he lived the challenges involved with managing
thousands of devices in the field.
“The idea for AardvarQ came from some unique
experiences,” said Quiggle. “It was
very difficult to identify a deployed
device’s location, revision or usage.
Yet knowing this information played
a crucial role in managing the cus-
tomer experience over a device’s 10-
year usable life. For example, we
might have identified a critical bug in
our ongoing system test process, but
we would have no way of determining
to what extent the bug occurred in our deployed de-
vices.”
The experience of those years led to AardvarQ,
which stores a detailed usage log for each enabled de-
vice. In doing so, manufacturers can view reports that
describe the location, usage patterns, and performance
status of their installed base through a Device Dash-
board. This valuable information can be used to drive
the development of new software features, quickly re-
solve performance issues and offer innovative on the job
training options.
START Me Up
That grassroots experience has been very valuable.
“It was also very difficult to distribute new soft-
ware updates and enhancements,” Quiggle said. “Sell-
ing these enhancements played a crucial role in
maintaining the device’s relevance over a 10-year usable
life and represented a great revenue opportunity. How-
ever, it was almost impossible to ensure the proper en-
hancements were actually installed. Now with
AardvarQ, manufacturers can rapidly develop and de-
ploy applications through an on-line storefront.
By enabling manufacturers to build a direct chan-
nel to their users, Quiggle is changing the game within
the diagnostic, medical, point-of-sale, and industrial con-
trol device industries. As a result, AardvarQ is poised for
significant growth.
It’s difficult to envision an entrepreneur coming up
with a product that solves such unique problems with-
out having seen, internalized, and thought through
those problems himself. More proof that nothing in life
is ever wasted. I
“ By enabling manufacturers to build
a direct channel to their users, Quiggle
is changing the game within the diag-
nostic, medical, point-of-sale, and in-
dustrial control device industries.
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