Thought Leaders in Internet of Things: John McDonald, CEO of CloudOne (Part 5)

John McDonald: Think about all the data points in the car example that have to be correlated to be able to make that work. You have to have situational awareness, positional awareness, data about customer preferences, knowledge of how to interface with the store’s ordering system, and many other data points to infer that you need a cup of coffee. I would encourage folks that are looking to get into the Internet of Things space to look very hard at that issue and say, “Where’s the value coming from?”

Yes, it’s coming from those pieces of data, but more value is coming from correlating those particular pieces of data into an inference that you need coffee. There’s very few companies right now that grasp what I just said. Ultimately, the ability to subscribe to different streams of data and help companies infer the need for products and services based on what that data is telling you is a very interesting and largely unexplored area of Internet of Things. This may ultimately be the best way to monetize the opportunity around IoT.

Sramana Mitra: Interesting. I saw that you are located in Indianapolis. What is it like to do this business out of Indianapolis?

John McDonald: Thank you for asking. I’ll tell you that it’s a great experience because it puts us very close to the customers that we serve. Many of the companies that we work with are high-tech manufacturing companies – automotive, medical devices, aerospace, and defense. Many of those companies are located in and around the Midwest. Being in Indiana brings us in close proximity to many of the same companies that we’re working for.

Sramana Mitra: How many people do you have in Indianapolis?

John McDonald: The total company has a little over 50 people right now. Over half of them are based in Indianapolis.

Sramana Mitra: Where are the rest?

John McDonald: The other half is spread out all over the country. We even have some in Europe. A good number of our team is in Chicago as well. Particularly, technical people. That has been a great place to find good technical skill.

Sramana Mitra: Do you hire a lot from Purdue?

John McDonald: We do. In fact, ironically, I’m in Purdue right now.

Sramana Mitra: Oh, you are. It’s a perfectly legitimate place to build a company like you are running. I’m sure you have less talent wars over there.

John McDonald: We certainly are blessed to have some great schools in Indiana like Notre Dame and Purdue. We definitely have our share and that’s not to be disparaging about the other schools in Indiana. Those schools in particular are great at turning out folks that are focused on high-tech manufacturing and computers. It’s a great things for us.

Sramana Mitra: Terrific. It’s always a pleasure to see companies being developed not in the hubs, but from little bit off-center so that the employment bases can be developed nicely. You certainly are doing that. Thank you for taking the time.

John McDonald: It’s been a great pleasure as well to talk to you today. Thanks for letting us share the CloudOne story.

Sramana Mitra: Perfect. Thank you.

This segment is part 5 in the series : Thought Leaders in Internet of Things: John McDonald, CEO of CloudOne
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