That is one of the reasons why we need to visit Coffee Shop Talk more often. To get business ideas and make it big.
Wed, Apr 28, 2010
The Straits Times
Betting big on 'smart storage'
By Lee Yen Nee
A QUIET sojourn in a coffee shop five years ago proved to be a eureka moment in the business life of Mr Sunder Mani.
Like a bolt from the blue, he was struck by the idea of storing a personal computer's entire contents in a portable storage device, such as a thumb drive.
Fast forward to today, and that idea has been translated into reality - and is ready to hit the market next month.
Sitting in his personal office at the International Business Park, the chief executive of local start-up i-Flapp Technologies proudly showcases the company's flagship product, i-Mapp.
Short for intelligent mail and applications, i-Mapp is a software program that, when installed in any portable storage device, allows users to carry full computer applications in it.
The program works on all Windows operating systems from the 2000 version onwards, and supports all e-mail clients and profiles for Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Lotus Notes and Windows mail, all Internet Explorer and Firefox profiles, favourites, history, bookmarks and cookies, as well as desktop settings and applications like Microsoft Office.
When The Straits Times visited Mr Mani, 45, at his office recently, he eagerly described the birth of i-Flapp, which stands for intelligent flash application.
It was set up single-handedly in 2005 by Mr Mani to make his idea a reality. He declined to disclose the amount invested in the software, but said some angel investors had provided vital funding.
To assist him in developing the software, Mr Mani recruited someone who is now the company's chief technical officer - which was not easy at first.
'He said: 'You are nuts!' I said, 'No I'm not and let's work on it',' said Mr Mani, who holds a bachelor's degree in electronics and telecommunications engineering.
The pair then started working on the idea, not knowing whether it would work, as there were no benchmarks to follow.
But with hard work, perseverance and the belief that nothing is impossible, they got i-Mapp up and running - and ready to enter the market.
Portable storage devices are 'dumb', said Mr Mani. This is because they carry only data files written on them and are dependent on computers that have the appropriate software to open the files.
i-Mapp, he says, makes them 'smart'.
'For example, you can work on an excel sheet on your personal computer, save it in your thumbdrive, go to another computer, and plug it in. Even if the computer doesn't have Microsoft Office, you can launch your excel sheet and continue working on it,' he said.
Mr Mani has betted big on i-Mapp, as the software is the company's driving force. He believes it will flourish, given that the one major advantage is portability, a key attribute for the modern lifestyle.
'When you go travelling, you want to be free and easy; you don't want to carry so many valuable items. Between you and your friend, you need only one laptop. Even if you use the hotel's Internet cafe, you can launch your personal desktop there as well,' he added.
Also, i-Mapp's ability to save desktop settings means users can work on familiar computing settings on any computer - especially useful when travelling abroad, where users do not speak the language.
Security is not an issue, he said. After the portable device is removed from the guest computer, no trace is left.
When the device is plugged into the personal computer, i-Mapp automatically synchronises all updates in the device with the computer. This feature makes it useful to the business person as well, as it can synchronise work done on both home and office computers.
Another advantage of i-Mapp is its unique configuration process, which prevents software replication or piracy. Mr Mani is looking at cooperating with game developers to sell games in the form of thumb drives or other USB drives.
'We go to Sim Lim Square, pick up a game in a CD and you can burn many copies and download in many machines, but with this thumb drive, you cannot,' he added.
The company is also in talks with manufacturers and distributors of portable storage devices to install i-Mapp in their products. To date, it has garnered interest from companies in countries such as Malaysia and India.
It is also working on an online shopping cart where potential customers can purchase and download the software into their portable storage devices. Each copy of the software will be priced at about US$25 (S$34).
Mr Mani thinks that the future for i-Flapp is bright, as flash storage devices are gaining in popularity. 'The dollar per megabyte is dropping, their density is increasing... With the next USB 3.0 coming out, it's going to be 10 times faster than the current USB 2.0,' he said.
He is optimistic that the company will be able to double its staff size in a few years' time.
Even though there is software similar to i-Mapp in the market, Mr Mani is unfazed as he thinks i-Mapp is way ahead of its competitors. One of them, he said, is an American company, which has developed a similar product that works only on computers running on Windows XP.
And now that i-Mapp is ready to enter the market, the company is developing two more software programs: i-Mapp Pro, which can run all Windows applications and i-Count, which is for accounting.
Looking ahead, Mr Mani hopes to develop a version of the software that works on the Mac operating system. The ultimate challenge, he said, is to develop software that works across all systems.
'It's going to be very, very difficult, but we'll give it a shot.'
Wed, Apr 28, 2010
The Straits Times
Betting big on 'smart storage'
By Lee Yen Nee
A QUIET sojourn in a coffee shop five years ago proved to be a eureka moment in the business life of Mr Sunder Mani.
Like a bolt from the blue, he was struck by the idea of storing a personal computer's entire contents in a portable storage device, such as a thumb drive.
Fast forward to today, and that idea has been translated into reality - and is ready to hit the market next month.
Sitting in his personal office at the International Business Park, the chief executive of local start-up i-Flapp Technologies proudly showcases the company's flagship product, i-Mapp.
Short for intelligent mail and applications, i-Mapp is a software program that, when installed in any portable storage device, allows users to carry full computer applications in it.
The program works on all Windows operating systems from the 2000 version onwards, and supports all e-mail clients and profiles for Microsoft Outlook, Outlook Express, Lotus Notes and Windows mail, all Internet Explorer and Firefox profiles, favourites, history, bookmarks and cookies, as well as desktop settings and applications like Microsoft Office.
When The Straits Times visited Mr Mani, 45, at his office recently, he eagerly described the birth of i-Flapp, which stands for intelligent flash application.
It was set up single-handedly in 2005 by Mr Mani to make his idea a reality. He declined to disclose the amount invested in the software, but said some angel investors had provided vital funding.
To assist him in developing the software, Mr Mani recruited someone who is now the company's chief technical officer - which was not easy at first.
'He said: 'You are nuts!' I said, 'No I'm not and let's work on it',' said Mr Mani, who holds a bachelor's degree in electronics and telecommunications engineering.
The pair then started working on the idea, not knowing whether it would work, as there were no benchmarks to follow.
But with hard work, perseverance and the belief that nothing is impossible, they got i-Mapp up and running - and ready to enter the market.
Portable storage devices are 'dumb', said Mr Mani. This is because they carry only data files written on them and are dependent on computers that have the appropriate software to open the files.
i-Mapp, he says, makes them 'smart'.
'For example, you can work on an excel sheet on your personal computer, save it in your thumbdrive, go to another computer, and plug it in. Even if the computer doesn't have Microsoft Office, you can launch your excel sheet and continue working on it,' he said.
Mr Mani has betted big on i-Mapp, as the software is the company's driving force. He believes it will flourish, given that the one major advantage is portability, a key attribute for the modern lifestyle.
'When you go travelling, you want to be free and easy; you don't want to carry so many valuable items. Between you and your friend, you need only one laptop. Even if you use the hotel's Internet cafe, you can launch your personal desktop there as well,' he added.
Also, i-Mapp's ability to save desktop settings means users can work on familiar computing settings on any computer - especially useful when travelling abroad, where users do not speak the language.
Security is not an issue, he said. After the portable device is removed from the guest computer, no trace is left.
When the device is plugged into the personal computer, i-Mapp automatically synchronises all updates in the device with the computer. This feature makes it useful to the business person as well, as it can synchronise work done on both home and office computers.
Another advantage of i-Mapp is its unique configuration process, which prevents software replication or piracy. Mr Mani is looking at cooperating with game developers to sell games in the form of thumb drives or other USB drives.
'We go to Sim Lim Square, pick up a game in a CD and you can burn many copies and download in many machines, but with this thumb drive, you cannot,' he added.
The company is also in talks with manufacturers and distributors of portable storage devices to install i-Mapp in their products. To date, it has garnered interest from companies in countries such as Malaysia and India.
It is also working on an online shopping cart where potential customers can purchase and download the software into their portable storage devices. Each copy of the software will be priced at about US$25 (S$34).
Mr Mani thinks that the future for i-Flapp is bright, as flash storage devices are gaining in popularity. 'The dollar per megabyte is dropping, their density is increasing... With the next USB 3.0 coming out, it's going to be 10 times faster than the current USB 2.0,' he said.
He is optimistic that the company will be able to double its staff size in a few years' time.
Even though there is software similar to i-Mapp in the market, Mr Mani is unfazed as he thinks i-Mapp is way ahead of its competitors. One of them, he said, is an American company, which has developed a similar product that works only on computers running on Windows XP.
And now that i-Mapp is ready to enter the market, the company is developing two more software programs: i-Mapp Pro, which can run all Windows applications and i-Count, which is for accounting.
Looking ahead, Mr Mani hopes to develop a version of the software that works on the Mac operating system. The ultimate challenge, he said, is to develop software that works across all systems.
'It's going to be very, very difficult, but we'll give it a shot.'
