09 Jul 2020 Five Ws with the TIAs Finalists: Company of the Year – Anchor Success
In the lead-up to the 2020 Technology Impact Awards, BC Tech is profiling all 38 finalists in 11 award categories. Today, we look at three companies who exemplify financial, strategic, and product or service excellence, and are widely recognized as anchors of BC’s tech ecosystem. The “Company of the Year – Achor Success” award is presented in partnership with EY.
Absolute Software
Who: Led by president and CEO Christy Wyatt, Absolute Software was founded in 1993 in response to the problem of laptop theft and loss. Today, Absolute serves as the industry benchmark for endpoint resilience, visibility and control. With a growing team of almost 500 employees and serving 12,000+ customers globally, the company offers the world’s only firmware-embedded undeletable defense. “Our vision is to become the world’s most trusted security company,” said Chief Communications Officer, Karen Reynolds, “nothing short of bold, and nothing less than achievable for this team.”
What: “Now patented, Absolute PersistenceTM acts as a secure, undeletable digital tether and creates a two-way communication between the device and the enterprise,” explains Karen. “The company’s technology mitigates the universal law of security control decay and empowers organizations to build an enterprise security approach that is intelligent, adaptive and self-healing – whether a data breach occurs or critical security applications are turned off, Absolute’s Persistence can turn those applications back on and recover the critical data and information. “Ultimately, it’s about eliminating the complexity of endpoint management and ensuring enterprises are more resilient.”– It’s something no other vendor on the planet can do.”
When: Absolute Software got their first big break in the early 2000’s when they began partnering with device manufacturers. This unique opportunity, which was viewed as a small step for the team initially, paved the way for the company’s software to be embedded in the firmware of more than 25 PCs, including Dell, HP, Lenovo and others – totaling more than half billion devices and next to impossible to remove.
Where: “At least half of our employees are based in Vancouver, where we’re deeply invested in the community. The tech community in BC is a community of collaboration; there are mission driven organizations – especially in the last few months – caring for each other, and helping each other – different people from companies support one another in the pursuit of success. We’re honoured to be nominated in a category with businesses that lead with purpose.”
Why: Purpose is a huge part of our culture, and a guiding principle for us. We want to be the most trusted security company, so everything we do as a company must ultimately serve the purpose of reaching that goal. Karen said, “we consistently check in with ourselves to ensure we are embodying our guideposts and believe it’s integral to hitting our next big milestone – Have we delivered what we said we would? Did we take care in people’s experiences? Did we make it easier, or faster, to do business with us?
LMI Technologies
Who: Led by Terry Arden, formerly the Chief Technology Officer for LMI Technologies, Terry stepped into the CEO position in 2009, and has been at the helm of many exciting advancements, acquisitions, and company growth. “We were established in 1998 with the merger of five industry-leading companies. Now, we have over 350 staff, and have completed four acquisitions. The future is exciting for LMI.” (Visit their careers page here.)
What: LMI Technologies are the global leader in 3D scanning and inspection, meeting the demands of their clients by conceptualizing and inventing new technologies. “We’re experts. 3D printing and inspection is all we do. It’s our specialty,” says Terry.
Their latest advancement, the Gocator 2530, was created in early 2020 and is being rolled out worldwide. Built for inspecting batteries, railways, tires, and various other products, the Gocator 2530 integrates high speed, blue laser scanning with embedded software to perform measurement and communication with factory machinery. “The Gocator 2530 is based on our 2500 series that established huge adoption in the CE market in Asia over the last few years,” says Terry. “And now that we’re being recognized on a BC-wide scale for our work is very rewarding.”
When: LMI Technologies has been innovating and changing the 3D machine vision industry since 1998 with a focus on combining 3D scanning hardware and smart web-based inspection software to deliver easy to use solutions that they call FactorySmart. In the past 10 years, they’ve hit many milestones, such as acquiring companies to build new capabilities in technology and sales reach, to becoming the number one supplier of laser profilers in China. “I feel very grateful to be leading such a dedicated team that has accomplished so much,” says Terry. “I believe the level of expertise and excellence we’ve shown when creating our solutions is part of the reason why we’re finalists in the Anchor Success category.”
Where: “Although we do a lot of international business, our home is Vancouver,” explains Terry. “We’re very proud to be part of the BC Tech community, a community that is a vibrant source of innovation and development across many disciplines. Tech is bigger than all the resource industries put together – forestry, mining, and oil and gas. It is an impressive statistic – 10,000 companies contributing over $17B revenue to the BC economy.”
Why: We are an innovative, dynamic, and progressive technology company that leads with purpose,” says Terry. “Our why is to improve the outcomes in factories so we minimize waste, improve safety, and drive greater efficiency. Much like BC Tech recognizes the importance of purpose being that guiding force behind why you do what you do, at LMI, we are driven by improving the world.”
TELUS
Who: “TELUS believes in the power of technology, innovation and human ingenuity to drive positive outcomes in the communities where we live, work and serve,” says President and CEO Darren Entwistle. “As a team, we are extremely proud of our unparalleled social and economic contributions across the province, and are honoured to be recognized by BC Tech.”
What: More than 99 per cent of British Columbians have access to TELUS’s LTE network, with its growing 5G network having been recently introduced to Vancouverites. “Our fibre and wireless networks are fueling the digital transformation of business in B.C., unleashing the province’s legendary entrepreneurial spirit, and enabling British Columbians to work and innovate locally while competing globally,” Darren says. “Our broadband network infrastructure is powering Canada’s smart businesses and intelligent communities, as well as the applications, devices and social services that support environmental sustainability and drive community safety and wellness.”
Speaking of fueling transformations, TELUS Ventures is one of Canada’s most active corporate venture capital funds. Since 2001 it has helped more than 70 companies tackle some of today’s biggest challenges by enhancing their visibility, expanding their business relationships, and driving new business opportunities.
When: TELUS’s decades-long leadership in social capitalism is being highlighted by its response to the COVID-19 pandemic. For instance, the TELUS team donated more than 10,000 free mobile devices and rate plans to hundreds of organizations across the country, and expanded its Mobility for Good program to hospital workers, providing a credit for two months of free wireless service for thousands of frontline workers.
At the same time, “the strength, speed and consistency of our networks have bolstered our nation’s productivity throughout the current health emergency,” Darren says. “We leveraged our world-leading technology to enable 95 per cent of our team members to work from the safety of their homes since the start of the pandemic, while also providing the connectivity to empower Canadians to work, learn, access entertainment, transact and socialize virtually on a significantly intensified basis. Importantly, we provided a vital connection for businesses across the province, supporting their need for remote working and enabling them to continue serving their customers while national closures were enacted.”
Where: With its Vancouver roots dating back to the early 1900s, TELUS has helped B.C. become home to the fastest-growing tech sector in Canada. “With the sector now leading the nation in GDP growth and job creation, more companies are choosing B.C. as the place to start and grow their technology companies,” Darren says. “We feel exceedingly proud and fortunate to have such long-standing roots that span the entire province.”
Why: “Together, we are creating stronger, healthier more sustainable communities – and delivering on our promise of a friendlier future – through our technology and human ingenuity,” Darren says. “We believe that doing well in business and doing good in our communities are mutually inclusive.”