- A Q&A with Ron Ricci
1. Why did Phizzle choose a partner strategy for a challenge like digitizing scientific data?
In general, solutions for IoT automation only work if they fit into a customer’s broad ecosystem of devices, systems, and processes. This lends itself to working with strong partners that already have knowledge of a customer's environment in order to ensure success. Beyond assisting with implementation, for Phizzle to grow and scale we will need the help of our partners in taking us to market through their GTM teams. In the regulated- and compliance-centric markets we serve, our partners’ deep knowledge of customer requirements is fundamental to our innovation scaling quickly.
2. What kind of ecosystem has Phizzle already built — and what are your plans moving forward?
We have put together partners in network infrastructure, clean room management, managed services providers and scientific device manufacturers, including Cisco, HPE, GlassHouse Systems and Cleanetics. Our GTM ecosystem is focused on partners who know the unique market requirements of scientific data. We are also looking at technology consulting companies, manufacturing partners and services delivery companies as potential partners as our EDGMaker IoT solution scales to new use cases.
3. How flexible is Phizzle’s software integration process for partners?
We are agnostic to the approach a customer takes to consuming our innovation. Depending on the application, Phizzle partners can stand up our SaaS solution in a Kubernetes cluster on-premise or in a cloud-based model. We utilize both open-source and proprietary software in our deployments and will work with our partners to tailor certain solutions to our customer's needs.
4. How have your partners influenced the direction of Phizzle?
Partners have influenced our solutions by bringing our team customer needs directly. For example, we run natively in the Amazon Cloud. However, one of our partners also has a large customer that wants us to run their instance in IBM cloud. Having that multi-cloud support will be key to our expansion and helps push our team to continually innovate.
5. Where do you see the scientific data market in 5-10 years?
This area is largely untapped and unautomated. I see all scientific data devices coming to market with native integration into a common platform layer - hopefully Phizzle's. I don't think that companies will deploy these devices with proprietary software in the future. All companies will continue to be multi-vendor with maybe 15-20 different types of scientific instruments used in their production processes. Maintaining 30 to 40 proprietary software packages to operate each of those devices will not be scalable or cost effective over time. Those 30-40 software programs can be replaced with Phizzle, simplifying the environment, training and staffing.
- Phizzle Board Member, Ron Ricci