Making Data Meaningful: Hobart-based Indicium Dynamics, a Ground-breaking Software Platform, Steers its Way from Niche to Mass

We make it easy for companies to overcome the challenges of siloed data systems, unlocking the potential of their data through our expertise in data and cloud technologies: Mike Ross

Our ability to collect and analyze data is evolving at an exponential rate. We collect vast quantities of data every second and are only beginning to understand the true potential impact it can have on our businesses. All this data is an ever-expanding mountain of gold, waiting to be mined and transferred into new, profound capabilities that will help us become more adept at predicting the future. Fundamentally, this capability transforms organizations from reactive environments – being managed by static and aged data – to automated continuous learning environments in real time.

In light of the above mentioned, we are delighted to present Indicium Dynamics – an innovative software consultancy with a focus on real-time data and the Internet of Things.

The accompany addresses the growing complexity of data types and systems with their unique data integration platform, the Indicium DataBus, which has the ability to synchronise data from various end points and allows for analysis on-premise or at the network edge.

Indicium was established in 2016 and is headquartered in Hobart, Tasmania, Australia.

Interview Excerpt: Mike Ross, CEO

Why was the company set up? And how did you expand your company and its offerings over the years?

The company was founded to develop a product and associated services for a niche type of data integration. I had worked in this space for a number of years and identified a number of areas where data integration projects could be made easier using the right tools.

In 2016, Indicium Dynamics was formed and commenced work on its Indicium DataBus technology. The company is a bootstrap start-up, with consulting work funding the development of the product. The first product, launched happened in 2017, was a hit.

Since the launch, the company has been expanding its workforce while working towards the release of version 2 of the Indicium DataBus.

How successful was your first project roll on? Share the experience.

Our first project was 18 months in the making and was highly successful, as already mentioned. It involved the deployment of the Indicium DataBus with integration into ClearSCADA via OPC HDA, with data synchronized into Azure where it was combined with Power BI to provide real-timed dashboards and historical data analysis and reports. The short project managed to solve a number of data integration issues seen by one of our clients and replaced a number of manual processes that were executed on a weekly basis.

The relationship with the client has since grown and there is a positive future for improved data analytics using cloud-based technologies.

About adaptability, how do you stay relevant to the consumer interests and needs in this high volatile market?

We have made a decision to focus on the latest platforms that are available and skill up in those areas even though there are not many customers asking for them yet. We are still skilled in the older ways of doing things, but when customers start asking for the new technologies, we can hit the ground running and deliver successful results.

We also build our products with adaptability in mind. We have a pipeline of enhancements for the next 6 months, but that pipeline is continually being reprioritized so that we can deliver the solution our customers need as soon as possible.

A company to be one the SMARTEST, its employees must be open-minded and creative, they need to feel they have a decent outlet for sharing their observations and ideas, is this true with your company?

All our employees are empowered with ownership of part of our product, so they get to drive the success of what they deliver. They are reliant on the core of our product to deliver what they need to succeed – so they are driven to identify improvements.

Our core values are summed up as: unique client experience strategy, pride in our work, integrity, collaborative teams, fulfilling environment.

Every executive, team, and individual adopts these values as their perspective when applying efforts to every project and in every aspect of developing client relationships. Operating at this level of understanding and perspective keeps focus on our larger goals.

Perhaps the most important advice I can provide is to surround yourself with a passionate group of talented people who aren’t afraid to argue their opinions. By checking your own ego at the front door and fostering that in your culture, you will ultimately make better and more informed decisions.

Technology & Innovation, a perfect fusion. How often do you innovate? Is it only when there is a need in the market?

Sometimes it’s hard to tell what a customer will need in a few years’ time, and a lot of what they want will be driven by larger technology players. We see our ability to innovate in being able to quickly adapt our platform to integrate with these new technologies as our customers need it.

Where the technology is new and we see a massive potential for it to help our customers, we will proactively look at the technology and see how we can make the most of the technology and then pitch the ideas to our customers.

How does your company contribute to the competitive global IT platform at large?

We see ourselves as becoming an innovative solutions provider that allows smaller clients to leverage the power of the ‘global IT platform’ like the bigger players would. For instance; we would like to empower a small manufacturing company to connect their control systems securely to the cloud so they can start to use predictive analysis on their assets. The cloud is making these types of technologies cheap enough to be in reach of smaller organizations, but the cost of integrating their systems so that they can make the most of it is still out of reach for most. We hope to change that.

Do you have any new products ready to be launched?

We are aiming at having Version 2 of our Indicium DataBus ready for launch in December 2018 or January 2019. We plan to release it worldwide.

As a question on sustainability, where do you see your company a couple of years from now?

We are hoping that in a few years’ time we will have a global client base and be focusing more on product development and less on consulting. This transition will occur slowly as our software sales grow and offset the need for consulting work to pay for ongoing R&D work required on our products.

This simple vision could of course change – we may find that the consulting services that come with the sale of the product are more profitable than the product itself, in which case we may grow that side of the business at the same time.

The Brain Behind The Operation: A Brief Background

Mike Ross, CEO: Mike Ross has been working in the IT industry for over 15 years, with most of that career focusing on time series data based technologies. During this time he has built a number of different data integration technologies for energy and water utilities, built an IoT platform called Ajenti, deployed the world’s first sub-second demand side response smart grid on King Island and built a number of cloud-based flood forecasting systems around the Asia/Pacific region.

“In addition to great platforms like Azure and AWS, Indicium Dynamics builds its own data management frameworks and systems, or provides services built on the Ajenti™ product suite.”