January 02, 2015
Absolute Software CFO Errol Olsen recently spoke to Business in Vancouver about How the mobile revolution is reshaping R&D budgets in Vancouver. Absolute Software was founded in Vancouver and remains the seat of our Canadian Headquarters. Vancouver has a robust tech community and is the centre of a great deal of innovation, by start-ups and large organizations alike.
There is no question that mobile devices have made a huge impact, both on consumers and on organizations. The pace of change is never-ending and those who don’t innovate get left behind. The Business in Vancouver article looks at the impact this rate of change has had on R&D budgets at two Vancouver companies, Avigilon and Absolute Software.
For Absolute, mobile devices have had a huge impact on our R&D budget. When the iPhone was released in 2007, our R&D budget was $3.3 million for the year. Now in 2014, our budget is up 233% to $11 million.
“The two areas of technology which are probably the fastest moving right now are mobility and security,” Olsen said. "We sit at the intersection of those two, so for us innovation is critical because we’re in such a fast-moving area of technology."
Our customers expect this level of innovation from us, so we can continue to support the latest devices and OS, as well as innovate with new features or services to meet emerging needs. Our goal is to add $1 million to our R&D budget annually to continue pushing the envelope in innovation.
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