Running event management systems for VIP delegates in top locations means you can end up in some odd situations. Space is always at a premium; but this was especially the case when one time we ended up running the server operation in a hotel kitchen in Rio de Janeiro.
It was equally cramped when the best place to keep the servers was in the bathroom of the hotel bedroom, and there we had the added challenge of keeping the systems dry.
Whatever the situation – however inhospitable and however complicated the infrastructure challenge – the objective is always to use our software to deliver seamless visitor experiences to discerning delegates.
The truth is that we take software development and hardware deployment seriously. At an event the success of the client’s event is dependent on us delivering what we said we would deliver, when we said we would deliver to the standard that we said we would deliver.
We do that because we know our reputation is at stake, as is the reputation of one of the world’s biggest and most reputable companies. Getting it wrong is not really an option.
Systems crashing in front of the CEOs of the world’s biggest companies is not an option. It is about getting it exactly right when it really matters.
Elements in the process are too important to be left to anyone else, for instance at delegate registration or when gifts are distributed. At that point there is no question of a failure of service, which is why we take our own servers and our own network experts as back up.
Over the years our businesses and processes have developed. Even when the customer is happy with the software and the technology management of the event, we are never entirely happy.
The critical element is ensuring the software works, meets the exact and exacting specifications and gives a great user experience (UI). This is about handcrafting code and even when it has worked well, and the client is happy, we are never entirely happy: you always ask yourself what you could have done better.
It concentrates the mind – and informs the quality assurance processes we apply – knowing that the first time it is used by a large group of people is when it is put up on the App Store.
The greatest appreciation or vote of thanks you can get is to have clients returning to use your services years after year. We’ve had that acknowledgement from IBM for the last 20 years on the run.
In the end, there is no magic other than attention to detail and a sense of ownership which comes from being owner-operators. The product, the way it works, whether it is successful is everything to us. This is why we have a track record and a corporate culture of getting things right first time, time after time. Even if that involves setting up operations in hotel kitchens or bathrooms to get the job done right.