As avid followers of all things technology-related, we wanted to share a couple of news stories about the new internet addressing protocol, IPv6.

Right now, all the world's computers and devices connected to the internet are provided with a unique identifier by the IPv4 protocol, which secures connectivity.

In January of this year, the Number Resource Organization announced that the number of IPv4 addresses were going to run out. Essentially, in the 1980's, when the protocol was established, they didn't anticipate the enormous growth of the Internet in the 21st century (largely driven by the proliferation of mobile devices). As a result, a new protocol, IPv6 was tested across some major technology companies during a 24-hour period on Wednesday, June 8th.

For more information on IPv6, check out these cool infographics from Canada's Globe and Mail newspaper and focus.com.

An interview with MediaValet™'s Founder and CEO, David MacLaren (pictured here), was featured in today's edition of Canada's national newspaper, The Globe and Mail. The article, "The big new bet in tech for small business" references MediaValet™'s parent company, VRX Studios, the world's leading full-service photography and content management company, and the challenges they faced in finding a digital asset management solution that was massively scalable and could be deployed on a global basis both quickly and cost effectively. The article focuses on the benefits of the cloud for small businesses and chronicles VRX's decision to launch their own 100% cloud-based, enterprise class, SaaS digital asset management system, MediaValet™, first as a tool for VRX, then as a product for its hospitality clients, then ultimately as its own separate entity designed to meet the needs of all companies, no matter how large or small, or where they're located.

Please click here for the full article.

As the world's first 100% cloud-based DAMS, committed to the relentless pursuit of innovation, we were inspired by Jason Hiner's article in Tech Republic, entitled 'How to Kill Innovation in Five Easy Steps'. It emphasizes the huge importance of innovation in driving growth and provides some excellent insights on how to create an entrepreneurial, creative work environment.

To read the entire article on Tech Republic, click here.

MediaValet™ was recently featured in the popular online news site internet.com. The article, which focuses on the Microsoft Azure platform, uses MediaValet™ as a prime example of a business leveraging the power of Azure to its full potential to bring to market a world-class product with massive scalability and global reach. The article discusses VRX Studios' decision to create MediaValet™ to meet the needs of not only VRX Studios and its travel and hospitality customers, but ultimately all companies, large and small, no matter where they are located or how much content they need.

Click here to read the entire article on internet.com.

We wanted to share this useful article from Another DAM Blog (a favourite of ours) that discusses the question "How many DAM solutions should my organization have?". The best DAM solutions should be scalable and flexible enough that one system is enough to meet an organization's needs, however, many companies still accumulate multiple DAM systems. Henrik de Gyor discusses some of the reasons that DAMS proliferation can occur, and suggests ways to simplify and consolidate your digital asset management systems.

Click here to read the entire article on Another DAM Blog.

We came across this helpful article in Marketnology(SM) that outlines some key questions to help you determine whether your organization should be considering a DAMS, including:

• Does my company have thousands of brand assets managed by many departments and/or vendors across different geographies?
• Is it a challenge to verify whether we have the rights to use assets in our existing library?
• Could other organizations benefit from reusing our digital assets across multiple communications channels?
• Is the process/workflow for getting access to digital assets confusing, convoluted, confusing and frustrating?

The MediaValet™ team was delightfully surprised to find delicious treats on their desks when they arrived at work this morning. Little did they know that this happens every year for their friends at VRX Studios. On their desks they found beautifully decorated baskets filled with goodies and throughout the offices tables full of holiday treats. What an amazing way to start the day! But the question on everyone’s mind was – where could all of these yummy sweets possibly have come from? Together with a few VRXians, they were determined to get to the bottom of the mystery and…with some heavy duty investigating they found hidden footage of a special visitor. Click on the image below to check it out, as our friends at VRX say, “Seeing is Believing”…

MediaValet™ was featured in this month’s edition of Profit Magazine. The article, entitled ‘Tech’s Renewable Resource’, focuses on de-mystifying cloud computing. It discusses the many benefits of the cloud and the factors that companies should consider before moving toward cloud-based solutions. The article referenced MediaValet™’s parent company, VRX Studios, the world’s leading full-service photography and content management company, and the formidable challenge they faced in finding a digital asset management solution that was massively scalable and could be deployed globally both quickly and cost effectively. It describes VRX's decision to launch MediaValet™ as a separate entity to meet their considerable digital asset management needs – archiving, organizing and accessing 30 terabytes of data for over 10,000 hotel clients around the world – and those of all companies, no matter how large or small, or where they're located.

Click here to read the entire article in Profit Magazine.

Tuesday, April 12

MediaValet™’s Founder and CEO participates in the Align IT Roundtable in Vancouver, BC.

David MacLaren, MediaValet™’s Founder and CEO, participated in the Align IT Roundtable in Vancouver, BC this past Tuesday. Align IT Vancouver, the last in a series of events held across Canada, was organized by Ruth Morton, Technology Platform Advisor at Microsoft Canada, and Damir Bersinic, Senior Platform Advisor at Microsoft Canada. The event was centered on how to effectively align business objectives with solid strategies for a flexible, cost-effective and secure IT environment – from the desktop to the cloud.

David was selected to be part of the panel based on his experience bringing to market the first 100% cloud-based, enterprise class, SaaS, digital asset management solution, MediaValet™. The two additional panellists, Dave Kawula, the CEO of TriCon Technical Services and Bruce Johnston of Ideaca, both from Calgary, AB, were selected based on their extensive real-world experience of implementing cloud-based solutions. The panel discussed a wide variety of issues, including access speeds, security and legal issues surrounding storing and accessing data in the cloud.

As part of the panel, David talked about the team’s exciting journey building MediaValet™ - on the cloud - from the ground up. MediaValet™ was originally conceived as a tool to help VRX Studios manage over 20 terabytes of data but it quickly evolved into a standalone product that it now offers to all companies, no matter how large or small, where they’re located or how much content they have to manage. From the beginning, VRX Studios needed a highly scalable and flexible solution that could be quickly and cost effectively deployed globally. When the company was unable to find an existing solution that met these basic needs, VRX looked to Microsoft and it’s new Windows Azure cloud platform as it promised the scalability, flexibility and global IT infrastructure that VRX Studios needed.

The event reinforced how serious Microsoft is about the cloud and it’s future impact on technology, both for the company itself and the business world in general. When asked about the event, David said, “Ruth and Damir put on a great event and delivered a ton of helpful information. My co-panellists, Dave and Bruce, brought a tremendous amount of experience to the panel and shared some great stories. On my side, I thoroughly enjoyed sharing the story of MediaValet and our experience building a SaaS application in the cloud. I’m already looking forward to TechDays in the fall.”

MediaValet™ was featured in this month’s edition of Backbone Magazine. The article chronicles the history behind the launch of MediaValet™ by its parent company, VRX Studios Inc., the world’s leading full service photography and content management company. It describes the challenge that VRX Studios faced in storing, organizing and accessing 30 terabytes of media assets for it’s 10,000 plus hotel clients and the exciting decision to launch MediaValet™ as an entirely separate product for all companies to benefit from.

Click here to read the entire article in Backbone Magazine.