Nature of Services Special TFI Characteristics Our Customers Typical Projects Customer Delight Track Record Bottom Line Nature of Services  back to top The nature of Technology Futures' services is well reflected in our company name. First, we focus on technology in the broadest sense of the word, from computers and communications to software and business processes. While we intimately understand technology, our work concentrates on the market and business implications of technology change, including cross-industry interactions. Second, we emphasize the future. The ever-increasing rate of technical advance means your organization must be able to look beyond current technologies to the next generation, and to the generation that follows. This ability of seeing beyond the horizon permits smooth transitions from the present to the near future to the more distant future. Technology Futures can assist you in both discerning future trends and events and operating successfully in an ever more turbulent and demanding future. A key to our technology forecasting, planning, and management success is our use of innovative strategic analysis frameworks developed by Technology Futures over 30 years. These frameworks, including our signature framework, Five Views of the Future ™, enhance our ability to use a large array of forecasting methods to assist our customers with individualized services to meet their specific needs. Our extensive experience in matching these methods to relevant technology, marketplace, and financial issues results in our customers having a definite advantage over their competitors. Complimenting our consulting and research services, we offer publications that include technology forecasting guides, special subject reports, telecom market research reports, white papers, and a telecom reference book. We also conduct both public and in-house seminars on various technology related subjects. Technology Futures leadership and staff are also highly regarded speakers and give keynote, leadership, conference, workshop, and internal presentations. Technology Futures combines the vision of the futurist with the down-to-earth judgment of the technologist to assist our customers in building "bridges to the future." Special TFI Characteristics  back to top Characteristics of Technology Futures and our services that differentiate us from most other consulting firms include the following: Focus on the Future: Our consulting, research, and education services are strongly focused on the future, providing our customers with the ability to take fullest advantage not only of currently emerging technologies, but also of those that are beyond the horizon. Balanced Perspectives: Our services provide a carefully considered balance between technical, market, and business perspectives. We use proprietary techniques to ensure that each of these factors is given appropriate attention and that these factors are integrated intelligently. Experienced Staff: Technology Futures' staff has extensive experience in a wide range of areas of importance to our customers. Every member of Technology Futures' senior staff has at least 20 years experience in commercial companies, government organizations, or both. Perhaps more important, these people play major roles in all Technology Futures projects. You will not have a senior person selling you services and then have less experienced people actually providing the services. Tools and Techniques: Our innovative strategic analysis frameworks, including our signature framework, Five Views of the Future ™, allow us to take maximum advantage of a large assortment of tools and methods that we have developed or adapted over 30 years. Moreover, because of our extensive experience in the use of these tools and methods, we know when and how each of these methods can be used most effectively. Clear Objectives: Before we begin any project, we assure that the objectives of the project are clearly defined and understood. Moreover, we determine beforehand how success in meeting these objectives will be measured so that customer satisfaction can be guaranteed. Contacts: Our staff is closely allied with a wide variety of individuals and organizations with whom we have coordinated and cooperated in the past. This provides us with a strong knowledge and experience base outside our own organization. Capabilities Transfer: In providing our services, we work with our customers to transfer our methods and techniques, our approaches, and our thought processes so that they will be able to enhance their own capabilities in these areas. Our Customers  back to top Since its establishment in 1978, Technology Futures has provided a variety of services to well over 150 companies, government agencies, institutions, associations, and universities in 16 different countries, including more than half of the top Fortune 100 companies. The customers served by Technology Futures can be categorized as follows: Commercial Businesses: Recent customers include: ACS, Inc. Intel SBC ALLTEL Kodak Shell Oil Products, U.S. AMD Motorola Southern Company Bell Canada Nortel (Canada) Sprint BellSouth PricewaterhouseCoopers     Sulzer (Switzerland) Boeing Qwest 3M Bosch (Germany) Raytheon Telcordia Technologies Chevron Chemical       Rockwell International Texas Instruments Deloitte & Touche Samsung (Korea) Verizon Government Agencies: Recent customers include: Central Intelligence Agency     National Geospatial Agency (formerly NIMA) Department of Defense National Security Agency General Accounting Office   Emerging/Start-Up Companies: This group includes companies from a number of industries and countries seeking early assistance in identifying markets for their disruptive technologies, developing business and market strategies, and developing partnerships. Because of the nature of their technologies, we work on a confidential basis. Educational Institutions and Associations: Recent customers include: Edison Electric Institute Georgia Institute of Technology Rice University Telecommunications Technology Forecasting Group UCLA Anderson School of Business University of Texas Wireless Data Forum World Futures Society Typical Projects  back to top An overview of our consulting, research, and education capabilities, the types of projects in which we are typically involved, and the methods, techniques, and approaches that we utilize are described in other parts of this website. A brief listing of some of the projects that we have recently conducted for our customers is presented below. Roadmaps: Technology Futures assisted a number of customers, including a large aerospace company, in developing roadmaps that were used to define the actions that were necessary to accomplish their objectives; define potential problems and their solutions; identify and evaluate direct, indirect, and structural competitors; and establish specific milestones to assist in program management. Communications Infrastructure: Technology Futures worked with a world-class medical center/university to define their projected communications system needs for the coming decade and analyzed various means by which these needs could be met. Entrepreneur Assistance: Technology Futures assisted a number of companies with promising new technologies in evaluating the feasibility of their technologies, analyzing market needs, potential, and white spaces, and identifying possible alliances. Grand Challenges: Technology Futures assisted a large government agency in identifying the challenges that would be facing the agency over the next three decades and assisted in developing plans to address those challenges. Enterprise Networking: Technology Futures conducted an enterprise network study to address the strategic communications network concerns of executives and board of a large enterprise. Market Substitution: Multiple substitution techniques were used to project market shares of different generations of technology for a major industry association. Organizational Structure: Technology Futures assisted in the planning for and establishment of a revolutionary new joint government/private industry corporation. Convergence Planning: Technology Futures assisted in the development of information convergence plans for a number of organizations, including a large private university. New Group Empowerment: Technology Futures assisted in the organization and training of newly formed groups within various companies and government agencies. In-house Workshops: Selected customers include: Boeing Duke Power EMBRAER (Brazil) Eastman Chemical IBC Conferences (England) IBM of Brazil Industrial Technology Research Institute (Republic of China) International Communications Futures Council Kodak Kyocera (Japan) TeleGlobe (Canada) USAA Keynote and Major Addresses: Recent examples include: Global Business Forum Intelligence Agencies for the Commonwealth Countries International Communications Forecasting Conference Kodak's Global Leadership Forum MIT Enterprise Forum National Cancer Institute Norwegian Telecommunications Conference Photography & Imaging Manufacturing Association Society of Design & Process Science Society of Telecommunications Consultants The Telecom-IT Americas U.S. Senate Conference on Emerging Technologies Western Communications Forum World Future Society Facilitation: Recent customers include: Delta Air Lines National Geospatial Agency (formerly NIMA) Department of Defense         SBC Corporation Kyocera Kodak Sulzer Special Assignments: In support of its customers, Technology Futures provides expert witness testimony, industry association support, identification of strategic partners, and valuation-related services. Customer Delight  back to top The most valid indication of Technology Futures' customer satisfaction with our services is how many have continued to use our services for a decade or more. More than 90% of TFI's business comes from current customers or at the recommendation of these customers. Here are some recent comments about Technology Futures' services. "Technology Futures has particularly strong experience in the commercial sector that they have been able to leverage for government applications. Their expertise extends beyond forecasting to planning, roadmapping, and technology management. They retain a wide range of contacts in other government agencies, intelligence organizations, industry, and academia that they use in their work. They stay very up to date with the latest developments in technologies and business processes and incorporate that information immediately into their work. They have developed several invaluable tools for facilitation that help build organizational support and develop long-range plans. I have been very pleased with the quality of their technical work." Large Federal Government Agency "We have had a working relationship with Technology Futures for about 10 years now. They have always been very professional and responsive to our requests. They've flown in to help us on short notice, and their advice has always been very insightful. In situations where a straightforward solution was not possible, they were innovative enough to suggest alternatives. They stick to the areas of their expertise and perform admirably." Large Manufacturing Company "Technology Futures provides excellent insight into technology and market opportunities that span horizontally across a company's capabilities and that anticipate where the market and industry is heading. In my role as VP of Technology and New Markets, I engaged Technology Futures, Inc. to provide a product/technology roadmap and strategy recommendations for how my organization could exploit its strengths across multiple product and technology areas given the advent of widely available broadband and wireless Internet connectivity. They were a valuable source of expert knowledge and strategic thinking." Large Computer Company "We employed Technology Futures to provide us with analytical support on a highly visible and highly sensitive evaluation. TFI provided us with high-quality support within our estimated time and cost objectives that was wholly responsive to our needs. They performed extremely well for us, and we would certainly hire them again if the opportunity arises." Federal Government Agency "Technology Futures' analytical skills are first class as are their cost control efforts. Their ability to put vendors and our employees together for high-level briefings proved invaluable to our organization. They kept us informed every step of the way until the day of delivery." Large Medical Facility "The TFI group was great!" Large Aerospace Company "Technology Futures produced a recommended product, technology and market roadmap for my organization that significantly impacted our strategic development plan. This roadmap provided a critical guideline for determining when and where to expend company resources. It addressed multiple domestic and international market sector opportunities and accurately predicted the potential for numerous competitive technology deployments. The roadmap also predicted certain negative outcomes associated with various alternative strategic development directions. One of the "undesirable" alternatives was actually selected and pursue by company management, eventually resulting in the extremely negative outcome predicted by TFI. Based upon the results experienced, I now continue to seek and heed the advice provided by TFI concerning strategic development recommendations for business and technology development in similar arenas." Medium Technology Company Track Record  back to top The September 21, 1998 issue of The Wall Street Journal featured an in-depth interview entitled "Consultant's Call: Lawrence Vanston [TFI President] Makes Some Pretty Bold Predictions for the Future of Telecommunications. He Has Been Right Before." Notably, the predictions of that interview have since come true. The Technology Futures team has a very impressive record of successful forecasts in a wide range of technology areas. Shown below are a few of the many Technology Futures forecasts that have proved accurate, despite considerable skepticism when they were made. Digital Switching: In 1986, Technology Futures projected that local switching would be all digital by 1997-2000, while most of the industry thought most analog electronic switches would survive the 1990s. Actually, digital switching adoption reached 98% by 2000. Wireless Communications: In 1987, Technology Futures projected that wireless phones would compete with wireline by the late 1990s, while most industry sources projected that wireless would remain a niche market, complementary to wireline. In fact, there were 100 million U.S. wireless subscribers in 2000, most displacing untold wireline minutes and several million giving up their wireline voice service completely. Digital Services: In 1990, Technology Futures projected that a mass market for digital communications services would develop during the decade, while most industry sources predicted that digital services would remain a niche market. By 2001, almost 10 million broadband customers proved TFI right. Online Services: In 1992, Technology Futures projected that, by 1997, over 10% of U.S. households would be online by 1997, while most industry sources projected that online services would be "dead on arrival." In fact, this level was reached in 1996. Strategic Organization: In 1999, Technology Futures assisted in designing and establishing the private "venture catalyst" firm In-Q-Tel for the Central Intelligent Agency (CIA). In-Q-Tel moves information technology to the agency more quickly than traditional government procurement processes allow. According to the Wall Street Journal, as of September 2005, the CIA had deployed roughly 100 new technologies for its analysts and spies, and the CIA, Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Pentagon's Defense Intelligence Agency was expecting to commit about $65 million for the year. Roadmapping: In 2000, Technology Futures produced a recommended product roadmap for a large aerospace company that had significant impact on the resulting merged roadmap after the acquisition of the company by another aerospace company. This roadmap was a future-facing roadmap spanning many different sectors and many different products. Portions of the roadmap are still in use today. Bottom Line  back to top In examining the role of technology in today's business and government environments, two realities stand out - that advanced technologies are playing increasingly important roles in organizational success and that advances in the most important technologies are taking place with blinding speed. To succeed, or even survive, organizations must be able to project key advances in technology, understand the implications of these advances, and initiate actions to take full advantage of the advances. For 30 years, Technology Futures has assisted a multitude of commercial and government customers in accomplishing these tasks. Our broad experience in technology forecasting, planning, and management, the quality of our staff, our skill in the application of a wide variety of consulting and research tools, and our commitment to top quality results give our company a unique ability to assist organizations in dealing with the technology challenges of our increasingly sophisticated and complex world. Our executives and consultants will be pleased to discuss how we might help your organization translate emerging and envisioned technology advances into enhanced commercial and/or operational success. Copyright © Technology Futures, Inc. All rights reserved. 13740 Research Blvd., Bldg. C Austin, TX 78750-1859 Toll Free: (800) TEK-FUTR - Local & Outside USA: (512) 258-8898 FAX: (512) 258-0087 - e-mail: info@tfi.com - http://www.tfi.com