TITM Interview on Mobile and the Cloud

I'll be speaking at http://www.techinthemiddle.com on September 11th. Highlights from my interview with the conference coordinators appear below. I hope to see you all there!

August 30, 2010: Take 4: Q&A with J Schwan - J Shares His Take on the Future of Mobile and Cloud Computing.

J Schwan is the Mobile Technology Practice Partner at Solstice Consulting, one of Consulting Magazine's 2010 Seven Small Jewels.

TiTM: Why did you choose to focus on technology/software for your career choice? Was there a defining moment when you just knew that this is what you wanted to do?

J Schwan: I went to college in the late 90s and the advent of the web. The aspect of connecting people and opening lines of communication that didn't exist before really interested me. I've spent my career exploring those capabilities and building systems that I feel genuinely have made people's lives easier. Whether it's a business or a personal system, it's a great feeling to build a tool that helps improve someone's day.

TiTM: What are some trends you are seeing right now and where do you see the mobile and/or cloud spaces evolving within the next year?

J Schwan: For the cloud I think the services will start converging. As more mission critical information begins to be stored in the cloud, individuals and companies are going to be more concerned about the viability of the service provider. Similar to other utilities, I think we'll end up with a couple large players, with some level of government regulation. This may not be in the next year, but it's where it's headed.

For mobile I think the technologies will continue diverging in the near future. We're just on the brink of understanding the capabilities of these devices, and I'm not sure the OS battle has even started yet. Just look at Android's market share in under 2 years! As the mobile technologies continue to diverge, companies need to be smart about where they make their mobile investments.

TiTM: What would you say is the current state of the Chicago tech community?

J Schwan: It's OK. I think we have a lot of knowledge and passion coming out of our university system but I think the investor community is weak. Luckily with the introduction of mobile and cloud technologies, the necessity for tech startups to require large up front capital is decreasing.

TiTM: Tell the Tech in the Middle Audience something interesting about yourself that isn't included in your biography.

J Schwan: First programming experience came at the age of 8 building a game (shark chasing a turtle) built in Basic on the Commodore 64.