Intelligent Design
Smart Technologies is starting to look like the breakout company that Alberta’s high-tech sector so desperately needs
by Derek Sankey
“The founders have been pioneers in developing technology that was probably ahead of the market need,” says Masters. “This wasn’t an identifiable market need when they started the company, so they are now reaping the success of having the foresight to identify emerging market needs well in advance.” The firm’s technology has even been featured on television programs such as CSI, giving it more profile and demonstrating another one of its target markets: government and military.
Smart’s clients include organizations such as the U.S. government, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), Texas Instruments, BMW, Boeing, Procter & Gamble, Harvard University as well as a wide variety of school boards around the world. In 1992, Smart formed a strategic alliance with Intel Corp. resulting in joint product development and marketing efforts with Intel retaining equity ownership in the company. It also recently formed a deal with Hewlett-Packard, which allows HP’s direct sales marketing team to sell Smart products to educational organizations. The remainder is sold through third-party distributor networks worldwide.
In June, the company gave industry insiders a sneak peek at the next generation of Smart’s products at the Info Comm trade show, which went “superbly well for us,” according to Knowlton. “We’ve got a very rich product development pipeline right now and . . . there was a very enthusiastic reaction. It makes us very confident that when we release those products later this year and in 2008 that they’re going to be market successes.” (Unfortunately for this writer, the previews were granted under strict non-disclosure agreements. “I have to kill you if I tell you,” she jokes.)
What is readily obvious, though, is that Smart is the global market leader in this arena. A few companies, including Microsoft and Mitsubishi, have developed similar products but they either didn’t go very far or have so far failed to match the calibre and market penetration of Smart’s products. “They’re just not in the same league in terms of the technology and how Smart crafts it as a piece of hardware that has to live in a room, with kids banging on it. It’s robust and they have software to fit the niche,” says Greenberg.
Coinciding with the company’s aggressive growth plans, and the construction of its $60-million head office with more than 200,000 square feet of space in three wings, is the expansion and reorganization of the company’s top executive management structure. Knowlton and Martin left their roles as “co-CEOs” to spend more time on vision and strategy. Knowlton became the CEO, while Martin was designated chair. Tom Hodson recently moved into the role of president and chief operating officer and the company continues to add more executive firepower to enable the firm to achieve its growth target of $1 billion in annual sales. “Dave and I now have greater latitude to work on some of the strategies that we think are going to allow us to be successful over the longer term,” Knowlton says.
The fact that many of the technologies that support Smart’s offerings, such as large screens and digital content, have come down in price recently and continue to do so can only help the firm’s prospects of getting more technology into more workplaces, classrooms, boardrooms and ultimately homes. The starting price for a single Smart Board is around $1,000, although special pricing and deals are given to large clients and higher-end products are available. The company also invests heavily in community programs by donating many products to needy schools around the world to propel the trend in interactive technology. Smart is also very active in community initiatives locally.
It’s been a long and labour-intensive ride for Martin and Knowlton, who first met at the Calgary Stampede and got engaged within 16 days of that meeting. “It was pretty fast,” she says. “We got married within five months and started the company within five months after that.” Together, they bought a research and development facility from ITT Corp. to develop liquid crystal display technology when LCD panels were just hitting the market in their infancy. Twenty-one years later, their wildest dreams are coming true. “I just hope that Calgarians and Albertans are proud to see that a company like Smart is able to create an idea and bring it to the fore-front around the world,” says Knowlton. “We are an innovative and yet fiercely competitive company.”
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