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What is Fixpoint Inc?Fixpoint Inc. was founded in 2002 to apply computer-amplified intelligence to solving mission-critical enterprise process automation problems. We are currently focusing on developing configuration solution platforms that enable our customers to deploy systems that configure products and services for mass customization, reduced cost-of-sales and faster delivery, in markets such as manufacturing and financial services. Back to TopWhat's a configuration solution platform? Isn't it just a configurator?No. A configurator is essentially a specific "hard-coded" application, while a configuration solution platform is a more general software pattern that can take different forms depending on our customers' needs. For example we can use different "engine" technologies depending on what kind of configuration algorithms are needed—a heavyweight manufacturing-oriented engine may not be appropriate in a high-performance call-center environment, and vice versa. Likewise who is doing the modeling—the platform vendor, trained technical specialists or product marketing personnel—greatly affects the administration and support requirements. A solution platform has to integrate the management of all the relevant components. For example it must synchronize compatibility rules with changes in the parts catalog, maintaining referential integrity, it must provide the runtime UI with appropriate text, images and status information, and so forth. As an integrated solution provider Fixpoint is both more flexible and more complete than either software-suite or technology-oriented vendors (whom we are happy to augment or collaborate with to better serve existing customers!) Back to TopIsn't it still just a product configurator, even so?A configuration solution platform certainly can implement product configurators. But configuration isn't just limited to products. For example the same technologies can also be used to configure services, financial packages, project teams and many other types of assemblies. The general pattern only implies that the parts can be modeled as software objects subject to general predefined rules and assembled according to additional specific user requirements provided during interactive runtime sessions. To keep the scope broad we sometimes refer to this as "software object assembly" rather than "configuration". Beyond this there are other dimensions, such as integration with existing enterprise systems or data, and specialized solution requirements, such as configuring or optimizing critical subcomponents, or accounting for availability or scheduling requirements, which typically fall outside the scope of general-purpose product configuration engines. Ultimately, we envision applying solution patterns to deliver a variety of advanced intelligent "solvers" across a spectrum of problem domains. Back to TopWho is the Fixpoint team ?The lead staff assigned to collaborate on Configuration Solution Platform projects, Marc LeBrun and Robert Cram, most recently held, for many years, key technical and management responsibilities for Siebel Systems, from core technologies through end-user systems. Mr. LeBrun was both the principal configuration engine architect and most productive individual developer for all shipping versions of Siebel’s product configurator system, delivered to more than 200 customers world-wide, generating over $100MM estimated annual revenues. After initially managing the configurator group, Mr. Cram’s engineering responsibilities were expanded to include all Siebel’s Internet and Web based frameworks for enterprise and customer-facing systems, critical to deriving over $1BB estimated revenue to date. The lead staff are supported by a team of very senior business and technical resource specialists with substantial backgrounds in organizations such as Autodesk, Commerce One, Fire Pond, HP, Ilog, Trilogy, Xerox, and academia. Fixpoint also believes the greatest value is delivered to customers when vendors concentrate on their unique core competencies, and thus views co-development and partnering with complementary organizations a cornerstone of its execution strategy. Back to TopHow does Fixpoint fit in today's (and tomorrow's) business environment?Fashion in areas like venture capital, computer usage styles and the latest "hot" applications have changed and will change further, and the organizations and methods to exploit of these opportunities will evolve. Therefore Fixpoint's tactical operating principle is to always nimbly adapt what it delivers to our customer's needs—that is, solutions—rather pushing rigidly defined products or services. Nonetheless the newly introduced foundations for electronic commerce are here to stay, despite the most recent downturns in the economic climate. The infrastructure and technologies such as the Internet are not going away, nor will the vast investment in them be allowed to lie fallow without generating return. Furthermore the underlying business needs driving forward progress continue unabated. For example computer systems and communications equipment and services still need to be ordered and combined correctly, loans, leases and insurance policies still need to be optimized for value return and teams still need to be assembled with due regard to skills, availability and scheduling constraints. For example the CRM market is still currently about $4 billion in software license sales, with a combined annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.8% projected for 2002-2006, with a 3.1% CAGR in the traditional "sales configurator" segment alone. By fostering technological sophistication and excellence, and leveraging talent, while focusing strategically on serving universal invariant patterns of business process automation—"fixpoints", such as configuration—we remain oriented to, and motivated by, a long-term sustainable vision. Back to TopWhat does the name "Fixpoint" mean, anyway?In mathematics, a fixpoint of a function is a stable value. It is unchanged by further application of the function. Repeated iteration of a function typically converges on a fixpoint (eg repeatedly pressing Sqrt or Cos keys on a scientific calculator). The famous fractal Mandelbrot set is usually depicted by coloring black the inner region that converges to the fixpoint at zero, and rainbow coloring points that "diverge" to the fixpoint at infinity based on their rate of convergence. In the lambda calculus, which mathematically models computation, the amazing "Y combinator" transforms a function into its fixpoint. In programming, the adjective "fixpoint" denotes perfectly accurate computation, involving integers or exact fractions (in contrast to floating point calculations, which entail negotiated round-off and approximate precision). We chose it in part to suggest our focus on providing solid, technically sophisticated, solutions that address the needs of our customers. Back to TopHow can I find out more?See the home page, info@fxpt.com, or, better yet, request our white paper, Configuration Solution Platforms. Back to Top |
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