Crain's Detroit Business - 25th Anniversary Issue, May 3, 2010 - (Page E52)

Page E52 CRAIN’S DETROIT BUSINESS May 3, 2010 25 Years: Internet/Communications Expertise. Aon focuses on delivering more value and impact to clients, and as a result, more clients choose Aon than any other broker. Visit aon.com/clientfocus to learn why. Technology evolves to become almost ‘another life form’ F rom global devices and software programs to simple hardware like the laptop and Netbook, technology has transformed the working environment beyond anyone’s wildest expectations in the past quarter century. “It’s incredible to think that functions that once were carried out on a mainframe now can be completed on a cell phone,” said Don Walker, co-founder and managing director of Arbor Partners L.L.C. in Ann Arbor. While once upon a time the virtual office seemed to be a passing fad, today many top-tier management teams operate this way. These days, executives can be anywhere and communicate on key issues and make decisions, Walker said. Technological changes also have forced corporations to rethink processes and tasks, said Gary Erickson, managing partner of Farm- Aon congratulates Crain's Detroit Business on their 25th Anniversary. Aon Risk Services 3000 Town Center, Suite 3000 Southfield, MI 48075 248.936.5200 ington Hills-based Executive Search Partners, specializing in information technology and technical sales searches. Many have recognized the practicality of outsourcing functions like accounts payable, product design and the reading of medical records, since current technology has made it less expensive, said Erickson. Meanwhile, technology has transformed many executives’ offices into showplaces of gadgetry. “Technology has almost become like another life form, because it continues to evolve and find new species every day,” said Marc Weiser, founder and managing director of RPM Ventures, a venture capital firm. Weiser’s office is equipped with a pair of computers, a Blackberry polycom phone with noise-canceling capability and a Bose system with a digital amplifier. — Chuck Green Communications: From Page 50 www.aon.com Growth Capital. Financial Wisdom.® Hennessey Capital offers factoring and asset-based lines of credit to entrepreneurial companies to help them grow. Our experienced team provides guidance and the cash flow management tools small businesses need to realize new opportunities. Let us put our growth capital and financial wisdom to work for you. 248.658.1100 HennesseyCap.com the solution in the future,” Mulherrin said. Gerd Leonhard, author of the Media Futurist blog, said the business world is undergoing yet another revolution in communications, this one involving what he describes as a transition from “push” to “pull” mechanisms. In the past, businesses would “push” products and services with vehicles such as print ads, TV spots and mass mailings. Think of it as driving down a one-way street. Today, they’re also “pulling” in customers with two-way conversations made possible by platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Skype, YouTube, Flickr and Digg. “E-mail is a push mechanism,” Leonhard said. “All of the others are pull mechanisms. That’s the big difference. There are 20 ways the conversation has fragmented.” Leonard said the new platforms are making the business-customer relationship less autocratic and more transparent. “Today, you can Twitter the chief editor of The New York Times,” he said. “Ten years ago, you couldn’t even call him. You couldn’t get his number.” With so many different platforms and technologies, the art of communicating has never been more daunting. Hale Walker and his brother, Mark, founded a mortgage company 17 years ago. Before that, he worked for Automatic Data Processing in Allen Park. “It was a long drive, and it was a chance to get your thoughts together in peace and quiet,” he says, recalling the hour-plus commute to Allen Park from his home in Port Huron. “Today, we have offices in Southfield, Bingham Farms and Port Huron, and when you’re driving from one to the other, you’re constantly on the phone. It never stops.” Walker today is senior vice president of First Preferred Mortgage Co. and its wholesale divi- sion, Michigan Mutual Inc. He says changes in communications technology have affected nearly every aspect of doing business. “When you think about it, it’s just incredible,” he says. “Nobody is even using fax machines anymore. All of the disclosure forms are now being done with e-signatures, and we’re moving toward electronic closings. Even the licensing for our loan officers has changed. The tracking is all done online through the National Mortgage Licensing Registry.” He mentions plans for a training program at St. Clair County Community College in Port Huron. “The trainers are in California, Arizona and Southfield. It’s not face to face,” he says. “Video conferencing was once limited to the largest companies. Today, it’s second nature for all of us.” The iPhone in his pocket is a tool, as indispensable in its way as a blacksmith’s hammer or a baker’s oven. “I get my e-mails automatically, and it’s also updating my computer at home,” Walker says. “Our children are way ahead of us. They do everything with their phones. They even use them to get directions. You could hand them a map, but they couldn’t read it.” The evolution in a relatively short time frame is striking, communication experts say. Mulherrin, who has been enjoying the ride for 25 years, said it will only get more exciting. He sees “limitless possibilities” and also said, “We’ve changed the way people live.” And he’s talking about a lot of people. The online universe is projected to expand from 1.5 billion users in 2008 to 2.5 billion in 2012, or more than a third of the global population. His company already is churning out an average of two patents every day, and he doesn’t expect that pace to slow. AT&T alone will invest $13 billion this year “just to keep pace,” Mulherrin said.  http://www.aon.com/clientfocus http://www.aon.com http://www.HennesseyCap.com http://www.HennesseyCap.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Crain's Detroit Business - 25th Anniversary Issue, May 3, 2010

Crain's Detroit Business 25th Anniversary
Looking Forward
25 Companies to Watch
25 Mainstays
25 People Then and Now
25 Scandals and Dubious Deeds.
25 Philanthropic Gifts
25 Newsmakers of the Year
25 Big Stories
25 Innovations
25 Gone But Not Forgotten
Health Care
Defense
Suppliers
The Internet and Communication
Energy
Finance
Signs of the Times

Crain's Detroit Business - 25th Anniversary Issue, May 3, 2010

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