FileNET Gives Sexy Spin to British Office Clutter
TECHNOLOGY
by Andrew Simons
Hey Dude, Western Digital’s Getting a Dell; Folino Joins Mind Institute Board
Who said FileNET Corp. was boring?
In looking for new ways to solicit press interest in its products, the Costa Mesa maker of document imaging and data management software used a tried and true tactic,sex.
FileNET’s British division put out a press release recently with the following headline: “Hard at work,Condoms feature heavily in U.K. office clutter survey.”
The survey, given to U.K. office workers, lists the top 10 items found in workers’ desks. The top was a mobile phone. Condoms came in ninth.
There’s more.
“Women’s desks look to be more cluttered than men’s, with cosmetics and tampons both making the top 10 clutter list,” FileNET said in the press release. “Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of office workers keep their mobile phones close to hand, while food and drink, medicines, and photos of loved ones are also chief clutter culprits.”
So why such a personal survey? According to FileNET, the survey is part of the company’s research into “physical office clutter and electronic clutter, such as e-mail messages, digital photos, duplicated business documents and video downloads.”
The company then cleverly plugs its software as the solution to such problems. So-called e-clutter is a growing problem for businesses since it takes up storage space and makes it difficult for workers to find the right computer files.
“Most people are just naturally untidy, even at work, and this is reflected in the amount of e-clutter that companies increasingly have to deal with,” says Doug Coombs, director of strategy at FileNET. “Although, most desk clutter may be totally harmless, e-clutter can seriously damage productivity. Most companies therefore need to improve their electronic filing systems and reduce the amount of e-clutter staff generate.”
Now, if FileNET’s could only find a way to take care of the other clutter in the office.
Dell Vet Joins Western Dig
Western Digital Corp. added former Dell Computer Corp. vice president Michael Lambert to its eight-member board.
“Michael Lambert is a key addition to the Western Digital board of directors,” said Chief Executive Matt Massengill. “His broad computer-industry background and seasoned operations perspective offers us valuable insight into the customer side of our business as we continue to increase our penetration into both the consumer and enterprise markets.”
Before retiring from Dell earlier this year, Lambert ran the computer maker’s enterprise systems group as senior vice president. Before that, Lambert served as vice president of sales and marketing for Compaq Computer Corp. (now part of Hewlett-Packard Co.) in the mid-1990s.
Earlier in his career, Lambert was at NCR Corp.
Folino Joins Mind Board
Donating wasn’t enough.
Paul Folino, chief executive of Costa Mesa-based network storage device maker Emulex Corp., recently joined the board of The Mind Institute, a nonprofit group started by University of California, Irvine, physicist Gordon Shaw.
The institute,whose name is an acronym for “Music Intelligence Neural Development Institute”,uses music to help kids develop subconscious skills needed to excel at math.
“Paul’s expertise in technology is a valued asset to the institute,” Shaw said. “And his willingness to become even more involved underscores his commitment to improving education and fueling a long range solution to high tech work force development.”
The institute has drawn donations from some of the county’s biggest benefactors, including Broadcom Corp. cofounder Henry Samueli and FileNET Corp. founder Ted Smith, along with Folino.
The three donated $2 million in the past year.
The foundation also received donations from larger foundations, including the Bank of America Foundation, California Community Foundation and the Dwight Stuart Youth Foundation.
Hop-On to Report to SEC
Some companies may be trying to hide from the Securities and Exchange Commission these days, but Garden Grove’s Hop-On.com Inc. wants to step up communication with the regulatory agency.
Tired of being traded among lesser-known stocks listed on what’s known as the Pink Sheets, the maker of disposable cellular phones says it will start “fully” reporting to the SEC so it can be listed among the slightly more prestigious over-the-counter section of Nasdaq.
“This is another significant move forward with our corporate strategy,” said Hop-On chief Peter Michaels. “We believe that full reporting status will better reflect the intrinsic value of Hop-On.”
The company says that since there have been a lot of companies downgraded from Nasdaq to the over-the-counter boards, there is more interest in over-the-counter stocks. The move comes just as the company’s design for a disposable cell phone was approved by the Federal Communications Commission. The company has been working on the design for the past four years,as long as the company has been publicly traded.
