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Open Kernel Labs Blog
February 01, 2008
CEO Steve Subar Interviewed by the Illinois Information Technology Association
President and CEO Steve Surbar was recently interview by MidWest Business. The interview is featured on the Illinois Information Technology Association (ITA) website.
Company Name: Open Kernel Labs
Executive Name: Steve Subar
Title: Co-founder, president and CEO
Product/Services: Systems software for embedded devices
Company Size: Revenue growth stage
Web Site: http://www.ok-labs.com
ITA: In about 10 words, what pain does Open Kernel Labs solve?
Steve Subar: We reduce software complexity while improving the reliability, trustworthiness and security for embedded systems.
ITA: What motivated you to start Open Kernel Labs?
Steve Surbar: In 2005, I was selected to serve as the first entrepreneur-in-residence (EiR) for National Information & Communication Technology Australia (NICTA). NICTA is Australia’s preeminent center of excellence for research in software and communications technology.
My EiR assignment was to determine which of the approximately 100 research projects would be ideal candidates for commercialization and to present a spin-out plan to the NICTA’s board.
I began by evaluating the various initiatives and quickly narrowed my focus to 12 promising projects. Along the way, I met Gernot Heiser: NICTA’s program director for the Embedded, Real-Time & Operating Systems (ERTOS) program.
I was immediately attracted to the program by the pedigree of the people involved (45 researchers including 17 with doctorates), their worldwide unmatched reputation and the incredible technology they had been working on for 14 years.
Shortly thereafter, there was an announcement that Qualcomm would be standardizing its next-generation wireless chipsets using our software. That immediately put us on about 200 million cell phones around the world.
The opportunity to create a new company focused on virtualization and security for wireless devices, converged multimedia set-top boxes and satellite systems was an obvious choice. Our technology provides an answer to a marketplace that is crying out for a solution.
From there, I founded Open Kernel Labs as the commercialization vehicle for this NICTA software technology. OK owns 100 percent of its IP and maintains a partnership with NICTA. I’m the president and CEO.
ITA: How does Open Kernel Labs differentiate from its competitors?
Steve Surbar: While our products certainly are one dimension that differentiates us, there are also other equally important reasons.
Our name – Open Kernel Labs – reveals the unique advantages we offer customers: our advanced microkernel technology, the open source nature of our products, the research heritage and the ongoing investment in research that results in new and exciting products.
When choosing our name, “kernel” was an obvious choice because the core technology is a pure microkernel. This is the lowest layer of operating system software that integrates hardware with the applications. We chose “open” because we embrace open source as a means for publishing technology.
In order for a system to be trustworthy, we believe it needs to be open to public inspection rather than hidden behind proprietary licenses. Our openness provides a unique and differentiated value not seen elsewhere in the embedded systems space. Openness is also a unique aspect of our corporate beliefs and culture that benefit OK customers and partners.
The final part of our name – “labs” – speaks to our research heritage and ongoing partnership with NICTA. We are imbued with a rich treasure trove of intellectual property that’s unmatched anywhere else with a similar company.
We benefit from years of research and ongoing collaboration with NICTA. This results in tremendous innovation that would be difficult and expensive to execute otherwise. As a result of our technology, our open source nature and our research partnership, we deliver products that are unmatched anywhere else in the marketplace.
ITA: How does Open Kernel Labs make money?
Steve Subar: We license software and sell professional services.
ITA: How has your sector evolved over the last five years?
Steve Subar: We are walking around with devices in our pockets that are 300 times as powerful as the most powerful computer was five years ago. While this brings immense opportunities to everyone in terms of access to information, it also presents a lot of challenges particularly in terms of security.
The typical way of dealing with security is at an application level. Because of that revolution in devices, we are at a point now where we need to start building security into the actual device. This demand for software of increasing complexity and the necessity of maintaining both performance and increasing security are challenges that Open Kernel Labs can solve.
Our technology has applications in wireless mobile, consumer electronics, network infrastructure, automotive and transportation, aerospace and defense and industrial markets.
ITA: How is Open Kernel Labs funded?
Steve Surbar: OK is venture funded.
ITA: What are the biggest challenges you face as an Illinois-based IT company?
Steve Subar: Our biggest challenge is finding staff with relevant experience.
ITA: What are your thoughts in general related to the Illinois IT community?
Steve Subar: Illinois is an up-and-coming area with tremendous potential to become the next hot spot for technology. More and more businesses and investors – particularly in Chicago – are seeing the potential to be on the cutting edge of the next technology breakthrough.
ITA: What is virtualization?
Steve Subar: Embedded Virtualization is technology for supporting execution of computer program code – from applications to entire operating systems – in a software-controlled environment.
This technology enables customers to consolidate multiple operating systems on one chip instead of having a chip for each operating system. That is probably the primary reason that customers would want to use virtualization. However, our products are more than just virtualization.
Since we are really selling a general operating platform system, virtualization is one of the things we can do. We also let our customers write applications natively, which is a pretty important differentiator between our product and the pure virtualization products that are out there.
ITA: What trends do you see in 2007 that are relevant to the industry and Open Kernel Labs?
Steve Subar: Ten years ago, half of the world’s population had never even made a phone call. Today, half of the world’s population carries a cell phone. The increasing prevalence of wireless devices means that more and more people are online downloading e-mail, running applications and installing games.
The demand for devices that enable these activities and the expectation for a pleasing user interface increases the software complexity exponentially in our devices. This also increases the risk to the security of the devices and the network on which the devices run.
Open Kernel Labs is in a unique position to reduce software complexity and create trustworthy devices with our advanced microkernel technology.
Another very recent trend – introduced by Boeing and Airbus – is the ability to access the Internet on flights. The challenge this presents is that people logging into a passenger domain could potentially gain access to the network that controls the plane and collects data necessary for navigation.
The implications of this threat are obvious. A well-designed microkernel is the best way to not only provide assurance but to actually prove that these systems can be kept secure.
On the opposite end of the spectrum are the 2.3 billion new consumers in developing countries. The challenge for OK’s customers is to serve the needs of these new markets where the requirements are similar to the developed markets yet the price point is considerably less.
This means many more new opportunities for OK to help customers create sophisticated devices that can be delivered in much less time and at much less cost for use nearly anywhere in the world.
Posted by Steve Subar on February 01 at 04:17 PM
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About Steve Subar:
Steve Subar, CEO and President of OK Labs, has been an honored leader in the technology industry for 20 plus years and has received several accolades for his work. Steve is an avid runner who can also be found communing with his surfboard in Bondi Beach, Australia; skiing the slopes of Beaver Creek, Colorado; or searching for the perfect Pinot Noir all over the world.