Continuing the revitalization of the economy of Northwest Indiana requires a step by step process. Each step successfully started drives the start of the next step. There are distinct and measurable steps to success for an information technology based environment.

The success of this strategy follows a logical process of building core competencies within Northwest Indiana. The seven steps are:

1. Broadband service from multiple providers. Multiple providers assure that broadband access is not dependent on the business success of a single company. Multiple physical paths are required to eliminate backhoe service interruptions.
2. Server hosting sites. These are very large sites that host hundreds to thousands of servers in a secure, high performance environment staffed by highly skilled server and data communications technicians. They provide extensive backup and recovery service, disaster recovery and business continuity services, remote caching, instant failover to remote sites, large uninterrupted power supplies and the ability to quickly install and bring new services on-line.
3. Academic and industrial research and development centers. R&D organizations are dependent upon being close to high performance server and communication facilities. R&D thrives on the intense interaction created by a close community of researchers, developers and high performance service providers.
4. Web site development and web site service businesses. Web development and web service organizations support business and community web sites. They are not directly dependent on R&D organizations and server facilities. However, they are substantially enriched by the presence of these organizations and services.
5. Electronic commerce firms and businesses that use the Internet as a key component of their marketing, sales and service. These can be both e-commerce-based businesses and more conventional businesses that aggressively use the Internet. The higher the quality of the four steps above the more likely these businesses will invest in Northwest Indiana since excellence will have been demonstrated.
6. Support services for all of the above: Facilities and facilities management, training services, computer retailers and value added resellers, utilities, business equipment, accounting, legal, insurance, transportation and communication services.
7. Community resources: Restaurants and entertainment, real estate, retailing of all kinds, home and personal services. This also includes the growth of community services such as good schools and churches, environmental quality and improvements in the overall quality of life for Northwest Indiana residents.

The key decision is the commitment to start. Once there is confidence that a particular step will begin then the following steps will soon follow. Therefore at inception there is a critical requirement that all of those involved have confidence that the others are going to successfully commit to their businesses. Broadband will be installed when the broadband providers have confidence that their new resource will be heavily utilized. Server facilities will be constructed when the facility management companies have confidence that the facility will be heavily used. R&D management will commit when they have confidence that their required infrastructure will be in place.

However, the economic scale of these steps is an inverted pyramid. Few employees are required to provide broadband access for Northwest Indiana. Server facilities are very capital intensive; similar to steel mills, and require small but very highly qualified technical staffs. The real growth in employment begins at the web site development level.

1. Broadband service from multiple providers. Multiple providers mean that broadband access is not dependent on the business success of a single company. Multiple physical paths are required to eliminate backhoe service interruptions.

Broadband access serves two different markets in Northwest Indiana:

1. Large Server Hosting Facilities. These facilities require direct access to the Internet backbone through several independent providers. Currently a Northwest Indiana business can use a local hosting service for lower volume and reliability service. However, success means that the server hosting will need to move to a large out-of-state hosting center.
2. Businesses that require high bandwidth access. Support centers and call centers can have hundreds of employees all accessing the Internet. Design firms need to rapidly move very large image and media files. Today in Northwest Indiana these businesses have to pay a high toll charge for T-1 or better service as the nearest T-1 point of presence is in Illinois. Access in Northwest Indiana could reduce these charges by two thirds or more. For many smaller businesses this is the difference between being competitive and being left out.

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2. Server hosting sites. These are very large sites that host hundreds to thousands of servers in a secure, high performance environment staffed by highly skilled server and data communications technicians. They provide extensive backup and recovery service, disaster recovery and business continuity services, remote caching, instant failover to remote sites, large uninterrupted power supplies and the ability to quickly install and bring on-line new services.

Large servers are difficult to set up. A large server cluster is a balance of many competing technical environments for security, performance, reliability, continuity and communication. The initial programming of the servers and the routers requires deep technical support. This is very attractive to technical training organizations, as these centers require the very best certified technical staff for these servers and routers.

However, once a server environment is established little additional effort is required for its continuing operation until it is upgraded, scheduled maintenance is required or a major failure occurs.

These three requirements of high initial demand, low operational demand and very high crises demand mean that only very large facilities will have sufficient demand for server technical support to keep a solid and competent technical staff fully involved.

These facilities are very capital intensive, similar to a steel mill. One of the challenges of the technical training and certification organizations is gaining access to this costly equipment and to assuring graduates that they have the skills necessary to work in such an environment. If all of these facilities are located elsewhere then it is difficult to attract students, train those students, and most importantly, keep the best of those students in the area after successful completion of their training.

For Northwest Indiana the effort to provide broadband access and to attract those businesses that require broadband access is focused on Hammond. This is ideal from the perspective of delivering service both to Chicago and to Northwest Indiana. This facility can not only serve Northwest Indiana but is also a geographically attractive location for organizations affiliated with the University of Chicago and Illinois Institute of Technology as well as for Chicago loop businesses seeking a close-by server site. Further study may indicate the desirability of similar service in the east along 421 or 49.

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3. Academic and industrial research and development centers. R&D organizations are dependent upon being close to high performance server and communication facilities. R&D thrives on the intense interaction created by a close community of researchers, developers and high performance service providers.

These organizations fall into three categories:

1. Academic research for universities and governmental agencies.
2. Industrial research for companies on internal and industry projects.
3. Web application development for commercial use. These are often thought of as the "dot coms". They do the development that drives the growth of web-based businesses and web-based services.

High-end developers and researchers need to be close to their equipment and to their support organizations. The ability to quickly move equipment into a facility and to work directly with the technicians in the facility builds confidence and improves performance for these researchers and developers. Therefore it is unlikely that a strong research and development environment community will emerge until the underlying infrastructure of broadband access and high performance server facilities is available.

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4. Web site development and web site service businesses. Web development and web service organizations support web sites. They are not directly dependent on R&D organizations and server facilities. However, they are substantially enriched by the presence of these organizations and services.

These businesses can exist as they do today without broadband access, server facilities and research and development centers. However, without this rich foundation the community is missing access to top-level services, support, and encouragement. Career opportunities are limited for those with superior talent and they then leave. It is similar to what Indiana basketball would be like if basketball stopped at the high school level.

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5. Electronic commerce firms and businesses that use the Internet as a key component of their marketing, sales and service. These can be both e-commerce-based businesses and more conventional businesses that aggressively use the Internet. The higher the quality of the four steps above the more likely these businesses will invest in Northwest Indiana since excellence will have been demonstrated.

Web based businesses fall into the following categories:

1. Web services that provide all services through the web. Examples would be distribution of music and software through downloads, certain banking and brokerage services and research and database services. These require nothing more than staff, an office and access to infrastructure.
2. Web services with out-of-area manufacturing and distribution. Examples would be catalog ordering and fulfillment with distribution from an airfreight hub such as Memphis and overseas manufacturing firms. These businesses also only require staff, offices and access to infrastructure.
3. Web services with manufacturing and distribution from Northwest Indiana. Northwest Indiana is one of the premier manufacturing and distribution areas in the world. Success in this sector would be leveraging the already demonstrated and in place manufacturing and distribution with the power of mature electronic commerce businesses based in Northwest Indiana.
4. Current manufacturing and distribution businesses can gain market share with a strong and competent web presence. This adds to the already existing base of business.

6. Support services for all of the above: Facilities and facilities management, training services, computer retailers and value added resellers, utilities, business equipment, transportation and communications services.

Supporting business services are required for all of the businesses and organizations created by and grown by these activities. These include:

Computer retailers and value added resellers
Facilities and facility services
Business supplies and services
Technical training centers
Relocation services
Advertising and promotion agencies
Human resources services such as benefits, training and recruiting
Professional services, legal, accounting, engineering, and architectural.

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7. Community resources: Restaurants and entertainment, real estate, retailing of all kinds, home and personal services. This also includes the growth of community services such as schools and churches.

One of the most critical questions is the staffing of these new business opportunities. The key to success combines two strong resources. The quality of life in Northwest Indiana and the size of the workforce crossing over the boarder into Illinois every day. If the business opportunities were in Northwest Indiana then that talent and that money would stay here, to earn, spend, invest and be taxed. The majority of the workforce required to successfully develop these opportunities lives here today, from senior executives and top academics to professional and technical staff to administrative and support staff.

An organized effort to continue to revitalize the economy of Northwest Indiana can bring these people home.

Creag Banta
Braided Systems Incorporated

219-926-4442

cbanta@braided-systems.com

© 2000 Braided Systems Incorporated

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