In this installment of Pro T.I.P.S., we interview Randy Copeland, CEO of Velocity Micro, to share the essential tech he uses to keep his company running as safe and efficiently as possible.
Randy Copeland is CEO of Velocity Micro, a high-end builder of high-octane computer systems and workstations, as well as other electronics including android tablets, external optical drives, monitors, and other computer peripherals. Customers include: Best Buy, Walmart, Amazon, Microsoft, Boeing, Exxon, Harvard, Standford, MIT, NASA.
DT: Why would you say you’re an innovator in your field?
RC: Back in the late 90s, I was building the systems myself, and always looking for the cleanest, neatest, coolest, quietest way. Performance has always been paramount, but clean builds and meticulous wiring have always supported a better performing computer. The same went for overclocking the CPU, RAM, and especially the graphics. Soon after, I was at an Intel advisory meeting and directly asked then CEO Paul Otellini if he would allow me to officially overclock Intel processors without voiding the warranty. He looked over at his TA (technical advisor) who gave him a nod, and looked over at his lawyer, who gave him a nod, and said "nobody knows more about monster rigs than you, so go for it." We were the first PC brand to ship factory overclocked computers in [big brand] retail.
DT: What is the most challenging aspect of your role? In turn, the most rewarding?
RC : The challenges are the same as many other industries. Keeping up with the cycles in the technology is difficult, but I really enjoy it. The most important reward for me personally is bringing along younger PC builders and developing them into real professionals that share both the passion and technique that creates truly bespoke computers.
DT: What is the most hazardous issue that the current tech and electronics industry face?
RC: That’s simple, it’s a lack of innovation in software. I fear that software is still being developed to run on the lowest possible hardware specifications, at the expense of using the latest hardware technologies that have emerged. I also see many computer users getting the attitude that PCs have matured, and the system they have is good enough, rather than realizing the unbelievable advances and performance gains that new hardware enables.
DT: How does Velocity Micro handle software updates and deployments?
RC: We test constantly and update our software stacks daily with the latest updates, drivers, and patches. After an initial software deployment is cast into each system we build, we spend a lot of individual time with that computer to make sure that the latest of everything is installed correctly, nothing is missing or out of date, and that there is no new bloatware that a particular update has inserted for the benefit of the software supplier, rather than for the benefit of our customer.
DT: Do you feel staying current with the latest software innovations help you protect your enterprise and systems more?
RC: It’s our lifeblood, hand in hand with the latest hardware advances. We need to be in front of what our customers will be doing as much as possible. While we are not always the expert on every single game or software package, we do make sure that we keep up with a wide variety of programs that are typical user favorites. More than that, we also go beyond to make sure that whatever software a customer intends to use, our hardware is going to run it much faster and reliably than a generic PC. Often, we discover the benefits of maintaining the latest and greatest software and hardware innovations before our customer, and that’s another huge advantage for us.
DT: With a Windows 10 update recently launched, do you plan on updating your systems?
RC: We’re constantly updating our systems to bring the latest possible technology to our customers. Win10 Fall Creators is no exception, and our development work is completed. Doing the work to ensure that our systems are ready for anything thrown at them is job #1 for us.
Strengthen identity and access management with security built into 7th Gen® CoreTM vProTM processor-based devices.
Learn More
