Equinix: Connecting the Cyber World

Around 950 network service providers around the world rely on the services provided by Equinix. The company is publicly traded on the NASDAQ and is a global provider of carrier-neutral data centers and internet exchanges since its inception in 1998.

Giant companies like Sprint, Yahoo, Google, AOL, AT&T, Sony, Sprint and IBM among others, rely on the services provided by Equinix. The company is best known for providing traffic exchange, colocation, IBX (Internet Business Exchange) and interconnection services. They also provide their services to various systems integrators, enterprises and content companies. To accommodate the services required by their clients, the business has strategically positioned their 101 data centers across 15 countries. These hubs are located in 32 major metropolitan areas with their headquarters in Redwood City, California.

Over 90% of the world’s internet route are are managed by their IBXs peer IP traffic. As outlined on their website, the company exists to provide storage, power and connection to the internet. More than the acquisitions it has made, Equinix is able to maintain its top position in the global market through its capacity to leverage network effects. Its network neutral policy has served as the main attraction of the business which has drawn in huge businesses. Through this business strategy, they are able to connect two different networks to each other as long as both parties are customers of the business. With this set-up, they are able to grow the networks they are managing and continue to push telecommunications provider to join the ecosystem they have created. Majority of huge companies like Google and Microsoft are also after the data centers of the business that would serve as a preventive measure for disaster avoidance and off-site data backup.

Equinix is the brainchild of Al Avery and Jay Adelson, who foresaw the growth of the internet and the need for a better and much bigger data centers to be deployed. Both gentlemen were one facility managers at Digital Equipment Corporation prior to putting up the venture.

The Cooper Companies: Changing the Way You See the World

Thriving in the industry of medical devices, The Cooper Companies is one of the billion dollar businesses that are based in the United States. Headquartered in Pleasanton, California, the company generates more than $1.33 billion in annual revenue.

There are two segments of the business: CooperSurgical (CSI) and CooperVision (CVI). The former focuses on the production and marketing of products that are geared toward women’s health. The latter is involved in the production of contact lenses. Of the two business units, CVI generates about 80% of the company’s revenue, especially through their soft toric lenses. This product is intended for use to correct astigmatism.

Founded in 1958, the company started out as Martin H. Smith and later on changed its brand name to Cooper Laboratories, before adopting the company label Cooper Companies in 1987. Other than their famous contact lenses, they also carry products for family planning, fertility assessments and related products and other devices that are used for surgery.

CVS Caremark: U.S.’ 12th Largest Company

There are more than 7,000 store locations in the United States that CVS Caremark operates. The company is listed as part of the Fortune Global 500 businesses and is ranked as the 40th largest company in the world with annual revenue of more than $126.7 billion.

The business is listed as a retailer and health care company that has its main office located in Woonsocket, Rhode Islands. Their pharmacy services are marketed under the brand names CVS Pharmacy and Longs Drugs stores. It further operates three major subsidiaries: MinuteClinic, a retail-based health clinic; CVS.com, their online pharmacy and Caremark Pharmacy Services, their mail order, specialty pharmacy and benefit management business arm. In the United States alone, the company is listed as the 12th largest business and is made part of the Fortune 500 companies. Overall, the business is known as the largest company listed in Fortune that has its operations focused within the United States.

The formation of the company is the result of the merger between CVS Pharmacy and Caremark Rx in 2007. The two businesses are considered as one of the largest in their respective niches. It was brothers, Stanley and Sidney Goldstein, who founded CVS in 1963 while Caremark was established by James M. Sweeney in 1979. The rapid growth of the company is also attributed to the various acquisitions it has made. Their MinuteClinic is now the largest walk-in medical clinic in the country and operates within the perimeter of their CVS Pharmacy stores.

Starting out as Melville Corporation, CVS once stood for Consumer Value Stores but is now re-profiled to stand for Convenience, Value and Service. It was their former CEO, Thomas Ryan, who initiated this change to further push the image of the business as a reliable source of valuable medicines, exceptional service and convenient locations.

Cardinal Health Inc.: A Multi-billion Dollar Health Care Services Company

As one of the leading health care services companies in the United States, Cardinal Health, Inc., is capable of generating more than $107 billion in revenue. The business is listed as part of the Fortune 500 companies, the Russell 1000 Index and the S&P 500.

There are more than 60,000 locations that the business serves as part of their operations in distributing pharmaceutical and medical products. Other than operating the country’s largest network of radiopharmacies, they also produce medical and surgical products like surgical apparel, gloves and fluid management items. They also have a strong partnership with CVS Caremark and formed the largest generic drug sourcing operation in the entire United States. Since its inception, it has acquired several businesses that helped its growth in the industry of clinical services and medical equipment manufacturing.

Cardinal Health, Inc. is publicly listed on the New York Stock Exchange and has over 30,000 employees worldwide.

Clear Channel Outdoors: U.S.’ Oldest Outdoor Advertising Company

Clear Channel Communications is the business that controls the operations of Clear Channel Outdoors, one of the world’s largest outdoor advertising companies. Through the services offered by the business, companies paying for ads to be posted are able to maximize their capacity to reach out to people everywhere.

The power of advertising has been harnessed by Clear Channel Outdoors. As a trusted partner, the company has helped businesses increase revenue and boost product patronage. They are the expert and the go to business when a budding venture wants to let the whole world they exist. Nobody knows outdoor advertising better than Clear Channel Outdoor. The history of their expertise in advertising goes back to the formation of Foster & Kleiser in 1901. The formation of the current business is the result of the merger of three advertising empires: Foster & Kleiser, Patrick Media Outdoor and Eller Media Company. The name change happened in 2001 and by then, the company already held the title of being the oldest outdoor advertising company in the United States.

Proudly standing as an advertising expert, they are able to wield both traditional and non-traditional mediums of advertising. From the traditional billboards, the company’s offerings have evolved to include mall/retail advertising, mobile/transit advertising, airport advertising and eventually to those types that are blasted on the huge screens at the Times Square in New York City. Headquartered in San Antonio, Texas, the company has an international presence and operates in six continents.

The operations of the business are segmented into 5 major divisions, namely, Clear Channel Outdoor, Clear Channel Adshel, Clear Channel Airports, Clear Channel Malls and Clear Channel Spectacolor. The growth of the business is strongly attributed to the acquisitions it has made through the years. Currently, the business publicly trades on the New York Stock Exchange.

Sproxil: Brand Identification and Differentiation at Its Best

Companies in all industries pour considerable amounts of resources (i.e., manpower, money and time) into brand identification and differentiation as well as in product research, development and sales. But the global issue of counterfeiting has made the investments on brands and their products in jeopardy; counterfeiting is an $800-billion dollar industry.

Enter Sproxil with its award-winning Mobile Product Authentication technology designed to combat counterfeiting, among others. The technology provides for excellent levels of brand and product protection wherein consumers can verify the genuineness of the products purchased. Companies, of course, benefit from the technology because their sales are not eaten into, so to speak, by counterfeiters.

Sproxil also provides for other services. These include the Stolen Product Investigator, which provides leads to catch counterfeiters; Track & Trace, which installs checkpoints for product verification; and Connect, which creates effective channels of communication between consumers and companies.

In the future, counterfeiting can be stopped in its tracks with the efforts of Sproxil and similar companies.

Making Life More Fabulous With FAB

What began as a social network with emphasis on gay men and their friends in February 2010 soon became a site for daily design inspiration among its members in November 2011. And so FAB was born into its present-day incarnation, a highly popular website where members have the opportunities of posting, sharing and purchasing their fashion and design inspirations with fellow members.

FAB is obviously an e-commerce company dealing with products on virtually all price points, thus, making it an ideal hunting ground for bargain hunters and fashionistas on the hunt for designer items. Members have several departments to choose from, such as furniture, kitchen and dining, home, bed and bath, art, jewelry, and personal accessories.

Think of FAB as giving the likes of Amazon a run for their money while also adding value to the entire purchasing process. Members, after all, can be inspired and give inspiration via their savvy styles in personal fashion and interior design, thus, making each purchase worth the investment.

Such inspired approach to selling items (i.e., each item is presented as a part of an fashion or design whole) continues to make FAB popular among Netizens. The numbers speak for such success - membership grew from 175,000 in June 2011 to 7.5 million in September 2012 and then over 10 million in December 2012, a growth rate higher than Twitter, Facebook and Group. Such growth is, indeed, saying something about the power of fashion and design on the popular imagination. When coupled with the 6 million unique visitors each month, FAB is truly making a killing in the industry.

FAB is one of the most notable successes of the use of social commerce for good reasons. Members can upload and share their designs on the Inspiration Wall as well as share what they are purchasing, tweeting and sharing via the Live Feed. Truly, social e-commerce at one of its best.