Cantina
Bringing Ambitious Innovation to Life

Involved in any discussion on Internet of Things (IoT) are words like digital disruption, innovation, and ‘smart’ devices. Today, IoT is in the limelight and increasingly there are many companies trying to make a dent in this disruptive market. However, many companies lack the necessary expertise to bring their innovative and ambitious ideas to life. “It is imperative for these companies to understand the business impact of IoT and their related technology decisions,” informs Alec Francesconi, President, Cantina. A comprehensive understanding of the technological skills and design approach is required to develop innovative solutions, and Cantina brings just that. The Boston, MA – based digital design and development firm has been enabling organizations to bring their disruptive ideas to life.

Cantina houses adept expertise in building interfaces, which Francesconi believes enables them to tackle its clients’ challenges in the IoT landscape. “IoT really is a concept. A part of it is essentially instrumenting more of the objects of the world. Everything comes back to user interface. With our skilled resources in developing front and back end of an innovation, we have built interfaces with capable design resources,” he adds. “A lot of our work revolves around mobile and IoT is an extension of a major chunk of what we do.”

Cantina is a ‘work for hire’ company that leverages modern-day technology and techniques to build customer-facing products for its client. Their extensive experience in combining the right set of technology and design enables Cantina to build custom applications and products. “We enlighten our clients about the business impact and end-user needs of the solution they desire to build, and help them design the software,” says Francesconi. “Our team is adept in making the user side interact with the network side of the solution.”

The company follows a ‘business first’ approach, which involves the team conducting a series of workshops and training sessions with its clients. “Our clients have an idea of the solution to the problem they have, and we really help them to flush out that solution,” states Francesconi. Once the architecture is determined, the company designs and develops the solution from end-user perspective. Recently, a Boston based bio technology and engineering firm approached Cantina to help design and build a system to collect data and provide on-demand analysis from a network of air-quality sensors. The technical architects of Cantina worked with this client’s team to understand the requirements and existing methodology in place. “We helped them build the data architecture and designed and developed the front- and back-ends of the system,” says Francesconi. The company can pull all the sensor data and give specific air quality information at different places to relevant users.

We’re here to turn amazing ideas into ‘digital reality’. Our people shape ideas into successful products and services by using the best design and development techniques available

Cantina is establishing an innovation lab where the focus will be on building prototype hardware to better understand user interactions. In doing so, the company aims to further establish itself as experts in the rapidly forming and changing IoT space. “The market is moving quickly and chaotically. We have to stay focused on listening to customers and building user-centric and valuable interactions,” concludes Francesconi.