From the day I founded iolo over 15 years ago, it has been based on two passions: making computers work better and the desire to help others. The fact that System Mechanic, the product that most fundamentally embodies these principles, has become the most widely praised computer improvement software in the world gives all of us at iolo reassurance that our hard work is making a difference.

While we’re a lot different today than we were in 1998, our core DNA has never changed. Back then iolo was a handful of people in one room working late nights and weekends to get my big idea off the ground. Over the years as the company expanded we’ve attracted some of the most talented and driven computer enthusiasts in the industry, all of them unified by the same basic goal of making things better. With a vast array of opinions and perspectives on improving computer performance, ranging from FPS-boosting secrets, to video rendering tricks, to server I/O optimizations, and everything in between, iolo’s hallway conversations can get pretty lively (not to mention unashamedly geeky), but that’s just the way we like it here.

Nerdy passions aside, our fifteen year anniversary is a celebration of our close connection to you, our customers.  In order to make quality products that solve real problems and deliver tangible benefits, we work hard to stay in touch with what drives your digital experience. Over the years, the common answer has been: “I want my computer to work responsively and reliably whenever I need it and however I use it.”

Simple, right? Well, not quite. Given the current breakneck pace of change in technology with hardware and operating system companies embroiled in winner-take-all standards wars, “ready-fire-aim” can be a common strategy, leaving end users to sort through the shrapnel, and iolo to come up with ways to keep the peace.

We won’t deny that many times our mission has seemed impossible – too complex with too many moving parts that are constantly changing. But through the years you’ve inspired us to reach beyond the impossibilities and innovate solutions that redefine and elevate what we can expect to accomplish with our computers.

As we proudly celebrate iolo’s successful decade and a half in business, I would like to remind us all that today computers are inextricably woven into the fabric of our everyday lives. When they perform optimally it is more than just technical achievement, it raises the quality of life.

What’s Ahead

In a few words, “much more of the same”. While I’m proud of our growth and success thus far, we’ve only just scratched the surface. Much larger opportunities await. As new ways of computing emerge and evolve we’ll be focused on expanding iolo’s proven technologies to a broader range of devices beyond traditional PCs and laptops, such as smartphones, tablets, and other mobile, wearable, and embedded devices. Additionally, we’ll be introducing some exciting new products tailored specifically for businesses, allowing corporations of all sizes to benefit from the advantages our productivity-boosting technologies can provide.

Perhaps even more exciting, we’ve recently entered into an exclusive partnership with Phoenix Technologies, the global leader in BIOS and embedded firmware solutions. Phoenix’s core system software has been used in over a billion computers worldwide and the company maintains intimate partnerships with the pillars of the digital industry such as Intel, Microsoft, Samsung, and others. Our relationship with Phoenix provides iolo engineers with elite access to key technology designs at the manufacturing level, often years before becoming publicly available. This means we’ll be able to proactively innovate for the future and create game-changing solutions that will transform today’s seemingly impossible needs into tomorrow’s everyday realities – and do so on a scale I never dreamed of on that warm June morning in 1998 when iolo first opened its doors for business.

To all of iolo’s millions of customers, thank you. Your enthusiasm makes my dream a reality. You’ve helped turn iolo into the amazing company it has become.  Here’s to another 15 years of success together!

Noah T. Rowles
Founder and Chief Product Strategist

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