High-Performance Cloud-Computing: Virtual Machines & Software on Demand PDF Free Download
1 / 22/22
100%
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
All Rights Reserved
High-Performance Cloud-Computing:
Virtual Machines & Software on Demand
Film/Media Production, Pharmaceutical Research, Business/Educational Productivity
BUSINESS PLAN
stratus-core.com
BY
Steven Chacon
ATC Dynamics Inc.
Markham, Ontario, Canada
atcdynamics@rogers.com
2025
Distribution:
Web Copy
™
TM
2 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ........................................................................................ 3
COMPANY OVERVIEW ........................................................................................ 3
Business Mission .............................................................................................................................. 4
Corporate Vision .............................................................................................................................. 4
Goals and Objectives ........................................................................................................................ 4
COMPUTER INDUSTRY ........................................................................................ 4
Cloud-Computing History................................................................................................................. 4
Security Firewalls ............................................................................................................................. 5
Market Trends .................................................................................................................................. 5
File Servers ....................................................................................................................................... 5
Competition ..................................................................................................................................... 6
Customer Behavior .......................................................................................................................... 6
COMPANY STRATEGY ......................................................................................... 7
Cloud-Service Providers ................................................................................................................... 7
Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals ................................................................................................................... 7
Growth Strategy ............................................................................................................................... 7
Competitive Advantage ................................................................................................................... 8
Market Segment Growth ................................................................................................................. 8
Office Building ................................................................................................................................ 10
Network Hardware ........................................................................................................................ 11
Software License Agreements ....................................................................................................... 12
Pooled vs. Dedicated Service ......................................................................................................... 12
Virtual Desktop .............................................................................................................................. 13
Customer Path ............................................................................................................................... 13
ACTION PLAN .................................................................................................... 15
FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS .................................................................................. 15
Revenue Generators ...................................................................................................................... 15
File Server Expenditures ................................................................................................................ 17
Software License Expenditures ...................................................................................................... 18
Scalable Growth ............................................................................................................................. 18
Startup Cost ................................................................................................................................... 19
Operational Expenses .................................................................................................................... 19
Initial Investment ........................................................................................................................... 20
Projected Financial Statement ....................................................................................................... 20
AUTHOR RESUME ............................................................................................. 20
CONTENTS
TM
3 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
High-Performance Cloud-Computing:
Virtual Machines & Software on Demand
Film/Media Production, Pharmaceutical Research, Business/Educational Productivity
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this business plan is to outline a method whereby, virtual machines & software are sold as a
service by providing high-performance, computing power with software on demand from cloud-based,
window desktops.
More specifically, this business plan serves to prove that film productions can be produced at a reduced cost,
pharmaceutical patented molecules can reach market quicker, and businesses & students can access various
mainstream software applications using any computer with an Internet connection.
Timing is at the start of an evolutionary step forward in computer technology only made possible now
through network virtualization, better known as cloud-computing.
The main objectives outlined in this business plan substantiates that the process of network virtualization
can in fact produce film productions, rich in visual effects, much more cost-efficiently utilizing cloud-
computing workflow. An inspiring film production will be used as Proof-of-Concept by affiliate Thorn
Publishing (thorn-publishing.com).
In addition to instituting at operational onset, the immediate revenue generation from the Pharmaceutical
industry, by providing data mining, research analytical tools with multiple virtual environments on request,
to establish the status-core.com industry baseline.
The market becomes entirely scalable based on network capacity and the software applications made
available to customers. At the high-end, 3D animation tools, modeling & composition down to graphic
design, statistical calculations and basic word-processing/productivity software where stratus-core.com only
serves to provide the software application’s processing power, accessible software on demand and remote
storage.
COMPANY OVERVIEW
The stratus-core.com domain is owned and operated by ATC Dynamics Inc. with expertise in delivering
Enterprise IT (information technology) projects. The stratus-core.com strategy is to run lean and cost-
efficiently with an automated network service infrastructure and e-commerce website, requiring minimal
staff to support.
To accomplish this, remote offices connected through VPNs (Virtual Private Networks) are to be used and
most services will be outsourced to trusted vendors where all standard operating procedures and technical
intentions are outlined and documented.
The technology IP (Intellectual Property) behind this business plan:
Automate Cloud-Virtualization for High-Volume Usage and Software on Demand
TM
4 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
Business Mission
Providing customers with high-performance, virtual computer environments to access software applications
and remote storage.
Corporate Vision
stratus-core.com aspires to be a high-end, cloud-computing company for which, no challenge is too great
and no solution too far, by configuring to improve what exists presently in the technology industry to be cost
efficient for end-users.
Goals and Objectives
To carry out our business mission, stratus-core.com will pursue the following:
Document, from start-to-end, all standard operation procedures, business processes and practices
Deliver a film production as a fully tested Proof-of-Concept for cloud-computing workflow
Market to the key defined industries: Film/Media Production, Pharmaceutical Research,
Business/Educational Productivity
Establish Pharmaceutical Research as industry baseline customer
COMPUTER INDUSTRY
Presently, the computer industry has reached its plateau in regards to performance and software application
features. There is far less of an appeal to use the latest releases, driving prices down in nearly all segments of
the computer industry. Customers are now better informed in terms of which software tools are needed,
making convenience and “ease of use” the motivators to support cloud-computing workflow.
Cloud-Computing History
Cloud-computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product where software applications
and server resources are provided to end-users over a network or via the Internet.
Resources such as software applications, 3D animation tools, media rendering, statistical computations,
database access, data management and remote storage are provided to cloud users without their knowledge
of location and other details of the computing infrastructure.
End-users access cloud-based applications through a web browser or virtual desktop window while the cloud
servers reside at remote locations. The performance is the same, or exceeds, than if the software
applications were installed locally on end-user computers.
In theory, “cloud-computing” is not a new form of network configuration despite its buzzword. What makes
cloud-computing a defined industry is the concept of network virtualization – the creation of virtual
machines (VMs) by allocating cores of Central Processing Units (CPUs).
Cloud-computing represents a greater cost savings measure, easier manageability and less maintenance for
businesses by outsourcing their server and software requirements.
X
If 100 cores are available:
90 cores allocated to 50 users for a software application which requires high-processing power
10 cores allocated to 500 users for a software application which requires low-processing power
TM
5 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
Security Firewalls
A concern of customers who use cloud-computing to run their applications and store data offsite is security.
Today, third-party off-the-shelf, security firewall applications provide the best protection from unauthorized
intrusions. In addition, peer-to-peer data transfer and communication is encrypted without any loss in
performance. Software security is generally a yearly subscription and has proven to be successful in
protecting end-users from known or potential intrusions.
Market Trends
The performance and features of computer hardware & software continue to improve while prices have
fallen for a variety of reasons. One of which is, people are keeping their computers and software longer
rather than having the need to upgrade every few years.
Professionals who use software applications with requirements for high-performance, use workstation
computer systems while the rest of the market use personal computers with varying degrees of
performance.
Gaming computers are high-performance consumer systems that contain after-market components. These
components assembled are priced slightly higher than average, OEM (original equipment manufacturer)
desktop computers and are significantly less-expensive than the price of a workstation. Gaming computers
have caught up to workstations in terms of performance as the following chart outlines the high-end
configurations in existence today:
Adobe is one of the first software companies and is part of a growing trend to break down the performance
barrier between gaming computers vs. workstations. Understanding the larger market potential, the
requirements for their media production software applications can successfully run on a gaming computer.
File Servers
As the foundation for networks, the trend continues where basic computers of today exceed the
performance of file servers of yesterday. The maximum heat exchange from a single, central processor chip
runs at a clock speed of 3–4 GHz and has remained consistent for the last decade, marking it as a threshold
clock speed benchmark.
Adding multiple cores to a single chip increases its performance while maintaining its clock speed
benchmark. As a result, prices have fallen for Central Processing Units (CPUs) and performance has improved
considerably, solidifying the industry’s drive towards cloud-computing.
30 years ago:
A file server cost was $50K having 4 processors with 1 core each – total 4 cores
A single company accessed a few software applications per file server
Today:
A file server costing $30K having 4 processors with 16 cores each – total 64 cores
Many companies can access a variety of software applications per file server
Company Processor Gaming Computer Workstation
$100s $1000s
Intel CPU Core I7™ Xeon™
AMD CPU Vision FX™ Opteron™
Nvidia GPU GeForce GTX™ Quadro™
AMD GPU Radeon HD™ FirePro™
CPU – Central Processing Unit
GPU – Graphics Processing Unit
TM
6 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
Competition
In today’s market, there are companies that offer some form of cloud-computing service for mainstream
software applications. The most popular services are usually in the form of web-hosting, internet service
providing, CRM (Customer Relationship Management), sales force automation, specialized software rental,
video conferencing and remote storage.
Some online services offer productivity apps for free, or for a monthly or yearly fee. These software
applications include basic web-based productivity tools such as email, calendar scheduling, word-processing,
website or media creation and file sharing services.
Autodesk, Adobe Creative Cloud and Microsoft are industry leaders in migrating their professional software
with cloud-based infrastructures where their software is installed via cloud on local, end-user drives and are
only accessible by cloud authentication for a monthly or yearly fee. Otherwise without cloud authentication,
the locally installed software becomes inoperable. This also includes onus on the end-user to satisfy local
performance requirements and solving unexpected computer issues.
There are also companies that offer render services to fulfill the growing demand for rendering power in the
field of 3D animations to produce computer-generated imagery (CGI). In this case, these Render Farms use
cloud-computing technology along with high-end rendering software applications. However, the scope is
limited since the render service is not provided in real-time, but rather the source files are transferred via
FTP (file transfer protocol) to the Render Farm and are processed as servers become available in queued
batch jobs.
The only true form of providing mainstream software applications as a service is through an Internet Café, or
similar, where customers prepay to use a computer for its installed software.
Customer Behavior
The following scenarios offer the need for software as a service, high-performance cloud-computing:
1. User buys a new computer without the need to purchase software
2. User has a computer and wants to have access to specialty software to try out, learn and use
3. Company hires an employee and provides an old computer which needs the latest productivity software
4. Company buys new computers without the need to purchase software
5. Company wants to set up a remote office network infrastructure
6. 3D animation studio, under time constraints, has workstations which need multiple virtual machines to render
simultaneous shots to avoid a slowdown in productivity
7. 3D animation studio buys new workstations without the need to purchase software
8. Pharmaceutical company needs multiple virtual machines to perform statistical permutations on laboratory analytics and
clinical trial data
9. Student has a computer but needs software for a specific course
10. Recent graduate of 3D animation works freelance from home using their existing computer without the need to purchase
a workstation or software
By using software as a service, the end-user never has to install software, unless they own the software to
install to access remotely, since the network process that exists today allows seamless methods for end-user
delivery:
1. Local access to a remote disk drive to activate a software application
2. Local access to a remote disk drive to activate a source file within a software application
3. Local access to a virtual machine which connects to a remote disk drive to activate a software application
XX
TM
7 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
COMPANY STRATEGY
The underlying stratus-core.com strategy is to provide customers an automated process to access software
applications with the same or exceeding the performance of a workstation while using their existing
computers regardless of its performance.
In terms of potential customers, the market already exists and is vast. The barrier to entry is the minimum
network capacity, which is to be maintained so that the business model of providing software as a service is
profitable. Consequently, the Cloud Farm’s maximum capacity defines the size of the serviceable customer
base at any one time.
stratus-core.com will capitalize on the fact that professional, high-end software applications and
workstations are expensive to purchase, rent and/or maintain. As prices for computer hardware & software
applications continue to drop due to the high supply and slowdown in demand, personal computing devices
will be purchased for the long term and Cloud Farms will provide processing power for software applications
with remote data storage.
Cloud-Service Providers
At the present time, cloud-service providers are finding that as their customer base and cloud network
infrastructure grows, the cost of customer retention increases significantly due to customer cancellations
and the resources needed to maintain scalable networks with redundant systems. As a result, it takes a
longer time to reach profitability.
The stratus-core.com strategy is to provide a “high-performance” automated server solution in which
minimal resources are needed to set up and maintain the cloud service without the need for redundant
systems. As the customer base and network infrastructure grows, automating the cloud for high-volume
usage on undedicated servers, lowers the cost of customer retention. As a result, it takes a shorter time to
reach profitability. Due to this cost savings, the cloud service is sold to the customer at a price point that is at
par or considerably less than current cloud-service providers for similar service.
Eli Lilly Pharmaceuticals
As the 10th largest pharmaceutical company, Eli Lilly have been dedicated to creating medicines that help
improve quality of life since 1876. Next to nuclear, pharmaceutical is the most regulated industry where
associated software technology in direct use in the manufacturing of medicines, has to be validated for FDA
(Food & Drug Administration)/Health Canada approval - the reasoning to prevent undocumented software
knowledge from walking out the door.
Partnership with Eli Lilly Canada will provide the regulatory IT (information technology) standard needed for
acceptance from the pharmaceutical industry as a viable cloud service research tool, which can provide
multi-product pipelines and methods to increase speed to market. This would be accomplished by fulfilling
the Software Validation Requirements for regulatory audits.
Growth Strategy
The customer prepays for the hours or days to rent computing power with or without software as a service
(offered by option). The days are based on a daily fiscal cycle: a new day begins at midnight in the customer’s
time zone. Days are bankable as 30 or 360-days. This strategy is beneficial for the customer since they only
pay for what they use.
1. By the hour
2. For 30 bankable days
3. For 360 bankable days (20% discount – 60 days are free)
The customer prepays rent for “pay per use”:
TM
8 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
A business rents for 30 days. Since there are 5 days per workweek, the 30-day rate works out to be 6
weeks.
A student rents for the semester – 120 days (4 x 30-day rate).
A home user rents for 360 days and saves 20% as compared to the 30-day rate. With infrequent use, the
360-day rate works out to be a few years.
The market is highly scalable since there are a finite number of popular software applications and network
capacity is entirely dependent on increasing the number of file servers, while maintaining the existing
network infrastructure.
Competitive Advantage
The stratus-core.com cloud aims to provide high-end processing power and software applications as a
service. This was not previously possible due to the high cost of software rentals, licenses and network
hardware. Through the release of the 16(+) core central processor, a high-volume of end-users would offset
the software license capital expenditures, resulting in a profitable business model.
The stratus-core.com brand will market Virtual Machines & Software on Demand, becoming the blueprint for
competitors to follow based on the premise of providing high-performance computing power for thin clients
where software is not installed locally, but accessed remotely.
Using a film production as Proof-of-Concept provides stratus-core.com much more viral exposure as
compared to traditional methods of marketing, social networking and advertising.
By establishing Pharmaceutical Research as industry baseline customer, speaks to the stratus-core.com use
to improve of quality of life.
Market Segment Growth
Film/Media Production - (Maximum Render Farm)
Film/media productions’ largest single expense, other than a big star’s salary, is the development of 3D visual
effects, computer-generated imagery (CGI) and rendered animations. The process that exists today can be
compared to a typing pool, which was a common secretarial profession prior to the invention of the
photocopier – many people needed to type many documents.
3D animation studios employ vast number of professionals, especially if the production contains visual
effects in the majority of the scenes.
The film “2012” (released 2009, budget $200M) had 1315 separate visual effect shots. The production
used 16 companies with team sizes of well over 220.
Other than design and composition, rendering simple to complex, multi-layered animations can take
minutes, hours or even days to create a clip, a few seconds long, to be used in an editing system.
Once the animation’s design is complete, the artist must render the animation to produce a clip.
When the artist’s machine is being used to render, what does the artist do while their computer is too
busy to work with?
Bill the client and wait, maybe wishing for another computer to continue working.
By offering 3D artists with multiple virtual machines, productivity would increase by eliminating idle time and
fewer 3D artists would be needed, resulting in cost savings for the production.
TM
9 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
Since network infrastructure, 3D animation software tools and high-performance workstations are expensive
capital expenditures, further cost savings for the production are realized when any computer, regardless of
performance, can be used to access:
1. Undedicated file servers
2. Workstation-like, or exceeds, performance
3. 3D animation tools
4. Rendering in real time
5. Multiple virtual machines – in essence, more workstations
In addition to providing the cloud service, stratus-core.com will outline the workflow process to be made
available to film productions, 3D animation studios and freelance CGI developers.
Pharmaceutical Research - (Minimal to No Render Farm)
To bring a patented molecule to market can cost a pharmaceutical company upwards of a billion dollars.
Once the molecule hits the market in the form of a pill, injection or other, the pharmaceutical company can
enjoy sale exclusivity until the patent expires and the generic drug companies duplicate the molecule.
Sale exclusivity on a 20-year patent typically yields 8-10 years of actual revenue generation. The rest of the
time is devoted to the creation and submission of an application (usually about 100,000 pages) to the FDA
(Food & Drug Administration)/Health Canada for approval.
Only one in 1000 compounds that enter laboratory testing ever makes it to human testing. This is due to the
endless medicinal analytics that take place to achieve favorable permutations, resulting from laboratory
testing to the investigative phases of clinical trials.
By offering multiple virtual machines and statistical software applications such as SAS (Statistical Analysis
System), conclusions can be derived quicker and efficient management of laboratory testing and clinical
research data mining, shortens development timelines and reduces costs. In addition to providing the
workflow process, as documented in the regulatory validation submission for pharmaceutical companies and
clinical research facilities.
Business/Educational Productivity - (No Render Farm)
Basic word-processing and productivity tools are the foundation of all computers in existence today. The
notion of upgrading software or hardware has greatly slowed as compared to the days of the dot com boom.
By offering virtual machines with basic productivity tools, end-users can keep their existing computers
resulting in significant cost savings by not having to purchase and install software or upgrade their computers
or servers. Businesses would benefit by reducing their IT budget and staff by not having to concentrate on IT
infrastructure.
This convenience will drive the appeal of customers not needing to troubleshoot incapability or system
issues. Their computers are simply used to:
1. Access a virtual machine through a window
2. Control & manipulate software applications
3. Manage remote & local storage
In addition, the outlined workflow process can also lead to further cost savings by using specific software
applications on a temporary basis or for a limited time, including basic business productivity tools for the
Pharmaceutical and Film/media industries:
1. Projects
2. Work assignments
3. Temporary staff
4. Educational semesters
x
TM
10 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
Office Building
The building to house stratus-core.com will reside on undeveloped land north of Toronto, Canada beside the
Rouge River, in the town of Richmond Hill, Ontario. The approximately 2500 sq. ft. (762 sq. m) structure will
be state-of-the-art with a minimal layout to contain the server farm. The land allows for easy expansion from
the modular main building.
The main building will consist of reception and meeting rooms equipped with network connectivity
workspaces in lieu of offices and cubicles.
By placing the server farm on a raised floor, 10+ feet (3+ meters) below ground level, results in a
temperature reduction of at least 5 - 15C cooler than compared to the rest of the building and outdoors all
year round reducing cooling costs. The server farm will be constructed with advanced anticipation of water
drainage, due to climate events since its location has a close proximity to the Rouge River.
The roof will have solar panels and windmills, which will feed the grid. Planting grass on the roof has been
proven to keep buildings cool. This achieves a great benefit since server farms run hot and all methods of
cooling will be explored and implemented.
FIG. 1
Floor Plan
Overhead View
FIG. 2
Floor Plan
Side View
TM
11 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
Including the use of the Rouge River as a means of cooling and as an uninterrupted power source through a
process known as Small Hydro (common in impoverish nations).
The key benefit of stratus-core.com is to operate the facility as green as possible by utilizing alternative and
renewable energy sources and for setting an example of how to build a cost-efficient server farm while being
environmentally conscious and respectful to natural surroundings.
Network Hardware
The vital components of a Cloud Farm are the expandable and scalable network equipment used to increase
user traffic capacity.
A file server is physically a blade, which is placed on a rack in series. Each blade holds 4 CPUs (Central
Processor Units) and RAM (Random Access Memory). A rack is approximately 6 feet (1.8 meters) high and 2
feet (0.6 meters) wide. A typical rack can hold at least 16 blades including other peripherals such as disk
storage, network ports, cooling units and power supplies.
A Server Farm is a series of racks while a Cloud Farm are specific racks, which manage virtual machines.
A Render Farm is physically the same as a Cloud Farm. With the exception of having video cards connected in
series to operate in conjunction with the file server to use GPU (Graphics Processing Unit) accelerators
(frameworks: OpenGL–open graphics library, OpenCL–open computing language) to generate and
manipulate 3D objects and computer-generated imagery (CGI) as calibrated by the software in use.
FIG. 3
Small Hydro
TM
12 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
Disk storage run in series and its expansion is similar to a physical file server or blade. Blades and disk storage
are “hot-swappable”, meaning that these computer components can be added or replaced without shutting
down the system.
Software License Agreements
Software licenses per virtual machine can accommodate unique end-users 24/7. The capital expenditure of
software licenses are offset by the more unique end-users accessing the software application.
The stratus-core.com cloud-computing process for software licenses can be compared to an Internet Café, or
similar, where customers prepay to use a computer installed with software, as a service.
Software is licensed per central processor unit, network node or processing core series.
There are 2 types of licensing categories:
Single licenses abide by the license agreement as long as there is a software license per virtual machine that is being
used exclusively by the end-user at any one time.
A single license can support 1 virtual machine. For 100 virtual machines, 100 licenses are required.
Network licenses abide by the license agreement as long as the number of virtual machines being used exclusively
by end-users at any one time does not exceed the maximum as specified by the license agreement. In most cases,
network licenses are managed through usage tracking in the administration tool of the networked software
application.
A network license can support up to 10 users. For 100 users, 10 licenses are required.
Although some software license agreements are worded differently and there are different flavors of the
type of licenses, essentially they all communicate the same message to prevent piracy and copyright
infringement.
In no way does or will the stratus-core.com business model violate any software license agreement. In order
to prove to the software industry that there are no violations, a third-party auditing firm will perform
operational evaluations and will provide audit reports to stratus-core.com’s software vendors.
The stratus-core.com infrastructure or business model will not involve software: retail, vendor royalty,
service commissions and acts independent of software license owners that install their own software on the
stratus-core.com cloud to run in their allocated disk space.
Software on demand by stratus-core.com is rented by the customer and is treated as revenue generating
capital asset inventory, which obliges by its software license agreement and the number of cores required
for optimal performance.
Pooled vs. Dedicated Service
As the customer base grows and depending on the customer’s software requirements, the availability of
cores and software licenses will inevitably exceed server capacity. Therefore, various price points would be
offered to end-users who are willing to take their chance on cores and software availability for a low price
point vs. end-users requiring dedicated cores on demand with high-end software applications for a higher
price point.
1. Single – per computer (1 user instance)
2. Network – per server (fixed or variable # of user instances)
TM
13 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
Since pooled cloud services are contingent on availability, the customer can choose to be informed via text
message, e-mail, etc. of when the cores and/or software becomes available. This process would be on a first
come, first serve basis for the end-user to login and begin accessing the available service. In order to collect
market demand analytics, customers would select the cloud services prior to being informed on availability.
Virtual Desktop
The delivery of the stratus-core.com cloud service is virtual machine(s) interfaced by virtual desktop
window(s) that activates on the end-user’s computer and functions as a typical window, requiring minimal
bandwidth to user interface the virtual machine(s). With added features of displaying the service selected
and the performance of the virtual machine:
1. Shortcut icons of installed, selected software & remote storage
2. Sidebar that displays virtual machine performance and usage
3. Session expire countdown timer in hours, days
Customer Path
1. Customer visits stratus-core.com and creates an account (first time)
2. Internet shortcut icon is copied onto the customer’s desktop (first time)
3. Chooses the type of service – pooled / dedicated software, pooled / dedicated cores
4. Pre-payment options are provided per hour, per 30 days or 360 days by credit card, Paypal™ or similar
5. Customer logs in
6. Customer selects available software / cores to use depending on the type of service
7. Software applications and cores / RAM / disk space are automatically assigned
8. Virtual desktop is placed in a window on the customer’s computer
9. Shortcuts of selected software and remote storage appears in the virtual desktop window
10. Performance monitors and a countdown appears on the status sidebar of the virtual desktop’s window according to the
service usage time:
FIG. 4
Virtual Desktop
Environment
Virtual Desktop Window
X
Shortcut Icons
Software Applications
Remote Storage
Minimize Bar
Hours Remaining
24-0
Days Remaining
360-0
Hours Remaining
24-0
Days Remaining
360-0
CPU Usage
Core Performance
RAM Usage
Stopwatch 1
Stopwatch 2
Performance
Summary
Disk Drive Meter
FIG. 5
Virtual Machine
Allocation
# of hours : # of minutes : # of seconds for hourly
# of days for 30 / 360 days : # of hours : # of minutes : # of seconds
(fiscal day begins at customer’s time zone midnight)
TM
14 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
FIG. 6
Customer Path
Process Diagram
TM
15 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
ACTION PLAN
Partner with Eli Lilly Canada Pharmaceuticals to create the regulatory IT (information technology)
validation for cloud-computing: High-Performance Virtual Machines & Software on Demand
Secure trusted vendors and business service providers with defined processes and procedures
Purchase the minimal network infrastructure and software licenses needed for Proof-of-Concept
Document all step-by-step processes as Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) to be made available
for internal company use, vendors, partners and reference customers
Establish the Pharmaceutical industry baseline customer by providing multiple virtual machines with
analytical software tools for data mining research.
Submit application to the FDA and Health Canada for regulatory validation.
FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS
The following financial projections are based on a 6-year lifecycle where the network capacity would double
by adding a cloud server to the network infrastructure by year 3, using minimal customer price points.
Revenue Generators
There are 16 price points (4 types of service x 4 types of performance) to offer customers depending on how
dedicated they want their cloud service to operate for them and to what level of performance is needed:
1. Pooled Software, Pooled Cores The software licenses and cores are used contingent on
availability.
2. Dedicated Cores The cores are dedicated virtual machines and are configured by
end-users who are responsible for their own software licenses.
3. Pooled Software, Dedicated Cores The cores are dedicated virtual machines and are configured by
end-users who are responsible for their own software licenses but,
need further software applications, which are used contingent on
availability.
4. Dedicated Software, Dedicated Cores The software applications selected and cores are dedicated virtual
machines for end-users during a period of time.
In terms of performance, the more cores, the faster the virtual machine operates for the end-user. For each
physical core there are 2 threads, which in essence becomes 2 logical cores. There are 4 possible virtual core
configurations (4 types of virtual machines) offered to the customer:
Physical Cores Threads Logical / Virtual Cores
1. 1 2 2
2. 2 4 4
3. 4 8 8
4. 8 16 16
There are 3 types of service usage times available for the customer to choose from: by the hour, 30-day
block or 360-day block (20% savings). The following is an average breakdown of revenue generators based on
16 price points and the 3 types of usage times:
REVENUE GENERATORS Bank Days Per Day Per Hour Per Minute
1 - $ 2.00 $ 0.0333
30 $ 4.19 $ 0.17 $ 0.0029
360 $ 3.35 $ 0.14 $ 0.0023
Avg. Revenue per Customer $ 3.77 $ 0.16 $ 0.0026
TM
16 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
Customer Per Day Virtual Pooled Software Dedicated Cores Pooled Software Dedicated Software Avg.
30-Day Bank Cores Pooled Cores Dedicated Cores Dedicated Cores
1 $ 1.00 $ 1.00 $ 2.00 $ 4.00 $ 2.00
2 $ 2.00 $ 2.00 $ 3.00 $ 6.00 $ 3.25
4 $ 3.00 $ 3.00 $ 6.00 $ 8.00 $ 5.00
8 $ 4.00 $ 4.00 $ 8.00 $ 10.00 $ 6.50
Avg. per Day $ 2.50 $ 2.50 $ 4.75 $ 7.00 $ 4.19
Avg. per 30 Days $ 75.00 $ 75.00 $ 142.50 $ 210.00 $ 125.63
Avg. per 360 Days $ 900.00 $ 900.00 $ 1,710.00 $ 2,520.00 $ 1,507.50
360-Day Bank
1 $ 0.80 $ 0.80 $ 1.60 $ 3.20 $ 1.60
2 $ 1.60 $ 1.60 $ 2.40 $ 4.80 $ 2.60
4 $ 2.40 $ 2.40 $ 4.80 $ 6.40 $ 4.00
8 $ 3.20 $ 3.20 $ 6.40 $ 8.00 $ 5.20
Avg. per Day $ 2.00 $ 2.00 $ 3.80 $ 5.60 $ 3.35
Avg. per Bank $ 2.25 $ 2.25 $ 4.28 $ 6.30 $ 3.77
Avg. per 30 Days $ 67.50 $ 67.50 $ 128.25 $ 189.00 $ 113.06
Avg. per 360 Days $ 810.00 $ 810.00 $ 1,539.00 $ 2,268.00 $ 1,356.75
The network infrastructure to maintain the Cloud and Render Farms is dependent on the maximum number
of possible Cloud Farm virtual machines attainable through network virtualization.
To support stratus-core.com’s network operation, the following servers’ configuration would remain fixed
for the 6-year lifecycle of operation and are scalable as the capacity of virtual machines increase:
Server
1. Web e-commerce website; service portal
2. Proxy Peer-to-Peer communication
3. Backup Backup of remote storage, server disk images
4. Application Source of software applications
NETWORK VIRTUALIZATION # of Blades # of Processors # of Cores # of Threads # of GB RAM # of GB Disk
Per Processor - 1 16 32 - -
Per Blade 1 4 64 128 512 -
1. Web Server 2 8 128 256 1024 3072
2. Proxy Server 6 24 384 768 3072 5120
3. Backup Server 8 32 512 1024 4096 20480
4. Application Server 10 40 640 1280 5120 20480
5. Render Farm 12 48 768 1536 6144 20480
6. Cloud Farm 16 64 1024 2048 8192 20480
Per cloud server (16 blades), there is an average of 480 virtual machines, which can be used simultaneously
by end-users.
Virtual Machine # of Cores # of VMs
1 1024
2 512
4 256
8 128
Avg. Active VMs 4 480
Within a 24-hour period, unique customers can access virtual machines contingent on availability or by
dedicated service. The more virtual machines being used at any one time, the higher the revenue stream.
TM
17 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
Cloud Farm Per VM Per Day
Hours per Day # of Customers Avg. Hourly 30 Days 360 Days Avg.
1 24 $ 15.00 $ 100.50 $ 80.40 $ 65.30
2 12 $ 15.00 $ 50.25 $ 40.20 $ 35.15
3 8 $ 15.00 $ 33.50 $ 26.80 $ 25.10
4 6 $ 15.00 $ 25.13 $ 20.10 $ 20.08
6 4 $ 15.00 $ 16.75 $ 13.40 $ 15.05
8 3 $ 15.00 $ 12.56 $ 10.05 $ 12.54
12 2 $ 15.00 $ 8.38 $ 6.70 $ 10.03
24 1 $ 15.00 $ 4.19 $ 3.35 $ 7.51
Avg. 7.5 8 $ 15.00 $ 31.41 $ 25.13 $ 23.84
According to the average projections of virtual machine use and taking into account customer behavior
regarding the different types of cloud services offered, the following revenue projections are at par or lower
than the pricing models of existing software cloud-computing companies.
REVENUE Per Hour Per Day Per 30 Days Per 360 Days
Avg. per VM $ 0.99 $ 23.84 $ 715.31 $ 8,583.75
Avg. per Cloud Server $ 477 $ 11,445 $ 343,350 $ 4,120,200
File Server Expenditures
The file server hardware expenditures are priced per unit to allow for a scalable network configuration. In
total there are 6 distinct logical file servers whereby, the Cloud and Render Farms act as the scalable portion
of the network infrastructure.
NETWORK SERVER Per Item
Blade $ 8,869.00
Central Processor $ 2,585.99
Graphics Processor w/ RAM $ 3,230.00
Per GB RAM $ 12.50
Per GB Disk $ 0.23
Network Port $ 35.63
Network Hardware # of Blades Blades Processors RAM Disk Total
1. Web Server 2 $ 17,738 $ 20,688 $ 12,800 $ 707 $ 51,932
2. Proxy Server 6 $ 53,214 $ 62,064 $ 38,400 $ 1,178 $ 154,855
3. Backup Server 8 $ 70,952 $ 82,752 $ 51,200 $ 4,710 $ 209,614
4. Application Server 10 $ 88,690 $ 103,440 $ 64,000 $ 4,710 $ 260,840
5. Render Farm 12 $ 106,428 $ 124,128 $ 76,800 $ 4,710 $ 312,066
6. Cloud Farm 16 $ 141,904 $ 165,503 $ 102,400 $ 4,710 $ 414,518
Total 54 $ 478,926 $ 558,574 $ 345,600 $ 20,726 $ 1,403,826
Graphics Hardware Per Server
# of Graphic Processors 100
Total $ 323,000
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
X
TM
18 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
Software License Expenditures
Software application licenses represent a significant expenditure of the network infrastructure. Cost savings
can be realized by utilizing volume and network licenses whenever possible. The following represents the
average cost per license:
The majority of first-time end-users will select the pooled cloud service on an hourly basis. The goal is to
have 80% of the revenue generated from 20% of the customers that select the pooled cloud service since
there is a higher volume of unique end-users to offset the capital expenditure of software licenses.
An alternative to purchasing licenses is by having software vendors rent out their licenses at a volume rate to
stratus-core.com or by providing stratus-core.com point of sale web links for customers to own their license
for installation on the stratus-core.com cloud to run in their disk space.
This would become a win-win strategy since:
1. License capital expenditures would be minimized
2. Higher volume license usage; more revenue is generated for the software vendor
3. Increased flexibility for license management and upgrade deployment
Scalable Growth
The main advantage of stratus-core.com’s business model is the ability of scalable growth. As network
components are added to the network infrastructure, so does the means of supporting an increased
customer base. Ultimately, to increase network capacity requires the addition of cloud server blades.
Server Enclosure
Rack $ 1,032
Cooling $ 300
Cabling $ 200
UPS (uninterrupted power supply) $ 9,360
Power Supply $ 4,780
Total per Rack $ 15,672
# of Racks 6
Total $ 94,032
Network Ports Per Server
1. Web Server $ 4,561
2. Proxy Server $ 13,682
3. Backup Server $ 18,243
4. Application Server $ 22,803
5. Render Farm $ 27,364
6. Cloud Farm $ 36,485
Total $ 123,137
X
XXX
SOFTWARE APPLICATION Per License
Shareware $ -
Simple Apps $ 50
Plug-ins & Add-ons $ 100
Specialty Apps $ 200
Operating System $ 300
Office Suite $ 500
Graphic Arts / Composition $ 800
Financial Systems / Database Engines $ 1,000
Pro Media Editing $ 2,000
Visual Effects / Rendering Engines $ 4,000
3D Animation Tools / SAS $ 8,000
Avg. per License $ 1,541
Max # of VMs on App Server 640
Total Cost per Cloud Server $ 986,182
Avg. Cost per VM $ 2,055
TM
19 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
Cost per Cloud Server
Server $ 414,518
Server Enclosure $ 15,672
Network Ports $ 36,485
Software Licenses $ 986,182
Total $ 1,452,857
Cost per Render Server
Server $ 312,066
Graphic Processors $ 323,000
Server Enclosure $ 15,672
Network Ports $ 27,364
Total $ 678,102
Startup Cost
The startup costs include the building and infrastructure needed to house the server farm as well as $1.5M
software development budgeted for e-commerce setup, network architecture and out-of-the-box, cloud
configuration.
STARTUP COST
Land 1 acre $ 750,000
Building $ 3,000,000
Excavation $ 800,000
Office Equipment & Furnishings $ 250,000
Infrastructure Setup $ 125,000
Total $ 4,925,000
Software Development $ 1,500,000
Total w/ Software Dev. $ 6,425,000
Operational Expenses
The yearly operational expenses will increase as the capacity of the Cloud Farm grows. Staffing and
Marketing & Advertising account for the highest, variable overhead and is depicted as average expenses
while the other operational expenditures should remain fixed within the 6-year lifecycle of operation.
OPERATIONAL EXPENSES Per Year
Staffing $ 800,000
Marketing & Advertising $ 500,000
Accounting $ 3,500
Legal $ 5,000
Audit $ 2,000
Internet Fiber Service $ 72,000
Offsite Storage $ 12,000
Insurance $ 10,000
Utilities $ 50,000
Property Tax $ 15,000
Total $ 1,469,500
Cost per Blade
Blade $ 8,869
Central Processors $ 10,344
RAM $ 6,400
Disk $ 294
Total $ 25,907
Avg. Cost per VM $ 6,909
Total Cost per Core $ 405
Software License Avg. per Blade $ 46,227
Total w/ Software Licenses $ 79,448
Total Cost per Core w/ Software Licenses $ 1,241
TM
20 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
Initial Investment
In order for stratus-core.com to be in the position of providing virtual machines and software as a service,
the following investments represent the requirements to support its business model. This investment is
further detailed with per additional cloud and render server to sustain scalable growth. Initially, the Cloud
Farm will have a maximum capacity of 1024 cores.
INITIAL INVESTMENT
Network Hardware $ 1,403,826
Graphics Hardware $ 323,000
Server Enclosures $ 94,032
Network Ports $ 123,137
Application Software $ 986,182
Startup Cost $ 6,425,000
Total $ 9,355,177
Operational Expenses $ 1,469,500
Total w/ Oper. Exp. $ 10,824,677
Total per Additional Cloud Server w/ Oper. Exp. $ 2,922,357
Total per Additional Render Server w/ Oper. Exp. $ 2,147,602
Projected Financial Statement
Revenue projections are derived from the average number of virtual machines available for access by end-
users. The following 6-year financial projection shows a loss in the first year with steady growth in years 2-6.
To sustain the projected growth, a cloud server will be added in years 3, 5 and 6 thereby doubling the Cloud
Farm capacity with each additional cloud server. To keep up with the Cloud Farm’s capacity, a render server
will be added in years 4 and 6. With the addition of servers, an increase in the cost of sales will result while
maintaining a healthy gross profit margin and revenue stream.
FINANCIAL PROJECTIONS Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4 Year 5 Year 6
% of Available VMs 50% 75% 100% 150% 200% 250%
# of VMs 240 360 480 720 960 1200
Projected Revenue $ 2,060,100 $ 3,090,150 $ 4,120,200 $ 6,180,300 $ 8,240,400 $ 10,300,500
Cost of Sales $ 10,824,677 $ 1,469,500 $ 2,922,357 $ 2,147,602 $ 2,922,357 $ 3,600,458
Gross Margin $ (8,764,577) $ 1,620,650 $ 1,197,843 $ 4,032,698 $ 5,318,043 $ 6,700,042
(425%) 52% 29% 65% 65% 65%
Projected Margin Growth - (118%) (26%) 237% 32% 26%
Projected Revenue Growth - 50% 33% 50% 33% 25%
AUTHOR RESUME
Steven Chacon, Technology Lead & Facilitator, ATC Dynamics Inc.
SKILLS SUMMARY
Employed in Information Technology (IT), usually as Business / Systems Analyst. Experience includes
Enterprise Software Design, Development & Support, Financial Systems, SAP, Payroll, Data Warehousing, Big Data,
Business Intelligence (BI), Extract Transfer Load (ETL), Electronic Data Interchange (EDI), Electronic Funds Transfer
(EFT), Quality Assurance (QA), CyberSecurity, Web & Media Development, End-user Training and various Project
Management mythologies.
Industry experience includes Technology, Pharmaceutical, Banking, Insurance, Security, Restaurants, Direct Marketing,
Apparel, Performing Arts and Retail. Strengths include leadership, team contributor, rapid learner, effective problem
solving, implementation to support, creativity, strong communication skills and excellent documentation practices.
TM
21 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
PROGRAMMING & SOFTWARE
Access, Excel
C / C++
Ceridian
EDI
PeopleSoft
Exceed
HP QC / ALM
HTML / XML
Informatica
Java / VB Script
KornShell
LISP
MapInfo
PL/SQL
Remedy
Sage ACCPAC
SAP
SAS
SharePoint
SQL Server
Toad
UML / .Net
UNIX / Vi Editor
Visio
Wise InstallMaster
BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE & DATA WAREHOUSING
IBM Db2 : Cognos (Impromptu, PowerPlay)
Hyperion Essbase : Excel
Oracle : Business Objects, SAP Business Warehouse
Sybase : PowerBuilder, InfoMaker
WEB & MEDIA DEVELOPMENT
Adobe Production Suite
Avid Blender 3D Modeling
Dreamweaver
Flash (ActionScript)
Frameforge 3D Previz InDesign
QuarkXPress
EMPLOYMENT EXPERIENCE
ATC DYNAMICS INC. Markham, Ont. 2017 - 2025
Technology Lead & Facilitator
Led the technology efforts for a startup cloud-computing company by designing the data model workflow, authoring its
business plan and presenting to venture capitalists & angel investors the technology roadmap for automating cloud-
computing for high-volume usage with revenue projections and market analysis that relate to the cloud industry.
TD CANADA TRUST – INSURANCE Toronto, Ont. 2015 - 2017
Senior Business Systems Analyst (Strategic Business Intelligence Consultant)
Employed as Consultant under contract by Adiuvo Group as part of the Data, Insights and Reporting team for the
technology roadmap in the development of a Data Warehouse for the Credit Protection business unit to provide
Business Intelligence reporting for the broker & telephone sales channel projects that included ETL loads of Banking
information for mortgage insurance.
CANADIAN TIRE CORP. (CTC) Oakville, Ont. 2014 - 2015
Senior Business Analyst
Employed as Consultant under contract by Adastra to author Business Intelligence, Financial System dashboard
requirements for Canadian Tire Retail, PartSource, FGL Sports, Mark’s Work Warehouse & Petroleum business units.
As Business Analyst for CTC Financial Services, authored the Project Charter for the upgrade implementation of their
critical Oracle databases.
LOBLAW COMPANIES LTD. Brampton, Ont. 2008 - 2013
Systems Analyst II (IT Merchandising Lead)
Employed by the Merchandising Solution Delivery division in Canada’s largest retailer and was IT Merchandising Lead
for the apparel JOE Fresh division.
Designed & authored the functional requirements of the National Product Recall System for the Quality Assurance
division, which searches for and flags items to be placed on recall as ‘Do Not Sale’ at the POS (Point of Sale), in
addition to automating the creation of Recall Kits with disposition instructions, deployed to affected stores.
CHUBB SECURITY Mississauga, Ont. 2007
Business Systems Analyst
Employed as Consultant under contract by Quantum Technology Recruiting to implement a newly, web-based sales
system for Chubb Security’s Commercial & Residential sales force, in conjunction with ITWorx (Egypt) developers
under direction from the parent company, United Technologies Corporation.
TM
22 of 22
BUSINESS PLAN: stratus-core.com
Copyright © 2025 ATC Dynamics Inc.
ELI LILLY CANADA PHARMACEUTICALS Toronto, Ont. 2000 - 2006
Senior Systems Analyst (Project Manager, Lead Business Integrator, Demand Realization Lead) (2004-2006)
Data Analyst (2000-2004)
Employed as Lead Business Integrator in conjunction with Lilly Mexico’s development team for the Canadian baseline
development of electronic detail aids, used by 400+ national sales representatives and conducting training sessions for
the sales force, trainers and help desk on tier 1 support.
As Data Analyst, developed specifications and met project deliverables for the integration of SAP HR & Finance
modules, SAP Business Warehouse, Human Resources intranet development with interface to Ceridian’s payroll
system and Analytics of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) initiatives for Marketing Category teams.
Documented in accordance with Health Canada & FDA quality assurance, validations for GMP (Good Manufacturing
Practices) of in-use and drug related software systems, in addition to authoring PL-SQL Programming Standards, SOPs
(Standard Operating Procedures) and SLAs (Service Level Agreements) of developed software.
McDONALD’S RESTAURANTS OF CANADA Toronto, Ont. 1998 - 1999
End-User Analyst (Business Systems Analyst)
Employed as Business Intelligence Trainer to support end-users in Accounting, Marketing & Operations with a newly
implemented Db2 OLAP (On-line Transaction Processing) Data Warehouse system which included assisting IBM with
testing Cognos and Hyperion Essbase to benchmark functionality and performance.
Conducted Job Requirement Planning (JRP) and Training sessions based on Data Warehousing functionality with
Business Intelligence software tools for 38 corporate users across Canada, resulting in improved reporting and analytics
of customer buying patterns that relate to promotional items in various regions.
INFOWORKS Mississauga, Ont. 1996 - 1998
Database Consultant
Employed as Consultant under subcontract for Rapp Collins Worldwide, a direct marketing company to provide the
services of Data Modeling, Database Administration, Analytics & Reporting for clients: Labatt, CHUM-FM, Frigidaire,
Union Gas, Union Energy & Black’s Photography.
Developed relational database models for marketing campaigns with suppliers of data-entry, P.O. Box clearing and
provided Address/Telephone/Gender Matching Accuracy, Data Cleansing, Geo-Mapping and Ad hoc Query Reporting.
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS CANADA Richmond Hill, Ont. 1989 - 1996
Site Systems Analyst
Programmed for Accounting: Direct Deposit, Payroll / AP / AR Routines in ACCPAC and Electronic Funds Transfer
(EFT) in C. Programmed for HR: Labor System, Employee Insurance. Programmed for Manufacturing: Electronic Data
Interface (EDI), Product Routing Information, Scrap Metal Maintenance, Product Special Requirements Catalog, Product
Sample Application, Calculator Sale & Repair, Inventory & Product Bar Coding and TI-990 COBOL reports.
EDUCATION & TRAINING
Bachelor of Computer Science, Option Commerce, Concordia University 1989, Montréal, Quebec
Project Management, Kepner-Tregoe Inc. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,
Franklin Covey Co.
Coaching for Improved Work Performance,
Leadership Skills Inc.
Presenting with Ease, Results by Design
Consultants Inc. Situational Self-Leadership, KenBlanchard Co. Essbase Administration, Clarity Systems
Gaining Agreement Through Influence,
Results by Design Consultants Inc.
Effective Supervisory Management,
Leadership Skills Inc.
PowerPlay / Impromptu Administration,
Cognos Inc.
ACTIVITIES & INTERESTS
Guitar & Piano Teacher, Session Musician
Media Production
Golf
& Hockey
