"Cloud computing could bring IT departments closer to our business, but it's more likely to drive us further apart"-
Monday, February 2, 2009
IT needs to get over its Cloud denial
Great post from William Hurley at InfoWorld:
Sunday, February 1, 2009
The Economic Crisis in Ireland
I'm not an Economist but here's some really good commentary on the economic crisis effecting the country from one of Ireland's best known Economists (David McWilliams).
This crisis is too serious (with the very real potential of getting significantly worse) for the Government to keep its head in the sand and leaving the country rudderless. The powers-that-be would be well advised to listen to people like McWilliams and actually do something that will protect the country's future for the next generation.
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- Time for us to start singing from a different hymn sheet
- A mortgage plan that will save a whole generation
- Fighting for our economic reputation
This crisis is too serious (with the very real potential of getting significantly worse) for the Government to keep its head in the sand and leaving the country rudderless. The powers-that-be would be well advised to listen to people like McWilliams and actually do something that will protect the country's future for the next generation.
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Thursday, January 29, 2009
Companies, Communities, and Twitter
Back in November of last year I wrote a blog post called: Communities, Stars and dealing with "hit by a bus" Scenarios. As I said back then:
Having embedded myself in the Twitter community over the past couple of months I'm observing a whole host of interesting interactions.
There are some really fabulous relationships being built where people really utilise the full power of the medium (i.e. interacting through posts/tweets, replies and direct messages etc). There are people representing companies on both ends of the spectrum - drivel to seriously interesting. There are the "power tweeters" who blast huge amounts of messages and generally just create noise - I wish it was of the background variety but unfortunately it ends up swamping everything else - the twitter equivalent to spam. Twitter is also a good trend / news spotter where the community effect around conversations can give you a nice insight (or periscope as JP Rangaswami has called it) into what's going on around the globe.
Where is this post going? Well, my conclusion really boils down to how companies should look at Twitter and consider how their staff officially and unofficially use the medium. Basically, some people will represent themselves and their employer extremely well. However, as usual, some people will behave in ways the corporation may not appreciate especially if they are seen to be associated with said company.
Either way, there is no putting the genie back in the bottle. Companies need to figure out how they are going to deal with this. I take a common sense approach. Firstly, huge numbers of companies don't even know what is being said about them on these forums. Your brand isn't determined by you, it is determined by how others perceive you. For example, you can tell everybody all day every day that you are all about safety, but if you sell products with a less than stellar safety record, your brand will reflect this.
Go do some Twitter searches for your company (and keep repeating them!). Internally, companies can use the HR police to clamp down if they choose (the nuclear option) or alternatively they can embrace, support and encourage those employees who have built up a following. The choice is yours, but keeping your head in the sand is not really an option.
One of the more interesting concepts related to the Cluetrain inspired openness in community dialogue is that at their core they involve people talking to people. And, guess what? People move companies, they retire, they even get "hit by a bus" sometimes. A company embracing this level of openness needs to factor these changes into their community model.The Web 2.0 world is about communities at its heart. If you are a company looking to really embrace this new world then you will need to deal with these scenarios. Of course, the usual reaction by companies is to make communications anonymous, which defeats the whole point of these communities. The most effective communities are those where people are actually talking to other people and building relationships. This is in direct contrast to the usual press-release powered world of corporations.
Having embedded myself in the Twitter community over the past couple of months I'm observing a whole host of interesting interactions.
There are some really fabulous relationships being built where people really utilise the full power of the medium (i.e. interacting through posts/tweets, replies and direct messages etc). There are people representing companies on both ends of the spectrum - drivel to seriously interesting. There are the "power tweeters" who blast huge amounts of messages and generally just create noise - I wish it was of the background variety but unfortunately it ends up swamping everything else - the twitter equivalent to spam. Twitter is also a good trend / news spotter where the community effect around conversations can give you a nice insight (or periscope as JP Rangaswami has called it) into what's going on around the globe.
Where is this post going? Well, my conclusion really boils down to how companies should look at Twitter and consider how their staff officially and unofficially use the medium. Basically, some people will represent themselves and their employer extremely well. However, as usual, some people will behave in ways the corporation may not appreciate especially if they are seen to be associated with said company.
Either way, there is no putting the genie back in the bottle. Companies need to figure out how they are going to deal with this. I take a common sense approach. Firstly, huge numbers of companies don't even know what is being said about them on these forums. Your brand isn't determined by you, it is determined by how others perceive you. For example, you can tell everybody all day every day that you are all about safety, but if you sell products with a less than stellar safety record, your brand will reflect this.
Go do some Twitter searches for your company (and keep repeating them!). Internally, companies can use the HR police to clamp down if they choose (the nuclear option) or alternatively they can embrace, support and encourage those employees who have built up a following. The choice is yours, but keeping your head in the sand is not really an option.
State of the Union on Clouds
If you have a bit of time you should definitely read this comprehensive post (2000 words) from John Gerber which covers the Cloud Computing landscape. It's a kind of State of the Union on Clouds and a fantastic overview of the current environment.
John's summary:
There is a huge amount of content in Gerber's post but it is definitely worth spending the time to work through it.
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John's summary:
In this post, I tried to address a few of the basic concepts behind cloud computing along with a few important issues and finish with some thoughts involving security. Cloud computing will bring with it advantages and disadvantages, especially in the world of security. This post has not even scratched the surface. In a two thousand word post, all I can do is to try and get you interested in the subject and then show you the way to a wealth of additional information. Like Dorthy and the yellow brick road, follow the links. They will take you to the experts that have been working with issues involving the cloud for quite awhile now.For me, one of the most striking points in this was a quote from Anne Thomas Manes, a Research Director with the Burton Group:
“we should not be talking about an architectural concept that has no universally accepted definition and an indefensible value proposition. Instead we should be talking about concrete things (like services) and concrete architectural practices (like application portfolio management) that deliver real value to the business.”I feel a lot of commentators on Cloud Computing are getting so caught up arguing over arcane technical points or what the difference is between SaaS and Clouds, that the overall power and point of Clouds gets lost. Manes is certainly moving along the right track.
There is a huge amount of content in Gerber's post but it is definitely worth spending the time to work through it.
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The importance of creativity
Very interesting talk by John Cleese on the Importance of Creativity at the Creativity World Forum.
See the YouTube video.
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See the YouTube video.
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Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Cloud Computing and SaaS trends
I don't know if you have noticed but there are more and more articles, press releases, white papers, and research notes floating around in relation to the Cloud Computing and SaaS marketplace.
Here's three which are worth a read:
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Here's three which are worth a read:
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Cloud Computing Definition
The Cloud = lower costs + more flexibility + more automation + better service
That's my definition.
InfoWorld have a nice explanation of the Cloud Computing market and what it all means.
In previous posts I linked to some other explanations of Cloud Computing and SaaS. You can read them here:
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That's my definition.
InfoWorld have a nice explanation of the Cloud Computing market and what it all means.
In previous posts I linked to some other explanations of Cloud Computing and SaaS. You can read them here:
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