January, 2012
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Cloud Computing and the Post-Modern Business
Cloud computing is about more than just cost savings. It’s also about specialization. Cloud service providers are specialists who focus all their attention on doing one thing such as email, HR, or managing servers really well. As this specialization continues, the number of vendors and cloud computing solutions will grow, and fast. We already see [...]
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NIST Has Released Cloud Security and Privacy Guidelines
While one of the chief objections and hesitations around adoption of cloud computing technologies has consistently been the absence of clear standards and guidelines for security and privacy, NIST has been working in the background, developing and drafting a document to help us all stay safe as we harness the potential of cloud computing. As [...]
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Google Thinks I’m a 35-44 Year Old Male Who Likes Dogs
Yesterday Business Insider highlighted the “inferred demographics” that Google and its cookies develop (and publish for you to view on your own Google account) about users based on web-surfing habits in a very simple way – by a writer comparing his “inferred demographics” to his actual demographics to evaluate accuracy. It was intriguing in a [...]
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Rain Makers, The Weather Report
2012 Is Being Called the Year of Mobility. Does This Mean it’s Also the Year of Apple?
Business Insider reported yesterday, and credited Farhad Manjoo with, the following note: Apple earned $13.1 billion in income in the quarter ending December 31 last year — higher than Google’s $10.6 billion in revenue in the same quarter. (Apple’s total revenue was $46.3 billion.) Why is this piece of information getting so much attention? There [...]
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Mistakes Happen
What I really wanted to title this blog was “Sh!t Happens,” but I thought it prudent to reserve the profanity for the body of the text; not to waste its impact in the title. Most of us consider ourselves to be intelligent and reasonably competent people. And for the most part, we are. But everyone [...]
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Taking the Sales Process From “Please Say Yes!” to “How Can I Help?”
The Startup Toolkit blog, though I’m not personally starting up a new business venture myself right now, is always a wealth of valuable insight on the “entrepreneurial spirit” and how to succeed at building new businesses. Generally, it’s a very good blog worth following for anybody in business. In a recent post, Rob Fitzpatrick, whose [...]
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Could Microsoft Buy RIM?
In this piece on the Guardian, Jean-Louis Gassee ponders whether Microsoft could be considering the idea of buying RIM, maker of BlackBerry, or perhaps Nokia, the former cell phone leader. It’s clear that Microsoft desperately needs to make up some time and gain some ground in the mobile space, with its laggard Windows Phone 7 [...]
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Why We Don’t Support SOPA and PIPA
SOPA and PIPA are badly drafted legislation that won’t be effective at their stated goal (to stop copyright infringement), and will cause serious damage to the free and open Internet. They put the burden on website owners to police user-contributed material and call for the unnecessary blocking of entire sites. Small sites won’t have sufficient [...]
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Is the PC Dying?
This morning Business Insider published a chart showing what it calls PC sales “from the dawn of time to today” and concluding that the PC is dying a “slow, painful death.” Pointing out that Macs are gaining steady momentum while mobile operating systems are exploding, B.I. makes the claim that PC sales have peaked and [...]
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Rain Dances, The Weather Report
Varvid and Sorensons Taking Aim at Video Platform Market
On the Varvid blog today, the company makes a big announcement. The Sorensen brothers, Heartland Technology founder and CEO Arlin along with his brother Brad, are making a “sizeable financial commitment” to Varvid in an effort to deliver “business-changing educational content vial an online video platform.” It’s pretty clear where this is going, and that [...]
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My Conversation with ChannelEyes: 3 Things Founder Bob Godgart Has Been Surprised to Learn Along the Way
ChannelEyes and its founder Bob Godgart have been treading in largely uncharted territory. For the past few months, as Bob and his team have worked to develop the first ever social tool for the IT channel, he’s been interfacing with the “who’s who” of the IT vendor world, gaining deep understanding of exactly what sort [...]
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Mobile Technology: a Three-Legged Stool
By many accounts, 2012 is going to be “the year of mobility.” Mobile devices like smartphones and tablets are taking the small business IT world by storm, thanks in no small part to the influence of Apple, its iPad, and iPhone. We’ve covered the emerging mobility and consumerization trends extensively for you for over a [...]
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Microsoft reported yesterday at CES that there are 66 million Xbox users worldwide…but why should we care?
Yesterday during the Microsoft keynote kicking off the Consumer Electronics (CES) show, the company threw out some big numbers for its Xbox 360 and Kinect devices. 66 million Xbox users, to be specific, and over 18 million Kinect sensors sold to date. To add a bit of perspective to this number: to date, sales of [...]
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Is Acer “Ripping off” Apple’s iCloud?
Yesterday Acer announced its foray into the cloud computing space with its new AcerCloud service. This free service is expected to be bundled with all Acer consumer PC’s beginning in the second quarter of this year. The aim is to make the service available worldwide by the fourth quarter of 2012. According to The Verge [...]
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It’s an $8 Billion “SMB Managed Services Pie” in 2012. How Big a Slice Will You Take?
It’s probably safe to say that many of us are concerned and curious about how our clients’ IT budgets for 2012 are shaping up. Did they budget more or less for our IT support services this new year? What services do they value and want to pay for, and which will they deem unimportant and [...]
