Archive for August, 2005

destinationCRM.com: High-Tech Goes After SMBs

destinationCRM.com: High-Tech Goes After SMBs

Communications and High-Tech (CHT) companies are beginning to covet the SMB market, which they have traditionally ignored. According to a new report by Accenture, “Penetrating the Ultimate Market,” the declining price of PCs, servers, and telecommunications devices (combined with “razor thin” profit margins) are forcing CHTs to focus on smaller companies. SMBs worldwide spend more than $800 billion each year on IT and telecommunications hardware, software, and services, according to Kevin Bandy, a partner in Accenture’s electronics and high tech industry group. By 2008 that figure is expected to top $1.1 trillion, according to AMR Research. In addition, IT and communication spending growth among SMBs tend to outpace that of larger businesses.

All I can say is “It is about time!” Why do we as American’s have such a fascination with “big”? MIS researchers at universities in the USA see very little value in exploring SMB issues. However the rest of the world gets it. The rest of the world realizes that SMBs are are where the action is, where the good things happen.

31 August, 2005 | No comments

Web records wild interest in hurricane

Web records wild interest in hurricane

“We have the ability to not only present the context and details of a story like this in text, but also give people the chance to see it, hear it and feel it,” said Mitch Gelman, senior vice president, executive producer, CNN.com. “That’s what makes online so compelling.”

It is pretty amazing how far technology has progressed in just a few short years. Just five years ago many of the things discussed in this story were dreams….now they are reality.

31 August, 2005 | No comments

TechWeb | Red Cross, Salvation Army, FEMA push online relief | Web Reacts To Hurricane Katrina

TechWeb | Red Cross, Salvation Army, FEMA push online relief | Web Reacts To Hurricane Katrina

In the past two days, said Ogden, the Red Cross — which has a “Donate Now” button on the front page of its site — has raised $100,000 with its online pitch.

Here’s a good story about how the web is positively impacting lives during a really bad time. By making the fundraising efforts more efficient for these charities, they can now spend more time focusing on their missiion…the reason the do fundraising in the first place.

If you are interested in helping here are two charities you might consider:

Salvation Army

Red Cross

31 August, 2005 | No comments

Technology News: Portals & Search : Yahoo Rolls Out More Robust E-Mail Search

Technology News: Portals & Search : Yahoo Rolls Out More Robust E-Mail Search

Now Yahoo! mail is becoming more like Gmail…interesting.

31 August, 2005 | No comments

CNN.com - Microsoft expands Internet calling - Aug 30, 2005

CNN.com - Microsoft expands Internet calling - Aug 30, 2005

LONDON, UK (Reuters) — Microsoft moved to build its presence in the booming Internet telephony market on Wednesday, purchasing Teleo Inc., a Californian company that lets users make calls from their computers to regular phones.

What can I say? It seems MS has the goal of being the only technology company out there. Those who know my “opinion” of the company know that it is a love/hate relationship. The standardization they provided enabled the industry to grow. But personally I would prefer a level of competition…fair competition. While Bill would have us believe that MS is the king of innovation, I do not see it. The only way they “innovate” is to use the money and power of their cash cow (a monopoly) to purchase innovation. What they can’t purchase they steal. Again that is simply my opinion. You are entitle to your own

If you are interestedi n internet telephony then this article is quite informative.

31 August, 2005 | No comments

Companies tackle out-of-control e-mail

Companies tackle out-of-control e-mail

Fed up, Little is leading the charge to curtail such e-mail abuse in his own company. Most companies grapple with how workers use and abuse e-mail by simply pointing to the employee handbook. But Boca Raton-based Medical Staffing is taking a harder line, limiting its 20 or so regional and corporate managers to sending e-mails in the first and last hours of the work day.

Great article with some great insights onthe problems of e-mail. I never thought about e-mail as a way to get validation before making a decision, but how often do I do things that are discussed in the article myself?

Perhaps there is a need for e-mail trainging? How many of us sit in front of our computer waiting for the “ding” of a new e-mail?

29 August, 2005 | No comments

RedNova News - Health - IT That Improves the Patient Experience

RedNova News - Health - IT That Improves the Patient Experience

Many technologies have the potential to transform the patient experience. Some currently are in use; others are just around the corner.

Obviously there are lots of ways for IT to “improve” the patient experience, but what is an improvement for one person is not for another. This article presents some good insights on promising technologies.

29 August, 2005 | No comments

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Click Online | Search engines take on talk

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Click Online | Search engines take on talk

If you believe the hype, you may as well throw away the keyboard because you will never need to type another message again.

Yahoo’s Messenger now uses Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), letting users with fast enough connections make internet voice calls. And there is even a voicemail option if you do not want to be disturbed.

It is simply amazing how much value to major web portals offer. But how much do you actually use? Most people just use e-mail, but I suspect that each extra attracts a specific subset of the population. But the future holds even more advancements and more features.

29 August, 2005 | No comments

Google Anything, so Long as It’s Not Google - New York Times

Google Anything, so Long as It’s Not Google - New York Times

If you were Google’s C.E.O., wouldn’t you Google yourself? At least once? Would you be surprised to discover that your recent stock sales, net worth, hobbies and contributions to various political candidates are online and easily reached with a click or two?

A great article that makes you chuckle and think about the dangers of all this information that is easily available. Is it a good thing? Yes … well No …well it depends. There are no easy answers. But the answer at this point is we need to look closely and think thoroughly about how this will impact our lives. Information has become a commodity and a convenient commodity at that. But what about making it easy for those who want to do harm to get the information as well? Hummm…. we all better start thinking about it.

28 August, 2005 | No comments

The Seattle Times: Personal Technology: Imagine, if you can, a world so odd there is no e-mail

The Seattle Times: Personal Technology: Imagine, if you can, a world so odd there is no e-mail

Anyone entering the bewitching world of Harry Potter has discovered a limitless ride for the imagination. Author J.K. Rowling has created an alternate universe, based on the modern world while saving her wizards world from the most unattractive aspects of Muggle (nonmagic) existence.

And this apparently includes e-mail.

Just a good fun read about life with or without e-mail.

27 August, 2005 | No comments

Police ‘futurists’ walk fine line between goals and liberties.

Police ‘futurists’ walk fine line between goals and liberties.

In the Information Age, law enforcement can’t get too much of a good thing, right? Data flowing from RFID chips, images streaming in real time from surveillance video, light or vibration readings taken by microscopic sensors called smart dust, unmanned aerial vehicles reporting locations … it’s all good. Or is it?

As with any technolgy advance there exists the potential to use it for good or for bad. This exists on both sides of the law as well. We must continue the dialogue as there are no easy answers.

26 August, 2005 | No comments

Academic libraries empty stacks for online centers | csmonitor.com

Academic libraries empty stacks for online centers | csmonitor.com

A good article about how online access is changing the way we access knowledge. Now the concept of an “information commons” is growing.

25 August, 2005 | No comments

A Blog by Any Other Name…

A Blog by Any Other Name…

Well, a column or blog is in the eye of the reader. I’ve gotten plenty of praise and scorn for things I’ve written about in this space, but the name for this daily publication tends to vary depending on who’s writing. I have a blog, a column, a daily article, a story..

Great article about blogging, journalism and being a professional. There are some good links to some great stories where “professionals” did not act very professional. Unfortunately many lose the ability to think when they enter cyberspace.

25 August, 2005 | No comments

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Click Online | Portal race goes local and global

BBC NEWS | Programmes | Click Online | Portal race goes local and global

“Local listings is a billion dollar business,” says Google’s Lorraine Twohill.

“It’s an extremely interesting business for everybody, the ability to allow small businesses to get on the web.

“Typically 90% of small businesses still don’t have websites, even in this day and age, because they’re a corner florist or a little pizza place - why would they need a website?

This is a great article which offers some interesting insights into how all of the Google rtechnologies could fit together.

25 August, 2005 | No comments

Pure portal era ends, as BEA charts new course | InfoWorld | News | 2005-08-23 | By Stacy Cowley, IDG News Service

Pure portal era ends, as BEA charts new course | InfoWorld | News | 2005-08-23 | By Stacy Cowley, IDG News Service

Portal software pioneer Plumtree Software has been marked “bait” for years, ever since it became clear that portal purchases would largely come not as stand-alone “best of breed” buying decisions but as an add-on to ERP (enterprise resource planning) and infrastructure software deals. Still, BEA Systems — which already has its own line of portal software — wasn’t the top candidate on anyone’s list of likely suitors. BEA’s announcement Monday that it will pay $200 million for Plumtree has analysts arguing about whether the combination will pay off.

Personally I see a lot of merit in the pure portal model, but merit doesn’t pay the bills. Users are willing to give up some of the pure portal features for less cost.

25 August, 2005 | No comments

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