Why Social Sharing Is Bigger than Facebook and Twitter - The Conversation - Harvard Business Review: "Why Social Sharing Is Bigger than Facebook and Twitter"
The digital landscape is being reshaped by the news that Facebook is opening up its social graph. Twitter, too, has made waves by acquiring companies that made third-party services for Twitter.
But if you take a closer look, this is part of a more macro trend that transcends two social platforms--despite their emerging dominance. That macro trend is ubiquitous sharing: What are you doing? Where are you doing it? Who are you doing it with? What do you like? These used to be things we kept to ourselves or shared with our friends and family. Now we're willing to broadcast them to whomever is willing to listen.
Social media has led to "social sharing," the broadcasting of our thoughts and activities. It's not a fad. It's a sociological phenomenon, accelerating at light speed. The latest incarnation of social sharing: A platform called Blippy allows you to connect to your social system and share what you bought and how much you spent at retailers like Target, Netflix, Amazon, and Zappos, to name a few. Not only can you log-in to these services quickly from an existing social network, but you can share across multiple networks. Knowing what people are buying when, and how much they're willing to spend is creating a feeding frenzy among marketers looking for the ripple effect.
Not even the drumbeat of privacy concerns seems able to slow down the trend. It was recently reported that Blippy members' credit card information was showing up in Google's search results. Blippy is still going strong though. We are becoming ever more willing to share ever more information with the world. Here just a few implications to consider when it comes to the changing face of sharing in a social age.
Data Gathering. The more we know about an individual, the easier it is to sell something. Someone will amass socially shared data (this is where Facebook is placing bets) and businesses will tap it for profit. Google's integration of archived tweets reveals that even real time data can be sorted and mined. A business may not own the data from all of the sharing, but it's likely they will want it.
Knowledge Sharing & Collaboration. Conflating internal and external social sharing could profoundly affect how we work. Newer internal platforms such as Chatter from Salesforce not only borrow from the Facebook school of platform design, but they also integrate with external networks such as Twitter. The future of social sharing for the large organization could be making the two worlds come together in a secure fashion for the enterprise.
Content Distribution. Social sharing becomes the ultimate form of distribution. Any business or individual who produces digital content in any form will be tweaking how easily the content can be shared, whether by adding a "like" button or designing the content itself to be sharable.
Social Currency. Sharing on the social web acts as a form of currency. Sharing useful information that might help someone within your network scores you points and builds equity. Finding a deal and sharing that with others can put you in someone's favor, and maybe then they will find you a deal. It's important to recognize that all this sharing isn't some useless impulse. There are reasons why people are willing to share so much. Creative expression is part of it but also, there's often a benefit, value, to the individual who shares.
Social sharing is a major behavioral shift, the most important so far of the 21st century. And the information we choose to share with friends, co-workers and even strangers, is re-defining the idea of what's private and public before our very eyes.
David Armano is a Senior Vice President at Edelman Digital, the interactive arm of global communications firm Edelman. He is an active practitioner and thinker in the worlds of digital marketing, experience design, and the social web. You can follow him on Twitter.
More on: Customers, Internet, Social media
Friday, April 30, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Facebook to expand with ‘social plugins’
Facebook to expand with ‘social plugins’By Chris Nuttall in San Francisco
Published: April 22 2010 00:38 | Last updated: April 22 2010 00:38
Facebook has launched a major initiative to extend its influence with “social plugins” that embed its social networking service more deeply inside third-party websites.
The plugins are part of an “Open Graph” strategy announced on Wednesday by Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive, at Facebook’s f8 developer conference in San Francisco. Open Graph is an evolution of Social Graph and Facebook Connect, and extends to the web at large.
Mr Zuckerberg said the web existed today as a series of largely unstructured links between pages, but Facebook’s initiative would put people at the centre of the web and provide personally meaningful connections between people and things.
Open Graph was the most transformative thing Facebook had done for the web, he said.
“We’re building towards a web where the default is social – every application and product will be designed from the ground up to use [people’s] real identity and friends.”
Facebook’s power play is likely to be welcomed by website owners and developers but regarded warily by rivals such as Twitter and Google, which launched its Buzz social networking service this year.
With more than 400m members, Facebook’s plugins can drive substantial traffic to sites that install them and boost their advertising revenues. Mr Zuckerberg said Facebook itself would not place ads inside the new features.
The largest social network said it was launching Open Graph with 30 partners spanning categories from books and movies to celebrities and athletes with sites such as CNN’s news site and the ESPN sport site embedding its social plugins.
Facebook users visiting the sites could click a “Like” button on stories they want to share with friends and would see pop-up windows showing friends who had also liked something. They could also see their friends’ activity on the site and share comments through other plugins.
Liking a movie on the IMDB film website would include that movie in the user’s interests in their Facebook profile, with a link back to the original site.
“We think over the next few years that the connections between people and the things they care about will play as big a part as hyperlinks do today in defining people’s internet experiences,” said Bret Taylor, head of Facebook Platform products.
Open Graph will replace Facebook Connect, which allowed users to log in to other websites using their Facebook credentials.
Mr Zuckerberg told a news conference he was eliminating the Facebook Connect brand.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. Print a single copy of this article for personal use. Contact us if you wish to print more to distribute to others.
Published: April 22 2010 00:38 | Last updated: April 22 2010 00:38
Facebook has launched a major initiative to extend its influence with “social plugins” that embed its social networking service more deeply inside third-party websites.
The plugins are part of an “Open Graph” strategy announced on Wednesday by Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive, at Facebook’s f8 developer conference in San Francisco. Open Graph is an evolution of Social Graph and Facebook Connect, and extends to the web at large.
Mr Zuckerberg said the web existed today as a series of largely unstructured links between pages, but Facebook’s initiative would put people at the centre of the web and provide personally meaningful connections between people and things.
Open Graph was the most transformative thing Facebook had done for the web, he said.
“We’re building towards a web where the default is social – every application and product will be designed from the ground up to use [people’s] real identity and friends.”
Facebook’s power play is likely to be welcomed by website owners and developers but regarded warily by rivals such as Twitter and Google, which launched its Buzz social networking service this year.
With more than 400m members, Facebook’s plugins can drive substantial traffic to sites that install them and boost their advertising revenues. Mr Zuckerberg said Facebook itself would not place ads inside the new features.
The largest social network said it was launching Open Graph with 30 partners spanning categories from books and movies to celebrities and athletes with sites such as CNN’s news site and the ESPN sport site embedding its social plugins.
Facebook users visiting the sites could click a “Like” button on stories they want to share with friends and would see pop-up windows showing friends who had also liked something. They could also see their friends’ activity on the site and share comments through other plugins.
Liking a movie on the IMDB film website would include that movie in the user’s interests in their Facebook profile, with a link back to the original site.
“We think over the next few years that the connections between people and the things they care about will play as big a part as hyperlinks do today in defining people’s internet experiences,” said Bret Taylor, head of Facebook Platform products.
Open Graph will replace Facebook Connect, which allowed users to log in to other websites using their Facebook credentials.
Mr Zuckerberg told a news conference he was eliminating the Facebook Connect brand.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. Print a single copy of this article for personal use. Contact us if you wish to print more to distribute to others.
Autonomy relishes recovery prospects
Autonomy relishes recovery prospects
By Maija Palmer, Technology Correspondent
Published: April 21 2010 09:26 | Last updated: April 22 2010 01:56
Autonomy, the UK’s largest software company by market value, said it had seen a strong start to the year as companies resumed discretionary spending on IT projects.
“I see a definite recovery, although I suspect it is fragile,” said Mike Lynch, chief executive.
Sales in the first quarter rose 50 per cent to $194.2m (£126m), as the Cambridge-based company signed more deals above $1m – 19 compared with just 10 in the same quarter of last year. Autonomy’s $775m acquisition a year ago of Interwoven, the legal software specialist, also lifted sales.
The IT group is hoping the second quarter will be boosted by banks buying search technology following news that the SEC is suing Goldman Sachs for fraud.
Autonomy’s software allows companies to search through unstructured information such as e-mails, voice calls and word processing documents, and is already used by many banks to ensure that they comply with regulations.
In the past few weeks, however, there has been a sharp rise in demand for a “quick-fix” search product, a box that can instantly be plugged into a bank’s computer system to check through files.
Autonomy bought $10m of hardware for the box product in the first quarter, about three times normal levels. Pre-tax profits rose from $50m to $68.8m, while earnings per share rose from 15 cents to 21 cents.
A further sign of confidence is that Autonomy is looking to poach sales staff from its rival Oracle to sell its new product for searching structured databases.
Mr Lynch said discussions were continuing on a large acquisition in the second half of the year. Autonomy has a war chest of $910.9m, after it raised £500m in a convertible bond issue in February. Analysts believe the company could buy a business worth up to $2bn, possibly in the business intelligence or web content management area.
Shares in Autonomy, which have risen over 40 per cent in the past year, were up 1p at £17.82.
● FT Comment
Autonomy is a “marmite” stock, which polarises investor opinion. On Wednesday, it was in trouble with the bulls for promising “jam tomorrow” – a disappointing second-quarter revenue guidance of $217m-$222m compared with a consensus of about $225m – but a promise of a stronger second half. Quibbling over the numbers is irrelevant, however, given that Autonomy is poised for a possibly game-changing acquisition. The bulls will applaud a deal for increasing size and reach; the bears will decry it for muddying the waters on underlying growth. At about 21 times earnings estimates for 2010, the shares are higher than the European Software Group at 18.5 times, but acquisitions historically cause them to rise and could do again.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. Print a single copy of this article for personal use. Contact us if you wish to print more to distribute to others.
By Maija Palmer, Technology Correspondent
Published: April 21 2010 09:26 | Last updated: April 22 2010 01:56
Autonomy, the UK’s largest software company by market value, said it had seen a strong start to the year as companies resumed discretionary spending on IT projects.
“I see a definite recovery, although I suspect it is fragile,” said Mike Lynch, chief executive.
Sales in the first quarter rose 50 per cent to $194.2m (£126m), as the Cambridge-based company signed more deals above $1m – 19 compared with just 10 in the same quarter of last year. Autonomy’s $775m acquisition a year ago of Interwoven, the legal software specialist, also lifted sales.
The IT group is hoping the second quarter will be boosted by banks buying search technology following news that the SEC is suing Goldman Sachs for fraud.
Autonomy’s software allows companies to search through unstructured information such as e-mails, voice calls and word processing documents, and is already used by many banks to ensure that they comply with regulations.
In the past few weeks, however, there has been a sharp rise in demand for a “quick-fix” search product, a box that can instantly be plugged into a bank’s computer system to check through files.
Autonomy bought $10m of hardware for the box product in the first quarter, about three times normal levels. Pre-tax profits rose from $50m to $68.8m, while earnings per share rose from 15 cents to 21 cents.
A further sign of confidence is that Autonomy is looking to poach sales staff from its rival Oracle to sell its new product for searching structured databases.
Mr Lynch said discussions were continuing on a large acquisition in the second half of the year. Autonomy has a war chest of $910.9m, after it raised £500m in a convertible bond issue in February. Analysts believe the company could buy a business worth up to $2bn, possibly in the business intelligence or web content management area.
Shares in Autonomy, which have risen over 40 per cent in the past year, were up 1p at £17.82.
● FT Comment
Autonomy is a “marmite” stock, which polarises investor opinion. On Wednesday, it was in trouble with the bulls for promising “jam tomorrow” – a disappointing second-quarter revenue guidance of $217m-$222m compared with a consensus of about $225m – but a promise of a stronger second half. Quibbling over the numbers is irrelevant, however, given that Autonomy is poised for a possibly game-changing acquisition. The bulls will applaud a deal for increasing size and reach; the bears will decry it for muddying the waters on underlying growth. At about 21 times earnings estimates for 2010, the shares are higher than the European Software Group at 18.5 times, but acquisitions historically cause them to rise and could do again.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. Print a single copy of this article for personal use. Contact us if you wish to print more to distribute to others.
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Rapid Circle neemt Nederlandse activiteiten over van Zevenseas | Verstuur persbericht
Rapid Circle neemt Nederlandse activiteiten over van Zevenseas | Verstuur persbericht: "BuzzRapid Circle neemt Nederlandse activiteiten over van Zevenseas"
Amsterdam, 12 april 2010, Rapid Circle en Zevenseas zijn per 1 april 2010 samengegaan, waarbij Rapid Circle de Nederlandse activiteiten van Zevenseas overneemt. Alle SharePoint specialisten van Zevenseas hebben inmiddels getekend bij Rapid Circle en zullen naast de SharePoint projecten bij Rapid Circle, blijven bijdragen aan de kennisuitwisseling en publicaties van Zevenseas zoals op de Blog. Rapid Circle haalt hiermee extra expertise binnen op gebied van SharePoint. Samen zijn zij hét bureau voor Enterprise Social Media in Nederland.
De technici van Zevenseas implementeren platformen op basis van SharePoint, met een specialisatie op gebied van Social Computing. Dit is het binnen organisaties inzetten van social media tools en andere communicatie tools uit de web 2.0 omgeving. Deze specialisten leveren een belangrijke bijdrage aan de Microsoft community en worden regelmatig gevraagd om te spreken op Microsoft events.
Daniel McPherson, medeoprichter van Zevenseas: ‘This move enables me to take the zevenseas model to other markets and focus on building innovative Social Computing extensions for SharePoint. Rapid Circle is a great agency, their business experience enables them to craft solutions that people actually like to use, and to me, this is what makes them a Social Computing leader.’
Harold Punter, medeoprichter van Rapid Circle: ‘De aansluiting bij dit internationale netwerk geeft onze mensen extra kansen voor ontwikkeling. Daarnaast past deze deal in onze strategie om de belangrijkste speler te worden in Nederland op gebied van communicatie, innovatief samenwerken en kennisdelen met behulp van SharePoint.’
De nieuwe organisatie kan zich met recht ‘Nederlands specialist op gebied van Enterprise Social Media en Enterprise 2.0’ noemen, waarbij SharePoint als basis platform dient. Wilco Turnhout, medeoprichter van Rapid Circle daarover: ‘Organisaties staan aan de vooravond van een grote verbetering binnen communicatie en samenwerken, van kennisdeling en innovatie, van openheid en transparantie. Omdat sociale netwerken open en transparant zijn en werknemers van organisaties deel uitmaken van die netwerken, hebben organisaties kansen om hun productiviteit intern en communicatie met de buitenwereld sterk te verbeteren. Wij denken deze organisaties te kunnen helpen om grote verbeteringen te realiseren.’
OVER Rapid Circle
Rapid Circle helpt organisaties met hogere productiviteit medewerkers, effectievere marketingcommunicatie, betere samenwerking en kennisdeling en betere communicatie, zowel intern als extern. Bekeken vanuit de mens en het proces en verbeterd met behulp van technologie. Rapid Circle heeft 15 mensen in dienst (exclusief off-shore) en is gespecialiseerd in Microsoft technologie zoals SharePoint. Voor meer informatie: www.rapidcircle.com en www.zevenseas.com
Contact:
Wilco Turnhout
wilco.turnhout@rapidcircle.com | +31615 22 9076
twitter.com/wturnhout | dutchcowboys.nl/bloggers/311
Rapid Circle
Wilgenweg 22c
1031 HV Amsterdam
Amsterdam, 12 april 2010, Rapid Circle en Zevenseas zijn per 1 april 2010 samengegaan, waarbij Rapid Circle de Nederlandse activiteiten van Zevenseas overneemt. Alle SharePoint specialisten van Zevenseas hebben inmiddels getekend bij Rapid Circle en zullen naast de SharePoint projecten bij Rapid Circle, blijven bijdragen aan de kennisuitwisseling en publicaties van Zevenseas zoals op de Blog. Rapid Circle haalt hiermee extra expertise binnen op gebied van SharePoint. Samen zijn zij hét bureau voor Enterprise Social Media in Nederland.
De technici van Zevenseas implementeren platformen op basis van SharePoint, met een specialisatie op gebied van Social Computing. Dit is het binnen organisaties inzetten van social media tools en andere communicatie tools uit de web 2.0 omgeving. Deze specialisten leveren een belangrijke bijdrage aan de Microsoft community en worden regelmatig gevraagd om te spreken op Microsoft events.
Daniel McPherson, medeoprichter van Zevenseas: ‘This move enables me to take the zevenseas model to other markets and focus on building innovative Social Computing extensions for SharePoint. Rapid Circle is a great agency, their business experience enables them to craft solutions that people actually like to use, and to me, this is what makes them a Social Computing leader.’
Harold Punter, medeoprichter van Rapid Circle: ‘De aansluiting bij dit internationale netwerk geeft onze mensen extra kansen voor ontwikkeling. Daarnaast past deze deal in onze strategie om de belangrijkste speler te worden in Nederland op gebied van communicatie, innovatief samenwerken en kennisdelen met behulp van SharePoint.’
De nieuwe organisatie kan zich met recht ‘Nederlands specialist op gebied van Enterprise Social Media en Enterprise 2.0’ noemen, waarbij SharePoint als basis platform dient. Wilco Turnhout, medeoprichter van Rapid Circle daarover: ‘Organisaties staan aan de vooravond van een grote verbetering binnen communicatie en samenwerken, van kennisdeling en innovatie, van openheid en transparantie. Omdat sociale netwerken open en transparant zijn en werknemers van organisaties deel uitmaken van die netwerken, hebben organisaties kansen om hun productiviteit intern en communicatie met de buitenwereld sterk te verbeteren. Wij denken deze organisaties te kunnen helpen om grote verbeteringen te realiseren.’
OVER Rapid Circle
Rapid Circle helpt organisaties met hogere productiviteit medewerkers, effectievere marketingcommunicatie, betere samenwerking en kennisdeling en betere communicatie, zowel intern als extern. Bekeken vanuit de mens en het proces en verbeterd met behulp van technologie. Rapid Circle heeft 15 mensen in dienst (exclusief off-shore) en is gespecialiseerd in Microsoft technologie zoals SharePoint. Voor meer informatie: www.rapidcircle.com en www.zevenseas.com
Contact:
Wilco Turnhout
wilco.turnhout@rapidcircle.com | +31615 22 9076
twitter.com/wturnhout | dutchcowboys.nl/bloggers/311
Rapid Circle
Wilgenweg 22c
1031 HV Amsterdam
Tuesday, April 13, 2010
The dawning of the IT automation era
The dawning of the IT automation era
By Alan Smith, senior vice president in the UK and Ireland for UC4
Published: March 23 2010 13:06 | Last updated: March 23 2010 13:06
Over the next five years, IT automation will overtake offshoring as the big IT efficiency trend.
For many companies, offshoring has reduced IT budgets by lowering the cost of labour and facilities but increasing complexity in IT infrastructure and more demanding service levels mean returns are diminishing.
According to the BDO Seidman 2009 Technology Outlook Survey, an annual survey of US chief financial officers conducted in January of 2009, only 42 per cent of the 100 surveyed said they had operations outside the country, compared to 79 per cent last year.
Despite this, companies will still seek cost savings in IT operations – and the answer will be IT automation.
Automation technology will drive further optimisation and lower the cost of IT operations, with several factors contributing to its coming of age – including cost reduction pressures and the need to align all business processes in a complex IT environment.
Cost Reduction
The first and most obvious reasons for IT automation are the opposing demands for cost reduction and improved service levels and capability.
The recession has forced IT professionals to squeeze costs out of their budgets, leaving them with a bare bones operating plan. At the same time, IT organisations are asked to deliver more with less and to deliver business innovation with cost avoidance strategies.
These pressures place severe time constraints on existing IT staff who are burdened by manual tasks, leaving little time to engage in strategic delivery of services and capability.
In a survey that UC4 conducted in April 2009, we found that one day of each working week was dedicated solely to IT administrative tasks – an indication of how much valuable staff time is wasted on well-defined, programmatic, repeatable tasks that could be handled by workload automation technology readily available today.
According to a 2007 report by Enterprise Management Associates, without data centre automation, the average company would have required eight additional staff, at a cost of £344,280. The survey also found that 77 per cent of respondents reported that automation improved data centre profitability.
IT staff and managers already recognise the benefit of IT automation software but lack the long-term perspective to carry it out. In a recent survey of Oracle Applications User Group members, UC4 found that the majority of respondents see IT process automation as a cost-saving measure, but budget restrictions in the tightening economy remain the biggest obstacle to wider adoption.
More than 60 per cent of respondents indicated they simply did not have the budget for automated solutions or tools.
Complex IT environments
The most compelling reason for the rise in automation is that IT environments are becoming more complex. Enterprise systems are becoming increasingly diverse, with companies employing a range of financial, enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management and sales force automation solutions from a range of vendors.
On top of that, IT environments are changing, with consolidation toward virtualised platforms and utilisation of external cloud-based technologies to deliver a business service.
Not only are infrastructures becoming more complex, but also the IT processes, as they typically span more than one application.
In the Oracle user group survey, we also found that 75 per cent of respondents reported difficulties monitoring and managing processes that span more than one application, with 57 per cent reporting that these struggles resulted in delays for the business, either in time-to-market or ability to integrate applications and processes.
Traditional job scheduling automation technology can’t address this level of complexity. The days of rigid, highly structured scheduling are gone. We are operating in a world where thousands of streaming, interdependent events must be understood in the context of how they impact the ability of IT infrastructure to meet business requirements.
What is required today in automation technology is real-time intelligence and just-in-time execution. This enables real-time monitoring and analysis of IT processes and allows companies to automate and connect between hybrid environments for a seamless integration, bringing visibility across processes and improved management and control over the success of transactions.
Without this real-time integration, existing staff are blind to the business process impact across the greater organisation.
The call to action is clear – as IT departments continue to do more with less and IT environments become more complex, the need to automate will be paramount. We are already seeing many vendors start to market automation software and company adoption is increasing. The IT automation era is upon us.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
By Alan Smith, senior vice president in the UK and Ireland for UC4
Published: March 23 2010 13:06 | Last updated: March 23 2010 13:06
Over the next five years, IT automation will overtake offshoring as the big IT efficiency trend.
For many companies, offshoring has reduced IT budgets by lowering the cost of labour and facilities but increasing complexity in IT infrastructure and more demanding service levels mean returns are diminishing.
According to the BDO Seidman 2009 Technology Outlook Survey, an annual survey of US chief financial officers conducted in January of 2009, only 42 per cent of the 100 surveyed said they had operations outside the country, compared to 79 per cent last year.
Despite this, companies will still seek cost savings in IT operations – and the answer will be IT automation.
Automation technology will drive further optimisation and lower the cost of IT operations, with several factors contributing to its coming of age – including cost reduction pressures and the need to align all business processes in a complex IT environment.
Cost Reduction
The first and most obvious reasons for IT automation are the opposing demands for cost reduction and improved service levels and capability.
The recession has forced IT professionals to squeeze costs out of their budgets, leaving them with a bare bones operating plan. At the same time, IT organisations are asked to deliver more with less and to deliver business innovation with cost avoidance strategies.
These pressures place severe time constraints on existing IT staff who are burdened by manual tasks, leaving little time to engage in strategic delivery of services and capability.
In a survey that UC4 conducted in April 2009, we found that one day of each working week was dedicated solely to IT administrative tasks – an indication of how much valuable staff time is wasted on well-defined, programmatic, repeatable tasks that could be handled by workload automation technology readily available today.
According to a 2007 report by Enterprise Management Associates, without data centre automation, the average company would have required eight additional staff, at a cost of £344,280. The survey also found that 77 per cent of respondents reported that automation improved data centre profitability.
IT staff and managers already recognise the benefit of IT automation software but lack the long-term perspective to carry it out. In a recent survey of Oracle Applications User Group members, UC4 found that the majority of respondents see IT process automation as a cost-saving measure, but budget restrictions in the tightening economy remain the biggest obstacle to wider adoption.
More than 60 per cent of respondents indicated they simply did not have the budget for automated solutions or tools.
Complex IT environments
The most compelling reason for the rise in automation is that IT environments are becoming more complex. Enterprise systems are becoming increasingly diverse, with companies employing a range of financial, enterprise resource planning, customer relationship management and sales force automation solutions from a range of vendors.
On top of that, IT environments are changing, with consolidation toward virtualised platforms and utilisation of external cloud-based technologies to deliver a business service.
Not only are infrastructures becoming more complex, but also the IT processes, as they typically span more than one application.
In the Oracle user group survey, we also found that 75 per cent of respondents reported difficulties monitoring and managing processes that span more than one application, with 57 per cent reporting that these struggles resulted in delays for the business, either in time-to-market or ability to integrate applications and processes.
Traditional job scheduling automation technology can’t address this level of complexity. The days of rigid, highly structured scheduling are gone. We are operating in a world where thousands of streaming, interdependent events must be understood in the context of how they impact the ability of IT infrastructure to meet business requirements.
What is required today in automation technology is real-time intelligence and just-in-time execution. This enables real-time monitoring and analysis of IT processes and allows companies to automate and connect between hybrid environments for a seamless integration, bringing visibility across processes and improved management and control over the success of transactions.
Without this real-time integration, existing staff are blind to the business process impact across the greater organisation.
The call to action is clear – as IT departments continue to do more with less and IT environments become more complex, the need to automate will be paramount. We are already seeing many vendors start to market automation software and company adoption is increasing. The IT automation era is upon us.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
Cloud services: small businesses become big business
Cloud services: small businesses become big business
By Serguei Beloussov, chief executive of Parallels
Published: April 13 2010 17:21 | Last updated: April 13 2010 17:21
A buzz around the “cloud” has been created by some IT industry analysts and commentators who predict a dramatic shift towards it satisfying more and more IT needs.
The response of technology giants such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon show how they value the opportunity the trend of delivering IT services via the internet represents.
However, while these giants and much of the hype focuses on either clouds for the mass market consumer or large scale enterprise, less is said of the opportunity represented by small businesses. Yet it is this market – currently worth more than $500bn in annual IT spend – which is leading the way in adopting cloud services.
The range and scale of small businesses (essentially any business with fewer than 1,000 employees but more closely represented by businesses with fewer than 10) make them a vague entity. Leading industry sources conservatively estimate there are around 73m registered small businesses globally – but you could easily add an extra 100m unofficial small and home offices and a further 60m estimated small businesses in China alone.
For most of these small businesses, IT distracts them from their core business. Most do not have the resources to employ IT professionals and are not interested in how the technology is delivered so long as it does what they need, is affordable and easy to manage.
In reality, web hosters have been providing cloud services that address small business needs for simple IT since the late 1990s. Today it is this sector that is the fastest growing market in the cloud and where we see the real opportunity for growth.
Buying from the cloud enables small businesses to get sophisticated, enterprise-quality IT services easily, which would otherwise be too complex and costly for them. The model offers flexibility, enabling small businesses to scale up and down quickly, based on business need.
The services are managed by experts and decision-making is simplified as small businesses can get a range of business IT services bundled together from a single provider for a monthly subscription rate. The capital expenditure of buying in-house IT is transformed into an operational expense.
The resulting efficiencies make it understandable that small businesses are leading the way in adopting this model.
Web hosters currently host more than 150m small business domains and 50m websites, with bigger players such as 1&1 and Go Daddy providing millions of small business with services such as web hosting, web applications, virtual infrastructure services, hosted e-mail and collaboration, among others.
Further growth will come about as cloud services providers deploy more sophisticated technology, enabling them to add new services and increase the capabilities of their offerings.
For example, cloud services providers currently leading the way are those that use technology to differentiate their offerings, such as providing a wide range of services that can be self-managed by non-technical people.
Similarly, those deploying automation systems are able to serve hundreds of thousands of customers at very low cost and pass these savings on to their small business customers.
As cloud services providers continue to broaden their offerings in the future, their appeal to small businesses will increase, accelerating the adoption of IT through the cloud.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
By Serguei Beloussov, chief executive of Parallels
Published: April 13 2010 17:21 | Last updated: April 13 2010 17:21
A buzz around the “cloud” has been created by some IT industry analysts and commentators who predict a dramatic shift towards it satisfying more and more IT needs.
The response of technology giants such as Google, Microsoft and Amazon show how they value the opportunity the trend of delivering IT services via the internet represents.
However, while these giants and much of the hype focuses on either clouds for the mass market consumer or large scale enterprise, less is said of the opportunity represented by small businesses. Yet it is this market – currently worth more than $500bn in annual IT spend – which is leading the way in adopting cloud services.
The range and scale of small businesses (essentially any business with fewer than 1,000 employees but more closely represented by businesses with fewer than 10) make them a vague entity. Leading industry sources conservatively estimate there are around 73m registered small businesses globally – but you could easily add an extra 100m unofficial small and home offices and a further 60m estimated small businesses in China alone.
For most of these small businesses, IT distracts them from their core business. Most do not have the resources to employ IT professionals and are not interested in how the technology is delivered so long as it does what they need, is affordable and easy to manage.
In reality, web hosters have been providing cloud services that address small business needs for simple IT since the late 1990s. Today it is this sector that is the fastest growing market in the cloud and where we see the real opportunity for growth.
Buying from the cloud enables small businesses to get sophisticated, enterprise-quality IT services easily, which would otherwise be too complex and costly for them. The model offers flexibility, enabling small businesses to scale up and down quickly, based on business need.
The services are managed by experts and decision-making is simplified as small businesses can get a range of business IT services bundled together from a single provider for a monthly subscription rate. The capital expenditure of buying in-house IT is transformed into an operational expense.
The resulting efficiencies make it understandable that small businesses are leading the way in adopting this model.
Web hosters currently host more than 150m small business domains and 50m websites, with bigger players such as 1&1 and Go Daddy providing millions of small business with services such as web hosting, web applications, virtual infrastructure services, hosted e-mail and collaboration, among others.
Further growth will come about as cloud services providers deploy more sophisticated technology, enabling them to add new services and increase the capabilities of their offerings.
For example, cloud services providers currently leading the way are those that use technology to differentiate their offerings, such as providing a wide range of services that can be self-managed by non-technical people.
Similarly, those deploying automation systems are able to serve hundreds of thousands of customers at very low cost and pass these savings on to their small business customers.
As cloud services providers continue to broaden their offerings in the future, their appeal to small businesses will increase, accelerating the adoption of IT through the cloud.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
Friday, April 09, 2010
Misys benefits from US healthcare reform
Misys benefits from US healthcare reform
By Maija Palmer, Technology Correspondent
Published: April 8 2010 13:42 | Last updated: April 9 2010 05:15
The passage of the US healthcare reform bill last month, combined with the Obama administration’s $19bn (£12.5bn) stimulus package, is boosting revenue at Misys, which is gearing up to sell software for electronic patient records to US doctors’ surgeries.
“We’ve seen a big uptick in the last quarter,” Mike Lawrie, chief executive, said on Thursday. “The passage of the bill has lifted the uncertainty in the market. The US healthcare business is the best industry to be in right now.”
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Misys confident on full-year forecasts - Jan-14Misys remains on track - Oct-01Misys owns 57 per cent of Allscripts, the US healthcare software company, and is expected to be a big beneficiary of the stimulus package, part of which is earmarked for helping doctors to modernise their patient record systems. Stimulus payments are due to start being made in 2011, and this is encouraging physicians to start adopting new software now, Mr Lawrie said.
In January, for example, Catholic Health Initiatives, a US nationwide healthcare provider, selected the company’s electronic health record for the 1,000 doctors it employs, contributing an estimated $5m to revenue.
The growth of the healthcare business is helping to offset declines in Misys’s banking division, which has been struggling to upgrade its software and win clients.
Revenue at the Allscripts healthcare business was up 16 per cent in the third quarter to the end of February, helping lift overall turnover at the company 7 per cent on a constant currencies basis to £192m.
US healthcare reform
FT In depth: news and analysis on Barack Obama’s successful push to reform US healthcare
Revenue in the banking business slipped 12 per cent in the quarter as the company continued to lose ground to aggressive competitors such as Oracle, Temenos and Infosys. However, Mr Lawrie is hopeful the company will win customers with BankFusion, its new banking software platform.
Mr Lawrie aims to have 250 banks using BankFusion within five years, adding £250m to banking revenue. However, the technology has had a slow start. Nine banks have signed up to buy BankFusion, of which just two are live.
“This is something that will start slowly but quickly ramp up,” Mr Lawrie said.
In spite of the disparity in performance between the healthcare and banking businesses, Mr Lawrie declined to comment on speculation the two divisions could be separated. Many analysts have suggested this would be a way to unlock more value for shareholders.
The shares rose 1.4p to 243.5p.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
By Maija Palmer, Technology Correspondent
Published: April 8 2010 13:42 | Last updated: April 9 2010 05:15
The passage of the US healthcare reform bill last month, combined with the Obama administration’s $19bn (£12.5bn) stimulus package, is boosting revenue at Misys, which is gearing up to sell software for electronic patient records to US doctors’ surgeries.
“We’ve seen a big uptick in the last quarter,” Mike Lawrie, chief executive, said on Thursday. “The passage of the bill has lifted the uncertainty in the market. The US healthcare business is the best industry to be in right now.”
EDITOR’S CHOICE
Misys confident on full-year forecasts - Jan-14Misys remains on track - Oct-01Misys owns 57 per cent of Allscripts, the US healthcare software company, and is expected to be a big beneficiary of the stimulus package, part of which is earmarked for helping doctors to modernise their patient record systems. Stimulus payments are due to start being made in 2011, and this is encouraging physicians to start adopting new software now, Mr Lawrie said.
In January, for example, Catholic Health Initiatives, a US nationwide healthcare provider, selected the company’s electronic health record for the 1,000 doctors it employs, contributing an estimated $5m to revenue.
The growth of the healthcare business is helping to offset declines in Misys’s banking division, which has been struggling to upgrade its software and win clients.
Revenue at the Allscripts healthcare business was up 16 per cent in the third quarter to the end of February, helping lift overall turnover at the company 7 per cent on a constant currencies basis to £192m.
US healthcare reform
FT In depth: news and analysis on Barack Obama’s successful push to reform US healthcare
Revenue in the banking business slipped 12 per cent in the quarter as the company continued to lose ground to aggressive competitors such as Oracle, Temenos and Infosys. However, Mr Lawrie is hopeful the company will win customers with BankFusion, its new banking software platform.
Mr Lawrie aims to have 250 banks using BankFusion within five years, adding £250m to banking revenue. However, the technology has had a slow start. Nine banks have signed up to buy BankFusion, of which just two are live.
“This is something that will start slowly but quickly ramp up,” Mr Lawrie said.
In spite of the disparity in performance between the healthcare and banking businesses, Mr Lawrie declined to comment on speculation the two divisions could be separated. Many analysts have suggested this would be a way to unlock more value for shareholders.
The shares rose 1.4p to 243.5p.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. You may share using our article tools. Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web.
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
SAP uses web to improve collaboration tools
SAP uses web to improve collaboration tools
By Geoff Nairn
Published: April 7 2010 10:54 | Last updated: April 7 2010 10:54
SAP StreamWork is a web-based collaboration product and the latest attempt by the German giant to reinvent itself for the brave new Web 2.0 world.
StreamWork aims to help groups of employees make better collaborative decisions. Previously known as 12sprints, SAP StreamWork has come out of beta release and is now generally available.
Pricing starts at $9 a month for each user. There is also a free edition with limited storage and features.
Cisco makes iPad a meeting place...
Cisco unveils the WebEx Meeting Centre for iPad, a free app that lets iPad users participate in web meetings. Cisco argues the iPad is an ideal device for web meetings, and this app fully exploits the iPad user interface to allow animation, visual effects, user movements and touch.
But as the iPad currently lacks a webcam, iPad users may struggle to get their message across when other meeting participants use video conferencing.
,,,And Citrix aims iPad apps at mobile workers
Citrix has also caught the iPad bug. The virtualisation software firm has unveiled two iPad apps, Citrix Receiver and Citrix GoToMeeting, aimed at mobile workers.
The Receiver app lets iPad owners securely access corporate applications and documents when on the road, while Citrix GoToMeeting lets them collaborate via online meetings. Both apps are available free from Apple’s App Store.
Oracle revamps middleware
Oracle has released Tuxedo 11g, a new version of its heavy-duty middleware product revamped to wrestle business from IBM.
Tuxedo 11g incorporates an emulator that allows businesses running CICS, IBM’s rival transaction processing middleware, to migrate their CICS applications off IBM mainframes without having to rewrite the code. Oracle acquired Tuxedo when it bought BEA Systems in 2008.
Web-based HR app from SuccessFactors
SuccessFactors, a specialist in human resources software, is launching SuccessFactors Express in the Google Apps Marketplace.
The web-based application lets small businesses manage their employees using HR functions typically associated with much bigger businesses, including goal planning, progress tracking and performance reviews. Pricing starts at $895 a year for the first five users.
Early warning system from Symantec
Symantec launches Web Security Monitoring, a managed security service aimed at enterprises. The US security vendor says web applications are often the Achilles’ heel for organisations as cybercriminals shift from e-mail-borne spam to ”stealth” attacks on corporate websites.
The new service aims to provide early warning of potential malicious activity on a corporate website.
Lenovo offers Sprint option
WiFi, who needs it? Lenovo has added Sprint to the list of US carriers whose broadband wireless data services are supported. That means certain Lenovo laptops can be supplied with a Sprint SIM card already installed and Lenovo’s Access Connection tool, which supports both 3G and 4G network connections.
Sprint’s 4G network, capable of up to 6 megabits per second, is available in about 33 US cities.
IBM expands server range
IBM adds a new eX5 line to its System X family of Intel-based enterprise servers, which old hands may remember as the Netfinity range.
The eX5 systems use Intel’s new Xeon 7500 processor and the first two models are the System x3850 X5, which comes in four and eight-processor configurations, and a blade variant, the BladeCenter HX5, available in two and four-processor configurations. Prices start at around $4,600.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. Print a single copy of this article for personal use. Contact us if you wish to print more to distribute to others.
By Geoff Nairn
Published: April 7 2010 10:54 | Last updated: April 7 2010 10:54
SAP StreamWork is a web-based collaboration product and the latest attempt by the German giant to reinvent itself for the brave new Web 2.0 world.
StreamWork aims to help groups of employees make better collaborative decisions. Previously known as 12sprints, SAP StreamWork has come out of beta release and is now generally available.
Pricing starts at $9 a month for each user. There is also a free edition with limited storage and features.
Cisco makes iPad a meeting place...
Cisco unveils the WebEx Meeting Centre for iPad, a free app that lets iPad users participate in web meetings. Cisco argues the iPad is an ideal device for web meetings, and this app fully exploits the iPad user interface to allow animation, visual effects, user movements and touch.
But as the iPad currently lacks a webcam, iPad users may struggle to get their message across when other meeting participants use video conferencing.
,,,And Citrix aims iPad apps at mobile workers
Citrix has also caught the iPad bug. The virtualisation software firm has unveiled two iPad apps, Citrix Receiver and Citrix GoToMeeting, aimed at mobile workers.
The Receiver app lets iPad owners securely access corporate applications and documents when on the road, while Citrix GoToMeeting lets them collaborate via online meetings. Both apps are available free from Apple’s App Store.
Oracle revamps middleware
Oracle has released Tuxedo 11g, a new version of its heavy-duty middleware product revamped to wrestle business from IBM.
Tuxedo 11g incorporates an emulator that allows businesses running CICS, IBM’s rival transaction processing middleware, to migrate their CICS applications off IBM mainframes without having to rewrite the code. Oracle acquired Tuxedo when it bought BEA Systems in 2008.
Web-based HR app from SuccessFactors
SuccessFactors, a specialist in human resources software, is launching SuccessFactors Express in the Google Apps Marketplace.
The web-based application lets small businesses manage their employees using HR functions typically associated with much bigger businesses, including goal planning, progress tracking and performance reviews. Pricing starts at $895 a year for the first five users.
Early warning system from Symantec
Symantec launches Web Security Monitoring, a managed security service aimed at enterprises. The US security vendor says web applications are often the Achilles’ heel for organisations as cybercriminals shift from e-mail-borne spam to ”stealth” attacks on corporate websites.
The new service aims to provide early warning of potential malicious activity on a corporate website.
Lenovo offers Sprint option
WiFi, who needs it? Lenovo has added Sprint to the list of US carriers whose broadband wireless data services are supported. That means certain Lenovo laptops can be supplied with a Sprint SIM card already installed and Lenovo’s Access Connection tool, which supports both 3G and 4G network connections.
Sprint’s 4G network, capable of up to 6 megabits per second, is available in about 33 US cities.
IBM expands server range
IBM adds a new eX5 line to its System X family of Intel-based enterprise servers, which old hands may remember as the Netfinity range.
The eX5 systems use Intel’s new Xeon 7500 processor and the first two models are the System x3850 X5, which comes in four and eight-processor configurations, and a blade variant, the BladeCenter HX5, available in two and four-processor configurations. Prices start at around $4,600.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010. Print a single copy of this article for personal use. Contact us if you wish to print more to distribute to others.
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