Friday, January 26, 2007
Thursday, January 25, 2007
Wednesday, January 24, 2007
Monday, January 22, 2007
Sunday, January 21, 2007
FT.com / Companies / IT - IT deals surge to highest level in 6 years
FT.com / Companies / IT - IT deals surge to highest level in 6 years
IT deals surge to highest level in 6 years
By Maija Palmer in London
Published: January 21 2007 22:06 Last updated: January 21 2007 22:06
Global merger and acquisition levels in the technology sector broke through the €100bn barrier in 2006, for the first time since the height of the dotcom boom in 2000.
According to figures published on Monday by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, merger and acquisition values were boosted by 18 mega deals, transactions with a value of more than €1bn. The largest of these was the €11.1bn merger of France’s Alcatel with Lucent Technologies of the US.
IT deals surge to highest level in 6 years
By Maija Palmer in London
Published: January 21 2007 22:06 Last updated: January 21 2007 22:06
Global merger and acquisition levels in the technology sector broke through the €100bn barrier in 2006, for the first time since the height of the dotcom boom in 2000.
According to figures published on Monday by PriceWaterhouseCoopers, merger and acquisition values were boosted by 18 mega deals, transactions with a value of more than €1bn. The largest of these was the €11.1bn merger of France’s Alcatel with Lucent Technologies of the US.
Wednesday, January 17, 2007
Tuesday, January 16, 2007
Sunday, January 14, 2007
Saturday, January 13, 2007
Thursday, January 11, 2007
Wednesday, January 10, 2007
Tuesday, January 09, 2007
Saturday, January 06, 2007
Monday, January 01, 2007
Alfresco Newsletter
Alfresco Newsletter
Alfresco Community – Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year – A Year in Review
Welcome to the tenth Alfresco Community Newsletter.
People used to talk about working in “Internet Time”. Well it feels like we are now living in “Open Source Time”. The year has gone by at an incredible pace. From a company perspective we are now the clear leader in Open Source Enterprise Content Management with a 100% Open Source product. This has been recognized with awards from the World Economic Forum, The eContent 100 and the KMWorld Trend-Setting Product of the Year. We are now approaching 500,000 downloads and have over 100 partners. I would like to congratulate Rivet Logic and Aarden Ringcroft who have been named as US and European Alfresco partners of the year.
Alfresco Community – Merry Christmas and a Prosperous New Year – A Year in Review
Welcome to the tenth Alfresco Community Newsletter.
People used to talk about working in “Internet Time”. Well it feels like we are now living in “Open Source Time”. The year has gone by at an incredible pace. From a company perspective we are now the clear leader in Open Source Enterprise Content Management with a 100% Open Source product. This has been recognized with awards from the World Economic Forum, The eContent 100 and the KMWorld Trend-Setting Product of the Year. We are now approaching 500,000 downloads and have over 100 partners. I would like to congratulate Rivet Logic and Aarden Ringcroft who have been named as US and European Alfresco partners of the year.
Sunday, December 31, 2006
EContentMag.com: Content Technologies, Circa 2007
EContentMag.com: Content Technologies, Circa 2007
Large mergers this year at the top of the content technologies marketplace (IBM swallowing FileNet, Open Text buying Hummingbird, Autonomy taking Verity) have led some to opine that these markets are finally maturing. I'm not so sure.
Large mergers this year at the top of the content technologies marketplace (IBM swallowing FileNet, Open Text buying Hummingbird, Autonomy taking Verity) have led some to opine that these markets are finally maturing. I'm not so sure.
Saturday, December 30, 2006
Friday, December 29, 2006
Thursday, December 28, 2006
Monday, December 25, 2006
Friday, December 22, 2006
Wednesday, December 20, 2006
Friday, December 15, 2006
Thursday, December 14, 2006
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
Monday, December 11, 2006
Wednesday, December 06, 2006
Tuesday, December 05, 2006
// NUCLEUS RESEARCH //
// NUCLEUS RESEARCH //
Nucleus Research Predicts Top 10 IT Trends for 2007
Expect a greater focus on enabling end users, stronger threats to traditional IT vendors
Wellesley, Mass.,—December 5, 2006—Nucleus Research today announced its Top 10 IT Predictions for 2007. The annual report has accurately predicted major IT trends for enterprise end users and vendors for the past three years. Nucleus predictions are based on analysis of both vendors and thousands of corporate end-user case studies.
“We see an exciting new year ahead – especially for companies embracing new technologies – with two larger trends emerging from our top 10 predictions. First we see the empowerment of the enterprise end-user as on-demand offerings and SOA drives more functionality down to the end user. Second, we see a growing challenge to traditional IT vendors through new technologies and models, including data virtualization, the integration of data mining tools and the ongoing evolution of IP and wireless technologies,” said Rebecca Wettemann, Nucleus Research.
Nucleus predicts the following for 2007:
1. Adoption of on-demand solutions and expansion of existing on-demand solution environments will continue as IT increasingly embraces on-demand as a way to reduce ongoing management hassles and accelerate project delivery.
2. Broader adoption of service-oriented architectures (SOA) will drive greater ROI and change how IT infrastructure is evaluated.
3. Data visualization and analysis tools for business users will drive greater adoption and more rapid decision making, while challenging the traditional business intelligence approach.
4. Content management consolidation will drive down prices and make rapid deployment, usability, and ongoing TCO key decision factors for migration efforts.
5. More and more organizations will look to integrated data mining to achieve ROI by reducing marketing costs and better targeting customer interactions.
6. Agent, filtering, and collaboration technologies (Knowledge Management) will become more prevalent in CRM, ERP, and other applications – as will other features designed to make them more intuitive and easier to use.
7. To win, cement, and expand customer relationships, successful vendors will enhance their services offerings to provide blueprints, templates, and other prescriptive guidance – free of charge.
8. As technology options become more accessible and affordable for organizations we’ll see a rise in the adoption of low cost and quick returns solutions like predictive analytics and on-demand in the public and nonprofit sector – driving greater demands for accountability in government IT spending.
9. BPO 2.0 leverages on-demand technology and secure remote network access to employ a distributed labor force, enabling more flexible, higher quality, more agile, and more focused customer interaction on a global basis.
10. Continued adoption of IP telephony and free tools like Skype will challenge traditional carriers’ pricing models and drive public broadband efforts.”
Nucleus analysts are available to discuss any of the IT predictions listed above. The full report is available at www.NucleusResearch.com.
About Nucleus Research
Nucleus Research is a global provider of IT advisory and research services that provides CFOs, CIOs and their staffs with the real-world information they need to maximize the business returns from their technology investments. For more information, visit www.NucleusResearch.com.
Nucleus Research Predicts Top 10 IT Trends for 2007
Expect a greater focus on enabling end users, stronger threats to traditional IT vendors
Wellesley, Mass.,—December 5, 2006—Nucleus Research today announced its Top 10 IT Predictions for 2007. The annual report has accurately predicted major IT trends for enterprise end users and vendors for the past three years. Nucleus predictions are based on analysis of both vendors and thousands of corporate end-user case studies.
“We see an exciting new year ahead – especially for companies embracing new technologies – with two larger trends emerging from our top 10 predictions. First we see the empowerment of the enterprise end-user as on-demand offerings and SOA drives more functionality down to the end user. Second, we see a growing challenge to traditional IT vendors through new technologies and models, including data virtualization, the integration of data mining tools and the ongoing evolution of IP and wireless technologies,” said Rebecca Wettemann, Nucleus Research.
Nucleus predicts the following for 2007:
1. Adoption of on-demand solutions and expansion of existing on-demand solution environments will continue as IT increasingly embraces on-demand as a way to reduce ongoing management hassles and accelerate project delivery.
2. Broader adoption of service-oriented architectures (SOA) will drive greater ROI and change how IT infrastructure is evaluated.
3. Data visualization and analysis tools for business users will drive greater adoption and more rapid decision making, while challenging the traditional business intelligence approach.
4. Content management consolidation will drive down prices and make rapid deployment, usability, and ongoing TCO key decision factors for migration efforts.
5. More and more organizations will look to integrated data mining to achieve ROI by reducing marketing costs and better targeting customer interactions.
6. Agent, filtering, and collaboration technologies (Knowledge Management) will become more prevalent in CRM, ERP, and other applications – as will other features designed to make them more intuitive and easier to use.
7. To win, cement, and expand customer relationships, successful vendors will enhance their services offerings to provide blueprints, templates, and other prescriptive guidance – free of charge.
8. As technology options become more accessible and affordable for organizations we’ll see a rise in the adoption of low cost and quick returns solutions like predictive analytics and on-demand in the public and nonprofit sector – driving greater demands for accountability in government IT spending.
9. BPO 2.0 leverages on-demand technology and secure remote network access to employ a distributed labor force, enabling more flexible, higher quality, more agile, and more focused customer interaction on a global basis.
10. Continued adoption of IP telephony and free tools like Skype will challenge traditional carriers’ pricing models and drive public broadband efforts.”
Nucleus analysts are available to discuss any of the IT predictions listed above. The full report is available at www.NucleusResearch.com.
About Nucleus Research
Nucleus Research is a global provider of IT advisory and research services that provides CFOs, CIOs and their staffs with the real-world information they need to maximize the business returns from their technology investments. For more information, visit www.NucleusResearch.com.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Thursday, November 30, 2006
Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Thursday, November 23, 2006
Who wants an easy life anyway? - CRN
Who wants an easy life anyway? - CRN
Despite the hard work and stress, all of those who make this year’s A-List wouldn’t want to work anywhere else. Simon Meredith looks at what motivates some of the industry’s leading figures
Despite the hard work and stress, all of those who make this year’s A-List wouldn’t want to work anywhere else. Simon Meredith looks at what motivates some of the industry’s leading figures
Wednesday, November 22, 2006
Thursday, November 16, 2006
Wednesday, November 15, 2006
Tuesday, November 14, 2006
Monday, November 13, 2006
Sunday, November 12, 2006
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Nvidia Strengthens Mobile Focus With Deal to Buy PortalPlayer
This strategic agreement focuses on growth opportunities beyond the PC. PortalPlayer's proficiency in audio combined with Nvidia's mobile video expertise will position Nvidia for video-focused, portable multimedia devices.
Nvidia Strengthens Mobile Focus With Deal to Buy PortalPlayer
Nvidia Strengthens Mobile Focus With Deal to Buy PortalPlayer
Tuesday, November 07, 2006
Microsoft may launch Office tools online (FT)
Bill Gates hinted that Microsoft would launch simple online versions of some of its Office desktop software tools as he hit back at suggestions that new internet services from Google and others might start to eat into one of his company’s core businesses.
His comments followed a rash of new services from Google and other internet companies to handle things such as word processing, spreadsheets and online calendars.
Google also changed course last month by starting to combine some of these its applications into an integrated package, echoing the “suite” approach that helped to turn Microsoft’s Office into the dominant desktop software application.
Mr Gates told the Financial Times that Microsoft would itself match services such as those offered by Google. He argued strongly, though, that this would only ever represent a small part of the market.
Asked whether Microsoft planned to launch online “productivity” tools like those in Office, he said: “We’re going to cover 100 per cent of the productivity needs – our track record is to keep innovating.”
Mr Gates said the present generation of e-tools were still at a very basic level and broadly comparable to Works, a collection of simple applications that Microsoft sells for PC users, and so did not threaten the core Office business.
“The web-based things aren’t an advance over what Works has been for a long, long time,” he said. “We don’t think the market will shift to a Works-like level.” Works is only estimated to account for a small percentage of Microsoft’s “information worker” business, which produced overall sales of $12.4bn last year.
Until now, Microsoft has steered clear of launching web-based productivity applications in direct competition with Google.
Its “Office Live” service, which is due to come out of its test phase later this month, is a collection of tools for small companies to create and run their own websites, rather than being related to the desktop software suite whose name it bears. While maintaining that most office workers would continue to use full versions of the Office desktop software, Mr Gates suggested that they would in future find it easier to access their work from any machine – one of the advantages of the online services.
“There’s a difference between actually running an application on a server versus letting a document be found on a server,” he said. “We’re going to make a push to let you keep documents on a server.”
Since most office workers use full-functioning PCs, it made sense to take advantage of that local computing power with applications such as those in Office, even if their documents are held centrally, he added.
His comments followed a rash of new services from Google and other internet companies to handle things such as word processing, spreadsheets and online calendars.
Google also changed course last month by starting to combine some of these its applications into an integrated package, echoing the “suite” approach that helped to turn Microsoft’s Office into the dominant desktop software application.
Mr Gates told the Financial Times that Microsoft would itself match services such as those offered by Google. He argued strongly, though, that this would only ever represent a small part of the market.
Asked whether Microsoft planned to launch online “productivity” tools like those in Office, he said: “We’re going to cover 100 per cent of the productivity needs – our track record is to keep innovating.”
Mr Gates said the present generation of e-tools were still at a very basic level and broadly comparable to Works, a collection of simple applications that Microsoft sells for PC users, and so did not threaten the core Office business.
“The web-based things aren’t an advance over what Works has been for a long, long time,” he said. “We don’t think the market will shift to a Works-like level.” Works is only estimated to account for a small percentage of Microsoft’s “information worker” business, which produced overall sales of $12.4bn last year.
Until now, Microsoft has steered clear of launching web-based productivity applications in direct competition with Google.
Its “Office Live” service, which is due to come out of its test phase later this month, is a collection of tools for small companies to create and run their own websites, rather than being related to the desktop software suite whose name it bears. While maintaining that most office workers would continue to use full versions of the Office desktop software, Mr Gates suggested that they would in future find it easier to access their work from any machine – one of the advantages of the online services.
“There’s a difference between actually running an application on a server versus letting a document be found on a server,” he said. “We’re going to make a push to let you keep documents on a server.”
Since most office workers use full-functioning PCs, it made sense to take advantage of that local computing power with applications such as those in Office, even if their documents are held centrally, he added.
Waiting for the new web revolution (FT)
When it comes to corporate technology, the internet services revolution cannot be rushed.
That, at least, is the message from Bill Gates. A year ago he and Ray Ozzie, now Microsoft’s chief software architect, laid out a radical new vision for Microsoft, one that was based increasingly on delivering software-enabled services rather than traditional software packages.
Yet for much of the software that companies use – from desktop “productivity” programs such as Office to the back-office applications that underpin their marketing departments, supply chain operations and other parts of their business – this is still a long way off, according to Mr Gates.
Speaking this week to the Financial Times, Mr Gates sketched out a vision for corporate software that looks less radical than that promoted by many others in the software and internet industries.
The danger, if he is wrong, is that Microsoft risks squandering its entrenched position in corporate desktop software, as well as its ambition to turn back-office applications into its next big growth business.
“What Microsoft faces today is what happened to the mainframe,” warns Joe Wilcox, an analyst at Jupiter Research – that it will be replaced by a lower-cost, more efficient model of computing, this time based on the internet.
It is represented by companies such as Salesforce.com, whose back-office applications are delivered online, and by Google, whose suite of productivity and collaboration tools for office workers has been multiplying.
According to Mr Gates, tech companies have made the mistake before of believing in overnight transformations. At the beginning of the decade, for instance, all the talk was of “application service providers”, companies that would deliver services online as if they were water or electricity. “Intel was going to build all these datacentres, there were tons of start-ups,” he says. Most foundered.
When it comes to back-office “enterprise resource planning” applications, he adds: “We’ll have some things on-premise, some things published out on the web. We think few companies will be purely on-premise, or purely on the web.”
Getting the balance right will be key to success for one of Microsoft’s most important new businesses. Its business applications business, started through acquisition five years ago and now generating revenues of about $1bn a year, is “something that will grow faster than the rest of the business for many, many years”, Mr Gates says.
“Like every Microsoft business in the first few years, we’re learning, we’re putting the pieces together.”
So far in this area, Mr Gates is following a classic Microsoft game plan. Part of it involves tying the applications more closely to Microsoft’s main asset – its desktop software. By using the Office suite of desktop tools as a way to access back-office applications, Microsoft hopes to stimulate wider usage, particularly among the smaller businesses that are its main target.
Microsoft is also playing the same “fast-follower” role it has in other markets where other companies have set the early pace.
For instance, when it comes to Office Live – a collection of online services for small businesses – “it looks like they came up with many of the ideas after they looked at the Salesforce.com website”, says Bruce Richardson, an analyst at AMR Research. Yet this me-too approach has worked for Microsoft in other markets before.
The shape of this services-and-software vision for corporate software has yet to come fully into focus, though Microsoft continues to inch forward. Earlier this week, for instance, it announced plans to make its customer relationship management software available as a service in the second half of next year, with other software to follow.
It also laid out more ideas for how small businesses would be able to combine both on-premise software and internet services (supplied by Microsoft) to create new composite applications – or “mash-ups”, in the jargon of the Web 2.0 internet movement.
For instance, a marketing executive, reviewing details of a client relationship on his Microsoft software, might link directly into a hosted “collaboration” service to start a conversation with colleagues, then connect to Microsoft’s online keyword advertising system to launch a campaign.
“There are a lot of pieces in motion that haven’t landed yet,” Mr Wilcox says.
Mr Richardson adds: “Everything is still in a state of flux.”
Microsoft’s growing range of software and services for smaller businesses are “all aimed at the same desktop, and it gets a little confused”. He says, though: “That’s the way Microsoft likes it.”
In other areas, Microsoft has shown a similar desire to attack on all fronts at once. In its assault on the digital living room, for instance, it has spread its bets across the Xbox 360 games console, set-top boxes and special “media centre” PCs.
As the shape of corporate software and technology services evolves, that may prove a smart strategy – though it risks leaving Microsoft at a disadvantage to pure internet-based companies in at least one respect. “The Salesforce.com story is pure and unencumbered,” Mr Richardson says.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
That, at least, is the message from Bill Gates. A year ago he and Ray Ozzie, now Microsoft’s chief software architect, laid out a radical new vision for Microsoft, one that was based increasingly on delivering software-enabled services rather than traditional software packages.
Yet for much of the software that companies use – from desktop “productivity” programs such as Office to the back-office applications that underpin their marketing departments, supply chain operations and other parts of their business – this is still a long way off, according to Mr Gates.
Speaking this week to the Financial Times, Mr Gates sketched out a vision for corporate software that looks less radical than that promoted by many others in the software and internet industries.
The danger, if he is wrong, is that Microsoft risks squandering its entrenched position in corporate desktop software, as well as its ambition to turn back-office applications into its next big growth business.
“What Microsoft faces today is what happened to the mainframe,” warns Joe Wilcox, an analyst at Jupiter Research – that it will be replaced by a lower-cost, more efficient model of computing, this time based on the internet.
It is represented by companies such as Salesforce.com, whose back-office applications are delivered online, and by Google, whose suite of productivity and collaboration tools for office workers has been multiplying.
According to Mr Gates, tech companies have made the mistake before of believing in overnight transformations. At the beginning of the decade, for instance, all the talk was of “application service providers”, companies that would deliver services online as if they were water or electricity. “Intel was going to build all these datacentres, there were tons of start-ups,” he says. Most foundered.
When it comes to back-office “enterprise resource planning” applications, he adds: “We’ll have some things on-premise, some things published out on the web. We think few companies will be purely on-premise, or purely on the web.”
Getting the balance right will be key to success for one of Microsoft’s most important new businesses. Its business applications business, started through acquisition five years ago and now generating revenues of about $1bn a year, is “something that will grow faster than the rest of the business for many, many years”, Mr Gates says.
“Like every Microsoft business in the first few years, we’re learning, we’re putting the pieces together.”
So far in this area, Mr Gates is following a classic Microsoft game plan. Part of it involves tying the applications more closely to Microsoft’s main asset – its desktop software. By using the Office suite of desktop tools as a way to access back-office applications, Microsoft hopes to stimulate wider usage, particularly among the smaller businesses that are its main target.
Microsoft is also playing the same “fast-follower” role it has in other markets where other companies have set the early pace.
For instance, when it comes to Office Live – a collection of online services for small businesses – “it looks like they came up with many of the ideas after they looked at the Salesforce.com website”, says Bruce Richardson, an analyst at AMR Research. Yet this me-too approach has worked for Microsoft in other markets before.
The shape of this services-and-software vision for corporate software has yet to come fully into focus, though Microsoft continues to inch forward. Earlier this week, for instance, it announced plans to make its customer relationship management software available as a service in the second half of next year, with other software to follow.
It also laid out more ideas for how small businesses would be able to combine both on-premise software and internet services (supplied by Microsoft) to create new composite applications – or “mash-ups”, in the jargon of the Web 2.0 internet movement.
For instance, a marketing executive, reviewing details of a client relationship on his Microsoft software, might link directly into a hosted “collaboration” service to start a conversation with colleagues, then connect to Microsoft’s online keyword advertising system to launch a campaign.
“There are a lot of pieces in motion that haven’t landed yet,” Mr Wilcox says.
Mr Richardson adds: “Everything is still in a state of flux.”
Microsoft’s growing range of software and services for smaller businesses are “all aimed at the same desktop, and it gets a little confused”. He says, though: “That’s the way Microsoft likes it.”
In other areas, Microsoft has shown a similar desire to attack on all fronts at once. In its assault on the digital living room, for instance, it has spread its bets across the Xbox 360 games console, set-top boxes and special “media centre” PCs.
As the shape of corporate software and technology services evolves, that may prove a smart strategy – though it risks leaving Microsoft at a disadvantage to pure internet-based companies in at least one respect. “The Salesforce.com story is pure and unencumbered,” Mr Richardson says.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Beauty parade for Web 2.0 start-ups (FT)
Beauty parade for Web 2.0 start-ups
By Richard Waters in San Francisco
Published: November 5 2006 20:27 Last updated: November 5 2006 20:27
A “crowdsourcing” company that lets software developers vote on which product they will create next, a “social sharing” start-up that promises to get to “the very end of the Long Tail”, a maker of online Post-it notes.
These may sound like parodies of new internet companies emerging from Silicon Valley’s latest bout of internet euphoria. In fact, they are all start-ups that will be paraded this week at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco, an annual event that has turned into a celebration of the Valley’s recovery from its post-dotcom slump.
While promoters of the new wave of internet start-ups claim this is not turning into another bubble, it is reminiscent of the last boom in at least one respect. “There is a great deal of hype,” says Mitchell Kertzman, a partner at Hummer Winblad, a Valley venture capital firm.
And where there is hype, opportunism flourishes. Many of the companies emerging from this start-up wave, like the last, look as if they were created with an eye to being sold on quick. But this time the aim is not to “flip” them to Wall Street investors, but to sell them to a Google or Yahoo.
With the mania in full swing, the amount of venture capital money finding its way into US internet companies has jumped to levels not seen since the boom.
Defining exactly what it is that characterises this new wave of internet euphoria, however, is not easy. “Web 2.0 means so many things to so many people,” says Steve Ballmer, chief executive of Microsoft. “There’s a technology aspect, a community phenomenon, an advertising business model.”
The new internet companies are built on low-cost technologies such as open source software and cheap commodity hardware. Many – such as photo-sharing site Flickr – employ tools designed to stimulate online community behaviour. Also, thanks to the rise of online advertising networks, the new start-ups often have a way to generate revenue immediately.
Young internet companies once rushed to see how much cash they could raise, much of it to be spent on advertising. But the new entrepreneurs boast instead about how little they need. In spite of that, the sheer number of new arrivals suggests there will be many casualties. “For every YouTube, there have probably been 20 or 30 companies funded that won’t be worth anything,” Mr Kertzman says. “If a company doesn’t take off virally and get ‘hot’ on its own, the only tool you have is consumer marketing, which is very expensive.”
Meanwhile, the cash flooding back into consumer internet start-ups has had an inevitable effect. Geoff Yang, a venture capitalist at Redpoint – which backed MySpace – estimates that valuations of private internet companies have risen 30-40 per cent in the past six months.
However, the public markets have not experienced similar upswings, and the dearth of initial public offerings in the US suggests that few of these new companies will ever make it to Wall Street. Once Google and Yahoo tire of acquisitions, the Web 2.0 hangover could be acute.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
By Richard Waters in San Francisco
Published: November 5 2006 20:27 Last updated: November 5 2006 20:27
A “crowdsourcing” company that lets software developers vote on which product they will create next, a “social sharing” start-up that promises to get to “the very end of the Long Tail”, a maker of online Post-it notes.
These may sound like parodies of new internet companies emerging from Silicon Valley’s latest bout of internet euphoria. In fact, they are all start-ups that will be paraded this week at the Web 2.0 conference in San Francisco, an annual event that has turned into a celebration of the Valley’s recovery from its post-dotcom slump.
While promoters of the new wave of internet start-ups claim this is not turning into another bubble, it is reminiscent of the last boom in at least one respect. “There is a great deal of hype,” says Mitchell Kertzman, a partner at Hummer Winblad, a Valley venture capital firm.
And where there is hype, opportunism flourishes. Many of the companies emerging from this start-up wave, like the last, look as if they were created with an eye to being sold on quick. But this time the aim is not to “flip” them to Wall Street investors, but to sell them to a Google or Yahoo.
With the mania in full swing, the amount of venture capital money finding its way into US internet companies has jumped to levels not seen since the boom.
Defining exactly what it is that characterises this new wave of internet euphoria, however, is not easy. “Web 2.0 means so many things to so many people,” says Steve Ballmer, chief executive of Microsoft. “There’s a technology aspect, a community phenomenon, an advertising business model.”
The new internet companies are built on low-cost technologies such as open source software and cheap commodity hardware. Many – such as photo-sharing site Flickr – employ tools designed to stimulate online community behaviour. Also, thanks to the rise of online advertising networks, the new start-ups often have a way to generate revenue immediately.
Young internet companies once rushed to see how much cash they could raise, much of it to be spent on advertising. But the new entrepreneurs boast instead about how little they need. In spite of that, the sheer number of new arrivals suggests there will be many casualties. “For every YouTube, there have probably been 20 or 30 companies funded that won’t be worth anything,” Mr Kertzman says. “If a company doesn’t take off virally and get ‘hot’ on its own, the only tool you have is consumer marketing, which is very expensive.”
Meanwhile, the cash flooding back into consumer internet start-ups has had an inevitable effect. Geoff Yang, a venture capitalist at Redpoint – which backed MySpace – estimates that valuations of private internet companies have risen 30-40 per cent in the past six months.
However, the public markets have not experienced similar upswings, and the dearth of initial public offerings in the US suggests that few of these new companies will ever make it to Wall Street. Once Google and Yahoo tire of acquisitions, the Web 2.0 hangover could be acute.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Monday, November 06, 2006
Thursday, November 02, 2006
My Own Private Google (Line56)
Google offers ways to personalize the search experience; part of a recent pattern of experimenting with search
Wednesday, November 01, 2006
Google Boosts Stake in Web Collaboration With JotSpot Wiki Buy (Gartner)
JotSpot's technology and organization fit well with Google by providing a key collaboration piece for Google's Web 2.0 workplace strategy. But JotSpot users should prepare for some disruption during the next 12 months.
Google Acquires JotSpot (Line56)
Google acquires wiki application company; product fits into collaboration portfolio, but model isn't necessarily proven
Google has acquired JotSpot, the wiki software company, for an undisclosed sum.
While Google's recent blockbuster acquisition of YouTube focused attention on video search and sharing, the JotSpot acquisition puts the focus on another part of Google's strategy: collaboration or, as Google calls the larger category, "communicate, show, and share." This category already includes tools for blogs, calendaring, document processing (including spreadsheets), G-mail, photo sharing, and more.
Google has acquired JotSpot, the wiki software company, for an undisclosed sum.
While Google's recent blockbuster acquisition of YouTube focused attention on video search and sharing, the JotSpot acquisition puts the focus on another part of Google's strategy: collaboration or, as Google calls the larger category, "communicate, show, and share." This category already includes tools for blogs, calendaring, document processing (including spreadsheets), G-mail, photo sharing, and more.
Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Google startet Suchmaschine zum selber Basteln (contentmanager.de)
Seit gestern ist die neue kundenspezifische Suchmaschinen-Plattform 'Custom Search Engine' von Google online...
Tuesday, October 24, 2006
Autonomy signals share buy-back (FT)
Autonomy, the search software company, is likely to spend surplus cash on a share buy-back for want of suitable takeover targets.
Friday, October 20, 2006
Microsoft IE7 Is a Strong Response to the Firefox Challenge (Gartner)
Microsoft is often at its best when facing a strong competitor. With Internet Explorer 7, Microsoft is a "fast follower" of competing browsers like Firefox, but it also offers several innovations.
Monday, October 16, 2006
Wikipedia founder plans rival (FT)
Wikipedia founder plans rival
By Richard Waters in San Francisco
Published: October 16 2006 22:08 Last updated: October 16 2006 22:08
One of the founders of Wikipedia is days away from launching a rival to the collaborative internet encyclopaedia, in an attempt to bring a more orderly approach to organising knowledge online.
Wikipedia – which is available to be written and edited by anyone on the internet – is one of the most visible successes of mass collaboration on the web, with many of its 1.4m articles appearing high in search results.
However, its openness has also drawn charges of unreliability and left it vulnerable to disputes between people with opposing views, particularly on politically sensitive topics.
The latest venture from Larry Sanger, who helped create Wikipedia in 2001, is intended to bring more order to this creative chaos by drawing on traditional measures of authority. Though still open to submissions from anyone, the power to authorise articles will be given to editors who can prove their expertise, as well as a group of volunteer “constables”, charged with keeping the peace between warring interests.
Accusing Wikipedia of failing to control its writers and editors, he said: “The latest articles don't represent a consensus view – they tend to become what the most persistent ‘posters’ say.”
Mr Sanger said he had financial backing from an unidentified foundation for his new venture, while a web hosting company was providing its services free. He said he became frustrated with Wikipedia's failure to build expertise into its editing process and left after its first year.
Since then, the encyclopedia's other founder, Jimmy Wales, has taken some steps to bring more order to the Wikipedia approach, although he has avoided using authority figures such as editors.
Asked in an e-mail exchange how such disagreements should be resolved, Mr Wales replied: “With strong support for individual rights, and respect for reason.” His e-mail went on: “It is the fundamental responsibility of every individual to- think-, to- judge-, to-decide-. We must never abdicate that responsibility, not to the collective, not to Britannica, not to Wikipedia, not to anyone.”
Mr Sanger said volunteers would be able to become editors of his encyclopedia, called Citizendium, if they can show “minimum levels of qualification, based on real-world measures.”
This would be an “imperfect but effective” test based on “degrees, professional society memberships, things like that”.
Citizendium will be open “within the next few days” to a limited number of invited editors and members of the public who apply, and will be made generally available by the end of the year, said Mr Sanger.
It is likely to take Citizendium some time to prove whether it can create a better online encyclopedia. It will begin by simply taking over all of the existing entries from Wikipedia, then start the laborious job of having them filtered by expert editors – a job Mr Sanger called “a clean-out of the Augean stables”.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
By Richard Waters in San Francisco
Published: October 16 2006 22:08 Last updated: October 16 2006 22:08
One of the founders of Wikipedia is days away from launching a rival to the collaborative internet encyclopaedia, in an attempt to bring a more orderly approach to organising knowledge online.
Wikipedia – which is available to be written and edited by anyone on the internet – is one of the most visible successes of mass collaboration on the web, with many of its 1.4m articles appearing high in search results.
However, its openness has also drawn charges of unreliability and left it vulnerable to disputes between people with opposing views, particularly on politically sensitive topics.
The latest venture from Larry Sanger, who helped create Wikipedia in 2001, is intended to bring more order to this creative chaos by drawing on traditional measures of authority. Though still open to submissions from anyone, the power to authorise articles will be given to editors who can prove their expertise, as well as a group of volunteer “constables”, charged with keeping the peace between warring interests.
Accusing Wikipedia of failing to control its writers and editors, he said: “The latest articles don't represent a consensus view – they tend to become what the most persistent ‘posters’ say.”
Mr Sanger said he had financial backing from an unidentified foundation for his new venture, while a web hosting company was providing its services free. He said he became frustrated with Wikipedia's failure to build expertise into its editing process and left after its first year.
Since then, the encyclopedia's other founder, Jimmy Wales, has taken some steps to bring more order to the Wikipedia approach, although he has avoided using authority figures such as editors.
Asked in an e-mail exchange how such disagreements should be resolved, Mr Wales replied: “With strong support for individual rights, and respect for reason.” His e-mail went on: “It is the fundamental responsibility of every individual to- think-, to- judge-, to-decide-. We must never abdicate that responsibility, not to the collective, not to Britannica, not to Wikipedia, not to anyone.”
Mr Sanger said volunteers would be able to become editors of his encyclopedia, called Citizendium, if they can show “minimum levels of qualification, based on real-world measures.”
This would be an “imperfect but effective” test based on “degrees, professional society memberships, things like that”.
Citizendium will be open “within the next few days” to a limited number of invited editors and members of the public who apply, and will be made generally available by the end of the year, said Mr Sanger.
It is likely to take Citizendium some time to prove whether it can create a better online encyclopedia. It will begin by simply taking over all of the existing entries from Wikipedia, then start the laborious job of having them filtered by expert editors – a job Mr Sanger called “a clean-out of the Augean stables”.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2006
Friday, October 13, 2006
Axel Springer: Größter europäischer Zeitungsverlag entscheidet sich für Getronics (contentmanager.de)
Das Workspace ICT Services Unternehmen Getronics hat die Unterzeichnung eines Vertrages mit dem größten europäischen Zeitungsverlag, der Axel Springer AG (Zeitungsgruppe Welt/Berliner Morgenpost), bekannt gegeben. Inhalt des Vertrages ist die Entwicklung eines neuen Content Management Systems (Escenic Media System) für die Webseiten der Zeitungen "Die Welt" und "Welt am Sonntag".
Die Axel Springer AG verlegt unter anderem die Titel "Die Welt", "Berliner Morgenpost", "Bild" und "Autobild". Die Online-Ausgabe der "Welt" ist zudem eine der bekanntesten Nachrichtenseiten in Deutschland. Als Teil ihrer "Online First"-Strategie implementiert Axel Springer momentan ein Software-Programm, das für die Vielzahl der Online- und Print-Redaktionen der Zeitungsgruppe Berlin einen einzigen integrierten Newsroom schaffen soll. Diese Entwicklung, gemeinsam mit veränderten Benutzeranforderungen und den gewachsenen Möglichkeiten des Internets, gab den Ausschlag für die Entscheidung, ein modernes, state-of-the-art Content-Management-System zu implementieren.
Nach einem sorgfältigen Auswahlverfahren entschied sich die Axel Springer AG für Getronics und das CMS System von Escenic. Den Ausschlag gaben dabei vor allem das umfassende Know-how und die große Erfahrung, die beide Unternehmen im Mediensektor vorweisen können. Darüber hinaus offerierten Getronics und Escenic ein fertig entwickeltes CMS-System, das bereits erfolgreich bei anderen Kunden implementiert wurde. Als weitere Gründe kamen hinzu, dass man Getronics auf Basis der großen Erfahrung und der erfolgreich abgewickelten Projekte zutraut, ein solches Vorhaben problemlos innerhalb eines knapp bemessenen Zeitrahmens international auszurollen und gleichzeitig dem Management die notwendige Unterstützung bei der Einführung des CMS zu bieten.
Das Content-Management-System von Esenic hat seine Leistungsfähigkeit bereits in einer Vielzahl von Projekten im Medienbereich unter Beweis gestellt. Dabei hat sich gezeigt, dass das System nicht nur optimal für Unternehmen ist, die auf einer Vielzahl verschiedener Webseiten einem hohen Level an Interaktivität genügen müssen. Zusätzlich erfüllt die Esenic-Lösung flexibel die Anforderungen in einem sich ständig verändernden Markt.Getronics stärkt mit diesem neuen Projekt seine führende Position im Marktsegment "Medien" und wird damit zunehmend zu einem interessanten Partner für die wachsende Zahl von Medienunternehmen mit einer Internationalisierungsstrategie.
Die Axel Springer AG verlegt unter anderem die Titel "Die Welt", "Berliner Morgenpost", "Bild" und "Autobild". Die Online-Ausgabe der "Welt" ist zudem eine der bekanntesten Nachrichtenseiten in Deutschland. Als Teil ihrer "Online First"-Strategie implementiert Axel Springer momentan ein Software-Programm, das für die Vielzahl der Online- und Print-Redaktionen der Zeitungsgruppe Berlin einen einzigen integrierten Newsroom schaffen soll. Diese Entwicklung, gemeinsam mit veränderten Benutzeranforderungen und den gewachsenen Möglichkeiten des Internets, gab den Ausschlag für die Entscheidung, ein modernes, state-of-the-art Content-Management-System zu implementieren.
Nach einem sorgfältigen Auswahlverfahren entschied sich die Axel Springer AG für Getronics und das CMS System von Escenic. Den Ausschlag gaben dabei vor allem das umfassende Know-how und die große Erfahrung, die beide Unternehmen im Mediensektor vorweisen können. Darüber hinaus offerierten Getronics und Escenic ein fertig entwickeltes CMS-System, das bereits erfolgreich bei anderen Kunden implementiert wurde. Als weitere Gründe kamen hinzu, dass man Getronics auf Basis der großen Erfahrung und der erfolgreich abgewickelten Projekte zutraut, ein solches Vorhaben problemlos innerhalb eines knapp bemessenen Zeitrahmens international auszurollen und gleichzeitig dem Management die notwendige Unterstützung bei der Einführung des CMS zu bieten.
Das Content-Management-System von Esenic hat seine Leistungsfähigkeit bereits in einer Vielzahl von Projekten im Medienbereich unter Beweis gestellt. Dabei hat sich gezeigt, dass das System nicht nur optimal für Unternehmen ist, die auf einer Vielzahl verschiedener Webseiten einem hohen Level an Interaktivität genügen müssen. Zusätzlich erfüllt die Esenic-Lösung flexibel die Anforderungen in einem sich ständig verändernden Markt.Getronics stärkt mit diesem neuen Projekt seine führende Position im Marktsegment "Medien" und wird damit zunehmend zu einem interessanten Partner für die wachsende Zahl von Medienunternehmen mit einer Internationalisierungsstrategie.
Thursday, October 12, 2006
Google Will Face Challenges in Wake of YouTube Acquisition (Gartner)
The purchase of YouTube presents Google with an opportunity to tap into the lucrative video brand advertising market. But copyright hurdles must be cleared before that can happen.
Monday, October 09, 2006
Friday, October 06, 2006
Magic Quadrant for Information Access Technology, 2006
Magic Quadrant for Information Access Technology, 2006
No new Leaders emerged in this year's iteration of the Magic Quadrant for information access technology. Acquisitions and vision improvements
have nevertheless forced significant changes in positioning throughout.
This Magic Quadrant includes vendors with capabilities that go beyond enterprise search to encompass a collection of technologies, including: search; content classification, categorization and clustering; fact and entity extraction; taxonomy creation and management; information presentation (for example, visualization) to support analysis and understanding; and desktop (or personal knowledge) search to address user-controlled repositories to locate and invoke documents, data, e-mail and intelligence.
We consider all enterprise search vendors to be information access technology vendors; however, those that only offer search capabilities (frequently called "keyword search") are inherently not Visionaries or candidates for the Leaders quadrant. Finding information, and acting on it intelligently, demands increasingly sophisticated and innovative strategies.
We now recommend that Global 2000 enterprises at least select a platform vendor for the majority of future projects. Platform vendors offer modular architectures, wide varieties of relevance modeling, multiple vertical applications and significant customizability. Enterprises should also typically have a tactical vendor to increase the agility for short-term and quick-start projects. Such tactical vendors may lack architectural sophistication and customizability, but they are quicker to deploy and easier to understand. Enterprises must also recognize the need to explore more specialized products for important and specific projects, such as customer interaction hubs, e-commerce search or research science support.
No new Leaders emerged in this year's iteration of the Magic Quadrant for information access technology. Acquisitions and vision improvements
have nevertheless forced significant changes in positioning throughout.
This Magic Quadrant includes vendors with capabilities that go beyond enterprise search to encompass a collection of technologies, including: search; content classification, categorization and clustering; fact and entity extraction; taxonomy creation and management; information presentation (for example, visualization) to support analysis and understanding; and desktop (or personal knowledge) search to address user-controlled repositories to locate and invoke documents, data, e-mail and intelligence.
We consider all enterprise search vendors to be information access technology vendors; however, those that only offer search capabilities (frequently called "keyword search") are inherently not Visionaries or candidates for the Leaders quadrant. Finding information, and acting on it intelligently, demands increasingly sophisticated and innovative strategies.
We now recommend that Global 2000 enterprises at least select a platform vendor for the majority of future projects. Platform vendors offer modular architectures, wide varieties of relevance modeling, multiple vertical applications and significant customizability. Enterprises should also typically have a tactical vendor to increase the agility for short-term and quick-start projects. Such tactical vendors may lack architectural sophistication and customizability, but they are quicker to deploy and easier to understand. Enterprises must also recognize the need to explore more specialized products for important and specific projects, such as customer interaction hubs, e-commerce search or research science support.
Thursday, October 05, 2006
Nach Hummingbird-Übernahme: Open Text gibt Eckpunkte der künftigen Unternehmensstrategie bekannt (contentmanager.de)
Wie Open Text (Nasdaq: OTEX, TSX: OTC) mitteilte, stärkt der am 2. Oktober bekannt gegebene Abschluss der Übernahme von Hummingbird die Position des Unternehmens als des weltweit größten unabhängigen Anbieters von Enterprise Content Management (ECM)-Software. Unter dem Namen Open Text vereinigt das Unternehmen die ECM-Expertise, Lösungen und Partner, mit denen Kunden die Probleme im Zusammenhang mit dem Management von Informationen in großen Organisationen lösen können.
Wednesday, October 04, 2006
Web 2.0-Anwendungen lösen Ursprungsversprechen des Internets ein (contentmanager.de)
BVDW-Experten aus unterschiedlichen Bereichen sehen mit zunehmender Reichweite der verschiedenen Web2.0-Anwendungen lange existierende Hoffungen und Versprechen der Internetwirtschaft eingelöst. Weblogs, Videoblogs, RSS-Feeds & Co. - von vielen momentan noch als Phänomen unter Insidern und "Heavyusern" abgetan, wird nach Meinung von BVDW-Gesamtvorstand Andrea Schulz und Jörg Rensmann, stellvertretender Vorsitzender der Fachgruppe Services & Innovationen im BVDW nach und nach Einzug in die Kommunikationsstrategien der Unternehmen halten. Dabei lassen sich die verschiedenen Anwendungen als Instrumente in der Vermarktung als auch in der internen Kommunikation einsetzen. Entscheidende Bausteine für den erfolgreichen Einsatz der Technologien sind, so die Experten beim Kongress "Chance Web 2.0", Glaubwürdigkeit, Kritikfähigkeit, Authentizität, Relevanz sowie die Ermöglichung echter Partizipation.
Web 2.0-Anwendungen lösen Ursprungsversprechen des Internets ein (contentmanager.de)
BVDW-Experten aus unterschiedlichen Bereichen sehen mit zunehmender Reichweite der verschiedenen Web2.0-Anwendungen lange existierende Hoffungen und Versprechen der Internetwirtschaft eingelöst. Weblogs, Videoblogs, RSS-Feeds & Co. - von vielen momentan noch als Phänomen unter Insidern und "Heavyusern" abgetan, wird nach Meinung von BVDW-Gesamtvorstand Andrea Schulz und Jörg Rensmann, stellvertretender Vorsitzender der Fachgruppe Services & Innovationen im BVDW nach und nach Einzug in die Kommunikationsstrategien der Unternehmen halten. Dabei lassen sich die verschiedenen Anwendungen als Instrumente in der Vermarktung als auch in der internen Kommunikation einsetzen. Entscheidende Bausteine für den erfolgreichen Einsatz der Technologien sind, so die Experten beim Kongress "Chance Web 2.0", Glaubwürdigkeit, Kritikfähigkeit, Authentizität, Relevanz sowie die Ermöglichung echter Partizipation.
Content Integration - Teil 2 (contentmanager.de)
Bis auf die Systeme von SAP und ADP (Paisy) gibt es auf dem Markt für betriebswirtschaftliche Systeme kein Produktangebot mit einer veröffentlichten, zertifizierbaren "Standard"-Schnittstelle zu einem Enterprise Content Management System. Auch "Standard"-Integrationen von ECM-Herstellern in marktgängige Fachanwendungen sind mit Schwächen verbunden. Projektarbeit tut Not - doch welchen technologischen Ansatz, welche Gesamtarchitektur sollte man wählen und wie kann ein ECM-System auf seine Integrationsmöglichkeit bewertet werden? Im zweiten Teil des Artikels "Content Integration" werden diese Fragen beantwortet...
Content Integration - Teil 1 (contentmanager.de)
Obwohl seit fast 20 Jahren Archiv- bzw. Dokumenten Management Lösungen in Unternehmen eingerichtet werden, stellt auch heute noch die Verbindung von Fachanwendung und Enterprise Content Management System (ECM-System) in fast jedem Projekt eine Herausforderung dar und ist häufig eine der Gründe für unkalkuliert hohe Projektkosten.
Tuesday, October 03, 2006
Why Portals Exist (Line56)
Don't let meta-functions obscure the main point of the portal interface; thinking about Netflix and Starbucks
In Search Of The Collaborative Structure (Optimize Mag)
If you want to get your arms around collaborative technology, you'd better have an amazing wingspan. Forrester noted in a recent report that it logged some 400 client inquiries on collaboration in 2005 and the first half of 2006, encompassing everything from messaging and Web conferencing to document management and blogs. IT staffs are stuck trying to gain control of all these deployments in the name of collaboration and productivity. Fortunately, vendors are working to address the question of integrating the vast pool of content, portal, office-productivity, and other technologies.
Monday, October 02, 2006
WebEx Extends Its Offerings to Provide a Web Platform (Gartner)
With WebEx Connect, WebEx Communications seeks to move beyond conferencing and become a general platform for enterprise Web 2.0 applications. This platform will add more legitimacy to the "software as a service" model.
Line56: A New Direction (Line56)
A heads-up on our changing approach to the e-business marketplace, and what it means for the Line56 community
Going forward, in addition to coverage of events of general importance in e-business, Line56 will be focusing coverage in three areas:
1. Portals (enterprise portals in particular, but we will also be focusing on the human interface aspects of enterprise applications like ERP, SCM, KM, procurement, e-learning, and so forth).
2. On Demand CRM
3. Middleware (including application infrastructure, databases, and radio frequency identification technology).
Our approach to the portals category is different than the current market understanding. A portal is, of course, a standalone technology: the enterprise portal. But, as we understand it, a portal is also any online interface (relying on components like dashboards, portlets, and open standards) that gives human users access to enterprise information. Line56 is increasingly interested in the human interface to enterprise technology, wherever it resides on the technology continuum, and this is what we will be featuring going forward.
We have also decided to break out on demand customer relationship management (CRM) into a category of its own. Despite the fact that many CRM deployments remain traditional, we respect the potential of the on demand model and would like to give it expanded coverage here.
Finally, no e-business technology or process is viable without the glue that is middleware.
What does this mean for readers? The easiest explanation is that it is the depth, rather than the breadth, of our coverage that will be changing. We will be going more deeply into the portal as human interface, on demand CRM, and middleware; our coverage will provide more specific details about products, deployments, strategies, and market conditions as we move from being a general news source to a targeted provider of information to the technology buyer, particularly in the small and medium-sized business (SMB) arena.
What does this mean for vendors and PR agencies? Line56 will be more interested in product demonstrations and interviews with customers. We want to see products in action, and talk to customers who are using them.
In trying to get on our calendar, please be aware of the Line56 Yahoo Group:http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/line56/This is where you can directly schedule briefings with our Managing Editor, Demir Barlas, and check out his schedule several weeks in advance.
If you have not already done so, you can e-mail Demir at delikurt AT yahoo DOT com in order to receive an invitation to this group.
It is worth repeating that we will still cover news of general importance, and news that does not fit into the categories above. We will be more alert, however, to the focus areas above.
Thanks for your readership!
Sign up for Line56 Newsletters to receive the latest e-business news, blogs, viewpoints, and analysis via e-mail.
About From The Editor: This is part of a series of high-level discussions of e-business issues that, while grounded as far as possible in data and fact, also incorporates a modicum of speculative thinking. -- Editor
"From The Editor" is an Op-ed series intended to foster critical thinking and discussion of current issues. Opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of Line56 Media as a whole.
Going forward, in addition to coverage of events of general importance in e-business, Line56 will be focusing coverage in three areas:
1. Portals (enterprise portals in particular, but we will also be focusing on the human interface aspects of enterprise applications like ERP, SCM, KM, procurement, e-learning, and so forth).
2. On Demand CRM
3. Middleware (including application infrastructure, databases, and radio frequency identification technology).
Our approach to the portals category is different than the current market understanding. A portal is, of course, a standalone technology: the enterprise portal. But, as we understand it, a portal is also any online interface (relying on components like dashboards, portlets, and open standards) that gives human users access to enterprise information. Line56 is increasingly interested in the human interface to enterprise technology, wherever it resides on the technology continuum, and this is what we will be featuring going forward.
We have also decided to break out on demand customer relationship management (CRM) into a category of its own. Despite the fact that many CRM deployments remain traditional, we respect the potential of the on demand model and would like to give it expanded coverage here.
Finally, no e-business technology or process is viable without the glue that is middleware.
What does this mean for readers? The easiest explanation is that it is the depth, rather than the breadth, of our coverage that will be changing. We will be going more deeply into the portal as human interface, on demand CRM, and middleware; our coverage will provide more specific details about products, deployments, strategies, and market conditions as we move from being a general news source to a targeted provider of information to the technology buyer, particularly in the small and medium-sized business (SMB) arena.
What does this mean for vendors and PR agencies? Line56 will be more interested in product demonstrations and interviews with customers. We want to see products in action, and talk to customers who are using them.
In trying to get on our calendar, please be aware of the Line56 Yahoo Group:http://finance.groups.yahoo.com/group/line56/This is where you can directly schedule briefings with our Managing Editor, Demir Barlas, and check out his schedule several weeks in advance.
If you have not already done so, you can e-mail Demir at delikurt AT yahoo DOT com in order to receive an invitation to this group.
It is worth repeating that we will still cover news of general importance, and news that does not fit into the categories above. We will be more alert, however, to the focus areas above.
Thanks for your readership!
Sign up for Line56 Newsletters to receive the latest e-business news, blogs, viewpoints, and analysis via e-mail.
About From The Editor: This is part of a series of high-level discussions of e-business issues that, while grounded as far as possible in data and fact, also incorporates a modicum of speculative thinking. -- Editor
"From The Editor" is an Op-ed series intended to foster critical thinking and discussion of current issues. Opinions stated do not necessarily reflect the views of Line56 Media as a whole.
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