Before we break away for the Thanksgiving Holiday – I wanted to post an article concerning B2B marketing and the importance of having the neccessary tools in place to manage, track and engage clients, referral channels, and leads.

In today’s world of B2B marketing there are multiple channels used to for audience development, client retention and referral channel development.  These channels typically include the use of various media segments such as:

• eMail (both one to one and one to many)
• Newsletters
• Live In Person events, such as seminars and conferences
• Webinars (both live and recorded)
• Print Media

If this communication is to be effective, the sender must deploy a message of perceived value to a targeted/segmented audience that may or may not include some form of tangible takeaway benefit besides the initial content. For example, offering a free 1 hour online marketing seminar to CPA’s and accounting professionals for referral channel development that is delivered by a marketing expert from a Fortune 100 company and you should expect a 10% participation rate.  If you a add a tangible takeaway benefit to the seminar such as including 2 free CPE credits, your participation rate will increase to 20% or higher.  And your goal for the seminar?  Develop referral channels for your product.  This same scenario can be applied to consumers and businesses alike.

On the surface the above scenario appears to be a relatively benign process. You setup a conference and invite a bunch of people to attend and hope for the best.  However, if you break down the process there is a lot of administrative/organization work involved to achieve your goals.

1. Development, distribution and promotion of event via email and print,
2. Tracking results of that distribution,
3. Event registration and tracking of event registration,
4. Tieback of yes/no responses to database records,
5. Results of seminar; comments from participants, generation of referrals?

In addition to the above:

1. What the event promoted to the correct segment?
2. Did you record who did and did not respond to the event and showed up?
3. Did the attendees refer a client?
4. How does any of this tie into your contact management system? If at all?

The real question is do you have a system in place to perform this type of marketing and event management without a lot of manual interaction?  And does your ’system’  integrate with your contact management system?

In today’s world a professional services firm requires a system to distribute content to all market segments.  The result of the distribution need to be trackable, reportable and return definable measurable benefits to acquire valid ROI costs.  Systems like those developed by Cool Life Systems allow firms to perform this functions for creation and distribution of content, tracking the success of each distribution, and providing tools for follow up with persons in each identified channel.  These tools work together to allow you and your firm to increase competitive market share, achieve market differentiation from competitors and influence audience segments for a desired outcome.

• http://www.CinchCast.com/FJPalacio

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As most of you are aware, last week Salesforce.com held its DreamForce 2009 Cloud Computing event.  Unfortunately, I had a conflict with an ITIL course and was unable to attend what is arguably one of the most important Cloud Computing events of the year.  However, I did have the pleasure of speaking briefly with Mr. Ryan Howard, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Practice Fusion.

For those of you who may not be aware, Practice Fusion is a free, SaaS based EHR service provider founded in 2005 by Mr. Howard, based out of San Francisco.  In addition to the current services it provides in the areas of medical billing, scheduling and patient record management, the latest key updates to their service, according to Mr. Howard, include lab integration (Quest Diagnostics) and eprescribing capabilities.

One of the interesting aspects of Practice Fusion aside from Salesforce.com’s investment in the company, and their SaaS based model enabled by Force.com, is the potential future direction for collaborative capabilities by patients with their new Patient Health Record application.

Similar to Google Health in that you can store and manage all your medical information in one place to collaborate with others (which may share your medical condition), though with Practice Fusion that collaboration can include your medical provider in a seamless manner.

It’s interesting to note that while EHR systems are not new, their implementation can cost millions of dollars, not to mention the necessary ongoing operational expenditures and staff to support and maintain such systems.  Which is why historically, the implementation of an EHR system was largely limited to organizations with deep pockets.  All of that becomes a non-issue for physicians with their own medical practices in this new SaaS based model.

For me, one of the fascinating areas of this business model is the new level of complexity in collaboration, no longer simply limited to doctor and patient, but more patient control in who they share their information with, to provide support in the resolution of their condition.  From a business model and service strategy perspective, I think the company is right on target.

Given the continued efforts to expand the use of EMR applications as a way of lowering healthcare costs, and the ARRA stimulus bill’s focus on encouraging physicians to adopt electronic medical record applications; when coupled with Practice Fusion’s continued innovation in this area, and Salesforce.com’s support, all but virtually guarantees a pathway to growth for the company in the years to come.

-Tune The Future-

The concept of collaborative procurement, or the ability for buyers to work together across organizations to purchase from many suppliers all in one place, is not new. However the ability to effectively execute on this ideology certainly is.

Cloud architecture is a dependency for effective collaboration where buyers and suppliers can proactively initiate multi-layered, mutually beneficial events to dynamically generate supply chain cost savings. The general acceptance of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) has now made Collaborative eProcurement possible and the related benefits a reality.

Who needs Collaborative eProcurement?

Buyers within or across organizations who can work together on spend management verses those who procure alone are best suited to Collaborative eProcurement. Sectors with organizations that don’t compete against each other with procurement, such as government, health and education, can achieve considerable benefits.

Sectors that are traditionally decentralized and somewhat fragmented in the way they spend often have significant challenges with effective procurement. Collaborative eProcurement is certainly one of the solutions – it supports shared services and the streamlining of operations in order to do more with less. Of course it also reduces costs.

SaaS, Collaborative eProcurement just requires an internet connection so no matter where buyers are, they can access their organization’s buying agreements and purchase related products & services.

If you search the internet for collaborative procurement, you will see discussions dating back to 2001 and earlier on the theory of multi-to-multi transactions and more of a network approach to B2B procurement. Unfortunately Collaborative eProcurement is one of those things that is easier to talk about than do, but now with the emergence of better technology it is now absolutely achievable.

It’s still not easy though, as often business processes including policies and procedures need to be more flexible to go across organizations from suppliers’ supply chain’s to customers’ customers. Technology needs to be multi-tenant, meaning multiple organizations, whether groups of buyers or groups of suppliers, need to be playing in or at least accessing the same environment. However the most important component of effective Collaborative eProcurement is people. People make changes to status-quo happen, and in the case of Collaborative eProcurement, it takes a CFO/CIO and/or a strategic procurement leader to maximize the benefits.

Fact:

• By pooling demand within and across organizations lower unit prices are achieved, economies of scale result, unit costs reduce.
• By utilizing world-class eProcurement for P2P, procure-to-pay processes are streamlined, time is reduced, errors are reduced, and costs are reduced.
• By utilizing a supplier network, master data maintenance can be managed by suppliers and buying organizations can buy through their one eProcurement window across all suppliers. Compliance is increased, consistency increased and internal customer service improved.
• By accessing an organizations segment of the cloud, buyers can only see the suppliers and contracts they are eligible to see.
• Group Purchasing Organization (GPO) contracts can be accessed through the cloud to ensure buyers are buying from the right contracts at the right time.
• Social networking techniques are applied to procurement during Collaborative eProcurement events. Buyers and suppliers can discuss various aspects of a bid and information shared where appropriate across participants and organizations.
• Collaborative eProcurement is available today but only through a true 100% multi-tenant, Software-as-a-Service cloud consisting of one segmented marketplace (not many duplicated marketsites), allowing one connection in for suppliers irrespective of how many customers they have and one connection in for customers irrespective of how many suppliers and buyers they have in their community.
• Collaborative eProcurement compliments existing investments in ERP/finance and even other eProcurement providers.

Unimarket (‘one’market) is a leader in Collaborative eProcurement and is currently serving customers in the United States and Australasia. For more information please visit www.unimarket.com or click Unimarket news

Unimarket FAQ’s:

What sorts of specific collaborative procurement functionality should I expect in the cloud that I can’t do outside the cloud?

Once in a multi-to-multi environment you should expect that:

• Suppliers’ base contracts can be accessed for individual organizations and/or by many when bridged across organizations.
• Suppliers can offer volumetric price breaks across organizations so buyers can bid on prices they wouldn’t otherwise be able to achieve on their own.
• Buyers can initiate an RFQ that can then be circulated to pool demand from other buyers of their choosing whether inside or outside their respective organization. Once this collaboration has occurred the initiator sends the request to suppliers for bids.
• Approved orders can be automatically integrated into buyers’ financial systems and suppliers’ supply chain systems. Smaller suppliers can receive approved orders simply via email to complete the paperless system.
• Suppliers self-maintain master data including products and services, pricing, availability and static information about themselves.
• All suppliers can electronically invoice whether a small local or large multi-national supplier.
• Reporting across all spend to analyze by category-supplier-department and the ability to see requisitions not approved, orders not received, orders not invoiced etc.

What is currently being purchased in the Unimarket cloud?

Millions of products and services are available in the cloud. As most of Unimarket’s customers are large institutions or government organizations the scopes of their respective spend is incredibly wide & diverse. Items such as lab supplies, equipment, IT assets and consumables, catering, furniture, domestic & international travel, flowers, electrical components, office supplies and so on are regularily procured through the system. Even body parts and drug testing equipment… you name it its probably out there in the cloud waiting for purchase.

If I already use a purchasing module from my Finance/ERP provider can I still get access to collaborative procurement?

Yes .In fact your Finance/ERP system should still be your system of record for purchase orders, receipts and invoices. To utilize collaborative eProcurement, leading practices are to log into your Intranet then single sign-on to Unimarket for example simply by clicking a link of your choosing. Once in the Unimarket buyers can search across supplier maintained products and services to compare and add to their shopping cart. Those customers who want buyers to get requisitions approved can do so through rule-based workflow and once received (optional) in the system orders are eligible for electronic invoices. Requisitions, Orders and Invoices call flow into your Finance/ERP system electronically.

If I already use eProcurement from my Finance/ERP provider or another eProcurement company can I still get access to collaborative procurement?

Yes .You would need to punchout to Unimarket’s marketplace in the same way you would punchout to one supplier’s eCommerce solution. Once in Unimarket buyers can still search across all supplier contracts but instead of checking out in Unimarket and adding shipping/billing/accounting info there, they would click to send their Unimarket shopping basket back to their eProcurement provider for checkout.

Software as a Service (SaaS) is a growing business model that can provide a great new perspective to companies that need to utilize software applications for their everyday operations.   Today, there are thousands of SaaS applications that can handle everything from corporate recruiting and lead generation to inter-organizational collaboration.

In the past, antiquated ‘bulk’ pricing methods often left companies high and dry without the desired results from a software application. Software as a Service changes the game completely, allowing companies to choose their own pricing plan and get the most bang for their buck, so to speak.

One question that often arises is: why didn’t SaaS happen before?  If it’s so great, why now?  The answer is, cutting edge internet technologies have recently allowed SaaS companies to provide their technology to clients at minimal costs by leveraging cloud computing, open development, and flexible software models.

If your business hasn’t tried out a SaaS specific to your industry, here are several reasons to get going now:

1. Ready-Made

Just as you would save time from cooking by picking up some ready-made food, SaaS is also ‘ready made’ for specific industries.  For example, SaaS Recruiting Software is tailored specifically for hiring managers and recruiters, and is often developed by them. The cost and time it would take for a company to ‘cook up’ their own tailor-made software package would be enormous compared to utilizing a SaaS solution. Deploying SaaS for your company is fast, and will have immediate results.

2.  The Most Bang for Your Buck

Many SaaS providers charge a monthly fee that can be cancelled at any point if the services provided are not adequate.    This low risk program allows a business to evaluate the success of the software package on an ongoing basis to decide if they want to continue its use.   This is in strict opposition to the B2B software models of old, that often had large upfront costs and strict contracts that required a customer to take a big risk.

3.  No Installation Required

The majority of modern Software as a Service solutions live ‘in the cloud.’  This means that these programs are fully accessible online and don’t require  installation onto a specific computer for use.  Not only does this save a business time and resources during the installation process, but it also allows a company’s employees to access the system anywhere, anytime.

4.  Expert Support

Because Software as a Service is often industry specific, many SaaS providers also are experts in that industry.  This industry expertise translates to far better support than your traditional ‘broad spectrum’ software package.  How many times have you spent countless hours on a support line, just trying to get to the right person within an organization?  With SaaS support, anyone you get on the phone will most likely be able to answer your questions.

5.  Real Time Collaboration

Because many SaaS packages live online, they tend to stress a collaboration and ’social networking’ aspect that many older software models tend to forget.  We live in a world where Facebook and Twitter are mainstays of communication, allowing for real-time updates and news.  Online SaaS takes a similar Web 2.0 view of business, allowing employees to communicate and view incoming data in real-time.

Apesar desse livro ter sido lançado há quase dois meses, não postei nada sobre ele porque queria lê-lo e depois emitir uma opinião mais sólida a respeito. Livros sobre software livre costumam ser um tanto quanto repeptitivos pois, basicamente, falam das liberdades básicas, da questão dos direitos autorais, das distribuições do GNU/Linux, dos malefícios do software proprietário, das questões de segurança, etc.

No geral, esse livro não foge à regra mas, ainda assim, é inovador na medida que coloca várias abordagens diferentes para o mesmo tema num único livro. Há abordagens para todos os gostos: Filosófica/ideológica, desenvolvimento colaborativo, jurídica, de negócios, técnica, acadêmica, etc.

O livro foi publicado pela Comunidade Sol Software Livre e é composto por artigos de autores renomados e conhecidos no mundo open source brasileiro:

• Alexandre Oliva da Fundação do Software Livre da América Latina – FSFLA;
• Cézar Taurion – Gerente de Novas Tecnologias Aplicadas da IBM Brasil;
• Cristiano Anderson – Colaborador do Projeto GNU e palestrante;
• Jansen Sena – Analista de sistemas;
• Marcelo Ferreira – Professor e analista de sistemas do TCE-AM;
• Paulino Michelazzo – Empresário;
• Pedro Mizukami – Advogado e pesquisador da Fundação Getúlio Vargas;
• Pedro Rezende – Matemático, professor da UnB e ex-funcionário da Apple Computers nos EUA.
• Rubens Queiroz – Responsável pelo site Dicas-l e engenheiro no departamento de computação da Unicamp;

A introdução foi feita por John “Maddog” Hall, presidente da Linux International e a organização do livro foi feita por Tiago Melo da Comunidade Sol.

Abaixo, uma descrição resumida dos assuntos abordados por capítulo:

• Capítulo 1 – Entendendo o Software Livre, de Marcelo Ferreira – nos dá uma ampla visão da história do software e da influência do software livre no mundo de hoje, e esclarece que a maioria dos softwares que utilizamos no dia a dia são, na verdade, livres, ao contrário do que muitos pensam.
• Capítulo 2 – Liberdades, Exclusão e Licenciamento de Software e Outras Obras Culturais, de Alexandre Oliva – Esclarece como o conceito de direito autoral é uma distorção e como é prejudicial à sociedade. Entre suas argumentações, Oliva nosbrinda com uma história de um país fictício onde houve uma luta entre os padeiros e as máquinas de fazer pão automáticas. Muito criativo.
• Capítulo 3 – Creative Commons, Software Livre e Cultura Livre de Pedro Mizukami – Faz uma descrição, sob a ótica jurídica, das diverças licenças de software e de publicações culturais, em especial a GPL e as modalidades da Creative Commons, estabelecendo as compatibilidades e as incompatibilidades entre elas.
• Capítulo 4 – Software Livre e Inovação, de Rubens Queiroz – Demonstra, através do projeto Rau-Tu da Unicamp, como é infundada a afirmação de que o Software Livre inibe a inovação, como querem fazer crer os fabricantes de software proprietário.
• Capítulo 5 – Reflexões sobre Algumas Respostas Psicológicas a Forças de Mercado, de Pedro Rezende – Reflete sobre a falta de moralidade e ética que envolve o software proprietário, com argumentos sólidos e culminado no que ele chamade Síndrome de Estocolmo Digital. Altamente recomendável a leitura.
• Capítulo 6 – Crescimento Econômico com Software Livre – Uma visão para a Micro e Pequena Empresa, de Paulino Michelazzo – Paulino demonstra, com uma liguagem simples, como as micro e pequenas  empresas podem tirar proveito das vantagens dos softwares livres, melhorando a produtividade e a competitividade, sem cair no vício da pirataria.
• Capítulo 7 – Modelos de Negócio em Software Livre: Quem Disse que não se Ganha Dinheiro com Software Livre?, de César Taurion – Descreve como grandes empresas, como IBM, HP e Sun Microsystems mudaram o conceito estabelecido de software como produto para software como serviço e criaram ecossistemas econômicos sustentáveis a partir da liberação de uso e do apoio da comunidade.
• Capítulo 8 – Desenvolvimento Colaborativo, de Cristiano Anderson – Descreve como funciona o desenvolvimento colaborativo, como é organizado, como os projetos são geridos e como eles geram riqueza a partir de voluntariado.
• Capítulo 9 – O Lado Técnico da Liberdade: Soluções, Mitos, Desafios e Alternativas, de Jansen Sena – Mostra a evolução dos softwares livres pós projeto GNU, a epopéia do GNU/Linux a partir dos disquetes e do prompt em modo texto, até os ambientes gráficos e a automatização atuais. Também mostra como o software livre está entranhado na vida dos mortais de maneira insuspeita.
• Capítulo 10 – GNU/Linux e Seus Diversos Sabores, de Tiago Melo – Oferece uma descrição das distribuições GNU/Linux atuais, descrevendo sua história, seus objetivos e situação atual, dando subsídios para que cada um escolha a distribuição que mais se enquadrar às suas espectativas. Ótimo para iniciantes.

Resumindo: um ótimo livro, de leitura recomendável a todos que tenham interesse pelo assunto, independente da vertente, já que os artigos que não forem do interesse específico podem ser deixados em segundo plano.

Meus parabéns à Comunidade Sol.

“What I began by reading, I must finish by acting“, (O que eu comecei lendo, eu devo terminar agindo), Henry David Thoreau

Este é o primeiro post de uma série em que pretendo apresentar algumas ferramentas que a internet oferece para nós, empreendedores e gestores de pequenas e médias empresas.

Essas ferramentas, ditas da nuvem (cloud), podem gerar valor para a sua empresa e, muitas vezes, têm custo zero ou muito próximo disto, se tornando uma excelente opção para quem quer dar um “banho de tecnologia”, pagando pouco por isto.

O único “senão”, para nós brasileiros, é que a maioria dessas ferramentas ainda não tem versão em português.

Neste primeiro post vou apresentar o MailChimp, ferramenta que uso para fazer campanhas de email dos meus serviços de consultoria.

O MailChimp é um serviço cloud especializado no envio de campanhas de marketing por email, que funciona assim: você se cadastra no serviço, abrindo uma conta para a sua empresa (ou uma conta pessoal, se preferir). Uma vez “logado” na ferramenta, cria uma lista de emails, escolhe um formato para a sua campanha (há um banco de formatos pré-montados), altera o formato escolhido com seu conteúdo, incluindo textos, logomarca, imagens e envia a campanha para toda a lista de emails, num clique só.

Uma vez enviada uma campanha, você pode observar o comportamento dos destinatários: quem abriu o email da campanha, quem não abriu, a taxa de cliques nos links da campanha, quais links foram clicados, quais links não chamaram atenção, a quantidade de vezes que o email foi reenviado para terceiros, comparar duas campanhas, entre outras estatísticas.

A ferramenta permite ainda que você publique aqueles formulários de cadastramento de emails (assinatura do serviço de newsletter) no seu site ou blog – os dados dos usuários que preencherem um formulário são gravados diretamente em uma lista da ferramenta. Uma vez cadastrado, qualquer usuário pode gerenciar sua assinatura, por exemplo, cancelando-a ou alterando seus dados.

Da primeira vez que você for usar o MailChimp vai investir umas horas aprendendo a lidar com a ferramenta – recomendo que envie um primeiro email de testes para um número limitado de pessoas conhecidas – pois há muita tecnologia que você pode optar por incluir ou não nas suas campanhas.

O melhor de tudo é que o serviço do MailChimp é gratuito até 500 assinantes e até 3.000 mensagens enviadas por mês. #free

Alexandre Ribenboim.

Observação: não estou sendo pago pela MailChimp para publicar este post. Contudo, sou grato pelo serviço gratuito que eles oferecem, assim como qualquer um pode ser também.

Join us at the Marketing Cloud Party! RSVP for the Marketing Party of the Year @ Dreamforce!

You are invited to join leading marketing thinkers and companies on the rise to learn how marketing in the cloud can drive revenue and marketing impact in your organisation.

Thursday, November 19, 2009 from 6PM to 8:30PM

At the fabulous St. Regis Hotel, Yerba Buena Terrace – 4th Floor (one block north of Moscone Center)

Register Now: http://info.marketing-cloud.com/party.html

Government, get out of the way. And don’t try this at home.

This recent New York Times article–with Google talking smack about Microsoft–is a symbolic representation of why government needs to get out of the way when it comes to choosing sides. And when it buys technology.

Here’s the smack directly in this interview with ZDNet Asia:

“In a year, most enterprises will have the choice to “get rid of [Microsoft] Office if they chose to”, suggests Dave Girouard, president of Google’s enterprise division. Girouard, one of the company’s four presidents including founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, said in an interview with ZDNet Asia that he expects Google’s online document application, Google Docs, to reach a “point of capability” next year that will serve the “vast majority’s needs”. He acknowledged that Docs is currently “much less mature” than Google Mail or Calendar. “We know it. We wouldn’t ask people to get rid of Microsoft Office and use Google Docs because it is not mature yet,” he said. But, this is expected to change in a year, when the company’s introduces some “thirty to fifty” updates to Docs to beef up the SaaS (software-as-a-service) office suite. These will include updates to features and performance, Girouard said.
“That having been said, I don’t think Office will entirely disappear,” he added. Instead, Microsoft’s offering will become a specialized offering for office workers who need its additional functions, akin to Adobe Photoshop, which is targeted at skilled workers, said Girouard. Microsoft Office is “an overkill tool for most people”, he noted.

What’s so important and meaningful about this clash between Microsoft’s vision of the world and Google’s vision of tomorrow is that consumers (and taxpayers) are the sure winners. We win from market innovation, creativity and cut-throat price wars over technology. We win when giant companies compete each and every day to unleash the ideas that inspire consumers to act. That doesn’t mean there won’t be victims and implications, failure and mistakes. There will be and we all know it. And it isn’t always pretty. It’s the purest form of cut-throat, ruthless capitalism. But the marketplace of ideas is on the march in government IT and Washington needs to embrace this journey with courage and conviction. We need to recognize that our old models are based upon a government centric approach that simply can’t compete with the race of innovation. Need another example? Here.

Cloud computing is not fully baked today and is not the magic bullet. But software as a service (SaaS) and other cloud-based approaches to applications and services will win on some very real level. It already has and consumers adopt web based email, calendar and other important functions. Tomorrow the product launches for the public sector will be more robust and thorough. Everyday the public sector teams at both Microsoft and Google are innovating–learning about the needs for applications and services. They can build an application faster and more efficiently than any level of government–and we all know it. Does that mean we close shop and hand over everything to the big boys? Of course not. But it does mean that we work with the marketplace instead of against it.

My fear about the state data center is that it will, in effect, shut down our ability to realize the benefits of the competition between Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Sabey and many others by isolating the state’s data in a proprietary silo (old databases, poorly executed middleware, applications without interoperability) without price and quality pressures. No competition, no price context, no new applications, no incentive to improve quality, no reason to push for new uses of old resources. (Disclosure: Microsoft and Sabey contributed to my 2008 campaign).

We know what this looks like and it’s not pretty.

The battle between Microsoft and Google is more than the age-old battle between the ideas of Netscape and Explorer. That argument ended when all browsers became total and complete commodities–and free. It is not about the web versus proprietary software. It is not even about open versus closed standards or client versus server technical strategies.

It is about the constantly changing notion of value.

Los Angeles’ decision to outsource their email for 30,000 employees, following a rigorous RFP process, competitive bidding and a ton of hard-edged lobbying, shows that taxpayers win when giants compete for government business.

I truly appreciate the state’s Information Services Board (ISB) and the state Department of Information Services (DIS) effort to drive forward with a formal and comprehensive effort to objectively analyze email options for Washington. I look forward to seeing the assessment and am excited we’re exploring all options. That is the sort of objective, technically-neutral analysis I hope we see in all of our endeavors as we wrestle with the $1.2 billion-plus we spend each year on technology. I genuinely congratulate the agency for embracing this important challenge.

Whether a small startup or a multi-billion, worldwide company, fierce market competition for your very survival makes you stronger, more engaged, vigorous and sharp. On some level many of us want the Redmond team to win and win big both because they are an integral part of our community and because so many of our friends work there. But more importantly we want them–and other Washington companies–to win with courageous honesty by unleashing real value for consumers, taxpayers and society. We don’t want a hollow, short term victory because we know that it won’t last.

In the area of technology, our state government probably shouldn’t spend a lot of money competing with the most innovative and aggressive companies in the world. The State of Washington should have the humility to use the power, spirit and energy of the marketplace for the public good. Let’s focus on those vital public services we do really, really well–and that go to the core values and integrity of public service–and leave email hosting to the experts.

Prisma Graphic has the following services and capabilities.

Equipment List

Electronic Prepress

• (1) Magnus 800 Platesetter with 5 Autoloader/Cassettes
• (1) Creo Trendsetter Spectrum Platesetter
• (9) Mac Work Stations
• (9) PC Work Stations
• (6) PREPS Imposition Stations
• (2) Prinergy JVX 10.4 Ripping & Trapping Systems
• Prinergy Stochastic Screener
• Prinergy – PDF Workflow
• Kodak – FM Staccato Screening
• Canon Color ImpoProofer Automated
• 2-sided proofer with Color Management
• Canon ImagePrograf Contract Color Proofer with Kodak Color Management
• Epson Inkjet Color 9900 Proofer 44”
•  (2) Sherpa 2-Sided Proofers
• HP DesignJet 5500 Proofer
• Pictoral Proofer (11” x 17” max)
• Multiple CD/DVD Burners
• Rimage Premium CD/DVD PlexWriter (6 Unit) High-Speed
• Eversmart Pro2 Flatbed Scanner (11.5” x 17” original input)
• X RITE PlateScope (Plate Quality/Process Control)
• X RITE Spectrodensitometer (Proofing, Plating, Press Profiling Process Control)
• Eye One Color Calibration System
• Profile Maker Pro (Color Profiling system)
• Complete Up to date Software and Font Library
• All files archived on DAT and DVD
• Mirrored 3T Raid Dell Servers & Gigabit Speed Network
• E. Quix & High Speed Network Server
• FTP Server
• (2) CIP3 Servers
• Kodak ColorTune Proofing Server
• Prinergy 1.6 Remote Proofing Server
• Kodak InSite – Customer Job Interface 

Bindery

• (2) Heidelberg Cylinder Press; Sheet Size: 22 x 30”
• Brausse – 22 1/2 x 29” Die Cut, Emboss and Foil Stamp
• Kluge EHD – 14 x 20” Die Cut, Emboss and Foil Stamp
• Baum Lawson MPU, 47” Paper Cutter (Micro-cut)
• Polar 52” EMC Paper Cutter (Micro-cut)
• (2) Saber^® 54” Cutter w/ Baumann Jogger
• Mueller Martini Saddle Stitcher   10 Stations w/ Cover Feeder & 3-Knife Trimmer
• (2) Mueller Martini Saddle Stitcher   6 Stations /Cover Feeder w/ 3-Knife Trimmer
• Perfect Binder 18”
• Rollem TR, 35” Perforating & Scoring
• Rollem TR, 40” Perforating & Scoring
• MBO B26S Perfection Folder 26 x 40”; 32-Page
• MBO B23 Folder 20 x 26”; 8-Page
• MBO B32 S Perfection Folder 32 x 40”; 8-Page
• Stahl Folder 30 x 40” 16-Page Folder
• Kluge Pocket Folder Gluer w/Final Fold Ability
• Challenge Paper Drill, 5-Hole
• (1) Auto Shrink Wrap Packager
• (3) Semi-Auto Shrink Wrap Packager

Presses (Web, Sheetfed & Digital)

• M-130 Heidelberg 38 inch, 5 Color Heatset Web with Color Control System CCS Loop
• Combo Folder – Sheeter – Pattern Perforator    Maximum Sheet:  22.75 x 38 inches, Maximum Image Area:  22.5 x 37.5 inches
• Color King 36 inch, 2 Color Web Press / Combo Folder  Maximum Sheet:  22.75 x 36 inches, Maximum Image Area:  22.5 x 35.5 inches
• Akiyama 40 inch, 5 Color Perfector with Color Control System CCS Loop Maximum Sheet:  28 x 40 inches,  Maximum Image Area: 27.5 x 39.5 inches
•  (2) Akiyama 40 inch, 6 Color w/ Aqueous Coater,  Maximum Sheet:  28 x 40 inches,   Maximum Image Area:  27.5.  X 39.5 inches
• Mitsubishi 28 inch, 6 Color w/ Aqueous Coater,    Maximum Sheet:  20 x 28 inches,    Maximum Image Area:  19.5 x 27.5 inches
• Ryobi True 2 Color (Best for Registration and Solids),  Maximum Sheet:  12 x 18 inches,  Maximum Image Area: 11.5 x 17.5 inches
• (2) AB Dick 2 Color Replicator,  Maximum Sheet:  12 x 18 inches,  Maximum Image Area: 11.5 x 17.5 inches
• Halm Jet 2C Color Perfector Envelope Press,    Maximum Sheet:  13 x 18 inches, Maximum Image Area: 11 x 17 inches
• HP Indigo 5000 4 Color Press   Maximum Sheet:  12 x 18 inches,  Maximum Image Area: 11.6 x 17.2 inches
• C6500 Digital 4 Color Copier/Press,   Maximum Sheet:  12 x 18 inches,  Maximum Image Area: 11.6 x 17.2 inches

Fulfillment

• Pick and Pack
• Package and Distribution
• On-line Customized Inventory Management
• Cycle Count

 Mailing Services

Our Mailing Department offers a fully integrated service, which
is completely in-house, and configured to suit any requirements.
These services include data acquisition and management, CASS
certification, NCOA service, DPV validation. Prisma can customize
any mailing program to satisfy the needs of our clients.

 Dokshop.com (Web-to-Print Solution)

A unique business-to-business product that enables users to order,
personalize, proof and manage print materials online.  Its parameter-
based programming allows customization with various user options
and controls. Each site can be specifically tailored to fulfill any client’s
needs.

____________________________________________________

 Offset Printing Services:

•  Sheetfed: Medium Quantity Print Runs
•  Jprint 5C Perfector Press with Color Control System CCL
• Sheetfed: Large Quantity Print Runs with our new Control System CCL
•  Heatset Web: Large Quantity Print runs with Color
• Open Web: Short and Large Print runs

  Digital Printing:

•  Including Variable Data
•  Indigo Short Quantity Print runs, Up to 12”x18”, Including Variable Data with Inline Finishing
•  Konica Minolta Quantity Print runs, Up to 12”x18″
•  41”X72” Large Format-Short Quantity Print runs

•  State-of-the-Art Computer Hardware,
•  Software & Color Correction & Image Manipulation
•  Hi-res Canon Kodak Proofs
•  HP Ink Jet & Laser Proofs, Sherpa Digital Proofs
•  Prinergy Ripping & Trapping
•  Prinergy –FM Segundo Stochastic Screening
•  Kodak Remote Proofing
•  Kodak-FM Staccato Screening
•  Prinergy PDF Workflow
• SSL Secured FTP Site
• Direct-to-Plate Magnus 800

  Design & Production 

•  Outside agency support
•  Supplement In-house Creative Staff
• Develop Original Concepts 
• Follow Existing Corporate Graphic Standards

 CD/DVD Duplicating

•  Data Duplication 
• Thermal Label Printing

Bindery

• Folding 
• Scoring 
• Perforating 
• Stitching 
• Perfect Bind 
• Die Cutting 
• Embossing 
• Foil Stamping 
• Gluing
• Drilling
• Mounting
• Sequential Numbering

  DOKSHOP: Online e-Commerce Website

• Pre-approved Products
•  Brand consistency
• Static and Dynamic Fields
• Instant Online PDF ApprovalView Order Status and History
• Customizable Shipping

State-of-the-Art Warehouse Facility

• Product Inventory Storage
• Clearly Labeled Product with Scannable Bar Codes

 Fulfillment  

• Computerized Pick & Pac
• Build Kits of Various Configurations Requirements
• Bulk or Custom Packaging to Fit your Unique
• Ship to Single or Multiple Locations

Mailing, Shipping & Receiving

• CASS Certified Mailing Services
• Database Management
• Inserting
• 1st Class, Standard Presort
• Bulk Mail with FedEx Overnight
• 2-day or Ground Shipping
• Common Carrier

Contact Prisma Graphic for a quote on all your printing, design and mailing needs.

Die Onlineausgabe von IT-Director verweist auf eine Studie des Marktforschungsunternehmens Gartner, die sich mit der Marktentwicklung im Bereich “Software as a Service” – kurz SaaS – beschäftigt. Demnach werden die weltweiten SaaS-Umsätze 2009 voraussichtlich 7,5 Milliarden US-Dollar betragen. das wäre dann eine Steigerung von über 17 Prozent gegenüber 2008.

I’ve just come across a new One-Stop-Shop Online Business Management Solution that enables small and new start-up companies to grow their businesses without large upfront hardware server charges. It also enables companies to operate in virtual environments and move to larger premises without having to set-up a computer network.

It consists of over twenty applications including Email, Customer Relationship Management (including lead generation), Human Resource Management, Invoicing, Stock Control, Sales Force Management and a Content Managed Website.
Check it out at: – http://www.pjb.co.uk/bussol.htm

The Evolution of Targeted Marketing   Will you be ready for the fourth wave?

by Mike Schmitt

 While it goes without saying that these are trying times for organizations across the board, there has never been a more important time to market your company. Times like these prove that effective marketing can guarantee your survival during a down economy. Because there are fewer consumers willing to spend on your products, target marketing will help you deliver on the promise of spending less for a higher return.

 During a time of economic distress the CFO rules. This spells trouble for mass media investments as the hard dollar ROI is often difficult to measure, let alone prove. Targeted marketing to the rescue. The CFO will appreciate the fact that you are sending offers exclusively to people who are determined to be good candidates for your products and overjoyed to learn that you will be able to directly attribute marketing dollars spent to revenue generated.

 Brief History of Targeted Marketing

 We can look at targeted marketing in waves. The first wave of basic segmentation finally moved (most of) us away from “junk mail” or unsolicited promotions. Offers became relevant based on demographics such as gender, household income and lifestyle traits.

 The second wave was defined by “actionable” consumer data and personalization solutions for both traditional and emerging media. Intuitive companies realized that their very own customer data, including their transaction history, allowed for a new class of both segmented and highly personalized targeted marketing. The really smart marketers enhanced their customer data with geographic, demographic and lifestyle information. So, the right offer got to the right person and with a relevant message to the recipient. Now a company could actually spend less on marketing campaigns and expect a higher return.

 Second wave marketers, however, were lacking a true connection with the consumer. Direct mail continues to be the medium of choice for prospecting, and variable data print has given new life to this proven method of product and brand promotion through the ability to cost-effectively personalize each printed document. The proof to me that the cost of personalization had become reasonable, to even the smallest business, was when our dog Max received a personalized postcard from our veterinarian!

 Importance of the Consumer Database

 We know that most companies have some form of customer database, as well as a transaction master. We also know that a significant number of companies have very poor and scattered data. Customer data is duplicated in several departments, mailing addresses are fairly outdated, little or no data verification (mailing, email, telephone) systems are in place and the list goes on-and-on. Bad data basically means that any attempt at targeted marketing will result in a poor response to the campaign. More importantly, the potential actually exists to lower lifetime value as you may send a very negative message to your customer.

An extreme case involves a hospital that sent out a promotion for a cancer screening, which targeted elderly people within a certain radius of the hospital. The hospital received a call from an upset woman who thought it was in poor taste to be included in the promotion, when her husband had recently passed away and at the very same hospital. Another person received multiple, redundant offers and wondered about the quality of the care if they were unable to even get a mailing correct. The message here is to spend the time and effort on the database, before any form of targeted marketing is considered. Everything is better with a good database. Your analytics and reporting will tell the true story, and you will have the confidence to launch highly personalized marketing promotions knowing your data is accurate.

 Integrated Cross-Media Marketing

We are now just entering into the third wave. Savvy marketers are branding their products and images in a consistent way and across all traditional and emerging media. While newspapers are getting roughed up by the Internet and network TV is competing with cable, all media remains important. Marketers are working to have consistent messaging on the web, traditional media, mobile phones (which greatly outnumber personal computers) and on email. Many marketers are also trying to figure out how to exploit social media (e.g. Facebook, MySpace, Twitter), but that is a topic unto itself. Thankfully, there are variable data composition engines that will produce output for emerging presentation spaces (e.g. mobile screens) and the ubiquitous 8.5″ x 11″. The new breed of composition engines help marketers format any given promotion to all sizes and resolutions required for cross-media marketing. Mobile, web, email and direct mail are all supported so the designer can concentrate more on the messaging and less on the presentation space. This is not to say that we can ignore the fact that a mobile webpage must be radically different than a typical PC web browser page, but the designer can prototype the various formats to ensure consistency across different media. This is far superior to using different design tools for different media.

 Marketers have also learned that some marketing messages are better sent as printed documents, while others are more suitable for electronic communications. Email, thanks to the spammers, continues to be a tough way to prospect as it is very hard to get through the clutter. Many marketers realize that direct mail can be used to drive online communications. Companies should determine the individual preferences of their customers and this means supporting traditional and emerging media; many direct marketers are predicting an explosion in mobile marketing. Americans love the concept of instant gratification, and the mobile phone gives the consumer an opportunity to respond to a promotion anytime, anywhere. As a marketer you get the chance to respond while the consumer’s interest is at its peak. Send a mobile coupon while asking for their email address – fully integrated and automated cross-media marketing.

 Marketing Nirvana – The Fourth Wave

 The fourth wave of targeted marketing can be characterized by the consumer managing their marketing communications from both a timing perspective and the channel of delivery. Imagine a consumer registering in a global marketing database their desire to purchase a diamond tennis bracelet within the next 60 days. Now also imagine that they prefer to receive mobile offers while commuting to-and-from work, email during the work days and direct mail at home on the weekends. Fourth wave marketers will have the ability to promote to people who are looking at the products they sell, during the time frame that they are interested, and through the channel the consumer has selected. Respecting the wishes of the consumer will reward the marketer with highly qualified prospects and nothing else.

 Marketers that have developed the infrastructure and processes necessary, to capitalize on the opportunities presented by the fourth wave, will obviously have a significant competitive edge over their rivals. I believe that consumers will respond positively to advertisers who spend the time and effort to fully understand their preferences for marketing communications.

So, get your consumer database ready — the fourth wave is a marketing tsunami that will wipe out those who ignore the signs.

Prisma Graphic works closely with Mike Schmitt, CEO of Clairvoyix, to provide our clients options that meet their targeted marketing goals. To discuss how we can help your company stay in front of direct marketing trends, please contact your current Prisma Sales Representative, or Rob Steele at 800 379-5777 or
 robs@prismagraphic.com.

 Clairvoyix is a full-service direct marketing company with a core-competence in database marketing and marketing automation solutions. Delivered as a “Software as a Service”, its branded database (Clairvoyix Knowledge Factory), is the foundation for fully-integrated, cross-media targeted marketing. Clairvoyix directly supports personalized communications utilizing any media type including direct mail, email, web, PURL and mobile campaigns. From customer data hygiene and consumer data enhancement to analytics and campaign execution, their company offers a complete targeted marketing solution for clients of all sizes. Call 877 866-8693 x709 or e-mail mike.schmitt@clairvoyix.com  for more information.

What is Cloud Computing?

Cloud computing is a term for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the Internet, or ‘Cloud’.

Cloud computing is a systems architecture internet model based development using computer technology. The use of cloud computing describes how a user to access computer technology services via the ‘cloud’ without actually kowledge of, or control of the technology on the other side of the ‘cloud’.

There are three categories in which these services can be defined;

Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
This is the idea of using a technical infrastructure for your said application, essentially so that you don’t have to worry about what hardware you have direct access to.

Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)
This is the idea that someone can provide the hardware (much like in IaaS) but also providing a range of software. This software could for example, be a database. They provide the Infrastructure and the Software.

Software-as-a-Service (Saas)
This is the idea of someone offering you the use of software, which you don’t own but pay for the rights of use. The user has no need for development or programming, but may need to configure and customize the ready made software. They provide the Infrastructure, Platform and Structure. Essentially, the full package.

Benefits of cloud computing

The primary benefit of cloud computing is the cost. The fact that you usually on pay for the services that are used, then essential, if you have little business, you only pay out a small cost, whereas on the other end of the spectrum, plenty of business will lead to higher running costs. This is a serious alternative to paying out a large single one off cost for a set software / service package.

If problems arise within the software/service, it is up to the provider to recitfy the problem, not the business that is currently using the service as a product.

Drawbacks of cloud computing

One drawback of cloud computing boils down to international laws and regulations, for instance; A service being offered through cloud computing in the UK, may comply 100% to UK law and regulations, whereas if a user in the USA decided to use this cloud computing service in America, then the same regulations set for for UK would not apply in USA.

Q.12 Carry out web research to find out what is meant by the term ‘Cloud Computing’. Describe in your own words what is meant by this term. Explain in your own words the impact that cloud computing might have in e-commerce. Ensure that you describe potential benefits and problems. Deadline is 6 pm Friday as originally indicated.

Cloud Computing ”is the provision of dynamically scalable and often virtualised resources as a service over the Internet on a utility basis.” (en.wikipedia.org)  The main aim of cloud computing is to provide easy, scalable access to computing resources and IT services.  The name cloud computing was derived from the cloud symbol’s that are used within flow charts and diagrams, or as we know them as ’spider diagram’s’.  According to www.guardian.co.uk, now with the “gigabit ethernet connections in local area networks, and increasingly fast broadband, network performance has improved to the point where cloud computing looks like a feasible proposition.”

‘Cloud Computing’ is basically where IT power is delivered over the internet as you need it, rather than drawn from a desktop computer.  Large internet and technology companies including Google, Microsoft and Amazon are all promoters of Cloud Computing.

Cloud Computing’s Impact on E-Commerce

I feel that Cloud Computing is a beneficial service to use within e-commerce.  The economics of it lets innovative companies to create products that have perhaps not been possible before or are significantly less expensive than the competitors.  Cloud Computing has the aspects to be able to provide agility and control that traditional outsource cannot compete with.  Many cloud soultions will allow increasingly less involvement from the IT departments of any business.  A business will be able to take on the future Cloud computing solutions entirely using self-service.  With less barriers to create new ways to improve a business, Cloud Computing will allow the new approach steps to be carried out faster and less expensive.

The services that are hosted over the Internet are known as ‘Platforms’, ‘Infrastructure’ and ‘Software.’ 

• Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) “is an outgrowth of Software-as-a-Service (SaaS), a software distribution model in which applications are hosted by a vendor or service provider and made available to customers over the Internet.” (www.platformasaservice.com)  PaaS can also be named ‘Cloudware’, as it relocates resources from privately owned computers into the Internet ‘Cloud’.  PaaS allows the features within an operating system to be altered or updated on a regular basis. 
• Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) “is a provision model in which an organisation outsources the equipment used to support operations, including storage, hardware, servers and networking components.” (searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com)  This service can be viewed like a pay-and-go service, the service provider owns the equipment and releases the service to the customers, and the customers in-turn pay for the use of it. 

             Some characteristics of IaaS are:

• Dynamic Scaling
• Internet Connectivity
• Utility computing service and billing model
• Automation of administrative tasks

IaaS is also referred to as ‘Hardware-as-a-Service (HaaS).’ 

• Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) “is a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand.”  (en.wikipedia.org)  According to the company from www.savvis.net “The Software-as-as-Service model is causing a seismic shift in the software industry.”  Below is a diagram of SaaS. 

Clouds

There are two types of cloud, ‘public’ and ‘private.’  The public cloud provides the service of selling on the Internet.  Amazon is currently the largest public cloud provider. 

The private cloud “is a proprietary netwoek or data center.” (searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com)  It supplies hosted services to a certain number of people.

“Virtual Private Cloud” is where a service provider uses their public resources in order to create their private cloud.

 Potential Benefits

• There are less maintenance issues
• The service provides a much easier way in doing business with the customer
• Storage capacity and Backups are not a problem
• SME’s (Small to Medium Sized Businesses) do not have to implement it directly which means it can be used straight away with no hassle
• Building applications within cloud is faster and more efficient, it is five times faster which means orders can be completed within a short period of time
• The pay-as-you-go scheme can be an advantage to businesses who may find a rise in sales at a particular time of year.  No additional costs are needed to add new users.

Potential Problems

• Data is released outside the company which causes security and privacy issues.  Cloud Computing is said to be secure however it has not been proven that this is true.
• Cloud Computing relies on a constant Internet connection.  In some areas, the connections have either not been set up yet or may be an unreliable connection which may cause problems for users.
• Stored data within the cloud may be lost, we rely on the cloud if this takes place
• Some companies are reluctant to take on the Cloud structure

www.guardian.co.uk

en.wikipedia.org

searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com

www.savvis.net

E-Procurement

Q.12 Carry out web research to find out what is meant by the term ‘Cloud Computing’. Describe in your own words what is meant by this term. Explain in your own words the impact that cloud computing might have in e-commerce. Ensure that you describe potential benefits and problems. Deadline is 6 pm Friday as originally indicated.

What does the term “Cloud Computing really mean?

Cloud computing is basically defined as a new generation of computing that utilizes distant servers for storage of its data and management.  This enables the end user to use a smaller device with a smaller processor, which will consume less energy to do the same tasks.

What impact will cloud computing have in e-commerce in my own opinion?

I can see a big impact on e-commerce business with cloud computing.  Cloud computing can relieve all the hassle of backing up data, no worries about software packages or hardware going out of date.  It will also take less maintenance to hardware, no office space requirements for servers etc.  This environment in the cloud gets rid of all this and it is very clear why there will be a great impact of the cloud on business’.  Some e-commerce business’ are already using the cloud technology with hosted shopping carts for payment of goods etc.  This service to the e-commerce company saves the time in maintenance and development, with one monthly fee.  A typical example of this could be paypal, most e-commerce sites have a paypal transation method on there site and paypal shopping carts.

With the price of capital expenditure being higher than operational expeniture it is very appealling certainly to small and medium sized business’.  Taking Microsoft Office for example, to buy the full Office suite it is around £220 before any company reductions.  Most of the programs within that suite might never be used, or rarely used making it a very big cost for the company.  This is where the operational expenditure method of renting the application from the cloud on a pay as you use type basis.  This setup has become very appealing to a number of business’ already.  This could really end up saving costs for  e-commerce companies, as they only use a service when it is needed as opposed to owning the software and maintaing it, with updates and newer version, not to mention paying for programs that might not be used very much.

Problems and benefits to Cloud Computing:

As with every technical / computing experience there is advantages and disadvantages.  The problems and benefits of cloud computing are shown below:

Benefits of Cloud Computing:

• One of the biggest benefits of cloud computing is that small / medium sized business’  can aveal of the setup straight away without having to administer and implement it directly.
• There is no capital expenditure, no need for servers, and there will be the joy of unlimited capacity, bandwidth and increased security.
• There will be fewer maintenances issues to be dealt with internally.
• Administrators and users won’t have to worry about storage capactiy and backups.
• End Users will not have to be tied to the traditional workstation method with technology such as PDA’s and iPhone’s etc.  This will give them a constant platform with them where ever they happen to be.
• Companies can purchase different services from the cloud when needed without having to upgrade hardware or software packages etc.

Problems with Cloud Computing:

• Cloud Computing puts data outside the company, which can alerting to companies for security and privacy.
• The Data Protection act in the United Kingdom says all personal and financial data held of a UK citizen should not be moved to servers outside the UK.  How can companies be sure that the data they have in the cloud is held within a data center in the United Kingdom?
• Cloud computing is completely relient on an internet connection.  Internet connections are not yet totally stable everywhere in the world and espically on wireless broadband etc.
• All the talk about using applications and services from the cloud is very nice and good, but the fine print is worrying that cloud computing suppliers like Google and Microsoft can terminate applications if they see fit to do so?

The adjective ’smart’ has been applied to many different entities in recent years. Terms such as smart home, smart grid and smart meter have now been joined by other, often vaguer, concepts such as the smart city, the smart economy and the smart planet. But what do these terms mean? And what role can technology play in enabling these ’smart’ concepts?

The term smart economy is frequently used by governments and can be a very loose term. In essence, a smart economy, like a real economy, has many components. It can be defined as using technology to deliver the infrastructure an economy needs. Initiatives that would be common in a ’smart economy’ include smart meters and grids to provide electricity in a ‘greener’ way, using Cloud Computing to deliver services and having environmentally friendly data centres that leverage virtualization and other cloud computing techniques. Allied to this is the development of communications infrastructure to support remote access to Cloud Computing services and Data Centres.

Clearly, the technology required to achieve any smart economy aspiration are many and varied. Smart Meters are clearly mandatory for any smart grid plans but, in addition, the data produced by smart grids needs to be converted into information that can be used by utility companies to better manage and monitor the energy being generated. Smart Grids are not limited of course to electricity as smart meters are available for measuring gas and water consumption. This more granular measurement of resource consumption is a fundamental tenet of any smart economy. Cloud Computing services such as Software As A Service (SaaS) will be supported by software companies. The evolution of Cloud Computing services could mean that we eventually come full circle back to the old Terminal-Host style architecture for computing where a typical user only needs a computer with an Internet connection to avail of application software. Infrastructure As A Service (IaaS) is currently being provided by services such as Amazon Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) (See http://aws.amazon.com/ec2/) where you can effectively rent a server. From a social and economic point of view, Cloud Computing services could potentially result in more and more service enterprises being created to provide software, hardware and development platforms over the Internet while the hardware requirements of a typical user will potentially decrease so that only a PC and Internet connection is required to do the majority of work. This sharing of computer infrastructure and reduction of application installations is indeed ’smarter’ and, in the case of the former, ‘greener’.

Smart Homes is another term that can be very broadly defined. The vision of a smart home was first promulgated by the HomeRF working group. This group was disbanded in 2003 when Wi-Fi 802.11b became commonly available in the home and support for the competing Bluetooth protocol became commonplace in devices such as mobile phones (See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HomeRF for further details about HomeRF). The growth of wireless networking protocols and their common availability has advanced the possibility of the smart home. Smart homes will be able to manage energy and, in conjunction with installed smart meters, can measure resource consumption (electricity, gas and water). In addition to energy management, smart homes can also be remotely managed. Security systems and home appliances can all be controlled remotely by the home owner inside and outside the home. Many major corporations are undertaking smart home projects. Ericsson Turkey (http://www.ericsson.com/developer/sub/articles/other_articles/090831_IMS) have developed a system in partnership with Done (http://www.donetr.com) which uses Ericsson’s Connected Home Gateway (HIGA) to turn equipment on and off. This system also allows more sophisticated levels of control such as automatically turning off the gas supply and electricity when fires are detected by video cameras installed in the home.

Nokia has also unveiled its Home Control Centre which combines technologies such as wireless networks, CCTV and mobile devices to facilitiate the remote control of household appliances through any computing device that has a web browser. The Home Control Centre, which is due to be released in 2010 and has been spun off to the independent There Corporation in May this year, will initially provide solution in the area of home security. Currently named ThereGate, the product is a technology independent open LINUX-based platform that supports the most common smart home technologies. All devices for monitoring energy and security are managed under one system that can be accessed from a mobile phone or web browser.  Further details are provided at There Corporation’s website (http://therecorporation.com/).

The question we must now ask is what technologies facilitiate the development of smart homes. The Z-Wave wireless communication proprietary standard (http://www.z-wave.com) for home appliances enables remote communication and control of these devices. The Zigbee set of communication standards (http://www.zigbee.org) is used for communication between low powered radio devices such as wireless sensors. Just like the aim of the Bluetooth protocol is to eliminate unnecessary cables the goal of Zigbee, from a home automation perspective, is to eliminate unnessary remote controls. Protocols like Zigbee and Z-Wave can be used  along with Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to enable the development of Home Area Networks (HANs). In addition to radio protocols the Internet Protocol (IP) can also play its part in the development of the smart home. IP can be used for security cameras and is also being used for wireless sensors. The Zigbee Alliance adopted Internet Protocol standards earlier this year and different manufacturers are developing sensors with embedded IP.  In 2008 Arch Rock (http://www.archrock.com/) introduced the first commercial implementation of the Internet Engineering Task Force’s (IETF) 6LoWPAN standard for IP version 6 communication over low power devices such as sensors.

The communication and networking standards are well established for the smart home but what about the hardware?Many components such as IP Cameras and CCTV have existed for a long time but the sensors and actuators required to control devices are continuously evolving. The market for these devices is a growing one. OnWorld predicts that the Wireless Sensor Network (WSN) market for smart homes will be US$6 billion in 2012. (See http://hiddenwires.co.uk/resourcesnews2009/news20090722-05.html). The key drivers here are energy and health management. Low-powered WSNs can be used in conjunction with smart grids to enable a utility company’s smart meter to communicate with a consumer’s network. In addition, WSNs can also be used to control lighting and heating in a home thus better managing energy consumption. WSNs along with Bluetooth are also being used in the area of home-based healthcare enabling the elderly and people with health problems to be remotely monitored by medical professionals. OnWorld also predicts that the aforementioned growth of IP-based WSNs will enable the home network to connect to the Cloud thus enabling the development of new products and services for the smart home. One possibility here would be an expert system that collects data from home appliances and issue recommendations regarding energy usage and possible savings.

In addition to the emerging technologies in the wireless arena it may be possible to use an existing technology that is already available in many homes – broadband. A recent GreentechMedia article ( http://www.greentechmedia.com/articles/read/the-smart-home-thats-tuned-to-the-weather/) has described how a Californian startup called EcoFactor uses a broadband gateway to control temperature in the home. Local weather forecasts are also analysed to determine an appropriate heating and cooling strategy over a 24 hour period. This demonstates how many homes will not have to wait to install wireless devices to become smart homes – they can potentially use their existing broadband connection.

The common thread thus far for the terms smart economy and smart home is that of energy management. Energy management also plays a key role in the Smart City. Many cities are implementing plans to become smart cities. One example is Amsterdam in Holland (See http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/jun2009/gb2009068_275981.htm). Energy management is the key driver for Amsterdam’s smart city initiative. Households are installing energy saving systems as well as solar panels and household wind turbines to enable them to sell energy back to the city. 300 power hookups to recharge electric cars have also been deployed around the city. The local utility Alliander is also in the process of developing a smart grid. Between now and 2012 up to €1.1 billion is expected to invested in this inital stage of making Amsterdam a smart city. The goal of the project is to cut emissions by 40% by 2025 as well as boosting the economy through private and public investment. More details are available at http://amsterdamsmartcity.com/.

Figure 1: Taipei is aiming to become a smart city.

Smart cities initiatives, then, can be viewed as energy management and emission reduction programs at a macro level while the micro implementation of such programs is carried out at the level of the smart home. In other words the technologies used to enable smart homes also enables smart cities.

Unsurprisingly, major industy players such as IBM and Cisco are involved in the development of smart city infrastructure. Currently, the emphasis for smart cities is on energy management but there are other initiatives in areas such as traffic management. Instelligent computing systems have been deployed in cities such as Singapore, Brisbane and Stockholm to reduce traffic congestion and pollution. One mechanism used to reduce congestion is a congestion tax. This tax has been applied in Stockholm, Oslo, London and Singapore. The aim of most congestion taxes is not just to reduce congestion but also to encourage ancilliary benefits such as alleviating environmental damage and improving public transport. In Stockholm, for example, proceeds from the congestion tax are to be used to build a ring road for the city.

To make a congestion charge system viable technology must play a role. In conjunction with IBM, Stockholm implemented a free-flow roadside system that uses laser and camera technology to detect, identify and charge vehicles. The results of Stockholm’s smart traffic system have been tangible and dramatic. Traffic has reduced by 25% and public transport timetables had to be rewritten as buses were getting to their destinations faster because of reduced traffic jams. More people are using the Stockholm public transport system and greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide have reduced by 40% in the inner city. (See http://www.ibm.com/podcasts/howitworks/040207/index.shtml for more details.)

Another facet to smart traffic systems is enabling traffic signal controllers to act as a system. Usually, traffic lights are independent with limited coordination in sequencing. Using smart systems, real-time feedback can be provided so that, for example, a light can be turned from red to green for an approaching vehicle if an intersection has no other traffic. Smart systems can also enable the rereouting of traffic if an accident occurs or in the case of adverse weather conditions.

Smart cities aren’t just about energy and traffic management programs. They can be used to improve coordination across local government agencies as well. Services such as patient care can be dramatically improved if agencies use integrated information systems rather than multiple unintegrated IS. The US city of Albuquerque has reported a 2000% improvement in efficiency in sharing information across government agencies. The benefits have ranged from better and more timely information for citizens and improved services and public safety.

The scope of smart cities is an ambitious one. Cities from Incheon in Korea to Bordeaux in France have plans to become smart cities. Indeed, in some cases smart cities are being built from the ground up. For example, the city of Masdar in the United Arab Emirates has been designed as a smart city and relies entirely on renewable energy resources.

The prefix ’smart’ then principally implies the delivery of energy management programs using computing hardware and software systems. The principal hardware involved that will be used to achieve a smart entity be it a home, city or indeed economy are wireless sensors and smart meters. We are effectively considering better home development and urban planning when we consider the concept of ’smartness’.

Figure 2: The Smart Planet is a cornerstone of IBM’s strategy.

The final term we will consider is that of the Smart Planet. This vision is principally being driven by IBM (See http://www.ibm.com/ibm/ideasfromibm/us/smartplanet/index.shtml?sa_campaign=message/ideas/leadspace/all/planetflash). The vision of a smart planet is one where natural resources such as water are managed using software and sensors and computing driven solutions are available across entire ecosystems such as supply chains, healthcare networks and cities. The smart planet strategy is much more than a marketing gimmick.  The big idea behind the strategy is that many of the physical systems in the world – electrical grids, transportation systems, buildings, factories and rivers – can be managed more efficiently if they’re monitored by sensors.  The performance of these systems can then be analysed and improved. Sensors, RFID and GPS (Global Positioning System) can all be used to enable the management of these systems. IBM cites diverse examples of its strategy in action. Volkswagen is using IBM software and RFID technology to better manage its manufacturing operations while the San Francisco Public Utilities commission is using IBM software to reduce water pollution. (More details can be found at http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/blog/globespotting/archives/2009/07/ibms_smart_plan.html). Other examples include the use of IBM software and sensors by the Irish environmental protection agency to collect data across beaches and lakes to measure water quality and the use of sensors in Galway Bay in Ireland to collect data for the evaluation of weather and environmental conditions for the local fishing industry.

There are other terms prefixed as ’smart’ such as smart infrastructure, smart business etc. The fundamental point is that anything that is classified as ’smart’ is enabled by computer hardware and software technology, sensor in particular being common to ’smart’ ecosystems.

The final question we will consider is where Vertoda fits into the concept of a smart home, smart city and indeed smart planet. Vertoda can capture data from both wireless sensors and smart meters and so is ideal for translating this new pool of data into meaningful information that users can act upon. For smart homes, Vertoda can be used to capture data from household appliances and can provide information about energy usage and securing the home. Vertoda is an open source system and so can be used with any vendor hardware and can aggregate all the data emanating form the smart appliances in a household. Similarly, Vertoda can capture and secure data from smart meters and supply meaningful information on energy consumption and revenue to a utility company’s Enterprise Systems and Databases. Vertoda can also secure and translate the information required for building, security and energy management programs that make up a smart city. As Vertoda can be used with any type of sensor or smart meter it can used in the many diverse ecosystems envisaged by IBM’s smart planet strategy.

According to various news sources and Microsoft’s website, on Monday November 2, 2009 Microsoft slashed prices on its core SaaS offerings such as BPOS reducing it from $15 per user, per month to $10 per user, per month. In addition, Microsoft now offers six months of free SaaS to the existing customers of Saleforce and Oracle. Microsoft finally got rid of two-tier Dynamics CRM pricing model and now offers its hosted CRM solution for $44 per user, per month with 5GB of space.

For additional information on Microsoft SaaS offering as well as up to date comparative analysis information, please visit our website at http://www.DrizGroup.com We still offer complimentary copies of Google Apps vs. Microsoft BPOS feature for feature comparative analysis document that is always up to date helping you make the right business decision. Request your copy today!

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I’m a Business Architect (BA)–I don’t need to know technology, you say. Not true, as a BA, knowing the advantages and the disadvantages of a technology will help you craft a better business solution.

Software as a Service (SaaS), discussed briefly in the Cloud Computing post is a model of software deployment whereby a provider licenses an application to customers for use as a service on demand, example, Salesforce.com.

SaaS often takes advantage of Service Oriented Architecture to enable software applications to communicate with each other.

Gartner’s 2008 survey of 333 enterprises in the US and UK found a low-level of approval from SaaS customers, describing overall satisfaction levels as “lukewarm”. Respondents who had decided against SaaS cited high cost of service, difficulty with integration, and technical requirements.

SaaS attraction is its  faster deployment times, lack of upfront licensing cost, and an out-of-the-box business model. According to Gartner, the largest usage of applications delivered as a service is in Customer Relationship Management (CRM), methods that companies use to interact with customers. The SaaS implementation companies should shy away from are Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), a system that is used to manage resources of a business. Because, the very thing that makes it attractive (the canned business model), is also the thing that makes it unattractive (it is less customizable).

Cloud Computing recently took a hit with the Microsoft/T-Mobile/Sidekick data loss debacle. It turns out, debacle had less to do with Cloud Computing, and more to do with bad IT practice.

Cloud computing is a general term for anything that involves delivering hosted services over the Internet. There are three categories of  services.

Category 1 – Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)

Like Amazon Web Services, which provides virtual server instances and blocks of storage on demand.

Category 2 – Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS)

A set of software and product development tools hosted on the provider’s infrastructure.

Category 3 – Software-as-a-Service (SaaS)

Here the vendor supplies the hardware, the software and interacts with the user through a front-end portal.

The name cloud computing comes from the cloud symbol that’s often used to represent the Internet in diagrams.

A cloud service has three distinct characteristics that differentiate it from traditional hosting:

1. A cloud service is sold on demand, typically by the minute or the hour.
2. A cloud service is elastic — a user can have as much or as little of a service as they want at any given time.
3. A cloud service is fully managed by the provider.

A cloud is either private or public. A public cloud sells services to anyone on the Internet. (Currently, Amazon Web Services is the largest public cloud provider.) A private cloud is a proprietary network or a data center that supplies hosted services to a limited number of people. Have you implemented using cloud computing yet?

In last week’s post (So just how do you make money out of serving up a free lunch?) I examined the viability of the Freemium business model for the developers of web and mobile applications.

In this post I will examine the viability of Software as Media (SAM) and, specifically, software as an advertising platform.

As you may recall from the post from a few weeks back (Why newspapers need to get sticky) I examined the idea of Stickiness and how media content is actually not very sticky on the web when you compare it to search, social networks, email and software applications (e.g Freshbooks, NetSuite and Salesforce.com).

Software Applications are more sticky than online newspapers and magazines

The question is: Just because software applications (and we’ll include Email and Facebook in this category) are stickier than online newspapers does this mean they are a better advertising platform?

There has been a lot of discussion about this in recent times. Claire Cain Miller’s (The New York Times) and Phil Wainewright’s (ZDNet) posts earlier this year on Ad Revenue on the Web? No Sure Bet  and Web 2.0 and the end of advertising are indicative of the mainstream thinking in traditional media circles about the unsustainability of SAM advertising models.

In more general terms there is the post on Techcrunch by Eric Clemons, Professor of Operations and Information Management at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania: Why Advertising is Failing on the Internet. In it, he argues that the Internet shatters all forms of advertising.  “The problem is not the medium, the problem is the message, and the fact that it is not trusted, not wanted, and not needed,”

Shelby Bonnie’s recent post on Techcrunch, Let’s Kill The CPM, and Jitka Petrickova’s (Three Minds) Should We Kill The Ads Or The Metrics? probably goes to the heart of the problem. Not only in relation to the future sustainability of SAM but for online advertising in general. Pages views are really the wrong metric for measuring (and delivering) the success of online advertising.

As I suggested in Why the NY Times 10% Problem is not a problem but a significant growth opportunity online banner advertising is very expensive. It’s significantly more expensive than advertising on TV during the Superbowl on an Average Revenue, Per User, Per Page, Per Visit (ARPUPPPV).

The real metric we should be applying is face time. Online advertising should be measured in the same terms as TV advertising. Both involve watching a screen after all.

There is also the problem of banner blindness that I first raised in The Real Problem is FLINK!: The idea that most people don’t even see the ads because they are to busy looking for the next hyperlink.

However the issue for SAM is broader than just the argument for and against Banner Blindness, CPM, CTR, Page Views and Face Time. It really goes to the heart of what advertising is all about.

Firstly let me qualify the discussion by suggesting that there are three distinct types of advertising.

The first is marketplace or classified advertising. Today this form of advertising is best represented online by eBay and Craigslist (See Farewell to the Ribbons of Gold).

The second type of advertising can best be understood as “buying prestige by association”. It is about seducing the customer into wanting to be associated with your product.

The third and final type of Advertising is simply about repetition. The idea being that if a prospect sees or hears something often enough they will remember it. Unfortunately the problem with this approach is simply that the prospect’s experience is something akin to being “bludgeoning the customer with a blunt instrument”.

Classical advertising theory was, and still is, first and foremost about building a brand by buying prestige by association.

Once advertising loses the illusion of prestige it just becomes unwanted noise.

In one of my first posts on this site (FLINK and they’re gone!) I stressed that The call to do (action), to implement, to solve is at the heart of the interactive medium.

This means that unless the advertising is directly involved in the action of using the software (e.g A character in an online game or a Mortgage Calculator) then advertising is superfluous to the activity. It is just unwarranted noise.

Advertising in software. Be it games, social media, applications, collaborative tools, email and even online newspapers is just that. Noise.

… and as noise it simply destroys prestige, not only for the advertising media (i.e. the software), but also the advertised product or service that is being promoted on the site.

Imagen: lonewolflibrarian.files.wordpress.com

Antes, andar por las nubes era sinónimo de estar distraído. Actualmente, es la metáfora para nombrar a internet y a proveedores de servicios, desde aplicaciones básicas como correo electrónico hasta software para la administración de empresas.

El concepto de cómputo en nube, o cloud computing, significa que el almacenamiento y procesamiento de datos se realiza en una gran nube de computadoras y aplicaciones online, y no en el equipo del usuario o el servidor de una compañía.

Servicios de correo electrónico como Hotmail o Gmail son el mejor ejemplo: el usuario puede acceder a su cuenta y ver sus misivas electrónicas desde cualquier computadora con acceso al ciberespacio porque la información no está en su máquina personal, sino en enormes complejos de servidores que sostienen dichos servicios.

En 1997, Ramnath K. Chellappa, profesor de la división de sistemas de información y gestión de operaciones en la Emory Goizueta Business School, fue uno de los primeros investigadores en dar una definición académica en la que calificó al cloud computing como un paradigma donde los límites de la informática serían determinados por razones económicas más que por limitaciones técnicas.

El concepto de Chellappa es el reflejo de la tendencia evolutiva que los sistemas de información han desarrollado para atender aspectos de negocios o necesidades de usuarios en la red.

Aunque el término de “nube” fue tomado de la telefonía, en ese rubro representa toda la infraestructura que hace posible la comunicación a través de un teléfono.

Debido a que la nube es algo imaginario para los usuarios, suele ser confuso el entendimiento del concepto. Sin embargo, una vez que se conocen las opciones de servicio y sus beneficios, se puede aumentar la capacidad creativa y productiva.

“El concepto representa una abstracción”, explicó Tomás Mieres, especialista en cloud computing de EMC2, quien agregó que mediante estas prácticas se logra vincular los recursos computacionales y la infraestructura o arquitectura técnica con que cuenta una empresa.

Uno de los primeros acercamientos al concepto de cómputo en nube fue realizado por el conocido científico de la informática John McCarthy, en 1960, quien creía en la idea de que algún día se utilizaría la computación para organizar de manera pública la información de servicios, como se hacía en las oficinas de
consulta.

El concepto de la nube es muy extenso debido a que atraviesa múltiples fronteras espaciales y se traduce en un mayor alcance a escala global que por un lado hace complejo el concepto, pero que por otro facilita el acceso a los servicios ya que une en un mismo lugar a proveedores y consumidores.

¿Cómo es el cielo?

Las nubes pueden ser públicas, privadas o híbridas, dependiendo del tipo de información, la cantidad y la seguridad que buscan obtener.

Por una parte la nube pública es el sentido tradicional del concepto, los servicios y aplicaciones se proveen en la red de forma directa y dinámica que tienen distintos usos. Sin embargo esta categoría se limita a lo que los proveedores quieran ofrecer.

La nube privada la constituyen todos los servicios o incluso la infraestructura que los diversos proveedores pueden ofrecer a los consumidores tienen finalidades muy específicas dependiendo de las necesidades que la empresa requiera cubrir.

La nube híbrida son los servicios que se ofrecen de manera pública a todos los usuarios, sin embargo debido a las necesidades de éste requiere más espacio de almacenamiento que lo normal o soluciones que se
maximizan.

Fuente: www.exonline.com.mx por Guillermo Martínez