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Showing posts with label Market. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Market. Show all posts
Friday, 4 January 2013
Tuesday, 20 November 2012
A collection of comments
This is a collection of the comments I've posted today on a couple of sites. Most important one is No. 3. It's time we put pressure and demand true professionalism. New business opportunity in No. 2 - go ahead, time for action.
Comment 1: Commented: Employees Engage in Rogue Cloud Use Regardless of Security Policies
Comment 1: Commented: Employees Engage in Rogue Cloud Use Regardless of Security Policies
Tuesday, 28 August 2012
Well, do you understand Cloud?!
Commented the post Does the US understand cloud computing? on ZDNet by Charlie Osborne (@ZDNetCharlie).
Short break out:
Short break out:
When asked what "the cloud" was, 29 percent said "a fluffy white thing", whereas only 16 percent connected the phrase with a network used to store, access and share data across Internet-connected devices.
Cloud computing was found to be widely misunderstood. The survey found that:
- 51 percent of respondents, including a majority of Millennials, believe stormy weather
Saturday, 18 August 2012
Comment to: Cloud Service Providers Challenge Traditional IT Outsourcing
Short comment to the post 'Cloud Service Providers Challenge Traditional IT Outsourcing' by Stephanie Overby (@stephanieoverby) on CIO.com.
Short break out:
Short break out:
"the fastest growing segment of outsourcing--cloud computing services--is expected to nearly double from $3.4 billion in 2011 to $5 billion this year. Even more notable--infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) will contribute 38 percent of the increment outsourcing growth in 2012, compared to 8 percent in 2011. "This is reflective of how difficult the current market
Tuesday, 3 July 2012
A lot of buying...
There's really a lot of buying and fusions now and during the last year. Latest is Dell buying Quest and VMware buying DynamicOps. All the big ones; Microsoft, IBM, Citrix, VMware, Cisco, Google, Oracle, EMC and so on, buys A LOT. Is this good? Was the intention of the bought companies from the very beginning to be bought? Is it good for customers/consumers? Are the market/needs faster and broader than the big ones core and innovation? Will the bought company (or actually technique/service, maybe patent) implement and work well? Will it block other company's innovation because the bought technique/service isn't longer "available"? Is it just a buyer's race? A buyers race to prevent competitors to succeed more than actually improve their own service/offer - to more prevent others to get market shares than really get them their own. Really can't tell more than; competition is good and I don't know if these behaviors really encourage it and provide the best services to the market.
Just one of those in Max mind...
Just one of those in Max mind...
Tuesday, 19 June 2012
Embrace the Multiculti Cloud: World wide cloud companies do great things!
My latest post Embrace the Multiculti Cloud: World wide cloud companies do great things!
on KnowYourCloud
Short break out:
on KnowYourCloud
Short break out:
"Why do you drive a German car? Why do you love a fantastic Nasi Goreng from Indonesia? Why do you go to Ibiza, Berlin, London or Miami for a good clubbers night? Why do you travel to meet up at great IT conferences in the US?
Answer:
Tuesday, 3 January 2012
'Cloud computing: why all of the vehemence?' by Dan Kusnetzky
Good read: 'Cloud computing: why all of the vehemence?' by Dan Kusnetzky.
Short break out:
"It would be wise of IT and facilities practitioners to focus on where and how new technology or new approaches can be of use to the organization rather than trying to fight them. Mainframes, minicomputers (now called midrange systems), distributed computing, client/server computing and the like are still found in nearly all medium to large organizations. They didn’t go away when a new approach or a new application was adopted."
I did comment it but it seems like the comment was removed. Really don't know why, it really wasn't controversial. Well, it might appear again later. Sometimes it takes a couple of hours.
Short break out:
"It would be wise of IT and facilities practitioners to focus on where and how new technology or new approaches can be of use to the organization rather than trying to fight them. Mainframes, minicomputers (now called midrange systems), distributed computing, client/server computing and the like are still found in nearly all medium to large organizations. They didn’t go away when a new approach or a new application was adopted."
I did comment it but it seems like the comment was removed. Really don't know why, it really wasn't controversial. Well, it might appear again later. Sometimes it takes a couple of hours.
Thursday, 29 December 2011
2012. How about my predictions?!
On Sunday morning 2012 hits us. A lot of lists and posts prevail about predictions in and about IT, cloud, Internet and more. I will give you some of my thoughts. They are based on my experience, things I read and hear off. The text itself is based on my trend notes written in TeleComputing’s Q4 newsletter and is now translated and in some places modified. I’m focusing more on some short basic to think about’s and reminders more than specifics like cloud, Big Data, Eco systems, BYO or social networking. Mine last longer than 2012 and point especially to service providers and the C-series.
A lot of things happening on the IT-market; what’s present, will increase and evolve in the future? Service provider’s needs to better listen and understand its customers core business and the C-series needs to better understand IT and how it can support the companies’ core business. We all have to be better prepared and plan for the future in time.
It’s very important that techniques to deliver IT as a service is secure, reliable and available because the service should be ditto. It also has to be modular, scalable and flexible to be able to support services from different ISV and sources, also through different techniques to different type of devices because of the consumerization trend BYO (Bring Your Own). Though; techniques are ”secondary”, don’t misunderstand me. Techniques are very important for the IT-department, the service provider (Cloud or not). To the customer it is the support to core business, functionality and availability that is important. This creates demand on the actors on the service provider market and IT departments; simple, functional and reasonable invoicing processes have to exist, and most important; the soft services like Service Desk, change management, perceptiveness, coordination and governance have to be excellent. The Orchestrator role is so important. It’s in these areas the settlement of being an actor on the service providing market or not.
Bullets;
The actor is either a service provider or an IT manager/-department. As a CxO; use it like a check list.
This is my last post 2011 and I will be back 2012.
A lot of things happening on the IT-market; what’s present, will increase and evolve in the future? Service provider’s needs to better listen and understand its customers core business and the C-series needs to better understand IT and how it can support the companies’ core business. We all have to be better prepared and plan for the future in time.
It’s very important that techniques to deliver IT as a service is secure, reliable and available because the service should be ditto. It also has to be modular, scalable and flexible to be able to support services from different ISV and sources, also through different techniques to different type of devices because of the consumerization trend BYO (Bring Your Own). Though; techniques are ”secondary”, don’t misunderstand me. Techniques are very important for the IT-department, the service provider (Cloud or not). To the customer it is the support to core business, functionality and availability that is important. This creates demand on the actors on the service provider market and IT departments; simple, functional and reasonable invoicing processes have to exist, and most important; the soft services like Service Desk, change management, perceptiveness, coordination and governance have to be excellent. The Orchestrator role is so important. It’s in these areas the settlement of being an actor on the service providing market or not.
Bullets;
The actor is either a service provider or an IT manager/-department. As a CxO; use it like a check list.
- The actor must be able to describe how a service brings benefits for the customer and how it kills the customers’ pains. Customer: “What’s in it for us?”
- The actor must be able to describe and motivate why underlying old techniques need to be upgraded or replaced to meet the future.
- The CIO role is more business- than technique oriented. The technique is the actors pleasant ”concern”, and it should be transformed to the CIO as business.
- The actor should be the customers’ market listener and whisperer. The actor should be a part of and contribute to increase the customers’ efficiency and productivity.
- CxO, not only CIO; you have to understand what IT can do for your business. You have to understand; availability and service hours are not for free.
- The actor should support the customer to be an attractive employer. People, especially young people, now a days looks of what the employer can do for them to succeed. Without good employees you as an employer won’t succeed in the future. Providing an attractive IT environment and policy is an important ingredient to attract the best.
- The actor should be the trusted adviser. Some might say it’s a buzz word but partnership between the customer and the actor is a very important key to successful IT as a Service. But never forget, it happens to often and the service provider wakes up with a horse head in the bed; it really takes two to tango!
- Standard becomes customized, customized becomes standard.
My prediction is that standard services will increase and customized decrease. Because of economic and integration reasons this change will come, it is too expensive and complex to customize. Companies will customize their organization to the service opposite to the reverse, it’s a change but it has to be done. At the same time the standardized services become more customizable with standardized interface to integrate two or more systems /services.
This is my last post 2011 and I will be back 2012.
May your service provider be good to you next year too.
Happy New Year!
Wednesday, 21 December 2011
Trendspan (in Swedish)
Min artikel om trender som publicerades i TeleComputing News nr 4 2011. Några ankor och flowproblem märkte jag vilka jag ber djupt djupt om ursäkt för. ;)
I takt med att marknaden för IT-tjänster och outsourcing av IT-funktioner förändras så förändras även kraven på aktörerna inom outsourcing. Sedan en längre tid tillbaka har förändringen skett från att tillhandahålla co-location och sourcingtjänster till att tillhandahålla managerade tjänster - sourcing providern har blivit en managed service provider (MSP). I denna artikel ska jag lista och försöka beskriva de trender det talas om mest på marknaden.
Generellt finns det som vanligt en tendens att det är många nya benämningar på saker som egentligen funnits sen en tid tillbaka. Det som är tydligt är att gränserna är rätt suddiga och man kan alltid peka på att ingen har fel och alla har rätt.
Det här är bara några av sakerna som rör sig på marknaden. Det pratas mycket om moln men det gäller att koka ner vad som är viktigt för just ditt företag. Det är det ex TeleComputing ska vara ett stöd i, en rådgivare och partner.
Tekniken för att leverera IT som tjänst är oerhört viktig att den är säker och stabil. Den behöver även vara modulär och flexibel för att kunna hantera tjänster från olika leverantörer och källor samt genom olika tekniker men även till olika typer av enheter i och med consumerization-trenden BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). Tekniken är dock ”sekundär”, missförstå mig rätt. Tekniken är oerhört viktig för IT-avdelningen, MSP:n och molnleverantören. För företaget är det funktionen och tillgängligheten som är det viktiga. Detta ställer krav på aktörerna att ha bra enkla och förnuftiga fakturerings- och beställningsfunktioner samt framför allt de mjuka tjänsterna såsom Service Desk, ändringshantering, samordning och samverkan. Det är inom dessa områden avgöranden kommer att stå om att fortsätta att vara en aktör på outsourcingmarkanden eller ej. Kortfattat;
Vad som är på gång
I takt med att marknaden för IT-tjänster och outsourcing av IT-funktioner förändras så förändras även kraven på aktörerna inom outsourcing. Sedan en längre tid tillbaka har förändringen skett från att tillhandahålla co-location och sourcingtjänster till att tillhandahålla managerade tjänster - sourcing providern har blivit en managed service provider (MSP). I denna artikel ska jag lista och försöka beskriva de trender det talas om mest på marknaden. Generellt finns det som vanligt en tendens att det är många nya benämningar på saker som egentligen funnits sen en tid tillbaka. Det som är tydligt är att gränserna är rätt suddiga och man kan alltid peka på att ingen har fel och alla har rätt.
Moln, SaaS online
Sedan ett par år har online- och molntjänster samt SaaS, med alla dess underkategorier, starkt avancerat på marknaden och det finns idag inget som säger att det kommer att avta. Vissa tjänster kommer exempelvis inte vara tillgängliga för lokal installationer utan endast vara tillgängliga i molnet som en SaaS. Internet är en utmärkt bärare för tjänster, varför skulle man inte nyttja den här tekniken? Däremot kommer hypen avta, det kommer bli en mer gängse standard och vissa cloudwashers/wishclouds kommer att försvinna. Det är helt enkelt många som söker lyckan. Något man inte ska glömma är att många system och funktioner kommer att behöva vara kvar lokalt hos företagen eller husera i privata moln hos MSP:s, allt kan inte flytta till molnet, hybriderna är ett faktum.- Hybrider Tänk en hybridbil, mix av ex el och etanol. Hybrid IT är mix av moln (ex privata eller publika), system lokalt på företaget och tjänster från en MSP. Hybrider kommer bestå länge, kanske för alltid.
- On-demand Behoven på flexibla betalningsmodeller och att avropa tjänster vid behov (On-demand) har ökat för att tillfredsställa krav på kostnadseffektivitet. Det här är väl egentligen ingen ny trend men den fortsätter att öka i efterfrågan.
- IT Ecosystem Hett, men i grund och botten handlar det om att leverera produkter som tjänster och att produktleverantörerna (mjukvara) team:ar upp sig med solution providers, som ex TeleComputing, för att leverera produkten som en tjänst. Från ax till limpa och tillbaka till ax…få det att gå runt. Inte så knepigt som det låter flashigt.
Standard blir anpassat, anpassat blir standard
Jag uppfattar, eller kanske snarare förutspår, att det finns en tendens att standardiserade tjänster ökar och att kundanpassade avtar. Alltså det unika avtar medan det ”fyrkantiga” blir mer anpassningsbart. Av ekonomiska och integrationsmässiga skäl sker denna svängning, det är för dyrt och komplext att specialanpassa. Man behöver anpassa organisationen mot tjänsten istället för tvärtom, det är en omställning men den behöver göras. Samtidigt så blir de standardiserade tjänsterna mer anpassningsbara med tydliga gränssnitt för att integrera två eller flera system.Virtuella klienter
Sist men inte minst vill jag slå ett slag för virtuella klienter. Och nej, det är absolut inte för att jag arbetar på TeleComputing. Virtuella klienter har ett oförtjänt dåligt rykte, ett rykte som inte på något sätt är aktuellt på marknaden idag, kort sagt ingen pratar om de dåliga ryktena för de finns inte. Ryktena baserar sig på användande av gamla versioner med gammal funktionalitet, dåliga installationer och konfigurationer, dåliga kommunikationslänkar mm. Kommunikationslänkar är inte längre ett problem, bandbredd finns både i marken och i luften och det till mycket rimliga priser. I o m molntrenden så är det naturligt att även köra virtuella klienter över internet. Citrix, VMware, Microsoft och andra leverantörers produkter som finns idag är inte samma sak som det som fanns 2005. Installationer och konfigurationer går att göra rätt. Virtuella klienter är hett och kommer att öka. Det finns egentligen ingen anledning att tro något annat – det fungerar riktigt bra! Sen; vare sig man gillar BYOD så är virtuella klienter, enligt mig, i princip ett måste. Kom förbi och testa nya OnDemand om jag inte lyckats övertyga.Det här är bara några av sakerna som rör sig på marknaden. Det pratas mycket om moln men det gäller att koka ner vad som är viktigt för just ditt företag. Det är det ex TeleComputing ska vara ett stöd i, en rådgivare och partner.
Ökade krav på outsourcingleverantören
Alla saker som händer på marknaden, vad som är aktuellt nu och kommer att öka i framtiden ställer som tidigare nämnts krav på aktörerna. MSP:n behöver bättre förstå behoven företagets core business ställer och hur de tillfredsställs rätt och effektivt.Tekniken för att leverera IT som tjänst är oerhört viktig att den är säker och stabil. Den behöver även vara modulär och flexibel för att kunna hantera tjänster från olika leverantörer och källor samt genom olika tekniker men även till olika typer av enheter i och med consumerization-trenden BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). Tekniken är dock ”sekundär”, missförstå mig rätt. Tekniken är oerhört viktig för IT-avdelningen, MSP:n och molnleverantören. För företaget är det funktionen och tillgängligheten som är det viktiga. Detta ställer krav på aktörerna att ha bra enkla och förnuftiga fakturerings- och beställningsfunktioner samt framför allt de mjuka tjänsterna såsom Service Desk, ändringshantering, samordning och samverkan. Det är inom dessa områden avgöranden kommer att stå om att fortsätta att vara en aktör på outsourcingmarkanden eller ej. Kortfattat;
- Aktören måste kunna beskriva hur en tjänst bringar nytta och ”killing pains” för kunden. K: ” What’s in it for us?”
- Aktören måste kunna beskriva och motivera varför en bakomliggande föråldrad teknik är nödvändig att uppgradera för att möta framtiden bäst.
- CIO:n på företagen går mot att vara mer affärs- än teknikinriktad. Tekniken är aktörens angenäma ”bekymmer”, och den ska förvandlas i business för CIO:n.
- Aktören ska vara företagets öra mot marknaden samt vara en del i och bidra till företagets ökade effektivitet och produktivitet.
- Aktören ska hjälpa kunden att vara en attraktiv arbetsgivare. Människor, och framför allt unga människor, ser mycket på vad företagen kan göra för dem. En attraktiv IT-miljö är en viktig del av den.
- Aktören ska vara den betrodda rådgivaren. Partnerskap mellan företaget och aktören är absolut avgörande för en lyckad IT as a Service. Glöm inte; it takes two to tango.
Wednesday, 23 November 2011
Thursday, 10 November 2011
BYOD 1 – What is, why trend
Can BYOD be all things good? I would say; yes for the individual hip young guys but in general; no.
I have been thinking a couple of weeks about BYOD. Right now I cannot really say; yes, I like it and it’s the future – hurrah!
First; this article will be more on a philosophy and maybe even on a political level. Some might even call me bad things. It is based on how society’s and employment works and I know it differs a lot between countries, definitely Sweden versus the US. Since being Swedish I’m more familiar with the Swedish society and if I fail trying to put this on an international level I apologize. The main purpose is to look at BYOD from another perspective and not to discuss societies and country rules and laws. Neither will I focus on technique nor how software works. It is about the trend BYOD.
The article is build up in three parts. In the first part I will focus on what BYOD is and why it has become a trend. The second part will be about for whom the trend is available for and has a relevancy in a 1-5 years perspective. Third and last part will be about when the possibility becomes a demand and have a relevancy in a 5-15 years perspective, maybe even less.
What is
Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, is what it says; you can bring your own device and this to your work. It started with BYOC (bring your own computer) but today we have pads, smart phones and computers so Device wraps it up better. The own device can be your true own device and it can be sponsored or loaned from your employer. When sponsored the employer gives you x amount of money to buy the computer equipment you want and need. When loaned the employer loans you x amount of money to buy the computer equipment you want and need. Beware of; who owns the device if you end your employment; taxes if your government counts it like benefits above your salary. BYOD is about to use the computer/device you want and fits your needs best.
For the employer BYOD means they have to solve compatibility issues and license agreement rules when delivering the IT services to different communication links, operating systems and devices, owned by other than the company. Some functions and systems to be considered:
- Storage and security solutions to store company and user data
- Security to be sure connecting devices and users are the correct ones. Attacks might increase because of BYOD
- Virtual desktop solutions to provide IT services to multiple device standards
- Orchestrator-tool to support and manage all the different devices
And they all have to be excellent.
The trend
Well, is it a trend? Yes, definitely.
I really don’t know why BYOD has become a trend and why people really want to bring their own device to work. Is it only the choice of freedom that calls or is it an underlying lobby organization making the call. Well, in some way it is true but the “organization behind” spells consumerization and the explosion of tablets. Consumerization is when consumers bring trends and technique to business instead of the opposite. The BYOD trend should really be ascribed to Apple and as Victoria Barret says; “thanks Apple”.
Victoria Barret, Forbes, ‘Thanks Apple: The B.Y.O.D. Trend’
“This might be what makes the B.Y.O.D. short-hand so apt. It is like a B.Y.O.B. dinner. Your IT department will supply the meat and potatoes (think chunky, salty ERP systems), but if you want to have a really good time, you’re left to your own devices.”
I would say the trend has evolved and emerged because of Apple and young people born in late 80’s and early 90’s. Young people who love the choice of freedom and who definitely love Apple, which many employers don’t, or haven’t implemented. Remember these users are the early adaptors and should really be handled with respect. They represent present and future users and leaders. If they continue loving the choice of freedom or gets “boring” when they grow older, like me, we will notice. But they are the influencers of BYOD and many things right now and next x0’s will probably inherit their strength. To the young people’s influence add social networking that are easy to use on pads and smart phones. Social networking you want to bring with you everywhere even to work. So thanks Apple for the BYOD trend, whether you like it or not.
My point
Personally I’m really not that keen bringing my own devices to work with. One of many reasons is because I’ve paid for it and no one has told me my salary should go to working equipment’s. But hey, I’m 41 years “young” so maybe I’m not the primary target. Anyway, some might say; “but you wearing your own clothes”. I am not going in to that discussion…
It might be like Victoria Barret says, or maybe; you might feel so. You want to use cooler or better devices than your employer can offer. Or maybe; you want to use Mac’s and almost every employer offers Windows PC’s. And maybe; you want to use a tablet or smartphones but your employer only uses PC’s and standard phones/mobiles.
As an employee you can always ask yourself; are you responsible for making meat and potatoes or making really good times?
As an employer you definitely should ask; how can we attract good people? Offer attractive devices or go for the BYOD? Should we give the employees really good times even if they only should make meat and potatoes?
What happens if employer offers more attractive devices i.e. iPad’s, Galaxy’s, iMac’s etc.; will the BYOD trend drop dead?
What happens when vendors only sell one hardware and one license instead of two; will the BYOD trend drop dead?
Reading articles
I have read about 10-15 different BYOD-articles the last couple of week, some of them sponsored. I would say all of them either praises or tell us “think about’s” about BYOD but no one questions the concept. Here are some examples.
Citrix BYO - www.citrix.com/byo
"Trying to cope with the flood of personal and non-traditional devices at work? You don’t need an IT floodgate. Embrace employee-owned devices. Rising employee expectations, virtual workstyles and limited IT budgets all require a radical shift in business processes.”
Basically Citrix virtual desktops/apps with a BYOD touch.
Gartner in there ‘Gartner Report BYOC checklist’ (you have to register)
“Key Findings
The benefits of an employee-owned notebook program include freedom of managing nonstrategic assets; more time for IT staff to focus on high-value, high ROI initiatives; a more attractive workplace to attract new hires; and increased user productivity.
Lots of embracing and great recommendations but…no critique. And Gartner is in contrast to Citrix an analytics company. Of course this is a guide so no real analyze about BYOD itself, and it is a really good guide everyone should read before even thinking about a BYOD roll out.
Charles Bess, Enterprise CIO Forum, ‘Are there 5 top reasons CIOs should allow a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy?’
“I was reading a post from one of the security experts at HP titled: Top 5 Enterprise Security Challenges with "Bring Your Own Device." When it comes to allowing employees to use their own devices at work, there are some real support, data control and security issues, but the blog post made me wonder: Are there 5 top reasons CIOs should encourage a “bring your own device” policy?”
Bringing some issues up…but drops them a bit too easy.
Jeffrey Burt, eWeek, ‘HP Unveils Business Services for Mobile Applications’
"HP and its rivals, including Cisco System and Juniper Networks, are rapidly rolling out solutions to help businesses deal with the growing BYOD trend, which has been fueled by the rising use of Apple iPhones and Google Android-based smartphones and, more recently, tablet PCs driven by the popularity of Apple’s iPads. The trend is toward greater use of mobile devices, and a greater demand by workers to use their own devices—rather than ones issued by employers—to access the corporate network.”And so it continues. Of course companies developing devices and management tools can’t speak negative – this is business. But I’m a bit confused about the general “fresh” attitude from journalists and analytics.
A good one about challenges with BYOD by Paul Schwartz, HP, which Charles Bess refers to: ‘Top 5 Enterprise Security Challenges with "Bring Your Own Device"’, here’s one of them:
5. Who pays? – enterprises need to decide who should pay for the mobile device, who pays for data charges, and who should pay for business related apps. Data charges while roaming abroad can be particularly significant.”
I will end up with a great debate between Ken Hess and Heather Clancy on ZDNET called ‘Reality vs Pipe dream’
Ken Hess: “Almost everyone owns an advanced phone and a laptop, netbook or tablet, so why not allow employees to use those devices in corporate work environments? Bring your own device is a new strategy being used by or considered by corporate IT departments. It allows employees to use devices with which they're comfortable and at a lower overall expense to the employee's company. It's an intelligent change in the corporate landscape to lower the costs associated with acquiring, deploying and maintaining devices, to reduce the number of required support personnel, and to decrease the possibility of single vendor lock-in.”
Heather Clancy: “Be honest: Do you want someone telling you what you can and cannot do with your personal technology? BYOD seems like a great idea for productivity, until you try manage it.
So
Is BYOD the future? Might be but watch out for the possible consequences. Will it be available for more people than the young and “cool guys”? And what happens when the BYOD becomes an employer’s demand? Might be scary. Watch out for my upcoming posts about BYOD.
Meantime; if you consider a BYOD roll out program read Gartner’s ‘Gartner Report BYOC checklist’
I have been thinking a couple of weeks about BYOD. Right now I cannot really say; yes, I like it and it’s the future – hurrah!
First; this article will be more on a philosophy and maybe even on a political level. Some might even call me bad things. It is based on how society’s and employment works and I know it differs a lot between countries, definitely Sweden versus the US. Since being Swedish I’m more familiar with the Swedish society and if I fail trying to put this on an international level I apologize. The main purpose is to look at BYOD from another perspective and not to discuss societies and country rules and laws. Neither will I focus on technique nor how software works. It is about the trend BYOD.
The article is build up in three parts. In the first part I will focus on what BYOD is and why it has become a trend. The second part will be about for whom the trend is available for and has a relevancy in a 1-5 years perspective. Third and last part will be about when the possibility becomes a demand and have a relevancy in a 5-15 years perspective, maybe even less.
What is
Bring Your Own Device, or BYOD, is what it says; you can bring your own device and this to your work. It started with BYOC (bring your own computer) but today we have pads, smart phones and computers so Device wraps it up better. The own device can be your true own device and it can be sponsored or loaned from your employer. When sponsored the employer gives you x amount of money to buy the computer equipment you want and need. When loaned the employer loans you x amount of money to buy the computer equipment you want and need. Beware of; who owns the device if you end your employment; taxes if your government counts it like benefits above your salary. BYOD is about to use the computer/device you want and fits your needs best.
For the employer BYOD means they have to solve compatibility issues and license agreement rules when delivering the IT services to different communication links, operating systems and devices, owned by other than the company. Some functions and systems to be considered:
- Storage and security solutions to store company and user data
- Security to be sure connecting devices and users are the correct ones. Attacks might increase because of BYOD
- Virtual desktop solutions to provide IT services to multiple device standards
- Orchestrator-tool to support and manage all the different devices
And they all have to be excellent.
The trend
Well, is it a trend? Yes, definitely.
I really don’t know why BYOD has become a trend and why people really want to bring their own device to work. Is it only the choice of freedom that calls or is it an underlying lobby organization making the call. Well, in some way it is true but the “organization behind” spells consumerization and the explosion of tablets. Consumerization is when consumers bring trends and technique to business instead of the opposite. The BYOD trend should really be ascribed to Apple and as Victoria Barret says; “thanks Apple”.
Victoria Barret, Forbes, ‘Thanks Apple: The B.Y.O.D. Trend’
“This might be what makes the B.Y.O.D. short-hand so apt. It is like a B.Y.O.B. dinner. Your IT department will supply the meat and potatoes (think chunky, salty ERP systems), but if you want to have a really good time, you’re left to your own devices.”
I would say the trend has evolved and emerged because of Apple and young people born in late 80’s and early 90’s. Young people who love the choice of freedom and who definitely love Apple, which many employers don’t, or haven’t implemented. Remember these users are the early adaptors and should really be handled with respect. They represent present and future users and leaders. If they continue loving the choice of freedom or gets “boring” when they grow older, like me, we will notice. But they are the influencers of BYOD and many things right now and next x0’s will probably inherit their strength. To the young people’s influence add social networking that are easy to use on pads and smart phones. Social networking you want to bring with you everywhere even to work. So thanks Apple for the BYOD trend, whether you like it or not.
My point
Personally I’m really not that keen bringing my own devices to work with. One of many reasons is because I’ve paid for it and no one has told me my salary should go to working equipment’s. But hey, I’m 41 years “young” so maybe I’m not the primary target. Anyway, some might say; “but you wearing your own clothes”. I am not going in to that discussion…
It might be like Victoria Barret says, or maybe; you might feel so. You want to use cooler or better devices than your employer can offer. Or maybe; you want to use Mac’s and almost every employer offers Windows PC’s. And maybe; you want to use a tablet or smartphones but your employer only uses PC’s and standard phones/mobiles.
As an employee you can always ask yourself; are you responsible for making meat and potatoes or making really good times?
As an employer you definitely should ask; how can we attract good people? Offer attractive devices or go for the BYOD? Should we give the employees really good times even if they only should make meat and potatoes?
What happens if employer offers more attractive devices i.e. iPad’s, Galaxy’s, iMac’s etc.; will the BYOD trend drop dead?
What happens when vendors only sell one hardware and one license instead of two; will the BYOD trend drop dead?
Reading articles
I have read about 10-15 different BYOD-articles the last couple of week, some of them sponsored. I would say all of them either praises or tell us “think about’s” about BYOD but no one questions the concept. Here are some examples.
Citrix BYO - www.citrix.com/byo
"Trying to cope with the flood of personal and non-traditional devices at work? You don’t need an IT floodgate. Embrace employee-owned devices. Rising employee expectations, virtual workstyles and limited IT budgets all require a radical shift in business processes.”
Basically Citrix virtual desktops/apps with a BYOD touch.
Gartner in there ‘Gartner Report BYOC checklist’ (you have to register)
“Key Findings
The benefits of an employee-owned notebook program include freedom of managing nonstrategic assets; more time for IT staff to focus on high-value, high ROI initiatives; a more attractive workplace to attract new hires; and increased user productivity.
Lots of embracing and great recommendations but…no critique. And Gartner is in contrast to Citrix an analytics company. Of course this is a guide so no real analyze about BYOD itself, and it is a really good guide everyone should read before even thinking about a BYOD roll out.
Charles Bess, Enterprise CIO Forum, ‘Are there 5 top reasons CIOs should allow a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) policy?’
“I was reading a post from one of the security experts at HP titled: Top 5 Enterprise Security Challenges with "Bring Your Own Device." When it comes to allowing employees to use their own devices at work, there are some real support, data control and security issues, but the blog post made me wonder: Are there 5 top reasons CIOs should encourage a “bring your own device” policy?”
Bringing some issues up…but drops them a bit too easy.
Jeffrey Burt, eWeek, ‘HP Unveils Business Services for Mobile Applications’
"HP and its rivals, including Cisco System and Juniper Networks, are rapidly rolling out solutions to help businesses deal with the growing BYOD trend, which has been fueled by the rising use of Apple iPhones and Google Android-based smartphones and, more recently, tablet PCs driven by the popularity of Apple’s iPads. The trend is toward greater use of mobile devices, and a greater demand by workers to use their own devices—rather than ones issued by employers—to access the corporate network.”And so it continues. Of course companies developing devices and management tools can’t speak negative – this is business. But I’m a bit confused about the general “fresh” attitude from journalists and analytics.
A good one about challenges with BYOD by Paul Schwartz, HP, which Charles Bess refers to: ‘Top 5 Enterprise Security Challenges with "Bring Your Own Device"’, here’s one of them:
5. Who pays? – enterprises need to decide who should pay for the mobile device, who pays for data charges, and who should pay for business related apps. Data charges while roaming abroad can be particularly significant.”
I will end up with a great debate between Ken Hess and Heather Clancy on ZDNET called ‘Reality vs Pipe dream’
Ken Hess: “Almost everyone owns an advanced phone and a laptop, netbook or tablet, so why not allow employees to use those devices in corporate work environments? Bring your own device is a new strategy being used by or considered by corporate IT departments. It allows employees to use devices with which they're comfortable and at a lower overall expense to the employee's company. It's an intelligent change in the corporate landscape to lower the costs associated with acquiring, deploying and maintaining devices, to reduce the number of required support personnel, and to decrease the possibility of single vendor lock-in.”
Heather Clancy: “Be honest: Do you want someone telling you what you can and cannot do with your personal technology? BYOD seems like a great idea for productivity, until you try manage it.
So
Is BYOD the future? Might be but watch out for the possible consequences. Will it be available for more people than the young and “cool guys”? And what happens when the BYOD becomes an employer’s demand? Might be scary. Watch out for my upcoming posts about BYOD.
Meantime; if you consider a BYOD roll out program read Gartner’s ‘Gartner Report BYOC checklist’
Tuesday, 1 November 2011
Will the "Facebook era" end?
First; as a person I'm allergic to too hyped trends. That's why I try to not blow up things in general because it is a fact that when something gets to hyped and trendy it will fall down sooner than later. Important is that if you develop and exceed the user experience you might continue to attract the market for a longer time, but you have an EOL of products and services. Sometime you have to release a completely new product or your company will EOL… (see my earlier blog post The nib and the ballpoint) Here is some example on short and long EOL:
- Music and movie really can't be re-launched with new features etc. so it will be a hit for a short time. Music re-mixes isn't really a "new feature". After that you have to come up with a new song or movie. And you have no chance to bug fix after release.
- Cars can be a long time hit because cars have long life cycles and can be re-developed, but still; sooner or later a new model has to be launched. And you definitely compete with other brands. You have the possibility to bug fix, but probably because of really bad and unhealthy user feedback… So bugs will hurt your business badly.
- An IT product has to be developed all the time and normally have short EOL in its specific version. You can release a buggy version…it’s in some way ok… (weird). The product “model” can last quite long. Good example is Windows XP.
Have this cycle in mind; early adaptor individuals adopt new product > more individuals do > early adaptor companies do > more companies do > early adaptor individuals move to new product > more individuals move to new product.... and so on.
A company who is good at developing their product is Facebook. The product Facebook is more than a product, it’s a lifestyle too. I'm not a regular user of Facebook and not a freaky fan of it (maybe because I'm "old") but I do mean Facebook is a big success, phenomena and a milestone in the history, not just in the IT history. But as I mentioned products do have EOL sometime, even if they are more than a product because peoples mind changes, especially the young ones. I think Facebook have run out of good ideas in its current model (Note! Not version). They are struggling and act more and more like the Big Brother. But I’m too novice to tell when it might EOL.
To me Facebook is a tool developed by young driven people and is used by primarily three types of users:
- Young people who see it like a natural way to socialize with friends, work etc.
- "Old" people who try to make money out of it. With this I mean companies and innovators who say Facebook is the future for business. I think they’re only struggling to make money out of it acting like "wiseguys". Sorry, but I do.
- "Old" people who is struggling to find a way to socialize, but they don't do it as natural as it is for the young ones.
Since the young people use it like a natural way they most likely will feel it's natural to use another tool to socialize. And when you lose the young ones what will then happen to Facebook?
Therefor; I'm interested in how long the Facebook-phenomena will last and have a couple of questions I would love to have comments about. Note! I don’t want to discuss the general social media, it will continue in some way, this time I’m focused on Facebook as the leading socializer tool.
The questions;
- Who are the real competitors to Facebook? Will they succeed and how will they act to succeed?
- Will there be private Facebook clouds or will you not trust Facebook and others or maybe; don’t you care at all?
- Will people stop to "socialize" their private life in the future? Is it people’s mind who is the real competitor to Facebook?
- Will Facebook be more of a professional than a private thing in the future? And if a pro thing; will it survive then?
- Will all big software providers accept Facebook as a portal for their services and products?
- Will Facebook start to charge users?
- Will the "Facebook era" end? And if so; when?
How about Microsoft Windows and Office, they have been around for a couple of years now? I’m sure they will EOL sometime. But there are two big differences; they are, in the main versions, developed for business use and they are not free. Though the biggest difference is, and it’s based on the business track; they have never been hyped trends, successes and dominators but not hyped trends. The “more companies”, where the money is, seldom goes for hyped trends.
- Music and movie really can't be re-launched with new features etc. so it will be a hit for a short time. Music re-mixes isn't really a "new feature". After that you have to come up with a new song or movie. And you have no chance to bug fix after release.
- Cars can be a long time hit because cars have long life cycles and can be re-developed, but still; sooner or later a new model has to be launched. And you definitely compete with other brands. You have the possibility to bug fix, but probably because of really bad and unhealthy user feedback… So bugs will hurt your business badly.
- An IT product has to be developed all the time and normally have short EOL in its specific version. You can release a buggy version…it’s in some way ok… (weird). The product “model” can last quite long. Good example is Windows XP.
Have this cycle in mind; early adaptor individuals adopt new product > more individuals do > early adaptor companies do > more companies do > early adaptor individuals move to new product > more individuals move to new product.... and so on.
A company who is good at developing their product is Facebook. The product Facebook is more than a product, it’s a lifestyle too. I'm not a regular user of Facebook and not a freaky fan of it (maybe because I'm "old") but I do mean Facebook is a big success, phenomena and a milestone in the history, not just in the IT history. But as I mentioned products do have EOL sometime, even if they are more than a product because peoples mind changes, especially the young ones. I think Facebook have run out of good ideas in its current model (Note! Not version). They are struggling and act more and more like the Big Brother. But I’m too novice to tell when it might EOL.
To me Facebook is a tool developed by young driven people and is used by primarily three types of users:
- Young people who see it like a natural way to socialize with friends, work etc.
- "Old" people who try to make money out of it. With this I mean companies and innovators who say Facebook is the future for business. I think they’re only struggling to make money out of it acting like "wiseguys". Sorry, but I do.
- "Old" people who is struggling to find a way to socialize, but they don't do it as natural as it is for the young ones.
Since the young people use it like a natural way they most likely will feel it's natural to use another tool to socialize. And when you lose the young ones what will then happen to Facebook?
Therefor; I'm interested in how long the Facebook-phenomena will last and have a couple of questions I would love to have comments about. Note! I don’t want to discuss the general social media, it will continue in some way, this time I’m focused on Facebook as the leading socializer tool.
The questions;
- Who are the real competitors to Facebook? Will they succeed and how will they act to succeed?
- Will there be private Facebook clouds or will you not trust Facebook and others or maybe; don’t you care at all?
- Will people stop to "socialize" their private life in the future? Is it people’s mind who is the real competitor to Facebook?
- Will Facebook be more of a professional than a private thing in the future? And if a pro thing; will it survive then?
- Will all big software providers accept Facebook as a portal for their services and products?
- Will Facebook start to charge users?
- Will the "Facebook era" end? And if so; when?
How about Microsoft Windows and Office, they have been around for a couple of years now? I’m sure they will EOL sometime. But there are two big differences; they are, in the main versions, developed for business use and they are not free. Though the biggest difference is, and it’s based on the business track; they have never been hyped trends, successes and dominators but not hyped trends. The “more companies”, where the money is, seldom goes for hyped trends.
Praise or raze
We see it in politics, we see it in business and we see it in IT. Company A attacks and disgrace Company B. Company A gathers with Company C to get more power to harras Company B. Both Company A, B and C delivers X (something (or everything? ;) (see earlier blog post))) to similar level of price, quality.
Of course you have to defend yourself if getting attacked. But who do you think truly deliver the best X; the one who attacks or the one who tell their strength and what you can do with it? Who do you think is the best buddy to run your country or deliver IT services to you?
Attack is the best defense?! Sorry...so old.
Of course you have to defend yourself if getting attacked. But who do you think truly deliver the best X; the one who attacks or the one who tell their strength and what you can do with it? Who do you think is the best buddy to run your country or deliver IT services to you?
Attack is the best defense?! Sorry...so old.
Thursday, 27 October 2011
Next "massive" post
Next "massive" post, which maybe should be published as a open discussion, will be about BYOD (Bring Your Own Device). In many point of views I think it's a positive trend but I have been thinking A LOT from another perspective; when the possibility becomes a demand...
Available in a couple of days.
Available in a couple of days.
Wednesday, 26 October 2011
Apple - the rise and the fall?!
Short one:
When Apple started their crusade to win the device battle with the release of iPod, iPhone, iMac and iPad, with all the patents and license agreements connected to them, they also started their journey to lose more than they won. Not today, tomorrow or next year but I'm quite sure they not will dominate the market within a decade. When trying to rule the world with too many rules and no partners to team up with, you always end up short in a quite short time. It works when you go to a specific market but not when you go to the mass and the mass like it, the mass will always, sooner or later, start to like something else whether or not it is cheaper, more expensive, better or worse.
With the driven business mind Apple (and others) have; add teaming, openness and humbleness. Then success normally ends up good. Those three are far to underestimated.
Just a thought...in Max mind.
When Apple started their crusade to win the device battle with the release of iPod, iPhone, iMac and iPad, with all the patents and license agreements connected to them, they also started their journey to lose more than they won. Not today, tomorrow or next year but I'm quite sure they not will dominate the market within a decade. When trying to rule the world with too many rules and no partners to team up with, you always end up short in a quite short time. It works when you go to a specific market but not when you go to the mass and the mass like it, the mass will always, sooner or later, start to like something else whether or not it is cheaper, more expensive, better or worse.
With the driven business mind Apple (and others) have; add teaming, openness and humbleness. Then success normally ends up good. Those three are far to underestimated.
Just a thought...in Max mind.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
#CloudWisdom 6
Private, public, hybrid, community and etc Clouds. On-prem, outsourced to an MSP or outsourced on-prem. Never forget; it is important for the one who delivers and puts it together but it is never important for the Management group - for them it should fulfill a need, unease a task and increase productivity with less spending. Habla deutsch - speak the same language as the customer.
Customer newsletters
A couple of days ago I read an excellent and easy post about customer newsletters named 'Your Most Powerful Marketing Tool - A Customer Newsletter' written by Tripp Braden (@TrippBraden). I so agree with the text (cut from the post) "Newsletters are cheap, they provide valuable information, and they keep your name in front of your customers, prospects, and former customers."
I think a customer newsletter is a really strong market tool because of the ease creating, writing and publish, also because of the low cost. Of course as long as it is in a friendly layout and with a good content. Unfortunately I see to many uninteresting newsletters which I delete immediately.
At TeleComputing we send out newsletters quarterly. It might be too seldom and that a monthly would be better but it how it is for the moment. We focus on writing basic general articles about new services, business, trends etc and have always as a start the MD-words and end it with an interview with one of our employees. We never do it too "selly", then the receivers for sure would delete it. They want good information from their service provider and not the feeling that they have to buy things, even if the main goal for the sender in the end always is to get more business and to be seen on the market.
I think the trick to get readers, and business, from your newsletter is to embrace quality before quantity, but of course with a high quantity of receivers.
I'm sure our cost isn't as low as Tripp says, 0.89$ the send out, but it's definitely less expensive than to do print outs, which appeal to Green IT and definitely to cloud because it can be read from any device any time.
Inspiration (in Swedish, but you can get a good idea of a successful layout and context): TeleComputing News
I think a customer newsletter is a really strong market tool because of the ease creating, writing and publish, also because of the low cost. Of course as long as it is in a friendly layout and with a good content. Unfortunately I see to many uninteresting newsletters which I delete immediately.
At TeleComputing we send out newsletters quarterly. It might be too seldom and that a monthly would be better but it how it is for the moment. We focus on writing basic general articles about new services, business, trends etc and have always as a start the MD-words and end it with an interview with one of our employees. We never do it too "selly", then the receivers for sure would delete it. They want good information from their service provider and not the feeling that they have to buy things, even if the main goal for the sender in the end always is to get more business and to be seen on the market.
I think the trick to get readers, and business, from your newsletter is to embrace quality before quantity, but of course with a high quantity of receivers.
I'm sure our cost isn't as low as Tripp says, 0.89$ the send out, but it's definitely less expensive than to do print outs, which appeal to Green IT and definitely to cloud because it can be read from any device any time.
Inspiration (in Swedish, but you can get a good idea of a successful layout and context): TeleComputing News
Sunday, 23 October 2011
Office Web Apps
Yes, as many of you know I am a Microsoft fan, even if they do frustrating things from time to time.
One thing I love from Microsoft is Office Web Apps (read more about Office Web Apps). I think the apps are simple and "good enough" for a lot of tasks. They are available from SkyDrive (personal use), Office 365 (E2 and above plus K2) and if you install it on a SharePoint.
I think it would be great to let companies take part of Office Web Apps to a reasonable price / license by making them available on non-SharePoint web servers. It would be a way in to cloud, Office 365 and maybe SharePoint. It would also be a good way for companies who have "full users" using full Office and "field users" to give the "field users" the light Office (Web App), since they often is on the field and don't need more than light Office. It would solve a problem + it would keep companies from going to other free / cheaper and lighter web apps.
Just an idea!
One thing I love from Microsoft is Office Web Apps (read more about Office Web Apps). I think the apps are simple and "good enough" for a lot of tasks. They are available from SkyDrive (personal use), Office 365 (E2 and above plus K2) and if you install it on a SharePoint.
I think it would be great to let companies take part of Office Web Apps to a reasonable price / license by making them available on non-SharePoint web servers. It would be a way in to cloud, Office 365 and maybe SharePoint. It would also be a good way for companies who have "full users" using full Office and "field users" to give the "field users" the light Office (Web App), since they often is on the field and don't need more than light Office. It would solve a problem + it would keep companies from going to other free / cheaper and lighter web apps.
Just an idea!
Saturday, 22 October 2011
The nib and the ballpoint
This is a true and personal related part of the history.
In the beginning of the 1920’s my grandpa moved from Germany to Sweden because of the trouble in making business in Germany after WWI. He saw better possibilities in Sweden and took it. 1924 he started his own company in Sweden and imported nibs from Germany, nibs to put in fountain pens. Because of the sad WWII the possibility to import radically stopped. To continue business he was forced to start his own production of nibs and the company ‘Nordiska Pennfabriken’ ((NPF) translated: Nordic Pen Factory) was born. The production was a success and they more or less controlled the Swedish market. My grandpa became Mercher Emil Büchler. For his family, my father’s family, it was a “golden era”.
Remember; this was in a time where we didn’t have the internet, not even faxes. Information was brought by post, newspapers, barely by phone and of course from people to people. Short travel times didn’t exist and a videoconference…no it did definitely not exist. Facebook and Twitter? Neee.
Then suddenly, in the end of the 40’s - big BANG! Stop of the “nib golden era”. The ballpoint entered the market. My grandpa struggled for a few more years but he couldn’t compete and win against “the future”. In the end of the 50’s ballpoint’s had a total domination of the market and NPF stopped its production of nibs – NPF became part of the history. My grandpa continued his business focusing on offering other office equipment’s but he never really recovered from the ballpoint chock.
In Sweden we also have another similar non success story: Facit. A company who made mechanic calculators and who couldn’t compete with the cheaper produced and priced Asian electronic calculators. And I am sure there are a lot more similar stories around the world.
It is no excuse but no I can’t blame my grandpa for not monitoring the market well enough. Of course he in some way had heard about the ballpoint but he misjudged it. We can all learn from this that you never can take a laid back position. You have to find your tools to monitor your market. I haven’t really talked to my grandpa about this; he sadly passed away before I was old enough to do that. But I’m absolutely sure; with all the tools our generation has access to for communicating and monitoring trends and the market. If they would have been available for him and if not misjudging it he would have done the right steps to meet the upcoming possibility. He was an open minded and driven business man. His “golden nib era” wouldn’t have existed if he wasn’t.
Think;
- I might not lose my job. Maybe this is even more interesting, advanced and challenging to do.
- Can I widen my business? There might be other segments in the market to deliver to.
- How will this affect my business?
- Will my customer be faithful to me if I do or don’t do this?
- This might be the future. If not; be sure to tell why.
- I know my product is special and it have to exist and be produced like it is today. And I will tell and prove the market why.
- Is it a buzz? Do I do this already? Tell the market in the new terms. It’s very difficult to change the market if you are alone.
- Negative and positive. Be open minded but not unmindful.
I hope you all can translate nibs and ballpoints in to IT, and of course even into other areas. I don’t say cloud will give you a golden era. But - whether you’re an CIO, ISV, MSP, trusted advisor or IT-professional; you really have to take a look at cloud computing. You can’t afford to not know what it is + why you shouldn’t or when, how and why you should adopt it. You must know your position and why you took it. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to end up in a situation saying; Ooops, sorry owners... We were kind of “fat and happy”… Maybe we should have looked more into the future…sorry... You have to monitor the market, be responsive and ready for change - always! Ask yourself; is cloud “the ballpoint” for your business?
In the beginning of the 1920’s my grandpa moved from Germany to Sweden because of the trouble in making business in Germany after WWI. He saw better possibilities in Sweden and took it. 1924 he started his own company in Sweden and imported nibs from Germany, nibs to put in fountain pens. Because of the sad WWII the possibility to import radically stopped. To continue business he was forced to start his own production of nibs and the company ‘Nordiska Pennfabriken’ ((NPF) translated: Nordic Pen Factory) was born. The production was a success and they more or less controlled the Swedish market. My grandpa became Mercher Emil Büchler. For his family, my father’s family, it was a “golden era”.
Remember; this was in a time where we didn’t have the internet, not even faxes. Information was brought by post, newspapers, barely by phone and of course from people to people. Short travel times didn’t exist and a videoconference…no it did definitely not exist. Facebook and Twitter? Neee.
Then suddenly, in the end of the 40’s - big BANG! Stop of the “nib golden era”. The ballpoint entered the market. My grandpa struggled for a few more years but he couldn’t compete and win against “the future”. In the end of the 50’s ballpoint’s had a total domination of the market and NPF stopped its production of nibs – NPF became part of the history. My grandpa continued his business focusing on offering other office equipment’s but he never really recovered from the ballpoint chock.
In Sweden we also have another similar non success story: Facit. A company who made mechanic calculators and who couldn’t compete with the cheaper produced and priced Asian electronic calculators. And I am sure there are a lot more similar stories around the world.
It is no excuse but no I can’t blame my grandpa for not monitoring the market well enough. Of course he in some way had heard about the ballpoint but he misjudged it. We can all learn from this that you never can take a laid back position. You have to find your tools to monitor your market. I haven’t really talked to my grandpa about this; he sadly passed away before I was old enough to do that. But I’m absolutely sure; with all the tools our generation has access to for communicating and monitoring trends and the market. If they would have been available for him and if not misjudging it he would have done the right steps to meet the upcoming possibility. He was an open minded and driven business man. His “golden nib era” wouldn’t have existed if he wasn’t.
Think;
- I might not lose my job. Maybe this is even more interesting, advanced and challenging to do.
- Can I widen my business? There might be other segments in the market to deliver to.
- How will this affect my business?
- Will my customer be faithful to me if I do or don’t do this?
- This might be the future. If not; be sure to tell why.
- I know my product is special and it have to exist and be produced like it is today. And I will tell and prove the market why.
- Is it a buzz? Do I do this already? Tell the market in the new terms. It’s very difficult to change the market if you are alone.
- Negative and positive. Be open minded but not unmindful.
I hope you all can translate nibs and ballpoints in to IT, and of course even into other areas. I don’t say cloud will give you a golden era. But - whether you’re an CIO, ISV, MSP, trusted advisor or IT-professional; you really have to take a look at cloud computing. You can’t afford to not know what it is + why you shouldn’t or when, how and why you should adopt it. You must know your position and why you took it. I’m pretty sure you don’t want to end up in a situation saying; Ooops, sorry owners... We were kind of “fat and happy”… Maybe we should have looked more into the future…sorry... You have to monitor the market, be responsive and ready for change - always! Ask yourself; is cloud “the ballpoint” for your business?
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