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Silicon Valley Crash Course: 14 Startups In 28 Hours
I just returned from a trip to earthquake land where I had one-on-one meetings with 14 tech startups in just over a day. Their products included a project-management app, e-mail marketing tool, widget maker, and PC database. The big unanswered question: Who needs them?
Happy Halloween From The iPhone
Still can't decide what to wear as your Halloween costume this year? Why not dress up as an iPhone?
The Zune Universe Expands, Where's The Bling?
If Microsoft wants to even catch a sliver of iPod's market share, it's going to have to build up its base of third-party accessories for its Zune music player... Oh, wait. That's just what they did this week.
Is The Web Headed For Meltdown 2.0?
In recent months I've seen a lot of anxiety in the tech marketplace. Bloggers, pundits, and industry insiders all seem to suggest that Web 2.0 is headed for Correction 2.0. Are we in the middle of another bubble?
Good Rules Can Eliminate 65% of Activities
There's a long list of verbs - adjust, approve, expedite, inspect, verify and many others - that tend to indicate that activities are non value-added and should be considered for elimination. Many of these exist because something wasn't done right the first time, and a lot of the the non-value-added activities can be cut if there are ways to reduce the error rates in the real-value-added and business-value-added activities.
Shovels As A Service In The Social Networking Gold Rush
For this week's feature on Web 2.0 in the enterprise, we counted
17 startups that offer social networking platforms. I don't mean
social networking sites (there are thousands of those), but
companies touting technology for the FaceBook and MySpace wannabes.
Startup Makes Bold Spam-Fighting Claims
Abaca, a startup that launched at last week's Interop NY show, claims to have developed a new approach to spam filtering that guarantees a minimum of 99 percent accuracy.
Is Facebook One Social Network Or An Aggregator Of Social Networks?
Last week The Economist took Facebook and other social networks to task, questioning their real value and their potential to scale. Is Facebook headed for a brick wall?
Facebook Is Only Warming Up
This was Facebook's week. The golden child of Web 2.0 scored a $240 investment deal from Microsoft, launched a new mobile application for the BlackBerry, and was even rumored to hav
Business Objects Adds BI Bundles For SMBs
Business Objects partners with Citrix and IBM in delivering business intelligence software bundles targeted at small and midsized businesses.
Why Cigna Chose Startup For Key Security Function
Getting a foot in the door of big business is the hardest part of being a tech startup. So how did Aveksa, a 3-year-old software company, land a deal with Cigna? It had the right application at the right time to help the health insurer fill a gap in its IT security strategy.
Thoughts On The World's Obsession With Google
People are so curious about Google. Whenever we post images of Google offices, like the photos I took of its new digs in Ann Arbor, Mich., they draw readers like bees to honey.
Business Rules and BI Make Great Bedfellows
David Straus of Corticon gave an engaging presentation at this week's Business Rules Forum about BR and BI. He characterized BI as "understanding" and BR as "action." He started with the basic drivers for a business rules management system - agility (speed and cost), business control while maintaining IT compliance, transparency, and business improvement (reduce costs, reduce risk, increase revenue) - and then offered three use cases for rules-driven analysis...
Google Takes No Prisoners
Google today began giving its Gmail users access to IMAP, an e-mail protocol that allows users to synchronize their e-mail across multiple devices.
While Google's announcement is likely to be appreciated by users of Apple's iPhone (which supports IMAP) and business users, what's particularly noteworthy about the news is how Keith Coleman, Gmail product manager, describes Google's intentions.
Business Rules Forum: Ron Ross on Smart Processes
Keynoter Ron Ross predicted that no one will be talking about SOA at a major conference in 15 years, but they will be talking about business rules or decisioning; I certainly agree with the first point, and the second makes a lot of sense. When he said "we want our business processes to be smarter", it was like music to my ears... He talked about three trends toward a more balanced approach to decisioning...
Open Text Offers Enterprise-Wide Content Management
The new content management framework, unveiled at the company's LiveLinkUp user conference, can stretch across a large organization's many repositories.
Cryptography's Lemon Of A Business Model
If life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Here's how a startup in the encryption market took that saying to heart.
Small and Medium Businesses Go Mobile
Who needs a company headquarters today? The reality is that employees spend a significant amount of time outside the office, so the smaller the headquarters, the better.
7 Deadly Startup Mistakes
Sun Microsystems drew some 300 entrepreneurs to a startup "camp" in New York. The event was full of advice on things emerging companies can do raise their chances of success -- and a reminder of flubs to avoid.
Web 2.0 Summit: And The Launch Pad Winners Are ...
Last week at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco I ran through the contestants in the startup beauty pageant known as Launch Pad, and asked for readers' votes on the one Most Likely to Succeed. The results are in -- plus I'll reveal the actual winners chosen at the summit.
Startup Promises Smoother Windows Mobile Rollouts
A new company, Enterprise Mobile, is about to debut as a managed service provider that helps companies deploy e-mail and enterprise applications on Windows Mobile devices. The newcomer is touting its ties with Microsoft as an advantage.
My Date With Government Processes - Good and Bad
I recently had two government business process experiences: one good, one bad. The good one was with NEXUS, a joint program between the Canadian and American governments to allow frequent travelers to bypass long immigration line-ups... The bad experience was with the Indian consulate in Toronto and has killed my planned trip to speak at the SOA India conference in Bangalore in November...
Google's Search Business Runs On 75% Profit Margin
Just when you thought it was safe to go back into the ocean, someone reminds us just how deadly the shark out there really is. In this case the Great White in question, Google, is even more profitable than many of us had dared to consider.
Linux Will Be Worth $1 Billion In First 100 Days of 2009
What's Linux worth? The question has been a favorite of technology groups and cocktail party conversations ever since a character named Jeff V. Merkey offered $50,000 for a copy of Linux. The offer was a ploy. Merkey wanted it under the BSD license, which would have undermined the terms of the GPL. So he didn't get it. But we know, at least, that $50,000 proved to be a low bid.
Web 2.0 Summit: You Pick The Launch Pad Winner
One of the most popular sessions at the Web 2.0 Summit in San Francisco is the day-ending Launch Pad, a sort of American Idol for startups in which six entrepreneurs get to present their business ideas to a panel of venture capitalists, who then provide their critiques. At the end, the crowd votes on the winner in several categories. Here are the contestants from today's Launch Pad:
Bill Gates On Communications Hell And The Future
I cringed when reading Bill Gates' manifesto on how "software-powered communications" are going to change the workplace forever. He's right, of course. But was it necessary to go back 20 years to illustrate how bad things used to be? Those skeletons were best left in the closet.
What is Web 2.0 Anyway?
The fourth annual Web 2.0 Summit is going on. Should you care? Most of you probably don't, but you should, a little.
AT&T Mobility Reshuffles Top Management
The ripple effects from a series of acquisitions lead to Stan Sigman, president and chief executive officer at AT&T Mobility, cleaning out his desk and heading to back Texas. The change underscores the uncertainty in the volatile telecom marketplace.
IBM Bets Enterprises Will Enter the Mashup Maze
Will the enterprise enter the "mashup" maze? IBM thinks so but wouldn't call it a "maze." They call it the IBM Mashup Starter Kit and recently put it up for (free) download. It's part of their angle on Web 2.0 applications, in fact one of the leading parts (along with webtwoifying Lotus Notes). What IBM is doing with mashups is interesting for a number of reasons, but perhaps the most significant is that IBM is pushing mashups at all.
Should The Government, Google, Or Another Company Manage Medical Records?
Marissa Mayer's presentation of Google's plans for the health sector was light on details and heavy on ambition. You can read more about the presentation here and here. Despite the lack of particulars, the scope of the possibilities the company is seriously considering is striking. The presentation made its ambitions know
What Google Might Do In Health
Marissa Mayer, head of search at Google, did indeed show up at the Web 2.0 Summit conference in San Francisco today, albeit briefly. Mayer presented what Summit organizers call a "High Order Bit" -- a 10-minute glimpse under the hood at what's going on with medical-related ventures in the Googleplex.
Well, not exactly "under the hood." Mayer talked about Google Health, an emerging division for the search company. You can stay tuned on InformationWeek for a news story about Google Health.
Google Exec Raised By Wolves, Kidnapped By Gypsies
ValleyWag was reporting earlier today that Marissa Mayer, Google's "eccentric queen of search," could be "skipping out" on the Web 2.0 Summit today in San Francisco. T'aint so, says Google PR.
Web 2.0 Summit: Google Link Love Feeds Search And Online Fame
The Web 2.0 Summit hasn't really started and I've already made so many star sightings. If you build Web businesses, you know these people. These people are the "A-listers" of the Web 2.0 world. The notion of fame in the Web 2.0 world is top of mind, and a strong showing at the event will jump-start a new business, reinforce or create fame for the founders. There is even a session focused on "The Future of Web Fame."
Web 2.0 Summit: Bubble 2.0? Or Tiny Bubbles And Big Bangs?
Today's New York Times article on Silicon Valley start-ups presents a picture of an investment community losing control. How can Facebook be worth $15 billion? How is Apple's valuation nearly equal to IBM's? How can some businesses be worth so much with a user base but no real revenue stream?
Vista Problem? Fill Out This Form
So let's say you're running Windows Vista and you copy some files. You get an error message: ""Out of memory There is not enough memory to complete this operation." So this is exactly why Microsoft created Windows Update and a fix is coming, right? Well, no. There's a hotfix, but you have to ask for it. What's wrong with this picture?
Net Business: No Access Taxation But No Access Regulation Either
The government giveth, the government taketh away, as two developments -- one on Net access taxation, one on broadband access regulation -- show.
Startup City TV: Lights, Camera, Innovation
Sixty seconds. That's how much time entrepreneurs will get to pitch their bright ideas on Startup City TV, InformationWeek's newest Web video initiative. We've got the cameras and studios; our audience will determine which startups have the staying power.
Spark IP: an eBay for Ideas
SparkIP.com is a new Web site that aims to create a marketplace where ideas can be bought and sold.
Whats the Difference Between a Telco and an ISP?
The inability of the courts and regulatory bodies to keep pace with technological changes could create problems, one that Richi Jennings, an analyst at Ferris Research thinks the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) should acknowledge and fix.
Do You Use Vista Or Does It Use You, Continued
Open the pod bay door, HAL. There are stories from a couple of sources about Windows Update automatically updating and rebooting users' systems even when they thought they'd disabled automatic updates. And Microsoft hasn't said anything much about why.
How Do You Reach Your CEO?
Hey CIOs, who do you report to? The CEO? The CFO? The COO? More importantly, who do you want to report to?
Web's Future Could Be Determined By The Fight Between Google And Nokia
As I have stated on Over The Air before, Google is committed to mobile as its future and the future of the global Internet. This is interesting, since Google is still focused on Microsoft as its main rival when Microsoft isn't the biggest player in the wireless market. If Google is so serious about mobile, how does it plan to fight Nokia?
All-You-Can-Eat IT Service
Sinu provides IT service and tech support to small businesses for a flat monthly fee, regardless of how much time is spent fixing technology problems.
The Debate Over SEO Automation
Some readers take issue with Yield Software's claim that it can automate much of the manual work associated with search engine optimization. Is Yield blowing smoke? Or are SEO experts who make a living on consulting worried about their business prospects?
Can You Go a Day Without Email?
What would your workday be like without email? Can you do it? Can you handle having to talk to your coworkers face to face or pick up the phone to talk to your boss? Doesn't it sound sosoprimitive?
Sprint Execs Exit Means Lower Quality Business Cellular Services
Sprint Nextels board of directors kicked Gary Foresee, who had the titles of chairman of the board, CEO, and president, unceremoniously to the curb. Businesses should weep because his exit means poorer quality cellular services.
Treat Your Company Like A Star, Get A Widget
In the center of GwenStefani.com is an RSS-injected calendar of the pop star's concert tour, which fans can copy to their own Web pages. The startup behind these viral marketing widgets thinks your company can rally its own fan base in the same way.
We're Showing You the Money. Isn't that Enough?
Computer science grads are making more money than they have in a while thanks to the dearth of computer science graduates and the hearty IT market. You'd think it would get easier for IT managers to fill their departments, right?
Open Text Takes Aim At Microsoft Exchange Server 2007
The enterprise content management vendors upgrades its Livelink ECM suite with tight integration with Microsoft Exchange Server 2007.
Stop Salespeople From Stealing Contacts
OutProtect is launching new a product that aims to stop Salesforce.com users from stealing contact databases and other critical data.
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2021 State of ITOps and SecOps Report
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