networking-info

The business model challenges are far more complex and brutal than the technology or architectural challenges for SaaS and they get compounded when selling to an SMB. It has been argued that the success of complex to implement enterprise software in marketplace is attributed to the channels, ISVs and VARs, to a certain extent since they step in and do the dirty job and it is a very lucrative business for them. If the VARs are not selling it, customers won't probably buy as much. This has serious implications on the SaaS as a delivery model . The fundamental benefits of SaaS such as pay-as-you-go type subscription models, try before buy, personalize against customize, and no physical box are some of the factors that work against the SaaS vendor since there aren't enough incentives for the indirect channels with the current business model. If a vendor believes that a product is so good that it does not need any (value add) channels, the vendor can use web as platform for volume s...

Scenario-based planning is inevitable for an enterprise architect. The changing business models, organizational dynamics, and disruptive technology are some of the change agents that require enterprise architecture strategy to be agile enough to respond to these changes. The CIO.com has a post on a CIO's challenge on the enterprise architecture to respond to a possible change in the strategic direction due to a new CEO. For CIOs, the key question is how to turn IT into an asset and a capability to support the business and not to become an IT bottleneck that everyone wants to avoid or circumvent. Strategic IT planning that is scenario-based, transparent policies, and appropriate governance could help the enterprise architecture from falling apart and build capabilities that serves the business needs and provides them with the competitive advantage. To be tactical and strategic at the same time is what could make many CIOs successful. In my interaction with CIOs, I have found that...

Not to sure what to make out of this argument. Experts from IBM Internet Security Systems, Juniper, nCipher argue that data encryption is a new class of DoS . The post says "It's a new class of DoS attack.. If you can go in and revoke a key and then demand a ransom, it's a fantastic way of attacking a business." This does not make any sense. If someone can get your private key revoked you would have a lot to worry about other than data encryption. It also says "Another risk is that over-zealous use of encryption will damage an organization's ability to legitimately share and use critical business data". The storage is encrypted but the access is not, so I am not sure what sharing issues the post is talking about. The leading database vendors such as Oracle provides column level encryption where data is encrypted before it is stored but it is decrypted on-the-fly when accessed and it is very transparent to the user or to the application. Though a limit...

Lately the most of the buzz is around the demand side of the cloud computing - Google's data centers, Microsoft Live, Amazon EC2 etc. Add one more player, Cisco , but on the supply side. Cisco has entered into the supply side of the cloud computing by unveiling its 15 terabit/sec switch - that's ridiculously and embarrassingly fast (found via Rough Type ). Cisco recognizes the opportunities around network and data center vitualization in the rising world of ubiquitous computing. This initiative and innovation emphasizes that the utility computing is not just about taking few commodity hardware and connect them together. That is just tip of the iceberg. The cloud computing at core would certainly support the computing needs in a utility fashion but the data center redundancy and geographical connectivity is crucial as well. You can get a lot done when two geographically dispersed severs can transfer high volume data at lightning speed. Now put this switch in on of those Sun...

How do social networks monetize their core platform and applications? It's more than a billion dollar question, figuratively and literally. The social network companies such as Facebook does recognize the potential of an open platform for participation and developer-friendly attitude to let the community sip the champagne of the social network data. There is a plethora of applications built on Facebook platform and and this might be the key towards monetization. The other key players have also been experimenting with their platforms and business models but there is no killer business model, at least not yet. Monetizing efforts do ruffle some feathers on the way since it is intertwined with other factors such as privacy, data portability, and experience design. The Facebook's experience design keeps applications' users inside of Facebook but at the same time provide the necessary, or sometimes unnecessary, access to user's data to the application providers. This has set...