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Counting the Cloud's Blessings February 10, 2012 
It amazes me that there are still analyst reports and other industry studies questioning the value of today's cloud solutions. While there is no question that the return on investment will vary depending on a variety of factors, there is plenty of evidence that anyone who employs cloud solutions thoughtfully today can generate plenty of measurable and tangible business benefits.
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Customer Focus Is an All-Hands Exercise February 10, 2012 
Last week, after dropping off my Prius at the dealership for routine service -- as I've done regularly since I bought the car in 2007 -- I ambled over to the shuttle stop for a ride home. "Where you headed?" barked the driver, never raising his head from his newspaper. When I let him know where I was going, he immediately recognized me and his demeanor changed entirely.
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How the E-Book Is Reinventing the Book Business February 09, 2012 
What do Amazon's Kindle, Barnes & Noble's Nook and Apple's iPad have in common? What about authors like Stephen King, Barbara Freethy, C.J. Lyons, Amanda Hocking and Michael Prescott? If you said they represent the changing book publishing industry, you would be right. The book business is going through a major transformation. Who will the winners and losers be among publishers, stores and authors?
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Facebook's IPO: What's Its Game? February 07, 2012 
As Facebook prepares for an IPO of its stock that may value the company at US$100 billion, it's important to know what sport it's in and if, like the Chicago Bulls with Jordan, dynasties can last. Michael Jordan was probably the best basketball player to play the game of hoop. He had a halo effect. But baseball just wasn't his sport at the level basketball was.
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AMD: Shift Happens February 06, 2012 
Last week was the coming-out party for AMD's new CEO, and his core message was that the market was undergoing a shift -- and when markets shift, leadership changes. His point was that Intel's leadership was at risk and that AMD was poised to take over that leadership. The nature of this change is massive, and I doubt we -- I mean any of us -- are fully aware of how much is changing.
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Jerry Yang and Yahoo's Humble Beginnings February 04, 2012 
Jerry Yang is no longer "Chief Yahoo." He left Yahoo after 17 years. That's the news most people read or hear. Most people don't know Jerry or his approach. Let me share a personal story. In 1995, I first met Jerry at Yahoo. this was before the company was
public and before anyone really cared much at all about "the Internet."
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3 Painfully Common Misuses of CRM February 02, 2012 
Every tool has a purpose. That's never more clear than when you see a neophyte do-it-yourselfer trying to use a tool for a purpose other than what it was designed for. For instance, anyone wielding a hammer while trying to fix a car's engine is probably not going to succeed.
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Apple's Enterprise Coup d'Etat February 02, 2012 
As a long-time Mac and iPhone user, I always enjoy seeing new people I work with embrace the Apple way. At the same time, while out and about at work conferences and trips, I consistently see more and more iPads and iPhones. I'm sure some of this is my ability to recognize an Apple product while my ability to spot two different Android-based phones is a little less refined.
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Solving the Snowballing Wireless Data Problem February 02, 2012 
Every day we hear about how AT&T Mobility and Verizon Wireless are running around like chickens with their heads cut off trying to grab as much wireless spectrum as they can. We all remember the quality problems AT&T smartphone customers suffered. That same future is in store for every carrier and every customer unless we come up with a solution.
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Can Anything Stop EMC? January 31, 2012 
A bit over a year ago, the conventional wisdom related to enterprise IT vendors was fairly straightforward: Sheer size and depth of expertise gave end-to-end systems vendors unlimited access to the high ground. As markets recovered from the 2008 recession, enterprise customers would naturally stick with or gravitate toward large established players that could fulfill their every need.
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Microsoft's Misunderstood 'Avoid-Ghetto' Tech January 30, 2012 
Earlier this month, Microsoft applied for a patent related to a technology that would highlight areas of high crime and route people around them. Folks seemed to get upset because areas like this tend to struggling due to a lack of revenue, and this would route people who might otherwise shop there to other safer and likely more lucrative areas. While true, I think it comes down to choice.
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iOS and OS X: Time for Some Real Convergence January 26, 2012 
Lately I've found myself more frequently irritated and dissatisfied with my Mac than ever before. This is a weird feeling, made all the more powerful by the fact that Mac OS X Lion is the most useful operating system ever. With a simple two-fingered swipe on my Magic Mouse, I can flick my entire screen to a whole new desktop view, and with a swipe in the other direction, go back.
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The Cloud Will Transform Every Company in Every Sector January 26, 2012 
We've been hearing a lot about the cloud, but what is it exactly? Going forward, I will be writing about different companies and ideas and the cloud, but here I'll focus on this new area and how it will transform every company in every industry over the next several years. We are starting to see companies like Apple, Amazon and Barnes & Noble enter this cloud-space.
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5 Ways to Sell Salespeople on CRM January 26, 2012 
The way the concept of CRM is defined during the sales process can sow the seeds of its ultimate failure. Because the decision makers are often sales managers rather than actual salespeople, the pitch is usually made that CRM makes it easier for the managers to manage their sales staff. Which is true. But what's in it for the sales staff?
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Retail Autopsy: What Killed Borders, Circuit City and Hollywood Video January 24, 2012 
The Borders near me closed the other month. Wasn't surprising. Ditto for Circuit City. Gone. A few years prior to that it was Hollywood Video that rolled its end credits. The problem is, none of them had to go. They each died of self-inflicted wounds. Sure, a lot of their CEOs came out and blamed Iraq, the economy, e-commerce, etc., for their failures.
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In Search of the App That Could Save the World January 23, 2012 
I'm a moderate Republican, which means that if I actually think about platforms, Obama, as a moderate Democrat, is closer to where I am than any of the folks running in my own party. What absolutely flabbergasts me is that these candidates don't seem to realize there is something called "the Internet."
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