Open Reasoning

Thank you for sharing this article about SaaS, I l...

2011-11-23T05:02:45.824Z

Thank you for sharing this article about SaaS, I learned a lot from it.

Nice post Dale -I agree, channel choice is person ...

2011-10-11T14:42:16.393+01:00

Nice post Dale -I agree, channel choice is person dependent. Too many AR pros tend to forget the "R" in AR and hide behind email.

Excellent summary. I agree completely and I do hop...

2011-10-09T15:04:32.388+01:00

Excellent summary. I agree completely and I do hope that the AR industry does not think social media is taking over the world in the same way that a few vendors thought they could replace persoanl meetings with video webinars. Each has its place, but NOTHING replaces face to face time and sepaking with someone.

This data shows how effective social media is for ...

2011-08-11T10:25:30.963+01:00

This data shows how effective social media is for your business. Good thing you showed them. Thanks.

dentist seo

Thanks Daniel. The coming couple of years are goin...

2011-07-08T22:01:16.763+01:00

Thanks Daniel. The coming couple of years are going to be very interesting as the big players work out one by one that the channel is actually pretty important to cloud market development. Some are starting to get it, but too many are still drinking the Kool Aid.

About time someone focussed on the effect Cloud ha...

2011-07-07T15:07:27.773+01:00

About time someone focussed on the effect Cloud has on the SMB channel. I personally believe that IT Vendors are taking the 'Tesco' approach cutting out the smaller retailers.

Personal relationships are key in the SMB space and no cloud vendor has got that yet...

Daniel
www.comparethecloud.net

Thanks Miya - really good alternative perspective....

2011-04-22T09:18:28.432+01:00

Thanks Miya - really good alternative perspective. It reinforces a couple of main points for me. Firstly, that that someone's perception of what's good and not so good about the iPad depends on their job and lifestyle, and secondly, that most people trying to use an iPad for business purposes should probably be prepared to put up with a few constraints and workarounds.

On a couple of specific points, it's interesting to hear that you have had a good experience with the Zaggmate keyboard. I spotted it after using the standard Apple Bluetooth keyboard for a while, which seemed like a lot of fuss as I said in the blog, so was a bit suspicious of whether it would work. I might try one, though, after your feedback.

In terms of requirements, I think the way you and I would differ the most is around our degree of reliance on MS Office tools other than Word, and perhaps the complexity of the Word (or equivalent) documents we work with - you know how we analysts like our charts and graphics :-)

This MS Office dependency, BTW, is also one of the big reasons why I have not been able to make OSX work for me as a business tool. Office 2011 for the Mac is now getting close to the Windows version, but it is still different enough to cause irritating interop problems with Windows and other frustrations for a sad power user like me.

Some of the other productivity tools I use are also significantly behind on the Mac compared to Windows - Nuance Dictation, MindManager, and a collection of little utilities. It's therefore with some sadness that I am handing my very nice (hardware-wise) MacBook Pro i7 to Andy Buss, and going back to a Windows notebook. I had been booting the MBP into Windows for the last few months, which was not only a waste, but brought with it the practical problem that Apple basically cripples Windows battery life on MacBook Pros. This is because it forces continuous use of the power-hungry discrete graphics card, hiding the much more efficient integrated graphics (that OSX switches to when on battery) from Windows.

Coming back to the iPad, I guess another difference between us is the amount of Apple kit in our lives. Nothing right or wrong in that - just different.

Anyway, thanks again for your comment.

Thanks also to Colin for the shrewd razor blade analogy :-)

2011-04-22T09:10:20.837+01:00

This comment has been removed by the author.

Enjoyed reading your review as a fellow first-gene...

2011-04-21T19:09:30.151+01:00

Enjoyed reading your review as a fellow first-generation iPad user, Dale. (Mine's WiFi only.) Forgive the long response, but it really touched on some things I've been meaning to share myself.

On the whole, I'd agree with most of the points you make - the lack of Flash and document compatibility issues are a pain. I rely on Pages on the iPad and find it wholly inadequate for editing purposes. Give me Word any day!

Like you, I've tried using my iPad as a laptop replacement. But where you've persevered with the onscreen keyboard, the nature of my work - where I have to type up stories and copy pretty quickly - pushed me to buy a Zaggmate keyboard for it in January, which has been great. The only shortfall now is using content management systems (CMS) with it, which I increasingly have to do when freelancing for the news wires. I can't remember who said it, but the "curse of cursor" really lays bare the problems you alluded to when cutting & pasting using the touchscreen. Given the option, I'd use my desktop every time.

But I get 'round this while out & about if I have to by doing the drafting on the iPad, dropping the file into the cloud using iDisk and uploading it to the CMS on a public internet PC. However, I'm sure this will improve if & when the Wordpresses of this world optimise their platforms for touchscreen devices.

To Colin's point, I do think the fact that iProducts work together so well is as much a virtue as it is a source for those detractors of Apple. As I said, I get over the doc. compatibility issue by using iDisk. I own (potentially too much!) Apple stuff. But it does mean my email, contacts, calendar and any documents I store in the cloud on my iDisk can be easily shared and viewed on my desktop, tablet and smartphone - a definite boon and just as slick as the Whispersync Kindle feature you mention.

So, rather than having to rely on a combo of smartphone, laptop AND iPad, I've been more or less successfully been able to ditch the laptop - having been reliant on less that satisfactory netbooks for a few years previously. And, ironically, I think it's down to the keyboard. It makes me wonder whether Acer's tablets with the optional keyboard will be more of a winner with road warriors like you and me? And I thoroughly recommend giving the Zaggmate a go - it may just allow you to ditch the BlackBerry for more productivity tasks.

Lots of great points here and very comprehensive. ...

2011-04-21T15:04:23.423+01:00

Lots of great points here and very comprehensive. Kudos to you Dale!

Agree it's a tricky one to deal with. Just to chip in with a few additional thoughts from the ether:

It sounds as if the industry needs to find some way of discovering a company/employee contract - or social pact - on the issue. Whilst companies should do their best to empower employees preferences (where possible), businesses ultimately have to be cost effective - and the current 'my way or the highway' attitude among users isn't sustainable.

The 'hidden' cost of managing a heterogeneous landscape of different OS's, devices and increasingly diverse security threats is one of those dirty little facts of life that has to be faced at some point (ideally sooner!).

Users need to be a little more humble, balanced and less self righteous. On the flip side, IT needs to do a better side of explaining the headaches this all causes.

Perhaps as IT continues to slowly inch more towards a utility type service (and as costs to the business become more transparent), users can be provided with a picture of the real world costs produced by their 'wants'.

Contrary to the cloud purists arguments, I think we're still quite a long way off that model, but better IT transparency on costs may be coming closer.

As you point out, buy in from the top can make a key difference. E.g. perhaps when the CEO says that mobile bills/costs to IT are causing as much pain as the building's rising rental rates, then maybe the message will get through better?

Through better education and discussion with employees - hopefully businesses can find a suitable workaround.Here's to a more level debate on the topic!

Best wishes,
Tris

Excellent review, Dale, many thanks for sharing yo...

2011-04-21T11:24:26.864+01:00

Excellent review, Dale, many thanks for sharing your experience.

You illustrate what I consider to be the fundamental iPad paradox: a phenomenally successful product that will always disappoint and delight users in varying degrees.

At the end of the day, though, the iProducts are just the high-tech equivalent of razors - designed to sell razorblades, or apps in modern parlance.

Thanks for the sharing of such information.This is...

2010-11-24T15:22:37.879Z

Thanks for the sharing of such information.This is a great stuff of reading. I will pass it on to our audience. Thanking you,CRM Services

Thanks for the sharing of such information.This is...

2010-11-24T15:13:30.313Z

Thanks for the sharing of such information.This is a great stuff of reading. I will pass it on to our audience. Thanking you,CRM Services

I really want to say everyone that this website is...

2010-11-20T09:33:42.055Z

I really want to say everyone that this website is one stop website for different kind of mobile applications like gaming applications, Google translator, dictionary, sports news, world news, currency converter, and many more it is really a great and appreciable website where you can get all kind of web apps you jus name it they have it.

Wishing you both all the very best. Paula Schmidt

2010-10-12T17:28:48.325+01:00

Wishing you both all the very best.
Paula Schmidt

Am shocked. Jon's a great support and his pers...

2010-10-11T12:28:28.265+01:00

Am shocked.
Jon's a great support and his personality helped to break down barriers between the vendor and end user. He'll be missed.
Tony Larks, Trend Micro

Hi Jason - Jon is a tough act to follow when it co...

2010-10-09T06:50:42.609+01:00

Hi Jason - Jon is a tough act to follow when it comes to after dinner speaking, but the CBR dinner club sounds like fun, so gimme a shout on that.

Jon has been a valued, insightful and entertaining...

2010-10-08T21:49:22.131+01:00

Jon has been a valued, insightful and entertaining speaker at the popular CBR Dining Club events. He will be missed and I wish him all the best for the future.
So Dale, you up for a speaking gig or two?!
Best, Jason Stamper (www.cbronline.com)

Hey Jon, All the best, it's been great all th...

2010-10-08T16:17:53.293+01:00

Hey Jon,

All the best, it's been great all those years.

Thanks for the information shared here. that was a...

2010-07-15T08:40:25.529+01:00

Thanks for the information shared here. that was an interesting and informative. I had a good experience by participating in the Cloud Computing and SOA Conference in 2009 which is most influential Business Technology Conference covering latest innovations and trends of Cloud Computing, SOA and its technologies. I learnt lot of new technologies in Cloud Computing. And I am planning to attend 2010 edition as well. I found the information about the conference from http://www.btsummit.com

Dale - great piece, very thought provoking. It mak...

2010-05-08T12:33:01.733+01:00

Dale - great piece, very thought provoking. It makes me feel that it's the constant use of the term 'Cloud Computing' that conjures up technology references rather than 'services'. I think we need to consider 'Cloud Services' as the whole, with the computing piece being an important but not the only piece. By anything Cloud we really mean IT functions provided by someone else, leaving the user of the service free to do what they do best and not have to worry about how it's delivered but assured the service meets an agreed service level.

Makes me smile when I hear someone say they need elasticity - really? Is that what you want? Or do you want to reduce risk and achieve business continuity at lower cost? If we all think about the service we are after and the experience we need it all becomes a lot simpler..

@Steve LOL @Gregor Not sure I am comfortable with...

2010-02-08T18:53:09.699Z

@Steve LOL

@Gregor Not sure I am comfortable with the notion that CIOs, architects and those running IT operations are somehow 'reacting' to a perceived threat to their role, or even considering a lot of the stuff under the cloud umbrella as game changing. They have been playing the outsourcing game for years and a lot of seasoned CIOs have forgotten more about the realities of various kinds of hosted services than most 'cloud' newcomers have ever known. They have also been living with the problem of infrastructure optimisation for a long time, and understand well what is and isn't possible in a heterogeneous enterprise computing environment. Cloud is simply an evolution of these conversations and thought processes. It would be wrong to say that there is nothing new in the various domains people lump into the cloud discussion, but it would also be wrong to assume some kind of huge upheaval. Bottom line is that we should be careful not to patronise.

Dale, After implementing Just in Time and Total Q...

2010-02-08T15:24:15.749Z

Dale,

After implementing Just in Time and Total Quality, Toyota still manufactured cars. Was it a revolution: No! Did it change the industry forever, Yes!

Sure “private cloud” is more of the same-old, same-old. But users never talk about private cloud. That is the IT department, one might say they are trying to secure jobs and relevance.
Users and management hear Salesforce’s: “NO SOFTWARE” and Amazon’s “NO HARDWARE” and putting one and one together they think: “Hey, that means NO IT department!” But like usual, when something sounds too good to be true, it is. There will be a significant role for IT, but it will be significantly different.

Now is the time to discuss what that role will be. Not to listen to vendor pitches in which the graphics were updated to have more clouds. We are trying to forward this by facilitating the cloud academy (www.thecloudacademy.com). Interested in your views.

PS most vendors will actually interpret this weeks backlash on cloud as good, it means the industry has past the highest point of the hype cycle and is entering the throw of disillusionment, serious revenue is normally the next stage.

Since I work for Oracle, I could well be accused o...

2010-02-05T19:36:13.713Z

Since I work for Oracle, I could well be accused of being biassed, but Dale, I think Larry Ellison would agree with you!

Steve Walker

Hello Dale, we at dynaTrace are targeting the sam...

2009-08-26T10:41:23.168+01:00

Hello Dale,

we at dynaTrace are targeting the same space. There are a couple of problems coming along with the management of SOA applications.

If you are interested just get in touch with me