The SMB Business Case for Cloud

Few cloud computing vendors are able to produce a plausible cost model with any level of detail. All of your SMB customers are asking the same question, so why don't you have a simple, clear, canned answer? In the absence of a vendor model, this article will help you quickly work up the big chunks of the opportunity in short order.
Read More ...

Beware the Lure of Process Automation

When I see folks working hard at a repetitive task, using technology tools like spreadsheets, databases, and other "productivity" tools in a less-than-optimal way, I like to call them out as not being lazy enough. That always gets their attention - it's a bit counter-intuitive, as they masterfully fly over the keyboard to tweak the data, move the files, look up the information, or clear the inbox in the shortest time possible. I think that we should be "lazier" by…

Read More ...

On the Road: Business Travel, Fall 2008

I don't travel a significant amount in my current position, but when I do, it seems to come in chunks. I'm about half way through a round of travel this fall - mostly business, but with some personal travel mixed in. Six cities, three countries in less than four months. Some observations at the halfway point ... @ the Data Center: The Surreal Life I'm finishing this entry around 4am - just off my second night in a row on…

Read More ...

iTunes Upgrade Freeze Resolved – and an Enterprise KM Observation

As many of you know, one downside of a career in IT is that we get pressed into [unpaid] service as tech support for the family's troubles with technology. My college-bound daughter has purchased her MacBook, and will soon find out (to her dismay) I have little hands-on experience with that platform. However, for many years both of my daughters have tethered their iPod to the family Windows desktop - I've done or thing or two over there. Fortunately (unfortunately?),…

Read More ...

Desperately Needed Features for eMail Clients/Servers

Via Knowledge Jolt, here's an article from KM world with some interesting statistics about folks engaged in enterprise search - but it was a tangential quote from the author that caught my eye. When asking corporate knowledge workers about using public Internet search engines, she found that ... ... although only 2 percent [of corporate searchers] said they used the company intranet, 13 percent stated that they were looking for internal company information. That's puzzling. Not puzzling to me! They're…

Read More ...

To print or not to print? Depends on the life span of the content …

I've been (correctly) picked off as having an electronic preference for communications. Please don't hand me a printout - send an ecopy of that document, PowerPoint, project plan, whatever. PDF is ok, but original format preferred. Why do I like to gather information in an e-sorta way? Paper stacks up on my desk, fills up my file cabinets - it just gets in the way Paper is not searchable - I like to google my private knowledge base with Copernic…

Read More ...