{Infographic} The Dominance of Mobile Internet

An infographic, from 34SP.com, sums up some interesting insight into how Mobile Internet is taking over the world of Desktop Internet. Of course, the one key driver for enabling this is the ability to marry the information to your location.

The lengthy infographic does really provide some interesting insight into what is happening and what we can expect…..

Having a Personal Touch Always Help

I am big believer of adding a personal touch to the communication even if its computer generated email. I am big fan of SugarSync and certainly appreciate the communication strategy that they apply to reach out to their consumers…Its simple and effective. Even to a fact you see the SugarSync Twitter, its all about conversation and not dissemination.

The below email just one more such example of how Laura brings a personal touch to the communication. Of course, not to forgot about the great solution (Sugar Sync) they had to offer. Though, I am hoping they should soon launch the WP version soon…..

Shiraz,
As we reflect on 2012 I am pleased to say that this was a year of tremendous growth and success for SugarSync. I would like to personally thank you for your trust in us. The team here has worked very hard this past year as we’ve dramatically scaled our business more than fivefold and integrated SugarSync into many of the leading mobile apps. This past year we launched many new features and mobile app versions, expanded partnerships with Samsung, Lenovo and others and capped the year off with the release of the beta of SugarSync 2.0.
Looking back at the many accomplishments of 2012 makes me even more excited for all the new features we're currently working hard on to bring to you in 2013. Here are the most important of the many new things we launched in 2012.

• Android mobile app syncs videos automatically
• iOS app update makes photo backup and syncing easier
• Unlimited public link file size
• SugarSync available on Samsung Smart TVs
• The experts agree, SugarSync rules the cloud
• Developer program update
• Lenovo expands partnership with SugarSync
• iPad optimized app
• Italy’s Largest Webmail Provider Selects SugarSync
• SugarSync for Windows 8

While there were many improvements we did, by far the most important project we worked on in 2012 was the creation and launch of SugarSync 2.0 Beta on 11/13/2012. SugarSync 2.0 represents the culmination of over a year of both customer research and engineering work to bring you a completely transformed SugarSync. Our goal was to build on our strength as the most powerful and flexible cloud service but present the cloud to customers in a way that was dramatically simpler and easier to use. We’ve added powerful features such as multi-device search and the industry’s only “virtual drive” that literally builds the cloud right into your desktop. SugarSync 2.0 makes sharing even easier – simply drag and drop onto the name of your contact and if, like me, you enjoy storing and sharing your pictures via the cloud, you will love our gorgeous new photo gallery. The SugarSync beta is open to all users, so please check it out. Thanks to those of you who have used the beta and provided feedback. It has been invaluable and the final product reflects many changes suggested by you.
2012 has been a year of personal growth as well. I have had the good fortune to travel around the world promoting the cloud, women in technology and, of course my favorite topic, SugarSync. I’m continuing to write on my personal blog – The Kitchen Sync – where I discuss work, life, the Cloud, and other topics. If you're interested in getting updates from me, please feel free to follow my posts there.
Looking ahead, I’m expecting 2013 to be an even more exciting year for SugarSync. SugarSync 2.0 will exit beta and soon be officially available in all of our supported languages and for all of our partners. Beyond 2.0 we have much in store for both our consumer and business customers. Thank you for the feedback you give us. We are always striving to improve and hearing from customers is the most important way for us to know how to make the service even better. If you have any additional suggestions, please provide them to me here. And of course, the best compliment you can give us is when you refer your friends and colleagues – we’re honored by how many customers have come to us by your referrals.
Happy New Year, and thank you for using SugarSync to stay in sync.
Laura Yecies
SugarSync CEO

P.S. – This is NOT a paid Advertisement.

Something Interesting Showed up in my Inbox Today–Sharing

A pencil maker taught the pencils 5 important lessons:
1st - Everything u do will always leave a mark.
2nd - You can always correct the mistakes u make.
3rd - What is important is what is inside u.
4th - In life u will undergo painful sharpening which will make u a better pencil.
5th - To be the best pencil, u must allow yourself to be held and guided by the Hand that holds u...

{Infographic} Major Ed-Tech Trends - 2013

My friends at Online Colleges shared an interesting infographic about  the usage of technology at various level of engagement points and how colleges and student discovering various ways to communicate. Subsequently, colleges or educational institutions are leveraging the online tools/resources to lure more and more students into their courses, etc.

For me, it would be interesting to witness how 2013 will evolve the use of new and innovative idea(s)/techniques to communication – students to students, college to students (including potential) and student to college.

Of course, I am keeping a close on the emergence of 3D printing. As I am all excited to witness the work done by my friend John Kneeland at Nokia with his 3D printing shells for Nokia 820  

{Infographic}–Consumer Trend, 13

First Steps to Creating a Cloud Computing Strategy for 2013

2013 will be one of the most pivotal years for cloud computing because trust in these technologies is on the line.

Expectations are high regarding these technologies’ ability to deliver business value while reducing operating costs.  Enterprises’ experiences have at times met these high expectations, yet too often are getting mixed results.  Managing cloud expectations at the C-level is quickly emerging as one of the most valuable skills in 2013. The best CIOs at this are business strategists who regularly review with their line-of-business counterparts what is and isn’t working.  These CIOs who are excelling as strategists also are creating and continually evaluating their cloud computing plans for 2013.  They are focusing on plans that capitalize the best of what cloud computing has to offer, while minimizing risks.

CIOs excelling as strategists are also using cloud computing planning to punch through the hype and make cloud technologies real from a customer, supplier and internal efficiency standpoint.  Lessons learned from these cloud computing planning efforts in enterprises are provided below:

• Cloud computing needs to mature more to take on all enterprise applications, so plan for a hybrid IT architecture that provides both agility and security.  This is a common concern among CIOs in the manufacturing and financial services industries especially.  As much as the speed of deployment, customization and subscription-based models attract enterprises to the cloud, the difficult problems of security, legacy system integration, and licensing slow its adoption.  There is not enough trust in the cloud yet to move the entire IT infrastructure there in the majority of manufacturing companies I’ve spoken with.

• Reorganizing IT to deliver greater business agility and support of key business initiatives will be a high priority in 2013.  The gauntlet has been thrown at the feet of many CIOs this year: become more strategic and help the business grow now.  Cloud is part of this, yet not its primary catalyst, the need to increase sales is.  IT organizations will increasingly reflect a more service-driven, not technology-based approach to delivering information and intelligence to the enterprise as a result.

• Recruiting, training and retaining cloud architects, developers, engineers, support and service professionals will be a challenge even for the largest enterprises. There isn’t enough talent to go around for all the projects going on and planned right now.  State Farm Insurance has 1,000 software engineers working on their mobility applications for claims processing and quoting for example.  And they are hiring more.  Certifications in cloud technologies are going to be worth at least a 30 to 50% increase in salary in specific positions. This is very good news for engineers who want to differentiate themselves and get ahead in their careers, both financially and from a management standpoint.

• Measuring the contributions of operating expense (OPEX) reductions is going to become commonplace in 2013.  From the cloud computing plans I’ve seen, OPEX is being tracked with greater accuracy than in any other year and will be a strong focus in the future.  The capital expense (CAPEX) savings are clear, yet OPEX savings in many cases aren’t. Cloud computing’s greatest wins in the enterprise continue to be in non-mission critical areas of the business.  This is changing as cloud-based ERP systems gain adoption within businesses who are constrained by monolithic ERP systems from decades ago.  Plex Systems is a leader in this area and one to watch if you are interested in this area of enterprise software.  SaaS is dominating in the area of lower application costs and high user counts, which is the Public Computing Sweet Spot in the following graphic:

Source: 2013 Cloud Computing Planning Guide: Rising Expectations Published: 1 November 2012 Analysts: Drue Reeves, Kyle Hilgendorf

• Start building a SaaS application review framework including Service Level Agreement (SLA) benchmarks to drive greater transparency by vendors.  Gartner forecasts that the SaaS-based cloud market will grow from $12.1B in 2013 to$21.3B in 2015, with the primary growth factors being ease of customization and speed of deployment. CIOs and their staffs have SaaS frameworks already in place, often with specific levels of performance defined including security and multitenancy audits.  SLAs are going to be a challenge however as many vendors are inflexible and will not negotiate them. At a minimum make sure cloud service providers and cloud management platforms (CMP) have certifications for ISO 27001 and Statements on Standards for Attestation Engagements (SSAE) No. 16, as this shows the provider is making investments in availability, security and performance levels.

• Create a Cloud Decision Framework to keep technology evaluations and investments aligned with business strategies.  Business and application assessments and the vendor selection process need to take into account application requirements, role of external cloud resources, and how the RFI will be structured. These process areas will vary by type of company – yet concentrating in application requirements goes a long way to reducing confusion and forcing trade-offs in the middle of a review cycle.  The following is an example of a Cloud Decision Framework:

Source: 2013 Cloud Computing Planning Guide: Rising Expectations Published: 1 November 2012 Analysts: Drue Reeves, Kyle Hilgendorf

• Mitigating risk and liability through intensive due diligence needs to become any cloud-based companies’ core strength. Regardless of how the HP-Autonomy litigation is resolved it is a powerful cautionary tale of the need for due diligence.  And let’s face it: there are way too many SaaS companies chasing too few dollars in the niche areas of enterprise software today.  A shakeout is on the way, the market just can’t sustain so many vendors.  To reduce risk and liability, ask to see the financial statements (especially if the vendor is private), get references and visit them, meet with engineering to determine how real the product roadmap is, and require an SLA.  Anyone selling software on SaaS will also have revenue recognition issues too, be sure to thoroughly understand how they are accounting for sales.

• Design in security management at the cloud platform level, including auditing and access control by role in the organization. One manufacturing company I’ve been working with has defined security at this level and has been able to quickly evaluate SaaS-based manufacturing, pricing and services systems by their security integration compatibility.  This has saved thousands of dollars in security-based customizations to meet the manufactures’ corporate standards.

Bottom line: 2013 is the make-or-break year for cloud in the enterprise, and getting started on a plan will help your organization quickly cut through the hype and see which providers can deliver value

Courtesy – Louis Columbus

Blogger Labels: Steps,Cloud,Strategy,technologies,Expectations,Enterprises,skills,CIOs,strategists,counterparts,customer,supplier,efficiency,standpoint,Lessons,efforts,enterprise,hybrid,architecture,industries,deployment,subscription,legacy,system,integration,adoption,infrastructure,feet,catalyst,sales,technology,information,intelligence,architects,developers,professionals,talent,State,Farm,Insurance,example,Certifications,worth,salary,news,management,contributions,expense,OPEX,reductions,From,accuracy,capital,CAPEX,savings,mission,areas,systems,decades,Plex,leader,area,SaaS,user,Public,Sweet,Spot,Source,Guide,November,Analysts,Drue,Kyle,Hilgendorf,Start,framework,Service,Level,Agreement,benchmarks,transparency,vendors,Gartner,growth,factors,frameworks,performance,SLAs,providers,platforms,Statements,Standards,Attestation,Engagements,SSAE,provider,investments,Create,Decision,evaluations,strategies,vendor,selection,account,requirements,role,resources,diligence,strength,Autonomy,litigation,tale,dollars,niche,shakeout,references,product,revenue,recognition,Design,platform,Bottom,Courtesy,Louis,Columbus,customization,software

Happy New Year–What happens in 60 Sec

Wishing all, A Very Happy New Year filled with smiles and success.

Would like to share some interesting numbers on what happened in last 60 seconds when you were counting the time moving towards the new year. The infographics shows stuff that happens in 60 second like nearly 695,000 people search things on Google, 710 computers got sold, over 98,000 people updated their twitter, etc…

Hence, next time you say “just a minute”, think what has happened in the world….

Infographic by- GO-Gulf.com Web Design Company