Roundup Of Free Cloud Computing Online Courses

One of the best ways to capitalize on cloud computing’s growth from a career standpoint is to constantly be learning and gaining new knowledge.

Being able to apply the technological aspects of cloud computing to business problems quickly, combined with constantly developing expertise on how to manage legacy systems and cloud platforms is a very valuable, marketable skill.

Many manufacturers I meet with are grappling with the high maintenance costs and time latency of legacy systems when their business models are accelerating faster than ever.   Helping these enterprises bridge the gap between legacy systems and the urgent need for more accurate customer, supplier, pricing, and quality data creates many opportunities for career growth.

Free Cloud Computing Courses

The number and quality of free online cloud computing courses continues to grow, and lately the prices of fee-based online programs are dropping.  Not across the board, but clearly the competition of online education programs is changing in favor of the student.

The table below profiles free online cloud computing certificate and degree programs.  You can download a PDF of the full roundup of cloud computing courses here that also includes fee-based online programs.  Please click on the graphic to expand it for easier reading.

Key take-aways from the roundup of cloud computing courses include the following:

• edX & UC BerkeleyX are offering a series of courses on Engineering Software as a Service.  The first of two sessions offered by edX and UC Berkeley concentrate on engineering solid high performance cloud applications using agile techniques to design then code a Software as a Service (SaaS) application using Ruby on Rails.  The second session concentrates on deploying the application in the cloud and enhancing its performance using JavaScript.

• Coursera and Vanderbilt University are offering Programming Cloud Services for Android Handheld Systems.  This class signifies a broader trend by Massive Open Online Courses (MOOC) where cloud computing and mobility are often being included in the same course.  This course includes instruction on how to apply patterns and frameworks to develop scalable and secure cloud services.  Included is coverage of mobile and cloud communication, data persistence, concurrency and synchronization, synchronous and asynchronous event handling, and security. The bulk of the examples are in Java using the Spring Framework and Jetty middleware platform. The examples will be run on Google App Engine and Amazon EC2.  This course is free.

• Google Developer Academy – Self-based e-learning site that has an excellent overview of Google AppEngine, Python App Engine and Google+ APIs.

• Microsoft Research Windows Azure for Research Training – An innovative training program aimed at academicians and researchers, this is going to be an excellent learning platform regarding the Microsoft Windows Azure Platform.  Best of all, the course sessions and eventual online content are free.

• MIT OpenCourseWare (OCW) - One of the most comprehensive collections of courseware available globally today, OCW  is a web-based publication of virtually all MIT course content. OCW is open and available to the world and is a permanent MIT activity.

Courtesy – Louis Columbus

Blogger Labels: growth,standpoint,knowledge,aspects,expertise,legacy,systems,platforms,skill,Many,manufacturers,maintenance,latency,enterprises,customer,supplier,data,opportunities,Free,Cloud,Courses,competition,education,student,certificate,degree,roundup,BerkeleyX,series,Software,Service,sessions,Berkeley,performance,techniques,SaaS,Ruby,Rails,session,JavaScript,Coursera,Vanderbilt,Services,Android,Handheld,trend,Massive,Open,Online,MOOC,instruction,frameworks,coverage,communication,persistence,synchronization,event,examples,Java,Framework,platform,Google,Engine,Amazon,Developer,Academy,Self,overview,AppEngine,Python,APIs,Microsoft,Research,Windows,Azure,researchers,Best,OpenCourseWare,collections,publication,Courtesy,Louis,Columbus

Marketing Resolutions - 2014

As we start the New Year, few things that marketers need to take into their strides and cut the additional fat.

1. Content marketing – No surprises here that it will be the key once again.
2. Mobile – With most of us reading our first mail, first new, first content on mobile, hence let me ask – Where you should be ? J
3. Images – We retain more images in our mind then written words. Hence, convert what you have to say into images…Info graphic like the one is the best way to represent what you have to say.
4. Let’s make it COMPLEX – But not the words and not the message, both of it needs to be simple. However, lets segment the audience and align it with message and the medium.

In short, see below and include the inside into your plan(s), if not done already. On the additional fat, analyze every details of your 2013 campaign and cut or that didn’t work. You need to align, the TG to your message and it to your medium/channel.

Happy Marketable Year !

Blogger Labels: Resolutions,marketers,Content,Mobile,Where,Images,Info,COMPLEX,message,segment,audience,Marketable

BCG’s Value Creators Report Shows How Software Is Driving New Business Models

Boston Consulting Group (BCG) recently released their fifth annual technology, media and telecommunications (TMT) value report. The 2013 TMT Value Creators Report: The Great Software Transformation, How to Win as Technology Changes the World (free, opt-in required, 41 pgs).

The five trends that serve as the foundation of this report include the increasing pervasiveness of software, affordable small devices, ubiquitous broadband connectivity, big-data analytics and cloud computing.  BCG’s analysis illustrates how the majority of TMT companies that deliver the most value to shareholders are concentrating on the explosive growth of new markets, the rise of software-enabled digital metasystems, and for many, both.

The study is based on an analysis of 191 companies, 76 in the technology industry, 62 from media and 53 from telecom.  To review the methodology of this study please see page 28 of the report.

Here are the key takeaways from this years’ BCG TMT Value Creators Report:

• BCG is predicting 1B smartphones will be sold in 2013, the first year their sales will have exceeded those of features phones.  By 2018, there will be more than 5B “post-PC” products (tablets & smartphones) in circulation. There are nearly as many mobile connections in the world as people (6.8B) according to the United Nation’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

• 27 terabytes of data is generated every second through the creation of video, images social networks, transactional and enterprise-based systems and networks.  90% of the data that is stored today didn’t exist two years ago, and the annual data growth rate in future years is projected to be 40% to 60% over current levels according to BCG’s analysis.

• The ascent of communications speeds is surpassing Moore’s Law as a structural driver of growth.  BCG completed the following analysis graphing the progression of microprocessor transition count (Moore’s Law) relative to Internet speed (bps) citing Butter’s Law of Photonics which states that the amount of data coming out of an optical fiber is doubling every nine months. BCG states that these dynamics are democratizing information technology and will lead to the cloud computing industry (software and services) reaching nearly $250B in 2017.
  

• BCG predicts that India will see a fivefold increase in digitally-influenced spending, ascending from $30B in 2012 to $150B in 2016, among the fastest of all nations globally according to their study. India will also see the value of online purchases increase from $8B in 2012 t5o $50B in 2016.

• 3D printing is forecast to become a $3.1B market by 2016, and will have an economic impact of $550B in 2025, fueling rapid price reductions in 3D printers through 2017.  BCG sees 3D printing, connected travel, genomics and smart grid technologies are central to their digital metasystem.   The following graphic illustrates the key trends in each of these areas along with research findings from BCG and other sources.

• Only 7% of customers are comfortable with their information being used outside of the purpose for which it was originally gathered.

• BCG reports that mobile infrastructure investments in Europe have fallen 67% from 2004 to 2014.  Less than 1% of mobile connections in Europe were 4B as of the end of 2012, compared to 11% in the U.S. and 28% in South Korea.   European operators have also been challenged to monetize mobile data as well, as the following figures illustrate.

• Big Data is attracting $19B in funding across five key areas according to BCG’s analysis.  These include consumer data and marketing, enterprise data, analytical tools, vertical markets and data platforms.  A graphical analysis of these investments is shown below.

Courtesy – Louis Columbus

Blogger Labels: Value,Creators,Report,Shows,Software,Models,Boston,Group,technology,media,telecommunications,Great,Transformation,Changes,World,trends,foundation,data,analysis,shareholders,growth,industry,methodology,Here,takeaways,sales,products,tablets,circulation,Nation,International,Telecommunication,Union,creation,enterprise,systems,ascent,driver,progression,microprocessor,transition,Internet,Butter,Photonics,dynamics,information,India,nations,impact,reductions,printers,grid,technologies,areas,findings,customers,purpose,infrastructure,investments,Europe,South,Korea,European,operators,consumer,tools,platforms,Courtesy,Louis,Columbus,five,smartphones

Roundup Of Cloud Computing And Enterprise Software Predictions For 2014

Alan Kay’s saying that the best way to predict the future is to create it resonates through the best cloud computing and enterprise software predictions for 2014. Constraints that held start-ups back from delivering sophisticated new apps and services are disappearing fast.  The dynamics of one of my favorite books, The Innovator’s Dilemma by Clayton Christensen, are in full force across the cloud and enterprise landscape.

There are many predictions being generated right now and instead of writing yet another set,  I’m providing a listing of those that are the most interesting and thought-provoking. They are listed below:

• 10 Cloud Computing Predictions for 2014 – In-depth analysis of ten predictions including how more companies will realize they are really in the software business, private cloud computing having a moment of truth and continued adoption of cloud brokerages.  This set of predictions is an interesting read and provides useful insight.  I’d just add that as application developers go, so goes an industry, a point Bernard Golden refers to in this post.

• Analytics Eats the World in 2014 – George Mathew of Alteryx is one of the most driven people I’ve ever met about analytics programming and development.  He’s very focused on breaking down constraints that hold analysts back from getting more value from their data. His predictions provide insight into how business analysts’ roles are changing based on rapid advances in analytics app development, model development and use.
• Changing Cloud Scapes in 2014 – Jeff Kaplan, Managing Director of THINKstrategies provides ten insightful predictions regarding the continued adoption of cloud computing platforms in the enterprise.  His fourth prediction, “Although horizontal cloud solutions will continue to experience significant growth, vertical market solutions aimed at specific industries will grow even more rapidly” is starting to emerge today.  The recent success of Veeva Systems supports his prediction and points to next year seeing more vertical market solutions being successfully launched.

• Cloud computing experts forecast the market climate in 2014 – Excellent summary of seven cloud computer experts’ predictions for 2014 including Mark Eisenberg, Roger Jennings, Paul Korzeniowski, David S. Linthicum, Tom Nolle, Dan Sullivan and Mark Szynaka.  Highlights include IDC analysts predicting the “Over the 2013 to 2017 forecast period, public IT cloud services will have a compound annual growth rate [CAGR] of 23.5%, five times that of the IT industry as a whole,” and PaaS will lead IaaS and SaaS with a CAGR of 29.7%. What’s useful about these set of predictions is the breadth of expertise reflected in market statistics, market and technology projections and insights shared.

• Cloud Computing Predictions for 2014: Cloud Joins The Formal IT Portfolio – James Staten of Forrester Research has compiled an excellent series of predictions for the year with emphasis on security and SaaS becoming the de facto choice for new applications.  While he hasn’t quoted adoption figures of SaaS relative to on-premise, he does point out that Forrester believes HCM, CRM and collaboration will be the leading categories of SaaS apps in 2014.

• Gartner Identifies the Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2014 – Gartner is predicting that the top ten strategic technology trends for 2014 include mobile device diversity and management, mobile apps and applications, the Internet of Everything (IoE), Hybrid Cloud and IT as a Service Broker, Cloud/Client Architecture, The Era of Personal Cloud, 3D-Printing, Cloud-Scale IT and several others.

• My One Big Fat Cloud Computing Prediction for 2014 – I have been following the industry analysis, writing and research of Joe McKendrick for years based on the excellent insight he provides.  Joe predicts that cloud computing is set to become mainstream computing, period.  He cites Cisco’s research showing the majority of data center will be cloud-based and shares his perspective of the market.  Joe has an innate sense of how enterprises adopt and use technology and this post reflects that expertise.

• SaaS predictions for 2014 – Chris Kanaracus is predicting that multitenancy will fade away as a major concern in SaaS, geographic depth of coverage will accelerate with cloud vendors announcing new data center openings around the world, and more vertical market adoption of SaaS.  He also prefaces his predictions with the Gartner forecast for SaaS (software as a service) quoting their figures of the total market will toping $22 billion through 2015, up from more than $14 billion in 2012.

• Top Predictions about Software Companies in 2014 – In-depth analysis and predictions of which companies are going to be the most interesting to watch in 2014 and predictions regarding the enterprise software landscape.  This post provides a great overview of how industry veterans see enterprise software changing as a result of cloud computing as well.

• Troubling, Challenging 2014 ERP Predictions – Brian Sommer’s predictions are the most thought-provoking and honest of any written so far this year. He writes “for an ERP vendor to sell CX (customer experience) software and then mistreat their own customers so badly is more than ironic (or moronic). It’s a death wish.  Yet, it happens.”  If there is only one set of predictions you read from this list, be sure to read this set.

• What Should CMOs Do In 2014? IDC’s Top Ten Predictions – Gil Press provides in-depth analysis of IDC’s predictions of how the role of CMO will change in 2014.  He’s summarized the key points of the recent webinar including market forecasts from IDC, providing his insight and expertise in this post.  IDC is predicting that digital marketing investment will exceed 50% of total program budget by 2016, up from 39% in 2013 and that by the end of 2014, 60% of CMOs will have a formal recruiting process for marketers with data skills.

Courtesy – Louis Columbus

Blogger Labels: Roundup,Cloud,Enterprise,Software,Predictions,Alan,Constraints,dynamics,Innovator,Dilemma,Clayton,Christensen,depth,analysis,moment,truth,adoption,developers,industry,Bernard,Golden,Analytics,Eats,World,George,Mathew,Alteryx,development,analysts,data,roles,Scapes,Jeff,Kaplan,Director,THINKstrategies,platforms,fourth,prediction,Although,solutions,growth,industries,Veeva,Systems,experts,climate,Excellent,computer,Mark,Eisenberg,Roger,Jennings,Paul,Korzeniowski,David,Linthicum,Nolle,Sullivan,Szynaka,Highlights,Over,CAGR,PaaS,IaaS,SaaS,breadth,expertise,statistics,technology,projections,insights,Joins,Formal,Portfolio,James,Staten,Forrester,Research,series,emphasis,premise,collaboration,categories,Gartner,Identifies,Strategic,Trends,device,management,Internet,Hybrid,Service,Broker,Client,Architecture,Personal,Scale,McKendrick,Cisco,perspective,enterprises,Chris,Kanaracus,coverage,vendors,openings,Companies,overview,veterans,Brian,Sommer,vendor,customer,customers,death,Should,CMOs,role,investment,marketers,skills,Courtesy,Louis,Columbus,apps,billion

What Does The Twitter IPO Mean of Marketers?

Brian shared an interesting Infographic with me today illustrating the potential implications for all the companies that use Twitter as an advertising platform?

The below Infographic showcases all the opportunities that marketers have with Twitter now. He further opines that Twitter has a mountain of user data that will undoubtedly change the way companies advertise on the site, and this will open up the following four key marketing opportunities for companies :

• Location-specific targeting
• New mobile advertising placement
• Mass media integration
• Enhanced video ads

Let me know what you think??

The Twitterverse

No surprises when @twitter being used by people from superstars like @BarackObama to half a star like me :), it bound to have an ecosystem that supports every aspect of the twitter engagement or rather I should start using the work “Twitterverse”. Actually looking at the below chart twitterverse seems more appropriate than the ecosystem.

Its amazing that how twitter has able to evolve, eventually becoming the medium from individuals to corporates to governments. It’s the thing that you needs to be on, if you have anything related to either listening or putting your point across (even if no one is listening). The one aspect though I am trying to do my research on is “Twitter for Social"…..and I mean “Social Cause” here….More of that coming soon. For the time being welcome to the “Twitterverse”.

{Inforgraphic} Myth and Email Marketing

Email marketing is a topic of perpetual debate within the marketer’s community(s), and just like an old tail, email marketing has imbibe the mythological traits. This has happened primarily due to the fact that one which works for me may not work for you but may work for your friend and so on.

Email marketing sounds the most easiest but by far the one of the most complex marketing technique, and the one which most marketers tend to go wrong with. The primary reason of its failure is lack of research on who your audience is, when they read your email, what kind of subject they prefer, what timeframe they may react to your message and so on. Therefore, I would recommend before you start investing in creation of those lovely, eye catching graphics woven with those great words describing the “best” offer for your reader; please invest some money and time to ensure you do enough to do your research on whom, why, what and when your emails can deliver the best results.

With that short intro, I would like to share this interesting infographic created by Alchemy Worx on 7 Myths of email marketing.