Month: April 2010

Cloud 2.0 is Here

Cloud 2.0 is Here

Watching a recent Salesforce.com partner presentation, we got to see firsthand where the technology world is going specifically to Cloud 2.0. The age of Cloud 2.0 is here. We are moving from fixed environments to web-based, real-time environments. No longer are computers chained to the desktop, now the mobile worker is free to go anywhere.

More importantly, they are updated in real-time on the status of their coworkers, their projects, their subordinates, their customers, all through the new technology of Chatter, within Salesforce.com. If you haven’t heard of Chatter, think of it as Twitter for the corporation.

Social media such as Twitter and Facebook are creating a generation of people who expect real-time updates on their friends and co-workers. Being aware of what people are working on and how they are solving problems through collaborative technologies are more examples of Cloud 2.0. Facebook has become a giant part of the web. In fact, in the younger generation, Facebook is the web. In general, if not monitored, you are likely to find more people on Facebook than on their business systems at any time. So why not bring the power of Facebook to business systems? That is what Salesforce is attempting to do with Chatter.

With the release of the iPad, there is now a tablet based mobile technology that can bring the web vividly to anyone, anywhere. At first, we thought it was purely and entertainment platform, but the more we understand it, the more we see that Apple is now moving to both a mobile and web based computing platform. It could probably be the next generation of Macintoshes for the cloud generation. People are now able to create, produce, and develop from anywhere there is a cell phone signal (or wifi).

Comparing Cloud 2.0 to Legacy Computing

Here is Salesforce’s view of Cloud 2.0. This says a lot!

Cloud 1.0 Cloud 2.0
Amazon.com Facebook
Tabs Feeds
Pull Push
Click Touch
Desktop Smartphone/Tablet
Fixed Mobile
Location Unknown Location aware
Windows/Mac Cocoa/HTML5

No longer are we talking about managing a business from within the four walls of the company. Businesses can now operate virtually. Further, sales will love this new technology as they can prep for their meetings in the parking lot with real-time pushed data, they will be able to connect to their customers and build relationships and then report back immediately via their iPad to their CRM, and they will have real-time insight into everything about that client by way of the mobile web.

As you can see the combination of social media, interactive CRM and ERP, and mobile touch computing such as the iPhone or iPad are changing the landscape of computing and IT. It is an exciting time to be in technology!

Cloud 2.0

Salesforce & VMware Set to Launch VMForce

In an interesting turn of events, Salesforce.com and VMware are set to launch VMForce. Any ideas what this will entail? They will be announcing the details on April 27. If you know something, please comment.

Here is the story:

Salesforce.com and VMware are forging a high-profile partnership, according to a Web site announcing an April 27 event being held by the companies.

The site, VMForce.com, includes few details about exactly what is planned, saying that Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff and VMware CEO Paul Maritz will “make an exciting joint announcement on the future of cloud computing.”

“VMForce is coming,” a headline reads. “See it here live on April 27.”

Read the rest of the salesforce.com story here.

Are IT managers worried about cloud computing?

There is a new survey out that shows that IT Managers are not sold on the benefits of cloud computing. The primary reason is that these IT Managers view cloud computing as risky. The article portrays these IT leaders as being risk adverse and so they are careful not to expose their company’s data to all the potentials of being on the Internet.

Is it possible though, that they are avoiding the loss of control and the potential of losing their jobs, once executives realize that they can pay a lower monthly cost for a secure outsourced cloud computing solution? Many IT Managers like to be in control. They have the keys to the kingdom and are the gatekeepers to the most valuable asset in a corporation, the data. Giving up this control would require a tremendous change to their thinking.

Further, many may believe that they are best suited to protect this data asset. The ironic thing is that, in the article linked above, it points out that “Beyond the topic of cloud computing, the survey also found that employees often engage in behavior that puts their company at risk. Half of IT professionals said workers don’t adequately protect confidential documents and 32 percent said workers use software and online services that were not authorized.” This just goes to prove that these IT Managers see themselves as the best ones for guarding the kingdom.

Alternatively, major SAAS players such as Salesforce.com implement carrier-level security such as Access control (including biometric scanning for access) and Physical Security, Environmental Controls, Power Management (including redundant generators), Network security (such as redundant networks) and Fire detection and Suppression. Additionally, all transactions are encrypted. These are strongly protected data stores. Only larger corporations maintain these levels of security. Further, many SAAS providers have dedicated security teams that maintain the highest level of security. Can a mid-sized company IT Manager say the same?

As such, it is probably more likely that privately these managers realize this and are actually fearing the loss of their job as more and more of their infrastructure is moved to the cloud. Just as moving from mainframes to PCs, it will be interesting to watch the transition from internal PC networks to cloud computing.

We are interested in knowing what you think on this topic. Please post your comments.

ERP Project Management Books

We are posting the link to various top selling ERP Project Management books. These will be updated occasionally for your review to see the latest information on key project management methods.


We hope you find this useful. It is always useful to refresh yourself on Project Management techniques.

ERP Implementation Strategies – Survey Results

Recently, Huston Neal, a fellow ERP blogger, performed a survey to find out what ERP implementation strategies are most popular and successful. The results are very interesting. He wanted to know which of the strategies people used and which ones were successful. The strategies he focused on were:

  • Big bang – Implementation happens in a single instance. All users move to the new system on a given date.
  • Phased rollout – Changeover occurs in phases over an extended period of time. Users move onto new system in a series of steps.
  • Parallel adoption – Both the legacy and new ERP system run at the same time. Users learn the new system while working on the old.

Many companies take a Big Bang approach or “let’s turn off the old and start with the new on a target day” method. Others take a more cautious approach and go with a few modules such as the financial modules while linking them back to the legacy system. This usually takes more work to integrate and it usually costs more in terms of consulting and internal team hours. The Parallel adoption is often very difficult as the two systems usually take a different approach to gathering and summarizing the data. It requires double data entry as well, so the employees feel a lot more pressure. This is seen less-and-less nowadays.

We would have thought that Big Bang would be the more frequently used approach and yet the results show that it is almost even with a Phased Approach. Fortunately only a few companies went with Parallel processing. This is often the most painful approach.

The results of the survey are here. It is a fair representation of how people approach implementing a company-wide software. It would be interesting to see how people implement add on systems to ERP such as a Customer Relationship Management system (CRM).