Brynovation.com - Technology : Appreciation and Translation

Status

2011-10-27T00:06:00.002+01:00

Welcome to Brynovation.com. The blog that once lived here is no longer active. One day I may write a proper blog but for now you can see random sporadic posts here.

Any active feeds will be published here with by far the most active being Twitter

I do not have a Facebook account but I am on Linkedin

< Look left if you were looking for the blog that once was here.

If you are lucky enough to have a Brynovation.com account, log in to Apps here and Email here.

If you haven't found a link to follow yet then maybe this will interest you?

Visualisation of your LinkedIn contacts

2011-01-25T01:22:00.000Z

More interesting and useful than you may have thought..... - quite a powerful algorithm to get people grouped so well - shows what they know about us...! Key didn't copy across - original here

Yes, IT is changing, so get on with it....

2010-10-07T15:10:00.000+01:00

I listened to a well-known figure speak this week who said “anyone who signs up to a career in technology signs up to a career of change” I would agree with that statement wholeheartedly, not only for individuals but also for businesses. Many are touting the current tech market as in one of its greatest phases of change ever and yes, I do agree with this but I also find it hard to think back to any point in my career and involvement in tech where the landscape couldn’t be described as “changeable”, it’s like when someone says that “the weather is changing” eventually it will happen. We are in a low period in terms of the overall economy, every day we hear about double dip recessions, negative growth and overall bad performance across all sectors which again is fairly obvious and hard to disagree with but if you are in technology and looking to progress, look at the IT market more closely, I would say the graphs are still on the + side of the scale and realistically, technology should be one of the last industries that stops growing, especially in the innovative and entrepreneurial side of things.

So:-

• Keep innovating – that’s what we are here for, don’t get caught out watching the dollars roll in as someone will eventually do it cheaper, better and simpler.

• Think of the end users – create products and solutions with the user in mind, those getting the most tractions these days are those who are simplified, let’s get away from this “oh you wouldn’t understand it anyway” mentality, yes these things are complex on the inside, but there is no need to profess that on the outside.

• All play together – there is plenty of room for many companies in many tech sectors, stop worrying about the competition and get back to doing what you do best!

• Be prepared to turn – If you are a tanker or a dinghy, don’t forget where the wheel is, you may need to make a sharp turn at a moment’s notice.

• Offset the current economic difficulties with smart systems – If you can save a client money by being innovative then you product will fly off the shelves.

And finally:-

stop worrying about what’s bad in the tech world – concentrate on what’s good, the ever changing landscape should deal with anything bad soon enough…….

“Searching” for the end game…

2010-08-04T11:53:00.000+01:00

Stats have been released that show Android powered devices have outsold those powered by Apple OS in the first half of 2010. Of course, with Apple being the only hardware manufacturer running the iPhone OS, these figures are not really telling a like for like story and only hold limited value in terms of comparing the two products. The interesting part however is in the respective end games of Apple and Google.

I think with Apple, this is fairly simple. They make the devices, they make the OS, they even make some of the components within the device so their end game must be, to stay at the top of the pile in terms of design, desirability and of course, usability. With Google however we see a very different story, the hardware they provide is telling a very different story and the focus on the Nexus One phone itself has long since diminished.

Things feel very reminiscent of the PC vs Mac war of the 80’s. Back then, Bill Gates had predicted that the value of these new personal computers would lie within the OS and applications, not necessarily the Hardware, Steve Jobs however had different ideas and when the Windows OS became a tool to allow other companies to gain ground in a growing market, Apple lost share. Now I am not predicting or comparing this as the same kind of market but one has to ask where the mobile market will be in say 3 years time?

I think it is fairly evident that Google made a very smart move acquiring Android and allowing others to build on it as the end game for them must surely be mobile search volumes but how will things pan out in the long run? Will Apple have to re-think their strategy or is their business model so far away from the likes of Google that they will continue to drive forward and lead this market with Brand and usability at its heart?

Apple's - They don't "just work"

2010-05-27T13:13:00.000+01:00

Error messages really can be the bane of anyone’s technical life. The desire for it to “just work” is pretty much the Nirvana of any user but unfortunately I would say that so far, this is not something which has ever been achieved. “What!” I hear all the Mac fans shouting, “My Mac just works as does my iPhone”, well I disagree, one both counts. Admittedly, Apple Mac’s do work very nicely but to say they never error is a bit idealistic and probably more akin to the brilliant brand image that is delivered in every box with that famous part eaten Apple on it.

“So what about the iPhone, that never errors “ I hear you cry. Well yes, you are right, it doesn’t, but then does no error mean it doesn’t break, definitely not. I have been running an iPhone for about 6 months now and yes it is great. I have a few ‘techie’ criticisms but none that I feel inclined to talk about in depth and certainly none that haven’t been widely reported all over the place. So what about this no error situation? Well I think this is brilliant piece of subliminal tech marketing by Apple. When tech equipment unusually crashes we are treated to a totally meaningless error message which for most users, is simply rubbing salt into the wounds, “I know it is broken, don’t give me some crazy ass code to prove this to me, all I am going to do is start again anyway” .

What I am trying to imply here is that as well as Apple, more technology is becoming friendly to the ‘average user’. Gone are the days of the hobbyist where we needed to know everything that was going on and more and more, we just need to know something has gone wrong. Take Twitter’s error messages for example. “Something has gone technically wrong” is such a great way to make the user feel like you are taking responsibility for your failings as an app and not make them feel like they have spooked it themselves.

So my conclusion is, Apple’s don’t just work, they just #fail in a much more respectable manner which as ever, makes the die hard Mac fans very happy (if not a little smug : ).

The Crowd

2010-04-21T10:18:00.002+01:00

Please click to see full size

I am here, but do you know why?

2010-04-19T11:43:00.002+01:00

#IPad - Will it blend....

2010-04-05T18:10:00.003+01:00

Been waiting for this and boy they are quick off the blocks.

But will it blend?

10 Reasons we know we are in 2010

2010-03-30T11:21:00.002+01:00

The Internet talks to you rather than shouts at you

My Dad uses a touch screen mobile and loves it

Microsoft has some real competition

Everything 2D is slowly becoming 3D

Email is so last year

Everyone thinks they are a geek

We spend Billions on a tunnel that goes….. well, in a circle

Video phone watches are reality

You can now pass power through thin air (on purpose)

My computer says 2010 in the bottom right corner so it must be true

The @ sign - Suddenly it all became clear

2010-03-22T13:52:00.004Z

Stop trying to be cool and cool will come....

2010-03-08T12:45:00.001Z

Twitter is a place where ones personality can really show through. It is a bit like the big brother house in some respects where people can put up a front to begin with but after a time, this façade will fall and the real person will shine through. Now we all want to be thought as somewhat cool. What I mean by this is that we all want to be respected in some way or another (whether this is for our work, our play or really just for our all round nice guy appeal).

One thing however which can become very clear on the Twitter platform is people trying to increase their “coolness” by doing what the cool guys do. Now I am all for people being influenced and susceptible to advertising but blatant mimicking really makes you hit the uncoolometer big style.

What I am trying to say here in short is BE YOURSELF and even if you want be like someone then don’t mimic them, engage them…..

Mandlebrot Set

2010-03-06T08:45:00.000Z

Been chatting this morning for the first time in ages about Mandlebrot Sets.....

Really lovely on the eye but also taxing on the brain - take a look at the def inition here from wikipedia.

If however you just want to see what one is, simply click play below - Enjoy!

Mandelbrot Fractal Set Trip To e214 HD from teamfresh on Vimeo.

Not what the software does....

2010-03-03T11:04:00.002Z

Stick to the subject

2010-02-15T14:26:00.000Z

The great thing about Twitter is that it gives everyone a voice. It has the ability for people to say something and if deemed important or newsworthy enough, it gets re-said as it were. Today it seems like the whole world is blogging which in my opinion is fine, there is no such thing as too much content and providing Twitter and other sources continue to filter my reading, the system works well for me.

So where is the problem? With citizen journalist in the driving seat, it can often be tempting for them to “mix projects”. By mix projects I mean that they can use their new found journopower to criticise something while at the same time promoting something else.... Like a bar for example:- “look at the terrible behaviour of this bar, why not stop going there and try the place across the road”. I would even go so far as people potentially creating articles just to promote their stuff.....

My advice to anyone considering this is to stick to the subject as this #mixprojects approach just sucks credibility from the original article........

How the announcement could have gone

2010-01-27T23:12:00.000Z

UK Snow Map - Now embedded

2010-01-06T12:12:00.003Z

You can move the map and zoom in.

Very nice. Well done again @benmarsh

IT communication does not always have to be through wires

2010-01-04T23:47:00.003Z

Reading a few things today about communication between IT departments and users of all levels led me to tweet the following tweets :-

There is a lot more to say on this which I will follow up on but wanted to point out that communication with IT departments and IT people does not have to be technical, just try having a normal conversation and you may be surprised by the results....

Is Retweet just a bad name for a good function...?

2009-12-17T11:03:00.002Z

I have been involved in and seen a lot of conversations recently about Twitter and its new Retweet function (which at the time of this post is missing although I do expect it to be back). Now the conversations have been mixed. Some like it some hate it but as with anything relating to this ground breaking communications platform, it is causing a lot of conversations.

Now I totally understand peoples problem with the function as it restricts and “changes the game” relating to the way they have already been retweeting others for some time. However, where I think the real issue lies is with their branding of this function. Calling it Retweet has only caused confusion; it is not a Retweet in the traditional sense as created by “the crowd” some time ago.

So what is the answer? I think that if you have a problem with the function then change its name in your head to “Guest Tweet”. I have chatted to a few people about this and it has actually gone some way to change their perception of the function.

The way I view it is that it is a guest tweet in my stream to others. Something like, here is a tweet that I like from user x, this is the reason I follow this user and hey, if you like me for a similar reason that I like them then maybe you would like to follow them? It is almost a follow recommendation (traditionally #FollowFriday or #FF) function to subtly recommend other users to your followers.

Just my take on it anyway, It does prove how important Twitter is to people simply by the conversations it causes....... 

The Web 2.0 Experts

2009-12-07T10:34:00.000Z

The quest to move away from "the user"

2009-12-03T14:36:00.004Z

After working in IT for so long, it seem like the norm to call people who consume IT as "users". Although this is perfectly viable and workable it just does not sound very nice (due to the fact that it is heavily related to some other type of people who have nothing to do with computers).

I would like to know if anyone else has anything else that they call them? Yes we can simply say people or as suggested by @ogerrard maybe "end-users" is more to the fact and removes some of the bad connotations but is there anything else?

The original computer people were operators, but then that was when computers were "operated" to achieve a task.... We also had the naming "number crunchers" so maybe a reuse of something like this would work.

Crunchers?

Tappers?

Qwerters?

isumers?

iusers?

IT Support, please tell me your experiences

2009-12-02T16:09:00.000Z

In a world where most things in daily life at least have a connection to technology, it is difficult to get away from it. It is undeniable that that when all of the systems and devices work, productivity can be increased, however, it seems that more and more, inadequate and “wrongly delivered” support of these systems actually causes many to think “what is the point?”

It is also true that in recent times that peoples home and personal experiences are actually rivalling that of their work and in some (and probably most) instances, becoming entirely better and less painful to use. To put it simply, the advancement of easy to use web applications along with the ability to log into almost anything you use from multiple locations can make “work” systems seem clunky and not built for the user.

Now, what is ideal for work and what is ideal for home is a much longer article than this one but what I would like to find out is what people see as the issues with their works systems and more specifically, the way they are supported.

Questions

• Do you feel that your IT supplier understands your business, goals and motivations?

• Do you feel that the support is delivered half heartedly?

• Do you think some simple changes could be made to make things infinitely better for you and your employees?

• Do you think that you relationship with your IT company should be one of client and supplier or more partnership based.

You possibly know that by reading this blog I am someone who works directly in this field. We provide support for SME companies in and around London and the UK. I wanted to make it clear that this is not simply a selling exercise. Yes, if I can find people to talk to then I will of course be interested in talking about the Virtual IT solution but my real goal here is to gather enough information from real people around this subject and use it to create a real view of where things are right now.

Please feel free to add to this topic in any way listed below and in advance, I thank you for your time.

Mail – bryn@virtualit.biz

Twitter - @brynmorgan

Here – Leave a comment on this blog

Ten Green Bottles...

2009-12-01T17:13:00.000Z

Today, it seems that everything and anything (human or not) is social networking and broadcasting to the world. Lets take a look at this age old rhyme in a new light...

If there were ten green bottle hanging on the wall.................... and if one green bottle should accidentally fall....

Then..............................

1 would update LinkedIn Status "Looking for a new Green bottle to fill essential role, Location - On a Wall, remuneration - having kids worldwide singing about you"

1 would update Facebook page "Really sad at losing a friend but now I am 1 friend down on my count so anyone looking to be part of the Green Bottle brigade, speak to me"

1 would tweet " hey man - we just had a jumper"

1 would decide enough is enough and leave the wall, using all social networking tools to promote the change in work and lifestyle, hopefully getting enough of a "Value" business case and eventually land that book deal.

1 would get straight into their Wall web page and amend their SEO to make sure that anyone looking for 10 green bottles also knew that they were now a team of 9 (as well as leaving the people looking for 10 to enter their website unknowingly)

1 would update their blog with the news and increase traffic by having a new "fall" story to cover every day. (Unless they are next of course)

1 would post a video on YouTube entitled "The wall jump that went horribly wrong" (and get loads of sick comments to reply to)

1 would get onto the conference circuit to talk all about their experiences with the wall

1 would decide to leave the digital age once and for all with a permanent out of office reply saying that they no longer work on the wall and for all enquiries, please come to the wall in person to see if there are any bottles left.

and finally, the last one would have the bottle to simply stay on the wall and do what they do best trying to avoid any falls and hopefully living happily ever after.....

Wel, I was just saying............. Social Media does seem to be absolutely everywhere. Will it ever end?

Have they got the fear?

2009-11-24T15:01:00.004Z

I think that the bigger IT companies are fearing the upstarts more and more. With the web delivering on the high user count apps the companies with the older business models are definately concerned. The cost of entry is low, the initial requirement for funds is low and the most of all, the flexibility levels of these companies could be described as "very bendy". What this means is that anyone entering the market right now, could be the next big thing a lot quicker than 10 years ago. There is also the chance that any one of these new companies could end up "changing the game" again..........

Come on the underdogs!

Maybe this is why there are so many great IT start ups around right now......?

My #140conf

2009-11-19T12:44:00.009Z

I attended the State of now #140 conference this week in the London O2 indigo.

The wide range areas up for discussion were very interesting and really opened up my mind to the innovative ways that people use and see Twitter as a medium.

A lot of real writers have already blogged and written stories about this so I will not try to detail in its entirety my experience but thought some short words on specific areas would be a good way to give my take.

Everyone - Human Shaped

Big Businesses - Protective

Small Businesses - Promotion via innovation

Police - Understanding

Education - Embracing

Apps - Innovative and inventive

Broadcast Media - Enhanced

Print Media - No Comment

Celebrity - Direct

Agencies - Advancing

Buildings / Vehicles / ANO - Vocal

Me - Looking Forward

Losing our Cover

2009-11-09T17:02:00.001Z

Does Geek have a fashion?

2009-11-09T16:41:00.001Z

Twitter lists

2009-11-03T09:53:00.006Z

So it must now be over a week since Twitter introduced lists and as with any new feature to this unstoppable platform, the users have gone Tweet and blog crazy about it. Firstly, there was the race to blog about it, how it works, what it means, what it will do for you etc. Next comes the inevitable flaw finding, people look at the different scenarios of not wanting to be in a list or what happens if you get listed as a doofus, can you remove yourself by blocking this person? It seems now that the conversation has moved on to number of lists you are in, are you being described as x or y or even a "thought leader".

So my take is that you really shouldn't care. Yes it is nice to be listed and yes it is nice to be considered as an expert at something or even a "thought leader" but once again, it seems that this feature is being dubbed by some of the more followed / following users as some form of popularity contest. Yes twitter is about connections and popularity and sharing of thoughts but it is certainly not a competition. One of the greatest things I get out of Twitter is discovery and if there is one thing lists should be used for then it is to allow others to discover the little known gems that you know about and increase the value for others of this great platform.

How fast are things changing?

2009-11-02T22:32:00.001Z

Don't get complacent with your social network

2009-11-02T17:00:00.001Z

Social Network Diet?

2009-11-02T16:33:00.003Z

Is there a critical mass?

Nobody likes criticism

2009-10-27T16:56:00.004Z

Nobdy likes criticism, me included. However, there seems to be a new breed of people online who by nature of their group of "friends" are being given a large sense of always being right. Agreed there are always those out there who are destined to only give you negative comments for a reaction however there are others who really may have a point. Dont discount them instantly as trolls......

There was once a Wall

2009-10-26T16:43:00.006Z

Once upon a time there was a wall which separated the Marketing and PR departments from the people consuming and buying the products. One day something called Social Media came along and smashed some very big holes in this wall.

This post was inspired by reading live tweets from the Media 140 conference in London #media140

Real time is the future....

2009-10-21T22:33:00.002+01:00

When did they become so cool?

2009-10-19T22:16:00.002+01:00

What Larry Ellison thinks of "Cloud Computing"

2009-10-06T12:10:00.002+01:00

I often rant about collective terms and marketing speak but then again I am not Larry Ellsion so not many people listen.

This speech amuses me as his complaints appear to be about terminology rather than technology. Suppose we have to call things something though.....?

The Technology Revolution

2009-09-28T14:54:00.003+01:00

There was a time when the stage we were at within "the technology revolution" was defined by the latest technology. At the moment I believe it is more defined by what people are doing with it. Never before has technology has such a wide ranging effect on things much bigger than technology itself...

International Politics
Traditional Media
Advertising

To name just a few........

Would you agree???

Overwhelming Self Confidence

2009-09-25T14:45:00.006+01:00

There are a few people that I see as a real influencers to the way I work add to my aspirations as to how I want to be seen by others. I also see others who are completely the opposite and are people who show me how it should very much not be done. One thing which tends to attract me to these people as representing either side of the scale is their overwhelming self confidence.

My advice to anyone is

a) Get the skills to excel in your field
b) Have confidence in your abilities
c) Don't exude too much self confidence until you have completed a and b

Don't get me wrong, self confidence is very much important in this new world, however, the more you express it without proper personal backup, the more you are setting yourself up for a very hard landing one day.

Get the skills right and the self confidence will navigate you to success

Take a different View

2009-09-24T11:51:00.007+01:00

I am a strong believer that first impressions are very important. However, I will always allow myslef a second look before I make any really big decisions. (or actually any decisions which involve money or my reputation)

It seems that lately we are losing trust in traditional advertising. Well actually I am not sure that we did trust it so much previously, more that we had no particular reason not to trust it.

So why are things changing? We seem to be able to get a "real person" review of everything from kitchen sinks to cars on the new fandangled way of working on the Interweb. Now while i understand why someone may spend the time to give an online review of something they have spent 20 grand on, I am slightly bemused why someone would review say a mug or t-shirt they had bought (certianly not say 20 people).

So here are the questions. why do we trust reviews given by random people on the web when really all we have to go by is the fact that their is a name attached to it? Doris from Middlesborough must be a real person we think. But is she? Who is to say that this review and others may have been "planted" by the manufacturer of the original item? What we need is some form of trust label. Ebay accounts for example are a good way of telling if someone is trustworthy as they have supplied a service to others and those people have rated them on that service. How much weight would it add to an Amazon review if it was delivered by an ebay power seller? more than just Doris from Middlesboroguh i think.

I am not saying that people cannot be trusted, just more that we need to be careful when making decisions based on words rather than potentially real people. Research at the moment is saying that we trust real peoples reviews more than ever, just be careful to look again to see if anything is there to justify this persons trust. Plus also I think there may be a gap in the market around this in terms of a new web service. If there is one out there already then please let me know.

And finally.....

Anybody Fancy a Cup Cake?

Good Morning

2009-09-23T16:28:00.003+01:00

Right, so there are a lot of users using Twitter, and some of them say "good morning" to their community (note only some). Want to see that visualised?

GoodMorning! Full Render #2 from blprnt on Vimeo.

Robot Pool - Impressive

2009-09-18T10:24:00.002+01:00

Now I know what the small cues are for - and defo not having £50 on a game against this!

Want to be like Atlas?

2009-09-06T16:48:00.003+01:00

The latest attempt to try to encapsulate the new real time WWW world we are in...

Google Opt Out Village

2009-09-03T14:08:00.001+01:00

Th Onion have really been making me LOL recently - no more so than with this latest Vid.

IPhone - Will it blend?

2009-08-26T14:47:00.002+01:00

Ok so this is an old one but with all of the techy love I hear for Apple everyday, I thought it was worth another watch.

Dont hate me, I am just the messenger. If i ever got my hands on an IPhone, I would just be spending my time trying to look cool (although I believe you dont have to try to hard with one in tow)

Wii Spray

2009-08-25T14:36:00.001+01:00

After reading a recent article in Wired about the Wii controller and seeing some pretty nifty stuff being done with the camera from the front I recently came across this.

The world of gaming has been revolutionised by the change in controller, for evidence of this simply see Microsofts new project Natal

Tweeting Brands - Will it scale?

2009-08-24T12:35:00.004+01:00

Well I am no expert on brand or certianly for that point marketing in general. However, I am as you may know a big fan of Twitter and have recently been watching a few brands enguage and connect with an audience using this very unique and special medium. I think it is safe to say that Twitter is still in its infancy when it comes to brand and advertising but from my point of view a few are starting to get there. (if there is a "there"!)

So what do I see is the difference? What is it that brand marketers try to do? Well I presume it is to get a few simple things happening?

Something like.......

a) Get people to try your product

b) Get people to talk about your product

c) Get people to remember your product

d) Get people to discover your product

e) Get people to recommend your product

Now before companies start to tweet they have presumably have their brand profile very clearly defined? With this in mind, the ones I see doing it best are the ones who are putting out their brand to their target audiences in the most subtle way. Yes, they can all offer feebies and competitions which yes to some extent will get people talking, but how long does it last. Is it known today and forgotton tomorrow? The ones doing it best are the ones that gain and keep followers, not just attract them with a shiny new competition.

There is also the case of where brands are enguaging to stop anything negative or at least turning a negative into a positve. Take one company for example who i know are searching hashtags and general statements about their brand and due to the fact that they supply a service (rather than a particular off the shelf product) they seem to be very fast to react to anything negative. Is this conducive to scaling? I am not so sure as the percentage of Twitter users actually getting support via this method is relativly small, however, should users realise that they can get support by simply enguaging with the brand directly on Twitter the numbers would increase rapidly probably in turn breaking their current "AdHoc" Twitter strategy. This all being said however, I do believe it will be possible to offer customer support over Twitter, the big question will be how this can be formally delivered.

So what about some others? MagnersUK for example are dealing with their users as "fans". This not only helps the people connect with the brand in a kind of "matey" way but also allows them to get more a definition of what the punters actually want. They also made a coup last week by sponsoring a #cozytweetup event that had been run in a London park. The purpose of the event seemed to be to connect likeminded people who shared a common interest in Twitter Now from what I saw and what seems to be said since, there appeared to be a fair few influential people at that event. It has been talked about heaviliy and to get you brand associated with something like that must be a plus. If you want to see for yourself, simply see the realtime results for tweets associated with this event --> click here .

So where is it all going? I will continue this subject at another time but in short, I think that the trick to staying ahead of the Twitter brand competition will be to make sure your model scales. The big thing I think people like about Twitter is that there is always (usually) going to be a real person on the other end of the tweet. If this is to continue then the human resource needs to be considered as well as any fancy and fandagled tools which may be developed. Tweet smart as some people may end up putting it.

Tech Support

2009-08-24T11:35:00.004+01:00

Do you work in IT?

Do you hear these questions often?

Why does my computer do this?

I was just working normally and it just happened.

It does this from time to time, i am just browsing the web and it all seems to go horribly wrong.

It seems that people believe that if you work in IT you must know the answers to everything. Well that is not the case. Most things can be found by simply having a look. Try the obvious routes, take a look if you can find out the answer first.

We are not geniuses, we simply follow the tech support cheat sheet - see it below and all will become clear.

Thanks to xkcd.com for such a simple analogy.

Yes, I know it is for fun - but its so true.

How to Market to the people who dont want to listen

2009-08-17T15:12:00.003+01:00

Have a great Product - its as simple as that.

I hear so much about marketing these days as everyone seems to be an expert. Thing is that if you have a great product then it will finally find its way to the right people. In the past it was word of mouth but in our new Web 2.0 and social media world, word of mouth is word of the web. Very powerful if your product is great. If your product is not great then run for cover, any amount of "clever" marketing is not going to save you.

Are you a Faux Weblebrity?

2009-07-28T10:33:00.005+01:00

A couple of times yesterday I have found myself having a Twitter Chitter* about blogging, Twitter faux celebrity users and generally how people engage with their audience. The first conversation occurred with @Mazi where he had posted a link to an article about people becoming celebrities by using Twitter. I liked the article and tweeted back to him that I thought some people actually thought they were a celebrity due to their Twitter following and acted accordingly.

So thinking further about this conversation I started to think of all of the blogs I have read over the years and up to present day and notice that the same has now become true for the blogosphere. Actually, with the Web 2.0 era we now seem to have the weblebrity and also the wannabe weblebrities.

So how does this occur? Firstly, I am delighted to say that some very smart people who may have been working in whatever job are now recognised as an expert in their area (even if this was a hobby it is possible to become well known as well knowing in a certain niche area). People are able to share their thoughts, theories and sometimes work with other like minded people which in turn may open up further channels of information and interest for people who beforehand would never have found it. The web is now a place not only to find what you are interested in but also to find other things you may be interested in that you didn’t even know about, all made possible by things such as blogs and apps such as Twitter.

So what about the weblebrity? As in the initial article tweeted by @Mazi, people have become famous to their following by doing something and anything that people are in to. Whether it be writing about something, tweeting random but likable one liners or actually drawing or photographing something in your interest area, if people like it, you will get a following and become that weblebrity (however minor or major). So what about the faux weblebrity or the wannabe. Well there are a lot of these people. They get wrapped up in the fact that they believe that people want to hear what they have got to say then gradually, slowly but surely turn into everything that is bad about actual celebrities.
So what are the traits? Well there are many. It is often possible to pick these up by just reading blogs or tweets and their tone but some of the more obvious ones are as follows:-

· They will only converse with other weblebrities, if you don’t have the following; I won’t @reply to your @reply.
· Start speaking about themselves in the third person
· Start saying things that prior to your deluded weblebrity status you would never have dreamed of and then actually believe that the listening public really want to hear this. E.g. “O the muesli or the corn flakes, o the decisions of my life”
· Start trying to prove how weblebrity you are and show your web 2.0 status. “Hey man check this site out, I was here before this [insert celeb name here], that must prove my credentials.

So why have I written all of this. Well it is to try to carve a hole in the idea and the world of at least the faux weblebrity. If someone is playing that game, tell them. Explain that they are not a celebrity but actually a [insert job title here]. Tell them to get off their high horse and stop talking about the good old days of the Internet and embrace the current world. Embrace the new people to the medium and give honest feedback based on what you are hearing rather than what convoluted opinions you have formulated from your many many years of Internet experience, or even worse check what someone else thinks (with greater weblebrity status) and actually regurgitate what they have said without actually giving credit to them.

So finally, encourage the right people to get involved. A good friend of mine @Davidintelbyrne asked yesterday if he should blog. David works for Intel and is currently working in the arena of Solid State Drives. This area is very interesting and by working for Intel, he really is at the front of this technology curve, so in answer to your question David, “do it!”, there will be loads of people interested in what you have to say.

* - Twitter Chitter – When Tweets turn into conversations.

Dont Read This

2009-07-21T16:43:00.003+01:00

People don't like to be told what to do. Even further they don't like to be told what not to do.

Now, I know this post is gonna annoy a lot of people (either that or they will see the funny side) and probably lose me a lot of readers but without a regular reading community I don't see that I actually lose anything.

There is some science to this and what happens will be included in a presentation that I may be giving some time in the future.

So please please please, don't post any comments.

Thanks for not reading this.

Oops - Time to join the TA (Twittereres Anonymous)

2009-07-21T10:58:00.004+01:00

Spotted this on Steve Claytons Blog recently. Looks like I am 79% addicted to Twitter.

I do believe this is very much the communication way of the future so not too worried.

If you are not on Twitter yet - give it a go, but be careful to use it in the correct way as some people just follow a path thinking it is a competition and it soon loses its appeal.

Go on - give it a go.

Created by The Oatmeal

Cloud Computing - What are you thinking?

2009-07-17T16:16:00.002+01:00

Newspapers charging for content

2009-07-17T14:56:00.002+01:00

So the big media question at the moment is whether the newspapers can charge for online content? I don't think so...... People are used to things being free on the Internet and unless some very clever charging system can be designed, this will not work.

The way we communicate news these days is actually changing so much with the real time world that things may be changing beyond all recognition anyway...

Avoiding the Failwhale - Virtual IT London

2009-07-14T16:41:00.002+01:00

IT services in London, UK and beyond

Brand

2009-07-12T18:00:00.009+01:00

Brand is one of the most powerful things around.

Keep this in mind when you buy anything, the badge does not instantly make it good (or bad).

Also, be very carefull what you put your own name to, it could cause some damage to your own brand.

More Twitter Cartoons - Good and bad tweets

2009-07-10T13:04:00.006+01:00

Spent a week away from technology last week and ended up drawing and writing about it. The following 2 sketches were done to invoke some sort of essence of Twitter and some good and bad ways people use it to get exposure for whatever it is they are wanting us all to hear...

New 80's Technology film

2009-06-30T12:33:00.004+01:00

Coming soon with a great cast is a film commissioned by the BBC to track back to the days where 32k was a lot of RAM and the IT market was dominated by hardware rather than software and OS's...

Really cannot wait for this as it is when I was growing up and first getting my love for technology....

http://bit.ly/18g6El

#FollowFriday

2009-06-24T16:21:00.004+01:00

Follow someone new today......

Top 5 ways to use a handheld / PDA

2009-06-23T17:00:00.003+01:00

As seen on public transport daily.....

No1. "The Wine Glass". holding up in front of you with one hand like clashing glasses. cheers

No2. "The Brick" holding the device down by your waist as far as it will stretch like it is really heavy.

No3 "The Keyboard" As it sends email this must be how to do it. place on flat surface and use index fingers to type.

No4. "The Secret Agent" One arm straight down by your side and eyes pointed down without moving head. Much like a sideways brick

No5. "the Gamer" Double thumb action where the handheld could be a GameBoy

Twitter Fever Everywhere

2009-06-20T11:14:00.002+01:00

All over the TV and press Twitter seems to be talked about at the moment.

It even appears to be on warning signs...... amazing, made me laugh

Web 2.0 the millionth word!!!

2009-06-10T22:45:00.004+01:00

I have just heard that the millionth word (or phrase apparently) to be counted is Web 2.0

http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2009/jun/10/english-million-word-milestone
http://tech.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090610/tc_nm/us_word_millionth_life_tech

I cannot believe this for so many reasons, firstly because it is not a word - but secondly and more importantly it is something which has slowly become a phrase for ridicule due to the amount of "web 2.0 experts" out there..... Just see my previous post from earlier today.....

I cannot tell you how ironic, funny and downright stupid this feels to me. When i next hear the mention of the Global Language Monitor again, I am afraid that will be followed by not much more than a chuckle.

Web 2.0

2009-06-10T15:51:00.003+01:00

When Search Evolved

2009-06-06T16:35:00.001+01:00

I have been watching with interest the intense activity in the search space in May. It seems like forever that Google has been dominant and the only way to get around the web is by using it.
The big question now really is whether any of the changes and additions to the search market are going to get traction, I will be watching with intense interest.

Bit of Friday fun - Introducing the Pie Phone

2009-06-05T10:12:00.002+01:00

You wont have a beef with this piece of technology......

Bit of Friday fun - introducing the Pie Phone

2009-06-05T10:12:00.000+01:00

You wont have a beef with this piece of technology......

Whats my TCO?

2009-06-04T17:34:00.001+01:00

Understanding the costs of It in an SME enviroment - Part 2

2009-06-04T16:59:00.002+01:00

Understanding the total cost of ownership (TCO) and making things more efficient

Taking all of the above into account it is possible to now try to put some form of value against the elements in question. Hardware and software are pretty competitive environments and thus it is now easy to compare these through comparisons with different suppliers, for this reason we will concentrate on the more complicated area of support and hidden costs.
If we take the support as split in to two key areas, we can get the following diagram :-

If we put the hardware and software in the middle we can then surround this with a support/service element. This has been split into scheduled and unscheduled which can be classed as proactive and reactive. The major question to ask here is that “will investing more in Proactive service decrease my total Cost of Ownership?” Below are some pointers to help you do this:-

Removing Hidden Costs

It is possible to remove hidden costs by investing in certain areas and getting the right support where it matters. It is also important to understand where your limits are and where your time is spent best. For example, if your car breaks down you may be tempted to fix it due to some knowledge you have gained in the past, this may be the same for your home computer. However, if i was to suggest that you try to look after the company car or van fleet, you would not even dream of trying. The same can be said for your IT estate, know your limits.

Minimise Downtime

As discussed earlier in this document downtime is essential, there are ways to mitigate this by increasing your proactive support. Reactive maintenance is usually in some form or another going to affect downtime, move to a proactive model and downtime should decrease. It is also prudent to select your hardware carefully. Having a piece of kit that has a full guarantee is not going to be great if it breaks every few weeks.

Minimise Distraction

It is possible to reduce the time you spend on managing IT and It suppliers to consider all options from the outset. What do your support contracts include? Is there any hidden charges which may need to be queried. Are additional charges going to force you to attempt a fix yourself (thus distracting you further?) How long are your strategies being formulated for and do they align with your business strategy (e.g. if you plan to grow by x% in the next 3 years, does your IT strategy allow for this growth?)

User Instigated Issues

Are your users trained appropriately? If they have an application query, does your service / support arrangement allow for this? Can they get answers quickly? Do you want them to have minimal admin rights over the systems?

Part 3 to come soon.... or find out more at http://www.virtualit.biz/

Understanding the costs of IT in an SME enviroment - Part 1

2009-06-04T11:09:00.006+01:00

Making informed decisions around your IT solution

IT Strategy often sounds a daunting phrase. This is whether it is considered for a large enterprise or small business. Depending on the nature of your business, this subject can mean many different things but in essence there is a core element to be considered by all. The purpose of this document is to discuss the core areas for any small business to understand, it is designed to assist you in decision making and forward planning from not just an IT standpoint but a financial one. When making IT decisions, it is imperative to consider the total cost of ownership of anything bought. Whether it be software or Hardware, there is always additional costs both obvious and hidden that need to be considered.

The Three key elements for Consideration

There are three main areas to consider from the outset when considering your IT requirements; these are Hardware, Software and Service / Support. By hardware we mean any physical piece of equipment associated with your IT, this could be the obvious things such as desktops or servers or something like a network switch, router or Uninterruptable Power Supply (UPS).
Next on the list for consideration is Software, examples of this can be the Operating system (e.g. Windows, Linux), some standard applications such as web browser, office applications or media player and some more business based examples such as Customer databases or complex design applications.
Finally at this point you should understand support and service. We can break down this area into many factors which will be discussed in more detail later however, the simple explanation of support is the maintenance / work required to setup your systems, keep them working and at the end of the lifetime, decommissioning them.

Understanding the different Service and Support Options

Types of support include:-
· Hardware manufacturer warranties.
· Local break fix IT support companies usually concentrating on reactive IT maintenance.
· Software manufacturer support
· Fully Managed Service
The importance of understanding these elements is to work out what hidden costs could be incurred from using a certain option. For example, if you take out a support agreement on your hardware with a 24 hour turnaround, what will the user do if their machine goes wrong, wait for an engineer.

It is possible to use a mix of the above service and support options, the key is to understand what the implications of each are and where to spend your money. In some instances it is also possible to get a service level agreement. This is important when attempting to calculate possible hidden costs.

Understanding the basic IT Life cycle

Now we have itemised the three core areas associated with any IT decision it is possible to draw up a flow diagram to show the full life cycle of any piece of IT hardware or Software. This diagram designed to show this in its simplest form.

Purchase and Finance
The initial point when you purchase a new piece of hardware or software. Also included in this area is whether this piece of hardware is to be bought outright or leased over a specific period of time

Install
Actually getting the hardware or software installed in working order

Ongoing Management
Ongoing management of hardware and software items – both proactive and reactive

Decommission and Recycle
It is important to consider what happens when a piece of hardware or software reaches the end of its life. Considerations such as the WEEE directive on disposal of IT hardware need to be considered

Understanding Hidden Costs

There are also areas for consideration which are effectively hidden, by hidden I mean that they do not have a bottom line figure or price assigned to them. There is no exact formula for working these elements but it is often the case that they can be affected by the level and standard of your support and service.

Downtime

If a user is unable to work for any reason, this can be deemed as downtime. Downtime can be localised to a single user (hardware or software not working) or spread across a whole network Server failure or Internet outage). Downtime will often be scheduled but also in most instances is unscheduled (otherwise it probably wouldn’t have happened in the middle of a working day). The measurement of downtime should be made on a per user basis and can be easily calculated based on the operational costs and salary for that user.

Distraction

By distraction we mean the time incurred for a member of non it staff trying to get a fix to a problem. This could be a user calling a helpdesk or an MD or FD talking to their IT supplier once a month and querying invoices. There is also the instance where certain users can be considered internally as “super users” whether this is by job role or just because they happen to be proficient with IT, it is time out of their daily work.

User Instigated Issues

People tend to tinker with their work computers in the same way as they do their home machines. Changing fonts, adding desktop pictures, installing funky applications can waste time. In some instances it can also instigate a helpdesk call which in turn reduces workers efficiency. Also in this area we should consider the use of a desktop for non business reasons such as browsing the web for a new holiday or sending personal emails.

Understanding the different Service and Support Options Available

Types of support include:-
· Hardware manufacturer warranties.
· Local break fix IT support companies usually concentrating on reactive IT maintenance.
· Software manufacturer support
· Fully Managed Service
The importance of understanding these elements is to work out what hidden costs could be incurred from using a certain option. For example, if you take out a support agreement on your hardware with a 24 hour turnaround, what will the user do if their machine goes wrong, wait for an engineer.

It is possible to use a mix of the above service and support options, the key is to understand what the implications of each are and where to spend your money. In some instances it is also possible to get a service level agreement. This is important when attempting to calculate possible hidden costs.

Part 2 coming soon....... or see more at http://www.virtualit.biz/

Its a Big Small World

2009-05-19T22:05:00.005+01:00

Question: -

They wont see this coming!!!!

2009-05-19T11:05:00.002+01:00

Number 2 point zero Sofessional Networking Avenue (click image for full screen)

2009-05-18T22:54:00.005+01:00

There is a lot of bad marketing out there

2009-05-18T17:08:00.003+01:00

Who will be the first to walk around with a tin of red paint and a brush and try to slap "MUG" on all our heads???

#Webfatigue

2009-05-18T11:59:00.003+01:00

Am seeing more and more people deciding to remove themselves from the digital world for a period of time. This is usually for the weekend and was wondering if this was a new trend.

Are people now using the internet more for thier work that it losing its appeal on a personal basis?

Is it that people are just going back to the "old school" and just wanting to actually do something other than excercise their fingers at the weekend?

Or is it the new trendy thing to do. Using Twitter you can see a more realistic view of people jumping on bandwagons and doing things as they think it is cool.

Is there now the scope for the secret internet surfer who is offically "offline" but actually secretly feeding their web addiction......

Dsicus.......

Sofessional Networking - you heard it here first!!!

2009-02-26T14:53:00.002Z

I have always wanted to coin a phrase that goes on to be used by people the world over. This got me thinking recently about this whole blog, tweet, professional / social networking culture thing....

There is no real name for it... not even sure I ever agreed with Social Networking being suitable for this whole area but there you go, it is here.

So..... Should it be Procial Networking, Sofessional networking, Procio Networking???

Not sure, think that Sofessianal Networking fits nicest though so here goes....

Kinda Works... Anyone else think so???

IT Support in a downturn

2009-02-06T13:22:00.005Z

Does an economic downturn cause a company to require more or less IT Support per user? I have an answer but have posed the question here and elsewhere for other opinions first.

Are browsers and Operating systems getting closer together?

2009-02-04T16:51:00.003Z

I recently posed the following question on Linkedin and it caused some quite different views.

Will the Internet Browser and OS slowly merge into one or will competition laws prevent this?

Looking at the competition in the browser market, the evolution of Netbooks and the talk around cloud computing, is there a possibility that in the same way smaller computing devices are merging with mobile devices, browsers and OS's become one and the same? With all the change in the market, will things be viewed differently than simply shipping an OS with a "preferred" browser?

See the answers here

People Power is back

2009-02-02T09:51:00.002Z

Over the last week I have been getting in to using Twitter. Have read a lot about the application and its real world examples of its innovative and lightning fast nature (see - first picture of the Hudson River accident). I have started thinking about this and it takes me back to the coffee pot experiment when I was at university and a lecturer was excitably talking about the Trojan room coffee pot in Cambridge university. This seemed such a crazy and pointless thing to do but in pure geek speak it was pretty cool, if not a little bit “techie”. Look at this now there is a webcam for everything and their use and appeal is massive. My feeling right now of the web is similar to what it was then, people are really starting to think outside the box and come up with something new. The advertisers had taken over to some extent but I think the future of the web is down to true ingenuity rather than ultra impressive. There will still be a place for these “high production cost” but I think the balance is with the people at the moment.

Links

UK Snow map #snow – see it here
The Coffee pot was bought in an online auction, refurbished by the manufacturer and is back on the web…. See it here (crazy but cool!)

Welcome to Twitter

2009-01-28T16:07:00.003Z

OK, so it is official, I have succumb to the twitter bug..... (see what i did there ;). There has been a lot of talk about this in the UK this week but think it is the opportunity of being able to report live news should i one day be in the middle of something massive.
Will be interesting if this becomes any use to me and like the viewers of the blog (not very many) it Will be interesting to see if people actually view it.

Google Puts The Squeeze On Free Apps - How successful will Google Apps be in a business environment?

2009-01-27T12:25:00.001Z

Google has been making a lot of noise recently about its applications delivered over the web. The big question in my mind is to whether the concept will be taken up en mass by users but also by partners to resell the service. The big question I think Google have to answer themselves is to when they will settle on how they are going to do things. The following article delves deeper into how the goal posts have changed over time.

read more | digg story

Users or Suppliers to Hamper the Cloud and SaaS?

2009-01-12T16:50:00.004Z

I have been doing some comment recently on Cloud Computing and SaaS and where it will and will not take off. The major question in my mind is whether the take up of cloud computing is going to be restricted by customers not willing to take up services or software vendors not willing to change their business models to at least encapsulate a hosted offering.

Their are a lot of factors to consider for a vendor when creating a hosted model, most namely:-

Can the software be hosted easily with its current code?
Would we do this directly or through partners?
Is there a call for this?
How will my profit margins and sale projections change?

Their is also the "greyer" factors to consider when looking at this and to whether the channel situated below the software company can actually handle selling a hosted offering and whether introducing it would require new suppliers into that channel or whether current partners can adapt and take on this as an extra route to market.

In my opinion, the predicted surge of cloud computing will depend on whether these factors have been considered in detail prior to this year. There is a long road to be driven before launching a SaaS / Cloud / Hosted solution and the strategy will have to be taken on long before a delivery can be realised.

Happy Holidays from Steve Ballmer

2008-12-18T17:01:00.004Z

I attended a presentation in London this year where Steve Ballmer CEO of Microsoft was talking. For those who were there or have ever seen him talk before, I must say he was captivating. Whether it is his experience or being a part of the biggest Software revolution in the history of computers that gives him such presence I don't know, but what I can say is his way to deliver a speech was second to none.

Anyway, as part of that speech, he said that he replies to all mails personally and does not actually get that many in a day. Wanting to put this to the test, I recently mailed him and low and behold a reply. Not sure if it came from a secretary but certainly know it came from somewhere in his office.

So.....

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

From: Steve Ballmer Sent: 17 December 2008 22:54To: Bryn MorganSubject: RE: Holiday Message

Thanks for your note

To all the customers and staff of Virtual IT, I wish you great holidays and a happy New Year!

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

I think I am going to start a new theme - how accessible are the people at the top of the biggest companies? I wouldn't expect much back as a reply but I am looking to pose questions to them all. Any suggestions of targets would be greatly appreciated.

And of course, in addition to Steve's note, Happy Holiday from me :)

And a special hi to Steve - thanks for the reply......

(Try to) See the World's Tiniest Optical Mouse!

2008-12-17T14:32:00.001Z

Love the pointlessness of this but following on from the birthday of the mouse recnetly, I thought this post would be a good one.

read more | digg story

Good news for Pub Quizzers!!! - Wikipedia Officially Launches Mobile Version

2008-12-16T10:38:00.002Z

Obviously Pub Quizes are intended to be fun and not highly competitive sporting events. : )Cannot help thinking that one of those "I have made it" measures has to be being included in Wikipedia. Obviously this doesnt count if you include yourself...

read more | digg story

Happy Birthday to the mouse

2008-12-10T16:52:00.004Z

Today is the 40th anniversary of the humble computer mouse. It was originally invented by Douglas Engelbart as part of a larger project on Augmenting Human Intellect. As with most of these things it was not being designed with its current mass market use in mind but if we look at the statistics, it has come a long way in terms of "units shipped".
Thinking about this technology brings me on to other interfaces we use in day to day life. The keyboard for example was designed to slow us down (to stop typewriter key arms jamming) and has never changed since. The effect here is down to people getting used to what they are given and what becomes universally accepted. We obviously still use keyboards and mice as they are what we see as our normal input devices, there are devices out there that can compete on all levels (that's a different conversation) but to get them taken on as the norm, they have to ship a lot of devices to get recognition. Another factor about these devices is their ease of use, if you could get a device that could help you input to a computer 5 times faster but took 1 week to be fully trained on, would you go for it???

The point I am trying to get to here is that something is deemed the norm when it is used by a mass market, this does not necessarily make it the best at achieving that task. I am not here to judge technology against similar products but I will pose a few questions.

Is Windows the best OS?
Has a TFT screen got a better picture that a CRT? (or is space more important)
Is processing power better on the desk in front of you or out in the cloud?
Will the mouse and keyboard ever be replaced en mass?

Just on a final point. The mouse got its name obviously due to its shape and likeness to a rodent in shape and size especially as the cord used to come from the back to fit the description representing the tail.

Clouds, Networks and Recessions (CXO Europe)

2008-12-04T16:18:00.001Z

An article about how dynamic infrastructure will be required to support new enterprise initiatives including virtualization and cloud computing.

read more | digg story

Managed Services to help through Economic Downturn?

2008-12-04T12:30:00.000Z

I think that most of us are agreed that as a business we simply cannot do without our technology. Without going down the full techie route or commenting more on gadgets, I would say that in short a company’s basic needs in their technology are, PC, Software (spreadsheet, word processor, email client as the minimal), File storage, Backup of file storage, Security (firewall, V Checker etc), connection to the outside world and underlying support of some level. If I was to ask you to detail these costs for the last year, it may be easy. Potentially with a bit of work this could be done for the last 3 years or even further. The key question is what can you predict for the next 3 years?

· Do you take the last 3 as a guide?
· Do you presume prices are going down so reduce the budget by x%?
· Do you expect to spend on a system in the future as “something has to be done”?
· Do you have agendas or strategies outside of the above basic requirements?

If we take into account the current economic difficulties, you could also ask the following questions:-

· Should we put off planned spend to keep CapEx down?
· Should we try to “sweat” systems out for longer?
· Over and above the basic requirements, is there a specific ROI we can assign next to a proposed solution?

So where does this all leave you? If you are asking the above questions and to some extent struggling to fully answer them you could be in need of a managed service provider. Outsourcing your basic needs can lead to more time to work on your business which, after all, is what pays the bills in the first place. It can also put the onus of cost into an OpEx budget. If you plan to scale and really want to grow, wouldn’t it be better to defer that spend until the actual requirement is there?
Managed service providers will often offer a fixed fee for your specific needs. If something breaks or something does not work properly, it is covered. Also, spending can be spread and predicted for a fixed length of time. Strategies can be drawn up and aligned to your basic needs. Basically, it is covered
More comment on the above can be found in the article below.

http://www.itproportal.com/articles/2008/11/27/managed-services-providing-way-through-tricky-economic-times/

Virtual IT provides a fully managed service tailored to small to medium sized businesses.

Addicted to Mobile

2008-12-01T15:37:00.004Z

I saw this article today on Digg and it brought me back to a conversation I had not long ago about the addictiveness of mobile devices and the message facilities that they bring with them and also how the evolution of social networking has made us ask some funny questions of each other.

http://digg.com/gadgets/I_am_a_Blackberry_addict_and_have_a_problem_Y_Answers

The name Crackberry has been around for a long time now to refer to the addictive nature of the Blackberry device. People put mobile phones on silent but then spend the next few hours momentarily checking them. We get people texting to ask if we "got their text" or even phoning to check that you "Got their email". Then there is those rather strange conversations I sometimes find myself having in the pub. "Are you on Facebook?", and "its great, I have 189 friends now!". Not having a facebook account I see this as rather strange but I am rightfully informed that it is great for "keeping in touch with those you have lost touch with" Mmmmm, at least some of those people I may have accidentally on purpose lost touch with so will stick to my other methods of communication for now :)

So couple the above situations with the new and emerging technologies such as GPS and Twitter et al and soon, I we may have friends who know what we are doing before we do, even to the point where they can watch us go along our daily life in real time and basically eliminate any possibility of the "I am working late Darling" excuse for "nipping for a swift half".

Going back to the conversation i recently had, my friend asked me where we would be without mobiles today and my answer was simply this:- "We would be on time, where we are supposed to be and not walking down the road doing the Mobile Macarena whenever the thing rings in whatever pocket it happens to be in today".

Buying or selling a SaaS product

2008-11-26T12:28:00.001Z

I have been talking over the past few days about decision making for a SaaS product and the impact technologies such as Virtualisation are having upon organisations IT budgets. Obviously different companies look at this differently but from my experience, to some extent, IT departments will have a) some (if not all) control over budgets assigned to systems and technology and will also become heavily involved with any decision being made around new systems and products being purchased for the business. It is also key at this point to consider where the money is actually coming from, Operational Expenditure ,or more traditionally Capital Expenditure. Due to the nature of traditional IT projects, Hardware, Licencing and Project Costs will be heavy upfront with the supplier only charging a low percentage of the overall costs on an ongoing basis. Taking into account companies underlying infrastructure, this can be summarised int he diagram below.

In a SaaS scenario, pricing and costs are worked in a totally different way. The service provider invests in infrastructure and generally delivers the application or suite of applications on an ongoing cost model, much as a mobile phone or land line service would work. In fact, if you remove the contracts in the mobile scenario (which are actually only put in place due to the upfront hardware you are given) this is exactly the same with the ability to turn the service on or on a monthly basis.With products such as this, and the delivery of the product "Over the Cloud" there is very little need for upfront expenditure. What this means is that companies can look at the costs for this service as an operating cost and as such, the decision making process also moves away from the IT department and into the separate business units as it is their operating budget being directly affected. This new Scenario can be visualised in the diagram below.

What this means is that whether you are a service provider looking at delivering SaaS/Cloud products or a company looking at potentially subscribing to one of these systems, decide where the decisions are going to be made and where the money is coming from as this may be different to what you are used to.

Virtual IT Ranked 289th in the EMEA fast 500 Awards!

2008-11-26T10:58:00.000Z

So we came 289th in the fast 500 list last night. Very pleasing and not a bad addition to last years 14th place. Had a great evening and got to "do something new today" again by going into the Media Centre at Lords cricket ground for the first part of the event. Always wondered what it was like inside this place and am sure to be heard quoting in the future "Been in there".

The event and dinner was very well staged with a lot of different countries represented (22 i think). It is a great honour for Virtual IT to be listed again and all credit to the great team in getting the company this far.

Virtual IT makes list for the second year

2008-11-25T14:06:00.002Z

So it is day 2 of the blog and thought that if I am going to succeed with blogging on a regular basis I just have to post. So today is Deloitte Fast 500 day. My Company Virtual IT has for the second year running been listed in the Deloitte Fast 50 list to recognise the fastest growing technology companies in the UK. Tonight is the MEA dinner so fingers crossed for us appearing as high as possible in the 500 list. The list this year is a interesting as ever with lots of varying types of companies listed. Some I like are Broadbean Technology who develop some really interesting software for the recruitment industry, Miniclip who make some great online games and Content and Code who are doing some really great things with SharePoint.

New to Blogging

2008-11-24T18:19:00.001Z

I often get asked to comment or talk on certain subjects....

Leave your feedback here, comment here, be the first to say what you think, can you give a presentation on, what do you think of x, y, the price of fish, did you see the game, who is your favourite, where did you learn, what is the best, etc etc etc etc etc etc. As quite a talkative person I find it generally easy to answer questions like the above (usually whether i know what i am talking about or not, I always like a conversation :), the toughie from now on however is going to be picking subjects to write on that people are actually going read and be interested in so if you have any thoughts as the weeks go by please let me know.

The aim of this blog is to discuss and comment on a major part of my life to date, technology. I will likely end up talking about subjects closer to my job at times, (Managed Services to SME's) but do intend to comment on both consumer and business technology.

So there it is - my first blog post ever....

That's something new done today! :)