Microsoft Fuels Cisco's Jump Back in On Demand?

It looks like Microsoft's new On Demand Initiative [Covered in other posts below] is reviving, via lot's of marketing money back into the advertising stream, core technology providers interest in Software as a Service.

Cisco has linked up [no pun intended] to MCI/Verizon in an effort to simplify LAN services for SMB's. In the same breath it looks like they are reviving Hosted hardware efforts via programs caled Linksys One.

Red Herring Article

In the article, there is no real mention of any software. So the interesting part will be what companies are going to do with the Hosted services, in terms of fast hardware deployment [IE 1hr, etc..]. It looks like an immediate focus on Telecom.

Article from Cisco Site

If/When they expand, I imagine all SMB's, and pretty much all AEC companies due to the migratory nature of business, would still face a lot of challenges in configureing the platform to do anything useful. With AEC particulalry, the issue does not seem to be the complexity as much as the onsite availablility of any one at all.

In any case, looks like a good re-emphasis on the On-Demand initiatives that have been on cruise control until companies like Salesforce, Microsoft, Oracle, etc.. started to re-market the catch phrases late this year.

It's What You Can do with it that Counts

I found this recent article on "The unforgettable Peter Drucker". It's a good run down on a very simple state of On Demand services as well as the IT business in general. Many of the applications I am involved with, others and our own, have always been about what you can get out of them. The AEC Industry's tactile nature also lends itself to habitually looking for the usefullness of something in terms of deliverables.

Making them faster, easier to use, etc... are all great things for which I have seperate commentary, but it's what you get out of them, via reporting, email, feeds, etc...and how usable that information is that tends to be the winner... Basically, keep your eye on the prize, not per say the rules of the competition.

The unforgettable Peter Drucker by ZDNet's Phil Wainewright -- The management guru, who passed away yesterday, foretold the rise of Web 2.0 in an analogy to the fifteenth-century printing industry.

The Evolution of the AEC Application Service Provider or Utility Company

I wrote this article in January 2005 for Constructech Magazine.

You have to log in and read the full article..

"Imagine receiving an invoice each month for using Microsoft Office. For example on the first of the month you would receive a bill very similar to your electricity or water bill, only it would be for software. This bill would say that you used Outlook 175 times, Word 50 times, Excel 30 times, and PowerPoint five times... "

Any niche AEC search engines?

Read the Original Article

What is 'real-time' collaboration?

Read Original Article

WebOffice

Extranet Evolution WebOffice Article

Google Base: What might Google be up to?

Google Base: What might Google be up to? by ZDNet's Garett Rogers -- Google is smart, they know what they want, and more importantly they know what people want. The answer to both is "information" and "money". Looking at both of these "wants", they must decide how they can do this and stick to their "do no evil" guns.

What can Google do for Open Office

What can Google do for Open Office by ZDNet's Garett Rogers -- The question isn't "What can Open Office do for Google?", it's "What can Google do for Open Office?"

Will Google Base have an API?

Will Google Base have an API? by ZDNet's Garett Rogers -- Most of Google's services have an API that allow developers to create their own applications around those services. Will Google Base be any different?

What is Google Base?

What is Google Base? by ZDNet's Garett Rogers -- From when the service was live, briefly, here is what Google says Google Base will be used for: Google Base is Google’s database into which you can add all types of content. We’ll host your content and make it searchable online for free.Examples of items you can find in Google Base: Description of your party [...]

Microsoft's on-demand strategy is barely twitching

Microsoft's on-demand strategy is barely twitching by ZDNet's Phil Wainewright -- Steve Ballmer believes a 'short twitch' innovation cycle is once every nine months. For an on-demand vendor, that's not a short twitch cycle, it's a death twitch cycle.

Will Skype plug eBay into on-demand services?

Will Skype plug eBay into on-demand services? by ZDNet's Phil Wainewright -- People are used to the idea of paying by the minute for their phone services. It's the ideal platform for introducing the notion of payment for online content and services.

Hosted Office? Been there, done that, no thanks!

Hosted Office? Been there, done that, no thanks! by ZDNet's Phil Wainewright -- Take it from me, no one in their right minds who has a choice will ever voluntarily opt for an exclusively hosted desktop.

Fixing bugs, the on-demand way

Fixing bugs, the on-demand way by ZDNet's Phil Wainewright -- Bugs in on-demand applications get fixed fast, sometimes in less time than you'd spend just holding to get through to tech support at on-premises vendors.

How many times over should you pay for software?

How many times over should you pay for software? by ZDNet's Phil Wainewright -- Old-school software developers believe that creating great software is a service for which they should be rewarded, year in, year out. On-demand vendors know they have to give users more.

Let the great Microsoft mash-up begin

Let the great Microsoft mash-up begin by ZDNet's Phil Wainewright -- Today's announcement of Microsoft's "live era" is a holding operation. Announcing an offering that doesn't exist yet is a ploy to buy time while the vendor brings it into being.

Microsoft building a fully Web-based Office?

Microsoft building a fully Web-based Office? by ZDNet's Richard MacManus -- A "Microsoft insider" was asked which other products and services Microsoft would host and the reply was: "Everything. Hosted Office. Everything hosted." Ahem, can anyone say Web 2.0 Office?