Interview With an AWS Cloud Champion
Allow me to introduce a good friend, Peter Sankauskas, who I met through the AWS cloud community. Our level of cloud experience evolved with the expansion of the cloud, Amazon in particular, and we have both become prominent members of the AWS community. Having learned more about open source and development, I’d like to focus on the […]
Blogging for the Hell of It, Not Blogging to Stay Relevant
I used to love blogging. For me it was always a creative outlet. I love sitting down – often in “one take*” like a classic film – and capturing what was on my mind at the moment. What I loved about it was that my thoughts were instantly in the ether, I would get quick […]
Why Titles Matter a Lot if You’re a Blogger
Gabe Rivera wrote a post on why TechMeme is now using its editors to curate titles that appear on its site. Gabe’s post appears first on TechMeme’s website, which must mean Gabe has paid off some TechMeme editors to get his story to rise to the top. I never saw it go out with a […]
TechCrunch Wrote a Post, Oracle got Pissy. Sigh
So Alex Williams (a great guy, good friend and awesome cloud pundit) wrote a post a week or two ago entitled “Why The Open Cloud Wins And Oracle Loses When IT Gets Virtualized.” (subtle huh?) Oracle wasn’t overly happy at Alex’s comments and counter posted saying that “TechCrunch is Clueless about Oracle Cloud.” So… some […]
B2B Startup Marketing | Blog Your Way to Leads
B2B startup marketing is tough. It used to be that you could polish off a high level message and a slide deck and let the salesperson handle it from there. Today, online marketing is the primary driver of revenue at the typical B2B startup. The new breed of B2B buyer expects your online content to […]
Innovation Culture Eats R&D for Breakfast
Research and development is a mainstay of the innovation strategy for companies. And with good reason. R&D can invent new products and technologies that redefine markets. Think electricity, telephones, airplanes, semiconductors, the Internet. R&D can pave the way for whole new industries. Exciting, for sure! But there’s a problem. Too many companies treat R&D as […]
Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies 2011: Idea Management Enlightenment
We’re movin’ on up…. Last year, Gartner released its Hype Cycle for Emerging Technologies 2010. Idea Management, included in the analysis, was placed at the latter part of the Trough of Disillusionment. Tough name, although not as dire as it sounds. Rather, a transitional stage in the market evolution of a technology. Still, that part […]
Getting Innovation Results from Our Cognitive Surplus
What is an organization’s most underused, most under-appreciated asset? Its brand? No, that’s well-utilized and appreciated. Its customers’ loyalty. Some would argue for that one, but it’s not a pervasive issue. Its distribution network? Not really. Its cash? No, CFOs take care of that. It’s their employees’ cognitive surplus. The stuff between their ears that […]
The Death of the Feed
I remember in 2001 when I first heard about RSS. Back then, we still called them weblogs, and there were so few blogs that it was news when a new one started. For example, I distinctly remember reading excitedly about a promising new VC blogger named Jeff Nolan from SAP Ventures. At first, I just […]
Innovation Thrives between the Lines of Chaos and Control
Innovation killer #4: Create an obstacle course for ideas. Guaranteed way to kill the innovative spirit? Model your processes on Kafka’s The Trial or your typical parking clerk’s office. CIO Magazine, July 24, 2007 On the heels of the SpigitFusion release, I’ve had the opportunity to hear from a number of people on the topic […]
Have any companies successfully deployed game mechanics in enterprise situations?
Game mechanics are a popular subject these days. With good reason, as they have an important role in the future of participation and work. Which was covered here previously in Reputation and Game Mechanics Are the Future of Social Software. Seeing the uptick of game mechanics in leading edge consumer apps, curiosity not surprisingly turns […]
Model for Employee Innovation: Amazon Prime Case Study
As more organizations expand the innovation mandate throughout their workforce, creating and maintaining an ongoing employee innovation program is critical. Sustainable innovation requires a process, not a haphazard, random luck approach. To that end, a useful model to follow is: The different activities address important aspects of innovation, from eliciting tacit ideas inside people’s heads… Read More
Innovation Mullet: Simple in the Front, Complex in the Back
On a LinkedIn discussion, someone asked: “Structured or un-structured innovation. Which works better?” There are a number of ways that could be answered. I look at it this way: What’s the simplest structure you can live with? I’m focusing on the application of simplicity as much possible in the innovation process. But I’m also a […]
Central Desktop Rolls Out Big Changes to their UI
Central Desktop (more on them here) is today unveiling version 2.0 of its offering that is delivering an entire new user interface for it’s customers. A quick update on the past year for Central Desktop: 44% year-over-year growth in revenue (gross bookings) Employee growth from 20 to 30 employees Hundreds of new Enterprise Edition customers […]
Would You Manage CRM with a Wiki?
Or human resources with a blog? How about project management with forums? Funny questions to ask, no doubt. Of course it’s not possible to effectively address many of the critical business functions using basic Enterprise 2.0 tools. Yet when it comes to social software, it often seems that the only game in town is to […]
