Putting people first. #microsoft #google #privacy

Google has announced changes that have a big impact on the way privacy of its users is managed. Microsoft has published a response on the Offical Microsoft blog :

During the last week or so, there has been a fair amount of discussion about how Google is making some unpopular changes to some of its most popular products. You can see some of the concerns and worries about lack of choice and so on in these links.

When we read the coverage last week, it was clear people were honestly wrestling with the choices that had been made for them and were looking for options or alternatives.

The changes Google announced make it harder, not easier, for people to stay in control of their own information. We take a different approach – we work to keep you safe and secure online, to give you control over your data, and to offer you the choice of saving your information on your hard drive, in the cloud, or on both.

Source : Official Microsoft Blog

CRN : Microsoft Office365–Best Cloud Application of 2011 #msonline #office365

CRN has published an overview of their ‘15 Best Product for 2011’. Office365 is their pick for best Cloud Application :

Cloud Application: Office 365

Microsoft launched its cloud-based service for Exchange, SharePoint and Lync -- with support for online versions of its Office franchise -- with ultra-competitive pricing starting at $6 per month per user. Enterprises can be up and running with full functionality within minutes, it can be managed in-house or remotely by resellers, and we found it to be uber-flexible and compelling. It’s the real deal, and it blows away Google Apps.

Remarkable also that other then the highlighted text no mention of Google product / service anywhere in the whole overview.

Source : CRN.com

Daar moet Google toch een beetje van wakker liggen

Bron: AllthingsD , screenshot van Microsoft’s Analyst meeting.

eWeek : Google's Strategy to Be Everything to Everyone = FAIL

eWeek has posted an interesting perspective on Google’s (true) business model. Some people call it innovation whereas this article calls it sort of the 1000 routes to advertising …

… Do you fear Google has its ladle in too many drinking wells online, so much so that it had diluted the company's quality? Are Google's only strengths search and advertising? These are important questions whose answers may well determine the company's future.

Jean-Louis Gassée, general partner for Allegis Capital normally focuses on the mobile ecosystem, but he has just published a nifty little analysis of Google's strategy of being everything to everyone, or as he calls it less eloquently: "Google's SOE (Strategy of Everything)."

Gassée compares Google's variegated Web services buckets as a periodic table. Actually, he uses Google's own API/code table to make his argument:

Click to view Google Periodic Table of Web Services

The breadth of Google's Web coverage is as astounding as it is fallible. I believe Gassée is correct when he observes that quality falls when companies try to fill too many gaps in the ecosystem. More on that later. Let's look at Google's raison d'etre, as Gassée added this salient point:

Google's one and only goal is to sell advertising. The path to this goal requires ''radiation pressure'': Google wants to make sure we don't escape their ads. They want to insert themselves into all aspects of our lives, to find out much as they can about as many aspects, activities, and relationships as possible.

…

Continue at source : eWeek.com

Webwereld: Google weigert data in Europa te houden

Dit artikel verscheen afgelopen week op webwereld en dat zet je wel aan het denken :

Zonde dat een onderwerp wat zo belangrijk is voor de acceptatie van cloud computing zo wordt neergezet door een bedrijf dat pretendeert een drijvende kracht achter cloud computing te zijn. Ik vond dit echt een historische quote :

“Google ziet het heel simpel. We bieden geen villa die je zelf kan inrichten, maar een standaard ingericht appartement in onze flat. Daarmee heb je alle voordelen van de cloud tegen bodemprijzen. Onze menukaart is beperkt, maar je kunt toch weg? Dan moet je verder niet zeiken”, aldus Schouten.

Samantha Peter, bij Google Europa verantwoordelijk voor de educatie sector bevestigd nog maar eens dat Google echt geen hoge pet op heeft van de eisen en wensen van hun klanten op juridisch vlak. Als een klant het doet volgt de rest wel :

Een één-schaap-over-de-dam strategie, bevestigt Samantha Peter, die over de onderwijsmarkt gaat. “Je hebt een a twee early adopters nodig en dan volgen anderen, dat werkt in het onderwijs en ook op de commerciële markt.”

Volgens Google is het hameren op datalocatie vooral een nostalgische emotie. “Onze boodschap is: het lost echt geen problemen op. Wat willen ze er mee bereiken? We zien dat er universiteiten voor Google kiezen, zonder dat ze eisen dat hun data in Europa blijft. Die scheppen een precedent en dan kunnen anderen zich afvragen hoe belangrijk deze kwestie nu eigenlijk is. Er zitten twee kanten aan de medaille. We zouden het kunnen doen, maar wellicht is het over een jaar minder belangrijk en is al de helft van de universiteiten gemigreerd,” aldus Peter.

Bron : webwereld.nl

Je vraagt je af hoe bestaande klanten van Google, die juist hebben aangegeven dat de juridische aspecten van cloud computing zo belangrijk vinden, zich voelen.

Neem nou Open Universiteit die in een computable artikel benadrukte hoe belangrijk zij de juridische aspecten vinden :

Privacy van studenten

De juridische kant van de zaak was echter een echter breinbreker. "Google heeft niet zo'n goede naam in Europa, met name waar het het het scannen van de inhoud van berichten en de bewaartermijn van gegevens betreft. De mailadressen van onze studenten zijn opgebouwd uit hun voorletters en achternaam. Dat zijn persoonsgegevens volgens de Wet Bescherming Persoonsgegevens."

Dat Google een Amerikaans bedrijf is maakte de zaak daarnaast niet eenvoudiger. Hoofd Juridische ondersteuning van de OU, Jan Engels: "Google wil zijn contracten sluiten naar Amerikaans recht. Daarnaast staat de site van Google vol met allerlei verwijzingen naar contractvoorwaarden. Het is wel verstandig om die allemaal goed door te nemen. Dat kost veel tijd. Daarnaast speelde het probleem dat Google volledig naar Amerikaans recht redeneerde, terwijl we hier van doen hebben met Nederlands privacyrecht."

De OU besloot juridisch advies in te winnen bij een advocaat die gespecialiseerd was in internationaal contractenrecht en die op zijn beurt een Amerikaanse collega heeft gevraagd te adviseren bij de tot stand koming van dit contract. Daarnaast vroeg de OU informeel advies aan het College Bescherming Persoonsgegevens (CBP).

Ondubbelzinnige toestemming

Helwig: "Het CBP vertelde ons dat we in dit geval ‘ondubbelzinnige toestemming' nodig hebben van studenten voor het rechtmatig gebruik van hun voorletters en achternaam. We hebben dus al onze studenten een brief gestuurd met de vraag of we die mochten gebruiken voor de aanmaak van een Gmail-adres." Vier procent van de studenten gaf geen toestemming. Zij krijgen de OU-post nu op een privé-mailadres bezorgd.

Ook bedong de OU, met hulp van de ingehuurde advocaat, dat Google de bewaartermijn van persoonsgegevens (in dit geval voorletters en achternaam) bekortte. Daarnaast kwamen de twee partijen overeen dat er geen advertenties zouden worden geplaatst naast Gmail-berichten.

Bron : Computable.nl

Of Universiteit Utrecht, ondanks dat zij aangeven in een artikel over cloud computing dat het conformeren aan Safe Harbour op zich voldoende is voor hun studenten

De Universiteit Utrecht (ruim 7000 medewerkers, bijna 30.000 studenten) implementeert momenteel Gmail van Google voor haar studenten. Corporate Information Security Officer René Ritzen: ‘Met Gmail kunnen we de studenten tegen minder kosten meer functionaliteit bieden, met name opslagcapaciteit. Een heet hangijzer was wel de privacybescherming. Hoewel Google geen garantie geeft over de plaats van opslag, conformeert het bedrijf zich wel aan de EU safe harbour privacy principes. Dat houdt in dat Google een bij de EU passend beschermingsniveau biedt. Voor e-mailverkeer van studenten vinden we dat voldoende. Zij kunnen hun mail overigens ook laten forwarden naar een andere provider. Voor e-mail van medewerkers willen we wél minimaal de garantie dat deze in de EU wordt opgeslagen.'

Privacy, lokatie van data, wet- en regelgeving zijn zeer belangrijke aspecten en in mijn optiek vormen ze de basis voor het vertrouwen dat nodig is voor consumenten, bedrijven en instellingen om de stap naar cloud gebaseerde diensten te maken …

Google Wave .. gone

Yes, Google pulled the plug on Google Wave according to a blogpost yesterday :

… We have always pursued innovative projects because we want to drive breakthroughs in computer science that dramatically improve our users’ lives. Last year at Google I/O, when we launched our developer preview of Google Wave, a web app for real time communication and collaboration, it set a high bar for what was possible in a web browser. …

… Wave has taught us a lot, and we are proud of the team for the ways in which they have pushed the boundaries of computer science. We are excited about what they will develop next as we continue to create innovations with the potential to advance technology and the wider web. …

Continue at source : Google blog

Little over a year ago Gartner Group’s Tom Austin asked (himself) this question :

Will the Google Wave inspire a Revolution?

by Tom Austin  |  May 29, 2009  |  6 Comments

Google inspires and frustrates, leads and lags, marches to the beat of a different (non-enterprise) drummer and wants everyone (including enterprises) to love and adore it.

What a mix! I have been looking at Google Wave and I am really, really impressed. At the same time, I have serious misgivings about whether Google understands what it needs to do to succeed with enterprises (I have  research note that’s about to pop out – probably will appear around 3 June).

Wave is potentially a major disruptive discontinuity, a clean sheet design. It will be darned near impossible for vendors of existing or earlier-generation products  to morph their products to effectively emulate this. Wave will force others to do new clean sheet projects.

Unfortunately, the first on the block with an entirely new, disruptive discontinuity, isn’t always the long term winner.

Continue at source : Gartner.com

At that time there wasn’t really much to say about it. It was an innovative thought which  was overhyped to say the least. Overhyped because the intentions, or at least people’s perceptions, where that Google Wave would replace email, Unified Messaging, Unified Communications all together.

Robert Scoble analysis at that time “hinting” in the direction that Google Wave was really a hype. Not solving any communication challenges we might have, but creating new ones :

OK, I took a few hours off from playing with Google Wave yesterday. I read all my comments on the post I wrote Thursday about Google Wave, many of which were very ascerbic toward me.

I took the day off and said “what if they are right?” and “is Google Wave a really great way to collaborate with other people?”

On coming back to Google Wave with fresh eyes tonight and even after collaborating with people on a few things my answer is “no, they are not right” and “no, Google Wave is even less productive than email.”

Continue at source : scobleizer.com

Some day many of the ideas introduced in Google Wave may surface in other solutions. But this endavour also showed us that challenging email is one tough cookie …

Gartner Webinar : Google vs. Microsoft: A Battle for the Clouds

This is a recorded session. Its free but you have to register …

Google and Microsoft are investing billions of dollars every year, building out data centers to support their cloud offerings, and hoping to be No. 1 in a world where the cloud is central to computing. We'll focus on the differences between their strategies, and who is likely to succeed most at what.

Please join VP and Gartner Fellows Tom Austin and David Mitchell Smith

What You Will Learn:

• Where do Microsoft and Google stand today?
• What will be the effect on markets as a result of Microsoft/Google competition?
• How will enterprise IT decisions be affected by the battles between Microsoft and Google?

Microsoft takes off the gloves with a Google Apps switchers campaign #BPOS #msonline #gonemicrosoft

 

Mary Jo Foley reports of a switchers campaign for Google Apps users. In the recent months a number of organisations switched from Google Apps to Microsoft Online Services. The article also highlights some new “switches”.
#gonemicrosoft

… Remember Apple’s “switchers” campaign — the one where they highlighted Windows users who dumped their Windows PCs for Macs? Microsoft is taking a page out of that book in reverse — touting customers that are switching from Google Apps to Microsoft’s Online hosted services.  …

Continue at source : Microsoft takes off the gloves with a Google Apps switchers campaign

De NGN mag best wat kritischer zijn op de inhoud van haar nieuwsbrief

Vandaag was ik bij een partner voor een presentatie over onze online diensten. Een van de aanwezigen wees mij op een recente nieuwsbrief van de NGN.

Het item gaat over  een “de introductie van de nieuwe Windows Live Hotmail en een vergelijk met de competitie, maar is gebaseerd op verkeerde aannamen.

Nu respecteer ik een ieders mening en we kunnen niet allemaal Microsoft fans zijn, maar je hoeft het er ook niet duimendik bovenop te leggen toch.

Een “nieuwsitem” over Windows Live Hotmail vullen met verkeerde informatie en vage conclusies is onnodig en voegt voor niemand iets toe.

De auteur (RO ?) van het stuk vraagt of iemand van Microsoft commentaar wil geven … Nou graag ! Loopt u even mee ?

Microsoft probeert een antwoord te formuleren op Google's Gmail, door diverse verbeteringen aan te brengen in Windows Live Hotmail.

Microsoft probeert geen antwoord op Google's Gmail te formuleren. Windows Live Hotmail is sinds 1996 de  marktleider in webbased email en is een factor 3 groter dan de runner up.

Microsoft blijft haar online diensten natuurlijk constant innoveren omdat deze bij moet blijven met de laatste trends. Die trends hebben vandaag de dag veel te maken met integratie met social networking, delen van foto's en ook voor consumenten meer productiviteitsoplossingen zoals Office in de browser. Zie ook de upgrade van Hotmail in de context van het hele Live Platform. Ook de nieuwe versie van Windows Live Messenger is een echte metamorfose

Daarnaast wordt Hotmail een stuk veiliger door volledig SSL te ondersteunen, komt er een slimmer junk mail filter, en een functie van 'Trusted Senders'. Hotmail krijgt een 'conversation view', waarmee een e-mail discussie beter in beeld wordt gebracht (een functie die Gmail al bezit).

De vraag hier is natuurlijk hoe het zit met de beveiligingen in Gmail dat lijkt me ook belangrijk. Daarnaast zie ik nog atijd veel meer SPAM in mijn Gmail dan in Hotmail, ook erg irritant. Daarnaast zijn 9 van de 10 spamcomments op mijn weblog afkomstig uit Gmail boxen nog irritanter …

Internationaal leveren Hotmail en Gmail in de markt voor webmail een gevecht om de tweede plaats; beide hebben meer dan 40 miljoen gebruikers in de VS. Marktleider Yahoo heeft er meer dan 80 miljoen. Meer info, blogbijdrage en video, hier.

Je trekt je de verkeerde conclusies en noemt iets een “gevecht” .. gebaseerd waarop ?  Hierbij even wat links met de juiste feiten ter informatie :

• Hotmail vs Gmail in Nederland
  http://livelog.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!F22E9E9D8F70E526!1889.entry
  
  Deze data is iets meer dan een jaar oud, maar recentere info  wijkt niet veel af. Kijk niet alleen naar het absolute aantal emailaccounts, maar ook naar de minuten online. Zoals je ziet significante verschillen tussen Hotmail en Gmail.

(Ik vraag me af hoe die marktverhoudingen liggen voor de zakelijke gebruikers in Europa. Ik vermoed dat Gmail daar marktleider is, en dat Hotmail en Yahoo op grote afstand volgen, misschien zelfs een marginale rol spelen.

Is er iemand van jullie die beschikt over die gegevens? Als je het mij vraagt heeft Hotmail een enorme slag te maken om zelfs maar in de buurt te komen van Gmail.

Ja hoor die cijfers zijn bekend :

• De educatiemarkt wereldwijd : 
  Google 7 Miljoen gebruikers, Microsoft 50 Miljoen : Link
  
• Interessante statistieken over de Windows Live omgeving : Link
  
  Dit geeft wat meer context aan de omvang van deze diensten. Als je dit afzet tegen de ontwikkelingen van Google en er van uitgaat dat Gmail verreweg hun grootste dienst is(naast search natuurlijk) roept dit misschien wat respect op ?
  
• En dan Hotmail …
  

  Hotmail is a gigantic service in all dimensions. Here are some of the highlights:

  • We are a worldwide service, delivering localized versions of Hotmail to 59 regional markets, in 36 languages.
  • We host well over 1.3 billion inboxes (some users have multiple inboxes)
  • Over 350 million people are actively using Hotmail on a monthly basis (source: comScore, August 2009).
  • We handle over 3 billion messages a day and filter out over 1 billion spam messages - mail that you never see in your inbox.
  • We are growing storage at over 2 petabytes a month (a petabyte is ~1 million gigabytes or ~1000 terabytes).
  • We currently have over 155 petabytes of storage deployed (70% of storage is taken up with attachments, typically photos).
  • We’re the largest SQL Server 2008 deployment in the world (we monitor and manage many thousands of SQL servers).
    Bron : http://livelog.spaces.live.com/blog/cns!F22E9E9D8F70E526!1889.entry
  Inmiddels telt Windows Live Hotmail meer dan 400 Miljoen gebruikers wereldwijd.Los van de cijfers zie je dat Microsoft ook transparant is in haar communicatie over de online diensten.
  Ping me even als je dit soort informatie van via Google ergens ziet over hun omgeving .. ik ben ze nog niet tegengekomen.Je vermoeden is dus niet juist.

Technisch zou het misschien nog lukken, maar de reputatie van Hotmail is toch heel anders dan van Gmail. 'Hotmail' heeft al een 'mindere' klank over zich... al dan niet terecht. Bovendien snoept Gmail momenteel klanten af van Exchange.

Even voor de duidellijkheid .. Google tranformeert haar consumer emailplatform naar een oplossing voor zowel consumenten als zakelijke klanten. Nu is dit vanuit een branding optiek wel sliim maar zakelijk klanten stellen andere eisen aan hun mailplatform. Je zou kunnen zeggen  dat er meer moet zijn dan een goede ‘klank’.

Windows Live Hotmail is primair gericht op consumenten. De zakellijke emailoplossing van Microsoft is Exchange (Online).

Er zijn een paar voorbeelden van bedrijven die hun oude Exchange omgeving inruilen voor Gmail, dat is een fact of life. Maar het is wellicht goed te zien dat de ‘magic’ voor sommige bedrijven snel is uitgewerkt. Bedrijven geven massal de voorkeur aan Outlook als email client en zoals ik al zei stellen zware eisen aan hun bedrijfsemail en collaboration platform.
Een goed voorbeeld is Serena software .. eens voor korte tijd een Google klant en nu aan het migreren naar Microsoft Online Services : Link

Misschien niet in grote getale, maar toch. Hoeveel bedrijven zullen er zijn die zijn overgeschakeld van Exchange naar Hotmail? De vraag alleen al klinkt lachwekkend. :-)

Lachwekkend misschien niet, maar je voelt denk ik zelf al aan dat Windows Live Hotmail primair gericht is op consumenten. De online oplossing voor zakelijke klanten is Exchange Online : Link.

Tot slot nog wat goede informatie voor met name zakelijke gebruikers in hun afweging Microsoft vs Google : Why Microsoft

Zet je favoriete foto als achtergrond in Google

Bron: http://daringfireball.net/

Serena Software migrates from Google Apps to Microsoft Online Services #BPOS #msonline

In November 2008 it was all over the press : Serena Software is moving from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps. The motivation for this move was TCO so the articles said. November 16, 2008 I wrote a blogpost on this :

eWeek featured an article with the title : “Serena to Dump Microsoft Exchange for Google Gmail, the Cloud”.

The article ofcourse got my interest and when I started reading I thought this can’t be true. The article is one big confusing apples and oranges overview. I am quite sure that nor Mr Bister of Serena, nor the journalist has used Microsoft Excel to do their calculations …

And my (arrogant ?) recommendation back then :

My recomendation to Serena Software would be to do some homework, look into Microsoft Online Services and reconsider their options …

read the whole blogpost : here

No more than a year later Serena Software has made the choice to migrate from Google Apps to Microsoft Online Services, and here is some of their motivation to do so :

… One of Serena’s core values is a deep, organization-wide commitment to customer success.  We work closely with our 15,000 worldwide customers to deliver solutions that help them be more successful.  As a result, we rely heavily on collaboration tools for our employees to share information and work together with customers and partners. 

This is one of the chief reasons we’ve chosen to adopt Exchange Online and SharePoint Online together with Office 2010.  They deliver trustworthy, enterprise-class solutions – with the performance, security, privacy, reliability and support we require. We know that Microsoft is a leader in the providing these kinds of solutions, and in our discussions with them, it became clear that they are 100% committed to Serena’s success and delivering solutions that drive the future of collaboration.

Using Office, SharePoint and Exchange will allow us to collaborate more effectively internally and with customers and partners, many of whom use the same technologies, and we can do so without having to deal with content loss or clients being unable to open or edit a document. In particular, Exchange is unchallenged in its calendaring and contact management abilities, mission critical functions for a global company such as Serena.

There are alternatives on the market that promise lower costs, but in our experience, this is a fallacy.  When looking at alternatives, CIOs should really evaluate the total cost of ownership as well as the impact on user productivity and satisfaction, as there can be hidden costs and higher TCO.  For instance, slow performance and/or lack of enterprise-class features (e.g., with calendaring and contact management) will torpedo the value of such a backbone system, and may get the CIO fired. …

Source : Microsoft Online Services Team Blog

Google’s prime argument for ‘switchers’ often is TCO (or plain cost is a better choice of words) and most often always comparing older versions of on-premise email systems to their online offering. Apples and oranges as I have explained more often.

Serena Software’s motivation for migrating from Google Apps to Microsoft Online Services is one of value. The sheer value the Microsoft collaboration platform can bring to an organisation compared to just a cheap solution proves to be more valuable in the long run.

And Serena Software is not the only organisation switching from Google Apps :

• Vinci PLC leaves Google Apps for Microsoft watch the video interview http://bit.ly/9FBvl0
  
• Phaeton Automotive blogs on their decision to leave Google Apps for Microsoft

Chris Dawson: Can I be a Windows, Apple, Linux, and Google guy all at once?

I regularly read Chris Dawson’s blogposts as he blogs about technology solutions in the education sector and that happens to be one of my areas of interest. Today he blogged about something that I hope to see and here more about … a different perspective on Microsoft … simply because there many good solutions coming from Redmond …

…I’m having an identity crisis. Regular readers of both this blog and my Education blog will know that I border on being a Google fanboi and Linux tends to work its way into my computer passions as well. I work almost constantly in the cloud and Linux obviously provides a cheap, stable platform [...] 

… And then there’s Microsoft. Microsoft was easy to hate a few years back when they were the antitrust bad guys. Then they released Vista and it was even easier to say that they’d sealed their fate. Apple and Linux were going to dominate the desktop! The 3000 pound gorilla was dead! And suddenly, the betas of Windows 7 were stable, fast, attractive, and everything that Vista should have been. Office Web Apps and other Windows Live properties started to appear and mature and were compelling bridges to the cloud. And if the cloud wasn’t your game, Office 2010 rolled into beta and was even better than Office 2007. Seriously, have you used the beta? It rocks out loud. I may spend a lot of time in the cloud, but I also often have to produce publication-ready documents. Besides, have you ever tried to do a mail merge in Google Docs? Of course you haven’t, because you can’t.

It’s gotten to the point where I actually look forward to hearing from Microsoft PR since they usually have something particularly cool to tell me about. In fact, Office 2010 just might be one of the more compelling reasons to buy a Windows PC. Then there’s Sharepoint 2010, the cloud-oriented meat of which has already appeared in Live@Edu and Office Live Workspace. …

Yes lot’s of cool stuff coming this year … hope to see more positive news coming from Chris’ blog soon

Source : Can I be a Windows, Apple, Linux, and Google guy all at once?

Microsoft Live@EDU close to 50 Million users

Good article by Zack Whittaker about the number of users supported in education by some of the online players :

… Microsoft and Google are still plotting away at each other in attempts to get colleges and universities on side with their own email, document and general productivity suites.

Google hasn’t got back to me with any of the questions I sent over in regards to this vague tweet:

Since then there has been an awful lot of email to’ing and fro’ing between myself and a number of public relations folk. My last post comparing the two suites was a few months ago; it’s time for a revision and seeing where universities rank the in-house email killers, by deconstructing the jargon and seemingly meaningless spin. …

Although the Live@EDU estimates of 50 Million + users is not an official Microsoft number it at least shows this is very, very large :

… Live@edu is used by more than 10,000 “schools”

Microsoft finally updated its press release to confirm that over 10,000 “schools” - which as Americans often describe school as “a form of education” not mutually exclusive to compulsory education but university/college also. Considering most universities have over 10,000 students, I would fairly say that there are definitely over 7 million users using Live@edu; it’s probably closer to 50 million if not even more. …

Source : ZDnet.com

Comparing oranges to oranges: Microsoft's hosted collaboration suites vs. IBM's LotusLive iNotes

Mary Jo Foley highlights an interesting point who/what is the real competition for IBM Lotus iNotes  ? It’s the Business Productivity Online Suite from Microsoft. Lower price, more functionality, more choice.

…IBM’s announcement of a new hosted entry-level communications offering has led to lots of punditry around how it compares to Google Apps. But I’m not sure that’s IBM’s main competition here.

Google Apps Premier, which costs $50 per user per year, includes Web-based office applications (Google Docs), plus Gmail for businesses, Google Calendar, Google Sites and Postini hosted/archived email. IBM’s LotusLive iNotes includes hosted email, calendar and contact management service — but no hosted productivity apps — for $36 per user per year.

I’ve seen almost no one analyzing IBM’s new hosted offering in comparison to what Microsoft is offering business users.

Microsoft already has a business-focused hosted e-mail/collaboration product on the market known as the Deskless Worker Suite, which includes Exchange Online and SharePoint Online. Customers can get that suite for $36 per user per year. Exchange Online Deskless Worker includes e-mail, calendaring, global contact lists, anti-virus and anti-spam filters, and provides access to company e-mail via Outlook Web Access Light. SharePoint Online Deskless Worker gives you read-only access to SharePoint portal and team sites. If users want only Exchange Online Deskless or SharePoint Online Deskless, it’s $24 per user per service per year.

Microsoft offers a more comprehensive hosted communications/collaboration subscription service — one that includes Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Communications Online (corporate instant messaging and presence) and Live Meeting (Web conferencing and videoconferencing) — for $180 per user per year. That is the company’s Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS). …

Source: Comparing oranges to oranges: Microsoft's hosted collaboration suites vs. IBM's LotusLive iNotes

DMTF to Develop Standards for Managing a Cloud Computing Environment

 

Hopefully a cloud initiatve that does work. Interoperability is a key component in Cloud Computing. Glad to see Microsoft is one of the active participants.

Open Cloud Standards Incubator Created to Address Management Interoperability for Cloud Systems

… The Distributed Management Task Force (DMTF), the organization bringing the IT industry together to collaborate on systems management standards development, validation, promotion and adoption, today announced that it has formed a group dedicated to addressing the need for open management standards for cloud computing. The "Open Cloud Standards Incubator" will work to develop a set of informational specifications for cloud resource management.

As virtualization technology continues to be more rapidly adopted, it is emerging as a common enabling foundation for delivering software solutions into IT environments along with the potential to lower IT costs and improve operational efficiencies. While deploying virtualization technologies it is also critical to have comprehensive management capabilities associated with the implementation. Along with the adoption of virtualization, more and more enterprise IT customers are looking at the cloud computing paradigm to better deliver services to their customers.

No specific standards currently exist for enabling interoperability between private clouds within enterprises and hosted or public cloud providers. DMTF's Open Cloud Standards Incubator will focus on addressing these issues by developing cloud resource management protocols, packaging formats and security mechanisms to facilitate interoperability.

"Cloud computing will have a major impact on IT management," said Winston Bumpus, DMTF president. "With the DMTF's track record for leading the industry in the development of proven standards for management interoperability, along with its extensive network of Alliance Partners, this Open Cloud Standards Incubator provides an ideal setting for initiating work on specifications to enable interoperable cloud management."

The work of the Open Cloud Standards Incubator will focus on ways to facilitate operations between private clouds within enterprises and other private, public, or hybrid clouds by improving the interoperability between platforms through open cloud resource management standards. The group also aims to develop specifications to enable cloud service portability and provide management consistency across cloud and enterprise platforms.

The Open Cloud Standards Incubator was formed as part of the DMTF Standards Incubation process, which enables like-minded DMTF members to work together and produce informational specifications that can later be fast-tracked through the standards development process. The incubation process is designed to foster and expedite open, collaborative, exploratory technical work that complements the DMTF mission to lead the development, adoption and promotion of interoperable management initiatives and standards.

The current incubator leadership board consists of AMD, Cisco, Citrix, EMC, HP, IBM, Intel, Microsoft, Novell, Red Hat, Savvis, Sun Microsystems, and VMware. Please click here for more information, or to learn more about participating. …

Continue at source

Everyone talks about Webbased Office Suites very few actually use them

This Forrester report confirms my findings when it comes to webbased Office functionality. Everyone talks about it but very little people actually use it as their primary Office tools. Because everyone talks about it, there is also the general perception that webbased Office tools are widely used. Well they’re not according to this Forrester Poll.

This research shows that only 3% of the users interviewed use Google Premier Apps. I doubt if this is truely the replacement for their Office Suite or if they use Google Apps alongside it.

In many cases where people talk about webbased Office suites or have questions in that direction I find that it is not actually the editiing functions they like / desire, its the ability to share documents; often with people outside their own department / organisation. Something we used to call groupware. Hence in the same research the requirement for Collaboration functionality.

I do agree with the conclusion that the demand for webbased office tools will grow. Not because the browser is the ideal UI but because users want the ability to choose. Rich functions and offline capability when running Office locally and browser / mobile functions when they are not behind their own PC.

Functionality in the browser is the ideal companion next to my PC based apps, basically this is the way I use Outlook Web Access today. I access email through OWA whenever and wherever I am not behind my PC and when my mobile phone doesn’t help me process emails fast enough.

Microsoft Office Web Applications will be part of the next release of Microsoft Office; Microsoft Office 2010.

…. Forrester is set to release a new report about Web Office, which ReadWriteWeb got a sneak peak at. The report offers new data on office productivity innovation and cloud productivity suite adoption. The full data will be presented at Forrester's IT Forum, to be held in Las Vegas May 19-22, 2009. The data shows that while enterprises are looking forward to innovation in web access and collaboration, they're not so forward-looking when it comes to data integration. Also we discover that the vast majority of IT departments still support Microsoft Office, but very few support Google Premier Apps right now. …

In another slide, Forrester concluded that cloud computing adoption within enterprises is still low. 80% of respondants still support crusty old Microsoft Office, while just 3% claim to support Google Premier Apps. It really does seem like the whole enterprise industry is sitting back and waiting on Microsoft to roll out their long-awaited Web Office offerings. By these figures, it doesn't appear like Google is making too much of a dent in the market. However we're sure it is just a matter of time before Web Office suites are common in the workplace - even Microsoft has acknowledged that cloud computing will be an important driver for enterprise software. …

Source: Report: Web Office Support, Expectations Still Low in Enterprises

Exchange 2010 Target? Google Gmail et al…

Bill Pray has a positive assessment of Microsoft Exchange 2010. Exchange 2010 is the most rock-solid Email and Calendaring solution for bith on-premise as well as Online scenario. I believe the recently released beta is very well received.

… As the Microsoft marketing machine cranks up the information on Exchange 2010, it is interesting to note how many articles are devoted to new productivity capabilities for users. However, user productivity is not what Exchange 2010 is about… Exchange 2010 is about Microsoft competing with Google and anyone else who throws their hat into the ring – Cisco? IBM? Yahoo!? - in the software-as-a-service (SaaS) e-mail market. While there is no question that Google still has a limited presence in enterprise e-mail, Gmail continues to garner fans and install base in the small and medium business market. Microsoft is no stranger to that strategy and must respond by providing a better enterprise SaaS e-mail solution or risk losing future market share.

Microsoft has not made it a secret that Exchange 2010 is intended to become Microsoft’s attack on the SaaS e-mail market, but the Microsoft marketing machine sometimes obscures things in an effort to get messaging to various audiences. However, the press announcement states in the second sentence: “Exchange 2010 is part of the next wave of Microsoft Office-related products and is the first server in a new generation of Microsoft server technology built from the ground up to work on-premises and as an online service.” …

… Obviously, many of these features are good for an on-premise implementation also. However, when you start perusing the feature list for Exchange 2010, it is clear that Microsoft is executing on a strategy to make Exchange SaaS friendly. The story line for Exchange 2010 is not about enhancements in productivity features for the enterprise, it is about Microsoft taking Exchange to cloud. …

Be sure to check the article for all details ..

Source: Exchange 2010 Target? Google Gmail et al…

Microsoft Live@EDU vs Google Apps for Education … student preference …

The Australian Catholic University has implemented a new Emailsystem based on on Microsoft Outlook Live.

Some background and most interesting the selection of this email system is based on experience with pilots of Google Apps for Education vs Microsoft Outlook Live (part of Microsoft Live @EDU). The is the student feedback based on actual use and not just some functions and features evaluation …

… In Semester 1, 2009, ACU National introduced a new Web-based email system for students, based on Microsoft Exchange and Windows (Outlook) Live Mail.

Features

This new, modern and more user-friendly system will feature:

• A Microsoft Outlook WebMail user interface including access to calendars, contacts lists and collaboration tools
• Improved SPAM filtering
• 10 GB of online mailbox storage space (100 times the previous 100Mb limit and double the standard Live Mail quota)
• 20 Mb message size support (including file attachments)
• Ability to share address book contacts and calendar information
• No banner advertising – unlike ordinary free email accounts.
• Web-based administrative tools
• Support for 25 languages
• "Email for Life" – ACU student email accounts will continue to be available for use after graduation, making it easier to stay in contact with classmates, colleagues and teaching staff. ….

source : Webmail Survey Results

Australian Catholic University is not the only university / school to recently implement Microsoft Live@EDU. Check out the recent press release on other institutions that recently implemented the service:

Adoption of Microsoft Live@edu Continues to Grow With Universities Worldwide

Education institutions worldwide embrace Microsoft Live@edu to enrich student experience, enhance learning outcomes and fuel productivity; new Microsoft Outlook Live delivers new e-mail functionality based on the popular Outlook interface. …

Ovum: Microsoft goes online and worldwide

Ovum gives a brief analysis on Microsoft’s international launch of BPOS. Unlike some other analysis I’ve seen trying to compare Google Apps to Microsoft BPOS, this highlights one of the main differences … Choice …

…Microsoft's recently announced Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) is much more than a challenge to Google Apps, playing as it does to organisations from five persons to millions, and allowing a combination of in-house and hosted deployment - the so-called 'software plus services' model. The release of BPOS is very timely, offering guaranteed availability and with well thought out functionality. However, there is still some work to do on the product that might make it appear like a beta release in the eyes of a CIO.

 

Mix 'n' match for customers and partners

The BPOS hosted products are: Exchange, SharePoint, Office Communications Server and LiveMeeting. This package is priced at $15 per seat per month and organisations can subscribe to additional facilities such as archiving.

But this is not just cloud-based services like Google Apps, although that offering is definitely a threat that Microsoft wants to see off. Rather it is a software plus service offering that gives organisations that have the IT support infrastructure and wish to retain in-house capability the option to have their BPOS services linked to the corporate servers to provide an anywhere information service for employees, partners or customers. …

Continue at source : Ovum.com

BeetTV: Microsoft to Take on Google Docs, Zoho this Year with "Seamless" Web Apps

A public beta this calender year !

… When Microsoft Office releases its web applications into beta this year, it has a good shot of surpassing Google Docs right off the bat: The mainstream reliance on Microsoft Office makes Microsoft web apps a natural extension.

 

"I think that one of the things that makes us a little different is that we're really trying to make the experience between going offline to online and online to offline as seamless as possible," Michael Schultz, the Director of Microsoft Office Live, told me in a Skype interview from his office in Redmond, Wash. earlier this month. The merging last week of Windows Live and Office Live reflects into a single online portal reflects that.  …

I asked him about the alpha testing of Microsoft Office 14, but Microsoft is still tight-lipped about the new improvements. "When the time comes when we can talk a little bit more about that, I'm sure folks like you will be some of the first to know, and we'd be excited to come back and talk about it," he said. You can read CNET's article on Office 14's alpha testing here.

Source: BeetTV

Microsoft “Office SaaS”

De titel vat kernachtig samen waar Microsoft Online Services niet voor staat ..

• De online diensten van Microsoft bevatten geen Microsoft Office als dienst.
• Het is niet per definitie een SaaS oplossing; het is een combinatie van software + diensten die rijke functionaliteit, performance en offline functionaliteit biedt.

In het artikel ‘Microsoft SaaS Office per april in Nederland’ besteden InfoWorld, Webwereld en TechWorld aandacht aan de Internationale launch van Microsoft Online Services, van 2 maart jl tijdens de Cebit.

Die aandacht is natuurlijk super. Ik zag in de artikelen wel een paar zaken die door de auteur anders zijn geïnterpreteerd. een korte reactie daarop:

Het online Office-abonnement van Microsoft, waaronder hosted Exchange, Sharepoint en Office Communications, is per 1 april in Nederland verkrijgbaar.

Per direct is tegenhanger van Google Apps als trial uit te proberen. Microsofts software Exchange en Sharepoint is in de Verenigde Staten al als online-service af te nemen. Nu brengt de softwareproducent zijn SaaS-aanbod, waarbij het software combineert met services, ook naar Europa. Dat gebeurt per 1 april.

Het betreft geen Office abonnement. De dienst heet Business Productivity Online Services, een onderdeel van Microsoft Online Services en bestaat uit de volgende oplossingen :

• Exchange Online
• SharePoint Online
• Office Communications Online
• LiveMeeting.
• Optionele diensten, waaronder archivering van email, extra encyptie (beveiliging) van email en BlackBerry Enterprise Server.
  
  Microsoft Office wordt niet aangeboden als dienst en maakt ook geen deel uit van Microsoft Online Services zoals deze is aangekondigd.

Net als Google garandeert Microsoft 99,9 procent uptime per maand voor z'n online software. De prijs van het SaaS-pakket is echter niet concurrerend met Google Apps. Google rekent 40 euro per gebruiker per jaar, Microsoft 12,78 euro per maand, oftewel 153 euro per jaar, bijna vier keer zo duur als Google.

Organisaties die een Online oplossing overwegen doen er goed aan om hun huidige platform (daar is kennis van), eisen en wensen,  voor de korte en middellange termijn heel helder te hebben.

De prijs is natuurlijk belangrijk, zeker in deze tijd. Maar prijzen zijn relatief …

Microsoft Online Services is niet 1:1 te vergelijken met Google Apps. In de bovenstaande conclusie rondom jaarlijkse kosten word daar wel van uitgegaan. Het strekt te ver om alle verschillen uiteen te gaan zetten, maar als ik 3 punten zou moeten noemen waarin die verschillen tot uiting komen zijn dat:

• Microsoft biedt rijkere functionaliteit door o.a. Offline werken, enterprise functionaliteit als Enterprise Content management, Business Intelligence, workflow, geïntegreerde presence en instant messaging.
  
• Klanten hebben de keuze hoe zij Microsoft oplossingen willen implementeren: in eigen datacenter, gehost door een van de 800 Microsoft hosting partners wereldwijd, gehost door Microsoft (Microsoft Online Services), of een combinatie van de eerder genoemde mogelijkheden.
  
• Bewezen technologie die op internet en enterprise schaal al jaren wordt toegepast. Voorbeelden zijn Microsoft Exchange met een marktaandeel van 65% - 85% afhankelijk van markt en analist. Ook worden SharePoint en Exchange al jaren als Hosted dienst aangeboden in de markt, zo past KPN deze toe voor meer dan 1,5 Miljoen gebruikers bijvoorbeeld.

SLA
Er zijn ook verschillen in de SLA. Microsoft biedt een 99,9% beschikbaarheid op alle diensten, daar waar Google Apps alleen 99,9% beschikbaarheid op Gmail biedt; niet dus op de andere producten. Hiervoor verwijzen de servicesvoorwaarden van Google Apps Professional naar de Gmail SLA.

Support
Voor ondersteuning biedt Google een online helpcentrum, maar geen telefonische ondersteuning. De speciale support dienst voor Administrators van de klant is alleen beschikbaar op werkdagen via internet.

In een artikel op ZDnet.com staat ook een korte visie van Google vs Microsoft door Ron Markezich

Multinationals

Er komt een standaard versie en een op maat gesneden, dedicated variant voor bedrijven met meer dan 5000 werknemers. De leverancier mikt hiermee niet alleen op bedrijven in die landen, maar ook op multinationals. Die kunnen dan grootschalig overstappen naar Microsofts 'software plus services'-aanbod.

De internationale lancering betreft specifiek de Standard variant. De dedicated variant is al meer dan een jaar wereldwijd operationeel. Dit is in september 2007 aangekondigd en hier zijn al veel multinational mee aan de slag.

Het feit dat de dedicated variant al veel langer internationaal beschikbaar is verklaard ook wellicht de vraag sommige sceptici op webwereld hoe het kan dat er al zoveel betalende klanten / gebruikers op deze dienst zitten.

Klanten voor Online Services hebben drie keuzes voor het draaien van de gehoste software. Dat kunnen ze doen in een eigen datacenter, in dat van een Microsoft-partner, of in een Europees datacenter van de aanbieder zelf. Het is nog onbekend of dit prijs- of serviceverschillen met zich meebrengt.

De klant heeft de keuze op welke manier zij de Microsoft software wil implementeren :

1. In huis, in het eigen datacenter
   Hier geldt dan ook de SLA van de IT afdeling van de klant.
   De kosten zijn hier de Microsoft licenties, hardware, software van derden en diensten / personele kosten.
   
2. Gehost door een Microsoft Hosting Partner
   Hier geldt de SLA van de Microsoft Hosting Partner.
   De kosten voor de dienst zijn over het algemeen kosten per gebruiker per maand voor de totale dienst.
   
3. Gehost door Microsoft
   Hier geldt een SLA van 99,9% beschikbaarheid.|
   De kosten zijn per gebruiker per maand.

Bronnen:  InfoWorld, Webwereld, TechWorld

The PC is No Longer the Center of the Universe

I was cleaning up my RSS feeds and came across this 9 month old blogpost (May 2nd 2008) from Amy Wohl.

Reason for posting a response 9 months later is to illustrate how time constraint some analysis can be.

“traditional vendors like Microsoft …” ? We are only 9 months further along. I do wonder if Amy still has the same opinion on the matter

Also funny to see Google become more “traditional”.. Offline Gmail …

At IBM's Business Partner Leadership Conference, held this week in Los Angeles, IBM CEO Sam Palmisano and Google CEO Eric Schmidt spoke on the state of computing and their vision for its future, both separately and togehter.  The big news is that they agree:

• We are moving from a PC-Centric world to a Network-Centric world filled with millions of devices of every shape and description.
• In this Network Centric world, the PC is just another device, of decreasing importance as the emerging economies come online with their preference for mobile platforms which more closely ressemble smart phones.
• In the Network Centric World, Open Standards and published APIs are very imortant so that new innovations can easily be attached to the network and become new platforms for deelopment.
• The cloud (very large scale shared computing, available for hire) will become uibiquitious, probably sold by platform providers who will recruit ecoosystems of ISVs and provide a well-managed, secure platform, freeing both customers and ISVs from the need to implement hardware where they lack the skills or capital.
• This networkcentric Computing model will require tons of storage and new interaces and methods to discover the information and manage it.
• This enables everyone to have more access to information.  Some of it will be stored in the cloud, but some of it will continue to be stored on site.  It's a hybrid world.

Large traditional vendors like Microsoft will have to choose between adopting the open standards, network centric, cloud approach, finding a new market niche, and slowly becoming less relevant.  That's why Microsoft's chsing so hard after the consumer market with the Yahoo.

Source: The PC is No Longer the Center of the Universe

If the tradition is software and the innovation is services … Microsoft is doing pretty well …

IBM Bluehouse Becomes LotusLive to Challenge Microsoft, Google in SAAS

 

.. IBM LotusLive Engage sheds the Bluehouse moniker for its SAAS messaging and collaboration applications, which are hosted in the cloud, or over the Web. LotusLive is IBM's enterprise applications challenge to Microsoft Windows Live and Google Apps. LotusLive integrates with Salesforce.com, Skype and LinkedIn to reach potentially 400 million new users.
- Orlando -- Bluehouse, the SAAS (software as a service) IBM hosts for companies to connect their end users, was renamed LotusLive Engage and given some quick credibility with the integration of business partners Salesforce.com, Skype and LinkedIn at Lotusphere 2009 Jan. 18. …

Source: IBM Bluehouse Becomes LotusLive to Challenge Microsoft, Google in SAAS

 

“LotusLive is IBM's enterprise applications challenge to Microsoft Windows Live “

So .. what’s an enterprise applications challenge ? and why put this in relation to Microsoft Windows Live platform which is consumer oriented ?

Microsoft has recently turned Business Productivity Online Services (BPOS) into production which is Exchange Online, SharePoint Online, Office Communications Online and LiveMeeting. So if IBM looks to compete in business (whatever size) this would be a more appropriate comparison to make.

Google Apps no longer free ‘if users=>50’ ?

Google made an announcement yesterday that they will limit the free Google Apps offering (Standard Edition) to 50 users. All in all some major changes to the Google Apps business model and channel this week.

… Today we're making a change to better align the versions of Google Apps with the interests of business customers and resellers. Starting today, Standard Edition will support a maximum of 50 users for new customers. Existing Standard Edition customers with more than 50 users can continue their current service at no charge, and schools and non-profits of all sizes still have access to the free Education Edition. …

Source : Google Enterprise Blog

"Report: Gmail about one-third as expensive as hosted e-mail".. but, we think.. 'You get what you pay for!'

The MS Exchange Blog (not the official MS team blog by the way) offers a nice perspective on the recent Forrester report which of declares Google’s GMail “the winner in price in a apples to oranges comparison. Why apples and oranges ? Well the list of the MS Exchange blog shows a few :

…Remember.. 'You get what you pay for'

Some current 'issues' that I believe exist with Google Mail at present.. (from an Enterprise perspective)

-There's no granularity of mailbox size limits

-Limited client-side rules capability

-Mailboxes can be accessed from any internet connected location - this has security considerations for some organisations

-Limited offline use - Google can  provide an ajax client that enables laptops to have the last 60 days' mail available offline though

-Full clients such as Outlook are supported using the IMAP protocol, this would synchronise mail folders, but not calendars, meaning that a laptop user’s calendar would either be online and visible to those permitted, or offline and invisible

-Authentication - custom integration requires to be written/adopted in order for an Active Directory user ID to be used for Google Mail access

-Collaboration - Google of course provides a full suite of tools for collaboration use, however there is little to no granularity as to which users can use which tools

-Telephony - Google's products do not currently support the SIP protocol for telephony integration

-Using a non-Microsoft mail platform would reduce the tight integration possible with applications such as Sharepoint

-In-house application support. Should a third-party application be in-place which integrates or uses Outlook for mail services, the application would need to be developed in order for it to be able to use Google Mail

-Mobile use – BES access would be via IMAP and BB use would therefore not be as functional

-Google Mail is still in ‘BETA’ !

-Google’s Privacy Policy could (should?) be a concern to some (most?) enterprises …

 

Source: "Report: Gmail about one-third as expensive as hosted e-mail".. but, we think.. 'You get what you pay for!'

Guy Creese : Google Expands GAPE Sales Footprint with Resellers

Guy Creese tells it like it is. Google is making steps with Google Apps For the Enterprise (GAPE), but the journey is long. The competition is not resting at all … A few clippings from Guy’s post :

…. Today Google announced that it was allowing resellers to sell Google Apps Premier Edition (GAPE). Google is going to sell it to them at a 20% discount ($40/year per user), and then when they sell it to organizations at a markup they can keep the profit. …

… However, in my opinion this does not mean that Google's sales to enterprises will turn around any time soon. (Google is doing very well selling to SMB's, but not to large enterprises). This move is like a car manufacturer announcing they have an expanded network of dealers. Umm, OK, but does anyone want to buy the cars? And at the moment the answer is no. …

…. In short, Google's announcement is a step in the right direction, but it's one step in a 1,000 mile journey. …

Source: Google Expands GAPE Sales Footprint with Resellers

The Google Apps Revenue Myth: $10mm In 2009

Siliccon Alley Insider reports on the revenue objectives of Google Apps for 2009. According to a source the Google Enterprise target is $ 10 Million …

… Two years after launching Apps, the source says, Google's Enterprise division is targeting revenue of $10 million in 2009 (200,000 paid subscribers at $50 a pop).  The same source says that, privately, some Google executives hope the company might hit $40 million of revenue in 2009 (800,000 subs at $50 a pop).  Both of these numbers are a joke.

Why so little revenue? The source says Google is having a devil of a time persuading free Google Apps users to sign up for the paid version.

That said, the fact that Google is apparently having trouble building Apps into a real business does NOT mean that Apps isn't a big threat to Microsoft. …

Source : Alley Insider

Verizon chooses Microsoft Live Search over Google and Yahoo

Major win for Microsoft in the field of Internet Search …

… Verizon Communications Inc has chosen Microsoft Corp to provide Internet search services for cell phones, in what is seen as a blow to rivals Google Inc and Yahoo Inc.

Verizon Chief Executive Ivan Seidenberg said on Wednesday that Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer would announce the deal later in the day at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas. Seidenberg, speaking at a Citigroup conference, gave no further details.

The deal follows more than a year of speculation on who would become the default mobile search provider for Verizon Wireless, which is set to surpass AT&T Inc as the No. 1 U.S. mobile carrier after it closes its purchase of smaller operator Alltel later this week.

"It's certainly a feather in Microsoft's cap. Tough news for Google and tougher news for Yahoo," CCS Insight analyst John Jackson said of the agreement. …

Source : MSN Money

Google Native Client moet server ontlasten

Hoe handig webapplicaties ook zijn qua beheer, ze leveren ook nadelen op als het gaat om rekenen, zeker met grote hoeveelheden data. Maar volgens Google is het bedrijf vrij ver gevorderd om dat nadeel van webapplicaties op te vangen.

Source: Google Native Client moet server ontlasten

Ik heb het artikel even 2 keer moeten lezen. “Software om de server te onlasten”, is dat niet gewoon een client of te wel lokale software ? Is de lokale rekenkracht, multimedia, etc nu ineens wel belangrijk ?

Volgens het artikel is Google bezig haar antwoord op Adobe Flash, Air en Microsoft Silverlight te ontwikelen. Wat mij betreft de zoveelste erkenning van Google dat de juiste strategie Software + Services is en niet “SaaS” als in in “browser-only” oplossingen.

 

Update 10-12-2008

Het idee van Google, naast het feit dat Flash en Silverlight al reeds bestaande oplossingen zijn is niet echt nieuw. Mijn collega Jeroen attendeerde mij op een artikel van Microsoft research waarin dit concept uitvoerig wordt behandeld :

 

Leveraging Legacy Code to Deploy Desktop Applications on the Web

John R. Douceur, Jeremy Elson, Jon Howell, and Jacob R. Lorch
Microsoft Research

Abstract

Xax is a browser plugin model that enables developers to leverage existing tools, libraries, and entire programs to deliver feature-rich applications on the web. Xax employs a novel combination of mechanisms that collectively provide security, OS-independence, performance, and support for legacy code. These mechanisms include memory-isolated native code execution behind a narrow syscall interface, an abstraction layer that provides a consistent binary interface across operating systems, system services via hooks to existing browser mechanisms, and lightweight modifications to existing tool chains and code bases. We demonstrate a variety of applications and libraries from existing code bases, in several languages, produced with various tool chains, running in multiple browsers on multiple operating systems. With roughly two person-weeks of effort, we ported 3.3 million lines of code to Xax, including a PDF viewer, a Python interpreter, a speech synthesizer, and an OpenGL pipeline

Source : Microsoft Research

Microsoft Online Services - Casestudies

What better way than let customers and partners tell you they are satisfied and enthusiastic about your services. Here’s a first batch of customer casestudies for Microsoft Online Services :

• Partner Case Study: LINK Conference Service
  
  Online Services Provide Strong Entry into New Markets for Conferencing Company
  
  Concerned that the company might be typecast as a conferencing services provider only, executives at LINK Conference Service actively sought avenues to provide valuable new Unified Communications solutions to their clients. Extending company offerings, they believed, would not only add value to their existing customers; it would also open the door to new opportunities. LINK Conference Service quickly realized these anticipated results with the Microsoft® Business Productivity Online Suite. This new subscription-based service makes Microsoft Exchange Online, Office Live Meeting, Microsoft Office Communications Online, and Microsoft SharePoint® Online available for a low cost, monthly, per-user subscription fee. The ability to offer hosted enterprise-class software solutions that a small business does not have, and that larger organizations can use to streamline their communications and simplify their IT management has helped LINK Conference Service win new clients such as Datatune and support its existing customers more fully.
  
  
• Customer Case Study: Datatune
  
  Online Services Help Software Firm Affordably Access Enterprise-Class E-mail
  
  Based in Seattle, Washington, Datatune is a small business software development firm that serves information-driven companies. After 10 years of running Microsoft Exchange Server onsite, Datatune moved to Google Apps to cut costs. Productivity diminished as users struggled with navigating the unfamiliar interface and had difficulty managing their schedules without the calendaring features of Microsoft Outlook to which they were accustomed. A year later, when communications solutions provider LINK Conference Service presented the Business Productivity Online Suite from Microsoft Online Services, Datatune did not hesitate to sign up. With Microsoft Exchange Online and the familiar Outlook client software, Datatune gained an enterprise-class communications solution for a low monthly fee and without the expense or effort of maintaining an on-premise e-mail infrastructure.
  
  
• Partner Case Study: Virteva
  
  Reducing IT Management Burden Creates Opportunities for New Strategic IT Initiatives
  
  Many of the organizations with which the IT consultants from Virteva work have limited resources. As a consequence, these organizations feel they can barely maintain their existing IT environments at the levels they want. They certainly have no time to talk about whether their operations are running as efficiently as possible or how they might use other technologies to enable their organizations to accomplish even more. Virteva needed a way to help these organizations lessen the pain of running their IT environments. The Business Productivity Online Suite from Microsoft Online Services provides just that. By offloading the day-to-day IT management and infrastructure responsibilities to Microsoft Online Services, Virteva’s clients save money, gain unsurpassed support, and have time to work with Virteva on other IT opportunities that may provide more strategic benefits to their businesses.
  
  
• Customer Case Study: Archiver’s
  
  Online Services Delivers Enterprise-Class Communications to Growing Retail Business
  Archiver’s had established 45 retail outlets across the United States in less than eight years. But with that expansion came growing pains. The company’s POP3-based e-mail system, which had worked well during the company’s early days, no longer suited the enterprise into which Archiver’s was evolving. At the same time, Archiver’s was not in a position to migrate to Microsoft Exchange Server 2007, much as its executives wanted to. Archiver’s three-person IT team did not have the time or the resources to build or support an expensive on-premise infrastructure. Archiver’s turned to Microsoft Gold Certified Partner Virteva, which introduced them to the Business Productivity Online Suite from Microsoft Online Services. By subscribing to Microsoft Exchange Online, Archiver’s gained the enterprise-class features and services it needed without the cost of building—or the burden of managing—in-house infrastructure.
  
  
• Partner Case Study: PointBridge
  
  Realizing a Recurring Revenue Stream by Reselling Online Services
  
  PointBridge specializes in connecting people to people and people to information with technologies such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Server, Microsoft Exchange, Microsoft Office Communications Server, as well as collaborative business intelligence technologies such as Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Office Performance Point Server. But PointBridge also understands that for a large number of organizations, the infrastructure and staffing requirements associated with collaborative technologies is beyond reach. By directing these customers to the Microsoft Business Productivity Online Suite, however, PointBridge has been able to offer the enterprise-class functionality these customers desire in an online form that eliminates the on-premise infrastructure requirements. For PointBridge, the results are happy customers and recurring revenue streams without associated cost of goods sold.
  
  
• Customer Case Study: Recycled Energy Development
  
  RED Saves Green Using Online Document Management Service
  
  Each Recycled Energy Development (RED) project involves complex, multimillion-dollar contracts that need to be carefully negotiated, controlled, maintained, and audited. RED recognized that it needed a better way to manage these documents, but it could not afford to divert its financial or human resources to support a full-service in-house document management infrastructure. Microsoft® Gold Certified partner PointBridge came up with a better approach that used Microsoft SharePoint® Online, part of the Business Productivity Online Suite from Microsoft Online Services. Microsoft Online Services delivers the functionality RED needs without the upfront capital expense it wanted to avoid.
  
  
• Partner Case Study: Arctic IT
  
  Online Services Create Ongoing Revenue Stream while Delivering Customer Value
  
  Arctic Information Technology is a Microsoft® Gold Certified Partner based in Anchorage, Alaska that offers end-to-end Microsoft business solutions to organizations in Alaska and throughout North America. Arctic IT recognized that many local organizations did not have the resources, infrastructure or staffing required to support on-premise collaborative technologies such as Microsoft Office SharePoint Server and Microsoft Exchange Server. This barrier dropped with the introduction of the Microsoft Online Services and the Business Productivity Online Suite, which enable Arctic IT to provide enterprise-class functionality in an online, subscription-based form that reduces or eliminates the need for an on-premise infrastructure. As a result, Arctic IT can deliver business value to its small and mid-sized business client companies, while gaining new customers and creating a new recurring revenue stream.
  
  
• Customer Case Study: Staser Consulting Group
  
  Online Collaboration Services Support Consulting Company’s Quantum Growth
  
  Based in Anchorage, Alaska, the Staser Consulting Group (SCG) brings together an interdisciplinary team of experienced business intelligence professionals to help companies make better fact-based decisions. To handle a recent four-fold growth, SCG needed enterprise-class communication and collaboration software, but deploying an on-premise solution was not economically feasible, nor was it practical considering SCG’s virtual business model. As a knowledge-based company, SCG found the right solution when Arctic Information Technology—a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner—introduced the Business Productivity Online Suite from Microsoft® Online Services, which provides the capabilities SCG needs in an online, subscription-based service. This solution enables SCG’s highly dispersed team to work together effectively and have access to the latest documents and contact information.
  
  
• Partner Case Study: SBS Pros
  
  Online Services Enables IT Consultant to Refocus on Higher Value Strategic Services
  
  SBS Pros is a Microsoft Gold Certified Partner based in Torrance, California that provides IT services to organizations across the United States—from the federal government to small and mid-sized businesses. Although SBS Pros offers a comprehensive portfolio of IT services, particularly in the area of security, it often found that it was spending more time helping clients administer and maintain core infrastructure than helping them overcome business challenges. With the introduction of Microsoft Online Services, SBS Pros can help its clients migrate their cumbersome in-house infrastructures to a cost-effective enterprise-class online service. This saves its clients money, strengthens its role as trusted advisor, and positions SBS Pros to more effectively help clients refocus on more strategic projects—which contribute more fully to SBS Pros’ bottom line.
  
  
• Partner Case Study: Evolve Partners
  
  Gaining a Comprehensive Messaging and Collaboration Solution to Meet Client Needs
  
  Many of the small and mid-sized organizations that Evolve Partners supports wanted more than just e-mail—they wanted more complete collaboration solutions to accompany their e-mail infrastructure. However, Evolve could not find a service provider partner that could offer a more comprehensive enterprise-class messaging and collaboration solution to meet its client’s needs. Not until, that is, Microsoft Online Services began offering the Business Productivity Online Suite. This offering provides precisely the kinds of enterprise grade messaging and collaboration tools that Evolve Partners’ clients had been seeking—and all for a low monthly subscription fee. Microsoft Online Services is helping Evolve meet its client’s needs, opening doors to new business opportunities, and increasing its revenues.
  
  
• Partner Case Study: BEI
  
  Online Communications Solution Opens New Doors for IT Service Provider
  
  Business Engineering, Inc. (BEI) has been designing, building and maintaining Microsoft® Windows Server®-based networks for clients in the Washington D.C. area for more than 20 years, but it knows that in-house infrastructures are not right for all organizations. BEI wanted a solution that would enable its clients to access to an enterprise-grade messaging and collaboration environment that they did not have to build and maintain in-house—and it found just the solution in the Business Productivity Online Suite from Microsoft Online Services. By reselling Microsoft Online Services, BEI can meet its clients’ need for enterprise-grade messaging and collaboration services, but requirements for in-house infrastructure and IT support resources are significantly reduced. It’s more cost-effective for BEI customers and it opens doors—and increases revenues—in ways that BEI could not before.
  
  
• Partner Case Study: ClearPointe
  
  Offering Online Services Points to a Clear Win for ClearPointe
  
  ClearPointe built its business on the remote management of client infrastructure. But many of the small to mid-sized business that ClearPointe serves were not taking advantage of newer messaging and collaboration technologies because of the high cost of building the infrastructure and licensing the software. When ClearPointe began to offer the Business Productivity Online Suite from Microsoft Online Services, it found an excited audience among its clients. Arkansas Physicians Management, Inc., seized the opportunity to move forward with an e-mail migration project that had been languishing for years. This expanded service provider role enables ClearPointe not only to deliver results much faster and with virtually no up-front costs, but also to achieve increased revenues and an expanded set of business relationships with existing and new clients alike.

Quick lifehack to remove Google Ads from any site

I read quite a simple routine to stop Google Ads from showing up in your browser. I haven’t thoroughly tested this, but at first glance it seems to work.

Ofcourse I do reconise the benefits and purpose of ad-funded sites and solutions, on the other hand it is nice to know there are ways to (re)gain control over how much ads you allow.

 

1. Before. Notice the ads on the right side ?

 

 

2. Add *.googlesyndication.com to your restricted sites in IE

 

 

3. No more ads in Google, nor on sites displaying Google syndicated ads

 

Microsoft to Google: Get Off of My Cloud

Business Week features a great article on Microsoft’s commitment to Software + Services, including some juicy details on the Datacenter infrastructure. So in case you thought Microsoft just got started, we are well underway ..

… The world's top software maker plans to build about 20 state-of-the-art data centers as it tries to outpace cloud computing rival Google, BusinessWeek has learned

Corporate America is increasingly leaving computing to the experts. Why go to the trouble and expense of building and managing complex systems to handle your spiraling data-crunching needs when another company can do it for you? And who better, faster, or cheaper than Google (GOOG)?

That's just the kind of conventional wisdom Debra Chrapaty wants to change. As Microsoft's (MSFT) vice-president for Global Foundation Services, Chrapaty wants to prove that her company is no less capable of running the sprawling data centers to offer software doled out via the Internet. The company is especially keen to handle the ubiquitous Microsoft software that consumers and corporations have been running for themselves for the past few decades. "Google has done a great job of hyping" its prowess, Chrapaty says. "But we're neck and neck with them."

And if Microsoft isn't there yet, it may be soon. Chrapaty, who's in charge of Microsoft's data centers, is stepping up a multibillion-dollar building binge, BusinessWeek has learned. Her group is embarking on a plan to build in the coming years some 20 supersize data centers that can cost as much as $1 billion apiece, according to a person familiar with Microsoft's plans. "We're going to reinvent the infrastructure of our industry," Chrapaty says. She declines to discuss specifics of the plan. …

Read on : BusinessWeek.com

Suikeroom Google blijft Mozilla spekken

Is Google hiermee grootaandeelhouder van Mozilla ? En wat als Google Chrome groter wordt .. neemt dan de interesse af net als bij StarOfifce in Google Pack. ?

De omzet die Mozilla vorig jaar binnenhaalde was voor 88 procent, 66 miljoen dollar, te danken aan Google. In 2006 was dit 85 procent. De totale omzet van de organisatie steeg met twaalf procent tot 75 miljoen dollar.

Source: Suikeroom Google blijft Mozilla spekken

Update: 22/11/08

Grappig, via de weblog van Peter O’Kelly kom ik op een artikel over de Mozilla / Google relatie en de druk die hier op ontstaat. Daar is trouwen sprake van 91% van het Google aandeel in de omzet …

Google shutting down virtual world 'Lively'

Lots of people like virtual worlds like Second Life. Turning this into a commercial success is something entirly different. It seems to be tough to turn innovative things into business …

… Once thought to be its answer to virtual worlds like Second Life, Google's Lively launched this summer to much fanfare.

Lively was Web-based and allowed anyone to set up virtual spaces, such as rooms, that could be embedded onto blogs or Facebook pages.

But the project never picked up much steam.

Now, Google has decided to shut the project down.

"Despite all the virtual high fives and creative rooms everyone has enjoyed in the last four and a half months, we've decided to shut Lively down at the end of the year," Google said on its official blog Wednesday evening. "It has been a tough decision, but we want to ensure that we prioritize our resources and focus more on our core search, ads and apps business." …

Source: cNet.com

Telegraaf: Slechts één procent van kantoormedewerkers gebruikt Google Docs

De Telegraaf schrijft vandaag over een onderzoek dat ClickStream Technologies in de VS heeft gedaan onder de gebruikers van Office Applicaties. In tegenstelling tot wat het artikel meldt gaat het volgens mij niet om kantoormedewerkers, maar om internetgebruikers. Feit is wel dat het onderzoek hele andere cijfers laat zien dan dat Google ons wil laten geloven ..

Slechts één procent van kantoormedewerkers gebruikt Google Docs, de productiviteitssoftware van Google. Dat blijkt uit onderzoek van Clickstream Technologies.

De mensen die wel Google Docs gebruiken, doen dit meestal in combinatie met ofwel Office van Microsoft, ofwel het gratis OpenOffice. Deze laatste wordt overigens slechts door vijf procent van de kantoormedewerkers gebruikt, terwijl dit percentage voor Office maar liefst 50 is.

Google Docs is een online variant van het bekende Office, waarbij documenten op servers van Google worden opgeslagen. Deze functionaliteit wordt dus echter vaak gecombineerd met het traditionele gebruik van Office.

Tijdens het gebruik van Docs worden daarnaast ook nog eens minder acties uitgevoerd dan in OpenOffice of Word. Bij de Google-variant worden gemiddeld slechts 40 acties ondernomen, terwijl dit voor OpenOffice en Word respectievelijk 548 en 1.797 waren.

In september meldde Google nog dat een miljoen bedrijven wereldwijd Google Apps, de commerciële variant van Google Docs, gebruiken. Zij doen dat blijkbaar dus niet exclusief.

Bron: Telegraaf

Op de weblog van Matt Cutts staat een zeer uitgebreide analyse waarin hij ook meerdere bronnen aanhaalt. Deze geven een soortgelijke conclusie :

Choosing Gmail over Microsoft Exchange : costly move

eWeek featured an article with the title : “Serena to Dump Microsoft Exchange for Google Gmail, the Cloud”.

The article ofcourse got my interest and when I started reading I thought this can’t be true. The article is one big confusing apples and oranges overview. I am quite sure that nor Mr Bister of Serena, nor the journalist has used Microsoft Excel to do their calculations …

Let’s have a look :

… Serena Software expects to save $750,000 per year by shedding Microsoft Exchange Server in favor of Google's Gmail application for its 800 employees, officials of the Web development software maker told eWEEK Nov. 12.

The move, slated to be completed by the end of 2008, is a coup for Google. The search engine provider has been struggling to entice customers to switch from the Microsoft Outlook e-mail client and Exchange Server on-premises application to its SAAS (software as a service) Web mail, word processing, spreadsheet and other applications.

These applications and data associated with them live on Google's hosted servers, which customers access through the Internet. This method, also called cloud computing, is becoming more popular for cost-conscious companies, which may also be tired of maintaining the servers that house their data.

Ron Brister, senior manager of global IT operations at Serena, told eWEEK Serena has subscribed to Google's GAPE (Google Apps Premier Edition) service, the paid version of Google Apps, for $50 per user, per year.

Brister said it cost Serena roughly $1 million a year to use Exchange once all of the CALs (client access licenses) and software assurance were factored in; he expects Serena to pay only a quarter of that to use GAPE. …

So an Exchange environment for 800 would cost $ 1 Million USD / Year ? Really ?

That’s $ 1250 USD / user / year ..

According to Radicati Group the average TCO per year is much lower :

Mid-size organizations (i.e. 1,000 email users) had a 3 year average TCO of $562 per user/year.

As the article suggests, Microsoft also offers Exchange Online. When using the calculator featured on the Microsoft Online site, The cost is much lower :

• $ 7696 / month for 800 users
• $ 92352 / year for 800 users
• $ 115,44 / user / year.
  
  This is excluding the Microsoft Outlook client, so the customer would need to purchase a separate Outlook client, or MS Office version. If you’d assume $300 / user for MS Office then this would be an additional investment of
  $ 240.000

However, Brister said Serena so far is only using Gmail and the Postini assets to protect and serve Gmail, largely because Serena staffers are using Microsoft's SharePoint collaboration software. While there is no current plan to jettison SharePoint, he conceded that that may change as Serena staffers get more comfortable with the cloud. Brister added:

What we're finding is it's becoming pretty viral and it's getting used, taking less of an emphasis off of things like SharePoint, which becomes static and stale much more quickly when you have something much more collaborative in the cloud and as easy to use as Gmail. It's become each of the users' preferences rather than anything we're dictating.

So they continue to use SharePoint. MOre good news. Serena could purchase the Business Productivity Online Suite, consisting of :

• Exchange Online : email
• SharePOint Online : Collaboration
• LiveMeeting : Web / Video Conferencing
• Office Communications Online : IM and Presence

All of this functionality will cost them :

• $ 11544 / month for 800 users
• $ 138528 / year for 800 users
• $ 173,16/ user / year.
  
  This is excluding the Microsoft Outlook and Communicator client, so the customer would need to purchase a separate Outlook and Communicator client, or MS Office version. If you’d assume $300 / user for MS Office then this would be an additional investment of $ 240.000 .

All in all you would come no where near the $ 1 Million USD that the article suggests Not in an on Premise Scenario (the Radicati TCO hihlighted) nor in an Online Services Scenario (the 2 scenario’s shown above>

There have been some cases where Google Apps has wedged its way in the door, joining Microsoft Office. Capgemini's embrace of Google Apps in September 2007 comes to mind.

Funny that they mention they alliance. The majority of info on the Capgemini site is over 1 year old. The site contains no success stories.

My recomendation to Serena Software would be to do some homework, look into Microsoft Online Services and reconsider their options …

 

Update 16-11-2008 : ZDbet has also picked up on this story with some additional (mis)calculations : http://blogs.zdnet.com/SAAS/?p=609

Gartner: Magic Quadrant for Social Software

Microsoft certainly sticks out in this Gartner Analysis.

As one my main focus area these days is on Software + Services I really am pleased with the quote on Google :

The SaaS-only model will limit the appeal for some organizations.

It confirms that although SaaS is an attractive business model with huge potential there are advantages in having multiple delivery options such as on-premise and hosting …

Microsoft: Strengths

• With SharePoint, Microsoft offers a broad set of capabilities that combine structured collaboration with core social computing capabilities, including blogs, wikis, podcasting, persistent group chat, discussion groups, "people search" that uses social network analysis, and related rich content, portal and workflow capabilities on a platform that offers consistent management and administration.
• Microsoft has continued to see exceptional market penetration, momentum, sizable internal and external deployments, and satisfaction with Windows SharePoint Services (a component included in Windows server at no extra charge) and Microsoft Office SharePoint Server 2007 (MOSS 2007) during 2008.
• It offers integration with desktop office applications and related offerings such as Microsoft's productivity tools, leading e-mail server, unified communications suite, Web-based meetings and Live Services.
• It has a very strong technology partner network ready to exploit SharePoint's presence in business environments while adding value and filling functionality gaps.
• The possibility now exists for better support for social analytics (sentiment and intent analysis) through integration with the recently acquired Fast Search & Transfer.
• Microsoft's market presence as a dependable global vendor enables it to handle enterprise requirements.

Microsoft : Cautions

• Given its breadth, MOSS may deter those who are looking to take advantage only of the collaboration and social networking capabilities, and those not fully committed to Microsoft infrastructure services.
• There are functional gaps including social tagging and bookmarking, social search and an improved wiki (although some of these are offered by Microsoft as open-source components through its Codeplex community).
• This strong partner network is a "double edged sword" as SharePoint may require a multivendor ecosystem to fulfill the needs of an organization with sophisticated social software needs.
• SharePoint's rich functionality can be hard to pull together into user-friendly environments without some technical assistance.
• More flexible deployment options are offered through the Business Productivity Online Suite (BPOS) SaaS program, but its credibility will take time to establish.

As one my main focus area these days is on Software + Services I really am pleased with the quote on Google :

The SaaS-only model will limit the appeal for some organizations.

It confirms that although SaaS is an attractive business model with huge potential there are advantages in having multiple delivery options such as on-premise and hosting …

Source: Gartner Group

This report and many others are available on Microsoft’s Analyst Relations page.

It’s a Microsoft World

I regularly check my blog stats, on for example how people end up at my blog. Search in my case is around 85% of all visits.

Some people search for the obvious :-)

Google Chrome : "Een pakketje schroot met een dun laagje chroom"

Blijkbaar is er een groeiende groep gebruikers die "Google-loos" door het leven wil. Zo heeft een Duits softwarebedrijf nu alle Google verwijzingen uit Google Chrome verwijdert en het toepasselijk "Iron" genoemd. Een goed voorbeeld van een van de voordelen van Open Source ..

Het Duitse softwarebedrijf SRWare heeft de broncode van Google Chrome omgesmeed tot Iron. Alle verwijzingen en terugkoppelingen naar Google zijn eruit gesloopt.

SRWare is kort na de introductie van Chrome aan de slag gegaan met Chromium, de broncode van de Google-browser. Het resultaat is Iron, een gestripte versie van Chrome die beter maar vooral privacyvriendelijker moet zijn dan het origineel uit Mountain View.

Googlevrij
Om een groeiende groep 'Google-paranoïden' te bedienen, hebben de Trendelburgse programmeurs alle verwijzingen en registratiemechanismen van Google uit de browser gesloopt. Zo wordt er geen Client ID, een uniek serienummer, of tijdstempel meer gegenereerd tijdens de installatie, is de omstreden automatische suggestiefunctie in de zoek- en adresbalk geschrapt en gaat er geen melding naar Google als het programma crasht. Ook is de Google Updater, die normaal op de achtergrond draait, verwijderd.

Bron: Techworld.nl

ZDnet: CommBank chooses Office 2007 over Google Apps

Commonwealth Bank of Australia is a good example of a company that not judges Microsoft Office on it covers, but rather sees it for what it is : the cornerstone of a platform and not just a bundle of a text editor, presentation app and calculator …

… The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has completed a deployment of Microsoft's new Office 2007 suite to 38,000 desktops — a year after giving Google Apps the thumbs down.

The Office 2007 Professional roll-out had covered CommBank's 38,000 desktops at its headquarters and 1,000-plus branches, Mark Griffith, executive manager of the bank's workplace technologies group told Microsoft's Tech.Ed conference in Sydney today.

Microsoft's latest Office suite has replaced Office 2003 on CommBank's Windows XP desktop environment, which currently supports around 2,000 applications, including the bank's internally developed CRM system, CommSee. Integration with CommSee was critical, according to Griffith. …

… Upgrading its collaboration capabilities make the next step for CommBank, which is eyeing Sharepoint 2007 for a central repository and a collaboration back end for its Office suite.

The bank last year vetted Google's office productivity suite, Google Apps, but gave it the thumbs down, claiming the suite had "insufficient product capability". …

Source : ZDnet

Docsyncer is no more

It’s very hard for companies in such a ‘narrow niche’. Maybe Docsyncer was hoping to be acquired by Google …

Thank you for your interest in DocSyncer. Our service will be shutting down on June 20th, 2008. All current users can continue to access and use the service until that time.

Source: http://www.docsyncer.com

 

DocSyncer – the company that allowed users to sync desktop documents with Google Docs has closed its doors

On the surface this appears surprising - DocSyncer had established a strong user base, having accumulated over 6 million documents since its launch last October. It had become the web’s largest contributor to Google Docs.

So what was the cause of death? DocSyncer CEO Cliff Shaw says that the company simply couldn’t find a viable business model – a point that became obvious when the company presented at the Under the Radar conference earlier this year.

Furthermore – and likely more lethal - the company also faced the looming threat of Google creating its own syncing service. This is one of the biggest risks faced by companies wanting to developed tools or services on Google Apps/Docs.

The management team has begun work on a new photo site called picstreem, and is currently seeking funding.

The Forrester Wave(tm): Enterprise Search, Q2 2008

Snapshot of the Enterprise Search market, which is consolodating at a rapid pace. Microsoft did a superb job by acquiring FAST as you can see ...

Forrester evaluated enterprise search vendors against 147 criteria and found that Autonomy, Endeca, FAST (a Microsoft subsidiary), and Vivisimo lead the market with impressive technical capabilities and a diverse customer base pushing for further innovation. Over the past two years, IBM, Microsoft, and Oracle have all recognized their potential advantage in the enterprise search market. Not only do they have deep financial resources to support their products, but they also can win customers who seek to natively connect and integrate search with existing IBM, Microsoft, or Oracle applications and content repositories. Yet these vendors are still digesting acquisitions and building search features that customers want now. Meanwhile, Recommind and InQuira deliver distinctive solutions for targeted market segments — legal and customer service, respectively—while Coveo is repositioning itself due to industry shakeups. Google competes effectively on ease of administration, low-cost/high-value appliances, and stellar brand. Search is a buyer's market, and I&KM pros must pragmatically align their requirements to get the best value and fit for their needs.

Source: The Forrester Wave(tm): Enterprise Search, Q2 2008

Virgle ... People on Mars ...

... Posted by Sir Richard Branson, President and Founder of Virgin Group
In my life, I've had a lot of exciting adventures and launched a lot of ambitious business ventures. I'm delighted today to announce Virgle, Inc., a joint venture between the Virgin Group and Google which qualifies on both counts.

Virgle's goal is simple: the establishment of a permanent human settlement on Mars. Larry Page, Sergey Brin and I feel strongly that contemporary technology is sufficiently advanced to make such an effort both successful and economical, and that it's high time that humanity moved beyond Earth and began our great, long journey to explore the stars and establish our first lasting foothold on another world.
In the years to come, we'll be sending up a series of spaceships carrying (along with the supplies and tools needed to build the new colony) what eventually will be hundreds of Mars colonists, or Virgle Pioneers -- myself among them. If you think you might want join us (or invest in or otherwise assist this vast venture), I hope you'll read more here about how Virgle will work, what our brave Pioneers can expect and what the future holds for what just might be the most ambitious adventure in mankind's long and storied history.
See you on the north side of Kasei Valles!....

View article...

April 1st :-)

Google verliest beroep om recht op Gmail-merk in EU

 

Google mag blijkbaar de naam Gmail niet meer gebruiken in Europa ..

... Google mag de naam Gmail in de gehele Europese Unie niet meer gebruiken voor zijn gratis webmaildienst, zo heeft de Harmoniseringsdienst voor de Interne Markt in een beroepszaak besloten. Het handelsmerk behoort toe aan de Duitser Daniel Giersch.

Medio vorig jaar verloor Google al het recht om de naam Gmail in Duitsland te bezigen. De Harmoniseringsdienst besloot reeds vorige maand om Google mede op grond daarvan het recht op het handelsmerk in de EU te ontzeggen, maar heeft de beslissing nu pas gepubliceerd. ...

Source: Tweakers.net

Forrester: Get Ready For Collaboration In The Cloud

The full report is for Forrester subscribers only, however, the small management summary looks promising. My humble and biased opinion is that Forrester overestimates Google's current capability, but I do agree the landscape is changing much faster than it did in the past ...

... While Microsoft's move to acquire Yahoo! attacks Google's extraordinarily profitable search and advertising business, another angle could hold even larger implications for the Redmond giant. Google has moved tentatively into the enterprise software market, potentially threatening Lotus and Microsoft in a big way by continuing to add enterprise capabilities, such as the workspace offering Team Edition. Google's move essentially signals a sea change in how enterprises license and distribute software. Although Yahoo! could help Microsoft get there faster, it's not just a Google /Microsoft race, and all bets are off with IBM/Lotus' Project Blue for cloud-based Social Computing as a clear finalist. There is also a dark horse in this race: Cisco. Each vendor will face considerable challenges as significant portions of on-premise collaboration software disappear into a cloud. From an information and knowledge manager's perspective, putting productivity and collaboration software in a cloud-based model has clear benefits — it's potentially much less expensive, easier to manage a single source of the truth, and is available anywhere, at any time. ...

Source: Forrester Research: All Research - Get Ready For Collaboration In The Cloud

OpenID board members

This is an impressive (and challenging ?) group to start of your iniative that's for sure :

The OpenID Foundation announced that Google, IBM, Microsoft Corp., Verisign, and Yahoo! have joined as its first corporate board members. With these companies’ deep expertise in Internet and security technology, the OpenID Foundation strengthens the industrywide effort to empower users with portable Web identities, or OpenIDs. This effort helps ensure the evolution of an open and interoperable Internet that helps people take control of how their personal information is used online and helps online businesses attract and retain more users by simplifying and securing the management of digital identities. www.ibm.com / www.microsoft.com / www.google.com / www.verisign.com / www.yahoo.com

Source Radicati News By Mail

Confusion and uncertainty in the Enterprise Search market ?

Google certainly want's you to believe this, judging on a post by Google's Rodrigo Vaca :

... Last week's developments in the enterprise search market are sure to bring confusion and uncertainty to many customers. Customers of existing enterprise search solutions will start wondering about the future of the investment they made in the past. Is their product still going to be developed and improved? What about support for a diverse enterprise IT landscape? How long before they're asked to do a painful -and costly- migration? ...

This obviously refers to the announcement of Microsoft to acquire Fast. Google apparently wants Fast customers to believe that there's no future developments and that current Microsoft Enterprise Search solutions don't operate in a diverse enterprise IT landscape ... well they do.

And let's face it Google Enterprise Search does not provide the capabilities Fast Search solutions provide, so exactly how does Google envision a switch to Google's platform, because there's simply no way they can fill the holes.

Microsoft acquired Fast because of the fact that it compliments its Enterprise Search capabilities and not with the intent to move clients over in any form ...

... On the other side, customers of some content management systems just realized that an enterprise search "feature" - or an "express" product, for that matter - is just not enough. Good enterprise search requires a dedicated, specialized system that is secure, returns relevant results quickly, and most importantly, is able to find all content throughout the enterprise, regardless where it is located. ...

Again a little (intended?)confusion about Microsoft's solutions in Enterprise Search. Maybe some external independent research might not hurt : Burton Group, Forrester, Forrester,  Gartner.

Google is tempting you to make a fast switch. I would recommend, think first and ask Microsoft to inform you about its Search strategy and solutions (and not trust the competition to do this for you ;-)) and then make a sound decision ...

Savage: Microsoft Live @edu

Op de weblog van Savage, gezemel.nl, een blogpost over de Windows Live @ EDU presentatie die Remco Ploeg, Michael Kleine en ik verleden maand hebben gegeven bij ROC Avensus voor een aantal ROC's:

... Enige jaren geleden kwam bij ons op school de noodzaak voor e-mail voor cursisten om de hoek kijken. Probleem daarbij was dat de directie de noodzaak niet echt in zag en het dus niets mocht kosten. De oplossing is indertijd gevonden in Netmail, een webmail oplossing van Novell. Dat sloot mooi aan bij ons Novell netwerk.

Inmiddels zijn we bezig met het voorbereiden van de overstap van Novell naar Microsoft en gaan alle medewerkers volgend jaar over op Exchange in plaats van Groupwise. Kostentechnisch is het niet te doen om alle studenten ook op Exchange te zetten, dat is gewoon te duur. We waren dus op zoek naar een goedkope en goede oplossing als vervanging van onze Netmail omgeving.

Vorige week maandag zijn op ROC Aventus presentaties gegeven door Microsoft en Google. Beide grootmachten hebben een gratis oplossing voor het bieden van e-mail, opslagruimte en nog andere mooie diensten aan studenten. Hoewel beide oplossingen hun sterke en zwakke kanten hebben en mijn eigen voorkeur uit gaat naar Google (ik vind Gmail vele malen beter dan Hotmail) konden we het aanbod van Microsoft niet laten schieten. De eerste drie aanmeldingen kregen namelijk het vijfdaagse implementatietraject voor de installatie van Identity Livecycle Manager vergoed. ...

... Een hele mooie toevoeging is Office Live Workspace. Hiermee kun je Office bestanden delen en bewerken (mits Office op de PC staat) en aanbieden ter evaluatie. Een docent of medecursist kan dan opmerkingen achterlaten zonder het document te hoeven bewerken.

Eigenlijk alles wat je studenten wil bieden die vanaf school, huis of stageplek met elkaar willen samenwerken en ten alle tijden contact met hun docent willen hebben.

Nu alleen de docenten nog aan de Live Messenger zien te krijgen …

Meer over Office Live Workspace volgende week ...

Source: Microsoft Live @edu
Savage
Date Published: Fri, 30 Nov 2007 08:05:33 GMT

Microsoft's Live.com hoogste nieuwe binnenkomer

 

NU.nl publiceerde vandaag een artikel met de meest bezochte websites in Nederland. Microsoft's Live.com komt met stip binnen op 4 ...

... Sociale media, zoals Hyves en Wikipedia, trekken steeds meer bezoekers op het Nederlandse deel van internet. Toch blijven Google.nl, Startpagina.nl en Marktplaats.nl de best bezochte websites.

Dat blijkt uit de jaarlijkse ranglijst van onderzoeksbureau Multiscope. Op de vierde plaats van de top-twintig staat de hoogste binnenkomer: de lokale versie van Microsofts portaalsite live.com. De softwaregigant uit Redmond is ook in de lijst vertegenwoordigd met msn.com (5), hotmail.com (13) en msn.nl (18).

Multiscope noemt de opkomst van sociale mediasites de belangrijkste trend van 2007. De Nederlandse editie van internetencyclopedie Wikipedia (7, vorig jaar 10), vriendennetwerk Hyves (8, vorig jaar 56) en web-log.nl (14, vorig jaar 18) staan in de top-twintig, en ook sites als Youtube, Digg, Google Video en Flickr trekken veel bezoekers. ...

Source: Sociale media sterk in opkomst

En grappig om te zien hoe zeer dit weer afwijkt van een ander onderzoek in de VS, dt maal beken vanuit 'Attention Rank' :

... Believe it or not, based on the top 100 domains (unique visitors) FanFiction.net has the fourth highest average time spent per user. That’s right, they beat out Facebook, MySpace, Google, Yahoo! and MSN. Only three sites rank higher; the almighty time wasting gaming site, Pogo.com (number one), and the two hottest dating sites (so I hear) on the net; manhunt.net and adam4adam.com. Coming in at a close number five is another gaming site, runescape.com and then finally, Myspace. I’d like to once again send my condolences to Tom on his big loss for the coveted ‘most devoted internet junkie website of the year award.’

What is FanFiction.net? I had honestly never heard of it until it broke the top 30 for attention recently (now at number 28) and I did a little digging. Founded in 1988 by computer programmer Xing Li this website allows users to post their fiction on a myriad of topics ranging from anime to movies and if that’s not enough, “Misc.” It’s not hard to see why people spend so much time on this website, once you read one post about the highly anticipated Edward Scissorhands II (Johnny Depp declined comment) you will be hooked. When I say hooked, I mean it: The average user spends over seven and a half hours on this website a month and logs in more than 34 times. ...

Source : Compete Blog

Online Video Ranking: MSN/Live Surge, Competitors Sink

Sure Youtube is by far the leader in online video today ... but look at MSN :

... This month’s online video stack-up saw a major reshuffling with 3 of the Top 5 players trading places amid heavy shifts in traffic. YouTube continued to outperform the market, growing 1% in October to 213M visits on nearly 52M unique visitors. The Top 20 video sites as a set contracted 6% in October.

 

Extraordinary gains were realized by the Microsoft family of video sites, which includes MSN Video and Live Search Video, catapulting the Redmond rival into 2nd place, three spots ahead of its rank in September. MSN/Live Video grew 25.3% to 35M visits on the strength of 21M visitors. ...

Let's hope this is not incidental but the result of Microsoft's strong focus in improving these services ...

Source: Online Video Ranking: MSN/Live Surge, Competitors Sink
Author: Alex Patriquin
Date Published: Wed, 28 Nov 2007