Coming to you from The Open Group's Enterprise Architecture Practitioners Conference in Boston, we've assembled a panel this week to delve into the advancing role and powerful potential for enterprise architecture. The economy's grip on IT budgets and the fast-changing sourcing models like cloud computing are pointing to a reckoning for EA -- of now defining a vast new promise for IT business alignment improvement or, conversely, a potentially costly lost opportunity.Enterprise Architecture: Vast Promise or Lost Opportunity?
July 31st, 2010 Comments Off
Coming to you from The Open Group's Enterprise Architecture Practitioners Conference in Boston, we've assembled a panel this week to delve into the advancing role and powerful potential for enterprise architecture. The economy's grip on IT budgets and the fast-changing sourcing models like cloud computing are pointing to a reckoning for EA -- of now defining a vast new promise for IT business alignment improvement or, conversely, a potentially costly lost opportunity.Geo-blocking: Jamming a Square Peg Into a Round Hole
July 30th, 2010 Comments Off
When many individuals attempted to watch the recent World Cup games online, depending on where they were located and from which website they tried to view them, they may have found the following statement on their screen: "The requested video cannot be displayed in your region" rather than the game itself. That pop-up message was due to "geo-blocking" or "geo-fencing," a practice that allows only the people within a specific geographical region to view online content such as video streams. It's managed by identifying where an individual is currently located based on the IP address.AT&T Is Winning Its Catch-Up Race
July 29th, 2010 Comments Off
AT&T Mobility and Apple iPhone have been successful together, but every coin has two sides. The other side has been a wireless data logjam. Could that problem finally be getting under control? AT&T has been working very hard to do just that, said Ralph de la Vega, AT&T mobility and consumer markets president and CEO, at last week's Fortune Brainstorm Tech Conference in Aspen, Colo. Improved connectivity should already be evident. If that is true, millions of AT&T smartphone customers should be very happy starting about now.Why That Mountain of Leads Is a Molehill of Sales
July 28th, 2010 Comments Off
In the struggle to grow revenues in tighter markets, most companies are pushing their marketing departments to provide greater market coverage and deliver more sales opportunities. Yet statistics reveal that an astonishing 79 percent of leads generated by corporate marketing departments are never contacted by corporate sales groups. Unless that issue is addressed, stepping up marketing efforts simply amplifies a core inefficiency rather than leading to increased sales.Doctoring the Customer Experience
July 27th, 2010 Comments Off
Retailers' worst nightmare has indeed come to bear: American consumers have permanently changed their buying habits, according to research by several firms. Gone are the days of shopping as a pastime. And, for all practical purposes, brand loyalty has just about evaporated. In its grocery-buyer survey, for example, Deloitte found that 84 percent of those polled were focused on cutting spending and saving money rather than on buying into trends or purchasing favorite brands. Most of the respondents said there were only "two or three brands" they could not live without. This does not bode well.No A’s for Effort in Venture Capital
July 26th, 2010 Comments Off
Two weeks ago, I described how universities are encroaching on the space of traditional venture capitalists, initiating small funds to commercialize their own research. Their deal flow, driven by internal entrepreneurs, should move at a healthy clip, because the lousy returns of the last 10 years will force many mid-tier venture funds out of business. Meanwhile, universities eagerly trying to replace vanished endowment dollars will convince key stakeholders to scrape together pots of money to form modest venture funds, ideally to create annuities but also to attract top faculty members.The Architect and the CSO: Enterprise Security’s Dynamic Duo
July 24th, 2010 Comments Off
Welcome to a panel discussion that examines the need for improved common defenses -- including advancing cooperation between enterprise architects and chief security officers -- to jointly defend against burgeoning cyber security threats. The risks are coming from inside enterprises, as well as myriad external sources. From the panel, we'll learn more about the nature of these borderless, external, cyber security threats, as they emerge from criminal enterprises, globally competitive business sources, even state-based threats, and sometimes a combination of these.How Mobile Commerce Can Capture In-Store Sales
July 23rd, 2010 Comments Off
Three years after Apple launched the iPhone, mobile commerce has reached a tipping point, driving retailers to change the way they think about their businesses. Mobile commerce has evolved from its origins as a marketplace for "virtual" goods like ringtones and applications to one enabling the sale of "real" products, particularly low-cost items that offer immediate gratification. But what is the impact of mobile commerce on retailers whose products require a greater level of consideration and come with a bigger price tag?Who in the Wireless World Is Philip Falcone?
July 22nd, 2010 Comments Off
This is an interesting story that no one is really talking about yet. If all goes according to the plans of Philip Falcone, Harbinger Capital Partners will turn into the newest competitor in the wireless industry. "LightSquared," as the new venture will be called, will offer a wireless data service that sounds a lot like what Clearwire is doing. It will also compete with AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and T-Mobile on the wireless data side of their businesses. So what are the odds that Harbinger will be the next successful company in the wireless space?‘Antennagate’ Postmortem: Apple Is Nearly Unstoppable
July 21st, 2010 Comments Off
These days Apple reminds me a lot of the inscription found on the James Farley Post Office in New York City: "Neither snow nor rain nor heat nor gloom of night stays these couriers from the swift completion of their appointed rounds." If Apple had a credo, the aphorism on its Cupertino headquarters might read: "Neither antenna problems or dropped calls, nor irreplaceable batteries, nor lack of a USB port or flash support, nor premium pricing, nor lack of a definitive jailbreak date for the iPhone can keep users from pre-ordering and purchasing Apple devices in record breaking numbers."
