tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-28416766181524593532024-03-23T15:44:47.512+05:30Techno-PulseTechnology simplified... AWS, IoT, Cloud Computing | SaaS PaaS IaaS | Web 2.0 | Startups Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.comBlogger106125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-27617572546344097182018-11-15T20:48:00.000+05:302018-11-15T21:48:47.835+05:30Network Monitoring with Open-source Tools<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Open Network Monitoring System (<b>OpenNMS</b>) is a service-grade,
enormously integrated, open source platform designed for building network
monitoring solutions. There are two distributions of OpenNMS: <b>Meridian </b>and
<b>Horizon</b>.</div>
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Meridian is advisable for organizations and businesses
looking out for stability and long-term support. Horizon is suggested for quick innovations and is
right for monitoring new technologies and IT ecosystems. Both distributions are
completely open-source.</div>
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Network monitoring is vital to keep computer networks and
programs secure from the various cyber attacks that are so common in recent
times. This article presents the purpose for network monitoring, along with a
few select open source network monitoring tools.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Network monitoring is used to maintain an eagle’s eye on
different computer networks, looking out for sluggish and failing components.
It is pretty essential, specifically in case of sudden outages and other
troubles. Network monitoring is taken into consideration as to be part of
network control. Enterprise networks must cope with large data sets being
accessed by various devices. Such networks should provide a reliable and fast
service that doesn't add too much value to the business.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The demand for open source software tools continues to grow
and network management tools have ridden that wave. Instead of spending a small
fortune purchasing software tools which might or might not do what you need,
look out for a free open source tool to monitor, configure and map your networked
devices.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Basic goals
of network monitoring</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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There are 3 fundamental goals for network monitoring, which
cover three functional areas for network management, based on the Open Systems
Interconnection (<b>OSI</b>) model.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">1.
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Performance Monitoring</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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This arrangements with estimating the execution of a system.
There are multiple measurable parameters in a network. But from the list of
parameters, relevant ones should be selected from the business value and
performance perspective. Such parameters to be measured are known as a network
since they indicate the performance attributes of the network.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">2. <b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Fault Monitoring</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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This arrangements with identifying the issues or issues in
the system.. It covers the special layers of the network because a problem can
arise in any one of them. It requires establishing the ‘normal’ traits for the
network. There are always a few errors inside the network, however, this does
not imply that the network has persistent problems.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;">3. <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Account Monitoring</b></span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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This deals with how
any person makes use of a specific network. The network keeps a record of all
of the devices on it, which are utilized by people and additionally how often
they are used. This sort of records is normally used for billing users for network
usage and also for predicting future network utilization.<o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-size: 14.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Different Open-source Tools used for Network Monitoring</span></b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Not only are there free and open source network monitoring
solutions available, but the options are also diverse and abundant. Below, I’ve mentioned a few of the most popular free network
monitoring software:</span></div>
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<ol start="1" style="margin-top: 0in;" type="1">
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in; margin-top: 14pt;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Nagios</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Zabbix</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Incinga</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 0in;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Libre
NMS</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal" style="background: white; line-height: normal; margin-bottom: 14pt;"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;">Pandora FMS</span><span style="font-size: 12.0pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></li>
</ol>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">While it is conceivable
to physically screen a system (contingent upon the measure of the system and
how basic the assets on the system are), you will presumably be in an ideal
situation utilizing apparatuses particularly intended for such a reason.<span style="color: black;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #073763; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;">IBM® Network Performance Insight software tool to view and
configure the performance analysis reports for a network</span></b></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="background: white; color: #073763; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 14.0pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background: white; font-size: 12.0pt;">Network Performance Insight is a
Dashboard Application Services Hub - based network monitoring tool by IBM that
gives you a complete traffic flow and metric data analysis. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;">The movement perception dashboards are
rendered from Network Health Dashboard and Device Dashboard after you
coordinate with IBM Tivoli® Network Manager IP Edition.</span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #073763; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt;">IBM Networks for Operations Insight is an
optional feature which can be included in the deployment of the base IBM
Netcool Operations Insight solution. The capabilities of Networks for
Operations Insight include network discovery, visualization, event correlation
and root-cause analysis, and configuration that provide service assurance in
dynamic network infrastructures.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="color: #073763; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">What Network Monitoring Tools do you use? Feel free to share your views in the comment section.</span></div>
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<span style="background: white; color: #323232; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 12.0pt;"><a data-saferedirecturl="https://www.google.com/url?q=https://ibm.co/2CIr6qB&source=gmail&ust=1542382007790000&usg=AFQjCNGWvMq6Hu_LZ4e1Oby-DtRJIoc84A" href="https://ibm.co/2CIr6qB" style="color: #1155cc; font-family: Roboto, RobotoDraft, Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: small;" target="_blank">https://ibm.co/2CIr6qB</a></span></div>
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<span style="background: white; font-family: "helvetica neue"; font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #999999;">Guest Post</span></span></div>
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Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-72374956920398714762018-10-26T15:49:00.000+05:302018-10-31T10:32:46.553+05:305 Reasons to Get a POS System for your Supermarket Business<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5HOaAuQrkeXR41If02Q6KE5E1X59PXEhPhXNLdrBPmIPHAX-fBgjM0WAnKBJ9SJWUAhDt5uf-1IeJMMb5PDRFTYiTGCGB1wRj_Lb6-m5CleA4O6_7URBFd8lYJzUQk4W0JFy2ItMNYPf9/s1600/pos.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1146" data-original-width="1600" height="229" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg5HOaAuQrkeXR41If02Q6KE5E1X59PXEhPhXNLdrBPmIPHAX-fBgjM0WAnKBJ9SJWUAhDt5uf-1IeJMMb5PDRFTYiTGCGB1wRj_Lb6-m5CleA4O6_7URBFd8lYJzUQk4W0JFy2ItMNYPf9/s320/pos.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="white-space: pre-wrap;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Supermarkets are frequented by many
people on a daily basis. Serving such a huge traffic without a </span><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">POS (Point of
Sale) system can be cumbersome. This is because you may enter some figures
incorrectly and end up incurring huge losses. Besides that, doing the math of
every sale can keep the customers waiting for too long. However, there are some
supermarket businesses that don’t appreciate the importance of using a POS.
They regard it as unnecessary expense. On the contrary, a POS is very easy to
operate. In fact, you don’t need to have any special skills. The system is also
economical because you only buy it once and for all. Here is a comprehensive
list of reasons why every supermarket business should get a POS system.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #20124d;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">1. Improved Productivity</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">When your cashiers use a POS system
at checkout, they are able to serve more customers as opposed to when they do
everything manually. This is due to the fact that the barcode scanner is much
faster in reading the prices of items. You only need to hover the scanner’s
light beam over the products and it will retrieve their prices. The other
advantage is that you don’t have to keep checking your inventory because the
system monitors the number of items that are in stock and notifies you when the
level is too low so that you can restock. Advanced models even send an alert to
your suppliers and vendors.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">2. Reliable Source of Information</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #444444; font-size: 14.6667px;">Any entrepreneur that has tried any of <a href="https://toppossystem.com/supermarket-pos-system/" target="_blank">the 3 best supermarket POS systems of 2018</a> will tell you that they make it easier to manage your business when you are away. If your employees have been reporting to work late when you are not around, the system can help you know the time they started working. This is because the system is connected to an app that’s installed in your phone. The app gives you access to all purchases that are made at the supermarket. Moreover, every receipt indicates the time of transaction and the employee that printed it. You can also know the products that are moving fast out of the shelves.</span></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">3. Enhances Customer Relations
Management</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">With a POS, you don’t have to print
a receipt for every sale. This is because you can send receipts via email. All
you need to do is refer to your customers’ base when processing receipts. Such
receipts are usually more convenient because they can be accessed from any
location as long as you have a device that’s connected to the internet. You can
also use such emails to inform your customers about upcoming offers on various
items. It also makes it easy to identify loyal customers.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; line-height: 107%;">4. Prevents Human Error</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;">Errors are inevitable when you add
the figures manually. Such errors happen because employees are overwhelmed by
the number of customers that are waiting to be served. When an error happens,
the customer is usually undercharged or overcharged. Using a POS reduces the
chances of wrong calculations. This is because the system is very accurate as
it can’t use prices that are not in the database of the inventory.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt;"><br /></span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">5. Enhances Transparency among
Employees</span></b><o:p></o:p></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">It’s easy for employees to steal
from your business when you don’t have a POS system. You will only realize that
your inventory is reducing drastically but there is no money in the till to
match with the sales that have been made. The problem is that you can’t trace
how such items are disappearing from the shelves because your employees have
ways of covering their tracks to avoid getting caught. When you have a POS
system, employees will not even dare to steal any item because they know you
are monitoring the inventory in real time. Every item that’s removed from the
shelves has to be accounted for in the system. </span><o:p></o:p></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Can you think of any other reason to get a POS System for your business? Please share your reason in the comment section.</span></span><br />
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="color: #444444;"><span style="font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11pt;">Guest Post by Dan</span></span></div>
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Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-29816051623665156942018-05-22T13:01:00.001+05:302018-05-23T13:19:10.651+05:30AWS Bill Shock & Root Account Security<h3>TLDR</h3>
<ol><li>Your AWS root account email must <font color="#ff0000">NOT</font> point to a specific person email Id.</li><li><font color="#ff0000">NEVER</font> ever share your AWS root user credential to anyone. </li><li>Do <font color="#ff0000">NOT</font> use root user for day to day operations. </li><li><font color="#00ff00"><strong>DO</strong></font> Activate MFA (multi-factor authentication) on your root account.</li></ol><p align="justify"><strong><font color="#0000ff">P.S.</font></strong> <em>There can be a dozen of reasons for a bill shock. The objective of this article is to fix some of the basic root account security anti-patterns</em> (for beginners). <em>I’ve focused on the Root Account security as most of the beginners tend to take its security for granted. As Root Account has unrestricted access any breach with root credentials will have large (yes, unlimited</em>) <strong>blast radius</strong>!</p><h3>Cloud Bill Shock <img class="wlEmoticon wlEmoticon-lightning" alt="Lightning" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0EURdb6CIRDy8k4Fv28hzW2jburOxasosi3i4JOJnuyYvCVLRYwsR4YmO9mMx_DvKQedg2UGwhQEjQmGzmZVebgtVjxSUJkj-1-Fua062Tk5blQ1Ghp9zxZfGBZlTjlSf5pUU49adZUyq//?imgmax=800"></h3>
<p align="justify">Google it & you may come across 100s of instances where cloud service accounts of various individuals/companies have been misused by new age cyber pirates (euphemistically called Crypto Miners / Bitcoin Farmers).</p><p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjnqFa_CLlXK1fxaVG7ulNBx6nF5Eyi8PEEUnSkpYikLGSnBSxlWgH95g-HSa99owiAik0b1lUO9XKgbEKrs5D33unTPV9dLbbeJifJLzKKZHB08qxusao-ZGvDALKfmqQIzOomxkV7WVad/s1600-h/AWS-Bill-Shock%255B3%255D"><img width="957" height="772" title="AWS-Bill-Shock" style="display: inline; background-image: none;" alt="AWS-Bill-Shock" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj5J0y6_cwCdA9zwGixQID5ZkBgiadCxwSzAUuDSDR4EgJOM-DjDeFTs1RC8cy6XCWSNZLD63y-sw3scVjoz9dYH0O0WUokusD3sKtwPTDA084gB9uKzWYmWfS7d0dazaqKSxU0jG8p5dcH//?imgmax=800" border="0"></a></p><p align="justify">Without an iota of doubt, AWS offers you unlimited capacities protected with state-of-the-art security practices. However, consider your bank has an excellent security practice and a perfectly secured website but can it prevent your account from an online robbery if you go on sharing your internet banking Sign-in User-Id and Password with others?</p>
<h3 align="justify">Ignorance is Bliss?</h3><p align="justify">May be that’s true to some extent in real life. However in online world ignorance will be punished sooner than later. Cybersecurity is only as strong as your weakest link - and the weakest link most of the time is YOU (& your employees). Bot exploits are quite common & reported on a regular basis where hackers are running bots to look out for Access Keys in repository hosting services.</p><p align="justify">
From last few weeks, I started consulting a few startups & SMEs who have recently migrated to AWS or have newly created the account & are about to migrate. A few clients were more than willing to share their root user credential without a second thought. A few are innocent enough to believe that as they're yet to deploy any of their assets (source code, data etc.) to the newly created account so there's no risk even if the credentials are compromised! </p><p align="justify">
It seems not everyone is aware of the risk that their credentials can be misused by launching 100s of high-end virtual machines which can easily lead you to a staggering 5 figure bill within a day!</p><p align="justify">
The security & compliance on AWS (or for that matter any cloud platform) works on the shared responsibility model. As per this model, the global AWS cloud infrastructure is secured by Amazon but OS level security, firewall configurations & more importantly the application level security is solely your responsibilities.</p><h3>Security Anti-Patterns in AWS Account Management</h3><p> (Yes! the most popular ones with the beginners)</p><p>1. Your root account email (i.e. AWS sign-up email) should not point to a specific person email Id. </p>
<p align="justify"><font style="background-color: rgb(0, 255, 0);"><strong>Best Practice</strong></font> <font color="#333333">First & foremost, Sign-up AWS with an email alias – this disconnects the account from an individual user’s mailbox. The alias should point to a team distribution list addresses (i.e. multiple persons can receive alerts when Amazon is trying to warn you via email in case of a breach). Apart from being a security best practice; this arrangement also helps you when the employee (with root account email)quit the organization.</font></p><p align="justify"><font color="#333333">Although the root user eMail points to an alias (distribution list), at any point in time, only a single person should have the credentials to Sign-in. Others are simply receiving the emails and can inform the person responsible for root account handling in cases of an emergency.</font></p><p>2. Root account & other high privilege user accounts are NOT activated with MFA (Multi-factor Authentication).</p>
<p>3. Sharing root account credentials to a 3rd party or even to your own employees.</p>
<p>4. Having a single AWS account with unrelated teams (or business objectives).</p>
<p>5. Not setting up the AWS billing alerts.</p>
<p>6. Using a weak password for the Root Account.</p>
<p>6. Not using IAM at all.</p>
<p>7. Not applying an IAM password policy. This means that you'll definitely have many IAM users with weak passwords without any expiration. </p>
<p>8. Not following the <em>principle of least privilege</em> while assigning permission for IAM users.</p><p>9. Tying up the Root Account MFA to a personal mobile phone. (It’s a dependency. What if the person quits the company?)</p>
<h3 align="justify">So, what's the Best Way to Share your AWS Account with a Consultant?</h3><p align="justify">For startups & smaller organizations, at times it may happen that you don't have the essential in-house competency to look into say why your billing has suddenly spiked (cost optimization) or whether your team is following the best security practices or you may have Scaling or Performance issues which you want to be sorted out with an external help. Or simply, you may wish to go for a review of your overall AWS architecture and want to bring in an external partner or independent AWS consultant for the task. So, what's the best way to go ahead till the required trust is built between you and the consultant?</p>
<p align="justify">One way which most of you may suggest (& practice) is to present your AWS console via a screen sharing application (Skype / Hangout / TeamViewer / GoToMeeting etc.). Well, this can work out to some extent but it does have a few limitations like:</p><p align="justify">
What if the consultant wants to refer the architecture/console again after the meeting? Also, this approach requires a lot of coordination between your team and the consultant as both need to be present at the same time (even if it is remotely done).</p><p align="justify">
IMO, the simplest, most efficient and secure way to start working with an independent consultant is to:</p>
<p>1. <strong><font size="3">Share a Read-Only Access</font></strong> - The consultant can look into your architecture but CAN NOT CHANGE anything over there. For you, It hardly takes 5 minutes to set up a Read-Only IAM user via AWS console. </p><p>Here's a simple <a href="https://www.atlanticbt.com/blog/grant-read-access-amazon-web-services/">stepwise article</a> to follow if you've not done it before.</p><p>Additionally, if there’s an S3 bucket in your account which has confidential information then it’s recommended that you assign an explicit deny policy for that bucket for that IAM user. </p><p>P.S. Similarly, if you want to provide <strong>Billing Dashboard</strong> access to a consultant for cost optimization then you can follow the <a href="https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/tutorial_billing.html">steps mentioned in this article</a>.</p>
<p>2. <font size="3"><strong>Share a Cross Account Access</strong></font> - Setting this up is definitely NOT as simple as the first approach. It requires more effort and a little more understanding of the AWS console. In this approach, the consultant can Sign-in to his own account and can access your account from there without any need of sharing credentials. You can define whatever permission you wish to grant to the consultant.</p><p> Here's a <a href="https://docs.aws.amazon.com/IAM/latest/UserGuide/tutorial_cross-account-with-roles.html">stepwise guide from Amazon support</a>. </p>
<h3>Is security still an afterthought for your organization?</h3>
<p>It should NOT be. Are you following any of the above anti-patterns? If yes, go ahead & fix it before it's too late. Make security a zero-day job - fix it now.</p>
<h3>References</h3>
<p><a href="https://www.olindata.com/en/blog/2017/04/spending-100k-usd-45-days-amazon-web-services">https://www.olindata.com/en/blog/2017/04/spending-100k-usd-45-days-amazon-web-services</a><br>
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzJmE_Jlas0">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tzJmE_Jlas0</a><br>
<a href="https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/aws_tasks-that-require-root.html">https://docs.aws.amazon.com/general/latest/gr/aws_tasks-that-require-root.html</a></p>Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-52916320642262336952018-02-06T22:01:00.000+05:302018-02-06T22:09:00.894+05:305 Branding Mistakes That May Down Your Profits<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px; text-align: justify;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Be it a startup, small enterprise, or even the big shots
of the businesses world, all do and require consistent branding.</span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Branding is like painting a picture of your business for
the world to see. Through which prospective clients will judge your product,
service, loyalty and everything else that matters. So, it’s essential to
include right colours coupled with perfect strokes, and timely touch-ups,
making sure your brand identity never goes out of style.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Branding is important, as it portrays everything that your
band is or aspires to become in future. Such is the power of branding that if
all the right notes are hit, one doesn’t need to bother about the competitors.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">What does branding do for you or how it actually benefits
a business?</b><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<br />
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">It creates trust in people mind for your product or service</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Gets you a loyal customer base</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Intrigues prospective customers towards your business</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Brings in unquestionable goodwill</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="line-height: normal; margin-left: .75in; mso-add-space: auto; mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto; mso-margin-top-alt: auto; text-indent: -.25in;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: "symbol"; font-size: 12pt;">·<span style="font-family: "times new roman"; font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; line-height: normal;">
</span></span><!--[endif]--><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">Helps employees stay focused on company's goals, as they are very
well understood</span><span style="font-family: "times new roman" , serif; font-size: 12pt;"> <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt;">Being such an
essential aspect of business makes branding a tricky subject. As one wrong move
can push your profits down the hill. The history of the business world is stocked
with examples where companies like Pepsi, Guess have incurred millions of
dollar of loss due to a branding blunder. While the well-established reimburse
for their mistakes in millions, startups and small business can be killed
forever as a result of unchecked poor branding.</span></span></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "calibri" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 107%;">
</span></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: black; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 13.5pt; line-height: 107%;"><br /></span></span></span></div>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Therefore, when a big business house makes a branding
mistake, it pays for it in money and bad publicity. But very soon it is seen
back in the race with same level of energy, thanks to all the right things done
in the past and a strong customer base. Best example that fits the situation is
Maggie, that was banned in India by the government on account of detection of
unhealthy substances. After a ban of few months, when Maggi came out clean it
was back in the game, all thanks to its strong customer base that it has
created over the decades.</span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"></span><br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><span lang="EN" style="color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">However, when a startup commits a branding mistake, it is
not forgotten quickly and many times never. Do you know </span><span lang="EN" style="background-color: transparent; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"><a href="http://fortune.com/2014/09/25/why-startups-fail-according-to-their-founders/"><span style="color: #1155cc; margin: 0px;">9 out of 10 startups
fail</span></a><span style="color: #222222; margin: 0px;">?<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>Marketing studies show that customers cut-off
from a brand if their initial customer service experience is unpleasant. So,
they need to be a little more cautious than their established counterparts.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Helping you in this tricky branding game, here are five
mistakes that should never be committed. </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Check them out and make sure your brand never suffers on
account of a branding blunder.</span></div>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">1. Start right;
rushing would do no good</span></span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is an important point to be considered by all
startups planning to land in the business field. Marketing experts suggest that
a business should build its brand over a solid foundation that is before
starting off with the whole branding process create a firm set up. It can be in
the form of a website, social media, or offline means.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Brands are often seen jumping straight into marketing with
a hope that it will catch up instantly. As expected, it never happens, and as a
result, all efforts go down in the drain.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Do the necessary market research, competitor’s analysis,
perseverance, and create innovative strategies. A brand is built over a period,
and once established it’s difficult to alter. So, take time, think it through
as customers will recognise your product via its brand image.</span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2. Focus on your
target audience</span></span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A product or service cannot suit all; it has to have some
restriction in regard to its client base. It is crucial for a startup to
understand this factor. It is always wise to do some research and figure out
your favourable customer base.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Businesses that fail to zone it down end up with massive
losses and many times incur irreversible damages. Don’t think about pleasing
all, instead focus your branding to a set audience. With a focused goal, you’ll
be able to engage your audience better, and as an advantage, via right
publicity, your product or service acquires more clientages.</span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is often seen that business adopt wait and watch
practice, wherein they wait for the response and then work on future strategies.
Though experimentation is necessary every once in a while when the business is
in its initial phase, you should work on creating a brand around the target
audience.</span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;">3. Not sticking to
core brand essentials</span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We have long been talking about creating a brand, how it
is vital for business success and lastly the mistakes that should be avoided.
But in this process, let's talk about the essential elements, or we can say the
defined guidelines for creating a brand. Though it’s true that a business
should not stick to rules and be innovative, however, few essentials form the
base of every brand campaign.</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; margin: 0px;"> </span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px 16px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">●<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;">Create a visual identity with a stunning logo</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px 16px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">●<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;">Add a catchy tagline</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px 16px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">●<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;">Think of fitting colours and typography</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px 16px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">●<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;">Suitable voice for promotional activities </span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;">Though the list can be further extended depending on the
nature and scale business. However, what we have mentioned are the basics for
branding. In case, you are a small business, start with a logo that’s catchy
and easily recognisable as it will go on every promotional material. Free
designing tools like Canva can be used to </span><span lang="EN" style="margin: 0px;"><a href="https://www.canva.com/en_in/create/logos/"><span style="background: white; color: #1155cc; margin: 0px;">create a logo</span></a><span style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"> and other business
material.</span></span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">4. Not using social
media effectively</span></span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Using social media for branding is not just about having a
brand page on channels like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, LinkedIn and others
depending on the targeted audience. To create a strong brand effective
operation of social media is essential, the list includes</span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px 16px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">●<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;">Regularly posting engaging images, text & videos</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px 16px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">●<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;">Promptly replying to customers comments and queries</span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px 16px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">●<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;">Keeping the page interesting, not going overboard
with self-promotion </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px 16px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">●<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;">Never participate in unnecessary<span style="margin: 0px;"> </span>political or controversial discussions </span></span></div>
<div style="margin: 16px 0px 16px 48px; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="margin: 0px;">●<span style="font-size: 7pt; font-stretch: normal; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; line-height: normal; margin: 0px;">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;">Beware of any negative publicity, it is one of the
biggest con of social media and can prove dangerous. </span></span></div>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">5. Underestimating
the power of influencers</span></span></b><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Customers these days like to remain informed and do
thorough research before settling for a product. Here, your strong social media
presence can play an important role but that’s not enough to please the
customer as its all self-promotion. Enters influencers, they have a loyal
following and can promote your product and spread the word about it, ultimately
helping create a strong brand image and helping you meet the end goal of
earning profits.</span><br />
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b>
<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN" style="background: white; color: #222222; margin: 0px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Wrap up</span></span></b><br />
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It goes without a doubt that branding is essential to
business success and helps it maximise profits. In addition to the
above-mentioned pointers, take a note to remain original, consistent, and
respectful of your customers to create a brand of the status of the established
counterparts.</span></div>
<div style="margin: 0px;">
<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="color: #444444;"><br /></span></b>
<b style="background-color: white; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="color: #444444;">Author's Bio:</span></b><b style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8px;"> </b><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 12.8px;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><span style="color: #444444;">Prince Kapoor</span></b> </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "trebuchet ms" , sans-serif;">is an Independent Marketing Analyst and Blogger. While not working, you can find him in gym or giving random health advises to his colleagues which no one agrees on :D. If you too want some of his advises (on health or on marketing), reach him out at @imprincekapur</span></span></div>
<b></b><i></i><u></u><sub></sub><sup></sup><strike></strike><span style="font-family: "arial";"></span></div>
Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-36413981274552446442018-01-13T07:12:00.000+05:302018-01-13T07:14:39.093+05:305 Creative Technology Tips That Every Computer User Should Know<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">So you think you know
everything there is about using your computer? Well we have a few tips that you
may not be aware of and at some point you will be glad you know about them. So
let’s take a look.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Install
Adblock<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Do not confuse this with anti
virus software. Adblock is an application that can be installed onto your
computer, laptop and even your smart phone. It is the ad that people click that
can cause all sorts of problems. The worst-case scenario is that you get some
kind of message telling you that your device has a serious security risk and
you can’t get rid of it. Another problemthat can be caused by ads is slowing
down page loading times. It can be extremely annoying when you are trying to
read something and up pops an ad. Or you have more than one tab open and you
hear someone talking. You wonder where on earth that is coming from, but
discover a video ad is playing in another tab. It’s so annoying. Adblock will
stop that and it is free and easy to install.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Out of
Ink<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">It’s happened to us all. You
need to print out some important documents, I mean let’s face it, no one prints
anything out these days unless they HAVE to. You probably haven’t used the
printer for months and totally forgot the ink cartridge needed replacing. The
simple solution is to select the text on your page and change the colour of the
font to dark blue. It hardly looks any different and you have got yourself out
of a difficult situation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Start Up
Sound</span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">This is especially relevant
to laptop users as you are more likely to be in a situation where you want to
be quiet. The last thing you want is that annoying start up sound to be heard
by people around you. Well you can stop it from playing by holding down the
mute button as you switch on your device.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Tidy
Leads<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">I know you can get cable ties
for keeping leads organised, but if you are using a laptop or you just can’t be
bothered to mess around with cable ties, there is a quick and easy solution. A
metal binder clip is the answer. For smaller cables such as headphones and
audio leads, you can simply wrap the cables around the two metal clasps and
attach the clip to the side of the desk. For thicker cables you need a larger
clip. With this method you place the cables into the clip and attach it to the
table. It keeps them off the floor and allows you to slide them in and out of
the clip for movement. No need for DIY, just a trip to the stationary cupboard.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">Cleaning
Between The Keys<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<b><span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;"><br /></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">If you have post it notes on
your desk, after using one run the sticky side of the post it along the sides
of the keys on your keyboard. It will pick up the dirt that gets stuck in
there. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">----<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">Jen Starr is part of the community team at </span><a href="https://nextdaypc.co.uk/" target="_blank"><span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 150%;">NextDay PC</span></a><span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">. Jen enjoys staying on top of the latest tech trends and sharing how
new tech can positively impact people’s lives.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span style="background: white; font-family: "calibri light" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 150%;">[<i><span style="color: #444444;">Sponsored Post</span></i>]</span></div>
</div>
Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-61698053243962711342018-01-08T21:47:00.001+05:302018-01-10T07:24:51.830+05:30Home Video Walls as Part of the Smart Home<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ2gz3H5eGdYMuJBwu_9zVUJVkzdTgSgGfW4Q5e_p9l2_2jyOEw7iK_I-FMFUd6oUx4kV_vmIGpoWH1S26Q7u_G_9shK5ugcfq3O7wd0gENd2EYNhv7RlZvKB2KO8Fl_ep4qaSa-8y3Te2/s1600/video-wall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="872" data-original-width="1280" height="218" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ2gz3H5eGdYMuJBwu_9zVUJVkzdTgSgGfW4Q5e_p9l2_2jyOEw7iK_I-FMFUd6oUx4kV_vmIGpoWH1S26Q7u_G_9shK5ugcfq3O7wd0gENd2EYNhv7RlZvKB2KO8Fl_ep4qaSa-8y3Te2/s320/video-wall.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Most of us <a href="https://www.userful.com/video-wall" target="_blank">have seen a video wall</a> at some point in time; only that we never paid so much attention. From control rooms such as those in the meteorological departments and media outlets to data relay centers such as in the stock exchanges and sports stadiums, video walls have literally transformed every aspect of life.</span></div>
</div>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">However, up until recently, many of us wouldn’t believe that this ingenious invention could find its way into our homes especially due to the fact many believe it is a technology that is preserved for the experts in large data processing industries. </span></div>
</div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: justify;">Video walls are now part and parcel of our homes; transforming them into a more secure and convenience place to live other than just a roof over our heads. In this article, we shall look at why a video wall could be that perfect smart home appliance you could ever have.</span></span><br />
<b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">How Does It Work?</b></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">A video wall consists of multiple rear projection display-cubes that are skillfully arranged side by side in a manner that the cubes display a single image. The viewer will think the image came from a single source while in actual sense, many cubes were involved. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">The main reason why video walls are preferred is due to the fact they can merge the three most essential qualities of a great display unit – high contrast, high resolution and uniform brightness. However, aside from the three main qualities above, there is more to the technology of video walls that make them an ideal smart home device, as explained below.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Let’s Begin With the Obvious</b> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">When we talk of a smart home, what springs to our mind is a home where everything can be handled remotely from the convenience of our location and this is indeed true for the most part. But to begin easy, a video wall is a cost-saving initiative that may just as well replace your TV, monitor and other display units you use in your home, or simply merge them into one functional unit.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">As already discussed, the wall is made up of multiple displays that are tied together and overlapping over each other. This means you can use it as a TV this moment and then use it as a white board the next moment or you may as well partition the screen to have both of these functions running concurrently. You can use it to display the data collected by you surveillance cameras as well as exhibit a presentation from your home projector. It is the multiple functionality in these home video walls that make them especially great for a conscious home owner.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">
</span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Improved Screen Area</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">It is often an embarrassment when you invite guests over to your home and as you are busy chatting away, a fancy piece of news flashes on the screen and people have to strain their eyes to catch the action. Even worse, some of them would move close, obstructing the views of those seated at the far end of the screen. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">However, the introduction of video walls in homes has taken away that agony. As home video walls boast of greater screen area, you can be sure it will be just big enough for any room you choose to place it inside your home. </span><br />
<b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Enhance Your Home Security Using Video Walls</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">A video wall accepts inputs from satellite sources and may be synchronized with your camera as well as video recorders. This means that you can use the wall to monitor the security situation in your home. All you have to do is find compatible security surveillance gadgets, connect those to the equipment and you are able to track all the movements within your home based on what these surveillance devices can pick. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Well, there are quite a few screens that function in the same way so you may be wondering what makes a video wall the better option. Remember what we said about resolution. The display cubes account for very high screen resolution and this enables you to analyze every possible movement around your home without having to strain your eyes trying to process the images broadcast by your outdoor cameras.</span><br />
<b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></b>
<b style="font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Allow Flexible Scheduling</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Last but not least, this is one great thing you will just love about video walls. Assume you have a routine where you wake up each morning, run through the surveillance cameras, and then watch your favorite morning inspirational program before heading to work. A video wall can make all these possible; all you have to do is customize the settings to allow for flexible scheduling.</span><br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">By synchronizing the video wall with your other smart devices, you can tell the system when to sound an alarm so you can wake up, then based on the sequence of programs fed inside the unit, the video wall can offer flexible scheduling based on your daily routine. It can seamlessly change between a video camera and a TV, enabling you to watch your favorite programs while still keeping tabs with the events outside your home.</span><br />
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></span>
<span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">About the Author</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Jen Starr </span><span style="color: #444444; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">is part of the content and community team at Userful.com, experts in all things video wall and display solutions. When Jen is not spreading the word about video walls she is often found discovering the great outdoors, walking or cycling. </span><br />
<i style="color: #666666; font-family: verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></i>
<i style="color: #666666; font-family: verdana, sans-serif;">Sponsored Post</i></div>
</div>
Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-84048734715589533912016-02-12T19:51:00.003+05:302016-04-29T20:16:09.459+05:30How the Cloud is Powering New Innovations<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-0BToE8hWz0B8jfCcI6zZ3opcnG_EeM2ATK7KxKtKfYoTT2yFWwoDOf2T4RVsKfg5bCSMbpISkhf0-Ynq_a3GUTsc_tnu7tz3GxRSEN4EGXq58ZsK3ZdbffQtAonIyPkAmt9uBIp2a6Fa/s1600/cloud.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-0BToE8hWz0B8jfCcI6zZ3opcnG_EeM2ATK7KxKtKfYoTT2yFWwoDOf2T4RVsKfg5bCSMbpISkhf0-Ynq_a3GUTsc_tnu7tz3GxRSEN4EGXq58ZsK3ZdbffQtAonIyPkAmt9uBIp2a6Fa/s1600/cloud.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN">It's official - </span><a href="http://www.techno-pulse.com/2009/12/cloud-computing-service-basic.html" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-IN">cloud computing</span></a><span lang="EN-IN"> is the future way of life, whether
it’s for pleasure or for business. Cloud computing has been in development for
some time now, and has more than proved its potential in the tech industry.
Soon cloud computing will be a part of every industry and will eventually
transform the way we work and live. </span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN">And while cloud computing is currently
benefiting businesses the most, it’s only logical that the next step would be
to integrate everything else with the cloud. Here’s a list of some of the
latest technologies that will rely heavily on cloud, in order to function
properly.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cloud Gaming – Redefining the Way the World Plays<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">With the advent of
cloud gaming, gamers are now playing game rendered on the cloud, instead
of the high-end graphics card of PC. This allows gaming headsets to function as
nothing more than thin clients, and also helps save a chunk of expenses. This
shift of device complexity to centralized data servers will bring
down the individual cost of virtual reality headsets, and potentially
remove the need for an expensive PC upgrade. Cloud gaming will also have
secondary benefits such as enhanced ergonomics and lower resource requirements.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A handful of companies have
already explored the concept of cloud gaming. Sony, for example, has
developed a cloud gaming service called PlayStation Now, which is said to work
in tandem with its PlayStation VR design. But while the
first-generation of cloud gaming devices hold lots of promise for future
gamers, the introduction of a durable, standalone cloud gaming device will be
required to accelerate the adoption of cloud-based gaming.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This will mean that consumers will
finally be able to afford to game, without having to invest in a high-end
desktop or laptop PC. This would open the doors of virtual gaming for any
member of society. No wonders, game fanatics are vocal about their love for the
cloud, the platform that’s redefining the face of gaming. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Virtual Reality<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN">Anyone familiar with the concept
of cloud with seamless device transition, virtual reality </span><a href="https://www.techopedia.com/definition/30014/embedded-operating-system" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-IN">Operating System Embedded (OSE)</span></a><span lang="EN-IN"> or cloud-based multi-user
interactions will understand the impact the cloud will have on virtual reality.
A thorough understanding of cloud gaming will propel virtual reality into the
next generation.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It hasn’t been easy; extracting the
power of the cloud and making sure that all connected devices are synced to
each other. But, the transition is complete and many of us even know about
Virtual Reality from things like The Matrix. Companies are already in the
development stage for a number of such technologies, and will soon be available
as part of the VR operating system
environment. And while implementing VR in the real world will take some time, video
gamers will already know what to do with it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As a new generation of gamers
emerges, a multi-system virtual reality is not far from entering the
mainstream. Cloud-based VR will unleash a level of virtual connectivity that
was never previously experienced, all thanks to the cloud. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Li-Fi<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">People were happy with Dial-up
modems, impressed with broadband, and were in awe of Wi-Fi. So, now get ready
for the next generation of high-speed connectivity, with Li-Fi. A 5G light
connectivity features that flows along the spectrum of visible light, Li-Fi is
not just a new level of speed, but the first glimpse into the world of light
speed. The concept works on Light-emitting diode or LED bulbs that transfer
data when they are turned on or off, at a speed so fast that the human eye
can’t even see it.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The equipment required to handle
such speeds is already under development, and the means to use it is already
available in the form of the cloud. With will make it possible to provide
internet connectivity at speeds of up to 100 Gbps, estimated to be over 2000
times faster that modern day broadband. The availability of massive amounts of
LEDs will enable Wi-Fi connectivity in areas that were previously prohibited,
including airplanes, hospitals and other secure locations. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another major advantage of this
lightning fast connectivity is zero electromagnetic interference (ZEI), a
feature that will eliminate the risk of radiation exposure from wireless data
transmission. With the help of the cloud, Li-Fi will also offer enhanced data
protection, seeing that light cannot pass through walls. This would make it
virtually impossible to hack in to a data system from the outside. And as radio
and telecommunication frequencies get more congested, the demand for a faster
and more efficient media of wireless communication means that Li-Fi has a built
a bright future for itself, courtesy the cloud. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
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<b><span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cloud Office Solutions<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Things like virtual reality and
cloud gaming are what make the cloud fun to use, but the cloud also offers a
number of professional benefits that have become the norm for doing business.
Cloud office solutions are already in the market, allowing businesses to get an
array of office services from a single provider who will install, integrate,
manage and secure your business processes. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cloud computing had proven its value
to businesses a long time ago, but cloud office solutions have opened new doors
for smaller businesses. Cloud-based office solutions allow SMEs to take
advantage of cloud systems, without having to invest in expensive
infrastructure, such as e-mail servers, and IT technicians. Even the current
cloud office solutions offer on the go access and cost efficiencies over
traditional software.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<b><span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cloud Analytics Services<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cloud analytics is a business
service model that has some components of the data analytics process coming in
directly through a private or public cloud. A major advantage of cloud analytics
over traditional analytics is that they are available on a subscription model,
which means you usually pay for what you use and how much you use.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN">Cloud-based analytics also gives
businesses an effective alternative to predictive analytics, allowing them to
cut costs on data that is more than just subjective. There are already a number
of cloud analytics services that are being </span><a href="http://www.cloudwards.net/best-cloud-storage/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank"><span lang="EN-IN">offered by cloud companies</span></a></span><span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, including data social media
analytics, and software-as-a-service business intelligence, commonly referred
to as SaaS BI. The SaaS BI model is fully scalable, making it a great platform
for start-ups to get affordable analytics data.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: #f9f9f9; color: #2c2d30; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: #f9f9f9; color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><b>About the Author</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: .0001pt; margin-bottom: 0in;">
<span style="background: #f9f9f9; color: #7f7f7f; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz_UiPOWAYuflN70EQx6cGh9m9U7lbmLvN2sa669W-QiGClUhFGoCA_Tggg7o4t07-z6NoJCEc3XfOQJcO9-fHbErf586Jmsvpv4dA_eU6uMz9-bGhrtRIXyLeQsFBZfWKD6oCjqRhGWWZ/s1600/M.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhz_UiPOWAYuflN70EQx6cGh9m9U7lbmLvN2sa669W-QiGClUhFGoCA_Tggg7o4t07-z6NoJCEc3XfOQJcO9-fHbErf586Jmsvpv4dA_eU6uMz9-bGhrtRIXyLeQsFBZfWKD6oCjqRhGWWZ/s1600/M.jpg" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: #f9f9f9; color: #2c2d30; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">Mauricio is the CEO of </span><span style="background: #f9f9f9; color: #2a80b9; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt; text-decoration: none;">Cloudwards.net</span><span style="background: #f9f9f9; color: #2c2d30; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">, a data and
user feedback driven comparison engine for cloud apps and services. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: #f9f9f9; color: #2c2d30; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background: #f9f9f9; color: #2c2d30; font-family: "arial" , sans-serif; font-size: 11.5pt;">He enjoys
writing and producing educational videos around the cloud to help people find
the best cloud service for their needs.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
</div>
Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-49920877278014711312015-09-05T19:20:00.000+05:302016-04-29T20:26:26.744+05:30How to Create a Professional-Looking Video Guide via Screen Capture<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Video guides are currently in the rage, and you’ve probably
encountered a couple in the past. As opposed to articles or even illustrations,
video allows you to show someone exactly how to do something – while at the
same time telling them what to do via a voiceover narration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If you’ve already been perusing some of the video guides out
there, you may have noticed that there is a stark and noticeable difference
between them. Some resemble amateur productions, with shaky and choppy video as
well as stuttered narration. On the other hand, others look much more
professionally produced – being smooth, seamless, and with flawless narration.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">To create a professional-looking video guide, the first
thing you need to do is prepare.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoTitle">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Writing a Script Can Make or Break a Video</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A big part of the reason why professional-looking videos
tend to be so smooth and seamless often boils down to the fact that they are
carefully scripted.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For any video, the script that you write is your plan, and
it will contain all the details of the video that you ultimately want to
produce. In a nutshell – it is the vision of your video, put down on paper, and
as such it should contain:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<ul style="margin-top: 0in;" type="disc">
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">A breakdown of the scenes
that make up the video.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Details of what elements
each scene contains along with what they’re portraying or doing during
that scene.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
<li class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The voiceover narration
that is to be read at various points of each scene that it coincides with.<o:p></o:p></span></li>
</ul>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Start by drafting a basic script, and then build on it. Be
as thorough as possible, though at the same time bear in mind that although the
script will be your overall guide you may very well have to adapt it later on.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoTitle">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Record Multiple Takes</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Have you ever wondered why professional filmmakers often
film multiple takes of a single scene? It’s simple really: Often a single take
may not be perfect, so they film it until they have a take that is, or are able
to edit together one that is from the multiple takes that they’ve filmed.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Seeing as you’re using screen capture to film your video
guide, it should be no problem recording multiple takes. Keep going until
you’re satisfied, but also be prepared to go back and re-record some scenes if
you later find out that they aren’t up to scratch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoTitle">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Putting it All Together and Adding Polish</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixaNxBGnAXJlreMKclTle3eNOr1K62343oMHKk0v4EyQHin8Eof2FQkLoU_uUvseFyEZRrO0IFv2XZNy5IWaGEum0ag7xVy6j3aeOfsqlaPp0IWZKp7aJ3X_GJKe7_8NmWpOZEvrQah9w_/s1600/box_scsmac_en_170x228.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixaNxBGnAXJlreMKclTle3eNOr1K62343oMHKk0v4EyQHin8Eof2FQkLoU_uUvseFyEZRrO0IFv2XZNy5IWaGEum0ag7xVy6j3aeOfsqlaPp0IWZKp7aJ3X_GJKe7_8NmWpOZEvrQah9w_/s1600/box_scsmac_en_170x228.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">After the recording is done and you have the raw material
for your video guide, you will need to put it all together. Not only does this
mean combining the scenes that you’ve recorded to form the video, but it also
encompasses trimming unnecessary footage, and maybe even cutting and combining
segments from different takes to get it looking just right.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">During this stage you should also record and insert your
voiceover.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Once that is all sorted, you should look to add the final
touches to your video by adding a certain polish to it. In some cases this
could be tweaking the quality or the look of the video by adjusting its color
settings or applying filters, or it could be something more notable, like
adding stylish transitions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Every video is different and adding polish is often a
question of taste, style, and approach.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Now that you know how to create a professional looking video
guide via screen capture, all that you need is the software that will make it
all possible. One of the best that has all the features you need is the Movavi
Screen Capture Studio for Mac and you’ll find that knowing </span><a href="http://www.movavi.com/mac-screen-capture/" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;" target="_blank">how to record screen on Mac</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">
with it is really intuitive, easy, and will feel completely natural.</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<o:p></o:p><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Disclosure: This is a sponsored post.</span></div>
</div>
Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-83036565950787791992015-07-21T13:17:00.000+05:302016-04-29T20:29:52.102+05:30SEMYOU Cloud SaaS - The Office of the Future is Right Here<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div align="justify">
<strong><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Summary</span></strong><br />
<strong><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><br /></span></strong></div>
<table border="1" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 528px;"><tbody>
<tr><td valign="top" width="136"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SEMYOU</span></td><td valign="top" width="390"><span style="color: navy; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cloud SaaS
- All-in-one enterprise apps for your business.</span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="136"><span style="color: navy; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Customer Segment</span></span></td><td valign="top" width="390"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: navy; line-height: 107%;">For business of any size -
small, medium and large - </span><span style="color: navy; line-height: 17.1199989318848px;">Communicate, Collaborate & Manage your office in the cloud.</span><span style="color: navy; line-height: 17.1199989318848px;"> </span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="136"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UI</span></td><td valign="top" width="390"><span style="color: navy; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Slick, Responsive. Admin
module is not responsive.</span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="136"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">UX</span></td><td valign="top" width="390"><span style="color: navy; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Overall intuitive. Needs a
slight improvement at a few places.</span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="136"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Technology Stack</span></td><td valign="top" width="390"><span style="color: navy; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Microsoft</span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="136"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Business Model</span></td><td valign="top" width="390"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: navy;">Freemium SaaS. [Free </span><span style="color: navy;">30 days </span><span style="color: navy;">Trial</span><span style="color: navy;">].</span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="136"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">USP</span></td><td valign="top" width="390"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All-in-one enterprise grade apps.</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="136"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Support</span></td><td valign="top" width="390"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Quick and meaningful</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="136"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: navy;">No. of App</span><span style="color: navy;">s</span></span></td><td valign="top" width="390"><span style="color: #073763; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">30+</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="136"><span style="color: navy;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Tagline</span></span></td><td valign="top" width="390"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The cloud office of the future</span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="136"><span style="color: navy;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Limitations</span></span></td><td valign="top" width="390"><span style="color: navy;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">See Details Section.</span></span></td></tr>
<tr><td valign="top" width="136"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Conclusion</span></td><td valign="top" width="390"><span style="color: navy; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Recommended</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What is SEMYOU </span></b><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXD4HVJJzSEr81Es9wp4J0KkukXk68AEHzh7JBbH83GOAOSj_ZYjWp3Vc3xxkFLnziVy7xtneKu4rP6vlg8FMyx7W5r2mqZJ0vbv-8Rs-Ka2DyZ2q2AlBpltsxwkmlqcbhDutZVCooXb3/s1600/Cloud-Office.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwXD4HVJJzSEr81Es9wp4J0KkukXk68AEHzh7JBbH83GOAOSj_ZYjWp3Vc3xxkFLnziVy7xtneKu4rP6vlg8FMyx7W5r2mqZJ0vbv-8Rs-Ka2DyZ2q2AlBpltsxwkmlqcbhDutZVCooXb3/s320/Cloud-Office.png" width="285" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Last week I came across a
suite of cloud services from SEMYOU. It offers a wide range of apps that a
business requires to function smoothly on a daily basis. Gone are the days when
you were required to manage & maintain a few dozens of IT applications
in-house under an IT department which often became white elephant. We are
already into an era of off-the-shelf services which can be configured easily by
the end users based on their requirement.</span></span><br />
<span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-size: 12pt; line-height: 107%; text-align: left;">All the SEMYOU services are cloud based SaaS which apparently mean that you get
all the inherent benefits of a cloud computing service</span>.</span></div>
<div align="justify">
<br />
<br />
<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">What are the Benefits of SEMYOU?</b><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">A few of the many benefits:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></span>
<br />
<ol style="text-align: left;">
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Reduced Cost - </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">CapEx Free, Pay as You Go.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Less worries - No long-term contract.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Increased Focus on Your Core Business.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You get more than a dozen of apps to choose from for your business and all-in-one central location. </span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Increased Availability and Mobility.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Your location doesn't matter. It's always available on your desktop, mobile and tablet.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Increased Performance and Reliability.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">It is green.</span></li>
</ol>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;"></span><br />
<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">Are there any Prerequisites to Use SEMYOU?</b><br />
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Internet connectivity, a browser and a few configurations like adding your basic records - users, projects, holiday list etc. and you're ready to go. No extra infrastructure/hardware is required as there's no installation hassle!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<strong style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Getting Started</span> </strong></div>
<div align="justify">
<br /></div>
<div align="justify">
<ol>
<li><a href="https://apps.semyou.com/registration" rel="nofollow" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;" target="_blank">Signup for SemYou</a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;"> </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">Cloud Office</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">. [Credit card NOT required]</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">Verify your email Id.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">The email Id used for the signup acts as an Admin.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">Log on to Admin module from the link received in your mail.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">Add users.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">As per your requirement, choose the right set of apps for a FREE trial from APP-STORE.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">Assign users to apps along with their appropriate privileges.</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">Are the apps right-fit for your business requirement?</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">If the answer to the above question is YES - go for an upgrade.</span></li>
</ol>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
</div>
<div align="justify">
<b style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">How Secure is the SEMYOU Cloud Office?</span></b></div>
<div align="justify">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SemYou applies best in class industry practices to secure your privacy and data in the cloud. Apart from applying <i>advance encryption standards </i>&<i> access controls, </i>SemYou<i> </i>has implemented built-in security practices in core of every app to secure <i>data at rest</i> and <i>data in motion.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">SemYou's data center currently resides in Europe and operates under European Union Law.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>What I Liked Most?</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As far as I know there are very few services where you get more than 30 apps at one place!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Also, overall the UI/UX is intuitive and the trial run went smoothly without reading any of the documentation! But I think, a user who has no prior experience of using these kind of apps may require a little hand holding for a couple of hours before she understands the nitty-gritty of the apps.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"></span><br />
<span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Disclaimer - <i>I am a full-time software developer and have also reviewed many apps in the past. My intuition may differ from an average user.</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span>
</div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Available Apps - App Store</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho0EXe-3WRKDMQQU8lRtl8wugS8prTlZ0OtwHXqKVzklG088z9DUCYJWY2Ede2-YX_ee_-zbsJiirh74wnRJyPYfUTd8-6yUR3tVzCCi_qVTg56Zg-fVDmbKcQm6RO8GszZLm3UXTsTrgw/s1600/Apps.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEho0EXe-3WRKDMQQU8lRtl8wugS8prTlZ0OtwHXqKVzklG088z9DUCYJWY2Ede2-YX_ee_-zbsJiirh74wnRJyPYfUTd8-6yUR3tVzCCi_qVTg56Zg-fVDmbKcQm6RO8GszZLm3UXTsTrgw/s1600/Apps.png" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Glimpses of My Trial Run </b></span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i><span style="color: blue; font-size: x-small;"><br /></span></i></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I was satisfied with my trial run results for SEMYOU apps. I tested the following apps:</span><br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">sem.Drive</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">sem.AutoReminder</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">sem.WorldClock</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">sem.IssueTracker</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">sem.Kanban</span></li>
<li><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">sem.Mindmap</span></li>
</ul>
<br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">Here's a few of the screen shot for your reference. </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: blue;">[Click the respective image for a larger view]</span></i><br />
<br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>sem.Drive </b></span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikGSHxtUumw90OTQv6RS5ixi2wgRjtfBUCmhyphenhyphenHPzqJkRDzPeiFfEbwIQO42vaVz6ZntyAElTUjbwanVkPuCUHLo2xRxZwLaw7nVp46f_7kvkC80NSt0gIPuhnmRKP_ky8xX-FOEaSwFOo4/s1600/semDRIVE.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="sem.Drive" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikGSHxtUumw90OTQv6RS5ixi2wgRjtfBUCmhyphenhyphenHPzqJkRDzPeiFfEbwIQO42vaVz6ZntyAElTUjbwanVkPuCUHLo2xRxZwLaw7nVp46f_7kvkC80NSt0gIPuhnmRKP_ky8xX-FOEaSwFOo4/s1600/semDRIVE.png" title="sem.Drive" /></a></div>
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>sem.AutoReminder</b></span></div>
<strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></strong>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO52T-B9jUrhQR82wG_pq9BoVGX6noL5_2qNkprCscr8hDCxX4q_M2tvBe08nvhB8UJ4SvBw2oggWyCArGVb6nKkdPdmbTknk14pYAcka6rU-bO-oh9UUiQ9HJw_0WaMYt5fx_fWeLiLbI/s1600/semReminder.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="sem.AutoReminder" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiO52T-B9jUrhQR82wG_pq9BoVGX6noL5_2qNkprCscr8hDCxX4q_M2tvBe08nvhB8UJ4SvBw2oggWyCArGVb6nKkdPdmbTknk14pYAcka6rU-bO-oh9UUiQ9HJw_0WaMYt5fx_fWeLiLbI/s1600/semReminder.png" title="sem.AutoReminder" /></a></div>
<strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></strong>
<strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></strong>
<strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">sem.WorldClock</strong><br />
<strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></strong>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkhW6VhJ1khHWFDJAEbS917QCb9UPDetvM2ZlDN3wRlDiIz_b2mAq1c7rd3Rmw00QzuW0-5DiXzQ9ROtG1zFyiHs5hvlvDlhysXHhjOF7ixZcsRBR-dBkFWm7AyxrzYY5N5q_rD7jFw7Kg/s1600/semWorldClock.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="sem.WorldClock" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkhW6VhJ1khHWFDJAEbS917QCb9UPDetvM2ZlDN3wRlDiIz_b2mAq1c7rd3Rmw00QzuW0-5DiXzQ9ROtG1zFyiHs5hvlvDlhysXHhjOF7ixZcsRBR-dBkFWm7AyxrzYY5N5q_rD7jFw7Kg/s1600/semWorldClock.png" title="sem.WorldClock" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">sem.IssueTracker</span></b></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxFl-nebIhoIRyX-62Qhup8LUpB1_CJqK35DEAOG-tK10QOTBjOsgeluBHVAUSYZI8XcFXK_FOuGh87XJdmVnNsKEcC59nAfB5Nj5vemWnYz4DCFSBHDs6IRJ0AIQJ1VzdJHQtWN2loDIX/s1600/semIssueTracker.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="sem.IssueTracker" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxFl-nebIhoIRyX-62Qhup8LUpB1_CJqK35DEAOG-tK10QOTBjOsgeluBHVAUSYZI8XcFXK_FOuGh87XJdmVnNsKEcC59nAfB5Nj5vemWnYz4DCFSBHDs6IRJ0AIQJ1VzdJHQtWN2loDIX/s1600/semIssueTracker.png" title="sem.IssueTracker" /></a></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<br /></div>
<strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></strong>
<strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">Limitations</strong><br />
<strong style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></strong>
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There are a few limitations I noticed while I was trying the cloud office. A few of the </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><i>Administration Module's </i>forms were not compatible with the latest Chrome, Firefox & IE. </span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In sem.AutoReminder it is practically expected that reminders are also delivered via SMS apart from the current eMail delivery.</span></span><br />
<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">Looks like a few of the apps are still under construction, example </span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">semDB</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;">A few places require explicit alerts, information as it might help a new user.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: left;"><br /></span></div>
<div align="justify">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Bottom-line</b></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span>
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Signup, pick your apps and go for a trial run. <i>Recommended</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;"><strong><br /></strong></span><span style="color: #999999; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Writer's Note: "This post was sponsored but the views are unbiased and are correct to the best of my knowledge".</span></div>
</div>
Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-10375457531547681432015-05-28T11:05:00.000+05:302016-04-29T21:07:30.424+05:30Cloud Management Technologies: Four Key Trends in 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGi2dZ8e2b9cyaGIZTUOUkUmvDm1UovrtNo3nr4gI4PrSIrYJIWULkFuXYPsurRG9l0EZq1qNYbODkic2vQ7j7XpIE-4YMY1HC-EnPgYUDvTXFP4eyvyNY4DdJa3ISKX2ggUdN-Nz0VXSO/s1600/Cloud-Trends.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGi2dZ8e2b9cyaGIZTUOUkUmvDm1UovrtNo3nr4gI4PrSIrYJIWULkFuXYPsurRG9l0EZq1qNYbODkic2vQ7j7XpIE-4YMY1HC-EnPgYUDvTXFP4eyvyNY4DdJa3ISKX2ggUdN-Nz0VXSO/s320/Cloud-Trends.png" width="284" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The
cloud market is changing. As adoption becomes mainstream, more and more
providers are jumping on board to provide a range of services — once Amazon's
bailiwick, Tech Target notes that the retail giant is now under challenge from
players like Google, IBM and HP while new entrants such as Chinese giant
Alibaba look to make their mark. </span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">All this cloud interest means there are a host
of new management technologies in development; here are four key trends to
watch this year:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Vertical
SaaS</span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The
Software as a Service (SaaS) market continues to grow, and according to Enterprise
Irregulars global SaaS revenues are set to reach $106 billion by 2016. However,
as discussed by Information Management, there's a shift happening: As-a-service
tools are starting to go vertical. Through 2015, expect that all the familiar
standards — CRM, ERP, analytics — will continue to see strong growth, but
chances are that vendors will take a more focused approach to SaaS moving forward
as a way to target specific verticals. These include finance, health care, law
and even manufacturing; public and private clouds have matured enough that this
kind of specialization is now possible. What's more, the price war between
Google, Amazon and other vendors is helping to make these kind of focused
deployments even more affordable for companies just starting their transition
to the cloud.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Turnkey
Migration<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">According
to a recent Search Cloud Computing article, another key trend in cloud management
is migration. At a basic level this includes app migration — tools and
approaches developed to make moving legacy apps a simpler and more streamlined
process. This also extends to migration as a whole; providers are now willing
to invest in making cloud migration a “turnkey” process, eliminating the need
for lengthy deployments and uncertain timelines. In many cases the success of
this trend rests with specialized vendors, for example, hosted PBX providers,
which have developed solutions to work across a variety of cloud deployments
and legacy systems. The sophistication of cloud infrastructure now makes it
possible to deliver solutions which combine easy migration and use.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Off-Site
Innovation<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another
key trend to expect this year? More off-site innovation. As noted by <a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/oracle/2015/02/25/mark-hurds-predictions-for-the-cloud-big-data-and-the-us-economy/" target="_blank">Forbes</a>,
the nature of research and development (R&D) is changing. Companies are no
longer dependent on in-house IT professionals to innovate the apps and
platforms from end to end; it's now possible to leverage work done by other IT
shops to form the basis of new computing solutions. Through 2015, expect the
speed and sophistication of this innovation to increase, allowing companies to
devote more of their IT budget to refining mission-critical apps and developing
niche feature sets rather than starting from scratch with each new software
tool.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<b><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Security
at Scale<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The
last key trend for 2015 lies with security. Always a hot-button topic around
the cloud, Information Age suggests that it's now possible for cloud vendors to
get ahead of the security discussion and provide consumers with a new level of
confidence. Bottom line? Cloud providers have the scale of resources, depth of
knowledge and breadth of skill to create best-in-class security solutions. As
more vendors take a proactive approach to cloud security, expect to see this
market diversify and innovate, prompting a shift in IT security thinking as a
whole. In effect, the right management strategy here can turn the supposed
liability of cloud security into an asset, since the scale of provider
technology makes it possible to offer much more robust, end-to-end protection.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">2015
should be a banner year for management technologies as vendors spend on
innovation and companies commit IT budgets to the cloud. Four large trends are
already on the horizon: Vertical SaaS, turnkey migration, off-site innovation
and an evolved security landscape.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is a <b>Guest Post</b>.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLRfdNbGUMGKAHL5qy9XKWd570ZTm8XxbAz-iAcJa_FjV2EbbI-xTjNOuN3on4JBEZ6q-PbhS75nFv-w6xEXEBSkiiTvmu9G6iz1WBjntN1YmlCRvNrAGmbwrYcvct3xQgkMlueq5zGUa/s1600/sheldon-smith-headshot.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRLRfdNbGUMGKAHL5qy9XKWd570ZTm8XxbAz-iAcJa_FjV2EbbI-xTjNOuN3on4JBEZ6q-PbhS75nFv-w6xEXEBSkiiTvmu9G6iz1WBjntN1YmlCRvNrAGmbwrYcvct3xQgkMlueq5zGUa/s200/sheldon-smith-headshot.jpg" width="185" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>About the Author</b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b><br /></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-size: 12pt;"><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Sheldon Smith is the current Senior Product Manager for XO Communications. </span></span><span style="color: #666666; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: 12pt;">In addition to his experience heading up the
Hosted PBX and Conferencing products divisions at XO, he also has over 10 years
of Department and Process Management experience.</span></div>
</div>
Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-26276820966684788382015-05-16T21:25:00.000+05:302016-04-28T22:21:47.197+05:304 Android Apps that Bring the Cricket Fever to your Smartphone<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<div align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVcYI6c-0vWuOMpetyNTEbuZnDmBg9TwF1T8pdJrtb_3wnbZxS5MZHByrh94TLqdj_28GBXCPoqXF39pTdp76kreUHoS6GvK-7LGmntBnhn1uSPIvq-pD-ru17zKkuj8Vsqr8C7QMSkwO/s1600/Cricket.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVVcYI6c-0vWuOMpetyNTEbuZnDmBg9TwF1T8pdJrtb_3wnbZxS5MZHByrh94TLqdj_28GBXCPoqXF39pTdp76kreUHoS6GvK-7LGmntBnhn1uSPIvq-pD-ru17zKkuj8Vsqr8C7QMSkwO/s1600/Cricket.png" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">If there was ever one word that described the passion
that drives Indians then that word is <b>cricket</b>. Be it <b>T20</b>, <b>ODI</b>, <b>IPL</b> or a 5 day test
match, we cannot miss a single over. We glue ourselves to our TV screens and
god forbid if we have to leave the house we need a constant radio commentary to
keep us going.</span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Be it gully cricket or kids playing cricket in the
local circuits, since a young age we develop an affinity to this game and we enjoy
every format of this game. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now in a world where we all own smartphones, we can
bring the magic of cricket onto our phones so we never have to miss a game or
miss details about our favourite team in the IPL or when India plays against
other countries.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Download</b> these apps and bring the magic of cricket to
your smartphones:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cricbuzz<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is the No.1 app on the Google Play store for
cricket enthusiasts who cannot live without cricket. The app has complete
information and lets you know all the details about ICC World Cup. IPL8, ICC
World T20 as well as Champions League T20 along with other major cricket
tournaments covered.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now follow your favourite team and get to know about
the venues, stadiums and photos from cricket matches along with a detailed view
of the games’ statistics. You can change to a number of languages including
Hindi, Kannada, Telugu and Bengali amongst a few others.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Now get all the live updates and match alerts along
with player profiles and their rankings to never miss any information on
cricket or your favourite player again. You can also share the enthusiasm
amongst your friends on Twitter and Facebook.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;">If you’re a cricket enthusiast you can purchase
cricket related accessories by redeeming exclusive </span><span lang="EN-IN"><span style="line-height: 115%;">AskmeBazaar Coupons</span></span><b><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;">given exclusively by CashKaro and
bring home all the goods you need to be the cricket star of your locality. Here you can also a</span></span><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; text-align: justify;">vail s</span><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="line-height: 18.3999996185303px;">ports product offers</span></span><span lang="EN-IN" style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 18.3999996185303px; text-align: justify;"> that is extremely affordable and fits your budget.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Star Sports
Pepsi IPL<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is the official app for the Star Sports channel
which brings to you live scores not only for cricket but also live football,
tennis and badminton scores if you’re interested in following other sports as
well.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You can catch
all the drama unveiling at the IPL and find out which team won and which team
got knocked down and support your favourite team and get live scorecard
updates, ball by ball commentary, points table update and other important
statistics related to the game.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You can now catch full replays in case you happen to
miss your match as well as have features like video on demand and get
highlights and live streaming of other sports all under one app. This app
surely answers all your sports related prayers.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Cricket
Companion<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This is a great social app that lets you catch up with
cricket scores and give you features like Live chat, social media rage and
commentary amongst many more features to keep you busy. Share a live virtual
stadium with your friends and laugh and cheer with other cricket fans as this
app makes it fun to follow cricket.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">You can share pictures and files with your friends and
always know the latest with access to Facebook, Twitter from within the app
itself. Share your emotions with all the other fans when your favourite team
wins and even if it loses it doesn’t hurt to share the pain. You can even
create a group of your favourite friends to chat with so you never miss out on
important cricket gossip. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This app really brings together social media and
cricket all together in one app which should keep you occupied and obsessed for
hours.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Real
Cricket 14<o:p></o:p></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This game is for those who cannot live without
cricket- if they’re not watching a match then they’re most probably playing
one. Now bring the magic of a cricket tournament to your mobiles with this
intensive game in which you can choose from amongst 16 nations and 8 master
teams. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The controls are simple and will make you addicted to
the game. The graphics too are commendable and the 2D motion shows you every
movement in great detail. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This app is definitely one of the best apps to play
virtual cricket but one which gives you real time fun.</span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; line-height: 115%;">With the internet advancement, we can get all the
detailed news and updates about our favourite teams and players all thanks to
these apps which make sure we never have to live a day without our favourite
game being a part of it!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="color: #741b47;"><b>Guest Post</b></span><span style="color: #444444;"> by Neha Chaudhary</span></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-IN" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
</div>
Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-50862940591800424892015-04-24T14:34:00.003+05:302015-05-08T10:54:37.810+05:30What is the Biggest Challenge of Running a Software Startup?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As they say:</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Startup ≥ A Roller Coaster Ride</span></b></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMBLobpb9krIRlPKyTubef7hqktebnPBRUb9Q8oa9WkOEdGM_FdUQ41aFa78C8u0gkj8F7fPY-vABqFh8Y9G-up6KRG_gIu7Fhl-uMYyd3tj0DE6yb1lDA-7e3OaWF_BAmVNqKscJnEc4n/s1600/Startup.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMBLobpb9krIRlPKyTubef7hqktebnPBRUb9Q8oa9WkOEdGM_FdUQ41aFa78C8u0gkj8F7fPY-vABqFh8Y9G-up6KRG_gIu7Fhl-uMYyd3tj0DE6yb1lDA-7e3OaWF_BAmVNqKscJnEc4n/s1600/Startup.png" width="284" /></span></a></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="color: #0c343d;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For a successful startup, m</span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">any things must fall in place, consistently in sync with one another and most importantly within a limited period of time before they start to fall apart... and yes these should happen along with a little bit of a factor called<i> luck.</i></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Somehow or other as a developer / blogger I've been associated with many Startups for the past six years. A few failed and a few are moderately successful. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">What I inferred from my association with them is that running a startup is a 24x7 job and it requires the same level of nurturing, care & dedication that is expected while raising a new born baby. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Visualizing the product idea, sharing it with someone who probably shares the same level of insanity as you, refining the product day in day out - without caring if you're in traffic, washroom or in sound sleep. Forming a team, keeping them motivated even if you pay them much below what an MNC would've paid. Startup is a challenge for the founders as most of the days, most of them, end up doing multi-role tasks starting from a CEO to the office assistant and everything in between!</span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Let us hear what is the single biggest challenge of running a software startup from those who are into it for many years.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkjK9QrlyEroiFpJtf2WVAQWcvPJbVhyJBSQ3IvBTGT8zqunsO4MO_LlamBYHzijn8xfQOFRwSkQH730ZPDuFR4VGVdL-G-OD_QnxOfC6BV_LYIcPzI91vOgqJl_KjcGACSdwhqlkGc-sr/s1600-h/Dinesh-Varadharajan%25255B7%25255D.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: start;"><img alt="Dinesh-Varadharajan" border="0" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fBgHktOrPEw/VTdMzjBJGPI/AAAAAAAACIw/c6xrSNXogNo/Dinesh-Varadharajan_thumb%25255B3%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Dinesh-Varadharajan" /></a><span style="color: #7f6000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong style="text-align: left;">Dinesh Varadharajan</strong><span style="text-align: left;"> is the Director at OrangeScape, handling the engineering for </span><a href="http://www.techno-pulse.com/2012/11/review-of-kissflow-saas-quick-workflow.html" style="text-align: left;">KiSSFLOW</a><span style="text-align: left;">, #1 workflow product in Google Apps Marketplace. He is a hands-on executive with profound experience working with bleeding edge technologies, developing great products combined with mentoring and growing highly productive teams. </span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;">The biggest challenge for a startup is to get the first 100 paid customers. The initial days are pretty chaotic. Its all about continuously evaluating our sales process, marketing metrics and product feedback and make course corrections to improve those periodically. This continuous evalutation resulted in a heavily optimised process which will work for the next 1000 customers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">On the product front, we integrated several engagement tools like mixpanel and intercom to analyse user behaviour. We also frequently spoke to our customers to get user feedback. This helped us in maturing the product to match market needs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For sales, our CEO spear headed the acquisition of our first 100 customers and defined the workable sales process. We completely automated the process before hiring our sales team. This gave us greater predictability and good visibility in sales numbers. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For marketing, every one in the team had to familiarize themselves with marketing which was the toughest part of all. We tracked every dollar spent to a lead and slowly we were able to find more efficient ways to spend the money to acquire more leads. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Right now, we have a cockpit with lot of meters and controls and now we know exactly which knob to turn when the numbers are not looking good.</span><br />
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<a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-SSJCFgcqj4Q/VTdC9I_AOwI/AAAAAAAACHc/WNXsskIpdqg/s1600-h/Ezhil%25255B3%25255D.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: start;"><img alt="Ezhil" border="0" src="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-XkAnHQ5dlys/VTdC-FvxB9I/AAAAAAAACHk/Y1E5PpWus90/Ezhil_thumb%25255B1%25255D.png?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Ezhil" /></a><span style="color: #7f6000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"></span><br />
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<span style="color: #7f6000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><strong style="text-align: left;">Ezhil</strong><span style="text-align: left;"> has over 16 years of experience in the ICT industry. His most recent role was Director of CSS Labs, the R & D wing of CSS Corp. </span></span></div>
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<span style="color: #7f6000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="text-align: left;">Although he is known for his technical expertise in numerous technology spaces, he has gradually risen as an </span><a href="http://www.techno-pulse.com/2011/07/cloud-computing-preaches-design-failure.html" style="text-align: left;" target="_blank">opinion maker in cloud computing in India</a></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;"><span style="color: #7f6000;">.</span></span></div>
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<span style="text-align: left;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Although India is slated for excellent growth in SaaS, the market and the cloud services scene isn't exactly mature. Identifying and disrupting a niche market and then narrowing down on the top challenges in that target audience needs a lot of focus.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Finding the right talent for our technology needs is also a daunting challenge - no start-up can afford the risk of a bad hire, so at any level, recruiting is a key priority for us. </span><br />
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<a href="http://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-G7asFR4ZKVs/VTdK0rVIYaI/AAAAAAAACII/AnQUW1Kt9kY/s1600-h/Oleg%25255B7%25255D.png" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Oleg" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-V-8dvgTWS1Tqd8CtGWgVnauo4ROrh6DgR824TOKd3cuG80jgcq1fQ8ghtuXIKqyBDINqDkpWt3KMUzdYRWitW2SYsX960hKWIzySBv9NZ0Sh7b96KYGgihSdTkzpv5CW8orlzloIWhKz//?imgmax=800" style="background-image: none; border-width: 0px; display: inline; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;" title="Oleg" /></a><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #7f6000; text-align: justify;"><strong>Oleg </strong></span></span><span style="color: #7f6000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Khadartsev</b></span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #7f6000; text-align: justify;"> </span></span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 12.8000001907349px;"> </span><span style="color: #7f6000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">is CEO of </span><a href="http://mediametric.com/" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;" target="_blank">Mediametric</a><span style="color: #7f6000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">. Passionate about media monitoring, data analysis, text mining, natural language processing.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #7f6000; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #7f6000; text-align: justify;">Mediametric carefully aggregates almost every piece of content, published on the web and then collects all the stats for these articles - including shares to major social networks, comments on the website and citations and links, made in other articles.</span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Since Mediametric is a media analytics startup, our challenges come from big data - every day we collect articles from more than 100,000 sources, and keeping it all nice and clean is not always easy. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">We're using heuristic-based approach: we filter the incoming content automatically, giving it green light or blocking it, depending on whether it is a media outlet or something else, like online store or educational site. Some sources are sorted in the "gray zone" - those we filter using semi-automatic techniques, for example crowdsourcing. This way we filter out irrelevant content from thousands of channels, effectively handling large amount of data. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I would say that a great team is essential for overcoming any challenge — with the right people it is a lot easier to build something from scratch and deal with problems on the way. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: #999999; color: white;">Editor's note:</span> <i>In an email communication <b>Moscow </b>based </i></span><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Mediametric's </b>CEO </i><i style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Oleg shared the following input regarding talent scarcity & retention:</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"Speaking about developers, it's a bit challenging to hire a skilled and motivated programmer here. However, we have noticed that for skilled developers a promising fast-growing company means more than just high salary. It's essential to them to have a feeling of ownership of some part of the product or an area of research.</span><b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">"</b></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitsebwpu2qUObNjD7NfxKEE36G5uax36SUcc7d5comwScJsiSFOQQLbshTTWq-aDNzQQ-Kazij6w2MQ57kxhFljkrDnqoFxUeyqWklHbty415AA1-O_S3MwMuiGIIJTZxYLoayoq1Q3Pst/s1600/Pranay_Sanghvi.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pranay Sanghvi" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEitsebwpu2qUObNjD7NfxKEE36G5uax36SUcc7d5comwScJsiSFOQQLbshTTWq-aDNzQQ-Kazij6w2MQ57kxhFljkrDnqoFxUeyqWklHbty415AA1-O_S3MwMuiGIIJTZxYLoayoq1Q3Pst/s1600/Pranay_Sanghvi.png" title="Pranay Sanghvi" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #7f6000;"><b>Pranay Sanghvi</b> is Founder & Director – Strategy+Business at Intellibuzz, <a href="http://expensebuzz.com/" target="_blank">ExpenseBuzz</a>. ExpenseBuzz is a SaaS that helps you to <em>Control</em> & <em>Cut</em> your company’s communications cost - Reduce recurring expenses on your landline, mobile, IT & internet, every da</span>y</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In India, lack of reliability on small vendors/developer-team for software/product building is a challenge. This results in </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> -- delayed roll out </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> -- increased cash burn rate</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> -- toss of plans and finally</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> -- demotivation.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimthOwfcMpJtCK_RyFs8vviNz2SgdOSWWDzCNgUCWmuLTz5JHQ5bsHByXNzcAo0LgTc480AWEJl_535mgSf_YY6aYYcG7IlsHlMhbDm8eTgqFSyFWrPOZFhgCa90byLspFBKltjH0Cdf7e/s1600/HM.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimthOwfcMpJtCK_RyFs8vviNz2SgdOSWWDzCNgUCWmuLTz5JHQ5bsHByXNzcAo0LgTc480AWEJl_535mgSf_YY6aYYcG7IlsHlMhbDm8eTgqFSyFWrPOZFhgCa90byLspFBKltjH0Cdf7e/s320/HM.png" width="263" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #7f6000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><b>Hugo Messer</b> has been building and managing teams around the world for over 10 years. His passion is to enable people that are spread across cultures, geography and time zones to cooperate. Whether it’s offshoring or nearshoring, he knows what it takes to make a global cooperation work. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #7f6000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"><br /></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #7f6000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">Hugo recently started <a href="http://www.ekipa.co/" target="_blank">Ekipa</a> </span><span style="background-color: white; color: #7f6000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">: <i>the global marketplace for the world's best software teams</i>. He's been running </span>www.bridge-staffing.com<span style="background-color: white; color: #7f6000; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"> with an office in Cochin, India, since 2005.</span><br />
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;">The biggest challenge is to get traction. We've launched our new platform Ekipa.co in January of this year [2015]. We've spent about a year on developing the core of the platform and gathering the initial provider foundation. Since January</span><span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: start;"> we're promoting the platform. </span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;"><br /></span></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">As you are not a known brand yet and you don't have customer experiences to share, it's like you're standing in the desert almost lost. As an entrepreneur you've to find your way out of it. Somehow you have to start running around to meet people who are ready to take the plunge with you. </span></span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i><br /></i></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: start;"><span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>It's relatively easy to build a product, it's tough to market it</i>. </span></span><br />
<span style="background-color: white; color: #222222; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span></span>
<span style="background-color: white; text-align: start;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #222222;">I am used to 'sales' and have built a successful software services firm. Launching a product that relies on marketing as the main driver of customers is a whole different story! </span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Thanks everyone who shared their views here.</span><br />
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<span style="color: #666666; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">If you are a software entrepreneur and want to share your views you're welcome to do it at the following link [submit it before 29th May 2015] :</span><br />
<br />
<span style="color: #666666;"> -- </span><a href="https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/23076301/techno-pulse-discussion/StartupDiscussion.html" style="background-color: white; color: #1155cc; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: left;" target="_blank">Participate here - What's the Single Biggest Start-up Challenge?</a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Want to read a few more discussions at Techno-Pulse?</span><br />
-- <a href="http://www.techno-pulse.com/2009/09/discussions-interviews-featured.html" style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Techno-Pulse Discussions</a></div>
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Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-40916339000308855242015-04-17T18:12:00.003+05:302016-04-29T21:09:57.266+05:30Why Should I Replace My Landline with VoIP?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;">For generations, a landline phone
connection was the hallmark of a reputable business, a company’s main method of
communication with its current and potential customers. However, skyrocketing
rates and evolving technologies are quickly leading to the decline of
traditional voice calling.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">VoIP is one of the most exciting
alternatives to landline voice calling, offering the same utility along with a
range of advanced features such as visual voicemail and standard Caller ID.
VoIP also offers much more affordable pricing than with established phone carriers,
and small businesses will especially appreciate the benefits VoIP calling
provides.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLOTt-QU2Ng2bBD4IEhH6G4JDu8RTMsSH95WkA38_mwRRjpELBg0-CzyawvTwHTZuuKrf2bdgWIZuGzT2eK65xtGgHyRk4zqa310qranbz8EoDpezjJVfTeoXgIsPpWwPKNtew5manWpLw/s1600/Advantage-VoIP.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLOTt-QU2Ng2bBD4IEhH6G4JDu8RTMsSH95WkA38_mwRRjpELBg0-CzyawvTwHTZuuKrf2bdgWIZuGzT2eK65xtGgHyRk4zqa310qranbz8EoDpezjJVfTeoXgIsPpWwPKNtew5manWpLw/s1600/Advantage-VoIP.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bargain Pricing<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of the main reasons VoIP
calling has become such an attractive option to business leaders is the
cost-effective service it can provide. Where landline companies are bogged down
with outdated and expensive infrastructure as well as regulatory complications
that often drive up the price for the consumer, <a href="http://www.iinet.net.au/business/small/phone/" rel="nofollow">iiNet’s phone systems forbusiness</a> make use of your existing Internet connection to deliver
high-quality calls across its proprietary network, delivering high performance
at low cost. VoIP calls can also be routed through a smartphone over a WiFi
connection to save on mobile calling costs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Mobility<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another advantage that VoIP
calling offers when compared to traditional landlines is unrivaled mobility. A
VoIP connection is contained within the equipment itself, meaning that it can
be easily transported wherever business takes you as long as you have access to
a phone jack and Internet connection. Even better, VoIP service can be
configured to send notifications to multiple phones and devices whenever you
receive a call, so you’ll never miss a curious customer. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Customization<o:p></o:p></span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">VoIP also offers significant
potential for customization. Many VoIP providers allow clients to choose their
own phone number from a list of available numbers, and even select their own
area code to better identify with an area or target market. VoIP can also
quickly be adapted to meet the changing needs of a growing business, as lines
can easily be added, reassigned or deleted as needed unlike traditional landlines.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Bottom-line</span></h3>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">VoIP is not only an entirely
viable alternative to landline voice calling, it’s actually a superior option
in many aspects. The convenience, options and value delivered by a VoIP phone
system are impossible for a traditional phone carrier to match, and getting
started with VoIP is as simple as getting a VoIP-enabled phone or an adaptor
for an existing handset.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span style="color: #666666;"><i>Information: This is a Sponsored Post.</i></span></span></div>
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Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-13400220144906403492015-04-03T11:19:00.001+05:302015-04-03T17:33:26.767+05:30Your SaaS May Not be Multi-tenant–But Why Should You Care?<div style="text-align: left" dir="ltr" align="justify" trbidi="on">Over the past couple of years, single-tenant vs. multi-tenant SaaS debate has been creating loads of buzz in the technology circles. Let me ask you a few questions: </div> <div style="text-align: left" dir="ltr" align="justify" trbidi="on"><span style="background-color: yellow"></span> </div> <div style="text-align: left" dir="ltr" align="justify" trbidi="on"><span style="background-color: yellow">1. Does multi-tenancy matter if you are a SaaS provider? </span></div> <div style="text-align: left" dir="ltr" trbidi="on"> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><span style="background-color: yellow"></span> </div> <li> <div align="justify"><span style="background-color: yellow">2. Does multi-tenancy matter if you are a SaaS subscriber - do you need to care if your SaaS is a single-tenant or multi-tenant? </span></div> <li> <div align="justify"><span style="background-color: yellow"></span> </div> <li> <div align="justify"><span style="background-color: yellow"></span>If you are curious to know an instant and short answer, it’s an emphatic - YES, it matters! Either you are a SaaS provider or a SaaS consumer multi-tenancy matters to you. To simplify your decision making process let me tell you convincingly that <i>if it’s not multi-tenant it’s not a true SaaS</i> in the first place! </div></li></ul></div> <div align="justify"> </div> <div align="justify">Yes, The National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), The European Network and Information Security Agency (<em>ENISA</em>), Cloud Security Alliance (CSA) and many other authorities have already mentioned multi-tenancy as one of the essential (or at least desired) characteristics of a Cloud SaaS. </div> <div align="justify"> </div> <p><span style="color: #a5a5a5"><b>Disclosure</b>: <i>Many SaaS architectural considerations and the term multi-tenancy have been (over)simplified in this article for the sake of understanding.</i></span> <br><b></b></p> <p><b>Who/what are tenants?</b> <br></p> <p align="justify">In plain English, <i>Tenants</i> are subscribers (consumer/customer/client) of a service. For a <i>B2B</i> or <i>Line-of-Business</i> application like a CRM, a tenant can be a company with 100s of users. Examples: Salesforce.com and Google Apps for Business. </p> <div align="justify">Similarly for <i>Consumer oriented</i> or <i>B2C</i> SaaS, individuals like you and me (yes, general public) can be tenants. A few examples could be Facebook, Twitter, Dropbox etc. But it’s important to note that though these services started themselves as a consumer oriented apps, of late they are trying to diversify themselves in to the B2B segment as well. Gmail is a true consumer oriented SaaS. </div> <div align="justify"> </div> <div align="justify">I must add here that in most of the cases, B2B services require more sophisticated architectural considerations and development efforts in comparison to the consumer oriented applications.</div> <div align="justify"> </div> <p><b>What is a Multi-tenant SaaS?</b></p> <p align="justify">Do you know how a traditional web application is developed and deployed? It’s generally designed, developed and deployed keeping in mind the requirement of a single client. Simply speaking, it’s like developing and deploying different code base and different database instances for each client. So, if you have 100 clients this translates to 100 code bases (builds) and 100 databases to be deployed and maintained! </p> <div align="justify">See figure# 1 below for a graphical representation: </div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLCjikvK042Ms1Jrqwh66WRlvSMRCuBjrTwgCbOcLRTQq4onX3nP2_WYKq4UxiQ0Zz0NeucVxGstCOUqXtDnTJBYURCC7RZgDIPOVF-j67dq5A82RJ656uvrER9Xa09yaDCAcDwz83Q8Mc/s1600-h/Single-tenant-SaaS%25255B10%25255D.png"><img title="Single-tenant-SaaS" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Single-tenant-SaaS" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-swwX8oRGcfw/VR4pyNRZ9cI/AAAAAAAACBU/MsMfR6vDfqA/Single-tenant-SaaS_thumb%25255B8%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="632" height="267"></a> <br> <div align="justify">Multi-tenant SaaS architecture, in plain English, is an application that is designed/architected in such a way that it maintains only one code base and <em>possibly</em> (though not necessary) one database for all the clients. So, all your 100 clients now may use a single code base and a single database instance! See figure# 2 below for a graphical representation: </div> <p><a href="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-7H1akJyKN38/VR4pyw8nJxI/AAAAAAAACBc/VA8xjA3buX0/s1600-h/Multi-tenant-SaaS%25255B6%25255D.png"><img title="Multi-tenant-SaaS" style="border-left-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; background-image: none; border-bottom-width: 0px; float: none; padding-top: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-left: auto; display: block; padding-right: 0px; border-top-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" border="0" alt="Multi-tenant-SaaS" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-oEj8Ng309FStdDBR4BxXs4_EXLRJq4j42s0lSUWtsTeu6vT8G_PeriundwwapG63-tlVuJqrNg1XfY18R1vu-nligyLe3ooWSxV_7j-S6htTO-G-KEWFSpZWi3NHtrfuz_onSiRIhxYC//?imgmax=800" width="572" height="516"></a> <br><b>How does it Benefit the SaaS Provider?</b></p> <p align="justify"><b>Reduced Support and Maintenance</b>: It’s indeed no-brainer, as maintaining a single code base and database is far easier than maintaining and releasing patches for 100 code bases! Also, if you are upgrading your code or infrastructure it’s simply a onetime effort at one place rather than updating it in 100 different versions at many places. </p> <div align="justify"><b>Cost Efficient</b> – Sharing of resources (development and maintenance effort, infrastructure etc.) almost always converts to cost savings. Although a multi-tenant SaaS may require more time and effort initially yet it definitely pays in the long run once you’ve increased subscriber volume. In most of the scenarios, new subscriber’s signup and onboarding process can be automated for a low or no touch sales and support.</div> <div align="justify"> </div> <div align="justify">A provider with single-tenant service can’t continue to provide the service at an affordable price point and hence may find it difficult to compete, hence may become financially unviable. </div> <div align="justify"> </div> <div align="justify"><b>Security – </b>You don’t need to worry about the security of every client’s applications anymore. Implement state-of-the-art security features in your single code base and database and deploy it with an infrastructure (IaaS) provider having good track record of security and uptime. Peace of mind! </div> <div align="justify"> </div> <p><b>How does it Benefit the SaaS Consumer?</b> </p> <p align="justify">All the points mentioned above would obviously lead to make a provider as an efficient SaaS player who can in turn pass on the extra benefits to her/his subscribers. An efficient service may attract higher number of subscribers and as SaaS is all about <i>economies of scale</i>, you have a better chance of getting the service at an affordable price point. Also, as the provider is managing all her/his subscribers from a single code base and database instance s/he will put her/his best effort to offer a quality service. </p><b>Bottom-line</b> <br> <div align="justify"> </div> <div align="justify">Multi-tenant SaaS is like sailing together on the same boat with everyone else. There are indeed some cons as well like even a minor hiccup can affect every subscriber (not in the scope of this article). However, on any day the pros of a multi-tenant SaaS far outweigh its cons hence do enquire about it before you sign up for your next SaaS. <em>Is your SaaS multi-tenant?</em></div> Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-31213482608411845872015-03-16T21:26:00.000+05:302015-03-16T22:43:42.614+05:30The next generation IaaS: Multi-cloud via APIs<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When you enquire about availability of a service to cloud IaaS providers, without fail they talk about three nines (99.9%), four nines, five nines uptime percentages and design for failure ideas. The leading IaaS service Amazon EC2 offers a 99.95% of service commitment and that translates to 4.38 hours of downtime per year (or 5.04 minutes per week). Rackspace offers 100% network uptime guarantee! </span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Courier New, Courier, monospace;"><i>Information – The above mentioned availability excludes scheduled downtime for maintenance apart from many other exclusions mentioned in mouse-print.</i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; text-align: justify;">Although on any given day the cloud service availability is much higher than the traditional hosting service yet cloud IaaS has its own share of hiccups and that make them talk of the town as the expectations are very high. Every now and then we keep hearing about the outages of Amazon AWS, Microsoft or Google. As a result, in last few major outages the social media was all buzzing with the talks of unavailability of some popular cloud hosted services like Netflix,</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Twitter, Zynga, Quora, Heroku, Instagram, AirBnB, Foursquare and Reddit etc. that went offline due to their service providers outages. </span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Outages are a part of IT and you can’t stop them </span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">No matter how well prepared you are to prevent an outage; somehow it is waiting to happen! There are multiple components in hardware & software apart from multiple parameters that must collaborate seamlessly to run a service and anyone of them can fail at any point in time making the service unavailable. Additionally there are many external factors (natural disasters, grid failures etc.) that are out of control of anyone or any single entity. I think it is not wise to expect a service that is always available and 100% reliable.</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But what about your customers? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">For every downtime you can easily play the tweet-and-blame your provider game, as many services are already doing, but eventually it’s you who has to bear the revenue loss apart from losing the competitive edge and the brand value of your company. Even a few minutes of downtime is blown out of proportion in social media circles. Also it seems, your competition is just waiting to grab this opportunity and turn it into an advantage, something like this:</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi71hdTmgmOePLtp9Zsv6q5DA6eLIqwqXqv-FEef5ZBM_oThbbrTPVqDTQU6270yqxvT1UITKlIlIDRXOwp1Q63a_LUuTEil-QWhC5b159QQ1165_FcVKnYZ42ngzutx28KmSW1yS1sywwE/s1600/Rival.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi71hdTmgmOePLtp9Zsv6q5DA6eLIqwqXqv-FEef5ZBM_oThbbrTPVqDTQU6270yqxvT1UITKlIlIDRXOwp1Q63a_LUuTEil-QWhC5b159QQ1165_FcVKnYZ42ngzutx28KmSW1yS1sywwE/s1600/Rival.PNG" /></span></a></div>
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<b><span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How can IaaS minimize the effect of outages?</span></b></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Existing solutions</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">1. Mirroring and Availability Zones: Rackspace and Amazon EC2</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The IaaS providers indeed have some strategy for it. Rackspace offers multiple geographically separated regions and it recommends that by mirroring your infrastructure between datacenters you can mitigate outage risk. On the other hand, Amazon EC2 offers multiple AWS Availability Zones. As per Amazon’s portal FAQs: </span></div>
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<span style="color: #999999; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><i>Each availability zone runs on its own physically distinct, independent infrastructure, and is engineered to be highly reliable. Common points of failures like generators and cooling equipment are not shared across Availability Zones. Additionally, they are physically separate, such that even extremely uncommon disasters such as fires, tornados or flooding would only affect a single Availability Zone. </i></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But it has been observed that during last year’s outage of Amazon EC2 (US East data center) on 22 Oct. 2012 even the applications configured for <a href="https://gigaom.com/2012/10/22/amazon-problems-take-down-reddit-other-sites/" target="_blank">multiple availability zone were knocked off</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="color: #6aa84f;">2. Multi-hypervisor design: Example <b>OnApp Cloud</b></span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">OnApp’s server based multi-hypervisor design monitors different cloud services and supports automatic failover by relocating virtual machines and rerouting application data. This service empowers you to point-click-and-manage clouds based on different virtualization platforms. OnApp currently supports Xen, KVM and VMware hypervisors.</span></div>
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<span style="color: #6aa84f; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">3. Federated network of public cloud providers - <b>Computenext </b>and <b>6Fusion </b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Federation of cloud services (cloud brokerage) is about accessing multiple cloud IaaS from a single sign-on account and monitoring them apart from comparing, measuring and unified billing of the compute resources. Based on your requirements, you can change your provider if needed without rewriting your code and API calls. No more vendor lock-ins! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It seems the above mentioned platforms are already serving as the basis of the beginning of the much talked multi-cloud approach by providing the API abstraction (explained later) to the multi-cloud deployments. I think they should take their service to the next level by providing automatic failover and built-in real-time communication between multiple vendors. A formidable challenge! </span></div>
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<span style="color: blue; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>Nextgen solution </b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Is Multi-cloud approach a better strategy to achieve highest possible service availability?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Yes, of course it is. A few companies have already started experimenting this (PayPal for instance). A few have already sensed the upcoming demand for it and are in the process of building right tools for multi-cloud approach (RightScale multi-cloud management). Apart from apparent benefit of high availability multi-cloud may lead to price reduction and healthy competition among IaaS providers for a better service. As a customer you no longer have to face that vendor-lock-in issue.</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><b>What are the challenges in multi-cloud implementation?</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">As a developer I understand that implementing this is easier said than done unless we address the following cloud standards issues:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"> Interoperability Portability etc.</span></div>
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<b><span style="color: #38761d; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The path to multi-cloud goes via APIs</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">APIs…? I won’t define APIs here but let me give you a practical scenario from daily life to make you understand the role of an API in a multi-cloud approach.</span></div>
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<span style="color: red; font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How do you book (reserve) flight tickets?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">You simply sign in to your favorite travel portal (or the airline’s portal) and enter the journey date, city-pair detail, and within seconds you have a list of available airlines on your screen. You choose one of them and after a few clicks and within a few minutes you’ve got the booking confirmation message. Sounds so simple.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now you must be aware that there are 1000s of travel portals, offering flight booking services to millions of direct customers (registered/guest users) and travel agents in almost 200 countries spread around the globe! Similarly for train and bus bookings, many of these portals are providing you with the facility to view seat layout and book as per your requirement. As booking are going on simultaneously across the world through 1000s of portals:</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">How do they ensure that the same seat is not booked for more than one customer or that the total number of bookings should not exceed the available seats? Now this sounds a bit complex, isn’t it? </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">All this is made possible via the magic of APIs running in the background</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Airlines, train or bus operators has their inventory. They (or a third party) maintain a computer reservation system (CRS) where they enter their inventory details in their respective database. Once they have a CRS, every vendor who wants to be a part of GDS (Global Distribution System) needs to expose a web API to access its inventory. A GDS will aggregate many such APIs from different vendors and can offer its own web API to multiple channels like travel portals throughout the world.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Now, any booking request to the GDS API will be directed to all the participating vendors computer reservation system (CRS) and the response from them is consolidated and shown to the calling program, (i.e. to your favorite travel portal). So, the GDS APIs are simply a layer of abstraction between the actual vendor inventory and the consumer (travel portals). More or less this is the work flow in any ticket booking system.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">To simplify the above let me say that if you wish to develop a travel portal you don’t need to worry about talking to the multiple operators for inventory. You can contact a GDS provider, (Galileo, Amadeus, Sabre etc.) purchase a license and integrate their API in your web application. The API will receive a few parameters like date, city-pair etc. from your portal and will respond with the availability and fare details. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">So, if you want to build a travel portal for international flight booking, it doesn’t matter in which part of the globe you are, as a prerequisite you have to integrate the GDS APIs to your application. This abstraction, to some extent lowers the barrier of developing a portal and that’s the reason there are numerous new travel portals starting up operation every other day.</span></div>
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<b><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Bottom-line</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">I think the above analogy says it all for the cloud services as well. The IaaS providers have got an inventory to share and most of them already have their own APIs to manage server resources. But before the IaaS goes the multi-cloud way on an industrial scale many rough patches need to be smoothened. May be the cloud should evolve and mature a little more in terms of interoperability and standards to offer this much awaited new approach at an affordable cost. What do you think… are we going to witness many multi-cloud implementations in 2014? </span></div>
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Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-11557813925022717592015-02-01T18:49:00.000+05:302016-04-29T21:13:27.013+05:30The Tech Everybody Should Want in 2015<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgswsWFXUVyMNXilcoBdT_uMd5bBDmRRornByIz6b7fZZy9EMDOaDv6bbDHa8wqlcv6pn4ENqvhFQRtFWyhRcjJ2CNaE3iH8W5N43WPGI2xz_CVqaCfTMT1q_5L-fpBeJXRgg8QvYO-Nd/s1600/FutureTech.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzgswsWFXUVyMNXilcoBdT_uMd5bBDmRRornByIz6b7fZZy9EMDOaDv6bbDHa8wqlcv6pn4ENqvhFQRtFWyhRcjJ2CNaE3iH8W5N43WPGI2xz_CVqaCfTMT1q_5L-fpBeJXRgg8QvYO-Nd/s1600/FutureTech.png" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">As each year goes by, we seem to be getting closer and
closer to the futuristic technology that once only existed in science fiction. It’s a nice thing to dream about; after all, who wouldn't want a hover board or robot servant in their life?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">We may not be closer to any of these inventions, but there
is already a selection of available technology that can change our day to day
lives on the market.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Personal 3D Printing</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">3D Printing is already well known, but at the moment it’s
only available for those with large bank accounts. For anyone who doesn’t know,
this machine allows users to download blueprints from the internet and create
physical replicas using a range of materials.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The scope is extraordinary. From an acoustic guitar to a
fully functioning car, already people are pushing 3D Printers to their full
capacities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">What we want to see, however, is the creation of 3D printers
for home use. Not only would it be extremely useful, but it could also benefit
people who work from home. For example, graphic designers could radically
transform the speed and manner in which they work if they had such technology
to hand. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Exoskeleton Suits</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Exoskeleton suits may sound like something that only exists
in the latest Call of Duty game, but they do exist and are already being used
in a variety of contexts.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">In a nutshell, they are a mobile machine consisting of an
outer framework which is worn by a person. It is powered by a series of motors
or hydraulics that provide energy for any limb movement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">They are used to help wearers by boosting their endurance
and strength. In most cases, they are found in the military, both in and out of
combat. However, if exoskeleton suits were introduced in a civilian context, it
could help rescue workers survive hazardous environments.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another interesting development is that exosuits can be used
to assist people with disabilities. Although this technology isn’t currently
available for public consumption, there are at least three separate projects
going on that revolve around helping those that can’t walk properly. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">If it can change lives in a positive way, there’s no reason
why the technology shouldn't be embraced by the public. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Virtual Reality</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">For many years, various people have been trying to make
virtual reality a tangible thing, but most have failed. This has been slowly
changing, however, and there are numerous technologies that are being developed
which are delivering real results.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The first and most well-known is <i>Oculus Rift</i>. This piece of
tech allows users to play first person view games as if they are the actual
character. Wearing specially designed goggles, a user’s head movement is
detected and allows them to see through the perspective of a character. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Another virtual reality device that has only just been
announced is the Microsoft <i>HoloLens</i>. This allows you to see normally, except
with augmentations. 3D objects, screens and much more will appear before your
eyes, and can be interacted with appropriately. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Both of these could change how we work and interact with
each other on a major scale. From more immersive gaming, to making design
process that bit easier, virtual reality is quickly showing how it can be
incorporated into real world circumstances. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Windows 10</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Windows 8 hasn't been a success at all, with Microsoft
spending more time focusing on stitching together mobile and web interfaces
instead of a fully functioning OS. It’s clear they are trying to make amends
for this disaster however, by skipping Windows 9 entirely and going straight to
10. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The introduction of a voice app much like Apple’s Siri, and
the fact that it’s free for Windows 8 users is promising. Microsoft really are
trying to produce a platform that can be used effectively across all devices
from laptop to phone to tablet that will leave all users satisfied.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>Apple Watch</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">One of the biggest innovations in recent times is wearable
tech in the form of smart watches. It’s like having the power of a smartphone at
your wrist, allowing users to make phone calls, use various apps and of course,
tell the time. This could be the perfect solution for those that are always
losing their phone on a night out.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Apple have focused on style as well, so it’s not as if
you’re transporting an iPad on your wrist. They are being offered in a variety
of colours, and actually look like something that will fit with fashion trends.
A price hasn't been announced, nor has the release date, but we’re sure it’ll
be revolutionary once it is released.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Google Glass</b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Following the trend of wearable technology, Google Glass is
an exciting innovation which, sadly, can no longer be purchased.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">With this technology, taking photos, sending texts and
browsing the web can be done with a few simple voice commands. However, do not
fear. Google Glass 2 is being worked on as you read this, so soon you will have
the option once more to invest in this revolutionary technology.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>The Steam Machine</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">The Steam Machine is Valve’s go at creating a next
generation gaming console with the power of a computer. Valve are well known
for putting care and attention into everything they release, so it will be
interesting to see how they do with this challenging product.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">There aren’t many details as of yet, although one thing we
know about is the controller. Instead of directional controls it has touch
pads, creating a more sensitive gaming experience. Hopefully more information
will be unveiled soon so we can get even more excited about this console.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><b>The Tech Everybody
Should Want</b><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Looking at the technology shown on display in this blog,
there’s little wonder why everyone’s so excited. 2015 may prove to be an
impressive year for technology, and we can’t wait to see what is being worked
on behind closed doors either.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">This article is a guest post contributed by Rachel Jensen.</span><o:p></o:p></div>
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Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-13998712980545294552014-09-28T09:14:00.001+05:302016-04-29T21:18:36.747+05:30Entrepreneurs are Opting for Hosted PBX for Their Business - Are You?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<span style="color: olive; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><strong>[Guest Post]</strong></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Entrepreneurs, who are heading a fast growing company, need to be aware of the importance of having fast, reliable, efficient and cost effective telephone systems at office. They should also be aware of the fact that the telephone system should be highly scalable depending on the increasing or decreasing telecommunication needs of the company. Since the startups are very fast moving companies so they are going to grow at a rapid pace and their current status this year is definitely going to change next year. Changing the communication systems at office is a challenging task and no entrepreneur can afford to waste time and money for frequently changing their telephone system. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDeWdyremLHGO1mDrlM4rsDcHFySkaRUfTV4c_oBXLE7vwgAUKJfkxblqyiM5vrRXplEUzClMCZRdJkhle7rVuBmObheXYCKeZdo9wm_3CV8KbymH2S1s0Otfmc672_tY6Q-Up9ieIVF3D/s1600-h/PBX%25255B11%25255D.png"><img alt="PBX" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhguqaJY7WlhaSn7SxmWD6L_6VLLwZuvjxB4o7OcQBFJLiwILBsmIfyX31NkmXa_Xpj5p5muZgPuhJOj8xb7_F7FqnQ-S5sFh67yS2lS4wmbLkXg8QPmIQ4j6Fc5wIYzvLLMACw3c425sUv//?imgmax=800" height="479" style="border-bottom: 0px; border-left: 0px; border-right: 0px; border-top: 0px; display: inline;" title="PBX" width="483" /></a> </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">VoIP</span><span style="font-family: "calibri"; font-size: small;">, hosted or premised based, is the answer to all their communication needs as it is not only inexpensive but also much efficient than their old PSTN telephone systems. The hosted telephone system offers greater flexibility, higher stability and better call quality, which will only help the business grow without any hindrances. </span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">There are several benefits for entrepreneurs who opt for the hosted PBX systems and this is applicable to both the small as well as the mid-sized companies. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Call Costs</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: small;">The hosted PBX system is VoIP dependent and does not use the conventional PSTN lines. The most attractive feature of hosted PBX is that the call costs are cheaper than the calls made from land lines and companies that make frequent overseas calls are the largest beneficiaries. Company owners do not need to foot huge telephone bills at the end of the month as the international calls are really cheap. The calls are placed over the internet and this is why there are no extra charges on the calls. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Highly scalable</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">As you are heading a growing business, so you might have to keep adding new users to the telephone network. Adding new staff to your company and to your telephone network is a walk in the park only if you have a hosted PBX system. These centrally managed systems can add in more users only by upgrading the packages of the subscribers. Thus, all you will need to do is call up your service provider and placing the order for adding in the extra users. The hosted PBX system is highly scalable and you will only need to inform your host for upgrading or downgrading your package. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Quality of Equipments</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The equipments used for the hosted phone systems are of very high quality and some of the big names in the market manufacture them. There are several advanced feature offered by the hosted PBX systems to boost the enterprise’s performance. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Virtual Office will be a reality</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Your office will be able to create virtual numbers for phone calls and this is possible only when you have a hosted PBX system. One number can be redirected to the office phones, mobile phones, smartphones and even to the laptop. Thus, your customers will have a toll free number at their disposal and they will definitely place new calls. </span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Businesses can be Virtualized</span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">The virtualization of your business will cut down the initial operating costs of your business and will also reduce the phone bills. The hosted PBX facilitates easy scaling of the phone system and you will be able to provide the virtual numbers for receiving incoming calls. Hosting PBX helps you to improve the customer relations and even the productivity.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">Entrepreneurs are the ones who lead by example and by opting for the hosted PBX system, you will be able to send a message to your employees and business associates that you do not settle for the second best. </span><br />
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<b><span style="color: grey; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;">About The Author</span></b><br />
<b><span style="color: grey; font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><br /></span></b></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><span style="color: olive;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><strong>Michelle Patterson</strong> is excited with the new technologies that are threatening to change the way we stay in touch and communicate, particular in business. She works with companies that are introducing these technologies to make understanding them easy for regular people.</span><span style="font-family: "calibri";"><b></b></span></span></span></span></div>
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Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-75708922194975847872014-09-25T23:59:00.001+05:302014-09-28T09:01:42.040+05:30Do Social Collaboration Work in Enterprise?<p align="right"><font color="#808000" size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>[Guest Post]</strong></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Social networking has become almost indispensable for us. It is not only Twitter or Facebook, but, there are other services that are becoming really popular with users. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">On the personal front, social networking has become an easy way of sharing personal information with near and dear ones. You can exchange notes, photographs, and even videos. Twitter and Facebook has been used even in emergencies where pleas for help have been broadcast and acted upon. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">What about use of social networking in enterprises? What we see now is <a href="http://www.dovecommunications.com/services/phone-systems-los-angeles/" target="_blank">Unified Communications</a></font><font size="3" face="Calibri"></font><font size="3" face="Calibri">, Video Conferencing and such. The use of social collaboration in enterprise never really took off and business owners and leaders have always been skeptical about their proper usage and impact. Leaders and business owners need to realize that enterprise social media collaboration is a completely different ballgame and both the strategy as well as the execution needs to be at a different level. </font></p> <p align="justify"><b><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">The Enterprise Social Idea</font></b></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Enterprise social, as an idea, caught the fancy of many (obviously for a very short period of time) as it helped to revolutionize some business operations. There are instances of many Enterprise social networking platforms businesses like <strong>OurCrowd</strong> and <strong>Kickstarter</strong>. Many such platforms have used crowd sourcing to fill their funding requirements. They were not required to go to banks and fill up long loan applications or pitch their business ideas to the VCs. There were also many companies that used Twitter to get feedbacks from the customers and even take care of the support issues. Internet marketers used Facebook (FB) pages to generate likes for the business and even execute their marketing campaigns to create the right buzz about their products and services. LinkedIn too was put to good use by many headhunting firms who recruited people by using that professional networking platform. </font></p> <p align="justify"><b><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">What Users Want?</font></b></p> <p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaGAk2V78bG-Wu4MFJRfETPHeCT7QOJVNKQ2Q1R8oFfQlsbx5hN29iaxAZlY39DpKb2gLTMLaOVyAef_je9XrN_o5qF-4CRoBEcfyhcpfA4NM49FBEpnvReZN3bz_Z8CianUzOM3yNmVsi/s1600-h/CCI%25255B4%25255D.png"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="CCI" border="0" alt="CCI" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghdzQzuuIZooGrE-OgeUvVapDgD6JgCDtCQTTBwQ-vtQeA5UISG8EFBM7-w5uxDcFjXmZck2AZpsBTrtFM-3_FgyDmaP65bNGzUTsqxOPcwWcJ0QV6ux8N-IAqQiQfVUNWLh5j5qISJy9d//?imgmax=800" width="446" height="457" /></a> </p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Now, the expectation from the enterprises for social collaboration is pretty high as business owners and leaders expect the collaboration to yield high revenue and other results for the organization. Unfortunately, enterprise social collaboration never really matched the industry expectations and, as a result, business leaders started to shift their attention to other marketing gigs. The primary reason behind the dismal performance of social business software is that the CIOs found it really difficult to distinguish one product from another and they took really long to evaluate the solutions and the tools. Thus, the unexpected delay popped up new challenges for everyone and the results could never really match the expectations of the enterprise users.</font></p> <p><font size="3" face="Calibri">The personal model for social media interactions cannot be extended to the enterprise as the goals are different for each. Enterprise social media interactions are not made to share birthday wishes or announcing dinner dates - they are all about collaboration and working of diverse teams. The social media tools should facilitate easy collaboration and execution of tasks and projects.</font></p> <p align="justify"><b><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">A Mixture of Asana and Facebook?</font></b></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Social collaboration in an enterprise should be aimed at getting work done efficiently, faster and within set budgets. The executives and the CIOs should be able to differentiate between communication and broadcast tools, and the ones that facilitate results based on collaboration. Thus, a solution to this should be the software that allows external as well as the internal team members to collaborate, communicate and come up with innovations and ideas. The same tool can then be used to execute and deliver. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Enterprises are looking at social collaboration software that starts with the social aspect but then ropes in execution along the line somewhere. The users should be able to set up the groups around any project or initiative. The groups should further have the option of changing their conversations into actionable items. They should be able to set deadlines for the work to be completed. A few of the tasks need to convert into projects that not only require resources but should also have milestones, budget and even deliverables. The ultimate goal should be to convert social interactions into business results.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">We have yet to see a combination of Facebook and Asana that does this in an integrated fashion. What do you think? Share your views in the comment section.</font></p> <p align="justify"><b><font color="#808000" size="3" face="Calibri">About The Author</font></b></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#808000"><strong>Michelle Patterson</strong> is excited with the new technologies that are threatening to change the way we stay in touch and communicate, particular in business. She works with companies that are introducing these technologies to make understanding them easy for regular people.<b></b></font></font></font></p> Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-2219253655019422852014-09-04T00:08:00.001+05:302014-09-04T07:24:37.616+05:30Is Cloud Telephony the Future?<p align="justify"><font color="#808000" size="2" face="Calibri">[Guest Post]</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Businesses that are on the rapid path of expansion often want to upgrade their systems to meet the contemporary communication needs. Companies that switch over to latest communication system always try to look for solutions that will not only meet their present but also their future needs. This often leads to over-specification where the companies want to play safe by buying a technology cover for the coming years. Now, all this eventually leads to heavy capital expenditure, which might deter many companies from trying out latest technologies. <a href="http://universalcomonela.com/cloud-telephone/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Cloud telephony</a></font><font size="3" face="Calibri"></font><font size="3" face="Calibri"> is a one stop solution for this problem and this is why it has turned out to be the preferred telecom technology for the smart companies around the world. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>So is cloud telephony the future?</strong></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Well, cloud based business telephone solutions is the future of business telephony services around the world. Cloud telephony is the latest technology that has evolved out of cloud computing; the basis of cloud based telephone solutions. There are several advantages of this latest technology and strong reasons are there for making it the future of all telecom technology. Businesses prefer this technology to others because they have realized that it is not only the cheapest available in the market but also the most efficient solution. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Companies are opting for unified communication because they want to integrate the various communication channels and tools on a single platform and what better way to accomplish this than migrating to cloud telephony. Cloud based telephone solutions are easier to manage and users are free of any maintenance costs. The use of IP phones has further boosted the chances of cloud telephony because these can be plugged to the central system from anywhere around the world and used. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>Do Cloud telephone systems have a future?</strong></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Cloud based telephone system is the future of telecom and ten years from now it is will be as common as the PSTN telephone systems were. There are obvious reasons behind believing in the bright future of this technology. </font></p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">The increase in the number of communication channels and tools is a huge challenge for any company to manage. Thus, business communication systems will fast switch to the unified communication system, which inadvertently is based on the cloud telephony. There is immense growth in the field of mobile technology and companies that want to stay ahead of their competitors are bound to choose unified communication. </font></div> </li> </ul> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Flexibility is the USP of cloud based telephone solutions and this is the reason why it can accommodate all the legacy communication systems. Thus, companies that used to have their PSTN telephones can make use of the cloud with simple changes to their existing infrastructure. </font></div> </li> </ul> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">In terms of scalability, there is no other technology that can beat cloud telephone solutions because users can upgrade and downgrade their subscription packages at will. An increase in operations would mean adding more telephone lines and this can be accomplished with a few clicks when using cloud telephony. </font></div> </li> </ul> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Mobility at workplaces is the future move in every industry and this can be easily achieved by migrating to cloud. Majority of the bigger companies are now contemplating the use of BYOD (Bring Your Own Device) and CYOD (Choose Your Own Device) and cloud telephony is the technology that can promote and accommodate both the trends. </font></div> </li> </ul> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Businesses that have their eye on the future are certainly in favour of VoIP and cloud telephony. Communication is no more limited to making or receiving calls or a voicemail, it is all about integrating all on a single platform. Cloud telephony has been created to meet the future communication needs of businesses and it is here to stay.</font></p> <p align="justify"><b><font size="3" face="Calibri">About The Author</font></b></p> <p align="justify"></p> <p><b><font size="3" face="Calibri"></font></b></p> <font color="#808000"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Michelle Patterson is an avid technology blogger and writes extensively about IP/VoIP and Unified Communication. She works with some leading companies to understand the trends of these modern communication technologies</font></font>.</font> Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-50546845902294714722014-08-27T08:27:00.001+05:302014-08-27T08:34:30.488+05:306 Benefits of Deploying IP Surveillance System<p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">IP-based surveillance has a lot of advantages and is gaining popularity all over. Some of the major advantages are listed below:</font></p> <p align="justify"> <table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="616"> <p><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Optional Info<i>. <font color="#808080">An IP based surveillance requires an IP Camera.</font></i><font color="#808080"> <i>Wikipedia defines An</i><i> Internet protocol camera, or IP camera, is a type of digital video camera commonly employed for surveillance, and which <u>unlike</u> analog closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras can send and receive data via a computer network and the Internet. Although most cameras that do this are webcams, the term "IP camera" or "netcam" is usually applied only to those used for surveillance.</i></font></font></font></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> </p> <p align="justify"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><b>Remote accessibility</b> </font></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">As the surveillance system is installed over an IP network, it can be configured to provide remote access. IP-based surveillance system facilitates remote access by which a user can log into an authorized system without being physically present at the location. Remote access is very handy when it comes to a third party monitoring and also for personal access and monitoring when the person is away. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Users can also login to a server remotely by using a web-based interface in order to view real time video footage on PCs as well as mobile phones. The captured video can be stored at remote locations for convenience as well as security purpose, and the data can be transmitted over the optical fiber or LAN cable or Internet. Also, remote support and end user training is also possible in an IP surveillance system.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><b><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-gQWh5hJbrlg/U_1JBqxGkkI/AAAAAAAABz0/V8r-87WpP0A/s1600-h/IP-Surveillance%25255B16%25255D.png"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="IP-Surveillance" border="0" alt="IP-Surveillance" src="http://lh5.ggpht.com/-JTX92h92_QY/U_1JC-SAyGI/AAAAAAAABz8/ZdJb6C_wN_I/IP-Surveillance_thumb%25255B14%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="417" height="429" /></a> </b></font></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><b>High Image quality</b></font></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Image quality has always been considered as one of the most important features for a surveillance system. Normally an analog camera is about 0.5 mega pixel, whereas, an IP camera can range from 2 mega pixels to some 20 mega pixels. With a high quality camera, you get crisp images, and it becomes easier to view and identify any individual or event, which is the prime purpose of the surveillance system. In IP surveillance system, images and videos captured from camera are digitized and these can be shared over a secured network. There is no loss in quality of the images or videos even when they are transmitted over long distances. </font></p> <p align="justify"><b><font size="3" face="Calibri">Easy, future-proof integration</font></b></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">In an IP system, there is no limitation as to where an IP camera can be installed. Additionally, they can provide higher level of integration with other equipment, which helps in the continuous development of the system. An integrated IP system enables multiple applications simultaneously such as access control, point of sales system etc. Moreover, further installation of security cameras with the existing system is also possible whenever necessary. IP surveillance system provides open interface for easy integration with other applications and systems.</font></p> <p align="justify"><b><font size="3" face="Calibri">Scalable and Flexible</font></b></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">IP based systems provide applications and products to be shared through wired or wireless network for communication of data. Video, audio, I/O commands, power as well as data can be transmitted over the same cable and a large number of surveillance equipment can be added to the existing system. IP based surveillance cameras can be placed anywhere as per the user’s requirement.</font></p> <p align="justify"><b><font size="3" face="Calibri">Cost Effective</font></b></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">In </font><a href="http://sourceonecom.com/products/#survel"><font size="3" face="Calibri">IP based surveillance system</font></a><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">, infrastructure requirement is very less. Also, and IP camera can be installed using the existing network infrastructure. This reduces implementation costs significantly. Again these systems can operate irrespective of the size of network and it is only necessary to purchase as many cameras as you need. These systems are based on open standards and use standard PC and server hardware. This, in turn, reduces the management, maintenance and equipment cost, especially for large systems where storage and servers form a major chunk of the total cost of implementation. <b></b></font></font></p> <p align="justify"><b><font size="3" face="Calibri">Event management and intelligent video</font></b></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Video data can be easily accessed and viewed as many times as wanted. Any real time data or recorded data can be viewed from any location. Whenever there is large volume of data to be reviewed, intelligent software with built-in analytics is available. The intelligent system responds to pre-programmed commands like motion detection, tampering alarms, audio detection as well as event management. Specific event can be programmed for which the system will respond. All the data can be recorded and organized in </font><a name="remote"></a><font size="3" face="Calibri">a very efficient and effective manner. </font></p> <p align="justify"><b><font size="3" face="Calibri">About The Author</font></b></p> <p align="justify"></p> <p><b><font size="3" face="Calibri"></font></b></p> <font color="#808000"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">Michelle Patterson is an avid technology blogger and writes extensively about IP/VoIP and Unified Communication. She works with some leading companies to understand the trends of these modern communication technologies</font></font>.</font> Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-28947873077061767452014-08-02T18:10:00.001+05:302014-08-02T18:11:15.465+05:30Can a Call Center Be Taken To The Cloud?<p align="right"><font color="#808080" size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>--Guest Post</strong></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">So many business applications are being taken <em>to the cloud</em> these days. You might even wonder if a large call center can be treated that way, and if so, then what some of the pros and cons of such a thing might be.</font></p> <p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhD1J_8HoLUg69-oAtuU1used2_6wpLxZyIRM0-4XyqS_psVgZURTQII014IkhvAWFcd0lk3WzMzBdnKvmkjRBB2tjF-d0Kq5BxhogARhjaeQGtS6wpmBMlYP8BdX16zq18KAgi9PV2x_t6/s1600-h/Cloud%252520Call%252520Center%25255B14%25255D.png"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Cloud Call Center" border="0" alt="Cloud Call Center" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgOT2tzFSwmY7ki-OJvNITs0zrJyW3rGTqz5lBm9vvhmYIqY2og_BFuWd49D7IeRTUdTxC2AuiovxOuyZ_FtOkxwAYPNK5Pg0oqldRfKoNxvsebBnETTR65ETUm9nsu7uGEgvF3kspAxrAS//?imgmax=800" width="422" height="346" /></a> </p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">In at least one way, it is possible to take a large call center to the cloud: You can re-task some of your qualified agents to answer customer questions via SMS text message. This will allow your customers to feel as if they have more control, and can get their answers quickly, rather than being on endless hold, listening to the same looped music. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">SMS messaging is actually a preferred mode of communications for many people, simply due to its immediacy, ease-of-use, and convenience. Over 275,000 SMS messages a second are sent worldwide — that's over a billion a minute. It only makes sense, then, for a business to leverage that power to communicate with their customers. By doing so, they will be rewarded with better response rates. Reports show that more than 90 percent of SMS messages are opened, most of them within three minutes of receipt.</font></p> <p><b><font size="3" face="Calibri">Pros of SMS systems:</font></b></p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Automatic responses can be configured for certain situations or questions</font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Text conversations can transition easily to a live agent</font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">History of an SMS conversation can be viewed, giving an agent context</font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">One trained agent can handle multiple conversations simultaneously, thereby lowering customer frustration levels and wait times.</font></div> </li> </ul> <p><b><font size="3" face="Calibri">Cons of SMS systems:</font></b></p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">SMS messages are prone to delivery failure. Your messages might not get through, thereby angering the customer.</font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Space must be allocated in the SMS message for user to opt-out at any time.</font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">SMS messages are just that — short. 160 characters is all that will send at any one time; anything longer will have to be broken up, which can often be clunky and difficult to read.</font></div> </li> </ul> <p><b><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Is there Another Way of Taking the Call Center to the Cloud?</font></b></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Yes, there, is. The savvy business owner doesn't have to invest in a brick and mortar building any more, along with all the overhead associated with it. Nor do they have to limit themselves to hiring the talent available in only that one geographical area, because let's face it — people will travel only so far for a job, no matter how good it is. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Another way of taking your Call Center to the </font><a href="http://telecom.toshiba.com/Products/VIPedge-Cloud-Based-Telephone-Solution/"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Cloud</font></a><font size="3" face="Calibri"> is by making it virtual — in other words, having a central piece of hardware that can exist anywhere; your geographically dispersed agents (who typically work from home) call into it using their own phones, Web connections, and computers. This central hardware acts as a connection point that routes incoming calls with available remote agents.</font></p> <p align="justify"><em><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">So what are some of the benefits of doing business this way?</font></em></p> <ul> <li><font size="3" face="Calibri">Dramatically reduced overhead can be repurposed for other corporate uses</font> </li> <li><font size="3" face="Calibri">The Virtual Call Center (VCC) model offers a company a greater pool of talent, across the country or even internationally</font> </li> <li><font size="3" face="Calibri">This model also allows a company to build a better skilled team</font> </li> <li><font size="3" face="Calibri">Agents who work at home are less prone to stress and frustration, therefore are more satisfied with their jobs. Thus there is usually less turnover in these positions.</font> </li> <li><font size="3" face="Calibri">VCCs also offer greater availability and continuity of service. Agents can be hired to break barriers to work that couldn't be broken before, such as language, time zone, or cultural differences.</font> </li> </ul> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri"><em>There are a few cons, however:</em></font></p> <ul> <li><font size="3" face="Calibri">Monitoring, management and evaluation of agent performance can be quite a challenge when staff is scattered across multiple locations, and may not be there at the same time.</font> </li> <li><font size="3" face="Calibri">Ongoing training on new products and services, policies, campaigns and promotions, etc., is difficult to provide. </font></li> </ul> <p><font size="3" face="Calibri">The bottom line is that a business must decide, based on a candid evaluation of its needs, which model of call center is suited best to their way of working.</font></p> <p><b><font size="3" face="Calibri">Author’s Bio</font></b></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#808000"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><strong>Michelle Patterson</strong> is an avid technology blogger and writes extensively about IP/VoIP and Unified Communication. She works with some leading companies to understand the trends of these modern communication technologies</font></font>.</font></p> Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-86579154913081492112014-07-21T23:23:00.001+05:302014-07-27T20:50:35.455+05:305 Reasons Why your Business should Adopt Google Cloud Services<p align="right"><strong><font color="#800000" size="3" face="Calibri">[Guest Post]</font></strong></p> <p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpIT8R6R3NiJ8E1Dh6FaW5hdcITXTP_I6XiNFhb6UEYegT_NiiChl51GfzfvEjf1Xro9bzSBFVVY5qNFtSqnJFu-vmzESz_YvQdNEHtFhERsgZwO2hB0A-VRQBZXlTDeRzGXCs0z8Du5Db/s1600-h/Google-Cloud%25255B4%25255D.png"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="Google-Cloud" border="0" alt="Google-Cloud" align="left" src="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-pLQDYkV3HWU/U81Tgk6kOFI/AAAAAAAABxs/zI_JV9OL-ok/Google-Cloud_thumb%25255B2%25255D.png?imgmax=800" width="314" height="346" /></a> <font size="3" face="Calibri">Google has become a part of our everyday lives, without a shadow of a doubt. Not only do most of us use their search engine daily for all manner of things - whether it be to look up goods, services, useless facts and trivia, or just to check the spelling of a word. However, they’re much, <i>much</i> more than just a search engine nowadays, and their products are as numerous as they are ingenious.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"> </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Many of us now have Google Mail (Gmail) accounts for all of our emailing needs, use Google Maps to look up directions, and even use Google’s office software as opposed to Microsoft or Apple’s own ones. There’s also the Android operating system which power many of our smart-phones (any of us who own a Samsung, for example).</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">In this blog post we aim to outline five of the things you should know about Google and how their products can benefit your business, and we’ll also talk about the extent of their influence over the modern technology and communications markets.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#808080" size="3" face="Calibri">Google are quite rightly very proud of the fact that they <em>keep it real</em>, as it were. The working environments within their offices are famously kept very open and informal - employees wear their own clothes and often hold meetings with their shoes off as they sit on comfy chairs. Many start-ups mimic Google’s office culture, as it helps to stimulate their staff and their creativity.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">However, no matter whether your business is a start-up which mimics the Google atmosphere (like so many do these days) or has a more traditional approach to the office set-up and atmosphere, their products can help <i>you</i> go about <i>your</i> business much better.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">1. <strong>Google Drive cloud storage</strong></font></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">As you may have noticed, there has been a buzz about cloud storage which has become increasingly loud recently. This is all down to the various advantages it brings to both individuals and businesses alike, making everyone’s life much easier. Many businesses are now switching to cloud technology, as it can cut their operational costs and also free up some space in many an office (and this is putting it very crudely).</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">When you store all of your business documents on the Google Drive, you can grant access to those within your organisation who will need to access it whenever and wherever they want to. It really does allow for a paperless office. Of course, there will be certain things now and then which will need to be printed off for one reason or another, but you will be spending much less money on paper than you were before.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Not only is this paperless aspect good for your operational costs and overheads, but it’s also great for the environment - and the more businesses that get involved in this, the better. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Anyone can access the Google Drive as long as they have their login details and a device which can access the internet. You will be able to do your work from anywhere in the world (literally), and communicate easily with colleagues and customers who are based on the other side of the world. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">2. <strong>Google Docs</strong></font></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">A fantastic alternative to the Microsoft Office package, Google Docs lets you write documents which can be shared instantly and edited simultaneously by numerous different people on different devices. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">The word processor is extremely easy to use - certainly no more difficult than Microsoft Word itself is, and you have a range of fonts to choose from. After a day or so of using it, you and your staff will be fully acquainted with it and won’t ever look back.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">You can also of course create spreadsheets and presentations using Google Docs, which are essential in the modern business age. Again, like the word processor, they are very easy to use even if you’re new to them.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Google Docs items are all stored in the cloud, which means that you don’t have to worry about saving your files on the computer itself or a pen drive or anything like that - you can just log into your account from anywhere and access your documents that way.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">3. <strong>Gmail</strong></font></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">When it was first set up, Gmail dazzled the market by offering 1GB of storage capacity (<i>free</i>) per user (the normal amount of initial storage offered by other email providers was between 2MB and 4MB). </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Now, Gmail is said to be the most popular email provider on the internet, which is definitely not hard to believe. It is extremely easy to navigate around and organise generally, and is perfect for pretty much any business.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#808000"><strong>Ed. Note: </strong><em>Google Apps</em> for business is a better solution for business users. Gmail should be used only for personal email accounts.</font></font></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">4. <strong>Google+</strong></font></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Apparently the second biggest social network in the world, Google+ is yet another illustration of Google’s impressive ability to enter into any market and succeed. It is also referred to as an ‘identity service’, meaning that it associates content with its author. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">It works rather like Facebook in that users have a profile which includes a picture of themselves, an ‘about’ section, school and work sections, and the ability to updates their ‘status’. Many people within businesses use Google+ as one of their social networks, as they can not only post and seek out insightful content, but they add an element of personality to their account as well. It links directly with a user’s Gmail account, and allows them to become much less ‘faceless’ on the web.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri">5. <strong>Connectivity</strong></font></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">The major advantage to all of Google’s products is the <i>accessibility</i> of them all - in terms of where you can access them. Unlike many traditional office software and email platforms, ones powered by Google can be accessed anywhere in the world as long as you have access to the internet. This can be absolutely invaluable as sometimes circumstances will arise which dictate that staff will not be able to come into the office, or in a business which has a lot of employees working from home. The fact that Google’s apps can be accessed from anywhere means that you will be able to better facilitate work and productivity within your organisation.</font></p> <table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="530"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="530"> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">This Guest post was written by <strong>Rachel Jensen</strong>, on behalf of </font><a href="http://cloudsolutions.co.uk" target="_blank"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Cloud Technology Solutions</font></a></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-38887582676120481492014-07-20T17:39:00.001+05:302014-07-20T18:20:19.610+05:30Telecom Convergence - The Evolution of VoIP in 2014 and Beyond<p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Voice over Internet Protocol (<b>VoIP</b>) has gained popularity among users and service providers. As the use of smartphone and other Internet-based devices has grown, VoIP has found it permanent place as a communication medium. With new updates coming this year, VoIP has succeeded in making traditional phones outdated. Age of landline and heavy cell phones is now almost over. </font></p> <p align="justify"><em><font color="#808000" size="3" face="Calibri"><a href="http://lh6.ggpht.com/-272Uh85gLy4/U8uxavmYHXI/AAAAAAAABxE/j60_9-ntdlA/s1600-h/Modern%252520voip%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="Modern VoIP" border="0" alt="Modern VoIP" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUQwhYX0UmgrdtihpkccGu2OXy3iL3iys_t49goOTqzsre4L1kQLmRe0XsQb_LIYXjiLY473FvETwc4u0IUpOH-giwV85q1AiCwvzpWwLDHg_b_wf8xXk4Fe7sVkZ7qqEqrR_0vYQD26Br//?imgmax=800" width="516" height="344" /></a> </font></em></p> <p align="justify"><em><font color="#808000" size="3" face="Calibri">For the non-starters: <strong>VoIP </strong>is a methodology and group of technologies for the delivery of voice communications and multimedia sessions over Internet Protocol (IP) networks, such as the Internet. Other terms commonly associated with VoIP are IP telephony, Internet telephony, voice over broadband (VoBB), broadband telephony, IP communications, and broadband phone service. </font></em></p> <p align="right"><font color="#808000"><em><font size="3" face="Calibri">---</font></em>Source</font>: Wikipedia</p> <p align="justify"><em><font color="#808000" size="3" face="Calibri">Unlike in <strong>PSTN</strong> (Public Switched Telephone Network) where you specifically pay for every call a VoIP is virtually free or cheaper because you pay for the Interne usage only.</font></em></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">As we move in to the second half of 2014, let us see what kind of features have strengthened VoIP.</font></p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><b><font size="3" face="Calibri">Single Service: <font color="#808080">The Future of Telecom Convergence is Already Here!</font></font></b></div> </li> </ul> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">VoIP unifies Internet, voice, data, and video into single service. It is like combining several different services and paying for only one service. This by far is the biggest change, that has taken place. All service providers are now slowly switching from old PSTN system to VoIP system in order to take advantage of growing market. Anything you require for your phone communication, you have only one vendor to go to. It is the digitization, which has actually helped this crossover. In case of voice, using ADC, you can easily digitize it and send it over Internet in real-time. </font></p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>SIP</strong> <strong><font color="#808080">(Session Initiation Protocol)</font> </strong></font></div> </li> </ul> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">SIP is integrated with the applications that handle VoIP. In addition, SIP trunking, which helps in connecting IP-PBX to standard PSTN lines, has seen a growth of nearly 23% between 2012 and 2013. This number is expected to further increase by end of 2014. If we see the advantages of SIP, we can easily see three big advantages. </font></p> <ol> <ol> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">You get all services from one service provider at lower costs. </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">You have easy access to multimedia. Third, </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Communication has become cost effective. </font></div> </li> </ol> </ol> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><b><font size="3" face="Calibri">New Competitive VoIP phones</font></b></div> </li> </ul> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Initially, these phones were expensive because of low demand, but have now become affordable. New phones are stylish and provide much better user interface. You get good control over your communication. You can talk with someone over phone and same time you can access Internet, mail, and even initiate a conference call!</font></p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><b><font size="3" face="Calibri">Easy Long Distance and International Calls</font></b></div> </li> </ul> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">With SIP trunking, you don’t even have to bother where the person you are calling is, or whether he is a VoIP user, is using a landline or a mobile. VoIP with SIP trunking can connect you a client or a colleague in any part of the world at inexpensive rates. As much as possible, the system will take the call all the way to the other party over digital lines, and will <em>switch over to PSTN lines only for the last mile </em>or so. </font></p> <p align="justify"><b><font size="3" face="Calibri">Service Providers with New Updates</font></b></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Service providers such as Toshiba Telecom are offering new features and facilities that bring VoIP into the reach of companies of all sizes. With the right configuration and pricing, VoIP can be used by an one employee company right up to Fortune 500 companies. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Just check out the new updates, if you are looking to save some operating costs on communication. VoIP is capable of cutting your communication costs by 40% or more, depending upon the configuration and features opted for. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"></font></p> <table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="532"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="532"> <p align="justify"><font color="#404040"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><font color="#808080">This Guest post was written by</font> </font><font size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>Michelle Patterson.</strong> <font color="#808080">She is excited with the new </font></font></font><a href="http://telesystemsllc.com/toshiba-products/telephones-and-mobility/ipdigital-telephones/"><font size="3" face="Calibri">technologies</font></a><font size="3" face="Calibri"> <font color="#808080">that are threatening to change the way we stay in touch and communicate, particular in business. She works with companies that are introducing these technologies to make understanding them easy for regular people.</font></font></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-63091536638134776522012-11-22T14:53:00.001+05:302012-11-22T17:36:41.707+05:30Review of KiSSFLOW SaaS: Quick Workflow Builder for Google Apps<p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"></font></p> <div align="justify"><strong><font size="3" face="Calibri">Review Summary</font></strong></div> <table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="528"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="136"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">KiSSFLOW</font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="390"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Workflow Builder for Google Apps. [<a href="http://kissflow.com/" target="_blank">Website Link</a></font><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri"></font><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">]</font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="136"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Launch Date</font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="390"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">June 2012.</font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="136"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Service Offered by</font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="390"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri"><a href="http://www.techno-pulse.com/2010/03/develop-saas-orangescape-paas-cloud.html" target="_blank">OrangeScape</a></font><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">.</font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="136"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Useful for</font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="390"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Business process automation. End-users building their day-to-day process applications. Example: Leave approval, Travel claims, etc.</font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="136"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">User Interface</font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="390"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Slick, Intuitive and Interactive.</font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="136"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Technology Stack</font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="390"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Google App Engine, Google Cloud SQL, Python, OrangeScape Visual PaaS, JQuery, HTML5 and CSS3.</font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="136"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Business Model</font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="390"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Freemium SaaS. Free for 10 users. Ideal for startups & SMBs.</font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="136"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">USP</font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="390"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Simple yet Powerful.</font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="136"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Support</font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="390"> <p><font size="3"><font color="#000080" face="Calibri">Quick and Meaningful.</font></font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="136"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Limitations</font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="390"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">See Details Section.</font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="136"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Tagline</font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="390"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Kept Simple Made Smarter.</font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="136"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Competition</font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="390"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">RunMyProcess and Cordys.</font></p> </td> </tr> <tr> <td valign="top" width="136"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Conclusion</font></p> </td> <td valign="top" width="390"> <p><font color="#000080" size="3" face="Calibri">Recommended for Google Apps Customers.</font></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicHZ-IBiHSgJ8WOgmWP9tnuvie4VtbVw8rWFPxRWFy9FPMiKN2hk0jr1I-Z_sHBDH2ASkcrupDTmXMGiEeDo7ihLQ8xJzsp0eYQ_wmfhGcOZEyyYTyl6QrvB1TKoiVmYkpVOij7pH2qGT-/s1600-h/KiSSFLOWLogo2.png"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="KiSSFLOW-Logo" border="0" alt="KiSSFLOW-Logo" align="left" src="http://lh3.ggpht.com/-GGqYOmnCRm4/UK3u8nevPRI/AAAAAAAABfs/9frqibreDjE/KiSSFLOWLogo_thumb.png?imgmax=800" width="244" height="244" /></a> I have followed India based OrangeScape for the past 3 years. I first heard about KiSSFLOW when their CTO Mani Doraisamy launched KiSSFLOW at the Google I/O (developer-focused annual conference) in June 2012. I saw the video presentation and was impressed with the ease with which things were getting done. I had this intuition that they had done something right and I signed up immediately to check out the service. Unfortunately, I encountered “page not found error” and other issues. It seems they were not prepared for the huge traffic that followed them after Google I/O.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">A couple of weeks back, I heard some buzz about it. I tried again and this time it worked like a charm. I created a few workflows and had a successful trial run with a group consisting of three members. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>Which Workflows can you Build?</strong></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Workflow is a sequence of connected steps. You can build: </font></p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Leave approval, </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Travel claims, </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Financial processes, such as Capex approvals. </font></div> </li> </ul> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Apart from the most common scenarios mentioned above there are many long-tail apps (non-core and non-critical apps) that can be built by KiSSFLOW. As a rule of thumb, at least, whatever you are trying to achieve through the Email and Spreadsheet (Excel) combo can be easily accomplished as a workflow application. At most, the possibilities are endless. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">To <em>get started,</em> identify the following:</font></p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Problem </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Participants/Actors </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Activities and </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Sequence of Activities. </font></div> </li> </ul> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>Prerequisite</strong></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Google Apps Id. (Gmail Id will not work!).</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>Steps for Creating Application Workflow using KiSSFLOW</strong></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">To create a workflow here, you don’t require any programming knowledge or development experience. It’s an intuitive and visually appealing 5-step process creation wizard:</font></p> <p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwBFkCe8ZsadLmFYPQMxYU4Xaux7hnH0xICz5Bh_O-H8rsDTuqo-8EHo6kgkYyoVr2beQ7ZEdMHyFRaMdD5ACbcq1wr0lKjA9usT_Ok3TAlBR8QhOzZZ9Y3iN7blsn8gdGAELPGqJBhxjs/s1600-h/StepsKissFlow4.png"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Steps-KissFlow" border="0" alt="Steps-KissFlow" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimzTFKCNa4febHNS3OuwI7Jo7UACHIMb7u7HFCzvaCQrQ4ZAasPNAi01ShsjkHWbnUKUj21Ouc7I4ZgqKCZsMEpMO-l8i_XdKIDfUjtYo6k_mp8i57IMtRAn8jrVUiJUJ5pdOqTKr1G2oX//?imgmax=800" width="265" height="374" /></a> </p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">1. Name your Process: Name and describe your application. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">2. Design your Form: This step creates the body of your application, i.e., the form. Designing a form is intuitive. Write field name, select Field Format (Developers call it Data Type). Based on your selection you can further validate your field using Additional Properties. Advancing one step at a time, it does not bother you with unnecessary details. For example, if you have selected numbers as the Field Format, it offers you the following Additional Properties (encircled in Red), shown in image: </font></p> <p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj56B7hFd0i2I9YTFguqRgsSOswXIv9A5UsUYp2M1kziOGM6HhKE-8t6VVHczEdK_o85HaH3ppOMK1RcX63fWsujFDkA1JarGzWqZiKYH7EOPorL0rmptBKwYT5bRnfcaKwYKF3B57e4qdb/s1600-h/Step24.png"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Step-2" border="0" alt="Step-2" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgoOvXBCzLVUiwFdHyqsR2iYV9fN-I5IZUz9Qt_-P0Xj3uPKMy2CsK3NUtPUJF7UWocrcPC7QtPZzTYWPyUtqjfbG5SCyiDFJ9Le3WO5W1h4PWS6xwQrHzm3hZjabsx7NtDAlvEVj3YEnlP//?imgmax=800" width="499" height="540" /></a> </p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">3. Define the Workflow: This step is the heart of your application. Here, you define the flow of your application along with the business rules. For example, the following image shows a workflow that is sequenced as follows:</font></p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Team Leader’s input. </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Manager’s approval. </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">If the Number of leave days is greater than 15 it requires two additional approvals from delivery manager and HR Head. </font></div> </li> </ul> <p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVPghoqFNcaKZT2FM8sXaxmH-9apm-_HsVnXur3zMzX_bxLLAoJ6lhCoHnfu4iwpgOagOjsE37wwku9gRYYUTeVmWacsKyUjN1-NJSiMc5zqhdMZYL1rBXoFVEFBXkUQpixif1lCVAeQX8/s1600-h/Step34.png"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: block; float: none; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: auto; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: auto" title="Step-3" border="0" alt="Step-3" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikTJGzL06xtshaAylwZayG0U6CMG7pt7-mUXGk1odsFr7zRJ1eH38F3Ff5yQIIC1u4EnSqa6n39uv2N0V353cOl7IARy8HG2i38NYEcJYjDJ_8Hn4uOJvBPqixWhSNLqgGmWHbGfJjZWoA//?imgmax=800" width="396" height="632" /></a> </p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">4. Configure Permissions: As the name suggests, this simple wizard lets you configure the form fields, section or table with accessibility features such as visibility and edit-ability.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">5. Publish: This could also be called <em>Build and Deploy</em>, and it’s just a single click and takes only a few seconds. This step also helpfully notifies process owners and other participants by email.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>What I Liked Most?</strong></font></p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Quick. Yes, I can build a <em>Leave Approval</em> workflow in less than 10 minutes!</font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Organizational hierarchy/reporting structure support for workflows. Once the Administrator defines the reporting structure on his domain it would be automatically available for process owners to easily identify the participant for a specific step without providing manual email Ids. </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Interactive (instant feedback during Form Designing – Ajax type). </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Pre-integrated with Google Apps — Mail, Docs, Contacts and Login (Single Sign On i.e. SSO). </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Suggestions during Form design: If a similar List already exists, the system prompts you and provides you with an option to reuse it. </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Use of Parallel branches for AND, AND IF and XOR conditions. </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">It supports most of the Excel functions and formula. So, it’s a gentle and smooth ride for Excel/Spreadsheet power users. For example, Networkdays (StartDate, EndDate) – a function that returns the number of workdays between the input start date and end date. </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Logical operators AND, OR, NOT can be used to specify the conditions for process steps and branches in a workflow. </font></div> </li> </ul> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>Limitations</strong></font></p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Workflow is about Process and Data. At the end of the day, Reports are the sole reason to automate a process. KiSSFLOW has a good Report section but it needs some improvement in terms of consolidated and Drilldown Reports with dynamic parameters (Date From, Date To), etc.</font></div> </li> </ul> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"></font></p> <ul> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><strong><font color="#808080">Update</font></strong> [Dated Nov. 22; 2012]: <font color="#808080">Just before pushing the Publish button, I received the following update from KiSSFLOW team - <em>With Google spreadsheets integration, KiSSFLOW users can now slice and dice workflow data using analytics functionality in Google Spreadsheet and see them in a new light and gain important insights</em>.</font></font></font> </div> </li> </ul> </ul> <p align="justify"><font color="#808080" size="3" face="Calibri"></font></p> <ul> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Browser limitation - IE8 and older ones. Actually this is a limitation of IE8 as it doesn’t support HTML5. IE8 is still very popular but it’s time to upgrade as the HTML5 based apps are becoming ubiquitous.</font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">In Form design, you can't put a section at the top. </font></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Special characters are not allowed in Labels (I wanted to use / ). </font></div> </li> </ul> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">With KiSSFlow you can utilize the full potential of Google Apps. Nowadays, we keep hearing about <em>democratizing computing</em>, and bringing <em>power to the end user</em>. I think KiSSFLOW is truly going to empower the end user with this simple service. Though simple in approach, it can build most of the workflows (yes, not all). </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Is this why they say: <em>We are the 99%</em>. Let’s leave 1% for the developers!</font></p> <p align="justify"><font color="#808080" size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>Other Reviews</strong></font></p> <ol> <li> <div align="justify"><a href="http://www.techno-pulse.com/2011/03/saas-edge-sahil-parikh-book-review.html"><font size="3" face="Calibri">The SaaS Edge by Sahil Parikh - Book Review</font></a></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><a href="http://www.techno-pulse.com/2010/10/monitis-review-cloud-based-monitoring.html"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Monitis Review: Cloud Based Monitoring</font></a></div> </li> <li> <div align="justify"><a href="http://www.techno-pulse.com/2010/06/syncin-review-real-time-collaboration.html"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Sync.in Review - Real-time Collaboration in Cloud</font></a></div> </li> </ol> Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2841676618152459353.post-64976217201233181042012-09-19T08:23:00.001+05:302012-09-19T08:23:04.726+05:30Testing Cloud - It’s Time to Clear the Fog<p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"></font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><em>A reputed company launches the beta version of its web chat and net meeting application which is hosted on the company’s own cloud infrastructure, let us assume it was called ‘CloChat’ . On deployment ‘CloChat’ fails miserably in meeting customer expectations resulting in the company’s cloud portfolio suffering irrefutable damages and also delaying the scheduled release of ‘CloChat’.</em> </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">The scenario explained above can be one of the worst nightmare of any cloud vendor. </font><font size="3" face="Calibri">What exactly would have gone wrong in these cases? Considering that ‘CloChat’ was a product of a reputed company it must have gone through its regular testing cycles.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">On investigation it was found that the testing team did not or rather could not emulate the actual scenarios that ‘CloChat’ faced once deployed in the “real” network. This “real” network is actually an assimilation of thousands or millions of users, who are unique in their actions and usage patterns.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">All this actually points to the need of testing cloud or cloud based applications during pre-deployment by simulating realistic user scenarios. Generic applications testing can never ensure or predict application behavior post-deployment.</font></p> <p align="justify"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtQUWyBZ9KovVa2FXpzMh6x7V7wL9iQaqEeDa4C1TCMKRkOAxyrZ0dQt-p9On61oWWvFodhBKkvg16BpoeJM5dLjQl71pQcbQRdU-PSLGzUpyTp9NBDvPde_XwLApwFSYdGAKOFENBbeHc/s1600-h/Cloud-Testing%25255B4%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px" title="Simulating the faceless users is a key challenge in cloud testing" border="0" alt="Simulating the faceless users is a key challenge in cloud testing" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3GyUk1hPQgbJEjbUylufc_YlWLwlqrXIDliT0kfZq-JSZGe9TtzC8bhpwIOTfp8ZPrCFC1nyu0y9C7id7sGPbvvOgXvwvLXp9fyXTpSlxw0eWB4ewV8tBKgUJEF-gd4Jk1raFZylrDmS3//?imgmax=800" width="480" height="416" /></a> </p> <p align="center"><font color="#808000" size="3" face="Calibri">Fig. Simulating the faceless users is a key challenge in cloud testing</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Testing Cloud or its applications in pre-deployment can be classified in a few broad categories:</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>Scalability Testing</strong>: How scalable is my cloud application is a million dollar question. Having an answer to this during pre-deployment can save a lot of heart burns later. It is a realistic indicator of whether the hardware and software infrastructures are under provisioned for the targeted number of customers. A few Cloud as a Service (CaaS) and Infrastructure as a Server(IaaS) vendors regularly skip apparently costlier scalability testing and choose to over provision their hardware resources instead, but this can never be a long term or a profitable business model. This apart any non-scalable network application risks the same fate as ‘CloChat’.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>Security Testing:</strong> The security threats in cloud can be broadly classified into the ones arising due to known/unknown vulnerabilities and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. Understanding and closing some of these gaps at pre-deployment phase can actually prevent major data losses and system downtimes later. Moreover a robust and well secured Cloud provides the assurance to the skeptical customers who are not yet used to the idea of their data being stored in shared storage locations. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>Data Integrity:</strong> If the Cloud Service providers are to be looked as banks then the costliest assets that they store is “data”. This data is susceptible to attacks, malformations, dirty writes and several other kinds of software and hardware distortions. It is very important to ensure that the underlying infrastructure of network and disks is “always” transferring and storing the same data as written by the user. Modern age user’s will have very low tolerance to any kind of data distortion and loss.</font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"><strong>Quality of Experience (QoE):</strong> This is an umbrella term and all the above mentioned testing processes can come together to ensure the customers QoE. A test scenario where one thousand users are trying to login to their profiles at the same time can be a part of scalability testing but the average logging-in time of the thousand users actually form’s the users “Logging-In” QoE, similarly QoE should be calculated for separate user actions like chat, voice, video, mix of all etc. Apart from scalability, data integrity and security testing can also be related to QoE. A test scenario where customer gets integrity errors while downloading a file of enormous size can negatively impact Customer’s QoE. Likewise service continuity and seamless user operations during crisis situations like DDoS attack or multiple Server failures can contribute to a higher QoE. </font></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri">Cloud is evolving and we will see more players operating in this space in coming years. As with any other services, developing user loyalty will be crucial to business continuity and growth. Keeping this in mind, the ones who manage to build a robust testing and development model that helps them adhere to their published SLA’s will enjoy maximum traction. And for the others, they might not see their user base increasing beyond the “free” ones, because with so many players in market, the customers who mean business will not hold on to a particular service just to be their beta testers.</font></p> <table border="1" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" width="532"><tbody> <tr> <td valign="top" width="532"><a href="http://lh4.ggpht.com/-FvaRvPT6Wuo/UFkziWdtPlI/AAAAAAAABdA/0HLOU3cbpxg/s1600-h/Amritam%25255B3%25255D.jpg"><img style="border-right-width: 0px; display: inline; border-top-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; margin-right: 0px" title="Amritam" border="0" alt="Amritam" align="left" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjS_OXQHEuI-BcKMGwM4lIej89DK32b3CJP75HuJgZ15IOsdTlFVBpHSYNYylyWXCT_eqOl3Dl6TI3Wf2bF3BmNggvX6V31Mw6CRirlvnY8OqfRQfBgCqelEo4cb2FTsMuAtHfc6sNJMj9E//?imgmax=800" width="158" height="158" /></a> <p align="justify"><font size="3"><font face="Calibri"><font color="#808000"><i>This guest post was written by</i> <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/pub/amritam-putatunda/17/154/107" target="_blank">Amritam Putatunda</a></font></font></font><font color="#808000" size="3" face="Calibri"></font><font size="3"><font color="#808000" face="Calibri"> - Technical Marketing Engineer at Ixia.</font></font></p> </td> </tr> </tbody></table> <p align="justify"></p> <p align="justify"><font size="3" face="Calibri"></font></p> Basanthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14508055836212350075noreply@blogger.com1