Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Spot SPAM Before it Hits the Mail Server?

"New software developed at the Georgia Institute for Technology can identify spam before it hits the mail server. The system, known as SNARE (Spatio-temporal Network-level Automatic Reputation Engine), scores each incoming e-mail based on a variety of new criteria that can be gleaned from a single packet of data. The researchers involved say the automated system puts less of a strain on the network and minimizes the need for human intervention while achieving the same accuracy as traditional spam filters." Read more on Technology Review. Spam continues to be a major problem, and there needs to be found a new and better way to control it. This approach, while it might not be the final solution, may be heading in the right direction.

Saturday, July 25, 2009

Twits and Twitter
by Gerald Trites

Twitter, that upstart microblogging service, that allows short messages of 140 characters, has been both praised and derided since its inception. Some say it is the new wave of internet based communications and others say it is a waste of time and we don't need to know when someone is going to brush their teeth.

There is no doubt that some people misuse twitter by posting every little irrelevant detail of their lives, just as some do with other social media like Facebook. However, Twitter is beginning to find its place in the eBusiness world, and it may be a permanent and useful place.

Twitter has just released a new book called Twitter 101, which outlines the main benefits of Twitter. One of them is for customer relations, and they recount some stories where Twitter has played a role in converting prospects to sales. Dell is one of the companies cited, and in fact Dell has been a leader in the use of Twitter. One of their interesting uses has been in the Investor Relations area, where Twitter is being used for such events as the announcement of quarterly earnings. It's not a prime vehicle for such news, but a useful adjunct.

Social media is becoming a staple for companies to communicate and interact with their stakeholders. While there will continue to be experimentation, as there was with the internet in the beginning, some very useful and perhaps profitable, applications are almost certain to emerge. You can download Twitter 101 by going to this site.

Saturday, July 18, 2009

Web Analytics

There is a great article on web analytics in the E-Commerce News which explains how analytics has boosted and perhaps made possible the survival of e-commerce by making advertising more effective than traditional print ads. Read it here.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

The Internet Wars, Stage One
by Gerald Trites

There is a war starting that is going to change the way companies use the internet, or, more accurately, the way they allow their employees to use the internet.

A young generation is entering the workforce who has used the internet from the time they could talk. It is such a part of their life it is pretty much an extension of their personna. They use social network sites and other sites, yes, even news sites, like they breathe, talk and walk.

A great many companies and other organizations, on the other hand, have for years placed tight restrictions on the use of the internet, some would say unnecessary, even draconian restrictions. This is done in the name of security and safety, and in the name of keeping people's nose to the grindstone and not allowing them to goof off on the net during working hours.

The clash has been predicted by several writers and thinkers - Tapscott and others. But it is now a reality that is shaking up the established order.

The companies need to change their ways. For one thing, the internet is not as unsafe as they make it out to be. Lots of measures are now available to reasonably protect from the obvious threats, like viruses and hackers. For another thing, people can be more productive if given a little leeway as to how they use their time. And - and this is important - they can have more fun in the process.

The internet generation doesn't necessarily have the same time split between work time and personal time either. Word is they are willing to work all hours - and play all hours too. They want some freedom on how they use their time.

Every generation brings its own perspective to the table and sometimes changes the world - they always have that potential. The internet generation, not surprisingly, has a perspective on internet usage that the employers are going to have to listen to. And its high time they made a few changes in their outdated and repressive technology policies.

Two articles in today's news highlight this developing war. One, in Technology Review, tells of the experience of a twenties something, who found his new employer so out of touch, he moved on to a newer one. The other is an article reported on in the Globe and Mail published originally by Morgan Stanley authored by a 15 year old intern they hired for the summer that explains a teen's take on technology use. An article that does not contain a lot of revelation but is nevertheless attracting a lot of attention because it represents a voice of the new generation.

Listen up, corporate technology bosses!

Sunday, July 12, 2009

Mobile Business Models
by Gerald Trites

Smart phones like iPhones and advanced models of the Blackberry have become common. The mobile internet is a reality and soon to become the norm. The question that arises is what exactly will it be used for over the next few years and how can the carriers and others make money on it?

To date, the carriers have made money on internet usage and email by heavy, sometimes exorbitant charges for data downloading. However, this approach has been wearing thin with consumers, prompting the carriers to initiate programs like unlimited email. As data usage increases, they are going to have to eliminate this approach altogether because people are not going to pay through the nose for their data when they can get it for free on the regular internet.

New applications for smart phones are coming out almost daily. They include a lot of social media usage, including facebook, twitter, Google talk, Yahoo and Youtube. This might be expected, since text messaging has been one of the most popular uses of cell phones for years and most social media is based on social interaction.

Again, people are used to using social media for free, which means there is no reason to expect they would be happy paying for it on the mobile internet. So carriers are in a bind, they can't charge heavily for the data transmissions and they can't charge for the usage either. That leaves advertising revenue as the most viable business model. Advertisers will be/are keen to get in on it too, adding to the viability.

The referenced article in the Globe and Mail explores this issue, and points out that Google is well positioned in this area, since they have been so good at developing advertising based models on the internet. Chalk up another one for the big G

Saturday, July 11, 2009

The Kindle or Paper
by Gerald Trites

It seems the sales of Amazon's Kindle are not exactly taking the world by storm. This despite the fact many people are accustomed to reading electronic print, and the Kindle really does make it easier on the eyes than normal computer monitors. What's the problem, then?

Likely, its the price = $359 each, now reduced to $299. Readers are faced with a decision when they want a book to read. They can buy the book off the stand in their local bookstore for, say $20 or they can order up a Kindle from Amazon and hope that they will then be able to download the book for a further price. Big expenditure plus uncertainty equals not buying.

Add to that the fact that people are comfortable with reading paper books, that we are in a recession where an unnecessary expenditure of $300 matters, and you have a further disincentive to buy. Add to that the fact that people know from experience that new technologies usually go down in price, often quite radically. Why buy today at $300 when in a matter of months it may be possible to buy for $50?

What should Amazon do? Should they reduce their price further, tough it out until the recession ends or revise their business model?

Probably the latter is in order. The idea of selling a device like the Kindle for a profit is a tough one. They need to consider alternatives around pricing packages that include various books and effectively sell the device with content that will appeal to people. After all, its the content that people are interested in, not the device itself. People don't go to the grocery store to buy an empty bag. It's the groceries in the bag they want.

Cutting prices probably won't be enough.

Saturday, July 04, 2009

Building a Small Business Website
by Gerald Trites, FCA

It has long been a problem for small business. Website construction often has required technical expertise that many small business entrepreneurs don't have. Its just that their skills lie in other areas and they don't have the time to deal with the complexities and technicalities involved.

There are tools out there that can make it easier, and a number of Content Management Tools in particular, but even these tend to be expensive and require specialized expertise to implement.

There are, however, some newer tool suites available that are specifically designed to address this issue. They still require some time to work with, but they can work with less effort than most other previous stategies.

A notable one is an offering by Microsoft, called Office Live for Small Business. This site offers website design, custom domain names, email and document storage, mostly for free. Charges for the services that are not free are minimal.

Another site called Yola, (formerly Synthasite) offers up tools for free website design and some related services.

Other useful services for small business involve document management and lead generation software and those are coming available in forms that are increasingly easy to use and inexpensive. There is more in this article from E-Commerce News.