Old Computing Paradigm

The computing paradigm we are most used to is the desktop paradigm. This is where one user has access to a single computer which processes and stores all the user's information. This model makes the specific computer incredibly important to the user since everything of importance is on that computer. The failure or loss of that one computer could be devastating to the user.

This paradigm is based firmly on the development of the Intel x86 processors in 1978. For the first time in history, cheap processing power made it possible for the birth of the personal computer revolution. Now it is not uncommon of households to have more computers than people!

But this paradigm is unstable. In a highly mobile world, being chained to a single computer is no longer acceptable. Small businesses are required to do more with less and to do it faster than ever before. That means we can no longer be chained to a single machine. We can no longer be slaves to the whims of a single computer which can fail at any moment.

We need to accept that the old paradigm is dying and a new one is being born. We are at the forefront of another paradigm shift brought about by technology. The importance of the individual computer is over. Information is what truly matters! How you access, manipulate, examine and store that information is the major change that is coming with the new computing paradigm.

Is your business ready for this paradigm shift? Contact R-Squared Computing today to make sure.

Institutional Memory

Institutional memory is the collective knowledge, facts, ideas, experiences and know-how of a group of people. It can be found in corporations, government organizations, professional groups, religious groups, sports teams, academia and in entire cultures. In every business there is a group or an individual that knows where everything is stored. From paper clips to new invoicing forms, this group or person holds the knowledge that keeps the business running smoothly. If this person is lost, that information is lost.

Institutional memory is a good way to instill a group's ideology or work methods. You build a team (or as Seth Godin calls it, a "Tribe") by teaching new members of the team your traditions, jargon and work processes. Members of the group can identify one another based solely on their knowledge of this information and can therefore ostracize those who do not belong. This is a common practice in the military. The training methods used force the new recruit to undergo a personality change to adapt to their new environment. This is a total change including a new language, new ways of getting things done and so forth.

Institutional memory requires the ongoing transmission of information between members of the group in order to remain viable. If people with information do not pass it along to new members, there is no way to ensure the preservation of that knowledge. Many businesses try to overcome this problem by developing Employee Manuals or other such guidebooks. Sadly, most of these documents are out-of-date or, in the worst cases, completely useless.

On the flip side, institutional memory can be indoctrinated to the point that it becomes impossible to challenge when something is found that contradicts it. When institutional memory becomes intractable and unable to adjust to new circumstances, it actually becomes a hinderance to your business. You cannot usually solve new problems using old methods.

Institutional memory is the collected knowledge of all the members of any team. It helps to instill team spirit and to foster team unity. Institutional memory must be transmitted, usually verbally, to new members of the team if they are ever going to be accepted into the group. Beware when it becomes inflexible and does not adapt to changing situtations. The key is to harness institutional memory and derive all the benefits without incurring any of the penalties.


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Source: Wikipedia: Institutional Memory

Major Changes Are Coming

I've been in the technology business for a long time. I was part of the great Internet bubble of the 90's in a company awash with investor money. I also worked as a Sampsonite gorrilla; beating up software trying to make it break. I remember token ring, BNC adaptors and other things non-tech people don't care about. And in all that time I have learned to notice a few things.

There are three signs to look for:

• big players in the technology industry start making strange and erratic business moves


• the government has dumped us into another economic mess


• and big business is broke

When these three things happen, be ready for a massive shift in how business works. This is the signal that a large change is coming. If you don't pay attention, you'll get left behind.

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Laggards Are Losers

To close out this series on the Technology Adoption Lifecycle model...

At the tail end of the Technology Adoption Lifecycle curve are the Late Majority and the Laggards. The timing between the Early Majority and the Late Majority is very difficult to measure. However, the Laggards are those who suffer the worst.

While Innovators and Early Adopters are overpaying for new technologies, the Laggards are getting the best bargains. Unfortunately, they are also buying into the technology just before it is replaced by something newer. Laggards are the people rushing out now to by DVD players. These are the people who still boast about their VHS machines and Eight Track players.

Laggards are so far behind the technology curve they are unlikely to ever catch up. Obviously in some industries this is not as bad as in others, but any competitor that has harnessed technology wisely will display a substantial competitive advantage. Keeping up with technology is mandatory under the new computing paradigm. While you don't need to be a tech expert, you should keep up to date with the latest developments specific to your industry.

The only reason to incorporate technology into your business is to improve your ability to compete. You provide a product or a service that serves a market niche. Technology can help you to better identify, communicate, examine, understand and win over that niche. If you stray too far behind on the technology curve you will lose your competitive advantage and run the risk of losing your customers to another business that can better serve their needs.

Fall behind on technology at your own risk. Whether you like it or not, technology has become an integral part of our day-to-day lives. Laggards will not survive as competition gets more ferocious, especially in hard financial times.

The Hidden Costs of Free Software

With all the free software available online, you must be aware of the hidden costs before you run the risks. If you know the hidden costs ahead of time, you can plan accordingly.

Some examples of hidden costs include:

1. Learning Curve
   Every software takes time to learn. Many free programs don't have the benefit of professional human interface development, so you get an interface designed by an engineer. Unfortunately, engineers don't necessarily think like users so they may layout the interface in a difficult to understand manner.
   
   I remember one particular 3D design software that included some of the most amazing features I had ever seen. The only downside was the impossible number of buttons that completely cluttered the interface making it impossible to work comfortably.
   
   Make sure you have an idea for how difficult it will be to learn the new, free software. If it will significantly impair your productivity then you might be better off looking somewhere else.
   
2. Malware
   Too many free, online products come laden with all sorts of nasty surprises. In many cases these viruses, trojans and rootkits will sneak past even the best anti-virus software during the installation process. Before you download and install anything, make sure that it has been certified free of viruses and other malware by a respected third party authority. When in doubt, you can always contact R-Squared Computing and we will perform a full analysis of any questionable software for you.
   
3. Ads/Spam
   Some free products defray their costs by placing banner advertisements inside the software. While this is usually not a problem, you might be concerned that it will make your business seem less professional if you have programs running with ads.
   
   Many free software providers will require that you provide them with an email address so they can send you offers. Sometimes, even though they say otherwise, they will sell your email address to other Internet marketers. Everyone has had the experience where they sign up for a newsletter and suddenly are inundated with junk mail.
   
   A good strategy to use whenever an online vendor asks for your email address is to provide them with a spam trap. Just create an email account with any of the multiple free email services like Yahoo! Mail or Gmail. Then use that email address whenever you are asked to provide an email online. If you want to be nice, you can check that account ever so often to clean out the junk. If not, who cares?
   
4. Buggy/Error Prone
   You get what you pay for, sometimes. That means you might get software that has quirks and errors. These bugs can be a nuisance but they might still be better than paying for the similar commercial product. You can learn all about bugs and known issues by using the Internet to read reviews on the various free products available.
   
   You should never just rely on one review! You never know what the reviewers motives are, so be sure and check multiple reviews. The beauty of the Internet is the liberation of opinions and everyone online seems to have their own opinion on something. Check these opinions and make smart choices.
   
   Anyone that has used Google Documents will attest that the service has been in Beta stage forever. Beta software is any product that is stable enough for wide testing but is not really ready for commercial distribution. It also means that new features are still pending and will be made available later on. Beta products are notoriously buggy and prone to failure so always be careful when you work with beta products. Never rely on beta software for missionb critical needs!
   
5. Availability
   If you are using online software, such as the aforementioned Google Documents, you should be aware that service outages will occur. The most recent Google Documents outage shut down several businesses for two days. Be aware that availability is always a concern when dealing with online software delivered as a service.
   
   Obviously this also extends to your Internet service provider. If your Internet has a habit of going down for long periods of time, you should look for a new provider. Until you have a more stable Internet service, you should avoid all online software offerings.
   
6. Missing Features
   When it's free, you can't complain about what you get. Some free products may mimic commercially sold products very closely but there are usually some missing features. To stay with the Google Documents example, Microsoft Word offers a significantly better set of features for word processing. However, MS Word will run you about $200 against Google Documents price tag of $0. If you can live without the missing features then it's a no brainer to choose Google Documents. But if you need those missing features, you have to either buy Word or examine other free word processing software titles.
   
   To make good decisions you will need to know the features used by your employees in their daily work. Once you have identified all the required features you can begin to examine the available offerings. Chances are you will be able to find a product that meets all your needs. Now you just need to check it against the other five items on this list of hidden costs.

Obviously these are not the only kinds of hidden costs. I am sure you can think of a few that are not on the list. The idea is to examine carefully every software product to ensure it is a good fit for your business before flying off the handle. Don't jump too soon just because it's free.

Five Best Practices for Business Blogging

1. Be sincere. If all you enter on your blog is company marketing copy then you will never attract a following.

2. Be consistent. Publish on a schedule and don't divert from it. People like consistency.

3. Be brief. Blogs seem to work better if you keep the content short. I don't personally follow that rule but that's a personal choice.

4. Be aware. Try to model yourself after successful blogs.

5. Be yourself. Don't try to be something you aren't.

Now, stop reading about it and start blogging. I admit that I started blogging for purely business reasons and now I find it very enjoyable.

Understanding Opportunity Cost

The opportunity cost of a resource is the value of the next-highest-desired alternative use of that resource. For example, if you spend time and money at a movie, you cannot spend that time at home reading your favorite blog and you cannot spend the money on something else. If your next-best alternative to seeing the movie is reading this blog, then the opportunity cost of seeing the movie is the money spent plus the pleasure you forgo by not reading the book.

Take a student who pays $4,000 for tuition to Miami-Dade College. Assume that the same student also receives an $8,000 scholarship. Therefore, the cost is $12,000 and the student pays only 1/3 of the total tuition. However, the true cost to the student is $12,000 plus the lost income the student could have earned instead of going to school. If the student could have earned $20,000 per year, then the true cost of a year’s schooling is $12,000 plus $20,000, for a total of $32,000. Of this $32,000 total, the student pays $24,000 ($4,000 in tuition plus $20,000 in forgone earnings). That is the opportunity cost. It's how you could have spent money or time if you had chosen another path.

Incidentally, opportunity cost is not the sum of all the available alternatives when those alternatives are mutually exclusive. So, if the student could have had a choice between the $20,000 a year job or a $50,000 grant to build houses in New Orleans you do not include both in your calculations.

Opportunity cost isn't just measured with money; it can be anything valuable. For example, in a restaurant, the opportunity cost of eating a steak could be trying the salmon. Ordering both meals could cost more than double - not just the extra money to buy the second meal but the cost to your reputation if you appear gluttonous or extravagant for ordering two meals.

Calculating opportunity costs is fundamental to knowing the real cost of anything. When there is no accounting or monetary cost (what accountants say instead of "price") for an action, ignoring opportunity costs may produce the illusion that it's free. These opportunity costs then become the hidden costs which can come back and bite you.

Now, it's time for a reality check. It is possible to take this too far. If you keep mapping out possible alternatives with fanciful opportunity costs you will quickly drive yourself insane. Don't do it! Keep it real and don't go to extremes with this tool.

Opportunity cost is an important tool to help you understand the real costs of any decision. The cost of the alternative use of a resource must always be taken into account when trying to understand the costs of any decision. Opportunity costs are not totally cumulative when examining mutually exclusive options so be careful when listing the alternative uses for resources. Remember, money is not the only resource! Be sure to measure all the resources in use before committing to a course of action. Finally, don't let calculating opportunity costs paralyze your ability to make a decision. Like all tools, opportunity cost is best when used wisely.


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Sources:
Henderson, David R. Opportunity Cost: The Concise Encyclopedia of Economics
Wikipedia: Opportunity Cost

Ubiquitous Computing

In the very near future, everything will have a computer built in. Under the desktop paradigm, computers are large, sometimes bulky devices that provide processing power and store information for a single user at a time. The new paradigm eliminates the importance of the individual desktop and pushes information and processing capacity onto the Internet cloud. The paradigm that will follow afterwards will see the final demise of the desktop as computers become embedded into everything you can imagine.

Ubiquitous computing will allow users to interact with multiple computers during the course of the day, oftentimes without even being aware of the interaction. This future paradigm will be based on small, cheap computers that connect to the Internet to share information. The example you may have heard before is the intelligent refrigerator that is aware of its contents, can plan menus based on available foods, can warn about spoiled food and can order new items automatically for you. Another example posits a connection between computers embedded in clothing that monitor body temperature and communcate with lighting and climate control computers to adjust to your needs automatically.

Obviously this is still several years away. However, it helps to bring into focus what tomorrow will bring to your business. It never hurts to start planning for the next paradigm, especially when you have plenty of time to figure out how you can benefit from ubiquitous computing.


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Souce: Wikipedia: Ubiquitous Computing

Where We Are vs. Where We Want to Be

A Needs Assessment starts when you ask yourself where you are and then determine where you want to be. It's not just the what, but the who, how, why, when and where of how you will get it done. It is a simple analysis of your current situtation and a basic outline for how to get to where you want to be. Imagine that it is a roadmap towards the future.

You want to plan the process otherwise you can miss vital problems with your ideas. It is very easy to say you want to triple sales next year, but without a plan, you aren't going anywhere. A needs assessment is what you need to ensure success.

When to Buy In

To continue from yesterday's post...

Ideally, you should always avoid the bleeding edge. Unless you know the product, the manufacturer and you stand to gain a significant competitive advantage from the new technology, you should always wait till the Early Majority stage to buy into new technologies.

By this point in the Technology Adoption Lifecycle the costs of the technology have dropped from their high levels. Since the Innovators and Early Adopters have absorbed the research and development costs, the manufacturer can drop prices to encourage the Early Majority to buy in. So, you can pick up the same (or better) product for a discount.

Usually by this point in the curve, the manufacturer has had the opportunity to release a few updates or has made necessary corrections. These repairs can be a huge benefit to you and your business since you won't have to shoulder the hidden costs associated with working around unforeseen problems. Typically, by this stage in the lifecycle curve, most manufacturers have also included a few new features to "sweeten the deal." While these new features may have problems, you can rest assured that the nastiest surprises have been settled.

Typically, by the Early Majority stage, the company has enough customers to ensure its survivability. Because the Innovators and Early Adopters have provided a financial foundation, the company will probably survive to continue supporting and developing the technology. While this is still no guarantee against mis-management and other causes of business failure, at least you know they won't go broke because their product doesn't have a wide enough customer base.

By settling comfortably in the Early Majority stage of the adoption lifecycle you can avoid all the risks that the Early Adopters and Innovators have to bear. This stage of the curve also ensures that you will have access to better quality technologies which have been rigorously consumer tested. Plus you will also have the peace of mind that comes from knowning the company you have purchased from will be around for the foreseeable future. The most important benefit, however, if the Early Majority still benefits from new technologies without shouldering the associated risks.

Avoid the Bleeding Edge

Below is the Technology Adoption Lifecycle curve as defined by Joe M. Bohlen, George M. Beal and Everett M. Rogers from Iowa State College:

The curve describes how new ideas and technologies spread across cultures. The researchers have found that the bell curve above is a standard model for the adoption or acceptance of new technologies. Both demographics and psychological characteristics play a significant role at each stage in the curve.

Their findings indicated that:

• innovators - more educated, more money and more risk-oriented


• early adopters - younger, more educated, tended to be community leaders


• early majority - more conservative but open to new ideas, active in community and influence to neighbours


• late majority - older, less educated, fairly conservative and less socially active


• laggards - very conservative, little money, oldest and least educated

Ultimately it is your risk tolerance that determines where you fall on the curve. Obviously familiar technologies related to your business may lead you to an earlier stage on the curve. However, I usually advise all my customers to avoid the Innovator and Early Adopter stages of any new technology. Typically, these are the users that absorb the greatest amount of risk associated with new technologies.

Think of every new gadget that has caught your attention on release. On June 29, 2007, Apple Computer released the iPhone; innovators and early adopters stood in line for hours to pay $599 per phone. By September of 2007 Apple announced a $200 discount on the high end iPhone which caused a massive customer backlash. Because of the incredible hype, normally rational people rushed out to overspend on a new cell phone. If they had waited three months they could have gotten the same phone for 30% less. Innovators and early adopters tend to absorb the highest costs for new technology. They are the consumers that repay the lion's share of the research and development costs.

There is also the risk posed by bugs and problems. Everyone has a story of a new product or gizmo they bought that didn't work right. Innovators and early adopters always bear the brunt of these problems as the company hasn't had time to iron out the bugs. There is significant business risk associated with errors and problems with new technologies. Could you imagine a new productivity software that paralyzed your business because of bugs? The hidden costs of these problems can be astronomical. A great example of a product failure caused by excessive bugs is Microsoft's Windows Vista. Vista suffers lackluster sales after computer geeks worldwide largely dismissed it as error prone and faulty. Regardless of the number of updates and repairs issued by Microsoft, the damage was done and Vista never fully recovered.

Finally, there is the very real danger from a failure to capture sufficient market share. If a company cannot launch their new technology and capture enough market share, there is no future for the product. A great recent example is HD-DVD which lost the high definition format war to BluRay. How many people purchased HD-DVD equipment only to have it become obsolete? I am certain you can think of other examples. If you are old enough you may remember the battle between LaserDiscs and DVDs. The technical history books are full of examples of failed technologies that left innovators and early adopters high and dry.

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Source: Wikipedia Technology Adoption Lifecycle

The End of Platform Wars

Windows vs. Mac vs. Linux: the battle rages on, with other smaller players fighting for precious market share. Advertisements urging you to choose a side in the Platform Wars sway from the ridiculous to the insulting. Old consumer prejudices are still common too: Mac is for artists and Windows is for business.

It is all nonsense and it will all be ending soon.

A computer's platform is the operating system. Windows Vista, MacOS X, Unbuntu are just brand names for the collection of computer programs that run the machine and provide you with digital services, like Internet accessibility. The operating system used to be the most important consideration when buying a computer. People wanted to buy a computer with a system they were familiar with that would also run all their favorite video games and work software. This is the old paradigm that brought about the industry giants like Microsoft and Apple.

The new paradigm is platform independent. More computer users don't really care what platform they work on, especially when they use web services like Zoho and Gmail. The operating system doesn't matter when all I want is to connect to the Internet.

With the rapid move of technology towards the new computing paradigm, the platform is irrelevant. Soon, users will only be interested in platforms that do not hinder their work and does not hog system resources. As more and more useful services become available online (and as more users start using them!) the services traditionally provided by an operating system will be just more bloat that slows systems down.

The new computing paradigm is up on us. Is your business ready?

Utility Computing Examples

The real benefit of utility computing comes from better control of your money. Traditional business data centers are almost always underutilized. Most business servers idle 85% of the time! This is because computer technicians are notorious for overbuying hardware in order to:
handle high workload peaks (such as the surge caused by holiday shopping!), to plan for future demand and for the unanticipated surges in demand. Utility computing allows companies to only pay for the computing resources they need, when they need them.

Despite recent problems with outages, Amazon Web Services is an excellent example of utility computing. Using the power of Amazon.Com's phenomenal technology infrastructure, customers can now lease computing power. Elastic Compute Cloud (EC2) permits customers to pay for computer resources by the hour and Simple Storage Service (S3) which lets customers pay based on storage capacity.

Another top quality service is Mozy Unlimited Backup which offers 2GB of totally free online backup and also unlimited backup space for $4.95/Month! After you signup online, you need to install a small program on your computer that gives you total control over what files you backup and how often. They have a very intuitive and easy to use program that lets you select broad categories of files for storage. I have been using the free 2GB service for my home computers; I only backup the really important files but soon I will break down and start backing up everything.

The Difference Between Cloud & Utility Computing

In yesterday's post, I mentioned that cloud computing is not the same as utility computing. I have received a few emails asking me for futher explanation. Apparently it isn't as obvious as I thought...

Think of utility computing as the infrastructure and cloud computing as the services provided. Now that you are completely confused, let me break it down further.

Utility computing is about providing access to heavy duty machines. It is infrastructure provisioning by leasing you access to computer processing power (pure number crunching) or storage (hard drive space). Under a utility computing framework you are only getting access to the hardware capacity and nothing more. Because you are not using 100% of the equipment capacity, you will only pay for the fraction you use. This allows you to control your costs and avoid capital expenditures on hardware that will be obsolete in a few years.

Cloud computing is software sold as a service. You buy the software services you and your employees need from an online vendor. This vendor promises to provide you access to the software and your information for a set monthly fee. This allows you to control your costs and avoid capital expenditures on software that will be obsolete in a few years.

Cloud computing requires utility computing since it cannot exist without it. However, they are still different concepts. While I realize this is splitting hairs, it is important to understand the distinction. Purchasing cloud services gives you access to web-based software that allows you true business mobility. Purchasing utility computing services provides you with access to equipment capacity without having to buy the hardware.

I hope that clears things up...

Understanding Cloud Computing

We can always rely on my associates in the computer business to name everything with either an unpronounceable acronym (LAN, WAN, VoIP, ad nauseum) or with something vaguely faggy (cloud, tweet and so forth). First and foremost, you need to understand that "cloud" is just another name for the Internet.

The name originated from the practice of drawing a simple cloud shape to denote any part of a computer network diagram that we did not have to worry about. So, your area of responsibility was detailed with every wire labeled and computer described. Everything outside your network could just be explained away with the cloud drawing. This is similar to the practice of ancient mapmakers who would draw dragons in uncharted areas of the map. The cloud was simply our lazy way of saying Here Be Dragons for our computer network; said simply: we don't know and we don't care.

However, with the advent of high speed Internet connections and advances in web programming, we can now use the Internet to distribute powerful software tools for all users. Cloud computing is built on utility computing; though many believe they are the same thing. Cloud computing is also a metered utility service which allows you to pay for software as a service, meaning you only buy what you need.

The greatest advantage to cloud computing is you no longer need to worry about keeping your software up-to-date and software license compliance. Most cloud computing providers will give you new features and updates as part of your normal subscription. This means you have constant access to new features and updates without having to pay more money or manage software licenses.

The other advantage is you do not have to maintain the infrastructure. Computer servers are expensive and so are the technicians needed to maintain them. Let the cloud computing provider handle the hardware; this lets you focus on growing your business. As any accountant will tell you, renting software is a better option than the capital expenditures involved.

For example, Wired Gecko provides preventative PC care. Using the Internet, Wired Gecko will monitor all your computers to catch failures before they interrupt your business. You must break out of the old Break-Fix cycle where you waste time and money waiting for your computer tech to repair a damaged PC. Take control of the relationship and tell your tech what needs to be repaired before it breaks. This lets you schedule the tech's time so that it doesn't interrupt your work. You have to admit, it's a smarter way to work.

Allmoxy offers a fantastic suite of products that can provide nearly everything your small business could need. From customer service to inventory management, Allmoxy delivers a great set of tools for "businesses that make stuff, move things, and get dirty."

The downside of cloud computing is you can only access these services when you have Internet access. The other concern is access to your information since your data is now residing on their computers. You must be sure there is an easy way for you to secure a copy of information if you should need it. You should also check and be sure that the provider offers solid backup and redundancy. If you are in the medical, legal, banking or other regulated industry, you will want to be sure that your cloud software vendor is in full compliance.

Cloud computing is an excellent way to control your software costs. It also allows you the freedom to work from anywhere there is an Internet-enabled computer. While there are some dangers, the benefits are substantial. Cloud computing should become part of your business especially if it sharpens your competitive edge.

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Computing is a Utility

We are all familiar with public utilities. Electricity, water, sewer, telephone, natural gas are all metered services that we can connect into for a monthly fee. We are charged only for what we consume. That is the key. We never have to buy more than we need, which makes it an ideal billing structure for us. It is economical and our behavior allows us to control our costs. If the electric bill was too high last month, start turning off lights and other appliances. Our behavior determines our costs.

Under the last computing paradigm, if you wanted large computational or storage capacity, you had to spend a fortune in hardware and software systems to provide these services for yourself. That meant you needed a dedicated server room with proper climate control to preserve the equipment. You needed a full time computer technician to monitor, maintain and manage these expensive computers that provided you with the services you needed. These systems were cumbersome, expensive and required constant care and supervision.

But all that changed with high speed Internet connections.

You don't need expensive equipment anymore. All you need is to identify your specific needs You might need more storage space, spare computational capacity or even remote PC maintenance. Once your needs are identified, you simply find a vendor online that provides these services for you. You get all the benefits from the services rendered and they get to leverage their investments in equipment and personnel to serve you.

Before you needed to spend a fortune equipping your business with all the technology you needed to run. Now you can purchase the services you need, and just what you need for a fixed monthly fee. Like a public utility, computing has become a fixed-fee, managed service that saves you from spending unnecessarily. You don't have to spend money on equipment and employees that do not contribute directly to your bottom line. You can spend your precious money on sales, marketing and other areas that bring in profits.

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