Shiraz@ShirazDatta.Com

Two-Tier ERP: Lessons Learned At Gartner’s Supply Chain Conference

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Thu, 31 May 2012 17:00:00 +0000

This week, Sanjiv Karani and I are attending Gartner’s Supply Chain Executive Conference in Palm Springs, California. This is the best conference of its kind in the industry, bringing together enterprise software, manufacturing, services and supply chain experts both within Gartner and across the industry. It’s encouraging to see so many areas of this industry measure the value and success that’s being delivered to customers. If you ever have a chance to attend this conference, invest the days; it’s well worth it.

Desert Springs Conference Center, location of 2012 Gartner Supply Chain Executive Conference

Sanjiv and I are seeing that the seven most critical success strategies for Cincom customers that are pursuing two-tier ERP strategies are emerging as best practices throughout the industry. The following seven strategies of market leaders, learned from our visits with Cincom customers and reinforced by lessons learned at this conference, further underscore just how effective two-tier ERP strategies are for manufacturing companies today:

1. Relying on two-tier ERP strategies to make manufacturing strategic by aligning the market and supply chain needs. IBM, Schindler, Toshiba and many others are doing this with exceptionally strong results. This conference is rich with examples of how two-tier ERP strategies are making companies more agile and capable of responding quickly to both the pace of change and economic turbulence occurring today. In speaking with several CIOs about this strategy, a few have mentioned the Harvard Business Review article, “Making the Most of Foreign Factories” by Dr. Kasra Fedrows. Dr. Fedrows has done decades of research on what makes distributed manufacturing centers globally successful. The following figure illustrates how factories can in fact play a variety of roles in the execution of a strategic plan. “The Roles of Foreign Factories: A Strategic Matrix,” which is shown below, captures the essence of what Dr. Fedrows has found in this research of the most effective manufacturing strategies.

Reprinted with permission from “Making the Most of Foreign Factories” by Kasra Fedrows,Harvard Business Review, March/April 1997. ©1997 by the Harvard Business Publishing Corporation; all rights reserved. You can find the article on the HBR site:http://hbr.org/1997/03/making-the-most-of-foreign-factories/ar/1).

2. Conquering bad complexity that can kill a company if let unchecked is a passion in high-performing companies. The ability to discern the source of bad complexity and eradicate it from a business model is a critical survival skill of even the most resilient companies today. We’re seeing that complex manufacturers that are attaining best practices with their two-tier ERP strategies are focused on how to simplify every phase of their value chain―taking every opportunity to replace bad complexity (high costs, confusion of goals and customer definition) with good complexity (more aligning and focus on core customer requirements; measuring performance collaboratively, not in silos). Examples of companies in this area include Cisco with its real-time updates on build-to-order production workflows, Goodrich, Greenheck Fan, Harris Corporation, Michelin and others.

3. Developing and continually fine-tuning analytics and Business Intelligence (BI) data on their entire business model so they can be moved faster, with greater clarity and precision than competitors. This is one of the most fascinating lessons learned at this conference. There are manufacturing companies today using analytics and BI to gain exceptional acuity, clarity and insight into their operations, looking to fine-tune them in the process.

4. Developing an innate ability to translate knowledge into competitive advantage very rapidly, often within weeks, and completely changing the competitive dynamics of their industry in the process. The ability to capture both tacit and implicit knowledge is critical for any manufacturer to continually stay demand-driven. Leif Erickson and Simon Jacobson’s session, “Factory of the Future: Next-Generation Manufacturing Strategy” made this point very clear, and had many outstanding points. Leif showed how 60% of the knowledge a manufacturing company needs is tribal knowledge. Only by using enterprise systems to unleash this expertise and align them to strategic priorities can a business grow.

5. A passion for measuring results from the customers’ perspective first and continually improving is so engrained in their cultures it changes how they evaluate risk and opportunities. Both at this conference and throughout conversations with customers, it becomes clear that the greater the reliance and valuing of customer value in a supply chain, the more successful and lean it becomes. This was clear in many of the sessions today, and is a very strong theme throughout the conference as well. Measuring results from the customers’ standpoint is crucial for unifying and leading a manufacturing company to excellence.

6. Has defined Critical Success Factors for two-tier ERP strategies and lives by them. Supply chain segmentation is a major area of interest at this conference. That aspect of supply chain management is integral to how a strategic IT plan is designed and implemented as well. The following table highlights eight of the most critical success factors complex manufacturers that are attaining best practices are relying on for planning and executing two-tier ERP strategies.

7. An urgency to lead their industries in manufacturing performance, from supply chain efficiency to perfect order performance. One CIO of a semiconductor manufacturer told me that while visiting one of their chip foundries inAsia, they led the industry in quote-to-cash cycles at 22 days, and they could fulfill a quote for components in less than three hours. He had that IT department immersed in seeing the goal of being the best in their industry―and dashboards were on the message boards, on their Intranet sites―everywhere to reinforce the message. He said that only a two-tier ERP system flexible enough for their area in the industry would have made that possible.

Bottom line: Becoming more demand-driven, staying focused on emerging markets and attaining higher levels of performance all start by using two-tier ERP strategies as foundations of strategic growth.

For more information on a two-tier ERP strategy, read “Conquering Complexity in Real-Time Using Two-Tier ERP Strategies―Best Practices of Complex Manufacturers,” which includes in-depth analysis and review of two-tier ERP strategies and how to achieve success with these strategies. View or download the white paper here: http://ow.ly/aVA0M (no registration form is required).

References:

Fedrows, K. (1997), “Making the Most of Foreign Factories,” Harvard Business Review, 75(2), 73-88

Nah. F. & Delgado. S (2006), “Critical Success Factors for Enterprise Resource Planning Implementation and Upgrade,” The Journal of Computer Information Systems, 46(5), 99-113

Ugrin, J. (2009), “The Effect of System Characteristics, Stage of Adoption and Experience on Institutional Explanations for ERP Systems Choice,” Accounting Horizons, 23(4), 365-389

Velcu, O. (2010), “Strategic Alignment of ERP Implementation Stages: An Empirical Investigation,” Information & Management, 47(3), 158

Courtesy - Louis Columbus

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Diaries Page –Motivation and Wining

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Wed, 30 May 2012 19:27:00 +0000

Diaries Page – Are Blog Post not related to Marketing, Strategies or an Business…Its about thoughts that I would like to share and what better place than my blog for my own consumption and for all to agree, disagree or comment…

This was one of those days where I look at external stimulus to motivate myself. Will in the pursuit of that, I stumble upon MullerOver. The blog is certainly what I would recommend read.

So, here I was walking on the net road or road of internet looking for something that can bring back me and my mind on track and help to motivate….

The Perseverance by Derek Redmond is something that may be well known to most of you. but putting again below to revisit.

Perseverance–Derek Redmond

Ok. I was bit there but then we or at least I tend to correlate motivation to winning and to a certain extend think that the only way to survive is winning…YES….I am not shy is saying that…Of course this is primarily based on the share portion of failures that I have seen.

I usually opine that its not about how many times you have been push down….its about how many times you have got up on your feet…The below would give you a sense…

Its about the Gold…..

But then I wonder that is it all about Winning or is it something much more concrete element than a “Superficial Winning”? I can say that its definitely much more than that…Yes, I like being in the Winners group but then I need to ensure at what cost that is coming….and would I prefer to sleep as a winner who lost or a looser who won?

What do I mean??????…….The below would provide you with an answer…..

Its much more than Winning….

Motivation is about doing the Right Thing and May not necessary mean Winning

Back to Action!!!!

Social Media Revolution 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Tue, 29 May 2012 19:54:00 +0000

Don't have much to say about it.....just watch the video...

The only thing that I would like to mention- Though the social media is important for every marketer, individual or enterprise; the space is certainly more crowded than ever before. Your lack of ability to manipulate your way in and more importantly out could be a debacle. While you need to engage at Social Media, its imperative to identify the objective (you plan to achieve), chose the channel(s), and ensure communication and not dissemination.

With that, enjoy the video.....my favorite was the surprise of Wikipedia.....

Social Media

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How great leaders inspire action

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Tue, 29 May 2012 15:41:00 +0000

Simon Sinek presents a simple but powerful model for how leaders inspire action, starting with a golden circle and the question "Why?" His examples include Apple, Martin Luther King, and the Wright brothers -- and as a counterpoint Tivo, which (until a recent court victory that tripled its stock price) appeared to be struggling.

How Leaders Inspire?

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Volkswagen - The Original Click

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Fri, 25 May 2012 17:52:00 +0000

Innovation will never end, provided there are people out there who can pull a rabbit out of their hats over and over again. Equally, you need not necessary create the magic every time...You may would like to reinvent without actually inventing anything. So what does is mean...

The below examples shows how you can reinvent the already invented content, or let me put is this way - on how innovatively Volkswagen has packaged an old wine in a new bottle. Volkswagen has used the content already available on the net to convert that into an ad..which for me is marketing innovation in itself. Rest the Video will tell….

I hope you will enjoy!!!

Old Wine in New Bottle

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Predicting Cloud Computing Adoption Rates

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Wed, 23 May 2012 18:33:00 +0000

From conservative, single digit adoption rates to hockey-stick projections of exceptional growth, analyst firms, venture capitalists and government ministries are weighing in on how they see cloud adoption progressing.

While each of the adoption rate predictions vary significantly in terms of their methodologies and results, all rely on the assumption that SaaS applications including CRM will continue to gain momentum. The user adoption rates vary on how fast the momentum is, yet all share this assumption. Speed, increased user adoption rates, and the ability to more closely align software to business goals are cited most often as the biggest benefits.

Where the projections vary most is whether enterprises will eventually migrate the majority of their applications to the cloud or not. Forrester, Gartner and others see a hybrid cloud architecture emerging in the enterprise and forcing the issue of legacy systems migration by 2015. As would be expected, vendor-driven research sees an “all or nothing” world in the near future.

Sanity Check

Wanting to see how reliable the figures were showing rapid cloud adoption in the enterprise, I did a quick sanity check. Taking the distribution of sales by segment for Salesforce.com and their annual revenue growth rate, then normalizing it across all segments, enterprise emerges as their strongest segment by a wide margin in 2015. It had a 15%+ compound annual growth rate (CAGR) from 2011 – 2015 just taking their current sales by segment distribution of sales and extrapolating forward. Data points like this and the market factors behind them is why SaaS is often used in these studies as a leading indicator of broader cloud adoption.

Adoption Rate Round-Up

CDW recently published their Cloud Computing Tracking Poll Report reporting 37% adoption in enterprises followed by higher education (34%), healthcare (30%), federal government (29%), state & local government (23%) and SMBs (21%).Source and opt-in for research results: http://www.cdw.com/shop/tools/surveys/survey.asp?SurveyKey=D808B2971F634B5A96E452FE7E6FA165

Japan’s Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry 2010, the cloud computing market in Japan is expected to grow to U.S.$29.2 billion in 2015. Gartner has projected cloud adoption in Japan will represent 12 percent of the global cloud services revenue. Source: http://www.biztechreport.com/story/1202-cloud-services-asia-pacific-region

Forrester found that SaaS will outgrow all other cloud services, achieving 37% adoption in 2011 growing to 50% by 2012. In previous studies Forrester has shown that SaaS is a major growth catalyst of ongoing investment in IaaS and PaaS in enterprises. Source: Source: Forrsights: The Software Market In Transformation, 2011 And Beyond Shifting Buying Preferences Lead To New Software Priorities by Holger Kisker, Ph.D. with Pascal Matzke, Stefan Ried, Ph.D., Miroslaw Lisserman Link: http://bit.ly/ijJy70 The following table is from the report:

Microsoft Global SMB Cloud Adoption Study released in March, 2011 is one of the most comprehensive done this year on this topic. Of the many findings, the study predicts 39 % of SMBs expect to be paying for one or more cloud services within three years). One of the best studies on cloud adoptions done this year Source: Study Results Document (PDF (22 pages): http://bit.ly/gN8yTx

North Bridge Venture Partners, GigaOM PRO and over a dozen research partners completed the study The Future of Cloud Computing 2011. The study found 13% expressed high level of confidence in cloud computing for enterprise applications, with 40% experimenting and 10% saying they will never use cloud-based platforms as they are too risky. A presentation of the results can be found here:

The Future of Cloud Computing 2011

View more presentations from Martin Walsh

Source: http://futureofcloudcomputing.drupalgardens.com/2011-future-cloud-computing-survey-results

Ovum predicts that multinational corporations (MNCs) will see cloud computing grow to 61% by the calendar end of 2011. Source:http://www.datacenterdynamics.com/focus/archive/2011/06/are-big-companies-actually-adopting-cloud-computing

Springboard Research (Forrester) completed a study of cloud computing adoption in Asia finding 31% of companies with 50 or fewer PCs will adopt cloud-based applications in 18 months, 56% with up to 500 PCs. The key findings are available for download from the source URL below the infographic.

Microsoft Asia is making this available for download here: http://bit.ly/jWjOj1

TechTarget published their analysis of virtualization and cloud computing adoption in the study, State of virtualization and cloud computing: 2011. Of the many findings, a few of the most significant is how pervasive VMware ESXi 4 and later (vSphere) is throughout enterprises today. The study also shows that 7% of those interviewed had implemented cloud computing in 2010, growing to 9% in 2011 – quite conservative compared to many of the other adoption rate analyses completed. You can find the results here:http://searchdatacenter.techtarget.com/feature/State-of-virtualization-and-cloud-computing-2011

VMware and The Cloud Industry Forum (CIF) project UK cloud adoption being around 48% in 2011/12, growing significantly in the next three years due to anticipated SaaS adoption by SMBs. Source: http://www.cloudindustryforum.org/uk-sme-cloud-adoption-set-to-increase-in-line-with-european-businesses opt in for the research:http://www.cloudindustryforum.org/register-your-details-to-download-our-white-papers

Yankee Group has found that in 2011, 41 percent of very large enterprises (more than 10,000 employees) have already deployed or are considering deployment of platform as a service (PaaS) within the next 12 months, compared to just 32 percent in 2010. They have also found that mobility is most significant factor driving cloud adoption in the enterprise. Source:http://professional.wsj.com/article/TPCHWKNW0020110722e77q0004d.html\

Courtesy – Louis Columbus

After Enterprise, it was your Home…. and Now its your Bedroom…..

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Mon, 21 May 2012 16:05:00 +0000

So what could be your next Bedroom Experience Like…Strictly from Devices Perspective

After the emergence of integrated devices; the first focus for enterprise was indeed…The Enterprise….. and then the space got cluttered with many offerings..Hence, the enterprise offering moved into your house while offering integrated experience for your home and personal device(s). With Cloud joining the party, the ability for having your content availability across multiple devices made seamless, ease for you and ease on your pocket at the same time.

By the virtue of me using SugarSync for some time, hence have incorporated them into this illustration. Of course, if you are following me on twitter, I went all out about my exploration journey with my new tech-toy – Roku, last week. And of course, have been using Apple TV from sometime and loves the experience of mirroring the iPad to the TV and sharing Audio/ Video content across devices, especially my content from iPad to TV. Then the entire experience and/or having the ability to view my Netflix movie on my phone (while having my Burger, roadside), and then start at the same point on my TV is something got me excited just like a young kid.

So now, if I Add up all the various components together…… the Result could or would be a wonderful “Bedroom/Personal integrated Device Experience”, while all device/services complimenting each other. For eg. I am was experimenting over the weekend to connect my PC and to Roku using Ro-Connect,(Need more work on Ro-Connect end for a non-techy like me) to view/listen my content (Audio/Video) from my PC to Roku player. Further was trying to understand the usage of the additional memory Slot at Roku Player….

This exploration gave me a sense of integrating all these devices into one experience backed by seamless integration of your content over cloud – Sugarsync in this case as an example. So what it leads to is this…

Roku by the virtue of being an open and experimental platform backed by many developers/content owner is at the sweat spot of having creating an ability to view all your content across multiple devices onto your TV. So, now you can view from your pictures, to listening to your audio, or watching your store videos from the cloud directly onto your TV console.

It also provides an another element of having an ability to share your content through push notification and in peer-to-peer kind of environment mode. Use Case – I have clicked this wonderful video of my recent trip using my mobile device and by the virtue of it being connected to the cloud, I send all my content into the cloud and can share it with my friends and other across their multiple devices, while I can share the same with my mother sitting many miles away on her TV. The same goes for music, picture and /or any other shareable content that you can imagine. Much like how you can view your/friends Facebook pictures on Roku while using the Facebook app. What I am suggesting here is the amplification of same kind.

Further SugarSync could potentially act as a DVR for your content view on Roku and thus making the recorded content available again at your multiple devices.

It gives me a sense that there is something from all in this equation especially for Roku and SugarSync (in this example) to provide “personal” content sharing that was never imagined on TV. For Roku – An ability to pull content from the cloud, push recorded content to the cloud for later viewing/listening; For SugarSync -Adding another unique element in already competitive cloud market….

So its Not now about ability to “mirror” your iPad or Mac to TV using Apple TV and on being the same network. This is about having ability for user to have content availability across devices, Not necessarily on the same network and on your Bedroom TV. Not to discount that depending upon the intelligence requirement(s) the above picture could add the component of your aircon/heating by integrating Nest with the Cloud and having an ability to record/monitor/adjust every aspect of your house cooling/heating through the cloud….

Thus making it a “True Bedroom Integrated Devices Experience”.

As usual, feedbacks are welcome.

P.S. - I am not a techie to evaluate the technological possibility of this but with limited knowledge can assume that this is certainly possible. Equally, I am sure all the companies mentioned in the article on similar line…this is just an endorsement to that idea from a consumer.

Have A Good Week!!!
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Another Piece of Chinese Engineering Marvel….

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Sun, 20 May 2012 19:55:00 +0000

Glass Sky Walk at Zhangjiajie Hunan, China

View more presentations from Shiraz Datta.

PAIN IS TEMPORARY

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Fri, 18 May 2012 23:30:00 +0000

Wishing you a Happy Weekend with this Motivational Video...

[infographic] How the Fortune 500 use Social Media in 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Fri, 18 May 2012 22:43:00 +0000

Social Media has slowly and steadily entered into the list of marketing channels for companies across the globe. Or let me say Social Media has quickly and aggressively entered into the list of IMPORTANT & CRITICAL marketing channels of the companies across the globe.

Below is an infographic that describes how top 500 Fortune companies use Social Media. It does highlight that the INC 500 (fastest growing companies) are far ahead on use of social media as compared to the Fortune 500. Hmmmmmm……does that mean there ability to communicate on an informal channel with their consumers, partner, employees is more effective????

Here are few other key highlights:-

23% already have a corporate blog.
58% have an active corporate Facebook account.
62% have an active corporate Twitter account and have tweeted from in the past 30 days.
The biggest number of blogs is in specialist retail industry.
The insurance industry gets the highest number of Facebook pages.

It does also gives me an impression that does some of the companies jumps the social media just to ensure that they “tick the box” or do they really believe in creating a new channel for engaging and listening. One such example below is the share number of twitter account by a company…there are 400-500 twitter accounts by once single company.

The other aspect of Social Media which usually becomes tricky for companies to manage is having conversations on the channel. Usually Social Media becomes a channel for dissemination, which is not its original essence. Hence, companies failed to engage with its consumer on this channel and the really effective is lost in the mist.

However, that is for another post :) ….. for the time being see what the 500 Fortune companies are doing on Social Media.

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A New Ecosystem…And the Name is ROKU….

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Wed, 16 May 2012 20:42:00 +0000

Disclaimer - Ok, I am certainly not a product reviewer and believe there are many out there that can/are doing far better job than what I would do. I focus on Marketing and Strategy, and that’s what I would like to focus on.

Just for this time and this post, adding an element of a Product - Roku TV Player here (http://www.roku.com/). I have been a user of Apple TV for some time but then while attending few developer meetup stumbled upon the fact that how a small but an effective ecosystem is brewing here. Now that's what I was interested in.

A bit of story or flashback...Had bought an apple TV sometime back while didn't find cable TV providing me the stuff I was looking for and more importantly at the time I was looking for. Apple had to be a safe bet and being honest I was pretty much satisfied with what I got. It was all out there in an easy format that I am use to. Then came the hunger of having a ability to view certain programs that I was missing in there....So took the Hulu +....but then it was not a same experience watching on iPad or PC as I would have preferred on HD TV...While I was contemplating buying Roku for the same (and not the other way round, like buying Roku first and then going to Hulu), happened to attend a small gathering of developers.

I did wrote a note a year ago about how integrated devices would evolve but was glad to see it happening in front of my very own eyes, and at a much faster pace than I imagined. While discussing and debating over ever changing technology(s), I brought a topic of how organization needs to focus now on integrated bedroom devices. I certainly had a “defined perception” of how an Internet TV or console should work by the virtue of using them for last couple of years. Suddenly, my perception about it was being tarnished from all sides...with a loud noise of how an Internet TV console can help in bring a paradigm shift and a new experience for the developers. Angry Bird being the famous example from the same.

It gave me a sense that I had missed an element of a small but certainly growing (at a much greater pace) ecosystem for Internet –TV/console market, with Roku being a true leader here. I didn't even hear a mention of Apple TV, purely because of its closed environment that does not encourage any experimentation with it.

Then, it forced me to do some more research on the net and man…..this was one such rare moment when I felt so naïve in my knowledge / perceptions….. and was pretty excited to be proven wrong with every page of Google pages that I was turning.

The thing that struck me the most, was the share number of idea(s), topic(s) and content brewing to support an ecosystem which a day go I wasn’t even aware about. Of course not to mention how much Roku is enabling it. You can See it by Googling it!!!

I am not a product reviewer and by no means want to become one but what got me excited was the innovation happening in the Internet TV/Console Space due a single product – Roku. It may not be the best thing ever happened in the Internet TV/Console market……but I would say that its certainly a best thing ever happened to open up a new channel/avenue for developers and content owner, while moving towards the integrated bedroom device experience.

The ability to create and add channel, weather feeds, twitter, Facebook Picture, Radio, etc. etc….are just a tipping point that would eventually open up an entire new stream of thought process, innovation and avenue for many - likes of developer, content owner, channels, etc.

The ability to “Customize” your viewing to an extend what this product (Roku) was offering amazed me.

This post is not about which product is better – Apple or Roku….You have tons of stuff out there (Google it !!!!, again :). This post is more about how Roku enabling new innovation through building an element of ecosystem that to me never existed in this space.

Now a small review (how can I stop here ;) of the product (please excuse me for this...I am certainly not in habit of doing it) – Straight to the point I booted it up. No surprise there as it was easy to understand and scan through options. Loved having Radio on my TV and then the discovery happened that took me into a journey of exploration.

The Discovery was – “The Store”. I couldn’t have imagined with my defined perception of Internet TV and similar consoles to find that (having a store) option there. So there I went it and my first reaction (as debated over twitter today) was a journey of exploration of adding, deleting channels and then was the magic bit - the “Private Channel”. Downloaded an entire list of private channel codes that was out there and felt like a kid attempting his/her first Lego Build. I was intrigued by how much “true customization” I can attempt with my TV viewing.

Though, it had few shortfall with UI (being coming from Apple TV to it).

Overall, would stress again – For me it’s not the innovation happening on the product (though as a consumer I am all for it and truly excited), however it’s about how a company with single product (with variance) enabling the development of an entire ecosystem that entail from big corporates (Netflix, Hulu, etc), to small developers.

P.S. – Just for the record I bought my Roku and not part of their reviewer panel :)

Please email me with any suggestion, feedback or guidance….I am excited for this space.

Have a Happy Week!

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People Most Like Talking about themselves…

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Wed, 16 May 2012 16:50:00 +0000

Of course, by any mean this is no discovery….its a fact. That’s what even a new research by Hayward Suggests with many other aspect of behavioral science. The same could be substitute by the fact of booming Facebook, Twitter and other self-dissemination. I believe it would therefore not be wrong to opine that Facebook valuation is due to you and me...people who produces millions of pieces of content, be it videos, picture, information, news, etc for them. We are such unique reporters that get paid for not reporting back but then we are bond to religious do that....at lease quite a number of us.The researchers found that “mesolimbic dopamine system,” generally thought to be part of the brain’s reward system, was activated at higher levels during self-disclosure than when discussing other topics.

Roger Dooley in his articulation suggests about this behavioral study that attempts to but $$$ on the table for the subject as a part of a {behavioral} experiment and found that subjects would accept smaller payments for talking about themselves when compared to other topics. When payment amounts were equal, the subjects chose to talk about themselves more than two thirds of the time. Now this is where I differ in my thoughts vis-a-vis this finding - The experiment suggest that subject(s) {man.... I hate that word which some researcher must have coined} or individuals prefer to talk about themselves that any other topic....True and I agree...Now comes the disagreeing part. It further suggests that subjects {Man...again that word} would accept smaller payments for talking about themselves when compared to other topics. When payment amounts were equal, the subjects chose to talk about themselves more than two thirds of the time. And conveniently it summarize that we all seem to be wired for self-disclosure.

Tendency of Self - Disclosure I understand and agree……. but the above experiment does not take into consideration the probability factor of winning by an individual. An individual's probability to talk and earn is the highest when a person is talking about him/herself rather than any other topic even if the money is lower as compared to other topics. Now, does that mean that its all about self disclosure.. I don’t think so....Equally, I believe that the result could vary depending up various other factors like individual culture, religion, him/her being introvert or extrovert person, etc.

Further, it does not necessary means that we are using social media channel for self-disclosure only. It is certainly for much more like News, Information.....like we cannot forget that the Japan earth quake was reported first on Twitter then after at any new channel. The usage of Social Media has certainly gone beyond anyone's wild imagination...of course no one would have imagined that we can Predict Stock Market Indicators Through Twitter . Now Revolution and Riots are planned and executed using Social Media.

To summarize, I am firm believer that self-disclosure is an important element for an individual like we do it on Facebook, twitter, Foursquare, etc, but cannot necessary be the prime objective of being on Social Media. Further, an ability to predict the future of Social Media evolution is like how in my childhood looking at Star trek, I used to say that the kind of technology shown will never exist. So Never say Never…..and is being on Social Media or any other dissemination tool only for People Most Like Talking about themselves…Well….I don’t Think so…its certainly much more than that…

Have a good week !

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What’s Hot in CRM Applications, 2012

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Mon, 14 May 2012 15:59:00 +0000

Serving the sales force is a mantra and mindset that resonates through the best companies I’ve ever worked with and for.

That priority alone can help galvanize companies who are adrift in multiple, conflicting agendas, strategies and projects. Uniting around that goal – serving sales and getting them what they need to excel – can turn around even the most downtrodden companies. And size doesn’t matter, the intensity of focus and commitment to excel do.

That’s why the latest report from Gartner’s Ed Thompson, What’s “Hot” in CRM Application 2012, published last Thursday resonates with me. He’s talking about how sales strategies need to be propelled by rapid advances in mobile technology, social CRM, sales content and collaboration, and clienteling to serve the sales force more thoroughly than ever before. His assessment of what’s hot in CRM is a great foundation for getting behind the mantra of serving the sales force and engraining it into a corporate culture while getting full value from the latest technologies.

Here are the key take-aways from the report:

Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) delivery of CRM applications represented 34% of worldwide CRM application spending in 2011. More than 50% of all Sales Force Automation (SFA) spending is on the SaaS platform. Gartner clients who are successfully running SaaS are now looking at how to get value from Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) in the context of selling strategies.

CRM spending grew 13% in 2011, fueled analytical, operational and social CRM growth. Operational CRM represents 80% of all CRM spending and grew 10% in 2011.

Analytical CRM, in which Gartner includes predictive analytics and market segmentation analysis, grew a solid 10% in 2011 and is having a very strong year with inquiry traffic.

Social CRM grew 30% in 2011 in revenue terms and is 7% of total CRM spending globally as of 2011. 90% of Social CRM spending is originating in Business-to-Consumer (B2C) organizations with the remaining occurring in B2B.

Gartner is projecting that CRM will be one of the top three search terms on Gartner.com throughout calendar 2012 based on the trends and volume of calls they are seeing today.

CEOs see CRM as their #1 technology-enabled investment in 2012 according the query calls through April, 2012.

CRM is ascending rapidly in the priorities of CIOs in 2012, moving from 18^th place to eight place in the latest Gartner analysis.

The following table of Highest CRM Application Priorities, 2012 show what’s trending within Sales, Customer Service, E-Commerce and Marketing inquiries Gartner is receiving from its clients. Consider these as leading indicators of interest. Over time these areas will need to solidify for forecasts to be completed.

Apple iPads are the great maverick buy of 2012 with thousands being purchased by Sales and Marketing management with the immediate requirement of IT integration to these devices. IT departments are scrambling on the security issues and lack of polices on BYOD. In enterprise software, iPads are proving to be highly effective as demo platforms for new SaaS-based applications. They have become the new sales bag of the 21rst century.

High Tech, Life Sciences and Insurance are the three industries with the greatest levels of iPad adoption as of April 2012. Gartner is predicting that by the end of 2012, 80% of all sales representatives in the pharmaceutical industry will be using iPads for their daily sales tasks.

Social or community customer service is the hottest area of growth for post-sales service with high-tech, media, travel, telecommunications, retail and education-based clients dominating client inquiries.

Courtesy – Louis Columbus

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Short Note Worth Sharing….

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Thu, 10 May 2012 16:55:00 +0000

Just loved these lines about LIFE...........

When I got enough confidence, the stage was gone..
When I was sure of losing,... I won..
When I needed people the most, they left me..
When I learnt to dry my tears, I found a shoulder to cry on..
When I mastered the skill of hating, Someone started loving me from the core of one's heart & While waiting for light for hours when I fell asleep the sun came out..........

That's LIFE! No matter what u plan u never know what life has planned for You!!!.

"Success introduces you to the world. Failure introduces the world to you .."

The Journey that I Plan–Leh

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Wed, 09 May 2012 16:23:00 +0000

Well there are many places in the world that I plan to visit. Not a big fan of big cities, though and love the mountains. With so much to see in various parts of the globe, this is one journey that I plan to take this year..Well sharing some great visuals of the place what we call as Leh – Ladakh.

Leh (Tibetan script: གླེ་; Wylie: Gle; Hindi: लेह), was the capital of the Himalayan kingdom of Ladakh, now the Leh District in the state ofJammu and Kashmir, India. Leh, with an area of 45,110 km², is the second largest district in the country (after Kutch, Gujarat) in terms of area.^{[citation needed]}

The town is still dominated by the now ruined Leh Palace, former mansion of the royal family of Ladakh, built in the same style and about the same time as the Potala Palace. Leh is at an altitude of 3524 metres (11,562 ft). National Highway 1D connects it to Srinagar in the northwest.

Now a great visual for view and enjoy the Hindi Song with it:-

Have a Happy Week!

Infographic–Making the Cloud Work for you..

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Mon, 07 May 2012 18:09:00 +0000

The Law of the Garbage Truck…

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Thu, 03 May 2012 15:54:00 +0000

One day I hopped into a taxi and we took off for the airport. We were driving in the right lane when suddenly a car jumped out of a parking space right in front of us. My taxi driver slammed on his breaks, ... skidded, and missed the other car by just inches! The driver ...of the other car whipped his head around and started yelling at us.

My taxi driver just smiled and waved at the guy. And I mean he was really friendly. So I asked, "Why did you just do that? This guy almost ruined your car and sent us to the hospital!"

This is when my taxi driver taught me what I now call "The Law of the Garbage Truck."

He explained that many people are like garbage trucks. They run around full of garbage, full of frustration, full of anger, and full of disappointment. As their garbage piles up, they need a place to dump it and sometimes they'll dump it on you. Don't take it personally. Just smile, wave, wish them well, and move on. Don't take their garbage and spread it to other people at work, at home, or on the street.

The bottom line is that good people don't let garbage trucks take over their day.

Life's too short to wake up in the morning with regrets, so…

Love the people who treat you right.
Forgive the ones who don't.

Life is ten percent what you make it and ninety percent how you take it!

I Know You

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Tue, 01 May 2012 15:46:00 +0000

Search an inevitable part of our daily life. At least for people who are acquainted to the world of Internet? Generations prior to me never had it, my and generation after me cannot live without it. The dependence on search and our ever growing appetite of discovering seems to boost by the googles, yahoos of the world. I use to to thing that Google and yahoo gives me what I wanted, but then I wanted to see various “other dimensions”, though I myself was not aware what all or the so called “other” dimensions I want to see but as mentioned about the so called discovery appetite was pushing me to go to the “next level”. So here I was again “searching” new ways to search.

This venture truly helped me to come out with some great findings like Alltop, Answers, Cuil, Popurls, Mahalo, Twellow (for twitter other than its own search), Addictomatic and so on. It was amazing to discover that what all I can discover. Some of these so called search or discovery engines provide with plethora of information on one single page. Taking an example that if I need information about India and its news then hit http://india.alltop.com/ and I will have all information from various site and blog right on single page.

While on my quest to discover I came across some other finding about “'What shall I do tomorrow?' and 'What job shall I take?'.". Yes….Google’s company's chief executive, Eric Schmidt, said during a visit to Britain few years ago, that he would like Google to provide answers to questions like “what shall I do tomorrow”. Of course there will be a role of human genetics, and that is the reason why Google invested £2m in a human genetics firm called 23andMe. You can read the entire article here.

The same article talks about the yahoo’s project panama, which monitors internet visitors to its site to build a profile of their interests. Google in the quest to provide the so called “personalized” results bought DoubleClick for $3.1bn, a company that helps build a detailed picture of someone's behavior by combining its records of web searches with the information from DoubleClick's "cookies", the software it places on users' machines to track which sites they visit. Of course this helped reinforcing my belief about the power of “profiled” database of users or universe.

Lets take this further how about wear your search, when I enter my query as a picture of the birds overhead and have the search engine identify what kind of bird it is, when I capture a snippet of audio and have the search engine identify and analyze it (a song or a stream of conversation) and tell me any relevant information about it? Phweeeeee….. you can read the entire finding here. This is a great post by Marissa Mayer, VP, Search Products & User Experience at Google.

This tells us what we can “expect” or rather expect that we never expected. Goolge’s Universal search, program, which was released last May, according to the post is a an important first step to include images, videos, news, books, and maps/local information in the main Google search results.

A personal profile mixed with human genetics and technology……hmmmmm……I guess it can provide me with some look into the future where search will say “hey I know You”.

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At least we should leave our Grandchildren a Letter…

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 17:01:00 +0000

Ok, its seems to me that we human race are not ready to change….at least towards the changing reality…For some reason I tend to believe that we see only what we want to see…So we are not seeing the sure destruction that we will be responsible for generations to come.

With our ability to everything that was meant for making life more constructive to being destructive….Be it nuclear power, religious text… or anything else.

Ok, I can admit that we are changing and we are doing things to turn the cycle…but the speed of it something that would be enough…I don’t know.

Either ways, the least we can do is to apologize to our grandchildren or upcoming generation….stating that we are sorry….and we knew what we are doing but yet we were so ignorant or arrogant for our own comforts that we didn’t do enough…

In view of the same I am sharing what I got in my inbox today that I thought to share with all…..

A Letter of Apology to My Granddaughter

[Note: I became politically active and committed on the day 20 years ago when I realized I could stand on the front porch of my house and point to three homes where children were in wheelchairs, to a home where a child had just died of leukemia, to another where a child was born missing a kidney, and yet another where a child suffered from spina bifida. All my parental alarms went off at once and I asked the obvious question: What’s going on here? Did I inadvertently move my three children into harm’s way when we settled in this high desert valley in Utah? A quest to find answers in Utah’s nuclear history and then seek solutions followed. Politics for me was never motivated by ideology. It was always about parenting.

Today my three kids are, thankfully, healthy adults. But now that grandchildren are being added to our family, my blood runs cold whenever I project out 50 years and imagine what their world will be like at middle age -- assuming they get that far and that there is still a recognizable “world” to be part of. I wrote the following letter to my granddaughter, Madeline, who is almost four years old. Although she cannot read it today, I hope she will read it in a future that proves so much better than the one that is probable, and so terribly unfair. I’m sharing this letter with other parents and grandparents in the hope that it may move them to embrace their roles as citizens and commit to the hard work of making the planet viable, the economy equitable, and our culture democratic for the many Madelines to come.]

March 20, 2012

Dear Maddie,

I address this letter to you, but please share it with Jack, Tasiah, and other grandchildren who are yet unborn. Also, with your children and theirs. My unconditional love for my children and grandchildren convinces me that, if I could live long enough to embrace my great-grandchildren, I would love them as deeply as I love you.

On behalf of my generation of grandparents to all of you, I want to apologize.

I am sorry we used up all the oil. It took a million years for those layers of carbon goo to form under the Earth’s crust and we used up most of it in a geological instant. No doubt there will be some left and perhaps you can get around the fact that what remains is already distant, dirty, and dangerous, but the low-hanging fruit will be long-gone by the time you are my age. We took it all.

There’s no excuse, really. We are gas-hogs, plain and simple. We got hooked on faster-bigger-more and charged right over the carrying capacity of the planet. Oil made it possible.

Machines are our slaves and coal, oil, and gas are their food. They helped us grow so much of our own food that we could overpopulate the Earth. We could ship stuff and travel all over the globe, and still have enough fuel left to drive home alone in trucks in time to watch Monday Night Football.

Rocket fuel, fertilizer, baby bottles, lawn chairs: we made everything and anything out of oil and could never get enough of it. We could have conserved more for you to use in your lifetime. Instead, we demonstrated the self-restraint of crack addicts. It’s been great having all that oil to play with and we built our entire world around that. Living without it will be tough. Sorry.

I hope we develop clean, renewable energy sources soon, or that you and your generation figure out how to do that quickly. In the meantime, sorry about the climate. We just didn’t realize our addiction to carbon would come with monster storms, epic droughts, Biblical floods, wildfire infernos, rising seas, migration, starvation, pestilence, civil war, failed states, police states, and resource wars.

I’m sure Henry Ford didn’t see that coming when he figured out how to mass-produce automobiles and sell them to Everyman. I know my parents didn’t see the downside of using so much gas and coal. The all-electric house and a car in the driveway was their American Dream. For my generation, owning a car became a birthright. Today, it would be hard for most of us to live without a car. I have no idea what you’ll do to get around or how you will heat your home. Oops!

We also pigged out on most of the fertile soil, the forests and their timber, and the oceans that teemed with fish before we scraped the seabed raw, dumped our poisonous wastes in the water, and turned it acid and barren. Hey, that ocean was an awesome place and it’s too bad you can’t know it like we did. There were bright coral reefs, vibrant runs of red salmon, ribbons of birds embroidering the shores, graceful shells, the solace and majesty of the wild sea…

…But then I never saw the vast herds of bison that roamed the American heartland, so I know it is hard to miss something you only saw in pictures. We took lots of photos.

We thought we were pretty smart because we walked a man on the moon. Our technology is indeed amazing. I was raised without computers, smart phones, and the World Wide Web, so I appreciate how our engineering prowess has enhanced our lives, but I also know it has a downside.

When I was a kid we worried that the Cold War would go nuclear. And it wasn’t until a river caught fire near Cleveland that we realized fouling your own nest isn’t so smart after all. Well, you know about the rest -- the coal-fired power plants, acid rain, the hole in the ozone...

There were plenty of signs we took a wrong turn but we kept on going. Dumb, stubborn, blind: Who knows why we couldn’t stop? Greed maybe -- powerful corporations we couldn’t overcome. It won’t matter much to you who is to blame. You’ll be too busy coping in the diminished world we bequeath you.

One set of problems we pass on to you is not altogether our fault. It was handed down to us by our parents’ generation so hammered by cataclysmic world wars and economic hardship that they armed themselves to the teeth and saw enemies everywhere. Their paranoia was understandable, but they passed their fears on to us and we should have seen through them. I have lived through four major American wars in my 62 years, and by now defense and homeland security are powerful industries with a stranglehold on Congress and the economy. We knew that was a lousy deal, but trauma and terror darkened our imaginations and distorted our priorities. And, like you, we needed jobs.

Sorry we spent your inheritance on all that cheap bling and, especially, all those weapons of mass destruction. That was crazy and wasteful. I can’t explain it. I guess we’ve been confused for a long time now.

Oh, and sorry about the confusion. We called it advertising and it seemed like it would be easy enough to control. When I was a kid, commercials merely interrupted entertainment. Don’t know when the lines all blurred and the buy, buy, buy message became so ubiquitous and all-consuming. It just got outta hand and we couldn’t stop it, even when we realized we hated it and that it was taking us over. We turned away from one another, tuned in, and got lost.

I’m betting you can still download this note, copy it, share it, bust it up and remake it, and that you do so while plugged into some sort of electrical device you can’t live without -- so maybe you don’t think that an apology for technology is needed and, if that’s the case, an apology is especially relevant. The tools we gave you are fine, but the apps are mostly bogus. We made an industry of silly distraction. When our spirits hungered, we fed them clay that filled but did not nourish them. If you still don’t know the difference, blame us because we started it.

And sorry about the chemicals. I mean the ones you were born with in your blood and bones that stay there -- even though we don’t know what they’ll do to you). Who thought that the fire retardant that kept smokers from igniting their pillows and children’s clothes from bursting into flames would end up in umbilical cords and infants?

It just seemed like better living through chemistry at the time. Same with all the other chemicals you carry. We learned to accept cancer and I guess you will, too. I’m sure there will be better treatments for that in your lifetime than we have today. If you can afford them, that is. Turning healthcare over to predatory corporations was another bad move.

All in all, our chemical obsession was pretty reckless and we got into that same old pattern: just couldn’t give up all the neat stuff. Oh, we tried. We took the lead out of gasoline and banned DDT, but mostly we did too little, too late. I hope you’ve done better. Maybe it will help your generation to run out of oil, since so many of the toxic chemicals came from that. Anyway, we didn’t see it coming and we could have, should have. Our bad.

There are so many other things I wish I could change for you. We leave behind a noisy world. Silence is rare today, and unless some future catastrophe has left your numbers greatly diminished, your machines stilled, and your streets ghostly empty, it is likely that the last remnants of tranquility will be gone by the time you are my age.

And how about all those species, the abundant and wondrous creatures that are fading away forever as I write these words? I never saw a polar bear and I guess you can live without that, too, but when I think of the peep and chirp of frogs at night, the hum of bees busy on a flower bed, the trill of birds at dawn, and so many other splendorous pleasures that you may no longer have, I ache with regret. We should have done more to keep the planet whole and well, but we couldn’t get clear of the old ways of seeing, the ingrained habits, the way we hobble one another’s choices so that the best intentions never get realized.

Mostly I’m sorry about taking all the good water. When I was a child I could kneel down and drink from a brook or spring wherever we camped and played. We could still hike up to glaciers and ski down snow-capped mountains.

Clean, crisp, cold, fresh water is life’s most precious taste. A life-giving gift, all water is holy. I repeat: holy. We treated it, instead, as if it were merely useful. We wasted and tainted it and, again in a geological moment, sucked up aquifers that had taken 10,000 years to gather below ground. In my lifetime, glaciers are melting away, wells are running dry, dust storms are blowing, and rivers like the mighty Colorado are running dry before they reach the sea. I hate to think of what will be left for you. Sorry. So very, very sorry.

I’m sure there’s a boatload of other trouble we’re leaving you that I haven’t covered here. My purpose is not to offer a complete catalog of our follies and atrocities, but to do what we taught your parents to do when they were as little as you are today.

When you make a mistake, we told them, admit it, and then do better. If you do something wrong, own up and say you are sorry. After that, you can work on making amends.

I am trying to see a way out of the hardship and turmoil we are making for you. As I work to stop the madness, I will be mindful of how much harder your struggles will be as you deal with the challenges we leave you to face.

The best I can do to help you through the overheated future we are making is to love you now. I cannot change the past and my struggle to make a healthier future for you is uncertain, but today I can teach you, encourage you, and help you be as strong and smart and confident as you can be, so that whatever the future holds, whatever crises you face, you are as ready as possible. We will learn to laugh together, too, because love and laughter can pull you through the toughest times.

I know a better world is possible. We create that better world by reaching out to one another, listening, learning, and speaking from our hearts, face to face, neighbor to neighbor, one community after another, openly, inclusively, bravely. Democracy is not a gift to be practiced only when permitted. We empower ourselves. Our salvation is found in each other, together.

Across America this morning and all around the world, our better angels call to us, imploring us to rise up and be as resilient as our beloved, beautiful children and grandchildren, whose future we make today. We can do better. I promise.

Your grandfather,

Chip Ward

Build Contacts through Content

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Mon, 30 Apr 2012 16:12:00 +0000

While social media has become the hot trend in publishing, many of the properties generating social media content are not attracting headline experts into their frays. Gather.com is addressing this by seeding leading figures from book publishing, music, heath and finance to post content and field comments on a peer basis with other Gather members. Getting experts to act as community members should not be too unfamiliar to publishers already used to organizing conferences, but using experts effectively in social-media outlets may require them to lay aside some preconceived notions about how experts support their publishing requirements - John Blossom

In spite of social media's increasing popularity amongst online audiences, its success does have limits. One of the key factors that limit social media growth is the very same factor that makes social-media outlets attractive: peers. No offense to the groups of enthusiasts who post their content like crazy, but for the most part, it's clear that you're generally not going to be rubbing shoulders with the big dogs in any real way when you log in to the typical online publishing community—it's just plain folks for the most part. That's good in its own way, but sometimes you want a little more pizzazz in your online relationships.

By the same token, most social-media publishers leave the stars of business, politics and media to traditional media outlets. In social media, community comes first, with pre-branded contributors playing a role but not with starring credits. Sometimes celebrity CEOs break out with weblogs to keep in touch with the public, or celebrities of various sorts post out pages on MySpace, but a few stray weblog comments or getting love notes from "Emma the feisty pink muffin" is not quite the same thing as building content alongside sophisticated audiences who do their own publishing through social media.

But hope on; there is some middle ground to work out this dilemma. The Gather social media community has been creating an environment that appeals to serious adult audiences online that leverages their ability to create articles and discussions. Gather authors pump out tagged content that gets voted on by its members and points toward online purchases. It's a community that takes its authoring duties seriously, including those who participate in Gather's "first chapters" book-writing competition to surface budding literary talents. "Gather Essentials" categories such as Health attract established authors as well as everyday people with insights. Other social media outlets are larger, but few provide the level of serious engagement with adults that Gather has managed to garner.

Into this mix of professional and self-styled authors is now coming an announced stream of experts who can rub elbows with their core audiences on serious topics – and in the process of doing so, build brand equity for themselves within that community that would be hard to generate elsewhere online. Sara Nelson, Editor-In-Chief of Publishers Weekly, posts articles about the publishing world that appeal to Gather's bookish users, while contributions from executives at Harvard Health Publications, Columbia Records and McGraw-Hill Professional are tailored to meet the interests of crowds focusing on health, music and finance. Users comment on their articles just as they would any other member of the community, and they post back comments to engage them further.

While social-media communities usually develop their own homegrown "star" network of contributors, the presence of high-profile members from key verticals changes the nature of information flow from and to these important figures significantly. It's a little like the difference between bumping into Bill Gates in an elevator and being able to have a coherent one-to-one discussion with him at Davos. Sometimes context can change a conversation significantly. Best of all these corporate headliners are posting content regularly so the dialog can build within the community over time amongst other committed online authors.

Not every social-media environment may benefit significantly from leading experts in their online peer groups, but in general, it's important to consider how experts previously sequestered behind the filters of traditional editorial channels can become key attractions for social,media outlets.

Here are a few thoughts as to how experts can enhance your social-media publishing:

Keep relationships toe-to-toe. More established media methods for featuring experts online tend to make the expert person the "star of the show." While this may work well for personalities featured briefly on a site, social media tends to favor relationships that evolve over a much longer period of time. Don't make experts invisible, but make it clear that they are but one of many contributors in the community. This is important not only to everyday members, but also to experts who are eager to get uninhibited feedback and ideas from their target audiences.
Don't expect experts to be community leaders. While experts may be looked up to by your online communities, their workloads oftentimes are such that they will not be in a position to anchor those communities any more than other members. In fact, having a dominant expert, widely recognized or self-proclaimed, can inhibit the formation of the peer contributions that build up the broadest base of content possible. Allow experts to use your publishing tools in a way that provides them a chance to provide thought leadership in your online community without expecting them to take on anything but a "just another contributor" profile within the community.
Consider premium packaging for selected levels of expert access. To go back to the Davos analogy, you didn't fork over a pile of cash to Bill to have that chummy conversation, but you did pay a pretty hefty tab for the conference. The potential for subscription access to social media seems fairly antithetical to many at this time, but as pointed out by Reid Conrad, CEO of NearTime, in his SIIA Previews presentation, the smaller the social media community the more effective and important the subscription model becomes for making the most of focused groups creating a high level of contributed value. The technology and methodologies used to implement social media are inherently egalitarian. But in a world where some people want to be more equal than others, we can expect to see social-media "country clubs" sprouting up fairly rapidly—with key experts in tow.

The beauty of social media is that oftentimes it promotes people into expert status who may have otherwise never achieved that recognition through normal media channels. But this beauty can be amplified greatly when already recognized experts are a part of the fray that generates insights and ideas. Gather's use of experts is just the kind of low-key approach to expert participation that is likely to serve as a template for many publishers trying to provide more draw to their online gatherings.

Courtesy - John Blossom at Expert Access

Birth to 12 years in 2 min. 45 sec.

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Wed, 25 Apr 2012 17:37:00 +0000

The Film shows 12 years of a girl from when she was born to her 12th birthday. All this is in 2 Mins. 45 Sec. It is amazing to see how the human being goes under transformation from being a toddler to being dead....The Girl in this video is beautiful and I wish a healthy and happy like.

I liked one of the comments from a viewer that said - "This is one of the reason why humanity still exists.We can make something everytime,we discover new things and we invent something everyday.You are a genius,man.Keep it up!"

"Whatever You Give To Life, Life Gives You Back"

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Tue, 24 Apr 2012 16:18:00 +0000

Not a big fan of forwarded mail, but we all know that something is always of interesting in the Junk yard….Got this one today and while readying just was simply asking myself that what would I have done…and of course need to ask this question with honesty to your self…Still trying to get an answer for myself. Though thought to share it with others….Take care.

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A successful business man was growing old and
knew it was time to choose a successor to take over the business.
Instead of choosing one of his Directors or his children,
he decided to do something different. He called all the young executives in his company together.
He said, "It is time for me to step down and choose the next CEO. I have decided to choose one of you.

"The young executives were Shocked, but the boss continued. "I am going to give each one of you a SEED today - one very special SEED.
I want you to plant the seed, water it, and come back here one year from today with what you have grown from the seed I have given you. I will then judge the plants that you bring, and the one I choose will be the next CEO."

One man, named Jim, was there that day and he, like the others, received a seed. He went home and excitedly, told his wife the story. She helped him get a pot, soil and compost and he planted the seed.
Every day, he would water it and watch to see if it had grown. After about three weeks, some of the other executives began to talk about their seeds and the plants that were beginning to grow.

Jim kept checking his seed, but nothing ever grew. Three weeks, four weeks, five weeks went by, still nothing. By now, others were talking about their plants, but Jim didn't have a plant and he felt like a failure. Six months went by -- still nothing in Jim's pot. He just knew he had killed his seed. Everyone else had trees and tall plants, but he had nothing. Jim didn't say anything to his colleagues, however... He just kept watering and fertilizing the soil - He so wanted the seed to grow.

A year finally went by and all the young executives of the company brought their plants to the CEO for inspection.

Jim told his wife that he wasn't going to take an empty pot.But she asked him to be honest about what happened. Jim felt sick to his stomach, it was going to be the most embarrassing moment of his life, but he knew his wife was right.

He took his empty pot to the board room. When Jim arrived, he was amazed at the variety of plants grown by the other executives. They were beautiful -- in all shapes and sizes. Jim put his empty pot on the floor and many of his colleagues laughed, a few felt sorry for him!

When the CEO arrived, he surveyed the room and greeted his young executives.

Jim just tried to hide in the back. "My, what great plants, trees, and flowers you have grown," said the CEO. "Today one of you will be appointed the next CEO!"

All of a sudden, the CEO spotted Jim at the back of the room with his empty pot. He ordered the Financial Director to bring him to the front.Jim was terrified. He thought, "The CEO knows I'm a failure! Maybe he will have me fired!"

When Jim got to the front, the CEO asked him what had happened to his seed - Jim told him the story.

The CEO asked everyone to sit down except Jim. He looked at Jim, and then announced to the young executives, "Behold your next Chief Executive Officer! His name is Jim!"

Jim couldn't believe it. Jim couldn't even grow his seed.
"How could he be the new CEO?" the others said.
Then the CEO said, "One year ago today, I gave everyone in this room a seed. I told you to take the seed, plant it, water it, and bring it back to me today. But I gave you all boiled seeds; they were dead - it was not possible for them to grow.

All of you, except Jim, have brought me trees and plants and flowers. When you found that the seed would not grow, you substituted another seed for the one I gave you.Jim was the only one with the courage and honesty to bring me a pot with my seed in it. Therefore, he is the one who will be the new Chief Executive Officer!"

If you plant honesty, you will reap trust
If you plant goodness, you will reap friends
If you plant humility, you will reap greatness
If you plant perseverance, you will reap contentment
If you plant consideration, you will reap perspective
If you plant hard work, you will reap success
If you plant forgiveness, you will reap reconciliation
If you plant faith in God , you will reap a harvest

So, be careful what you plant now; it will determine what you will reap later..

"Whatever You Give To Life, Life Gives You Back"

Personal Home Robots that fly ... and cooperate

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:52:00 +0000

In his lab at Penn, Vijay Kumar and his team build flying quadrotors, small, agile robots that swarm, sense each other, and form ad hoc teams -- for construction, surveying disasters and far more.

2600 years of history in one object

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Thu, 19 Apr 2012 15:49:00 +0000

How a piece of object can explain an entire chapter in history - A clay cylinder covered in Akkadian cuneiform script, damaged and broken, the Cyrus Cylinder is a powerful symbol of religious tolerance and multi-culturalism. In this enthralling talk Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, traces 2600 years of Middle Eastern history through this single object.

What happened to 8 wealthiest people in the world?

noreply@blogger.com (Shiraz Datta) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:38:00 +0000

As we all understand that with the given economic situation, the window of opportunity(s) to bankruptcy is shortening; but it seems most evident in recent history of company(s) and individual(s) sliding from top to rock bottom….It seems the rule of law of gravity has simply multiplied its effect.

I was researching about top companies that were ruling the planet and now nowhere to be found. While researching about it; some one shared this amazing facts about few wealthiest, who had everything but then…..well…..Not everything……

In 1923, eight of the wealthiest people in the world met. Their combined wealth, estimated, exceeded the wealth of the government of the United States. These men knew how to make a living and accumulate wealth. 25 years later.

President of the largest steel company, Charles Schwab, died bankrupt.
President of the largest gas company, Howard Hubson, went insane.
One of the greatest commodity traders, Arthur Cutton, died insolvent.
President of the New York Stock Exchange, Richard Whitney, was sent to jail.
A member of the President’s Cabinet, Albert Fall, was pardoned from jail.
The greatest “bear” on Wall Street, Jessie Livermore, committed suicide.
President of the world’s greatest monopoly, Ivar Krueger, committed suicide.
President, Bank of International Settlement, Leon Fraser, committed suicide.

They forgot to make a life! Just made Money! Money provides food for the hungry, medicine for the sick, clothes for the needy, but is only a medium of exchange. We need two kinds of education. One that teaches us how to make a living and one that teaches us how to live. People are engrossed in their professional life and neglect their family, health and social responsibilities.

Our kids are sleeping when we leave home. They are sleeping when we come home. Twenty years later, we’ll turn back, and they’ll all be gone.

Without water, a ship cannot move. The ship needs water, but if the water gets into the ship, the ship will face problems and sink. Similarly we live in a time where earning is a necessity but let not the earning enter our hearts, for what was once a means of living will be become a means of destruction.

So take a moment and ask yourself….has the water entered my ship?