Put it in the Cloud

I was recently in Washington DC for a channel partner show. There were several data companies there, providers, agents like myself. There were some underlining themes to the show.

The development of Software as a service (SaaS) is a leading technology to offer. Data is moving into the cloud (meaning it is moving to the Internet and to hosted servers that are encrypted and redundant across the globe)

Also businesses are moving away from cap ex and leaning towards opex. They no longer can afford capital expenditures but will more likely purchase services on monthly terms that can be accounted for as operational expenses. This also lends itself to a tax benefit. Companies must retain their cash yet invest in technology and this is the common thread.

There are many providers that host services such as data backup, VOIP phone systems to replace on premise PBX phone systems and even IT support.

If you are not moving services to the cloud, you are becoming a dinosaur!

Welcome to the future.

Mike

Sprint Android EVO

Wow, I have been watching the momentum that Google Android has and now it is being validated. There are now articles stating that Android is the most used operating system in the US. It has consumed the I-Phone and even RIM Blackberry OS. Android does not operate on an exclusive carrier agreement like the I-Phone with ATT and as a result has blossomed. Take your pick, Verizon, Sprint, ATT or T-Mobile all work with Android devices. With partners like HTC and Motorola, this operating system may be the hottest thing in tech tech days.

Sprint launched the first 4G Android device the HTC EVO. It has an 8MP camera, a 1Ghz snapdragon processor, syncs seamlessly with Google apps, and their apps market store is full of options fr any end user.

I can picture a day in the future when every person carries this sort of web driven device. We used to discuss everyone carrying a cell phone, and now it is time to convert everyone to smartphone technology. It really will improve our productivity and our ability to stay in touch with more people.

Welcome to the future.

July 4th Smartphone sizzle

The 4th of July, fireworks, sunshine, US flags flying, cookouts, and smartphones?

This topic continues to gather steam. The Android platform by Google is hot. HTC is hot with its new EVO 4G Android Sprint phone. Rimm Blackberry is only growing domestically because of Google and of course the I-Phone. Word is not that Verizon will launch the I-phone by Jan 1st of 2011. The real question is can consumers keep up with these devices? Most people I meat know how to do some things like e-mail or browse. But my estimation would be that the average person only uses about 40% of what the device can actually do. Also, what about cost? I mean the monthly cost for owning one of these devices is now well over $100. In an economic downturn it really is impressive how many of these services/devices are entering the market.

Now if we can just write an app for the smartphones to light our fireworks, or clean them up.

Happy Independence day everyone!

Welcome to the Future.

CTIA Show Las Vegas 2010

Well, I am back from the show last week. It was a huge collection of people and technology in a city that is larger than life!

Google Android is a big hit. There are more Android devices hitting the market and in every size and shape. There was a new Sprint Android 3G/4G phone, and a new Nextel Android phone. There are over 20,000apps now for this platform.

Apps were the big thing again. Blackberry is even launching them left and right. Their entire booth was comprised of applications for business. go to www.appworld.blackberry.com to see them.

The US is leading the world in smartphone roll outs, mobile broadband infrastructure, app downloads, and also 3G/4G networks. It is evident that we are leading the world now in developing our wireless ecosystem. It does not hurt to have another $30 billion to invest towards those efforts this year alone.

The carrier competition to get to 4G is on. Sprint has WiMax, ATT and Verizon are developing LTE and T-Mobile is using HSPA plus network upgrade. It is becoming a data world where it is more important for us to browse, download, send pictures, and text than it is to make a phone call.

Welcome to the future.

Mike

Technology 2010

Well it is here, the new decade. The way we did things last decade, forget them, they are already old. What was normal then is not now. Goodbye old days.

Goodbye flip phones, hello Smartphones. Flip phones, just making cellular calls, are you kidding me, we need to Google stuff now and send e-mail more often. Goodbye voice, welcome data and VOIP. Remember those old analog lines, heck the FCC wants to ban them and go data only. Goodbye napping under a tree, hello GPS tracking. Business owners needs accountability to their bottom line and performance with the few employees they can even keep on payroll. Goodbye owning servers, hello hosted Exchange. Why would you spend $7,000 implementing an Exchange server when you can pay a couple hundred dollars a month to let those IT issues be someone else's problem? Goodbye travel, hello video conference. Let's see with budgets being slashed, Go To Meeting anyone?

It leaves me very optimistic to be honest. There are so many changing, evolving technologies, and businesses need help implementing them. Hello 2010.

Welcome to the Future.

Mike

Be Thankful for more than Technology

Yes I am thankful for my family, the people in my life, the blessings from above, we all should be. Tomorrow we can all slow down for a moment and reflect and be thankful.

But something tells me the Blackberries will still be working, the videos will be rolling, the high definition will be in focus and the laptops will be in full swing. It is amazing, this time we live in. Think about now versus 10 years ago. Cell phones, smartphones, IP phones, VOIP, high def TVs, memory cards, servers, e-mail, IT, GPS, flat panel PC screens to name a few. How will the elves keep up with this type of demand? It is everywhere, just look around and it looks so different than it did just a few years ago. Are we smarter, maybe, more efficient, probably, but there is still something better for all of us out there. What will it look like in 2020?

Yeah now that I think of it, I am appreciative for those simple things like family and health. They really do matter more than our space aged gadgets, at least for one or 2 days a year.

Welcome to the future.

Mike

Here comes Android

Well, Motorola is officially back in the game. Their stock is up over 10% today on strong 4th quarter earnings and the launch of Android.

This new smartphone is ready to tackle Apple, Rimm, and Palm once it releases. Motorola has some major hitters behind them in Verizon and Google. Droid 2.0 has a solid exterior, intelligent interior and is one of the thinnest full QWERTY keyboards slider phones now available. It has voice recognition, and could be summed up as a no fuss, high tech, over the air updating, multitasking machine. The screen is brilliant and has high resolution qualities as well and of course Google maps will be a staple feature. The camera is 5 mega pixels with a 16 GB memory card which is very impressive.

There are also many preloaded apps like gmail, youtube, calendar, Amazons MP3 store and another 12,000 apps that can be downloaded. Compared to Apple and its 90,000 apps, this may not be significant, but this phone will deliver competition to the smartphone market. The partners that are vested in this project are all serious players.

The unit will be exclusive from Verizon and run $199 with a 2 year agreement. For more information go to www.droiddoes.com. I love the press release I got earlier which starts off by saying "Hello Humans"

Welcome to the Future.

Mike

Those misleading cellular prices

You see the commercials. $49 for the new Blackberry Tour, or $29.99 for the Motorola Rival. Verizon, Sprint, ATT all of them do it. They advertise these prices left and right with the small print almost off the picture. These prices are for renewals for 2 year contracts. These prices are only available IF you are eligible for an upgrade.

Most cellular contracts are the same. You have to have made it roughly 20 out of 24 months through the contract to be eligible for the advertised prices I mentioned. I get calls every other day from people confused about this. They are 6 months into a contract, break or lose their phone, do not carry insurance and then I quote them "$289, are you kidding me I saw it on TV for $29.99" Well that is for an "eligible" customer.

The retail price of most all of these phones is not cheap. A Blackberry for example will run well over $400 to replace at retail if you do not carry insurance or have eligibility to get an upgrade with a discount off the new phone. In the carriers defense, when they discount or subsidize the phone they are losing money and have to keep you under contract for several months to reclaim the discount and actually be profitable.

Be careful of the E-bay purchases for replacements. Carry insurance on Smart phones and create a relationship with a broker that has access to wholesaler's if and when that dreaded day comes.

Welcome to the Future.

Mike

Observing New York technology

My wife brought me to the Big Apple this last weekend as a pre birthday party. I turn 40 in January and she knows I love that city so we went there now before winter kicks in.
We met some friends there and had the time of our lives, what a city with so much to do.

As we toured midtown from day to day I watched and listened to the people and how business is happening. Ironically we flew in on the the morning of the 11th. As we got into the city, there was obviously a somber mood, that day will never leave any of our memories, let alone New Yorker's. The cab we were in had a touch screen GPS. So even though our driver did not speak English well, I knew where we were going. The girl that sat next to us on the plane was on Facebook on her IPhone the minute we landed. We used my Blackberries GPS to find our way around the city as well. I traded e-mails with people from Arizona to North Carolina with them having no idea I was not in the office. Almost every other person that you walk by is on their cell phone. The digital age is abundant in Times Square, it is quite a spectacle for your eyes to see. There are high definition TVs in all the bars and restaurants. The studios where they film NBC's nightly news look like something from 2112. Technology is everywhere. We have come so far since even 1980. Now we just need the people in New York to be as helpful as the gadgets we all own!

This is a weekend I will certainly remember forever for personal reasons. But once again technology strikes!

Welcome to the future.

Mike

Obama the Rock Star

I was lucky enough to sit right behind the President on stage in Raleigh yesterday. I had never seen a US President in person before, it was a great experience. Politics aside, it is truly amazing to look the President in the eye as he speaks. His followers are so excited to see him, he really is a rock star, very iconic.

Whether he can sustain good policy for our country or not, he will no doubt always be remembered for his charisma and charm as a speaker.

When I first arrived there was a gal in line that I stood next to with a Blackberry. She was talking to her friend and she said "this device has truly transformed my life" Her friend soon after took a phone call herself. I could not help but now ask her about the phone and why she said that. She said her family never believed she would actually use it. But she talked about Internet access, e-mail, the ease of texting, doing business on the run.

I love hearing those comments. Ordinary people using technology to make life easier. That is what Blackberries or technology in general are designed to do.

Welcome to the Future

Mike

Verizon and Alltel

Verizon has purchased Alltel, we know that now. But there are several pieces of information coming to us day to day.

Sometimes I wonder if Verizon or Alltel truly know what is right or wrong. The end users lose the stockholders win. In North Carolina Alltel customers bills now read Verizon. But that may not be the case in another state. But coding/rate plan wise they are still Alltel. Their agreements and hardware are with Alltel until the contract ends. Verizon is offering deals/discounts to Alltel customers to move them completely over to Verizon. They are waiving early term fees and activation fees.

Alltel phones currently work on the Verizon network but data features may not work properly so at some point it will be wise to switchover. Business customers are being treated differently than consumer accounts. The Verizon friends and family feature was offered now to comply with Alltels my circle feature. But it is not offered with all rate plans. You must meet minimum rates to get that type of service added to the rate.

Ask questions, find agents that follow the carriers. They typically get detailed information faster through their resources than the direct teams do. The agents that deal with businesses are pushing to obtain that information because the customer is demanding it.

I hope this is the last merger for awhile, the confusion is too great for everyone involved.

Welcome to the Future.

Mike

Power cycle

Have you ever been instrcucted to restart your PC? It gets locked up, it needs to be refreshed. Cell phones are the same way. Does your phone ever act up on you? Always power cycle (turn the phone off and back on) at least once a day. It is like giving the phone a nice shower without having to make an insurance claim! Phones need to reregister with their perspective networks.

Welcome to the Future

Mike

GPS vehicle asset management

You own several vehicles or trucks. Fuel prices go up and down. It is 2009 and most major companies with fleets are using tracking technologies to manage these assets.

What is so great is there are a host of financing options out there. There are great leasing programs, and rental agreements. Competition has brought lower overall prices on both the hardware and the monthly live services.

Track the vehicles, dispatch the closest vehicle, run route reports, customer visit reports, take charge of the fleet. The fuel and time costs are enormous. Imagine riding with every driver every day everywhere they go. Reduce idling and speed to reduce fuel costs. Reduce risk management with seat belt requirements and insurance premiums go down. Customer service is precise, and billing is accurate. After hour use is eliminated saving fuel costs.

It is 2009, get on board, this is a technology that will be as common as a cell phone in a couple more years. Your competitors have it.

Welcome to the Future.

Mike

Smartphones still on the Rise

What an exciting time for smartphone manufacturers. Turn on any stock analyst show and you will hear mention of this segment in our markets. Even though RIM introduced the new Tour world phone, Research in Motion's stock is sliding today because of more competition. I am a big RIM fan but this may not be such a bad thing. Apple is introducing its new I-Phone, Google's G-1 Android phone has sold over a million devices, Samsung just announced 4 new smartphones, and Palm introduced its Pre on the Sprint network. What is next, Nokia gaining demand domestically again?

The winner in all of these new launches is the you, the consumer. We are seeing a more universal approach by the carriers to offer devices that meet our needs. Social media browsing, browsing in general within the data plans are becoming easier to use. There is plenty of memory and the data speeds are improving, 4G is also around the corner. The quality of the camera's are catching up to what Best Buy puts on its digital camera selection. You can post a video on YouTube in minutes. We are an e-mail centric nation now, how does anyone live without e-mail in their hands? This one factor alone is pushing demand.

I think there is a cool factor also here. It is a less expensive way of "keeping up with the Jones" People cannot be approved for refinance their homes so why not flash their smartphone bling. But there is no doubt a more effective approach to communicating with these devices. What was once an Enterprise device only, now the smartphone has caught the attention of the masses.

The market share for smartphones is less than 20% of the market. So there is plenty of room for growth for these manufacturers. The economy dominated with recession yes but it sure is impressive to see this segment prosper. The Internet is literally in our hands now and regardless of the soft economy, the demand continues. Buy their stock or buy their devices, either way, but do not let this momentum pass you by.

Welcome to the Future

Mike

GPS- Navigate or track?

GPS. Global position satellites. It is often misunderstood. But GPS can mean either tracking or navigation.

There are 2 totally distinct conversations to have. Navigation would be like using google maps for Blackberry or a Garmin Nuvi to find your way from one point to another. You may just want to see where you are at on a map. You can use Google maps before you leave an office or home to gage your trip. You can even e-mail those directions to your Blackberry before you leave. There really are no excuses for being lost anymore.

Tracking on the other hand comes in the form of vehicle asset management. The goal for a company is to reduce fuel costs, create better customer service, in a nutshell improve the efficiency of the fleet as a whole. What would happen to your productivity or fuel costs is you were riding shotgun every day with each and every driver? GPS tracking is becoming a significant technology. It will be ordinary in 5 years to have this type of technology in a vehicle. The stakes of employee misbehavior and fuel costs are too great for an owner to worry about the politics of being called "big brother". On top of their business seems more appropriate. So the next time you are thinking about jumping in that vehicle and driving down to the beach, or going to the park or even running that extra errand, remember there may be an e-mail arriving in your managers inbox once that vehicle so much as moves. Scary but very useful! Putting one in your wife's car you ask, I am not going there!

Welcome to the future.

Mike

Blackberry still on top

Well, once again I read that 3 out of the top 5 selling smart phones are produced by yes, Rim Blackberry. The Apple I-Phone and the new Google G-1 Android also made the list. If Google and Apple would expand distribution beyond only ATT (I-phone exclusive) and T-Mobile (Google exclusive) they would certainly penetrate the market more effectively.

In a market with negative feels about it, smart phone technology continues to prosper. E-mail, GPS navigation,Outlook sync capabilities, browsing being just some of the "extra" features. While I was at lunch yesterday my buddy said to me, "I just do not know what I would do without this Blackberry anymore" For the record, I agree.

Heck Rim's stock was at $43 a share just 30 days ago and is trying to break through 80! What recession?

Welcome to the future.

Mike

Online etiquette

I mingle in social media more and more these days. Linked in, Inside 919, Twitter. They all have a good purpose. Meet people online, create introductions for people that are in your network, gather information, share ideas.

I like Linked in because you can get feedback in a group forum setting. You can ask a question (I believe you can ask 10 per month) and get real feedback from other professionals or people in your network. It can be very valuable. But there seems to be those few individuals out there that just cannot follow proper etiquette.

I recently was a part of a group discussion about hosted VOIP phones/Internet/voice services. We just had to have that one guy who cannot play nice. Rude comments, personal attacks, just in mature. They cannot help themselves. They are know it alls, they rub us the wrong way by delivering condescending comments. It seems to me out on the web and in your network, you would want people to like you, and to respect what you have to offer. I find it amazing when that one person in the group has to be disruptive. This person ripped multiple attendees and I am still not quite sure why. At the end of the day though that person completely discredited himself and now has a negative reputation with at least the folks that were in this discussion. I am sure he has done it before and will do it again. I guess my wish is for people using social media is to work with integrity within the forums. The old comment "Why can't we all get along?" idea. After all there is so much for all of us as vendors, buyers, end users, suppliers to gain from these discussions. As a person in communications technology, with this online tool, I have access to some great minds out there, great or input. Unfortunately since it is an open forum sometimes it comes with a price.

Welcome to the future

Mike

Hosted solutions

It is a new catchy term, hosted. It appears more and more in technology so get used to it. There are a few key areas in communications technology that this term is cementing itself. First of all database and application hosting. Up until know most businesses have tried to manage these services on their own. Hiring IT people, purchasing hardware, and maintaining services within a "telco" room. But it is becoming more attractive to move these services off premise (off location) and let someone else manage them for you. The end user pays a flat fee to have these services maintained.

Phone systems are also now becoming hosted. In the past companies would purchase hardware like routers and servers or PBX phone routing systems, and then deal with several carrier providers for local voice and data. Then the company would employ IT people to manage those services. The problem is the management of a network can bombard an IT person's day taking away the very thing they were hired to do which is provide Intelligence to c level folks. Plus it allows companies to preserve capital by lowering up front costs. Let's face it that is a major concern these days.

I am now allowing Intel to Host my Quickbooks data. It is a great feature for a small business. I do not have to worry about backing up the data manually or through a software purchase. Also for disaster relief scenarios, you cannot beat hosted services. What would happen to your business if a natural disaster like Katrina ruined your city? This hosting idea will be a valid market for businesses to take advantage of over the coming years.

Welcome to the future

Mike

Dedicated internet connection 101

I find businesses trying to cut cost from week to week, it make sense, business is off. But buyer beware when it comes to your Internet connection.

I spend time consulting my clients on this topic. There are several forms of catching an Internet connection in your office. Wireless, cable, DSL, and then there is dedicated. If you can afford it, I recommend businesses using dedicated connections. In other words it is a connection that only your office uses. It is not a shared connection like we see with DSL or cable. The speed does not fluctuate. If you purchase a 512k dedicated connection then it is always 512 up and down, that does not change, plus it is more secure. It provides superior performance and most the IT folks I know would agree with that. You will hear cable providers and phone companies DSL service promise 4 to 7 MB download speed but that is if there is nobody else using the Internet while you are. What are the odds of that?

So before you cut that tie and go DSL or cable and share a connection with your neighbors to save money, make sure you understand the performance consequences. We can negotiate with the service provider on price which will be not much more than DSL. We can bundle the Internet services with your voice calls and LD. Don't cut the corner on this one, I think you will find yourself regretting it if you do.

Welcome to the future.

Mike

Sprint/Nextels unlimited plan is hard to beat

I got a call from a potential client a couple weeks ago. They were looking for a Blackerry roll out and because they are high end users, wanted unlimited usage on all of them. Initially they had mentioned they were partial to Verizon wireless services. That is fine Verizon wireless has a great product. But the unlimited Verizon plan runs at $129.99 monthly without any text messaging included. My consultative voice inside of me had to ask them. "Why are we not considering Sprint?"I was told that because Sprint was losing subscribers that this customer would not consider them. I found this extremely odd. Sprint has a very thorough national digital network. Is it as good as Verizon's, maybe not but the Verizon network is not worth another $40 plus dollars per month per subscriber in this example? Especially in these times. On a 2 year contract, this was a huge difference in price over the 2 year term. But at same time, this same customer was extremely worried about the cost of the handsets. It did not add up for me. To set the record straight, Sprint offers THE most complete unlimited plan in this business. There are carriers that still do not offer or have an unlimited plan. Sprint includes unlimited voice calls, unlimited data which means e-mail and Internet browsing, unlimited texting and even GPS navigation. Recently Boost Mobile which uses the Nextel network offered their unlimited plan for $50. In a time when car manufacturers are offering unique plans for laid off workers, both consumers and businesses alike need to recognize this great value being offered by Sprint.

Welcome to the future.

Mike