Enterprise Social — Salesforce.com Gets Chatty

Last week, I had a chance to visit Salesforce.com’s Cloudforce in New York.  It was an impressive; Salesforce.com is pushing current thinking re: Enterprise Social Computing and is quite vocal at evangelizing their point-of-view, including YouTube postings from event with ample opportunity to see Marc Benioff share the company’s vision.

Salesforce.com is providing a vision for Enterprise Social Computing, connecting lines-of-business, customers and suppliers.  This goes well beyond current convention for Social Computing where today enterprises are developing Facebook-like tools within the firewall.  I would like to address Salesforce.com’s approach in three areas:  Maximizing the Cloud,  New Offerings and Partners.

Maximizing the Cloud – every Salesforce.com employee and partner with whom I spoke was quick to point out that Salesforce.com was “Cloud” and “Open”  — key points for the Salesforce.com strategy, the latter supporting the former.  When pushed on current in-house infrastructure, answers were somewhat summarily addressed as “migration” and “open integration.”  More work is required here.  Migration is a red-light headache most IT shops will be quick to avoid.  Integration requires more examples, reference architecture and proven providers to support.  Finally, while I am something of a cheerleader for Cloud-based infrastructure, recognition of rationale for maintaining in-house infrastructure and secure, compliant integration is required.  I suspect we will see more on this from Salesforce.com in the next wave.

New Offerings were impressive both in terms of speed of development and reach across the Enterprise.

• Chatter used to sound like an RSS feed for CRM log entries; today Chatter has emerged into a portal solution, accessible via desktop, mobile, kiosk, iPad, providing document storage, file sharing, IM and webinars via Dimdim acquisition.  The evolution of chatter is less surprising than the speed of development.  In a very short time, Salesforce.com has developed an increasingly integrated collaboration solution vs. long-standing efforts from players such as Cisco and Microsoft.  (Side note — the same is true for offerings from Google and VMWare; more on this in future discussions)
• Reach Across the Enterprise via making application development easier and new offerings.  With Force.com and Heroku, Salesforce.com is making it easier to build applications, key to extending data applicability from sales to other line-of-business areas.  Radian6 extends Salesforce.com connection with the marketing organization; recently acquired, Radian6 monitors social conversations, providing enterprises insight into brand management, customer satisfaction and location for engagement.  Radian6 is a gem within Salesforce.com, providing customer data, marketing engagement and an insight for vertical applications.   Finally, Assistly provides a tool for internal call-center customer support; Salesforce.com seems to be re-doubling efforts to address call center solutions.

Partners seem to be having a love affair –in part, because Salesforce.com so generously acquires many and in part, because Salesforce.com provides an application development platform with little conflicts from existing applications.  At Cloudforce, there was a partner pavilion where many “partners” were actually Salesforce.com subsidiaries (e.g., Radian6, Assistly, Heroku), running fairly independently today.  While I am sure someone at Salesforce.com may provide better answers on the rationale for acquisitions, it was not always apparent to the newly acquired employees.  Given the speed of the market, Salesforce.com is likely not waiting for these business relationships to prove themselves out; rather a hit and a few misses may be just fine for Salesforce.com acquisitions.  At Cloudforce, there was quite a bit of chatter about Dreamforce 2012, nearly a year away.  Anticipate a much bigger partner pavilion indicating significant growth in Salesforce.com’s partner base and more acquisitions in the interim.

Dreamforce 2012 seems to be a milestone for Salesforce.com to prove out their vision and strategy.  Today, the vision is impressive and Salesforce.com is liberally evangelizing to anyone who will listen.  The delivery is still a bit bumpy, the execution and delivery still formative.  Bet on a smoother, comprehensive, partner-supported fanfare for Dreamforce 2012.

Changing Environment for Legal Services And The Role For Technology

It is timely to follow up from a few friendly conversations with lawyers and share a few ideas as to how technology may impact the legal industry.  Initially, lawyers have shared genuine curiosity about hot topics such as Cloud computing — perhaps to improve online shopping or watching movies online.  After further conversation, it is apparent that lawyers are looking for something to jumpstart frustration with the current pathway, searching for how to adapt to a changing environment.

When most of us think about legal services, we don’t think about the Cloud or anything terribly different from what has been tested by time. Rather, we may think about practitioners plodding away, drafting and billing away by the minute, keeping junior attorneys busy and billing, for the most part, immune from technology innovation.

Yet, technology innovation has transformed other industries. A few examples include 1990′s online retailing removing bricks for clicks and rationalization of location based supply chains, 1980′s automotive industry and telecom, 1970′s financial services lowering transaction costs, post-WWII farming moving populations from the country and into the cities, to name a few. Are law firms ready for a re-make in light of the current technologies available and increasingly consumed via clients and business partners?

Law firms along with Professional Service firms are often cited as escaping the productivity boom. This is not exactly true. For example, law firms began adopting RIMM Blackberries, creating a whole new paradigm for mobility and how lawyers may deliver value. As well, this is not exactly true for other service firms including accountancies engineering firms and consultancies — raising alternatives for law firm consideration:

• Accounting — In the 1990′s, we saw information technology investment to hold the line on audit costs, move on-location with the client and improve speed of delivery; with freed-up know-how, we saw a corresponding growth in accounting firm specialized advisory service revenues. Will law firms provide more standard fixed-fee continuity services? How may firms translate know-how into advisory services revenue growth? Should attorneys be co-locating and improving virtual collaboration with clients?
• Architects and Engineers — In the 2000′s, architects and engineers enjoyed a heightened impact on construction projects when deliverables began moving from blueprints to building information models. Engagement on construction projects was extended from design to design and build phases, improving both accountability and participation across project life cycle. Will attorneys broaden participation across project lifecycle and immerse into day-to-day business lines challenges? Will firms contemplate additional at-risk fees and corresponding upside revenue on larger projects? Will firm investment into project accountability and client operations improve transparency and develop revenue growth?
• Consultants — while always in the business of redeveloping and repackaging offerings, in the 1990′s firms began stepping up research and publishing efforts to showcase firm know-how outside the defined engagement. As well, consulting firms began developing data information capabilities such as benchmarking to support advisory services. How may law firms best showcase expertise and share know-how outside the defined project scope? In an era of increasing complexity for legal matters, how will organization and interpretation of data and information management support legal advisory services?

Law firms and supporting companies are reformulating the tried and true status quo and providing alternatives. In the last few years, several firms have developed fixed and alternative fee arrangements to better align business interests with client needs. Firms such as Seyfarth Shaw and Orrick have applied client driven outsourcing strategies and process improvements to create more standard service offerings; as well, firms such as Fenwick & West are creating new offerings to broaden participation and continuity.  In each case, critical for success was putting in place supporting technology infrastructure and firm processes.

New firms have emerged to improve service offerings. Taking learnings from business process outsourcing, Axiom Legal is offering a managed service approach for day-to-day operational requirements of firms, augmented with consulting services for targeted specialized areas. VLP Law Group makes the most of technology to enhance internal collaboration and virtual legal service delivery. Both examples are pushing traditional definitions for a law firm, the workplace — supported by mobile, sharing technology.

General counsels are also taking a constructive approach for managing transformation thru education and sharing thru organizations such as Association of Corporate Counsel and publications such as InsideCounsel and performance benchmarking studies from organizations such as Corporate Executive Board.  Over time, efforts may provide the much needed information and metrics to support a new basis for performance measurement.

A critical lever for service improvement is how we may bring parties together; this is a natural role for technology — collaboration, virtual presence and improved knowledge sharing among parties. Legal OnRamp is making the most of the web to connect and share general counsel and firms, offering a forum for sharing and improving insight. Similarly, in the consumer and small business segment, emerging players such as RocketLawyer are offering alternatives for connecting clients with lawyers.

In a changing environment, one area we may expect to remain constant is the value received for law firm services, offering specialized know-how and distinct perspective.  The how  and corresponding business model formuations is ripe for innovation around the edges with technology  to jumpstart value delivery.

Oracle — Cloud Strategy: Humorous Comments Shielding Enterprise Strategy

Oracle does provide entertaining commentary re: the Cloud, somewhat harmless, unless taken too seriously.

Back in 2008, Oracle seemed to be a bit antagonistic to the Cloud or at least other providers offerings in the Cloud.  At Oracle OpenWorld 2008, Larry Ellison called these cloud computing initiatives “fashion-driven” and “complete gibberish”.   Fast forward three years, and Oracle is revealing a comprehensive Cloud Strategy, providing colorful commentary by calling Salesforce.com the “Roach Motel of Cloud Computing.”

Is this an about face for Oracle? I don’t believe so for a few reasons…

1. Mr. Ellison does understand the potential for applications in the Cloud, an early and current investor in NetSuite — an early cloud based ERP provider.
2. Perhaps initially unprepared, Oracle likely needed to buy time for their Cloud strategy; recently, at Oracle OpenWorld, Oracle revealed a fairly comprehensive Cloud offering, not so dissimilar from what you may hear from  Amazon, HP, Microsoft and Salesforce.com at OpenWorld
3. Extending their application offerings with the Cloud, late last month, Oracle announced the acquisition of RightNow, a cloud based customer management solution
4. The Cloud is creating a shift in infrastructure architecture, much like what we have seen moving from mainframe to minis, and minis to PC’s; with Oracle’s leading position in enterprises, they have much to lose to other providers and much to gain by slowing the trend and attempting to catch up / get ahead of the market.

To the last point, Oracle does provide colorful commentary suggesting other vendors have been over-reaching with Cloud computing, requiring further scope and definition and prematurely ascerting unfounded capabilities.   Oracle will likely take advantage from other players missteps, providing a thoughtful methodical approach consistent with what Oracle customers would expect from an enterprise software company.  Time and technology innovation will likely shake  Oracle’s aversion for multi-tenancy solutions.  As well, the Cloud may provide Oracle with alternatives for an already stretched Fusion strategy.

The SmartPhone Wars — Why Windows Phone Deserves More Love

Earlier this month, Apple announced iPhone4GS; remarkeably, over 4 million units were sold in the first week.  Consumers seemed to overlook that that the much awaited iPhone 5 release was effectively pushed well into 2012, having to settle for the iOS5 version without the anticipated sleek hardware.

And then there was Siri…a new voice enabled personal assistant, capturing consumer’s curiosity and offering as much fun as Angry Birds.  Make no mistake about it…Siri may provide fun entertainment today; longer term, Siri offers the potential for productivity; soon everyone may have a personal assistant on-the-go.

Around the same time, Microsoft announced the release of Windows Phone 7.5, referred to as Windows Phone Mango along with three new phones from Microsoft’s newest phone partner, Nokia.

Let’s just say the consumers did not pay as much attention to Windows Phone Mango as iPhone4GS.  This is a shame; Windows Phone is innovative in both design and functionality – here are a few reviews for both Windows Phone 7.0 and Windows Phone 7.5.  While I won’t call out all of the features, it is worth mentioning a few outstanding considerations:

• Integrated Email — one email tile (box) for several accounts; so now I can consolidate all my hotmail, yahoo and gmail accounts into one box
• Threading — like messages are grouped together; I particularly like being able to group conversations i begin in text and move to email
• Social — includes tight integration of common social apps; I like having the option to text with SMS or on Facebook
•  Groups — now that i have integrated Facebook and LinkedIn contacts into my phone, groups help me better organize people
• Wi-Fi Hub — phone has built in capabilities to operate as a hub; unfortunately, most major carriers block this feature

Windows Phone 7.5 is well designed OS, easy-to-use and integrated with social features.  So what is missing?  Well for starters, hundreds of thousands of applications available on iOS (e.g., Starbucks app, WSJ) and  thousands of applications optimized first for iOS, then Android and finally released less than optimally for Windows Phone (e.g., many of the airline apps).  However, none of us use hundreds of thousands of apps; we make due with a dozen or so.

Aside from avid xBox users, the Windows Phone  seems to be too much productivity and not enough fun; iPhone on the other hand the appears alot more fun (e.g., introduction of apps, camera and Siri) and becomes increasingly useful over time.  While we should love Windows Phone for its ease of use and productivity, we sure would enjoy a bit more flash and fun along the way.

Thirty -five years of Technology Transformation — Thank You Mr. Jobs

Apple Mac 1985

This has been a remarkable week, providing moments to reflect over the past 35 years for technology. When you have lived through the times, it is not quite history but more about points in transformation. It is remarkable how the personal computer has changed our lives — how we interact, live with technology, integrate into the day-to day.

I remember disbelief and delight when I saw the first Apple Mac, writing my first Excel spreadsheet on the Mac, setting up my first network with Apple Chooser, all small feats by today’s standards, evolutionary at the time.

There has been quite a bit written about Mr. Jobs this week.  Along with the storm of outreach, I want to say thank you to Mr. Jobs  for his revolutionary contributions — changing how we interact and consumer technology and what we have learned.

Going back to the not-so-distant past, conventional thinking for Apple Computer and Apple products was not exactly what it is today.  Back in 1999, the outlook for Apple Computer was not so certain — once popular Mac publications were closing and consolidating; friends and family were jumping ship and trying their first Windows based machines; just two years earlier, rival Microsoft had invested $150M, bolstering Apple’s cash reserves; application providers were analyzing Apple’s declining market share numbers, unable to justify support for the Apple platform…all of this reflected in the stock price’s low point at $10 per share.

Conventional thinking at the time was that Apple was an anachronism.  It’s core strength was tight coupling of software and hardware design.  While important in the early days of the personal computer, software had evolved and over-taken these advantages.  Simply put, Windows 95 was good enough; with Moore’s law and lowering costs for hardware, there was not enough room for innovation from design… but then came the iMac, iPod, Macbook Air, iPad, showing a burst of new innovation, bringing together sparks of progress from smaller, lighter, cheaper hardware with new usability paradigms from software.

In 1997, Steve Jobs became Apple’s CEO again; today we applaud Mr. Job’s role as CEO taking Apple Computer from $10 to $400 a share, largely based upon his vision for the company.  Again, back in 1997, the outlook for Apple Computer was not so certain. Criticisms were launched against Mr. Jobs and his ability to run a business; concern flaired that Apple would become a design shop with little market relevance.  One of the harshest criticisms launched suggested that the inmates had overtaken the asylum.  But then again, Apple share price $10 to $400, suggesting that vision, tenacity and flawless execution (alright a few missteps along the way as well) trumps bean counting anyday.

Consumerization of Information Technology — the Latest Wave To Manage

Consumerization of IT 0911<<excerpts from a recent presentation attached for reference>>

I am not exactly sure what the word consumerization means.  The word does not exist in either Merriam Webster, Oxford, or Cambridge dictionaries.  Yet, whenever we hear the phrase consumerization of IT we all nod our heads knowingly with vague references to the latest phones, tablets or online communications apps such as Facebook, Skype, YouTube or Salesforce chatter.   Generally, we may agree that Consumerization of IT is how all the stuff we can now do in our personal lives with technology will benefit our business environment and applications.

While Consumerization of IT is a timely trend, it is hardly a new.  Indeed, Gartner, a well regarded technology technology research organization, created quite a stir when stating that Consumerization Will Be Most Significant Trend Affecting IT During Next 10 Years – back in 2005.  Indeed, Microsoft often suggests that the entire consumerization trend started back in the early 1980′s when x86 PCs started shifting workloads from mainframe computers.

While the consumerization of IT trend is not exactly new, we are responding to an acceleration, primarily driven by new devices,  new web applications (i.e., apps) and the Cloud available on demand and greatly impacting how and with whom we connect, how we may communicate (text, phone, email, sype, etc.)  and consume information (aps, web based applications, etc.).  Today, there is interest in these benefits, many (including me) believing the likely source for productivity enhancements which are sorely needed in today’s business environment.

While exciting, for business enterprises, the challenge just got alot bigger and complicated for IT infrastructure management and evolutionary for the application development (i.e., next generation app dev here we come).

For IT infrastructure management, you have many more devices and headaches…

• Bigger — it used to be 1 PC per user; now you have PC, phone, tablet and remote access points
• Complicated — information leakage, device loss, theft, compliance rules, IP protection, malware apps to name a few

While there is no one size fits all approach for enterprise businesses,  most firms are managing infrastructure in light of consumerization trends via a combination of  holding the consumerization trend at bay and setting policy in place to manage.  Trying to hold back an accelerating trend is not exactly a sustainable approach; the visual image for me is firehoses and very small wooden buckets.   Policy — both compliance and enterprise information management provides a longer standing approach (i.e., who gets access to what information on what devices and in which locations); if you are familiar with IT infrastructure, think of this as your next generation directory services; if you are a document management pro, think of this as an extension of document lifecycle management to embrace accessibility from people, locations and devices.

For application development, expectations are emerging for consumption of software and incremental software updates on-demand, much the way we do in a consumer app market today and drastically more agile from the plan development test deploy /rollout schedules we built into 5 year planning cycles.

To thrive in the next wave, enterprise businesses will require building skills in areas such as access, security, app development and enterprise life-cycle management; making this transition in an era of limiting IT budgets and headcount will require many firms to consider outsourcing IT activities to providers offering lowering costs via software as a service models.

Windows 8 Revealed and the Future Tablet Wars

It has been nearly a month since I have been using my new iPad; I have joined the love affair around me for the iPad.  Largely due to the apps at my disposal, it is revolutionary.  My personal favorites are Dropbox for transporting and reading documents , Flipboard for reading news, Instapaper for reviewing web content and Outline for reading my Microsoft OneNote files.   Bringing together a well designed product with a world of apps, iPad is the productivity boost saving time, paper and ink cartridges.

At first glance, it looks like there is quite a bit of imitation in the market place with me-too products coming forward from Android, WebOS and Windows; Apple may find this somewhat flattering….well initially anyway.  Longer term, both Google and Microsoft are beefing up to move ahead from Apple’s early lead.

Last month, Google announced it’s acquisition of Motorola Mobility for $12.5BN.  At first glance, the acquisition analysis focused on the patents Google would be enjoying, particularly after Apple and Microsoft had gained access to the Nortel patents.  Then, confusion set in over the channel friction with Google as both a hardware manufacturer and software operating system vendor.  On the surface, the strategy looks a bit like Apple (tight coupling of hardware and software) and a bit like Microsoft (maintaining an ecosystem of providers to embrace software); my read is that Google is simply ensuring access to the mobile marketplace for phones and tablets, much the way that Microsoft created a closer relationship with Nokia earlier this year.  It will be interesting to see if Google and Motorola can work more closely together on set-top-boxes and access to the television — the big looming prize for all three companies.

And then just a few days ago, Microsoft provided a deeper sneak peak into Windows 8 at the Microsoft BUILD Conference  targeting the Windows developers, a community critical to support Windows 8 with applications running on the operating system.  While the press has been quick to show us how Windows 8 looks and feels with inclusion of Microsoft’s Metro user interface, it is Microsoft’s unique approach for addressing the proliferation of devices into a PC world with one operating system – Windows 8 which is most intriguing.

Microsoft is suggesting that everything is a PC and should operate optimized for the hardware it is supporting.  For example, get touch when you are running a tablet, plug in a keyboard and resume as a PC or set into a docking station for presentation mode.

This is intriguing providing a productivity boost beyond my iPad today and providing Microsoft both the challenge of flawless execution (e.g., get Windows 8 to recognize all those hardware drivers) and the opportunity to sell many more copies of Windows across those devices.

Collaboration — How Aps May Redefine

There is a nice summary outlining how collaboration applications may redefine collaboration infrastructure posted on The Cloud Computing Blog suggesting how cloud based apps such as Yammer and  Chatter may provide a faster, cheaper, easier means vs. today’s collaboration infrastructure

The iPad — An Emerging Love Affair

Last week, I attended the annual International Legal Technology Association (ILTA) conference in Nashville, TN.  This year, the hot topic was Consumerization of Information Technology — largely driven by the current love affair underway between attorneys and the iPad.

It was striking to see an the agenda and discussion so heavily influenced by the encroaching  devices — including a killer app downloadable from the iTune store to manage the event agenda and announcements.  Most interesting were the best practices shared During the Revolution:  Indsutry Leaders Discuss Law2020 Hot Topics by Foley&Lardner and Berwin Leighton Paisner.

As you may expect, when it comes to the adoption of technology, law firms are a cautious bunch.  The number one objective of the law firm IT department is to secure and protect the firm’s crown jewels — documents and email.   So when something new approaches, there are usually rounds and rounds of discussion, primarily regarding security, compliance, manageability, etc.  before legal technology adoption finally takes off.

This is not the case for the iPad; attorney love affair for the devices simply will not allow firms to take a wait and see attitude – much the way Blackberry impacted the industry a decade and a half ago.

Today, firms seem to be taking three approaches to the  iPad

1. Treat your iPad like an oversized Blackberry; use if for email only; lock down your email with security infrastructure such as Good for iOS
2. Virtualize everything and run it on the iPad;  it sounds great from a manageability and security standpoint but remains impractical; watching applications load will make you want to hurl your iPad across the room at the IT administrator;
3. Wait and see with a blind eye — wait for new products offering improved manageability and security; pretend attorneys are not using iPads today and / or disgruntled that they are not connected to enterprise infrastructure

For law firms, this is the beginning of a journey to accomodate consumer experiences for practitioners.

• Communicate — chat, presence, easier video conferencing, blogs and tweeting may follow
• Connect — Proliferation of the devices hitting the corporate network requiring improved  manageability; the problem will grow exponentially as will devices;  software providers such as Odyssey Software and Microsoft  Systems Center 2012 announce remote manageability support for iOS along with other platforms
• Consume — while the devices are thin, light and wonderful to touch, much of the charm comes from the easy inclusion of customization via apps; how easy it may be in the future to provide customization and updates to legal practitioners via apps; already Apple has announced it’s business apps store while Microsoft has released it’s OneNote product on the iTune store.

Anticipate…

1. More chat, Skype, YouTube and Facebook like experiences within the firm
2.  More software to manage access and control of information from remote devices
3.  More apps released and more focus on apps development within firms and with software providers

Big Data and the Information Market Place

WalMart uses Big Data  to help determine what you may buy, as outlined in recent Gigaom report.  The big question is from where does this data come?

One option is to grow your own data — with the decreasing costs of storage, computational power and emergence of cloud based offerings, this is a natural approach for both WalMart and your company.  As well, third parties provide market data to support predictive analytics.  For example, WalMart may determine what I may buy, considering local demographic, retail sales and consumption spending from third party sources.

Data market places are making it easier to both procure and consume third party data, allowing companies to extend traditional business analysis with mashups to market data .  Data market places and analysis tools are making it easier for firms to include market information into analysis reducing the labor of parsing data, simplyfing the complexity when structuring databases and improving visibility into data sources available.  The result is information mashups with real  time and near real time integration of data to guide analysis.

Here are a few examples…

• Data Market places such as Infochimps and Azure Data Market place provide easy access and integration of  data (e.g., census data, retail store data, hospital locations) ready for analysis
• Database streaming analytics such as IBM Infosphere Data Streams offer analysis and correlation of information to identify the data sources you need

For companies, this provides easy access to market data.  For information providers, this is provides a new distribution channel and challenges managing the half life of existing data services (similar challenges from the early Internet days).  Stay tuned!