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The advent of the internet, SIP trunking, intense competition and the economic downturn has contributed to changing the channel partner market forever and if you are doing the same things you always did as a channel partner you may get wiped off the earth in the next few years. You need to change. How? Well I would spoil it if I told you and didn't allow you to listen to the podcast which is complete and dare I say elaborate. It is worth a listen if you are in any segment of the telecom or technology spaces and the lessons you can learn here are applicable to other segments of the market.

I just learned that Microsoft will stop reimbursing employees for use of non-Windows Mobile devices. I had heard at a dinner with Microsoft employees at ITEXPO last winter in Miami that use of an iPhone at the company is an RGE or resume generating event. So I was surprised that there are iPhone and Blackberry users at the company.

What I find most interesting about the news is the fact that Microsoft has had such a head start in the mobile OS game... If Microsoft employees are not loyal to Windows Mobile, there must be a reason. As a user who carries two devices - one Windows Mobile and one iPhone, I can tell you that I use the Windows Mobile device less and less - I originally thought I would use it more because of the superior keyboard.

One other interesting point is that the well-written article I just read on the matter from Don Reisinger implies Microsoft is doing something smart with this move. I initially thought the opposite as eliminating the use of preferred devices decreases corporate productivity and increases resentment.

There's another element at work that isn't getting enough attention: company loyalty. Although there may not be anything sinister behind Microsoft's decision to stop reimbursing employees who don't use Windows Mobile devices, I do think it can be used to the company's advantage. There's something to be said for supporting the company you work for. In the enterprise, it's a common issue with companies that have poor morale. They're always trying to find ways to make employees happier, so they will spend more time investing in the company, instead of waiting for the company to invest in them. It's business 101.

So, now that Microsoft won't be paying for BlackBerry devices and iPhones, an imaginary line has seemingly been drawn: will you support Microsoft and use a Windows Mobile device or will you thumb your nose at your employer and buy an iPhone? If you want to support other companies, your employer won't pay. But if you do support your employer, your employer will return the favor.

It's an interesting move -- and one that the company probably won't admit to. But it makes sense on many levels. Microsoft needs all the supporters it can get in the mobile space. If its employees are invested in the technology, they will be more willing to do what they can to either improve it (if they work on that team) or promote it. It gives Microsoft a built-in marketing and product development arm that it might not have had before.

At the end of the artier Reisinger seems to agree that this is really not a smart move as he says:

And now all Microsoft needs to do is totally revamp Windows Mobile and make it relevant. That shouldn't be too hard, right? Ehem.

But I suppose he has a point and that is use your own employees as a sounding board to see what is missing from Windows Mobile and fix it. But in my opinion, the best way to accomplish this is to let the free market work. Let employees pick the best device for the way they work and learn from their comments on how to make a more competitive mobile OS. This after all is the best way to get real-world competitive research.

We are in a time of unprecedented financial turmoil and it is apparent to me that productivity needs to increase to help us stabilize the job losses and hopefully get our economy back into growth mode. It is devices like the Pre which will in fact help corporations boost productivity tremendously. Improved communications flow is the lubrication economies need to operate at peak efficiency.

Palm Pre

It's been an event-filled couple of weeks with the rollout of the Palm Pre and new iPhone 3G S and the new 3.0 iPhone OS/software version. I did get a chance to use the Pre and am impressed with how much it reminds me of the iPhone but with more functionality - multitasking and a menu system which makes it much easier to switch between apps. I would venture to say the Pre design allows you to be more productive than the iPhone. Of course the iPhone has more apps (50,000 and counting) but you can run old Palm apps on the new Pre webOS meaning there are more apps available for the new gadget than you may have thought. In addition, the Pre webOS allows traditional web apps to run on the device meaning we can see many new Palm apps that won't take a great deal of time for developers to roll out.

The keyboard is another big differentiator of the Pre and most people have no problems using it based on my informal questioning at the event last week. Personally the keyboard was too small for my fingers and I had to use the fingernails on my thumbs to type. I do remember having to do this on an old Blackberry as well and I am sure over time I would get pretty good at typing on the Pre. Also it is a bit awkward to hold at first but Sprint employees assure me over time it becomes very comfortable to handle.

My informal tests show the Pre is not quite as fast as Safari on the iPhone at rendering web pages. But the flipside is the Pre is pretty snappy when you rotate it - the screen rotates more quickly than the iPhone. I also sense the Sprint EVDO network is currently faster than AT&T 3G.

iPhone 3G S (Yes -- looks just like the iPhone 3G)

So now that the new iPhone is out which device would I choose? First I should say Nokia, RIM and others have solid devices as well but for now let's focus on iPhone versus the Pre. Apple has now fixed a number of problems with the iPhone such as cut and paste, better search, MMS, landscape keyboard and there is now a video camera as well. So the choice is difficult. I would say the iPhone is still the winner for now. I despise the keyboard on the iPhone so you can imagine how good the rest of the device is for me to say the iPhone wins.

However it is worth pointing out that part of the reason the iPhone wins is because of the slew of apps on the market which run on the device. If the Pre can gain traction and wee armies of developers rolling out software which runs on it then it is possible I could be neutral on this race.

There is also the issue of the screen size. I believe every square inch of real estate is crucial on a mobile device. The iPhone is marginally larger at 3.4 inches vs. the Pre's 3.1 inches. The resolution is identical but the added real estate does help when playing games, reading and displaying menus.

One last thought is I am thrilled with the new Apple Find My iPhone feature which will prevent others from going through he lost iPhone ordeal my wife recently dealt with.

Although no one would go on record, my informal Q&A with people familiar with the matter leads me to believe the Pre will soon have a version with a larger keyboard which comes out of the device in landscape mode which will make it competitive with devices like those from HTC - the XV6800, G1, etc.

I should this comparison end by saying the Pre is very impressive based on my quick use of the device. I expect to explore it in more detail as time goes on and give you my feedback.

Benjamin Franklin is credited with saying the only two sure things in life are death and taxes and I would hazard a guess that if you manage corporate email you could modify this phrase slightly to read the only two sure things in life are spam and outages. Just as corporations hire armies of tax experts to help them prepare returns and armies of doctors are hired to keep us healthy, corporate email decision-makers should consider calling email experts to help them deal with email, one of the more important tools in a corporate technology arsenal.

At Interop a few weeks back I sat down with Michael Hamstra, Director of marketing for AppRiver and we got into a discussion about his company which has been providing SaaS solutions since 2002 - initially helping companies with their spam and virus protection. In 2007 the company launched a hosted Microsoft Exchange offering and now has just shy of 70,000 hosted exchange boxes, 35,000 customers and filters more than five million mailboxes.

An interesting statistic is that the company processes 5 billion messages per month meaning the average corporate email user gets 1,000 messages per month or about 33 per day. In order to keep the mailboxes junk free AppRiver updates virus and spam signatures 2-4 times continually each day.

An interesting point Hamstra mentioned is that his company offers unlimited storage for email users and can do so with relative ease because they don't need to store the spam and viruses.

Moreover he told me his business has evolved due to the increasing use of malicious senders adding infected web links in email. Subsequently the company now offers customers the ability to surf securely by reducing malware and additionally can set up different groups and policies which block certain groups from categories of websites such as sports gambling, gaming, porn, ecommerce, etc.

Moreover to make email even more useful the company has partnered with Voltage Security (news) to ensure that emails can be easily kept secure through encryption. In addition there is a partnership with Global Relay in place which helps customers handle compliance requirements for HIPAA, etc.

In short Hamstra explains that AppRiver is a hosted Exchange company which is now covering all aspects of security. This of course includes disaster recovery.

But security is only part of the story as the company has also decided to use the Akamai network - one which is designed for high-bandwidth applications such as streaming. Why? Well because in my opinion the speed of email response is becoming more and more important as a business differentiator. They use the Akamai network and packet triplication, which is a method of sending information through three diverse routes via the Internet. Whichever packet reaches the destination first wins this three-way race. Once determined, that route is chosen.

Hamstra explains this has worked well for the company as they have been profitable from their inception and add 100-150 customers per week and a 97% retention rate.

Andy why not? The intersection of spam/malware elimination and SaaS is a logical growth area. Why? To take off on another Ben Franklin statement - a spam/malware message not saved is productivity earned. In the end, its all about the Franklins you save.
 

There is nothing that builds a resume more like an award and if you are a developer, you definitely want to keep an eye on the new Dialogic Innovator Award contest which will not only give you some great bragging rights, you could win some prizes as well.


Dialogic was nice enough to ask me to be one of the judges in fact and I am looking forward to being part of this program. Winners get a free one-year service and support contract, a $5,000 credit towards future Dialogic products, t-shirts, press releases and an Innovator logo which I imagine can be invaluable in boosting a company's marketing efforts.

Sure it isn't a $75,000 motorcycle - which makes a great gift for your favorite blogger by the way, but hey, times are tough.

The catch? None really - you have to apply of course and Dialogic wants to also take a moment to invite you to participate in the Dialogic Exchange Network while they have your attention.

At one point in my career I was a programmer and I wish I had the time to participate in this contest. If I did, I would write an app that taps into all my social networks and then monitors my cell phone's GPS to determine when I am in the car. When I am driving, I would want it to call me every 15 minutes and update me on what's happening with my friends and relatives. I would want my news alerts tapped as well in case there is breaking news I need to know about.

Oh and of course I would want WAV file to social networking integration in this app so I could speak and have the files live on the net with links from Twitter, etc.

But that's just me and you don't need to do what I said to win. It wouldn't hurt of course. You have until September 30^th 2009 to apply so open a new window right now and get started. Good luck!

Google Wave is an ambitious project from Google which allows true real-time communications by integrating chat, email, a wiki, social networking tools and more. In many ways it competes with other services such as Facebook and as such it really isn't that new. Still, it does seem slicker and it is more open than many other services which provide communications solutions (a promotional plug -- you may want to check out TMCnet's newest news-driven Global Online Community called Communications Solutions). It also allows real-time IM sessions meaning you can see what the other person is typing before they hit enter.

Some think the company is being arrogant with this launch because as usual they seem to think about products first and profits second. Others think the breadth of features included in Wave could mean that Gmail and Docs are history.

My thoughts are that Google has done a poor job in the social networking space to date and initiatives like Google Voice haven't blown us away. Gmail of course is a solid product and took share from Yahoo! and Microsoft and allowed Google to show targeted ads to millions of users while they viewed their email.

So from where I stand, if Wave becomes successful and is somehow integrated into the Google product family, it could indeed give a Google-sized boost to the bottom line because you can bet that your communications will have embedded ads which are selected based on the keywords you use in the communications.

Google still owns the world's largest ad network and subsequently has relationships with more global advertisers than any other company. This means they have all the incentive in the world to make Google Wave a very popular service and even if the new offering achieves a few percent penetration, it will offer millions and millions of new page views for advertiser monetization.

One last point - the timing of this product is especially curious as it seems to put Google more in the space occupied by Microsoft at a time when the operating system leader is focusing more on search and will launch a new marketing campaign to push it. Moreover it reminds me a bit of the Palm Pre in the way it integrates various services and is open... And the Pre should roll out next week.

Finally, today - it was announced that AOL will be spun out of Time Warner and to me AOL was the original service which allowed real-time communications between its members. Now it is a shadow of its former self.

My view is that communications is continuing to evolve and this move is good for consumers - even if Wave fails and some of its concepts get rolled into other platforms.

Last week at Interop my team conducted over 100 interviews with thought leaders at the show. Topics discussed include green switching, testing, Ethernet, cloud computing and more. So far, half a dozen of the videos have been posted and more are being added continually. I hope you find them helpful.

I have embedded some of these for your immediate viewing pleasure. Here is the page which will store all of these videos.

Chris Loeffler, Global Applications Manager and Lennart Jonsson, Vice President Technology, Eaton

Kevin Goulet, Senior Marketing Director, Enterprise WLAN, Motorola Enterprise Mobility Solutions, Motorola

Kevin Ryan, Director, Data Center Solutions, Extreme Networks

On a recent flight back from Europe I marveled at the ice littering the North Atlantic. A flight attendant told me it was sad as what appeared to be ice cubes from a mile or more in the air used to be icebergs. I am concerned about the environment but I am not sure I agree with the carbon cap and trade system being proposed in the US as it could adversely impact the economy.

But last I checked, regulation gets passed without my express permission and in a world where CO2 is becoming a pollutant, you need to be more aware of energy use and carbon emissions than ever before.

I am especially looking forward to the upcoming sponsored TelcoBridges webinar on TMCnet which will help educate the market on how data centers can lower their energy use.

Even if cap and trade does not become reality this year it is apparent that governments are more and more likely to impose penalties for carbon emissions. Since reducing energy use saves money as well, it behooves everyone with data center decision making authority to be part of this timely event.

My friends, we are in the midst of a tech follow the leader game the likes of which we have never ever seen. First Apple comes out with a mobile phone with a large touch screen and everyone; I mean everyone seems to be following them. Then Apple comes out with an app store and guess what, once again we see follow the leader taking place.

Today in fact Nokia announced its Ovi store and reports are circulating that Sun will soon offer a Java app store.

But if I may, it isn't just the touch screen phone which is making the public go crazy for Apple products. It is a relentless push by Apple to develop products which are slick and easy to use.

Skype is far from the first VoIP software package to come along - it was probably 100th or 1,000^th in line. It was however the slickest and easiest to use. And in IP communications, Microsoft had a multiyear head-start. In fact Redmond also had a head-start on mobile devices.

And the reason is simplicity and slickness. I carry a Windows Mobile device and an iPhone and in many ways the WinMo device is better at doing things like cut and paste and it also has a keyboard. But still, I find myself defaulting to the iPhone because it is slick, has an easy to use browser and is simple to operate.

Google is another example of a company with a simple interface winning the war. Microsoft will soon launch an ad campaign of $100 million on its search engine which is to be potentially rebranded Bing according to sources.

This push by Microsoft will be fascinating to watch. I remember when Google was about to go public, many analysts told us there was little search engine loyalty. This seems to be counterintuitive today but now that all three of the major search engines seem to produce similar results, it will be great to see if Microsoft's money changes peoples' habits.

I wouldn't be surprised if the Money Microsoft spends doesn't increase its share of market... And when I see the ads it will just reinforce the idea keeping things simple, slick and easy to use is the smartest way to run a business and develop products.

Today OpenTable (Nasdaq: OPEN) had a successful IPO allowing VCs to recoup investment dollars. This statement could be one of the most important you can imagine for the tech sector as it signals the IPO market is no longer frozen and in fact the stock was up to $31.89 as of this writing and was planned to price between $16-$18. This number in fact represents an 88% increase over the average $17 price! This as you imagine is the best IPO in some time - 18 months to be exact.

Not surprisingly, this price increase reminds some of the dotcom boom and it does indicate that there is an appetite (pun sort of intended) for tech IPOs if the company has a business model which people think makes sense.

But then again, you could argue the state of the restaurant market is so bad at the moment that this IPO shouldn't have received any premium at all. And with this in mind, the tech IPO market could have a lot more potential than you may think. For the moment at least, investors are willing to discount the negative effects of the economy on entire sectors in exchange for the potential of future growth.

It is obviously worth mentioning the other tech IPO of the week -- SolarWinds had a successful IPO as the original price average set was $10.50 and as of this writing the stock is trading at $13.79 or a 31% increase.

While we can't expect investor checkbooks to open overnight as a result of this news - we need to realize there has been unprecedented wealth destruction in the past two years, this news could signal we are on the leading edge of a healthier tech IPO market. Certainly this could be great news for Skype as they should be going public next year.