Recently in Web 2.0 Category

I will be moderating a developer panel at IT EXPO WEST on Developing Profitable Web 2.0 Solutions. The panleists are from Ifbyphone, Voxeo and Intelepeer.

This is a Dev panel so we will be talking about The Styles or Ways to go about Developing Apps, including How To Create an App using the API. We will basically keep to the core of the description: "Attendees will learn how Web 2.0 allows organizations to gracefully migrate expensive legacy telephony to a lower cost software model without disrupting existing operations."

Join us on Thursday, 09/03/09at 9:30 AM

Tonight, Steve Case was on twitter tweeting, "Sad AOL went from being Internet pioneer/leader to also-ran. But still more there then most understand; hopeful can return to greatness." My replies were as follows: what they need are some young, hungry start-up execs, but what they will get is a stodgy exec that wants to cost cut and ride it out.

Why do I say that? Look at Embarq. Hesse had a couple months to pick a team and formulate a plan for the soon-to-be spun off Embarq. What did he do? Let's go with DSL and cost cutting. Blah! They needed that at Sprint not at Embarq. The next guy, Gerke, who took over last March, has been trying to be innovative with the eGo home phone. But EMBQ was already up for sale just trying to find a match.

Then you have EarthLink. Under Barry, it was trying everything: Muni Wi-Fi, BPL, MVNO, etc. He dies. The balls drop to the ground. The Board hires Rolla Hoff to come in, cost cut and try to find a buyer. No go. Just ride it out.

AOL has a wealth of brand recognition and content. It has active email accounts and IM users. My thoughts: go mobile with mobile IM app, definitely make the website and its content WAP based. Create MyAOL for the smartphone for $9.95 per month.

Also, I would have a premium email service that has extra value like saved address book, calendar and mobile access.

AOL has an advertising platform that I am not certain would spin-off, but if it did, there's cash and potential there, just like with the dial-up silo. And ADN, which it the AOL backbone is also something that could be leveraged.

I would even partner with ISP's to be the portal and content partner. Maybe the cable guys would like a deal like Yahoo! has with AT&T.

Anyway, there's plenty there to be worked (a social network too I think), but it wouldn't be that hard to find someone creative and passionate enough to run it. (Hey, Steve, my CV is on LinkedIn!)

As I skim the Verizon Business 2009 Data Breach Investigations Report (PDF) to find that "295 million records were compromised and there were 90 confirmed breaches last year", I think where is the security? The Intrusion Detection Systems, the firewalls, the vigilant admins. Oh, wait, most companies don't have that. What else is missing? A Password Policy and a skilled technician who doesn't use the default settings for gear.

I'm generalizing of course, but there wouldn't be so many breaches if systems, policies, and security was intact. Mind you, this is reported breaches; some known breaches do not get reported and probably a good many breaches are undetected.

As we move to cloud computing, virtualization, SAAS, Web 2.0 and other examples of applications and corresponding data located on an Internet connected server, security will become paramount. It will be too costly to lose data.

Mind you, it's not 16 year old hackers who are the issue. It's organized crime cartels internationally who make billions off stolen data. Yes, Billions.

Managed security services are available. Almost every telco and ISP sell some - from managed firewall to IDS to managed router. My recent experience with a managed AT&T router tells me that perhaps that's not the way to go, but certainly there are MSP's who specialize in network monitoring.

Another idea would be to sell MPLS in place of IP-VPN or Internet based VPN. Yes it costs more, but isn't the peace of mind worth it?

Businesses that accept credit cards also have to worry about security due to liability and punishment. The credit card companies have established guidelines for PCI Data Security.

As a business, if there is a breach, you will be fined, your reputation tarnished and you will be left holding the bag for damages as well. Ask TJX.

So social media expert, Chris Brogan, blogs about Michael Goodspeed being wronged by YouTube. Since Google owns YouTube, this is the beginning of Google becomes the Evil Empire.  I've been watching this happen for a while. When GrandCentral was upgrading to Googel Voice in waves it was a bitchfest on Twitter because people had to wait. *gasp*. They had to wait like 10 days to get access to an upgrade to a free service. WTH?

I just don't understand the issue with entitlement in this world.

It's like the people who have sued Google when Google makes changes to its algorithms, causing their business to fall off. Or when Google started charging for Google Apps and Gmail for businesses. People were not  happy. (What will they do when Google Voice comes off Beta and has a price tag? Voice has a cost).

I now understand why businesses fail: lack of common sense; lack of business sense; no knowledge of business or contract law; and entitlement.

Google, YouTube, Flickr, Yahoo! Mail, Hotmail, Twitter, and Facebook are free to use. If your account gets deleted like Goodspeed's did, it is a bad day. You have back ups, right? But is Google evil because the account was deleted? I don't think so.

If you base your business on a free software platform and that company changes something, you better have plan B. What if the government decides to take ARPANet back for government use only? Or Net Neutrality policy fails so that you only get content form your ISP?  No more INternet as we no it. What then? You better have a Plan B.

I understand that Goodspeed is upset his account was suspended, but it happened on Thursday, March 26th. It's only the 31st. Google isn't set up for customer support to consumers on its free services.

And he forewarned people that this could happen. How did he know?

When twitter is slow, people complain all day. There's a Facebook group titled I will not pay to use Facebook - Keep it free. I just don't understand the mentality. It costs big dollars to provide these platforms and keep them running. And to do it for free is unheard of until the Internet came along. It's the Generation of Entitlement - and it is annoying. No one owes you anything.

VoiceCon is in Orlando this week. I will be driving over on April 1 on my way to another conference in Deerfield Beach.

Next week, I will be in New Orleans for WordCamp, a conference for Wordpress bloggers. I have clients in the area, so I am looking forward to seeing them and meeting Chris Schultz in person. That guy is doing a lot of good things in NOLA.

Then April 22-24 I am in Dallas for a CEO Summit.

If you are in the area, let's meet up. Call me on GrandCentral/GoogleVoice at (786) 228-7039 or send me a tweet @radinfo.

A quick congratulations to Thomas Howe who took the CEO position at Jaduka. Thomas Howe is called Mr. Mashup by Telephony magazine because he not only evangelizes about mash-ups (and API's) but has won a number of contests including the Broadsoft mash-up award last year.

IBM

Image via Wikipedia

has a study out about how Social networking has co-opted many minutes of traditional talking.

 

People are communicating more things to more people than ever before, and not just by phone anymore. Internet-enabled communication models are gaining audience, attention and market share at the expense of traditional telecommunication providers (Telcos). Can Telcos fight back and find new growth opportunities in this rapidly changing ecosystem? The challenge is not just in understanding the technology, but also the unfolding fundamental shifts in human communication behavior.

Facebook, SMS, twitter, LinkedIn, Ning, YouTube, Ustream, and all the rest of the social media strata are where people are communicating. IM/chat like Skype, Google Talk, Yahoo, and MSN also have taken some minutes out of the system.

If you look at usage of cell phone minutes on the youth, you will see very little talking but lots of texting and web access. (Maybe charging per minute caused that). The primary communication method is social networks not telephony.

Telcos are losing landlines, mainly to cellular replacement. Certainly, cableco bundles have taken some landlines, but studies show that in this economic mess folks choose the mobile phone over a static line. Add in the fact that the next generation doesn't eat up minutes means that long distance revenue will be dipping as well as landline counts.
 

This presents a problem for telcos because the content folks don't want to share the revenue, which in many cases they don't have. Twitter, Facebook and Hulu are all having a challenging time monetizing a rapidly growing platform.

People are communicating in new ways -- and none of these innovations came to you from Ma or Pa Bell. Surprised? I'm not.

If there was ever a demonstration of how a government could use Web 2.0 (user generated content), it has to be the Obama group. Here's 10 Online tools that the Obama Administration is using to connect to the People.  I can see why he wants to keep his Blackberry.

On Twitter this morning, someone asked about the Cluetrain Manifesto. (I had to look at Wikipedia to remember what the main points were). The Internet will change every business.  "The authors assert that the Internet is unlike the ordinary media used in mass marketing as it enables people to have "human to human" conversations, which have the potential to transform traditional business practices radically."  We see that happening in quite a few verticals. It has changed the newspaper, music, entertainment, retail shopping, and telecom industries. It will likely change even more.

"The clue train stopped there four times a day for ten years and they never took delivery."  Certainly, this quote applies to 3 Detroit CEO's.

This may be off-topic but with the number of folks that are getting the pink slip, I figured I would list a bunch of sites for job seekers.

• Monster, CareerBuilder and HotJobs.
• Meta search sites like Indeed.com and SimplyHired.
• Your local newspapers.
• Your local work force board.
• Craigslist.
• Recruiters like CIBER, Kforce or Robert Half.
• Mashable, TechCrunch, GigaOm have job listings as do many of your new media website properties in your industry. 
• TheLadders is pay for play. 
• LinkedIn 
• Dice.com for IT jobs and TelecomCareers.
• Jobster

Then there are Web 2.0 sites that Venture Beat and Fast Company wrote about that are turning the job search around (maybe):

• Blue Chip Expert
• NotchUp
• Jobfox
• H3.com
• trovix

Be aware that some folks don't think much of these sites.  And I am sure that there are more places to look, but I figured this would give you a start.

While job hunting, don't forget to keep networking and keep your hand in things either by donating your time to a non-profit or grabbing some projects or contract work.  (Look here for project or contract work:  Guru.com, rent-a-coder, eLance, DoMyStuff, Agents of Value, AssistU, iFreelance)