Both Sides of the Cloud

Cloud computing has been around for a while now.

Here's my take on how it affects productivity and how the world knows what you are working on.

Cloud computing might be an alien term for the common man, however it's use is not.
We all post pictures on popular social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, where do we think are the pictures or the data being stored ? Cloud.

Moving on, talking about work. Most companies have now started working towards making their data available on the cloud to be access from everywhere. Now for me, there are 2 phases here.

The first being View only data. You go to work, you download work on your workstation and start working on it. Cloud is being used only for storage, It's good that way.

It's good because you don't have to worry about your applications to be "Cloud compatible". your CRM system knows the file type and all it's doing is storing the file there. It's like an external hard drive.
The upside here, Like I said, You don't worry about any compatibility issues. you have all your applications on your workstation.
The downside, however, is control on all the data. A company has to make a call on how secure they want the data to be, once the file is downloaded. The downloaded file now becomes a common entity, to be protected only by sharing rules of the organization.
We do know, with outsourcing on a rise, protecting client data is the USP.

The second one, obviously being data that can be worked on the cloud, changed and stored. Now, this looks convenient, however is not.
The workstation now becomes redundant, all you need is a network connection and you are in on the corporate network doing what you need to do.

The upside here, You don't have to worry about applications, everything that you need is on the cloud, and everything is being saved as you work on it. The company saves on logistics and concentrates on investing more on bandwidth, because Internet is all that you want.
The downside however, is the flexibility. Some applications that I have worked on the cloud are close to their offline counterpart, not quite there however.
You can still do the same work you do on the software available offline, but you need to perform at least 2 more steps to get the desired outcome.
Adding to this, is the fact that the file type might not be compatible with an offline version which a vendor or a company working with you uses.
Now, don't let that discourage you. From experience, I have seen the cloud application grow leaps and bounds, giving stiff competition to their counterparts offline. But then, its a global evolution, if the software adds a feature on its new update, it takes a while for the cloud app to get there.

My take on the situation is to have a fusion of both, this solution is the phase where I think most of the companies work on. To do what you do offline and then share it online.
Use the online app as a collaborating tool, where all contributors can discuss and make changes on the fly. There is no denying, the "on the fly" change feature of the online tools are not to be missed.

This takes care of a minimum of 10 emails sent to your team who works together on a document. Adding efficient to the process. Besides, it does turn out to be a team building activity when they can see the impact of their changes on the fly.

As I end the post, I see I might have written more about the changed and stored part, now that doesn't mean I am partial to the option. It's just that we know what has to be known about the legacy working system we have being working on.

I say, any corporate needs to study how it works and collaborates and choose an option accordingly.

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Customer Attention : Doing things differently

I just finished reading this great post by Michael Brenner, He mentioned about "Customer Attention" which got my attention. 


I have always thought and spoken about customer service and customer retention, not knowing that these revolve around the basic goal of customer attention. As far as "reactive" customer services goes, I think we already have the customer's attention there but then we are not certain if this is the "positive" attention we are looking for and can build a relationship on.


On the other hand, when it comes to customer retention, that is where we need the attention part the most. Let's not forget it's not always that the customer will send out positive vibes but then a lot depends on how he was treated all this while and how much positivism a manager can display.


I have always believed, for any business big or small a customer is a customer. It is when a Manager starts giving preference and not priority to larger customers that the debacle starts. Every manager has a client rooster and is expected to make the most out of it, or to keep them happy at least. The talent here is to make sure your excel sheet has updates for all the clients and not only the marked "Important" ones.


I understand a company has to grow and frequently make a call on who to work with, but in these competitive times the risk of filtering out a client with tremendous potential to grow big supersedes the cost of getting new bigger ones. It is a proven fact that acquiring a new customer is more work than up selling services to an existing one,but this is where more attention has to be given.


I am a little disappointed on how "up selling" is defined. At most organizations, up selling is usually quantified as "development" made or "service" sold. 


Why can this work in a subtle way ? It should.


Account Management should not be about "taking care of the customer's needs" but being pro active and multidimensional. It's important to read between the lines and have a broader perspective when it comes to getting revenue from the customer. When I recommend a change in how business is done at my client's end, I know it would momentarily be a move that would profit my organization too.In other words, embedded in this idea lies a seed that would grow and eventually profit my organization. This would be the ideal pitch where I get the customer's attention and also help my numbers grow up. All this because my business runs on my customer's business.


If I keep pushing services towards them, and choking the tunnel with "up selling pitches" I would be left with nothing but a tag of being an annoying salesman.


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BlackBerry, The Need of the Moment

I bought a used blackberry from E-bay the other day, and was I surprised by what I got. The description said

"Sparingly Used" which means(on marketplace sites) "I beat the crap out of this phone, its slow and ugly now" and the features "sparingly" work.

Anyways, Like I said, I'm very happy with the buy, saving money is good.

So, now that I have this device in my hand, I don't really know what to do with it. Do I really get important emails ?
No !! Not at work atleast.

For the record its a BlackBerry 8800, and my sole reason for buying it was the way it looks, so I don't mind not getting emails on it. But then, what about the universal question to any Blackberry owner...

What is your BB Pin ???

Damn, No Data Plan, No BB pin.

Quick comes my answer "Dude, its a business phone(looking at my phone, pretending to check emails and messages, in short act busy), I use the BBM only for my clients,I'm getting another one for personal use I'm working on it ;-)

So, The question remains, Emails on phone, really ? I am purposely not mentioning the "surfing internet" part,
because there is no way i'm gonna surf the net on this tiny screen.

Emails, well ,I have better options around, I have a netbook, an iPad and a Laptop.

Although, I confess, checking emails on the BlackBerry makes "emails" look important, and replying to them makes it "High Priority Work", not to forget the rudeness of constantly checking things on the BlackBerry when you have people talking to you. Great Seinfeld bit on this !!

All in all, I would need the emails on my Blackberry for that one moment when I don't have access to the internet and have an important email to check. I have had moments in the past where emails have driven me crazy and I have driven miles to take care of my business. So, I guess it all comes down to "that" moment. If you can handle it, stick to your generic qwerty phone. Oh, I almost forgot, I also bought it beause of the qwerty keypad.
My last phone an HP iPaq was good, not good enough(was expecting an OS upgrade from Microsoft,,I love upgrades !!! didn't get any)

All in all, I have the Blackberry, might as well enjoy the "High Priority Work"

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Forever Young

Apple Software Update Icon

I'm not sure if I have shared my liking for "updating softwares" on my operating system. Be it  Mac/Windows/iPad/iPhone/Blackberry, there is something about the "New Updates are available" popup that makes my
world rock.

The softwares manage to keep themselves young, forever young. Got the iPad ?? Here you go, an update to keep your iTunes look good on the big screen, turn the full screen on, and now you can view the lyrics, the album art, all at the touch of your finger.

I am updating my office Windows 7 operating system as we speak, and am really excited about using the new IE 9, heard its got the look and feel of Google Chrome(I wouldn't be as excited, if Chrome didn't crash everytime I run a debugging application, and RockMelt.. bah..let's just leave it there).

Windows 7 is alright, I mean Windows has bought new clothes(funky ones) but is rapping the same lyrics, not a surprise to the Windows users. They all know, Windows Xp works the best.

I am a little disappointed with iTunes, I expected them to get better(bigger they have, huge download file with
every update) and change the interface, I haven't liked it since day 1. Its too intuitive(read complex) for a first
time user, same with Windows Media Player.

Mozilla and Real Player are two of my favorite updates, something new to offer everytime. Real Player, especially when it provides update option to the user.

Talking about updates, it is not everytime that I like updates, Winamp is one software where I would prefer the updates to happen on the backend and not on the UI. Even with the swanky(desperate looking, Gawky) skins, I prefer winamp classic.

RIP no more !!
PS : Forever Young Sound Track JayZ Ft Mr. Hudson....Peaceful
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Home Grown Tweets

Interesting Icon

A chilly winter morning at New Delhi. I arrive at office and say "Good Morning" to slick run. Up comes me email and the tweetdeck comes up with 40 tweet updates. I follow couple of Marketing gurus on twitter expecting some good gyaan from them, or maybe a tip for the keen stock trader in me. A new Product launch, or a slight hush hush discussion about it makes the stock for that company go up higher.

Anyways, This morning I found myself in the midde of soup, a couple of these gurus had replied to random business magazine that they follow on twitter, so all that see now is a series of abnoxious RT and replies, of things that I have no idea about.

Nevertheless, to keep the spirit Retweets and Replies alive, I skimmed through the tweets, yet again failing to
understand everything that they were talking about "RT @___ Yes, It is possible @___ @___ @____" A series of snails is all I could make out.

I remember the good old days on twitter where tweets were all about, @____ attended "Emerging Trends Seminar" . I really enjoyed these, they were precise, had enough information, and kept me on the top of emerging trends or any other happenings in the IT or Marketing world.

Don't get me wrong, I am not against the RTs or the "@". Infact, I myself have a series of them going on but to fill  your tweet page with these rather frequently is not going to take you anywhere.

Another trend that is catching up on twitter is the "participate in discussion" where twitter users hashtag and
tweet at a particular user for example "@marketing today" .
I tried following these too, until it ended up with some "yes/No" and edited tweets.

Let get back on the wagon of Home Grown Tweets.

Your Thoughts
Your Blogs
Your Advice

PS : @marketing gurus, Thanks for sharing all the information, have learnt a lot. But am loosing interest, please make us(me) a part of your "open" discussions off twitter.



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Location Based Services : My Tryst with FourSquare

I must have checked in every single day at the Starbucks in Hackensack, just to get the feeling of being the Mayor of a rather popular coffee place, ah well, also for the free coffee they have for His Highness THE MAYOR.

To rewind it a little, Location based services is not nothing that just started out of nowhere, Like any other popular "Network" on the internet, this one too is based on general things we do in life; err Facebook = Remember those building meeting ? You see a nice girl you ask around, and you get to know her "relationship status", "Her Profile", "likes/dislikes" . Umm its pretty much the same, just online now.

Location based services; When I was a freshman, I remember asking people for the best Pizza joint around, the unanimous answer was "Varsity Pizza's and Subs", the answer stays the same except that now I find it on FourSquare with a million reviews which not only tell me where to go, but what to order and how to carry extra paper towels for the "Grease Truck" Pie.

2010 was a big year for location based services, with 4square adding more features to its current portal, and the ability to share(impart) knowledge to your followers on other social networks. But, is this all we can do ?

The answer is NO, what happened to knowing about the new sale in town, how good would it be to be informed about ongoing sales in the mall not by the weird announcements and definitely not by the fliers, but by getting them on your mobile devices. Like every other techie out there, I have some plans for location based services too and by god's grace would be putting them to action very soon.

Location based services are no longer about where you are, but about how your location can help make your life simpler today. I need a haircut, and Prime Cuts at Essex street is PRIME !! I added a tip on 4square. Whoa !! I think I just made life simpler for all the newbies at Hack n Sack ;-)
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The expert novice

I have a Dell Inspiron 1200 laptop which was gifted to me by my sister in 2003. It has a cracked screen, some water damage on the screen, referred to as "dhabba" by the common people.

It was until sometime back my "work" computer. My older posts can make you understand why I am never able to quit on my computers. Nevertheless, day 1 at work, I was told to bring a laptop till I was assigned one by the company. I sat at my desk, opened the laptop bag, and there it was, the old, but shiny Dell(logo) Inspiron.

"Is that older than you ? " hah sarcasm.

After giving the regular tilt head(you'll run out of those comments soon buddy) and smile I turned it on, almost forgetting the fact that Dell doesn't be as not really believe in making long lasting batteries (not that I have a problem with that, I lou Dell). Plugged in, all good to go, the grey button is pressed, and we wait... then it's pressed again. By this time, Mr sarcasm had lost interest in the device "bahut time ke baad on kiye ho, charge nahi hoga, battery bhi kharaab ho sakta hai " ... Tilt and Smile .

I turned it on last week, it was all good, damn now I won't be able to access "those" sites at work, this is unacceptable, work on it now !!

Aha, its just the power cord not plugged in well to the laptop, that was easy. The grey button is pressed, no wait this time. The blue dell splash screen appears, ah beauty !

Starts loading Windows XP, and here comes the desktop, black wallpaper, everything is hunky dory, but then.. it happened.

AVG opens its giant full screen Console, and sarcasm guy goes "dude this thing can make heads turn".

My self respect had taken enough, and now was armed to fire back at a guy using an iPhone to play games and would type on the computer one-finger-at-a-time. How can you use all yur fingers, whoz gonna look at the keys to be pressed Dumbo !! .

So, I turned around and asked him if he was in the mood for some technical gyaan, No I did not wait for him to answer.

I simple stated the fact, that any dumbo could use a "newer" computer, since its all about point and click especially when all you do is use MS Office to make reports. You have to be an expert to manage with what you have and come up good results if not better. If I can't the upper, the bottom left of my screen I would scroll, I would minimize and I would not open 20 windows so that I don't have to open the again in the evening or for that fact next week.

The dell is a 1.2Ghz 512mb RAM , 10GB usable machine. And by the end of my tenure there, I realized how effortlessly did I work on that laptop and how well behaved the laptop was. I'm sure a "newbie" would have lost hope and put something like that in the store, but only if you know of it, will you be able to fully use it.

My point here is quite similar to my past post on a similar topic, it's all about YOU, if you believe that the laptop can do the work, it will. If you believe the old Aiwa music system will play your cassettes after its been cleaned well by you.. it Will.

Stop quitting on technology and start believing in yourself !! Bits and Bytes make this world better every day.
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