Thank you Jason

From: The New York Times

With our choices for entertainment and “content consumption” being ever wider, and the traditional venues for advertising becoming increasingly less effective, advertisers are looking for more places to place TARGETED ads.

Product Placement in Music Videos

Are you seeing more of this?  Are you tolerant of this?  Do you expect this?   Will you pay more for no ads?

From Baseline Magazine

Slideshow makes a series of observations  “What’s Wrong with Microsoft”

Do you agree?

Hugh suggested the linked White Paper from Eaton regarding the economics of running a data center.

The report is 12 pages long, however, if you are interested, the report is good, especially if you are an IT person or Power Quality person.

Economics of Data Center

I am personally interested in the capabilities of “real time” measurements.

Here is the Abstract:

“IT teams grapple with some inescapable realities. The cost of operating the data center is outpacing the
cost of IT resources themselves. High-density equipment pressures power and cooling systems to the
max. Moves, adds and changes can turn the power infrastructure into a deck of cards, at risk of
overloads, tripped circuits and unplanned shutdowns.
It doesn’t have to be that way. There are practical and affordable ways to ease these concerns without
making major changes in the power delivery system.
High-efficiency power quality systems, greater visibility into power conditions at all levels, flexible options
to power all those dual- and triple-corded servers, modularity for flexible growth… new approaches and
technologies such as these are redefining the economics of running the modern data center.”

What do you think is interesting?

Thanks to Hugh for these links.

We discussed briefly Next Generation 911 in class.

An article discusses what the problem is and what it is going to cost to fix it.

Next Generation 911

Wikipedia Explanation of NG911 From the article: “In addition to calling 9-1-1 from a phone, the public will be able to transmit text, images, video and data to the 9-1-1 center (referred to as a Public Safety Answering Point, or PSAP)”

Did you know about this?  (I did not know about PSAP)  What do you think?

A blog post at Harvard Business School states that the USA cannot make the Kindle.  The article gives lots of insight into the design and manufacturing of the Kindle.  More importantly, it raises the questions associated with the importance of our (USA) ability to manufacture a product such as the Kindle.

The US Can’t Manufacture the Kindle and that’s a Problem

What do you think?  Does the USA NEED to be a manufacturer?  Why?   Is this “killing innovation”?

I learned about this new book from an article and short video on the INSEAD KNOWLEDGE website.

The article is “The Innovation Manual“  and we can see from the perspective of a marketing professor a number of key points, many of which we have discussed in our classes, but it serves as a great reminder about the “basics” .

David Midgley, the author of the book, uses the example of the Apple iPod and the business model it created.  Once again, we see this model coming out as a key to success. Further, the role of customers in product/service innovation and development.  We also read about the importance of an innovation culture and the challenges of maintaining a culture of innovation.  The book promises to tell us all about it.

What do you think of the reminders here?  What should be emphasized more?   Less?

Seems to be a bit of a theme this Fall, but yet another article about the Kindle.  (I bet you can guess what might be on my Christmas List this year) However, as we think about NPM (New Products Management) we need to understand how important “Launch” is, and pricing.  This article points out a bit about how we need to think about launches in multiple countries may in fact, cause problems for us.

The FAST Company article “Has Amazon Bungled Kindle’s International Launch” gives us a bit of a case study.  What could/should they have done differently?   What have we learned about the importance of a “service” strategy that becomes part of a product launch?  What have we learned about partners?

Thank you Hugh for suggesting this article.

According to the article “DSIA ramps up cloud-computing platform“   —–

“Military program managers frustrated by having to wait six months to get a server provisioned might want to take a look at the Defense Information Systems Agency’s new cloud-computing offering. The agency is boasting that can provide a NIPRnet-connected, production-ready virtual server within 72 hours.”

This is Defense Department certified, not just your average storage in a cloud.  According to the article “DISA has also prepared the virtual environment to conform as closely as possible to the DOD Information Assurance Certification and Accreditation Process and the DISA Security Technical Implementation Guides“.

For those wondering if their data can be made secure in “the cloud”, I guess, well the USA Department of Defense thinks it works.  I count on them to keep me and my family secure, I will trust that it can be done.  And soon, as fast as 24 hours.

What do you think?

Baseline Magazine slideshow showcasing 2010 CIO priorities.  Among them, cost cutting and revenue generation —– revenue generation?

CIO Priorities for 2010

Baseline Magazine is an excellent magazine for ALL management not just CIOs.  Just my .02.

What did they miss?   What were you surprised by?  Which ones should not have been in the top 10?

Baseline Magazine has a slide show that offers some pretty compelling reasons why Solr perhaps offers a great alternative for full text search on your internal sites and databases.  “Smarter Search with Solr“  It is open source for one and has been used successfully with CNET and other sites which are named.

What do you think?  Would you rather pay license fees?

What made you think about switching or implementing this?  From a managerial standpoint, is this something you may direct your IT team to look into?  Why?

Ok, so I am not teaching a marketing class at the current time, I still think that a reminder once in a while about the importance of brand and brand building is a good thing. 

Branding is a consideration in New Product Management, often might even be a criteria in new concept screening.

The article “Five Letter words is key to Marketing Success” is what prompted my thoughts of branding.

So, how important is brand?  How much should it (brand fit, brand extension)be a part of new product concept criteria?

A slideshow on the Baseline website entitled “Facebook Sinks Job Applicants” mpoints out that we need to be careful about what we are “publishing”.  From the posting ” According to research conducted by CareerBuilder, social networking poses a serious threat to job seekers who have posted inappropriate information about themselves. With so many IT workers taking advantage of sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter these days, tech geeks need to keep future interviewers in mind before bragging about their beer pong champion status or posting crazy pictures.”

What do you think?

Thank you to Mike for suggesting this video and topic.

The 18 minute video entitled “The Surprising Science of Motivation“  is a presentation regarding motivation; intrinsic vs. extrinsic .  Daniel Pink shares, in the format of a lawyer presenting a case — that “carrot and stick” does not work!  Rather, “Autonomy, Mastery, and Purpose” are the way to get things done in business.

What do you think?  Did you enjoy the presentation?

In a Baseline Magazine article (July/August 2009) entitled “Keeping a Lid on Risk” there is a section I feel is particularly important.  This section is called “Understanding Risk“.   The section goes on to explain the differences between business risk, technology risk, legal/regualtory risk, and external risk.  EVERY project has risk.  EVERY IT project has these types of risk.  All risk must be actively managed and mangement requires mitigation as well as contingency during project planning as well as during project management.  Proper governance  must include risk management.

Another posting on Project Risk Management “Forecasting the Success of Technology Projects”

How well does your firm manage risk?  Does your firm or organization have a governance plan or approach?

What did you think about this article? What dis you learn?

Amazon buys Zappos Jeff Bezos video — 8 Minutes

Bit of the history of Amazon along with  “how to conduct business” Amazon style and a welcome message.  Customers. Focus on invention — Kindle.   He admires Zappos as customer savvy.

What do you think?

I do not want to be an engineer

Scott from our Strategic Technology Management Class has suggested this topic and article and poses the following questions regarding the link above:

From a Harvard Business School blog site called “Working Knowledge” is a posting called “Building Businesses in Turbulent Times“  is the summary “An economic crisis is a charter for business leaders to rewrite and rethink how they do business, says Harvard Business School professor Lynda M. Applegate. The key: Don’t think retrenchment; think growth”.    I really like the concepts related to the need for innovation.   I also like the emphasis on rethinking markets and business process.  What do you like? 

From the article also is this quote which I really like ” Change is coming anyway, so leaders need to take control. At HBS, our motto is, “Never let a crisis go to waste.” The major dislocations happening in industries around the world give companies a great opportunity to lay the foundation for the future. Because everyone acknowledges the current crisis, they often readily accept restructuring and changes that were not possible in the past—even if change has been needed for some time.”   Let’s not let this one get away.

When creating our technology strategy, we need a full understanding of our business strategy and the market (economy), we must consider purchasing other firms or platforms as part of that strategy.  The following linked article on FORBES.com describes some of the thought process.

Why ORACLE wants Solaris

Is this a good idea for ORACLE?  For anyone else?  GOOGLE Perhaps?  What are the Lessons Learned from this article on creating technology strategy?

Continuing with a bit of a theme around “design”, we have an article that suggests five ways to use “design” in this economic time of recovery.  I like the idea of recovery versus crisis, don’t you?

“Roadmap for Recovery: Five Ways to Come Out on Top”

Do you think “design” can play the role the author suggests?  Why or why not?  Should design be articulated in new product or innovation strategy? How?

Design, and by that I do not mean “engineering design” is central to successful new products.  An article entitled “Creating Cults and Culture with Design“  from FAST COMPANY.  The article talks about APPLE (of course) but also gives examples of other companies that are successful.  Southwest Airlines and METHOD.  However, one of the issues is that everyone wants to be APPLE and tries to create “APPLE-like” products, which are really not innovative. To create your own “iPod” one must have design as one of your business objectives.   The article mentions the role of the CEO.  From the article “First, is design on the CEO’s list of legacy objectives? If not, the design activity is often about creating better window dressing or optimizing a product for usability–but not about creating a remarkable offering. There just won’t be the organizational will that standout products require to survive the corporate development processes. Companies that deliver these kinds of products and services have a creative and empowered culture that wants to understand the customer and that goes the extra mile when perfecting the design. This kind of culture has to come from the top”.

What do you think about “Design”?  Is it part of your organization’s strategy?  What do you think of Southwest as an example?