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Google voice heard 'round the world
March 31, 2009 By Charlie Bess
Categories: General VoIP Web 2.0
I've heard some discussion of Google Voice changing the telecom industry in fundamental ways. I personally don't see how it could have as much impact as Skype and other VoIP related approaches had, but I may have missed it. This new Google Service (essentially a re-launch of GrandCentral, which...

Conferences, community and social media
March 30, 2009 By Paul Marshall
Categories: General Social Networking Tech and Business Events
Had the good fortune this past week to attend one of the premier conferences in our industry (RCM09) and meet with several of the main players in our space, the asset health and reliability space, and with several customers and prospects who are looking to take the next step in their asset...

A Dynamic Two-Way Flow … A Visible First Step
March 27, 2009 By Jon Husband
Categories: General Social Networking Web 2.0
I think this (below) is interesting .. and of a piece with a thought I had today whilst watching President Obama at today’s press conference, namely “Wow, it sure is refreshing not to have to listen to Bush anymore. This guy is way smarter and more articulate, and listens a lot better !“. "Today,...

The Silver Lining: Vertical Integration
March 26, 2009 By consider the source
Categories: General Outsourcing
It’s been a few weeks since I’ve posted an entry. I’ve been busy working with several large companies to think through the next source of value from their outsourcing and offshoring initiatives. My line–of-sight can hardly be deemed a perfect indicator of broader trends, but I thought it worthwhile...

Ada Lovelace day
March 25, 2009 By Charlie Bess
Categories: General
I've been working on a number of things lately that have kept me from keeping up on my blog reading (and writing for that matter). I just noticed that Tuesday is Ada Lovelace Day, a day dedicated to women in technology. I generally stay away from these kinds of focus activities, but I did notice...

Do You Remember the Pre-Internet “Managing By Walking Around” (MBWA)?
March 24, 2009 By Jon Husband
Categories: General Web 2.0
… which I think was a term coined by Ken Blanchard of “The One-Minute Manager” fame. I was a panel member on “The 22nd Century Corporation” at the CIO Summit in Toronto in November 2003. Don Tapscott was the lead-off presenter. During my turn on the panel, I suggested that the then-current interest...

Cyberplex Crushes It Out Of the Park - Tech bubble survivor reports Q4 and full-year results
March 23, 2009 By Ron Shuttleworth
Categories: General Investment
After markets closed today Cyberplex (CX.TO) reported Q4 and full-year results. In a good economy, the results would be considered outstanding. During this recession, the results could be considered astounding, especially considering that all of the reported growth was essentially organic. Sales for...

LeVar Burton made me Twitter
March 20, 2009 By Peter Wolchak
Categories: General Social Networking
LeVar Burton was in Toronto recently and he invited anyone to come share a pint at a downtown pub. However, I didn’t hear about it. I only found out days later, from an article in the Globe and Mail, because I wasn’t watching Twitter. Twitter is a micro-blogging Web service that lets users send out...

Building a Community... Step 1
March 18, 2009 By Paul Marshall
Categories: General Social Networking Web 2.0
My company Ivara operates in a fantastic market that is full of opportunities to engage with a robust, knowledgeable group of employees, customers, competitors and thought leaders. While the current economy presents challenges for us and our customers alike it is also a great opportunity for us to...

Building Fences and Digging Holes
March 17, 2009 By consider the source
Categories: General Outsourcing
From Barack Obama’s “Buy American” stimulus package provision, to Gordon Brown’s “British jobs for British workers” comments, to the calls by President Sarkozy to repatriate the production of French cars from Eastern Europe, there is no shortage of evidence pointing to an increasing level of...

Descartes (DSG.TO) Execution Remains Strong Despite Economic Conditions
March 13, 2009 By Ron Shuttleworth
Categories: General Investment
This morning the market is reacting positively to Descartes Systems Group results for Fiscal 2009 Fourth Quarter and Year End Financials. Despite challenging worldwide markets and currency fluctuations, which were reflected in top-line sales performance, the Company had a record quarter for EBITDA,...

Recession Service Management: Talking about money at the service delivery level
March 11, 2009 By consider the source
Categories: General Outsourcing
In this economically challenging time, I'm finding that my clients' service delivery managers are on the front lines having difficult discussions. Their companies are asking for base services from their service providers to be maintained, often with smaller overall services budgets than before the...

Share your Experience with Web Accessibility
March 10, 2009 By Glen Farrelly
Categories: General
I've started my research for my master's thesis and would really appreciate your help. I'm researching why aren't more Canadian websites accessible for disabled people. I'm talking to web professionals in Canada about their experiences and thoughts on this issue so that hopefully recommendations can...

The PersonAll-ization of Knowledge Work... On Your Screen
March 9, 2009 By
Categories: General Software Companies
In November of 2008 I spent several weeks in Paris, France speaking at a conference and with several Enterprise 2.0 startups, and was pleasantly surprised at some of the sophisticated concepts and capabilities I discovered. One of the ongoing (and growing) trends in the workplace is the...

Small Indulgences in Uncertain Times
March 6, 2009 By Ron Shuttleworth
Categories: General Investment
A good friend of mine revealed to me on the weekend that December was his Company's best month EVER in its 10-year history on all measurements; sales, cashflow and profitability. This wasn't an anomoly as Q4 was his best quarter EVER, and January was the best January since inception. He is not a...

Third Generation RFID and the expanding Edge of the Enterprise
March 3, 2009 By Charlie Bess
Categories: General
For a while, I've been saying that if you're going to have computation and communications capabilities associated with a product or pallet, why wouldn't you do much more than what we think of as RFID today... RFID provides just identity and location. With the advent of third generation RFID...

NowPublic adds geotagging, lands Emmy nom
March 2, 2009 By Peter Wolchak
Categories: General Web 2.0
Vancouver-based NowPublic is already well known for deploying Web 2.0 technologies to great effect: the crowd-sourced, participatory news network has garnered praise from Time magazine. Last year it won a PICK 20 innovation award and now the company can add an Emmy nomination to its credit list. ...

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