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Subscribe to Backblog  Outsourcing Industry: Where are the Bright Spots? July 31, 2009 By consider the source Categories: General Outsourcing There’s no question the global economy has been weighing on the outsourcing industry, and despite some disappointing numbers, we’ve found a few bright spots in this quarter’s TPI Index: 1. ITO has kept a reasonable pace. It has been supported in particular by global Network Services agreements in... Case for Security Webinar: Top 25 Dangerous Programming Errors, Part 1 July 30, 2009 By Vaclav Vincalek Categories: General Security Continuing our series on web application security, in this webinar we will discuss the top 25 web application programming errors that lead to security issues. The discussion will cover definitions of the programming errors, how to identify and assess risks in your application, and references to... Cloud to Dampen New Languages? July 29, 2009 By Charlie Bess Categories: General As cloud computing moves beyond IaaS to PaaS, I wonder about the effect of cloud standardization on these new languages. Granted there is only an infinitesimal percentage of executable code that runs in a cloud environment today, but as it begins to take off, will the rigor of cloud environments... How does MSFT get its groove back? July 28, 2009 By Ron Shuttleworth Categories: General Investment Software Companies Last week Microsoft reported its first year over year decline in revenues...ever. Although the performance could be blamed on the worldwide recession, many of its peers and competitors have reported both growth in revenue and earnings despite the recession. A decade of being second or third best (or... Shortened URLs Can Shorten Your Computer’s Lifespan July 27, 2009 By Vaclav Vincalek Categories: General Security Coding Horror has hit on the big threat to the World Wide InterWeb posed by the mainstreaming of shortened-URL services. While Jeff Atwood points to the real danger that the Internet will be turned on its head by monetizing the entire web experience, the security threat is obvious as well. The... Windows 7 - Make sure you have a plan July 24, 2009 By Charlie Bess Categories: General Software Companies It's clear that we're going to be in for a crescendo of wailing and praise around Windows 7 over the next few weeks. Articles are coming out in the Wall Street Journal - by the time it gets to that stage, the release is imminent and your access to it will vary based upon your ties with Microsoft. I... Trading Idea: GOOG performance foreshadows CX performance July 23, 2009 By Ron Shuttleworth Categories: General Investment For 5 of the past 6 quarters, whenever GOOG beatforecasts, so did CX. The common thread between Google and Cyberplex is that they both deliver to marketing managers measureability and performance-based ad budgets. It is well published that GOOG beat analyst estimates for both sales and earnings for... The moon program results are still felt today July 21, 2009 By Charlie Bess Categories: General I was one of those people who were in grade school during the first Apollo moon landings. During some of them, the TV would be set up in the school cafeteria and we would sit around in after lunch and watch the results. We grew up with a real time view of the space program. I spent a great deal of... Is Speed Sourcing for Speedy Results Feasible? July 20, 2009 By consider the source Categories: General Outsourcing Speed sourcing is the industry’s new buzzword. Speed sourcing refers to the process of getting to outsourced contracts in timescales much shorter than the traditional approach. Why now? Nothing has changed in the sourcing world except that the considerations and drivers for sourcing have adjusted... To Facebook or Not to Facebook? July 20, 2009 By Alan Brookstone Categories: General eHealth Social Networking First, let me state right up front - I am a strong supporter of social networking. I think there is value in being able to link up with individuals with a common set of interests. However, unlike 11 million Canadians and 200 million people worldwide, I do not have a Facebook account. My kids (on the... Is the outsourcing world changing July 17, 2009 By Charlie Bess Categories: General Outsourcing The IEEE computing society recently had an article The Changing World of Outsourcing where they talked about 2009 as the year of "outsourcing dangerously". Some of the issues described about increased legislation and wages in various parts of the world have been talked about for quite a while (in... Hailing taxis from the sky: Guestlogix (GXI.V) announcement July 16, 2009 By Ron Shuttleworth Categories: General A new press release from GXI announces the launch of ground services delivered through it onboard retail platform. This could be the "killer app" for the GXI retail platform because it is a natural extension of the travel experience, and there is clear value add to passengers. As most business... Q2 2009 Earnings Season: Crossroads July 15, 2009 By Ron Shuttleworth Categories: General Investment As Q2 earnings season begins, the market appears to be at a crossroads. A lot of portfolio managers are humming along to the old Clash refrain "Should I Stay or Should I Go Now?" Interestingly, the song has a different meaning depending on how much cash is in the mix. Based on a sampling of portfolio... The New Realities of Engagement – Stories That Drive Action Planning and Implementation July 14, 2009 By Jon Husband Categories: General Social Networking (This post was based on a post developed by Rob Paterson three weeks ago, as we seek to design a pilot project in support of an important multi-constituent project Rob is helping to guide. His post was aimed at not-for-profit public media; I have genericized it somewhat). Outlined in the brief... How to Report a Web Security Breach July 13, 2009 By Vaclav Vincalek Categories: General Security Do you remember the Best Western security breach from last year? It is still relevant, in that it illustrated a case of what NOT to do when it comes to reporting a security breach. First, the Best Western hotel chain was quoted in a story that hackers stole eight million credit cards worth roughly 2... Enterprise Architecture is not the same for everyone July 10, 2009 By Charlie Bess Categories: General ICT Hardware and Infrastructure One of the concerns that organizations have about defining their enterprise architecture (EA) is that it takes foundational understanding of the business and its objectives. The Infromation Technology Enterprise Architecture team may take as much investment every year to keep relevant as it did to... IFRS for small and medium-sized enterprises July 9, 2009 By Neil McIntyre Categories: General I received an email late yesterday from the IASB with the following message: "The International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) issued today an International Financial Reporting Standard (IFRS) designed for use by small and medium-sized entities (SMEs), which are estimated to represent more than 9... Interviewing New Service Provider Relationship Manager – Ask the Tough Questions! July 8, 2009 By consider the source Categories: General Outsourcing You are in the second year of a service provider relationship, and your first relationship manager is ready to roll off to a new assignment. Your service provider has offered two candidates to interview – what should you ask them? You’ll want to know how they perceive the service provider’s role:... Canada Day 2009 Week In Review - Guestlogix (GXI.V) July 7, 2009 By Ron Shuttleworth Categories: General Investment While I was relaxing on the dock, not many meaningful announcements were made during Canada Day week (surprise!). On July 2, 2009 Guestlogix reported results for Q2, 2009 with sales of $4.6 million up 150% from Q2 2008 sales of $1.8 million. More significantly, it reported positive net income of $.0... How did New Zealand achieve 100% EMR Adoption in Primary Care? July 6, 2009 By Alan Brookstone Categories: General eHealth New Zealand (as with Denmark) is an example of a country that has achieved an extremely high level of EMR adoption by GPs and a level of adoption by specialists that is not far from 100%. How did they do it? What are the secrets and lessons learned? What was the history of EMR adoption in New... Top 5 Techniques for Maximizing Resilience in Your Global Service Delivery Network July 3, 2009 By consider the source Categories: General Outsourcing If unrest broke out where your critical business processes are handled, could your operations continue unscathed? The potential for geopolitical threats, terrorism, communal violence, pandemic outbreaks and other unpredictable situations that can undermine your business continuity seems to be... The issues with robot interfaces being too human July 2, 2009 By Charlie Bess Categories: General There is an article in this month's Smithsonian magazine about robotics and the issues with what they can do, and the problems people have when robots look too human. This is a good article for those interested in robotics or in the numerous robotics projects currently taking place. The article also... Please select a category:
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