Into the Cloud with Google App Engine Managing information becomes more and more important for individuals and corporations that want to use the web strategically to build value - in these days it's trendy to collaborate, share data and information over the Web.

If somebody asked me what kind of Google Apps I'm using regularly, well, there is award winning Gmail, Reader, iGoogle, Blogger, Docs and of course the most important: Search. Without search no information, without information no action. Google's automated search technology enables me to obtain nearly instant access to any relevant information.

One of the latest Google innovations is Google App Engine, which lets one run Web applications on Google's infrastructure with no servers to maintain. Currently it supports the Python runtime environment using Python version 2.5.2 and provides APIs for the datastore, Google Accounts, URL fetch and email services.

Although Python is not my speciality and my time is very limited, I found it quite comfortable to step into cloud computing with no servers to maintain, to follow the examples and create a first App with Google App Engine. It's early stage, but I think this service is very promising. It's not made to host any SAP datacenter, but it's made to extend the Google experience building modern applications on top of a worldclass datacenter with reduced maintenance costs and the purpose to

• create new opportunities for self-expression and collaboration
• complement and compete in products and services
• leverage network effects and monetization

The tool-kit includes the Django web application framework with form validation, version 0.96.1 or newer, supporting Dojo as state of the art AJAX incarnation.

Latest APIs allow to do image manipulation and caching through memcached, high-performance, distributed memory object caching system to speed up dynamic web applications by alleviating database load as I noticed through several blogs.

It encourages to make use of Web-standards like OAuth for secure API authentication, JSON, a lightweight data-interchange format based on a subset of the JavaScript Programming Language and and OpenSocial, to create apps that access a social network's friends and update feeds from Engage.com, Friendster, hi5, Hyves, imeem, LinkedIn, MySpace, Ning, Oracle, orkut, Plaxo, Salesforce.com, Six Apart, Tianji, Viadeo, and XING.

The rapid adoption of broadband has made it possible to move more and more applications to the Web.

• More on Google

Labels: apis, cloud, collaboration, google, networking, social

  ¶ 'Into the Cloud with Google App Engine' posted by eA : 11:53 AM  0 comments links to this post

  Turning Towards Two.Zero eCommerce The most influencing factors for online shopping are still convenience, trust and quality of information.

Characteristics of today's Web 2.0 architecture allow better communications and data exchange resulting in improved social networking technologies, service orientation and cinematic user interfaces based on AJAX and Flash complementing modern SOA's and Web-services. Web 2.0 features increase brand loyalty and customer retention.

• Current and Future eCommerce Challenges

It's a very early stage, but innovative services on the horizon already leverage human intelligence filtering content by trusted friends and community features applying technologies such as the Semantic Web and FOAF which will enrich today's Web technologies and allow even better collaboration online and improved search results for products and services.

It's not the big guys who drive this evolution, it's smaller but smarter social commerce sites like Kaboodle, ThisNext, Wishpot and StyleHive that have triggered an unprecedented social commerce phenomenon 'customers communicating with customers' and a resurgence in the Long Tail economy.

But also the big U.S. retailers like Wal-Mart, HomeDepot, Kroger, Costco and Target, expertise providers like iVillage and WebMD and of course the great online shopping portals like eBay, Amazon.com, BizRate.com, MySimon.com, YahooShopping, NexTag.com, Overstock.com, Shopping.com, Pricerunner.com, PricingCentral.com, MSN Shopping, Shop.com and Shopzilla and B2B eCommerce portals like the Chinese Globaby.com and Alibaba.com have started to apply Web 2.0 features and most of them are known in Germany and Europe, too.

Time for eCommerce to meet two.zero now.

• Targeting Well-defined Audience Segments
• Trends in Online Shopping

Labels: collaboration, ecommerce, markets, Semantic Web, web2.0

  ¶ 'Turning Towards Two.Zero eCommerce' posted by eA : 10:00 PM  1 comments links to this post

  Next-generation Communications and Collaboration with Google Apps
After Documents and Spreadsheets Google added Presentations to Docs. It's possible now to create and share presentations online with co-workers reducing the amount of friction to interact with each other improving communications and productivity.

• Current and Future eCommerce Challenges
• Into the Enterprise with Google Apps Premier Edition

Labels: bizdev, collaboration, google, productivity

  ¶ 'Next-generation Communications and Collaboration with Google Apps' posted by eA : 12:53 PM  0 comments links to this post

  New Features Experienceable via Blogger in Draft Blogger released a variety of new things to its audience. There is a new Blogger in Draft, which makes new features experienceable prior to any official launch on Blogger.com, a new blog, Blogger in Draft, which announces new features and makes them discussable and of course there is a first feature in Draft introducing Video Upload.

After a click onto the new Video Upload icon an AJAX based screen appears and displays an interface to upload a video to Google Video in one of the accepted formats AVI, MPEG, QuickTime, Real, and Windows Media, 100 MB maximum size.

The procedure reduces the amount of friction to post a video to Blogger and transforms the accepted formats into Flash allowing users to easily embed videos into their own blog using Adobe System's ubiquitous Flash Player and demonstrates that simplicity is another time a competitive advantage, people require already mp3 upload...

Labels: blogger, collaboration, publishing, usability

  ¶ 'New Features Experienceable via Blogger in Draft' posted by eA : 1:45 PM  0 comments links to this post

  Developing New Incentive Models for Modern Work Groups In these days it's trendy to collaborate, share data and information over the Web. It seems to me like the Web has quickly morphed into a giant global operating system which allows to remix the Web via mash ups. As a result of a constantly growing acceptance of social applications the global audience has set a new standard for online creative content, online news, audio and video streaming.

• TrendSpotting - New Technologies First in Consumer Markets

In an enterprise employees usually are organized in different roles around issues. Issues are identified during meetings, in conferences and discussions, then resolved between the meetings. Blogs and wikis are inevitable requirements for a modern work group.

The more I got surprised reading 'Executives Remain Wary of Web 2.0' from BusinessWeek that executives put their resources behind 'technologies that enable automation and networking'

1. Web Services
2. Collective Intelligence
3. Peer-to-peer Networking

followed by mainstream Web 2.0 technologies such as

1. Social Networking
2. RSS
3. Wikis
4. Blogs
5. Mash Ups

A major reason was that 'people with heavy knowledge tend to keep that for themselves, because that's the way they define their job'.

Well, knowledge is power and should be honored.

Labels: bizdev, collaboration, web2.0

  ¶ 'Developing New Incentive Models for Modern Work Groups' posted by eA : 12:35 AM  0 comments links to this post

  Releasing My Current Skill Set As products and experiences become more complicated or gain new capabilities new technologies, disciplines and the hyper speed of today's platforms require new ways of thinking and skills, including strategy, creative and technology helping customers, users, audiences and participants effectively use or experience these solutions.

During the early stage of a product or service I'm often creating designs and mockups to visualize and communicate in an effective way, to define the use-case, to deliver functional specifications or to code with the purpose to

• create new opportunities for self-expression and collaboration
• complement and compete in products and services
• leverage network effects and monetization

Besides BizDev I'm offering:

1. Product & Service Development • Team Building & Management • Service Management (ITIL)
   
2. Market Research & Analysis • Budget Preparation / Administration • Languages: German / English
   

Orientation

Labels: brazil, collaboration, dahab

  ¶ 'Releasing My Current Skill Set' posted by eA : 10:01 PM  0 comments links to this post

  Into the Enterprise with Google Apps Premier Edition It's always been messy to collaborate on projects created with MS Office products and to share them with co-workers. The better that Google launched Google Apps Premier Edition with new administration APIs aimed at businesses for the next-generation communication and collaboration.

• TrendSpotting: New Technologies First in Consumer Markets

Those applications are already out for a while, however the new thing is a premier edition option including:

• 99.9% uptime guarantee for email
• APIs for your existing infrastructure: Single sign-on and provisioning
  
• 24/7 assistance, including phone support
  

Google Apps are excellent AJAX-based communications tools reducing the amount of friction to interact with each other and to improve communications.

The rapid adoption of broadband has made it possible to move more and more applications to the Web and it's a step further to a Web-based collaboration-suite with drastically reduced maintenance costs with an option to buy further premium services.

Before using Google Apps one should read the GOOGLE APPS PREMIER EDITION AGREEMENT carefully and think of questions about privacy, ethics, security and technology support. It might also be interesting what happens in case of an outage or data losses.

• Into the Air with AJAX

Labels: apis, bizdev, collaboration, google, productivity

  ¶ 'Into the Enterprise with Google Apps Premier Edition' posted by eA : 11:58 PM  0 comments links to this post

  Design and YoUser-centric Innovation The ability to anticipate YoUser needs and to think outside the box are key factors to focus on YoUser-centric innovation with a core competence in creativity and new forms of innovation driving it forward based on an intimate understanding of YoUser culture.

Design and innovation can actually reshape an entire brand or the marketplace in which it exists and create an experience that YoUsers remember. During the early stage of a product or service I'm often creating designs and mockups to visualize and communicate in an effective way, to define the use-case, to deliver functional specifications or to code with the purpose to

• create new opportunities for self-expression and collaboration
• complement and compete in products and services
• leverage network effects and monetization

Labels: collaboration, lifestyle, product, trend

  ¶ 'Design and YoUser-centric Innovation' posted by eA : 4:20 PM  0 comments links to this post

  Social YoUser Models in 2007 User's most coveted sites have one in common: YoUser-generated content. The new Me-, My-, You-sites give control to the user and benefit from a word-of-mouth spreading through blogs and social networking resulting in an explosive growth.

Today, a YoUser's personal IT infrastructures and services often are equal to or better than even sophisticated enterprises. The emergence of Internet platforms, new technologies and a nearly ubiquitous Internet access furthered this evolution exploiting the limits of traditional media.

The modern YoUser will become increasingly dissatisfied in doing business with low-tech enterprises.

Shaping a business model based on the idea of a community means to balance the divergent interests of YoUsers, artists, the entertainment industry and technology.

Besides selling one's own products and services current business models for the YoUser involve

• Contextual, displayed, targeted and linked advertising
• RSS advertising
• Sponsoring and donations
• Affiliate programs and merchandising
• Social Commerce
  

I think that over the next few years many people will spend a lot more time on the Internet using it as a platform to meet, communicate and shop, to participate in virtual 3D events and to conduct business on a level of interaction we have never experienced before. Blurring the virtual and physical worlds just makes me think of how many business opportunities and of course challenges will occur in 2007.

• Web 2.0 Aftermath
• Creating Customized Applications via Mash Ups
• Trendy: Mobility and Cross-Platform Capabilities in 2007

Labels: bizdev, collaboration, strategy, trend

  ¶ 'Social YoUser Models in 2007' posted by eA : 2:29 PM  0 comments links to this post