Consulting Best

I have moved!

I have moved my blogging site - please go to Techno Business Bridge to continue to follow me.  I welcome comments!

Best Regards,

..Brian..

Can You See Me Now? The Future of Video Chat

Can it be as easy as moving the camera from the “back” to the “front”? Probably, in the case of Video chat. I predict this will take off in a big way as one of those “why didn’t we think of this sooner” moments. However, I still need the camera on the “back” too - I assume the phone manufacturers will figure that out quickly.

..Brian..

From: http://ping.fm/yh7Z9

AT&T’s cynical act « BuzzMachine

Good discussion on Jeff Jarvis’s blog. I don’t agree with Jeff, but the discussion that it ignited is healthy!

From: http://ping.fm/t1LZz

Entner: The three pillars of AT&T’s new data pricing plans - FierceWireless

Roger Entner makes some good distinctions about pricing of data plans and how AT&T really is taking the industry from demand generation to demand management. It looks like some iphone users (the ones I expect are the heaviest data users in the AT&T world) may get a break on their bill in the short term, but I wonder if anyone has done analysis of the new AT&T plan to see when the typical users crosses the line and what might the characteristics be of that user?

I also think it is a smart move on AT&T’s part and has to be future of wireless since we are just in the beginning of “data” for wireless devices. Just look at the PC industry and evolution to see the growth of data across the internet.

From: http://ping.fm/1IFxl

Tony Schwartz: The 90-Minute Solution: How Building in Periods of Renewal Can Change Your Work and Your Life (POLL) (VIDEO)

I believe in this! I find working at home where I am free to take a quick break I am more productive and less tired at the end of the day. 20 pushups, a run, etc when I get antsy makes a huge difference. This article was passed on to me by Gian Zoppo - thanks Gian.

From: http://ping.fm/it9VB

Discussion: Account Management Professionals | LinkedIn

Good discussion started by Vishaka Rana about what makes a good Account manager. I find it interesting that there are so many variations of account manager, but they all have simliar qualities. Actually, these could apply to many positions in business!

From: http://ping.fm/dg0xC

near-term future of Enterprise software

Mark Lowenstein writes an interesting article on the future of enterprise software. What struck me the most is that there is alot of software needed to make wireless for the enterprise really make an impact. Consumer apps are leading the way - but there is alot of catch up to do in the enterprise. What is the next “application” that will be considered a “home run” vs. just a base hit?

From: http://ping.fm/4N3gR

Fedegration - one big piece of information consulting

Mark Lewis writes about “Fedegration” which he defines as “leverage data and content across applications for new purposes (new applications, analytics, governance) and still leave it (and manage it) in place for the existing application.”. Pretty good definition and a good example of why information consulting is going to be important in future years for our large clients. Working in the Cable world now I see many companies that grew primarily through acquisition and they have this issue in spades - how to make the data consistent yet not redo the complete set of systems (usually in the 10s or even 100s of systems). Fedegration was the number 1 issue for CIOs that Mark talked to at the current EMC World conference. We used to talk about not having enough software to do all the jobs we could do with software - now we are getting critical mass and we are dealing with the more challenging problem of how they all work together. Disclaimer - I work for EMC also.

From: http://ping.fm/s7cWS

AT&T & Verizon’s Future Is in Your Fridge

This article by Stacey Higginbotham points out some interesting aspects of the future wireless world. What is the value of machine to machine communication to the large carriers? Probably big value. How will it evolve with respect to cellular vs. WiFi? Probably a mix or a hybrid cellular/wifi model similar to that used by the iphone. who will pay for the communication? Kindle pays (e.g., you pay) the communication costs, will your refrigerator manufacturer pay? Not sure.

..Brian..

From: http://ping.fm/pNzw8

IBM Turns to Software as It Reboots - WSJ.com

Looks like the general belief is that managing data and information is going to be a big growth area for the next few years. Interesting that “software” is the focus in this article - but the message behind the message really is that alot of software is going to be needed (tools) that manage data and allow people at various levels to interpret and act on the data. That is going to be the challenge as we get more and more technology generating data - we need to turn it into information that we can use.

From: http://ping.fm/q2hob