
Cloudbuy — Digging Into the Amazon-Besting Rhetoric
It’s amusing being a spectator on the sidelines of the current tech investment bubble (granted, some air was let out of it a few weeks ago). Last time around, I was in the midst of it working for a company called FreeMarkets, which had one of the most successful IPOs in history. I also found […]

Maintaining Ethical Standards As An Industry Analyst And Enterprise Consultant
Every once in a while, someone suggests that vendors pay me for coverage. The latest accusation actually used the term “pay-for-play”, which is a derogatory term for industry analysts who require that vendors be their paid clients before they receive any coverage by the analyst, and is often considered to be unethical. Vendors who work […]

Can We Achieve (BPMS) Pricing Transparency?
I saw – and responded to – this question on Quora: What are the license fees / cost for the the top BPM solutions in the market ? ( Pegasystems, IBM ( Lombardi ) , Appian, Oracle , etc ) I am looking forward to do a benchmark of the top BPM ( Business Process […]

Conspiracy Theory: the Vista-ization of Windows 7 has Started…
Three years ago I wrote: Windows Seven in 2010. Does Anyone Still Care? I simply don’t get it: Vista is barely out, nobody seems to like it, CIO’s refuse to upgrade, analyst firms tell them to wait, individual users who tried it switch back to XP, others time their new PC purchase so they can […]

United/Continental Merger: Cost Cutting to the Extreme? One Used Barf Bag at a Time …
As I write this, United flight 7473 has leveled out at a bumpy 35,000 feet, departing from Philadelphia en route to Chicago. I’m sitting in seat 16B in the back of a regional jet, next to my seven-year-old son who feels “germy,” i…

There’s PR. And there’s Dumb PR. And there’s Even Dumber PR. And No CRM System Can Save Them.
The best CRM system can’t help you if your sales / marketing team is clueless. Here’s a ridiculous email I’ve just received. Name removed to protect the (not-so) innocent X. Y. kindly requests a meeting Hi Zoli, In celebrating our 40th anniversary, I’ve been given the privilege to manage the relationship between your organization and […]

Is Video a Crock? It's Certainly Not the New Holy Grail. Get Off the Screen, Dudes.
Many of you will recognize the title – borrowed from “Enterprise 2.0 a Crock” Dennis Howlett. Needless to say I was quite interested in his discussion with David Terrar, who is more of an E20 fan. Hm…hard to watch. Dennis is too loud while David is barely audible. I kept on turning the volume up […]

Office Depot Deceptive Advertising
For being a netbook-fan I admit I am in the market for a super-slim lightweight laptop. The market has evolved, the current slimbooks are only slightly more expensive than netbooks, and I find the 13.3” screen size an ideal compromise between portability and straining my eyes with the tiny screens. So I was quite happy […]