Archive for the 'Efficiency' Category

True Aggregation, The Browser as a Platform

Published by yves on July 7, 2008 in Collaboration, Efficiency, PaaS, SaaS and Strategy.

This is a guest post from BeeBuzz, the voice of BeeBole.

Every morning when I stop reading the last big news from about 30 blogs in Netvibes and switch to my countless SaaS Business Apps such as Gmail, Basecamp, Highrise, Remember The Milk, Google Docs, … I wonder why aggregation of information like news was present so fast in my day to day life and why Business Apps, when it comes to integration, are still in the stone age.

If I had to define the perfect Business Application, it would certainly be user-centric:

  1. I would have a single interface where I could find all my information and processes;
  2. The interface would be flexible. It would allow me to rearrange it the way I want: fitting my working habits and my organization of information;
  3. And finally, it would only include the features I need and for which I would eventually pay.

Even with such powers in my hands, I would still expect quite a lot from the software provider: security, maintenance, performance, scalability and innovation.

There are obvious barriers to reach that point.

First, I doubt we will ever have some kind of a single universal DB with information about persons, friends, contacts, habits, projects, … They will probably continue to multiply and spread as new web solutions will appear.

Secondly, I doubt a single provider will ever meet all my needs. Moreover, I believe innovation comes from diversity.

So, looking at how SaaS providers are responding to this demand, we can find:

1) The me-only providers. They often provide a wonderful tool for a specific domain but are not integrated with others.

SaaS - No Integration

2) The API players. They believe in information aggregation and easily pass the barrier of the constantly multiplying and spreading sources of information.

Centralized and external data is combined not only to avoid redundancy for the users, but also to provide better and more complete results.

Good examples:

API followers would usually also provide API for their own data.

SaaS - API Players

3) The SaaS Platforms. This new feature in the SaaS industry is more than probably going to be the battlefield in the in the coming months and years (McKinsey: Emerging platforms war in enterprise software).

Taking the same naming convention than McKinsey, Development Platforms and Application-led Platforms are good candidates to help the user pass the second barrier.

Providing a single interface for the users and elaborated systems for developers, this might be the solution we are looking at.

It is definitively one step further in the direction of a user-centric approach. Still, there are in my opinion certain downsides you need to consider:

First, the lock-in it creates for developers. When you choose a platform, you basically choose for a complete environment from A to Z at the disadvantage of complete freedom in innovation and technical choices.

Secondly, the real possibilities for the end users are still quite limited in terms of interface customization and flexibility.

SaaS - Platforms

4) True Aggregation in SaaS or the Browser as a Platform. The idea is to be able to empower the end-users and at the same time to leverage providers’ efforts and innovation without creating any lock-in.

While running their business applications through a web browser, the users can customize their screens adding or removing services offered by various providers.

Using the buzz semantic, these users are in fact running SaaS applications through a Mashup interface based on SOA architecture.

I recommend the excellent post about Enterprise Mashups written by Brian ‘Bex’ Huff.

Mashups are usually packaged by developers or Mashup specialists. But, just like Netvibes did for the RSS feeds, you could let them be created by users.

The real challenge for the software providers will then be to rethink applications in smaller blocks that could work independently AND in collaboration with other unknown services.

SaaS - Browser as a Platform

SaaS - Browser as a Platform Logic

So we are finally seeing a move into federation in SaaS Business Applications. Aggregation of information and aggregation of features should be on the mind of everybody who plans to start a new SaaS venture.

While all-in-one heavyweight platforms such as those offered by Salesforce provide a certain comfort, I strongly believe that innovation is about freedom of choices and diversity; and it’s something that can only be achieved by embracing that diversity and not by creating lock-ins.

Last but not least, there is a last barrier that might be bigger than the two others mentioned above: the will of providers to work together and share the love!

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It’s about aggregation…

Published by Ben Kepes on July 6, 2008 in Business, Design, Efficiency, IT, SaaS and Strategy.

ACCMan bought to my attention to the fact that FreeAgentCentral, the UK based SaaS accounting solution, is including tax tips into its corporate blog. As he points out this fulfills many uses;

  • Users get free information which they’d otherwise have to search for (read time and effort saving) 
  • The third part contribution both build credibility and increases the feeling of community
  • By offering this additional information, FAC starts to become a magnet for useful stuff that’s directly related to the service offering. That increases traffic but also increases the likelihood that FAC is seen as a trusted resource.
  • In developing community, FAC is sparking further discussion about its service and discovering fresh requirements.

So it’s a double win - the software vendor wins credibility, design suggestions and eyeballs, while the users gain the sense of community, being listened to and a value add.

I had an email from a SaaS startup the other day that asked me to explain what I meant when I said that “SaaS businesses need to think about aggregation”. My response to him went thus;

in this environment, where there are lots of “me too” offerings, I really like SaaS platform plays. This is where a product takes in information from many different sources and puts it in one place where it is easy for the user. Examples could include - Salesforce with Google apps, Zoho allowing login with Google login, FreeAgentCentral giving free tax tips on its blog - it’s all about letting people come in to share
So aggregation can be;

  • single sign-on
  • APIs
  • true aggregation (multiple data streams on one locale)

Good on FAC for seeing where this is heading - what will be the next aggregation play?

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Women’s phone book….. so wrong

Published by Ben Kepes on July 5, 2008 in Business, Design, Efficiency, IT, New Zealand, New business, SocialMedia, Society and Strategy.

I saw over on Brenda’s blog a post about a new phone book site set up specifically for women titled, not surprisingly, womensphonebook. Now I’m not really overly qualified to comment, lacking somewhat in the Womanly department.

It does seem strange that the site creators deemed it worthwhile to set up a directory specifically for Women. Bizarre for a couple of reasons;

  1. Who are they to decide exactly what products and services women need or use?
  2. So they’re deciding that the only valid granular split in society is a gender one?

Brenda said it well when she said;

cos, you know, women can’t use a regular phonebook, they need a special pink one.

Tried search for my favourite things:
computer games, linux, bluetooth, lasers, hackin, opensource, gpl - no results :-(

search for “beer” found me a homestay in “Beerescourt” Hamilton. 1 result for Whisky

alas no results for “hired killers”, though there is an advert for “timesavers for new mums”

The site has a stirring explanation for its existence saying;

Women’s Phone Book is a free to use, specially developed directory offering an efficient and credible way to source a wide range of products and services. Used as a daily resource it displays ratings and feedback on many different products and services used by women, helping make smarter decisions about where to spend their time and money.

Which is pretty much what every other directory does - sans the “specifically for women” part. But once again I ask what service that I use as a man would not but applicable to a woman somewhere (OK there’s the odd one but few and far between)

It also assists business suppliers ensuring that their standards of service are in line with buyer expectations and offers them the opportunity to review direct customer feedback about their products and services (most customers won’t give you direct negative feedback - they’ll just tell lots of people and won’t come back!).

So that part is OK - Whereas most other directory services are about quantity, women’s phone book had a qualitative differential angle - makes sense. But why just limit it to women - why not call it quality phone book or something and open it for all comers?

Women’s Phone Book also provides unique networking opportunities amongst women and is designed to help improve the quality of their lives by sharing valuable learning’s and experiences.

Which makes me want to vomit - a phone book improving the quality of its users lives? Please! Actually I retract that, I use a bunch of old phone books to hike my monitor up to a better height, saves my neck getting sore and really improves the quality of my life….

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It’s all about change

Published by Ben Kepes on July 4, 2008 in Business, Collaboration, Design, Efficiency, IT, SocialMedia, Society, Strategy and Web x.0.

Simon G pointed out a presentation on slideshare titled “What the F**K is Social Media”.

It’s a fantastic show and should be compulsory viewing for anyone at a management level within a corporate (and that includes the board - communication starts with them). To be honest it should be compulsory reading for anyone who interacts with a customer - be it internal or external, virtual or physical.

More than a treatise on social media, it is a commentary on how digital citizens are rapidly moving away from media that talks at them and moving to brands that give them an opportunity to feel a sense of ownership.

It’s about liberating ownership and leveraging openness

It’s about relinquishing control

It’s about participation

It’s about feeling the fear and doing it anyway

It’s about a revolution

 

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