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Cloud technology: Bringing rains of prosperity to business
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ith all the ‘cloud’ talk presently dominating local and international business news, the average man could be forgiven for assuming that commercial forecasts are gloomy. After all, clouds generally portend bad weather, and given the still precarious economic conditions of many countries worldwide, people are understandably cautious. But this is not a dark cloud, so there is no need to pull out an umbrella. The cloud everyone is speaking of these days refers to a computing model in which services (eg. web-based email) and storage (eg. web hosting) are provided over the Internet. Cloud computing is not exactly a new phenomenon, as applications like Skype and Google Docs have been in existence for a number of years. Cloud services hold great potential benefit for businesses of all types and sizes. Small and medium-sized business operators especially would do well to examine the possibilities. Locally, the telecommunications industry has eagerly embraced cloud computing technology. Digicel Business rolled out Cloud Services last month, offering Cloud Backup to its corporate customers with plans to launch additional services over the next few months, including Hosted Email, Hosted BlackBerry Server, Virtual Server and Cloud Telephony. Columbus Business Solutions (CBS) also provides cloud services through a partnership with Ignition Technology Group and LIME began offering managed network services for
Participating companies will benefit from secure and highly available compute, storage, and network capacity via a web-based, self-service portal, with a seamless move to pay when the trial period expires. telephony, hosted email and exchange, disaster recovery, and firewall monitoring and management services last year. Fujitsu also recently announced the introduction of its global public cloud platform to local companies under a ‘try and buy’ offer. Fujitsu’s Global Cloud Platform has already been launched in Japan, Australia, Singapore, the UK and North America. The offer is a free trial
of its Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS) technology, which will be available until August 31, 2011. Executive vice-president for strategy operations at Fujitsu Caribbean, John Slaytor, explained that the offer also comes with added support such as consultancy and transition services. Fujitsu has already begun inviting select customers to try the service and hopes to attract other organisations. Participating companies will benefit from secure and highly available compute, storage, and network capacity via a web-based, selfservice portal, with a seamless move to pay when the trial period expires.
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Cloud technology: Bringning rains of prosperity to business There are numerous benefits to be derived from cloud computing, chief of which is saving money. The cloud services provided by these telecommunications companies will give local businesses key resources such as managed software systems and backup facilities, which removes the necessity of costly investment in infrastructure such as servers and software licences. Cloud computing allows business owners to pay a small fee instead of the one-time cost associated with traditional desktop software, which often require annual upgrades. With Digicel’s cloud service, for instance, the price is reduced because capital cost is shared amongst all users and there are no per-feature or per-seat fees – customers pay only for the storage they use. David Bates, head of ICT sales at Digicel Business, has estimated the potential savings from using cloud technology at between 30%50%. Another of the great advantages of cloud computing is accessibility. It is available wherever you are, once you are able to access the internet. Many cloud-based apps also allow users to work offline and synchronize data when they go online. For example, some Google Apps offer a desktop version called Google Gears, which syncs your data when you access the internet. Google Apps has over 2 million businesses and 25 million users in its cloud computing marketplace. Cloud-based applications are also often simpler and easier to use, with just the basics that customers need to get a specific job done. Additionally, cloud
Many cloud-based apps also allow users to work offline and synchronize data when they go online. For example, some Google Apps offer a desktop version called Google Gears, which syncs your data when you access the internet. Google Apps has over 2 million businesses and 25 million users in its cloud computing marketplace. computing applications are updated and improved regularly. Customers will benefit from these improvements without any additional direct cost and without the effort of downloading and configuring upgrades.
rates multi-tier security features. David Robbins, chief technology officer at US-based systems development company NetApp, also suggests talking to your provider about data ownership and mobility, to find out who owns your data once it goes into the cloud, whether data can be shared between services and what happens to your data if you terminate the contract with your provider. And what would happen to your data should there be a major systems failure? Digicel and LIME both have Tier III certification, which means their systems have the necessary capacity and resilience to remain fully operational if there is a major power systems failure or if the systems need to be taken out of production for maintenance activities. CBS, which has its cloud in Curacao, said its facility is not yet ‘officially’ Tier III certified, but it operates at those standards. advertisment
Of course, there are several issues to give careful consideration to before deciding to use these services. These include privacy and security. Your data will be stored on the Internet, which is not without its breaches, hackers and leaks. Business owners will need to ensure that their service providers have airtight security features to safeguard sensitive information. Digicel stated that its Cloud Services are designed for syndicated use, so encryption and access controls are already standard while the Fujitsu Global Cloud Platform incorpoyourmoney ezine
insights by Tracey-Ann Wisdom
Venture Capitalists Banking on Social media IPOs
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he recent success of the LinkedIn and Pandora IPOs plus the sustained buzz surrounding the anticipated Facebook and Twitter offers clearly demonstrate that there is a huge appetite for social media companies on the stock market. Analysts believe this bodes well for other Internet companies looking to go public and may brighten prospects for the venture capital industry. Besides Facebook and Twitter, several other Internet companies are waiting in the wings to launch their IPOs, including Groupon and Zynga. Groupon has been faced with several hurdles since announcing its intentions and filing to go public earlier this month, including incurring a loss of US$146.5 million for the first three months of 2011 as it spent heavily to expand. LinkedIn, a professional networking site, became the first major U.S. socialnetworking site to launch an IPO and its shares more than doubled on their first day of trading. The company is still trading above its IPO price of US$45 per share, but now at US$74, it is down nearly 40 percent from its peak of US$120. Pandora’s shares are also currently trading for US$16 after being valued between US$10-US$12 last week. The company raised $235 million based on the sale of 14.7 million shares. The Pandora IPO is particularly interesting because the company is yet to turn a profit after 10 years of operation. Pandora runs a service that recommends and plays music, allowing listeners to create playlists based on a song, artist
tors willingly overlooked traditional factors such as price-to-earnings ratio in favor of confidence in technological advancements. However, some analysts have argued that the prospective IPOs will help determine whether this could indeed re-occur.
LinkedIn, a professional networking site, became the first major U.S. social-networking site to launch an IPO and its shares more than doubled on their first day of trading. The company is still trading above its IPO price of US$45 per share, but now at US$74, it is down nearly 40 percent from its peak of US$120.
But why are investors flocking to social media start-ups? Profits, of course. Venture capitalists make money when companies they invest in go public or get acquired, and the current resurgence is bringing money back in large volumes. For example, LinkedIn’s IPO has produced more than US$2 billion in profits for its backers, while Groupon’s two top outside investors may own a US$5 billion stake when the site goes public, says the Bloomberg Businessweek.
or genre. The company has 90 million registered users in the United States and makes the majority of its money from advertising; however it has to pay significant royalties for music. This current resurgence of Internet companies has fueled concerns of another dot-com bubble, which wiped out several major web-based businesses in 2000. A combination of rapidly increasing stock prices, market confidence that the companies would turn future profits, individual speculation in stocks, and widely available venture capital created an environment in which many invesyourmoney ezine
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“Social media is word of mouth 2.0” - Jermaine Robinson
ive years ago, the term ‘social media’ meant absolutely nothing. The world was just getting used to Facebook, founded only two years earlier, and the notion of ‘social networking’ was firmly the domain of college students. Today, ‘social media’ is the buzzword du jour, on the lips of everyone from teens to tycoons. Social networks such as Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare have revolutionized the business world and hold vast – yet untapped – potential for marketing success. This has created opportunities for entrepreneurs like Jermaine Robinson, whose one-year-old company, Social Media Jamaica, is teaching local businesses and organizations how to use these services to relate to their clientele while improving their bottom line. “The goals behind Social Media Jamaica’s marketing services are to put our clients in a position to tap into the twoway conversation naturally happening between you and your customers. This conversation occurs 24 hours a day,” Robinson said. “Our services are designed to show you where people are talking about you, the areas where you can best get involved, and the tactics you should use to help increase brand awareness.” The company’s services include social media marketing strategies, social media audits, social profile creation and community building strategy development. These involve assessing a company’s needs and outlining the specific opportunities and actions to pursue, analyzing the impact of a company’s website
This was a major hurdle in obtaining capital for the business. Robinson overcame this by utilizing free software, which was necessary to create some applications. For those businesses still reluctant to embrace social media, Robinson pointed to Jamaica’s Facebook statistics, which show that some 616 920 Jamaicans use the network . “I would... ask them if they still think it’s a waste of money to market or advertise their products where so much of their target market spends time daily.” Jermaine Robinson Founder and Managing Director Social Media Jamaica
“The goals behind Social Media Jamaica’s marketing services are to put our clients in a position to tap into the two-way conversation naturally happening between you and your customers.” across major networking sites and developing strategies to increase visibility, as well as monitoring which communities are most likely to use the company’s products and services and assessing the competition. “Our social media packages include Twitter marketing applications, custom Facebook applications and fan pages which are totally managed and hosted on Social Media Jamaica servers,” Robinson added. It hasn’t been easy for Robinson and his team to convince some sectors of the business community of the importance of creating a visible social profile. Many business owners still see social media as a fad and are reluctant to invest in it.
Nonetheless, Robinson and his team have been making headway, attracting clients from a cross-section of local industries, including manufacturing, entertainment, insurance, auto sales and a major national sport team. “The principles of social media can be applied to any type of business. All you have to do is identify your goals,” he stated. Social Media Jamaica is currently in development mode, creating its own custom social media monitoring platform and moving social media marketing into events, such as parties. The company’s New York-based associate is also examining opportunities to tap into the large Jamaican Diaspora market in the United States. Contact Social Media Jamaica at: Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/social.media. jamaica Twitter: @socialmediaja Email: jermaine@socialmediajamaica.com
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