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YouTubeXL: YouTube on your TV now

Google's YouTube is soon coming to your TV. Yesterday YouTube launched their new YouTubeXL service that will bring almost all of YouTube content to your Television.

YouTube XL is basically a redesigned version of the YouTube website that has been redesigned for a better experience on a TV. It works with any device that supports a browser and can connect to a TV such as a Sony PS3, Nintendo Wii, and other set-top boxes.

And users can install Gmote to remote control their YouTubeXL experience.

Meanwhile, Hulu is also aiming at bringing television to your PC with their new Hulu Desktop.

Posted in Information Technology.

1 comment

By Srikant Sreenivasan – June 3, 2009


Google Android: Coming to a Netbook near you

After years of shadow boxing, Google is finally out in the open with its strategy to counter Microsoft on the Desktop Operating System space. Yesterday at Computex Taipei 2009, Acer, the third largest PC manufacturer in the world announced that it is all set to launch a Netbook running on Google's Android operating system.

Android was originally conceived as an operating system for Mobile phones and competes with rivals such as Windows Mobile, iPhone, Symbian, etc on that front. But Acer has clearly demonstrated that the Android can be ported to work on Netbooks as well presumably paving the way for an onslaught of similar devices that will leverage the Open Source Android OS in the future.

Already hot on Acer's heels is Asus, also soon to launch a version of their popular Eee PC powered by Google Android.

This to my mind is a brilliant move from Google as Microsoft Vista has not been entirely successful as an OS for Netbooks. Indeed many Netbooks continue to ship with Windows XP. Besides Netbooks, with limited hardware capability ties in with Google's strategy of leveraging their "cloud" based apps such as Google Docs, Gmail, Google Apps, etc.

Google's ability to give away the Android OS for Free (and also Open Source) could put pressure on Microsoft particularly for Windows 7. If I were Microsoft, I would be very concerned.

Posted in Information Technology.

1 comment

By Srikant Sreenivasan – June 3, 2009


Inbox 2.0: Wave of the future

Google has announced the developer preview of Google Wave, a new tool for communication and collaboration that promises to make email obsolete. Simply stated, Wave merges multiple forms of communication and collaboration such as chat, email and wikis, into one unified experience (see picture).

The motivation behind Wave is that the communication mode that most people use today, E-mail, is clearly broken and people struggle to express complex subjects with just the written word. Besides Email is not "live" and people end up sending each other huge attachments and are often forced to use Wikis, Blogs, Screen sharing software and such as an adjunct to Email for enhancing collaboration.

However, with Wave, a user simply starts off a new "Wave". A Wave might starts with text (as with email) but a user can simply drag and drop images, videos and or even maps. Other participants can be invited to this wave and any changes that people make are instantaneously seen by everybody on that same wave. Wave is really changing the game for traditional email which is "store and forward" technology to "Real time communication". And in a single stroke, Google has entered the collaboration fray so far dominated by a motley bunch of vendors such as Microsoft (with Exchange, SharePoint and OCS), Cisco (with WebEx, PostPath, Jabber), Citrix (with GoToMyMeeting), Adobe (with Breeze) and many others.

Wave is amongst the early applications to leverage HTML 5 (incidentally Google is embracing HTML 5 wholeheartedly and you can read about that on the Google I/O Conference).

Wave uses a new protocol called the Wave Protocol and this is available under an Open Source license. So third party apps can be easily developed using the Wave protocol.

With Gmail, Google shook up the Email world a few years ago and IMHO Google has done it yet again to the collaboration space. Hats off.

Posted in Information Technology.

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By Srikant Sreenivasan – May 29, 2009


Creating Mockups Easily

On an average, I dream up at least one new product idea everyday for addressing business issues by leveraging information technology J. However, most ideas just do not see the light of the day because it is difficult communicating and socializing the concept with others. I end up making simple mockups using a presentation tool, but that is rather inadequate. So, I was quite overjoyed to see Balsamiq. This is a web based tool (in Flash) that allows you to create powerful mockups of software applications. Besides it integrates with Confluence, JIRA and XWiki for easy collaboration with your teams.

Posted in Information Technology.

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By Srikant Sreenivasan – May 18, 2009


Chartle: Interactive charts made easy

Ever feel the need to create and embed charts into your blog posts? Well try Chartle. Chartle has a simple wizard-led process to help even a lay person to create stunning graphs and then publish it on the web. Alternatively, you can also embed the chart directly into your blog article as well. In addition to the routine Bar Graphs, Pie Charts, etc there are some cool chart types such Maps, Timelines, Motion Charts and Dashboards.

Posted in Information Technology.

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By Srikant Sreenivasan – May 12, 2009


Sleep well little one

Sleep well little one ! Sleep in the comfort that you did not have to experience more callousness in this world. We don't know each other, yet when you died this morning, all of us on the flight were grieving. A lady sitting behind my seat was sobbing through the flight after the captain announced that you have passed away. We are all strangers and yet so connected and so impacted by your death.

 

Friends, this morning, I boarded a Kingfisher Red flight from Mumbai to Bangalore. The flight was ready for take off and we had taxied to the runway, when the captain announced a medical emergency and returned to the parking bay. When I first heard that announcement, I thought it was some elderly person who was unwell. Besides, I fully expected our flight to pull into the nearest parking bay and ambulances to come rushing. But nothing of that sort happened, the flight took almost 15 mins to return to the bay and thereafter another 5 mins for a Doctor to come on board. I could sense a lot of activity going on in the rear of the aircraft but after a tense 10 mins, I saw a young couple with a small infant in their arms leaving the aircraft. Indescribable grief was writ large on their faces. And it was at this time that the captain announced that a small infant had died.

 

Suddenly, the entire aircraft was plunged into somber mood. A lady sitting behind my seat started sobbing. Many people who were cursing the delay stopped and were openly emotional. Perhaps if medical help had reached you earlier, you might have been still been saved. Sleep on little one and take thy rest, in the Lord's arms forever blest. 

Posted in humanity.

1 comment

By Srikant Sreenivasan – April 21, 2009


Open Source AJAX based Instant Messenger

Instant messaging is all set to overtake email as the numero uno application on the Internet and there are plenty of Instant Messaging solutions that can be installed on your own private network inside your company for secure internal Instant Messaging and collaboration. However, most solutions need to be installed on the local PC and that becomes a problem for roaming users. While a few products also support web access the experience is far from ideal. I came across AjaxIM (http://www.ajaxim.com/) that is a pure Browser based Instant Messenger application using AJAX technologies to mimic almost desktop-like user experience. While it is low on features, the solution is Open Source (PHP and AJAX) and you are free to add whatever functionality that you need. Try a demo at: http://www.ajaxim.net/ (Username: test, password: test).

Posted in Information Technology.

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By Srikant Sreenivasan – March 13, 2009


Compelling Single Page Applications (SPA)

A couple of months ago I had blogged about TiddlyWiki, a Single Page Application that allows users to Get Things Done (GTD) using a wiki paradigm. In comparison to other approaches to creating applications that work both online and offline such as Google Gears and Adobe AIR, in my opinion the SPA approach is very clean for many applications albeit not as powerful as Gears or AIR. Well, I got further endorsement of the power of such SPAs with these two new gems that I discovered:-

 

  1. Your Timesheets (http://yourtimesheets.com/): This is a SPA that allows you to track your time and supports Full-time, Casual, Contractor, Flexi time and more
  2. Your Form Builder (http://yourformbuilder.com/): This SPA allows a user to create any Form using a super simple interface. So a users simply selects Text Boxes, Radio Buttons, Check Boxes, etc and is able to create compelling forms in seconds. And whats more, you can publish these forms (even by email) to other users to fill-in and collate the results. Simply superb !

 

Posted in Information Technology.

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By Srikant Sreenivasan – February 6, 2009


Digsby: Your single window to the Web

It is not uncommon to see users switching between several applications on the desktop as more and more Web 2.0 applications proliferate. An average user has accounts in almost all popular email services such as Hotmail, Gmail; social networks such as FaceBook, LinkedIn; and instant messengers such as MSN Live Messenger, GTalk, Yahoo Messenger and more.

 

This leads to the "swivel seat" problem of switching between multiple applications, not to mention the mess created by having so many applications on the desktop.

 

Well, the folks at Digsby (http://www.digsby.com/) have come up with a superb solution to this. Simply put, Digsby is ONE SINGLE application that can "talk" to the following services and more:-

 

  1. Instant messengers: MSN Messenger, Yahoo Messenger, AIM, ICQ, GTalk, Jabber and FaceBook chat
  2. Email: Hotmail, GMail, Yahoo Mail, AOL Mail, IMAP and POP3
  3. Social Networks: FaceBook, Twitter, MySpace and LinkedIN

So go ahead and eliminate the application clutter on your PC and install Digsby.

Posted in Information Technology.

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By Srikant Sreenivasan – January 30, 2009


Consulting 2.0: Management consulting in the Web 2.0 era

The days of flying teams of business consultants to client sites, incurring the high costs of travel, and addressing problems with a glocal perspective are over. The old model of consulting is on the verge of extinction and the only people who seem to be unaware of this trend are management consultants themselves.

 

A classic business consulting model has Partners (or Executive Directors) who as the co-owners of the firm are in charge of both business development as well as new practice development. Below Partners, most firms have Principals or Associate Directors or Senior Managers who are typically owners of client engagement(s). This level has Managers reporting to them and these Managers are tasked with leading sub-project(s). And finally below the Managers is a set of (typically) 2 or 3 levels of consultants, analysts and associates.

 

The above hierarchy is "typical" but there are minor variations from firm to firm.

 

The reason I have called out this hierarchy is to draw the reader's attention to the cost of maintaining such a large team particularly at the base of the pyramid (Managers, Consultants, Analysts and Associates). Presumably clients value the experience brought by the senior profiles such as Senior Manager, Principals and Partners, but are loathe paying the high fees that are associated with the more senior profiles. Similarly, clients often times dislike having to deal with junior consultants or associates as they feel that they have no hands-on experience and are perceived to be learning at their cost whilst adding little value. And hence the numerous jokes on consultants and consulting. My take is that there are many interesting Web 2.0 applications that will over time reduce the need to have large teams particularly at the base of the pyramid.

 

Enough said, lets move on to key trends that IMHO will potentially impact management consulting as it is practiced today:-

 

  1. Proposals: No longer do you need a large team to put together a proposal. With proposal generators such as BigMachines or Access Commerce, creating a proposal is a snap. Besides you can easily include standard sections to the proposal such as Terms and Conditions, Assumptions and Exclusions, Payment Details and Policies, Methodology, Credential packs, CVs of team members, etc.

 

  1. Project Planning & Collaboration: Post winning an assignment, teams are tasked with putting in project control, plans and documentation. This activity used to be cumbersome as the biggest stumbling block was collaboration between geographically distributed team members and some times in conjunction with client staff. But with newer Web 2.0 project collaboration tools such as BaseCamp or Qtask, collaboration is greatly enhanced. These tools also track time and expenses on a client engagement. Besides video communication both internal and with client staff members is easier with Web based conferencing tools such as Microsoft Live Meeting, Cisco WebEx, Citrix GoToMyMeeting, Skype and more.

 

  1. Research: Most consulting assignments include extensive research on client business (and industry, competitors). In the past, consultants made phone calls to gather various data points, scoured financial statements, industry reports, etc to extract useful information. With so much data freely available on the Web, using Web Harvesters, such data can be gathered quickly with minimal human intervention. Companies such as Mozenda, Fetch, Intelius and many others offer such SaaS solutions for gathering data from various sources automatically. Intelius & Fetch even apply this technology for interesting use cases such as candidate background check in a recruitment process. And using online services such as NomaDesk, Cisco WebOffice, Google Docs nomadic road warriors can easily access files and data.

 

  1. Consulting Methodologies and Tools: Companies such as RapidBI have tools, PowerPoint templates and more that offer ready-made methodologies, process maps for various industry segments, training manuals, etc. Besides sources such as NetMBA, QuickMBA have detailed articles on various topics from Accounting to Business Law to Economics to Strategy and more as a ready reference.

 

  1. Presentation Builders: Tools such as SAP's XCelsius, NetXpression, DemandTec Presentation Builder and Presentia offer a powerful and easy way to create compelling presentations with rich graphs and interactivity with minimal effort. Besides online resources such as SlideShare & Scribd offer presentations and documents that can be potentially re-used (if published by the author under a Creative Commons license).

 

  1. Offshoring: Infosys Consulting is a great example of a business consulting company leveraging the offshore "Global Delivery" model to help reduce costs whilst maintaining the same high level of quality in deliverables and client experience. Typically a fairly slim team of on-site consultants is augmented with an offshore team in India leading to cost advantages. Even venerated consulting companies such as McKinsey & Co have offshore centers at lower cost countries such as India.

To wrap up, the Web 2.0 era is ushering in a new wave of Software as a Service (SaaS) applications that eliminate or definitely reduce the need for large teams. Consulting firms can focus on providing quality advisory services with more senior experienced professionals. IMHO, firms that recognize this trend will be able to leverage such tools and lower their costs and potentially pass on some of that benefit back to clients. Comments?

Posted in Management.

1 comment

By Srikant Sreenivasan – January 23, 2009