All My Blogs

The Case For Online Document Management

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 07:15 GMT

This article from Forbes.com talks about a trend that's long overdue.

http://www.forbes.com/entrepreneurs/2008/12/22/online-document-management-ent-tech-cx_bm_1222bmightydocmanagement.html

For those of us that have spent our last decade in Enterprise Content Management, we have seen several attempts aimed at providing an always-on, outside the firewall, web-accessible document repository for collaboration as well as for archive and retrieval. What has happened this time around is that the attempt is led not by the third-party vendors like Xythos and others, but by the now onmi-present Microsoft Sharepoint infrastructure available to enterprises as well as small and mid-sized businesses. The seamless integration between Microsoft Office technologies (Word, Excel and Powerpoint), Microsoft Exchange and Outlook based messaging infrastructure and Sharepoint is making traditional ECM products redundant. Some have clearly moved to more of a Storage Management focus - EMC, for example. Others like IBM Filenet are focused more on the production workflows and documents associated with high volume business transactions.

Sharepoint may begin to see some Open Source challengers - like AlFresco, but in terms of sheer market share, the two don't compare. On the other hand, SaaS offerings like Salesforce.com are taking away a part of the market for document management, particulary document management needs related to sales, pre-sales and marketing functions in an enterprise.

What ground breaking innovations are your looking forward to in 2009 in the ECM space? Do comment here.

Technorati Tags: ECM, Enterprise Content Management, IBM Filenet, EMC Documentum, Microsoft Sharepoint

Stimulate Manufacturing, Not Consumption

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 06:49 GMT

I love this quote from Joel Kotkin's article, "we have deluded ourselves into believing that a small number of "creative" alchemists--software engineers, hedge fund managers, urban developers--could transform code, cash and condos into limitless pots of gold. The huge winnings of these few would then allow the rest of us to spend like teenagers on a borrowed credit card, consuming everything made by the hard-working fools abroad."

Read on...
http://www.forbes.com/2008/12/29/manufacturing-productivity-stimulus-oped-cx_jk_1230kotkin_print.html

New Geographer
Stimulate Manufacturing, Not Consumption
Joel Kotkin 12.30.08, 12:01 AM ET

As store earnings plunged last week, the National Retail Federation proposed that the country create the mother of all sales by suspending taxes on all purchases. These tax holidays would occur in March, July and October and be national in scope.

The bill, they suggested, should be picked up by--who else?--the federal taxpayer, who would make up for the lost local revenues even for the five states without sales taxes. The rationale, suggests the Federation's chairman, J.C. Penney Chief Executive Myron Ullman III, in a letter to President-elect Barack Obama, would be "to help stimulate consumer spending as one of the first priorities of your new administration."

Now I can understand the manager at the local Target, Macy's or Nordstrom feeling a bit neglected as money pours out to prop up financial institutions and the Big Three. This proposed subsidy for mallrats, however, makes the previous somewhat-dubious bailouts look like good policy.

In fact, if there is one thing Americans do not need, it is yet another incentive to spend money they do not have. This has become a fixture of stimulus-think under the Bernanke-Bush regime. Remember the tax rebates earlier in the year? That was a big help, wasn't it?

Sadly, this "shop 'til you go bankrupt" strategy is being adopted by the new kingpins in Washington as well. Already you can hear Barney Frank, chair of the House Financial Services Committee, talking about a big stimulus to "prop up consumption."

This quick-fix approach has become a new genus of bipartisan madness. Like "the best minds of my generation ... looking for an angry fix"--to recall Allen Ginsberg's Howl--politicians and policymakers seem to feel we need some quick high to restore our battered economy.

Like a bad drug habit, reckless stimulation may make us feel better in the short term, but it could leave us shaky later on. To be effective over time, a stimulus plan must first address some fundamental challenges that have haunted the American economy for a generation.

Of course, there are countries that should be spending more. Places like China, Germany and Japan have gotten fat off our consumption. Now their beggar-thy-neighbor policies are backfiring as shopaholic nations, most notably the U.S., rein in their spending.

In contrast, our economy's failing stems from not producing nearly enough in goods and services to pay our bills. Our long-term weakness stems not from a shortage of consumer credit--the main obsession of Wall Street and both parties--but from the decline in manufacturing, growing dependence on imported fuel and deteriorating basic infrastructure.

Our consumption patterns--coupled with disdain for production--explain how our deficit in goods-related trade alone has soared over the past two decades from roughly $100 billion annually to over $800 billion. In the process, we have created an enormous shift in currency reserves to countries like China, Russia, India, Korea, Brazil and Taiwan. They produce and save too much; we consume and borrow too much.

Reversing this dangerous disequilibrium does not necessitate the end for American-style capitalism--as suggested recently by France's president, Nicolas Sarkozy--but instead a paradigm shift within it.

First, we need to swear off our addiction to hype-driven bubbles, seen first in technology and more recently in real estate. The fact that the government may be about to start yet another--this one colored "green"--suggests bad habits are hard to break.

Of course, bubbles certainly benefit some individuals and companies, most notably the financial sectors, who can best take advantage of wild speculative swings. The financial sector's share of profits more than doubled as a percentage of national income since the 1980s.

However, this pattern has not worked so well for most Americans, who have seen their wages stagnate or even fall. Most of us would benefit far more from robust growth that stems from productive industries like energy, fiber, food, logistics and manufacturing. Parts of the industrial Midwest, Texas and the Southeast have enjoyed expansions in these fields--until the onset of the recession, at least.

More important, productive economic growth creates demography far more egalitarian than the Namibia-like bifurcation that characterizes bubble centers like Manhattan and San Francisco. In fact, notes University of Washington demographer Richard Morrill, areas with greater concentration of these kinds of industries tend to suffer less inequality and offer better prospects for the average middle class worker.

Concerns over income equality should persuade Democrats--the supposed party of the people--to focus primarily on the basics of economic growth. This is precisely what we have not been doing for over a generation.

Just think of the billions sunk into convention centers, yuppie condos, performing arts centers and other ephemera. These produce some high-wage short-term construction and architecture jobs, but after that, they offer largely low-paying service work. Meanwhile the Chinese and other competitors dredge new harbors, build high-speed rail systems, new freeways and fiber-optic lines--the keys for pushing their economies to the next stage.

Sure, you can say, the Chinese are also hurting from this financial crisis. But at least they can pay for their own stimulus. The Germans, Russians and Japanese, for now, can also dip into their dollar reserves to pay for new infrastructure investment. In contrast, we will have to beg the money for our stimulus like some busted-up small-town bookie.

More serious yet, the real problem may be whether we even want to make the changes necessary to boost our economy. Americans were once masters of both innovation and production, but we have begun to fall behind on both counts.

Indeed, our policies no longer focus on such things as manufacturing and energy production, deeming them beneath our dignity. As early as the mid-1980s, the New York Stock Exchange issued a report baldly stating that "a strong manufacturing economy is not a requisite for a prosperous economy."

At the same time, we have deluded ourselves into believing that a small number of "creative" alchemists--software engineers, hedge fund managers, urban developers--could transform code, cash and condos into limitless pots of gold. The huge winnings of these few would then allow the rest of us to spend like teenagers on a borrowed credit card, consuming everything made by the hard-working fools abroad.

By now we should know better. Americans possess no monopoly on "creativity." Our suppliers abroad are using the billions made from selling us everyday stuff to help finance future moves up the value-added scale. You can see it in every critical field from aerospace, steel and pharmaceuticals to software services, fashion design and entertainment.

Americans can meet this challenge but not by goading the family to spend more at Wal-Mart. Instead, we need to remember what actually drives economic growth. The ultimate fate of the economy will not be determined in the malls, but in the mines, oilfields, farms, factories, design shops and laboratories of a more productive economy.

Joel Kotkin is a Presidential Fellow in Urban Futures at Chapman University and executive editor of www.newgeography.com. He is finishing a book on the American future and writes a weekly column for Forbes.com.

Technorati Tags: economy, manufacturing, consumption, bailout, stimulus, china, india, software, hedge funds

Stimulate Manufacturing, Not Consumption

Sun, 04 Jan 2009 06:48 GMT

Technorati Tags: economy, manufacturing, consumption, bailout, stimulus, china, india, software, hedge funds

Dumbarton Bridge, Fremont, CA

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:41 GMT

Santa Cruz Beach - Christmas 2008

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 16:33 GMT

The dumbfounded jolly bird - a poem

Fri, 02 Jan 2009 08:37 GMT

The dumbfound jolly bird
Streaking by the seashore,
With the slowly iceberg-white leaves

Flogging while the virtuous sea
On the viperish kings star-struck
Goes to burn against the sixpenny night.

Like this poem? How about writing one yourself? It's not difficult - just t try this website:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/arts/sites/themes/books/dylan_thomas_rpg.shtml?

To me the computer generated poem sounds no more gibberish than some of the human-written ones - if you get enough literary critics analyzing this, they may come up with a pretty good explanation of what the poet (in this case the random poem generation program) is trying to convey :-)

Akemashite Omedetou Gozaimasu

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 15:29 GMT

あけまして　おめでとう　ございます。

A Very Happy New Year to all my friends in Japan.

I just picked up this description from Wikipedia of the characteristics of people born in the year of the Ox, "The Ox is the sign of prosperity through fortitude and hard work. This powerful sign is a born leader, being quite dependable and possessing an innate ability to achieve great things. As one might guess, such people are dependable, calm, and modest. Like their animal namesake, the Ox is unswervingly patient, tireless in their work, and capable of enduring any amount of hardship without complaint.

Ox people need peace and quiet to work through their ideas, and when they have set their mind on something it is hard for them to be convinced otherwise. An Ox person has a very logical mind and is extremely systematic in whatever they do, even without imagination. These people speak little but are extremely intelligent. When necessary, they are articulate and eloquent."

Sounded like a description of Obama - so I looked up his year of birth and lo and behold, he was born in the year of Ox - quite uncanny!

The year of the Rat gives way to the year of the Ox.

Six Day shhopping week

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 14:10 GMT

How long before we see this in USA? Seems like the thing to do - although I have no idea if this has proven to be successful in other markets - like Europe where it's been tried before.

6-day Week for Isetan, Mitsukoshi

THE ASAHI SHIMBUN

2008/12/29

Isetan Mitsukoshi Holding Ltd. announced over the weekend that it will revive its custom of closing its department stores for one day once a week.

Under measures to take effect as early as April, it said it would also cut back operating hours.

The operator hopes to save some 2 billion yen a year by reducing staff and utilities costs, officials said.

Sales at Isetan and Mitsukoshi flagship stores dropped around 10 percent in the first half of December from the same period in 2007.

Currently, only New Year's Day is a fixed holiday at both Isetan and Mitsukoshi stores.

The two chains scrapped their weekly closed days in 2000. Department stores had reduced shop closing days while extending operating hours since the 1990s.(IHT/Asahi: December 29,2008)

Technorati Tags: japan, recession, shopping, six day week

Kinkakuji temple looking beautiful in season's first snow

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 05:00 GMT

Ice-cold gold

The Yomiuri Shimbun

The season's first snow covers Kinkakuji temple, known for its Golden Pavilion, in Kita Ward, Kyoto, on Friday morning as the temperature dipped to 0.8 C, below the 2.2 C average for this time of year. In western Japan, the cities of Osaka and Okayama also were dusted with the season's first snow, and the mercury dropped to 3.4 C in Osaka and 0.8 C in Nara.

Technorati Tags: japan, kyoto, golden pavilion, Kinkakuji temple, 2008, first snow

Copying machine graveyard

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 04:44 GMT

This can't be good news for the document technology industry here in USA either. With so much of unused, off-lease equipment in the market, sales of new equipment is likely to take a bigger hit. This apart from the fact that new copiers are not high on business' investment plans right now and increasing reliance on electronic communications is finally making a dent on the print volumes.

From Asahi Shimbun

Recession leads to copy machine graveyard

Recession leads to copy machine graveyard (TAKU HOSOKAWA/ THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

With barely space to move in this warehouse packed with used copy
machines in Tokorozawa, Saitama Prefecture, OA Land, an office
equipment leasing company, recently placed a cap on buying used office
equipment. The company acquired as much as 70 percent more used items
in recent months than usual as the number of companies going bankrupt
or cutting back has risen amid the current global financial crisis.
(IHT/Asahi: December 24,2008)

Copying machine graveyard

Sun, 28 Dec 2008 04:44 GMT

Recession leads to copy machine graveyard

Recession leads to copy machine graveyard (TAKU HOSOKAWA/ THE ASAHI SHIMBUN)

Is democracy a panacea?

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:14 GMT

A lot of people in India are feeling that democracy is overrated - it hasn't helped us deal with the national security issues and the tough economic decisions - specially on infrastructure fall prey to political in-fighting and vote bank politics. The Western media though continues to give India higher marks than China - perhaps to fulfill its own prophecy!

I'm kinda divided on this - I see good reasoning on both sides of the debate - haven't come to a conclusion yet. What do you think?

Icons of our times - a great one from www.businesspundit.com

Sun, 14 Dec 2008 16:10 GMT

Japan Subway Posters - "Please do it at home"

Sat, 13 Dec 2008 03:49 GMT

A very interesting series of posters teaching manners and etiquettes to Japanese commuters - we may soon need something like this here as ridership on public transit increased in US cities.

India - tradition and science living in harmony

Wed, 29 Oct 2008 11:48 GMT

A quotation from ancient hindu text - Rigveda -on the quest to understand the cosmos by means of studying the closest heavenly body from earth - the moon.

It is remarkable that science and tradition exists so much more harmoniously in a country often ridiculed by the West as being overly traditional, religious and superstitious. While we are still arguing in USA about evolution, it is the defacto standard in all government run schools in India - and to the best of my knowledge there has never been any religious hue and cry about it. There are many other such examples - some of which too controversial for me to relate here.

Here's a great piece from NY Times that talks about it here.

Clean transportation, renewable energy and mass employment

Sat, 18 Oct 2008 04:00 GMT

While USA debates and argues, the rest of the world moves forward with innovations and real solutions. Here's a great example from India "Solekshaw" - the solar rickshaw. It combines the most popular transportation in Indian cities with solar power charged battery motor to solve a range of problems at the same time. Decidedly low tech in its approach, it is a clear example of the fact that the technology is out there - it's the adoption and government initiatives that are lagging behind.

And, while we still can't charge our cellphones in a taxicab in most American cities, this $500 rickshaw comes with 4 cellphone charging stations! And that brings us to the next innovation where India and China will lead the way - the adoption of mobile as the main channel for information and commerce.

http://dst.gov.in/whats_new/press-release08/solekshwa-launched.htm

Latest Fad From Japan - Morning Banana Diet

Tue, 14 Oct 2008 16:19 GMT

Yes indeed it is as simple as it sounds. Just have bananas and room temperature water for breakfast every day.

Click here for more details.

Another one bites the dust

Sat, 27 Sep 2008 02:32 GMT

Another giant fell this week - no I'm not talking about the financial services companies like Lehman, AIG and WaMu. At the height of the so called strong economy (fueled primarily by cheap mortgage and home equity) we had International launch this monster truck - the CXT in 2004. Recently they announced they would discontinue it. Well, gas prices have almost doubled since 2004 and house prices have halved (don't contest the figures, they may be exaggerated but not by much) - so it shouldn't come as a surprise. I'd like to know more about the people who bought these monsters - wikipedia page says Ashton Kutcher was one of them. If you know of more owners, do comment here.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_MXT

Buy an apartmnet, get a BMW free

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 12:22 GMT

Another one of "This happens only in India" phenomenon. I don't if this signifies a weakening of the property market or it's just a reflection of the enormous wealth being built up in the country.

Congratulations NASA on your 50th Anniversary

Sun, 21 Sep 2008 11:12 GMT

Two shuttles on the launchpad - one as a backup. That is a first - looks like NASA learned its lesson well -hope we'll never need the standby though.

All the best to the Atlantis crew for the upcoming mission to repair Hubble Space Telescope.