Businesses today are going through a fundamental change. Now IT sector has taken the center stage. It has become an essential part of all business processes. The state is such that all technology platforms and application architectures which were being used till now are becoming obsolete and there’s an urgent need to revamp them.

In their place, a new platform is emerging, called as The Third Platform or SMAC i.e.

• Social Media
• Mobile
• Analytics
• Cloud

According to IDC, the analyst firm that coined the Third Platform term, the platform will disrupt one-third of top incumbent firms in every industry.

Bernard Golden, Vice President, Strategy for ActiveState Software, in his article at informationweek.com has explained Third Platform innovation with the help of an example of Airbnb. He further explains that this isn’t a unique situation; every company has to work on this. For this, DevOps (integrating application development and operations, with automation throughout the application lifecycle) and PaaS (Platform as a Service) are coming into picture. They will help companies to deliver world-class applications with end-to-end automation.

To know more, please visit the following link:

http://www.informationweek.com/interop/paas-devops-and-the-third-platform/d/d-id/1320114

“Companies are pushing more sensitive and regulated data into the cloud. But, this journey is raising questions like 'security of data'.”

Applying software-as-a-service (SaaS), Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) and platform-as-a-service (PaaS) add on some more risk to the organizations. Ericka Chickowshi(specializes in information technology and business innovation) in her article “10 security questions to ask a cloud service provider” at Informationweek, discussed about 10 questions to be asked by companies from SaaS service providers before applying cloud. Some of them are:

·         Do you keep a signed audit trail of which users performed what actions when, both through their UI and API?

·         What is my role and your role in the protection of my data?

·         Do you encrypt all data transmissions, including all server-to-server data transmissions, within data centers?

·         What is your termination or ‘exit process’ for ensuring successful transition from services to an alternative offering?

·         Do you allow customers to perform scheduled penetration tests of either the production environment or a designated testing environment?

Asking these questions can help you to assess the risk. To know more questions and their reason for asking, visit the following link: 
http://www.darkreading.com/informationweek-home/10-security-questions-to-ask-a-cloud-service-provider/d/d-id/1320377

Cloud Services is one of the fastest growing market segments. Be it SaaS, PaaS or IaaS, cloud solutions are offering a lucrative opportunity for growth and innovation. But, is innovation, just in the cloud service enough for customer satisfaction and retention? The answer to this question is NO. For, consistent growth, innovation in other aspects of the cloud business is also required. One of these aspects is the billing and pricing model.

Currently, many pricing models are there in existence, such as, Freemium, flat rate, subscriptions, perpetual , multi-tier packages based on functionality, per user per click and CPU power / storage used etc. And the billing models are in the form of monthly, quarterly, annual, pay as you go and pay for what you use models.

But, what these models lack is flexibility, especially in SaaS segment. This is because cloud vendors do not want to change their cash flow models from a big full pie at a time to pieces of the pie in installments i.e. by taking customer payments from fully up front license bills to smaller usage bills split down to monthly fees. Also, in flexible cloud billing and delivery, there are a lot of complexities involved like in telecom billing.

There is a need for innovation in this segment as this is what the customers desire. This need has been identified and successfully catered to by Kahootz, a British cloud collaboration vendor. More such initiatives, leading to greater transparency and comparability will be the future of cloud pricing and billing in years to come.

To know more, please read the following article by Ian Moyse, Board Member, Eurocloud UK and Governance Board Member, Cloud Industry Forum (CIF), at business2community.com:

http://www.business2community.com/cloud-computing/cloud-promised-world-utility-billing-01221718

“Transferring data from your network to cloud includes processing and storing of the database and then processing for further use.”

Gerry Grealish (Perspecsys) in her article “Protecting the Data Lifecycle from Network to Cloud” at Informationweek, discussed about three phases for transferring data from your network to cloud and risk associated with them:

Phase 1# Data in motion: It is the term used for data as it is in transit. Risk is interference by third party. Cryptographic protocols, such as Secure Sockets Layer or Transport Layer Security can be used to protect data in this phase.

Phase 2# Data at rest: Data is stored in the form of file or database. Risk is reading of data by third party. Database solution can be used for protecting data like tools offered by CSP for encryption operations and there are various techniques like block level encryption technique.

Phase 3# Data in use: It is a data which is loaded into a process and is in the memory of the program that is running. And it is not protected by cloud service provider’s techniques like in-cloud based encryption techniques.

To know more about these phases and risk associated with them, read on: http://www.darkreading.com/cloud/protecting-the-data-lifecycle-from-network-to-cloud/a/d-id/1320249

Like in any other service, in SaaS also, customer service is the most important element. And this becomes even more important because SaaS customers are different. They not only need service at the point of sales, but also for the whole duration of use of the software. If satisfied, then only, will they renew the subscription, otherwise not.

Micah Solomon, Customer Service Consultant, in his article at Forbes, explains the importance of customer service in SaaS by taking an example of PayScale, a B2B SaaS company. According to Mike Metzger, CEO of PayScale, “The SaaS environment makes the threshold for satisfying experience higher. We’re always working on it.”

Micah has also shared few tips for a successful SAAS customer service. Some of them are:

• Hire the right people
• Carefully define and put into place customer interaction standards and guidelines.
• Beef up your self-service options.
• Always be there for them.

Follow these tips and boost up your customer service, because ‘customer relations’ is the key to a successful SaaS business.

To know more, please visit the following link:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/micahsolomon/2015/04/25/how-and-why-to-improve-customer-service-at-your-saas-company-starting-today/

People are always going to go shopping. A lot of our effort is just: 'How do we make the retail experience a great one?'

-Philip Green

The basic ingredient for success in a retail business is a magnificent customer experience. And, in today’s world, where technology has become an important part of our existence, then why not should we use its power in retail? That’s the next milestone that needs to be achieved i.e. to make retail more technology oriented and thus, customer friendly.

The following article at business-reporter.co.uk, lists out 5 technologies that will change the customer experience in retail. They are:

1. Projection
2. Touch Screens
3. Augmented Reality
4. Nighttime Displays
5. Robots

To know more about them in detail and how they have been actually brought into use by various retail stores, please visit the following link:

http://business-reporter.co.uk/2015/04/28/5-technologies-set-to-change-customer-experience-in-retail/

Big Data as a Service (BDaaS) means outsourcing various big data functions to the cloud, which includes supply of data, analytical tools to interrogate and analysis the data. Advantages of outsourcing your analytical activities are:

·         Organizations can save money spent on components and infrastructure and time.

·         Storing large quantity of information requires an ongoing investment of time and resources.  But by using BDaaS, organizations can concentrate on business only.

·         When data is stored on a BDaaS service provider server they are responsible for it.

·         Pay only for services you use on the basis of time used or the cost of compliance and data protection.
Read more at: http://www.forbes.com/sites/bernardmarr/2015/04/27/big-data-as-a-service-is-next-big-thing/

According to Brian Sutter (Director of Marketing, Wasp Barcode), small business owner need to think strategically for long term survival. They should know how to use employee's time and skills effectively. Business should use CRM software for accessing customer data and analyze performance and business metrics for spotting pattern and trends. Small business owner need business intelligence tools for quick decision making, analyzing business opportunities and threats and improve management of the business. According to a recent report, 56% of small businesses plan to invest less than 3% of revenue on marketing. But, small organizations should use email marketing for maintaining long term relationship with customers. Read more at: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/245386

“Augmented reality is an environment in which elements are supplemented by computer-based sensory input.” This technology has now made a comeback and is gaining popularity in many fields. Its new uses are now being explored in strategy, analytics, retail, marketing etc. as it gives the users an experience of how a real world item may look in a particular situation. Ferrari’s Virtual Showroom application is an example of how AR enhances customer’s experience.

This technology can also be seen as a follow-up of following trends which the world is experiencing:

• Mobile Devices
• Internet of Things
• Cloud Computing

Thus, Augmented Reality is now emerging as a useful tool to connect with customers. To know more, read the following article by Pierre DeBois, Founder and Chief Digital Marketing Strategist, Zimana, at cmswire.com

http://www.cmswire.com/cms/analytics/the-latest-reality-on-augmented-reality-028928.php

According to Jolanta Pilecka (Contributor), mobile users behave in a different way from desktop users. So, you need to add a little wizardry to ensure that it looks good on a mobile screen and different from desktop view. As mobile users want that with every step they reach to end goal and it should be quick, easy to access. Ways to optimize the mobile path:
• Don’t Shrink, Rethink
• Incorporate navigational cues
• Maximize native functions
• Incorporate Apps
• Get Your Data in order
 Therefore, for designing an app, you need to redesign your process from a mobile user perspective. Read more at: http://www.processexcellencenetwork.com/business-process-management-bpm/articles/don-t-shrink-rethink/

According to John Mills (Industry week), manufactures have less visibility than others and manufactures can’t wait for a longer period. In manufacturing companies conditions change frequently. In North America, factory activity has been trending down after the fall of 2014 and the Institute for supply Management said US index falling is falling since five consecutive months. Therefore, we need to predict the future of manufacturing firms by conducting some test quarterly. To know more about test read at:

http://www.industryweek.com/leadership/assume-nothing-5-tests-every-manufacturer-should-run-quarterly

Amazon launches new supply chain management technique “Dash Button” which allows the customers to order products automatically at the actual point of use.  According to Paul Myerson (Industry week), Amazon’s new launch Dash button puts pressure on the retailers, especially grocers who have very small profit margins (1-2%) and have a huge impact on the retail order fulfilment process.  This will bring a new concept called focusing on value to the customers and eliminating waste not only in the business environment, but now at the actual home of the customers. To know more about dash button read at: http://www.industryweek.com/inventorymanagement/amazon-dashes-make-consumers-and-their-supply-chains-leaner

According to Mike Dalton (Industry Week), innovation requires risk and the goal of a firewall is to identify that risk. The firewall block projects that score low on five feasibilities i.e. commercial, technical, manufacturability, regulatory and intellectual property. At the project charter stage, it is useful to identify all of the stakeholders and solicit their input on all the potential ways the project could fail and what the impact would be. A study of the telephony industry (Ogawa & Ketner, 1997) showed that bottom 80% performers cancelled nearly 30% of their projects late in the process and about top 20% top companies cancelled the same percentage of projects early. Read more at: http://www.industryweek.com/product-development/obstacles-new-product-growth

According to Travis Hessman (Industry week), the digital revolution will take us in the digital age from the information age. This will bring massive changes in our computing ability, our access to the internet and access to and proliferation of mobile devices. We use mobile digital technologies which allow us to stay connected to information and helps in taking decisions. We want to grow in this competitive world and move towards the fourth industrial revolution which opens up many opportunities.

Read more at:  http://www.industryweek.com/digital-revolution

Cloud computing is a type of computing that relies on sharing computing resources rather than having local servers or personal devices to handle applications. Cloud is powerful but many of us our in beginning stage. Here are some benefits of using clouds:
• It helps to your Manage Cash Flow
• As all new innovations are happening in Cloud so there are wider choices
• Automate and Drive Efficiencies
• Gain better insights into your business
• Cloud helps us to grow cost effectively
• With the cloud you can keep your IT equipment costs low, and minimize your hardware and software maintenance costs
Read more at: http://smallbiztrends.com/2015/04/reasons-to-move-to-the-cloud.html

Public cloud has many advantages. They provide flexible and affordable virtual machine deployments and can boost an organization's data backup and workload-scaling capabilities. But, there are some drawbacks of public cloud. One of the biggest disadvantages is its multi-tenant environment. Another disadvantage is that public cloud providers own the hardware and control the software associated with it, so that they can make some changes at will. Running virtuak machines in the cloud make them costlier is another disadvantage and last but not the least disadvantage is how public clouds can complicate backup processes. Read more at: http://searchcloudcomputing.techtarget.com/feature/Understanding-public-cloud-risks-and-costs?utm_medium=EM&asrc=EM_NLN_41550237&utm_campaign=20150407_Cisco%20Intercloud%20banks%20on%20hybrid%20cloud%20prosperity_nrando&utm_source=NLN&track=NL-1814&ad=899900

Technology had an impact on customer service. Social media have augmented the voice of the customer and created a space for dialogue and discussion among consumers. The key to win customer service in this landscape is intelligently using the technologies. Forrester Customer Index, which was published last year showed that companies with a strong focus on the customer experience has gained in performance accounts to 43 percent, while those that did not focus on outcomes had a drop in performance by 33.9 percent. Read more at: http://it.toolbox.com/blogs/insidecrm/seven-ways-technology-is-changing-customer-service-in-2015-66154

Some 2 billion people continue to live on less than $2 a day! Millions of women and girls around the world lack basic human rights. A slew of initiatives address these and other intractable social issues, yet often, even the most successful ones only address a fraction of the problem. The good news is that a number of cutting-edge leaders and organizations are shifting their focus to ask: "How can we help to have impact at a scale that actually solves the problem?" And they are finding that technology, particularly information tech, offers answers. According to Ray Kurzweil, Google’s director of engineering and a renowned expert on artificial intelligence, "Once any domain, discipline, technology, or industry becomes information-enabled and powered by information flows, its price/performance begins doubling approximately annually." This phenomenon opens up the potential for exponential growth in reach and impact.

Here are six ways that information technology is breaking through scale barriers:

·      Empowering with information.

·         Teaching and engaging.

·         Making matches.

·         Crowdsourcing hotspots.

·         Reaching the under-served.

·         Raise cash for good.

Abe Grindle, famous author, speaks about the ways technology is breaking the barriers to social change. To read more, visit the following link:

http://www.fastcoexist.com/3043761/techsocial/6-ways-technology-is-breaking-barriers-to-social-change

Artificial intelligence (AI) is important nowadays. Marketers and advertisers need to understand that without the help of AI, it is difficult for any business to sort through all the data and then take day-to-day strategic decisions, and ensures that there is no wastage and thus increasing ROI. Marketers also use AI to look at a customer’s past behavior and predict what they are going to be interested in future.  But, the main risk is that many of the jobs that require human attention may be performed better, faster and even cheaper in the future by robots or AI software systems. Read more at: http://digitalmarketingmagazine.co.uk/digital-marketing-data/unlocking-the-potential-of-data-through-artificial-intelligence/1723

A hybrid cloud is a cloud computing environment in which an organization provides and manages some resources in-house and has others provided externally. For example, an organization might use a public cloud service, such as Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) for archived data but continue to maintain in-house storage for operational customer data. The hybrid approach allows a business to take advantage of the scalability and cost-effectiveness that a public cloud computing environment offers without exposing mission-critical applications and data to third-party vulnerabilities. This type of hybrid cloud is also referred to as hybrid IT. The hybrid cloud has the potential to transform enterprise IT completely and shift the cost/benefit emphasis from cost to benefit.

Matt Watts, Netapp, speaks about how hybrid cloud can bring this transformation. To know more, please visit:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/netapp/2015/03/18/hybrid-cloud-cost-benefit/