tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-66367312024-02-03T22:55:40.866+08:00David on IT Outsourcing in ChinaThis blog reports and comments on newsworthy items for systems integrators (SIs) and software vendors (ISVs) based in China -- and for CIOs and U.S. SIs and ISVs interested in IT sourcing in China. For links, see "All Things IT: David's Daily Urls" at http://dailyurls.blogspot.com .
ADDITIONAL KEYWORD: OFFSHORINGDavid Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comBlogger65125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-11179244110283142072007-06-02T13:05:00.001+08:002007-06-04T19:26:33.361+08:00How to Become the Top IT Outsourcing Company in China<div id="yiv1131507951"><span style="font-family:comic sans ms;font-size:130%;"><strong>David on IT Outsourcing in China<span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer; height: 1em;" id="lw_1180755462_0"></span></strong></span> <div align="left"> </div> <div><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/"><strong><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" id="lw_1180755462_1">blog</span></strong></a><strong>, </strong><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chinasourcingalert"><strong><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" id="lw_1180755462_2">e-newsletter</span></strong></a><strong> , </strong><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml"><strong><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" id="lw_1180755462_3">XML content/news feed</span></strong></a><strong> & </strong><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e"><strong><span id="lw_1180755462_4">AvantGo channel</span></strong></a> (for PDAs & smartphones)</div> <div> </div> <div>Saturday, 2 June 2007<br /></div> <div><strong><em>Dateline: Qingdao, China<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></em></strong><span style="font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >"How to Become the Top IT Outsourcing Company in China"</span><strong><em><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><br /></em></strong></div><br />Well, it's just a teaser. I plan to write an article about this for an issue (or two) of <a href="http://www.forbeschina.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Forbes China</span></a> (in Chinese, which most of those reading this will appreciate). I'll do a cross-post here (in Chinese), if <span style="font-style: italic;">Forbes</span> allows this. If not, I'll point to the online article in a separate post.<br /><br />In the interim, I'll likely write an English-language equivalent (with much more of my satirical humor) for my <a href="http://www.sandhill.com/opinion/daily_blog.php?id=52"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Sand Hill Group</span></a> and AlwaysOn Network "Letter from China" columns; expect this to appear a month or two before a <span style="font-style: italic;">Forbes</span> piece. <br /><br />I also want to point to a couple of things. First, a hot <a href="http://www.computerworld.com/blogs/node/5568#comment-53692"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="font-style: italic;">Computerworld</span> post</span></a> on the ITO scene in China. <span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 64);">Read it</span>.</span> It has already been quoted in several other sources: It has generated quite a bit of interest. The two Sand Hill columns on IPR that I referenced and wrote took a look at IPR from two different angles: One was on <a href="http://www.sandhill.com/opinion/daily_blog.php?id=52&post=291"><span style="font-weight: bold;">what Chinese read and hear</span></a>; the other was on <a href="http://www.sandhill.com/opinion/daily_blog.php?id=52&post=296"><span style="font-weight: bold;">what the Chinese government wants Westerners to read and hear</span></a>. Some overlap, but very different in tone.<br /><br />Second, my "Letter from China" columns first get posted on the Sand Hill Group, and then get cross-posted to a <a href="http://sandhillblog.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">separate blog</span></a> (with it's <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/sandhillgroup"><span style="font-weight: bold;">own feed</span></a><span style="text-decoration: underline;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/sandhill"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></a>) and the <a href="http://www.alwayson.goingon.com/"><span style="font-weight: bold;">AlwaysOn Network</span></a>. Sourcingmag.com will likely be picking up my columns, too. For those of you in the China-based ITO biz, you'll likely find some useful ammunition -- for sales, marketing, and planning -- in my "Letter from China" columns, especially as ammunition against India.<br /><br />Finally, I don't plan to publish to this blog very often, but at least a bit more frequently than I have over the past year. But read my "Letter from China" columns if you want a strategic perspective on ITO and ESO and where China plays -- and where China should play. Going forward, I'll be focusing this blog on software development methodologies, basically, how to better compete against Indian firms and have more satisfied clients. It will sometimes get geeky, but so be it. I'll also venture a bit into the ESO space. That's the hottest new area ... and it's an area where China will kick India's butt. ESO (for those not in the know): Engineering services outsourcing.<br /><br /> <div>Cheers,</div> <div> </div> <div>David Scott Lewis</div> <div> <div> <div><em><span style="font-style: italic;">Senior Vice President</span><br /></em></div> <div><a rel="nofollow" style="font-weight: bold;" target="_blank" href="http://www.startechglobal.com/"><span id="lw_1180755462_30">Startech Global Corporation</span></a> (the outsourcing hub for Tsinghua University, China's MIT)<br />Beijing, China & Los Angeles, California<span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer; height: 1em;" id="lw_1180755462_31"></span><span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); cursor: pointer; height: 1em;" id="lw_1180755462_32"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><br /></div><br /> <div><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://doiop.com/China"><span id="lw_1180755462_38"><span></span></span></a><a href="http://doiop.com/china">http://doiop.com/China</a> (access to blog content archives in China<span style="border-bottom: 1px dashed rgb(0, 102, 204); background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; cursor: pointer; height: 1em; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" id="lw_1180755462_39"></span>)</div> <div><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Outsourcing"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" id="lw_1180755462_40"><span></span></span></a><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/outsourcing">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Outsourcing</a> (RSS feed)</div> <div><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml"><span id="lw_1180755462_41"><span></span></span></a><a href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml">http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</a> (Atom feed)</div> <div> </div> <div style="font-weight: bold;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.bloglines.com/public/DSL"><span id="lw_1180755462_44"><span></span></span></a><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/public/dsl">http://www.bloglines.com/public/DSL</a> (public blogroll)<br /><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/public/bestonchina">http://www.bloglines.com/public/bestonchina</a> (top 20 blogs on China)<br /><a href="http://feedblendr.com/blends/15592.html">http://doip.com/Chinatop20</a> (top 20 blogs on China as a river of news)<br /><br /></div> </div></div> <div><strong>To automatically subscribe, send a blank message to: </strong><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.blogger.com/Compose?To=chinasourcingalert-subscribe@yahoogroups.com"><span style="font-weight: bold;"><span style="background: transparent none repeat scroll 0% 50%; -moz-background-clip: -moz-initial; -moz-background-origin: -moz-initial; -moz-background-inline-policy: -moz-initial;" id="lw_1180755462_45">chinasourcingalert-subscribe@yahoogroups.com</span></span></a></div> </div>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1166606957311142402006-12-20T17:29:00.000+08:002006-12-20T17:29:17.356+08:00Call for "The Best in China" for SOFTWARE 2007, the world's premier C-level software industry event<font face="comic sans ms" size="4"><strong>David on IT Outsourcing in China</strong></font> <div align="left"> </div> <div><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/"><strong>blog</strong></a><strong>, </strong><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chinasourcingalert"><strong>e-newsletter</strong></a><strong> , </strong><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml"><strong>XML content/news feed</strong></a><strong> & </strong><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e"><strong>AvantGo channel</strong></a> (for PDAs & smartphones)</div> <div> </div> <div>Wednesday, 20 December 2006<br> </div> <div><strong><em>Dateline: Beijing, China<br> <br> <span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"> </span></span></em></strong><font style="font-family: times new roman,serif; font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" size="4">"China's Leaders in Outsourcing & Software Innovation"</font><strong><em><span style="font-style: italic;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></span><br> </em></strong></div> <br>In early May the <a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.sandhill.com/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"> Sand Hill Group</a> will continue it's successful annual C-level industry conference series with <a href="http://www.sandhill.com/conferences/sw2007/index.php"><span style="font-weight: bold;">SOFTWARE 2007</span></a>. The event will be held in the heart of Silicon Valley, with an expected attendance of 2,000 or so. A PDF describing this event is available at the <a href="http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/chinasourcingalert/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"> <span style="font-weight: bold;">Yahoo Group</span></a> for this blog/e-newsletter; you can also <a href="mailto:thebestinchina@gmail.com" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"><span style="font-weight: bold;">contact me directly</span></a> to request a copy of the PDF, but please put "PDF" (without quotation marks) somewhere in the "Subject" line (although I much prefer that you access the PDF from the "Files" section at the Yahoo Group). <br><br>We're not necessarily looking for firms that are truly innovative themselves, but firms that can help American ISVs (independent software vendors) innovate. <span style="font-weight: bold;">If your firm has an innovative product (or product line), we'd like to hear from you</span>: We're not limiting "The Best in China" to outsourcing firms. But outsourcing firms are rarely innovative. There are exceptions: In the early days of the graphical web, firms like Presence, Organic, Digital Planet, CKS. And the various services arms of IBM still pioneer in many ways and across the spectrum. Yet, there are plenty of firms with their primary development centers in China that help U.S. firms with their innovation-driven endeavors, such as Startech (in our case, for example, with the most advanced Linux-based telecommunications architecture, both hardware and software) or Augmentum (in their case, for some of their "SIGCHI"-ish developments ranging from kiosks to site development; BTW, Startech is making a major push in this space as well -- and taking it a few steps further, with a major focus on the entertainment industry given our L.A.-based technical support team lead by Caltech and Stanford CS grads ... and don't be fooled by our web site since we're somewhat operating in stealth mode until next month). <span style="font-weight: bold;">Bottom line: If your IT outsourcing or engineering services outsourcing firm helps U.S. firms with their innovation-driven endeavors, then we'd like to hear from you.</span><br><br>Although the "China Pavilion" at SOFTWARE 2007 is still a work-in-progress, we're very confident that we will get the blessing of MOST, China's Ministry of Science and Technology. Hey, it's all about guanxi in China. However, we're reaching out to Torch members directly and also to selected software parks, i.e., those housing the best and brightest firms in China. Think zPark, DLSP, SPSP, among others.<br><br>We're not sure if we're going to pick a "Top Ten" or a "Top Twelve"; this will be determined based upon the quality and quantity of the submissions that we receive. <br><br>We're also going to try to arrange for some FTF (face-to-face, in person) time with Steve Ballmer and Marc Benioff, both keynoters at SOFTWARE 2007. Steve, of course, is CEO of Microsoft and Marc is CEO of <a href="http://salesforce.com/" target="_blank" onclick="return top.js.OpenExtLink(window,event,this)"> Salesforce.com</a>, the leading SaaS player. Marc is a first degree connection of mine on <a href="http://www.linkedin.com/ppl/webprofile?action=vmi&id=55377&authToken=UksK&authType=name&trk=ppro_viewmore"><span style="font-weight: bold;">LinkedIn</span></a> and Steve B. might remember me from my days at Microsoft. (What happened wasn't a pretty picture, but it ultimately led to a lot of changes at a money-losing Microsoft division.) At the very least, perhaps photo opportunities in front of our China pavilion; at the very best, 15-60 minutes to discuss the future of software and outsourcing in China with two industry stalwarts. FTR, this is something that I'm going to attempt to arrange independently of support from the Sand Hill Group (they have too many other issues to deal with). No promises regarding Steve B. or Marc B., but I'll do my best.<br><br>There is a nominal cost associated for participation in the "Pavilion." Selected firms will have to pay between US$3,500 and US$4,000 (depending on whether we choose ten or twelve firms). This is to cover expenses, nothing more. Perhaps local software parks or municipal governments will help with partial funding as they have in the past, although this is out of our hands and we don't want to get involved with too much administrivia. <br><br>For mechanicals, we will have a 20' x 10' pavilion (really two adjacent 10' x 10' booths). The "Best" will be highlighted on a banner and one representative from each selected firm will be allowed to "man" the pavilion. <br><br>If your firm is interested in giving this a shot, let me know ASAP. Your firm will be required to demonstrate that they are helping American ISVs innovate -- or that your firm itself is truly innovative. After having held two senior positions in the two largest U.S.-focused, China-based IT outsourcing firms, I know that some firms may be attempted to pile on BS. However, this time I will not be so easily fooled, so it's important to make your best case. And to make it real. <br><br>BTW, size does NOT matter. Smaller firms are welcome, perhaps even preferred. And although the focus in on enterprise applications, embedded-focused firms are definitely in play. Innovation is the key. If you're another one of the gazillion firms in China offering L10N/G18N or manual software testing, don't bother applying. But <span style="font-weight: bold;">if you have innovative products or can assist American ISVs in their innovation and R&D processes, then you're a prime candidate for this event. </span><br><br>Expect a lot of media coverage, too -- although we can't promise anything. We will also try to arrange for site visits to Stanford, PARC (where the PC was essentially created), IBM Almaden (arguably the world's leading research center in nanotechnology), Google, perhaps some others. (We're open to suggestions. Possibilities include Microsoft's Silicon Valley campus, the headquarters for Oracle, HP, Yahoo, EBay, Sun, Intel, Cisco, Apple, AMD, EA, Adobe, Symantec, and dozens/hundreds of Web 2.0 leaders. Let's face it, Silicon Valley is the center of the IT universe.)<br><br><span style="font-weight: bold;">To be considered for "The Best in China," please drop a message to me at: thebestinchina <at> gmail <dot> com.</span> (Do NOT reply to this message.) <span style="font-weight: bold;">Send/provide as much supporting evidence as you can</span>; prove that you are indeed one of "The Best in China." <span style="font-weight: bold; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 0);">The application deadline is 15 January</span>, but the sooner, the better. If great firms can be found before the 15 January deadline, we'll likely run with said firms. Godspeed and good luck ...<br><br> <div>Cheers,</div> <div> </div> <div>David Scott Lewis</div> <div> <div> <div><em><span style="font-style: italic;">Senior Vice President</span><br> </em></div> <div><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://www.startechglobal.com/">Startech Global Corporation</a> (the outsourcing hub for Tsinghua University, China's MIT)<br>Beijing, China & Los Angeles, California<br><br>P.S.--Expect a fascinating main stage "debate" on the innovativeness of China versus India versus Israel (and perhaps versus the U.K. or Russia). I will be debating the issue on behalf of China. I have some ammo that will make Indians squirm in their chairs. <span style="font-weight: bold;">When it comes to R&D and engineering services outsourcing, China beats India. No comparison. And I have proof -- proof that I will share during the panel discussion.</span><br></div><br> <div><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://doiop.com/China">http://doiop.com/China</a> (access to blog content archives in China)</div> <div><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Outsourcing">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Outsourcing</a> (RSS feed)</div> <div><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml">http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</a> (Atom feed)</div> <div> </div> <div><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</a> (Furl archive)</div> <div style="font-weight: bold;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</a> (Furl RSS/news feed)</div> <div style="font-weight: bold;"><a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.bloglines.com/public/DSL">http://www.bloglines.com/public/DSL</a> (public blogroll)</div> <div> </div></div></div> <div><strong>To automatically subscribe, send a blank message to: </strong><a href="mailto:chinasourcingalert-subscribe@yahoogroups.com"><span style="font-weight: bold;">chinasourcingalert-subscribe@yahoogroups.com</span></a></div> David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1121061032123870442005-07-11T13:50:00.000+08:002005-07-11T13:50:32.140+08:00Is It Really China vs. India: The Unspoken Criteria and Other Lessons from SIMChina<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face="comic sans ms" size=4><STRONG>David on IT Outsourcing in China</STRONG></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/"><STRONG>blog</STRONG></A><STRONG>, </STRONG><A href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chinasourcingalert"><STRONG>e-newsletter</STRONG></A><STRONG> , </STRONG><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml"><STRONG>XML content feed</STRONG></A><STRONG> & </STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e"><STRONG>AvantGo channel</STRONG></A> (for PDAs & smartphones)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Monday, July 11, 2004</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>Dateline: China</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><U>Stanford Summit & Panel on China</U></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Before I get to today's topic, I'd like to remind all subscribers of an upcoming conference at Stanford starting next Tuesday night, 19 July and going through Thursday afternoon. It is the <A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=10085_0_2_0_C"><STRONG>AlwaysOn Network Stanford Innovation Summit</STRONG></A>. For background, the AlwaysOn Network is the largest professional and social online network based in Silicon Valley. I write a weekly or so column titled, "Letter from China" and I will be the moderator for the panel on China. The title for the session, "Are you ready for the Chinese revolt?" was not my choosing, but such is life. Matter of fact, five of the six panelists are definitely pro-China and even the one detractor has an objective take on things.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My panelists fall into three buckets: Two venture capitalists, both with portfolio companies in China; two outsourcing specialists (one is the CEO of a Beijing-based solution provider, the other heads Tsinghua's outsourcing efforts); and, two policy wonks. To me, all six are "star" panelists, but the best know is certainly <STRONG>Sandy Berger</STRONG>. In a previous life, Sandy was the <STRONG>White House National Security Advisor</STRONG>. At over US$2,000 per person, the 600 or so attendees will be mostly C-level executives. (US$2,000 is a rather high hurdle these days, even by U.S. standards.) Top venture capitalists, hottest Silicon Valley firms and chief execs. I will summarize my panel in the August issue of this blog/e-newsletter. For more information, click <A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=10085_0_2_0_C"><STRONG>here</STRONG></A> or go to<STRONG> </STRONG><A href="http://doiop.com/Stanford"><STRONG>http://doiop.com/Stanford</STRONG></A>.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><U>Lessons from SIMChina: Is It Really China vs. India?</U></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My last two AlwaysOn Network "Letter from China" columns focused on lessons for Westerners, but are also applicable <STRONG>management</STRONG> lessons for China's solution providers, systems integrators and contract software development shops. I don't want to rehash what I wrote. You can read the <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>first part </FONT></STRONG><A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=P10874_0_4_0_C"><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>here</FONT></STRONG></A> and the <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>second part </FONT></STRONG><A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=11040_0_11_0_C"><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>here</FONT></STRONG></A>. Alternative links: <A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=P10874_0_4_0_C"><STRONG>http://doiop.com/Management</STRONG></A> (part one) and <A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=11040_0_11_0_C"><STRONG>http://doiop.com/China_vs_India</STRONG></A> (part two).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In this posting, I'm going to elaborate a bit beyond what I wrote for my AO columns. And I'm going to focus on India and Indians.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>First, most firms in China should know the reality: If an Indian firm is in the bidding process, the odds are overwhelming that the China firm is being used as a bargaining chip against the Indian firm. Something that evidently isn't widely understood by China's solution providers is that most American firms require at least three competitive bids. However, if an Indian firm is already in the bidding process, it is quite likely that they have already been selected and all other firms, from China, Russia, the Czech Republic, wherever, are being used to provide a lower bid and benchmark which in turn is used to get a lower price from the Indian firm. Like it or not, that's reality. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>Bottom line:</STRONG> Before spending too many resources on proposal preparation, find out if an Indian IT outsourcing firm is in the bidding process. If so, adjust your efforts and pricing accordingly. There may still be strategic reasons for competing; however, it may also be a signal to walk from the bidding process.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Second, is the key decision maker an Indian? I'm going to write about this at length for an article in <EM><A href="http://www.forbeschina.com/"><STRONG>Forbes China,</STRONG></A></EM> but I'll touch upon it here (as I did at SIMChina). I've heard from more than a few Indians that there's very little chance that they would let a contract to a non-Indian solution provider. For one thing, it's easier to do due diligence on the Indian providers (<EM>sans </EM>Western providers). More transparency and geographically far more convenient: It's nice to scope out a half-dozen CMMi5 providers in the same city. Also, American management realizes that there is closer cultural affinity for their project manager. (How much this really matters varies by company and the internal relationships of the PM.) It's also hard to get fired for choosing an Indian global. TCS, Wipro, Infosys, Satyam, Cognizant. Can't get fired for choosing one of these. Finally, a little known secret: A confession that when the Indian PM chooses an Indian provider, he gets free trips to visit his extended family in India. This is more important than many may think. I call this the "unspoken criteria."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>Bottom line:</STRONG> Your mileage may vary, but be wary when the key decision maker on an outsourcing/offshoring contract is an Indian. This plays a bit into the above recommendation since there will likely be an Indian provider in the bidding loop. If the key decision maker is Indian and if there is at least one Indian solution provider in the bidding process, your bidding efforts might be better spent on other RFPs/RFQs.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><U>Worksoft hits a Grand Slam</U></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Okay, maybe a three-run homer. But still pretty good. Everyone reading this already knows (or should know) that Beijing-based Worksoft received an infusion of capital from DCM. DCM (Doll Capital Management) is considered one of the most forward-looking Silicon Valley-based venture capital firms and a leader in the China market. Other venture firms look to DCM for guidance. For Worksoft to bag them says a lot about their senior management team. Kudos to Chris and David!! You can read the release <STRONG><A href="http://www.businesswireindia.com/Feeds/HT/bwirelease07076.asp">here</A></STRONG> or click on <A href="http://doiop.com/Worksoft"><STRONG>http://doiop.com/Worksoft</STRONG></A>. Also, read the related piece in <STRONG><EM><A href="http://www.usatoday.com/printedition/money/20050509/chinavc_cover.art.htm">USA Today.</A></EM></STRONG> Very nice.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Although the idea of choosing PeopleSoft as their preferred partner was an obviously bad decision -- even three years ago, it was clear to any analyst that PeopleSoft was living on borrowed time -- at least Worksoft demonstrated (and quite effectively I might add) that they had a real, workable strategy. Also, I realize that picking partners is often opportunistic; one vendor may be an obviously better choice, but it might be nearly impossible to get traction with them versus another vendor.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>Bottom line:</STRONG> Expect more Silicon Valley-based venture firms to follow in DCM's footsteps. Tremendous opportunities for many domestic (in China) solution providers. I will get a better read on this in my FTF (face-to-face) discussions at the AO Stanford Summit. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><U>A Pat on the Back</U></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I want to thank Vinnie Mirchandani for putting me in good company. In one of his recent postings, he listed his choices for the top seven "global ambassadors for our (U.S.) technology industry." The eight include Bill Gates, Larry Ellison (Oracle), John Chambers (Cisco), Jeff Immelt (GE), a couple of others, and yours truly. Thanks Vinnie!! See his posting <STRONG><A href="http://dealarchitect.typepad.com/deal_architect/2005/07/as_american_ast.html#">here</A></STRONG> or click on <A href="http://doiop.com/Ambassadors"><STRONG>http://doiop.com/Ambassadors</STRONG></A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><U>New Marketing Strategies</U></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Prussian (the spelling is correct) outsourcing firms take a new approach to marketing. Best to download and watch this. Click <STRONG><A href="http://reality.sgiweb.org/mattm/media/ghengis_khan.mpeg">here</A></STRONG> to download or click on <A href="http://doiop.com/Prussian_Outsourcing"><STRONG>http://doiop.com/Prussian_Outsourcing</STRONG></A> . I can't wait to see the NeuSoft music video!!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Finally, China reaches out to Silicon Valley and America. Who are China's best known living pair and ambassadors for peace? Well, they're not who you think. Try <A href="http://www.big-boys.com/articles/loveme.html"><STRONG>these guys</STRONG></A>, or click on <A href="http://doiop.com/Goodwill_Ambassadors"><STRONG>http://doiop.com/Goodwill_Ambassadors</STRONG></A>. I want to dedicate their song to my someone special; she's the ultimate cutie!!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Enjoy ...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.valleyviewventures.com/pages/1697138">IT E-Strategies, Inc.</A></DIV> <DIV>Qingdao, China & Menlo Park, California</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/5jwc7">e-mail</A>:</STRONG> click on <!--StartFragment --><B><A href="http://tinyurl.com/5jwc7">http://tinyurl.com/5jwc7</A></B></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="callto://davidscottlewis/">callto://davidscottlewis</A></STRONG> (Skype)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://doiop.com/China">http://doiop.com/China</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Outsourcing">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Outsourcing</A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Software">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Software</A> (<EM>David on Enterprise Software</EM> <U>podcast feed</U>)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.bloglines.com/public/DSL">http://www.bloglines.com/public/DSL</A> (public blogroll)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1118685128836729312005-06-14T01:52:00.000+08:002005-06-14T01:52:08.866+08:00NEW DiamondCluster report on ITO + SIMChina & CSIO BOFs<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face="comic sans ms" size=4><STRONG>David on IT Outsourcing in China</STRONG></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/"><STRONG>blog</STRONG></A><STRONG>, </STRONG><A href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chinasourcingalert"><STRONG>e-newsletter</STRONG></A><STRONG> , </STRONG><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml"><STRONG>XML content feed</STRONG></A><STRONG> & </STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e"><STRONG>AvantGo channel</STRONG></A> (for PDAs & smartphones)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Monday, June 13, 2004</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>Dateline: China</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>DiamondCluster has released its new annual survey on ITO. The <A href="http://www.diamondcluster.com/press/PressRelease.asp?src=pressreleases331.asp"><STRONG>press release</STRONG></A> is a pretty good synopsis; the 20 page PDF can be downloaded <A href="http://www.diamondcluster.com/Ideas/Viewpoint/PDF/DiamondCluster2005OutsourcingStudy.pdf"><STRONG>here</STRONG></A>. I made a comment about the survey on the <EM>CIO</EM> magazine <A href="http://www.cio.com/blog_view.html?CID=7051"><STRONG>blog</STRONG></A>.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The first of my two-part series on IT sourcing options in China appeared in the current issue of <EM>BusinessForum China,</EM> the largest circulation English-language business magazine in China. An edited version of my article appears as an <STRONG>AlwaysOn Network</STRONG> "Letter from China" <A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=10436_0_1_0_C"><STRONG>column</STRONG></A>.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><U><STRONG>SIMChina & CSIO</STRONG></U></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I will be giving a "main tent" presentation this Wednesday (the 15th) at the <A href="http://www.simchina.com.cn/"><STRONG>SIMChina</STRONG></A> conference in Beijing. (Sometimes <A href="http://www.csia.org.cn/home/intl2005/symposiums/01e/index.html"><STRONG>this</STRONG></A> link works better.) My topic: <EM>Sourcing Business Capability Improvement: How to Succeed in Global Markets.</EM> I will also be giving a talk next Thursday (the 23rd) at the <A href="http://www.csio.org.cn/en/calendar.jsp"><STRONG>CSIO</STRONG></A> conference in Dalian. My topic: <EM>Opportunities & Business Characteristics of European & American Outsourcing Markets: How to Navigate the EU & US ITO Markets.</EM></DIV> <DIV><EM></EM> </DIV> <DIV>Frankly, they're the same slide deck, <EM>sans</EM> a few cosmetic changes. However, I will focus on <STRONG>management issues at SIMChina</STRONG> and <STRONG>marketing issues at CSIO</STRONG>. In a few weeks, I'll upload my presentation to the Y! Group <A href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chinasourcingalert/"><STRONG>site</STRONG></A>.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>>>> If you're reading this and are planning to attend either SIMChina or CSIO, please look me up. If enough of us gather, we can have an informal BOF bash.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.valleyviewventures.com/pages/1697138">IT E-Strategies, Inc.</A></DIV> <DIV>Qingdao, China & Menlo Park, California</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/5jwc7">e-mail</A>:</STRONG> click on <!--StartFragment --><B><A href="http://tinyurl.com/5jwc7">http://tinyurl.com/5jwc7</A></B></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="callto://davidscottlewis/">callto://davidscottlewis</A></STRONG> (Skype)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh">http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Outsourcing">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Outsourcing</A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e">http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</A></FONT> (AvantGo channel)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Software">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Software</A> (<EM>David on Enterprise Software</EM> <U>podcast feed</U>)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://onenterprisesoftware.blogspot.com/atom.xml">http://onenterprisesoftware.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (<EM>David on Enterprise Software</EM> <U>notes feed</U>)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.bloglines.com/public/DSL">http://www.bloglines.com/public/DSL</A> (public blogroll)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1112758445219265322005-04-06T11:34:00.000+08:002005-04-06T11:34:05.223+08:00A "How-to" for Determining Whether or When an Emerging Technology is "Real"<p class="mobile-post"><DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face="comic sans ms" size=4><STRONG>David on IT Outsourcing in China</STRONG></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/"><STRONG>blog</STRONG></A><STRONG>, </STRONG><A href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chinasourcingalert"><STRONG>e-newsletter</STRONG></A><STRONG> , </STRONG><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml"><STRONG>XML content feed</STRONG></A><STRONG> & </STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e"><STRONG>AvantGo channel</STRONG></A> (for PDAs & smartphones)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Wednesday, April 6, 2004</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM>Dateline: China</EM></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><U>A Rule of Thumb for Determining Whether or When an Emerging Technology is "Real"</U></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Let's face it, the IT advisory services and management consultancies are way too expensive. Fortunately, firms in China haven't fallen prey to their hypnotic chants. However, this doesn't negate the need for periodic technological forecasting. This issue is addressed with a relatively simple solution in my current <STRONG>AlwaysOn Network</STRONG> "Letter from China" <A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/">column</A>; the permanent link is <A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=9656_0_1_0_C">here</A>.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><U><STRONG>Update on Grid Computing</STRONG></U></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Grid computing is one of the most missed opportunities by China's solution providers.</STRONG></EM> Of course, it might help to have a bit of web services experience under one's belt. And XML expertise, too. Crawl, walk, run. But it's still important to track what is happening in this space.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment -->The current issue of the <EM><STRONG><A href="http://www.ieee.org/portal/site/mainsite/menuitem.818c0c39e85ef176fb2275875bac26c8/index.jsp?&pName=corp_level1&path=pubs/proceedings&file=index.xml&xsl=generic.xsl">Proceedings of the IEEE</A></STRONG></EM>, the world's most prestigious EE/CS journal according to scientometric measures, is a special issue on grid computing. Here are some of the links:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* <A href="http://www.caip.rutgers.edu/TASSL/Papers/proc-ieee-intro-04.pdf">Grid Computing: Introduction and Overview</A></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* <A href="http://www.gridlab.org/WorkPackages/wp-1/Documents/Allen2.pdf">The Grid Application Toolkit: Towards Generic and Easy APIs for the Grid</A></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* <A href="http://www.extreme.indiana.edu/xportlets/publications/portal-apps-arch.pdf">Building Grid Portal Applications from a Web-Service Component Architecture</A></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* <A href="http://grids.ucs.indiana.edu/ptliupages/publications/NB-WSandSOAP.pdf">Deploying the NaradaBrokering Substrate in Aiding Efficient Web & Grid Service Interactions</A></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* <A href="http://www.semanticgrid.org/documents/semgrid2004/semgrid2004.html">The Semantic Grid: Past, Present and Future</A></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* <A href="http://www.buyya.com/papers/ieee-grideconomy.pdf">The Grid Economy</A></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Enjoy ...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.valleyviewventures.com/pages/1697138">IT E-Strategies, Inc.</A></DIV> <DIV>Qingdao, China & Menlo Park, California</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/5jwc7">e-mail</A>:</STRONG> click on <!--StartFragment --><B><A href="http://tinyurl.com/5jwc7">http://tinyurl.com/5jwc7</A></B></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="callto://davidscottlewis/">callto://davidscottlewis</A></STRONG> (Skype)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh">http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Outsourcing">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Outsourcing</A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e">http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</A></FONT> (AvantGo channel)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Software">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Software</A> (<EM>David on Enterprise Software</EM> <U>podcast feed</U>)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://onenterprisesoftware.blogspot.com/atom.xml">http://onenterprisesoftware.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (<EM>David on Enterprise Software</EM> <U>notes feed</U>)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.bloglines.com/public/DSL">http://www.bloglines.com/public/DSL</A> (public blogroll)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></p>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1111895824694728132005-03-11T23:38:00.000+08:002005-03-27T11:57:04.850+08:00Utility Computing, Knowledge Management & IBM's RUP<span style="font-weight: bold; font-family: georgia;font-size:130%;" >David on IT Outsourcing in China</span><br /><a href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/">blog</a>, <a href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chinasourcingalert">e-newsletter</a>, <a href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml">XML content feed</a> & <a href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e">AvantGo channel</a> (for PDAs & smartphones)<br /><br />Friday, March 10, 2004<br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dateline: China</span><br /><br />Much has happened over the past four months since my last posting.<br /><br />For one thing, I've taken over as the <a href="http://www.alwayson-network.com">AlwaysOn Network</a> "Letter from China" columnist. I'm writing about three columns each month.<br /><br />I've also launched a podcast titled, "<a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Software">David on Enterprise Software</a>." I'm also writing a series of articles on numerous IT- and China-related topics.<br /><br />As far as this blog/e-newsletter is concerned, I'm going to take the highlights from my "David on Enterprise Software" podcast and put them in written form with a bottom line reflecting a China perspective. So let's begin.<br /><br />In my <a href="http://rizzn.net/scripts/podcast/podcasts/DSL.wyepyy.mp3"><span style="font-weight: bold;">inaugural podcast</span></a>, I focused on three items:<br /><br />* Utility computing, from both a virtualization and software-as-a-service perspective,<br /><br />* A knowledge management reality check, and<br /><br />* IBM's Rational Unified Process.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Utility Computing: Virtualization</span><br /><br />As a reminder, utility computing provides access to corporate IT assets on demand, when you want them. The hardware side focuses on servers and storage; the software side, more often than not, looks at applications. Yes, applications, such as SFA (sales force automation) and even ERP.<br /><br />Even though utility computing offerings continue to grow and multiply, the utility computing space is still in the pre-chasm crossing phase. A recent article in an influential trade magazine, <a style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;" href="http://subscribe.penton.com/gpro/">Government Procurement</a>, has a three page "101"-type article. For those not familiar with the English-language slang, a "101" article is an introductory-level article. Hence, there is still a lot of education that needs to be done. If you get into this space, don't expect potential customers to get it the first time. Expect that you'll need to do some hand-holding and a lot of education.<br /><br />Note that server utilization is poor, about 20 percent at best; optimizing server utilization is a prime candidate for a virtualization solution. Of course, this also includes storage and pooling of storage resources. There's also a <span style="font-style: italic;">de facto</span> fault tolerance with this approach.<br /><br />The U.S. government has a <a href="http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/egov/a-1-fea.html">Federal Enterprise Architecture</a> (FEA) blueprint which reads a lot like a utility computing solution. It's worth reading. U.S. government agencies also need to consider Continuity of Operations Planning (COOP), although it's a pretty good strategy for many types of firms, spanning from the financial services to the chemical process industries.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bottom line (on virtualization):</span> Utility computing means less infrastructure, reduced costs, and more highly optimized utilization of IT resources. In the case of virtualization, with its hardware focus, the benefits apply equally to firms in China as they do to firms in the States.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">Utility Computing: Software-as-a-Service</span><br /><br />The next <a href="http://www.cioinsight.com/print_article2/0,2533,a=143156,00.asp">article</a> was published in the January issue of one of my favorite trades, <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">CIO Insight</span>. It appears to have been written by Oracle's marketing department, but it wasn't. It was about the very successful arrangement between JDS Uniphase and Oracle, probably for ERP and related database hosting. (It's not exactly clear in the article.) It's a solution provided by Oracle's On Demand business unit.<br /><br />There's a great line by JDS Uniphase's CIO: "Our information technology falls into two buckets, either advancing the business or running the business, and <span style="font-weight: bold;">we want somebody else to do the running-the-business stuff</span>." (My emphasis.) Yes, this says it all. It also says where firms should look for end user buy-in.<br /><br />Salesforce.com, NetLedger and yes, Oracle's On Demand offering are all showing respectable growth. Matter of fact, Oracle's On Demand unit "has been Oracle's fastest-growing business segment for several quarters in a row." What's more amazing is that through forty (40) acquisitions and restructurings, the JDS Uniphase business units were able to get up and running in relatively short order with their Oracle solution. Very impressive.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bottom line (on software-as-a-service):</span> Expect to see a lot more of this. It's the niche players, but even the larger vendors such as Oracle. And target marketing efforts at running-the-business solutions. One problem in China, however: Most domestic (in China) firms will not give up their corporate data to a third party. Hence, target Western firms in China or coming to China.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Knowledge Management</span><br /><br />The phrase "knowledge management" is one of the most misused and misunderstood phrases in the IT industry. The way I've used it is the way most industry analysts use it, i.e., "business intelligence" is for working with structured data and "knowledge management" is for working with unstructured and semi-structured data. However, a respected analyst and author of an article titled, "Knowledge management: Reality at last?" takes a very different (and interesting) position. The <a href="http://www.dmreview.com/article_sub.cfm?articleId=1018104">article</a> appeared in the February issue of <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">DM Review</span>.<br /><br />The author suggests that KM is a superset of BI and incorporates BI, data warehousing, collaboration, content management and portals. He also goes on to define the "knowledge" aspect as that of turning raw data and information into something useful. He goes on to challenge the dyadic choice between top-down versus bottom-up approaches and instead proposes that KM systems should be built around communities, i.e., communities of users. For example, a firm's marketing department may be its own community, but a cross-functional product development team, which may include representatives from engineering, manufacturing and marketing, form their own community as well.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bottom line:</span> I'm going to stick with my definition of KM, but listen to the author's advice, i.e., "KM" systems should be built around communities and must integrate a myriad of technologies, including DW, CMS, portals and collaboration tools.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic;">IBM's Rational Unified Process</span><br /><br />A couple of pointers to some tools available from <span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Baseline,</span> another one of my favorite trades. The first is a premium subscription <a href="http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1397,1752125,00.asp">tool</a> for calculating the cost of installing a workflow management system. IBM provided the data. (Unfortunately, the online version of the article is a weak rendition of the printed version. FYI, it was published in the January issue.) Another premium subscription article looks at the cost savings utilizing the RUP approach to software development. This includes another <a href="http://www.baselinemag.com/article2/0,1397,1752628,00.asp">tool</a> -- and I highly recommend this too, especially for SIs and solution providers based in China. It can help make a business case. It should be noted that the RUP approach may help firms overcome not having a CMMi-5 certification by demonstrating to prospective clients that potential fears are probably unwarranted -- assuming, of course, that the solution provider is indeed using the RUP approach.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">Bottom line:</span> The RUP approach to software development makes a lot of sense, especially for 99.9% of China's SIs and solution providers.<br /><br /><span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">Accessing Podcasts</span><br /><br />The links to the podcasts are fairly solid, but if they don't work, please check this Group's messages (or blog's archives) for an update. In all likelihood, I'll copy the files to the <a href="http://www.archive.org/">Internet Archive</a> and <a href="http://www.ourmedia.org/">Ourmedia</a>. (For what it's worth, uploading to the Internet Archive from China is painfully show; several hours at best. And although I'm experimenting with Ourmedia, it's still invitation-only -- and not working very well.) I'll also be transferring my podcast hosting to <a href="http://software.libsyn.com/">libsyn</a>, but the podcasts referenced for this post are already up on another service.<br /><br />The podcast specifically for this message/post can be accessed <a href="http://rizzn.net/scripts/podcast/podcasts/DSL.wyepyy.mp3"><span style="font-weight: bold;">here</span></a>.<br />A podcast describing the mission for <a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Software">David on Enterprise Software</a> can be downloaded <a href="http://rizzn.net/scripts/podcast/podcasts/DSL.pituag.mp3"><span style="font-weight: bold;">here</span></a>.<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />David Scott Lewis<br /><span style="font-style: italic;">President & Principal Analyst</span><br /><a href="http://www.itestrategies.com">IT E-Strategies, Inc.</a><br />Qingdao, China & Menlo Park, California<br /><a href="http://tinyurl.com/5jwc7">e-mail</a>: click on <a href="http://tinyurl.com/5jwc7">http://tinyurl.com/5jwc7</a><br /><a href="callto://davidscottlewis">callto://davidscottlewis</a> (Skype)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.itestrategies.com">http://www.itestrategies.com</a> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x)<br /><a href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa">http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</a> (access to blog content archives in China)<br /><a href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh">http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</a> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)<br /><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Outsourcing">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Outsourcing</a> (RSS feed)<br /><a href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml">http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</a> (Atom feed)<br /><a href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e">http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</a> (AvantGo channel)<br /><a href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/Software">http://feeds.feedburner.com/Software</a> (<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">David on Enterprise Software</span> <span style="font-weight: bold;">podcast feed</span>)<br /><a href="http://onenterprisesoftware.blogspot.com/atom.xml">http://onenterprisesoftware.blogspot.com/atom.xml</a> (<span style="font-style: italic; font-weight: bold;">David on Enterprise Software</span> notes feed)<br /><br /><a href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</a> (Furl)<br /><a href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</a> (Furl RSS feed)<br /><a href="http://www.bloglines.com/public/DSL">http://www.bloglines.com/public/DSL</a> (public blogroll)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;">To automatically subscribe click on </span><a style="font-weight: bold;" href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf">http://tinyurl.com/388yf</a><span style="font-weight: bold;"> .</span>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1100143482709253852004-11-11T11:24:00.000+08:002004-11-11T11:24:42.710+08:00[urls/news] The Global Grid: China's HPC Opportunity<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Thursday, November 11, 2004</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For this posting, I'm using an annotated urls format. Let's begin.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="comic sans ms" size=3>The Global Grid</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Grid computing. HPC (high-performance computing). Lots of trade press coverage. Lots of academic papers. Generally, this is a GREAT convergence. Didn't hold with AI (artificial intelligence), but the coverage of grid computing is much more pervasive. Also, it's an area where I believe that systems integrators (SIs) in China can play with the globals. It's new enough that there are no clear leaders. Okay, maybe IBM is a clear leader, but it's certainly not an established market.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>It's also a market where Chinese SIs can leverage work done for domestic applications for Western clients. This is NOT true in areas such as banking applications; the apps used in China are very different from the apps used in the States. Fundamentally different systems. But a lot of grid work is more about infrastructure and custom development. There's also a lot of open source in the grid sphere.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I've selected some of the best papers and sites for review. This is certainly not meant to be comprehensive, but simply follow the links for more info.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>One last note: <STRONG>Clicking on any of the following links will likely lead you to an abstract and possibly to some personal commentary not included in this posting.</STRONG> You may also find related links found by other Furl users.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=994537"><B>Open Grid Services Infrastructure (OGSI) Version 1.0 (PDF)</B></A></U></FONT></DIV> <DIV>The "Bible" of the grid world. The home page will lead to many other relevant papers and reports. See also <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1249930"><B>The Anatomy of the Grid (PDF)</B></A>.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment --><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1249925"><B>IBM Systems Journal - Vol. 43, No. 4, 2004 - Grid Computing</B></A> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000000>Hottest journal issue in town!! Papers may be downloaded for free. See also<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1242295"><B>Grid computing: Conceptual flyover for developers</B></A>.</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U></U></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=994562"><B>GlobusWORLD 2004 Conference Program (with abstracts & decks)</B></A><B> </B></U></FONT></DIV> <DIV>One of the better conferences; covers applications and provides links to several excellent papers and presentations.</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT color=#000080></FONT></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><FONT color=#000080><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=998509"><STRONG>Services Computing: Grid Applications for Today (PDF)</STRONG></A><STRONG><U> </U></STRONG></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV>Well, the link has been replaced. Try to get a hold of this paper. It WAS available for free. <STRONG>SOA meets the grid</STRONG>. The lead author, Liang-Jie Zhang, is a researcher at IBM T.J.Watson Research Center and chair of the IEEE Computer Society Technical Steering Committee (technical community) for Services Computing. Contact him at <A href="mailto:zhanglj@us.ibm.com">zhanglj@us.ibm.com</A> . Ask for his related papers, too.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1224325"><B>Proceedings of the 2nd workshop on Middleware for grid computing</B></A><B> </B></U></FONT></DIV> <DIV>Several excellent papers; recent conference. Middleware: Yes, middleware is the key to SI opportunities.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><FONT color=#000080><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1043798"><STRONG>2nd Annual ATIP Chinese HPC Workshop at SC '04</STRONG></A><STRONG><U> </U></STRONG></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000000>Conference held earlier this month!! See who is doing what in China.</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment --><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1237388"><B>Brain Meets Brawn: Why Grid and Agents Need Each Other (PDF)</B></A> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000000>Want a competitive edge in the grid space? This is it!!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U></U></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000000>NOTE: A search for "grid computing" in my Furl archive yields 164 hits (and most are publicly searchable). See <A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> .</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="comic sans ms" size=3>Other News</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face="times new roman" size=3>Outsourcing & Offshoring:</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3></FONT></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1028472"><B>Article Warns China Against Following India in Developing Software Industry</B></A><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1047844"><B> </B></A></U></FONT></DIV> <DIV>I don't agree with this, but it's worth reading, especially considering the source. I agree that China shouldn't try to be a clone of India, but the arguments in support of the domestic market don't consider margins.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><FONT color=#000080><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=926230"><B>Budapest, the Next Bangalore? New EU Members Join the Outsourcing Race</B></A></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV>I'll be writing a column for the AlwaysOn Network about the disconnect between China's foreign policy initiatives and the realities of the IT sector. Suffice it to say that <STRONG>SIs in China should NOT chase after the EU</STRONG>. Again, <STRONG>do NOT confuse foreign policy with corporate policy</STRONG>!!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1067008"><B>Romania IT Services Market Primed for Growth, Says IDC | Tekrati Research News</B></A></U></FONT><B> </B></DIV> <DIV>More of the same. Read my comments about Romania by clicking the link ...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1067272"><STRONG>Google to lean heavier on R&D centre in B'lore</STRONG></A></U></FONT><STRONG> </STRONG></DIV> <DIV>Google is coming to China, too. Think MS Research in Beijing.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1145867"><B>IBM expands China research site in midmarket push</B></A></U></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>Another great move by IBM; they're clearly leading the pack.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1032706"><B>TCS shifts focus to China's market</B></A></U></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>This article is a bit confusing. I suspect that TCS is simply copying the IGS China strategy. But it's worth noting that they're moving beyond servicing their American clients with a presence in China.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1035932"><B>Wipro in talks to buy US-based Cymbal</B></A></U></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000000>Yes, yes and yes. Expect a lot more of this. I wouldn't be surprised to see China's SIs forced to move a bit lower on the U.S. SI food chain for partnerships. Move up the chain by thinking verticals!!</FONT></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><U></U></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face="times new roman" size=3>BPO:</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3></FONT></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1032693"><B>The next big BPO question</B></A></U></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>No need to click; it's all about security.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1028737"><B>Carnegie scientists develop model to help Indian BPOs</B></A></U></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>No, not really a new model; more about a new certification!! Just what the world needs ...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="times new roman" size=3><STRONG>Enterprise Software:</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face="Times New Roman" size=3></FONT></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=847041"><B>Introduction to Structured Content Management with XML</B></A></U></FONT></DIV> <DIV>The title says it all.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1067504"><B>Open Source Content Management with Plone</B></A></U></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>Maybe the "P" in "LAMP" should stand for "Plone"?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=847073"><B>Some software vendors see opportunity in providing development tools for globally dispersed teams</B></A></U></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>A strategy for USERS, i.e., SIs in China.</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><U></U></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face="times new roman" size=3>Marketing & Management:</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><U><FONT color=#000080></FONT></U> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1051718"><B>Four Ways to Pick a Winning Product</B></A></U></FONT></DIV> <DIV>Product Management 101, courtesy of the Harvard Business School.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1052543"><B>Free creative thinking tools on the Web - from InnovationTools</B></A></U></FONT> </DIV> <DIV>Spread this throughout your organization ... and then ramp up with some paid tools.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=1024912"><B>Information Processing, Knowledge Development and Strategic Supply Chain Performance (PDF)</B></A></U></FONT></DIV> <DIV>SCM (supply chain management) meets marketing, but with a general management and strategy slant.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000080><U><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=844278"><B>Strategic Decisions of New Technology Adoption under Asymmetric Information (PDF)</B></A></U></FONT></DIV> <DIV>G2 planning strategies. A wee bit mathematical, but still fairly easy to follow.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Expect the next <EM><STRONG>original</STRONG></EM> posting in two or three weeks; my next column for the AlwaysOn Network will be sent to this list. Off to HK/SZ/ZH/GZ next week.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh">http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert">http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert</A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e">http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</A></FONT> (AvantGo channel)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1097107370390839402004-10-07T08:02:00.000+08:002004-10-07T08:02:50.390+08:00[commentary] "The New Yellow Peril" (from the Yale Center for the Study of Globalization)<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Wednesday, October 6, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: (back in) China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Yes, I'm back from a two-week trip to sunny California.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>A few observations which I'll be writing about for the <A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/">AlwaysOn Network</A>:</DIV> <DIV>1) Life in China is miserable compared to life in California (and compared to life in the States in general). Nevertheless, there are opportunities in China which simply do not exist in the States.</DIV> <DIV>2) OTOH (on the other hand), I'd vote for Hu/Wen over Bush/Cheney or Kerry/Edwards. Hey, it's a democracy: I can vote for them as write-in candidates on my absentee ballot!! Frankly, my gut tells me that China has better leadership at the top, regardless which party wins the general election.</DIV> <DIV>3) Beijing must be going crazy. Beijing despises the Bush administration's foreign policy, but the Democratic Party rhetoric against outsourcing and offshoring is, at least to me, a much more serious issue for China. The fact remains, however, that there is little that a Kerry administration could do to stop offshoring. Maybe it's not a serious issue after all ...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Some of the best stuff I've read <A href="http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=4649">in defense of outsourcing/offshoring</A>, courtesy of Yale's Center for the Study of Globalization. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/3oy6q">http://tinyurl.com/3oy6q</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Back to regular blogging next week; I'm planning to enjoy the last day of this week's national holiday (in China). Kind of like Independence Week here in China.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</A></DIV> <DIV> <DIV><STRONG></STRONG></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1096012896426558232004-09-24T16:01:00.000+08:002004-09-24T16:01:36.426+08:00[AO] The Tsingtao Advantage: Western Expats in a City with Few<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Thursday, September 23, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: Los Angeles</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My third "Letter from China" column has been published. For the next few days, it can be accessed at <A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/"><STRONG>http://www.alwayson-network.com</STRONG></A> ; the permanent link is <A href="http://tinyurl.com/55ee6"><STRONG>http://tinyurl.com/55ee6</STRONG></A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My last column on outsourcing can be accessed at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4e4q4"><STRONG>http://tinyurl.com/4e4q4</STRONG></A> . I was in good company last week: <STRONG>The column was featured along with a blog posting by the FCC Chairman</STRONG>.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My first column on Shanghai can be accessed at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4gpcr"><STRONG>http://tinyurl.com/4gpcr</STRONG></A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>To review previous blog postings, see <A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/"><STRONG>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com</STRONG></A> , <A href="http://onenterprisesoftware.blogspot.com/">http://onenterprisesoftware.blogspot.com</A> or <A href="http://onemergingtech.blogspot.com/">http://onemergingtech.blogspot.com</A> . (In China, see <A href="http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chinasourcingalert/">http://groups.yahoo.com/group/chinasourcingalert/</A> .)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For all the Chinese government officials on my e-newsletter distribution list, follow Qingdao's lead as described in this week's AO "Letter from China" column. BTW, the publications referenced are <EM>Red Star</EM> and <EM>Qingdao Expat.</EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1095608783634701082004-09-19T23:46:00.000+08:002004-09-19T23:46:23.633+08:00[urls] Measuring the ROI of Software Process Improvement<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Saturday, September 18, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>The following is a sampling of my top ten "urls" for the past couple/few weeks. By signing up with <A href="http://www.furl.net/"><FONT color=#000099><STRONG>Furl</STRONG></FONT></A> (it's <STRONG>free</STRONG>), anyone can subscribe to an e-mail feed of ALL my urls (about 100-250 per week) -- AND limit by <U>subject</U> (e.g., ITO) and/or <U>rating</U> (e.g., articles rated "Very Good" or "Excellent"). It's also possible to receive new urls as an RSS feed.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><EM><FONT color=#0000ff><STRONG>All of the top ten are PDFs</STRONG></FONT></EM>. <STRONG><FONT size=3><U>Click on the link to read the abstract for each paper</U>.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Note: <STRONG><FONT color=#6000bf>Off to California for a couple of weeks</FONT></STRONG>. Probably no <EM><STRONG>new, original </STRONG></EM>postings until after the October national holiday in China. (I get a three week break from writing for this blog, but I'll still be writing columns for the <A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/">AlwaysOn Network</A>.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Verdana color=#ff0000><FONT size=3>Top Honors:</FONT> </FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment -->* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=765471"><STRONG>Measuring the ROI of Software Process Improvement</STRONG></A> (relatively speaking, very popular among Furl viewers; highly accessible article with a lot of substance and pointers)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=verdana><FONT color=#ff0000 size=3>Other best new selections (in order of popularity as determined by Furl views, then alphabetically):</FONT></FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment -->* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=765605"><B>A Framework for Off-The-Shelf Software Component Development and Maintenance Processes</B></A> (this was THE most popular paper, although I liked the ROI article better; superb info, good guidelines, lots of food for thought)</DIV> <DIV>* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=807204"><B>Agent-Based e-Supply Chain Decision Support</B></A> (not as geeky as it sounds; lead author is with Carnegie Mellon's e-Supply Chain Management Laboratory & Institute for e-Commerce)</DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment -->* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=813971"><B>B2B E-Commerce Stages of Growth: the Strategic Imperatives</B></A> (a look at some case studies; provides some insights into B2B adoption and diffusion)</DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment -->* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=807207"><B>Creating an Open Agent Environment for Context-Aware M-Commerce</B></A> (from the Mobile Commerce Laboratory at Carnegie Mellon <no, this isn't necessarily CMU week>; I have a lot of doubts about this stuff, but it's worth firing a few neurons and giving it a spin)</DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment -->* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=765625"><B><FONT color=#ff0000>Development and Evaluation of Software Process Improvement Methods (Dissertation, 190 pp.)</FONT></B></A> (<STRONG>superb</STRONG> overviews sprinkled with case studies; <STRONG>it was tough to choose between this dissertation and the ROI paper for top honors</STRONG>)</DIV> <DIV>* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=813956"><B>Deriving a Diffusion Framework for Web-Based Shopping Systems</B></A> (a bit of a technical flavor, but not <EM>too</EM> technical; puts e-shopping in a broader perspective, e.g., relative to EDI)</DIV> <DIV>* <STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=807139">Exploring Defect Causes in Products Developed by Virtual Teams</A></STRONG> (<FONT color=#ff0000><STRONG>to all SIs developing a GDM - global delivery model - READ THIS!!; <U>perhaps the most important paper among my top ten</U></STRONG></FONT>)</DIV> <DIV>* <STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=765390">Intelligent Support for Software Release Planning</A></STRONG> (a corporate technical paper describing a very useful software development management tool; see also the <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=778302"><STRONG>Release Planner</STRONG></A> (tm) home page)</DIV> <DIV>* <STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=777717">NaradaBrokering and its Applications</A></STRONG> (might be better than WebSphere; see also <STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=777713">The NaradaBrokering Project at IU Community Grids Laboratory</A></STRONG>) </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>And <STRONG>my PERSONAL favorite</STRONG>:</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=765387">The Banality of Google</A></STRONG> (good for some laughs)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>and many, many more ...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue"><FONT color=#000099>e-mail</FONT></A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue"><FONT color=#000099>http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</FONT></A></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000099></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank><FONT color=#000099>http://www.itestrategies.com</FONT></A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank><FONT color=#000099>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</FONT></A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh"><FONT color=#000099>http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</FONT></A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert"><FONT color=#000099>http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert</FONT></A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank><FONT color=#000099>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</FONT></A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e"><FONT color=#000099>http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</FONT></A> (AvantGo channel)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle"><FONT color=#000099>http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</FONT></A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml"><FONT color=#000099>http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</FONT></A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank><FONT color=#000099>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</FONT></A> .</STRONG></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1095320835393400852004-09-16T15:47:00.000+08:002004-09-16T15:47:15.393+08:00[news/commentary] Building ISV Relationships: Targeting SMEs - Part I<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Thursday, September 16, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="comic sans ms" color=#ff0000 size=3>New column on the <A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/">AlwaysOn Network</A>.</FONT> <STRONG>It's on the potential downside of offshoring (the downside for the States, that is)</STRONG>. For the next five days, see <A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/">http://www.alwayson-network.com</A> ; the permanent link is at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4e4q4">http://tinyurl.com/4e4q4</A> . It got the ire of a lot of readers and a lot of views (I'm projecting nearly 500 in less than one day). <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>The article which was the basis for my column is getting a lot of attention in the States.</FONT></STRONG> Worth reading.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="comic sans ms" size=3>Building ISV Relationships: Targeting SMEs -- Part I</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>First, a bit of commentary. <STRONG>One thing all smart SIs (systems integrators) do is develop partnerships and alliances with ISVs</STRONG> (independent software vendors, i.e., software publishers/software companies in a broad sense). Of course, it's difficult to be the 1,000th entrant in the game and expect to get any traction/assistance from your ISV partner.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>SIs in China ALWAYS use the approach of offering localization services and OFTEN offer to help push an ISV's product within the domestic market in China. Frankly, this is what the (usually American) ISV wants, too. Does this strategy work? Well, sometimes. However, even in the case of high profile alliances such as some of those Microsoft has in China (and I won't name names to protect the innocent), it's really nothing more than window dressing. Everything looks good on paper, but the reality is something quite different.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Regardless, this does NOT address the need and desire for SIs in China to build their market in the States. And when this issue becomes center stage, ISVs frequently respond with something bordering on contempt. <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>Some ISVs are getting clued that their American channel partners absolutely need partners in China and other low(er)-cost development areas in order to win bids.</FONT></STRONG> Let's face it, it's all about closing deals. And if an ISV's competitors have channel partners which can put together winning bids, perhaps in part (and perhaps in LARGE part) due to an offshoring component with their channel partner's SI partner(s) in China, then the ISV with an indirect link to China has a competitive advantage. <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>I don't view this as a sufficient condition to winning bids, but <EM>it's increasingly a necessary condition</EM>.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Clued ISVs want their American channel partners to have an offshoring option, but this requires that their channel partners have relationships with SIs in a country such as China. But ISVs tend to focus their channel development efforts on their American partners and might develop a couple/few relationships in China, but usually NOT tied to their channel development efforts in the States. Goofy and shortsighted, to say the least.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But <STRONG>how can SIs in China get traction with American ISVs</STRONG>, especially since they're almost always late to the game (in other words, the American ISV already has a well-developed channel)? <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>The answer</FONT></STRONG> (or, at least one answer): <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>Focus on servicing the needs of SMEs</FONT></STRONG> (small and medium enterprises, which is also referred to as "<STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>SMBs</FONT></STRONG>" -- small and medium businesses).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>There's another reason this makes sense: Most of the SIs in China are already focused on servicing SMEs/SMBs in China. It might be nice to bag a large SOE (state-owned enterprise), but the reality is that most firms in China, especially the burgeoning number of privately-held firms, are SMEs by definition. Hence, the experiences gained by SIs in China is already within the same market, although I'd be the first person to warn than company size and even similar domains does not necessarily equate to directly transferable skills. Fact is, things in China are often quite different from the way they are in the States, especially in a "hot" ITO (IT outsourcing) market like financial services. <FONT color=#a94a76><STRONG>More about this in a forthcoming posting</STRONG></FONT>. <STRONG>Bottom line:</STRONG> Give serious thought to targeting the SMB/SME market in the States. (Part II of this commentary might be a while in coming.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="comic sans ms" size=3>IT Tidbits</FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Lots of tidbits this week.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,95196,00.html">Controlling project costs</A>.</FONT></EM></STRONG> My favorites: Scope creep, not understanding project financing, "big-bang" projects, overtesting (although I'm not sure I agree with this one), poor estimating. Good stuff, with recommended solutions. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6rfkg">http://tinyurl.com/6rfkg</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>Challenges for China's SIs.</FONT></EM></STRONG> Adapted from a <A href="http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040914005591&newsLang=en">Forrester report</A>. <!--StartFragment --> For starters, how about: Improving account management (are there really any account managers in China, or at least any who can manage accounts with U.S. clients? <IMG src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/03.gif"> ), moving away from technology-centric messages that often alienate business buyers (better yet, moving away from messages in Chinglish), investing in vertical-specific skills (how many times have I said this?) and becoming more multicultural organizations (yes, and let's start with learning English!). See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4avfo">http://tinyurl.com/4avfo</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>"Yee Haw" as an outsourcing option.</FONT></EM></STRONG> Forget India. Forget China. Forget the Philippines. <A href="http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,95792,00.html">Let's go to Arkansas</A>!! See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/7ya9p">http://tinyurl.com/7ya9p</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=13566898">American start-ups go offshore</A>.</FONT></EM></STRONG> Try Corio (is Corio really a start-up?), CollabNet, Aarohl, Infinera, and many others. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/3wm3o">http://tinyurl.com/3wm3o</A> . Another good article with a BPO spin in <A href="http://www.venturecapitaljournal.net/vcj/1070549975581.html"><EM>Venture Capital Journal</EM></A>, <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4rfsa">http://tinyurl.com/4rfsa</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://www.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,4057,9982364%255E15317,00.html">Offshorings mixed results.</A></FONT></EM></STRONG> "<!--StartFragment --><SPAN class=bodytext>Vietnam and Myanmar were also in demand ..." Really? See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/647ap">http://tinyurl.com/647ap</A> .</SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=bodytext></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=bodytext><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories.pl?ACCT=109&STORY=/www/story/09-09-2004/0002247194&EDATE=">Looking for SI partners?</A></FONT></EM></STRONG> Kennedy ranks the largest firms. As I've said in the past, I like their reports. (No, I don't get a cut.) Satyam and TCS didn't make the grade, though. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4s965">http://tinyurl.com/4s965</A> .</SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=bodytext></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=bodytext><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=4462">Another challenge to conventional outsourcing and offshoring "wisdom."</A></FONT></EM></STRONG> <!--StartFragment --> "Services-driven development models, such as the one at work in India, broaden the global competitive playing field. As a result, new pressures are brought to bear on hiring and real wages in the developed world - pressures that are not inconsequential in shaping the jobless recoveries unfolding in high-cost wealthy nations. For those in the developed world, successful services- and manufacturing-based development models in heavily populated countries such as India and China - pose the toughest question of all: what about us?" For more, see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4acm4">http://tinyurl.com/4acm4</A> .</SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=bodytext></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=bodytext><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff><EM>Forget the Golden Triangle. How about China + India vs. the world (or, </EM>sans<EM> the world)?</EM></FONT></STRONG> "<!--StartFragment -->Newspaper headlines portray China as the world's manufacturing base for low-cost goods, like clothing and shoes, and India as the global IT monopoly-to-be. Unfortunately, media outside Asia have failed to acknowledge the growing partnership between the two giants." "<!--StartFragment -->Given the complementary nature of their economies and the size of their markets (nearly 2.2 billion people in total), the nascent cooperation between the two holds the potential to dramatically alter the world trade balance. A perusal of the Shanghai technology corridor reveals a hint of the countries' industrial interconnectedness. Walk through one of the main complexes in Shanghai's Pudong Software Park, and you will see a prominently displayed sign for Infosys, one of India's most respected IT firms. The same complex also holds Satyam, the first of India's software service companies to set up offices in Shanghai. Nearby are the headquarters of the largest software services company in Asia, Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), which currently runs an outsourcing center for GE in the town of Hangzhou. TCS is owned by the Tatas, one of India's most prominent business families. Across the river is NIIT, the principal software training center in India's private sector. NIIT, operating in China since 1998, now runs an extensive two-year course in 25 provinces, training around 20,000 students to be software professionals. There is widespread speculation that Wipro, India's only giant IT firm without a presence in the city, will establish a Shanghai office very soon. It is no surprise that Indian software companies are setting up in China. <STRONG>They</STRONG>, like everyone else, <STRONG>sense great opportunity in one of the largest, fastest-growing economies in the world</STRONG>." (Bold is my emphasis.) All true, and they even forget MphasiS. See one of my must-read sources, <A href="http://yaleglobal.yale.edu/display.article?id=4483"><STRONG>YaleGlobal</STRONG></A>: <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6ltaz">http://tinyurl.com/6ltaz</A> .</SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=bodytext></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=bodytext><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>The partnering wave of the future.</FONT></EM></STRONG> I've talked about this many times in previous postings. This time <A href="http://www.buffalonews.com/editorial/20040909/1028359.asp">CTG dances with Polaris Software</A>. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5tbqd">http://tinyurl.com/5tbqd</A> .</SPAN></DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=bodytext></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV><SPAN class=bodytext><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://infotech.indiatimes.com/cms.dll/html/uncomp/articleshow/836340.cms">CMMi: The key to success</A>.</FONT></EM></STRONG> A little simplistic and uses incorrect definitions, but still worth reading. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4gp9u">http://tinyurl.com/4gp9u</A> .</SPAN></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment --><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://www.business-standard.com/strategist/storypage.php?hpFlag=Y&chklogin=N&autono=166468&leftnm=lmnu7&leftindx=7&lselect=0">Cognizant sees growth in entertainment, media</A>.</FONT></EM></STRONG> The title says it all. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4kdlq">http://tinyurl.com/4kdlq</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://www.offshoring-digest.com/index.php?p=94">Software development in the Philippines</A>.</FONT></EM></STRONG> Will this series ever stop? See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/54grw">http://tinyurl.com/54grw</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://www.businessweek.com/print/bwdaily/dnflash/sep2004/nf2004099_2108_db083.htm?db"><EM>TCS in</EM> BusinessWeek</A><EM>.</EM></FONT></STRONG> See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6k24k">http://tinyurl.com/6k24k</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=814741">Is India invincible?</A></EM></STRONG> See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/64b2t">http://tinyurl.com/64b2t</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>How about Microsoft vs. China in an AO "Grudge Match"?</FONT></EM></STRONG> See a lengthy <A href="http://www.cfo.com/printable/article.cfm/3015475?f=options">article in <EM>CFO</EM></A> titled, "Does Microsoft need China?"; link at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/476bo">http://tinyurl.com/476bo</A> . China: The champion of open source!!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,95663,00.html">Jini at work</A>.</FONT></EM></STRONG> No, <A href="http://www.computerworld.com/softwaretopics/software/appdev/story/0,10801,95673,00.html?nas=APP-95673">it's not dead</A> (yet). See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6p2kv">http://tinyurl.com/6p2kv</A> and <A href="http://tinyurl.com/3t893">http://tinyurl.com/3t893</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://www.innovationtools.com/weblog/innovationblog-detail.asp?ArticleID=540">Business creativity 101</A>.</FONT></EM></STRONG> "<!--StartFragment -->A new book from Wharton School Publishing, <EM>The Power of Impossible Thinking</EM> by Jerry Wind and Colin Crook prompts you to rethink your mental models and transform them to help you achieve new levels of creativity. In this book, the authors give a set of guidelines on how to see differently." Examples: <!--StartFragment --> <STRONG>Listen to the radicals; <!--StartFragment -->embark on journeys of discovery; <!--StartFragment -->look across disciplines. </STRONG>See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6fvo8">http://tinyurl.com/6fvo8</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment --><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4353&t=innovation&nl=y">The innovator's battle plan</A>.</FONT></EM></STRONG> "Great firms can be undone by disruptors who analyze and exploit an incumbent's strengths and motivations. From <B>Clayton Christensen's</B> new book <I>Seeing What's Next</I>." GREAT stuff (although John Dvorak won't like it). What about <!--StartFragment --><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles>asymmetric warfare theories applied to the realm of corporate innovation and creativity? Just a thought ... See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6mbcy">http://tinyurl.com/6mbcy</A> .</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>Your next competitors?</FONT></EM></STRONG> <A href="http://www.fcw.com/fcw/articles/2004/0913/tec-world-09-13-04.asp">Have you thought about<!--StartFragment --> Senegal, Uganda, Kenya, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh</A>, especially in the BPO space? See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5h93z">http://tinyurl.com/5h93z</A> .</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles><EM><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4360&t=dispatch">Message to product companies: go sell services</A>!!</FONT></STRONG></EM> Interesting take from a VMI perspective. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5tqrt">http://tinyurl.com/5tqrt</A> .</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>Don't know much about bloggin'?</FONT></EM></STRONG> <A href="http://www.corporateblogging.info/2004/08/six-types-of-business-blogs.asp">Good take</A> on the various types of corporate blogs. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6my29">http://tinyurl.com/6my29</A> .</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>Urls as web services?</FONT></EM></STRONG> You have to <A href="http://www.teledyn.com/mt/archives/002126.html">read it</A> to get it. Might be a bit too much for the uninitiated ... See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/563gm">http://tinyurl.com/563gm</A> .</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>Joel is back and blogging!!</FONT></EM></STRONG> <A href="http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/NotJustUsability.html">Joel takes on Jakob Nielsen</A> in "it's not just usability." See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6msmm">http://tinyurl.com/6msmm</A> .</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=807106">How about open source software for HPC?</A></FONT></EM></STRONG> See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5qzle">http://tinyurl.com/5qzle</A> . <STRONG><FONT color=#ff0000>WARNING: Geek alert, geek alert!!</FONT></STRONG></SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>Saving the best for last: </FONT></EM></STRONG><A href="http://hbswk.hbs.edu/item.jhtml?id=4367&t=innovation&nl=y"><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>a piece on Woz</FONT></EM></STRONG></A><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>.</FONT></EM></STRONG> See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4szjf">http://tinyurl.com/4szjf</A> .</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles></SPAN></FONT></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT class=article-blurb face="Arial, Verdana, san-serif" size=2><FONT face="Arial, Verdana" color=#000000 size=2><SPAN class=article-subtitles>TTFN. Expect a urls update before I go back to the States.</SPAN></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh">http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert">http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert</A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e">http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</A></FONT> (AvantGo channel)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1094688978538049402004-09-09T08:16:00.000+08:002004-09-09T08:16:18.536+08:00[AO] Shanghaied!!<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Thursday, September 9, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=5774_0_11_0_C">My first column for the AlwaysOn Network</A> appeared earlier today. The editing changed a little bit of my emphasis, but it's basically what I submitted. This is the first of many planned endeavors in reaching out to systems integrators, software vendors and CIOs based in the States.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>See <A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=5774_0_11_0_C">http://www.alwayson-network.com/comments.php?id=5774_0_11_0_C</A> or <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4gpcr">http://tinyurl.com/4gpcr</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face="comic sans ms" color=#0000ff>Please send me your comments, advice and suggestions.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>BTW, this is a lot different from the usual blog posting on AO; the "Letter from China" is one of AO's e-newsletters and is also featured on their home page. Much, much greater exposure than standard AO posts.</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1094550554349477212004-09-07T17:49:00.000+08:002004-09-07T17:49:14.350+08:00[news] Grudge Match: China vs. Europe + "It's Malaysia Time ..."<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Tuesday, September 7, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>This week marks the debut of my bi-weekly (or so) column for the <A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/">AlwaysOn Network</A>, Silicon Valley's premier online social networking venue (and unofficially linked to Silicon Valley's premier in person social networking venue, the <A href="http://www.churchillclub.org/">Churchill Club</A>; I'm a member of both). I will be sharing "Letter from China" columnist duties with Paul Waide, the head of Pacific Epoch, a Shanghai-based boutique consultancy that advises hedge funds on alternative investments in China. My first column is on Shanghai and a couple/few forthcoming columns will examine cultural differences between Chinese Nationals, Chinese-Americans and Anglo-Americans, especially within the context of IT and IT marketing. I will post my AlwaysOn "Letter from China" columns to this blog/e-newsletter, although please be advised that my intended audience are readers based in Silicon Valley.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="comic sans ms" size=3><STRONG>Grudge Match: China vs. Europe</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Staying on topic, I'd like to make a comment about a recent "Grudge Match" on the AlwaysOn Network. See the item marked "Grudge Match" for 08.05.04 (5 August 2004) at <A href="http://www.alwayson-network.com/polling/index.php">http://www.alwayson-network.com/polling/index.php</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In the referenced "Grudge Match," China was pitted against Europe. <STRONG>China received 45% of the votes in contrast to Europe's 55%</STRONG>. Frankly, I'm surprised that China did so well. I've found that the AO "Grudge Match" results tend to indicate sentiment more so than reality. For example, a recent match pitted SpaceShipOne against NASA and SSO absolutely clobbered NASA (besides, perhaps most of the votes for NASA came from either Ames or the Blue Cube). Of course, SSO is a high school science experiment compared to what NASA is doing, but I believe the results accurately reflect sentiment. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But what is amazing (to me, at least) is that China was pitted against Europe in the first place! Let's face it, this is a rather goofy "grudge match." For Europe to include First World nations such as Germany, France, the U.K., Ireland, Italy, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Belgium, Sweden, Finland, Norway, Denmark (yes, some countries are intentionally left out) -- and to compare the collective whole of First World Europe (a.k.a. "Western Europe") to China is absurd. If this was First World Europe vs. China <EM>circa</EM> 2020, okay. But TODAY? Yet, the sentiment indicator showed a strong vote in favor of China. Europe "won," but barely.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>I propose the following "grudge match": China vs. "Eastern Europe" (i.e., the former Soviet Bloc).</FONT> </STRONG>Look, if China can do so well against Europe as a whole (including First World Europe), I'm sure China would absolutely kick Second World Europe's butt!! And a China "grudge match" against Eastern Europe more accurately reflects current "history."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But even this is a bit misleading. <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>The real "grudge match" is this: China + India vs. Second World Europe.</FONT></STRONG> And given this choice, only someone stranded on Mars for the past decade might choose Second World Europe. Yet, this is the real so-called "grudge match." First World Europe is in descent, to be sure, but it's descending from a high altitude. It will take at least a decade or two for China (and/or India) to truly match First World Europe. But China ALREADY is superior to Second World Europe. And don't rant about NATO and EU memberships; this is simply window dressing. Then combine China with India versus Second World Europe, playing into my <STRONG>"Golden Triangle"</STRONG> theme, i.e., <STRONG>it's all about the U.S., India and China</STRONG>. This is where the action is, ESPECIALLY in IT.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="comic sans ms" size=3><STRONG>"It's Malay<FONT face="comic sans ms">sia</FONT> Time ..."</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I must be getting punchy since I'm borrowing a theme from a beer commercial, but it seems that Malaysia is experiencing its 15 minutes of fame. The Philippines has recently been "hot," and several articles of late have been touting Malaysia (see, for example, an article which appeared in <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=772635"><EM>Space</EM> <EM>Daily</EM></A><EM>).</EM> Frankly, I'm getting tired of all this nonsense. Look, when it comes to ITO (IT outsourcing) in East Asia, there are just two choices, i.e., India and China. And, it's not really a competition; both have their strengths and weaknesses. A few crumbs to Singers (Singapore), maybe even a few crumbs to the Kiwis (New Zealand). The Philippines deserves notice, albeit <EM><STRONG>passing</STRONG></EM> notice, and Malaysia might be okay for some BPO. But ITO? Come on, give me a break!! See <A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/ITO">my Furl archive</A> for more links.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The only thing I recently found interesting regarding Malaysia was an article on <A href="http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/Malaysia-Stands-to-Gain-from-Satyam-Outsourcing-36385.html">Satyam's IT boot camp in Malaysia</A>. This isn't really unique, after all, IBM has been doing this sort of thing for decades. So does HP. Kind of like training plus a bit of brainwashing, but the brainwashing is acceptable since it includes political survival skills -- and said skills are essential, especially in F500 corporations. But I like the idea of SI (systems integrator)-based training: This way SIs can focus on "real" versus theoretically perceived needs.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face="comic sans ms" size=3><STRONG>IT Tidbits</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff><EM>Which certifications have the best ROI (return on investment)?</EM></FONT></STRONG> Playing off the idea of SI-based training, which are the most important certifications? Well, Cisco leads with three out of the top five, although Microsoft picks up a couple of "wins" when looking at fastest-growing ROI, with RedHat and Oracle getting one win each. SIs in China may also want to benchmark how much U.S. employees are paid given a certain certification, e.g., Microsoft DBAs receive an annual average salary of US$80,600. Think about how much SIs in China pay for a certified Microsoft DBA. For example, what do they get paid in Jinan -- or even in Dalian? Compare this to US$80,600. Spot any opportunities? <A href="http://www.crn.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=42700075&flatPage=tru">See</A> <A href="http://tinyurl.com/3nvpz">http://tinyurl.com/3nvpz</A> <A href="http://www.crn.com/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=42700073&flatPage=true">and</A> <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6r2s5">http://tinyurl.com/6r2s5</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment --><TD height="20" width="310" valign="top" align="left"></DIV> <DIV align=left><FONT face=Arial,Helvetica,Geneva,Swiss,SunSans-Regular color=#0000ff size=2><STRONG><EM>ITO in the news.</EM></STRONG> <FONT color=#000000>Two particularly noteworthy items. First, ITO got Slashdotted. The <A href="http://it.slashdot.org/it/04/09/05/2035255.shtml?tid=187&tid=103&tid=218">Slashdot</A> links are worth a review. Probably some good insight into what American software engineers are thinking and feeling. The second is a review of Lou Dobbs' new book on ITO and BPO. Mr. Dobbs is a well-respected host on CNN; his views shouldn't be taken lightly. A couple of excerpts from the review:</FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV align=left> </DIV> <DIV align=left>"<!--StartFragment --><SPAN class=body-content>GE, as Dobbs makes clear in abundant detail, is only one of many companies outsourcing high-tech and professional jobs to India and other parts of the world where wage expectations are lower. Among the others spotlighted by Dobbs for outsourcing jobs to India, the Philippines, Romania, Ireland, Poland and other countries are IBM, SAS Institute, Intel, Microsoft, Perot Systems, Apple, Computer Associates, Dell, Hewlett-Packard, Oracle and Sun Microsystems." <STRONG>My comment: Romania is the Changsha of Third World Europe, i.e., their programmers are about as cheap as programmers come.</STRONG></SPAN></DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content>"'<!--StartFragment --><SPAN class=body-content>India can provide our software; China can provide our toys; Sri Lanka can make our clothes; Japan make our cars. But at some point we have to ask, what will we export? At what will Americans work? And for what kind of wages? No one I've asked in government, business or academia has been able to answer those questions,' Dobbs writes." See the review in the <EM><A href="http://www.tallahassee.com/mld/tallahassee/business/9444188.htm">Tallahassee Democrat</A></EM> or my <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=733557">Furl link</A> .</SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><EM><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>So-called infrastructure vendors beat out app vendors<!--StartFragment --> </FONT></STRONG></EM><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body><EM><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>in terms of their ability to meet expected ROI and TCO (total cost of ownership) levels.</FONT></STRONG></EM> I don't really like the way infrastructure and application vendors are defined in this <A href="http://www.line56.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=5880">article</A> and related survey, but <STRONG><U>top honors go to IBM and Microsoft</U></STRONG>. There's a lot being written between the lines, but in general this plays into my "build-to-a-stack" strategy, albeit Oracle is left behind. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/3tpjo">http://tinyurl.com/3tpjo</A> .</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body><EM><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>Speaking of Microsoft ...</FONT></STRONG></EM> A good, quick review <A href="http://www.forbes.com/2004/08/30/cx_ld_0830msft.html?partner=technology_newsletter">of the various IBUs (independent business units) at Microsoft</A>. (See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5rjtk">http://tinyurl.com/5rjtk</A> .) For <A href="http://www.forbes.com/business/2004/09/02/cx_ld_0902msft.html">a take on MBS</A>, see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6k4dp">http://tinyurl.com/6k4dp</A> .</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>New marketing technologies.</FONT></EM></STRONG> Interesting <A href="http://www.cmomagazine.com/press/shock/">article</A> from the premier issue of <EM><A href="http://www.cmomagazine.com/">CMO</A></EM> (Chief Marketing Officer). There are two ways to view this: 1) which marketing technologies can be used by SIs in China for their own marketing endeavors, and 2) which marketing technologies will likely be adopted by retailers, e-commerce sites, financial institutions and numerous other sectors -- and which in house skills does an SI in China need to implement these new technologies (all of which are IT-related)? See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/57wvp">http://tinyurl.com/57wvp</A> .</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>Looking for partners in the utility computing space?</FONT></EM></STRONG> For a start, try the <A href="http://www.aspnews.com/top50/article.php/11307_3391021_2">top 25 vendors</A>. (See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/48s9j">http://tinyurl.com/48s9j</A> .) Yankee gives a quick look at utility computing ROI (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5fw88">http://tinyurl.com/5fw88</A> ). <A href="http://www.hpl.hp.com/techreports/2004/HPL-2004-124.pdf">HP chimes in</A> with their take, too (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/58mhg">http://tinyurl.com/58mhg</A> ; it's a PDF).</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>The battle of the SI globals.</FONT></EM></STRONG> <A href="http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/ew/2004/08/30/stories/2004083000050100.htm">Two</A> related <A href="http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2004/aug/17bpo.htm">articles</A> both based on the same Forrester report. (See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6tfrn">http://tinyurl.com/6tfrn</A> and <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5tljq">http://tinyurl.com/5tljq</A> .) Issues being considered include scalability (i.e., handling US$100+ million accounts), the need for broad offerings (e.g., strategy consulting) and expanding geographical presence (hey, where is EDS in China?). <!--StartFragment --> "(T)<FONT class=sb13>he (Forrester) study finds that Infosys and Wipro have melded together a mix of CMMI, P-CMM, Six Sigma and ISO 9000 to create a culture focused on consistent and repeatable processes and value-added tools."</FONT> For China's SIs, mostly food for thought -- and a bit of dreaming.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body><EM><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>... and how to battle the globals.</FONT></STRONG></EM> The <A href="http://news.com.com/Outsourcers%20combine%20to%20take%20on%20IT%20services%20giants/2100-7345_3-5345052.html?part=rss&tag=5345052&subj=news.7345.5">article</A> was a bit silly, after all, G2000 firms joining forces to battle Accenture or Infosys doesn't really fit the notion of smaller firms joining forces. But I believe that they're on the right track and that <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>a myriad of partnerships will be formed to most effectively capture new business and battle the globals</FONT></STRONG>. However, ISVs (independent software vendors) have to walk a very fine line. SIs need to carefully consider ISV responses and existing alliances. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/7xj82">http://tinyurl.com/7xj82</A> .</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>"Infosys to set up second outsourcing facility in China."</FONT></EM></STRONG> The <A href="http://www.computerworld.com/managementtopics/outsourcing/story/0,10801,95487,00.html?nas=XSP-95487">article</A> states that Infosys is running out of space in their Pudong facility and that they're scouting for additional digs. Come on, guys, running out of space? There's not enough space in the Shanghai Pudong Software Park? I don't think so ... The reality is that Infosys needs to find lower cost developers. As my column on Shanghai for AO's "Letter from China" notes, developers in Shanghai are a bit pricey compared to other places in China. Infosys China is primarily servicing their global customers in China and looking for high-end integration within the domestic market. However, this is a tough nut to crack and Infosys will need another development center to lower their overall costs -- and this is why they are looking for additional space IN ANOTHER CITY. The idea that they're running out of space in the SPSP is ridiculous. (I've been to their Shanghai digs ...) See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6nz8d">http://tinyurl.com/6nz8d</A> .</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>Zensar gets broader press coverage.</FONT></EM></STRONG> Kind of like watching a meme, a couple of non-Indian <A href="http://www.crmbuyer.com/story/news/36117.html">IT</A> <A href="http://www.computerweekly.com/articles/article.asp?liArticleID=132957&liArticleTypeID=1&liCategoryID=2&liChannelID=16&liFlavourID=1&sSearch=&nPage=1">trades</A> have picked up the Zensar/Broadengate announcement. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/65afx">http://tinyurl.com/65afx</A> and <A href="http://tinyurl.com/3jh2r">http://tinyurl.com/3jh2r</A> .</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>"Rethinking the business case for Java."</FONT></EM></STRONG> A good <A href="http://www.javaworld.com/javaworld/jw-08-2004/jw-0823-business_p.html">article</A>. Hmmm ... maybe not much of a case, eh? <IMG src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/03.gif"> Hey, I'm still a believer. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5hbcn">http://tinyurl.com/5hbcn</A> . Of course, Java programming ain't what it used to be ...</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>"The selling of SOA."</FONT></EM></STRONG> <A href="http://www.line56.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=5901">Two</A>-<A href="http://www.line56.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=5906">part</A> series in <EM>Line56.</EM> SUPERB!! (I prefer the singular to the plural, i.e., "architecture" versus "architectures"; personal preference.) Reviews various viewpoints on SOA. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xqdn">http://tinyurl.com/6xqdn</A> and <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6tw9o">http://tinyurl.com/6tw9o</A> .</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body><STRONG><FONT color=#ff0000>Urls update.</FONT></STRONG> Expect to see lots and lots of stuff on software engineering and development. Great stuff, too!! Later this week.</SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN></DIV> <DIV align=left><SPAN class=body-content><SPAN class=body-content><FONT class=bodySmall><SPAN class=body></SPAN></FONT></SPAN></SPAN> </DIV> <DIV align=left>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh">http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert">http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert</A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e">http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</A></FONT> (AvantGo channel)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1094052818045397202004-09-01T23:33:00.000+08:002004-09-01T23:33:38.046+08:00[urls] Web Services Differentiation with Service Level Agreements<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Wednesday, September 1, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>The following is a sampling of my top ten "urls" for the past couple/few weeks. By signing up with <A href="http://www.furl.net/">Furl</A> (it's <STRONG>free</STRONG>), anyone can subscribe to an e-mail feed of ALL my urls (about 100-250 per week) -- AND limit by <U>subject</U> (e.g., ITO) and/or <U>rating</U> (e.g., articles rated "Very Good" or "Excellent"). It's also possible to receive new urls as an RSS feed. However, <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>if you'd like to receive a daily feed of my urls but do NOT want to sign up with Furl, I can manually add your name to my daily Furl distribution list</FONT></STRONG>. (And if you want off, I'll promptly remove your e-mail address.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Verdana color=#ff0000><FONT size=3>Top Honors:</FONT> </FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>*<!--StartFragment --></STRONG> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=763551"><STRONG>Web Services Differentiation with Service Level Agreements</STRONG></A>, courtesy of IBM T.J. Watson; as the title suggests, this paper <STRONG>tackles SLAs.</STRONG> See also <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=763535"><B>Web Services QoS: External SLAs and Internal Policies</B></A>, by the same author. The latter paper was the invited keynote at the<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=763601"><B>1st Web Services Quality Workshop</B></A> (this site provides links to abstracts for all the workshop papers as well as links to each author's personal site).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=verdana><FONT color=#ff0000 size=3>Other best new selections (in no particular order):</FONT></FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>*<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=763474"><B>Product Focused Software Process Improvement: PROFES 2004</B></A> (<STRONG><FONT color=#ff0000>if you're going to read only one tech book this year, let it be </FONT></STRONG><STRONG><FONT color=#ff0000>this!!</FONT></STRONG>)</DIV> <DIV>* <STRONG>Legacy systems strike back!!</STRONG> We all know that there is a good market in servicing legacy systems. See the following: <!--StartFragment --><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=750919"><B>Arriba: Architectural Resources for the Restructuring and Integration of Business Application</B></A> (an introduction),<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=754249"><B>Identifying Problems in Legacy Software</B></A>, and<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=754273"><B>Evolution of Legacy Systems</B></A>. </DIV> <DIV>* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=662738"><STRONG>Online Communities in Business: Past Progress, Future Directions</STRONG></A>,<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=730436"><B>Five Keys To Building Business Relationships Online</B></A> and<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=730435"><B>Advantages of Using Social Software for Building Your Network</B></A>. (I can say with a fairly high level of confidence that these tools can be used to expand your business network. Been there, done that. Give it a try. <STRONG>Do I already know you and would you like an invitation to join LinkedIn? If the answer to both questions is "yes," let me know ...)</STRONG></DIV> <DIV>*<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=754103"><B>Carnegie Mellon Project Aura Video</B></A> (gets a bit silly at times, but the language translation component was interesting to see; the R-T example is still years away, but the idea is intriguing and this is where collaboration tools need to go)</DIV> <DIV>*<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=730343"><B>Innovation: Strategy for Small Fish</B></A> (from the Harvard Business School; however, NVIDIA would not have been my choice for a case study)</DIV> <DIV>*<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=717943"><B>Stata Labs: Managing at a Distance, for Less</B></A> (a pretty good case study; <STRONG>I firmly believe that China's systems integrators/contract developers need world-class collaboration tools and this describes one of the formats I support</STRONG>)</DIV> <DIV>*<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=750634"><B>An Authoring Technology for Multidevice Web Applications</B></A> (one of my favorite topics -- and an area where I believe SIs in China can take the lead)</DIV> <DIV>*<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=762435"><B>Cheapware</B></A> (or, "Changsha Gone Wild!!"; hey <STRONG>Qilu clan, are you listening? Go, Ding, go!!</STRONG>)</DIV> <DIV>*<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=680282"><B>How To Team With A Vendor</B></A> (a "must read" -- and evidently a lot of my readers already did, even though I only made a passing reference in a previous posting)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV>Examples of urls that didn't make my "Top Ten List":</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment --><!--StartFragment --><STRONG>></STRONG><!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=747805"><B>ITU Internet Reports 2004: The Portable Internet</B></A> (looks like this might be a great series; less biased than the typical IT advisory services report -- and a much better value, too)</DIV> <DIV><STRONG>><!--StartFragment --></STRONG> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=750898"><STRONG>Software Cost Reduction</STRONG></A> (courtesy of the <U.S.> Naval Research Lab, this paper is a bit dated, but still worth reading; addresses problems with large-scale systems, albeit a bit light on practical examples) </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>></STRONG> <STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=717847">Japan IT Outsourcing 2004-2008 Forecast: IDC</A></STRONG> (might be a worthwhile purchase, especially for the Dalian-based systems integrators)</DIV> <DIV><STRONG>> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=747634">The Power of No</A></STRONG> (Linux as a bargaining tool <see my Furl comments, too>; make Microsoft shake in their boots!!)</DIV> <DIV><STRONG>> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=733699">Web Design Practices</A></STRONG> (a good reference site)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>and many, many more ...</DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh">http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert">http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert</A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e">http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</A></FONT> (AvantGo channel)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1093413893736223902004-08-25T14:04:00.000+08:002004-08-25T14:04:53.736+08:00[news] An "Olympic Gold" for Shenzhen + RMB 4,000,000,000: Easy Come, Easy Go ...<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Wednesday, August 25, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Back in the blogging biz after a week in SH and HZ. (Lots to say, albeit not until September. See my "Casting a Wider Net" section which follows.) Also encountered a "slight" computer problem upon my return to QD. (More in "Entering the Twilight Zone".) This posting may seem a bit schizophrenic: I'm reading several trade articles, reviewing my Bloglines updates, scanning a few newly-published ACM proceedings, and writing this posting simultaneously, so don't be surprised when you see that my perspectives are all over the map. I already have 51 items for my urls update, so I'll mostly focus on commenting on some of these items.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT size=3>An "Olympic Gold" for SZ</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I've been waiting for the right time to do a write-up on SZ. Since the Zensar and Broadengate deal is now public knowledge, this is as good a time as any. (BTW, I'll be providing much more in-depth coverage of SZ/GZ/HK in a future "Letter from China", including a take on Accenture's expansion plans in South China.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>The most interesting business model I have encountered during my visits with over fifty SIs (systems integrators) all throughout China is the Zensar and Broadengate model.</STRONG> There has been a lot of press about the deal, although I didn't notice any in the American trades. (However, articles about this announcement might still be scattered among my Bloglines subscriptions; as I stated in the opening paragraph, I'm still in the process of reviewing articles and postings published early last week since my Bloglines feeds are LIFO.) Two of the better articles were published by <A href="http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2004-08/24/content_1871304.htm"><EM>Xinhuanet</EM></A> ( <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4y5xe">http://tinyurl.com/4y5xe</A> ) and <A href="http://inhome.rediff.com/money/2004/aug/24zensar.htm"><EM>rediff.com</EM></A> ( <A href="http://tinyurl.com/48eo6">http://tinyurl.com/48eo6</A> ). I've been privy to this deal for a couple of months; I was even invited by an exec with the SZ Software Park to speak at their announcement, but it was a bit too rushed and I was in the final prep phase for my SH and HZ trip.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Here's what I can say on the record: <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff><FONT color=#000000>The deal between Zensar and Broadengate portends a fascinating future for those SIs with a "Golden Triangle" (U.S., India, China) strategy.</FONT> </FONT> </STRONG>The <EM>Xinhuanet</EM> and <EM>rediff.com</EM> articles provide some details, but I'll cut to the chase. What is most significant about this deal is NOT the way it is structured, but the way it is being implemented. In fact, here's the scenario.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>What China's SIs lack the most are experienced PMs. Of course, they also have no clue how to sell into the U.S. market. This deal solves both problems.</FONT></STRONG> Zensar already generates sales in the States, something that virtually all SIs in China lack (and ALL domestic SIs do it poorly at best). Looking beyond this particular deal, many SIs in India (and, of course, in the States) already sell to U.S. CIOs and LOB managers. With this kind of deal, the sales channel problem is somewhat resolved. (I say "somewhat" because I'm not convinced that the way sales are generated is optimal. Alas, addressing this issue is best served in another posting. I'm still not convinced that many Indian SIs -- and American SIs, for that matter -- really understand the difference between and the need for<STRONG><EM> new</EM></STRONG> business development AND global account management.) The other problem is also solved, i.e., the lack of PMs. And this is where the Zensar strategy shines brightest. <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff><U>The "trick", so to speak, is to use experienced Indians as PMs and bright (but generally inexperienced) Chinese software engineers and programmers</U>.</FONT></STRONG> Over time, Zensar will train their Chinese engineers to be PMs; this is <STRONG>NOT</STRONG> an "Indian master, Chinese slave" relationship. It simply addresses the short(er)-term need for experienced PMs in China ... and finding experienced PMs in China is next to impossible except at places like BearingPoint, IGS, ... (see a thread developing?). And trust me, I know it's not easy for them, either.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>I expect to see a lot more deals like the Zensar and Broadengate deal.</STRONG> And what I hope to see are a lot of deals between American SIs and Chinese SIs, especially among the American SIs which have already ventured into India. (Nat, are you reading this?) I'm not convinced this will happen, but I'm hopeful that it will. BTW, <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>unless an American SI is one of the largest (e.g., a <EM>VARBusiness </EM>100), I'd suggest a partnering strategy in China; don't try to copy IGS, Accenture and B'Point.</FONT></STRONG> An interesting little twist on this was published earlier today in <A href="http://www.eetimes.com/sys/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=30000051"><EM>EE Times</EM></A>; see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/68ao8">http://tinyurl.com/68ao8</A> . BTW, another reason that the Zensar deal will shine rests with Zensar's CEO,<!--StartFragment --> <SPAN class=v_small>Ashish Rahinj. I have no doubt that he will turn the Zensar and Broadengate deal into a phenomenal success. However, since he can't be cloned, a "Ashish Rahinj" strategy cannot be duplicated ... and, let's face it, stating the need for a superb CEO like Ashish is stating the obvious. On a related note (and a bit higher on the food chain), also see an article published in <A href="http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2004/8/24/business/8737275&sec=business"><EM>The Star</EM></A> (Malaysia); <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6x3uh">http://tinyurl.com/6x3uh</A> .</SPAN></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT size=3>neoIT Slams China Again: The Philippines Takes The Number Two Slot After India</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>They must be comped at neoIT for slamming China. (Actually, it's more like dissing China.) A recent posting in <A href="http://www.offshoring-digest.com/index.php?p=84"><EM>Offshoring Digest</EM></A> ( <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6g2gg">http://tinyurl.com/6g2gg</A> ) quotes neoIT's CEO stating that the Philippines is India's most formidable competitor and goes on to make a lot of claims, often citing ridiculous sources. To be fair, I find no fault with <EM>Offshoring Digest;</EM> I'm simply attempting to correct some of the flaws in the posting. First, the salaries quoted are NOT comparing apples to apples. US$15,000 is true for Shanghai, but certainly not in most other cities in China. Also, there's a skill set difference between the engineers in SH and in lower cost places in China. <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>The objective is to find an appropriate mix, which is what a lot of domestic SIs are attempting to do.</FONT></STRONG> <STRONG>LCW (a Langchao company) is doing just this with a Shanghai op-center facing the U.S. market coupled with their largest development center in Jinan (and a smaller center in Qingdao). </STRONG>Look at payroll figures and it becomes obvious why this makes a lot of sense. When put in proper perspective, a software engineer in China does NOT make US$15,000 per year -- not even CLOSE!!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT size=3><EM>Computerworld</EM> Special Report on Web Services</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT size=3></FONT></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV>Not much to say except, "READ IT!!" Includes a couple of book excerpts, too. The <A href="http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,95205,00.html">Table of Contents</A> (of sorts) can be found at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5s3e6">http://tinyurl.com/5s3e6</A> . A <A href="http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,94670,00.html">glossary</A> is at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/62d4v">http://tinyurl.com/62d4v</A> . A <A href="http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,94720,00.html">book excerpt and introduction to Web services</A> is at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/59skq">http://tinyurl.com/59skq</A> . Another <A href="http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,94886,00.html">book excerpt with a look at when to use Web services</A> can be found at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4laot">http://tinyurl.com/4laot</A> . Great stuff!! Not part of the Special Report, but also from <EM>Computerworld,</EM> some <A href="http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,95053,00.html">Web services myths</A> at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5tbqh">http://tinyurl.com/5tbqh</A> . And a couple of other superb articles on a related topic, service-oriented architecture. One was a <A href="http://www.crn.com/sections/coverstory/coverstory.jhtml;jsessionid=CXKPXWNXVSDJSQSNDBESKHA?articleId=26806302">cover story in CRN</A>; see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6rbsg">http://tinyurl.com/6rbsg</A> ; the other, a feature in <A href="http://www.portalsmag.com/articles/default.asp?ArticleID=5872&TopicID=4">Portals Magazine</A>; see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4eg2k">http://tinyurl.com/4eg2k</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3><STRONG>IT Tidbits</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff><EM>Wipro tells the truth:</EM></FONT></STRONG> It's not so much about GDMs (global delivery models), even if their <A href="http://home.businesswire.com/portal/site/google/index.jsp?ndmViewId=news_view&newsId=20040823005570&newsLang=en">press releases</A> say so. (See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5jaqs">http://tinyurl.com/5jaqs</A> .) It's really about <A href="http://www.cbronline.com/article_news.asp?guid=C79C9C45-584F-460C-A17D-342CBDA0736D">customer <EM><STRONG>evangelists</STRONG></EM></A>. That's it, folks!! See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/7xog9">http://tinyurl.com/7xog9</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>"RIP" R.I.P.:</FONT></STRONG></EM> In other words, Russia-India-Philippines, your fate is at hand. I was going to write a lengthy piece about this, but I'll capsulize instead. <STRONG>Bottom line:</STRONG> Not afraid of terrorism? Then by all means, feel free to do your offshoring in the "RIP" countries. <A href="http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&cid=514&e=4&u=/ap/20040824/ap_on_re_eu/russia_plane_crash">Russia</A> is having their own problems (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/53l5m">http://tinyurl.com/53l5m</A> ) as is <A href="http://www.ecommercetimes.com/story/Disintegrating-Nepali-Monarchy-a-Threat-to-Outsourcing-36044.html">India</A> -- and India's latest threat is from a political force (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6bj5f">http://tinyurl.com/6bj5f</A> ). Definitely, <STRONG>no outsourcing in Hyderabad or Delhi!!</STRONG> Good 'ol political terrorism almost sounds like a relief, but it's certainly a serious issue. And there's no need to talk about terrorism in the Philippines, is there?</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff>Financial Services Not Leveragable:</FONT></EM></STRONG> Brief comment. As firms in SH, HZ and even in QD have found, although <A href="http://www.nytimes.com/2004/08/18/business/worldbusiness/18india.html?position=&pagewanted=print&position=">the financial services sector is the hottest for ITO</A>, the practices of financial institutions in China are too radically different from the practices of financial institutions in the States to be truly leveragable as a vertical market. This may change over time, especially with WTO, but it's a hard sell right now. Game over, NO; game delayed, YES.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT size=3>RMB 4,000,000,000: Easy Come, Easy Go ...</FONT></STRONG></DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>EVERYBODY with a pulse knows about the Google IPO last week. The real news, however, was the P2P decision. But first I'm going to take a stroll down memory lane. (<STRONG>Certainly feel free to stop reading here. Except for a bit on the P2P legal decision, the balance of this posting is mostly personal stuff</STRONG>.)</DIV> <DIV><BR>Back in early 2000 I was interviewed by Google for a position which was ultimately filled by Omid Kordestani. (Google was still on University Avenue, near Stanford and in downtown Palo Alto.) At that time I had just started the interviewing process with the PSO group at McKinsey and I was pumped-up for a shot at a partnership with McKinsey (albeit starting as a Principal or Associate Principal). Well, when I checked a couple of days ago, <A href="http://news.com.com/Google+employees+waiting+for+ship+to+dock/2100-1024_3-5313966.html?part=rss&tag=5313966&subj=news.1024.20">Omid's stock was worth RMB 4,000,000,000 (yes, nine zeros), that's US$500,000,000</A> (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/3jeqq">http://tinyurl.com/3jeqq</A> ).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Frankly, I was NOT (and I'm still not) enamored with the way Google does search; I've been a fan of specialized search engines and databases for over 25 years since I first learned to use Dialog, Orbit, BRS and DTIC. However, I admit that a guy like me who enjoys reading SIGIR proceedings is not your average searcher. I was also not too thrilled by their revenue model. I have nothing against their model, but I couldn't see how I was able to add value in their game -- and I guess that they couldn't see it, either. (I didn't have a second interview.) <IMG src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/04.gif"></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'll never know how close I was. Was I a close second ... or a distant 32nd? (I certainly hope I wasn't a close second!!) From what I best recollect, Google's VCs brought in their own hand-picked choice. However, I also recall that Omid had much better qualifications than yours truly. I even had a chance to read his CV; Larry and Sergey had it face-up on the table opposite of me. But as a biz dev guy, I had long ago learned to read upside-down documents across a table. Well, on to the truly important IT news for last week. Not as exciting as Google's IPO, but much more significant to the industry as a whole. (In reality, the Google IPO was a statistical outlier.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>The "big" news, IMHO, was the decision by the U.S. Appeals Court in favor of P2P vendors and providers.</STRONG> <EM><A href="http://www.thestandard.com/article.php/20040819235817994">The Industry Standard</A></EM> had one of the best features on this decision; see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5dkoq">http://tinyurl.com/5dkoq</A> . Why is this so important? Because <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>P2P is key to the future of computing. From search to grid computing, P2P provides a foundation for a host of solutions.</FONT></STRONG> I'm been a P2P fan for a long time, although I don't use it much for consumer apps. Matter of fact, I don't use it very much at all. However, I see the potential -- and I've seen a lot of research in this area. For example, it's hard to find an ACM magazine which has NOT had a special issue on P2P; P2P pervades many computing domains. For those readers who haven't played with P2P, try using the Deepnet browser. Matter of fact, if you use IE as your primary browser, I suspect that you'll like Deepnet a lot. Deepnet features a Web browser (in essence, sitting on top of IE), an XML feed reader, and P2P file sharing. See <A href="http://www.deepnetexplorer.com/">Deepnet</A> at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/56gm7">http://tinyurl.com/56gm7</A> . BTW, it looks pretty safe, especially by the way they handle BHOs. Your mileage may vary ...</DIV> <DIV><BR><FONT size=3><STRONG>Entering the Twilight Zone</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I came back from SH & HZ only to find my computer in the CCU. I guess the good news is that it wasn't in the ICU -- or the morgue! I'm still getting it up and running. Starting in early September, I'll be off to the US and BJ (and possibly SZ and HK) for much of the following six weeks. Suffice it to say that this blog will be dark most of the next two months. Too bad my smartphone is tied to Sprint's CDMA network in the States; it's nothing more than an overpriced PDA in China. Assuming I can get my hands on a new Explorer series Pocket PC when I get back to the States or in HK (the first PDA with VGA *and* '03 SE) and that I can find an unlimited cellular data access plan for nationwide use in China (probably with a S-E 900 series unit), at least I'll have a back-up if/when my PC goes into cardiac arrest.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Actually, I still hope to publish twice a week: One urls list (albeit with as few as five annotated selections) and a commentary culled from one of my Bloglines "MASTER" sources (e.g., <EM>Computerworld,</EM> <IEEE> <EM>Computer),</EM> each posted every ten or so days. The twilight zone, allegorically and metaphorically. To round out the publication schedule, there's something new on the horizon.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT size=3><STRONG>Casting a Wider Net</STRONG></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As of next month I will be writing a fortnightly/bi-weekly or monthly (TBD) column for the AlwaysOn Network, Silicon Valley's premier online executive network. Specifically, I will be one of the two columnists for their "Letter from China" feature/e-newsletter. Each column reaches several hundred readers through the AO Web site and an additional 16,000 newsletter subscribers, plus an estimated several thousand XML news feed subscribers. Each AO column will also be distributed through my ITO blog and e-newsletter.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My first column will critique Shanghai -- from a myriad of perspectives: A look at what's possible (and advisable) in contrast to what's merely wishful thinking. The second (and possibly third) columns will examine Sino-American cultural differences, including differences which may be unique to the IT industry.<BR> </DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh">http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert">http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert</A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e">http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</A></FONT> (AvantGo channel)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1092367577285885332004-08-13T11:26:00.000+08:002004-08-13T11:26:17.286+08:00[news] "2004 State of Application Development"<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Friday, August 13, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Special issues of journals and magazines are often quite good -- if you're into the subject matter. But the current issue of <A href="http://www.varbusiness.com/sections/main/2004soad.jhtml"><STRONG><EM>VARBusiness</EM></STRONG></A> is absolutely SUPERB!! <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>EVERY SYSTEMS INTEGRATOR SHOULD READ IT ASAP</FONT></STRONG> -- <STRONG><FONT color=#ff0000>STOP WHAT YOU'RE DOING AND READ THIS ISSUE!!</FONT></STRONG> (<STRONG><FONT color=#ff0000>Or, at the very least, read the excerpts which follow</FONT></STRONG>.) See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6smzu">http://tinyurl.com/6smzu</A><!--StartFragment --> . They even have the survey results to 36 questions ranging from change in project scope to preferred verticals. In this posting, I'm going to comment on excerpts from this issue. <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>My comments are in blue. </FONT><FONT color=#000000>Bolded excerpted items are MY emphasis.</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff>The lead article and cover story is titled,</FONT> "<A href="http://www.varbusiness.com/article/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=26805583"><FONT color=#bf00bf>The App-Dev Revolution</FONT></A>." "<!--StartFragment --><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2>Of the solution providers we surveyed, <STRONG>72 percent say they currently develop custom applications or tailor packaged software for their customers</STRONG>. Nearly half (45 percent) of their 2003 revenues came from these app-dev projects, and nearly two-thirds of them expect the app-dev portion of total revenue to increase during the next 12 months." <FONT color=#0000ff>I view this as good news for China's SIs;<STRONG> <FONT face=arial>from what I've observed, many SIs in China would be a good fit for SIs in the U.S. looking for partners to help lower their development costs</FONT>.</STRONG></FONT> <!--StartFragment -->"<FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2>By necessity, <STRONG>today's solution providers are becoming nimbler in the software work they do, designing and developing targeted projects like those that solve regulatory compliance demands, such as HIPAA, or crafting wireless applications that let doctors and nurses stay connected while they roam hospital halls</STRONG>." <STRONG><FONT color=#8000ff><FONT color=#0000ff>Have a niche; don't try to be everything to </FONT></FONT><FONT color=#0000ff>everyone.</FONT></STRONG> "Nine in 10 of survey respondents said their average app-dev projects are completed in less than a year now, with <STRONG>the smallest companies (those with less than $1 million in revenue) finishing up in the quickest time, three months, on average</STRONG>." <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>Need for speed.</FONT></STRONG> "<!--StartFragment --><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2>The need to get the job done faster for quick ROI might explain the growing popularity of Microsoft's .Net framework and tools. <STRONG>In our survey, 53 percent of VARs said they had developed a .Net application in the past 12 months, and 66 percent of them expect to do so in the coming 12 months</STRONG>." <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>My Microsoft build-to-their-stack strategy.</FONT></STRONG> "</FONT><!--StartFragment --><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2>Some of the <STRONG>hottest project areas</STRONG> they report this year include <STRONG>application integration</STRONG>, which 69 percent of VARs with between $10 million or more in revenue pinned as their busiest area. Other top development projects center around </FONT><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2><STRONG>e-commerce applications, CRM, business-intelligence</STRONG> solutions, <STRONG>enterprisewide portals</STRONG> and <STRONG>ERP</STRONG>, ..." <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>How many times have I said this? </FONT></STRONG> <IMG src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/04.gif"> "<!--StartFragment --><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2>At the same time, <STRONG>VARs in significant numbers are</STRONG> tapping open-source tools and <STRONG>exploiting Web services and XML to help cut down on expensive software-integration work</STRONG>; in effect, acknowledging that application development needs to be more cost-conscious and, thus, take advantage of open standards and reusable components. Our survey found that 32 percent of VARs had developed applications on Linux in the past six months, while 46 percent of them said they plan to do so in the next six months. The other open-source technologies they are using today run the gamut from databases and development tools to application servers." <FONT color=#0000ff>I guess there's really an open source strategy.</FONT> <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>I come down hard on open source for one simple reason: I believe that SIs in China could get more sub-contracting business from a build-to-a-stack strategy.</FONT></STRONG> <FONT color=#0000ff>And building to the open source stack isn't building to a stack at all!!</FONT> "<!--StartFragment --><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2>As a business, it has many points of entry and areas of specialization. Our survey participants first arrived in the world of app dev in a variety of ways, from bidding on app-dev projects (45 percent) to <STRONG>partnering with more experienced developers and VARs (28 percent)</STRONG> to hiring more development personnel (31 percent)." <FONT color=#0000ff>For SIs</FONT><FONT color=#0000ff> in China, simply responding to end-user RFQs is kind of silly.</FONT> <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>Better to partner on a sub-contracting basis.</FONT></STRONG> "<!--StartFragment --><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2>According to our State of Application Development survey, health care (36 percent), retail (31 percent) and manufacturing (30 percent) ranked as the most popular vertical industries for which respondents are building custom applications. Broken down further, among VARs with less than $1 million in total sales, retail scored highest, while health care topped the list of midrange to large solution providers." <FONT color=#0000ff>Because of regulatory issues, I'm not so keen on health care. <STRONG>I'd go with manufacturing followed by retail.</STRONG> My $ .02. </FONT> "<!--StartFragment --><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2>When it comes to partnering with the major platform vendors, Microsoft comes out the hands-on winner among ISVs and other development shops. <STRONG>A whopping 76 percent of developers in our survey favored the Microsoft camp.</STRONG> Their level of devotion was evenly divided among small, midsize and large VARs who partner with Microsoft to develop and deliver their application solutions. </FONT><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2>By contrast, <STRONG>the next closest vendor is IBM, with whom one in four VARs said they partner.</STRONG> Perhaps unsurprisingly, the IBM percentages were higher among the large VAR category (those with sales of $10 million or more), with 42 percent of their partners coming from that corporate demographic. Only 16 percent of smaller VARs partner with IBM, according to the survey. The same goes for Oracle: One-quarter of survey respondents reported partnering with the Redwood Shores, Calif.-based company, with 47 percent of them falling in the large VAR category. </FONT><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2>On the deployment side, half of the developers surveyed picked Windows Server 2003/.Net as the primary platform to deliver their applications, while IBM's WebSphere application server was the choice for 7 percent of respondents. BEA's WebLogic grabbed 4 percent, and Oracle's 9i application server 3 percent of those VARs who said they use these app servers as their primary deployment vehicle." <FONT color=#0000ff><STRONG>Microsoft, Microsoft, Microsoft</STRONG>. Need I say more? </FONT><FONT color=#bf00bf>See </FONT><A href="http://tinyurl.com/45z94"><FONT color=#bf00bf>http://tinyurl.com/45z94</FONT></A><FONT color=#bf00bf> .</FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff>The next article is on</FONT> <A href="http://www.varbusiness.com/nl/exadvisor/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=26805596"><FONT color=#bf00bf>open source</FONT></A>. "<STRONG>W</STRONG><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2><STRONG>ant a world-class database with all the bells and whistles for a fraction of what IBM or Oracle want? There's MySQL. How about a compelling alternative to WebSphere or WebLogic? Think JBoss.</STRONG> These are, obviously, the best-known examples of the second generation of open-source software companies following in the footsteps of Apache, Linux and other software initiatives, but there are far more alternatives than these. </FONT><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2><STRONG>Consider Zope, a content-management system downloaded tens of thousands of times per month free of charge</STRONG>, according to Zope CEO Rob Page. Some believe Zope and applications built with Zope are better than the commercial alternative they threaten to put out of business, Documentum. <STRONG>Zope is also often used to help build additional open-source applications. One such example is Plone, an open-source information-management system</STRONG>. </FONT><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2><STRONG>What began as a fledgling movement at the end of the past decade and later became known as building around the "LAMP stack" (LAMP is an acronym that stands for Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP or Perl) has exploded to virtually all categories of software.</STRONG> That includes security, where <STRONG>SpamAssassin is battling spam and Symantec</STRONG>, too. Popular? Well, it has now become an Apache Software Foundation official project. <!--StartFragment --><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2><STRONG>The use of open source is so widespread that the percentage of solution providers who say they partner with MySQL nearly equals the percentage who say they partner with Oracle"23 percent to 25 percent, respectively</STRONG>.</FONT>" <FONT color=#0000ff>There are plenty of choices for those SIs willing to play the open source game. </FONT><FONT color=#bf00bf>See </FONT><A href="http://tinyurl.com/4e3c7"><FONT color=#bf00bf>http://tinyurl.com/4e3c7</FONT></A><FONT color=#bf00bf> .</FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#bf00bf></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#000000>"<A href="http://www.varbusiness.com/nl/exadvisor/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=26805597"><FONT color=#bf00bf>It's all about integration</FONT></A>" <FONT color=#0000ff>follows</FONT>. "<!--StartFragment --><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2>There are many reasons for the surge in application-development projects (the recent slowdown in software spending notwithstanding). For one, many projects that were put on hold when the downturn hit a few years ago are now back <STRONG>in play</STRONG>. That <STRONG>includes enterprise-portal projects, supply-chain automation efforts, various e-commerce endeavors and the integration of disparate business systems</STRONG>." <FONT color=#0000ff>Choose carefully, however. Balance this data with other data. <STRONG>Right now, I see a lot more play with portals and EAI.</STRONG> </FONT> "<!--StartFragment --><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2>Indeed, the need for quality and timely information is a key driver of investments in application-integration initiatives and the implementation of database and business-intelligence software and portals. A healthy majority of solution providers say application integration is a key component of the IT solutions they are deploying for customers. According to our application-development survey, <STRONG>60 percent say their projects involved integrating disparate applications and systems during the past 12 months</STRONG>." "<!--StartFragment --><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2><STRONG>Some customers are moving beyond enterprise-application integration to more standards-based services-oriented architectures (SOAs).</STRONG> SOAs are a key building block that CIOs are looking to build across their enterprises." <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>Anyone who regularly reads any one of my three IT-related blogs knows that I'm gung-ho on SOAs</FONT></STRONG>. "<!--StartFragment --><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2>Even if your customers are not looking for an SOA, integrating different systems is clearly the order of the day. To wit, even those partners that say enterprise portals or e-business applications account for the bulk of their business note that the integration component is key." <FONT color=#0000ff>Yes, <STRONG>integration, integration, integration</STRONG>. I'll be saying this next year, too. And the year after ...</FONT> "<!--StartFragment --><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2><STRONG>Another way to stay on top of the competition is to participate in beta programs</STRONG>." <FONT color=#0000ff><STRONG>Absolutely true</STRONG> -- and a good strategy, too.</FONT> <FONT color=#bf00bf>See </FONT><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6x2gg"><FONT color=#bf00bf>http://tinyurl.com/6x2gg</FONT></A> .</FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff>The next article is on</FONT> <A href="http://www.varbusiness.com/nl/exadvisor/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=26805601&printableArticle=true"><FONT color=#bf00bf>utility computing versus packaged software</FONT></A>. <FONT color=#0000ff>Again, if you read what I write, you know that I'm also gung-ho on utility computing</FONT>. "<!--StartFragment --><FONT face="geneva,ms sans serif,helvetica" size=2>According to <EM>VARBusiness'</EM> survey of application developers, more than 66 percent of the applications created currently reside with the customer, while 22 percent of applications deployed are hosted by the VAR. And <STRONG>a little more than 12 percent of applications developed are being hosted by a third party</STRONG>. <!--StartFragment --> <FONT face="geneva,ms sans serif,helvetica" size=2>Where services have made their biggest inroads as an alternative to software is in applications that help companies manage their customer and sales information.</FONT>" <FONT color=#0000ff><STRONG>The article goes on to state that apps that are not mission-critical have the best chance in the utility computing space.</STRONG> Time will tell. <STRONG>Take note, however, that these are often the apps that will most likely be outsourced to partners in China. </STRONG></FONT>"<!--StartFragment --><FONT face="geneva,ms sans serif,helvetica" size=2>Simply creating services from scratch and then shopping them around isn't the only way to break into this area. NewView Consulting is expanding its services business by starting with the client and working backward. The Porter, Ind.-based security consultant takes whatever technology clients have and develops services for them based on need." </FONT> <FONT color=#0000ff>And <STRONG>focus on services businesses and .NET</STRONG>, too.</FONT> "<!--StartFragment --><FONT face="geneva,ms sans serif,helvetica" size=2>Most application developers agree that services revenue will continue to climb for the next year or two before they plateau, resulting in a 50-50 or 60-40 services-to-software mix for the typical developer. The reason for this is that while applications such as CRM are ideally suited to services-based delivery, there are still plenty of other applications that companies would prefer to keep in-house and that are often dependent on the whims of a particular company." <FONT color=#0000ff>Still, <STRONG>such a split shows a phenomenal rise in the importance of utility computing offerings</STRONG>.</FONT> </FONT> <FONT color=#bf00bf>See </FONT><A href="http://tinyurl.com/54blv"><FONT color=#bf00bf>http://tinyurl.com/54blv</FONT></A> .</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face="ms sans serif"></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff>Next up:</FONT> <A href="http://http://www.varbusiness.com/nl/exadvisor/showArticle.jhtml?articleId=26805605&printableArticle=true"><FONT color=#bf00bf>Microsoft wants you!!</FONT></A> <FONT color=#0000ff>(Replace the image of Uncle Sam with the image of Bill Gates!!) Actually, the article isn't specifically about Microsoft. </FONT><FONT color=#000000>"<!--StartFragment --><FONT face="geneva,ms sans serif,helvetica" size=2>Microsoft is rounding up as many partners as it can and is bolstering them with support to increase software sales. The attitude is: Here's our platform; go write and prosper. IBM's strategy, meanwhile, is strikingly different. While it, too, has created relationships with tens of thousands of ISVs over recent years, IBM prefers to handpick a relatively select group, numbering approximately 1,000, and develop a hand-holding sales and marketing approach with them in a follow-through, go-to-market strategy." <FONT color=#0000ff><STRONG>Both are viable strategies, but NOT both at the same time!! </STRONG></FONT>"<!--StartFragment --><FONT face="geneva,ms sans serif,helvetica" size=2>To be sure, the results of VARBusiness' 2004 State of Application Development survey indicates that Microsoft's strategy makes it the No. 1 go-to platform vendor among the 472 application developers participating in the survey. In fact, more than seven out of 10 (76 percent) said they were partnering with Microsoft to deliver custom applications for their clients. That number is nearly three times the percentage of application developers (26 percent) who said they were working with IBM</FONT> ..." <FONT color=#0000ff>Percentages as follows: <FONT color=#ff0000>Microsoft, 76%; IBM, 26%; Oracle, 25%; MySQL, 23%; Red Hat, 17%; Sun, 16%; Novell, 11%; BEA, 9%</FONT>. I<STRONG> said BOTH, NOT ALL. Think Microsoft and IBM. However, a Java strategy could be BOTH a Sun AND IBM strategy (and even a BEA strategy).</STRONG> <FONT color=#bf00bf>See </FONT><A href="http://tinyurl.com/68grf"><FONT color=#bf00bf>http://tinyurl.com/68grf</FONT></A></FONT><FONT color=#bf00bf> .</FONT></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>There was another article I liked called, "How to Team With A Vendor," although it's not part of the app-dev special section <EM>per se.</EM> This posting is too long, so I'll either save it for later or now note that it has been urled. See <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=680282">http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=680282</A> . Also a kind of funny article on turning an Xbox into a Linux PC. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4mhn6">http://tinyurl.com/4mhn6</A> . See also <A href="http://www.xbox-linux.org/">http://<!--StartFragment --><FONT face=arial,helvetica size=2>www.xbox-linux.org</A></FONT> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Quick note: I'll be in SH and HZ most of next week, so I may not publish again until the week of the 23rd.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh">http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert">http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert</A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e">http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</A></FONT> (AvantGo channel)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1092318280130269522004-08-12T21:44:00.000+08:002004-08-12T21:44:40.130+08:00[urls] Build a Better Enterprise Application<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Thursday, August 12, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>The following is a sampling of my top ten "urls" for the past week or so. By signing up with Furl (it's <STRONG>free</STRONG>), anyone can subscribe to an e-mail feed of ALL my urls (about 100-250 per week) -- AND limit by <U>subject</U> (e.g., ITO) and/or <U>rating</U> (e.g., articles rated "Very Good" or "Excellent"). It's also possible to receive new urls as an RSS feed. However, <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>if you'd like to receive a daily feed of my urls but do NOT want to sign up with Furl, I can manually add your name to my daily Furl distribution list</FONT></STRONG>. (And if you want off, I'll promptly remove your e-mail address.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Verdana color=#ff0000><FONT size=3>Top Honors:</FONT> </FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=Verdana color=#ff0000></FONT></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>*<!--StartFragment --></STRONG> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=656634"><STRONG>Build a Better Enterprise Application</STRONG></A> (<STRONG>on Web services and SOA; great review of all the pertinent issues</STRONG>)</DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Verdana color=#ff0000><!--StartFragment --></FONT><FONT face=Verdana color=#ff0000><FONT color=#000000><!--StartFragment --></FONT></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT face=verdana><FONT color=#ff0000 size=3>Other best new selections (in no particular order):</FONT></FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>*<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=636075"><B>Adaptive Document Layout via Manifold Content (PDF)</B></A> (another hit for Microsoft, this article proposes a user interface for authoring and editing Web content for different form factors; <STRONG>think formatting for ubiquitous devices and pervasive computing</STRONG>)</DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment -->* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=634786"><B>A New View on Intelligence (on XML & EII, et al)</B></A> (thoroughly enjoyable -- <STRONG>so good, I almost blogged it</STRONG>; <STRONG>insightful perspective</STRONG>)</DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment -->* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=653079"><B>InfoWorld Special Report: Has desktop Linux come of age?</B></A> (IMHO, a resounding "No!!" But there are other perspectives worth considering. I still think it's a lot of wishful thinking.)</DIV> <DIV>*<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=636087"><B>Negotiating in Service-Oriented Environments (PDF)</B></A> (A slightly annotated excerpt: "The concept of delivering software as a service is relatively simply: 'do not buy software, simply use it as and when you need it'. Putting such a concept into practice, however, is far more complex and involves many issues. In this article, <STRONG>we address the question: What are the characteristics of a market for software services?</STRONG>" Hot topic, good paper.)</DIV> <DIV>*<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=635904"><B>Real Time Means Real Change</B></A> (so much talk about the so-called "Real Time Enterprise"; <STRONG>this article takes a look at the realities behind the hype of the "RTE"</STRONG>)</DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment -->* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=640663"><B>Information Scent on the Web (PDF)</B></A> (Courtesy of PARC, you need to read this for yourself; Google as <EM>The Matrix</EM> idea -- worse yet, <EM>The Time Machine</EM> Reloaded <IMG style="WIDTH: 19px; HEIGHT: 18px" height=18 src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/14.gif" width=19> In reality, <STRONG>useful perspectives for Web designers</STRONG>.)</DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment -->* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=656693"><B>Offshoring/Outsourcing: Fragile - Handle With Care</B></A> (a brief but rather comprehensive overview; <STRONG>points to the various aspects of ITO and BPO along the IT value chain</STRONG>)</DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment -->* <A href="http://banktech.com/story/amLaundering/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=26805611"><B>IT Spending For Comprehensive Compliance</B></A> (original article linked; <STRONG>good review of the various opportunities "thanks" mostly to SOX</STRONG>)</DIV> <DIV>*<!--StartFragment --> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=641307"><B>The Executive's Guide to Utility Computing - ROI of Utility Computing</B></A> (a broad perspective on utility computing, different from what is usually published)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV>Examples of urls that didn't make my "Top Ten List":</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment --><!--StartFragment --><STRONG>></STRONG> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=656540"><STRONG>Benchmarking Study Shows 75 Percent of Enterprises Deploying Web Services</STRONG></A> (need I say more?; <STRONG>includes stats on ebXML and grid computing</STRONG>, too)</DIV> <DIV><STRONG>></STRONG> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=636365"><STRONG>Probabilistic Model for Contextual Retrieval (PDF)</STRONG></A> (a sneak peek at Microsoft's emerging search technology?) See also <A href="http://research.microsoft.com/asia/dload_files/group/ims/21.pdf"><STRONG>Block-based Web Search</STRONG></A>, courtesy of Microsoft Research Asia (Beijing) and Tsinghua University, arguably China's best (the latter article is not urled; from the recent SIGIR conference). <STRONG>If you think Google is the last word in search, think again.</STRONG></DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment --><STRONG>></STRONG> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=656696"><B>Where To Find New Growth Prospects And What Challenges Need To Be Overcome</B></A> (necessary action items and preferred geographic regions; <STRONG>China <not Russia, Brazil or the Czech Republic> comes in the number two slot</STRONG> after North America)</DIV> <DIV><STRONG>> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=653032">CIO Magazine: Are We Happy Yet? (on ITO and BPO)</A></STRONG> (dumb article title, but smart content; good metrics to consider, including a take on SLAs)</DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment --><STRONG>></STRONG> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=657302"><B>Developing Killer Apps for Industrial Augmented Reality (restricted access)</B></A> (<STRONG><A href="http://wwwnavab.in.tum.de/Chair/CGA"><FONT color=#ff0000>t<!--StartFragment -->his page</FONT></A></STRONG> provides some complimentary information to the restricted access selection, although it's not urled). I just noticed something: The apps section of <EM>IEEE CG&A</EM> is edited by two mil guys, one from the (U.S.) <A href="http://ait.nrl.navy.mil/">Office of Naval Research</A> and the other from the <A href="http://stricom.army.mil./">U.S. Army simulation and training office</A>. Hey, who says all the good engineering jobs are outsourced!? <IMG src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/03.gif"> Frankly, I believe that the best American engineers can always find jobs within DoD or the intelligence community. Besides, they do all the truly fun computing stuff!! Trust me, there isn't so much fun stuff done at Oracle.<!--StartFragment --></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>and many, many more ...</DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh">http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert">http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert</A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e">http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</A></FONT> (AvantGo channel)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1092045180498075772004-08-09T17:53:00.000+08:002004-08-09T17:53:00.496+08:00[news] Excerpt from a McKinsey Paper on IT Spending Trends<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Monday, August 9, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I recently urled the abstract for this paper, but CNET and McKinsey were kind enough to post the full-text of the paper on the CNET news site (which downloads at glacial speed, at least from China). Now that the article from the current issue of <EM><A href="http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/">The McKinsey Quarterly</A></EM> is in the public domain, I'd like to include an excerpt in this posting. (Bolded and colored notations are MY emphasis.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment -->"Although IT customers also want to improve their software, they are wary of big-bang packaged applications--purchases that are just now rolling off accrual budgets. This time around, CIOs are shunning expensive panaceas, especially large-scale customer relationship management (CRM) systems. Many tech executives lost face (or jobs) when the promised benefits didn't materialize, often because the technology demanded difficult-to-realize changes in processes and in employee behavior. Even worse than buying packaged applications, CIOs told us, was buying applications and then customizing them, for this strategy made it necessary to reinvest in customization with each subsequent upgrade. CIOs now favor narrower, more-targeted, less-ambitious improvements that mitigate the risk of organizational rejection. <STRONG>Custom software that closely adheres to a company's existing processes (and therefore requires little or no process change) is popular, and so is software developed for a specific industry.</STRONG> Meanwhile, <STRONG>integration--a higher priority now than it was during the boom--is generating demand for enterprise application integration (EAI) technologies.</STRONG> <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>Web services are gaining traction faster than anticipated, especially in small telecom and other companies at the forefront of IT innovation. Of the CIOs we interviewed, 8 percent said that Web services were their primary integration strategy.</FONT></STRONG> Despite these inroads, most companies are still at the experimental stage with this technology, which demands advanced skills and a high degree of commitment from the IT organization. <STRONG>Others are choosing a different path: Roughly half of the CIOs we spoke with have been (or are thinking about) investing in integration broker software, often combined with Web services.</STRONG> Adoption is strongest among telecommunications and financial-services companies, whose technical complexity makes the software especially attractive. The third-party services market could feel the pinch, however. Many companies, spurred by lower IT salaries after the economic slowdown, hired talent and brought IT development in-house. These new hires often support and develop the more-customized applications that today's IT budgets favor. But this move could boomerang on companies in the future: The absence of vendor support could reduce economies of scale and push up costs. <STRONG>Offshoring in less-expensive labor markets could, of course, offset them</STRONG>."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><U>ADDENDUM: Seeing Beyond "Traditional" Market Research ...</U></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I've already received a few messages regarding my "Seeing Beyond" posting.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>One of the questions was very simple to answer. The question: <STRONG>Can you name a few ISVs in China which could develop a hosted version of their packaged software?</STRONG> Certainly. Simple answer: <A href="http://www.bamboonetworks.com/en/index.asp"><STRONG>Bamboo</STRONG></A>, <A href="http://global.kingdee.com/en/index.htm"><STRONG>Kingdee</STRONG></A>, <A href="http://www.ufsoft.com.cn/english/"><STRONG>UFSoft</STRONG></A> (all three are in the ERP space).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>A reader also asked me about Fisher-Pry, having heard of this technique but not really familiar with it. In simple terms, <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>Fisher-Pry functions best as a substitution model</FONT></STRONG>. I'm not thrilled about using it to predict end of life and market size issues <EM>per se</EM>. <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>Where I find it useful -- EXTREMELY USEFUL -- is in determining when a NEW technology is likely to EMERGE</FONT></STRONG>. I then put on my Geoffrey Moore glasses to look at the technology from a chasm crossing perspective. And, if I'm really interested, I'll put on my Ed Roberts and Gordon Bell glasses -- and will evaluate the technology using other techniques as well. But Fisher-Pry itself is extremely simple to use and a Geoffrey Moore analysis is also a no-brainer. (Ed Roberts' -- and I'm the unofficial president of the Ed Roberts fan club -- various approaches to evaluating new markets and technologies requires me to fire a lot more neurons than Moore's approach.) To me, <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>Fisher-Pry is all about inflection points and EMERGING markets</FONT></STRONG>. <STRONG>To see an application of Fisher-Pry, read an </STRONG><A href="http://www.atkearney.com/shared_res/pdf/WiFi_Monograph_S.pdf"><STRONG>A.T. Kearney report on wireless futures</STRONG></A><STRONG> at </STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/4zcas"><STRONG>http://tinyurl.com/4zcas</STRONG></A> (and it's an excellent report, too). See also a recent evaluation of the remote sensing market at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6zxqm">http://tinyurl.com/6zxqm</A> . For a <A href="http://www.cob.sjsu.edu/yu_o/bus264/Technology%20Trend%20Analysis.htm">brief review of Fisher-Pry</A> and a couple of related techniques for technology trend analysis, see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4hf7t">http://tinyurl.com/4hf7t</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><!--StartFragment --></DIV> <DIV>Finally, another reader questioned whether <A href="http://innovationfutures.com/bk/index.html">MIT's Innovation Futures market</A> was doomed to focus on short(er)-term "bets." My answer is that MIT may need to repackage Innovation Futures for addressing long(er)-term issues. Many of us in America can remember playing the stock market in one of our classes. For me, it was in my eighth grade government class. We had to pick stocks and trade them through the course of the year. Unfortunately, the very nature of this learning experience put a premium on trading versus investing. In other words, picking stocks which might be solid over a three-plus year time horizon simply wouldn't work; it was much better to "gamble" on high Beta (i.e., higher volatility) issues. Innovation Futures suffers from the same "need" to determine winners and losers on a relatively timely basis. Probably time horizons of three or more years won't suffice, at least not from a "gamblers" perspective (sans venture capitalists).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'd like to see their system changed to allow different types of "players" and "traders," namely the crop I had suggested in my last posting, but also another class of "all others." <STRONG>Think of this as an experiment in social computing among technophiles, not online gambling</STRONG>. In some ways, it could reveal the type of knowledge that is found in the blogosphere.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh">http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV> <DIV><STRONG></STRONG></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1091980689570687862004-08-08T23:58:00.000+08:002004-08-09T18:37:29.936+08:00[commentary] Seeing Beyond "Traditional" Market Research + A Golden Opportunity for China's ISVs<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Sunday, August 8, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>More general commentary than news commentary <EM>per se;</EM> let's dig in ...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><U>Seeing Beyond "Traditional" Market Research</U></DIV> <DIV><U></U> </DIV> <DIV>We're all familiar <EM>ad nauseum</EM> with market forecasts by firms such as Gartner, Forrester, IDC and even i-bankers (albeit i-bankers tend to have a shorter time horizon). I've always been a bit suspect of IT market forecasts and was delighted that the META Group (where I was VP, Electronic Business Strategies) focused on qualitative and consultative approaches to serving our end-user and vendor clients. We were more like a SWAT team version of McKinsey: Get in, get it done, get out, move on. <STRONG>The Kensington Group</STRONG>, an IT advisory services industry watchdog firm, <STRONG>has found that most forecasts are simply dead wrong</STRONG>. Frankly, it's hard to blame the IT advisory services: Forecasting is tough stuff!! Some of the firms claim that they are not producing forecasts, but are producing projections. Call it what you will: It's a forecast -- and it's usually wrong. (In defense of the IT advisory services, <STRONG>often the commentary which accompanies a forecast is quite useful</STRONG>. The forecast may be wrong, but often other issues are adequately -- and usefully -- addressed.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I've been a long-time proponent of more "advanced" forecasting techniques ranging from <STRONG>Delphi</STRONG> (pioneered by the RAND Corporation) to <STRONG>cellular automata</STRONG> to <STRONG>Lotka-Volterra</STRONG> (which in a plain vanilla and watered-down form was the basis of a lead article in an issue of <EM>Harvard Business Review</EM>) to the good 'ol <STRONG>Fisher-Pry</STRONG> technique -- and just about every flavor of forecasting in between. Not only do I read <EM>Technological Forecasting & Social Change</EM>, but I annually read numerous papers published in a few hundred engineering journals and in all ACM, IEEE and SPIE conference proceedings which cite a paper published in <EM>TF&SC</EM>. (Think CiteSeer.) And something relatively new has captured my attention; I want to share this with the readers of this blog/e-newsletter.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>MIT's<EM> Technology Review</EM></FONT></STRONG> has embarked on a interesting project called "<A href="http://innovationfutures.com/bk/index.html"><STRONG>Innovation Futures</STRONG></A>". (They may not view this as a "project," but it feels like a "project" to me.) There is a fair amount of history behind the project -- and some may recall the related DARPA fiasco last year -- but I'd like to stick specifically to the MIT project. To quote <EM>Technology Review</EM>, "<!--StartFragment --><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>Innovation Futures is a predictive market system that enables technologyreview.com users to predict the outcome of events related to emerging technologies</FONT></STRONG>." Think of it as a futures and options market for emerging technologies -- NOT about companies, but about the underlying technologies. For example, rather than betting for or against Nanosys as a pure-play nano firm, a "player" (think "trader") can bet for or against a definable nano event (e.g., commercial devices produced using molecular self-assembly techniques with combined annual sales of at least $100 million by 2006). Something "easier" to phantom might be a bet that VoIP will be implemented in some form by at least 75% of G2000 companies by 2007. Think about this: <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>Which would give a better indicator of buying intentions, the MIT predictive market system or an IT advisory service forecast?</FONT></STRONG> I'll put my money on Innovation Futures or a clone. (Frankly, I'd put my money on other technological forecasting techniques. But <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>if the choice is between the MIT system or Gartner, I'll go with MIT</FONT></STRONG>. And the MIT market is a lot easier to follow than building a nonlinear model. Leave the tough stuff to Pugh-Roberts; leave the everyday stuff to Innovation Futures.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>At this point, the MIT site doesn't have very much and most of what they have is focused on short(er)-term bets. But this will be very interesting to watch, especially as broader -- and long(er)-term -- issues are market tested. What happens when the marketing folks at IBM, Microsoft, Oracle, HP, Accenture, CSC, TCS, Infosys and SAP play? And when the members of the Global Business Network and their brethren play? And when IT advisory services analysts play? And, perhaps most importantly, when CIOs representing companies of all different sizes and from all parts of globe start to play? Food for thought. I'll keep this readership posted: I plan to have several long discussions with the folks running Innovation Futures. I have many specific ideas to share with them. For more information, see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5bevb">http://tinyurl.com/5bevb</A> .<!--StartFragment --></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><U>A Golden Opportunity for China's ISVs</U></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In the past I've talked about the opportunities for SIs (systems integrators) in China to work with utility computing vendors in the States. Well, I've given this a lot of thought and have another idea: <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>What about ISVs (independent software vendors) in China floating utility computing offerings in the States?</FONT></STRONG> As one example, let's take <A href="http://www.freecrm.com/">Free CRM</A> (see <A href="http://www.freecrm.com/">http://www.freecrm.com/</A> ). The totally free version seems a bit worthless, but gives a smaller firm a chance to play with the idea with very little risk. However, the "Professional" version is only $10 per month per user, far less than Salesforce.com's average of $70 per month per user. Okay, the "Professional" version of Free CRM (maybe they should call it "Cheap CRM" -- or some B-school grad might name it "Value-Driven CRM") certainly doesn't have the industrial strength features of Salesforce.com. However, <FONT color=#0000ff><STRONG>think a modified Pareto strategy: A good chuck of the functionality, but at a</STRONG> </FONT><FONT color=#0000ff><STRONG>fraction of the co</STRONG><STRONG>st</STRONG></FONT>. Add a few zingers like syncing for a PDA/smartphone and/or pages automatically "modified" to fit any form factor (see the current issue of <EM>CACM</EM> for a great article on this; hot research area and tomorrow's urls listing will include a link to a downloadable paper on this subject) and the offering from the ISV in China becomes incredibly -- perhaps irresistibly -- enticing. And guess what: At least in theory the platform could be leveraged for both the market in the States and in China. (I have some reservations about this, but it's theoretically doable.) BTW, the Free CRM solutions are NOT hosted, but for in-house initiatives. However, the same marketing principles apply in this analysis.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>Bottom line: </STRONG><U>This is truly a golden opportunity for ISVs in China</U>. <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>Don't target the F1000; go after SMEs</FONT></STRONG>, perhaps the same firms that are normally targeted by the largest ISVs using telemarketing. (I'm not suggesting a telemarketing strategy; I'm simply segmenting the market in Oracle fashion.) <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>Think of a U.S. company with less than 500 employees</FONT></STRONG>. The world (well, at least the U.S. part of it) will be your oyster ...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><U>China: A Hotbed for Management Consulting?</U></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>An interesting <A href="http://en.ce.cn/Insight/200408/02/t20040802_1389302.shtml">article</A> published on the China Economic Net site (in Chinglish, no less) kind of uses the phrase "management consulting" in a rather broad way. But when it gets to specifics, it's illuminating. First, there is the claim that "China has become the management consulting market with the most rapid growth rate." Not sure if this is really true, but it's certainly one of the more interesting markets. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For specifics, BearingPoint is cited. Basically, they're bursting at the seams and projecting growth from about 1,000 today to 6,000 in 2008. CapGemini went the acquisition route. The average annual salary of a "good management consultant" is about US$40,000 -- a far cry from what a "good management consultant" makes in the States. And what do the consultants bring to the table? Well, this is where the article went from being written in English to Chinglish. But if I can make out what they mean, it's the ability for management consultants to help with implementation and operational issues. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/43hlr">http://tinyurl.com/43hlr</A> .<!--StartFragment --></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>Bottom line:</STRONG> <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>SIs in China should look to adding so-called "management consulting" services to their offerings</FONT></STRONG>. I am NOT suggesting a massive move in this direction, but a selected approach. Also, <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>China's SIs should look to partner with Western management consulting firms already in or planning to enter China</FONT></STRONG>. On the one hand, the BearingPoints of the world make good partners, especially for sub-contracting work. On the other hand, the BCGs of the world are more complimentary and not directly competitive. Have a strategy and plan for dealing with both types of management consulting firms, i.e., the strategy firms with a stake in IT (e.g., @McKinsey) and the IT consultancies/SIs with a strategy play (e.g., IGS, Accenture, ...).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><U>What I'm Reading (and Why I Didn't Post as Often as Usual Last Week)</U></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The new proceedings for SIGIR04 are out and I've been sifting through dozens of papers. Google seems like child's play compared to what is brewing. However, I have it on good authority that Google is brewing many of the same things. But so is Microsoft. In the future, we all benefit.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh">http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert">http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert</A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e">http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</A></FONT> (AvantGo channel)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1091451271211683412004-08-02T20:54:00.000+08:002004-08-02T20:54:31.210+08:00[urls] Top 10 Urls: 25 July-1 August 2004<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Monday, August 2, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>The following is a sampling of my "urls" for the past eight days. By signing up with Furl (it's <STRONG>free</STRONG>), anyone can subscribe to an e-mail feed of ALL my urls (about 150-350 per week) -- AND limit by <U>subject</U> (e.g., ITO) and/or <U>rating</U> (e.g., articles rated "Very Good" or "Excellent"). It's also possible to receive new urls as an RSS feed. However, <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>if you'd like to receive a daily feed of my urls but do NOT want to sign up with Furl, I can manually add your name to my daily Furl distribution list</FONT></STRONG>. (And if you want off, I'll promptly remove your e-mail address.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><FONT size=3><FONT face=verdana><FONT color=#ff0000>Best new selections (in no particular order):</FONT></FONT></FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=612730"><STRONG>A Web Services Choreography Scenario for Interoperating Bioinformatics Applications</STRONG></A> (<STRONG>SUPERB</STRONG>, covering all the bases; might serve as the foundation for a blog posting)</DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=631807"><STRONG>ICC Report: Software Focus, June 2004 issue</STRONG></A> (if you're not familiar with this monthly newsletter from <EM>Red Herring</EM>, it's worth scanning; this particular issue is their "annual" on enterprise software)</DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=629023"><STRONG>Northeast Asia: Cultural Influences on the U.S. National Security Strategy</STRONG></A> (this might serve as the basis for a blog posting; EXCELLENT, broad-based review of cultural issues)</DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=616904"><STRONG>Economics of an Information Intermediary with Aggregation Benefits</STRONG></A> (think B2B and e-markets, although the implications are wide-ranging)</DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=615294"><STRONG>Top 10 Usability Blunders of the Big Players</STRONG></A></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=615128"><STRONG>How to Increase Your Return on Your Innovation Investment</STRONG></A> (provides a link to an article published in the current issue of <EM>Harvard Business Review</EM>; good food for thought)</DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=612740"><STRONG>From Information Retrieval to Information Interaction</STRONG></A> (ideas for life beyond search)</DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=634447"><STRONG>Why Mobile Services Fail</STRONG></A> (insights from Howard Rheingold)</DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=612639"><STRONG>A Global Power Shift in the Making (on China, from <EM>Foreign Affairs</EM>)</STRONG></A></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=633568"><STRONG>Anything That Promotes ebXML Is Good</STRONG></A> (lots of good links; I'm an ebXML advocate, so the tone of this article is one which I fully support)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV>Examples of urls that didn't make my "Top Ten List":</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>> </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=631743"><STRONG>Grid Computing: Industry Standards and Business Benefits (webcast)</STRONG></A></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>> </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=615417"><STRONG>Product Lifecycle Management Automation is Vital to Innovation, Yet Only Half of Consumer Firms Effectively Apply It, Says Aberdeen Group Study</STRONG></A></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>> </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=633567"><STRONG>RightNow, Sierra Atlantic Announce Partnership to Deliver Enterprise CRM Integration</STRONG></A> (a trend in the making; I've talked about this quite a bit, i.e., systems integrators working with utility computing vendors)</DIV> <DIV><STRONG>> </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=634463"><STRONG>August 2009: How Google beat Amazon and Ebay to the Semantic Web</STRONG></A></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>> </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=633531"><STRONG>China vs. India in IT Offshoring</STRONG></A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>and many, many more ...</DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</A></DIV> <DIV><A href="mailto:DavidScottLewis.2520656@bloglines.com"><STRONG>e-mail</STRONG></A>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/3mbzq">http://tinyurl.com/3mbzq</A> (temporary, until Gmail resolves their problems; I haven't been able to access my Gmail messages for the past week)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh">http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert">http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert</A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e">http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</A></FONT> (AvantGo channel)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1091423633169525392004-08-02T13:13:00.000+08:002004-08-02T13:13:53.170+08:00[news] Cognizant & the "Intelligent Internet" + a Peek at 2005 IT Budgets (Part 2 of 2)<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Sunday, August 1, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Ah, the World Future Society. Much to say about the WFS, but I'll save it for the end of this post. An article which appears in the <A href="http://www.wfs.org/futcontma04.htm">March-April 2004 issue of <EM>The Futurist</EM></A> was reprinted in a recent issue of <A href="http://www.gcn.com/vol1_no1/daily-updates/26338-1.html"><EM>Government Computer News</EM></A> (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/yrp2w">http://tinyurl.com/yrp2w</A> ); the <A href="http://administracion.uexternado.edu.co/centros/pensamiento/matdi/Intelligent.pdf">original paper</A> which was the basis for <EM>The Futurist</EM> article is also available (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5ymos">http://tinyurl.com/5ymos</A> ). The article focuses heavily on findings from the <A href="http://www.techcast.org/">TechCast Project at George Washington University</A> (see <A href="http://www.techcast.org/">http://www.techcast.org</A> ; BTW, they're seeking beta testers).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The article acknowledges hype during the bubble, but goes on to indicate that <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>20 commercial aspects of Internet use should reach 30% "take-off" adoption levels over the next several years</FONT></STRONG> -- and will rejuvenate the (American) economy. One area of particular interest is a "conversational" human-computer interface, called "TeleLiving," based on advances in speech recognition, AI, hardware/grid computing, virtual environments and flat wall monitors. (Sounds like stuff out of PARC and Microsoft Research.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Their Project results "<STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>portray a striking scenario in which the dominate forms of e-commerce - <FONT color=#ff0000><U>broadband</U>, <U>business-to-business</U> (B2B), online finance, <U>entertainment-on-demand</U>, <U>wireless</U>, e-training, knowledge-on-demand, electronic public services, online publishing, <U>e-tailing</U></FONT> - grow from their present 5%-20% adoption levels to 30% between 2004 and 2010</FONT></STRONG>. TechCast considers the 30% penetration level significant because this roughly marks the 'take-off point' when technologies move from their early-adopter phase into the mainstream, where they permeate economic and social life." (Think of chasm crossing. Also think of expeditionary marketing within the context of broadband. BTW, bolded and colored items are MY emphasis.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The authors discuss the notion that many think that the Internet is already mainstream, yet challenge that notion by stating that this is true only for nonpaying use, citing surfing for free information as one example. "As of 2003, commercial operations involving monetary exchange were limited to about 23% for broadband, 10% for e-tailing, 12% for B2B, 10% for distance learning, and 5% for music. And these are the most popular Internet applications. Others hardly register in adoption levels at all." <STRONG>Bottom line: </STRONG> It's all about e-commerce, I guess. Jerry Maguire said it best. <IMG src="http://us.i1.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/mesg/tsmileys2/03.gif"></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><U><STRONG><FONT size=3>A Look at 2005 IT Spending</FONT></STRONG></U> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Not as much as I had originally hoped for in the Forrester glimpse at 2005 IT budgets, but some things to note. (See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/67pse">http://tinyurl.com/67pse</A> .) Example: 52% of finance and insurance firms -- led by insurers -- will spend more on IT in 2005. Okay, <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>sounds like an opportunity for SIs (systems integrators) building .NET solutions. (For those who don't know, Microsoft has fairly strong solutions for the insurance vertical.)</FONT></STRONG> At the subvertical level, media and nongovernment public sector plays look good, whereas the utilities and transportation sectors look weak. Also, Siebel and PeopleSoft customers are planning to spend more on IT relative to customers of other key vendors, most notably SAP. (I don't see this, but I don't dispute their data. Frankly, I think we'll see a lot of activity for SAP SIs in 2005. P'Soft is too hard to tell, especially with the confusion caused by Oracle. Oracle benefits whether the acquisition goes through or not!! It's the FUD factor.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Not to be outdone, AMR came out with their peek at 2005 budgets for SMEs (small and medium enterprises). (See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5vlvo">http://tinyurl.com/5vlvo</A> . I got a lot more out of the AMR report.) Something that is rather common knowledge among IT analysts, but may not be known by those not involved in the IT budgeting process, is that a typical large U.S. manufacturer spends 2% of its annual revs (i.e., revenues) on IT and a large service firm spends 5%. However, the average for U.S. SMEs is 6.4% of revs, although a good chunk is for basic IT infrastructure.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><STRONG>CRM looks like a hot item for U.S. SMEs</STRONG></FONT> and the AMR report makes an interesting comment about the perceived need for other countries to implement a "keeping up with the Joneses" strategy. This being said, then domestic firms in China may follow suit. <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>As far as operating systems are concerned, there is only one: Windows</FONT></STRONG>. And U.S. SMEs spend about 20% of their IT budget on software and software maintenance, with <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>discrete manufacturers outspending process manufacturers or retailers</FONT></STRONG>. Typical apps are for financial management and customer management, although expensive CRM suites (think Siebel or Oracle) are rare. Sounds like <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>an opportunity for utility computing vendors</FONT></STRONG>. <STRONG>Bottom line:</STRONG> <STRONG><FONT color=#ff0000>If the SMEs market is your key market (by size), then go with Microsoft CRM solutions!</FONT></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><U>Fast Forward Over Three Decades</U></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>At this point, I'm going to get a bit personal. If you're not interested, simply skip the remainder of this message: It briefly covers three decades and my so-called "futurist" origins.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>The first "adult" organization I ever joined was the World Future Society. (Remember, the basis for the first section of this posting was an article published in their flagship publication, <EM>The Futurist</EM>.) The year was 1971. I had been an adolescent "futurist" since March 1968, the month that my father bought me a copy of <EM>Sky & Telescope</EM> magazine. Although the Vietnam War was on the news each night, I was simply too young for it to really matter. Both the war and protests against the war were merely uninspiring TV images.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>But something caught my imagination and that "something" was the space program. I can still recall the liftoff of Apollo 11 on July 16, 1969 at 6:32 am PDT. Believe it or not, I can still recite the countdown. I can also recite part of the landing sequence of the Eagle -- the Lunar Excursion Module housing Neil Armstrong and Edwin E. "Buzz" Aldrin. And, of course, I can remember Neil Armstrong stepping off the foot of the LEM on July 20th, probably around 7 or 7:30 pm. Two movies also inspired me toward a "tech" future: The obvious, <EM>2001: A Space Odyssey</EM>, and the not-so-obvious, <EM>The Andromeda Strain</EM>. (My parents didn't let me stay up to watch <EM>Star Trek</EM>, so <EM>Star Trek</EM> didn't have any impact on my life during my early adolescence.) Although I have been a member of the L-5 Society and the British Interplanetary Society (anyone remember Project Daedalus?), the World Future Society was the most influential organization in my life during my high school years. Well, a wee bit of personal history. Those were the good 'ol days ...</DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/4nr9h">http://tinyurl.com/4nr9h</A></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh">http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert">http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert</A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e">http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</A></FONT> (AvantGo channel)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1091230767032900162004-07-31T07:39:00.000+08:002004-07-31T07:39:27.033+08:00[news] Cognizant & the "Intelligent Internet" + a Peek at 2005 IT Budgets (Part 1 of 2)<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Thursday, July 29, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>In a rush to catch a flight, so I'll make this brief.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The subject of this message sounds like there might be some sort of causal relationship between Cognizant and Internet futures, but I'm really referring to two separate issues (and two different articles). Although the article which is the basis for my Cognizant spin made my secondary urls listing in my last posting, it's worth reconsidering, especially for their take on China.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The article on Infosys was a Q&A session with one of their senior execs, Francisco D'Souza<EM> </EM>(see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/3lpyu" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/3lpyu</A> ). Some of the more interesting points (in no particular order): For one thing, <U>Cognizant invests about 25-26% in SG&A, almost twice that of their competitors</U>. (As a marketing and bizdev guy, kudos to Cognizant for their foresight!) "This has helped us (i.e., Cognizant) build a formidable sales and marketing infrastructure and invest in local practice leaders, client partners, relationship managers and so on." They also took an early lead in verticalization, "which is another reason for richer customer experience." A key issue, of course, is that <FONT color=#0000ff><STRONG>Cognizant has already started its expansion outside India into other low-cost locations like China</STRONG></FONT>. Kudos again! (They have a foray into Europe, but it's minor: They also view the "Golden Triangle" as the best strategy.) They also believe that it will be "quite normal" for them to be delivering to customers from multiple locations in the world.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Here's a great quote (I guess neoIT didn't see it): "<STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>The initial feedback is that clients are interested in piloting work in China. Our experience on the ground in China is that we've been able to find talented individuals with reasonable English-language capabilities</FONT></STRONG>." Another comment (playing off my "Golden Triangle" theme): "Currently, <STRONG><FONT color=#ff0000>only India and China represent the potential to scale up volumes</FONT></STRONG>. This may well continue for another decade." </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>On a related note, an exec (K.S. Suryaprakash) with Infosys was recently quoted as saying, "China is the only country which can offer cost scales comparable to India." In their Shanghai operation, they have "seven or eight Indians" among their staff of 25 -- and they use Donald Duck posters to help teach English! See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5wyga" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/5wyga</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Sorry, but I really tried to include the "Intelligent Internet" and the 2005 IT budgets sneak preview in this posting; alas, I'll complete this in Dalian. Got to run!! (I already wrote what follows last night.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><U>The International Software and Information Services Outsourcing Business Development Forum (in Dalian later TODAY)</U></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Off to Dalian to give a presentation on ITO market opportunities, primarily from an enterprise software perspective. What's hot, what's emerging, IT e-strategies (hmmm ... sounds familiar), the usual stuff. A bit on "why China," but this is being covered by several other speakers; none of the other speakers seem to be focused on market opportunities from an apps perspective. In case anyone is wondering, I'm one of the invited speakers at this forum.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>Next</STRONG>: Collaboration Technologies: The Great Hope? (unless something at CISIS captures my attention). (Oops ... after I finish this posting.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>What I'm Reading</STRONG>: Besides four articles and papers on collaboration technologies, I'm reading the special section on P2P-based data management in the July issue of <EM>IEEE Transactions on Knowledge and Data Engineering </EM>(a couple of papers from this issue have already been urled; see my urls blog), a paper on the evolution of IR to information interaction (I hope Google reads it), and a paper on web services for bioinformatics (which is a SUPERB paper, also already urled). The latter paper may make it into a posting, so don't expect to see it on the "Top Ten" list for this week (but I might include it on the secondary list).</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue" target=_blank>e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/4nr9h" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/4nr9h</A></STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle" target=_blank>http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml" target=_blank>http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV> <DIV><STRONG></STRONG></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1090770135513211452004-07-25T23:42:00.000+08:002004-07-25T23:42:15.513+08:00[urls] Top 10 Urls of the Week: A Taste of Furl<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Sunday, July 25, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV>The following is a sampling of my "urls" for the past week. By signing up with Furl (it's <STRONG>free</STRONG>), anyone can subscribe to an e-mail feed of my urls -- and limit by <U>subject</U> AND <U>rating</U>. It's also possible to receive an RSS feed. However, <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>if you'd like to receive a daily feed of my urls but do NOT want to sign up with Furl, I can manually add your name to my daily Furl distribution list</FONT></STRONG>. (And if you want off, I'll promptly remove your e-mail address.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Briefly, over the past week I added over 300 urls to my "goldentriange" Furl account. In the editing process, I whittled down the number to nearly 60 in my first pass and then deleted about 50 more urls to create "Dave's Top Ten (Urls) List" (of the week). Think about it: Only one in 30 made the grade.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For one thing, I've excluded ALL sites referenced in any of my three blogs. Also, ALL "dated" items with short shelf-life were cut (such as news stories), although over two-thirds of the "urled" pages over the past week were news-related. (My assumption is that everyone already has their favorite news sources.) OTOH, I didn't want to include items which are a bit too research-focused, either. Truly a delicate balance.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Enjoy -- and please zap me your feedback! And, if you'd like to receive the daily feed (which includes news items), please let me know.</DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=585946"><B>A Fitting Use for Web Services Technology</A></B></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=585869"><B>Grid Tools: Coming to a Cluster Near You</A></B></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=585751"><B>ROI Calculators - Nucleus Research</A></B></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=583603"><B>Verticals To Grow By--And To Avoid</A></B></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=571720"><B>A BPEL Primer</A></B></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=559819"><B>Getting IT Right - An Approach to Managing IT Complexity</A></B></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=609118"><B>Technology futures analysis: Toward integration of the field and new methods</A></B></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=586341"><B>The Next Big Thing: Adaptive Web-Based Systems</A></B></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=556555"><B>Time for a Redesign: Dr. Jakob Nielsen</A></B></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>* <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=583444"><B>Google circa 1960</A></B></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV>Examples of urls that didn't make my "Top Ten List":</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>> </STRONG><A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=583241"><STRONG>GLOBAL SECURITIES INDUSTRY IT SPENDING</STRONG></A></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=583266"><B>Top Tech Trends (from PC Magazine)</A></B></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=585906"><B>'We see global, offshore outsourcing converging' (Cognizant)</A></B></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=586353"><B>The Eclipse Web and J2EE Tools Platform Project is Now Live</A></B></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>> <A href="http://www.furl.net/item.jsp?id=609143"><B>The Virtual Debugging System for Embedded Software Development</A></B></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV>and many, many more ...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</A></DIV> <DIV><A href="mailto:DavidScottLewis.2520656@bloglines.com"><STRONG>e-mail</STRONG></A>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/3mbzq">http://tinyurl.com/3mbzq</A> (temporary, until Gmail resolves their problems; I haven't been able to access my Gmail messages for the past week)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh">http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert">http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert</A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e">http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</A></FONT> (AvantGo channel)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml">http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1090562699360480922004-07-23T14:04:00.000+08:002004-07-23T14:04:59.360+08:00[emerging tech] "Web Engineering: The Evolution of New Technologies" & the Ultimate Killer App<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Friday, July 23, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM></EM></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Reviews of papers from the current (July/August 2004) issue of <FONT color=#0000ff>Computing in Science & Engineering</FONT>, special issue on "Web Engineering: The Evolution of New Technologies." To <A href="http://csdl.computer.org/comp/mags/cs/2004/04/c4toc.htm" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>order articles from this issue</FONT></A>, first click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5ktaw" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/5ktaw</A> .</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM></EM></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV>Earlier this week I posted excerpts from the lead article in the current issue of <EM>CiSE.</EM> The article was titled, "Managing XML Data: An Abridged Overview," which is a good, accurate title. The excerpts contain useful links, too. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I am going to take a variety of approaches for handling four other papers in this special issue. However, I first want to provide a <A href="http://www.computer.org/cise/v6n4/gei.htm" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>link to the introduction to this special issue</FONT></A>, i.e., <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6sbjx" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/6sbjx</A> . The intro itself provides a few useful references and links.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The second article is titled, "Information Retrieval Techniques for Peer-to-Peer Networks." Fortunately, a full-text PDF copy of this paper can be accessed at either <A href="http://dblab.cs.ucr.edu/" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>http://dblab.cs.ucr.edu/</FONT></A> or <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6v2ru" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/6v2ru</A>, although the URL for the former looks a little bit too generic and might change at a moment's notice (also, the two papers are slightly different). I have 19 bookmarks on my smartphone for this paper, but I guess <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>I can summarize by saying that IR for P2P networks is hard and very different from "traditional" search</FONT></STRONG>. <U><STRONG>The last statement actually says a lot -- read between the lines</STRONG></U>. This paper covers all the usual suspects and also includes Skype. This paper is based upon the <A href="http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~csyiazti/msc.html" target=_blank>lead author's Master's thesis</A> which can be accessed from <A href="http://tinyurl.com/696ml" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/696ml</A> . <A href="http://www.cs.ucr.edu/~csyiazti/publications.html" target=_blank>Other papers by the lead author</A> can be accessed at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/43kkh" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/43kkh</A> . This is an important issue which needs to be resolved, especially as collaborative grid computing (CGC) comes to life.</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff></FONT></EM></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><EM><STRONG>Two figures; 20 references (28 references in the preprint).</STRONG></EM></FONT></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM><FONT color=#0000ff></FONT></EM></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV>Less luck with the paper titled, "Web Searching and Information Retrieval," i.e., I couldn't find a free copy on the Web. The author's site is woefully outdated, too. The author does speak favorably of a particular approach to decentralized P2P web crawling called "Apoidea." A copy of a paper describing <A href="http://www.cc.gatech.edu/~aameek/publications/apoidea-sigir03.pdf" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>Apoidea</FONT></A> can be accessed at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4m2v5" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/4m2v5</A> ; <A href="http://disl.cc.gatech.edu/Apoidea/Apoidea.ppt" target=_blank>accompanying slides</A> can be accessed at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4b4sh" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/4b4sh</A> . As described in the <EM>CiSE</EM> paper, "Apoidea is both self-managing and uses the resource's geographical proximity to its peers for a better and faster crawl."</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><EM><STRONG>Two figures; 21 references.</STRONG></EM></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To request a copy of this article click on: </STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/7yyl2" target=_blank><STRONG>http://tinyurl.com/7yyl2</STRONG></A> or <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6m6ff" target=_blank><STRONG>http://tinyurl.com/6m6ff</STRONG></A> (I'm not sure which address works; I already have a copy of this article so I don't need to contact the author!).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>"Web Mining: Research and Practice" is not available, either, but a lot of excellent info on the senior author's projects related to this paper is available. First, take a look at the <A href="http://research.ebiquity.org/v2.1/research/?EBS=28bedf9e1771ae67d68b77397f846d5d" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>eBiquity research areas</FONT></A> at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/52p9n" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/52p9n</A> . Next, you may want to take a look at the abstracts for <A href="http://research.ebiquity.org/v2.1/papers/" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>papers published</FONT></A> as part of the eBiquity Group at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5om58" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/5om58</A> (current through December 2004 -- it doesn't get more current!!). Move on to their <A href="http://research.ebiquity.org/v2.1/research/area/id/9/?EBS=28bedf9e1771ae67d68b77397f846d5d" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>"Semantic Web" page</FONT></A> at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4a8fr" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/4a8fr</A> . I then downloaded a PDF copy of their paper titled, "<A href="http://research.ebiquity.org/v2.1/get/a/publication/94.pdf?EBS=28bedf9e1771ae67d68b77397f846d5d" target=_blank>Mining Domain Specific Texts and Glossaries to Evaluate and Enrich Domain Ontologies</A>" (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/3lg2m" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/3lg2m</A> ). It looks like a relatively recent paper, newer than the <EM>CiSE</EM> paper (different authors and different subject matter, though). The PDF is part of their Semantic Web research, whereas the <EM>CiSE</EM> paper is more "generic." Anyway, <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>the "Web Mining" paper is another call for distributed mining techniques</FONT></STRONG>, and covers fuzzy clustering as well as content-based recommender systems -- but doesn't forget good 'ol HITS (Hyperlink-Induced Topic Search), the basis for IBM's Clever and Google (to a certain extent).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><EM><STRONG>No figures; 31 references.</STRONG></EM></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To request a copy of this article click on: <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5xv3p" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/5xv3p</A> .</STRONG></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Finally, "Intelligent Agents on the Web: A Review" was very disappointing. The lead author has impeccable credentials, but his paper is based on yesterday's news: Old, outdated, buried stuff (like Firefly). Matter of fact, the only live link I can recall finding was Recursion Software's <A href="http://www.recursionsw.com/voyager.htm" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>"Voyager" home page</FONT></A> (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/3wpem" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/3wpem</A> ), which states that the "Voyager applications development platform provides the software layer which handles communications across the network for distributed JAVA applications." (Looks interesting.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I did a little more digging and surfed over to two stand-by sites (both referenced directly or indirectly in the "Intelligent Agents" paper), namely the MIT Media Lab Software Agents page and Oren Etzioni's (oops, I mean the University of Washington, Department of Computer Science) page. At the <A href="http://agents.media.mit.edu/projects.html" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>MIT projects page</FONT></A> (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4ocss" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/4ocss</A> ) is a listing of several "commonsense" projects, e.g., "<A href="http://agents.media.mit.edu/projects/semanticweb/" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>Using Commonsense Reasoning to Enable the Semantic Web</FONT></A>" (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4deq7" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/4deq7</A> ). A <A href="http://agents.media.mit.edu/projects/semanticweb/semanticweb_whitepaperdraft.doc" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>draft White Paper</FONT></A> on this is available at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4e4bv" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/4e4bv</A> , as is a <A href="http://agents.media.mit.edu/projects/semanticweb/CSRSemanticWeb.ppt" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>presentation</FONT></A> at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4le2n" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/4le2n</A> along with a couple of video demos. I also downloaded <A href="http://agents.media.mit.edu/projects/goose/AH2002-goose.pdf" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>a paper on GOOSE</FONT></A> (GOal-Oriented Search Engine) at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4fyeu" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/4fyeu</A> . At UWash I went to their <A href="http://data.cs.washington.edu/xml/" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>XML data management page</FONT></A> (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5x98a" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/5x98a</A> ) and then grabbed two papers: One on "<A href="ftp://ftp.cs.washington.edu/tr/2004/06/UW-CSE-04-06-05.pdf" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>Probabilistic Methods For Querying Global Information Systems</FONT></A>" dated 14 July 2004 (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/45uz7" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/45uz7</A> ) and another titled, "<A href="ftp://ftp.cs.washington.edu/tr/2004/05/UW-CSE-04-05-01.pdf" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>Learning Text Patterns for Web Information Extraction and Assessment</FONT></A>" dated May 2004 (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6k5fz" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/6k5fz</A> ). (To download other unrestricted reports, go to <A href="http://tinyurl.com/5z2x7" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/5z2x7</A> .) Frankly, I need a bit of time to digest the two recently published UWash papers.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As the chair of the Internet and Web applications session of the First International Conference on Autonomous Agents (1996), I have a soft spot for agent-oriented everything (especially Web apps). I remember an old saying from IJCAI (International Joint Conference on Artificial Intelligence) in the mid-70's: <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>Artificial intelligence is better than none</FONT></STRONG>. (I probably still have a button with this saying somewhere.) I'm keeping the faith, sans the hype and more toward the realities of software agents. BTW, this <EM>CiSE</EM> paper isn't bad if you don't have any background in this space. It covers the basics, such as ACLs, but with an "updated" perspective.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><EM><STRONG>No figures; 27 references.</STRONG></EM></FONT></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To request a copy of this article click on: <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6zzqs" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/6zzqs</A> .</STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><U><FONT color=#ff0000>The Ultimate Killer App</FONT></U></STRONG></DIV> <DIV><STRONG></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV>BTW, the "Ultimate Killer App" is attached and in some browsers it will automatically download. (See the bottom of this message.) You have to admit, this <STRONG><EM>really</EM></STRONG> is the ultimate killer app!!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I've never sent an attachment this way simultaneously to both my e-newsletter and blogs (and blog variants). Just in case the attachment isn't included, I've uploaded it to the "Photos" section of the e-newsletter (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> .)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV>>> Note to <EM>AlwaysOn</EM> readers: You'll need to go to the e-newsletter ( <A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> ) in order to see the "Ultimate Killer App." You can try the blogs, but no guarantees.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><U>Tidbits on Enterprise Software</U></DIV> <DIV><U></U> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>.NET wins converts.</STRONG> For the <A href="http://www.crn.com/sections/breakingnews/breakingnews.jhtml?articleId=22104047" target=_blank><EM>VARBusiness story</EM></A> see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/3omd2" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/3omd2</A> . Evans Data reports that .NET usage showed a sharp YoY increase in adoption with 52% saying they use .NET and 68% saying they plan to deploy .NET apps by 2005. In May, Forrester reported that <STRONG>56% of developers consider .NET their primary development environment contrasted with 44% for J2EE</STRONG>. (It must have been a binary choice!) <EM>VARBusiness</EM> found in a May survey that 53% have already deployed a .NET app and 66% plan to do so within the next 12 months. In the <EM>VARBusiness</EM> survey, the most important reasons for going with .NET were ease of use and quicker time to market. A developer goes on to state that .NET development time is to Java what Java is to C++. (Wow, what a claim!)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.iona.com/hyplan/vinoski/pdfs/IEEE-Dark_Matter_Revisited.pdf" target=_blank><STRONG>Python and Perl beat Java</STRONG></A>? (See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/44m5t" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/44m5t</A> for the PDF file.) Actually, an indirect "attack" against all "mainstream" programming languages, notably Java, C and C++. The idea is that the "mainstream" languages are ill-suited for many distributed computing and integration apps. <STRONG>Gives a "thumbs up" to Python, Perl and PHP</STRONG>, with a peek at PEAK -- the Python Enterprise Application Kit. (Sorry for the pun.) PEAK's developers claim future superiority over J2EE. They also knock Java for not being suited to rapid application development. PEAK's developers believe a Python-based approach to component-based apps will result in systems that are simpler, faster and easier to install, manage and maintain than variants in J2EE. PEAK, however, is still immature.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://www.tekrati.com/T2/Analyst_Research/ResearchAnnouncementsDetails.asp?Newsid=3075" target=_blank>Grid computing takes off</A></STRONG>. Another survey from Evans Data (see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4l2qb" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/4l2qb</A> ). <STRONG>37% of database developers are implementing or planning to implement a grid computing architecture</STRONG>. In related data, 34% of companies are focusing their database development work on BI (business intelligence) platforms. See also <A href="http://www.informationweek.com/story/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=23901953&tid=5994" target=_blank>Oracle's spin on this</A> at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4n2kf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/4n2kf</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://www2.cio.com/analyst/report2628.html" target=_blank>The spoils of ROI</A></STRONG>. From IDC's Group VP, Solutions Research, there are several issues which must be addressed in order to maximize IT ROI. (See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/228kv" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/228kv</A> .) Four of the key issues are:</DIV> <UL> <LI>Should the IT agenda include investment in <STRONG>outsourcing</STRONG> technologies or services? <LI>Does the future of the business include operations in, or electronic trade with, additional countries - <STRONG>China</STRONG>, for example? <LI>Are the services of an outside provider being considered to help in managing proliferating applications or complex <STRONG>"interenterprise" business relationships</STRONG>? <LI>What role will <STRONG>utility computing</STRONG> play in the future of IT?</LI></UL> <DIV>(All items in bold are my emphasis.) The article goes on to discuss various ways of evaluating ROI, including one of my favorite ways, ROA (<STRONG>real options analysis</STRONG>). </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>TTFN. Have a GREAT weekend!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>e-mail</FONT></A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/58rbd" target=_blank><STRONG>http://tinyurl.com/58rbd</STRONG></A></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>WARNING</STRONG>: To avoid spam (well, to avoid getting at least some spam), I'm using a Gmail account with a special address. However, I have NOT been able to access the messages in my Gmail account for the past FOUR days!! Not sure how long this will last. In the interim, also use:</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://b1.mail.yahoo.com/ym/itestrategies.com/Compose?To=DavidScottLewis.2520656@bloglines.com" target=_blank><STRONG>DavidScottLewis.2520656@bloglines.com</STRONG></A> -- but also Cc: the above address. Of course, if you already know me, feel free to send messages to my primary and secondary e-mail accounts. (If you know me, you already know what they are. The primary account is working fine.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.itestrategies.com/" target=_blank>http://www.itestrategies.com</A> (current blog postings optimized for MSIE6.x) </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2r3pa</A> (access to blog content archives in China)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2azkh" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2azkh</A> (current blog postings for viewing in other browsers and for access to blog content archives in the US & ROW)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>http://feeds.feedburner.com/chinasourcingalert</FONT></A> (RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml" target=_blank>http://chinasourcing.blogspot.com/atom.xml</A> (Atom feed)</DIV> <DIV><FONT color=#0000ff><A href="http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/2hg2e</A></FONT> (AvantGo channel)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle" target=_blank><FONT color=#0000ff>http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle</FONT></A> (Furl)</DIV> <DIV><A href="http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml" target=_blank>http://www.furl.net/members/goldentriangle/rss.xml</A> (Furl RSS feed)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6636731.post-1090545380564347452004-07-23T09:16:00.000+08:002004-07-23T09:16:20.563+08:00[news] Special Reports, Advice, ITO Tidbits & an Announcement<DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV>Friday, July 23, 2004</DIV> <DIV><EM><STRONG>Dateline: China</STRONG></EM></DIV> <DIV><STRONG><EM></EM></STRONG> </DIV> <DIV>A few special reports to mention. The current (15 July) issue of <EM>CIO Magazine</EM> has a cover story on ITO (IT outsourcing) titled, "<A href="http://www.cio.com/archive/071504/guide.html">Outsourcing World Tour 2004</A>" (cute title). A clickable map covers countries not usually on the short list for ITO, including Chile, South Africa and Thailand. Covers BPO as well. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/676sh">http://tinyurl.com/676sh</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Not for everyone, but <EM>Washington Technology</EM> has a special report on new defense opportunities titled, "<A href="http://www.wtonline.com/cgi-bin/udt/im.display.printable?client.id=wtonline-test&story.id=24017">Warfare 2.0</A>". Great report with lots of details. Includes info about "Starlight" (an XML-based 3D visualization tool), DoD's "Global Information Grid" and a bit of G2 on DARPA's Information Exploitation Office. (Remember, it was DAPRA's predecessor, ARPA, who funded the creation of the Internet.) See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6jw43">http://tinyurl.com/6jw43</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For American firms pondering their China strategy, a "2004 Special Edition" of <EM>The McKinsey Quarterly</EM> features an article titled, "<A href="http://www.mckinseyquarterly.com/article_page.aspx?ar=1464&L2=21&L3=33&srid=21&gp=1">A Guide to Doing Business in China</A>." Good advice and shatters many myths, although not specific to ITO. See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/43rak">http://tinyurl.com/43rak</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>On a somewhat related topic (albeit focused a bit more on BPO than ITO), Accenture has published "Executive Survey Results" in a report titled, "<A href="http://www.accenture.com/xdoc/en/services/outsourcing/bpo/insights/seven_rules.pdf">Driving High-Performance Outsourcing: Best Practices from the Masters</A>." This seven page PDF report attempts to "provide a snapshot of the choices and challenges facing newcomers to outsourcing:<BR>⢠"What timeline can we expect, and what kind of partner<BR>do we need?"<BR>⢠"Which processes should we outsource, and which should<BR>we keep?"<BR>⢠"How do you structure the deal to allow for changes in the<BR>business environment over the course of the arrangement?"<BR>⢠"Can you outsource a business function whose processes are<BR>broken, or do you need to fix it first and then outsource?"<BR>⢠"How does an outsourcing arrangement impact our<BR>relationship with unions?"<BR>⢠"We have projects going all the time; how do you juggle<BR>all those projects and introduce outsourcing without the<BR>disruption?"</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>One finding: "A majority (59 percent) use risk/reward incentives to spur high performance from their outsourcing partners. Incentives may<BR>be used to reward extraordinary performance or to encourage<BR>higher levels of risk." For more, see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/49rk4">http://tinyurl.com/49rk4</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV><U></U> <DIV><U>Take This to the Bank: <STRONG>Advice for SIs in China</STRONG></U></DIV> <DIV><BR> "äºÂæÂÂ软件åÂ
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å¸ÂåºæÂÂ好çÂÂå¹è®Âä¿¡æ¯ï¼ÂæÂÂæ°çÂÂæÂÂæ¯å¨æÂÂç»ÂæÂÂ们传éÂÂè¿ÂæÂ¥ãÂÂéÂÂè¿Âè¿Âæ ·é«Âèµ·ç¹çÂÂè·¨å½ç»Âè¥管çÂÂå°ÂÃ¥Â
ŒÂ¸çÂÂæ´个å±Â次é½æÂÂé«ÂäºÂå¾Âå¤ÂãÂÂ" (See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/48jbm">http://tinyurl.com/48jbm</A> .)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><U>Announcement: <STRONG>CISIS Outsourcing Business Development Forum Presentation</STRONG></U></DIV> <DIV><U></U><BR><STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>I will be giving a presentation on IT outsourcing market opportunities during next Thursday's CISIS Outsourcing Business Development Forum.</FONT></STRONG> The CISIS (China International Software & Information Service) Fair begins next Wednesday morning (the 28th) and goes through Friday. See <A href="http://www.cisis.com.cn/">http://www.cisis.com.cn</A> for more information.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I will be in Dalian from Wednesday afternoon through Friday evening. <STRONG><FONT color=#0000ff>If you are planning to attend this event or are based in Dalian and would like to get together, please let me know.</FONT></STRONG> <STRONG>I am keeping Friday open for meetings, although it's filling up fast.</STRONG> Also, there is a reception (of sorts) on Wednesday night on the 3rd Floor at the Shangri-La beginning at 19:00; I'll be at the "reception" for at least the first hour. I look forward to seeing many of you next week!</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><U>ITO Tidbits</U></DIV> <DIV><U></U> </DIV> <DIV>From the mouth of Infosys' COO, "In terms of infrastructure, China scores higher than India." (From a <A href="http://www.nwfusion.com/supp/2004/offshoring/0705blame.html"><EM>Networld World</EM></A> supplement on outsourcing; see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/4uglp">http://tinyurl.com/4uglp</A> .) From the marketing veep at Silicon Valley-based Sygate, "The cost structure is pretty spectacular; it's about one-eighth that of the U.S." Sygate is similar in structure to Achievo: U.S. headquarters with most of the development work done in China. (<STRONG>Achievo is one of the few firms that should be on just about everyone's short list</STRONG>.)</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>And how about this: "Gartner has claimed China could overtake India's outsourcing crown by 2007 with its 2,00,000 <EM>(sic)</EM> software professionals and a booming domestic software market with spending on IT increasing by 20 per cent per year since 1999." A couple of grammatical errors, but an interesting remark from Gartner. (The grammatical errors are likely the responsibility of the publisher, not Gartner.) <A href="http://sify.com/finance/fullstory.php?id=13514908">See</A> <A href="http://shorl.com/dudruhufaledre">http://shorl.com/dudruhufaledre</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>On the "downside," a look at ITO's "<A href="http://www.cio.com.au/index.php/id;1012044631;fp;16;fpid;0">hidden costs</A>", in <EM>CIO Australia.</EM> See <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6odc9">http://tinyurl.com/6odc9</A> . Nothing terribly new, but a good case study.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For some advice on <A href="http://www.computerworld.com/printthis/2004/0,4814,94478,00.html">how to manage the seams between multiple outsourcing relationships</A>, see <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6qdkv">http://tinyurl.com/6qdkv</A> . THIS IS A STICKY ISSUE, especially since many of China's larger SIs want to sub-contract (in essence, further outsource) to smaller SIs. Frankly, I'm a bit suspicious about this: It requires a lot of faith from an American client. It's the "I barely know YOU, and I have NO CLUE who these other guys are" problem. Sounds like a one-way ticket to getting fired for an American IT exec.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>A bit of common sense from an IDG news blurb. Talks about sending out RFPs to about 50 companies, a small trial project, and the need for collaboration technology. See the <A href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/04/06/25/26FEoffshoringside_1.html">IDG piece</A> at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/2etll">http://tinyurl.com/2etll</A> .</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Finally, "(i)n a survey of top decision makers on corporate outsourcing policies, 59% said they expect to increase their outsourcing budget by 20% or more in the next 18 months." Also, the so-called outsourcing debate has had little impact on outsourcing decisions and "lost knowledge" was cited as the key workforce-related risk. See the Patni <A href="http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/040719/nem015_1.html">press release</A> at <A href="http://tinyurl.com/54869">http://tinyurl.com/54869</A> . It's also a pretty good example of the right way to issue a self-serving press release.<BR></DIV> <DIV>Cheers,</DIV></DIV> <DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>David Scott Lewis</DIV> <DIV> <DIV> <DIV><EM>President & Principal Analyst</EM></DIV> <DIV>IT E-Strategies, Inc.</DIV> <DIV>Menlo Park, CA & Qingdao, China</DIV> <DIV><STRONG><A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">e-mail</A></STRONG>: click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/6xeue">http://tinyurl.com/6xeue</A></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><STRONG>To automatically subscribe click on <A href="http://tinyurl.com/388yf" target=_blank>http://tinyurl.com/388yf</A> .</STRONG></DIV></DIV></DIV> <DIV> </DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV></DIV>David Scott Lewishttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06551889503905976812noreply@blogger.com