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SaaS

SaaS stands for “Software as a service”. I came across this term recently when I attended the “Making Money with SaaS” seminar arranged by the SD Forum at Microsoft Campus in Mountain View CA. SaaS is a software application delivery model where the application resides not on the client local machine but on the host server. The customer accesses the application through a rich browser over the internet. Here issues like licensing, deployment and maintenance on the client site are automatically resolved. The customer does not have to pay the license and installation charges as in the “classical” software paradigm. The provider charges the customer on per user basis or per usage (click) basis. The customer does not have to make the initial big investment but can pay for the software as per usage. Some of the issues involved are security (as all the data resides over the host server), lack of client in-house control, extensive customization requirement and availability of internet connectivity bandwidth. But with decreasing hardware prices, availability of open source softwares and increasing bandwidth SaaS certainly seems a promising business model. Some application areas of SaaS include accounting, email and CRM.

Open Source Business Models

Some questions always bugged me right since I got acquainted with Open Source software concept. Why Open Source? How do people make money out of Open Source? Who provides money for providing such software?
Luckily for me, I got an Internship at SAP in the Open Source Research Group which helped me to answer these burning questions in my mind. The business models for the Open Source are as follows:

*Providing services and distribution of Open software
A typical example will be Red Hat Linux. Here you make money in the services provided and not for the actual software license.

* Development and distribution of proprietary and open source applications for Open Source platforms
This may include developing some add-ins and enhancement features for an existing Open Source application.

* Using Open Source Platform for development of custom software
One can use Linux instead of Windows for custom software development and save money for installing and licensing Windows.

* By having a company’s employee on the major open source projects will increase the value of the company, keep it updated on the current market condition and most importantly can direct the open source market in a direction which will be profitable for itself.

* Counterbalance the dominance of a particular product or technology
European community considers Open Source as an effective technique to counterbalance the American dominance and strengthen itself.

*Supporting Open Source to make one’s hardware products more attractive
IBM and Sun support Open source packages and Linux to increase competitiveness against the Windows-Intel platform.

*Software compliance and License related services
Providing services checking compliance for existing software used in companies which were built in-house or through a third party vendor.

Google trying Yahoo model

Yahoo’s strategy to introduce new features or applications is quite famous and effective. Yahoo first introduces a product for some initial period to study the user response and feedback. Then removes the product from the market and reintroduces it with better features and enhancement to satisfy the user expectations (now they know what user wants). Today when I saw the new interface of Google Analytics the point which amazed me was that Google was still providing an option to switch back to the earlier interface. This is similar to the Yahoo mail when they introduced the outlook interface enhancement; where there was an option to switch back to the classic old version. Is Google trying Yahoo model?

The test market of America

Marketing department of any firm always wants accurate results for question like sales forecasts, market reaction to a new product, product sales, revenue generation etc... They often try test market analysis for predicting the above quantities. Deciding upon a where to conduct the survey such that the predicted results will hold good for the entire country or region is always a question of interest. Many marketing evangelist always refer to the term “Will it play in Peoria?” Peoria, IL is considered the test market capital of United States. If the product is successful in Peoria it will do good overall in the country.
Peoria, IL represents a “typical” average mid sized American city located nearly at the center of the county equidistant from St. Louis and Chicago. Peoria depicts the diversity of the United States population in terms of race, income, age, rural and business interests, educational background etc...
Many consumer product companies, movies, plays and even politicians try to get the feel of the market by having a test market analysis in Peoria. In short Peoria is the microcosm of United States.
Other cities considered for test market include Albany NY, Greensboro NC and Santa Barbara CA.

Why Open Source ?


Some questions always intrigued me right since I got acquainted with Open Source software concept. Why Open Source? How do people make money out of Open Source? Who provides money for providing such software? Luckily for me, I got an internship at SAP in the Open Source Research Group which helped me to answer some of these burning questions in my mind.

*Providing services and distribution of Open softwareA typical example will be Red Hat Linux. Here you make money in the services provided and not for the actual software license.

* Development and distribution of proprietary and open source applications for Open Source platforms
This may include developing some add-ins and enhancement features for an existing Open Source application.

* Using Open Source Platform for development of custom softwareOne can use Linux instead of Windows for custom software development and save money for installing and licensing Windows.

* By having a company’s employee on the major open source projects will increase the value of the company, keep it updated on the current market condition and most importantly can direct the open source market in a direction which will be profitable for itself.

* Counterbalance the dominance of a particular product or technologyEuropean community considers Open Source as an effective technique to counterbalance the American dominance and strengthen itself.

*Supporting Open Source to make one’s hardware products more attractive
IBM and Sun support Open source packages and Linux to increase competitiveness against the Windows-Intel platform.

*Software compliance and License related servicesProviding services checking compliance for existing software used in companies which were built in-house or through a third party vendor.

I am a proud Indian and a Libertarian Right








My background: Born and brought up in urban Indian city of Pune for 23 years and then living in United States from past 2 years. I am classified as a Libertarian Right on the political compass (refer picture 4). I believe that it actually depicts the social nurturing of a person and the way he thinks and believes. India being a free, democratic and secular country it was natural for me to land below on the vertical axes (social freedom scale). Indian economy being a mixed economy where there are private industries but some major infrastructural industries like railways under government rule it was natural for me to land somewhere on the centre of the horizontal axes. The “slight” shift to the right can be attributed to the phenomenon of open market in India since 1991, the recent IT boom (India’s GDP is growing at 9.2%) and the fact that I am living in United States for past two years. I strongly urge you to take the questionnaire and assess for your self what you are and where you want to be.
Here are the important links:
http://www.politicalcompass.org/questionnaire
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Political_compass

Contact me if your political compass matched mine.

Top 25 things that shaped the Internet

Internet today has become a daily need and has made an entry into the basic amenities list like food, clothes and house. It’s the lifeline of the industry, businesses and commerce all over the world. USA TODAY recently reported a list of 25 most popular things which changed the Internet we know today. Here is the list
1 World Wide Web
2 E-Mail
3 Graphical User Interface
4 America Online
5 Broadband
6 Google
7 Mosaic/Netscape
8 eBay
9 Amazon.com
10 Wi-Fi
11 Instant Messaging
12 Yahoo
13 CompuServe/Prodigy
14 The WELL
15 Vices
16 Spam/Spy ware
17 Flash
18 Online Mapping tools
19 Napster
20 YouTube
21 The Drudge Report
22 Bloggers
23 Craigslist
24 Myspace
25 Gaming and Virtual world

Video Resume

There has been always a problem in a hard copy resumes where the potential employer cannot judge the applicant’s communication skills, general body dynamics, language proficiency, clarity of thinking and confidence level in expressing one’s views. Recently there is trend where the candidates make a video (video resume) in which they describe about themselves, their skills, qualifications and job expectation. The video is then uploaded to some video hosting services like YouTube. The employer can then just watch the video and screen the candidates according their requirements. This is much better method than just using the hardcopy resumes which are mute and dumb. This will not only be useful for the employers but also the candidates where they can express themselves in action than just few hundred words.
Some online resume service providers are
http://www.workblast.com/
http://mypersonalbroadcast.com/
http://www.hirevue.com/
There are tons of start-ups which are heading to grab their share in this completely new and expanding market. According to USA TODAY, Venture Capitalist invested more than $600 million in video start-ups last year (2006). Here are some tips for job seekers:
1 Dress professionally
2 Say “Cheese”. Keep an energetic and dynamic environment.
3 Try to very clear, loud and precise
4 Keep it short and sweet. Don’t try the employer’s patience with your extracurricular activities, family background or pets.
5 Avoid any specific Accent
6 Shoot the video in some professional background not in your kitchen or house where people going in and out the video.
7 Customize your video according to the job you are targeting.
8 Try to put some company specific information like recent success, profit figures in your video.
9 Please use grammatically correct English