Perspectives on the Cloud

"The Cloud" - everyone is talking about it, and as more and more vendors pile on using the term, it seems to have become a double entendre; definitions are as hazy and varied as ever. We have been discussing this phenomena since our inception almost a decade ago, and recently have tried to shed some light and clarity through this collection of articles in the brief.

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• Big Data -- The data may be big, but is the information important?
• SaaS Pricing: Part One - Insanity or Good Deal for Users? -- This two-part series discusses the current pricing models for SaaS vs. On Premise.
• SaaS Pricing: Part Two - Insanity or Good Deal for Users? -- Freeware, per scan, per transaction, per file transfer, per shipment, per print, per connection—all these options and choices are quite remarkable in their variety!
• WMS Cloud Solutions Take More than a Cloud -- The real world of successfully operating Warehouse solutions in the cloud has many technical and business components.
• Supply Chain Finance Networked Platforms: Financing Services - Supply Chain Platform Series: Part 2C -- Various forms of supply chain financing have been around for centuries. The use of networked platforms is a much more recent trend that enables dramatic reductions in the cost of capital compared with traditional approaches.
• Enterprise Social Networking: The Final Brick in the Supply Chain Platform Foundation -- Social networking in the enterprise is on the rise in surprising and obvious places.
• Platforms - Journey to Achieving the Supply Chain Vision. Part One: Supply Chain Cohesion -- The web has become the dominant force in supply chain operation and technology. In this series we will discuss how it's evolving.
• Food for Thought - Challenges in the Produce Supply Chain -- So you think you have supply chain challenges? How about daily price volatility and losses in transportation of up to 20%? Discussions with FoodLink Online, InfinityQS, AFS and Intelleflex.
• News from SuiteWorld 2011: Part Two -- Hear how wholesale distributors are using NetSuite to grow their businesses.
• JDA Stays Focused -- HighLights from the JDA mega conference.
• News from SuiteWorld 2011: Part One -- Platform wars, implementation speed, Groupon as a customer, and other highlights from NetSuite's first ever annual user conference.
• 2011 Ariba LIVE -- Ariba LIVE 2011 in Nashville was well attended, with over 1600 attendees. Here are some highlights from the show.
• DemandTec Buys M-Factor - What It Means -- On an acquisition path, with AIS and now M-Factor, DemandTec broadens their reach in supplier-retailer interactions.
• Collaboration vs. Transactions -- Lessons from eBay, Facebook, LinkedIn and other Social Networks - What traditional business management can learn from Social Networks.
• Collaboration Frameworks 2011 - On Creating a Global Workspace: Part One of Two -- Social Networks, Teleconferencing, and anywhere that technology opens new challenges in Collaberation.
• Happy New Year - Converged, Collaborative, Telepresent Communities in the Second Decade: What's happening in 2011? - Convergence - Unified Applications and Devices for the Second Decade.
• It's Seventeen Shopping Days to Christmas! - * * * On the First Mobile Christmas, My True Love Gave to Me . . .* * *
• Does Cloud Equal On Demand? -- Cloud, SaaS, On Premise, On Demand, Managed Service, a mélange of technical terms is flooding the market. This article explains the differences.
• Cloud Economics Part One - Cost Drivers -- Cloud cost drivers provide insights on how Total Cost of Ownership for users will change.
• Cloud Economics Part Two - The End of the Entourage -- Marketing and Selling On-Demand vs. License: An uncomfortable truth.
• Cloud Economics Part Three - The Cloud of Clouds -- Connected Communities cross industries.
• as-a-Service Framework -- Here we discuss the broader framework for the "as-a-Service" offerings (IaaS, PaaS, SaaS) and where Microsoft fits. Insights from a talk at MIT by Barry Briggs, the CTO for Microsoft IT, about Cloud Computing in general and Microsoft's foray into Cloud with its Azure service offering.
• Marketing Automation - Part One - From Software to SaaS to MaaS -- Marketing Automation solution providers have specialized and deepened their offerings, taking marketing from an art to a science, with quantifiably beneficial portfolio solutions. Part one sets the stage for what the Marketing Automation sector looks like, and discuss some specific recent breakthroughs.
• Marketing Automation - Part Two - What It Is and What it Should Be -- What is Marketing Automation, and who will smash the traditional market concepts of marketing and sales solutions?
• Microsoft's Take on Data in the Cloud -- There is LOTS of data in the cloud. Here are some thoughts on how Microsoft is responding.
• Into the Clouds: MIT Cloud Panel - Part 1 -- Private vs. Public and Internal vs. External Clouds, security concerns and more from a panel discussion at MIT..
• Into the Clouds: MIT Cloud Panel - Part 2 -- Hybrid environments (cloud + on-premises) will be a reality for decades to come. Tools which manage environments that mix together legacy infrastructure (e.g. data centers, licensed applications) with cloud infrastructure are discussed.
• SaaS ERP for the Smallest Manufacturers -- the announcement of Epicor Express means a full-featured SaaS solution is available to small manufacturers who have had almost no SaaS options up to now.
• SaaS in the Warehouse -- Well, actually, it's not in the Warehouse. SaaS WMS Solutions show Market Momentum.
• Convergence of Physical and Financial Supply Chains -- Network/Community Platforms are playing an essential role in the world's migration to new financial supply chain models.
• Labor Management in the Cloud -- Labor Management joins the Cloud with Next View's launch of On-Demand Subscription solution.
• Cloudforce 2010: San Jose, June 22 -- Social Networks, iPads, mobile apps, Motorola, Dell's new Android mobile, and Chatter highlight Salesforce.com's Cloudforce conference.