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For the past few months, we here at Sundog have been evaluating the migration of our messaging platform from Microsoft Exchange to Google Apps Premier. Having recently won approval to make the move official, I have come across a few ideas that small businesses and, in particular, IT professionals might want to keep in mind while considering a move from an on-premises Microsoft Exchange environment to cloud-based Google Apps
Everyone takes a shortcut now and then when developing code. We shouldn’t, and we know it, but sometimes we do anyways. I am guilty of it as much as the next guy. And unfortunately, it can bite me in the butt just like everyone else. Let me tell you a story…
Today is Cyber Monday, the online equivalent to the more traditional shopping day of Black Friday. Maybe it is just me, but they sound like such dire names for what should be major shopping days and economic bellwethers in a free enterprise system.
Due to a tough economy, pundits had expected both Black Friday and Cyber Monday to be down this year, but according to a National Retail Federation Black Friday survey conduct by BIGresearch, 172 million shoppers visited stores and websites this Black Friday weekend compared to 147 million shoppers last year. The research also indicated that the average shopper spent $373 this year compared to $348 last year. Total spending was estimated at $41 billion. The survey also indicated almost a quarter of shoppers were at stores by 5 a.m., and over half made it to stores by 9 a.m.
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More on the diagram above here. Sure, Tom Cunniff’s collage is messy, but it represents a marketing environment that is growing increasingly complicated. There are more choices than ever before to consider in the marketing toolbox. Most of those choices are now so interwoven with fast-evolving social media and technology integration issues, that a CMO must expend considerable effort just keeping up with changes.
I can’t say that I am surprised to hear that the Linux operating system has rammed its way through yet one more door. This time however, the threshold is Apple’s flagship mobile device the iPhone. This weekend, iphone-dev.org announced that after considerable reverse engineering by the unofficial iphone development team, a limited Linux OS in now available for iPhone and 1st gen iPod Touch (no touch screen drivers, sound, or WiFi / cell radio support).
This would seem to be a significant milestone for a growing number of developers, users, and enterprises interested in greater openness in the mobile ecosystem. Even today in its limited state, Linux on the iPhone may catalyze some competition through linux-based mobile alternatives like Android. As Android stabilizes on the iPhone device, users will have choice of where to buy music and more importantly, where to buy applications.