Upside Updates
Alternatives to White PapersMay 22, 2008
In addition to the white paper options listed here, there are a number of other options that can help software and service companies articulate their business and techincal value to prospective clients and customers, including: o A “First Looks” report...Read more.
May 22, 2008
White papers provide a range of benefits—from articulating technology or business vision, to providing detailed examples of how a new technology or product can address a specific business problem, to establishing thought leadership. Custom white papers can be written to...Read more.
May 12, 2008
There's another angle to software-as-a-service. It doesn't just have to be about using Web interfaces and browsers to access hosted software, or downloading plug-ins. It can also be about streaming full-blown Windows applications from a centralized location (hosted environment, corporate servers, etc.) down to local computers (laptops or desktops). Most users have plenty of raw processing power available. What's been missing is a way to easily package applications, stream them efficiently, install them correctly, and manage any licensing requirements on an on-going basis. Read more.
April 18, 2008
Understanding the different levels of governance is important when trying to build a business case for SOA and trying to ensure that your organization is taking the appropriate steps to reduce risk and align business and IT. Read more.
February 7, 2008
A significant portion of organizations are considering SOA to help enable greater reuse from both new and existing assets. In many cases this takes the form of breaking down legacy applications into usable components for reuse across projects and teams. When designed correctly services can be used in new projects without customization. A move to SOA can also help integrate IT assets, making it easier for IT organizations to react more quickly to business demands as business needs change, especially if applications are broken down into reusable components modeled along the lines of an organization’s business processes. By creating these types of “business services” organizations are creating assets that can be leveraged by the business. From the business case perspective, managers should focus on the hard benefits such as decreases in project time, reductions in time or risk, and increases in efficiency from using SOA interfaces and business services. Read more.
February 5, 2008
I believe that over the next few years we’ll see a huge change in the types and volume of storage devices that standard consumers are using in their homes. We’re going to see both a diversity of applications—from hard drives designed to move movies or music to automobile playback systems to home office storage, backup and remote access. In any case, a great many of these changes in the consumer storage technology landscape will undoubtedly filter back up to the enterprise, affecting the design, deployment and use of future business storage technologies for years to come.Read more.
January 2, 2008
One potential benefit of creating an SOA solution can be a focus on greater governance and serve to facilitate a more effective bridge between business and IT. By combining SOA with BPM and business rules, an IT organization can create a solution that allows business analysts to use model processes and use business rules and policies to ensure that what IT delivers in line with the business strategy and that it meets that service level agreements required. Doing so probably requires more governance than traditional solutions, but the benefits can help create more efficient IT organization, a reduction of duplicate functionality in IT projects.Read more.
November 5, 2007
I believe that independent 24-hour tech support is a growing market segment for small and medium businesses, as well as individual consumers. Even with significant investments in ease of use, our computers, networks, home entertainment options and digital devices are...Read more.
November 5, 2007
We’re going to see more notebooks with displays that are optimized and sized for high definition viewing. For example, wide aspect notebook displays typically have a 16:10 width to height ratio, while we’ll see a crop of newer notebooks coming...Read more.
October 29, 2007
Okay, it hasn't happened to me lately, but I know it will happen. It's probably happened to you. When you do dunk your cell phone in the water, what should you do? Here's the rescue plan: - It’s important to...Read more.
October 28, 2007
I travel constantly for business and maintaining optimal battery life from my laptop and cell phones is important to me. Like many business people, my life is digital now. If my laptop’s not powered up or my cell phone is...Read more.
October 25, 2007
How would you define a content delivery network ? What types of content are generally seen on websites these days ? A content delivery network is a collection (or network) of computers (or servers) on the Internet that are designed...Read more.
October 21, 2007
For many general consumers, a PC loaded with Linux is not a great idea. Unless the consumer is technology savvy, I do not recommend that they purchase a Linux-based PC—unless they’re using it for a very specific reason or have...Read more.
October 10, 2007
It’s critical for even small companies to make sure they’re protecting personal and business data on the road. While large companies typically have security specialists and IT policies to manage potential data security risks, most small businesses are on their...Read more.
September 25, 2007
Over the past several years, we have seen an uptick in the number and variety of services-based software solutions across enterprise computing. Saas can be especially appealing for small and mid-sized companies that don't want to invest in servers and...Read more.
September 24, 2007
Over the next 5 -10 years Upside Research projects that the graying baby boomers and growing senior population will have an important impact on technology manufacturers and technology marketing trends. The implications include: - While the youth market is always...Read more.
September 17, 2007
Many small businesses operate with a basic IT infrastructure--a number of laptops or PCs working individually, or perhaps strung together as a peer-to-peer network so they can share files from one computer to another, instead of having a single, centralized...Read more.
September 14, 2007
Over the next few years, social networking technologies will be an important adjunct for many corporate or enterprise CRM strategies. They certainly won’t replace standard CRM technologies, but will play an increasingly important role in extending corporate visibility into customer...Read more.
September 14, 2007
Please visit the Upside Research product library for the latest product briefs, including in-depth analysis of: - Appian - Lombardi Teamworks - E2E Bridge - Metastorm - Handysoft Office Engine - Integrify - Savvion BusinessManager 7.0 - Ultimus BPM Suite...Read more.
September 7, 2007
Getting a really good deal in consumer electronics generally means being patient. While technology prices can drop quickly (though not usually as quickly at the Apple iPhone), they frequently drop in cycles. - For many consumer electronics, including computers, cameras,...Read more.
September 1, 2007
As anyone who’s gone to a party or movie theater knows, the social impact of the cell phone has been enormous. Cell phones have dramatically altered the social landscape, social etiquette (since when is okay to take a phone call...Read more.
August 1, 2007
On Wednesday, August 1st, another merger was announced in the Business Process Management (BPM) market. Metastorm, a pure-play BPM vendor and one of the early leaders in the BPM market, acquired Proforma Corporation, a vendor of enterprise modeling and business process analysis solutions. The combined company will provide a unified solution that enables organizations to analyze, plan, and execute their enterprise architectures and models. After the acquisition, Metastorm will have roughly 300 employees, more than 2600 customers, and have projected revenue of $70 million for 2007. Read more.
June 18, 2007
What will the IT organization (or, more specifically, IT department) of the future look like? In some regards, the IT organization of the future will look very much like todays—there will be technology subject matter experts who know how to...Read more.
April 9, 2007
BPM is about business and technology, but it's also increasingly about standards. Over teh years different BPM-related standards have been developed and are continuing to be developed. One of the latest is OMG's BPDM, approved in March at OMG's San...Read more.
February 14, 2007
We recently spoke with Intalio’s founder, Ismael Ghalimi, to get the scope on open source BPM. The company moved to an open source code model in February 2006, and has spent the past year making the transition. This includes eliminating a direct sales force and focusing on organic growth, acquiring new customers through training programs instead of traditional sales force initiatives.Read more.
February 13, 2007
IBM Announced today the latest version of its Enterprise Content Management solution, IBM FileNet P8 4.0. The solution reflects the successful integration of FileNet following its acquisition in 2006. The capabilities that IBM has focused on for this release center...Read more.
December 15, 2006
- First, a big event in 2006 was Oracle’s announcement of direct support for Linux, the same level of support it provides for its database, middleware and applications. By charging substantially less for Linux support than it’s partner, Red Hat,...Read more.
November 20, 2006
- I believe that digital recording of television programming is going mainstream in 2007. As more and more people receive video-enabled iPods or Microsoft Zune portable audio/video players for the holidays this year, they’ll need digital content to put on...Read more.