July 08, 2008

Withstanding globalization's impact on IT

A recent survey of enterprise executives has found that -- not surprisingly -- IT executives are more averse to globalization than their peers from other departments. The survey, summarized in "The Benefits and Challenges of Globalization," was conducted by EquaTerra, a consulting firm that makes its living advising companies on how to refine their processes, a practice that often relies on some measure of outsourcing. With that in mind, I called up Stanley Lepeak, EquaTerra's managing director of research. Non-IT executives don't understand the impact globalization has on IT Lepeak doesn't pull any punches -- a quality I admire. He... more

TAGS: Outsourcing

July 02, 2008

Is Sprint voice-mail spam part of a pernicious new trend?

I’d like to hear from readers out there on the issue or rather, growing problem, of marketing solicitations over the cell phone. I would love to be able to nip this trend in the bud with your help. Companies are increasingly sensitive to critical blogs, especially those that are widely read, so here's our chance to stop what may be a pernicious new trend, selling your cell phone number to the highest bidder. Here's what happened. I used AT&T’s cellular service for years and never had a problem. Unfortunately when I moved to Vermont I received a letter from them,... more

TAGS: Wireless

July 01, 2008

News coverage in crisis on the Net

There's an old show-business joke about a play that is failing. A potential theatergoer calls the box office to find out when the show starts, and the ticket agent responds, "How soon can you get here?" As a trade journalist, I sometimes feel like I'm in that failing play. Trade journalism is one of the few environments that empowers employees to tell their employers what they can and cannot do. I'm not talking about unions vs. management here. I'm talking about the invisible -- and often fought over -- line between "church and state." Church and state In journalism, there... more

TAGS: Media

June 24, 2008

H-1B visas do not create new jobs

Back on Oct. 25, 2005, I published excerpts from a study by John Miano, a member of the board of directors for the Programmers Guild, which refuted claims, using the government's own labor and wage statistics, that those working on an H-1B visa in high tech were receiving equivalent salaries to U.S. citizens. The point of the column was to shed light on emerging evidence that companies might in fact be using H-1B visas not as a way to fill in skills gaps but as a way to hire cheap labor at the expense of both U.S. and foreign national... more

TAGS: H-1B visas

June 17, 2008

Report refutes claims of dire need for more H-1B visas

In an address at the National Society of Black Engineers Region VI conference, Bill Gates perpetuated the belief that the United States is not graduating enough science and engineering majors and that that the overall performance of high school students in science and math is declining. [ Ephraim Schwartz is on vacation. This blog post first appeared on November 17, 2007, but with the recent Congressional efforts to make it easier for tech companies to hire foreign nationals, it seemed timely to revisit. --Eds. ] Typically, these two myths are used as an excuse to promote the need for more... more

TAGS: H-1B visas

June 10, 2008

The failed promise of technical services

I don't know what Thoreau actually had in mind, never having read Walden Pond. I've tried several times but found it dull. But from the many clichés I have heard about Thoreau and his pond, I gather that he wanted to get away from it all. Escape from the hubbub of the civilized world. Now, you would have thought there was far less hubbub in Thoreau's time -- no cars, no television, no Internet. But the point is, we all need a rest from the world, a little quiet time. I bring this up not only to speak for the... more

TAGS: Service providers

June 03, 2008

The essentials of global team building

Most of the talk about globalization focuses on the promise of expanding markets and opportunities. But unless part of your global go-to-market strategy includes something called "cultural competence," your plans could go awry. I spoke with Sangeeta Gupta, author of Quick Guide to Cultural Competency and founder of the Gupta Consulting Group. Just so you know, all proceeds from the sale of the book go to organizations that come to the aid of children in need worldwide. Cultural competence: Building a global team For the most part, my conversation with Gupta focused on cultural competence as it relates to partners... more

TAGS: Business

May 28, 2008

Microsoft, Home Depot pull a GM with its failed book-scanning effort

They say give a man a fish and he has food for a day. Teach a man to fish and he will have food for the rest of his life. Well I say, teach an American car company how to make an SUV and it will have lots of money for a day, a year, or even several years. But teach American car company executives economics and maybe a little geology and they will have an expanding business for generations. I hope it's not too late for the U.S. automakers, but maybe that ship has sailed. Nevertheless, the advice still... more

TAGS: Microsoft

May 21, 2008

Is SaaS just throwaway software?

Is SaaS (software as a service) really destined to replace on-premises software in the enterprise? The smart money seems to say so. Industry analysts certainly say so, and if you've noticed all the on-premises vendors launching SaaS versions of their software these days, it too appears to indicate that SaaS is the wave of the future. According to the experts, SaaS is cheaper to deploy and maintain. It is also able to offer innovation at the speed of light, they say. But maybe there is another story here that is not being explored. Could it be that SaaS software, in... more

TAGS: SaaS

May 15, 2008

Dissecting the AT&T memo on the iPhone limit of one to a customer

By making a few assumptions here and there let’s see if we can figure out what’s going on behind the scenes at AT&T and Apple as it concerns their iPhone strategy. The internal memo, shown on the AppleInsider site, says that customers may only purchase one iPhone at AT&T stores. The prior limit of three iPhones is no longer in effect." In addition the memo states that effective immediately "customers may only use credit or debit cards to purchase their iPhone. Cash or check will no longer be accepted!" What does all this mean? The most obvious answer is that... more

TAGS: None

May 13, 2008

IT benefits from big vendors' slow on-demand plays

I won't exactly eat the words I wrote when I said the spate of BI acquisitions a several months back meant boutique vendors were on their way out, leaving IT with far fewer choices in the future. Instead, due to the fast maturing SaaS side of the software industry, I will amend those words, somewhat drastically. To refresh your memory, the accelerated pace of acquistions such as SAP's purchase of Business Objects, IBM's Cognos play, and Oracle's buyout of Hyperion led me to believe point solutions were fast becoming an endangered species. Now, I have to agree with Josh Greenbaum,... more

TAGS: SaaS

May 12, 2008

Laws to allow hands-free use of cell phones while driving will increase accidents

After watching a driver blithely drive down the wrong way on a one-way street while said driver was also talking on the phone, leads me to believe people aren’t as multifunctional as they would like to believe. So it is with grim terror that I report San Francisco just passed a law requiring hands-free use of mobile devices for drivers. Terror because this law will do nothing to curb the abuse of talking on the phone while driving, the main culprit behind accidents involving cell phone use in cars, and will in fact encourage fools to keep on talking while... more

TAGS: None