The Cloud. 'Nuff said.

Forget meteorology, and think virtualization. Cloud computing is finally becoming a significant part of our lives.  Microsoft, in particular, is certainly making sure of that. Introducing the new, dynamically scalable, over-the-internet productivity suite Microsoft Office 365 available in the early 2011 completely through a cloud computing environment! Consider the business world transformed. Now, employees of any company around the world will easily be able to communicate, collaborate, and get their work done from anywhere around the world. With an entire suite of Microsoft products available to employees over the internet through a simple log in process (without a software install of any kind), work will go very smoothly - too bad offering the service is such a gamble for Microsoft. Many companies still either don't know or simply refuse to believe that cloud computing is safe and reliable, so many will not risk their sensitive information for the service. Also, marketing the service as a subscription may actually end up hurting Microsoft. After a little bit of math, it's clear that buying traditional software licenses works out to be cheaper in the long run. So, why pay for the subscription? Microsoft's competition is also tough. Google offers a similar service called Docs for free. In combination with Gmail, Google Docs is a solid choice for any company interested in these kinds of services. We will have to wait and see how MS Office 365's success plays out, but in the mean time, I wish them the best of luck, for it this thing works, it could become a $25 billion dollar per year business by 2013.

The Improved Relevance

“What your friends think and what people like you think is much more relevant than what everybody thinks,” said Augie Ray, an analyst with Forrester Research, in an interview with Jenna Wortham for her recent article "Search Takes a Social Turn" published in the NY Times. Indeed, the world of mouth that is becoming more and more tailored to the individual. Why waste time sifting through tons and tons of reviews about a product or a service when you can simply listen to what the people you already trust have to say on the matter? Think about it. You're looking for a good local restaurant on Google, and the reviews seem to vary vastly. Which ones do you trust? Which ones were posted by regular people like you? Which ones were posted by food critics? Which ones were planted by the managers and marketing advisors of the restaurants? It's so much easier to simply ask a friend who had been to the restaurant and get a straight opinion. Most people would think so - to save time, at least, if for no other reason. In recent years, companies have realized that simply providing reviews is no longer cutting it with consumers. Social media has helped them turn things around. Facebook, Twitter, TunerFish, Loopt, Hunch - be they location-based social systems or plain profile-based ones or new interest-logging applications, they are making a difference for consumers and their friends. It is now clear that the traditional search engine has to change to provide this improved relevance everyone has been talking about. So, it turns out that your friends do know you best - and, ultimately, they can help save you some time. Who would have thought?