Electronic Data Processing For The Upcoming Future: Virtualization, Cloud Computing, And Software As A Service

Sometime around the 1880s, a tiny start up company, called Edison Electric Illuminating Company of New York started wholesaling electricity to factories, homes, and businesses. By the 1930′s, with electricity overtaking kerosene as the principal source of home power, electricity displaced kerosene as the central utility for most American homes. Sometime around 1969, the late 1960s, the 60s, the department of defense launched an all digital communication network, DARPA net; eventually, computer enthuiasts, hackers, and science professors started using this network;logging in through buliten board systems (BBS) and services such as CompuServe. Finally, in the mid to late 1990s the World Wide Web (as it is known today) became a commodity service, with over 80 percent of the world with some form of access. The next big trend can be seen with Microsoft’s latest version of Microsoft Office. Now, you can access all of the software features, for free, through your internet web browser (http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/web-apps/). Soon, the majority of your software and computer usage will occur through the internet as another service. All of this is being made possible by three very major technologies: virtualization, cloud computing and software as a service (SaaS).

Although there are a lot of buzz words currently making the rounds around the internet;cloud computing, software as a service, Web 2.0, virtualization, thin clients; for many clients, these buzz words have very little meaning. In fact for all intents and purposes virtualization and cloud computing appear to be similar.

Just imagine that I run my own organization and own a large office building in central Baltimore. If that company is just starting, I most likely have a lot of extra office space available to rent. While I only use one “office” for my company, the rest of the “spaces” can be used by other organizations. If I lend out these spaces, I then ensure that my building is being used for its full potential. Even in the case my office grows; I can always expand into other areas in the same building. Think of virtualization as the offices. On a single piece of computer hardware (building) I can run “virtualized pcs” (offices). I might have one virtual machine running a web server (office for a marketing firm), another virtual pc allowing me to play video games (office being used for an arcade), and yet another virtual workstation allowing me to efficiently edit graphics (office being used for a publishing organization). I don’t need 3 computers (buildings) to do all this work, I can do this all on a single computer using multiple virtual machines (spaces).

Once you understand virtualization (having many individual computers running on a single piece of hardware), you can naturally understand cloud computing. The biggest dissimilarity between the two is scale. With virtualization, I am a building owner; with cloud computing, I am a real estate owner. Instead of having only one building to work with and rent out, I now have multiple buildings. If, let’s say I own several convention centers, it would make sense for me to rent out individual spaces to individual events. However, occasionally I might get an event so big it needs to use multiple offices. However, because of my scheduling, I might not have all of the space for the convention all in one building. I still want to host the convention (because I want the money) but I need to split the convention across several of my properties. To the customers (the convention attendees) it all appears to be a single “virtual pc” (convention);however to the cloud (real estate manager), this virtualizing a computer across multiple servers (holding the convention in several buildings).

All this talk about buildings and clouds tends to make the end user’s head spin. Where most users are focused, however, tends to be with Web 2.0, thin clients, and Software as a Service (Saas). In fact, almost all people are already using some form of SaaS and don’t already know it. Think about Facebook. To access Facebook all you need is a web browser. There is no software to install, no complicated interface to learn, and best of all, it is available anywhere in the world you have access to the internet. Other services, like online file sharing services (such as Dropbox) allow individuals to access their music anywhere, or document editing tools like Google Docs. All of these services represent how software as a service has the power to provide;a thin client is a very small, low powered computer (such as a net book) which connects to a much more powerful service through a network (web browser).

The primary benefit from this forthcoming zeitgeist change to thin clients and software as a service will be to free users from being tied to their laptops, and allow them to access their information anywhere they can find an internet connection. Instead of having to invest in thousands of dollars every few years to upgrade their laptops and software, they can rely on the SaaS utilities and thin clients to provide all the service and support that they need. Software truly will become a utility “service” in the future, much as “electricity” became a service in the past.

Stephen is an Executive for a large Application Service Provider (ASP) and Software Consulting company in Japan. To read more about the future of computing, please see RWCS. This article, Electronic Data Processing For The Upcoming Future: Virtualization, Cloud Computing, And Software As A Service has free reprint rights.

Marketing Your Business On Social Networks Is Easier Than You Think

Social Media is numerous things. It is a wonderful company developing tool. It’s a fantastic networking and learning tool. And when used correctly it can be a very good marketing device. Here is how to sell with social media.

#1 Use social media to create a brand. Social Media is a great brand building tool. Brands are essential since they assist a prospect to develop a name for you. When you have a powerful brand identification your prospective customers will think about you first when they have a need. Creating a brand with social networking needs time to work. It takes developing a plan, a message, and a brand image.

Determine what look or brand you want to communicate and develop a plan to make it happen. This plan will probably include interacting on the internet. As well as submitting messages on social media websites, and creating a profile that represents your brand, you will interact in a way that is in keeping with your message.

#2 Use social networking to boost likeability. For most businesses their brand is their own personality and this is simple to communicate by way of social media. We purchase from individuals we like and from people we connect with. Social Media is an effective way to communicate who you are and what exactly you’re about so you can successfully communicate your own individuality. Always be friendly, be funny, be informative, be who you are and your viewers will connect with you and eventually purchase from you.

#3 Make use of social media to calmly, quietly promote your products or services. You need to be watchful with social networking. People join social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter to socialize, not to go shopping. They do not like nor will they interact to blatant sales messages.

You can sometimes post a promotion or a new product on social networking internet sites. The most effective successes often result from promotions that are specific to your connections on that site. For example, “Facebook Friends 20% off Promotion.” Even so, it’s also important to test and track promotion strategies to determine what your target audience reacts to. Take great care when using social networking to provide valuable information and interaction or you will let down potential customers.

#4 Advertise. Many social networking sites now provide highly targeted marketing options. Like all advertising strategy, its smart to invest wisely, test and track for optimal return on investment. However, business owners experience success using social networking advertising possibilities.

#5 Incorporate your social networking interactions into your business internet site. It’s about making a community. After you have a group of people who follow you, trust your authority and credibility, and then selling by way of social networking is simple.

The main element to using social networking to sell is to use it as a device to create your relationship with your potential customer. Utilizing it as a medium to deliver a sales message usually does not work. Fit the message to the method and utilize social media to create awareness, traffic, preference, brand, and your community. Selling will come naturally and the possibility for gain is big.

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Marketing With Social Websites

The explosion of the interactive social web has brought forth a new way of marketing. Websites such as twitter, facebook, and digg as well as the entire blogosphere allow internet marketers to employ a more interactive approach when marketing with their target audience. They can ask them about different keywords or marketing ploys. It is easy to ask your twitter audience to read an article you wrote and ask them what they think. If it is a blog post then it is possible to pick up new readers which of course are great for monetization of a new e book your coming out with or products that you endorse. The point is when using social websites to market you must interact with your audience or network rather than talk at them.

With so many different social websites out there it is hard to choose which ones will work best for your needs. If you run a forum you may find a facebook fan page much better than a twitter profile, but it is worth the time to try both so you know which social websites will work the best. There are also some rules when you join the social facebook and the most important is not to spam. I don’t care who you are if you send only links and they are constant I will delete and remove you. The occasional link is fine especially if you explain why you are sending it, but when that is the majority of your messages or tweets you will find yourself constantly losing people within your network. On the other hand if you actually put good information on your social profiles you will notice that people are going to recommend you. This will greatly increase your network and profit possibility. A good example I have is when I posted my marketing tips of the day they were retweeted quite frequently and the largest jump I noticed was 50 new followers for one good quality tip. Did I put a link in the tweet? No! links are not something that is well perceived at least in the studies that I have done.

Now one thing I would like to point out is when trying to increase your network you should be everywhere. I have set up profiles on all social networking and bookmarking sites that I have come across. Personally I recommend spending 20% of your marketing time on social media websites. You should always start a blog no matter what niche you have these are extremely easy to set up and make it possible for your readers to have one solid reference which they can find all of your work. Blogs are also really nice when you need to increase your backlinks. If you want to increase your backlinks when blogging all you need to do is put a link to your website in your blog and each new post will be one more backlink to your website. Of course having your own blog is not the only way to build backlinks from the blogosphere it is also possible to comment on high authority do follow blogs which you can find by going to google and typing in do follow blog finder, list of do follow blogs, and/or do follow blog directory. If you do this google will bring you lists of thousands of do follow blogs for you to increase your backlinks.

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Learn Why You Need To Take Advantage Of Web 2.0 Marketing

You may have never heard of Web 2.0, but if you’ve spent any time on the web at all, you’ve used it.

This second generation of the Internet has added complexity and usability to many activities that people now perform every day on the web and has greatly increased the scope of what is available. The earlier years of the internet featured a very top-down business model where the large corporately owned websites created the content and the users of the sites viewed it. But now, it’s different. Thanks to that evolution, people are now able to voice their opinions, share ideas, join virtual groups or use social networking sites.

This has had a major impact on how products and services are being marketed online. Web 2.0 created a new frontier for Internet marketers. Suddenly, it became possible to connect with consumers in a variety of ways for a variety of purposes, be that selling, building brand recognition, or gathering leads. A company can be introduced and marketed in a more animated fashion with Web 2.0. It’s not dull and boring in any sense of the word. In this article we’ll be looking into various elements that make Web 2.0 marketing what it is.

Most importantly, Web 2.0 is not complicated or problematical; it’s actually pretty simple. It is a more elegant system for using the Internet. As technology advances and the Internet becomes more and more accessible, more and more people become tech savvy. In response to this, it is important to market to your audience and since they will be fluent in Web 2.0 technologies you will want to direct your marketing in this direction. A virtual goldmine exists to anyone who takes the time to target the specific energetic community that is right for their market; Web 2.0 has allowed for the creation of very dedicated online societies that can be easily capitalized upon. One of the increasing practices is viral marketing which has become far easier with the increased reach of word of mouth with Web 2.0.

The information flow has changed so much in the last 20 years that people now have more access to whatever they may be looking for, via blogging, comment fields, and syndication feeds. These technologies have been integrated into many Web 2.0 sites making them interactive and highly social, giving every marketer an opportunity to experiment with diverse marketing ideas. The advent of Web 2.0 marketing has allowed marketers to show their content to the people that they specifically want to see it and has allowed them to engage in discussions with the customers. Because of the wide possibilities in the wake of Web 2.0 technologies, more and more people are able to design and operate their own successful businesses.

The vast array of direct contact with your customer is what makes Web 2.0 such a useful technology for businesses to use. The content you create on your site can be discussed freely by the visitors through commenting. The more commenting you can encourage the more quality of results you will receive. Commenting will help you build a personal relationship with your audience and potential customers and provide a source of fresh content for search engines. The major search engines are geared toward websites on which the content is updated regularly and the more comments you receive, the more often the hungry little search engine spiders will come to feed. Most importantly, this is quality, targeted content that you are receiving for free. Your rankings within search engines will only be augmented by distinctive and unique comments, because the keywords generated will be more diverse and appropriate. Web 2.0 marketing is enhanced to another level with the ability of RSS feeds, which allows your audience to subscribe and receive updates about any adjustments you make. This will help your “repeat visitor” count rise as more fans come back to see the new changes and comment on them.

If your Internet marketing strategies don’t include Web 2.0 techniques, you are ignoring powerful revenue increasing opportunities. You’ll not only have an edge over the competition but will also be able to create strong relationship with your target market.

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Using Social Media To Connect With Traffic

One of the biggest misconceptions about online business is you don’t need to be personal. In this day and age with such websites such as twitter, facebook, and linked in people expect to get a personal feel for any business including such super stars as sony, google, and ford. Each of these three brands are using web 2.0 to reach out and really communicate with their potential customers. The problem is when new webmasters looking to make money online get on these social websites they begin massive spam campaigns then wonder why their social media marketing is not going well. These webmasters have broken the rule if you spam friends on facebook they will quickly befriend you and if you spam followers on twitter they will quickly unfollow you. This leads to the question how should we as webmasters speak to our traffic on social websites.

When you begin your social media campaign think about the personal aspect of your business. I use twitter, facebook, and other social website as a way to inform my visitors, readers, and traffic what is up and coming in my online business. I ask them what they would like to see or what I could change to help them out making sure not to seem like a robot, but a person wanting input. You can also use these websites for personal use when your traffic actually finds out that you are a real live person with real problems they will be able to connect with your and the trust in your relationship builds. When they trust you the chance that they will purchase your product or sign up for your mailing list greatly increases. If the only thing you use twitter and other social websites for is pure marketing people will see right through you and the level of interaction between you and your traffic will decrease greatly. Very few of your followers/friends will be willing to help you by re-tweeting or sharing your content on facebook so if you would like to increase the chances your website, blog, article, or whatever you share on social sites going viral attempt to interact personally with your social group.

You may be wondering how to increase your social networks to help you drive traffic. The first and most obvious way to increase your social reach is to place links to your social profiles on all of your websites and blogs so when your visitors come and like what they see it is possible to join your network and stay informed. The second way to increase your social reach is to participate in whatever community you participate in. If you really enjoy twitter and would like to increase your followers it is imperative to jump into conversations, replying to tweets, and retweeting others you enjoy reading. You should also be posting unique helpful content on a regular basis not just link after link. One thing that has helped me in the internet marketing niche on twitter has been to post my marketing tip of the day which usually gets retweeted and increases followers.

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