Strategy.manage.ent

Find the Leaky Pipes.
If you're in the tech business (whether you sell into it, work in it, or represent it) and you haven't read Crossing the Chasm, stop reading right now and buy a copy. It's one of the books that really defines the space - so much so that Geoffrey Moore (the author) created a consulting group based on the book's themes (The Chasm Group).[...]
[...]The focus of Moore's presentation was the current economic climate and provided a detailed look at how to successfully sell technology solutions in that climate.
I won't try to summarize his presentation. It's remarkably lucid, very substantive, and well worth the hour or so it'll take to watch it. Placeware has the archive available online - definitely check it out. [ Source: tins ::: Rick Klau's weblog]

Hire People Who Will Share

12:26:27 PM

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I think Phil is on to something here.

The 3Cs of Knowledge Sharing: Culture, Co-opetition and Commitment..
David Skyrme asks why people don't share and what can we do about it? Skyrme spells it out.

Why?

"Knowledge is power"
"not invented here" syndrome
Not realizing how useful particular knowledge is to others
Lack of trust
Lack of time

They read like excuses. What to do?

Change culture. Challenge through co-opetition (healthy competition) and foster commitment. Of all the suggestions, my favorite:

Hire people who will share
[ Source: a klog apart]

Another conference for the futures list. I need a client in Montreal. The price for these intranet things is steep -- I'm not used to having to pay for conferences. In my industry I either went only to the expo (because I'd heard all the speakers many times) or I was invited to be on some panel that got me in free. At least this one is in $CDN which means about a 40% discount in $US.

Intracom 2002 etc.. There will be a short break from blogging as I am just off to the Intracom 2002 conference in Montreal. At the end of last week the organisers told me that they had almost 200 delegates for the event, which does not surprise me given the quality of the speakers.... Source: [Intranet Focus Blog]

Open Source Intranet Portals

1:48:22 AM

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I really like what Brent is doing here, and admire his fortitude for taking an Open Source solution into a BigCo, even if it didn't work out like he hoped.

Open Source, Closed Minds. I've been pitching web collaboration via Open Source tools lately. I'm trying to generate interest in having people contract me in to supply them with a working Open Source based collaboration portal and to provide advice and development in those areas.
Specifically, I'm demoing to companies a full-featured Open Source based intranet site with news items, comments, forums, downloads, weblinks, etc and comparing its features to more extensive (and expensive) solutions such as Microsoft's SharePoint. A really good example of such a comparison is the case study of the Government of Hawaii's portal.
Last week I was in a gigantic multinational company. The presentation went well - they were impressed by the scope, manageability, extendibility and feel of the demo site. They liked the idea of saving bucketloads of dough. Everything was going smoothly.
Then they remembered that the previous week they had received an internal memo declaring that Open Source software was not to be used in the company unless a commercial solution did not exist... [ Source: brentashley]

Still, this is the type of entrepreneurial activity I admire. I liked it so much I went to Brent's business site to check out other stuff he's done. I learned he's in Toronto. I just signed up a client in Toronto and will likely be traveling there 1-2 times a month for the rest of the year. I would love to check out what Brent has put together and see if there are opportunities for it in the US market.

Legitimate P2P

1:03:09 AM

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I'm tired of the dogma and rhetoric and shrill, outlandish claims. Why can't someone find a good, legitimate use for P2P to shut these lawyers up? I can't be the only person that sees the value of making local storage available as a company resource.

There must be a market for small, decentralized collaborative editing and document management systems. Using a shared network, rather than a monolithic client/server, would seem to be a better, lower-cost approach for small- to mid-size companies.

If Berman and his ilk ever get into the "War on Drugs" they'll be trying to shut down the Interstate highway system because roads are rampant channels for the transport of contraband.

Berman has become a serious public nuisance.

Political News from Wired News - P2P Pugilists Put Up Their Dukes.
In a panel discussion steeped in dogma, adherents on both sides of the Internet peer-to-peer (P2P) debate accused each other of everything from aiding thieves to destroying the Internet.
[ ... ]Panelists at a Cato Institute lunch last week focused mostly on H.R. 5211, a bill introduced in July by Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.), whose Los Angeles district covers northeast San Fernando Valley, including the Hollywood Freeway corridor.
Berman's bill would give copyright owners the legal right to disrupt the unauthorized use of their copyrighted works on P2P networks using as-yet-undefined tactics and technology.
The House subcommittee on courts, the Internet and intellectual property, of which Berman is the ranking member, will hold a hearing Thursday to explore the alleged piracy of intellectual property over P2P networks. [ Source: Privacy Digest]