Rajesh Jain talks of how access devices, access infrastructure and real-time applications present a platform for an Always-On world, in his column, TECH TALK: Tech Trends: 8. Always-On World.  An excerpt follows (bold is mine) :

"Two years ago, it would have been hard to imagine that Indians would be buying cellphones at the rate of nearly 2 million a month. Similarly, today, it is hard to imagine a broadband India ñ but that is exactly what we are about to see. The next couple years will see Indian consumers and enterprises enveloped in ubiquitous, high-speed connectivity from multiple sources ñ wireless, DSL, cable and satellite. Complement this with WiFi-enabled laptops and smartphones, and the always-on world is at hand. This will necessitate a change in the not just employees work, but also the interactions between enterprises and customers............

..............The world of always-on in a natural manifestation of the convergence of various industries ñ computing, telecom and consumer electronics. It is a world which telecom- and computing-poor countries like India can leapfrog to, with the right vision and will. Just like South Korea has done. "

9:17:14 PM    comment []  trackback []

Read Stuart's account of how his blog won over his job, at his post titled My Blog Rules.  Where the thrust is not on his story, but on insights with respect to benefits a company can get by hiring a blogger, and warning signals and 'rules' that you might wish to consider when being employed by a company.

From his post :

"After spending the last 10 days with my head applied to strategy in the Arizona desert for DiamondWare, I found that each day was another day where not blogging irked me. In the end my blog rules and both parties are going our separate ways. I found myself in a situation which was effectively taking my blog and voice away from me. That was never my intent, and my interest remains with building innovative new products at the intersection of social software, collaboration, VoIP and mobility......

....... If you were blogging and see yourself in a situation where the environments takes you away from it then consider what it means. Less accelerated learning, reduced access to external experts, and reduced profile. Blogs also test companies. Do they want to be closed rather than open? Will they run scared rather than lead? Etc. ......

.........I'd add there are enormous benefits for the organization that has the guts to acquire a free thinking dedicated blogger.

1. You will get someone who is likely to promote the category and the industry.
2. They will provide expert insights and capture inquiry and information from external sources.
3. They will 'play' with the thought leaders in the category in a trusted environment. Result - accelerated learning and access that can eventually lead to some level of promotion for the company's products
4. They bring visibility to the company's products and brands. As an employee you are likely to highlight strengths of your products. Robert Scoble does it so well. It does not stop him from commenting on and learning from other products or brands in the category. Benefit - tease and ease the process of truly communicating your offerings step by step, rather than a one-shot corporate webpage.

Blog Rules:

• For blogs to work there must be trust. Let it be a warning to you when an employer is critical of your blog, or implies that they must approve every post you make first.
• Blogs are strategic, but the messages must be personal. Planning out a blog strategy and topics in advance fails to account for the immediacy of the daily events and the need for responsiveness.
• Make sure the company is large enough to have "personalities" blogging --- otherwise own the company. The blogger is likely to become an important public face.
• Think through where the blog should be on what URL. Is it better at blogperson.com or under the corporate banner? What is best to harness the blogger and readers?

Warnings to other Bloggers:

• Your blog may be perceived as a personal asset and not a corporate one. You personal blog can become a corporate asset but only if the conditions above apply.
• Corporate positioning is a must. If the company isn't mature enough or is afraid to enable the blogger to talk about "category" developments then blogging will be difficult.
• If topics and content are limited then you may lose your friends, lose access to thought leadership and potential partnerships and associates for the company - or even simply good press.
• If the company fears balanced perspective on other products then you will find life difficult.
• Blogs require a time commitment, if you are not getting it or there is no time left over for it then it is not valued. My target has always been in the ten hours a week category. That includes the use of my newsreader. Make sure your employer signs off on the time commitment to the blog.
• If the company asks you when you will transfer your blog URL to the company then they really don't get it. "

Robert Scoble and Microsoft - one example, perhaps one of the most prolific of bloggers today - and his blog is at his personal url.  There are many others in this community who have retained their personal blogs after having joined organisations - Ton, Martin Roell, Lilia (not sure which came first the job or the blog in your case:)) or the case of Seb who needs funding from his organisation for sharing his research notes and insights through his blog (as i go to his blog to link his name to his url at this post - i find this neat quote staring me in the face - "In times of profound change, the learners inherit the earth, while the learned find themselves beautifully equipped to deal with a world that no longer exists."- Al Rogers).

Would be great to hear how they handle their personal blogs, what 'rules', what learnings.

Meanwhile, am happy my blog buddy is back :).  Missed the stories, insights and vision Stuart !

1:24:05 PM    comment []  trackback []

Scott Allen is one of the first persons i met online (through Ryze and Ecademy) and we continue to enjoy the dialogues we frequently have. I have followed his evolution into quite an expert in this area.

More recently, we were tallking about his Virtual Handshakes classes for persons using blogs and social networking sites in building business. He's thoughtfully set up a scholarship programme especially for Indians, with a special fee structure, keeping the unfavourable dollar-rupee equation in mind :).

Interested ? Check it out :

Scholarship program for Virtual Handshakes class starting July 27

If you are intrigued by social networking sites and social software such as blogs, but still unsure exactly how to use them to effectively build business relationships and grow your business, this class is for you.  This unique in-depth, hands-on 6-week course will teach you the skills and practices to align your online networking activities with your business objectives for maximum results with minimum effort.  The class is taught by Scott Allen, one of the world's top experts on the topic, and co-author of "The Five Keys to Building Business Relationships Online" and the forthcoming "The Virtual Handshake", due out from American Management Association next spring.  He also teaches classes in partnership with LinkedIn and Ryze and is the co-author of the Online Business Networks Blog.

The price of the class is normally $197 US.  Scott is making a limited number of seats available to Indian residents on a scholarship basis -- not free, but based on what you can afford.  To apply for a scholarship, contact Scott here (click the link) and include the following information in the body of the message:

12:38:49 PM    comment []  trackback []