Cloudswave

Unique Economics of Cloud Computing

Fawaad Saleem — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:36:34 +0000

Cloud computing ushers a new era of application delivery and adoption of cloud computing improves competitiveness of a business in several manners. Even though, there are several merits of cloud computing (based on its reliability and technological superiority), however, the cost competitiveness of a new technology is the key for the assessment of a new and unfamiliar technology in a business environment. This article deals with the economics of cloud computing and its cost structure for both large and small-sized organizations.

Cloud computing allows a business to have easy, quick and secure access to files, data and application. no matter where the user is located in the world. It allows a business to not only have all the data at hand, but also to avoid loss of information and data. Improved responsiveness of business teams is one of the improvements to majority of economic advantage of cloud computing are attributed. Owing to the above mentioned advantages of cloud computing for a business, several business experts have quantified sizeable economic benefit for security, data protection and improved business coordination.

In addition to the above mentioned ease of data access, cloud computing allows for more interesting developments, in particular, through various solutions proposed by vendors and companies specialized in this area. It is possible, for example to establish a secure payment system, without having to invest in equipment. Through a specialized service provider, such as an advanced trade, a virtual e-commerce system can be deployed in less than a month. This economic contribution of cloud computing is highly important since e-commerce is growing at an unprecedented pace in contemporary economy.

Some entrepreneurs, especially in SMEs, may still have some reservations. In particular, use of such a solution seems difficult to access at first sight. But this is an issue that has been studied by providers that have attempted to provide simple interfaces so that all employees can adapt to the new technology in a short time. Perhaps the single most important economic contribution of cloud computing is that SMEs have been able to reach a competing ground with large corporations and multinational organizations. Even though, it is difficult to quantify this aspect of the business, still it is difficult to surmise the level of contribution of this element of cloud computing.

One must not forget that that Cloud Computing increases speed of data and information transfer. The demand for speed has been growing for several years and will continue to grow in the years to come. This single contribution of cloud computing to improved business operations and quick responsiveness outweighs all others. In this time of economic crisis, any technological solution to increase the profitability and competitiveness of a company is a blessing for the organization. Hence, economics of cloud computing supports improved business profits and economic growth at large.

Emergence of Social Networks & Its Impact on Web Marketing

Fawaad Saleem — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 08:29:44 +0000

Social networks have emerged as the new driving force behind web marketing and changed the entire landscape of the discipline. Today social networks are essentials of a comprehensive web marketing strategy, especially when it relates to e-commerce. The value of social networks is not only in sales, rather it is based on building brand equity and customer relationship. This trend has been called “social commerce” by some professionals.

There are numerous innovating examples of integration of social networks with web marketing for several global brands. Burberry distributed samples of its new perfumes exclusively to its Facebook fans. Danette gets contribution from its Facebook for choosing new recipes to include in its product portfolio offering. The aim of the Facebook page is to facilitate discussions on food and to invite Facebook fans to exclusive events. With 18,000 fans on its page, the company boasts 2000 regular contributors on its Facebook page. The marketing manager of the company also says that it is better to have 5,000 fans with whom they can work well rather than having 150,000 with which to do nothing.

With high involvement of consumers and brand enthusiasts with social media – such as Facebook, Twitter, Netlog, etc. – social media has become an integral component of SEO. Several social networks are now indexed by the Google search engine. When a user searches on the name of the brand, Google displays not only the corporate website but also Twitter and Facebook profiles, as well.

Most importantly, with Facebook it is easy to generate new audiences and capture the interest of potential visitors to one’s website. With this new social trend on the web, a business can make a reputation with potential customers. In fact, social referencing has become an asset to contemporary businesses and enables them to have a touch point with thousands of user accounts. Social networking has become an integral component of web marketing also because with social media it is easy to profile people and learn more about its visitors.

Owing to all the information available about the member on Facebook pages, social networks have become real databases which facilitate targeting of a population. Hence, the impact of marketing campaigns and promotions on social networks is easily quantifiable. Dell, for example, announced that it generated a million dollars revenue through Twitter in 2008, half of which through promotional alerts. This is also true for SMEs and small shops. A small neighborhood pizzeria in New Orleans has seen its sales increase so significantly. An experiment on a day showed a promotion launched on Twitter increased its sales by 15%, and a majority of these sales was from new customers. Thus, social networks are at the heart of consumers’ daily lives and, thus, represent significant web marketing opportunities for businesses. E-reputation, responsiveness and interactivity are the key features that justify growing attraction for this new media.

5 Key SEO Trends for 2013

Fawaad Saleem — Mon, 17 Jun 2013 07:32:13 +0000

5 Key SEO Trends for 2013

Search Engine Optimization is a continuously evolving field. The article discusses five key SEO trends for 2013.

1. Quality content

Producing quality content is no longer a secret for anyone wishing to improve their SEO. After the fierce battle against malicious and clumsy SEO strategies of algorithms Panda and Penguin, Google will not stop and will continue its valuable collection of relevance and quality. Google also seems to give more interest to the universal search. Thus, emphasis in 2013 should be placed on referencing one’s documents, photos, videos, podcasts, etc.

2. The end of buying links

It is known that Google indexes everything and recent updates to Google Webmaster Tools are there for us to prove it. When one buys a link on a platform or strikes deal with another webmaster to rent a link, it is not considered a positive element by Google. Also, it is not difficult for Google with its extensive computing power to identify such links. Thus, purchasing link will be the most unproductive way to do SEO in 2013. Thus, it is not recommended to buy links for the purpose of SEO.

3. Social Media will gain influence

It has been found that social referencing such as mention of the brand on twitter, Urls of the site on open social networks such as Twitter or Google+, as well as, public posts from Facebook have a significant weight in the criteria used by Google to define the authority and popularity of the site. Thus, increasing social media activity and enhancing social media presence of a brand is likely to improve its search engine optimization in 2013.

4. Growing importance of a site’s design

Google has always had the desire to provide the best search experience to users. The progress in this area in recent years has only accelerated by a significant degree. Google uses part of Chrome as a client to interpret JavaScript, and style sheets to a web page. There is also a rendering of Chrome that allows it to get an overview of a web page with respect to its design and layout. In addition, Google seeks to homogenize research experience on tablet, mobile, and PC. Thus, in 2013 one can, therefore, expect that a higher rank is awarded to sites that use both a design to suit all devices (if one’s site is not well-designed for mobile browsing, what is the point of Google to send you a visitor surfs the web from their smartphone?).

5. Focus on Author Rank

Since, Google is constantly striving to enhance the quality content. For 2013, it appears that the weight of the author is also included in the SEO balance. Thus, quality of content would be determined by the authority and reputation of its author. This has give rise to the concept of ‘Author Rank’. The Author Rank takes into account different activities of the author on social networks, including on Google’s own network: Google+. An Authorship feature is also recently launched by Google which allows binding of published content to a Google+ profile. The network is, thus, used as an authentication system for publications.

Sprout Social – Product Review

Fawaad Saleem — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:52:03 +0000

Business today relies on social media to drive their marketing efforts, and thus essentially need an application to manage their interactions on social media. Sprout Social is a social media platform to carry out this function for organizations looking to strengthen their social media presence. Sprout Social identifies key matrices for social media strategies of businesses and help them to integrate all prominent social media channels – including social networks such as Facebook, Twitter, Yelp, LinkedIn and Foursquare – into a single user friendly interface.

Sprout Social provides much needed functionalities of lead generation, business intelligence and promotion on social media. The analytics function of Sprout Social coupled with its brand monitoring matrices is a comprehensive solution for any business either big or small. Even targeting new users and lead generation is carried out through Sprout Social within a few clicks. For instance, a business can identify through Foursquate which consumers or consumer groups visit certain outlets with greatest frequency and can tailor its message for those consumers.

It is worth mention that social media monitoring applications are an area which is overflooded with newer applications. In this arena of a diverse range of applications, Sprout Social still manages to differentiate itself on the basis of low prices. The subscription charges of this application are as low as dollar nine per month; and even with greatest number of functionalities and options goes as high as $49 per month.

Owing to the above mentioned variable, this tool can be termed as an ideal offering for small and medium enterprises. Most importantly, one-month free trial can be availed by any user before subscribing to monthly charges. The reports generated by Sprout Social certainly stand out from the dozens of apps present in the market. They are easy to generate and comprehend. In addition, the design element of these reports is truly breath taking which will definitely create an impact on the client, if they are created by a social media agency. Matrices addressed in this reports include performance in comparison to competitors’ social media (measured in terms of number of daily interactions, percentage of engagement, etc). Also, new customer acquisition and identification of new segments of markets is a highly helpful element of this application.

If there is one thing lacking in this application, it is the absence of mobile functionality. Sprout Social cannot be accessed via one’s mobile, which is a huge disadvantage given the busy lifestyle of executives and business users. In this day and age, mobile functionality has all but become a must-have for all forms of apps. It is certainly hoped this weakness will be addressed in a short span of time.

HootSuite – Product Review

Fawaad Saleem — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:41:11 +0000

We live in an age where social media has become a necessity for each business irrespective of its size. Keeping tabs on one social media activity is a highly demanding task; therefore, using a social media management app has become essential for several reasons. Through a social media manager app, one should be able to conduct effective watch, able to manage multiple social networks or social networks of different customers. In addition, the social media manager must ensure sharing of tasks when work is carried out in a team environment. .

HootSuite is the leading app for social media management. Firstly, the range of social media covered by Hootsuite is highly comprehensive. With a single app, one is able to manages Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, Ping, WordPress, Foursquare, Myspace and even several other social media avenues. HootSuite simply enables one to manage not one but multiple account and thus enable one to separate one’s personal account from business account. The ability to schedule tweets and Facebook statuses is the key advantage of this app. In other words, a social media manager can create updates for an entire month in an hour, and HootSuite will update them for him at regular intervals.

This is not it. HootSuites functionality extends to providing a comprehensive mechanism for social media monitoring. The app provide detailed statistics for how many people clicked on a link, the country they belong to, and to identify which were the your most popular social media updates. Even though, some services (Facebook insights, for example) are available only to users who have subscribed to a paid premium version. However, most of the services a social media most frequently use are available in the free version.

When compared with other competing apps, HootSuite clearly comes as a winner. For instance, CoTweet is also very convenient for managing multiple users on the same account and permissions, but it lacks the system of columns (offered by HootSuite) which users find to be very handy. Similarly, Seesmic do possess the system of columns for easy use, but it does not schedule tweets and Facebook status. Tweetdeck, on the other hand, loses owing to its lack of user friendly interface unlike HootSuite. Thus, HootSuite remains as the market leader in the social media application category and is likely to retain its leadership in coming years.

Crazy Eggs – Product Review

Fawaad Saleem — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:33:10 +0000

Do you know which areas of your company website receive greatest attention from visitors? If you think traffic analysis applications like Google Analytics can give you the answers, then you are certainly wrong. Traffic analysis applications reports on the outcome of visitor’s actions (such as number of clicks on a particular link), rather than identify the process which leads to the specific action. Crazy Eggs is an extremely useful application which addresses the above mentioned gap. The basis of this application is the results of one of the largest studies of ergonomics web design ever conducted by tracking eye movements.

Crazy Eggs puts into practice a strict research based method of analyzing usability of websites based on eye-tracking technology. Crazy Eggs also enables advertisers to better understand how people interact with Web content, by analyzing their vision and eye movement, and that contributes to a significant improvement in the experience of visiting websites and experience their use. The application shows the user hundreds of examples of eye movements, why in some cases, the web design is successful, and in other they are a failure. In addition, Crazy Eggs provide valuable advice on the layout of web pages, navigation menus, individual elements of the site interface, the choice of images and placement of advertising. This application is essential for any business or individual user going to seriously engage in commercial activity on the web.

Crazy Eggs does not generate recommendations for website owners out of thin air, rather fundamental process behind this application is the scientific method of eye tracking, which is the process of determining the coordinates of sight (a point of intersection of the optical axis of the eyeball and the plane of observation on a screen). Experiments evaluating eye movement have shown that only a small portion of screen pixel truly attracts the attention of the subject and make his eyes fixed on these elements. The process of eye movement reflects the thinking of the website user. Thus, it is enough simply for Cray Eggs to determine which elements of the image attracted the attention of the subject, in what order and how often.

Crazy Eggs is bound to experience rapid growth since in recent years there has been increased complexity of eye tracking systems and ease of use has led to a sharp increase in interest in them from the commercial sector. Most important application of this technology is in the area of web usability. Crazy Eggs is also growing in popularity because it given concrete figures and resulting data can be analyzed statistically and graphically in order to show the validity of the conclusions. Despite the fact that a majority of website owners still resort to traditional usability techniques through analysis of mouse clicks and scrolling, awareness regarding Crazy Eggs is increasing which allows one to analyze the relationship between the behavior of the user and mouse clicks. This gives a significant improvement to assess which fragments of the Web site are most attractive to the user, which parts of the web site makes it difficult for the end user and which are not noticed by the user. Cray Eggs can also be used to assess the efficiency of the search, the correct concept of the brand, online research, usability transition between pages, the efficiency of the overall design and many other aspects of web design. Thus, Crazy Eggs provide a competitive advantage to a business for improving user friendliness of its website.

Remote Desktop – Product Review

Fawaad Saleem — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:09:47 +0000

Imagine a world where you can use any netbook, desktop computer or tablet as if it is your own. It contains your preferred music, your documents and your photos are all there irrespective of the device you use. Remote Desktop is one of the most important innovations of cloud computing era, which has truly transformed the meaning of the term personal computer. In fact, Remote Desktop enables a user to create a desktop for himself which is available from throughout the world and one carries one’s desktop with himself/herself.

Remote Desktop also breaks restriction of platform. This cloud based app is available for all major platforms – Windows, iOS and android. One’s browser is simply turned into one’s desktop through this highly useful application. The entire experience of using a desktop computer is moved online through this application. As if this not enough, Remote Desktop seamlessly integrates with other highly useful cloud based apps – Dropbox, Google Drive, Flickr and SkyDrive to name only a few. Coordinating one’s content distributed across a network of cloud based services has never been this easier. Remote Desktop truly creats a virtual desktop computer for its user, all with zero or very little subscription costs.

In this era of highly mobile users, duplicity of devices and hectic lifestyle, this app is truly a blessing for majority of the users. Once a user get used to the functionality of Remote Desktop, they are likely to adopt this virtual desktop instead of their traditional desktop owing to the unified and secure access to one’s content. Even the search function of this cloudbased apps beats traditional search of platforms like Windows.

Another highly useful element of this cloud based app is photo management tool. One of the most frequent difficulties with regards to content organization faced by contemporary users is that their photos and preferred music is distributed across various devices one uses – for example, some music is stored in one’s ipod, while other tracks may be found in one’s laptop or android phone. Management of content is made extremely easy by Remote Desktop through a single-site solution and seamless integration. Also, photos of a user distributed across different cloud based services like Facebook, Flickr, Photobucket, Picasa and Instagram are unified through Remote Desktop. In the years to come, this application is bound to become a must have for users of all age groups.

Team Box – Product Review

Fawaad Saleem — Thu, 06 Jun 2013 06:00:56 +0000

In today’s business environment, online collaboration gives any business key competitive advantage. Therefore, it is has become essential for organizations to possess document management and collaboration platforms which must not only share and manage documents in a reliable way but also ensure confidentiality. In addition, such applications must allow one to assign access rights for colleagues and business partners to have access to appropriate information and files. TeamBox is one such cloud based application which adequately fulfills the above mentioned needs of business users.

TeamBox is a highly important tool for working in the cloud is the team room. Colleagues communicate securely, efficiently and flexibly between themselves and with external business partners through this app. Users can also save data from a project in a team room and put at the disposal of the persons concerned. Managers can also organize their team and invite their business partners to collaborate. They need to decide who has the rights to access, read and write. However, business users must always have complete control. Each document, record, video, photo or any other object that one place in the team room is accessible by invited guests and authorized.

Team collaboration on the internet anytime, anywhere has become a reality through one’s mobile device. In addition, one can use it as an information center and a powerful tool for business. A particular advantage of TeamBox is the ability to be accessed on smartphones and tablets. Perhaps, the single best advantage of this app is the ability to get and share information in a timely basis. In contemporary business environment, information gives one an advantage. This feature of the cloud based is an essential element to remain internationally competitive and derives true benefit of cloud based apps.

Quick access to business data is an invaluable advantage that businessmen can exploit using SaaS applications. By recording minutes of the meetings and generation of reports in real time, TeamBox ensures permanent availability of online data. In addition, you always have access to the latest documents, which makes it easy to have most effective online collaboration. In short, this business tool has become a must have for all businesses that aim to attain and retain leadership in their respective industries.

Top Cloud Computing Apps for Small Businesses

Fawaad Saleem — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 11:11:03 +0000

Thanks to information technology and communication, small businesses can access a global marketplace. This openness helps to develop their sales. They do not need the technology and expertise possessed by large multinationals to enter the global market and have the opportunity to use low cost resources available to compete in the global economy. With the advent of the era of cloud computing, small business can take advantage of the benefits offered by cloud computing to manufacture and market their products and services worldwide. Cloud computing solution reduces travel expenses for small businesses, and the cloud makes it possible to hold virtual meetings with the client as effectively as physical presence. Thus, one can save money on travel expenses and employees earn more free time. These advantages allow even a small sized business to develop an infrastructure of a highly integrated and efficient company. Given below are a few top cloud computing apps for small businesses:

Google Drive/Dropbox

Google Drive and Dropbox enables small businesses to access their data with complete freedom and in real-time. This access can also be made on one’s computer, tablet or even one’s phone. The best part of the use of this application is that each change in the document occurs in a real time and is completely synchronized, saving the user trouble of saving newer version of the file every time a change is made. In addition, this resource can be largely used the business free of cost since initial several GBs of storage is offered free to the users.

FreshBooks

FreshBooks is an accounting application designed for small businesses which is available in a cloud environment. FreshBooks contains all the accounting functionalities which are needed by small and medium sized business in their daily tasks. For instance, creation of invoices, making payments and tracking of expenses can be done within moments. Most importantly, the application can be also be used on one’s mobile devices facilitating access with great level of ease. A business can evaluate usage of this application by using it free for thirty days. Even after expiry of free trial period, the cost of application is only $19.95 to $29.95 a month.

MailChimp

The most important priority of a small business is its customers and maintaining links with its clientele. MailChimp is a comprehensive online marketing solution for a small business which helps a business to create newsletters within minutes and emailing it to their list of clients. The app enables sending up to 12,000 emails per month without any costs if the number of emailing addresses is less than 2000. Even with larger audiences, the charges for the business are only nominal.

Difference Between SAAS & CLOUD Computing

Fawaad Saleem — Wed, 05 Jun 2013 10:56:08 +0000

As the popularity of cloud computing is now greater than ever, it is time to hold the dividing lines and to articulate the difference between different types of cloud technologies. The need is to answer once and for all, the burning question: “What is different from each other Software-as-a-Service and Cloud Computing?”

SaaS

SaaS is a relatively young and promising business strategy, which is essentially a new way of delivering service applications to end users. The application is traditionally hosted in provider’s own applications cloud. On-demand software is a software delivery model which makes it possible to dynamically build up (or dynamically reduce) features of an application. For example, some IBM mainframes can technically add the number of processors, when there is a lack of capacity for the task. This is the typical model of product design on-demand. Therefore, on-demand software is not synonymous with cloud computing. The fact that this model is widely used is not a reason to mix these two different concepts.

Cloud Applications

Cloud application is much broader concept than SaaS. Cloud application is an application running in the cloud which is not tied to a specific infrastructure, and operates in a fully virtualized environment. The concept of “Cloud” or “cloud application” is a reference to the architectural feature of the environment or specific software solutions, but it is not synonymous with SaaS, as is sometimes claimed.

The platform in the cloud, which is a completely different direction than SaaS, is offered to developers of cloud applications. Developers have at their disposal ready development tools, precise specification, and often have a set of ready components, which they can use to quickly build applications. The second component of the service platforms is the associated dedicated hosting, which allows one to sell dual product. The following are the key distinguishing features of cloud computing:

i. Grid computing – distributed computing, achieved through a pair of large numbers of processors;

ii. Utility computing – the opportunity to buy more computing power and resources which increases channel capacity;

iii. Virtualization –creation of virtual servers and network infrastructure.

It is hoped that the article helped debunk myths pertaining to similarity of SaaS and cloud computing.