Archives for February 2008

Edge Integration with SnapLogic

February 20, 2008 2 Comments

Around the beginning of this month I started doing some consulting work with SnapLogic. SnapLogic was founded by Informatica alumni who were solving problems of quickly gaining access to data located inside the enterprise in order to build hybrid applications that solved their real-world problems. They originally solved this problem with resourceful scripts that would pull data out of various data sources, store and/or index this data, and then make it available to users in a format of easily consumable by the end users. (when they were originally doing this, the term Mashup wasn’t coined yet, and still isn’t favored inside corporate walls…hence the term Enterprise 2.0).

They quickly realized that they were working for a data integration firm and had build their own low level RESTful data integration. Hence, SnapLogic was formed. As an open source company, the SnapLogic edge integration platform can take data from various data sources and represent a RESTful interface to that data. Since the platform has Components that can talk to standard data sources, you can use the platform to implement a standard data services layer within an organization. Also, since it’s all open source, you can build your own Components, or use ones built by the community, to provide data services into a mix of data sources: local, remote, accessed directly, accessed via an API, etc.

On the internet, we have all see mashups of data from multiple sources (i.e., fetching a set of locations from a real estate database and then laying those homes for sale on top of Google Maps). This is an example of the RESTful data integration in action. Slowly, the enterprise has been pulled in this direction by their users (usually with the IT department kicking and screaming because they have to give up control). The SnapLogic platform has the potential to offer the IT organization a layer of control, but also offer the users access to the data that they need in order to build enterprise mashups.

I have been aware of SnapLogic since before they came out of stealth due to the fact that a number of people that I used to work with were involved with the company. At that time, I was working at IONA and there were a number of interesting discussions going around about REST (most were usually started or ended by Steve Vinoski 🙂 ) as well as the process of migrating the company from a pure closed source software provider to a hybrid model of closed and open source. Thus, I was glad when the opportunity arose to help out SnapLogic recently and gain more experience with their platform; mixing my integration experience with my recent experiences in open source.

Stay tuned for more about my experiences working with the SnapLogic and their Edge Integration Platform

Social Networking Social Value

February 20, 2008 Leave a Comment

Social networking sites are still all the rage. The challenge lately seems to be coming up with something that is not only new and original but adds value. Of all the sites where I have created an account LinkedIn is still the only one that I will use multiple times a week due to the value I receive from their service. As a business person, it is extremely valuable to stay on top of changes in my network and being able to leverage my network in my business dealings.

Today for example I came across Dopplr for the first time and have to ask…why bother. If I don’t see the value, either personally or for some greater good, in investing my time creating yet another profile and entering in yet another set of data I won’t do it. While the idea behind it is interesting, the value isn’t there for me. Especially if I have to hand enter the information that makes the social network work.

On the flip side of this coin, I have come across a few that I find really interesting.

One is a stealth social network site that I was granted early access to which not only is a new twist on an old idea but has the potential to add value in an area that is still lacking. The trick is always figuring out how to monetize the community without upsetting the community or destroying the value of the information that draws the community to the network in the first place. This, usability, and my knowledge of the target user community, were the areas that I was talking to this company about. Unfortunately, I was granted access under the agreement that I wouldn’t talk about it yet…so I have to honor my NDA for now, but stay tuned for more as soon as it launches.

Another is a site that my wife came across this morning, Carbonrally. This is such a simple, yet wonderful idea; one of those that surprises you that no one has done something like it before. From their mission statement:

“Carbonrally is a web-based activism platform offering individuals and groups a fun, simple and social way to have a measurable impact on climate change. “

It’s not only a social network of people wanting to fight global warming, but also a platform to enable this through simple challenges that help you reduce your carbon footprint. Yet, by making these challenges competitive and by tracking how you and others do in these challenges, they tap into the human competitive spirit to drive people to have an impact. Combine this with some basic statistics to help you gauge your impact on regional basis (and extend that competitive nature by comparing your region’s impact to others) and you have a very compelling social network that creates real social change.

Unfortunately, I failed today on the latest challenge. I forgot my commuter mug when I got my morning coffee…but after the gentle reminder and concrete information on the impact that my forgetfulness had, I won’t tomorrow.

The future challenge that I see Carbonrally facing is how to keep the site engaging for users so that when the initial competitive thrill wears off there is a reason for the users to keep coming back. There will always be the die hard planet saving types who will create the core of the community, but they need to expand beyond that core to really have global impact. The fact that the topic of the community is something altruistic in nature might help them. Time will tell.

Starbucks Coup Times Two

February 12, 2008 Leave a Comment

I recently become aware of two great coup happening in Starbuck’s land. Both of which will have a ripple effect through the business community…but probably not how you think.

The first one being some inside information from my local Starbucks manager I heard this week. Starbucks will be discontinuing their breakfast sandwiches starting this fall. I think this is a huge mistake on their part and I bet is being made by some recently hired corporate executive from the fast food chain industry. Sit in a Starbucks on any morning and see how many people order those sandwiches. How many of them are business people or regulars who probably double their spending at Starbucks because of that sandwich? A lot (I have done this field research).

I only go to Starbucks now because of those sandwiches (personally, I lost the taste for Starbucks coffee after an extended trip to Italy two years ago). The reason is rooted in the fact that now that McDonalds is serving premium coffee they don’t want to be seen as competing with them. I find this thinking ridiculous; unless those sandwiches are adding less to their bottom line than my back of the napkin field calculations have come up with, this decision will hurt Starbucks more than it will help them.

The second one I read about this morning, Starbucks Switches to Free AT&T Wifi , or will be starting this spring. As all road warriors will know, Starbucks is the go to location for getting on line while on the road. There have been times that I have spent more time at starbucks in a day that I did at my hotel. As they break away form their 6 year relationship with T-Mobile, this changes will have multiple economic ripple effects:

T-Mobile will be taking a huge hit to their bottom line. The majority of their 8900 wifi locations in the US were at Starbucks’ 6800 company operated stored (from Starbucks PDF Fact Sheet). T-Mobile’s wifi business will just about starve if they don’t strike a deal with some other retail outlet. Not to mention that most T-Mobile customers I know that have a T-Mobile phone have it primarily for the discount on the wifi access, which they use mostly at Starbucks.
AT&T will gets a huge boost to their Wifi business (their bottom line is so large, I’m not sure how much of an immediate impact this will have.). With costs much lower for the service than T-Mobile, and Starbucks debit card holders getting 2 hours of free access per day, and with all 100,000 US Starbucks employees getting free wifi access, and with the service eventually being expanded to AT&T wireless customers, let’s hope that the AT&T infrastructure is able to handle this better than it has been handeling their Uverse roll out (which isn’t going smoothly, I hear).
Starbucks should see a boost to their debit card transactions since holders of those cards get free wifi. This has trickle through to the credit card companies as they process the transactions for these cards, and of course take a percentage fee. (I believe Visa is the processor behind these cards, so this boost in revenue will help with their upcoming IPO).

It’s amazing how interconnected the business decisions at this scale can become. One just has to be able to look past the headline and connect the dots.