MiramarMike: Blog

My answer to the question in the title - not very but Google Sites (Apps) is travelling to the same destination as SharePoint but along a very different path. A little background reading for those new to both Google Apps with Google Site and/or SharePoint. Google Apps is Google's web-based collaboration platform . It is aimed at organisations/groups/teams and brings together its separate applications more commonly used by individuals such as GMail, iGoogle, Chat, Calendar and Docs. Sites is the newly released application allowing users to create "wiki" sites built upon their JotSpot purchase . Google's description Wikipedia entry Microsoft Live "what is Google Apps" search SharePoint is Microsoft's enterprise-wide collaboration platform. Last year they release version 2007 (also known as MOSS) that enhanced the usability, more closely tied in with the Office 2007 produces (Word, Excel ...) and integrated common 'social software' type applicati

As may come through the postings I have a few underlying beliefs that support my approach to Enterprise 2.0" (particularly from a "New Zealand style") which I will go into in more depth later. However, one of those beliefs I can reveal is "openess". Openess covers a whole gamut of areas - openess ... in data use in who you can work with in mindset to new ideas in what you can do with software in conversation in underlying agenda And it's the last one, openess in underlying agenda , that I find very hard to swallow when it comes to Microsoft's attempt to have it's own OOXML technology ratified as an international standard. OOXML - what is it? How's t his from Wikipedia : Office Open XML (commonly referred to as OOXML or, erroneously, as OpenXML) is an XML -based file format specification for electronic documents such as spreadsheets , charts , presentations and word processing documents. And so it's Microsoft's way of storing your do

Despite a few of my esteemed friends worrying about the security and availability of cloud-storage I can see the writing on the wall for those views, especially as Microsoft unveils it's SkyDrive ( Storage in the cloud SkyDrive is out of beta and available in 38 countries - Mauricio). And with Microsoft not only signing up to the DataPortability Group but being an active member ( Microsoft Makes Public Commitments to Data Portability and Interoperability - ReadWriteWeb) the world of the IT Department is being changed into a consumer one by the very vendors that IT Departments are looking to "save" them. The fear from IT Departments is many fold: loss of control ("when it's our environment we are the gatekeepers") handing over of IP to ...who? (a business decision, not ITs) inability to hold vendors to SLA inability to track resources for the future inability to provide augmented services ... I don't discount these fears, they are as real as a fear of s

[Updated] Watch the video taken from the audience So you know why during my talk, Enterprise 2.0 - Why it scares the pants off IT Departments , I took my clothes off | View | Upload your own Notes Slide 2 Hi, I’m Mike Riversdale, also known as Miramar Mike and here I stand in a suit … at Webstock Ever been to a party only to realise that you’re the only one that thought it was fancy dress, welcome to how I feel right now. I help organisations open up to the Enterprise 2.0 world of wonders and use them to meet their vision and goals. Guiding them from “stuck” to “unstuck”! Slide 3 And this is my definition of Enterprise 2.0. For me the key part and the scary part is the word “mindset”. The technology is the “easier” part for IT Department but the people side – oooooh, scary. Before I start can I get a show of hands of those that work in IT in any way and go to work like this? To be fair it’s only the Project Managers, Business Analysts and other “managers” that wear a jacket [TAKE OF

One of the arguments I've heard in my time working with (and against) IT Departments is that the web is: ... just a hobby really. I mean, the stuff you can do on the web just isn't weighty enough for large organisations [such as ours]. And I get what they are trying to say. I don't agree with it but I do understand it. I think the key word is "weighty" and that the underlying feeling is that something like Flickr (say*) just doesn't feel as "heavy", as "strong" or as "industrial strength". And you can sort of see what they mean - Flickr isn't as "heavy" as (say) SAP. What they are really saying is that "heavy/weighty/..." somehow correlates to "use of brain power". A "weighty" piece of software should, for some reason, make you think and challenge you in the ways of its workings. And so I think they are correct - SAP is "weightier" than Flickr. However, I don't agree that &

I have the privilege of being one of the 8 people talking for 5 minutes (8x5) at Webstock this Friday afternoon - read more ... I have to honest and tell you it's been a struggle to come up with something that will: be relevant inform fit into 5 mins raise a smile But I think I have ... The title of my talk, Enterprise 2.0 - why it's scaring the pants off IT Departments , and my underlying premise that (most) corporate/large organisation IT Departments live and operate in a totally different world to those creating and delivering Enterprise 2.0 has led me to a slightly off the wall and "scary" (to me) analogy. Before I let you into the secret let's all acknowledge that any change is scary and hard. Don't believe me, here's an exercise for you to show just how hard it is to change: Take a mental note which leg you put first into your trousers when you get dressed in the morning. If, like me, it's the right one then for the next 7 days use your left leg

Hmmm, I knew I wouldn't be alone with the view that Google search is the beachhead into the enterprise from which to attack Microsoft Office ( my posting ) Charlene Li from Forrester has come to the same conclusion via the Microsoft bid to buy Yahoo!: It's About More Than Search Microsoft's long-standing interest in search -- and obsession with Google's dominance in it -- is the foundation for the acquisition. But we think that it's much more than that. Microsoft is interested in search because it provides a beachhead into businesses -- especially small and medium-sized ones who don't have a direct relationship with Microsoft. That's Google real threat -- the ability to leverage today's search relationship into Google Domains and eventually, software as a service that could undermine Microsoft's long-term position -- and as Kyle McNabb and Rob Kplowitz point out, at risk is Microsoft Office's current dominant position . To that end, Microsoft is

Google is cleverly removing barriers, one-by-one, from the path of people wanting to try Google Apps. This time the "Team Edition" removes the need to sign-up to a Google Account and will automatically "aggregate" users from the same domain. This means anyone from (say) , XXX@miramarmike.co.nz, can now start collaborating and communicating without having to install a darned thing. Having said that I think they have a few more barriers ("security", "offline" and "compatibility") to cross before it's Microsoft Office out the window. They don't seem to be pushing the inherent advantages of being on the Web (connectedness leading to instant communication and collaboration) which I suspect is deliberate. From a conversation I had with a senior member of a firm I do work for I realised that the jump from MS Word to on-line collaboration isn't about technology but a mind shift from "publishing pretty words" to "usin

Me (Mike Riversdale) Sandy Mamoli Russel Brown Rowan Simpson Juha Saarinen Glen Barnes (including video ) Ludwig Wendzich elpie at Mambo Rod Drury Miki Szikszai Don Christie if you're explaining, you're losing Brenda L Jock Phillips Philip Fierlinger Colin Jackson (National Radio transcript) Nigel Parker Robert O'Callahan Mauricio Freitas Jayne Wallis 1 & 2 Robin Sheat John Clegg Adam Shand Dan Randow Julian Carver Radio New Zealand Podcasts Nat Torkington and Ian Wright David ten Have - Ponoko Regan and Rachel - Throng Peter Gutmann

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Nearly sold out As of writing this post, we have 20 tickets still left for Webstock. They’re available on a first-come, first-served basis, so if you’re thinking of attending and still haven’t registered, please do so . We’d hate for you to miss out Get in quick to hear my 8x5 talk, Enterprise 2.0 - why it's scaring the pants off IT Departments

With the forecasts in the US and Europe showing a reduction in ICT spending I expect this trend not to follow the typical Kiwi habit of being a year or so behind. Therefore Kiwi IT Departments will start to feel the pinch during 2008 as their large infrastructural type programs are paired back. But that's OK because I agree with the commentators that are forecasting that 2008 will also be the year that Enterprise 2.0 ( definition ) really kicks in and, as the software/services providing "2.0" are typically much lower cost (think "open source" and "free software"- there is a difference ) , the demand driven costs should be easily manageable. Hey, think of that - delivering solutions staff are actually asking for AND lowering IT costs ... what a novel old world. IF you know what you're doing and are willing to shift away from the old view of the world. Of course, I can help you there ...

It's all well and good calling this blog "Enterprise 2.0 New Zealand style" but the blinking flip is "Enterprise 2.0" in any style?!? Whilst I agree with elements of current definitions out there my definition is: Enterprise 2.0 is the application of the Web 2.0 technology and mindset within an organisation. To reiterate what I see as the "Web 2.0 spirit": Individual production and User Generated Content Harnessing the power of the crowd Data on an epic scale Architecture of Participation Network effects, power laws and the Long Tail Open-ness These is an adopted list from a document titled What is Web 2.0? Ideas, technologies and implications for education (pdf, February 2007) by Paul Anderson - see more at my Enterprise 2.0 starter pack In my definition I am keen to ensure that "applying Web 2.0 to business" is not just about software and what software can achieve (which is considerable if done correctly and appropriately) . To my

With the potential (and it's by no means a certainty) purchase of Yahoo! by Microsoft I am pleased to see the best of writers have taken to using some cracking apologies to explain what they think it is - these via Rod Drury : It’s like taking the two guys who finished second and third in a 100-yard dash and tying their legs together and asking for a rematch, believing that now they’ll run faster. According to our spies in Redmond the general consensus among the Borg rank-and-file is sheer and total dread. At best they see this as a giant pain in the ass, an enormous drain on resources, an unnecessary and pointless distraction with lots of nights and weekends spent slogging away on random useless bullshit and dealing will all sorts of annoying non-Microsoft people who don’t understand how Microsoft does things but can’t be blown off or pushed around like the “partners” the Borg is accustomed to dealing with. Imagine a circus act in which two enormous, clumsy, awkward elephants

[Updated] Correct an error, add few more links AND If anyone has my sunnies and/or "Stockholm" baseball cap I'd love to have them back - drop me a line There are so many cracking write ups about Kiwi Foo that it's almost easier to just link to them - and I will after my wee review. Kiwi Foo overall Totally and amazingly cool. The organisation was second to none (thanks Nat, Russel and Janine and to us all) and it's quite brilliant to watch how people just chip in. Also the infrastructure by Vern Dempster from the venue, Mahurangi College, was top notch - the amount of laptops (most with fruit on) using the WiFi was large but not unexpected. Vern is on the lookout for more Macs and so if you have decently new ones, like eMacs and G4s that you don’t need then email me and I'll pass it on. I also have to thank Brenda and Sandy for taking me to/from the airport, putting my tent up (paid by me pumping up their airbed .... airbed, what a great idea) and for bein