Archive for telecom
Mobile Ads Six Times as Effective as Standard Banners
The telecom industry is one of the biggest spenders on online advertising. Between 2010 and 2011, telecom ad spending climbed by 7% to $3.62 billion and eMarketer estimates the industry will spend close to $4.6 billion on online ads by 2015. New …
eVoice: An Affordable Virtual Phone System
Increasingly, telecommunication providers are realizing that a “one size fits all” policy isn’t very effective in an era when businesses with distributed workforces have a variety of needs. So j2 Global, the company behind online fax service eFax, and …
Open Source Software Tools And Directories: Where To Find Them, How To Evaluate Them
If you are searching for Open Source software , where do you find good directories and collections of OSS tools, and how do you evaluate the many candidates available? Photo credit: Ophelia Cherry Unless you are looking for popular popular open source software – such as the ones available in the SourceForge top downloads or the few ones backed by vendors like Apache , Linux , MySQL , PHP , eMule , GIMP , OpenOffice or VLC , Google search might not be your best solution to find specific open source software to suit your needs. For example, if you search for an open source web editor on Google , you won’t find BlueGriffon , a web editor based on the Firefox rendering engine Gecko (a tool I recommend to try either if you are an experienced or a beginner web author). Looking at Facebook , Twitter and LinkedIn lists of favorite open-source tools, it is clear that these OSS tools are definitely not something the average person has ever heard of. The key point here is that to find the right open source tool may not be a trivial task, but anyone can learn how to do it on his own. In this MasterNewMedia guide , open source software expert Roberto Galoppini, author of SOS Open Source , a pragmatic methodology to find and evaluate open source software , provides you with the basic pointers, resources and evaluation criteria to start looking on your own. How do you find good open source software, easily? How to Find an Open-Source Alternative to a Commercial Software by Roberto Galoppini OK, let’s say I’m not a geek and I need an open source alternative for something… where do I start? The first place to look at in this case is OSALT , a website created and maintained by Anders Ingeman Rasmussen enlisting open source alternatives to well-known proprietary consumers products (e.g. replacements for Dreamweaver , Photoshop ). OSALT reports a brief description for all open source alternatives, including supported operative systems and also other similar tools. While OSALT doesn’t provide the ultimate answer to all possible needs, is a good starting point, and everyone can help by suggesting open source software to Anders. SourceForge , the world’s largest repository of open source software, is another good place to look at. Particularly useful are its new directory pages for Windows and Mac . A (partial) list of open source packages is available on Wikipedia too. Free Software Directory , a project of the Free Software Foundation and UNESCO. FreshMeat – providing descriptions of thousands of open source programs, history of the project’s releases, links to download it and to how obtain more information. Free Software Portal . Google Code and CodePlex are respectively Google and Microsoft open source code hosting hubs and central repositories. Enterprise Open Source Directory is the only public directory about enterprise-grade open source applications, providing expert and user ratings, case studies and forums about over 250 packages (German readers can take advantage of the full 2009 open source catalog , containing 354 open source technologies). Unfortunately there is no central directory listing all the open-source software tools available out there, and for those who want to try lesser-known open-source tools they will need to search a little bit harder. If you want to evaluate open-source tools by yourself , here is a starting list of evaluation criteria you can use to start your selection: Basic Open-Source Evaluation Criteria 1. Code Maturity Evaluation criteria : Too young (< 1 year) Young (1-3 years) Mature (> 3 years) Browse forges / meta-forges to get further info on this. Keep in mind that sometimes projects are not released under an open-source license from the very first day. Worst: source code can be moved from a forge to forge without warning. So prepare yourself to do a lot of research. 2. Project Popularity Evaluation criteria : Unknown Small popularity but growing trend Well known Use Social Media search tools like Google Trends (great for comparisons, as far as projects’ names are not popular words per se). 3. Case Study Availability Evaluation criteria : Unkown Case studies available only on the website Case studies available on the net Use search engines on vendor or community website and on the net. 4. Books Evaluation criteria : None Few Many Browse online bookstores (e.g. O’Reilly , Packt ) and search also on project website. 5. (Community) Team Size Evaluation criteria : 1-5 members 5-10 members > 10 members Analyze community size , preferably using meta-forges or other code repository tools (e.g. GitHub Graph Visualyzer ). 6. Commercial Support Evaluation criteria : N/A Available only in a geographic area or language Available from multiple vendors in different languages Browse project and vendor website (e.g.: look for support / services / consulting section) and search on the net (especially for third parties’ support, a must if you want to avoid the vendor lock-in trap). 7. Training Evaluation criteria : N/A Available only in a geographic area or language Available from multiple vendors in different languages Browse project and vendor website (e.g. look for training / certification sections) and search on the net (see above). 8. Documentation Evaluation criteria : N/A Available only in one language Available in many languages Browse project and vendor website (e.g. look for specific documentation / resources sections) and search for additional info on the net. 9. Bugs Reactivity Evaluation criteria : Poor Formalized but not reactive Formalized and reactive Browse project website (e.g. analyze bug-tracking systems/forums in order to understand if high priority bugs are closed on average in a short period of time). 10. Source Evaluation criteria : To be compiled Binaries available Virtual appliance available Browse download pages and remember that virtual appliances – which very useful to test server application software – sometimes are provided from third-parties (e.g. Bitnami , Turnkey ). 11. Red Hat / Solaris / Windows Evaluation criteria : N/A Supported by third parties Certified by Red Hat – Oracle – Microsoft Browse download page and vendor website. 12. License Evaluation criteria : Copyleft Corporate Permissive Browse project website . 13. Modifiability Evaluation criteria : No way to propose modification Tools to access and modify code available but the process is not well defined Tools and procedures to propose modifications are available Browse project website , especially issue / bug-tracking systems and forums. 14. Roadmap Evaluation criteria : N/A Not detailed roadmap available detailed roadmap available Browse project website . 15. Sponsor Evaluation criteria : Unique sponsor Community sponsor Foundation – consortium sponsor Browse project website . Further Resources To Evaluate Open-Source Software Meta-forges – i.e. open source directories featuring metrics and analysis of projects hosted at other forges – like Ohloh , FLOSSMole or Melquiades are very useful to qualify open source projects, making available information about code contributions, code quality, licensing, etc. Calculate the reuse of a program , or analyze code quality is possible too. Going through all possible forges/meta-forges and tools can be extremely time-consuming, though. N.B.: Information about code maturity , commercial support, availability of resources such as documentation or tools to extend these OS programs are of great importance to companies and organizations, but are hardly made available on open source projects websites (unless these are backed by open source vendors, something rarely happening). SOS Open Source provides a full list of open source software metrics and tips about how to compute them, as well as resources and guidance on how to conduct a software selection , how to compare forks or how to evaluate a wiki . Originally written by Roberto Galoppini for MasterNewMedia, and first published on March 29th, 2011 as Open Source Software Tools And Directories: Where To Find Them, How To Evaluate Them About Roberto Galoppini Roberto serves on the Advisory Board of SourceForge and acts as the Institutional Relationship Manager for the OpenOffice.org Italian Association. Roberto consults to companies and organizations to design and implement their open source strategies, focusing on commercial and strategic development. Roberto among his customers counts IBM, Microsoft, Novell, Oracle, Poste Italiane, Red Hat e Telecom Italia. Photo credits: Code Maturity – Kmit Ivan How to Find an Open-Source Alternative to a Commercial Software – Hypermania Project Popularity – Tomas Troy Case Study Availability – Clipart
Megatrends: China to Convert Phone Booths to Wifi Hotspots
With mobile phones nearing 100% market penetration, the Chinese government appears determined to transform the country’s widespread telephone booths into wifi hotspots. “Telecom operators are also trying to setup hotspots in restaurants, …
Social Media Research: Blogging, Twitter And Facebook Use Trends Inside US Corporations – 2010 Update
Are top US corporations embracing social media technologies? The new research study on 2010 Fortune 500 companies and their use of blogs, Twitter and Facebook seems to positively confirm this trend. Photo credit: Kheng Ho Toh and Dmitriy Shironosov Each year Fortune Magazine compiles a list of the largest US corporations, which are named the Fortune 500 given their size and wealth. Due to the hugely influential role that these companies play inside the corporate world, their use of social media technologies does provide valuable insights of emergent trends to monitor. For this specific reason, every year Nora Ganim Barnes and Eric Mattson take Fortune 500 companies as a testing ground to analyze social media corporate use trends. The new 2010 study revisits the 2009 study while also expanding its research focus by looking at the Fortune 500 companies use trends of Facebook. These are the reported highlights: 116 (23%) of the primary US corporations listed on the 2010 Fortune 500 have a public-facing corporate blog updated in the past 12 months. In 2010, only 32% of top US companies relies on the adoption of blogging to establish a conversation with customers. In 2009 it was the 39%. 298 (60%) of the new Fortune 500 companies have regularly-updated corporate Twitter accounts. This number is up dramatically from 35% last year. 280 (56%) of the 2010 Fortune 500 companies have now a solid presence on Facebook. The Fortune 500 companies which regularly use social media technologies belong to a wide spectrum of industries. Given that Fortune 500 companies stand as an established model for business success, it is indeed strategically critical for you to examine all the data shared in this report to extract solid insights that may help you develop an effective social media strategy . The Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging, Twitter and Facebook Usage by America’s Largest Companies by Nora Ganim Barnes and Eric Mattson Fortune 500 Companies With Public Facing Corporate Blogs One hundred and sixteen (23%) of the primary corporations listed on the 2010 F500 have a public-facing corporate blog with a post in the past 12 months. These include four of the top five corporations (Wal-Mart, Exxon, Chevron and General Electric). The only company in the top five in 2010 without a public facing blog is Bank of America. They do have a URL for a blog that is described as a ” blog beta ” called Future Banking, but no active blog could be located at this time. Included in those companies adding blogs in 2010 is Exxon. The company launched a blog in June of this year, shortly after the BP oil spill in the Gulf region of the US. Conoco Philips, now ranked 6th in the F500, does not have a blog at this time. In our 2008 study of F500 blogs , 81 companies (16%) had blogs that met the criteria for this study. In 2009, 108 F500 companies (22%) had blogs. In both years, three of the top five ranked companies had blogs. Exxon and Conoco Philips were the exceptions. In 2010, 116 companies (23%) have blogs meeting our criteria for an increase of just 1% from 2009. Fortune 500 Companies With Corporate Blogs by Industry The 116 companies with blogs come from a cross section of industries. A partial list is presented below showing those industries with the greatest presence in the blogosphere. Blogging varied by industry type . As might be expected, companies in the industry of computer software, peripherals and office equipment have had the most blogs in all three years of our study (eight, 11, and 11). Companies in this category include Hewlett-Packard, Dell, Microsoft, Apple, Oracle and Xerox. The specialty retail industry saw an increase in the number of companies blogging (such as Home Depot, Best Buy, Toys “R” Us and BJ’s Wholesale) from four companies on the 2008 list to seven from the 2009 list and eight in 2010. The telecommunications industry represented by companies like AT&T, Verizon, Sprint and Comcast had seven of the blogs studied this year. Last year’s list had six. Food-related companies like Safeway, McDonald’s, Tyson, General Mills, Whole Foods Market and Hershey had nine blogs, up from six in 2009 and 5 in 2008. Three industries had five blogs in 2009 and 4 in 2008. These, with some company examples, include: Commercial banks (JP Morgan Chase), insurance (Progressive, NY Life), and semiconductors (Intel, Texas Instruments). Commercial Banks and Semiconductors each have 6 blogs in 2010, while the insurance industry has dropped to three blogs in 2010. The information technology industry (IBM, SAIC, Computer Sciences etc.) and motor vehicle industries (Ford, GM, Goodyear Tire and Rubber etc.) both had 4 blogs in 2009. Information technology blogs have decreased to three, while motor vehicle blogs have increased to six. Fortune 500 Companies With Corporate Blogs by Rank In 2008, 38% of the total number of blogs came from the top 100 followed by 39% of the blogs in the 2009 F500. Rank continues to influence the adoption of blogging by the F500 but in 2010 that number drops to 32%. Almost one third of the F500 blogs can be located among the top 100 ranked companies, making rank a factor in use of this particular tool. In 2010 the top 200 companies account for 53% of corporate blogs and the bottom 200 ranked companies (those listed 301-500) make up 29% of the total number of blogs. The top 200 companies in 2009 accounted for 58% of the F500 blogs, while the bottom 200 accounted for 29% of the 2009 F500 blogs. The findings were consistent using the 2008 list with the top 200 having 63% of the F500’s blogs while the bottom 200 had 26%. It is interesting to note that adoption remains lower in the bottom 200 for the third year in a row with no real change since last year (29%). Level of Interaction On The Fortune 500 Corporate Blogs All 116 blogs were examined to determine the level of interactivity the blog allowed. This was done by looking at the blog to see if comments were accepted, if RSS feeds or email subscriptions were available and checking the date of the last post to determine how current it was. Consistent with the findings in the past two years, 90% of the F500 blogs take comments, have RSS feeds and take subscriptions. These blogs are kept current with frequent posts on a range of topics. It appears that those companies that have made the decision to ” blog ” have utilized the tool well. There is frequent posting, on-going discussion and the ability to follow the conversation easily through RSS or email subscriptions. Fortune 500 Companies Vs. The Inc. 500 The F500 companies are blogging at a lower rate than other business groups, specifically the Inc. 500. The Inc. 500 list is composed of the fastest-growing, private companies in the US, while the F500 is based on total revenue (not growth) and may include public and private companies. That list is published in a special issue of Inc. Magazine published in September of each year. While data is not yet available on blogging for the 2010 Inc. 500, in 2009 that group had 45% of the companies on the list hosting corporate blogs. With 23% of the F500 companies hosting corporate blogs in 2010, that gap is likely to continue. It is possible that the difference is related to size of the company, internal structure or corporate philosophy regarding open communication with its stakeholders. Regardless of the motivation , the F500 companies have been less likely to adopt social media tools than their smaller, fast-growing counterparts. Fortune 500 Companies Corporate Twitter Accounts For purposes of this research , the following definition was used to locate 2010 F500 companies with Twitter accounts. A company was considered a user of Twitter if they had an official corporate account with posts (a.k.a. a ” tweet “) made within the past thirty days. Two hundred ninety-eight (60%) of the new F500 have corporate Twitter accounts with a tweet in the past thirty days. This number is up dramatically from 35% last year. Of these companies, nine of the top 10 corporations (Wal-Mart, Exxon, Chevron, General Electric, Bank of America, ConocoPhillips, AT&T, Ford and HP) consistently post on their Twitter accounts. No Twitter account could be located for the number nine ranked company, JP Morgan Chase. Four companies in the medical or healthcare industries had Twitter accounts with no activity on them (Humana Health Care, Boston Scientific, United Health Care and Cardinal Health Care). This was also true for the food chain Winn Dixie, and the diversified financial service Freddie Mac. These companies were not included in our final tally. Fortune 500 Companies Corporate Twitter Accounts by Industry The 298 companies with Twitter accounts come from a cross section of industries. A partial list is presented below showing those industries with the greatest presence on Twitter. Tweeting differed by industry type with Specialty Retail (Home Depot, Lowe’s) having the most Twitter accounts (23), taking first place from the Insurance Category. The food-related industry represented by companies like Kroger, Walgreen and McDonald’s had 22 of the Twitter accounts studied, double the number in that group last year. Insurance companies also increased their use of this tool dramatically moving from 13 corporate Twitter accounts to 20. Many industries had 10 companies with a Twitter account in 2009. These, with some company examples, include: computer software, peripherals and office equipment (Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft), telecommunications (AT&T, Verizon Communications) and utilities (Dominion Resources, Duke Energy). One year later we see those industries move to 14, 12 and 16 Twitter accounts respectively. Fortune 500 Companies Corporate Twitter Accounts by Rank Two hundred and ninety-eight (60%) of the 2010 F500 companies now have corporate Twitter accounts meeting the criteria of this study. Rank appears to influence the use of Twitter by the F500. Nine of the top 10 companies have corporate Twitter accounts. A Twitter account could not be located for J.P. Morgan Chase, the 9th ranked company. Half of the Twitter accounts belong to the companies in the top 200 on the list, while 33% come from those ranked in the bottom 200. Similar to the adoption of blogs , those ranked higher in the 2010 F500 are more likely to adopt Twitter than their counterparts ranked lower. Fortune 500 Companies Level of Interaction On Twitter All 298 companies with Twitter accounts were examined to determine the level of interactivity with readers by examining @replies or ” retweets ” and by checking the date of the last post to determine how current it was. One hundred and three companies (35%) consistently responded with @replies or retweets within 72 hours, many more often.These Twitter accounts are kept up-to-date with current news and information. There is consistent interaction with other users and on-going discussions that are easy to follow. Fortune 500 Companies Corporate Facebook Profiles Two hundred and eighty (56%) of the 2010 F500 are now on Facebook. This is the first year Facebook was included in this study, and the first time any systematic review of the entire Fortune 500 has been conducted on this issue. One hundred and forty-seven companies (29%) have neither a Twitter account nor a Facebook presence. Insurance companies are most likely to be on Facebook, followed by Specialty Retail, and Food, Drug and Consumer Products. Methodology For purposes of this research , the following definition was used to locate 2010 F500 companies with blogs: A company was counted as having a blog if they had a publicfacing corporate blog from the primary corporation with posts in the past 12 months. This is the same definition used in the 2008 and 2009 studies . Due to the complexity of corporate legal structures in this group and no clear methodology on how subsidiaries have been located or analyzed by others, the research presented here continues to focus on the primary / listed corporation. While we acknowledge that mergers and acquisitions along with expansions have resulted in segments or subsidiaries with blogs, our focus has consistently been at the corporate level. In addition, it is worth noting that there is evidence of usage of social media such as blogs inside of large companies like the F500. This research did not look at that subject but instead focused on public-facing corporate blogs as a barometer of social media usage to engage the public. All companies were analyzed using multiple steps. First, working from the published 2010 F500 list, all corporate home pages were examined for links to, or mention of, corporate blogs. If none were found, a search on the company’s site was conducted using the key word ” blog “. Any links resulting from that search were followed and evaluated using the established criteria. If no blogs were located on the home page or through a site search, other search engines were used. Both Google and Technorati (a leading blog-focused search engine) were employed to check for corporate blogs using key words that included the primary / listed company name and the word ” blog “. This proved to be an effective method since additional blogs were located. A search of other sites gathering information on the F500 was also reviewed for any mention of blogs in that group. Similarly, all companies were analyzed through multiple steps to locate corporate Twitter accounts. First, working from the 2010 F500 list, all corporate home pages were examined for links to, or mention of, a corporate Twitter account. If none were found, a search on the company’s website was conducted using the keyword ” Twitter .” Any links resulting from that search were followed and evaluated using the established criteria. If no Twitter accounts were located on the home page or through a site search, Google was used to search for Twitter accounts using keywords that included the primary / listed company name and the word ” Twitter. ” If no Twitter accounts were found this way, a search on the Twitter website was conducted using the primary/listed company name. These additional approaches proved to be effective as some Twitter accounts were located using this method. The same methodology was used to locate Facebook profiles for each company in the 2010 F500 using multiple searches on multiple platforms. All 500 companies on the list were researched using this process. This is the only known attempt to examine the entire F500 list for use of the microblogging tool, Twitter and the popular social networking platform Facebook. The data was collected in August/ September 2010 at the University of MA Dartmouth Center for Marketing Research and the results follow. Conclusion The adoption of blogs in the 2010 F500 appears to be leveling off with only a 1% increase in the past year. Twenty-three percent (116) of the 2010 F500 have corporate public facing blogs. During the same time, there has been explosive growth in the use of Twitter (60% have corporate Twitter accounts) along with significant use of Facebook (56% with corporate profiles) among the 2010 F500 companies. This clearly demonstrates the growing importance of social media in the business world. These large and leading companies drive the American economy and to a large extent the world economy. Their willingness to interact more transparently via these new technologies with their stakeholders is a clear. It will be interesting to watch as they expand their adoption of social media tools and connect with their constituents in dramatically new ways. Originally written by Nora Ganim Barnes and Eric Mattson for the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth , and first published on November 1st, 2010 as The Fortune 500 and Social Media: A Longitudinal Study of Blogging, Twitter and Facebook Usage by America’s Largest Companies About Nora Ganim Barnes Nora Ganim Barnes earned a Ph.D. in Consumer Behavior from the University of Connecticut and is a Chancellor Professor of Marketing and Director of the Center for Marketing Research at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. Nora has worked as a consultant for many national and international firms including the National Pharmaceutical Council, the National Court Reporters Association, and the Board of Inquiry of the British Parliament, Scotts Lawn Care Co, Distilled Spirits Council of the US and others. She has been named a Senior Research Fellow and Research Chair by the Society for New Communications Research. About Eric Mattson Eric Mattison is the CEO of Financial Insite Inc. , an independent social media scholar whose research has appeared in BusinessWeek, Inc. Magazine and a number of other publications. Prior to his current endeavors, Eric ran direct marketing, market research and marketing analytics for SanMar. Eric is a graduate of the University of Washington where he earned dual degrees in business administration and mathematics as a Washington Scholar. Photo credits: Graphs – Elia Lombardi Level of Interaction on the Fortune 500 Corporate Blogs – Xiao Fang Hu Fortune 500 Companies Vs. the Inc. 500 – Aleksandr Ugorenkov Fortune 500 Companies Corporate Twitter Accounts – Jay Simmons Fortune 500 Companies Level of Interaction on Twitter – Mikhail Mishchenko Methodology – Andrey Burmakin