Cloud Computing

I am not sure if I would put cloud computing under the category of social media because it can do more than just sharing information or collaboration. According to this CNN News video, individual users and organizations can run programs and store files on cloud without building large IT infrastructure, without hiring IT personnel, or without renting physical storage space.

Recently, cloud storage has become a new battle field in IT. DropBox, for example, was established in 2007 and is big in online-file-sharing business, but it only offers 2GB free space. iCloud, initiated in October 2011, offers 5GB free space for storing media and document files, but it only works with Apple products. This month, Google Drive began offering 5GB free space, but it does not fully support Microsoft products. Microsoft, actually, also introduced the SkyDrive concept back in 2007, but it has never taken off. Now, it is giving out 7GB space for free.

Often, competition will result in low price. Cloud computing offers great opportunities for small businesses. Besides the low cost of running IT operations, companies can easily sell (or purchase) personalized apps on “cloud,” as if they were ordering food from an à-la-carte menu in a restaurant.

A critical drawback of cloud computing comes from the security issue of using the technology. My take is everything that is connected to the internet has risk. Even for things that are physically locked in a safe, they are not 100% secured, right?

Do you use cloud? What are your experiences? What benefits will cloud computing bring to business?

References:

Fowler, Geoffrey A. and Vascellaro, Jessica E. (April 3, 2012). Hype hangs over DropBox: A $4 billion valuation, celebrity investors, hit product; Now a moment of proof. The Wall Street Journal, pp. B1 & B7. Also available online. 

Mossberg, Walter S. (April 25, 2012). Google heads to the cloud for storage to sync and edit. The Wall Street Journal, pp. D1 & D2. Also available online. 

 

Using Social Media in Communication: An Interview with Keren Ritchie

Today, I conducted a Skype interview with Keren Ritchie in my social media class. Keren received a bachelor’s degree in journalism and is currently a M.I.A. (Master of International Affairs) degree candidate at Columbia University. Her experience in social media ranges from non-for-profit to for-profit organizations. So, what are her thoughts on using social media in communication?

Keren’s Work Experience in Social Media

• While there is not much difference among organizations as an effective social media strategy can work for different entities, businesses in general allow more freedom and creativity in using social media for communication; government agents are more careful regarding the content being communicated.
• Social media policy is very important for every organization, but surprisingly, few organizations she worked for had established clear guidelines of using social media. “Many companies’ social media policies are more reactive; a good social media policy will allow organizations to be more proactive in responding to what is happening in social media.” As a result, whoever can develop social media strategies and write social media policies is “golden” in job search.
• As to which department should write the social media policy for the organization, Keren pointed to the Communication Department. I believe that social media should be included in an organization’s integrated business strategy because social media can be used in PR, HR, Marketing, and more. Accordingly, if the Communication Department oversees an organization's social media activities in different departments, it will work. Otherwise, the executive committee that develops integrated strategy should draft the social media policy for the organization. What are your opinions on this issue?

Trends in Social Media

• Many companies are “afraid” of social media because they don’t know how to use it. Seeing the opportunities and advantages of using social media in business, more companies will realize the importance of social media. They must use social media in order to stay competitive --- Avon is a good example of failing for not being able to catch up with the social media trends in competition.
• Organizations should hire at least one dedicated person to manage their social media channels. If budget is an issue, a manager should oversee such activities. Small business with limited resources is advised to use those “widely-reach” platforms with built-in integrated applications (e.g. Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube). Without a dedicated person who consistently updates relevant content on social media, it is difficult to engage the audience.

Using Social Media in Job Search

• Networking is still the key, especially for those vacancies that are not even publicized. LinkedIn and other social media tools can certainly help people build a network online, but the “personal connections” cannot be completely replaced by a virtual network.
• Students and job seekers are advised to acquire the following transferable skills: having (and being able to demonstrate) strong communication skills (verbal and written), knowing the relevant trends of the field, paying attention to details, multitasking/multi-talented (e.g. having the skill sets of writing, administration, and strategic planning), and the ability of know-how (e.g. using WordPress and making YouTube videos).
• Graduate school is a great place for networking. Alumni are often very helpful, for both undergraduate and graduate students.

Thank you, Keren for sharing her valuable advice of using social media in communication. What additional suggestions will you give to us?

Please visit http://sfy.co/qTg to read more about our Storify story for today’s interview.

Do You Have the Guts to Become an Entrepreneur?

Last Thursday, Isaac Budmen, co-founder of Little Tinker and a current SU graduate student, shared his entrepreneurial experience with us in my social media class. His presentation was short but inspiring.

Isaac recalled his experience of how he met with Dennis Crowley, co-founder of Foursquare and an SU alumnus. At first, Isaac was unable to set up an appointment with Dennis using his SU connections. Then, he went to Twitter. “Surprisingly,” he received a tweet from Dennis and finally met with him for a conversation. What a great example of using Twitter!

The founding of Little Tinker did not come from a brilliant idea or a 10-billion plan; it was simply triggered by an incident where Isaac and his friends added the hashtag of #Drinkup in their tweets during a happy hour. All of a sudden, #Drinkup became a global phenomenon. Isaac saw that as a great opportunity and “jumped in” to pursue his entrepreneurship ideas --- an entrepreneur may not know everything of starting up a new business and there will be mistakes on the road, but s/he must “jump in” and start working on the “small” ideas.

I believe that great business ideas must root in useful service, but not all ideas need to be “big.” As entrepreneurs “jump in,” they can further twist their ideas for a better business plan.

Do you have the guts to “jump in” and become an entrepreneur? What other lessons do you learn from Isaac’s experience?

Social Media for Entrepreneurs: Tips from Zappos, Match.com, and Method Founders

This Wall Street Journal video features an interview with Gary Kremen, founder of Match.com, Eric Ryan, co-founder of Method, and Nick Swinmum, founder of Zappos.com, where they shared some advice on using social media for small business (mainly on Facebook or Twitter). I agree on some of their suggestions but not the other.

Tips I Feel Useful

• In-house social media staff is very important. Whoever manages a company’s social media activities must know the company, including the organizational culture, services and products offered, and the operational procedures. Otherwise, a company can repeat Chrysler’s mistake on Twitter. 
• Be consistent in feeding new content.
• Carry on an on-going conversation on social media. Social media is more than just sales and marketing. Content creators also need to consider “WIIFM” (what’s in it for me?) and “IDNK” (I don’t know that) for the audience when posting updates and news.
• Companies must have clear objectives when implementing social media strategies. Otherwise, social media can be very counterproductive for business.

Tips I Disagree

• Will social media become less important if a company does not need to interact with consumers directly? I don’t think so. I believe that social media, if used appropriately, can be very effective in B2B, B2C, and C2C communications. Even if a company’ business model does not rely on B2C communications as much as the others do, they should still use social media, including Facebook Page and Twitter, to promote B2B and C2C communications. Additionally, recent research indicates that blogging can have a positive impact on a company’s performance in the stock market because companies often share positive information on their blogs.  
• Is social media optional for senior executive members? It may work for Nick Swinmurn at Zappos.com, but I don’t think it will work for others. My question is: How can an executive make viable decisions on a company’s social media strategy if s/he does not even use the tools? Let’s use e-mail marketing as an example, if one does not even use e-mails, s/he may not know how to send or receive e-mails anyway. How can this person make good decisions on e-mail marketing?

Do you see my points? What are your thoughts on the advice provided by these three entrepreneurs?  

 

Hiring Creative Minds as the Chief Innovation Officer

Companies are creating a new executive position called CIO, with a new meaning of “Chief Innovation Officer” rather than the traditionally-known “Chief Information Officer.” The truth is 43% of the companies have already had a Chief Innovation Officer in place, as revealed in a survey study reported by The Wall Street Journal (video). I am pleased to see that many companies recognize the importance of innovation but feel uneasy about the fact that very few understand what role a Chief Innovation Officer should play in the organization.

One difficulty of defining the role for Chief Innovation Officer is that innovation can take place in many ways. Some great examples of innovation can be found in this month’s Fortune Magazine article about the 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time. They are:

1. Steve Jobs (Apple): He believed that focus groups and market research would limit his ability to innovate. --- “It isn’t the consumers’ job to know what they want. It’s hard for (consumers) to tell you what they want when they’ve never seen anything remotely like it.”
2. Bill Gates (Microsoft and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation): He focuses on hiring very smart people and putting them to work in small teams to solve big issues.
3. Fred Smith (FedEx): He asked the executives to rely on the “first-level” managers, “to set an example themselves, and to praise in public when someone has done a good job.”
4. Jeff Bezos (Amazon): He finds time to be pro-active rather than reactive by taking solo retreats, when he locks himself up and researches/comes up with creative ideas.
5. Larry Page and Sergey Brin (Google): They spent $11.8 billion on research and development in the past three years. It’s important “to let people be really creative and think outside the box.” I can see that when I toured Google in Mountain View during my Christmas break.
6. Howard Schultz (Starbucks): He challenges “the old way of doing things.”
7. Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook): He is the Silicon Valley’s “most paranoid entrepreneur these days, taking nothing for granted.”
8. John Mackey (Whole Foods): “Purpose inspired people.”
9. Herb Kelleher (Southwest Airlines): He kept costs extraordinarily low and customer service high by creating a culture that respects the people he carefully hired.
10. Narayana Murphy (Infosys): In his words, “it is all about sacrifice, hard work, lots of frustration, being away from your family, in the hope that someday you will get adequate returns from that.”
11. Sam Walton (Wal-Mart): He heavily invested in software that could track consumer behavior in real time. He flipped the supplier-retailer relationships upside down by truly understanding consumers and sharing real-time data with suppliers.
12. Muhammad Yunus (Grameen Bank): This Nobel Peace Prize recipient created the microcredit and microlending concept, which helped fund enormous small entrepreneurial projects for the poor.

These great entrepreneurs of our time are all very inspiring people with creative minds. They observe (and can see what others usually miss), recognize issues, rely on and invest in (smart) people, dare to ask questions, and have no fears of challenging traditions. Here, it is important to note that innovation does not always come from information technology or engineering. Being able to relate those seem-to-be-unrelated resources, break down issues into components, put them back together in a different way, or twist the old concepts with an unconventional method could also trigger innovation.

Last month, I discussed the HR challenges created by the Web2.0 technology, some of which includes: to whom a social media officer should be reported and what role a social media officer should play in an organization. If an organization has a Chief Innovation Officer, s/he can oversee the company’s social media activities. Then, (as what I suggested) the Chief Innovation Officer needs to consider every aspect of the company’s business operation when developing a comprehensive social media strategy. A Chief Innovation Officer should connect with every business unit within the organization while remaining independent from these units. A Chief Innovation Officer is not a Chief Information Officer or a Department Head of Research & Development. Rather, s/he must have the ability to observe, recognize the strengths and weaknesses of each business unit, create an organizational culture that promotes innovation, find ways to connect people and under-utilized resources, and very importantly, dare to challenge the traditions with possible solutions.

In your opinions, what should a Chief Innovation Officer be doing in an organization? What kind of candidates can be good for the position of Chief Innovation Officer? How should a Chief Innovation Officer be evaluated at work?

References:

John A. Byrne. (2012, April). The 12 greatest entrepreneurs of our time – and what you can learn from them. Fortune Magazine, pp. 68-86.