I had chanced upon IndiBlogger just last month and well, became a member! Rather, my flagship blog on Wordpress -- Pradeep's Point -- was only approved as recently as May 29th.
Today, I received an email from IndiBlogger stating that my blog had been ranked 83rd among all Indian blogs! Of course, there are several bloggers who share a rank. Wow, that's brilliant! For someone who has not really gone about publicizing his blog -- at least for the first two years -- this is a real treat!
As per IndiBlogger, IndiRank is like runs in a game of cricket - the higher the score, the higher ranking one has! Blogs are ranked on a scale of 1-100. So, I hope the 83rd rank means that I am on the higher side! ;)
According to IndiBlogger, its IndiRank system has been built to rank the blogs in the IndiBlogger network. Although IndiBlogger manually verifies each and every blog, and correctly so, before it's allowed into the network, the IndiRank system is said to be completely automated.
Well, I only managed to find one other person blogging about semiconductors -- which is my main subject. So, does that make me no. 2 in that area? I don't really know!
Also, according to IndiBlogger, it has combined traditional ranking mechanisms such as a blog's Google PageRank, Incoming links and Alexa ranking. The system also checks to see the frequency at which a blog is updated -- well, I definitely try and update frequently -- as well as two other secret ingredients. Some of these factors have more weightage than the rest.
Fair enough! I am happy with whatever rank I can manage inside a fortnight or so of my joining. Thanks a lot, IndiBlogger.
Wednesday, June 23, 2010
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
Google Places helps build your online presence!
Google Places has not really impressed me! It could have been much better! Perhaps, I go back a long time in web development, hence, this impression.
I was part of a significantly huge exercise at Global Sources, Hong Kong, back in the late 1990s in developing the search engine -- specifically, developing a four-layer deep search, as well as the product specifications search for the massive site I independently managed -- Global Sources Telecom Products -- along with my colleague, Len Sangalang. Of course, all of this was made possible with the guidance of Raj, and Rita's assistance with the actual web development, and the backing of Spenser Au and Daniel Tam. We were trying to achieve all of this before GSOL was listed on the NASDAQ on 14 April 2000. Hence, the tremendous pressure and rush to complete all of our projects!
In those days, thanks to the backing of Raj Gopinath and Rob Nelson -- my bosses, I had actually rolled out four big sites under Telecom Products -- incorporating Wireless, Broadband, Telephones & Systems, and Telecom Accessories & Parts -- all of this inside one month -- post the NASDAQ listing of GSOL! Hope, my friend, Romy Udanga (in Auckland, New Zealand) is reading this post, as he also made this happen, by passing my proposal!
We had a lot of SMEs in place as well, and had to really do a lot of hard work. Remember, in those days, there was no Google, Yahoo was coming up, and well, there were no good models of online search and web presence. We did it all by ourselves! Heady days, those! Okay, let me get back to Google Places!!
Having said all that, Google Places is a cool Web tool for startups and those looking to make a very quick online presence, especially on Google! It is especially useful for those who do not want to invest in a website, but can have an online presence about their business up and running in a matter of less than five minutes!
Google Places, previously known as Local Business Center, helps a company verify and supplement business information, including hours of operation, photos, videos, coupons and product information, etc., thereby providing a way to communicate with customers. It will give businesses new insights that enable should them to make smart decisions.
Giving a demo of Google Places, Manik Gupta, product manager, Google India Pvt Ltd, highlighted the really easy procedure that anyone can use to set up the online presence. The best thing is: all of this comes free!
According to him, India is a nation of small entrepreneurs and it is estimated that there are more than 30 million small businesses in India. However, only a fraction of these are online.
He added: "We have also observed that one out of five searches on Google is related to a user's location, and very often people are looking for local businesses. As small businesses in India are realizing the advantages of having an online presence, Google Places is the ideal solution since it’s free and easy. The growth of Google Places in India has been phenomenal and we have seen over 40 percent growth in businesses registering on Google Places over the past six months."
The online presence is a customer verified listing, based on the information provided by the customer. Thereafter, Google crawls through all of the relevant information associated with the content provided by a company/entity, and summarizes it for the user. This concept is called a 'place page.'
Once you've signed up for your page, an SMS is sent to your mobile phone containing a PIN, which the user is required to add in the relevant place. Gupta added: "We do not believe in regulating. Users would need to verify themselves."
There's no provision as yet, to directly link to your Twitter or Facebook accounts, although, you could use your social media web address -- as a web address, if required, while filling up the information table.
Google is not looking at monetizing Google Places in India at the moment. At some point, it may introduce certain relevant products.
I wonder whether Google could work with the leading B2B and/or B2C websites of the world and extend Google Places. A debate regarding who controls the content may arise, but then, it is expected that such issues can be sorted out. Best of luck!
I was part of a significantly huge exercise at Global Sources, Hong Kong, back in the late 1990s in developing the search engine -- specifically, developing a four-layer deep search, as well as the product specifications search for the massive site I independently managed -- Global Sources Telecom Products -- along with my colleague, Len Sangalang. Of course, all of this was made possible with the guidance of Raj, and Rita's assistance with the actual web development, and the backing of Spenser Au and Daniel Tam. We were trying to achieve all of this before GSOL was listed on the NASDAQ on 14 April 2000. Hence, the tremendous pressure and rush to complete all of our projects!
In those days, thanks to the backing of Raj Gopinath and Rob Nelson -- my bosses, I had actually rolled out four big sites under Telecom Products -- incorporating Wireless, Broadband, Telephones & Systems, and Telecom Accessories & Parts -- all of this inside one month -- post the NASDAQ listing of GSOL! Hope, my friend, Romy Udanga (in Auckland, New Zealand) is reading this post, as he also made this happen, by passing my proposal!
We had a lot of SMEs in place as well, and had to really do a lot of hard work. Remember, in those days, there was no Google, Yahoo was coming up, and well, there were no good models of online search and web presence. We did it all by ourselves! Heady days, those! Okay, let me get back to Google Places!!
Having said all that, Google Places is a cool Web tool for startups and those looking to make a very quick online presence, especially on Google! It is especially useful for those who do not want to invest in a website, but can have an online presence about their business up and running in a matter of less than five minutes!
Google Places, previously known as Local Business Center, helps a company verify and supplement business information, including hours of operation, photos, videos, coupons and product information, etc., thereby providing a way to communicate with customers. It will give businesses new insights that enable should them to make smart decisions.
Giving a demo of Google Places, Manik Gupta, product manager, Google India Pvt Ltd, highlighted the really easy procedure that anyone can use to set up the online presence. The best thing is: all of this comes free!
According to him, India is a nation of small entrepreneurs and it is estimated that there are more than 30 million small businesses in India. However, only a fraction of these are online.
He added: "We have also observed that one out of five searches on Google is related to a user's location, and very often people are looking for local businesses. As small businesses in India are realizing the advantages of having an online presence, Google Places is the ideal solution since it’s free and easy. The growth of Google Places in India has been phenomenal and we have seen over 40 percent growth in businesses registering on Google Places over the past six months."
The online presence is a customer verified listing, based on the information provided by the customer. Thereafter, Google crawls through all of the relevant information associated with the content provided by a company/entity, and summarizes it for the user. This concept is called a 'place page.'
Once you've signed up for your page, an SMS is sent to your mobile phone containing a PIN, which the user is required to add in the relevant place. Gupta added: "We do not believe in regulating. Users would need to verify themselves."
There's no provision as yet, to directly link to your Twitter or Facebook accounts, although, you could use your social media web address -- as a web address, if required, while filling up the information table.
Google is not looking at monetizing Google Places in India at the moment. At some point, it may introduce certain relevant products.
I wonder whether Google could work with the leading B2B and/or B2C websites of the world and extend Google Places. A debate regarding who controls the content may arise, but then, it is expected that such issues can be sorted out. Best of luck!
Monday, April 12, 2010
Worldwide IT spending to grow 5.3pc in 2010
This release is from Gartner!
STAMFORD, USA: Worldwide IT spending is forecast to reach $3.4 trillion in 2010, a 5.3 percent increase from IT spending of $3.2 trillion in 2009, according to Gartner, Inc. The IT industry will continue to show steady growth with IT spending in 2011 projected to surpass $3.5 trillion, a 4.2 percent increase from 2010.
"Following strong fourth quarter sales, an unseasonably robust hardware supply chain in the first quarter of 2010, combined with continued improvement in the global economy, sets up 2010 for solid IT spending growth," said Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner.
"However, it's important to note that nearly 4 percentage points of this growth will be the result of a projected decline in the value of the dollar relative to last year. IT spending in exchange-rate-adjusted dollars will still grow 1.6 percent this year, after declining 1.4 percent in 2009."
Worldwide computing hardware spending is forecast to reach $353 billion in 2010, a 5.7 percent increase from 2009 (see Table 1). Robust consumer spending on mobile PCs will drive hardware spending in 2010. Enterprise hardware spending will grow again in 2010, but it will remain below its 2008 level through 2014.
Spending on storage will enjoy the fastest growth in terms of enterprise spending as the volume of enterprise data that needs to be stored continues to increase. Near-term spending on servers will be concentrated on lower-end servers; longer-term, server spending will be curtailed by virtualization, consolidation and, potentially, cloud computing.
"Computing hardware suffered the steepest spending decline of the four major IT spending category segments in 2009. However, it is now forecast to enjoy the joint strongest rebound in 2010," said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner.
"Consumer PC spending will contribute nearly 4 percentage points of hardware spending growth in 2010, powered by strong consumer spending on mobile PCs. Additionally, professional PC spending will contribute just over 1 percentage point of spending growth in 2010 as organizations begin their migration to Windows 7 toward the end of the year."
Table 1: Worldwide IT Spending Forecast (Billions of US Dollars)
Source: Gartner (April 2010)
Worldwide software spending is expected to total $232 billion in 2010, a 5.1 percent increase from last year. Gartner analysts said the impact of the recession on the software industry was tempered and not as dramatic as other IT markets. In 2010, the majority of enterprise software markets will see positive growth.
The infrastructure market, which includes all the software to build, run and manage an enterprise, is the largest segment in terms of revenue and the fastest-growing through the 2014. The hottest software segments through 2014 include virtualization, security, data integration/data quality and business intelligence.
The applications market, which includes personal productivity and packaged enterprise applications, has some of the fastest-growth segments. Web conferencing, team collaboration and enterprise content management are forecast to have double-digit compound annual growth rates (CAGR), in the face of growing competition surrounding social networking and content.
"Cost optimization, and the shifts in spending form mega suites to the automation of processes will continue to benefit alternative software acquisition models as organizations will look for ways to shift spending from capital expenditures to operating expenditures," said Joanne Correia, managing vice president at Gartner.
"Because of this, vendors offering software as a service (SaaS), IT asset management, virtualization capabilities and that have a good open-source strategy will continue to benefit. We also see mobile-device support or applications, as well as cloud services driving new opportunities."
The worldwide IT services industry is forecast to have spending reach $821 billion in 2010, up 5.7 percent from 2009. The industry experienced some growth in reported outsourcing revenue at the close of 2009, an encouraging sign for service providers, which Gartner analysts believe will spread to consulting and system integration in 2010.
"We continue to see a long-term recession 'hangover' as a more-cautious mind-set continues as the norm among a lot of buyers who keep looking for small, safe deals where cost take-out is a key factor, said Kathryn Hale, research vice president at Gartner. "In the face of that ongoing strong pressure to renegotiate contracts, and in the absence of equivalent pressure from stockholders, we believe vendors will generally choose to maintain margins over revenue growth."
Worldwide telecom spending is on pace to total close to $2 trillion in 2010, a 5.1 percent increase from 2009. Between 2010 and 2014, the mobile device share of the telecom market is expected to increase from 11 percent to 14 percent, while the service share drops from 80 percent to 77 percent and the infrastructure share remains stable at 9 percent of the total market.
Worldwide enterprise network services spending is forecast to grow 2 percent in revenue in 2010, but Gartner analysts said this masks ongoing declines in Europe and many other mature markets as well as an essentially flat North American market.
"Longer term, the global enterprise network services market is expected to grow modestly, largely on the back of growth in Internet services, such as hosting," said Peter Kjeldsen, research director at Gartner. "Ethernet services will also grow significantly, albeit at the expense of both legacy services and multiprotocol label switching (MPLS)."
STAMFORD, USA: Worldwide IT spending is forecast to reach $3.4 trillion in 2010, a 5.3 percent increase from IT spending of $3.2 trillion in 2009, according to Gartner, Inc. The IT industry will continue to show steady growth with IT spending in 2011 projected to surpass $3.5 trillion, a 4.2 percent increase from 2010.
"Following strong fourth quarter sales, an unseasonably robust hardware supply chain in the first quarter of 2010, combined with continued improvement in the global economy, sets up 2010 for solid IT spending growth," said Richard Gordon, research vice president at Gartner.
"However, it's important to note that nearly 4 percentage points of this growth will be the result of a projected decline in the value of the dollar relative to last year. IT spending in exchange-rate-adjusted dollars will still grow 1.6 percent this year, after declining 1.4 percent in 2009."
Worldwide computing hardware spending is forecast to reach $353 billion in 2010, a 5.7 percent increase from 2009 (see Table 1). Robust consumer spending on mobile PCs will drive hardware spending in 2010. Enterprise hardware spending will grow again in 2010, but it will remain below its 2008 level through 2014.
Spending on storage will enjoy the fastest growth in terms of enterprise spending as the volume of enterprise data that needs to be stored continues to increase. Near-term spending on servers will be concentrated on lower-end servers; longer-term, server spending will be curtailed by virtualization, consolidation and, potentially, cloud computing.
"Computing hardware suffered the steepest spending decline of the four major IT spending category segments in 2009. However, it is now forecast to enjoy the joint strongest rebound in 2010," said George Shiffler, research director at Gartner.
"Consumer PC spending will contribute nearly 4 percentage points of hardware spending growth in 2010, powered by strong consumer spending on mobile PCs. Additionally, professional PC spending will contribute just over 1 percentage point of spending growth in 2010 as organizations begin their migration to Windows 7 toward the end of the year."
Table 1: Worldwide IT Spending Forecast (Billions of US Dollars)
Source: Gartner (April 2010)Worldwide software spending is expected to total $232 billion in 2010, a 5.1 percent increase from last year. Gartner analysts said the impact of the recession on the software industry was tempered and not as dramatic as other IT markets. In 2010, the majority of enterprise software markets will see positive growth.
The infrastructure market, which includes all the software to build, run and manage an enterprise, is the largest segment in terms of revenue and the fastest-growing through the 2014. The hottest software segments through 2014 include virtualization, security, data integration/data quality and business intelligence.
The applications market, which includes personal productivity and packaged enterprise applications, has some of the fastest-growth segments. Web conferencing, team collaboration and enterprise content management are forecast to have double-digit compound annual growth rates (CAGR), in the face of growing competition surrounding social networking and content.
"Cost optimization, and the shifts in spending form mega suites to the automation of processes will continue to benefit alternative software acquisition models as organizations will look for ways to shift spending from capital expenditures to operating expenditures," said Joanne Correia, managing vice president at Gartner.
"Because of this, vendors offering software as a service (SaaS), IT asset management, virtualization capabilities and that have a good open-source strategy will continue to benefit. We also see mobile-device support or applications, as well as cloud services driving new opportunities."
The worldwide IT services industry is forecast to have spending reach $821 billion in 2010, up 5.7 percent from 2009. The industry experienced some growth in reported outsourcing revenue at the close of 2009, an encouraging sign for service providers, which Gartner analysts believe will spread to consulting and system integration in 2010.
"We continue to see a long-term recession 'hangover' as a more-cautious mind-set continues as the norm among a lot of buyers who keep looking for small, safe deals where cost take-out is a key factor, said Kathryn Hale, research vice president at Gartner. "In the face of that ongoing strong pressure to renegotiate contracts, and in the absence of equivalent pressure from stockholders, we believe vendors will generally choose to maintain margins over revenue growth."
Worldwide telecom spending is on pace to total close to $2 trillion in 2010, a 5.1 percent increase from 2009. Between 2010 and 2014, the mobile device share of the telecom market is expected to increase from 11 percent to 14 percent, while the service share drops from 80 percent to 77 percent and the infrastructure share remains stable at 9 percent of the total market.
Worldwide enterprise network services spending is forecast to grow 2 percent in revenue in 2010, but Gartner analysts said this masks ongoing declines in Europe and many other mature markets as well as an essentially flat North American market.
"Longer term, the global enterprise network services market is expected to grow modestly, largely on the back of growth in Internet services, such as hosting," said Peter Kjeldsen, research director at Gartner. "Ethernet services will also grow significantly, albeit at the expense of both legacy services and multiprotocol label switching (MPLS)."
Sunday, March 28, 2010
I've moved to http://www.pradeepchakraborty.com
Okay, this should have been done long ago! As they say, better late than never!
I have now moved my flagship blogspot blog to a proper domain -- again, using my name as I really don't know what else to use! :) Maybe, it will be easier for people to search by my name as they are already familiar with my blog's name for so long.
The new address is: Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog.
The link is already working, although Google indicated that it will take a couple of days. So, thanks a lot, Google.
I have now moved my flagship blogspot blog to a proper domain -- again, using my name as I really don't know what else to use! :) Maybe, it will be easier for people to search by my name as they are already familiar with my blog's name for so long.
The new address is: Pradeep Chakraborty's Blog.
The link is already working, although Google indicated that it will take a couple of days. So, thanks a lot, Google.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Storage software market has typical Q4 jump, as well as slight increase from last year
This is courtesy, IDC.
FRAMINGHAM, USA: According to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Storage Software Tracker, the worldwide storage software market experienced a slight increase in year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter of 2009 (4Q09) with revenues of $3.09 billion, representing 0.5 percent growth over the same quarter one year ago, as well as 6.3 percent growth from the previous quarter (3Q09).
"The storage software market was able to increase in typical fourth quarter fashion, with all top six vendors showing positive growth from the third quarter," said Michael Margossian, associate research analyst, Storage Software at IDC. "Data protection and recovery was once again a strong market with the top four vendors showing growth from a year ago. IBM had the strongest year-over-year growth with revenues up 19.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008, while EMC enjoyed the greatest gains over the third quarter – a 13.1 percent increase – with the help of strong hardware growth."
"Sequential and year-over-year growth has returned for storage software, suggesting the market has started to show signs of recovery, said Laura DuBois, research director, Storage Software. "Another sign that bodes well for the segment is that, as storage consumes larger portions of IT budgets, driven by the exponential growth of data, the need for storage management and efficiency increases. Into 2010, storage capital investments are aimed at making more efficient and reliable use of data, data storage, and data management resources."
EMC led the overall market with 23.7 percent revenue share in the fourth quarter of 2009. Symantec held onto the second position with 17.5 percent revenue share, while IBM finished in the third position with 13.2 percent revenue share. NetApp finished in the fourth position with 7.9 percent revenue share, while HP and CA rounded out the top 5 with a statistical tie with 3.9 percent and 3.8 percent revenue share, respectively.
For the full year 2009, EMC led the overall market with 22.7 percent revenue share. Symantec held onto the second position with 17.9 percent revenue share, with IBM finishing in the third position with 13.5 percent revenue share. NetApp finished in the fourth position with 8 percent revenue share, along with CA rounding out the top five with 4 percent market share in 2009.
FRAMINGHAM, USA: According to the IDC Worldwide Quarterly Storage Software Tracker, the worldwide storage software market experienced a slight increase in year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter of 2009 (4Q09) with revenues of $3.09 billion, representing 0.5 percent growth over the same quarter one year ago, as well as 6.3 percent growth from the previous quarter (3Q09).
"The storage software market was able to increase in typical fourth quarter fashion, with all top six vendors showing positive growth from the third quarter," said Michael Margossian, associate research analyst, Storage Software at IDC. "Data protection and recovery was once again a strong market with the top four vendors showing growth from a year ago. IBM had the strongest year-over-year growth with revenues up 19.3 percent from the fourth quarter of 2008, while EMC enjoyed the greatest gains over the third quarter – a 13.1 percent increase – with the help of strong hardware growth."
"Sequential and year-over-year growth has returned for storage software, suggesting the market has started to show signs of recovery, said Laura DuBois, research director, Storage Software. "Another sign that bodes well for the segment is that, as storage consumes larger portions of IT budgets, driven by the exponential growth of data, the need for storage management and efficiency increases. Into 2010, storage capital investments are aimed at making more efficient and reliable use of data, data storage, and data management resources."
EMC led the overall market with 23.7 percent revenue share in the fourth quarter of 2009. Symantec held onto the second position with 17.5 percent revenue share, while IBM finished in the third position with 13.2 percent revenue share. NetApp finished in the fourth position with 7.9 percent revenue share, while HP and CA rounded out the top 5 with a statistical tie with 3.9 percent and 3.8 percent revenue share, respectively.
For the full year 2009, EMC led the overall market with 22.7 percent revenue share. Symantec held onto the second position with 17.9 percent revenue share, with IBM finishing in the third position with 13.5 percent revenue share. NetApp finished in the fourth position with 8 percent revenue share, along with CA rounding out the top five with 4 percent market share in 2009.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Deloitte's top trends for technology industry for 2010
This is courtesy, Deloitte.
BANGALORE, INDIA: The Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) practice at Deloitte announced its 2010 predictions for the technology sector, forecasting that 2010 will be the breakout year for net tablets.
The connected portable devices are expected to offer a more appealing balance of form and function, and are anticipated to be purchased by tens of millions of people in the year ahead.
Rajarshi Sengupta, Senior Director, Deloitte & Touche Consulting comments: “The rise of the net tablet could constrain the growth of the nascent e-reader market. For every million net tablets sold there will be a corresponding impact on e-readers. We also predict that in 2010 many enterprise purchasing decisions will be based more on the preferences of individual employees, rather than traditional IT department criteria.”
Deloitte also forecasts that Virtual Desk Infrastructure, a computing model based on thin or stateless clients, centralised applications and processing power, will be taken far more seriously than in previous years. An anticipated 1 million seats are expected to go thin client in 2010, with the largest deployments involving tens of thousands of seats. By 2015, thin client may reach 10 percent of all enterprise client devices.
The CleanTech sector’s performance is anticipated to be mixed, according to Deloitte. Although solar demand is likely to grow strongly in 2010 and 2011, some subsidy cuts and cheaper-than-expected electricity rates may prevent that growth from being as strong as some might hope. It is expected that the solar technology subsector will be outperformed by the broader CleanTech industry.
Rajarshi Sengupta said: “2010 will also see the world’s first laboratory scale carbon-negative cement plant delivering significant reductions in global CO2 emissions. In contrast, solar power technology could struggle in 2010 due to the cost of solar equipment, tools and raw materials, overcapacity and weak economics.”
Thinking thin is in again: virtual desktop infrastructures challenge the PC
Deloitte predicts that in 2010 thin client will be taken far more seriously than in previous years, even if it does not outsell its thick client counterpart. Over the next five years, thin client should reach 10 percent of organisations’ computers, with the majority of medium to large businesses considering a shift to virtual desktop infrastructure.
Thin client can help to deliver direct savings by minimising and making IT support and maintenance more efficient, as well as reducing hardware costs and licensing fees. There are other less tangible benefits to virtual desktop infrastructure including; mobility, increased productivity, lower real estate costs, lower power consumption and better security.
Those charged with deploying thin client may need to convince workers who begrudge the lack of a local hard disk drive that pure forms of thin client entails. However, abetted by a backdrop of recession or slow recovery, employers may consider it a good opportunity to reshape working conditions.
IT procurement stands on its head
In the past, technology and telecommunications hardware and software manufacturers have targeted products to the enterprise market, specifically the gate-keeping IT department. In 2010, many enterprise purchasing decisions will be based more on the preferences of individual employees.
With the rise of the ‘prosumer’—employees who buy a phone for both work and play—more and more enterprises are likely to allow employees to choose their own phones, or at least allow prosumer-selected phones to integrate better with enterprise networks.
Enterprise-focused vendors will need to alter sales techniques originally designed to sell to monolithic buyers whose concerns were enterprise in scale. While IT departments will have to become more flexible, best practices are still necessary, such as deleting data on employees’ devices if they change jobs.
Also, given the faddish nature of consumer sentiment, processes that reduce product churn will be needed. The future of many enterprise computing and telecom tools will likely involve compromises between work and personal life, that is, employees being available 24/7 but allowed to choose their own smartphone.
CleanTech makes a comeback. But solar stays in the shadows
After the CleanTech industry’s near-collapse during the economic crisis, government stimulus and investor interest has caused a sharp recovery. However, not all areas are sharing the bounty.
Although the CleanTech Index is up 75 percent since its market lows, the view for the dominant solar technology—crystalline silicon photovoltaic (C-Si PV)—and its infrastructure is less positive in the next year or two. Currently, C-Si PV faces two challenges that could limit its recovery: overcapacity and weak economics.
Prior to the 2008 economic downturn, governments created a spike in demand for C-Si PV manufacturing capacity and installation. Capacity expansion continues unabated, largely in China and the United States. By 2010, over-capacity will mean C-Si PV utilisation will be barely above 25 percent.
The economic crisis has also caused conventional energy prices to be lower than forecasted and some developers of PV installations are seeing payback on investment remain at around 15 to 20 years without subsidies. Consumers and utilities will benefit from the significant drop in PV silicon prices, making solar more affordable for those with longer-term investment horizons.
From grey to green: technology re-invents cement
In 2010, technology’s contribution to CO2 reduction could result in electric cars, more efficient airplanes and leaner data centres. Yet there is another largely-overlooked industrial segment that may deliver equal benefit: cement. Cement production represents about 5 percent of global emissions – almost double that of the aviation sector – but is an essential driver of economic growth.
2010 should see the world’s first laboratory scale carbon-negative cement plant, with an industrial scale plant expected in 2011. The total resulting reduction in global CO2 emissions and construction costs could be significant. The full benefits of carbon-negative cement could be realised after five to 10 years, with sidewalks and driveways likely to be the first carbon negative constructions rather than skyscrapers.
Smaller than a netbook, and bigger than a smartphone – net tablets arrive
NetTabs, connected portable devices will be purchased by tens of millions of people in 2010. These devices have an advantage over smartphones—which are small for watching videos or web browsing—and notebooks, netbooks, and ultra-thin PCs, which are too heavy or expensive.
The likes of Apple and Microsoft teaming up with Hewlett-Packard, are anticipated to launch their products early this year, following news out of the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2010. Custom-designed tablets are also likely to be released by start-ups, some existing phone and PC makers, netbook leaders, and various smaller manufacturers using open-source phone operating systems.
Since netTabs are designed to connect wirelessly over WiFi, wireless carriers are likely to try to push users off cellular networks and onto WiFi as much as possible. NetTabs are also more expensive than most smartphones, and consumers are likely to demand big upfront subsidies.
Moore’s Law is alive and well in 2010
Despite forecasts of a gloomier scenario, Moore’s Law will probably work in 2010, with advances allowing for greater transistor density. However, this may not yield more powerful chips. Moore’s Law — the traditional ability of the global semiconductor industry to double the number of transistors in a square centimetre of silicon every 18-24 months — is not expected to come to a screeching halt in 2010, or even slow down.
The increased density is unlikely to be used to produce larger or more computationally powerful chips. Instead, “good enough” chips that are smaller, use less electricity and cost less money could emerge. With current growth of lower cost laptops and ultra low-cost netbooks, the next generations of PC chips are likely to be optimised for price, with consideration given to power consumption, but little focus on performance.
Other hot markets - smartphones, and perhaps tablets - will likely be optimised for power consumption, and possibly price, however, performance will be almost irrelevant. Although some chips will remain performance-driven, this segment may not see much growth.
Many IT applications (server farms, etc.) are large users of electrical power, so more efficient chips are a good thing. New equipment that uses less electricity and requires less cooling may allow for re-architected or larger data centres without necessitating increased refrigeration or power supplies.
BANGALORE, INDIA: The Technology, Media and Telecommunications (TMT) practice at Deloitte announced its 2010 predictions for the technology sector, forecasting that 2010 will be the breakout year for net tablets.
The connected portable devices are expected to offer a more appealing balance of form and function, and are anticipated to be purchased by tens of millions of people in the year ahead.
Rajarshi Sengupta, Senior Director, Deloitte & Touche Consulting comments: “The rise of the net tablet could constrain the growth of the nascent e-reader market. For every million net tablets sold there will be a corresponding impact on e-readers. We also predict that in 2010 many enterprise purchasing decisions will be based more on the preferences of individual employees, rather than traditional IT department criteria.”
Deloitte also forecasts that Virtual Desk Infrastructure, a computing model based on thin or stateless clients, centralised applications and processing power, will be taken far more seriously than in previous years. An anticipated 1 million seats are expected to go thin client in 2010, with the largest deployments involving tens of thousands of seats. By 2015, thin client may reach 10 percent of all enterprise client devices.
The CleanTech sector’s performance is anticipated to be mixed, according to Deloitte. Although solar demand is likely to grow strongly in 2010 and 2011, some subsidy cuts and cheaper-than-expected electricity rates may prevent that growth from being as strong as some might hope. It is expected that the solar technology subsector will be outperformed by the broader CleanTech industry.
Rajarshi Sengupta said: “2010 will also see the world’s first laboratory scale carbon-negative cement plant delivering significant reductions in global CO2 emissions. In contrast, solar power technology could struggle in 2010 due to the cost of solar equipment, tools and raw materials, overcapacity and weak economics.”
Thinking thin is in again: virtual desktop infrastructures challenge the PC
Deloitte predicts that in 2010 thin client will be taken far more seriously than in previous years, even if it does not outsell its thick client counterpart. Over the next five years, thin client should reach 10 percent of organisations’ computers, with the majority of medium to large businesses considering a shift to virtual desktop infrastructure.
Thin client can help to deliver direct savings by minimising and making IT support and maintenance more efficient, as well as reducing hardware costs and licensing fees. There are other less tangible benefits to virtual desktop infrastructure including; mobility, increased productivity, lower real estate costs, lower power consumption and better security.
Those charged with deploying thin client may need to convince workers who begrudge the lack of a local hard disk drive that pure forms of thin client entails. However, abetted by a backdrop of recession or slow recovery, employers may consider it a good opportunity to reshape working conditions.
IT procurement stands on its head
In the past, technology and telecommunications hardware and software manufacturers have targeted products to the enterprise market, specifically the gate-keeping IT department. In 2010, many enterprise purchasing decisions will be based more on the preferences of individual employees.
With the rise of the ‘prosumer’—employees who buy a phone for both work and play—more and more enterprises are likely to allow employees to choose their own phones, or at least allow prosumer-selected phones to integrate better with enterprise networks.
Enterprise-focused vendors will need to alter sales techniques originally designed to sell to monolithic buyers whose concerns were enterprise in scale. While IT departments will have to become more flexible, best practices are still necessary, such as deleting data on employees’ devices if they change jobs.
Also, given the faddish nature of consumer sentiment, processes that reduce product churn will be needed. The future of many enterprise computing and telecom tools will likely involve compromises between work and personal life, that is, employees being available 24/7 but allowed to choose their own smartphone.
CleanTech makes a comeback. But solar stays in the shadows
After the CleanTech industry’s near-collapse during the economic crisis, government stimulus and investor interest has caused a sharp recovery. However, not all areas are sharing the bounty.
Although the CleanTech Index is up 75 percent since its market lows, the view for the dominant solar technology—crystalline silicon photovoltaic (C-Si PV)—and its infrastructure is less positive in the next year or two. Currently, C-Si PV faces two challenges that could limit its recovery: overcapacity and weak economics.
Prior to the 2008 economic downturn, governments created a spike in demand for C-Si PV manufacturing capacity and installation. Capacity expansion continues unabated, largely in China and the United States. By 2010, over-capacity will mean C-Si PV utilisation will be barely above 25 percent.
The economic crisis has also caused conventional energy prices to be lower than forecasted and some developers of PV installations are seeing payback on investment remain at around 15 to 20 years without subsidies. Consumers and utilities will benefit from the significant drop in PV silicon prices, making solar more affordable for those with longer-term investment horizons.
From grey to green: technology re-invents cement
In 2010, technology’s contribution to CO2 reduction could result in electric cars, more efficient airplanes and leaner data centres. Yet there is another largely-overlooked industrial segment that may deliver equal benefit: cement. Cement production represents about 5 percent of global emissions – almost double that of the aviation sector – but is an essential driver of economic growth.
2010 should see the world’s first laboratory scale carbon-negative cement plant, with an industrial scale plant expected in 2011. The total resulting reduction in global CO2 emissions and construction costs could be significant. The full benefits of carbon-negative cement could be realised after five to 10 years, with sidewalks and driveways likely to be the first carbon negative constructions rather than skyscrapers.
Smaller than a netbook, and bigger than a smartphone – net tablets arrive
NetTabs, connected portable devices will be purchased by tens of millions of people in 2010. These devices have an advantage over smartphones—which are small for watching videos or web browsing—and notebooks, netbooks, and ultra-thin PCs, which are too heavy or expensive.
The likes of Apple and Microsoft teaming up with Hewlett-Packard, are anticipated to launch their products early this year, following news out of the Consumer Electronics Show in January 2010. Custom-designed tablets are also likely to be released by start-ups, some existing phone and PC makers, netbook leaders, and various smaller manufacturers using open-source phone operating systems.
Since netTabs are designed to connect wirelessly over WiFi, wireless carriers are likely to try to push users off cellular networks and onto WiFi as much as possible. NetTabs are also more expensive than most smartphones, and consumers are likely to demand big upfront subsidies.
Moore’s Law is alive and well in 2010
Despite forecasts of a gloomier scenario, Moore’s Law will probably work in 2010, with advances allowing for greater transistor density. However, this may not yield more powerful chips. Moore’s Law — the traditional ability of the global semiconductor industry to double the number of transistors in a square centimetre of silicon every 18-24 months — is not expected to come to a screeching halt in 2010, or even slow down.
The increased density is unlikely to be used to produce larger or more computationally powerful chips. Instead, “good enough” chips that are smaller, use less electricity and cost less money could emerge. With current growth of lower cost laptops and ultra low-cost netbooks, the next generations of PC chips are likely to be optimised for price, with consideration given to power consumption, but little focus on performance.
Other hot markets - smartphones, and perhaps tablets - will likely be optimised for power consumption, and possibly price, however, performance will be almost irrelevant. Although some chips will remain performance-driven, this segment may not see much growth.
Many IT applications (server farms, etc.) are large users of electrical power, so more efficient chips are a good thing. New equipment that uses less electricity and requires less cooling may allow for re-architected or larger data centres without necessitating increased refrigeration or power supplies.
Friday, January 22, 2010
Strong rebound for domestic Indian IT services market: Ovum
INDIA: Ovum, the global ICT advisory and consulting firm, predicts 2010 to be a good year for the domestic Indian IT Services market.
According to a market sizing and forecasting model titled “India Market Trends 2009: IT services forecast”, the Indian IT Services market is anticipated to grow about 23 percent during 2010. Despite the positive outlook, the market will not see pre-recessionary growth levels until the tail end of the forecast period in 2013.
End users are expected to remain cautious with discretionary spending not picking up until 2011. By the end of the forecast period in 2013, the Indian IT services market will grow to over $24 billion, from $11 billion in 2010, mainly propelled by large e-governance projects being undertaken by central government.
2008 was a particularly buoyant year for the Indian IT Services market as strong economic growth helped propel IT spending. However, the latter part of 2008 and 2009 witnessed slowing growth as the global economic crisis made customers tighten purse strings. But India never technically went into recession, and with the global economy on its way to recovery, economic activity has also picked up in India.
"The recession did impact the IT services market in India, with spending growth across all service lines witnessing a decline. However, growth in the Indian IT Services market is picking up as customers have renewed spending and are putting out work that was on hold during the past year. The resilience of the Indian economy and its rapid progress to normalisation should bring more investment, driving growth in the sector," commented Hansa Iyengar, co-author of the forecast, who is based out of Ovum’s India office.
"The pent-up demand from key verticals has resulted in a strong rebound. Still, the market remains fragmented with the top 10 vendors accounting for only 33 percent market share. We anticipate deal sizes to get larger as customers look at the consolidating contracts to reap greater cost benefits which ought to play well to the strength of the top vendors in the region," added co-author Nishant Singh.
According to a market sizing and forecasting model titled “India Market Trends 2009: IT services forecast”, the Indian IT Services market is anticipated to grow about 23 percent during 2010. Despite the positive outlook, the market will not see pre-recessionary growth levels until the tail end of the forecast period in 2013.
End users are expected to remain cautious with discretionary spending not picking up until 2011. By the end of the forecast period in 2013, the Indian IT services market will grow to over $24 billion, from $11 billion in 2010, mainly propelled by large e-governance projects being undertaken by central government.
2008 was a particularly buoyant year for the Indian IT Services market as strong economic growth helped propel IT spending. However, the latter part of 2008 and 2009 witnessed slowing growth as the global economic crisis made customers tighten purse strings. But India never technically went into recession, and with the global economy on its way to recovery, economic activity has also picked up in India.
"The recession did impact the IT services market in India, with spending growth across all service lines witnessing a decline. However, growth in the Indian IT Services market is picking up as customers have renewed spending and are putting out work that was on hold during the past year. The resilience of the Indian economy and its rapid progress to normalisation should bring more investment, driving growth in the sector," commented Hansa Iyengar, co-author of the forecast, who is based out of Ovum’s India office.
"The pent-up demand from key verticals has resulted in a strong rebound. Still, the market remains fragmented with the top 10 vendors accounting for only 33 percent market share. We anticipate deal sizes to get larger as customers look at the consolidating contracts to reap greater cost benefits which ought to play well to the strength of the top vendors in the region," added co-author Nishant Singh.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Symantec 2010 state of the data center study shows mid-sized enterprises emerging as data center vanguards
This release is courtesy, Symantec
BANGALORE, INDIA: Symantec Corp. released the India findings of its 2010 State of the Data Center study.
Now in its third year, the study found that mid-sized enterprises (2,000 to 9,999 employees) are more likely to adopt cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing, de-duplication, replication, storage virtualization, and continuous data protection than small or large enterprises to reduce IT costs and manage increasing complexity.
Further, mid-sized enterprise data centers show more activity, with more IT managers predicting major changes to the data center and new applications in 2010. Mid-sized enterprises also place a higher importance on staffing and training than their small or large enterprise counterparts.
“Although mid-sized enterprises tend to evaluate and adopt new technologies at a faster rate than larger organizations, they still face similar data center complexities that are compounded by adopting new initiatives,” said Anand Naik, director, systems engineering, Symantec. “Standardizing on cross-platform solutions that can manage new technologies and automate processes will drive immediate cost reduction and make their jobs easier in the long run.”
Study highlights:
* Mid-sized enterprises are more aggressive and pioneering than either small or large enterprises. They are adopting new technology initiatives such as cloud computing, replication, and de-duplication at 10-15 percent higher rates than small or large enterprises.
* Top data center concerns include increased complexity and too many applications. Most enterprises have 10 or more data center initiatives rated as somewhat or absolutely important and fifty percent expect “significant” changes to their data centers in 2010. Half of all the enterprises say applications are growing somewhat/quickly and half of them are finding it difficult and costly to meet service level agreements (SLAs).
One-third of all enterprises say staff productivity is hampered by too many applications. Adding to the complexity is the continued increase in data causing 52 percent of organizations to consider data reduction technologies such as de-duplication. Controlling storage growth is also one of the major data center objectives for Indian mid- sized enterprises for 2010. Forty-six percent of enterprises consider that controlling storage growth is an absolute requirement while another 32 percent think it is somewhat important for 2010.
* Security, backup and recovery, and continuous data protection are the most important initiatives in 2010, ahead of virtualization. Sixty-eight percent of enterprises rated security somewhat or absolutely important. Sixty-two percent said backup and recovery is somewhat/absolutely important and 60 percent rated continuous data protection as one of their top initiatives.
* Staffing and budgets remain tight with half of all enterprises reporting they are somewhat/extremely understaffed. Finding budget and qualified applicants are the biggest recruiting issues. Seventy-nine percent of enterprises have the same or more job requisitions open this year.
* There continues to be room for improvement in disaster recovery (DR). One-third of disaster recovery plans are undocumented or need work and important IT components, such as cloud computing, remote office and virtual servers are often not included. Compounding the issue, almost one-third of enterprises haven’t re-evaluated their disaster recovery plan in the last 12 months. But at the same time, 65 percent of the companies seemed confident on their organization's DR plan unlike last year.
Recommendations
* Software that supports heterogeneous environments and eliminates islands of information is particularly important for mid-sized enterprises that are aggressively adopting new technologies because they can reduce complexity in the data center.
Organizations should deploy de-duplication closer to the information source to eliminate redundant data and reduce storage and network costs.
* Data center administrators need to manage storage across heterogeneous server and storage environments in a way that enables them to stop buying storage by leveraging new technology adoption such as storage resource management, thin provisioning, de-duplication, storage virtualization and continuous data protection and recovery. Organizations leveraging a holistic approach to storage management can control storage budget growth and often postpone storage purchases.
* Disaster recovery testing is invaluable, but can significantly impact business. Enterprises should seek to improve the success of testing by evaluating and implementing testing methods which are non-disruptive.
* Organizations should deploy a single, unified platform for physical and virtual machine protection to simplify information management.
BANGALORE, INDIA: Symantec Corp. released the India findings of its 2010 State of the Data Center study.
Now in its third year, the study found that mid-sized enterprises (2,000 to 9,999 employees) are more likely to adopt cutting-edge technologies such as cloud computing, de-duplication, replication, storage virtualization, and continuous data protection than small or large enterprises to reduce IT costs and manage increasing complexity.
Further, mid-sized enterprise data centers show more activity, with more IT managers predicting major changes to the data center and new applications in 2010. Mid-sized enterprises also place a higher importance on staffing and training than their small or large enterprise counterparts.
“Although mid-sized enterprises tend to evaluate and adopt new technologies at a faster rate than larger organizations, they still face similar data center complexities that are compounded by adopting new initiatives,” said Anand Naik, director, systems engineering, Symantec. “Standardizing on cross-platform solutions that can manage new technologies and automate processes will drive immediate cost reduction and make their jobs easier in the long run.”
Study highlights:
* Mid-sized enterprises are more aggressive and pioneering than either small or large enterprises. They are adopting new technology initiatives such as cloud computing, replication, and de-duplication at 10-15 percent higher rates than small or large enterprises.
* Top data center concerns include increased complexity and too many applications. Most enterprises have 10 or more data center initiatives rated as somewhat or absolutely important and fifty percent expect “significant” changes to their data centers in 2010. Half of all the enterprises say applications are growing somewhat/quickly and half of them are finding it difficult and costly to meet service level agreements (SLAs).
One-third of all enterprises say staff productivity is hampered by too many applications. Adding to the complexity is the continued increase in data causing 52 percent of organizations to consider data reduction technologies such as de-duplication. Controlling storage growth is also one of the major data center objectives for Indian mid- sized enterprises for 2010. Forty-six percent of enterprises consider that controlling storage growth is an absolute requirement while another 32 percent think it is somewhat important for 2010.
* Security, backup and recovery, and continuous data protection are the most important initiatives in 2010, ahead of virtualization. Sixty-eight percent of enterprises rated security somewhat or absolutely important. Sixty-two percent said backup and recovery is somewhat/absolutely important and 60 percent rated continuous data protection as one of their top initiatives.
* Staffing and budgets remain tight with half of all enterprises reporting they are somewhat/extremely understaffed. Finding budget and qualified applicants are the biggest recruiting issues. Seventy-nine percent of enterprises have the same or more job requisitions open this year.
* There continues to be room for improvement in disaster recovery (DR). One-third of disaster recovery plans are undocumented or need work and important IT components, such as cloud computing, remote office and virtual servers are often not included. Compounding the issue, almost one-third of enterprises haven’t re-evaluated their disaster recovery plan in the last 12 months. But at the same time, 65 percent of the companies seemed confident on their organization's DR plan unlike last year.
Recommendations
* Software that supports heterogeneous environments and eliminates islands of information is particularly important for mid-sized enterprises that are aggressively adopting new technologies because they can reduce complexity in the data center.
Organizations should deploy de-duplication closer to the information source to eliminate redundant data and reduce storage and network costs.
* Data center administrators need to manage storage across heterogeneous server and storage environments in a way that enables them to stop buying storage by leveraging new technology adoption such as storage resource management, thin provisioning, de-duplication, storage virtualization and continuous data protection and recovery. Organizations leveraging a holistic approach to storage management can control storage budget growth and often postpone storage purchases.
* Disaster recovery testing is invaluable, but can significantly impact business. Enterprises should seek to improve the success of testing by evaluating and implementing testing methods which are non-disruptive.
* Organizations should deploy a single, unified platform for physical and virtual machine protection to simplify information management.
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