Battle in the Cloud

Following yesterday's post on tonight's (NZ-time) Azure presentation in Swansea, I read an interesting article on Reuters today.

Google has introduced software to make it easier for businesses using Microsoft's Outlook to switch to its Web-based communications and collaboration products. Google says that its new software can easily transfer data from a Microsoft Exchange server to its own cloud-based online service.

The new product allows business users to continue using the Outlook client for email and other tasks, but the back-end functionality and data storage would move to Google, instead of residing on a company's internal servers running Microsoft software.

The product, Google Apps Sync for Microsoft Outlook, will be available immediately as part of the existing Premier version of Google apps, which costs US$50 per business user but is also available to educational and nonprofit customers for free.

This is not so much a battle, as a preliminary skirmish. Expect plenty more of the same however as the Clouds gather. At the moment, it is 'handbags at dawn'. Down track, the battles for eyeballs, hits and dollars will become much more intense.

Thinking about China

I received an email from Export NZ (BOP) on Saturday inviting me to a briefing next Wednesday at the Chapel Street offices.

Export NZ Bay of Plenty is planning a business delegation to China next year for both their 'Sister Cities' relationships and to coincide with the Shanghai World Expo 2010. For me, this might just map some longer term thoughts.

New Zealand business is uniquely placed to take advantage of the 2010 Expo. As the first, and at this point, only country in the world to sign a Free Trade Agreement with China, it provides NZ business with a great opportunity.

The NZ Government has already committed considerable resource to build an NZ Pavilion at the event. A number of other initiatives are underway to facilitate engagement between Kiwi and Chinese corporations.

So far as Wednesday's invite is concerned, I am signing up. Time perhaps to build some more substance around those thoughts.

NZ Online Ad Spend Up

The New Zealand Interactive Advertising Bureau reports strong year-on-year growth for the first quarter of 2009.

In its PriceWaterhouseCoopers-audited survey for the first three months of the calendar year, the IAB found online ad spend had increased 7.99% over the same period in 2008, hitting $46.26 million.

During the same period, advertising in traditional media was down at least 10%.

The IAB’s trailing 12-month total for NZ’s online ad spend has now hit an all-time high of $196.55 million.

These numbers follow my recent postings on the challenges facing traditional media. Whilst current online spend is perhaps down on the rather more optimistic forecasts of 12 months ago, they still demonstrate growth and resilience at a time of entrenched global recession.

Longer term, they also demonstrate the continuing drift of ad media spend from the offline to the online space. That drift is now structural and is here to stay.

Bing

I've bookmarked Bing.

Support the small guy. That's my mantra. (A US 12% market share is small - even if the owner isn't)

I am still working through some of the search functionality. I want to determine if the owner has used any of the really valuable search IP it has acquired in the past 12 months: namely PowerSet and FAST. Both acquisitions have in my view accelerated Microsoft's move to the smart end of contextual and enterprise search. And at the fraction of the cost of the expected Yahoo acquisition.

Copying Google is not the way forward. Improving on the search and user experience is. PowerSet and FAST both provide that opportunity. I am just trying to figure out what they might have added to Bing.

[Updated: An interesting related story I read on Reuters following this posting. It's all about timing, they say!]

'Microsoft Corp is willing to invest up to 10 percent of its operating income in its Internet search business for up to five years', Chief Executive Steve Ballmer said on Thursday, as its "Bing" search engine starts to gain ground with Web surfers.

Bing -- part of Microsoft's perennially money-losing online services unit -- has been winning market share from rivals, according to industry data released this week, but still trails market leader Google by a long way.

"Our shareholders, I told them we were willing to spend 5 to 10 percent of operating income for up to five years in this business, and we feel like we can get an economic return," Ballmer told a business lunch in Chicago, without elaborating on the timeframe.'

SunLive

Tauranga has a new daily News online portal. It is SunLive and looks as though it is published by the publishers of The Weekend Sun.

Up to this point, The Bay of Plenty Times has been the main local online news source. Its one fault however is that it seems to update local news only once a day and this is taken from the day's printed paper. By contrast, SunLive appears to be updated throughout the day.

It's good to have an alternative local news source. It will be interesting to see how the BOP Times responds. Or if, as part of the online APN publishing portfolio, it can.

Awesome - Dim Sum

My umbrella is at the ready.......

On 23rd April, I blogged that it was cloudy and drizzly outside.

The words of the captain 6 hours ago were not that comforting. "We are skirting a typhoon", he said before ominously adding, "there are thunderstorms in the Hong Kong area". So 2 months on and the same wet and humid reception awaited.

This time I am here for a week. On the last trip, I talked about discovering 'dots' and possible 'networks'. This week, it is all about joining them up. Meetings have been organised and a busy schedule lies ahead.

First things first however. Finding that awesome Sunday Dim Sum is my next quest. Kowloon, here I come.

Awesome Cyberport

Hong Kong's Cyberport

Last time I visited Hong Kong, it was the Science Park at Shatun in the New Territories that caught my attention. This time, it is Hong Kong's Cyberport.

It is home to Microsoft HK, plus a significant number of other ICT companies. It is also home to Smart-Space, an incubator for start-up companies. I am interested.

The first two days of this market visit have been packed with meetings. Last night, NZTE hosted a reception at the Pacific Club in Kowloon. It was a great opportunity to meet great Kiwis doing great things in the region. There are now even more dots to connect.

At a meeting yesterday morning with Microsoft HK, I was surprised to learn that Pingar could well be the first Microsoft NZ partner to set up an office here. At Cyberport however, the story was different. It was clear that an existing engagement existed with Growth Wellington around the digital / creative industry space. The name WETA comes to mind.

This market visit is going quickly, but after two days, many of the original milestones have already been met. More updates when I am back in NZ.

Awesome - NZ Chamber of Commerce

As those who follow this blog will know, Pingar is a member of the Tauranga Chamber of Commerce.

So tonight, it was a privilege to be invited to meet up with the NZ Chamber of Commerce, here in Hong Kong. I have to say, it was full on. Networking here is both instant and fun. I have more business cards tonight in the wallet than after 5 Tauranga CoC BA5s. So what's the difference?

I guess in part, it is the business networking environment. This is a business city. For most of the people I spoke to tonight, this was just one of three or four such events this week. They love it. And it works.

Last night, Jacqui and I attended the NZTE Summer BBQ at the Pacific Club. The two events are related. There is a very strong Kiwi business community here. Jacqui and I have been privileged to meet them.

So if you are a business in New Zealand and are looking to set up here, then check them out. We have, and we will again.

Auckland Bound

The market visit to Hong Kong has come to an end.

The visit has surpassed all expectations. The opportunities here are immense. A return visit is already scheduled.

Right now, my focus is directed at the NZ SharePoint Users Conference to be held in Wellington next week. It will be good to connect with the NZ SharePoint user community and engage with some Microsoft professionals.

Between then and now however, there is the small matter of the commute home. And the in-bound typhoon. Hmmmmm......

Shanghai Expo 2010

A sketch of the NZ Pavilion at the Shanghai Expo 2010

A couple of weeks ago, I posted a blog about the intended presence of Export NZ (BOP) at the Shanghai Expo 2010. Although I am now back in NZ (fog at Auckland was the problem, not the expected typhoon off HK), my mind is still working on this past week's meetings.

The Expo is expected to attract 70 million visitors between May and October. At least 40,000 are expected to visit the NZ Pavilion over this period, EACH DAY. That's some exposure.

The New Zealand Pavilion, themed "Cities of Nature: Living between Land and Sky", will be located on a 2,000-square-meter land in Pudong side of the Expo site. The New Zealand Government will invest nearly NZD30 million (US$23.05 million) at the Shanghai Expo 2010. That's some spend.

Which brings me neatly back to 'my thoughts'. How can we benefit from and leverage this presence? The opportunities I have witnessed this week are real. They are also enormous. Keep thinking Peter, 'keep thinking'.

Tauranga - The Week Ahead

It's amazing how the in tray piles up when you are away from the office. I am currently working my way through correspondence of all sorts. This is not unimportant.

On Wednesday, I am traveling to Wellington for the NZ SharePoint Users Conference. Before then, there are a stack of engagements I need to set up around NZ. That's part of the joy of offshore market visits. They set up a whole new set of files and folders. Hong Kong already has its own set of drop-downs in place.

Several stories have surfaced whilst I was away. One very positive one is the news that Sparkbox founders Andrew Duff and Henry Tait are fundraising for a new $50 million venture capital fund to invest in early stage New Zealand technology companies. It has received a $20 million funding commitment from the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund.

The fund is called the '2 Ignite' fund and it will apparently target technology-based investments in areas such as information and communications, the medical and bio-tech sector, and the Internet.

Last year, I spoke to Greg Sitters of Sparkbox and he identified a hole in current NZ capital markets for emerging technology companies. I very much hope that 2 Ignite is one way to begin to address and fill that hole.

Taxing the Cloud

In Hong Kong, I had a very interesting meeting with KPMG.

We looked at the business model and started talking about Microsoft's Azure platform. As previous postings to this blog will verify, this is Pingar's preferred hosting platform.

Most of the discussions I have had around 'Cloud Computing' relate to technical issues. The meeting with KPMG highlighted another - tax.

If one follows the basic Microsoft Azure premise that server and broadband capacity can be replicated across multiple servers as demand requires, it is quite possible that e-commerce transactions could be transacted across numerous locations. That leads to some interesting tax-related scenarios. This is not a discussion I have had before.

At this point, I do not know enough about the Azure platform, to understand how the system might manage this process. Sure as hell, if the IRD or IRS come knocking on the door, we will need to be able to audit and date stamp each transaction. This is going to lead to some interesting conversations. Starting now.

More about this particular line of enquiry as I process through it.

To Wellington (with boots)

It's time once more for a trip to Wellington. This time to the NZ SharePoint Users Conference.

There is a seriously busy agenda in store. 7 sessions a day. Plus a lot of networking.

I am looking forward to it. Talking product for two days is not something I am used to. Soooo much time has been spent in recent weeks with professional advisers and others. As well as travel.

The forecast? Very cold, windy and wet. Welcome to our capital city!

Global Expert

Global Expert is an excellent service offered by The Foundation for Research, Science & Technology.

The Global Expert program uses a knowledge network of more than 20,000 pre-screened and qualified experts from leading universities, research institutions and corporations around the world to help NZ companies identify skill sets difficult to locate in NZ.

Such a requirement for Pingar became apparent during the two-day SharePoint Conference in Wellington, last week. I have started the engagement with Global Expert today.

As to the two days last week, I have not yet had the opportunity to post on them. Except to say that I will return next year. Almost 250 people attended the Conference. It attracted a very impressive selection of international speakers. With the upcoming launch of SharePoint 2010, next year's event can only be so much bigger.

Congratulations to the organisers of this inaugural event. All were volunteers from the NZ SharePoint Users Community. I hope that next year, Pingar might be able to make a more visible and viable contribution.

Focus on Search

Google's announcement overnight that it intends to take on Microsoft in the OS market, comes as no real surprise. It was interesting to note that Microsoft's share price stood steady.

One might expect Steve Ballmer to become defensive and invest more heavily in Windows 7.0 development. That would be a mistake. Bing is already beginning to make an impression on Google's search numbers in the States. And with FAST Search being integrated into SharePoint and no doubt further Microsoft apps in the future, this is where I believe the battle lines are really drawn.

My own take is that Microsoft has finally begun to work to a search roadmap that will lead to positive results. Acquiring search market share back from Google is now therefore back in Microsoft's own hands. Deploying significant resource in Google's own backyard might just be the strategy to offset last night's news from Mountain View.

Investor Relations

On Wednesday night, we hosted our half yearly Investor Presentation here at The Smart Business Centre.

Having caught 'man-flu' last weekend, it was a challenge both for me and our investors. I stuck to the water whilst they stuck into the goodies. I know which I would have preferred.

Investor presentations are a great way to take stock of where you are and where you are going. I was able to update the team on where I had been and what the road map for the next few months looked like. I think it is fair to say that they were supportive of the plans. Not for nothing, they call themselves 'Good Bastards'. I will leave it to Nick and Toby to explain that one!

As we move forward, communication with the investment team is going to become ever more important. We are trying to apply the same core principals that are required for publicly quoted companies.

Julien Leys from JML Communications spoke to the meeting and outlined our longer term Investor Communication strategy. For a relatively small start-up company, our approach might appear to be a highly structured. Long term however, it puts a process in place that will require little amendment. Transparency and openness now will pay dividends in the long term.

Office 2010

I guess my blog is bugged.

Shortly after submitting my last post about Office Lite, I get an email from Microsoft Connect inviting me to join the Office 2010 Technical Review Program. I have accepted.

It also reminds me that I have not yet posted about our latest Microsoft engagement. Pingar has been invited to join the Microsoft Wave 14 - Partner Engagement Program. I understand we one of 400 - 500 worldwide partners to be asked.

I did blog about Wave 14 a few weeks back. It is the acronym to describe Microsoft's 14 key product launches in 2010. Office 2010 is one. SharePoint 2010 is another. Pingar will be engaged with both.

So for now, it is time to go through the Connect pages. And time to start downloading part of the inevitable future.

Azure Launch Announced

I have blogged a number of times before about Azure, Microsoft's 'Cloud' platform.

It is extremely significant for Pingar. We are basing our global server architecture around the Azure platform so it is good that Microsoft have fronted up with some significant 'launch' news.

November 2009 appears to be kick-off date. I am working my way right now through some of the plans, but this is going to require direct engagement with the Azure Services team. 1 million servers might sound a lot. That number will have to be ramped up significantly.

It is only Day 2 of the Microsoft WorldWide Partner's Conference in New Orleans and already some key milestones have been set. For Pingar, those milestones appear to dovetail nicely into our own launch road map.

Good work, Steve and Ray.........

Living in Winterland

I've been living in New Zealand for six years now, but July still does not feel right.

This morning on Sky, I have been watching both the Ashes Test from Lords and the Open Championship from Turnbury. That's July in England. The probability of rain in London threatens England's excellent opening three days. And goose bumps are the order of the day on the Scottish coast.

Right now of course, it is mid-winter here in NZ. The daily temperature hovers around 14c and the wind blows off the Pacific.

On reflection then, July here is not that different to July back home. (Except for the Pacific). UK airports are now packed with people escaping the English 'summer' for warmer climes. Rock on Spain, Greece and Turkey. And here in one week's time, we are planning our own 'mid-winter' escape. The ability to redeem our Krisflyer air points points, makes Thailand an obvious destination.

For anyone who reads this blog fairly regularly, you might be aware of some of the opportunities that lie ahead. The problem is, this body needs to get some rest in the only window I can see between now and the end of 2009.

Jacqui has spelt out the rules. Internet access limited to 30 minutes a day. In 30c + sun, I will try and comply.

UK VC Funding

One blog I have permanently bookmarked is TechCrunch. It's my 2009 version of 'First Tuesday'. With a touch of The Valley.

Hands up those of you who remember 'First Tuesday' then. It is an iconic reminder of all that was exciting about the Dot Com era. Entrepreneurs, VC's and wet behind the ears investment bankers turned entrepreneurs met to plan the 'next big thing'. Well according to TechCruch today, things are not quite as rosy in post credit crunch UK.

I have lifted these three following paragraphs from TechCrunch. All rights recognised etc. etc.

'You think you have it bad, Mr.-Silicon-Valley-entrepreneur-trolling-Sand-Hilll-Road-for-cash? Try life on the other side of the pond. Out of 39 firms that were active investors in British start-ups over the last five years, only thirteen venture firms have £5 million or more left in their coffers to invest, according to NESTA, the UK agency that advocates for start-ups and also sponsored the recent Traveling Geeks blogger tour.

That’s right: All but thirteen firms in the United Kingdom are either completely tapped out or have committed the rest of their funds for follow-on investments in existing portfolio companies. In total, NESTA estimates there’s about £400 million left that’s uncommitted among the thirteen, with only half of that available for brand-new series A deals. To put that into perspective, there’s roughly the same amount of money in the fund Marc Andreessen just closed than there is for new companies in the entire United Kingdom right now.

This is coinciding with a precipitous drop in UK firms closing on new funds thanks to the global credit crunch. In 2008, only seven firms closed new funds, and NESTA expects fundraising to be even weaker in 2009'.

In March last year, I was invited to attend the 2008 UK Technology, Growth & Innovation Forum in London. This was an annual meeting of entrepreneurs and VC / Angel funds. The prognosis then was not great. It has clearly become a lot worse. GBP 200 million for UK start-ups is abysmal. And according to NESTA, it might deteriorate even further.

This news contrasts with what I view as being 'green shots' in the New Zealand VC sector. (Calling it anything more than a sector amounts to exaggeration. There are so few active funds at present). The view on the street however is that three or four funds here might announce quite significant new funds through 2009.

For now though, I am digesting the news from the UK.