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.