Friday, March 10, 2006

Web collaboration and information storage

Interesting company that Google just gobbled up: http://www2.writely.com/info/WritelyOverflowWelcome.htm


Another idea I've thought about...why should I be saving emails and documents in different hierarchical file systems or DBs? While Google desktop allows me the ability to search both, I'd rather be able to store all of my items in a single relational db with title, comments, and all the relevant details. I think need to be able to pull them out as needed without having to search each one independently for information. Why can't email and files live in the same hierarchical or relational system rather than distinct ones? I need a single information store for all my communication paths (so ideally even web pages, RSS, SMS, and every other way in which I get electronic info). Each one should have some meta data that I can search on and allow me to share or search for that information as needed. Google Desktop is a start but it doesn't solve the issue because I spend a lot of time organizing my email folders as I do organizing my file folders. Both should be the same and both should auto-learn the way in which I store data and the kind of data I create and receive. And they should understand whether this is work or personal as well as whether it's time sensitive or not.

Saturday, March 04, 2006

50% done with Berkeley-Columbia's Exec program

As of this writing, I am officially 52% done with my career as an Exec MBA student at the Berkeley-Columbia Executive program. It's been a blast so far even if the work has been overwhelming at times. I don't do all the homework I'm supposed to and I can't always do all the readings I want to, but for the most part I feel like it's been an amazingly valuable experience.

I'm trying to compare this to two other people I know who are attending an MBA program at the same time. The first is my twin brother who is attending Columbia's Exec MBA program and the other is my friend who is attending IMD's full time (1 year) program.

I must say that the rigor of IMD's program has really impressed me. I don't even understand half of what Sia writes on his blog. I will say that it sounds like he's getting worked a lot harder than I am although with my full-time work, I think we both keep pretty busy.

Makes me wonder what the purpose of these programs are...is it really the rigor or does the rigor inspire the network? I like the folks in my program but I don't want to think I just ponied up $126K just to hang out and get to know them. Could I have learned all this from a book somewhere? Probably. Would I have met the same amazing people..maybe, but it would have taken me longer.

It does make me believe there isn't much difference between those that "succeed" and those that don't. Some of it's luck, some of it's the right people, and some of it's just being ready for the right opportunity. I'm hoping some of that hits me soon.

BTW, here's my friend's blog on IMD: http://sliceoftoro.blogspot.com

My next project (between moving into my new house and renting our old place): setting up zimbra on my Mac Mini: www.zimbra.com. These guys did email right.

Friday, March 03, 2006

LinkedIn

I've got a new LinkedIn profile on the web: https://www.linkedin.com/in/banjot

I'm digging this LinkedIn thing...I'm able to reconnect with lots of old colleagues and even classmates from my days at Brown.

Operational Efficiency in Tech companies

we had this debate during lunch while I was attending my block at Berkeley for the BC EMBA program. My Cap Markets professor asked how our operations class was going...to which we all avoided the question since it's ridiculously boring and the other professor was standing 5 feet away.

Anyways, we claimed initially that most tech companies don't understand operational efficiency because they haven't had to. I argued though, that this is going to change and has changed. I'm sure companies like eBay have figured out how to most efficiently perform transactions and list "junk" on their website. I can't imagine they haven't done that analysis....have they? As protocols and hardware become standardized at each level, things will become more efficient. Look at how networking has become easy, now if you tell someone how big an organization is, we can scale bandwidth appropriately.I think OS and hardware and web apps will get to that point fairly soon...the standards are already forming. Once that happens, operational efficiency will decide who makes money on it (essentially dropping your marginal cost for your products, allowing you to drop price and gain marketshare).

I know my organization is not efficient on sales operations and has managed some operational efficiency in our back-end operations (we've got 15-20 BILLION queries running through our systems today...btw, we run the .net and .com registry and largest SS7 networks in the US, so that's how we accomplist those feats). I don't think tech companies can actually figure this stuff out though. How do you resolve how many transactions are running through your system? Is it based on web traffic? is it based on users logging in? Is it based on users who bought something? Is it based on page views? All of these must play some role. The last company I worked for (Verizon Wireless) tried to figure this out but they were hopelessly scrambling to keep their infrastructure running and couldn't spend the time or energy to truly develop a holistic view of what actually went through the network. Nobody inside could even figure out what the bigger picture looked other than some of the Technical Directors, but they spent all day firefighting new problems. Amazed me that nobody wanted this information badly enough to spend significant $$ on it!

It got me thinking that it would be a great idea for a company. Wouldn't it be great if someone could tell you exactly what kinds of transactions populate your network. And based on some criteria of what actually encompassed a transaction, you could categorize the different types of transactions as well as model what an increase would look like. Ideally, you could also develop a way to decide on hardware and software that would allow you to understand what your bandwidth needs are.

Thursday, March 02, 2006

The Sopranos

I've been stuck on the Soprano's for the last 4-5 months. I can't believe I missed this for the last 4 years. What a great show. My wife is a little sick from all the graphic violence but she seems just as hooked as I am. A sensitive guy with a little bit of a tough side.

I'm almost caught up now to the current season. My prediction: Tony Soprano gets whacked. I think I know what makes the show, it's the music.