Comments for Unified Communications and Cloud Services Blog

Comment on E-Reading in 2011. Virtual Software or Physical Device ? by samroutledge

samroutledge — Mon, 21 Feb 2011 15:24:48 +0000

That’s interesting… I went in exactly the opposite direction. I got an iPad when they first came out, and started using the Kindle app. Whilst I thought it was great, I bought a Kindle for a holiday trip partly so that I could read in the sun and partly as I expected my three-year-old daughter would probably monopolise the iPad on the plane.
I now do all my (book) reading on the Kindle (despite being an avid iPad user). One of the major reasons for this is that it stops me getting distracted by all the other cool things that the iPad does! IMHO the iPad is great for magazines and newspapers, but I prefer the close-to-paper feel of the Kindle for book reading.
Oh, and the refresh thing doesn’t really bother me – it doesn’t seem to take any longer than flipping a page…

Comment on Dynamics CRM 2011 Online Launches – Opportunity or Threat for Dynamics Hosting Partners? by Mark Seemann

Mark Seemann — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 13:36:38 +0000

Neil, licensing mobility is an issue currently for moving from Select or Enterprise agreements over to a shared infrastructure platform but Outsourcery have been working with Microsoft to resolve this issue once and for all.

For your information, Outsourcery provides dedicated CRM platforms for larger customers and we are about to launch a brand new vDedicated CRM offering through our new DDC (Microsoft Dynamic Data Centre) platform.

When pricing is compared, it actually costs in for a fraction of the 1000 users you talk about. However the biggest issue is integration and professional services – if you have PS teams in house you can provide customisation and differentiation no matter who’s platform you are on.

However if you wish to integrate external applications such as Call Recording into CRM
then you really need to own the infrastructure as this will not be possible on Online currently. That is why you need to offer the power of choice to give the customer the best solution for their needs.

Comment on Dynamics CRM 2011 Online Launches – Opportunity or Threat for Dynamics Hosting Partners? by Neil Benson

Neil Benson — Fri, 21 Jan 2011 12:30:19 +0000

Mark, you’ve raised some good points. Hosting partners who can offer a differentiated hosted CRM service will survive. But last time I checked, Outsourcery couldn’t deliver dedicated CRM (no mention of it on the website). Would Outsourcery’s dedicated CRM customers still be limited to 5 customisations?

Microsoft licensing doesn’t allow *any* shared servers in a dedicated deployment (no shared provisioning, AD or database servers) so the costs benefits of dedicated CRM hosting are much harder to justify unless you’re talking about 1,000+ users.

Comment on BT Infinity is launched and the Rural Broadband Divide widens once again. by chrisconder

chrisconder — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 09:34:44 +0000

Sorry, but if bonding goes ahead it effectively means the copper cabal will continue to hold this country to ransom for many years. The connection it delivers is not fit for purpose now, let alone in another decade. It is expensive way of protecting the rest of the network. Far better to get fibre to the rurals, then the telcos will soon do the urban areas. The way to move forward is to remove the valuation office tax on new lit fibre so other private companies can do the job that openreach doesn’t want to do. Once there is a level playing field and the incumbent isn’t protected then an open market place will soon sort the men from the boys. If new copper is laid it is a crime. The future won’t wait for us to catch up.
Other countries forge ahead, and we are going to be in the copper slow lane. Its not on.
We must say NO to BET.
chris

Comment on BT Infinity is launched and the Rural Broadband Divide widens once again. by Mark Seemann

Mark Seemann — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 08:55:08 +0000

Chris, In response to you, I agree with you that fibre to the home is the only way to get super fast broadband. However rural areas are many years away from this reality and bonded copper is the only practical approach for now. It can never be as good as fibre but it will be better than what we have today. Also giving lower cost back-haul to the service providers will not be a sufficient incentive on its own because the far greater cost is providing the fibre local loop to the home.
At the end of the day, it will cost BT far less to lay more copper and remove the DACs than it would to roll fibre in to these rural areas. As much as I want fibre to my rural home, I know it isn’t going to happen as the economics are simply not there and the government seems to take the view that broadband is better than no broadband – even if it isn’t super fast.
Given the current austerity measures and the lack-lustre economy I still believe that bonded DSL is the only practical approach we have available to us today.

Comment on BT Infinity is launched and the Rural Broadband Divide widens once again. by chrisconder

chrisconder — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 06:28:43 +0000

I don’t agree with your first point. Once the rurals are on bonded copper (BET) see http://media140.com/?p=252 then they will never get access to fast broadband. It costs a lot of money to implement bonding, and all it does is protect the copper cabal for another decade. Copper can never deliver decent connectivity over distance. Far better to go with your second point, get the fibre out to the rural community and let them do something with it. The initiative in cumbria where the plan is to build digital village pumps is the best so far.
Once a community has access to affordable gigabit backhaul it is worth them laying their own fibre to join it. it becomes cost effective to pay for the connection if it means they have next generation access to a fat pipe instead of a leaky bucket.
The final third has to help itself. www finalthirdfirst org