technology
... how any company that provides expensive, business-critical software as a service via the Web (aka Web services) can refuse to offer a service level agreement to customers -- or act like no one ever asked before.
That is all.
SI changed Web hosts recently, and you might find value in my related exploration of cloud hosting and utility pricing models.
I made the switch while inspired to learn as much as possible about these contemporary hosting options, and how a Web strategy/development business like Small Initiatives could share apparent benefits with clients.
Those benefits apply to businesses that need to start (or restart) Web efforts small, but aspire to scale rapidly and handle unpredictable bandwidth/traffic spikes along the way:
If you're reading this, domain name service has done its magic and you are getting SI from its new hosting home.
I'll spare you the migration details. These days, changing hosting is like changing cell phone plans -- you just want the features you need, reliable service and a fair price. Not much sexy about it.
At the moment, both Bloglines and LinkedIn are down -- the former showing a generic "back-soon" splash, the latter claiming an upgrade is under way.
(Unless it's one whoa-nelly upgrade, I can't imagine prime time is the best time for a scheduled service window.)
Anyhoo, I see no blog buzz on these outages. What's the scoop?
Five minutes later: LinkedIn is back, but if it's upgraded, the new stuff has all the subtlety of a recluse spider.
No one told me this was Top 5 List Week. I spotted another useful list in Webland, this time, the five hidden costs of content management systems over at Vitamin.
In a nutshell:
- The cost of training
- The cost of quality
- The cost of functionality
- The cost of redundancy and flexibility
- The cost of commitment
In my experience, over the years training costs on modern CMS have dropped, but costs of commitment -- which I will extend to include costs associated with keeping internal customers happy -- keep growing no matter how good, or new, the system.
Marty Abbott and Michael Fisher, writing at GigaOM, describe the top five reasons technology executives fail. The short form:
- Failure to build a world-class team.
- Failure to execute.
- Failure to lead/motivate/inspire.
- Failure to manage operationally.
- Lack of financial acumen.
Abbott's and Fisher's explanations focus on technology executives -- for example, the admonishment that "your senior technology officer does not need to be the brightest technical mind in the business." Their logic, nevertheless, also applies to other kinds of executives, from creative leaders up to CEOs.
