SIIA Blog
Native App or Web Site?
Deciding Your Next Step in Mobile
Authored by:
Paul Moceri, Deloitte
David Smud, Deloitte
Daniel Vitulich, Deloitte
Nolan Wright, Appcelerator
The next installment in SIIA’s Issue Brief series discusses the wide variety of options to publish a free mobile app. The following quick reference chart covers a number of factors you should consider when choosing your route.
Download the complete paper for an in-depth review of these factors, along with use cases and more!
Last week saw the release of the FCC’s report “Information Needs of Communities.” The report analyzes the current state of the media and concludes that “with the media landscape shifiting as fast as it has been, some current regulations are out of sync with the information needs of communities and the fluid nature of modern local medda markets.” Additionally, the report makes several specific policy recommendations aimed at helping to reduce the cost of reporting, enabling consumers, improving the media markets, removing obstacles to innovation, and ensuring taxpayer resources are well used.
The six broad recommendations from the report are:
1.) Information required by FCC policy to be disclosed to the public should, over time, be available online.
2.) Greater government transparency will enable both citizens and reporters to more effectively monitor powerful institutions and benefit from public services.
3.) Existing government advertising spending should be targeted more toward local media.
4.) Nonprofit media needs to develop more sustainable business models, especially through private donations.
5.) Universal broadband and an open Internet are essential prerequisites for ensuring that the new media landscape serves communities well.
6.) Policymakers should take historically underserved communitites into account when crafting strategies and rules.
While the report highlights gaps in local, community reported news, it also acknowledges the vast number of outlets and their continued exploration of business models. The report’s conclusion:
“the gaps are quite important, but they are fixable. In other words, we find ourselves in an unusual moment when ignoring the ailments of local media will mean that serious harm may be done to our communities – but paying attention to them will enable Americans to develop, literally, the best media system the nation has ever had.”
It remains to be seen what will become of the report, or the recommendations. But there’s no question that the media landscape is shifting rapidly and will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. On behalf of our members and then industry, SIIA will continue to monitor the policy proposals and developments throughout this proces.
How does a company transition from strictly desktop software to one that today generates about 60 percent of its revenue in connected services?
Delivering a keynote at All About the Cloud, Intuit CIO Ginny Lee talked about Intuit’s journey from desktop to anytime, anywhere access on any device and how the company is fueling innovation and growth in the cloud.
Whether you’re running a cloud business or transitioning to one, Lee stressed the importance of:
Mindset – IT plays a critical role in enabling growth and a great customer experience. Therefore, put customers at the heart of everything you do. Think business first, tech second. Be explicit about roles and hold everyone accountable.
Innovation – Break down the barriers to innovation by creating tools that foster rapid prototyping and innovation both inside and outside of your company. Tap into the vast ecosystem of external developers at the ready to help create great offerings.
Data - The nature of data is maturing and how you use it can be a competitive advantage. Intuit embraces data driven innovation and looks beyond basic reporting to data driven actions and insights.
To see the slides and watch the video replay, visit The Inuit Network.
Thanks to everyone for another fantastic All About the Cloud conference!
Building a High Value SaaS Business (SIIA Members-only Download)
Authored by Kevin Dobbs, Montclair Advisors, LLC and Lauren Kelley, CEO, OPEXEngine
This white paper will examine how successful Software-as-a-Service companies have built their businesses to map to new buyer dynamics, created customer-centric and data-driven management cultures and done it all in a way that drives very attractive company valuations.
Upcoming member deadline: May 25th is the last day to submit your 2011 Software Benchmarking Survey by OPEXEngine. Free for SIIA members under $10M in revenue, for more information about SIIA membership contact Seth Dean.
Last week, Senate Judiciary Committee Chairman Leahy, ranking member Grassley, and Senator Hatch introduced S. 968, “The Preventing Real Online Threats to Economic Creativity and Theft of Intellectual Property Act” (The PROTECT IP Act).
Similar to last year’s COICA bill, the PROTECT IP Act applies to Internet sites that are “dedicated to infringing activities,” (aka “rogue websites”). The bill allows the Department of Justice (DOJ) or an IP owner to sue the rogue sites. A court order will issue, if the Internet site is found to be “dedicated to infringement,” directed at U.S. consumers and harms U.S. IP owners.
If the action is brought by DOJ, the court order may (with court authority) then be served on ISPs, financial transaction providers, online advertising services, and search engines. In response to the order, ISPs and search engines would be required to take steps to prevent access to the site and financial transaction providers and online advertising services would be required to cease doing business with the site.
An action brought by the IP owner would operate similarly except that the order may only be served on financial transaction providers and advertising services (not to ISPs or search engines). The bill is included on the agenda to be marked up at the Senate Judiciary Committee business meeting this Thursday.