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Ignite X is a recognized, integrated marketing agency in Silicon Valley that delivers content marketing, executive branding, and public relations services.
Ignite X specializes in helping technology startups grow their market visibility and brand. We bring expertise, connections and tenacity to helping brands break through the noise. Here are some of the things we've learned along the way.
Should Amazon’s revenues and Kindle owners’ satisfaction should take precedence over all? Bogus reviews are negatively impacting countless authors who have nothing to do with Amazon’s distribution...
Read MoreIn this month’s issue of Fast Company, there is an interesting article highlighting why Portland, OR is fast becoming a tech startup hot spot. We’re not surprised as we've taken notice of this last summer. Wedged between Silicon Valley and Seattle, Portland is increasingly becoming a magnet for entrepreneurs to lay down roots and set up shop.
Read MoreIn today’s age of transparency and real-time communication, why do so many small businesses still shy away from social media?
Read MoreThe mobile apps arena is hot -- red hot. Here's a snapshot of the last 6 months to see how fast the landscape is changing and growing:
Read MoreBack in January 2008, we posted about cloud computing as a growing trend—2 years before it really took off into the clouds. We highlighted initiatives that a handful of the largest corporations were just starting to get underway, and now these industry leaders are taking even bigger steps embracing cloud computing. For example, HP and Microsoft just announced they will jointly invest $250M to develop cloud-based systems. Cloud computing is undoubtedly one of the hottest IT initiatives today.
Cloud Computing Skyrockets 2010
Since 2008, interest in “cloud computing” has increased 3,233%. CIOs are making adoption of the cloud a priority in 2010, and industry analysts predict that by 2012 cloud computing will be so pervasive that 1 out of 5 businesses will be completely in the cloud.
The advent of cloud computing has clearly made the economies of launching a business far more affordable, spurring hundreds of startups across many industries to offer a wide range of cloud-based services and solutions. In lockstep, we had an opportunity to work with some innovative tech startups that are pushing the envelope by enabling companies to be far more nimble and competitive at how they operate their business and enable their users to be more efficient. Here’s a snapshot of 3 Ignite clients that are playing a unique role in the cloud computing landscape.
Syncplicity is the leading provider of centralized file management, backup, instant synchronization and collaboration -- all in one integrated solution. The company seamlessly integrates desktop files and apps with the cloud, eliminating the problem of multiple islands of data across users' multitude of computers, devices, and web stores.
Backed by True Ventures, Syncplicity’s cloud service just announced a partnership with Google, expanding its Business Edition’s cloud-to-desktop functionality by deepening its integration with Google Docs and Google Apps. While Google Docs allows each user to store up to 1 GB each for free into Google Docs and file sizes can be up to 250 MB. Through Syncplicity, Google Docs and Apps customers can store any size document in the cloud today, and can store any amount of data with no limits in the cloud. Syncplicity is essentially bridging the desktop-cloud divide across more than 5,000 joint Syncplicity and Google customers, who are using their products together to sync nearly 1 million files each day.
Ignite showcased our client LongJump, an early player in the cloud market with a Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS) offering. When LongJump launched in 2007, the company quickly moved to the forefront, introducing the industry’s first on-demand database (DaaS). LongJump is continuing to cultivate its expertise in the cloud domain and pundits are taking note. LongJump has been called the “Holy Grail in Cloud Computing” for its flexible hosting options (enterprises can choose to host the platform on-demand, in the cloud, or on-premise), and in 2009, the company earned industry validation, including:
The only company with a PaaS offering positioned in Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Application Servers
The only PaaS provider named by Gartner a “Cool Vendor” in its Cloud Computing report
The recipient of XChange’s XCellence award in the category of “Most Innovative Technology”
Reductive Labs is a leader in next-gen, enterprise IT automation. Its flagship offering, Puppet, is an open source software framework to automate infrastructure, which fundamentally changes how companies can configure, provision, manage and scale their IT infrastructure using software tools rather than IT staff. While both virtualization and cloud computing offer cost-effective ways to expand storage, services and processing capacities without further cash outlays for new hardware infrastructure. Puppet's automation capabilities alleviate management complexities and expenses introduced by both of these technologies. IT departments can leverage Puppet to flexibly move services back and forth from the cloud to behind the company’s firewall.
Gartner estimates that enterprise software delivered in the cloud as a service will total over $12B by 2012 and grow at 17.7% each year. It will be interesting to see how the market shakes out – with stalwarts looking to more aggressively add cloud computing strategies and initiatives to their war chests (ie: acquisitions).
Should startups & established companies invest in Marketing & PR amidst the ongoing recession? Which camp do you fall under? What about your competitors?
Read MoreSteve Reubel recently questioned whether Twitter might replace the traditional email pitching practices of PR. We respectfully don't think so and hope not for the reasons outlined in this post.
Read MoreIt's important for Marketing to communicate with their public relations teams about marketing activities that they are planning to participate in as early as possible.
Read MoreAn interesting trend seems to be taking root that provides a growing opportunity for aspiring tech entrepreneurs to tap. According to a March 2009 PhoCusWright report titled, "Hyperlocal Content Services," this trend relates to local content proliferating as new tech advances enable improved search, aggregation and distribution. The concept of hyperlocal is introducing a new model in which content based on proximity, presence and context is delivered to users. Today MySpace announced a deal with CitySearch where the social network site will introduce MySpace Local, which is essential a social directory for local businesses and venues powered by CitySearch. The power of the new offering will allow MySpace users to peruse local businesses and venues and see their friends' reviews. Additionally, it will provide MySpace with a bonanza of new ad inventory where it can run geotargeted advertising. It's no wonder that this deal was a wise one for MySpace to strike given that the local internet-advertising market has accounted for some of the fastest growth in Internet advertising in recent years, as small businesses take their marketing online. Another new example of a hyperlocal website that today also unveiled a beta version of its service is from client, A Day's Outing, an online search tool for discovering short-distance day trips and weekend outings. A Day's Outing takes the proximity of where someone is starting from to deliver a comprehensive list of outings and events personalized around their preferences. It currently focuses on the Mid-Atlantic region and will continue to expand regionally. A Day's Outing represents a growing number of tech high tech startups popping up to introduce new services that deliver highly relevant, personalized, local information to users when they seek it.
Hyperlocal websites as well as smartphones are increasingly helping users access geolocation-based content such as information, advertising, events, and entertainment centered on a user's locaton and time. While local information is abundantly available, getting it quickly and easily still leaves a lot to be desired and users seeking a better way. Expect to see more innovative partnerships such as the MySpace/CitySearch deal as well as many other innovative companies such as A Day's Outing move to better address users' need for getting the right information when they want it.
Yesterday's some of the social media biggest barometers were off the charts. Why? Facebook essentially chose to pull the rug out from under its users with a highly questionable Terms of Service (TOS) change. Almost 6,000 people have dugg Facebook's move on Digg and on Twitter yesterday both TOS and Facebook were top 5 trend topics all day and into the night. This move could have been handled differently to maintain PR goodwill. Was there only one option for Facebook to make here? I understand, as I think all users of social networks and other social media sites, that increasingly the web is opening up so sites can share data more easily with each other. When a user chooses to share their data publicly, it no longer distinctly belongs to them. However, the mistake that Facebook made was that they originally told their users that they were free to delete their account and with that account deletion, their data went with them. Then without any warning or grace period, Facebook pulls an about face (pun intended) and reneges on its own TOS with users, basically telling all 100+ million of them, guess what? We changed our mind and your data, it isn't yours any longer, it's ours and we can do whatever we want with it, whenever we want. Period. Instead of following their lawyers' advice, perhaps Facebook ought to have followed their PR team’s advice and taken a different approach. Clearly, we’re unsure how things really unfolded, but too often companies follow the legal advice (i.e.: ‘just say no comment’) instead of taking control of a developing crisis and having less fallout. Right now, Facebook has created a tremendous amount of bad will and that is unfortunate. It is a hard lesson that others may want to remember and avoid.