We have all read the articles touting the benefits of cloud computing and have also read the warnings about downtime and security. After doing your own research and evaluating your current business situation, we have decided that moving to the cloud is a good idea. Now what? As any IT professional can attest, implementing a new application or process is complicated enough, let alone moving an entire or maybe part of an infrastructure from one medium to another. How should businesses prepare for this move? What steps should they take and what issues should they watch out for?

Movable Type brings scalability, stability and security to the newest version of its publishing platform

Movable Type, the publishing platform developed by Six Apart, announced yesterday the launch of its latest version, Movable Type 6, which is now available in North America and Japan.  The version’s debut marks the next phase of the Movable Type Creating Momentum campaign in North America, aimed at reestablishing Movable Type’s foothold as the premier content management system, particularly among mid-market and enterprise businesses.

Telerik today announced several new usability benefits intended to enhance efficiency for digital marketers and business users of Sitefinity CMS, the company’s leading content management system solution. Sitefinity serves more than 70,000 users that account for millions of website interactions daily. Increasingly, the need for authoring and editing content in context of the front-end presentation is an expected feature, especially amongst the Fortune 500. That is why the Sitefinity CMS now comes equipped with inline editing, an HTML5-based module for implementing Google Analytics web analytics service and a dynamic administration dashboard.

Should small business owners be jumping into the realm of cloud computing? More than likely your small business can benefit from one or more of the cloud services. Cloud computing provides the resources and flexibility small business owners need to build a business and compete in a highly competitive market. Still, jumping in without thinking strategically about the steps your business will take could lead to wasted resources, so read on for the basics you need to know.

In September's CMS-Connected show, I once again had the privilege of being a guest reviewer for their "CMS In the Spotlight" segment. This time around I reviewed e-Spirit's FirstSpirit CMS. Never heard of it? Honestly, I hadn't either until CMS-Connected Producer Gary Eisenstein assigned me the gig. Come to find out, FirstSpirit CMS helps run a number of international sites from companies like Bosch, KLM, Speedo, Sterling Jewelers, and Nintendo of Europe. While doing my homework, I walked away from the demo impressed with the amount of effort e-Spirit had done to improve usability for authors and editors. 

Google has already rolled out its fiber-optic technology for residents in specific areas of Kansas City – on both sides of the state line. High-speed Internet and TV services have come to many of the city’s “fiberhoods” – a neighborhood which has pre-registered for Google’s network in order to get its service.

The fiber has been installed in twelve areas of Kansas City, Kansas and in two areas of Kansas City, Missouri. The installation is in progress in many more areas of the Kansas City metropolitan.

There was a time when marketing firms had to treat everyone like generic off-brand mac & cheese. Sure, they could make certain assumptions based upon average consumers, but real, personalized customer offers and promotions just weren't possible. That time, however, has passed. These days, brands are able to gather data about individual customers from before any sort of interaction even begins to take place. Through information sources such as web browsers, social media, surveys, customer reward programs, transaction data, etc., it is possible to gather massive amounts of data regarding the personal preferences of millions of potential customers.

Businesses have seen the value of data for years. Thus, businesses have collected survey, transaction and marketing data all with the hope that by analysing it they can improve their business processes and become more profitable. The problem is that some companies end up paying more than the data is actually worth, due to poor business practices or relying on a data warehouse that simply can't keep up with today’s influx of data. For business leaders who find the following five signs familiar, it may be time to switch to big data as a service, such as Qubole, to get the most out of the data they collect and the money they spend.