Location Based Services as a topic is becoming mainstream now with advent of smarter technology at our fingertips and greater levels of context relevant data being made available to consumers and businesses. In previous times LBS did not achieve the critical mass due to the technology offering falling short of consumer expectations. Now however the mobile internet is truly here and with it the expectation that the device will connect with location relevant data and personal profiles. Geographic data is a critical aspect of location based offerings as is the location management function of the service.

Enterprise Ireland, in association with Ordnance Survey Ireland and the Enterprise Europe Network are hosting an event on the 10^th May to explore the dynamics of this topic . This seminar will promote and stimulate discussion around opportunities in this area. Topics include emerging trends, technology issues, cross platform mobile applications and the use of data analytics as toolset.…

“Emerging Technologies and Business Opportunities in the Location Services Market.”

Venue: Enterprise Ireland, The Plaza East Point Business Park, Dublin 3.

Time: 08:30 to 13:00 , Tuesday 10^th May 2011.

To REGISTER go to ://www.een-ireland.ie/eei/events/register.asp?eventid=326 before 4^th May 2011. Enquiries to email: mailto:techroadmap@enterprise-ireland.com or tel: Debbie Nolan +353 1 7272587 . Please register early to avoid disappointment – this is a FREE event but places are strictly limited to those who register.

Share

Our thanks go out to our presenters who travelled from near and far to deliver a highly engaging session on this topic on Wednesday.

We were delighted with the strong interest in the day and what it genuinely showed us was that this is an unstoppable train which is going to take us to some pretty interesting places !

Some key messages from the day:

• Cloud is moving closer to pay for use ; flexibiliy is the no 1 benefit amongst CIOs ; significant efficiencies can be found by responsibly exploring key partnerships
• End-users are no longer fearful of using SaaS though the applications may be on the periphery – may need a next generation ITIL for hosting external services
• While Cloud still resonates with cost efficiency strategies, there are dark clouds that are simply “me-too” – however there are still interesting opportunities in storage management, compute management and integration software.
• Economies of the cloud difficult to define but certification has potential to differentiate – governance is a key concern amongst CIOs
• Consider the importance of partnerships in the cloud – technology, infrastructure, and sales channels
• The CIO still considers Cloud a risky option for operational reasons as much as technical – consider these issues in developing the opportunties

• Bank of America Presentation
• PFH Cloud Presentation
• PA Consulting
• Sysco Cloud Challenge and Opportunity Presentation
• Cloud Strategy Group
• C-Infinity Presentation

Share

“Managed Services & Solutions – partnerships in the Cloud”

Venue: Crowne Plaza Hotel, Northwood Park, Santry, Dublin 9

Time: 8:30am to 2 pm, Wednesday 16^th June 2010

Enterprise Ireland and the Enterprise Europe Network Ireland are co-hosting a seminar on the 16th June 2010 as part of the Enterprise Europe Network Technology Roadmap series and in conjunction with Best Connected  at www.bestconnected.ie.

This event is the second in a series, complementing May’s event The Commercial Realities of Software as a Service

Topic:

The aim is to provide managed services vendors and independent software/internet application vendors (ISVs) with the view from an IT manager (buyers) and potential partner’s perspective.  This is intended to help companies plan their future offering and partnering strategies as the IT world increasingly moves to virtualization and cloud services models.

(more…)

Share

We have recently completed a programme around Managed IT Services for a bunch of our clients (EI) and we gathered some useful insights in to the whole area of delivering remotely managed IT Services. Late last year we identified the need for a greater focus on this area and felt there was a sufficient context around which to build something, in particular:

• Growing need from their customer base to reduce implementation costs and maintenance costs
• Growing acceptance of new service delivery models (such as SaaS and cloud computing).
• Reliable and ubiquitous broadband access, successful take-up of software delivery models and significant investment in next generation IT architecture is accelerating enterprise adoption of the IT as a service paradigm

As the SaaS model matures, fewer enterprises require the middleware – the onus of providing vital application integration is shifting to service providers  – Applications, processors, databases are becoming utilities and charged dynamically.

Our research identified that Financial services, public sector and manufacturing have heaviest spend in IT services and already 18% – 25% of companies using some form of managed IT service, with a further 37% – 48% either planning such a move or considering (source Datamonitor)

Early in the programme we had a discussion with each of the clients, most of whom had a strong desire to “get on” the cloud. Here is some of the thoughts that came back:

(more…)

Share