Productivity Bulletin: 10/30/2014

Photo: Sean MacEntee, Flickr

  1. Get more out of the books you read by creating an index:As she reads, she creates an index at the front of the book that lists its most interesting ideas.

    Every time she encounters a passage relevant to one of these ideas she adds the page to the relevant line in the index. If its a new idea, she creates a new line for it.As she reads more, the index grows.Here’s what’s great about this idea index method: When you pick up a book read long ago, you can quickly recall what it has to offer by glancing at the index. Then, if you want to grab some quotes about one of these ideas, the index tells you exactly where to look (no more reading every annotation!).

    http://lifehacker.com/get-more-out-of-the-books-you-read-with-an-idea-index-1650296391

  2. Using your breaks productively:
    http://lifehacker.com/how-do-you-use-your-breaks-productively-1648996284
  3. Free budget and productivity excel templates:
    http://www.vertex42.com/ExcelTemplates/

Supplier Report: 10/25/2014

Photo: The Atlantic

IBM

  1. IBM reports another bad quarter.  They revised 2015 earnings down.
    http://blogs.wsj.com/moneybeat/2014/10/20/big-blues-big-drag-on-the-dow/
  2. The pressure for IBM to split:
    http://www.businessweek.com/news/2014-10-20/ibm-ceo-under-pressure-to-revive-tech-giant-after-plunge
  3. IBM’s transformation in the last three years is actually remarkable (good overview of their technology mix):
    http://techcrunch.com/2014/10/24/ibm-earnings-reflect-just-how-difficult-transformation-really-is/
  4. IBM’s employees say their fabled “roadmap” damaged the company:

    Ginni Rometty, said strong steps were taken that are part of the broader strategy of which the road map number was a part. “We are executing on a clear strategy that is moving IBM to higher value, and we’ve taken significant actions to exit nonstrategic elements of the business.” A key part of that was the news that IBM will transfer its semiconductor manufacturing operations, staff and facilities to GlobalFoundries.

    http://www.pressconnects.com/story/news/local/new-york/2014/10/24/ibm-workers-blame-roadmap/17823047/

  5. Another week, another partnership:  IBM announces partnership with Microsoft.  Promising cloud interoperability:
    http://www.cloudwedge.com/4891-ibm-and-microsoft-pledge-cloud-interoperability/
  6. IBM’s share buyback problem (looks like that has finally caught up with them):
    http://seekingalpha.com/article/2586775-ibm-dont-fall-for-the-illusion

Oracle

  1. Oregon cuts ties with Oracle’s health exchange:

    Oregon had planned to salvage some of the Oracle-built portal to enroll people in Medicaid, but officials have now decided to scrap that project as well and will use another state’s Medicaid enrollment system instead

    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/oregon-wont-oracles-technology-medicaid-194227969.html

  2. Oracle’s strategy to manage unstructured data:

    Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)’s new solution will manage both unstructured and structured data and integrate both owned and third-party metadata and provide business analytics platform. It also provides a data flows across various enterprise systems including ERP applications, data warehouses and Apache Hadoop.

    http://www.usmarketsdaily.com/oracle-corporation-nyseorcl-new-solution-a-comprehensive-data-management-system-5419

 

HP

  1. The trend is continuing – HP is looking to sell of a part of their H3C subsidiary.  Clearly this company is looking to become small and lean:
    http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2014/10/26/2003602908
  2. HP Sprout: 3D scanner and PC-esque device.  Could have potential use in the medical field….
    http://www.pcworld.com/article/2837500/hps-rumored-sprout-pc-sure-sounds-similar-to-this-oddball-printer-from-2011.html
  3. Why Chromebooks are good news for HP and Samsung (sales are growing in markets outside of North America)

    Chromebooks may be a temporary fad similar to the netbook, but the form-factor design and low-cost price tag draws considerable interest that may be a longer term trend,” according to Van Vactor. “Chromebooks may have more of a place in the market than originally anticipated, especially as more vendors jump on board and sales continue to grow.

    http://www.thestreet.com/story/12924618/1/why-soaring-chromebook-sales-are-great-news-for-google-acer-samsung-and-hp.html

    Note: I can see this become the future of corporate computing – going back to the thin client mentality.  Merge the growth of cloud computing and storage.  A cheap, light, easily replaceable device that contains no local data could be the future.

  4. HP offering OpenStack for Helion cloud platform:
    http://www.itworldcanada.com/article/hp-releases-commercial-openstack/98474
  5. WebOS is officially dead…
    http://www.telecoms.com/296122/hp-to-end-webos-cloud-services-in-january/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=hp-to-end-webos-cloud-services-in-january

Other

  1. How SalesForce makes money (very basic overview for those not familiar with one of the largest cloud providers in the business):
    http://vator.tv/news/2014-10-25-how-does-salesforce-make-money
  2. Interesting perspective from SAP’s CEO on the growth of cloud and the impact on “traditional” IT companies:
    http://www.chicagotribune.com/sns-wp-blm-news-bc-sap21-20141021-story.html
  3. Why is SalesForce so expensive (here is a public discussion about negotiating with a supplier and driving price down vs. incurring cost for productive boosts):
    http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/feature/2376730/why-is-salesforce-so-expensive
  4. Should the CEO be the chairman too?
    http://fortune.com/2014/10/21/chairman-ceo/

 

Article Count: 672

Productivity Bulletin: 10/22/2014

Photo: Sean MacEntee, Flickr

  1. Make the most of a mentor and to advance:
    Align yourself with someone who does what you want to do, define what success means to you,  make friends with your mentor’s critics (figure out what they aren’t good at and learn from that), don’t try to be identical to them (you are you).  
    http://lifehacker.com/how-to-make-the-most-of-a-mentor-and-get-ahead-in-your-1646087771
  2. 5 simple steps to prioritize your task list:

    Does this take me closer to my goal?
    Does this really matter to my boss?
    Does this make me money?
    Does this lighten my mental load?
    Does this have to be done today?

    http://www.fastcompany.com/3036684/how-to-be-a-success-at-everything/5-tips-for-prioritizing-your-ever-growing-to-do-list

  3. Why privacy matters even if you aren’t doing anything wrong:

 

Productivity Bulletin: 10/19/2014

Photo: Sean MacEntee, Flickr

Here is a spin off post from the supplier report.  I felt that the career items didn’t fit the tone of the other report, so I am creating a new one.

  1. Building a task list and how to ruthlessly prioritize:
    Good advice here people – I highly encourage you to read this and deploy some of these techniques.  
    https://zapier.com/blog/prioritize-task-list-methods/
  2. Speaking of task lists – here is a simple word doc format if you are opposed to using a tool (or can’t access it at work)
    http://unclutterer.com/2013/12/16/staying-on-top-of-everything/
  3. Seth Godin – “Let’s go around the room”:

    Leaders of meetings can do better. Call on people. Shape the conversation. Do your homework in advance and figure out who has something to say, and work hard to create interactions. Either that or just send a memo and cancel the whole thing. It’s easier and probably more effective.

    http://sethgodin.typepad.com/seths_blog/2014/10/lets-go-around-the-room.html

  4. Becoming a more authentic person by keeping a journal:

    Keep a journal with dates and times of your situations, observations, behaviours (yours and others), feelings, emotions, actions (yours and others). Identify traits, habits and patterns.

    http://lifehacker.com/train-yourself-to-be-a-more-authentic-person-by-keeping-1647225176

  5. Know thy self:
    http://lifehacker.com/the-five-points-of-wisdom-philosophy-can-provide-you-1646337704

That’s all for this week.  Take these ideas, absorb them, make them and yourselves better (and force me to get better too).