Forrester comments on the Omniture deal

Once upon a time there were competition between major vendors of web analytics. Then came Google and changed the markets. Now, the number of solutions is decreasing and furthermore they are becoming integrated into other main products.

Forrester comments on the latest move from Adobe – a clever move indeed, though expensive. Makes me wonder will MS keep its hands off WebTrends or will it focus on helping Yahoo Analytics (ex-Index Tools) to fly. I think we will see even more consolidation happen soon. I think also some BI vendor will move soon in this.

What do you think?

Finland ranks very high in IT competitiveness

Quite a ranking for Finland, must say. I deeply we can turn this into new success beyond the Nokia cluster, too. Full ranking of the nations and their ICT competitivness can be dowloaded from here.

Latest stats of global broadband

Broadband keeps on changing the way we use the internet. I think the most interesting part of these new stats is the great pace of growth in emerging markets. This should open up interesting opportunities for many western European online companies, especially in Eastern Europe. But only, if they can adapt to local market conditions.

Southeast Europe – a goldmine for Finnish ICT companies

Central and South East Europe are an interesting market area of countries under constant development. The ICT markets in many countries in this region are growing at a rate of nearly 10% per year despite the recession. The competence and pay level of labor in the region are competitive, especially in comparison to Western Europe.

Despite this, Finnish ICT companies have under-invested in the region. Central and South East Europe are becoming a new centre for programming and digital expertise. “The international companies operating in the area are increasing their investments in spite of the recession. They are recruiting more personnel for existing development and service centers and transferring subcontracting work to the region,” says Finpro Consultant Tommi Pelkonen.

My information sources online

Too long time and no public blogging. Facebook is nowadays the place to publish links and short commentary, thus so little time spent in publishing ideas and things openly.

Anyway, I decided to share with the world my Netvibes-link-collection.

Comments very much welcome!

Welcome to my personal journal/blog!

This blog is dedicated for my English language blogging. At the moment, I have been too busy with my client projects to put sufficient effort to blog here frequently enough. Yet, hope to start more actively in the near future.Meanwhile, my Finnish readers, please tune into Digitaalinen Ihmemaailma, Vierityspalkki, Jaiku and Facebook commentary.Moreover, you will find my CV and links to my profile on these pages. Here below you can also find a collection of some articles that I have written during my career in English.Welcome!  

BarbieGirls from Mattel to challenge virtual worlds

(orginally for Satama Research Blog)

Barbie’s parent, the world’s largest toymaker, on April 27 unveiled its newest Barbie initiative called “Barbie Girls” which meshes together the online and offline play experience for girls.

If from the Finnish angle you look at this, they are trying to challenge HabboHotel audiences or even younger generations. Similar to Lego approach. Children are online, they are built to be hooked to brands (also onlin) already from early ages.

Any other similar concepts out there?

Future of digital media by Avenue A – Razorfish

Originally Satama Research Blog

Absolutely groundbreaking and thorough new report from Avenue A – Razorfish. If you study this, you will know it all. And can talk about key trends in our industry. New internet is born, and it is very different from the one we know from 1990s. If there is one analysis report you are going to study this quarter, this is the one!

Create your programs with Yahoo Pipes and Google APIs

(originally for Satama Research Blog)

Few recent interesting launches:

Yahoo Pipes

“Pipes is an interactive feed aggregator and manipulator. Using Pipes, you can create feeds that are more powerful, useful and relevant.”

In short: Programming content visually.

Google Apps

“Google Apps and its APIs open up a wide variety of new opportunities to integrate and extend Google’s communication and collaboration services. Domain adminstrators can use the APIs to migrate from and integrate with existing IT infrastructure. Application developers can use the APIs to extend Google’s growing offering of services.”

In short: Programme on top of Google to serve own service needs.

To get a better grasp what on can do with basing programming on top of online tune into here.

Predictions for 2007

(Originally for Satama Research Blog)

As last year, decided to collect some forecasts to this forum.

E-Marketer online development trends for 2007 (the full article is also in Public Folders – Reports)
* Online Ad Spending Will Hit $20 Billion
* Some Money and Lots of Hype for Online Video Advertising
* Social Networks Are Set for a $1 Billion Windfall
* Downloadable Games Will Get Hotter
* Thirty-Seven Million Strong: A ‘Minority’ Bigger than Canada
* Mobile TV Arrives
* US B2C E-Commerce Will Cruise Past $200 Billion
* The Retail Power of Word-of-Mouth
* Broadband Services Will Matter as Much as Speed
* DVRs Pump Up TV Viewing