The Art of a Conversation

Data can be copied. Intellectual capital can be patented. Knowledge can be shared. Wisdom on the other hand cannot be patented. Cannot be copied. Cannot be stolen. It is earned, it is honest and it remains true till the end.

A good friend of mine and a great knowledge networker, Luis Suarez, recently shared a beautiful 10 minute long biography by KarmaTube, of Julio Olalla on things that matter in life. He candidly speaks about an encounter with his father that changed his life, and what he learned: “Gratitude in so many ways is so dramatically missing in the world today. Without gratitude nothing is enough.” It’s the kind of short movie where you want to turn off the lights, and just soak in the spirit of an everyday hero.

It is about honest earned wisdom. It’s about friendships and the lost art of a conversation.

SugarCRM and LotusLive – a match made in heaven for small businesses

Cloud is hot this year. Recent research from IDC demonstrates that worldwide spending on cloud services will grow almost threefold by 2013, to some $44.2 billion (U.S.).

Back in my Lotus Foundations days, I always recommended my business partners to try out SugarCRM to manage their day to day sales and customer management. I loved the functionality, price (starting from FREE), and being able to scale it according to the organizations’ needs.

Today, IBM announced partnerships with Ariba and SugarCRM to help clients take advantage of social commerce and CRM in the cloud.  We also announced the widespread adoption of LotusLive with a whole range of new clients benefiting from IBM’s cloud initiatives.

You can read more about both here.

And based on a survey IBM conducted in the mid-market recently, there’s growing adoption of cloud computing among midsize firms, with two-thirds either planning or currently deploying cloud-based technologies to improve IT systems while lowering their overall costs.

Adoption of cloud computing is on the rise. Recent IDC research shows that worldwide spending on cloud services will grow almost threefold, reaching $44.2 billion by 2013. With this increased interest and adoption, businesses across the world are embracing IBM’s public cloud services for easy-to-use collaboration tools to connect with colleagues, partners and suppliers quickly.

Additionally, according to a recent IBM survey of more than 2,000 midsize companies, there’s growing adoption of cloud computing among midsize firms, with two-thirds either planning or currently deploying cloud-based technologies to improve IT systems management while lowering costs.

Check out the video below to learn more about how Lotus and SugarCRM are bringing customer relationship management to the cloud.