Eye Tea

Isn’t there a lot of talk about cloud computing coming of age this year?  I think some sectors are keen and ready for it.  I wonder if functionality in the cloud has quite come of age so that internet-based software can genuinely support business needs.  Privacy issues can be addressed.  What about:

• Interfacing and integrating with your legacy systems which are not in the cloud.
• Different cloud services ‘working with each other’ and sharing data.
• Adaptability.  Are the graphical user interfaces for online business software as sophisticated and flexible as web 2.0 can do?

I predict that lightly regulated businesses will start moving into the cloud – the business case based on cost alone is hard to resist.  There are lots of barriers for larger or more heavily regulated businesses, such as getting the internal buy-in, and having the cash available to pay for the transition.

I expect 2011 to be the year when mash ups start having an impact on online business software and services.  The ability to syndicate content from all over the web, and do what you want with it for your business, offers some real benefits for business over any above what legacy software can offer.  Could that provide a competitive edge and make a transition to the cloud hard to resist?

Technology blogs and news recently have given lots of coverage to the international Consumer Electronics Show 2010, in Las Vegas, which closed yesterday.   We’re into technology for business rather than consumer gadgets on this blog, and that’s why a new offering called LightTouch(TM) from Light Blue Optics particularly caught my eye.  Have a look at the images in this slideshow.

There are some cracking opportunities for businesses in the sectors I work for.

• Retail – In-store brochures for customers to search.  You could advertise related or similar items that you sell, by projecting images next to a static display.  You could tell customers whether the item is in stock or can be ordered.  You could tell customers where to get the item they want, on the shop floor.
• Coffee shops and pubs – give customers something to do.  You could provide board games, gambling, or perhaps today’s newspapers or website access.   If you want to focus on the professional market you could offer business information and email or other simple applications.  Provide them for free to encourage visitors; or pay-per-play to generate revenue.
• Food outlets – provide the menu.  No more tatty-looking or dirty menus.  Customers don’t have to wait to order what they want.  Waiting staff are freed up to concentrate on delivering food and service.

So what’s my quick legal assessment of those ideas?  For the on-the-wall catalogue and on-the-table menu, the images you use will come from your photographer or the supplier; in each case you need their permission to use the image.  In the coffee shop/ pub example, you need a gambling licence for gaming, and you might need permission to use or replicate popular board games.

This technology also gives you an opportunity to profile customers’ behaviour or get their personal details, to provide you with business planning data or possibly revenue from selling the information.  There’s a bit of data protection compliance to deal with here – nothing insurmountable, but there’s plenty of scope for red faces and public censure for those who don’t bother.  There must be loads of other business models that could use this technology.  Any ideas?

See Light Blue Optics website: LightTouch(TM).