Thought Leaders In Cloud Computing: Mark White, CTO Of Deloitte (Part 4)

By Sramana Mitra and guest author Saurabh Mallik

SM: One of the areas we are probing is sales 2.0, which is the combination of marketing and sales using technology in a big way. There are a variety of cloud vendors that are catering to this movement. I did an interview of the executive VP of sales of a $35 million company, and he explained exactly how this company is rolling out this process and the technology to support the process for all cloud technologies. I was thinking that the layout of that process has to happen in the sales organization, right? >>>

Child Entrepreneur Caleb Sima: Cofounder Of SPI Dynamics (Part 7)

SM: How large did SPI become?

CS: We ended at 165 people with close to $26 million in revenue by the time we were acquired in 2007. >>>

In Its Haste to Gouge India, Congress Neglects To Consider The TN Visa

By guest author Kirk Laughlin

[Writer and video correspondent Kirk Laughlin is the newest contributor to my blog’s coverage of outsourcing, onshoring, and ways to create jobs and opportunities for people in the United States, India, and elsewhere. Kirk’s article, originally published on Nearshore Americas, explains why he thinks Senator Charles Schumer’s proposed immigration bill will fail to protect U.S. jobs, which is ostensibly its purpose. To get a sense of my thoughts on the many-sided debate over outsourcing and immigration, I encourage you to take a look at the recommended readings below. Tony Scott’s interviews, most recently with Sierra Atlantic’s Raju Reddy, add another dimension to the online discussion.] >>>

Thought Leaders In Cloud Computing: Mark White, CTO Of Deloitte (Part 3)

By Sramana Mitra and guest author Saurabh Mallik

SM: I have two questions on this topic. From the vendor point of view, the world we see a lot, in Silicon Valley particularly, is that there are hundreds of software as a service vendors who are trying to sell into the cloud customer base that you cater to. One of the tricks these vendors have perfected is to get into a large enterprise through a small division because the cloud doesn’t involve a lot of IT involvement. WebEx did this very early on. It came up with this sales methodology of going to a division or business unit of the large enterprise and got that division to adopt collaboration. WebEx would gradually penetrate the organization, but it would go in at the divisional level, bypassing IT. >>>

Get To Know Salman Khan

Salman Khan is doing an awesome job building up an open source online education system for the world. He’s a one-man show, and Salman, a former hedge fund manager with an MIT degree, has quit his hedge fund career to do his nonprofit Khan Academy full-time. Here’s Bill Gates introducing Salman Khan: >>>

Child Entrepreneur Caleb Sima: Cofounder Of SPI Dynamics (Part 6)

SM: How did you approach the financing phase of your business? Was there an angel community in Atlanta that you were able to plug into?

CS: Atlanta is not known for its angel investment scene. We knew a gentleman who had sold his company in the 1990s and made a lot of money. He believed in us and invested $50,000. We also knew the founder of S1. He recommended some other investors whom we pitched to. Even if investors declined to invest, they kept making referrals to other investors. My uncle is a surgeon, and he also invested in us. >>>

Thought Leaders In Cloud Computing: Mark White, CTO Of Deloitte (Part 2)

By Sramana Mitra and guest author Saurabh Mallik

SM: In terms of the collaboration cloud, the messaging cloud, and the analytics cloud, those are applications that are running on the private cloud?

MW: That’s right. >>>

1M/1M Strategy Roundtable For Entrepreneurs On September 2

For entrepreneurs looking to discuss positioning, financing, and all aspects of a startup venture, this FREE online 1M/1M strategy roundtable will be held on Thursday, September 2, 2010, starting at: 11 a.m. EDT/8 a.m. PDT/8:30 p.m. IST. We hope you will join us and let other entrepreneurs know. You can find more details and register here.