Marcus Cake

According to Wikipedia, Enterprise Requirements Planning (ERP) software is “intended to manage all information of functions within a company or business”. “Examples of modules in an ERP which formerly would have been stand-alone applications include: Product lifecycle management, Supply chain management (e.g. Purchasing, Manufacturing and Distribution), Warehouse Management, Customer Relationship Management (CRM), Sales Order Processing, Online Sales, Financials, Human Resources, and Decision Support System.”- Wikipedia.

ERP software from proprietary vendors can be very expensive and take months to implement. My web site is devoted to applying Web 3.0 to economic development. A key building block underpinning the emergence of Web 3.0 is open source software. I wrote an article about How to setup a server on the Amazon cloud and install SugarCRM in 30 minutes. The potential is summarised even more effectively in the video below. It shows how you can implement an ERP software system in less than 10 minutes. There are many images with “ready to go” enterprise software at Amazon. The experience below can be repeated with different types of server images that provide specific solutions to different problems.

You can learn more about OpenTaps from the OpenTaps web site, a summary PDF or QuickTime movie download.

I just watched a presentation at Gartner called SOA, the Web and the Cloud: Big Decisions about Application Architecture. I encourage you to view the original presentation. It highlights the tremendous opportunity to evolution and innovation by applying Web architectures and cloud computing to the way applications are designed. I will try to outline some of those principles for the non-technical below and then outline the importance of these principles in applying key elements of a Web 3.0 online network to economic development.

This article discusses how to create a virtual web server on the Amazon cloud and establish a location to install a new web site in less than 15 minutes.

This article discusses how to create a virtual web server on the Amazon cloud and install/configure SugarCRM in less than an hour. It should actually take 30 minutes if you already have an Amazon account and Elasticfox installed. This is intended as a hackers technical general guide, rather than something a novice could do.

I chose to implement SugarCRM and use it to manage contacts, segment the customer base, and conduct campaigns. This provided a platform to restructure the marketing function of the business to be less reliant on redundant Web 1.0 distribution and more Web 2.0 (participation) and Web 3.0 (contribution).

Rightscale offers to manage a farm of servers to automatically scale the processing and storage capacity of a web application to service growing, or declining, demand from internet users. Rightscale costs USD500 per month plus a USD2,000 setup fee (last time I checked). Scalr is an open source application that performs the same function as Rightscale. You can implement Scalr yourself from here or use Scalr’s USD50 per month paid version (with no setup fee).

Rightscale and Amazon Web Services now offers essential features not previously available - automatic scaling , Manager for MySQL and Persistent Storage. The Amazon Web Services platform empowered the entrepreneur, but advanced technical skills were still required to solve storage and scalability issues to create a truly scalable application. These latest developments are critical building blocks of transformative online networks and bring the power direct to the entrepreneur. This power is available by using the Rightscale dashboard/service. They charge USD2,500 to setup your server and USD500 per month to use the dashboard. This is a fraction of the cost of a comparable web hosting configuration five years ago, assuming a comparable web hosting configuration could be built. Competitive advantage can no longer be derived from the prohibitive cost of web hosting or ability to scale a web application. Unlimited storage and global scalability is now available to the entrepreneur (that is a hacker).

The era of online networks which manage information of no value is ending. The era of online networks that manage valuable information and reshape industry is beginning. The foundation for online networks has been building for decades. The most recent milestone may have been 90% broadband penetration rates in the major economies. The next generation of online social, industry and political networks will deliver unprecedented transparency, liquidity and accessibility in all aspects of society.

We need to deploy five online political, industrial and social networks to avert disaster by 2012. Existing structures that rely on proprietary ownership of information, distribution channels, institutions and regional approaches are unable to solve our most pressing problems. Even if they could solve the problems, they are simply unable to coordinate a global endeavour in a rapidly closing timeframe. I had previously written that online networks could be delayed for up to 50 years by three epic battles. In some aspects of our global community, we can wait 50 years (and there is only an opportunity cost). However, for some specific problems, online networks need to be built, acquire a significant audience, and achieve their objective by 2012.

Online networks which embody every facet of industrial, social and politcal aspects of our modern society are inevitable. They simply offer a superior way to interact and transact. The transition to a global community based around online networks will take six months, sixteen years or fifty years. The timeframe will depend upon the outcome of three epic battles. The battles are economic development vs geostrategy, community knowledge vs intellectual property, and online networks vs closed systems. Online industrial, political and social networks which are involved in these battles could be delayed for decades.

Open source communities have developed a critical mass of tools and are beginning to morph into the development of solutions. Amazon’s elastic cloud is a critical building block that will support the next wave of economic development. Moore’s law has been improving information technology at a rapid rate for more than 40 years. In isolation, each technology advance represents a rapid advance in a technology area. The combination of these technologies can now deliver a paradigm shift which presents new opportunities for economic development. This article is focussed on how elastic clouds and open source communities can provide virtual building blocks for business and social entrepreneurs building tomorrows disruptive structures.

What if we did have cars that cost $25 and got 1,000 miles to the gallon? What if the Moore law rates of innovation and improvement could be applied to the world’s problems. What if Moore’s law rates of improvement applied to aircraft engines, car engines, carbon dioxide emissions, industrial pollution, cures for disease, energy and minerals usage, education and leadership. Our world is evolving. Advances in technology present new ways to organise. Online networks are likely to be a step forwards. An expansion of intellectual property laws is likely to be a step backwards. If there was a new way to deliver greater rates of innovation, we have a compelling need to solve specific global problems. We need to question that our underlying assumptions of how to organise.

The objectives of open source will change over time. As open source evolves and proves its capability, it will move beyond technology, beyond specific industries, to all other aspects of our society. This has been suggested in the past. However, existing organisations are not sufficiently motivated to apply advances in technology to promote development. Business, social and political entrepreneurs that establish online networks are likely to be the primary force for change.

This article outlines the first four stages of the development of online networks and the .Net boom. The objective of the online network in each stage is identified.

The next evolution in economic development and the evolution of the internet is likely to be user generated industries. This will move beyond user content to valuable industries which distribute valuable information. Online industry networks will facilitate collaboration and distribute information. Small groups may specialise in the manufacture of information. They will rely on online networks to distribute it. Consumers of information will increasing source their products from online networks.

A user generated industry combines user generated content and user generated infrastructure to distribute products and services from individual manufacturers to individual consumers. There are significant economic and social benefits for the individual manufacturers and consumers of information. Individuals can focus on their unique speciality, work from home and be their own boss. Customers obtain the convenience of online delivery and lower costs. Organisations that have only served the community by distributing information are likely to be rendered redundant by technology advances. These will need to find other means to add value to the global community if they are to survive. Some will not.

My definition of the word hacker has evolved. From programmers cracking computer security (called crackers) to my modest efforts to improve my golf and, now, to skilled people contributing to online networks that reflect their passions and interests. A hacker has the tenacity and persistence to solve problems, often for the sake of solving it. They have the vision of architects, the skills of engineers and empathy of a mother with her upset child. They make significant sacrifices in pursuit of their goal. They navigate around, or though, barriers in their path. They do not rest (if inspired) until the problem is solved, or the challenge is overcome. If only my golf, could be described in these terms.

Online networks will be an essential tool of hackers. The will capture and focus the unique contribution of other hackers. Collective talent, energy and innovation will reshape industrial, social and political frameworks over the next decade.

The two leading Linux distributions, Ubuntu and Opensuse, install a Linux desktop in quickly and easily. They also come preinstalled with the KDE collaboration wizard. This will connect Evolution (the equivalent of Microsoft Outlook) to four open source groupware applications quickly. Those four applications are egroupware, Kolab, Suse Linux Openexchange (SLOX) and Novell Groupwise. Imagine a world where one individual could install a complete desktop, configure a groupware server and integrate the two in a few hours. The social and commercial ramifications would be exponential.

The potential of open source software, open source principles and collective innovation is significant. They could change the world. They should, at the very least, change information intensive industries. These assertions are largely an intellectual argument. The thoughts of an individual. The compelling value of open source and collective innovation as a solution needs to be demonstrated.

The patent system emerged to motivate business to organise people to develop new technology. Without providing an exclusive opportunity for profit, business would not assemble the structure and people necessary to create new technology. Technology means ways of doing things. This includes information technology, biotechnology and healthcare. If the global objective is the creation of new technology, then there is another way to organise.

” …it’s a different world out there. A world where anyone’s ideas can quickly spread if they happen to strike a chord. Where you don’t necessarily have to have a large company or a huge public relations effort to make an impact (although that still doesn’t hurt).”

A colleague forwarded me a link at a video. It presents some key facts and music in a presentation style format. It is very effective in communicating the rapid and accelerating change that is occurring in the global community. It is more effective than the numerous articles that I have written here, and much more concise. The original author has made this available under the most permissive Creative Commons license. The powerpoint slides and music are available to change. I plan to take key messages from my web site and place them in my own short video.

How much time do you spend asking someone else for a file they have? How many requests do you get for someone asking for a file that is only on your laptop? For some, particularly small business, the time spent doing these two things can be significant. This article is devoted to a simple method of getting your laptop to manage the process of sharing files. You will need a web server to be a single computer that can act as a single point of reference for all files. A web server can be set up and home using your ADSL connection, or leased. This method could be used to synchronise files amongst multiple projects and multiple people.

There have been concerns that Moore’s law may not continue. Recent innovations have solved problems in manufacturing, power consumption and heat generation. It appears that a further innovation may not only see that Moore’s law continues but introduce a revolution in computing. In simple terms, it is the ability to put 80 cores on a single chip.

If Moore’s law continues, then the cost of hardware will continue to decline and the ability to run a bank from a desert island a reality. The ability of software to take advantage of these hardware advantages may be limited. The advances in hardware and emergence of Utility computing will overcome much of the limitation. The result will be unpredented opportunity for entrepreneurs to create applications to global audiences in an increasingly service oriented world. Linux is likely to be best placed to take advantage of advances in hardware.

A brief overview of the type of information required by a due diligence process can be downloaded here (word document). The document lists the necessary information in escalating stages of due diligence. I would encourage anyone going through a due diligence process to get the third party to qualify their interest in an opportunity as quickly as possible. This should be done by sending them a quality set of quality initial information. The due diligence process could easier if the business stored key business information in a single online platform. Please review the Online business and accounting system and the Templates Category for more information.

The cashflow forecast template may be downloaded by clicking here . This is one of a series of templates provided to assist with business planning. Please read all posts in the Templates category . This template could be dynamically linked with the complex financial forecast template .

I have provided some other templates to assist with preparing a business. The available templates are listed in the Templates category. I have always been reluctant to provide these templates. They are many years old and are a start to a four to six week process. Business plans are more art than science. It is difficult to provide a generic guide which successfully satisfies the specific needs of a company. I offer these templates as something that can provide an insight and may save you some time.

On 1st November 2006, the Isle of Man’s new Companies Act came into effect. The legislation included the ability to create “Protected Cell Companies”. “A PCC is a company with an internal structure that allows for the legal segregation of assets and liabilities into different cells and a central core. This framework is designed to offer increased protection to investors in individual cells from the liabilities and creditors of other cells.”
A PCC would appear to be a viable and useful structure with many applications. Only time will reveal its competitive advantage against other types of structures and the innovative uses this structure may be used.

My previously article “The Isle of Man New Manx Vehicle - simple, more flexible, offshore and part of the EU for VAT purposes” provided an overview of the Isle of Man. It highlighted the attributes of the jurisdiction for internet businesses and the introduction of the “New Manx Vehicle” corporate structure (”NMV”). The NMV was designed to compete more effectively with the corporate structure offered by the British Virgin Islands. In 2004, the BVI incorporated 60,000 companies and the Isle of Man just 2,593. The NMV will be available for incorporation from the 1st November 2006. Apparently, there is significant interest in the NMV. A ballott is being conducted to award the honour of being the first NMV incorporated.

Over many years, I have developed a simple Microsoft Excel template to support a transaction process. Transaction types included a merger or aquisition, IPO’s or private equity capital raising. This template is a starting point and needs to be customised to meet the unique requirements of each company and the specific transaction being pursued. To download the template, click on Transaction process template .This template is part of a series of templates used in a transaction process. It complements my previous post Financial forecast model: A Microsoft Excel template could become an Open Source project

I will contribute the other templates as time permits. The business plan template and Investor presentation templates are still to be posted.

Please review all the available templates by selecting the Templates category .

The global economy is 70% services based. Broadband penetration is growing. The opportunities for open source technology to change the status quo are staggering. LAMP is the technology which underpins most of the major web sites in the world today. It will be a key tool for the social and commercial entrepreneurs of tomorrow and underpin the the .NET boom.

The Isle of Man is a world class financial centre. I recommend the Isle of Man Finance web site for more information. It is a very competitive offshore offering, but may have been less flexible and more expensive than other “offshore” jurisdictions. Amongst other requirements, an Isle of Man company had to have at least one resident director and a resident company secretary. This is about to change. The Isle of Man is about to introduce the “New Manx Vehicle” (”NMV”) company structure. The NMV has many of the attributes of the International Business Companies of the BVI and other offshore jurisdictions. With the NMV, the Isle of Man is a compelling offshore proposition (particularly for European E-Business). The opportunity to use “meeting rooms earmarked for use by Manx companies” in the Isle of Man’s London office is an innovative marketing tactic.

“The Semantic Web (or Web 3.0) promises to organize the world’s information in a dramatically more logical way than Google can ever achieve with their current engine design.” The lack of metadata around information and closed information systems ensure financial markets remain a highly profitable industry. In Web 2.0, the information could be organised into structured databases from a single location made available over the internet. Web 3.0 must still be organised, but intelligent distributed agents could answer your question - “Which corporate adviser should I use to list my Web 3.0 company in Bermuda?” and “What are my chances of getting liquidity?”. It will be very interesting to see what type of answers Web 3.0 gives us?