Business

Over the years, I've told people that CMS Report is a side business. While I would never become rich from this blog, I've been lucky enough to have been able to put a little extra cash in my wallet from this website's ad revenue. In truth, what has actually sustained CMS Report is not money but my passion for information systems. I absolutely love this magical process where people, hardware, software, and infrastructure come together to improve the business or organization. A decade ago, I could find no better example of information systems in the real world than the content management system.

Cloud computing started out as a fledgling tool for businesses, but in recent years, it has grown to be one of the most beneficial and trusted tools in the modern business landscape. Like it or not, cloud computing is now mainstream, used by more businesses and average consumers than ever, and it only means the future of cloud computing will feature even more growth. With the serious effect it’s having on the business world, what does this mean for you?

1. Enjoy Smarter Spending and Better Service

Amid the release of new data* on American small businesses revealing that that, in November 2015, the economic outlook among U.S. small business owners—down nearly 2 points year-over-year—has finally stabilized after a 6-month decline, there’s cause for entrepreneurs to be optimistic for the year ahead.

Whether or not that outlook begins to uptick not only depends upon how agile, adaptable, creative and resourceful entrepreneurs can be in planning for, or reacting to, market conditions, revenue and brand-building opportunities and other key concerns, but also how well they maintain a forward-thinking mindset.

Cloud storage is surging in the small business world. Popular names such as Dropbox, Google Drive, and Apple iCloud are used by companies. A 2015 survey by Clutch found that out of 438 participating small businesses, about 53% were storing data in the cloud. These are companies with as many as 1,000 employees. There are many other storage providers on the market, including VMware, SolidFire, Docker, OpenStack, etc.

Half of all small businesses have a website. We don’t have a firm number for what percentage of successful small businesses have websites, but we think it’s safe to say it’s considerably higher than fifty percent. We’re going to take a brief look at why the Average Joe business owner needs to dip a toe or ten into website ownership.

My first thought when seeing this infographic backed by TrackingCourier.com on the potential growth in the Ecommerce space was: sorry not interesting enough to post here. But after a few days, the infographic has grown on me and made me think that the opportunities to sell goods and services online is as strong as ever. 

The open source technology originated at the “bottom of the stack” with the Linux operating system, which has become one of the most popular operating systems now. In late 1990’s the term open source was coined and the evolution of Apache, Mozilla, Perl took place, while birth of “Commercial Open Source” was seen in early 2000. The adoption started moving up the technology stack in 2005 and post 2008, Open Source adoption by enterprises was seen widely and in 2012 open source became an integral part of every enterprise IT strategy.

To even suggest that the construction and communication of a story could one day be taken over by computers can lead to eye rolling and dismissive scoffs. After all, storytelling is a uniquely human activity, one that requires creativity, emotion, and a connection with the human audience. At first glance, computer could never replicate such a thing, right? The conventional wisdom, however, might be off in this case. With the rise of big data, new ways to create and tell stories have been developed, leading many to rethink what they previously held to be true about the art of storytelling.

The cloud computing marketplace is an evolving landscape filled with corporate giants, plucky startups, and creative innovators intent on launching the next big cloud breakthrough. In this constantly shifting environment, many cloud competitors are diligently working on ways to get an edge over their rivals. Part of this strategy, at least on the part of the larger cloud companies, involves acquiring cloud startups that feature unique services and products. This helps the larger companies diversify their offerings, increase their share of the market, and incorporate new ideas with the goal of moving their business forward.

Acquia has announced that they have closed a $55 million equity financing round through the help of Centerview Capital Technology. Centerview Capital specializes in partnering with the management teams of midsize companies they see as "high potential" for growth. Centerview Capital Technology led the financing round, with support from existing investors including New Enterprise Associates and Split Rock Partners. This funding will help Acquia scale its global operations, sales and marketing as well as the development of its solutions for building, delivering, and optimizing digital experiences.