Procure IQ

… lies asphyxia, hallucinations, brain-damage and death. Depending on where you are on the planet, cirrocumulus, cirrus, and cirrostratus clouds can form as high as 60,000 ft. At this height, atmospheric density is half that at sea level. Or, each breath contains roughly half the oxygen you’d be breathing at sea level. At sea level, oxygen level is 21%. At only 19%, a normal person has a decreased ability to work strenuously and impaired coordination. At 15%, respiration and pulse increases, coordination decreases further, and perception is impaired. At 12%, you have a …

Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation

While the life expectancy of the average human in many developed countries now approaches 80 years, the life expectancy of the average company is much shorter. Only 44% of companies make it to the 4 year mark, and only 31% to the seven year mark. Only a handful of the tens upon tens of thousands of companies started every year will live to see the end of their fifth decade. Why is that? Well, while it’s hard to succeed, it’s easy to fail. Perhaps the product isn’t appealing to enough prospects. Maybe the marketing team isn’t reaching …

Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation

I was shocked by this recent headlin on CNet that said that companies conserving water [are] surprised by savings. After all, simple math alone demonstrates the savings potential. Let’s say you have a chain of 50 small hotels that each use 1,000,000 gallons of water per month. That’s a monthly utility bill of roughly $100,000 (in the US). That’s a yearly utility bill of $1,200,000. Let’s say you installed water efficient bathroom fixtures, washing machines, and appliances and cut water utilization by 30%, which is not unreasonable. That’s an annual savings of $360,000! …

Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation

… and blood? According to this recent article in the Wall Street Journal by Scott Adams, if you want to get rich, put your money on companies that you hate the most because the usual reason for hating a company is that the company is so powerful it can make you balance your wallet on your nose while you beg for their product. Why? Those companies are typically wildly successful and the type that will generate a big return on your investment. Like the oil companies. One accident turns paradise …

Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation

When SI reviews a product, SI insists on a demo. It’s very simple. If you can’t show me a demo, then I have nothing to say. I’m not interested in your PowerPoints or your opinions about the marketplace or your scuttlebutt about your competitors. I have one question, and one question only: Where’s the Beef? Two days ago, one of the largest independent vendors in our space offered to provide a demo so that SI could cover them. Then, yesterday, they insisted on an NDA. This is the second time I’ve had …

Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation

With apologies to our Hindu and Zoroastrian friends, sometimes the sacred cow needs to be put down. If it’s old, weak, limping, and in pain, it’s not slaughter, it’s mercy. So how do you know when it’s time to shoot the sacred cow? How do you know when it’s beyond it’s prime and on a rapid decline? Simple. You monitor it’s health and give every cow an annual checkup. When it’s overall health level starts to drop dramatically, you know it’s time. This goes for every cow in your organization — the …

Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation

I found this recent article on Daily Finance on how eBay halts indebted Purdue Grad’s diploma auction very amusing. While I feel sorry for the alumnus, it strengthens my belief that a degree in the philosawfical isn’t worth the printed paper you hand over for the printed parchment in return. As per the article, the graduate said that his philosophy degree has not given him the means to earn enough income to cover his $470 per month obligations to Sallie Mae. A degree is only an investment if it increases your …

Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation

As pointed out by Dick Locke in his post from earlier this week on More Headlines You Hate To See, this is an actual headline from DailyTech: Foxconn Makes Employees Promise Not to Kill Themselves FoxConn is asking all of its “colleagues” to sign a “health and wellness” letter that includes, in one of the numbered clauses, a statement that I will not harm myself or others in response to Apple’s demands to do something about the “suicide …

Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation

Soon after I told you that the cloud is not a fluffy magic box, I found this great post over on an Information Week blog on 3 things that could kill the cloud which points out some more sobering realities of the cloud, which is just really an abstraction of the multi-tenant SaaS model where one provider provides the software and another provides the infrastructure the software runs on. The article has some good points that should be taken into account before you decide that the cloud is the answer. (Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t.) …

Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation

Regular readers will notice that I regularly rally against a number of different software products and platforms. It’s not necessarily that I think they’re (intentionally) evil (well, at least not in most cases), but that they commit one or more of the seven deadly software sins and perpetuate myths over reality, which helps no one. So what are the software sins? And why are they dangerous? Let’s answer these questions once and for all. “Shrinkwrap” This is the notion that software …

Read the rest » Sourcing Innovation