Exploration of Google Sites

Continuing our discovery of new SaaS offerings, I built a web prescience for my fictional infomediary, KnitWeek.

Please go check it out:
https://sites.google.com/site/knitweek/

I found that creating the Google site was fairly easy.  I did get a little confused on 'themes' versus 'layouts' versus 'templates'.  I also couldn't find where to change your template again once you get started, but that was okay in my experience.  I choose a blank template to begin with so that I could start with a clean slate.  Google Sites definitely has a lot of expandability; you can make your site as simple or as complicated as needed for your purposes.  There was not a great "Getting Started" section though other than the initial walk through of setting the appropriate site-wide settings such as title, layout, etc.

The actual design aspect wasn't exactly user friendly to begin with, but once I got started, the learning curve was fairly short.  I really enjoyed the readily available widgets and tie-ins to the other Google products such as Calendar and Forms.  However, I was displeased with the inventory of the widgets and the fact that most appeared to be user generated.  It was very hard to find the exact RSS feed reader I would like using the search, and I had to try out many before I found the right one that actually worked as documented.  The navigation was set up well though to move back and forth trying out new widgets.  It was also disappointing that there was not a "Create New" option when tying in with the other Google offerings.  It seems like a pretty easy option to implement that they choose not to.

Google Sites definitely fits in with our definition of the Software As A Service model.  It is on-demand access to webhosting, web design, and collaboration suite integration.  Also all the information posted and developed is stored centrally with Google in the cloud, making it accessible anywhere from the Internet.  Google's collaboration suite relates to the Service-Oriented Architecture concept in that it is composed of individual components that can be taken separately or in conjunction with each other in a multitude of combinations.  It also follows that each of these components is able to be accessed remotely as well.  Google's suite of resources is scalable, reusable, autonomous, and granular.

Software As A Service Comparison

This week in class we discussed cloud computing.  The first topic we are tackling in this discussion is SaaS (Software As A Service).  Here I am presenting my comparison of three SaaS competitors: Microsoft Office 365, Google Docs, and Zoho.

Microsoft Office 365 is a collaboration suite that allows you to go seamlessly from an online experience to an offline desktop experience.  It includes email, calendar, contacts, Office applications such as Word, Excel, PowerPoint, and OneNote, and Microsoft's Sharepoint and Lync products.  Microsoft has a great Getting Started website if you want to explore it some yourself.  I found the basic functionality such as composing an email, starting a new document, or setting up sharing on a calendar to be very easy to use and very intuitive.

I did not like however how much needed to be downloaded and installed before the integration with my computer was complete.  It required at least two separate downloads and a reboot.  Once installed though, the Office application suite on my computer integrated well with the online experience.  Another thing that I did not particularly find easy to use was the SharePoint component.  For those of you who are not familiar with SharePoint, it is a web collaborative space where you can publish websites, share documents, and set up forms.  However, this basic implementation of the product could use an overhaul on its flow from creating to designing to publishing.

This software suite definitely has its benefits for a business.  It includes all the major functionality any business would need, no matter the size.  It's scalable, and Microsoft has become a business standard.  There are numerous support mechanisms already available and documented, and Microsoft, itself, also offers more advanced support for a price.  Also Microsoft has developed its own mobile device technology, ActiveSync, which most mobile devices support, allowing the user to access email, calendar, and contacts from a mobile device as well.  All in all, Microsoft Office 365 is not a bad base level product for a business.

Another option available is through Google.  Google offers many online applications for various tasks.  For the purpose of this comparison, we'll be looking specifically their Google Docs offering.  It's very easy to get started with Google Docs.  There is not much of a "Getting Started" guide, but it's not really needed since the interface is very basic and simple, and there is contextual help available at all times.  You have five options for document types with Google Docs (Document, Presentation, Spreadsheet, Form, Drawing, and Collection [aka Folder]), which seems limited compared to the other offerings, but it's a strong set of tools in the toolbox.

There are a couple of drawbacks to using Google's suite though.  Firstly, there is a learning curve for the Microsoft or open source converts.  There is no 'Close' button; everything is auto-saved.  There are not tons of menus to navigate; all options that are available are shown, which  limits the options available.  Another drawback is that since Google is so massive it's offerings are segregated.  In summary, you'll have to go somewhere different to check your email and calendar from where you post your website from where you build and store your documents.

All in all, Google has a nice competitive offering for businesses.  Google is very aware of their customer base, and they strive to bring more to businesses and to implement on-demand product changes.  Google also has wonderful customer support options available, and it's been around long enough now that stability and quality of service over time are not concerns anymore as they once might have been.

Lastly, I'll be looking at the new kid on the block, Zoho, which came on the SaaS scene in 2007.  Zoho offers a completely online platform of applications to businesses.  It's 25 applications range from the basic email and calendar offerings to the more advanced and specific MarketPlace, BugTracker, and CRM applications.  Zoho works well as an application portal, a one-stop shop.  It's easy to get signed up and started with Zoho.  It also integrates with Google and Microsoft Sharepoint products.  Zoho also makes it extremely easy to use your own purchased domain name.

There are a few downsides to Zoho however.  It does not have complete feature parity with its competition in its basic Writer, Meeting, and Show products.  Also it's tabbing functionality can be confusing to a new user.  It also puts strict limits on storage space unless you purchase more, where it's competitors give their users a large free beginning space.  The product's home page is also extremely cluttered and hard to understand where to get started.

For business purposes, Zoho might be a little out of its league in terms of feature sets on its core functionality (creating, editing, publishing, email/calendar), but  it tries to make up for it with breadth of applications.  I imagine that Zoho will soon grow and develop into a great business solution especially since that is their primary customer base unlike Google, but for now, I think it might need to mature a little more as a service.  Also it's mobile capabilities need further development beyond a mobile version of their website.  A product set such as these really needs good mobile integration.

The Business Model Canvas: KnitWeek

For my second business model canvas, I am creating a made-up company called KnitWeek.  KnitWeek is an infomediary business that aggregates current deals and trends in the knitting industry and collects information from the knitting community that is then sold to crafting businesses.  KnitWeek also utilizes weekly email newsletters, social forums such as Ravelry, Facebook, and Twitter, and partners such as Michael's and Hobby Lobby to connect with the community and to harvest data.

The Business Model Canvas: Shear P'zazz

We've been learning about business model canvasing based off of The Business Model Generation by Alexander Osterwalder and YvesPigneur.

For my first business model, I'm going to model the business Shear P'zazz.  Shear P'zazz is a hair salon that I worked at throughout high school.

Routers and The Technology that Make Them Work

Morning Blogoverse!  For my first technical blog post, I'll be writing about Routers.  The website HowStuffWorks has a wonderful group called TechStuff.  This blog post is structured around their podcast titled "What is a router".  They also have great blog posts on their website as well about routers.  So please check those out for more information.

Internet traffic just like automotive traffic has rules.  These rules are called Protocols.  The Open Systems Interconnection protocol stack details out these rules as layers.  I'll mainly be discussing what goes on the 3rd layer of this 7 layered standard, most commonly known as the Network Layer.  For a more detailed description of OSI layers, please see this PDF on the standard, specifically page 47 for the network layer.

Routers are very multi-functional network-layer devices.  They control all communication between you and the Internet.  They scan all the traffic going through them and apply certain rules and regulations to that traffic.  Sometimes even denying or destroying traffic that tries to get through.  Routers are everywhere that a user connects to the Internet creating a global network of routers.

The traffic that flows through a router comes and goes in what is called a Packet.  A packet is also part of the standards dictated by the OSI model.  Packets include directions on its destination and how it fits with other packets to make a whole data file.  Routers then use this information to determine the fastest route the packet should take to its destination, which might not be the shortest route.  To do this, routers calculate the number of routers a packets goes through for a certain data exchange, called hops.  Certain protocols and packets limit the number of hops a packet can take, and the router must take this into account when determining its route.

Routers are in constant communication with each other using a different protocol called the Routing Information Protocol (to read more, please see the RFC posted here).   They do this to monitor and notify others when certain routers are overloaded or if there is a faster path a different way and assists them in balancing the load across the whole Internet.

Routers have a hardware and a software component and can be seen as a very specialized computer on the network.  Routers can also act as a switch.  To read more about switches, please see this post by HowStuffWorks called "How LAN Switches Work".  Switching allows multiple computers to talk to each other as well as the Internet.  Each device that is connected to the Internet must have an identification code called an IP (Internet Protocol) address that a router can send data packets to.  This must be a unique address or else traffic might be sent to the wrong location.  If every networked device had it's own IP address though we would run out very quickly with the advent of mobile devices and networked sensors such as security cameras.

To get around this, a router can do a few things:

• First, it can limit who can connect to the Internet through it by restricting connections by a device's MAC address, a Media Access Control address, which can be found in the OSI model as well and is unique to each piece of hardware.
• Secondly, it can act as a postmaster by assigning a non-unique, dynamic IP address to its connected devices and then by routing incoming and outgoing data packets using a smaller number of static, unique IP addresses when communicating with the Internet.  This process is called Network Address Translation.  It has its pros and cons and can slow down the transaction time if done improperly.  To read more about NAT, please see this great article.

There are some additional concerns to consider when looking at routers.

• Whether you are using a wired connection or a wireless connection can make a big different in your experience.  Wired connections tend to be more reliable than wireless.  Also with wireless connections, you run into a higher probability of interference from other devices and also router/access point compatibility.  Wireless traffic uses the 802.11 protocol which has many channels such as a, b, g, and n, and if your access point does not use the same type of 802.11 channel it might not be able to connect.  You can read more about the 802.11 standard on the IEEE website.
• Data packet delays might not be an issue with your router but may be an issue with your Internet Service Provider (ISP).  ISPs can put data caps on your usage based on their service level agreement with you to maintain a stable network for the rest of their customers.
• People can try to hack into and attack routers just like they do with computers.  One of the most common examples of such an attack is called a Denial of Service attack.  This is where someone floods your router with so much traffic, legitimate or junk, that your router can't keep up so that everyone connected behind your router can no longer communicate with the Internet.  Another flavor of this type of attack is called a DDoS, a distributed denial of service attack, where a DoS is being performed by botnets so that they can not be easily distinguished.  Here is a great paper describing botnets and their usages.
• Firewalls can also be applied on a router to assist in intrusion detection and handling and can assist in encrypting your data packets for additional security.

I hope this blog post has been informative.  If you find anything incorrect or would like clarification on anything, please post a comment, and I'll get right on it.  Thanks!

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!  I am a graduate student in the Master of Internet Technology program out of the Terry College of Business at the University of Georgia.  This blog is for me to communicate what is going on in my MIST 7500 class, Introduction to Internet Technology, and to share any fun things I find along the way that I find relevant.  We are going to be talking about a widespread of things in class including the Internet (surprise!), networking, websites and HTML, and cloud computing.  Also since this is a management program, all of this will be with a business modeling, forward thinking, perspective.

To give you a little background, I received my undergraduate degree in Computer Engineering in 2007, but ever since then I've worked in Internet Technology (IT) and never really branched out into the wide world of computer engineering.  Since I've been in IT, I've done customer support, networking, web design, application design, and much more.  I am currently working at UGA in the Enterprise Information Technology Services department doing a wide range of things.  Also I like to dabble in terms of technology so I know a little about a lot of topics.  I am really looking forward to digging in and seeing what else is out there and honing my Internet Technology skills.

I hope you enjoy my blog!  Please feel free to post your comments!