I attended a fantastic EOTW conference in Perth, Australia last week (Twitter hash tag #EOTW08). I met some inspiring people like Derek Featherstone the FurtherAhead.com accessibility Gu (A leading Guru) who is also a keen triathlete. I also did a workshop with Google JS/jQuery Gu Cameron Adams (aka The Man in Blue). It was also great to meet Matt Patterson from Freshview (Saasu’s email marketing system). Thanks Matt for the T-shirt!

Many thanks to AWIA for a great event and inviting me over to speak and attend. My talk was about ecosystems, and if there is one ecosystem you must join if you use technology in your business then it’s AWIA.

Here’s my preso I did at the conference which I have posted on slideshare.NET

What things can you do in your business to make it fun for your customers?

Back in 2000 we drew up some plans to make an accounting system a bit like a Monopoly board. The idea being that as your business assets grew you would see an image of you factory grow. Your sales pipeline would expand into a bigger pipe as revenue grew. We wanted to bring some fun to accounting which can otherwise be a tad boring.

Due to the conservative nature of accountants (a good thing, they are just trying to protect their customers in many cases) we decided to hold off on that approach. Another reason was the difficulty in dealing with animation in web interfaces back then while meeting targets on load time for screens. We were also trying to avoid pagination. Pagination is where you show 1-50 of 7,000 transactions as an example and then provide buttons or links to show transactions 51-100 etc. Pagination can be really annoying for customers as we discovered during our user experience surveys.

In 2004 we started using AJAX (it didn’t actually have a name back then) which gave us the speed and flexibility to create a more designed interface and a better perceived speed experience for customers. We still use AJAX extensively in Payroll where editable data sets are smaller but you won’t see it as much in screens that have large editable data sets because it begins to become cost rather than a benefit in load times. The customer experience might be nice but if the screen load is slow the customer will just want to throw the computer out the window.

AJAX still has issues in this area but they are slowly being worked around. New browser like Google Chrome will allow AJAX to be used right across data heavy applications as it is a very efficient in dealing with JavaScript (the J in AJAX).

Being a fan of Wordpress for blogging I really like their spam removal experience. When you click delete it turns red (like slaying the spam dragon) and then slides away off the screen. The destroy feeling is quite good. Gamers amongst you would like it. We implemented this idea back in 2005 into our Payroll and Invoicing modules (without the blood effect).

We are started to work on some UI design changes to give customers a bit more fun in the screens but as always the accessibility will be the controlling factor given our mantra of ensuring the keyboarders aren’t compromised in anyway.

If any of you have suggestions or examples of animation for deletion, creation, edit etc. just let us know as we will be working up our changes to reports and transaction searching/listing over the next few weeks.

Photo credit: Cowbite

If you’re a business owner I recommend attending conferences. The trick is to pick the eyes out of them. I only go to about three a year as either a speaker or a sponsor. So ruthless choices are required. My picks are Barcamp, Edge of the Web and CeBIT.

Edge of the Web is coming up in November (Perth, Australia), brought to you by the Australian Web Industry Association (AWIA). It is designed for business stakeholders trying to create next generation business practices that utilise the web. The people behind Edge of the Web recognise that technology and the web are an integral part of the business model. So often I see business people who think their business is “what” they do rather than “how” they do it.

Nearly all businesses are hybrid technology businesses these days,
they are part technology company and part product or services. The “how” is all about technology.

I’ll be at the conference talking on SaaS (Software as a Service) as an Ecosystem for businesses to operate in. Having your business in the cloud is becoming an integral part of an effective “how” component in your business. Some smart cookies (and coincidently good friends and customers of Saasu) will be there also such as the Madpilot, Myles Eftos and Millstreams, Adrian and Rosemary Lynch. I also hear that Jordan Brock and his 5 Senses Coffee with be there. 5 Senses was at a recent Barcamp, and the coffee experience just made it ultra-pleasant between sessions.

If you are not sure if this applies to you then consider a sole trader services business as an example who has a large portion of what they do dependent on technology. Getting the books done, preparing marketing material, email, franchising, scheduling, managing inventory, procurement, network marketing etc. It’s all about technology.

If you want to get to Perth then Saasu wants to pitch in and help by subsidising the trip a little through a cheaper Saasu subscription. Just use voucher code AWIA-EDGE when you renew or signup to Saasu NetAccounts. We will add 3 months to your business file renewal date once we confirm you have registered for the conference*.

Edge of the Web is on 6th and 7th of November, Perth WA. AWIA members $395, non-members $450.

ASIDE: If you aren’t already an AWIA member then get on board. Saasu did and never looked back. We are now on their committee and can honestly say it has been a great expereience dealing with some amazing web savvy members and receiving so much businesses through our membership.

If you have multiple business files in your subscription it will be pro-rata calculated. Offer ends 6th November 2008. One voucher at a time sorry. This offer can’t be used in conjunction with any other offer.

Let the frenzy of marketing lessons begin.

Sydney finally has her own Apple flagship store. It is enormous. Right on one of the city central intersections it looks like a lighthouse at night. You can’t miss it.

Sydney is the world’s best city by brand (2 years in a row on ABC), lifestyle (8 years out of 10 on CNN) and especially so now for geeks and business owners since it is also home to Saasu HQ.

The lessons here for marketing any business are fascinating. Focus. Quality. Clarity. Consistency.

Only days after 5,200 Apple geeks meet in San Fran for their WWDC (World Wide Developer Conference) when Steve Jobs announced the new iPhone 3G (watch video) will be 36% faster than the latest Nokia and half the price of iPhone today ($199 from $399), Jobs also confirmed that 98% of iPhone users use it for the web, as predicted in this blog ages ago the iPhone platform is a major structural change to the world of web access.

In case you didn’t already know Saasu works on the iPhone and the iTouch, it is the full web application, not a cut down one. So you can do everything on the iPhone that you can do on any desktop or laptop.

Jobs also announced that iPhone 3G will be in 22 countries on July 11 and a total of 70 by year end. We wouldn’t be surprised to see the current 6m iPhone users go up to circa 100m+ by end 2009 (another blog on why another time).

If you go to the Apple Sydney store opening it is 5pm tomorrow (less than 36 hours ago the construction boards were up, now there are loads of apple geniuses running around and customers sleeping outside in line so they are first in tomorrow. TV and other media are already circling. The saasu team will be there of course to answer questions and do the odd demo. While I was there recently the kind apple crew gave umbrellas to those waiting in impending rain outside - well done gang.

Saasu.com is the best value accounting SaaS on the Mac in the world, we love the Apple iPhone too.

So we are offering 3 months bonus FREE to anyone signing up to a paid saasu netaccounts subscription for this week only. Just type APPLEROCKSSYDNEY when you sign up.

Note to Apple environmentally aware staff, please lobby your light house marketing guys to use efficient bulbs (if you don’t already) or turn off those lights when you go home pretty please.

Oh, and a bit of gossip to finish, something else is happening at 5pm tomorrow too. BRW the esteemed business review weekly magazine is launching their special Web 100 edition. Saasu might get a mention…

Only one month to go! It is that time of year again, Cebit is coming to Sydney 35,000 wild business and technology people from around 60 countries in a frenzy of new and cool stuff in one place.

CeBIT is THE International Trade Show for Information Technology, Telecommunications, Software and Services. In other words, if you want to geek-out or get a real competitive advantage for your business you will love it.

Last year was good

Last year Saasu won the one and only highly prized ‘excellence in innovation platinum award’ for our flagship product NetAccounts. We were going to insert lots of other blatant boasting and superlatives here but thought that was probably more than you can take already.

This year will be even better

This year there will be something like 750 exhibitors from 20+ countries.

This year we will be speaking at the conference in the Transaction 2.0 section, chairing a session and of course exhibiting.

Best of all, as part of the Saasu foundation work we do, Saasu will be the sole green sponsor for the event, we are making the venue carbon neutral for the event for EVERY EXHIBITOR just so we can say we did our bit. Gold standard of course.

Special Bonus (or two)

As a special bonus you can register free as a friend of Saasu just quote code SAASUCA08 and you will get in free which is a fairly substantial saving off the normal door price of $40.

If you visit us at the show you will receive an extra month on your subscription for new and current customers! We will be asking all our visitors two questions - what do they like most about saasu today and what would they like to see in our coming releases?

You will also be able to see our latest release demonstrated and talk to the experts about your needs, wants, desires and passions in the field of financial management success.

Finding Saasu at CeBIT

So do drop by stand S45, on the main aisle right next to our mates from salesforce.com (in case you have been living in a cave and hadn’t already heard, saasu integrates instantly with salesforce).

We are smack bang in the middle of the main business-software/e-finance/CRM section which takes up most of halls 4 and 5.

Want to know more?

We thought you might so here is a taste of what you will see, watch the videos or read some more
from the CeBIT marketers -

CeBIT Australia 2008 is the largest and most important business-to-business technology event in the region. Join 35,000 business professionals at CeBIT Australia this year to understand, analyse, sample and select the right technology solutions for your business’s future success.

Finding the right solutions has never been easier, CeBIT Australia is organised into 30 show floor categories – ranging from CRM, VoIP, e-Marketing & Search Engine Optimisation, Web Applications to Open Source – making it the number one stop for business professionals seeking the competitive advantage.

* 150 FREE show-floor Seminars
* International Keynote Speakers
* Business Networking
* Interactive Panel Sessions
* 6 High-Level Conferences
* 750+ Solution Providers
* 5000+ Technology Experts
* 30 Show Floor Categories

Visiting CeBIT Australia 2008 will teach you how to make your ICT investment work for you

* Get more out of your website
* Unleash the power 2.0
* Retain your top talent
* Discover online trading
* Slash your communications costs
* See next-gen CRM systems
* Learn about Green IT

And much, much more… most importantly you will arm yourself with knowledge that will give you the power to take your business to next level!

See you @ CeBIT Australia,
20 – 22 May 2008
Sydney Convention & Exhibition Centre,
Darling Harbour

Gartner, arguably one of the most respected research firms globally has given the iPhone the big OK for use by big companies for their applications.

The link above is kindly provided by Cebit, we are presenting soon at Cebit 2008 and we won the coveted platinum excellence in innovation award there last year.

We commented recently and accurately in this blog on the earth shattering impact of the iPhone web access demonstrated with hard numbers, so this endorsement by Gartner is no surprise to the team here at saasu but it is a huge green light for businesses all around the world, not just the big end of town.

This is another reason saasu made the right decision getting the current release of saasu working on the apple itouch (ipod that looks like iphone but without the phone). See the saasu netaccounts on iphone demo video a happy saasu customer made even before we announced it.

It is also why the new release of saasu includes integration with google maps and hundreds of millions of people’s profiles on the big Professional and Social Networking (PSN) sites. More on that tomorrow.

The whole world is getting more saas-y, not just the big end of town. Now you can run your multi country business on your iphone with the SaaS Ecosystem including Saasu.

For an industry segment that used to be geek central, most of our new sales are now from non-tech firms and non-tech people in those firms.

On a lighter note we now also have a potential theme movie for the Saas industry - Saas Girl or similar in name at least - is about to be released, watch the saasy girl trailer.

We are also working on a marketing idea for saas girl and saas guy but more on that later, anticipation is half the fun.

Another new Software as a Service (SaaS) idea that might work for some of our business customers is Avatars.

Avatars are a digital representation of people. You find them all over the internet these days, in virtual worlds and increasingly in commercial use for customer support.

A more recent innovation however is the use of these Avatars to sell your products. In pre-sales not post-sales, as it is a very different area because people are less tolerant of poor quality voice or images.

We set one up recently to welcome new visitors to saasu. If you have any feedback let us know. It’s easy to get one for your own site.

The downside of course is (more…)

We reviewed our hosting provider again recently as part of a major upgrade in capacity to handle our growth.

Saasu client data (and our own) sits inside some pretty cool technology infrastructure in an extremely high grade location with world class qualifications including some from financial institutions and government security organisations.

Just some of our technology infrastructure features -

• Guards on the front door
• Hundreds of cameras
• Concrete all round - including the roof
• Biometric security
• Multiple levels of steel access doors and cages
• Multiple levels of redundant power, telecommunications and air conditioning
• Laser smoke particle detection; not to mention
• 24×7 monitoring plus
• Heavy duty protection from ram raids and even plane crashes

That helps us well sleep at night and we think it helps thousands of our users to sleep well at night too.

We also had yet another client with laptop problems recently. This follows a long line of similar client problems with their equipment being lost or stolen from client offices and cars not to mention dropped or broken laptops. All these events mean their business is impacted negatively because of lost data because many people still use software with local data copies on their PC/Mac.

But not if they use SaaS. In every case the saasu.com clients get up and running in minutes with much relief.

No loss of -

• Data (nor any data disclosure risk) - just find another computer with Internet access
• Time just when you need that time the most
• Revenue
• Client Satisfaction

It is unlikely any laptop with a local copy of your financial records will ever offer the same security and peace of mind as SaaS ‘big iron’ technology infrastructure.

Yet another reason why SaaS (Software as a Service) will prevail over Software for most businesses in the long run and why more and more are realising this benefit every single day.

At this rate, the iPhone/iPod platform should be the third largest computing platform by the end of 2008.

This was the dramatic claim in one recent article backed up by some semi decent statistics. This is only one view but the calcs we did below do show that allowing for three factors -

• time on market,
• handsets sold and
• % of web browsing done

Apple’s iPhone/iTouch is killing Microsoft Windows CE in the mobile web application usage and adoption.

In fact they are more than 87 times more effective at driving customer usage which is the ultimate test. What a great testimony to usability and one of the reasons more than 90% of our saasu.com features (by use) are available within one click.

To really understand how good it is, watch a video or two on the apple site.

Here at Saasu.com, we like mobile access, a lot. Not everyone needs it and most people won’t use it as their main platform ever. But it is useful and for many segments such as mobile professionals and service segments it is a major productivity jump.

We have been quietly working on mobile capabilities here at Saasu.com and had our stuff working the iphone/itouch some months ago. We wanted to tweak a bit more before announcing it but as usual in this ‘youtube.com democracy age’ our clients who are real fans of saasu beat us to it.

We are also launching some special extensions next year to support mobile financial management across platforms. Sign up for the blog feed so you see it when it arrives.

Rough calculations follow (from above article and related links) -

TOM - Time On Market

• Apple iphone 5 months, itouch 3 months
• Microsoft Windows 10+ years but we will assume 18months to allow for ramp up etc..

Footprint - Handsets/devices sold

• Apple 1.4m
• Microsoft 20m

Web Browsing Market Share

• Apple iPhone 0.09%, iTouch 0.01%
• MS Windows CE 0.06%

Weighting the three factors, the effectiveness in shaping consumer adoption is Apple 18/5 * 20/1.4 * 0.1/0.06 = 3.6 * 14.3 * 1.7 = 87+

Footnote: In Australia our home base, the iPhone is not officially available yet but the iTouch is being marketed heavily for Xmas and there are a fair few US imports that have been modified (hacked is probably a better term) to provide most of the features here (not visual voice mail for example however).

The thing I love about the net is unfortunately the thing I also dislike about it. You can meet people online from all around the world but at the same time you don’t often get to meet them face to face without great expense. Last week was different when I travelled to Perth, I met some great customers, giving me a chance to put faces to weblogs and avatars. (more…)

We have flotation devices to save us from drowning. I think we need a Bloatation detection device to tell us when enough features are enough in the Software as a Service (SaaS) utilites we build like Saasu. I think a bloatation detection device would sound a big warning alarm when customers: (more…)

I was thinking I might sit in the sun at Hyde Park (Sydney CBD, Australia) and answer my emails on wireless.

What Wi-Fi can I get? A quick search found a search tool for Skype that gives you a list of free or paid Wi-Fi points. Being a skeptic I tried it and it works really well. I even tried it in my home suburb and yep my local Starbucks is a go-er. Happy now

You will need Skype to use it and then get the search tool at the JiWire Bot for Skype download page.

I am giving Google Notebook a run. I really like the idea of having my notes in a SaaS environment so I can access and share my notes with colleagues and clients. If you are interested in this area also try Backpack by 37signals

What it Does

Grab images and text from websites using a “Clip” button. Write your own notes. Invite collaborators and publish your notes to the web.

Good Points

• Simple interface, that feels like Gmail & Google Reader.
• Tab based and widget based use. Bottom-Right Browser Widget View - Click Open_Notebook link in your browser footer to access it. Maximised Tab in Browser View.
• Highlight and Clip is very easy to use.
• Searchable content.
• Access via Google sign in.
• 30 second install (Firefox or IE extension).
• Terms and Conditions leave the content IP rights with the subscriber.
  

  Google claims no ownership or control over any Content submitted, posted or displayed by you on or through Google services. You or a third party licensor, as appropriate, retain all patent, trademark and copyright to any Content you submit, post or display on or through Google services…

Improvable

• No Labels or Tags (slight negative). I’ll assume Google will bring that in later.
• You can’t seem to set or control a title for a Note (usability issue). It likes to create a header/title line by collapsing content into one line (ignoring carriage returns) as a pseudo title.
• I’d prefer section headers and the notes content to open using a link or clickable header instead of the plus expander. That’s a bit old hat.

Simple and effective SaaS utility.

When you lose your operating system (OS) or it has a bit of a fit during upgrade you will instantly see the joy and power of SaaS (Software-as-a-service).

To recover your computer after a crash, virus, failed upgrade or other reason you should only need to perform very basic tasks. However, this is only the case when you are under the care of SaaS (online applications). The primary tasks are to re-install your browser and Adobe reader.

Meanwhile software users will need to be reinstall programs one CD at a time (if you can find the CD’s). You may need to find your out of date backups to recover lost data files (if you remembered to do your backups). You may need to re-engineer information (reinvent what your desktop and document files used to look like). You’ll almost definitely need to have a quiet little cry into your hands (or smash the screen). Worst of all face your fellow staff if you were slack and didn’t do the backups like everyone told you to.

It hurts but fear not as SaaS is here to help. She’ll care for you like no OS ever did. She wont bug you for upgrades, setup, disk required notifications or Product Keys. She’s a kind understanding mother who’s job is to nurture you and give you time to grow and play like a young child. She does all the nasty stuff behind the scenes for you like backing up, upgrading, installing and making sure you’re wearing the right colours (operating system and browser neutral).

I know the cost of losing the OS only too well. I lost my laptop operating system last year but I was lucky because I’m already under the care of mother SaaS. I had already moved all my photo’s to Flickr.com an online photo warehouse. Other SaaS products I use are Google Apps, Gmail and obviously Saasu. The impact was limited, I was back up and running in hours not days. Had I not been nurtured by my SaaS mother I would have lost a couple of months worth of photos which I probably wouldn’t have backed up at that time (i.e. My wife would hate me!).

Brad Howarth writes a great piece about this topic in his blog.

In a similar vein, Apple 3rd party developers are hitting frustrations dealing with the iPhone OS but SaaS developers building online applications for the iPhone have no such problem. The OS becomes virtually irrelevant in the world of SaaS. Web browser based it’s clearly less restrictive.

If SaaS is like a mum then the browser is your best mate, he’s light and nimble, he’s winning the battle over software, costs nothing and gives you access to all your stuff wherever you are. Feed him with lots of web applications and your best mate will watch your back by saving you time.

We have been meaning to say thank you to a bunch of people for ages for the great help they have given us. This help is usually in the form of world class technology that we find indispensable, inspiring, innovative or just plain smart. There are a fair mix of open source and commercial products and services mentioned.

For anyone out there running a business this is useful ongoing resource because we will be keeping it up to date and there are some real time and money savers here worth looking at.

So here it is - the official launch of the Saasu Cool List.

If you didn’t make it and think you should have - then tell us.

We’ll be at CeBit for the next few days. Come down and say hi - we’re in Hall 4

Phil over at Vincenze’s pit points out the potential pitfalls of pie charts. His conclusion:

So the next time you’re preparing a presentation, stop and ask yourself; what message am I sending my viewers when I use a pie chart? Ultimately, the one thing you can be certain of is that it won’t be a clear one.

Check out his post for a really clear example of why they’re problematic.

Garr Reynolds looks at some alternative ways to present data, including a brief discussion on the pros and cons of pie charts, when reviewing a presentation by Whole Foods Market’s CEO, John Mackey.

While we’re on the topic of data visualisation (incl. charting), I’ve come across a few related links recently:

• Tufte charts in Excel
• Excel “in cell” graphing - a clever method of visualising data on a cell-by-cell basis (check out the screenshots in the article to see what I’m trying to say…)

And lastly - Seth Godin has had a thing about bad PowerPoint for a while. Now he has found some research to back it up.

Update: Oh - I forgot this one: Periodic Table of Visualisation Methods.