Jermaine Robinson, Managing Director and Founder of Social Media Jamaica ltd featured in Your Money E-zine

4. Business Lounge
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5. business
lounge
CLoud teChnoLogy:
BrINGING rAINS oF ProSPErITy To BUSINESS
W ith all the ‘cloud’ talk pres-
ently dominating local and
international business news, the aver-
age man could be forgiven for assuming
that commercial forecasts are gloomy.
After all, clouds generally portend bad
weather, and given the still precarious
economic conditions of many countries
worldwide, people are understandably
cautious. But this is not a dark cloud, so
there is no need to pull out an umbrel-
la. The cloud everyone is speaking of
these days refers to a computing model
in which services (eg. web-based email)
and storage (eg. web hosting) are pro-
vided over the Internet.
Cloud computing is not exactly a new
phenomenon, as applications like Skype
and Google Docs have been in exis-
tence for a number of years. Cloud Participating companies will of its Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS)
services hold great potential benefit for benefit from secure and highly technology, which will be available until
businesses of all types and sizes. Small August 31, 2011.
available compute, storage,
and medium-sized business operators
especially would do well to examine the
and network capacity via a Executive vice-president for strategy
possibilities. web-based, self-service portal, operations at Fujitsu Caribbean, John
with a seamless move to pay Slaytor, explained that the offer also
Locally, the telecommunications indus- when the trial period expires. comes with added support such as con-
try has eagerly embraced cloud comput- sultancy and transition services. Fujitsu
ing technology. Digicel Business rolled has already begun inviting select cus-
out Cloud Services last month, offer- telephony, hosted email and exchange, tomers to try the service and hopes to
ing Cloud Backup to its corporate cus- disaster recovery, and firewall monitor- attract other organisations. Participating
tomers with plans to launch additional ing and management services last year. companies will benefit from secure and
services over the next few months, highly available compute, storage, and
including Hosted Email, Hosted Black- Fujitsu also recently announced the network capacity via a web-based, self-
Berry Server, Virtual Server and Cloud introduction of its global public cloud service portal, with a seamless move to
Telephony. Columbus Business Solu- platform to local companies under a ‘try pay when the trial period expires.
tions (CBS) also provides cloud servic- and buy’ offer. Fujitsu’s Global Cloud
es through a partnership with Ignition Platform has already been launched in
Technology Group and LIME began Japan, Australia, Singapore, the UK and
offering managed network services for North America. The offer is a free trial
yourmoney ezine

6. business
lounge
CLoud teChnoLogy:
BrINGNING rAINS oF ProSPErITy To BUSINESS
There are numerous benefits to be rates multi-tier security features.
derived from cloud computing, chief David robbins, chief technology offi-
of which is saving money. The cloud cer at US-based systems development
services provided by these telecom- company NetApp, also suggests talking
munications companies will give local to your provider about data ownership
businesses key resources such as man- and mobility, to find out who owns your
aged software systems and backup fa- data once it goes into the cloud, wheth-
cilities, which removes the necessity of er data can be shared between services
costly investment in infrastructure such and what happens to your data if you
as servers and software licences. Cloud terminate the contract with your pro-
computing allows business owners to vider. And what would happen to your
pay a small fee instead of the one-time data should there be a major systems
cost associated with traditional desktop Many cloud-based apps also allow failure? Digicel and LIME both have Tier
software, which often require annual
users to work offline and synchro- III certification, which means their sys-
nize data when they go online. For
upgrades. With Digicel’s cloud service, tems have the necessary capacity and
example, some Google Apps offer
for instance, the price is reduced be- a desktop version called Google resilience to remain fully operational if
cause capital cost is shared amongst all Gears, which syncs your data when there is a major power systems failure
users and there are no per-feature or you access the internet. Google or if the systems need to be taken out
per-seat fees – customers pay only for Apps has over 2 million businesses of production for maintenance activi-
the storage they use. David Bates, head and 25 million users in its cloud ties. CBS, which has its cloud in Cura-
of ICT sales at Digicel Business, has es- computing marketplace. cao, said its facility is not yet ‘officially’
timated the potential savings from us- Tier III certified, but it operates at those
ing cloud technology at between 30%- computing applications are updated standards.
50%. and improved regularly. Customers
will benefit from these improvements advertisment
Another of the great advantages of without any additional direct cost and
cloud computing is accessibility. It is without the effort of downloading and
available wherever you are, once you configuring upgrades.
are able to access the internet. Many
cloud-based apps also allow users to of course, there are several issues to
work offline and synchronize data when give careful consideration to before
they go online. For example, some deciding to use these services. These
Google Apps offer a desktop version include privacy and security. your data
called Google Gears, which syncs your will be stored on the Internet, which is
data when you access the internet. not without its breaches, hackers and
Google Apps has over 2 million busi- leaks. Business owners will need to en-
nesses and 25 million users in its cloud sure that their service providers have
computing marketplace. airtight security features to safeguard
sensitive information. Digicel stated that
Cloud-based applications are also of- its Cloud Services are designed for syn-
ten simpler and easier to use, with just dicated use, so encryption and access
the basics that customers need to get controls are already standard while the
a specific job done. Additionally, cloud Fujitsu Global Cloud Platform incorpo-
yourmoney ezine

8. insights
by
Tracey-Ann
Wisdom
Venture CapitaLists
Banking on Social media iPoS
T he recent success of the Linke-
dIn and Pandora IPos plus the
sustained buzz surrounding the
tors willingly overlooked traditional fac-
tors such as price-to-earnings ratio in
favor of confidence in technological ad-
anticipated Facebook and Twitter of- vancements. However, some analysts
fers clearly demonstrate that there is a have argued that the prospective IPos
huge appetite for social media compa- will help determine whether this could
nies on the stock market. Analysts be- indeed re-occur.
lieve this bodes well for other Internet
companies looking to go public and may But why are investors flocking to social
brighten prospects for the venture capi- media start-ups? Profits, of course. Ven-
tal industry. ture capitalists make money when com-
panies they invest in go public or get
Besides Facebook and Twitter, several
LinkedIn, a professional net- acquired, and the current resurgence is
other Internet companies are waiting in working site, became the first bringing money back in large volumes.
the wings to launch their IPos, includ- major U.S. social-networking For example, LinkedIn’s IPo has pro-
ing Groupon and Zynga. Groupon has duced more than US$2 billion in profits
site to launch an IPO and its
been faced with several hurdles since for its backers, while Groupon’s two
announcing its intentions and filing to shares more than doubled on top outside investors may own a US$5
go public earlier this month, including their first day of trading. The billion stake when the site goes public,
incurring a loss of US$146.5 million company is still trading above says the Bloomberg Businessweek.
for the first three months of 2011 as it
spent heavily to expand.
its IPO price of US$45 per
share, but now at US$74, it is
LinkedIn, a professional networking down nearly 40 percent from
site, became the first major U.S. social-
its peak of US$120.
networking site to launch an IPo and
its shares more than doubled on their or genre. The company has 90 million
first day of trading. The company is still registered users in the United States
trading above its IPo price of US$45 and makes the majority of its money
per share, but now at US$74, it is down from advertising; however it has to pay
nearly 40 percent from its peak of significant royalties for music.
US$120. Pandora’s shares are also cur-
rently trading for US$16 after being val- This current resurgence of Internet
ued between US$10-US$12 last week. companies has fueled concerns of an-
The company raised $235 million based other dot-com bubble, which wiped out
on the sale of 14.7 million shares. several major web-based businesses in
2000. A combination of rapidly increas-
The Pandora IPo is particularly interest- ing stock prices, market confidence that
ing because the company is yet to turn a the companies would turn future prof-
profit after 10 years of operation. Pan- its, individual speculation in stocks, and
dora runs a service that recommends widely available venture capital created
and plays music, allowing listeners to an environment in which many inves-
create playlists based on a song, artist
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10. start
ups
Read. Believe. Succeed.
Small Business Banking
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11. start
ups
by
Tracey-Ann
Wisdom
“Social media iS word of mouth 2.0”
- Jermaine roBinSon
F ive years ago, the term ‘social
media’ meant absolutely noth-
ing. The world was just getting
used to Facebook, founded only two
years earlier, and the notion of ‘social
This was a major hurdle in obtaining cap-
ital for the business. robinson overcame
this by utilizing free software, which was
necessary to create some applications.
networking’ was firmly the domain of For those businesses still reluctant to
college students. Today, ‘social media’ embrace social media, robinson pointed
is the buzzword du jour, on the lips of to Jamaica’s Facebook statistics, which
everyone from teens to tycoons. Social show that some 616 920 Jamaicans use
networks such as Facebook, Twitter and the network . “I would... ask them if they
Foursquare have revolutionized the busi- still think it’s a waste of money to mar-
ness world and hold vast – yet untapped ket or advertise their products where so
– potential for marketing success. This much of their target market spends time
has created opportunities for entrepre- daily.”
neurs like Jermaine robinson, whose Jermaine robinson
Founder and Managing Director
one-year-old company, Social Media Social Media Jamaica Nonetheless, robinson and his team
Jamaica, is teaching local businesses and have been making headway, attracting
organizations how to use these services “The goals behind Social Media clients from a cross-section of local in-
to relate to their clientele while improv- Jamaica’s marketing services are dustries, including manufacturing, en-
ing their bottom line. to put our clients in a position tertainment, insurance, auto sales and
to tap into the two-way conver- a major national sport team. “The prin-
“The goals behind Social Media Jamai- sation naturally happening be- ciples of social media can be applied to
ca’s marketing services are to put our tween you and your customers.” any type of business. All you have to do
clients in a position to tap into the two- is identify your goals,” he stated.
way conversation naturally happening
between you and your customers. This across major networking sites and de- Social Media Jamaica is currently in de-
conversation occurs 24 hours a day,” veloping strategies to increase visibility, velopment mode, creating its own cus-
robinson said. “our services are de- as well as monitoring which communi- tom social media monitoring platform
signed to show you where people are ties are most likely to use the company’s and moving social media marketing into
talking about you, the areas where you products and services and assessing the events, such as parties. The company’s
can best get involved, and the tactics competition. “our social media pack- New york-based associate is also exam-
you should use to help increase brand ages include Twitter marketing applica- ining opportunities to tap into the large
awareness.” tions, custom Facebook applications and Jamaican Diaspora market in the United
fan pages which are totally managed and States.
The company’s services include social hosted on Social Media Jamaica servers,”
media marketing strategies, social media robinson added. contact Social media Jamaica at:
audits, social profile creation and com- Facebook:
It hasn’t been easy for robinson and his http://www.facebook.com/social.media.
munity building strategy development. jamaica
These involve assessing a company’s team to convince some sectors of the
Twitter: @socialmediaja
needs and outlining the specific oppor- business community of the importance
Email: jermaine@socialmediajamaica.com
tunities and actions to pursue, analyz- of creating a visible social profile. Many
ing the impact of a company’s website business owners still see social media
as a fad and are reluctant to invest in it.
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