port7 – co – uk

Probably a number of you reading this will now have seen the announcement at Google I/O about the new product from the makers of Google Maps, what they are calling Google Wave.

What Google Wave is attempting to do its effectively re-invent E-mail, they asked themselves, what would E-Mail look like if it was invented today? The answer is something that looks like the lovechild of Gmail, Wiki, SubEthaEdit, Twitter, and Sharepoint. I think it could catch on.

As someone who makes his daily bread in the very conservative world of corporate IT, I can’t see it making inroads here (which is a shame), though the fact that Google are releasing the code and allowing people to host their own web-servers might make that interesting, especially with the federation aspect of the protocol.

I for one can’t wait to give it a test go, and I may even deploy it in some of my clients, if it grows in maturity.

Well done Google (again)

So yesterday I received a sales call, not a surprise as I get lots of them each day. But this time I was pleasantly surprised to discover that is was from Sirius IT, for those that don’t know Sirius are probably one of the more successful FOSS consultancy firms here in the UK. Having been around the Linux community since 1996 I have been aware of the good work they have done, and the growth they have enjoyed.

Unfortunately I couldn’t give them much work, as my current client is pretty much well served by a big outsourcing deal with Capgemini. Though I was pleased to tell the chap that they already use a significant amount of FOSS in the IT estate, and find it works very well thank you.

What encouraged me about this call was just that it indicated Sirius IT was growing into a serious contender in the UK IT industry. They have obviously started this cold-calling strategy to win business, and I hope it works from them. It certainly makes a change to hear a company calling and specifically mentioning Open Source software. In the current climate, I really think FOSS has a lot to offer business in the UK, and hopefully initiatives like this from Sirius will do a lot to make that happen.

So well done Sirius IT, I hope to send some business your way in the future, maybe not with the current client but maybe another one.