Entries Tagged 'Case Studies' ↓

For content and application developers there is more opportunity than ever to monetize subscriptions. The Apple App Store has sparked a revolution in the mobile space generating billions of dollars for Apple and also creating look-alike services from nearly every mobile vendor. In the iPhone OS 3.0, Apple included a "Store Kit", which allows an application such as a game or a news source to include the ability to offer subscription services.

Additionally, some of the crown jewels of the content industry - The Wall Street Journal and The New York Times - have been exploring the implications of a pay wall for both mobile and Web access to content. The news industry is in the midst of defining where free vs. subscriptions are appropriate. All in all, it's a complicated issue, but the signs are clear: Not everything will be free, no matter how hard Google tries to make all content available. For the content and apps that individuals want to pay for, Aria Systems is making it easy for companies to manage the connection between their assets and the users who want to access it.

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Subscription and Billing in the Cloud

This week, we had a chance to sit down and talk with Ed Sullivan, CEO of Aria Systems to learn more about subscription payment in the cloud, including everything from casual games to enterprise class applications.

It gets complicated for developers implementing such a subscription service to consider all of details with subscription user tracking and revenue recognition. Many of these scenarios require detailed consideration and business logic when implementing that can take time away from the core offering. So, the question becomes: Is there a way a content or application provider get a handle on all of their customers across different channels in an easy way through a cloud offering that can be connected to the different form factors that applications are delivered into.

Big or Small Businesses

One benefit for on-demand companies is that they can maximize their back-office functionality with a platform like Aria, which integrates billing, customer management, and marketing tools into a single, on-demand application. In our interview, Sullivan pointed out that Aria plugs into QuickBooks, SalesForce, NetSuite that companies may have deployed today.

Case Study: iPad Subscriptions for Content Providers

One company, Issuu, has already signed on with Aria in order to be ready for subscription revenue management using the iPad. The iPad is a great example where a traditional media provider may want to charge for this form of content or charge the individual for subscription services across form factors.

Although we don't know who Issuu's customers are and whether a brand like the New York Times is part of the mix, it seems ideal to get news on the iPad and to pay once for Web, mobile, and print versions. Paperboy, please deliver a copy of the Times to our iPad.

As far as cloud applications go, getting paid for consumer subscriptions is an important piece of the fabric for managing customer relationships. Are you a developer who has grappled with these issues before? What do you think about getting this service from the cloud?

Photo credit: curiouslee

Relief agencies, companies and volunteers came together and built a global network of systems and people to coordinate emergency aid operations for the Haiti earthquake victims.

This piecing together of a jigsaw of different organizations and technologies with one common goal serves as a testament to what is possible using cloud computing and may serve as a template for disaster relief operations in the future.

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SMS and Radio

Whilst SMS is low tech in comparison to mobile services like 3G and Wi-Fi, its simplicity is its success. Repairing or erecting temporary cell towers is a far more efficient way to reach people than fixing wire-line infrastructure. As SMS is a basic feature supported by all handsets, it is widespread and popular in Haiti.

A short-code weather service (4636) was commandeered and setup on the Digicel and Comcel networks to serve as a gateway for anyone who could access a mobile phone. Josh Nesbit co-founder of FrontlineSMS:Medic humbly describes his involvement as a "co-coordinator" who got lots of different volunteers and organizations talking together. The work was done by people like Jean-Marc Castera, a Haitian network engineer for InSTEDD who went station to station and made sure the message got out and was clear. The service was publicized via local radio stations and word of mouth.

The earthquake hit on Jan. 12, and the first emergency messages from Haitians were being received four days later on Jan. 16.

Translation and Classification

Messages received were forwarded onto a crowdsourced team powered by CrowdFlower and SamaSource who would translate the messages into English and then classify them. Other information such as addresses, mobile number and map coordinates were derived from the cell locations.

Once classified, messages and the accompanying information was forwarded on to a number of different agencies like the International Committee of the Red Cross and the United States Coast Guard.

Messages relating to lost or found people would be forwarded to people finder services. Mobile phone numbers were added to a distribution list to receive information bulletins via the Thomson Reuters Foundation AlertNet and InSTEDD.

The Big Picture

An open source piece of software called Ushahidi was re-purposed by volunteers to create a Web portal to visualize and collate this information for relief workers and the public.

Ushahidi, which means 'testimony' in Swahili, was originally developed to map reports of post-election violence in Kenya. Its ability to graphically display maps and "hotspots" was ideally suited for visualizing areas where relief was most needed.

The Future?

The earthquake disaster in Haiti happened less than a month ago and the emergency support service built has already served over 26,000 messages and played a vital role in coordinating the relief effort. You can imagine what an impact this service has to the people who need it most when you consider one such message:

"We need water, food and medications. We are about 950 people. Thank you Abner"

The world may just have had its first glimpse of a truly global disaster management system. We should marvel at the scale of problem it tackled and how quickly it was developed. The use of cloud services like the crowdsourcing platforms and their APIs demonstrates how quickly cloud services can be used to integrate traditional agencies like the Red Cross.

Given the frequency of natural disasters and the uncertainty around climate change the world has an opportunity to rollout a global 911 service that could benefit us all.