Roadmap for OD

As the ideas from the meeting with IBM/Novell my brain has started to build an architecture and pre-project to put ODF on the map.

Vertical systems such as OpenVista were mentioned at the ODF discuss list and again the golden word integration ring a bell.

So the question will be how much money will it cost to put the top 10 applications out there make it ODF-Ready. Here are some of the ideas we can get with applications talking to OD.

• Firefox (Gecko)– making the gecko engine natively read ODF is a great idea since it will put ODF on the net and on the desktop on a transparent form.
• Apache– having a module that will parse opendocuments and also enhance security and management will make ODF be targeting to be easy for developers to support and deploy.
• MySQLMySQL database are already pretty integrated since it supports XML, we just need some new frameworks to make the ODF-like schema.
• Scribus Scribus is already one supporting ODF.
• GladeThis is really odd but exciting, imagine that your table frames become a prototype of a GTK app. UI created in glade will become documents which mantain the same visuals for both

ODF the world might be a little bizarre to some people and even extreme, but I see ODF vs. the Web as something like Cellphones vs. PC. Who will swallow who, the idea here is that making ODF is far easier than code strict XHTML. Better middleware can ensure that the content is protected, well formed and transferable.

What do we need? Well we need everything, we need coders, more and better XML people that generate better parsers and transformations as well as better architecture of the schema such as the ODFormulas, consistency with SVG, UBL, LegalXML and XHTML.

INGOTs Jump into fast track

I am still in Mexico city and I got not just one but up to 5 different leads on pushing the INGOT certification and making new assesors and academies around Mexico City.

So far I get a free trip to Mexico city and that will make me have the next round of meetings with IBM and will also make me able to start getting some cash.

So far the project will go through some intense discussion however it seems they are already in the bandwagon and the questions have been resolved. I think this will make start having INGOTs certificates.

A challenge and homework will be to start managing the documentation of a contract with INGOTs UK and an apostille contracts will need to be available.

With virtually 6 business agents on INGOTS, we are ready to move on to focus on strategies in Yucatan, Veracruz and Monterrey and start pushing INGOTs on the west coast.

Fortunately I will be having better budget for the research of new entities.

OpenDocument future in Mexico

The explsion of OpenOffice.org and OpenDocuments in Mexico might come sooner than expected. After the meeting with IBM we are sharing and building strategies of synergy that will put a brand new solution on the market.

The shift from product based solutions to information based solutions might be the key organism to move OpenOffice.org and OpenDocuments to the next level of competition.

IBM unfortunately doesn’t have the expertise to provide this shift in Mexico however a good labor of corporate awareness might sprung more companies from Mexico or all over the world to provide solutions to the Mexican companies and governments. Unfortunately Mexico sometimes feel like a left wing economy and the 3 million companies in Mexico are just not up to the level of purchasing power.

Still it was interesting to learn that Telmex is now the official largest Linux client in Mexico.

After the long meeting in a really nice locaton (Marriott Hotel private business offices) we finish the session with a new air of finally opportunity to not just push but become a player in a higher level of deployment.

Soon OpenDocuments might be in the back of the minds of most of the decisions makers around the country.

Next stop is Linux World Expo in Mexico and CIO CEOs and decision makers might actually have the next chance of ‘getting it’ with Linux and Open Source.

Update on INGOTs

Tomorrow is a heavy day, I got multiple meetings and it will start early. So I hope I can have the strenght and luck to start making the right sales.

So far the INGOTs has been slow mainly because of a lack of strategy. I guess I need to realize my new role as a sales man rather than a technologist.

Yes INGOTS innovate and improve the current standard but really a better and more focus strategy on the appeal is what is needed to push INGOTs out the building.

Making a certification a sexy choice is rather where the feeling most come from and hopefully I will do that tomorrow.

Early Start

Today we start the promotion of INGOTs through out all the city. We start sunday with a Fax campaign where we will be able to get the first step towards getting ourselves acquainted. Then we will schedule a meeting this will take part throughout the week.

The latest will be a personal meeting and demonstration of the certification, we hope that we will get a very busy and strong week. INGOTs is definetly a value proposal and it will work for the private schools in the area.

We hope that at the end we will have enough leads to get enough interest to get at least 1 school signed by the end of the month.

Looking Back

Yesterday I had a very interesting night, I came back from the wedding of my friend where I saw the older version of my generation. We all had our friends and lives yet is odd how some pople are living now and well still somehow everything still remain the same.

Same people same places and sometimes same lifestyles. Not that is bad, this people are having lots of fun, and yeah they are well connected to don’t have many worries. Yet, I wonder how hollow are they and if thats any issue to them.

I would love to see how they see me… Mr International, I have broken the spell and live a lifestyle most people have no idea I would. Basically I have been blessed yet at the end things are still the same and well as I am not the party goer, not really the greatest dancer and animator of the party most people want to do business with me which is refreshing. Respect and security is something that I am grateful to still mantain among my friends.

We all have our lives, we all like development of our skills and show off what we have and hide what we lack, play the game of appearances sometimes despise it and yet at the same time we have a rush about it.

Wonder what will th next year will bring to all my friends, and I wonder if I really wanna be there to see it or not.

In search of VCF

So it has been hard to find people with vcf, vcf means Virtual Card File, they are usually called vCard o vContact, however this is one of the most known standards of the industry. Palm embraced the VCF format and pump the end user desire to use vcf as a virtual business card.

Acording to wikipedia:

vCard is a file format standard for personal data interchange, specifically electronic business cards.
The vCard or Versitcard was originally proposed in 1995 by the Versit consortium, which consisted of Apple Computer, AT&T (later Lucent), IBM and Siemens. In December 1996 ownership of the format was handed over to the Internet Mail Consortium, a trade association for companies with an interest in Internet e-mail.

With devices multiple applications having a PIM a standard is necesary since the contact database might not be very friendly to systems. For that reason most clients use the vcard, clients such as Evolution, Outlook, Eudora, Palm Calendar/Contact, Kontact, even older apps like Gnome-Cal, and web applications such as Horde, Hotmail, Yahoo Mail etc.

I recently inherit a palm device and I have been tweaking with it ever since, the first thing I tried to do was import my contact database, unfortunately the vcards are not all updated and having a logic of what should update first so data is not lost could be a pretty tricky mission.

That’s when I realize I need to update my contact database, I mostly have techie contacts so I was very surprise when most people didn’t even know what is a vericard (vCard). Is really odd specially since most of my contacts are international, from Mexico, to US to UK to Romania, none have a vCard.

I bet that most of them if not all have a client like Evolution, Thunderbird, or Horde, Yahoo or something similar. Yet nobody have their contact information.

This is pretty important since we wanted to have the best networking possible yet not many people use this already existing standards.

Cellphones in Mexico

Cellphones is the most rapidly spread technology out there, however diversity in mexico has drop. I left mexico with the hope that the market was opening to new providers. However comming back to Mexico I see that most competitors have left the playground to the cellphone monopoly. Both iusacell and movistar are struggling against telcel. Funny enough their service is the worst most expensive out there. The lack of standard support, vendor lockin and dismisal of trends like the internet sounds way too similar to our PC monopoly under M$.

So how this affects me? Well is completely impossible to get my cellphone activated. Movistar has completely been removed from the malls and spaces and most employees don’t know anything about their services.

This is a huge struggle and really a bad service which might be one of the points why the carriers have been defeated completely from the city. Coverage is also another of the concerns however I dont think coverage is that bad when people dont leave the city. Interesting seen how this things develop over time.

Back to Mexico

Finally I got the chance to blog about my experience back to mexico. I have mixed feelings, I have enjoyed myself here but it hasnt been something I was looking forward. I now have a set of goals and the urgency to develop.

Starting to develop a business is always challenging and paying attention to details is even more challenging. When you are doing a lot of things on the internet is hard to move to the analog country and do business off-line. Is a diferent magic and is definetly something that will take time to master.

So what too look forward, Xmass and family, is different this time around, my sis and bro already drive and they spend a lot of time out. With me also spending time like that, I have to compete for the car and also time in/out of house.

The nice part was when I land in cancun and it was just a beautiful day and to my surprise I found an empty cancun with really nice beach and great calm sea coast. The only problem was that some hotels were partially destroyed, the pools were empty or with seawater and the whole scenario look pretty bad. The most surprise came with the completely empty beaches, I was like the whole city was empty and it was just me and nobody else. The weather was gorgeous and the feeling of just me and the ocean was relaxing and amaizing about sometimes the things u take for granted.

I will love to see how things turn out and will love to see what else will come in the future.

What is business?

I came to an interesting realization about business it kind of make sense but at the same time doesnt. Business is about people, calling people, meeting people, selling to people and mailing/faxing people.

With more communication infrastructure like VoIP, emails and cheap airflights, making global business is not as hard. However sticking with a schedule of meeting people selling to people and also haivng an accounting of the contacts is proven to be a very important task.

Having said that I wonder how will this sales tools and networking skills might make me actually earn money. Meaning that I will be able to get business and make business for others. I have come to the simple realization that technology should be replaced by solutions and earning time and worries to costumers usually comes even farther than just selling/installing and trainning busineses. The skill to integrate and just take most of the process from the clients is really what end users are expecting. Ease of deployment and great costumer service can go a long way but is expensive and this service is what really needs to be organized so that margins keep growing.