Australian Technology and IP Business

Online financial services

My interests of technology, people and processes have converged in a web seminar on online financial services on 14 March.

Financial service providers have been wrestling for years with the management of large scale IT projects across their whole organisation which will bring the cost reductions and company benefits that the software providers and consultants have promised. In some cases, banks have scrapped projects and written off hundreds of millions of dollars.

Add to that problem the difficulty of managing the IT aspects of regular changes to the law, consumers who are worried about security and new competitors who have taken a fresh look at the industry and come up with low-cost solutions and you have an industry that is going through a lot of competition and change.

Is there a theory of singularity that can provide a solution?

What if your software licensor goes broke?: putting source code in escrow

Not everyone can afford in-house software programmers. Frequently leading industry programs are only available from specialist software providers. But if that piece of software is critical you need to think about the consequences if that provider disappears or is wound up.

Business2.0 this week carries a story about such an event.

Normally you only need the source code for software if you need to modify it and software licensors are reluctant to part with it if they provide a maintenance and upgrade service.

But they might agree to provide the source code to an independent escrow agent who agrees to keep it secure and only release it to you under certain agreed circumstances, such as the company deciding not to support the software any more or going broke. The agreement needs to be clear: who pays for it, what is actually deposited and when can it be released?

Before you actually use and maintain the source code you need to decide whether it might be cheaper to buy another product but in the meantime an escrow arrangement can give you peace of mind.

Blackberry risk management

What RIM says about a workaround
What Alex says: cartoon
UPDATE 6 March: Settled

Is new Google Desktop search safe?

Electronic Frontiers Foundation (EFF) has urged consumers not to use a new feature of Google Desktop because it will make their personal data more vulnerable to subpoenas from the government and possibly private litigants, while providing a convenient one-stop-shop for hackers who've obtained a user's Google password.

The new "Search Across Computers" feature will store copies of the user's Word documents, PDFs, spreadsheets and other text-based documents on Google's own servers, to enable searching from any one of the user's computers.

EFF Staff Attorney Kevin Bankston said "If you use the Search Across Computers feature and don't configure Google Desktop very carefully—and most people won't—Google will have copies of your tax returns, love letters, business records, financial and medical files, and whatever other text-based documents the Desktop software can index. The government could then demand these personal files with only a subpoena rather than the search warrant it would need to seize the same things from your home or business, and in many cases you wouldn't even be notified in time to challenge it. Other litigants—your spouse, your business partners or rivals, whoever—could also try to cut out the middleman (you) and subpoena Google for your files."

No more Western Union telegrams

According to CNN Money,Western Union has sent its final telegram message after 145 years of transcontinental -- and international -- communication.

Western Union now specializes in electronic money transfers.

Has the Australian cringe returned? Omnidrive seeks VC funding in US

Omnidrive is an Australian product which has attracted a lot of attention even though it is still in beta.

Its founder Nik Cubrilovic says it gives every person the ability to have all your files online and available from anywhere.

But at the same time he says "perhaps only companies that intend on remaining local or in the region ... will seek local (ie Australian) investment."

He has announced that he intends to get his VC funding in USA.

I can understand the buzz from being in Silicon Valley and Las Vegas but I would be interested to know what attempts he has made to get VC funding in Australia or whether he has had previous bad experiences or received warnings from friends. Are Australian VC's too conservative? Don't they "get" Web 2.0?