SE #5 - SAP BOBJ Influencer Summit - Jonathan Becher

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In my second attempt I managed to finally get Jonathan on camera (with audio) to talk about SAP, Business Objects and the idea behind "1 + 1 = 3", a great chat looking at merging markets and tackling the challenges of two powerful companies and how the synergies make for an awesome looking road forward!

Jonathan is also a blogger, so be sure to check out his blog where he describes the blog as,

A primary goal of this blog is provide information about performance management in a vendor-neutral way. The inspiration for the title of this blog, Manage By Walking Around, can be found in my inagural post. Because the term performance management gets bandied around by many different people to describe many different things, in some of my earlier posts (Operational, Financial or IT and Whats In A Name) I try to disambiguate the different uses, but in reality confusion still reigns in the market. Perhaps its a small consolation that continued confusion means continued reading of this blog

FMR AIR App live

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

You can find it either on the site itself or over in the Adobe AIR Marketplace.

And if you are on Facebook, feel free to join the fan page.

Uploaded with plasq's Skitch!

Many might wonder why I'm putting so much effort into the show, mainly it's because I enjoy it and it gives me a great excuse to play around with the Kyte.tv API, PHP, Flex/AIR and other scripting languages and tools to pull it all together, call it an experiment in the idea of Web 2.0, Social Media and integration.

Technorati Tags:
experiment, flex, friday morning report, kyte.tv, php, social

SAP SME Deep Dive, TAM Ceramics talks about their go live

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While in Boston the other week I was able to stick around to attend the SAP SME Deep Dive, this was a day dedicated to SAP's SME market space and they filled it with customers and partners telling their own stories. Dennis Howlett a fellow Irregular was in attendance as well and has a great post about a SAP All-in-One implementation. For Starship Enterprisey having Stacey and Mona from SAP setup an interview with an actual customer was a first overall let alone a first in the SME market space. The customer is TAM Ceramics LLC and I got to sit down for a chat with George Bilkey.

George Bilkey is President of TAM Ceramics LLC currently implementing SAP Business ByDesign. Bilkey has had extensive experience of ERP implementations in the ceramic manufacturing and was previously holding management positions in global companies including Ferro Corporation, Washington Mills, and Saint Gobain. He holds a BS of the Ceramic Engineering, Alfred University and an MBA from the State University of New York at Buffalo, School of Management. Bilkey also holds executive level positions with key trade associations and groups.

Before I even turned on the camera though I got to know some things about what it is George and TAM does, TAM's mission is to focus on being the quality leader in the zirconia market and to expand into new markets. With a dedicated highly seasoned labor force, low overhead and costs, the company is positioned to reclaim the market volume leader in the industry. TAM sees continued expansion in both the investment casting and refractories industries and will greatly expand their reach in these areas along with a focused effort on increasing the Titanates business. Working with existing and new customers to provide new innovative solutions that are customized for their specific use, TAM has increased annual sales for 2008 by over 30% compared to 2007 in less than four weeks.

After awhile I decided I should probably start the camera rolling and hear about the pain points, successes, positives and the negatives of an aggressive two month implementation of SAP Business ByDesign!

Saga of Adobe AIR Developer Certificate

Well it seems my journey of getting an Adobe AIR Developer Certificate is now at an end. I had a chat yesterday with a Thawte customer service rep and the result I'll simply post here in terms of the conversation.

It seems Ryan Stewart picked up on my broadcast as well, so here I guess is the rest of the pieces.

Please wait while we find an agent to assist you...

You have been connected to Lily G.

Lily G: Hello. How may I assist you?

Craig Cmehil: Hi my order number is US...1 and I've just received a

conflicting email and wanted to get clarification.

Craig Cmehil: On Aug 18 I received a mail with "Invidual Notarized
Form Letter" which I am in the process of getting notarized and then
today I got an email about my account having 48hrs to send some other
documents?

Lily G: Please confirm your order number.

Craig Cmehil: US...1

Lily G: Thank you

Craig Cmehil: THe mail on the Aug 18 was a result of me calling and
speaking to someone on the phone

Lily G: Your order is currently pending Proof of Right documents, such
as a Business License, Articles of Incorporation, DBA documents, etc,
to authenticate your organization.

Craig Cmehil: and the Notatrized Individual portion? I am not a
business I work under my own name and my own SSN

Lily G: For order #US...1, it is enrolled as Organization =
@eventtrack, @eventtrack is not your name.

Craig Cmehil: can I change that?

Lily G: I will need to cancel the order and you will need to enroll
again

Craig Cmehil: OK and for the organization name I would then put just
my name?

Lily G: If that is your organization, then yet. You will need to
provide a notarized ID.

Craig Cmehil: ok so cancel the order and I will do it again and
provide the notarized ID - now the telephone I use is VOIP and is not
in the directory how do I need to verify that for you?

Lily G: Did you already have your notarized your ID?

Craig Cmehil: I will tomorrow

Lily G: Let me e-mail you the notary letter.

Lily G: When you notarized your ID, please have him/her notarized the
notary letter as well.

Craig Cmehil: OK

Lily G: Please confirm your e-mail?

Craig Cmehil: cr...@cmehil.com

Lily G: Also what will the name of your new certificate?

Lily G: I will pre-edit the notary letter

Craig Cmehil: org name or what?

Lily G: Yes, organization name

Craig Cmehil: Craig Cmehil which is my name

Lily G: Ok

Craig Cmehil: domain is www.eventtrack.info

Craig Cmehil: What type of "business" do I select "other" and then
state Individual?

Lily G: Yes

Lily G: Actually I am unsure

Lily G: I do not know what type of business do you have

Craig Cmehil: I do business as me and pay taxes on my business under
my Social Security Number

Craig Cmehil: I will state other and put individual and see what
happens I guess

Lily G: When enroll, is that what it ask?

Lily G: Yes, that should be fine

Craig Cmehil: yes for the "background" OK I will do that

Lily G: Is there anything else I can assist you with today?

Craig Cmehil: the new order is US...1 perhaps you can indicate that
the notatrized ID and letter are in process and cancel the first
order?

Lily G: Previous order is cancelled, you should receive the
confirmation shortly.

Craig Cmehil: ok

Craig Cmehil: and the new order is OK?

Lily G: Actually, for code sign certificate you cannot register under
your own name.

Lily G: However, you do qualify for the regular SSL certificates.

Craig Cmehil: you guys are killing me! One person says I can I just
need this notarized and now you tell me I can not?

Craig Cmehil: SSL does not interest me, I am interested in the Adobe
AIR Developer Certificate

Craig Cmehil: I build applications, I am a coder why can I not get my
code signed? Where is the logic in not letting an individual get their
code signed?

Lily G: Unsure whom told you, codesign do not qualify for
individuals.

Craig Cmehil: and why not? I would appreciate a link to the
documentation explaining this

Lily G: Earlier, I did not noticed it was a code sign certificate.

Lily G: Sure, please hold while I locate the information

Lily G: Thank you for holding

Lily G: Thawte CANNOT issue a Developer Certificate in the name of an
individual. The only exception to this rule is: German, Austrian,
French and Swiss sole proprietors.

Lily G: A Notarized ID Template along with valid Proof of Right under
the Organizational Contact’s name is required.

Note: The Organizational Contact's name and the Organization Name in
the Distinguished Name must be the same.

Lily G: Your order is enrolled in Florida, US, therefore it will not
qualify.

Craig Cmehil: And if I enrolled from Germany?

Lily G: The yes, should be ok.

Craig Cmehil: I would then choose individual and all that and it would
be accepted?

Lily G: The only exception to this rule is: German, Austrian, French
and Swiss sole proprietors.

Craig Cmehil: does the notarized document need to be notarized by a
German notary or any legal notary in the world?

Lily G: The the Country of where you are enrolling

Craig Cmehil: and what is the reason Thawte cannot issue a Developer
Certificate to an individual? I see you can not but no reason why? I
would like to understand that

Lily G: Thawte always recommends that customers register a business
name for use in the certificate instead of applying for a certificate
in their personal name. If Proof of Right can not be provided for the
business name, then the customer may be given the option to enroll for
an Individual SSL Certificate.

Lily G: Individuals organization only works for SSL certificates.

Craig Cmehil: it's a recommendation? or a rule?

Lily G: Rule

Craig Cmehil: an SSL certificate is not the same as a Code Signing
Certificate though is it?

Craig Cmehil: is there a legal reason to this rule?

Lily G: SSL certificates and Code Signing certificates is different,
therefore, we process the orders differently.

Lily G: Our Policy due to the nature of the certificate we can only
issue developer certificates to business entities

Craig Cmehil: frankly I don't accept that, it's not an explanation or
answer you are simply telling me the same in different ways but NOT
the why it must be a business entity - if you can accept individuals
for SSL certificates then why not for code signing? What about all the
independent developers in the world? I mean I'm trying to give you
guys money and willing to do everything with notaries and verifying my
id, telephone the works that in itself should

Craig Cmehil: suffice to prove I am who I say I am and thus
authenticate me as me

Lily G: Craig, I am doing my best to assist you. Unfortunately at this
time we can only issue developer certs to business entities.

Lily G: Developer certs and SSL certificates is different products.

Lily G: Unsure if in the future this policy will be revised or not but
at this time this is the best we can do.

Craig Cmehil: I know, its just very frustrating that you are the only
service provides what I need and yet I can't get it.

Lily G: I will bring this issue to the managers, however at this
point, there is nothing I can do.

Craig Cmehil: thank you

Craig Cmehil: have a good day

Lily G: Thank you

Lily G: Thank you for visiting. Please contact us at anytime.

The comments on Ryan's blog I think are covering most of my own thoughts as well, so at the moment I am more or less sitting back and wondering if something will come out of all of this? My day job is for a developer community as well so I'm always keeping an eye on how other communities do things and the idea of the certificate spawned several ideas of my own but after this experience I've more or less moved them all to the back burner (sorry Thawte might have been some interesting ideas there!).

The most pressing thought I can't seem to get away from though is the fact Adobe had a great idea, put validation behind developers and their code and build a community around it, the marketplace is fantastic and I check it all the time BUT after all of this I wonder where the break down is? On Adobe's side or on the certificate signing side? I mean how can you build a community of developers but not make it easy for them to do what you ask?

Technorati Tags:
adobe, development, experience, friday morning report

Weekend Tip for Lippstadt

"Die Westfälische Landes-Eisenbahn (WLE) kann im Jahr 2008 auf 125 Jahre bewegte Geschichte zurückblicken. Sie hat dabei so manchen Veränderungsprozess geschickt gemeistert. Heute stellt sie sich im Unternehmensverbund der Westfälischen Verkehrsgesellschaft als moderner und leistungsfähiger Logistikpartner der heimischen Industrie dar.

Tradition und Moderne möchte die WLE aus Anlass ihres 125. Geburtstages am Sonntag, den 24. August 2008, in Lippstadt gleichermaßen präsentieren. An diesem Tag findet auf dem Betriebsgelände an der Beckumer Straße 70 zwischen 11.00 Uhr und 18.00 Uhr ein Jubiläumsfest statt.
"

(Via WLE - Westfälische Landes-Eisenbahn.)

Celebrating 125 years, right here in Lippstadt from 11 to 6pm you can check it all out! Since it's not so far away perhaps we'll head there in which case I'll update the site with photos :-)

Technorati Tags:
life, weekend

One of my best purchases ever!

I just purchased a one time, or I guess I could say lifetime subscription (out of my own pocket) to Spanning Sync and awesome service by fellow Irregular Charlie Wood. I've known about the service for ages but never really had a need for it. I have a blackberry and we use Outlook at work and the Exchange server so calendar wise life was already easy. Then I became a Mac user...

"Synchronize Google Calendar and Apple iCal. Share calendars between multiple Macs. Share calendars with your coworkers, family, and friends. And while you're at it, connect Google Calendar to your iPhone, iPod, and other devices.

The Best of Both Worlds
What if you could combine Google Calendar's powerful sharing features, Gmail integration, and notifications with iCal's beautiful interface and offline operation? Now you can.

With Spanning Sync, your iCal calendars are kept in sync with Google Calendar, which means you can use the best features of both to manage your schedule."

(Via Spanning Sync - Sync iCal and Google Calendar.)

Being a Mac user was not the problem, the problem was actually the fact that for whatever reason and despite multiple attempts Microsoft Entourage stopped talking properly to the Exchange server for my calendar. It literally broke my calendar I was helpless with a lack of meeting info. I work virtually for the most part so I depend on my calendar and my blackberry to aid me in not missing anything. So I decided to switch to iCal (I mean the calendar was already broke so no one was seeing my available or busy time anyway) and since then life has been good, although still no one can see my busy time or not but that is another issue I'll have to deal with.

The remaining problem was "on the road" how do I have my calendar there and telling me what is happening? I don't have an iPhone but I do have an iPod Touch and I can easily sync my calendars to to (yes multiple calendars!), it's working perfectly and thanks to Charlie's service I now have a complete synchronized life which enables me to open my calendar back up to the community I work with if they need to contact me via Time To Meet.

A company doing "social media" right!

In my opinion this is the "right" way to use social media, I mean we know about companies using it all the time for product support, feedback, etc. but what about building brand loyalty?

Here's my "story"

AreezG



@ccmehil how about a free Adobe Flex book to help you finish the app before the week ends? Email at agangji@adobe.com




01:54 PM August 17, 2008
from web
in reply to ccmehil

I decided to email, very cautiously and after a couple of emails and a couple of days I am now sitting with a handful of Flex stickers and the "Essential ActionScript 3.0" book from the Adobe Developer Library. It arrived today and is already sitting on my desk and it's been a fight to focus on work before opening it.







Adobe this is the right way to do "social" not because you sent me a book but because you were paying attention and now I know someone at Adobe I can engage with who does "community" as well. It's my day job and frankly I don't do that, but I think I should! "social media" is not the next best thing it's just what we should have been doing already with our customers!

Technorati Tags:
adobe, community, flex, social, social networks

Episode #3 - SAP SME Deep Dive, Jeff Stiles

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While in Boston I attended the SAP SME Deep Dive and had a chance to sit down and chat with Jeff Stiles SVP of SME Marketing. 20,000 Customers for SAP Business One, Crystal Reports for SAP Business One, SAP Business ByDesign, SAP Business All in One and a perfect way to get started http://www.sap.com/sme - the Solution Advisor tool.