Manoj Ranaweera Posts

Many companies make money by optimising other peoples websites for search (search engine optimisation). However, google seems to favour blogs. For example, I have blogged about following companies: Yuuguu Affno Tiyga ebdex Type any of the above on google search and see where my blog appears. Usually No. 2 or 3. I know this would not last long, as blogs become more common and traditional static and dynamic web strategies fight for top ranks. I wonder whether anyone done any research in this area! Technorati Tags : Yuuguu, ebdex, Google, affno, Tiyga, Search Engine Optimisation, SEO

Think twice if you plan to select your favourite holiday destination as your company name (e.g. Marrakech)! Your competition suddenly include holiday industry, and everyone who blogs after visiting the place as you fight your way to No. 1 position on google.com. Unless of course, that is not important to you! In my opinion, Google should form part of marketing strategy of any company, small and large. I constantly look at google to see our ranking. Earlier days, ebdex had to fight with a games company (something about radio active cows!), now pretty much stable at No.1. Sometimes, I do…

Jason Busch at Spend Matters recently commented on Marrakech.  According to the European Leaders Network, Dublin technology firm, AMT-Sybex has purchased Marrakech, for an undisclosed sum. According to Marrakech’s website, it’s investors include: Doughty Hanson & Co Cross Atlantic Capital Partners Crucible Corporation Gartmore Group AMT · SYBEX Group In Mar 2006, I had the opportunity to meet one of the Venture Capitalists listed above who funded Marrakech! He hinted at that time, they were looking to dispose Marrakech from their portfolio, having invested and re-invested in the company since late ’90s. I believe a total investment of over $20m has…

Just came across a list of UK CEOs who blog. I must say I only know David Terrar from the list. Richard Charkin, Chief Executive, Macmillan Publishers Ltd., blogging since December 12, 2005 Perry de Havilland, Partner, the Big Blog Company – blogging since June 6, 2003 Dave Jennings, CEO, Envigour Systems Ltd. – blogging since June 13, 2005 Chris Lewis, CEO, LEWIS PR, blogging since January 28, 2005 Alan Moore, Managing Director, SMLXL – blogging since February 22, 2004 JP Rangaswami, CIO, Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein, UK – blogging since February 28, 2006 Mark Rogers, CEO, Market Sentinel – blogging…

There is a significant confusion on the acronyms SaaS (Software-as-a-Service) and ASP (Applications Service Provider). David Terrar, Managing Director of D2C and Twinfield UK attempts to resolve this issue once and for all. When it comes to definitions, the first place I usually look at is Wikipedia. Here is its definition: Software as a Service (SaaS) is a model of software delivery where the software company provides maintenance, daily technical operation, and support for the software provided to their client. SaaS is a model of software delivery rather than a market segment; software can be delivered using this method to…

Finally, I had the chance to taste Affno Martini whilst in Sri Lanka in July 06 thanks to Vijith Kannangara, co-creator of the drink, and chairman of Affno, Q&E and Smartmedia. I am not a cocktail drinker, but I like the look and taste of it. According to Vijith, the idea came after having couple of drinks – nothing unusual in there! The original recipe is as follows (extracted from Affno’s web site): The Affno creative spirit extends beyond our desks and computer screens. When we aren’t developing software you can be certain that our minds are still on overdrive…

Dharmesh has written an excellent article on top 6 questions people fail to ask when joining a start-up. His top 6 questions are as follows: Will the founders get along when the going gets tough?  Will you get along with the team?   What’s the history of the basic idea?  What other ideas were assessed and discarded?    How much cash is there, where did it come from and how long will it last?   What are the founders looking to get from the effort?   What will the startup do for you?   Prior to setting up ebdex, I…

When you think you are nearly there – something else happens to slow you down! That’s exactly what happened to me this afternoon. I was finalising some loose ends including software licenses, insurance and legal paper work. To my utter amazement, Bea quoted me a hefty price for weblogic 8.1, which immediately got me to think of migrating to Sun Java Applications Server, which is free. I have a crisis meeting with Affno and Bea to sort this out tomorrow. Are any of you use weblogic? I am very much interested in knowing the price tag you had to absorb!…

As you may know, Sir David Varney, Chairman of HMRC is to step down soon, and take on an advisory post at the Treasury. Sir David is an Alum of Manchester Business School, and I had the privilege to meet him when he gave a Vital Topics lecture. This meeting led me to visit HMRC to discuss deployment of ebdex Document Exchange to improve their accounts payable and receivable functions. However, at the time, we have not even written a single line of code and therefore did not meet the pre-qualification criteria. Tags: HMRC, Manchester Business School, David Varney, Vital…

One of my friends who recently launched a product, held a User Group Event recently. It was the first such event I attended. I was very much interested in learning so that when ebdex runs its User Conferences/Seminars, we have an appreciation from the "attendees" point of view. List below is what I took home:: Make sure attendees are comfortable as much as possible. This does not mean you have to provide executive seats, but ensure attendees are not under any pressure to "buy". Make sure the event does not turn into an "Amway" style pushy sale event. Remember, a…