Manoj Ranaweera Posts

According to Onestat.com, Mozilla Firefox is the second most widely used browser in the world. It retaines the same ranking in USA, Canada and UK. It has gained 14.07% and 16.98% market share in the USA and Canada respectively. UK market is split as follows with Microsoft IE dorminanting the market: 1. Microsoft IE 93.37 % 2. Mozilla Firefox 4.94 % 3. Apple Safari 0.99 % 4. Netscape 0.23 % 5. Opera 0.39 % The report is dated 2 Nov 2005. Anybody got the latest figures? Technorati Tags : Microsoft IE, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Netscape, Microsoft Internet Explorer, Browsers,…

Whilst researching SSL (Secure Sockets Layer) Certification Authorities, my team (thanks Roshan) came across WhichSSL set up by Comodo Inc. Comodo claims they are the world’s second largest and fastest growing High Assurance Certification Authority. Of course everyone has heard of Verisign, but not Comodo! And their UK office is based in Manchester. So I started exploring the use of their SSL certificates for ebdex.  Isn’t it great to do business with local companies? You know that if things go wrong, you can easily turn up at their door step! What a refreshing thought! According to WhichSSL, the market share…

It is so frustrating to hear another start-up launching an EIPP solution ahead of ebdex. We seem to be stuck with never ending cycle of misfortunes! I will cover the story later. Technorati Tags : EIPP

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…