The weakest link?

I sure hope not! Hello again from Cyberspace!

Today I'm going to share my mid-term assignment! You can find the website here. The working title is Almost Handwritten Cards - creativity was optional (I hope). Click it while you can, because I can't afford to keep it running forever!

The assignment was to create a business and design a website for that business. I'm not much of a web designer, but this was my shot at it. The idea behind the business was to use a robotic handwriting reproduction device to sign greeting cards based on smartphone touchscreen input.

After going through the assignment, it seems like a good idea, but I wasn't able to find the machine I had imagined. I wanted to price one, because this would be the largest single investment for the business. Overall, the overhead should be rather low, and the business could support itself after the handwriting machine is paid off.

I'm not sure how viable the business would be, and I don't expect it to make a billion dollars, but it was fun to look into.

Amazon Clouds make for sunny business

Hello again from Cyberspace!


In today's post, we're going to cover a video regarding Amazon's Cloud. The advertised title is Amazon and the Lean Cloud as presented by Werner Vogels.  In the first minutes, Vogels states that he will discuss some of the business decisions behind starting Amazon's Cloud rather than the Lean Startup idea. In 13 points, Vogels outlines the ideas and principals behind the creation of the Amazon Cloud.

Design for Flexibility

Amazon puts no constraints on the software platforms for their engineers. Because they hire 'the best in world', they go out of their way to enable their creativity.

Design for On-Demand

Due to the seasonal variation in Amazon's business, software must be developed to meet that need.

Design for Automation

After the launch of several APIs, Amazon realized that 70% of the engineer's time is spent maintaining their programs for customers. This is why Amazon creates their services so that the business rules decide when and how resources are allocated without an engineer spending their time on those tasks.

Be Elastic

While this is a little redundant from the seasonal planning point earlier, Vogels specifically points out that software must be able to scale up AND down. While I'm not very familiar with this topic, it sounded like scaling up was easy, but scaling back down is harder or overlooked.

Design for Failure

Be prepared for failure and plan to reduce/remove the failure.  Amazon has very stringent requirements of how much failure your system has to meet, up to and including the loss of entire data stores.

Design for Utility Pricing

There must be a focus on price, since there is no reason for a consumer to return. While traditional brick-and-mortar stores have geography on their side, where the local population will choose your store because it is convenient, online retail does not have the same benefits. Amazon must retain their customers through low prices.

Break Transparency

Vogels emphasizes that they must make the cloud transparent so that those on the outside can see how it works on the inside. If APIs are being consumed by programmers outside your company, they will need to 'crack open the hood' at times to make their products.

Decompose to its Simplest Form

Amazon used this principal to redefine their databases, rebuilding so that their databases can be infinitely scalable and failure-proof.

Design with Security in mind

Companies must integrate security into the design of each application. One of my favorite lines from this video came from this bullet - we can no longer rely on the moat around our castle, but rely on each of our programs to be secure in and of themselves.

Don't do it alone

According to Vogels, every company must outsource and invite third parties to help build a great business. Amazon even offers commissions for to external hosts of links if those links result in sales.

Focus on what doesn't change

I really liked this point - a company must be able to do the basics well. There are certain things that don't change, such as keeping low prices will always be at the forefront in retail. No one will ever ask for the price will go up, or that packages will be delivered late. To be able to define  these major themes and then do them well is vital to any business and planned for by Amazon.

Let your customers benefit

Amazon leverages its size and number of website hits to get better pricing for consumers and bandwidth providers.

Continuously Innovate

In today's world, start-ups have access to the same resources of the 'old school' IT companies. Until recently, a company had to amass their own IT strength in house, and they could make a lot of money by limiting services or forcing long-term contracts. Today and into the future, everything will be built on these types of services with the IT being held outside the company according to Vogels.

I enjoyed this video, and found it very enlightening. It was interesting to see how much the software and technology is based in very tangible and well-rooted business ideas. Often, all we hear about is how cool the technology is, and we often overlook the 'why' behind why a company develops the products they do. Overall, I enjoyed the video and recommend you check it out too!