Show your support for Open XML. More info on Steve's blog . Join us for the Software + Services Architect Forum where we will discuss emerging trends in technology that affect architects from ISV's, SI's and Enterprises.

Met with the guys from Software Magic this week - I really like the concept of their solution as it builds on what you've already got in Outlook - and basically helps you visually represent your network. For someone who crams a lot in to the week and...

Recently my job has taken me to Rotherham, Leeds, London and Cambridge. How glamorous I hear you say. The meeting with the Music Factory guys was simply inspiring. I took a look at u-xplore . Wow. Andy describes this as as a solution that "helps connect...

Made reference to this in a previous post and thought it worthwhile signposting the recent SUNLive event where Andrew Marr raised the subject. Some really interesting presentations there on Web 2.0, innovation and even climate change. Also worth a...

Had breakfast with the marvellous Prof Stephen Coleman on Monday to discuss - amongst other things - the social impact of the web and his view of how technology can enable more citizen-centric v government-centric communications. Stephen participated...

Good to see my mate Rod in the news recently talking about his latest venture: Xero is a SaaS accounting solution for SME's. Read more about their raison d'etre . So why SaaS? Craig in their Development team thinks it's the only way to go . Rod was...

A recent McKinsey report highlights some of the challenges faced in China around the quality of their graduates, pointing out that their dominance around manufacturing and IT oustourcing won't necessarily mean leadership in the service industries. Poor...

Lots of small, young companies and developers don't seem to know about the Empower offering from Microsoft. For just £260 + VAT you get: MSDN Premium Subscription Media Kit and five user licenses for development/testing Microsoft Windows XP Professional...

Interesting article yesterday in Finextra on Tower Group's view of Web 2.0 adoption in the financial services sector. Tower Group warns that "regulatory compliance represents a major challenge to the take-up of the technology, given that Web 2.0 tools...

Kevin drew my attention to the interview in Forbes with Marc Benioff where his advice ranges from "Always pitch the bigger picture" to "Never take anything personally" and "Always be relevant" to the rather bizarre "Everyone loves chocolate" marketing...

Some interesting facts from yesterday’s SaaS workshop for ISV partners in Edinburgh delivered by Kevin McGirl at Sales Corporation : · 8/10 fastest growing technology companies are SaaS ( www.sandhill.com ) · Gartner says 25% of all software sales...

George Magnus (senior economic advisor at UBS) writes in this month’s BA Business Life about skilled migrants – how the people arriving in the UK these days are often not escaping poor countries – but rather are “simply choosing to work in countries other...

Saturday was pure edge-of-seat entertainment (if you can call it that) with three of the final Six Nations games back to back. It was St Patrick's Day. My brother was over visiting from Dublin. I had arranged dinner for 12 of us that night. The fizz was...

Great to see Clusterseven win an award for their marketing campaign (created by Metia) at the UK Technology Innovation & Growth awards this week. Particularly satisfying as we helped them put their go-to-market plan together about 18 months ago when...

Well I couldn't possibly let this weekend go by without acknowledging Ireland's victory at Murrayfield on Saturday - albeit by the slimmest of margins. I was supposed to be there, courtesy of the guys at Avoco Secure (who are doing cool stuff with Office...

This past few weeks, I've met some great smaller consultancies delivering great thought leadership around Web 2.0 and next generation partnerships. Friday I met with the guys at The Rights Marketing Company who go about "unlocking innovation" and last...

Last week Steve Moore had a gathering of the great and the good in association with NESTA - talking about social innovation, collaborative technology, entrepreneurship and more. Read more thoughts from parcipants on Steve's blog here . I also met with...

We've seen quite a bit of press coverage since we announced Partnering for the Future on 21st Feb - Steve has summarised a good deal of it here

Well this week sees another series of interesting meetings and events (and meals) in London: the 8th is International Women's Day and I start the day off as a guest at the HSBC/Aurora breakfast over in Canary Wharf. Then it's off to the RSA to hear from...

The extract below is from Ralph Schonenbach's speech at eServices in Manila. The Philippines and Vietnam has started to appear on the agenda more and more and we're pleased to see support coming from UK Trade & Industry to help Microsoft facilitate...

Great article by David Smith showcasing entrepreneural activity in last Sunday's Observer - read more here

Schonenbach Receives Government Award During the eServices Philippines: 7th Global Sourcing Conference and Exhibition EDSA Shangri-la Manila Hotel, Manila, Philippines – 15 February 2007 Trestle Group CEO and Trestle Group Foundation Board Member...