Google?

What is Google?

Via John Battelle, Rick Skrentas remarkable piece on what Google have actually built. They don’t just have the world’s best search engine; they have the world’s largest and most scalable platform for developing huge web-based applications.

Google has taken the last 10 years of systems software research out of university labs, and built their own proprietary, production quality system. What is this platform that Google is building? It’s a distributed computing platform that can manage web-scale datasets on 100,000 node server clusters. It includes a petabyte, distributed, fault tolerant filesystem, distributed RPC code, and probably network shared memory and process migration. And a datacenter management system which lets a handful of ops engineers effectively runs 100,000 servers. Any of these projects could be the sole focus of a startup.

Who are Google’s Competitors?

These are some of Google’s adversary:

Yahoo! Inc.

MSN

AOL,

Disney Online

Match.com, LLC

Sina Corp.

Daum Communications Corp.

INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AT GOOGLE

The focus of information technology at Google for both software and hardware is speed and cost.

These two metrics are valued more than any other criteria such as reliability of machines or high performance enterprise computing hardware. Ultimately, the result must transform a response time of user query using Google’s search engine to be completed within a one second time-frame. Started in Larry Page’s dormitory room, the information technology at Google has transformed into a full-blown large cluster PC network that functions similar to a computing grid. Even though information technology infrastructure has changed dramatically over the years, the model of IT use at Google has stayed the same. This model follows the original principles adopted by the co-founders of building a prototype system that uses commodity hardware and intelligent software. The shift of computer industry with PCs becoming commodity electronic hardware over the years has worked in favor of Google’s IT strategy in getting the best cost performance ratio (Patterson & Hennessy, 2004). Thus, instead of purchasing the latest microprocessors, Google IT performs calculations to look for the best value of processing power per dollar and purchasing many PCs that are only a few months old in the market, but at a much lower discounted price. This is suitable for Google because the framework of their search engine is built around parallelizing many user query requests across multiple machines and if more processing is required, the system can simply increase more machines to serve even greater user requests. The overall price per performance is more important than individual peak performances, and this enables Google to achieve superior speed at a fraction of the cost rather than using a few, but expensive high-end server systems. The end equation for Google’s IT in selecting machines is calculated by the cost per query, and is derived by the sum of capital expenses and operating costs divided by performance. For accuracy, the calculation takes into inherent effects due to hardware depreciation and maintenance repairs. At the data centers, the primary cost factor is capital expenditure credited to hardware, followed by personnel and hosting costs (Barozzo, et al., 2003).

What are the services that Google offer?

Key Product and Services

Online advertising is Google’s core product and accounts for 90% of the company’s revenue. AdWords, a cost-per-click pricing scheme, was a result of Google’s newly formed business Model in online advertising. AdWords allows advertisers to pay Google once visitors click on an Advertisement after entering a search query. Unlike other online marketing that use image and animated banners, these advertisements are text-based to maintain an uncluttered page design. This is a concept that Google’s co-founders believe is essential for an enjoyable user search engine experience since most users typically want to find information and promptly leave the search results page. Increasing the covered audience is a complementary product called AdSense which involves placing targeted AdWords advertisements on Google’s partner websites

Product/Service Name Description

Google Earth - Satellite imagery of geographical locations

Google Maps - View driving maps and directions

Google Local - Search for local businesses and shops

Google News - Search for news stories

Google Video - Search for TV programs and video clips

Google Desktop Search - Search for offline information stored on computers

Google Image Search - Search for images online

Google Sketch Up - 3D model design tool

Google Checkout - Online payment processing service

Google Search Appliance - Enterprise search engine

GMail - Web-based email client

GTalk - Internet instant messaging and VoIP

Orkut - Online social network community

Froogle - Electronic shopper product search

Others:

Google Page Creator, Google Analytics, Picasa, Blogger, Google Mobile, Google

SMS, Google Finance, Google Groups, Google Scholar, Google Pack, Google Book

Search, Google Code, Google Alerts, Google Calendar

What is Google’s unique advantage?

One thing that has become evident to me is that Google grows in an organic fashion, unlike any other company I know of. Google develops tools that are internally useful and then releases them to the world. Google does not develop products to sell to the world. Google does not have external contracts, at least in the traditional sense, as far as I can tell.

Let me elaborate on this. Google is obviously best known for search and for ads associated with search. This is in essence Google’s one true product. It is the one feature Google developed for the outside world. When Google developed search it was no different from a small company. It is what Google has done since then that makes Google different.

Google doesn’t answer to any external power. They don’t have anyone they have to deliver a product to. There is no contract with a deadline. Due to not having any external dependencies, Google can continuously iterate over a product until it reaches a state of near perfection. It can stay in internal testing as long as Google wants and no one is going to care. See Gmail, Google Maps, etc. This then allows Google to use the perfect form of the agile process. Continuous iterations and testing and development, continues improvement. Then as Google sees fit, release the products. As they get better and better, more people use them and more money from ads comes in. It’s beautiful.

It’s also unlikely any other company is going to be able to pull this off. Google hit on the formula for ads before anyone else. They now have such a commanding lead in that arena that to compete with them you need deep pockets of money of your own. That makes it difficult to launch a company and follow Google’s lead of avoiding external dependencies and having the near perfect product development process.

At this point, you might be screaming at me that I’m wrong, because Google does have external contracts, especially for serving up ads on other sites. But notice that Google’s contracts are different from most companies’ contracts. Google isn’t developing a product for these companies. All they are doing is giving them an existing product that Google has already completed and released. Development on that product might still be happening, but it happens within Google, not within the realms of the contract. Google is still free to develop how ever they want.

For almost everyone else, you’re going to have to create a product and then drive sales of that product or else sign a contract and then deliver a custom product to the customer. You’ll have external dependencies that will force an outside reality upon you that Google simply doesn’t have. You can argue that Google is dependent upon ads, but at this point Google has captured such a large share of that market and is steadily capturing more of it, that it really isn’t a dependency for Google. Sure, Google should probably diversify; just in case the ad market tanks, but at this point Google has so much money they can afford to take their time.

Global Expansion

The international markets are critical for many technology companies in expanding new business opportunities and generating more revenues. Similarly, this principle is reminiscent in Google’s case, as the international markets contribute from 30% to 40% of the company’s total revenues every quarter for the past two years.4 In order to tap into the international market, Google’s search engine has been translated to allow multi-language search capabilities, while maintaining its philosophy of objective and unbiased search results (Brin, 2001). The strong international markets for Google include the United Kingdom, Western Europe, Japan, Canada, and Australia. Google has transformed from a start-up firm to a multi-national corporation; however, the majority of its employees are still based in the Mountain View headquarters. Google has international presence in all continents of the world other than Africa and Antarctica. However, the location of its international employee base is divided into two primary groups: engineering and product development team, and a sales force team. Google offers customer interfaces in over 40 different languages and close to 50 different currency exchanges to date.

Conclusion

In only a short period of time, Google has become a dominant player in search technology and a formidable threat to many other technology firms in various industry sectors including advertising, standard software, web application development, and telecommunication networks. Behind the scenes, the use of information technology has been strategic and critical for Google’s search engine success and other Google products and services. A variety of advanced concepts in computer science have been applied to many of Google’s products and services ranging from topics in distributed systems, machine learning, software architecture, and communications networks. Google’s vision of applying advanced computing concepts and innovative ideas has allowed the company to stay as a forefront leader. However, there are even greater challenges for Google as it matures into a multi-national corporation. How will Google be able to enter international markets where information dissemination is highly regulated and controlled by the foreign governments? Can Google continue to sustain its rapid growth while continue to hold on its unique work culture? With the massive amount of information collected on a daily basis, will Google invade privacy concerns? Will Google be able to maintain its technology leadership as competition gets even more intense? And how real is the threat from Microsoft as it claims to defend itself and compete rigorously with Google in the search market? The story behind Google is only a start. Only time will tell Google’s destiny. Many futurists predict that Google may perhaps become the most important technology company this decade, similar to how Microsoft and Intel have changed the technology industry in the past.

References:

Google.com

Assignment 5 in SAD

The question was consider your school, how do you know that the life cycle was developed specifically for the university. How do we know it meets our needs? This is the question that’s need to be answered in order for me to answer it I will need references from different articles on this matter. To start, I will give you some insight about our University which is the University of Southeastern Philippines.

USEP
The University of Southeastern Philippines (USEP) is a regional state university created in 1978 through Batas Pambansa Bilang 12. The university is an integration of four state institutions, particularly, the Mindanao State University-Davao, the University of the Philippines-Master of Management Program in Davao, the Davao School of Arts and Trades, and the Davao National Regional Agricultural School. The university has four campuses, namely, Obrero (main) and Mintal Campuses in Davao City, Tagum-Mabini Campus which has two units – one in Tagum City and one in Compostela Valley Province, and Bislig Campus in Surigao del Sur. The USEP offers graduate and undergraduate academic programs in the fields of engineering, education, arts and sciences, economics, business, computing, governance, development, resource management, technology, agriculture and forestry.

The University of Southeastern Philippines has the following mandate:

To provide programs of instruction and professional training primarily in the fields of science and technology, especially medicine, fisheries, engineering and industrial fields. To promote advanced studies, research and extension services and progressive leadership in science, agriculture, forestry, fisheries, engineering and industrial fields and other courses needed in the socio-economic development of Mindanao. To develop courses at the graduate level along the fields of specialization and to respond to the needs of development workers in the academic community. To provide non-formal education and undertake vigorous extension and research programs in food production, nutrition, and health and sports development. To offer scholarship and/or part-time job opportunities to deserving students from low-income families.

Now, the Mission of the University

USEP shall produce world-class graduates and relevant research and extension through quality education and sustainable resource management.
Particularly, USEP is committed to:
· Provide quality education for students to grow in knowledge, promote their well-rounded development, and make them globally competitive in the world of work;
· Engage in high impact research, not only for knowledge’s sake, but also for its practical benefits to society; and,
· Promote entrepreneurship and industry collaboration.

Now, the Vision of the University

A PREMIER UNIVERSITY IN THE ASEAN REGION

By becoming a premier university in the ASEAN Region, the USEP shall be a center of excellence and development, responsive and adaptive to fast-changing environments. USEP shall also be known as the leading university in the country that fosters innovation and applies knowledge to create value towards social, economic, and technological developments.
And lastly, the Goals of the University

Aligned with the university’s vision and mission are specific goals for Key Result Areas (KRA) on Instruction; Research, Development, and Extension; and Resource Management:

KRA 1. Instruction
Produce globally competitive and morally upright graduates

KRA 2. Research, Development, and Extension (RDE)
Develop a strong R, D, & E culture with competent human resource and responsive and relevant researches that are adopted and utilized for development

So basically, these are what the University is looking and aiming about. So the University had made some improvement during the past years of it’s existense such as the addition of the Institute of Computing in the year 1997, the new building which is the offices of different department is located such as the OSS office, the UGTO office, and the Clinic these are just improved infrastructure. Newly added internet library for the education department, the new Institute of Language, and other improvements that the University attained.

So why is it important?
In any organization there should be a plan? A business plan, a strategic plan, a systems development plan or any plan that supports the goals of an organization. The university is an organization that needs a well developed plan or shall we say a well planned plan. So considering the life cycle of the University it has a systems development life cycle that embodies the set goals of the University. The University which is an organization, go through different life-cycles just like people do. For example, people go through infancy, child-hood and early-teenage phases that are characterized by lots of rapid growth. People in these phases often do whatever it takes just to stay alive, for example, eating, seeking shelter and sleeping. Often, these people tend to make impulsive, highly reactive decisions based on whatever is going on around them at the moment. Start-up organizations are like this, too. Often, founders of the organization or program and its various members have to do whatever is necessary just to stay in business. Leaders make highly reactive, seat-of-the-pants decisions. They fear taking the time to slow down and do planning. In our comparison of organizations and programs to people, we note that, as people continue to mature, they begin to understand more about the world and themselves. Over time, they develop a certain kind of wisdom that sees them through many of the challenges in life and work. They learn to plan and to use a certain amount of discipline to carry through on those plans. They learn to manage themselves. To survive well into the future, organizations and programs must be able to do this, as well. Experienced leaders have learned to recognize the particular life cycle that an organization or program is going through. These leaders understand the types of problems faced by the organization or program during the life cycle. That understanding gives them a sense of perspective and helps them to decide how to respond to decisions and problems in the workplace. According to wikipedia.org an organizational life cycle is the life cycle of an organization from birth level to the termination.

There are five level/stages in any organization.
1. Birth - ("Can the dream be realized?")
2. Growth - ("How are we going to pull this off?")
3. Maturity - ("How can we build this to be viable?")
4. Decline - ("How can the momentum be sustained?")
5. Death - ("What do we need to redesign?")

Birth
This stage begins with a dream, vision and opportunity. Almost every church starts with a person, or group of persons, who has a vision. In their mind and spirit they see the potential, visualize plans, and the church is birthed. The infant church is characterized by strong commitment and purpose. Although they may feel uncertain about the future, the attitudes of those involved are positive and supportive. The young church requires much nurture and attention. Members are interdependent, totally involved and willing to work together. Those who don't share the dream and aren't willing to get involved will leave. The infant organization is action-oriented, opportunity-driven, and vision-focused. The birth stage requires a strong visionary leader who can maintain a high degree of commitment. The leader must maintain control and have significant input into the infant organization. It is normal at this stage that the leader be more hands-on and in control with little or no delegation, but if the work is to survive he must be willing to listen and include people. It is essential that the leader's family be supportive of him and the infant church, and that the larger organization to which the church is affiliated be supportive and provide external intervention and help as needed.

Growth
At this stage the church's beliefs, values, goals, structure, and actions become more formalized. The beliefs provide a doctrinal agreement for organizational action. The goals extend the organization's shared dream and the structure organizes the action. In this stage members tend to share a strong sense of mission and purpose. There is a high level of goal ownership by both leaders and members. Everyone feels involved, committing time and resources to the church. Volunteers are easily found. The scarcity of space because of rapid growth is a common characteristic in this stage. The early phase of the growing stage is marked by excitement. A negative result may be a tendency for leaders and members to become complacent. The new church may be like a baby that gets into everything and has trouble because it is uncoordinated. It may face a severe crisis precipitated by fast growth combined with lack of systems, finances, policies, and structure. Then it may experience a kind of second birth. As it was birthed physically the first time by the founding leader now it is being born emotionally apart from the founder. This second birth is more prolonged and painful than the first. Moving to the next stage depends on the development of policies and rules on what and what not to do. Leadership must learn to delegate authority not just responsibility. The growth stage may require a crisis to cure arrogance and push the church on to experience maximized effectiveness. The church must be able to focus its energies and resources and find the delicate balance between managing the organization and continuing to take risks.

Maturity
The maturity stage is still on the upside of the life cycle. It extends from about two-thirds of the way up to the peak. This stage is characterized by high visibility for the church. A strong understanding of its common purpose and mission continue to energize and drive the church. It knows what it is doing, where it is going and how to get there. It makes plans and then follows up on those plans. Members are enthusiastic and willing to get involved. New members are exceed and quickly find a place to become involved. The vision of the organization is becoming a reality as the organizational structure and functional systems are working to maximum efficiency. A strong results orientation increases the satisfaction of the members and newcomers. The church reaches out to others, developing its members, and living out its dream in Christian love. Structures and ministries are now created in response to new needs. Positive and effective delegation begins while new roles and responsibilities are created allowing more people to become involved. The church excels in performance and effectiveness in ministry. As a result it starts new ministries and programs. In the normal development of the church in the maturity stage there will not be enough well-trained people for the ministries. Although there is excitement, momentum and a willingness to volunteer, there are few who have been adequately trained. Training must become a major focus. The greatest challenge is for the organization to stay in the maturity stage full of vision and creativity while managing effectively and continuing to train people for leadership. Abnormal development occurs if the church does not redream the dream and allow creative minds to work. The maturity stage church feels alive and senses little need. This can lead into a maintenance mode. Since it is easier to administrate or manage than it is to be entrepreneurial the church has a tendency to begin to run on autopilot. Taking risks is replaced by playing it safe. When the church loses its entrepreneurial spirit, it begins to age.

Decline
This decline stage is characterized by a decline in the members' understanding of and commitment to the church's purpose. New members do not sense ownership of the church's purpose. They assume others to be responsible, so there is decline in involvement. To compensate for this decline more paid staff are needed. As the decline stage progresses, the church moves from nostalgia to questioning. In the nostalgia phase the group reflects on and longs for a comfortable past. You know the church has reached this phase when you hear: "I remember when." "We can't do that." "We've tried that and it didn't work." In the questioning phase, members initially question within themselves, concerning leadership and church problems. Then the questioning becomes more intense as groups begin to discuss problems. At this point, either the organization redefines itself and is revitalized by its dream, or its rate of decline accelerates. A polarization phase develops, characterized by a climate in which members mistakenly view each other as enemies, and conflict erupts. Leaders face a mounting challenge. As the aging stage progresses the tension between leaders and members builds. There is the increasing awareness that something is wrong but nobody knows what it is. Leaders are frustrated and seek to find answers. In an attempt to bring life the leader may suggest a new program or ministry and begin to implement it. The new ministry is placed into the existing structure of the church and brings some excitement and success, but soon the group is back at nostalgia and aging again. This cycle is repeated but each time with less excitement and effectiveness. The group moves from enthusiasm to frustration, to apathy and then to burnout. When this happens the leader's credibility is lost. The challenge for such a leader is not just to get a good idea for a new ministry but to redream the dream and somehow stimulate revitalization of the whole organization. The only hope is if leader and people can find a way to return to the birth stage and pray for a new vision.

Death
This fifth stage is characterized by the total loss of purpose and hope. The mission is not understood. As questioning and polarization increase, the emphasis shifts to who caused the problem, rather than what to do about it. There is the assumption that finding the who is solving the what. Conflict, back stabbing, and infighting abound. This polarization leads to either a splintering away or a split in the church. Paranoia freezes the church and everyone is lying low. Focus shifts to the internal turf wars while the unreached and the newcomer are seen as a nuisance and ignored. The church disassociates from its community and the people it should reach and focuses mostly on itself. Leadership is extremely frustrated to the point of despair by not knowing how to stop decline and the infighting in this stage. Frequently the leader is perceived as the problem which may or may not be the truth. Leadership takes many hard hits in the dying stage, particularly if the primary influencers do not support the leader. If the leader is visionary, creative and aggressive, he will likely not last long in the church or the group. if the leader is passive and maintenance oriented, he may make the patient comfortable while it continues to die. Few churches or groups ever truly recover at the dying stage. If they do it is because new leadership is able to revive the church with a vision and strategy. This requires also that the remaining members be willing to allow a heart transplant and add new life through new members.

So this is the organizational life cycle which is important for organizations such as the University in order to attain the goal that is intented to attain to be a premier University in the asean region. So in order to attain everyone must do its jobs in order to be more fruitful.

References:
http://webuildpeople.ag.org/wbp_library/9608_organization_lifecycl.cfm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizational_life_cycle
http://managementhelp.org/org_thry/org_cycl.htm
http://www.usep.edu.ph/version/