SCRUM METHODOLOGY - BASIC INFO

The Scrum methodology is an Agile Software Development Process that works as a wrapper with existing engineering practices to iteratively and incrementally develop software. Scrum is composed of the following project management practices:

• The Product Owner creates the requirements, prioritizes them, and documents them in the Product Backlog during Release Planning. In Scrum, requirements are called Features.

• Scrum teams work in short iterations. When Scrum was first defined [16, 29], iterations were 30-days long. More recently Scrum teams often use even shorter iterations, such as two-week iterations. In Scrum, the current iteration is called the Sprint.

• A Sprint Planning Meeting is held with the development team, testers, management, the project manager, and the Product Owner. In the Sprint Planning Meeting, this group chooses which features (which are most often user-visible, user valued, and able to be implemented within one iteration) from the product backlog are to be included in the next iteration, driven by highest business value and risk and the capacity of the team.

• Once the Sprint begins, features cannot be added to the Sprint.

• Short, 10-15 minute Daily Scrum meetings are held. While others (such as managers) may attend these meetings, only the developers and testers and the Scrum Master (the name given to the project manager in Scrum) can speak. Each team member answers the following questions:
o What have you done since the last Daily Scrum?
o What will you do between now and the next Daily Scrum?
o What is getting in your way of doing work?

• At the end of a Sprint, a Sprint Review takes place to review progress and to demonstrate completed features to the Product Owner, management, users, and the team members.

• After the Sprint Review, the team conducts a Retrospective Meeting. In the Retrospective Meeting, the team discusses what went well in the last Sprint and how they might improve their processes for the next Sprint.
 

Cloud Computing: Pros & Cons

ON THE UPSIDE

1. Fast start-up

"Cloud computing is really a no-brainer for any start-up because it allows you to test your business plan very quickly for little money. Every start-up, or even a division within a company that has an idea for something new, should be figuring out how to use cloud computing in its plan," says Brad Jefferson, CEO of Animoto, a New York company that creates full-motion videos out of customer-selected photos and music. "Cloud computing has changed the game for entrepreneurs -- the greatest part about it is that on launch day, you have the confidence that you scale to the world."

2. Scalability

To figure out if you're a good cloud service prospect, first consider the variability of the resource utilization of your own IT structure, says Tom Nolle, CEO of CIMI, a high-tech consulting firm. "If you've got enormous peaks and valleys, you're forced to oversupply IT resources to address the peaks. It may be significantly less costly for you to outsource the peaks," he says.

3. Business agility.
"Your mind really changes quickly when you can solve problems using IT resources but you don't need a long-term commitment and you don't have to wait a long time to get them," says Michael Crandell, CEO of RightScale, a cloud management and support company. "Cloud computing changes the whole pattern of agility at a much lower cost."

4. Faster product development
Since moving some applications and data to Amazon's cloud last April, Eli Lilly & Co. has seen provisioning time drop from weeks to minutes, says Dave Powers, associate information consultant at the Indianapolis company. "If I can give scientists eight weeks back on their research, that's a huge value there," he adds. "This is really starting to impact how we do business. We're starting to reduce cycle times in research, which is critical for us. That's a trickle-down effect of technology that we can make available to the scientific community."

5. No capital expenditures

Are you out of space in your data center? Have your applications outgrown the infrastructure? Cloud computing services allow a company to shift from capital to operational expenses even in do-or-die cases, says Bernard Golden, CEO of HyperStratus, a consulting firm specializing in advanced IT technologies.

ON THE DOWNSIDE
1. Bandwidth could bust your budget

Such was the case at Sony Pictures Image Works, which considered then ruled out an external cloud service to address storage scalability challenges, says Nick Bali, senior systems engineer at the Culver City, Calif., company. Every day, Sony animators access and generate between 4 and 12 terabytes of data. "The network bandwidth we'd need to put that into someone's cloud and to read it back is tremendous, and the cost would be so large that we might as well buy the storage ourselves rather than paying someone else for it," he says. Now Sony is evaluating a private storage cloud, using ParaScale's cloud storage software.

2. App performance could suffer

A private cloud might, but a public cloud definitely wouldn't lead to improved application performance -- not when taking network latency into account, says Tony Bishop, CEO of Adaptivity, a consulting firm specializing in next-generation IT infrastructure.

"I couldn't see an investment bank putting a latency-sensitive application on an external cloud," adds Steve Harriman, a vice president at NetQoS.

3. Data might not be cloud-worthy

"On Day 1, we probably had eight to 10 applications that we would have loved to take into the cloud," says Eli Lilly’s Powers. "But, knowing the type of data we had and the classification [of who could see it], we decided going through internal governance and rigor around taking care of that data would be appropriate." And, definitely don't put an application that provides competitive advantage or contains customer-sensitive information in the public cloud, Bishop adds.

4. Too big to scale

"The bigger you are, the bigger your IT resource pool. And the bigger your IT resource pool, the less likely it is that you'll see any enormous financial advantage in outsourcing to the cloud," CIMI's Nolle says. "Cloud computing promotes better resource utilization, … but the gains are greatest when moving from relatively small consumption of resources upwards. If you're a very large enterprise, you might find you can achieve better economy by doing your own cloud than going to an outsourced one."

5. Human capital may be lacking
Exploring next-generation IT models requires an adventuresome spirit and technical astuteness, says HyperStratus' Golden. "If you don't have the human capital that's willing to stretch and learn new things, taking on cloud computing can be very frustrating."

For details kindly visit:

http://www.networkworld.com/supp/2009/ndc3/051809-cloud-pro-con.html

Google may soon replace passwords

Search giant Google is set to kill off passwords and is experimenting with USB keys, mobile phones and even jewelry that can act as a physical 'key' to give users access to their account.
The firm's security experts including an Indian are set to publish their findings next month, the 'Daily Mail' reported.

In the upcoming issue of IEEE Security & Privacy Magazine, Google Vice President of Security Eric Grosse and engineer Mayank Upadhyay will detail what is basically a physical key with a 'smart chip' embedded inside it.

"Along with many in the industry, we feel passwords and simple bearer tokens such as cookies are no longer sufficient to keep users safe," the pair write in their paper, according to Wired.
To log, users simply place the tiny Universal Serial Bus (USB) drive into their computer.
The firm is also believed to be experimenting with wireless chips that are already built into some mobile phones, and can even be built in jewelry.

"We'd like your smartphone or smartcard-embedded finger ring to authorise a new computer via a tap on the computer, even in situations in which your phone might be without cellular connectivity," the team writes.

"One option uses a tiny USB key called a YubiKey. When the user plugs the key into a latop, they are automatically logged into all of their Google accounts - without ever having to type in a password," they explain.

"Another option uses a 'smartcard-embedded finger ring to authorise a new computer via a tap on the computer," they said.

The firm is also believed to be addressing the obvious problem with the system users losing their 'key' and is thought to be developing a simple system to replace them.

However, the pair admit that they will have to rely on websites to support the scheme.
"Others have tried similar approaches but achieved little success in the consumer world," they write.

"Although we recognise that our initiative will likewise remain speculative until we've proven large scale acceptance, we're eager to test it with other websites," they say.

For details check following link:
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/tech/tech-news/internet/Google-may-soon-replace-passwords/articleshow/18131002.cms

Being a Startup Entrepreneur, Ten (funny) Facts and Moments!

01. We pay salary, but we don’t take any.
There are three guys who believed us more than we believed ourselves have joined our team after six months of our start-up. Whatever expenses are on our way through the month, we always kept their salary on top priority. Our salary? Thanks to our friends and family who bare all our personal expenses and preventing us from bankruptcy.

02. Mid 20’s, young and Entrepreneurs too but we don’t have a girlfriend.
Mystery remains unsolved. Still we can’t figure out the reason or able to find the root cause for this world’s biggest problem. One of our developers even tried a poetic approach, but we guess nowadays girls are not recognizing the talent. What, want to read that poem?
Alright, here you go.
“You are CSS to my HTML, and my BODY is incomplete without your SCRIPT”
Wow! How romantic he is, come on my developer give me a hug!

03. Talk about millions and billions when we even don’t have thousands.

• “Facebook bought Instagram for billion dollars? You know dude, Instagram is cool, but they didn’t even have a business model.”
• “I don’t understand mate, why investors are dumping millions and millions in Flipkart as they are not making any profit yet.”
• “Da, we have to check how to purchase Facebook’s stock because I think their price is going to shoot high in near future.”

Hell lot of conversations involves millions and billions, but everything pauses when we see an alert email for our credit card’s second month due. WTF?

04. Business Plan Document. Business Plan, What?
This is one of our favorites. We launched our flagship product ‘HONEYTASK’ five months ago and nominated our product for some of the ‘Big Daddy’ demos. After answered all the pre requisites in a form, there was an attachment field “Submit Your Business Plan Document [BPD],” Bang, TRAPPED! It was too complex than our 16 mark university question.

05. Talking about Equity and ESOP with Team.
Every time we speak about shares and equity with our team; they used to give us a weird look like some zombies from other planets are talking to them.

06. Auto correct option for the word ENTREPRNEUER ENTREPRENEUR
Self-explanatory! Of course, thanks to MS Word.

07. We say two‘F’s more often.
“Funding” either be it from friends or family or from angels, we discuss about it a lot (Yes, we know, who doesn’t). So far, we are too happy to keep our Start-up bootstrapped, and we made a resolution not to approach or even think about external funding from Angels or VC’s until we get our first penny from our customers for our product. We always believe in our instincts, after all growth of a start-up is based on one’s instincts. As SJ said, believe in something your gut, destiny or Karma.

What is Second ‘F’? Come on yaar, if you are an entrepreneur and running a start-up, you should have used it zillion times a day. Can’t guess, WTF(beep)

08. Lot of Biographies
Hell lot of! We read biographies right from Steve Jobs to Rajni to Narayana Murthy to Che.

09. Felt comfortable with a laptop rather than a pillow when we sleep.
Who told only an expensive mattress and couch can get you good sleep? Still we are not sure how many nights that we slept near our laptops.

10. We drive without destination.
Whenever we lose our mind or out of patience, we used to go for a long drive. After some 40 to 50minutes of the drive we will be out of limbo and realize that we are almost out of city limit. The result: Mind relaxed and Ready to go for the kill.

This article is by dear therodinhoods friend Vasanth Sampathkumar. Check following link for more info:

http://therodinhoods.com/forum/topics/being-a-startup-entrepreneur-ten-funny-facts-and-moments?commentId=6328457%3AComment%3A123560&xg_source=msg_com_forum

Top 20 Reasons why Web Apps are Superior to Desktop Apps

Never installed
Browser based software never requires installation processes or hard drive space. It lives in a virtual cloud in the Internet and this means that whenever you launch it, it always has the latest version. Ajax has made it possible to deliver Desktop-like look & feel, and functionality, with no loss of performance!
Updates are seamless
Instead of having to patch each and every individual user, the patches/upgrades are applied to the server and each user received the updated version the next time they log in.
No legacy
This is a big issue for traditional software vendors. Users who purchase previous versions of a software almost always will result in legacy versions lying around which need support (which is costly). The problems relating to legacy software are almost limitless, and often are not efficient for both the vendor and the customer.
No admin rights required
Finally, a world where the network administrator in the company does not have to approve the installation of your software!
Available anywhere, anytime
Ok, so the anytime comment is a stretch, but that only until Adobe Apollo gets here. The same way that people access their email from any browser, web apps are exactly the same.
Platform independent
This opens a wider market for software vendors no longer do they have to build technology around a specific platform and limit their market (or incur additional costs to build for another platform). The browser is the platform and therefore I believe you will see increased uptake in OS like Mac OS and Linus, due to the increased availability of Web Applications.
Less environmental conflicts
There are certainly going to be a lot less bugs in Web based software, due to the fact that it is not depending on any of the hardware or environment settings in the OS that may usually cause a problem.
Enables social possibilities
Many Web Apps are creating chat facilities and the ability to share your work in real time. This removes the previous stand-alone functionality that use to exist with most installed desktop applications. The world is becoming more and more social – people want to collaborate and work online together – Web Apps allows this, painlessly.
Lower cost of sale
No boxes, printed manual, expensive shipping costs, CD, distribution channels, middlemen, etc. Desktop apps are going to be more economical to produce and will result in a lower cost of sale!
Usable from inexpensive PCs
$100 Laptops, here we come! What do you need a dual core processor for, if you are running a thin client application? This opens up a world of cost savings for both companies and consumers, especially in the field of productivity apps (obviously, not gaming!).
Piracy-proof
Here is a big one. Imagine a world without software piracy. That world is here, and Web Applications are the solution to that problem. Next problem, please!
No bad debts
Software companies are often owed money from distributors that invariably go bust from time to time. With Web Apps, the cash is collected upfront and as long as the customer pays, the account is in good stead.
Low-cost support and maintenance
Given that the browser is now the platform, operational support costs and maintenance for Web Application providers will drop substantially. No need to have expensive operating system gurus on hand to help with installation problems. Also, using products like the Amazon EC2 cloud, will allow scalability, without a proportionate increase in costs.
User data is kept safe in hosting environment
Although this is probably not going to be true for all Web App companies, but using providers like Rackspace or Amazon EC2 cloud will go a long way in reassuring your customers that their data is safer than on their desktop!
No Viruses
No installation, means no viruses. Start shorting all those Anti-Virus stocks! Enough said!
Low cost global distribution
No more channel reliance. Most software companies make it or break it, depending on their channel. Forget that focus on the biggest channel of all  the 1 billion users online!
Lower software price entry point for customers
Given the benefits above, you will see more products such as Basecamp and Synthasite that will offer far greater value than their desktop equivalents.
Access to the entire assets of the Web (APIs, widgets, messaging, collaboration)
By being wired into the web, Web Apps are able to integrate seamless into API etc. and are a lot more customizable, than traditional software applications.
Mobile is here
Compiled desktop applications are going to have a hard time being adapted for mobile devices. Web apps are ready made (in most cases).
Widest potential audience
For all the points above, this basically unlocks markets for software vendors that previously were inaccessible due to technical reasons.

Off-the-shelf vs. Custom Software

Off-the-shelf Software: Refers to products that are factory-packaged and available for sale to either a company or to the general public.

Custom Software: Custom software (also known as bespoke software) is software that is specially developed for some specific organization or other user.

What to Consider

When looking for a software solution to your current business problem, you need to carefully examine your options before deciding what will best meet your needs.

Generally, there are two options: off-the-shelf and custom. Each solution brings with it several considerations. The following are some of the questions that should be asked before deciding on a solution:

For an Off-the-shelf Product:

• Does it meet all of your essential requirements?
• Is the product easy to use?
• If the product is complex, would your staff use the product as it is intended?
• Would you be paying for a lot of features that you don’t really need?
• Does the cost of the product, including extra features you don’t need or won’t use plus training, provide you with the returns you need in order to justify the expense?
• In order for your staff to use the product effectively and efficiently, is additional training a necessity?
• Do you know the cost of training and support before you buy the product?
• Is the cost of training or support reasonable and within your budget?
• Are you required to pay additional licensing fees?
  When you buy off-the-shelf software you are frequently subject to licensing fees. The initial purchase price for a product often limits your right of use to a limited number of current users. You have to pay extra if you want the product to be accessible to more users.

For a Custom Solution:

In addition to the above questions, you also need to consider the following points:

• Your up-front investment cost may be higher than for an off-the-shelf package, so you need to factor in your long-term return on investment to determine the cost benefit of a custom solution.
• The time frame by which you require your application must be carefully determined. Sufficient lead-time is required in order to ensure that the product will be ready on time, whereas an off-the-shelf package can usually be picked up whenever needed.
• Sometimes a custom application can be integrated into an off-the-shelf product. An example of this is when you want to add a feature to an off-the-shelf product that it doesn’t currently have or that is very expensive to acquire as a ready-made solution. The latter situation would more likely apply to very large and expensive off-the-shelf products.
• Because custom software is designed to meet your specific needs, it will do exactly what you want it to.
• With a custom application you pay only for the features you need and have asked for.
• A well-designed custom application should be easy to use and intuitive.
• The cost of and amount of training required should be known up-front before you commit to the project. Additional support can often be negotiated on an as needed basis.
• You need to identify how much your problem is costing you if left unresolved.
• There are normally no licencing fees with custom solutions. Once you have paid for the product, you can usually make as many copies as you need.

Is SaaS Cheaper Than Licensed Software?

Most people quickly answer this question in the affirmative. I certainly do. However, there are people out there who aren't sure. They look at the monthly cost of a SaaS application and compare it to the equivalent licensed product over an extended period of time. Given enough time, you will eventually hit a point when the SaaS product appears to be more expensive. Let's look at it from the perspective of the total cost of ownership (TCO).

The true cost of a licensed product is much higher than just the software. Here are other things to factor in:

 •Hardware costs: You have to either buy machines or add your software to existing servers and manage them. If it is a mission-critical application, you will probably need dedicated machines and back-ups.

 •Additional software costs: You will most likely need an OS, application server software, a database, monitoring software, etc. Many of these products are open source now, but there are still associated costs.

 •Implementation costs: In my experience, the implementation costs associated with a behind-the-firewall solution are always higher than those of a SaaS application. There is simply more to do. You will either pay consultants or use your own valuable resources and time to worry about installing software, integrating it, building servers, configuration, etc.

 •Maintenance labour: If you have in-house software, there is going to be some level of effort required to keep it happy. Your IT people will need to take care of it, which will keep them from doing more value-added activities.

 Another huge factor here is the ability to get the latest and greatest technology. Once you install software in a data center, it becomes more difficult to upgrade and maintain it (especially if you customize it). In such a case, you will be stuck with old software that you will have to replace in the same time frame described above. In other words, unless you are absolutely sure, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that your licensed software is going to meet your business needs for 5 years or more, then SaaS might make financial sense.

Let's look at a real-world example. A 100-person company has been sharing files via email and internal servers. The executives have finally concluded they need to join the 21st century and put a solution in place. One option is to implement SharePoint. Here is a rough estimate of what that might cost:

Year 1

 MOSS server = $4,500

 User client access license = $90

 Hosting and maintenance = $5,000

 Implementation and developer support = $20,000

 Total = $29,590

Year 2 and on

 Hosting and maintenance = $5,000

 Developer support = $3,000

 Total = $8,000

 

I know of a SaaS solution that has 80% of the file-collaboration functionality of SharePoint but charges $850 per month for 100 users.

Year 1

 SaaS fees = $10,200

 Implementation support = $10,000

 Total = $20,200

Year 2 and on

 SaaS fees = $10,200

 Total = $10,200

It would take over 4 and a half years before the licensed software became cheaper. By that time, I'm quite sure there would be another solution that could replace SharePoint, and the cycle would start again. We can quibble about the numbers, but you get the point. Plus, the numbers don't reflect that the SaaS solution is likely to improve and innovate faster than the licensed software by a significant amount.

Cloud Computing

Cloud Computing is the delivery of computing as a service rather than a product, whereby shared resources, software, and information are provided to computers and other devices as a utility over the Internet.  As a metaphor for the Internet, "the cloud" is a familiar cliché, but when combined with "computing," the meaning gets bigger and fuzzier. Some analysts and vendors define cloud computing narrowly as an updated version of utility computing: basically virtual servers available over the Internet. Others go very broad, arguing anything you consume outside the firewall is "in the cloud," including conventional outsourcing.

A simple example of cloud computing is Yahoo email, Gmail, or Hotmail etc. You don’t need software or a server to use them. All a consumer would need is just an internet connection and you can start sending emails. The server and email management software is all on the cloud (internet) and is totally managed by the cloud service provider Yahoo, Google etc. The consumer gets to use the software alone and enjoy the benefits. The analogy is, 'If you need milk, would you buy a cow ?' All the users or consumers need is to get the benefits of using the software or hardware of the computer like sending emails etc. Just to get this benefit (milk) why should a consumer buy a (cow) software / hardware?

Overview

Cloud computing provides computation, software, data access, and storage services that do not require end-user knowledge of the physical location and configuration of the system that delivers the services. Parallel to this concept can be drawn with the electricity grid, wherein end-users consume power without needing to understand the component devices or infrastructure required to provide the service.

Cloud computing describes a new supplement, consumption, and delivery model for IT services based on Internet protocols, and it typically involves provisioning of dynamically scalable and often virtualised resources. It is a byproduct and consequence of the ease-of-access to remote computing sites provided by the Internet. This may take the form of web-based tools or applications that users can access and use through a web browser as if the programs were installed locally on their own computers.

Cloud computing providers deliver applications via the internet, which are accessed from web browsers and desktop and mobile apps, while the business software and data are stored on servers at a remote location. In some cases, legacy applications (line of business applications that until now have been prevalent in thin client Windows computing) are delivered via a screen-sharing technology, while the computing resources are consolidated at a remote data center location; in other cases, entire business applications have been coded using web-based technologies such as AJAX.

At the foundation of cloud computing is the broader concept of infrastructure convergence (or Converged Infrastructure) and shared services. This type of data center environment allows enterprises to get their applications up and running faster, with easier manageability and less maintenance, and enables IT to more rapidly adjust IT resources (such as servers, storage, and networking) to meet fluctuating and unpredictable business demand.

Most cloud computing infrastructures consist of services delivered through shared data-centers and appearing as a single point of access for consumers' computing needs.

Comparison

Cloud computing shares characteristics with:

Autonomic computing — Computer systems capable of self-management.

Client–server model — Client–server computing refers broadly to any distributed application that distinguishes between service providers (servers) and service requesters (clients).

Grid computing — "A form of distributed and parallel computing, whereby a 'super and virtual computer' is composed of a cluster of networked, loosely coupled computers acting in concert to perform very large tasks."

Mainframe computer — Powerful computers used mainly by large organisations for critical applications, typically bulk data processing such as census, industry and consumer statistics, enterprise resource planning, and financial transaction processing.

Utility computing — The "packaging of computing resources, such as computation and storage, as a metered service similar to a traditional public utility, such as electricity.

Peer-to-peer — Distributed architecture without the need for central coordination, with participants being at the same time both suppliers and consumers of resources (in contrast to the traditional client–server model).

Characteristics

Cloud computing exhibits the following key characteristics:

Agility improves with users' ability to re-provision technological infrastructure resources.

Application programming interface (API) accessibility to software that enables machines to interact with cloud software in the same way the user interface facilitates interaction between humans and computers. Cloud computing systems typically use REST-based APIs.

Cost is claimed to be reduced and in a public cloud delivery model capital expenditure is converted to operational expenditure. This is purported to lower barriers to entry, as infrastructure is typically provided by a third-party and does not need to be purchased for one-time or infrequent intensive computing tasks. Pricing on a utility computing basis is fine-grained with usage-based options and fewer IT skills are required for implementation (in-house).

Device and location independence enable users to access systems using a web browser regardless of their location or what device they are using (e.g., PC, mobile phone). As infrastructure is off-site (typically provided by a third-party) and accessed via the Internet, users can connect from anywhere.

Multi-tenancy enables sharing of resources and costs across a large pool of users thus allowing for: Centralisation of infrastructure in locations with lower costs (such as real estate, electricity, etc.)

Peak-load capacity increases (users need not engineer for highest possible load-levels)

Utilisation and efficiency improvements for systems that are often only 10–20% utilised.

Reliability is improved if multiple redundant sites are used, which makes well-designed cloud computing suitable for business continuity and disaster recovery.

Scalability and Elasticity via dynamic ("on-demand") provisioning of resources on a fine-grained, self-service basis near real-time, without users having to engineer for peak loads.

Performance is monitored and consistent and loosely coupled architectures are constructed using web services as the system interface.

Security could improve due to centralisation of data, increased security-focused resources, etc., but concerns can persist about loss of control over certain sensitive data, and the lack of security for stored kernels. Security is often as good as or better than under traditional systems, in part because providers are able to devote resources to solving security issues that many customers cannot afford. However, the complexity of security is greatly increased when data is distributed over a wider area or greater number of devices and in multi-tenant systems that are being shared by unrelated users. In addition, user access to security audit logs may be difficult or impossible. Private cloud installations are in part motivated by users' desire to retain control over the infrastructure and avoid losing control of information security.

Maintenance of cloud computing applications is easier, because they do not need to be installed on each user's computer.

Mistakes You are Making on LinkedIn

1. You give only because you expect to receive.

Connect with people on LinkedIn and you can write a recommendation that gets displayed on their profiles.

That’s awesome, unless you’re only giving recommendations because you want one in return. Then it’s tacky.

For example, say you’re a plumber. A pipe burst and we call you at three in the morning. You immediately rush over, fix the leak, and save us from inadvertently converting our basement into a swimming pool. I’m extremely grateful and I write you a deservedly glowing recommendation.

Then I ask you to write a recommendation for me.

The problem is, you don’t know me professionally. The only thing you really know about me is that I could be heard in the background screaming like a little girl when my wife called you. How can you recommend me? You can’t. You shouldn’t. And you shouldn’t be asked to.

Give sincere recommendations. Recommend because you want to, not because you expect to receive a recommendation in return. The people who know and respect you may return the “favor.” If so, great; if not, also great. Either way you’ve given credit where credit is due.

2. You don’t give at all.

Great networking is based on giving, not receiving. Endorsements are an easy way to give: Go to someone’s profile, click a few boxes, maybe click a few plus signs–done.

Endorse another person’s skills and you not only give them a virtual pat on the back, you may also help them show up in search results.

Show other people you respect their skills. Sure, it may be a good networking move, but making other people feel good about themselves is reason enough.

3. You wait until you have a need.

If you put off making solid connections until the day you need something–customers, employees, a job, or just a better network–then you’ve waited too long. Think about where you someday want to be and start now to build the connections, the network, and the following that will support those goals.

Building great connections is a parallel, not a serial, task. Later is always too late.

4. You forget where you are.

Most people use LinkedIn as a professional social media platform. So when you want to leave comments, share material, etc., consider letting your freak flag fly somewhere else. You never know when a potential employer, employee, customer, vendor–anyone–may notice.

Safe, at least where being professional is concerned, means never having to feel sorry.

5. You ignore the signs.

LinkedIn clearly aspires to be more than a place where millions of professionals make connections.

In less than two years LinkedIn Today has become an extremely powerful news aggregator. Landing an article on a category page generates a flood of traffic; landing an article on the home page can crash your servers.

LinkedIn Today now provides original content from “thought leaders” and allows you–whether you are connected to the person or not–to follow those individuals, comment directly on their posts, share their content with your network, etc. Currently only “influencers” can be followed (Richard Branson has over a million) but it’s safe to assume that someday all users will be able to directly post their own content and build their own followings.

What’s next? I don’t know. All I know is something will be next. Pay attention, look ahead, and start positioning yourself now.

Smart people get the most out of a tool. Really smart people do too, but they also plan for how to get the most out of what a tool may become.

6. You don’t share.

The easiest way to frequently update and “customize” your profile is to share. The articles, blog posts, videos, etc. you share appear in your Activity stream, giving other people a great look at what you’re doing and what you’re interested in and creating a running journal where others can learn more about you.

Plus your connections can respond by liking or leaving comments, which helps you avoid another mistake…

7. You don’t care.

Want to know what your connections, your network, or your audience thinks is important? Want a better sense of interests and perspectives you share?

Share, and then watch your Activity feed. See what people “like.” Read the comments.

The only way to better know people is to listen to what they have to say. Make it easy to listen: Share, see what strikes a chord and what doesn’t. It’s the perfect way to get direct feedback and build stronger connections. See your Activity feed as real-time feedback from the people you reach–and want to keep reaching.

8. You ignore your team’s network.

Relationships, referrals, and rapport are powerful ways to open doors.

The people you work with have great networks. (If they don’t, encourage them to start building.) When you’re looking for an “in,” see if someone on your team already has the right connection.

Chances are they do.

9. You go generic.

“I’d like to add you to my professional network on LinkedIn.”

Yeah, I know you’re busy. Still, is using the auto-generated LinkedIn connection text really the best you can do?

Delete the generic message and take a few seconds to say how you know the person. Or to say what you have in common. Or to say something complimentary. Unless you’re just trying to pad your numbers, you have a good reason reason for wanting to connect, so say what that reason is.

Making real connections starts with the word “real.”

Be real.

Note: This artcile is from Jeff Haden and taken from www.inc.com