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Hosted IT management platform Spiceworks is attempting to simplify the IT purchasing process with a new feature announced today: the ability to request quotes from vendors from inside Spiceworks. The Request for Quote will enable Spiceworks users to solicit quotes, share quotes with other stakeholders and place orders from within Spiceworks.

Considering how time consuming the purchasing process can be, we expect this to be a welcome feature.

It's been almost three years since Doc Searls posted his ten principles of VRM. Now that a few VRM project in development, he's added a new list: that give characteristics of VRM.

Last week while covering a tool for analyzing your iPhone location data (or as it turns out, your nearby cell tower and hotspot location data), I mused on my long-time interest in data portability - giving users access to and control over their own data. It's an idea we've been covering here for years.

This week, the customer control over data received more attention, with a write-up in the New York Times, a new Facebook acquisition and the revelation that TomTom sold data on its customers' driving habits to law enforcement. These are three different matters: access, use and control. But they are all connected, and as more of our data is stored in the cloud, I'm glad these matters are starting to get more attention.

Ever since the term "Web 2.0" started to catch-on, people have been speculating as to what "Web 3.0" will be. Briefly stated, Web 1.0 was the Static Web and Web 2.0 is the Social Web (for more a more nuanced view of this history, see here). One popular theory is that the Semantic Web comes next. Others have also called for Web 3.0 to involve user-centric identity and data portability - technologies that would depend on many of the same open standards that would enable the Semantic Web. Others suggested personalization would be king.

At the annual Salesforce user conference this year, DreamForce '09, the buzz was about its ability to merge people's streams, Twitter for example, into their CRM solution.

A new question for the industry emerges: Will the Salesforce cloud reach consumers on on their own timeline, or instead will social media own the stream and connect to the company directly?

Nick Givotovsky, a Connecticut based internet consultant and long time contributor to the digital identity community, died in an accident at his home on Friday at the age of 44. Givotovsky was an active member of the Data Portability Working Group, was a regular attendee of the Internet Identity Workshops and was Steward for the Identity Futures group in Identity Commons. He is recognized by both communities as a valued, respected and well liked contributor to many important efforts.

Author and consultant Doc Searls writes in a post memorializing Givotovsky that "Every encounter with Nick was engaging and mind-sharpening." London entrepreneur, Ian Henderson, offers the following quote from Givotovsky, exemplifying his contribution to the digital rights conversation.

Great bruising battles between powerful antagonists is good for media. It "sells papers," as we used to say, or "generates clicks", as we now say. When you mix in a love triangle and jilted lovers, well, the audience just goes wild. And Wired did a great job in its piece on Facebook, Google, and Microsoft: riveting stuff. But the thought that kept coming back to me is that Facebook's bravado, its "grand vision" talk, is what you would expect from a concept-level startup. Surely by now, about 6 years into its venture, Facebook should show some substance? It is time to deliver some real financial results. The concept-level talk is great for attracting capital and talent. Facebook has done that brilliantly. But the point of attracting capital and talent is to be able to generate financial results.

We are about to witness the loud noise and mess that happens when an irresistible force meets an immovable object.

The irresistible force is personalization. This is the key to productivity. Personalization technology cuts through the clutter and saves time. The firm that delivers personalized content sits at the top of the attention economy food chain; all other content is “drive-by commodity”. Personalization leads to relevancy in advertising; and loyal customers.

The immovable force is privacy. You cannot do personalization effectively without knowing an awful lot of information about an enormous number of people. The privacy backlash is building. Today it is only techies who are aware of the issue and where it is headed, but when mainstream users get spooked by a few more high profile cases, we will see consumer backlash and then, with politicians on the bandwagon, more regulation.

This will make a loud noise and will be messy; and in that mess will be big opportunities for entrepreneurs. VRM (Vendor relationship Management) may be a key part of this, which we'll explore in this post.

Photo: Doc Searls