Matt Kapko
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Matt Kapko
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Why ecommerce hasn’t taken off on social media
Shopping is still not common on social media, and social sites are unlikely to become major destinations for buying any time soon. Social media has clear potential for facilitating purchases, but the major platforms haven't invested seriously in shopping, and users don't seem particularly interested in spending on social networks, according to analysts.Social media intersects with commerce to varying degrees on certain sites and at various stages of the purchase process, but users today simply don't finalize purchases on social sites, according to Jessica Liu, a senior analyst with Forrester Research. The firm mapped the customer life cycle into six stages, and the buy stage is the least active on social, she says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Finland’s largest airline inks iOS deal with Apple and IBM
Apple this week signed on another large business customer through its partnership with IBM. The deal that will see Finland's largest airline use iOS apps for technical operations and customer experience. Finnair says it carries more than 10 million customers each year between 70 cities in Europe, 17 in Asia and three cities in North America. Finnair has a team in place at IBM's "MobileFirst for iOS Garage," which operates as a collaborative development hub for iOS enterprise apps. IBM says its MobileFirst for iOS customers have direct access to the world's largest concentration of developers that use Swift (Apple's programming language for iOS, macOS, watchOS and tvOS), designers, integration experts and enterprise iOS consultants. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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How Google overtook Apple in education
Apple's Mac and Apple II computers have been used in classrooms for more than 30 years, but cheaper hardware from rival Google is putting the squeeze on Apple's dominant position in education. The two companies target education from very different perspectives that play to their respective strengths. Google's objective is also slightly different than Apple's, because it primarily focuses on selling hardware for students that promotes its software services, while Apple pursues a more hardware-specific approach along with tools for teachers, according to a set of analysts who follow the education tech market."The momentum is definitely swinging in Google's favor," says Van Baker, research vice president, Gartner. "Chromebooks are doing quite well in the education sector." To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Google, LinkedIn leaders on tech’s responsibility for lost jobs
SAN FRANCISCO — The pressing issue of modern technology's negative impact on jobs was largely ignored during the 2016 presidential election, according to California's Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, who spoke this week at the Code Enterprise conference. Today's society has deficiencies in education and regulation, and it lacks the collective mindset necessary to transform tech challenges into opportunities, Newsom said. The roles large technology companies play in eliminating jobs, and the responsibilities they should bear to fight this problem, are rarely discussed. However, senior executives at Google and LinkedIn addressed the issue on stage at Code Enterprise, telling the audience of business leaders that it is paramount for tech titans to minimize job losses by creating new opportunities.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Twitter’s impact on 2016 presidential election is unmistakable
Twitter has played an outsized role in a 2016 presidential election that continues to test the electorate. Despite Twitter's ongoing business problems, the ability of a single tweet to shape political conversation and drive media coverage has never been greater. A marked contrast exists between Twitter's business acumen (or lack thereof) and the sometimes seemingly unintentional influence it wields on the current election.The leading candidates for America's next presidency use Twitter to energize their supporters and draw citizens who wouldn't otherwise follow political discourse. Twitter's simple and personal messages resonate in a way that more traditional means of communication — mail robocalls and yard signs — no longer can.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Messaging and collaboration tools are most valuable enterprise apps
Messaging and collaboration applications are the most mission-critical mobile apps in enterprise today, according to a new survey of executives commissioned by Adobe. More than half of the professionals surveyed (57 percent) said mobile apps for messaging and collaboration are critical to their organizations' success, and a similar number of respondents (59 percent) said such apps will continue to be critical in 2019. The survey, which was conducted by Edelman Intelligence, included responses from 1,500 executives in HR, sales and marketing from companies with more than 1,000 employees located in the United States, India, China, the United Kingdom and Germany. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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IBM says Macs save up to $543 per user
By the end of 2016, roughly one in four IBM employees will use a Macintosh computer. The tech giant, which employs 400,000 people, bought and provisioned 90,000 Macs since it started to support Apple laptops in June 2015. It expects to have at least 100,000 Macs deployed by 2017.IBM now has the largest enterprise Mac deployment in the world, and it is Apple's biggest business customer for Macs, according to Mac maker. Apple declined to provide details on the other leading enterprise Mac customers, but SAP, Kelly Services and Intuit are among the company's most recognizable clients. In total, IBM says it manages 217,000 Apple devices for its employees today, including those 90,000 Macs, 81,000 iPhones and 48,000 iPads. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Future of collaboration software all about integration — not consolidation
Enterprise software makers have tried to blend social tools and consumer technology for at least a decade. It's been a slow process, but by 2020 the biggest names in business software will likely be well-known consumer brands, instead of the stalwarts that dominated the market for decades, according to Aaron Levie, CEO of cloud storage service Box. Outsiders are redefining the future of workplace collaboration, and some of these companies, including Facebook, are focused on specific tools or technologies instead of platforms that try to serve every business need. The one-vendor-for-all-things-enterprise approach has no place in today's business landscape, Levie says.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Facebook at Work (finally) launches as ‘Workplace’
Facebook at Work, the company's social network for business, has a new name, but it features many of the same tools that 1.71 billion people use every month — without all the ads. Now called simply "Workplace," the service is now publicly available to any organization. Facebook is a dominant force among consumers and marketers, and now it is setting its sights on the enterprise market. Workplace is free for the first three months, and then Facebook will charge a range of monthly prices, per active user: $3 each for up to 1,000 users, $2 for up to 10,000 users and $1 each for enterprises with more than 10,000 users. Nonprofit organizations and academic institutions will get Workplace at no cost, according to Facebook. In comparison, the popular collaboration service Slack, now a Workplace rival, offers a free app with limited features, and it currently charges $15 per month per active user for its premium offering. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Deloitte leaders detail new iOS partnership with Apple
Apple will soon expand its enterprise roadmap thanks to a partnership that should result in the release of a new set of industry-specific iOS apps. The deal with Deloitte is designed to increase the value and appeal of Apple devices in the workplace with new specialized applications, network integrations and mobile-first processes for businesses. [Related: Should Apple worry about Microsoft-IBM deal]To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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How social media is shaping the 2016 presidential election
When the leading candidates for America's next presidency traded barbs this week during the first presidential debate, political operatives and energized voters were hard at work sharing opinions (and insults) on Facebook, Twitter and other social media sites. Much of today's political discourse starts on social media, and the medium often amplifies vitriol and slants information.The 2016 presidential election isn't the first event for which social media has been used as a political tool, but today it carries tremendous weight and influence over the electorate. Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump both use social to their advantages, but it's often the surrogates, supporters and influencers who shape perceptions, according to whatever views serve their preferred candidate's interests.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Were Apple’s ‘leaked’ iPhone 7 tweets really a mistake?
Apple hasn't embraced social media the way its tech rivals have, but the company appears to have warmed to the medium. Today Apple uses its @AppleSupport account on Twitter as a customer service and outreach tool, and the company also maintains Twitter accounts for some of its most popular services, including Apple Music, the App Store, iTunes and Beats1. Apple also finally started to use its main @Apple Twitter account in the days leading up to the iPhone 7 launch earlier this month. But things got off to a bit of a rocky start. During the company's presentation, the company published and then immediately deleted at least three tweets to the @Apple account that revealed details and key features of the iPhone 7 — before it was officially announced.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Trying to make sense of Google’s messaging mess
Google appears to finally be trying to clarify its strategies for communication and messaging. However, the company determined it needs more messaging apps — not fewer apps. By the end of this year, Google will maintain at least eight different messaging apps, including Hangouts, Google Messenger, Google Chat, Google Voice, the Jibe rich communication services (RCS) app for carriers, Allo, Duo and the Spaces group-sharing app. Following the early August release of Duo, a new one-to-one video calling app, and the complementary messaging app Allo, which is expected to launch before summer's end, Google says it plans to reposition Hangouts as an enterprise service.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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GE CIO Jim Fowler talks collaboration and IT transformation
General Electric's (GE) CIO isn't interested in picking a winner or loser when it comes to collaboration apps. Nor does he want to preclude any of GE's 333,000 employees from using the collaboration tools that work best for them. "Collaboration is a noisy space right now because there are so many different tools," Jim Fowler said during an interview this week at CIO.com's CIO 100 event in Rancho Palos Verdes, Calif. "I'm not going to get in the middle of it. I'd like to see how it works itself out on its own." GE CIO Jim Fowler. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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How IT can limit the risk of popular messaging apps
In the fight against shadow IT, CIOs have faced for more significant challenges than modern consumer messaging apps. And the popularity of apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, iMessage and Google Hangouts has, in many cases, led to a more open IT approach to consumer communication tools in enterprise. When IT leaders let employees use their personal devices for work, it's a safe assumption that multiple consumer messaging apps will also come into play. The onus is on the CIO and the IT team to mitigate potential problems that could come from the careless use of such apps at work, according to Adam Preset, research director at Gartner. CIOs should realize consumer messaging apps can increase staff efficiency, but they should also try to empower workers to make choices that don't threaten their organizations, he says. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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How IT can limit the risk of popular messaging apps
In the fight against shadow IT, CIOs have faced for more significant challenges than modern consumer messaging apps. And the popularity of apps such as WhatsApp, Facebook Messenger, iMessage and Google Hangouts has, in many cases, led to a more open IT approach to consumer communication tools in enterprise. When IT leaders let employees use their personal devices for work, it's a safe assumption that multiple consumer messaging apps will also come into play. The onus is on the CIO and the IT team to mitigate potential problems that could come from the careless use of such apps at work, according to Adam Preset, research director at Gartner. CIOs should realize consumer messaging apps can increase staff efficiency, but they should also try to empower workers to make choices that don't threaten their organizations, he says. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Tech giants aren’t as innovative as you think
Many titans of technology today have well-known reputations of being innovative and creative. However, new research based on the experiences of employees who work at these firms suggests external perceptions may not represent reality. Facebook, for example, doesn't prioritize creativity in the workplace as well as its peers, and Microsoft is more specific than Facebook and Google when it looks for certain traits in employees, according a report from Good&Co, a firm that surveys professionals on their work histories and tries to match people with appropriate employers. The company recently evaluated responses from 4,364 users who work at the tech companies featured in the study and compared findings to develop profiles of tech's biggest stars.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Mixed emotions on Apple’s enterprise evolution
Apple's interest in the enterprise hasn't always been obvious. And though the company changed its ways to some extent during the past few years, it still prefers to let its devices and services act as its entryway into enterprise. Many IT leaders would like to see Apple focus more on the business market, but they also understand the company may never act like a traditional enterprise vendor. Apple's business partnerships with Cisco, IBM and SAP are well-publicized, but those deals are the exception and not the norm, according to a set of CIOs and IT leaders who spoke with CIO.com. Why Apple's awkward approach to enterprise works Many turning points have helped change the IT industry's perception of Apple. However, CIOs often disagree on the relevance of specific events to enterprise, based on the special interests and IT requirements of their organizations. To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here
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Office 365 training courses to increase your expertise
Microsoft's Office 365 subscription service makes the company's most popular apps and business tools available via the cloud, which means the features change often. Office 365 users, including beginners and veteran IT professionals, have a wide range of options for related training tools, depending on their needs and levels of expertise. Many free, basic training classes are available to teach the ins and outs of Office 365, but IT professionals will likely benefit more from intensive, and sometimes costly, seminars that can help prepare for formal tech support certification.Many IT pros, for example, must pass Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) exams to qualify as cloud applications administrators focused on managing Office 365. Microsoft's Office 365 suite constantly changes as the company introduces new versions of apps, and Microsoft updates the MCSA exams accordingly.To read this article in full or to leave a comment, please click here