WebProNews

Category: RemoteWorkingTrends

  • Microsoft Reports Stellar Quarter, Fueled By Cloud Earnings

    Microsoft Reports Stellar Quarter, Fueled By Cloud Earnings

    Microsoft has reported its results for the quarter ending September 30, and it was good news for the company and its cloud business.

    Like many tech companies, Microsoft’s business has seen significant growth as a result of the coronavirus pandemic and the move to remote work. Its cloud business, in particular, has seen stellar growth.

    The company reported revenue of $37.2 billion, representing a 12% increase over the year-ago quarter. Operating income came in at $15.9 billion, an increase of 25%, while net income increased 30% to $13.9 billion.

    Office 365 Commercial revenue grew some 21%, driving Office Commercial products and services revenue up 9% as a whole. Similarly, Dynamics revenue was up 19%, with Dynamics 365 up 38%.

    “The next decade of economic performance for every business will be defined by the speed of their digital transformation,” said Satya Nadella, chief executive officer of Microsoft. “We are innovating across our full modern tech stack to help our customers in every industry improve time to value, increase agility, and reduce costs.”

    “Demand for our cloud offerings drove a strong start to the fiscal year with our commercial cloud revenue generating $15.2 billion, up 31% year over year,” said Amy Hood, executive vice president and chief financial officer of Microsoft. “We continue to invest against the significant opportunity ahead of us to drive long-term growth.”

    Microsoft’s results illustrate the fundamental shift the pandemic has created, with effects that will last far longer than the cause.

  • 76% of US CEOs Plan On Shrinking Office Space Due to Remote Work

    76% of US CEOs Plan On Shrinking Office Space Due to Remote Work

    Some 76% of US CEOs plan on reducing their office space footprint as a result of the ongoing transition to remote work amid the pandemic.

    As the coronavirus pandemic swept the globe, countless companies sent their employees home to work remotely. In many cases, the transition to remote work was far more successful than anticipated, leading some companies to make it a permanent part of their corporate culture. Even companies that plan on eventually returning to the office have had to push those plans back as COVID-19 has resurged.

    It appears the trend toward remote work is now impacting long-term decisions regarding corporate office space. Fortune, in collaboration with Deloitte, conducted a poll of 171 CEOs. The poll found that some 76% said they will need less office space moving forward, with 28% saying they would need a lot less space.

    Even more telling, 40% of the CEOs polled said that remote work had led to increased productivity, indicating their employees were likely happier working remotely. Conversely, 31% reported decreased productivity.

    The mixed results may be an indication that companies need to adopt multiple approaches moving forward, rather than a one-size-fits-all approach. Doing so could ensure maximum productivity from all workers.

  • Dropbox Starts Migrating to Western Digital SMR HDDs

    Dropbox Starts Migrating to Western Digital SMR HDDs

    Dropbox has begun its migration to Western Digital’s host-managed, shingled magnetic recording (SMR) hard disk drives (HDD).

    Dropbox used to rely on AWS for its infrastructure, before deciding to build out its own. Doing so gives it more flexibility and control. The company has been working with Western Digital to help meet its storage needs, and is among the first companies to use its SMR HDDs.

    SMR is a method of recording data that allows for greater data density, thereby reducing total cost of ownership (TCO). In traditional drives, data is written to the HD platter in non-overlapping tracks. In contrast, SMR writes data in partially overlapping tracks, much like roof shingles partially overlap each other. This allows more data to be written in the same space.

    “We’ve been working with Western Digital for many years, and throughout several phases of our storage platform development,” said Andrew Fong, vice president of engineering, Dropbox. “Online tools and services are more important than ever before, so we need to be able to quickly innovate, expand functionality and scale to help stay competitive. We look forward to deploying these higher capacity 20TB SMR hard drives to further our cost savings and to provide our customers with even more value. Western Digital is an important strategic partner and we look forward to continuously pushing cloud infrastructure boundaries together.”

    Western Digital’s Ulstrastar DC HC650 is the industry’s first 20TB HDDs, prodding an unmatched TCO that no doubt played a major role in Dropbox’s decision.

  • Amazon Extends Remote Work As COVID-19 Goes Out of Control

    Amazon Extends Remote Work As COVID-19 Goes Out of Control

    Amazon is the latest company to extend work from home policies amid a resurgence of COVID-19.

    With a record-breaking number of daily coronavirus cases, now topping 83,000, companies are having to make tough choices regarding a return to the office. Most recently, Microsoft announced it was pushing back a return to the office until July 2021, at the earliest.

    Now Amazon has made a similar decision, announcing that workers whose jobs permit will be able to continue working from home through June 30, 2021. In an update on the company’s blog, Amazon highlighted its commitment to employee safety:

    The health and safety of our employees is our top priority, and it will be some time before things return to normal. Accordingly, work that can effectively be done from home can continue to be done from home through June 30, 2021.

    The White House recently admitted that “we are not going to control the pandemic.” Instead, Chief of Staff Mark Meadows made it clear that vaccines and treatment options would be the focus moving forward. If the virus is truly out of control, and hope lies in a successful vaccine, it’s a safe bet many other companies will soon be pushing back their return-to-office targets as well.

  • Microsoft Extends Remote Work Till July 2021

    Microsoft Extends Remote Work Till July 2021

    Microsoft has once again pushed back its timetable for returning to the office, saying remote work will continue till July 2021 at the earliest.

    Like most companies, and especially those in the tech industry, Microsoft sent its employees home as the coronavirus swept the globe. As many other companies did, Microsoft has been moving its return-to-office date back as the situation has developed.

    Most recently, Microsoft planned on re-opening offices in January of 2021 but, according to ZDNet, the company has now pushed that back to July. Leadership informed employees in an October 21 email:

    “Returning to the worksite remains optional until we get to Stage 6. This stage represents a time when COVID-19 is no longer a significant burden on a country/region and most health and safety restrictions at our worksites are removed,” according to Microsoft’s Kurt Delbene, Executive Vice President, Corporate Strategy, Core Services Engineering and Operations, the author of the latest email.

    While some employees are already working onsite to some extent, Microsoft “strongly encouraged” all employees whose job permits to continue working remotely.

  • Study: Remote Work Hurting Employee Engagement

    Study: Remote Work Hurting Employee Engagement

    The massive shift toward remote work during the pandemic is making it tougher for employees to stay engaged and motivated according to a report by employee assessment firm Questionmark.

    Since millions of employees have been working from home, companies are facing significant challenges in maintaining an engaged and motivated workforce. This not only impacts productivity but it also is key to high retention rates. According to research by LinkedIn, 94% of employees are likely to remain with a company
    longer if they believe their employer is investing in their career.

    Employers also know that an engaged employee is a happy and productive employee. A recent survey noted in the report found that 41% of employees feel their career development has stalled during the first months of the pandemic and 9% believe they have gone backward.

    Based on conversations with customers, here are the four common obstacles to
    building an engaged and motivated workforce:

    1. Lack of career development – people are more likely to move jobs to develop their career than for money. Some 41% believe their careers have stalled in recent months.1
    2. Feeling less valued – managers play a crucial role in encouraging and motivating staff. But when working remotely, they can’t rely on facial cues and body language to check if praise is needed.
    3. Disconnected from colleagues – employees miss the social interaction they enjoyed with co-workers. Team spirit can suffer as a result.
    4. Uncertainty and anxiety – when workers worry that their job is on the line it increases anxiety and undermines performance. A survey suggests 75% of workers believe that living amidst a pandemic has increased their stress levels.

    “Now more than ever, employers need to ensure that they give staff the support they need to perform at their best,” says Questionmark CEO Lars Pedersen. “The ability of employees to adapt to changing circumstances and learn new skills will be at the heart of surviving a period of economic uncertainty.”

    “The decisions that employers make around engaging and motivating staff really matter. Data from online staff assessments can give employers the information they need to make good people decisions. Leaders can ensure employees get the support, training and development they need to thrive.”

    https://www.questionmark.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Report-Engaging_a_Remote_Workforce.pdf
  • Zoom COO: Transaction Fees Possible For New OnZoom Service

    Zoom COO: Transaction Fees Possible For New OnZoom Service

    Zoom COO Aparna Bawa says that Zoom is open to experimenting with transaction fees for its new OnZoom service targeting video delivered services like piano lessons.

    “We still are watching and waiting to see what the economics look like,” said Zoom COO Aparna Bawa at WSJ Tech Live. “We want to make sure that the customer base that we’re serving finds it helpful, it’s priced at the right point, it’s beneficial to all,”

    When asked about getting a cut of online video services Bawa said: “We’re not quite sure how that’s going to work. “For us, it’s a long game. The more and more we can build our user base and establish trust with folks like you, the more sort of legs we have as a company.”

    OnZoom, currently in beta, is a service for paid Zoom users to create, host, and monetize events like fitness classes, concerts, stand-up or improv shows, and music lessons on the Zoom Meetings platform.

    “We were humbled and inspired by all of the amazing ways the world adapted to a literal shutdown of in-person events amid COVID-19,” says Zoom product manager Aleks Swerdlow. “When business owners, entrepreneurs, and organizations of all sizes had to find some way – any way – to stay the course and continue providing services to their customers, many turned to Zoom. OnZoom simplifies that experience.”

    In short, OnZoom is Zoom for paid events or services. It has the potential to vastly increase Zoom revenues by tapping into entrepreneurs and small businesses that want to provide a service specific to individuals or groups and not just give it away on YouTube. Think personalized Yoga training, tutors for your kids, computer support, and cooking classes personalized to you. It also includes event discovery features and can be used for free events as well.

  • Airbnb: Working From ‘Any Home’ Huge 2021 Trend

    Airbnb: Working From ‘Any Home’ Huge 2021 Trend

    An Airbnb commissioned survey reveals that the work at home trend will be transforming into the ‘working from any home’ in 2021. The survey conducted by ClearPath Strategies says that 83% of employees are in favor of relocating as part of remote working. Over 25% believe they will be able to ‘live where they want to and work remotely’. This would assume that many companies will not require employees to come into physical locations on a regular basis for group meetings or strategy sessions.

    One in five of those surveyed have relocated their living situation during the pandemic either temporarily or permanently, according to the survey. Surprisingly, 60% of parents are very or somewhat likely to consider working remotely and traveling with their children if schools continue to be disrupted.

    Not so surprisingly, Airbnb says that from July to September of this year, there has been a 128% increase in guest reviews mentioning “relocation”, “relocate”, “remote work” and “trying a new neighborhood” in comparison to the same time frame last year.

    There is also a big trend out of cities and into suburbs and rural areas. Since the pandemic started, 24% of people say they moved to a suburb and 21% to a rural area. Additionally, Airbnb reveals that those that can work from anywhere are booking longer stays of two or more weeks.

    One of the ways travelers are taking advantage of this trend is trying before they buy–turning to Airbnb to test new neighborhoods and cities before making a long-term commitment. From July to September this year, there has been a 128 percent increase in guest reviews mentioning “relocation”, “relocate”, “remote work” and “trying a new neighborhood” in comparison to the same time frame last year. 

    Source: Airbnb
  • Dell: 80% of Companies Fast-Tracked Digital Transformation

    Dell: 80% of Companies Fast-Tracked Digital Transformation

    A Dell Technologies commissioned an independent survey of 4,300 worldwide business leaders indicates a massive shift toward digital transformation in 2020 accelerated by the pandemic. The survey indicates that 80% of organizations globally have fast-tracked some digital transformation programs this year. But just 41% accelerated all or most of their programs. Dell says that this is the third installment of their Digital Transformation Index (DT Index), designed to show how businesses are adapting to unprecedented uncertainty during a global pandemic.

    Incredibly, 79% are reinventing their business model as a result of the disruption caused by the pandemic and 50% of international business leaders worry they didn’t transition fast enough. The study notes that digital transformation is not easy, 94% of businesses surveyed say they are facing entrenched barriers spanning across technology, people, and policy.

    According to the 2020 DT Index, the following are the top-3 barriers to digital transformation success:

    1. Data privacy and cybersecurity concerns (up from 5th place in 2016)
    2. Lack of budget and resources (#1 in 2016, #2 in 2018)
    3. Unable to extract insights from data and/or information overload (a jump of eight places since 2016)

    “We’ve been given a glimpse of the future, and the organizations that are accelerating their digital transformation now will be poised for success in the Data Era that is unfolding before our eyes”, says Michael Dell, Chairman, and CEO, Dell Technologies.

    Additionally, the survey reveals a huge shift toward remote work. About 25% of employees worked remotely before the pandemic and today it is more than 50% of all employees are remote. According to the survey, remote work has become the new normal.

    Top IT Investments Are For Emerging Technologies

    Prior to the pandemic, business investments were strongly focused on foundational technologies, rather than emerging technologies. The vast majority, 89 percent recognizethat as a result of disruption this year, they need a more agile/scalable IT infrastructure to allow of contingencies. The DT Index shows the top technology investments for the next one to three years:

    1. Cybersecurity
    2. Data management tools
    3. 5G infrastructure
    4. Privacy software
    5. Multi-Cloud environment

    And recognizing the importance of emerging technologies, 82 percent of respondents envision increased usage of Augmented Reality to learn how to do or fix things in an instant; 85 percent foresee organizations using Artificial Intelligence and data models to predict potential disruptions, and 78 percent predict distributed ledgers – such as Blockchain – will make the gig economy fairer (by cutting out the intermediary).

    Despite these findings, only 16 percent are planning to invest in Virtual/Augmented Reality, just 32 percent intend to invest in Artificial Intelligence, and a mere 15 percent plan to invest in distributed ledgers in the next one to three years.

    https://www.dellemc.com/en-us/collaterals/unauth/briefs-handouts/solutions/dt-index-2020-executive-summary.pdf
  • Microsoft Ends Office 2010 and Office 2016 for Mac Support

    Microsoft Ends Office 2010 and Office 2016 for Mac Support

    Microsoft has ended support for Office 2010, as well as Office 2016 for Mac, and is instead pushing users toward Microsoft 365.

    Office 2010 is one of the most popular versions of the venerable office suite. In fact, as recently as 2017, a survey showed it was in use among 83% of organizations around the world.

    In spite of that, Microsoft has officially ended support for Office 2010, as well as the corresponding Office 2016 for Mac. Jared Spataro, Corporate Vice President for Microsoft 365, explainedthe decision:

    As we first announced back in April 2017, this decision aligns with our broader commitment to providing tools and experiences designed for a new world of work. If this year has taught us anything, it’s that we need to help our customers stay agile and connected despite constant change. And that means delivering cloud-connected and always up-to-date versions of our most valuable apps to every person and every organization on the planet. With Microsoft 365 Apps, we do that in three big ways. First, the cloud enables real-time collaboration across apps and within Microsoft Teams, the hub for teamwork. Second, AI and machine learning advance creativity and innovation in everything from PowerPoint design to Excel analysis. And finally, built-in, cloud-powered security protects your data and provides the peace of mind that comes with knowing your business will not only be productive, but also secured.

    We understand that everyone is at a different stage of their journey to the cloud, and we’re committed to supporting our customers throughout their transition to Microsoft 365 Apps. For those customers who aren’t ready for the cloud and have a specific need for on-premises or hybrid deployment, such as fully disconnected or restricted environments, we offer Office 2019, the perpetual version of Office that does not receive feature updates. But for everyone else, we’ve created a set of resources to help you transition to the Microsoft 365 Apps and innovations designed to help keep your environment up to date once you’ve made the transition.

    As more companies move to the cloud, as well as engage in remote work, Microsoft 365 is increasingly becoming a critical option for many companies. This move will no doubt accelerate its adoption.

  • The Software Decade Is Now

    The Software Decade Is Now

    “The next decade looking ahead is going to be the Software Decade,” says Snowflake board member and Altimeter Capital partner Kevin Wang. “Trends of moving more software to the cloud are just persisting. Cloud has completely changed the way that software is built and run. Software itself is being completely transformed. If what you saw over the past decade was exciting I’m even more excited about the next decade.”

    Kevin Wang, Snowflake board member and Altimeter Capital partner, says that the next decade looking ahead is going to be the Software Decade:

    The Software Decade Is Now

    The past decade has been a prolific time for technology companies. When you look at what we are set up for in the next decade it’s good to pause right now to see what has happened during the pandemic. We’ve seen that software is an integral part of the global economy. During the pandemic, we’ve found that we couldn’t go through the pandemic without the tools that we have.

    Stanford research shows that just during the month of May over two-thirds of US GDP was created in our homes alone. That’s just incredible. These trends of moving more software to the cloud are just persisting. The next decade looking ahead is going to be the Software Decade.

    Software Itself Is Being Completely Transformed

    When we take a step back we look at how these companies are set up for the next ten years. It’s easy to get focused on what might happen in the short run. These trends are so powerful that they are going to power these companies and adoption for several years. It’s true that the pandemic has accelerated and pulled forward a lot of that demand. But a lot of the trends and behaviors we see are going to persist. For example, people are talking over Zoom and that’s just changed the way we are going to work. We can give a lot of examples of how that’s going to persist over the long run.

    Software itself is being completely transformed. If what you saw over the past decade was exciting I’m even more excited about the next decade. What you have to understand is that cloud has completely changed the way that software is built and run. As we know, as business are digitally transforming they themselves are building and running more software. When you think about how to do that cloud has changed that.

    Historically, you always had to decide better, faster, cheaper. You could only pick one or two of them. Now you can do all three. When you look at Snowflake, for example, you used to have to manage a cloud data warehouse, and that was a lot of work for your database experts. You don’t have to do any of that anymore. Snowflake will manage all of that for you.

    The Software Decade Is Now – Altimeter Capital partner Kevin Wang
  • VMware COO: We Are So Happy That Zoom Exists

    VMware COO: We Are So Happy That Zoom Exists

    VMware COO Sanjay Poonen says that Zoom has changed the future of work:

    We are so happy that Zoom exists. When I was last in a pandemic in 2008 I was at SAP and we were all in a room sitting by a telepresence machine. It was so hot and only 10 or 15 people could sit at the same time. Then I first saw Zoom on my phone and it was beautiful. We obviously want to balance work and life and be in this place where we are concerned about both our physical and mental health. Physical health is important but mental health is equally important.

    We’re obviously helping companies through the pandemic. We’ve just adopted some best practices. We think we’re going to create Work 2.0. In the future of work-force-ware, we make it the best to work in any location. I recently had a lady that was going to do a global demand gen job. Initially, we would have thought that she could have done that job from Palo Alto only. She’s now doing that job from Sydney and doing an incredible job.

    We want to make VMware the best place to work. Then at the end of the day, each person has got to find their personal space by which they figure out the things that trample them back to work. Every day for me it’s my faith, my family, my friends. I’ve got a routine, whether it’s biking or whatever lets you get prepared for the next day. We are potentially going to be in this for the long haul.

    VMware COO Sanjay Poonen: We Are So Happy That Zoom Exists
  • Dropbox CEO: Virtual First Reinvents Work

    Dropbox CEO: Virtual First Reinvents Work

    “We call our approach Virtual First where most focused and solo work happens at home,” says Dropbox CEO Drew Houston. “Then because in-person collaboration is still critical for building teams and relationships and culture we’re turning our offices into collaborative spaces. We call these spaces Dropbox Studios. I feel as a company that we can only live out our mission if we’re on the leading edge of how we work ourselves.”

    “We also hope this Virtual First approach will give us the best of remote and in-person work, balancing flexibility with human connection, and creating a more level playing field for everyone,” notes the Dropbox Team blog. “We’re living through a challenging time. But we believe it brings an opportunity to redesign the way we work for the better.”

    Drew Houston, co-founder and CEO of Dropbox, says that starting today, Dropbox is becoming a Virtual First company. Remote work will be the primary experience for all employees and the day-to-day default for individual work:

    Virtual First Reinvents Work

    I don’t think anyone could have imagined how the entire world went to working from home overnight in the most traumatic and abrupt way possible. We see that the shift to distributed work is going to continue beyond when the lockdown ends. What’s interesting is the vast majority of our employees have said that they don’t want to return to the way things were before. They don’t want to lose the flexibility. They don’t want to go back to commuting. We’ve seen this with a lot of companies.

    We saw this as a unique opportunity to reinvent how we work and rethink this completely. It’s a little different from some of the other approaches. We thought about how do we combine the best elements of the remote and in-person experience. We call our approach Virtual First where most focused and solo work happens at home. Then because in-person collaboration is still critical for building teams and relationships and culture we’re turning our offices into collaborative spaces. We call these spaces Dropbox Studios. This is better than going fully remote or just sort of letting people figure it out for themselves.

    Fully remote cuts out the in-person experience which we think is critical to work. In a lot of the hybrid models which are saying work from home whenever you want to, we think risks the worst of both worlds situation where you don’t get the sense of community in an office and you don’t get the same level of flexibility.

    Shift To Distributed Work Is Massive Opportunity

    It’s a transition. Over time we’re not going to need as much physical space. That’s part of the explicit design here. Sure, there are some efficiencies on costs that result from that or result from being able to hire in lower-cost locations or allowing employees to live in lower-cost locations. But you need to solve for more than just costs. The primary factor for us is that the vast majority of our team wanted to preserve a lot of the benefits they were getting from working from home.

    There are a lot of issues with remote work but most importantly our customers and all the world have shifted to working in a distributed way. We see this as massively increasing our opportunity because there are all of these pain points and ways that we can improve the remote working experience. I feel as a company that we can only do that and we can only live out our mission if we’re on the leading edge of how we work ourselves.

    Dropbox CEO Drew Houston: Virtual First Reinvents Work
  • Zoom End-to-End Encryption Rolling Out Next Week

    Zoom End-to-End Encryption Rolling Out Next Week

    Zoom has announced it will be rolling out end-to-end encryption (E2EE) beginning next week.

    Zoom quickly became the de facto standard for remote work and distance learning during the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, the company made a number of security missteps early on, leading to a 90-day moratorium on new features as the company focused on security.

    One of those issues revolved around E2EE. The company’s early marketing made it appear as if it offered E2EE when, in fact, it did not. The company later announced definitive plans to implement E2EE, although only for paid accounts. After feedback and criticism, the company reversed course, announcing its intention to bring E2EE to all users.

    Those plans are coming to fruition, with the company implementing the first phase of its E2EE plans next week:

    We’re excited to announce that starting next week, Zoom’s end-to-end encryption (E2EE) offering will be available as a technical preview, which means we’re proactively soliciting feedback from users for the first 30 days. Zoom users – free and paid – around the world can host up to 200 participants in an E2EE meeting on Zoom, providing increased privacy and security for your Zoom sessions.

    CEO Eric S. Yuan highlighted the benefits of E2EE, both to customers and the Zoom platform:

    End-to-end encryption is another stride toward making Zoom the most secure communications platform in the world. This phase of our E2EE offering provides the same security as existing end-to-end-encrypted messaging platforms, but with the video quality and scale that has made Zoom the communications solution of choice for hundreds of millions of people and the world’s largest enterprises.

    Once enabled, users will know their meetings are encrypted with E2EE by looking at the green shield icon in the upper left corner. The normal checkmark, indicating GCM encryption, will be replaced by a padlock.

  • Verizon Launches Nationwide 5G Network, Early Reviewers Unimpressed

    Verizon Launches Nationwide 5G Network, Early Reviewers Unimpressed

    In combination with Apple’s 5G iPhone 12 launch, Verizon has announced the immediate availability of its nationwide 5G network.

    As US carriers have rolled out their 5G networks, Verizon has taken a much different approach than AT&T and T-Mobile. Until now, Verizon has largely focused on its high-band, mmWave 5G. AT&T and T-Mobile, while deploying mmWave of their own, were quick to roll out nationwide 5G networks using low-band spectrum. AT&T used its 850 MHz spectrum, while T-Mobile used 600 MHz.

    While low-band spectrum doesn’t offer nearly the same speed as mmWave, it offers much better coverage and building penetration. In many cases, low-band 5G matches or exceeds 4G LTE’s range and penetration, much of which is in the 700 MHz range. Verizon now joins the other two carriers with a nationwide 5G network using its low-band spectrum.

    Unfortunately, unlike T-Mobile and AT&T, Verizon does not have enough low-band spectrum to create a dedicated, nationwide 5G network. Instead, it has to use Dynamic Spectrum Sharing (DSS) to share the same spectrum between its 4G LTE and nationwide 5G networks. In pre-launch tests—the couple of days before the announcement when 5G started showing up on Verizon devices—the new network was actually slower than Verizon’s 4G LTE.

    “I wouldn’t worry too much about the 5G being slower than 4G yet,” write Sascha Segan & Steven Winkelman for PCMag. “This is pre-launch and either our devices or the network may not have been fully configured. But I think 5G being the same speed as 4G is more relevant, because DSS 5G is really just a shell game. You get faster speeds when you add spectrum to a carrier’s pool. The power of 5G comes from its ability to use wider channels than 4G—up to 100MHz each where 4G channels max out at 20MHz.

    “DSS simply shifts some existing 4G channels to 5G when they aren’t being used by 4G phones. So you’re going to end up with narrow odds and ends of airwaves that don’t expand the carrier’s portfolio any, but let it show a “5G” indicator for marketing purposes.”

    It remains to be seen how Verizon’s nationwide 5G network will stack up now that it’s officially launched. If the early tests are to be believed, however, it shows why T-Mobile is widely considered the 5G carrier to beat, especially with its acquisition of spectrum-rich Sprint.

  • Dropbox Transitions to ‘Virtual First’ Workflow

    Dropbox Transitions to ‘Virtual First’ Workflow

    Dropbox has become the latest company to embrace a new normal, announcing it has become a “virtual first” company.

    Since the pandemic forced organizations to adopt remote workflows, many companies were surprised to discover how well employees adapted to changing circumstances. As a result, numerous companies have announced plans to make remote work a permanent part of the corporate routine.

    Dropbox is the latest to announce permanent changes as a result of the pandemic:

    Starting today, Dropbox is becoming a Virtual First company. Remote work (outside an office) will be the primary experience for all employees and the day-to-day default for individual work.

    As part of this strategy, Dropbox is also reevaluating standard workdays:

    Next, we’re embracing what we call “non-linear workdays.” We’re setting core collaboration hours with overlap between time zones, and encouraging employees to design their own schedules beyond that. As our workforce grows more distributed, this will help balance collaboration with needs for individual focus. We want to prioritize impact and results instead of hours worked.

    Dropbox acknowledges there are challenges to a virtual first policy, and is working to address them with the release of Virtual First Toolkit, which it has open-sourced for other companies to make use of.

  • Twilio Acquiring Customer Data Company Segment

    Twilio Acquiring Customer Data Company Segment

    Twilio has announced it is acquiring Segment, a leading customer data platform.

    Like many communication companies, Twilio has experienced significant growth during the pandemic. The company’s APIs make it easy for developers to add voice, text, video, chat and email communication to their services and products.

    The acquisition of Segment will help companies better know their customers and use data to build a complete profile. This, in turn, will help them better meet their customers’ needs.

    “Data silos destroy great customer experiences,” said Jeff Lawson, co-founder and CEO of Twilio. “Segment lets developers and companies break down those silos and build a complete picture of their customer. Combined with Twilio’s Customer Engagement Platform, we can create more personalized, timely and impactful engagement across customer service, marketing, analytics, product and sales. We are thrilled to welcome Segment to the Twilio team.”

    “Together, Twilio and Segment have an incredible opportunity to build the customer engagement platform of the future,” said Peter Reinhardt, Segment’s co-founder and CEO. “We created Segment to help businesses set themselves apart in the digital age and deliver rich, connected customer experiences built on high-quality data. By joining forces and applying our customer data platform to Twilio’s engagement cloud, we’ll be able to make the entire customer experience seamless from end-to-end.”

    The deal is an all-stock deal worth approximately $3.2 billion and is expected to close Q4 2020.

  • Microsoft Making Remote Work a Permanent Option

    Microsoft Making Remote Work a Permanent Option

    Microsoft is joining the list of companies that is making remote work a permanent part of its corporate culture.

    As the coronavirus pandemic forced companies to send their employees home and adopt remote workflows, many companies were surprised at how smooth the transition went. As a result, companies began to announce permeant adjustments to their corporate policies, making remote work a permanent option.

    Microsoft is now the latest to join this trend. According to a blog post, the company will allow employees to work remotely for less than 50% of their schedule. According to The Verge, Microsoft will also allow employees to transition to permanent remote work with manager approval. Those employees that choose to do so will lose their office space, but will be able to use “touchdown” space for those times they need to be in the office.

    “Flexibility can mean different things to each of us, and we recognize there is no one-size-fits-all solution given the variety of roles, work requirements and business needs we have at Microsoft,” wrote Kathleen Hogan – Executive Vice President and Chief People Officer.

    Microsoft’s announcement is just the lastest indication that remote work is here to stay. While some jobs require in-person attendance, the pandemic has shown that the vast majority of traditional office jobs can just as easily be performed remotely.

  • T-Mobile Expanding Home Internet to Help AT&T DSL Customers

    T-Mobile Expanding Home Internet to Help AT&T DSL Customers

    T-Mobile has announced it is expanding its home internet to 450 markets in an effort to offer service to customers “left high‑and‑dry by AT&T.”

    AT&T made headlines when it announced it was shuttering its DSL service. While the company said it would continue to offer service to existing customers for the time being, it is no longer taking new customers and considers DSL a legacy technology to be phased out.

    T-Mobile started offering wireless home internet in 2019, and has been slowly expanding its service. Following AT&T’s announcement, however, T-Mobile has kicked its expansion plan into high gear.

    “We can’t stand idly by while AT&T leaves potentially millions with fewer home Internet options at a time when our connection to the Internet is so vital — for work, remote school, connection with family and friends. That’s why we’re undertaking this massive expansion,” said Mike Sievert, CEO of T-Mobile. “The Carriers and the Cableopoly have consistently over-promised and under-delivered when it comes to broadband access. Thanks to our merger with Sprint, we can end this and give millions in underserved communities more choices and competition for high-speed home broadband.”

    The company’s service is $50 a month and, unlike many standard internet providers, has no equipment leases. The $50 also includes taxes and fees, much like T-Mobile’s phone plans. The service has no data caps, no two-year contracts and no “introductory prices” that rapidly expand once the introductory period is over.

    It’s a safe bet those terms will make it a hit with customers who are tired of traditional internet options.

  • IBM Will Split Itself Into Two Companies, Focus on the Cloud

    IBM Will Split Itself Into Two Companies, Focus on the Cloud

    IBM is taking a major step to focus on the cloud, announcing plans to split its legacy business into a separate company.

    IBM is one of the oldest technology companies in existence and has weathered multiple, monumental changes in the industry. Once known primarily for its mainframe computers, the company has increasingly bet on the cloud as it works to transition away from its legacy business.

    Now, under CEO Arvind Krishna, the company is taking drastic action to streamline its focus by spinning off its legacy business into a separate company. Krishna made the announcement in an open letter to IBM employees:

    On my first day as CEO, I made a commitment to the growth of IBM. I stated that a maniacal focus on our open hybrid cloud platform and AI capabilities is key to this outcome. Day by day, product by product, project by project—we are dedicated to helping our clients unlock the immense value this represents.

    Building on the solid foundation Ginni has put in place, we are focused on accelerating our growth strategy and seizing the $1 trillion hybrid cloud opportunity.

    As we work toward this goal, two things are becoming increasingly clear. First, we’re seeing a tremendous increase in client demand for our capabilities and expertise. Second, we’re noticing that client buying needs for application and infrastructure services are diverging.

    Because of this, we have decided that the managed infrastructure services business of our GTS segment will become an independent company, which we’re initially referring to as “NewCo.” We expect the new company to be created sometime toward the end of 2021. IBM will sharpen its focus on its open hybrid cloud platform and AI capabilities. And the new company will focus on delivering managed infrastructure services.

    Krishna makes the point that NewCo will have the resources it needs to succeed as an independent company. The company will have 4,600 clients and nearly $19 billion in annual revenue. This will make it roughly twice the size of its nearest competitor.

    This is a huge move for Krishna and IBM, and underscores the importance of the cloud for the future of the industry.

  • Box CEO: Pandemic Opened Up New Way Of Working

    Box CEO: Pandemic Opened Up New Way Of Working

    “It’s been a funny journey working remotely,” says Box CEO Aaron Levie. “A month or two into the pandemic I distinctly remembered that we actually started our company completely remotely. The move to this remote work style is causing us to realize how different managing and leading businesses and executing can be if we were able to take advantage of virtual technology more even when we go back to the office. This completely opens up a new way of working.”

    Aaron Levie, co-founder and CEO of Box, discusses at the CNBC @Work Summit how remote working that was forced upon companies has actually opened them up to a completely new way of working:

    It’s Been A Funny Journey Working Remotely

    It’s been a funny journey working remotely. A month or two into the pandemic I actually distinctly remembered that wait a second, we actually started our company completely remotely. My co-founder and I were going to two different colleges at the time and so the whole business was run over instant messaging. Before we had Slack we had AOL Instant Messenger. Before we had Okta we had really bad passwords. We were a remote company and we started our own product because we wanted to make it so people could easily access and share files from anywhere. That was the origin of the business.

    Fast forward 15 years later, we have 2,000 employees, we work in offices, we have a lot of the standard ways you think about when scaling up the company. When we had to instantly move to a remote and distributed way of working it really hit me how much of the work style that gets embedded into our companies are really actually things that just carried forward from the 20th Century when everything was analog and everything was done in person. All communication was done between people either through written communication or just a meeting.

    Pandemic Opened Up New Way Of Working

    You realize that when you go virtual and you go remote there is actually so much potential to be able to work in a digital-first way. When you think about a team meeting as an example, so many of our meetings are arbitrarily sized to the number of people that fit into a conference room. So it’s kind of bizarre that work just happens to be the six to twelve people that can fit into a conference room space. Certainly for software projects or a particular team that’s a pretty good logical size. But that’s not the right size that contributes to a brainstorm. That’s not inherently the right size of people that you want when you’re communicating information and getting the best ideas around how to go drive the business.

    So having that Slack channel with 150 people in it that cuts across different parts of the organization we are able to get contributions from people that would have never been in that conference room previously. That completely opens up a new way of working. Think of what you now do on video and the ability to include voices and ideas from people that previously wouldn’t have spoken up or wouldn’t have had an easy opportunity to contribute to some particular part of the business or strategy or have a two-way dialogue on a really important business topic.

    Real Potential That We Want To Continue

    We had a meeting with all of our top 200 leaders in the company last week and that was a complete bidirectional discussion in a way that would never have been possible in person. That’s usually a person with a microphone just communicating outward to everybody in the business and not actually having it be a dialogue to get feedback. The move to this remote work style is causing us to realize actually how different management and leading businesses and executing can be if we were able to take advantage of virtual technology more even when we go back to the office.

    None of this requires you to be remote it’s just sort of the remote that was forced upon all of us to the point that we are now realizing that there is actually some real potential here that we want to continue to maintain going forward.