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Tag: enterprise

  • Will Chrome OS Ever Replace Windows In Enterprise Environments?

    In 2011, Google launched the first Chromebooks – a laptop featuring Google’s very own Chrome OS. The machines and accompanying operating system were marketed as an affordable alternative to Windows for those who use computers to browse the Web and nothing more. Since then, Google has become a bit more ambitious with Chrome OS and its recent moves make it seem as if the company is targeting Windows.

    Do you think Chrome OS will replace Windows in enterprise markets? Will you make the switch? Let us know in the comments.

    In early February, Google announced a new product called Chromebox for Meetings. The hardware bundle includes a mini-desktop PC running Chrome OS, a microphone, a HD camera and a remote. In short, Google wants businesses to use this new product for video conferencing.

    The Chromebox for Meetings is a bold move considering that a lot of businesses are still using Skype to hold video meetings. The Microsoft-owned company relies heavily on the fact that many businesses either operate on Windows or Mac OS X, and that easily allows said companies to integrate Skype into their business. With free Skype to Skype video calls, it makes collaboration through video easy and affordable.

    So, what does Google offer differently with Chromebox? For starters, Chromebox for Meetings is made to accommodate both large and small meetings with support for up to 15 participants. Those participants can join in a call with their laptops, tablets or smartphones as well ensuring that everybody can join the meeting.

    Another key difference is its size. The Chromebox is much smaller than even your mini-Windows desktop. The size allows it to be easily moved between rooms if your business calls for that sort of thing. The size also means it draws a lot less power than a traditional Windows desktop.

    Perhaps the most important distinction, however, is its simplicity. Chrome OS has always prided itself on being a plug-and-play operating system and the Chromebox for Meetings claims to be no different. Google says you just need to plug in a display, complete a set up wizard and you’re good to go. That kind of simplicity can not be overstated in an enterprise environment where complexity can lead to a wasted day of setup.

    Of course, Chromebox for Meetings isn’t the only product Google is using to target enterprise markets. The company has positioned its Chromebook as the perfect enterprise computer since their launch in 2011. It’s only been seen as such a replacement in recent months, however, with an NPD report from last month stating that Chromebooks made up 21 percent of all notebook sales in 2013. Furthermore, Chromebooks were the only computers to see growth in a market where sales of Windows-based PCs are stalled and Apple-based computers are falling.

    Hardware is only a small part of a successful enterprise product. Microsoft’s success in the sector can be largely attributed to its range of products, like Office and Excel. Google has an answer for this as well with its Google Enterprise lineup of products, like Gmail, Google Drive, Google Docs and Hangouts.

    Google Enterprise also features services that are invaluable to the modern business. Products like Map Engine allow businesses to visualize their data using Google Maps. App Engine and Compute Engine give businesses the power of Google’s architecture to process data – big and small.

    While that’s all well and good, it’s probably still not enough to convince the business that’s been with Windows for years to make the switch. For that, Microsoft is doing a good enough job itself in convincing businesses to switch to Chrome OS.

    As you are probably well aware, Microsoft is finally ending extended support for Windows XP in April. Most of the world’s businesses are still using the decade-old operating system and will need something to replace it once Microsoft stops supporting it. While some companies will no doubt move to Windows 7 or 8, it’s not as simple for others. The size of its operation coupled with the cost of upgrading and training for a new version of Windows makes upgrading to Windows 7 or 8 almost impossible for some enterprise customers.

    Google knows this and is already advertising Chrome OS as the affordable alternative to Windows for enterprise customers. Heck, just look at this recent advertisement is posted to its Google Plus page:


    While the ad is mainly about Google’s decision to support the Chrome browser on XP through 2015, it’s intention is clear. It wants businesses to start using Chrome on Windows XP as a way to mitigate threats from malware, but it’s pretty obvious that Google is using Chrome as a gateway drug to get businesses hooked on Chrome OS.

    With all that being said, there’s one major caveat for a business to consider. Do your employees use applications that run on traditional desktop environments? If so, you’re going to want to stick with Windows. Chrome OS is a Web-based operating system and all applications built for it run on the Web. More and more applications are making the switch to HTML5 and other Web technologies though. Within a few years, the desktop applications your employees now use may run on the Web with no problem making Chrome OS a far more attractive option.

    Windows or Chrome OS – that’s the question that will be facing more businesses as Windows XP support ends in just a few months. While businesses can continue using Windows XP until 2015 without fear of malware, they’ll want to make the switch as soon as possible. During that time, you can expect Google to heavily market products towards the enterprise as a way to entice them over to Chrome OS. The Chromebox for meetings is just the latest product to do so, and you can probably expect a lot more in the coming year.

    Will your business make the move to Chrome OS this year? Or are you sticking with Windows? Let us know in the comments.

    Image via Google Enterprise/YouTube

  • Samsung Beats Apple in New Enterprise Smartphone Assessment

    Samsung Beats Apple in New Enterprise Smartphone Assessment

    With 2014 nearly upon us, it’s the time of year for introspection and reminiscing. For the technology industry, each December is surprising for how different situations are compared to the previous January. This year in particular has marked a turning point for the smartphone segment, where Samsung is now competing head-to-head with Apple.

    Market research firm ABI Research this week released a new competitive assessment for the enterprise smartphone industry as it stands now. The report concludes that Samsung has the overall best enterprise smartphone implementation in the business. The Korean manufacturer is followed closely by Apple, which recently added crucial enterprise tools in its latest iOS update. BlackBerry also makes the top three, demonstrating that it could still have some value in its enterprise solutions despite the complete failure of its consumer device division.

    Though ABI scored Apple highest in implementation Samsung was able to edge out its rival in innovation, with the firm stating that Samsung’s security features are better. Samsung this fall began expanding its enterprise solutions business and recently introduced a consumer version of its Knox enterprise security suite.

    “There are two sets of OEM battles that need to be watched closely: Apple and Samsung and Nokia and BlackBerry,” said Jason McNicol senior analyst at ABI. “Apple and Samsung are quite interesting considering Apple’s smartphone innovations drove its lead in the enterprise over Samsung. But Samsung has learned quickly and has stolen the innovator role from Apple.”

  • Big Data Market to Hit $32 Billion in Four Years

    Big Data Market to Hit $32 Billion in Four Years

    As the world’s information grows at breakneck pace, business are more desperate than ever to parse the overwhelming volumes of data that they now have access to. The enterprise industry surrounding “big data” has grown significantly, but analysts are now predicting that this year’s increased spending is only the beginning.

    Market research firm International Data Corporation (IDC) today predicted that the big data enterprise services industry will grow to take in $32.4 billion by the year 2017.

    “The big data technology and services market represents a fast-growing multibillion-dollar worldwide opportunity,” said Dan Vesset, VP for Business Analytics and Big Data at IDC. “The big data market is expanding rapidly as large IT companies and start-ups vie for customers and market share.”

    According to the firm’s other projections, the big data segment is set to grow at six times the rate of the combined IT and communication industries.

    IDC also predicts that the growth of big data will be tightly tied to the growth of cloud computing and storage. The firm forecasts that cloud computing infrastructure will grow at a 49% compound annual growth rate through 2017 and that “significant” amounts of big data will be archived using cloud storage.

    The firm’s report also predicts the rise of automated decision support (ADS) systems. As such systems inevitably begin to improve rapidly on the back of big data, knowledge workers could soon find themselves displaced by automated solutions.

  • Windows Phone Could Find Growth in Enterprise

    With BlackBerry now struggling to finance itself while in the midst of a major executive and board transition, Other smartphone brands are now eyeing the lucrative enterprise market that BlackBerry once led.

    Samsung is diving into Android security software with its KNOX offering, while Apple is also beginning to court businesses with new security features in its latest iPhone, the iPhone 5S. Still, the failure of BlackBerry could help Microsoft most of all, as it is well-positioned in other enterprise markets to make Windows Phone 8 a major part of its enterprise offerings and ecosystem.

    Market research firm ABI Research today predicted that as the consumer smartphone segment in established markets begins to saturate, manufacturers will begin including software and features in their to lure enterprise sales. More specifically, Apple’s recent expansion of VPP control, EMM/MDM, and application management in its new iOS 7 mobile operating system will spur the industry on, though Apple itself is not predicted to increase its share of the enterprise smartphone market.

    “There was a lot of excitement with the release of iOS 7, especially in the enterprise where Apple included features enterprises were longing for,” said Jason McNicol, senior analyst at ABI. “Some of those features, however, were not terribly innovative when compared to the services offered by the EMM/MDM market, while other enhancements have relatively limited functionality. Despite the positive market buzz, iOS7 enterprise features are unlikely to increase its enterprise presence. Plenty of market opportunity remains, especially for a company like Microsoft.”

    ABI predicts that Apple will maintain its 18% smartphone market share “for the foreseeable future.” Meanwhile, Microsoft is seen growing Windows Phone to 6% of the smartphone market within the next five years. Microsoft’s platform growth is likely to be led by Europe and enterprise customers are expected to follow.

    “Surprisingly, there are quite a few similarities between Apple and Microsoft allowing for a good comparison of the two platforms,” said Dan Shey, practice director at ABI. “While Apple has a significant lead over Microsoft, Microsoft is learning from Apple. If Microsoft keeps its promises for enterprise features expansion, we expect it to gain market share among mobile business customers.”

  • Magento Becomes Part Of eBay Enterprise

    Magento Becomes Part Of eBay Enterprise

    eBay announced that it has merged Magento and eBay Enterprise into a single business unit, and will create new opportunities for Magento merchants, partners and developers.

    eBay Senior VP for Strategy and Business, Mark Lavelle, is moving over to eBay Enterprise to lead the newly formed Product Strategy organization at the company. He will report to Christopher Saridakis, president of eBay Enterprise.

    “This is a game-changer for us,” said Saridakis. “We’re going on the offensive, taking the reins of innovation and further positioning eBay Enterprise as an industry leader.”

    “By combining the extensive capabilities of our leading organizations, we are bringing the ecommerce technology, multichannel operations and marketing services capabilities of eBay Inc. together under one umbrella,” Magento says in a blog post. “Moving forward, retail and brand partners of all sizes will find an unmatched portfolio of offerings that seamlessly deliver integrated commerce solutions to drive their revenue and growth. For Magento, it’s business as usual.”

    The company isn’t offering much more in the way of details about what the future holds just yet, but says we’ll be hearing more about it in the coming months.

    Image: Magento

  • Get Ready For Lots Of Microsoft Enterprise Releases This Fall

    Microsoft has announced a bunch of new enterprise cloud solutions coming this fall.

    On October 18th, the company will release Windows Server 2012 R2 and System Center 2012 R2 for businesses to create data centers, as well as Visual Studio 2013 and the new .NET 4.5.1 for app creation.

    On November 1st, the company will start offering Enterprise Agreement customers access to discounted Windows Azure prices.

    The company announced a strategic partnership with Equinix to provide customers with more cloud connection options. This follows similar previously announced partnerships with AT&T and others. Customers will be able to connect their networks with Windows Azure at Equinix exchange locations.

    Microsoft introduced Windows Azure US Government Cloud for government customers, and Windows Azure has been granted “FedRAMP Joint Authorization Board Provisional Authority to Operate,” which the company says makes it the first public cloud of its kind to achieve this level of government authorization.

    Next week, the company will release a second preview of SQL Server 2014 with increased performance improvements. Later this month, Microsoft will release Windows Azure HDInsight Service, an Apache Hadoop-based service that works with SQL Server for big data analytics.

    On October 18th, Microsoft will release Windows Intune aimed at helping IT departments give mobile employees secure access to apps and data.Later this month, they’re also launching a Microsoft Remote Desktop app for Windows Server 2012 R2.

    Also coming later this month is Microsoft Dynamics CRM Online Fall ’13. Microsoft Dynamics NAV 2013 R2 is now available.

    “As enterprises move to the cloud they are going to bet on vendors that have best-in-class software as a service applications, operate a global public cloud that supports a broad ecosystem of third party services, and deliver multi-cloud mobility through true hybrid solutions,” said Satya Nadella, Microsoft’s Cloud and Enterprise executive vice president. “If you look across the vendor landscape, you can see that only Microsoft is truly delivering in all of those areas.”

    More details about all these releases here.

    Image: Microsoft

  • eBay Launches New Enterprise Commerce Offerings

    eBay Launches New Enterprise Commerce Offerings

    eBay has introduced a new suite of commerce technologies, which is made up of two modules called Exchange Platform and Interfaces & Tools.

    “Retailers and brands understand the importance of having industry-leading capabilities across their entire value chain to support a new retail environment where consumers demand consistent, seamless and personalized experiences anywhere, at any time,” said eBay Enterprise President Chris Saridakis. “We’ve been singularly focused on being a strategic growth partner to our clients, and our new suite of modular commerce technologies will give our clients a competitive edge in this rapidly changing retail landscape.”

    Exchange Platform includes tools for distributed order management, omnichannel inventory management, payment processing, fraud management and advanced reporting. It’s integrated with eBay Enterprise’s marketing solutions and omnichannel operations, and with Magento, Marketplaces and PayPal.

    “The Interfaces & Tools module empowers retailers and brands to build, manage and optimize engaging consumer storefront experiences across all retail interfaces spanning devices, locations, users, geographies and brands,” eBay explains. “The key enabler is the integrated business user toolset that puts a powerful set of capabilities in the hands of marketers, merchandisers and managers, greatly reducing the traditional dependencies on web developers.”

    Interfaces and Tools

    This is all discussed in more detail here.

  • Amazon’s Fire OS 3.0 ‘Mojito’ Comes With A Ton Of New Features, Major ‘Mayday’ Customer Support Feature

    Amazon has unveiled version 3.0 of its Android-based Fire OS, named “Mojito.” The announcement comes with that of Amazon’s new Kindle Fire HD & Kindle Fire HDX tablets.

    New Amazon Tablets

    The OS starts with Android, but adds a number of its own features. It does include native Android app compatibility, so apps that work on Android should work on Fire OS with “little to no work”. It also supports HTML5 apps.

    It includes GameCircle and Whispersync for Games so users can sync their game progress across devices. It also includes In-App Purchasing and Mobile Associates so users can buy digital and physical items using their Amazon accounts.

    “Amazon Device Messaging gives customers a single messaging platform for all their apps built on Amazon Web Services, which developers can take advantage of to send notifications to Kindle Fire tablets,” Amazon says. “Amazon Coins offers every new Kindle Fire customer 500 coins ($5) of virtual currency to use for purchasing apps, games, or in-app items on Kindle Fire. Amazon Coins is an easy way for customers to spend money on developers’ apps and offers another opportunity to drive traffic and app downloads increasing monetization even further.”

    The new OS includes some accessibility tools like Screen Reader, Explore by Touch and Screen Magnifier, which can be enabled across most of its features.

    There are a number of cloud services and interface improvements that come with Mojito. The redesigned interface includes carousel and grid views, for example. Cloud Collections make apps, books, newspapers and magazines easier to find, according to Amazon. They’re automatically stored in the cloud, and Whispersync syncs them across devices and apps. There’s a 1-Tap Archive feature that identifies items that haven’t been used recently and lets you easily store them in the cloud to free up device space.

    The Kindle FreeTime feature lets parents whitelist movies, books, apps and games that are appropriate for their Kids, and there’s a new “For Kids” suggestion feature.

    There is OS-level sharing with Facebook and Twitter. Goodreads is built into the reading experience, and X-Ray for Movies and TV now shows the names of TV theme and movie soundtrack songs as they play. It also shows trivia and “goofs” while watching a movie or show (powered by IMDb). X-Ray has also expanded for music with synced lyrics. The Second Screen feature lets users “fling” content from their device to their TV.

    “Quiet Time, directly accessed from the quick settings menu, lets you mute all incoming notifications or calendar reminders. In addition, Quiet Time can be tied to a particular activity such as reading,” Amazon says. “Quick Switch uses a global swipe gesture from anywhere in the system to go between multiple apps, and unlike standard Android, works with individual content items like different textbooks without navigating home.”

    Amazon has made improvements to the download manager so that it adjusts the number of simultaneous downloads per devices to not impact performance. It also pauses downloads when you go to watch Amazon videos so it doesn’t affect video quality.

    Amazon has replaced the standard Android graphics with its own Graphics Direct Texture system designed to load higher-res images quickly. As a result things like the Carousel and media libraries can quickly and smoothly load large, detailed images.

    Mojito has also improved touch responsiveness, and Reading Mode has been optimized to give users 17 hours of battery life when reading.

    Amazon is really looking to break further into the enterprise with Mojito and the new devices. Here’s the feature list the company is touting as making the new tablets enterprise-ready:

    • Wi-Fi networks with WPA2 support for secure access to corporate apps, documents and resources like SharePoint.
    • Email that makes it even easier for business customers to set up their accounts, group conversations by subject, sync their email and more.
    • Print documents and emails directly from Kindle Fire to a wireless printer.
    • Built-in OfficeSuite to read documents, spreadsheets, and presentations.
    • Native VPN client, for instant access to corporate networks while on the road or at home.
    • Secure hardware data encryption on Kindle Fire HDX.
    • Kerberos authentication for single sign-on and the ability to browse secure Intranet websites from the Silk browser on Kindle Fire.
    • Native SCEP (Simple Certificate Exchange Protocol) client to retrieve digital certificates for secure resources.
    • Kindle-specific device management APIs that integrate with existing mobile device management (MDM) systems to make it easy for IT departments to manage Kindle Fire. Kindle Fire supports a wide range of MDM solutions including Amazon’s Whispercast service as well as third-party vendors like AirWatch, Citrix, Fiberlink, Good Technology, and SOTI.

    “Kindle Fire is already the second most popular tablet at work in the U.S.,” said Raghu Murthi, Vice President of Enterprise and Education at Amazon. “As employees increasingly bring their own devices to work, the new Kindle Fire tablets can be easily integrated into the workplace with the new enterprise features, including encryption, secure Wi-Fi, a native VPN client, integration with leading MDM solutions, and Kerberos support for Intranet access.”

    There’s one feature of Mojito that Amazon is calling “revolutionary”. That would be the Mayday button. This provides user with free on-device 24×7 tech support. It’s built into the Quick Settings. It allows you to call upon an Amazon expert, who will appear on screen, and can help a user with any feature on the device, even by drawing on the screen.

    Mayday button

    If it’s as good as it sounds, this certainly takes customer service up a notch. Amazon says it has a response time “goal” of 15 seconds or less. You can see the advisor, but they can’t see you.

    Fire OS 3.0 is available only on the new Kindle Fire HD and Kindle Fire HDX tablets, though some features will make their way to other devices in an update in November.

    Images: Amazon

  • Samsung Expanding its Enterprise Solutions Business

    Samsung Expanding its Enterprise Solutions Business

    As Samsung continues to increase its share of the global mobile phone market (and the Android smartphone market in particular), it is also continuing to expand its business into other areas of the worldwide tech segment. Today, rumors have surfaced stating that Samsung may soon aggressively expand its enterprise soultions.

    DigiTimes today reported that Samsung’s new enterprise security suite, Knox, is the first move in a Samsung strategy to expand its enterprise market share. The report’s unnamed “sources from the PC industry” have stated that new Samsung initiatives will focus on integrated solutions for both hardware and software in the “bring your own device” segment. Knox allows companies to limit employees’ devices, approving only business applications while still allowing them to use their preferred hardware.

    As the DigiTimes report points out, Lenovo, Asus, and Acer have also recently expanded their enterprise solution offerings. As PC shipments decline the PC industry faces the prospect of an industry-wide contraction, PC manufacturers are turning to enterprise solutions as a possibility for future expansion. HP, one of the largest PC manufacturers in the world, last year expanded its enterprise security initiatives. HP has also reorganized to better emphasize data initiatives from Autonomy and other HP companies.

    (via DigiTimes)

  • Microsoft Reveals Enterprise Enhancements Coming To Windows 8.1

    So far, Microsoft has only unveiled the consumer features for its update to Windows 8. Now the company is starting to unveil what it will be doing to win back its bread and butter – the enterprise market – with Windows 8.1

    In a post on the official Windows blog, Microsoft’s Stephen Rose says that Windows 8.1 will be adding a lot of new features for enterprise users. These new additions can be corralled into four categories – BYOD enhancements, mobility enhancements, security enhancements and a modern UI experience.

    For BYOD, Microsoft is introducing features like Open MDM, Work Folders, NFC tap-to-pair printing, Wi-Fi Direct Printing and a better mobile device management system. The best new feature in this group, however, is Workplace Join. Here’s how Rose describes it:

    A Windows 8 PC was either domain joined or not. If it was a member of the domain, the user could access corporate resources (if permissioned) and IT could control the PC through group policy and other mechanisms. This feature allows a middle ground between all or nothing access, allowing a user to work on the device of their choice and still have access to corporate resources. With Workplace Join, IT administrators now have the ability to offer finer-grained control to corporate resources. If a user registers their device, IT can grant some access while still enforcing some governance parameters on the device to ensure the security of corporate assets.

    For mobility, Microsoft is introducing expanded VPN options, better mobile broadband support, broadband tethering and auto-triggered VPN support.

    In security, Windows 8.1 is introducing remote business data removal, pervasive device encryption, malware resistance, assigned access to the Windows Store, and an improved Internet Explorer. Alongside all of those, Microsoft will be implementing improved biometric scanning for companies that like to go a little sci-fi with its security:

    All SKU’s will include end to end biometric capabilities that enable authenticating with your biometric identity anywhere in Windows (Windows sign-in, remote access, UAC, etc.). Windows 8.1 will be optimized for fingerprint based biometrics and will include a common fingerprint enrollment experience that will work with a variety of readers (touch, swipe). Modern readers are capacitive touch based rather than swipe and include liveliness detection that prevents spoofing (e.g.: silicon emulated fingerprints). Access to Windows Store Apps, functions within them, and certificate release can be gated based on verification of a user’s biometric identity.

    As for the modern UI experience, Microsoft has finally confirmed that there will be a boot-to-desktop option in WIndows 8.1. That option alone should help increase adoption among enterprise customers. Alongside that, Microsoft is also implementing improved multitasking features, as well as improved support for mouse/keyboard support.

    IT professionals and Windows hobbyists will be able to test drive Windows 8.1 on June 26 when a public preview is released. Windows 8.1 will release as a free download to the general public later this year.

  • Increase Employee Productivity With A BYOD Policy

    For many years, businesses supplied their employees with a phone to keep personal and work information separate. With the advent of more sophisticated smartphones, these policies are all but obsolete. Some employers may stick with the old policy of mandating what phone the employee must use, but new research has found that this may not be the smartest move.

    In a new research survey from CIO Insight, the firm found employers that have a BYOD, or “Bring your own device,” policy see massive gains in productivity among employees, despite the inherent risks. That productivity will come at a price, however, as companies will need to start investing in mobile integration policies.

    Let’s check out some of the stats from CIO Insight that show how BYOD policies are transforming the workplace for the better. For instance, the research found that 62 percent of the 500 IT and business executives that took part in the survey said that BYOD policies increased productivity. Fifty-nine percent said that it leads to more employee flexibility, and 47 percent said that such policies lead to cost savings.

    Of course, companies still distribute smartphones and other devices among some employees. Fifty-eight percent of the surveyed organizations said that they will supply employees with devices, but also allow them to bring their own instead. Only eight percent of those surveyed said that they leave device acquisition entirely up to the employees.

    Those who do supply employees with smartphones or other devices will have to start budgeting out those purchases now. Thirty-four percent of those surveyed said that they will have to invest in hardware bundles within the next two years. Even if your employees do bring their own device, companies will still have to budget out the hardware required to distribute information among those smartphones.

    That being said, only 13 percent of survey respondents said that there’s heavy integration of mobile devices within companies. Those that have integrated mobile devices, however, are working on a number of projects to increase productivity among workers on mobile devices. Forty-nine percent of respondents are implementing virtual desktop systems so employees can work on the go, while 29 percent are building custom mobile apps to be distributed across business networks.

    The point of all this is to say that mobile integration is incredibly important. A BYOD policy only helps to increase the speed in which mobile integration occurs. Not to mention, employees will be pleased to use their own Android or iOS device, instead of a business mandated BlackBerry device.

  • Windows XP Users Only Have A Year Of Official Support Left

    Windows XP remains one of the most popular operating systems on the planet, especially for businesses that don’t feel like upgrading to Windows 7 or 8. That popularity will surely continue for years to come, but Microsoft won’t be along for the ride starting next year.

    As per its support schedule, Microsoft announced that it’s dropping extended support for Windows XP in April 2014. That means that businesses and users alike have a year to upgrade to Windows 7 or Windows 8. Doing so will ensure that users continue to receive support in the form of security updates and patches from Microsoft.

    Of course, Microsoft would love nothing more than to move more people to Windows 8. The new OS isn’t doing that well among consumers (except for gamers), but a forced upgrade from Windows XP may at least push some companies into buying bulk Windows 7/8 licenses.

    There are some problems with that though. In April of last year, we looked at how forcing users to upgrade to Windows 7 or 8 was going to cause some headaches for businesses that rely on Windows XP and its compatibility with older software. Upgrading to a newer OS would require more than just buying a bulk license – it would require the company to rewrite core software.

    As companies plan on upgrading from Windows XP, there are some companies waiting to pounce on those unsure of Windows 7 or 8. One in particular is Canonical, stewards of the Ubuntu Linux distribution. The company has been pushing Ubuntu’s enterprise capabilities for some time now, and the allure of a free OS would certainly be appealing to some.

    While we certainly can’t see what the future holds, we can at least look back on a good 12 year run for Windows XP. It was arguably the most popular Windows OS ever released, and it reigned during the golden age of PCs. Those days are long gone, but we can at least look back fondly at that green hill desktop that reminded us that the grass truly was greener on the other side of the personal computing revolution.

  • RIM Says Early Interest In BlackBerry 10 Is Looking Good

    BlackBerry has always been an enterprise phone. BlackBerry 10, while hopefully appealing to more consumers, will still remain an enterprise phone. The hope is that BlackBerry 10 will also become the enterprise phone once again. Early reports out of RIM suggest the company may be on its way to reclaiming some of its former success.

    Speaking to Reuters, RIM’s Senior Enterprise Accounts Director, Bryan Lee, said that its enterprise consumers are registering en masse for its BlackBerry 10 Ready Program. More than 1,600 customers in North America have already signed up for the service which will help with the transition to BlackBerry 10 and Enterprise Server 10.

    Speaking of Enterprise Server 10, Lee said that more than 130 major government agencies and corporations are now testing the service. Some of these organizations will presumably outfit their thousands of employees with the newest BlackBerry 10 devices. That’s sure to make RIM and its investors happy.

    According to Reuters, that’s already happening as RIM’s share price has more than doubled as it approaches the launch of BlackBerry 10 on January 30. The company’s share price now sits at a comfortable $14.64.

    The enterprise market will definitely help RIM get back on its feet, but it’s unlikely that the company will enjoy long term success by only serving this one market. It needs to find at least some success in the consumer market as well if it intends to survive. I’m not saying that RIM needs to beat Android or iOS, but only having 7.3 percent of the smartphone market isn’t doing the company any favors.

    If this whole BlackBerry 10 thing doesn’t work out for RIM, the company can at least rest easy knowing that its browser is faster than the competition’s.

  • HP Announces New EVP of Enterprise Services

    Back in August, HP announced a huge $8 billion write-down stemming from the loss of value seen in Electronic Data Systems (EDS). HP bought the company in 2008 for $13.9 billion. As part of the announcement, the company sacked John Visentin, HP’s head of Enterprise Services and replaced him with temporarily with an EDS executive named Mike Nefkens.

    Today, HP has made Nefkens’ position official. He is now HP’s executive vice president of Enterprise Services.

    Nefkens joined EDS in 2001, and worked at Holland Chemical International NV for a decade before that.

    “Mike has led some of our most successful account turnarounds and has already had a very positive impact on the business,” said Meg Whitman, HP president and CEO. “I’m confident in Mike’s ability to build our services business and contribute to HP’s long-term goals.”

    HP certainly needs some account turnarounds at this point. The company just last month announced another huge write-down of $8.8 billion. This time, though, HP blamed most of the charge on its Autonomy subsidiary, accusing its former management of fraudulent accounting practices and misrepresenting the value of the company.

    Sine that announcement, extensive finger-pointing has ensued between HP and former Autonomy CEO Mike Lynch. Lynch claims Autonomy’s value has tanked due to HP mismanagement and a corporate culture of infighting. HP has said it looks forward to Lynch and other former Autonomy executives testifying under penalty of perjury.

  • Automattic Launches WordPress.com Enterprise

    Automattic announced the launch of WordPress.com Enterprise today. It costs $500 per site per month.

    According to the company, you can scale your traffic as your content goes viral, and it can handle it. WordPress’ network does handle 100s of millions of pageviews each day.

    WordPress.com Enterprise

    The offering comes with all of the built-in WordPress.com VIP features, including over 70 plugins, including integrations with Flipboard, Chartbeat, Facebook, etc.

    “To top it off, you also get our new Javascript customization service that allows you the flexibility to customize your site without needing to touch the underlying PHP code. You can tweak and personalize to your heart’s content,” says Automattic’s Raanan Bar-Cohen.

    Automattic has worked with Tim Ferriss’ The 4-Hour Chef, ESPN’s Digital and Print Products, Soleil Moon Frye’s Moonfrye.com, and The Crosby Press from JackThreads for the beta.

  • Google Launches A New Google Search Appliance

    Google Search Appliance has been around for about a decade, and today, the box has received a new update with version 7.0. This version adds universal search, refined relevance signals and some other bells and whistles.

    “The GSA 7.0 helps you find information stored anywhere in your organization, whether you’re using a desktop, smartphone or tablet,” says Matthew Eichner, General Manager, Enterprise Search at Google. “Administrators can easily add content sources from secure storage, cloud services or the public web and social networking sites. GSA 7.0 also provides Google-quality search for SharePoint 2010, making for a more simple and intuitive, all-in-one search experience.”

    “Users are happy when they get relevant results returned quickly,” says Eichner. “At Google, speed and relevance are the core components of a great search experience. With GSA 7.0, we’ve refined our relevance signals so that the most useful information for each particular user is always easy to find. Assisted navigation makes it easy to refine search results, and requires no manual configuration from administrators. Entity Recognition automatically identifies and suggests content you might be looking for, and GSA 7.0 also harnesses the ‘wisdom of crowds,’ allowing employees to add their own search results.”

    The new GSA also comes with document preview, Google Translate, updated language capabilities, a new interface and improved scale. You can view thumbnails and flip through full-screen document previews alongside search results. Search results can be displayed in over 60 languages. According to Google, a single rack of GSAs could now fit the equivalent of the entire Google.com index in 2000 (a billion pages).

  • Salesforce Unveils A Bunch Of New Social And Cloud Offerings

    Salesforce Unveils A Bunch Of New Social And Cloud Offerings

    Salesforce kicked off its annual Dreamforce event with a bunch of announcements.

    “Today’s leading companies recognize that business is social,” said CEO Marc Benioff. “With new innovations across our six product lines, companies can transform the way they sell, service, market, collaborate, work and innovate in order to connect more deeply with customers.”

    For one, Saleforce unveiled the new Salesforce Touch, Chatter Communities for Partners and Data.com Social Key. Salesforce Touch expands on the company’s mobile strategy, and is powered by HTML. It lets reps collaborate on deals from their mobile devices.

    Social key

    Salesforce says Chatter Communities for Partners will “connect companies with distributors, resellers, suppliers and more to drive sales through seamless deal registration, access to proven sales tools and collaboration with the right experts.”

    Salesforce Data.com Social Key brings together context from social networks with “traditional company data”.

    Believe it or not, that was all one announcement.

    The second announcement was for Chatter Communities For Service, which the company says “will turn old world of legacy portals upside down by enabling customers to tap directly into a private social community of industry peers and company experts.” It will also integrate with the Service Cloud.

    Chatter Communities

    Thirdly, Salesforce unveiled Salesforce Marketing Cloud, which combines social listening, content, engagement, advertising, workflow, automation and measurement. It’s powered by Buddy Media and Radian6 – two recent acquisitions by the company.

    Salesforce Chatterbox, the fourth announcement, is for file sharing across devices. The company says people can use it to manage and share files in the context of their business.

    Chatterbox

    Salesforce Work.com is described as “the world’s first social performance management platform,” and features real-time recognition and rewards with feedback and performance reviews. The company has partnered with Amazon to “enable companies to reward and motivate their people directly from Work.com”

    Salesforce Work.com

    Finally, the company announced its next-generation Salesforce Platform with Salesforce Identity and the Salesforce Touch Platform. Salesforce says Identity will deliver “Facebook-like identity for the enterprise,” and that the new Touch Platform will allow mobile apps to be written once and deployed anywhere.

    Salesforce Touch is generally available today on iPad, and is currently scheduled to be available on iPhone and Android the first half of 2013. It’s included in all Salesforce editions.

    Chatter Communities for Partners is currently scheduled to be available in limited pilot this fall. It’s currently scheduled to be generally available the second half of 2013.

    Data.com Social Key is currently scheduled to be generally available the second half of 2013. Pricing will be announced at general availability.

    Chatter Communities for Service is scheduled to be available in limited pilot this fall, and is scheduled to be generally available the second half of next year. Pricing for that will also be announced at general availability.

    Desk.com is available today, with pricing starting at $49, per full-time agent per month, for unlimited usage. Flex pricing is also available for $1 per part-time agent per hour.

    Salesforce Marketing Cloud is generally available today, with pricing starting at $5,000 per month.

    Chatterbox is currently scheduled to be available in pilot the first half of next year, with pricing announced at the time of general availability.

    Work.com is scheduled to be generally available in calendar Q4 of this year, with pricing and packaging to be announced at general availability.

    Salesforce Touch Platform is generally available now and included as part of Force.com. The Mobile SDK and other mobile components are available on Github .Salesforce Identity is scheduled to be generally available in 2013, with pricing to be announced.

    Salesforce has a whole lot more info about all of this stuff on its blog in a series of posts.

  • Google Launches New Google+ Business Features

    Google announced the launch of some new business-specific Google+ features today. These include private sharing for within the organization, video meetings integrated with Gmail, Calendar and Docs, and some admin controls.

    The features are only available in preview mode right now, for Google Apps customers.

    “Google Apps users now have more control over the content they post to Google+,” says Google Apps Product Management Director Clay Bavor. “When you create a post you can mark it as restricted. Restricted posts are private to your organization and can never be re-shared with anyone outside. At the same time, when you create a post, you have the flexibility to share it with specific partners or colleagues outside the organization as well if you choose.”

    Restricted Posts

    “When you’re on Google Apps, holding a face-to-face meeting with colleagues or clients around the world doesn’t require coordinated travel schedules or expensive video conferencing technology,” says Bavor. “All you need is a device with a camera and an internet connection. Hangouts lets up to 10 people join a video meeting from their laptop, phone or tablet.”

    Bavor notes that people can join multi-way video Hangout-powered chats from Gmail, as Google recently announced, and that docs can be opened and edited. Users will also be able to add a hangout to a Calendar event, he says.

    Google Docs in Hangout

    Calendar Event

    Google’s Matt Cutts said in a Google+ post that the new features “might look small, but are actually pretty huge.”

    “First, with Google Apps you can now restrict posts so that it only goes to people within a company,” he said. “This lets you set up a corporate social network like Yammer, Chatter, etc. We use this feature all the time and we have a vibrant Google+ community inside of Google too.”

    “The second feature lets you add a video hangout as a direct link in Google Calendar,” he added. “Google has offices all over the world, so we use this feature a ton as well. If you have a distributed company, you’ll want to try this new feature.”

    During the preview period, Apps customers will be able to use the features for free through the end of 2013. In the meantime, Google says it will be adding more features and admin controls.

  • Google+ For The Enterprise Coming Soon?

    Google+ Vice President of Product Management, Bradley Horowitz, made several interesting announcements related to Google’s social network at the LeWeb London conference. For one, Google+ is coming to Flipboard. Perhaps even more interesting, he said that Google+ will never have ads.

    According to a report from ComputerWorld, Horowitz also revealed that a version of Google+ for enterprise users is on the way. He’s quoted as saying:

    “We think that the enterprise-use case, everyone from multinational corporations to mum and pop businesses, is a fantastic opportunity for Google and Google+…”

    “”I think there is a real market need, and we are focused on it. It is something we definitely going to do…”

    The API will no doubt be a huge factor, and major announcements surrounding Google+ are expected from Google I/O – the company’s developer conference – which takes place next week.

    Google has already made Google+ a central point of business’ web presence, simply by essentially replacing Google Places with Google+ Local. Google+ Pages are also integrated with Google Apps. It will be very interesting to see what more Google has in store for enterprise-level businesses.

    Horowitz’s discussion at LeWeb should soon be available here.

  • Samsung Galaxy S III The First SAFE Phone In The U.S.

    With our increasingly connected world, people have to make sure that data is safe. Data safety is especially important for businesses who don’t want corporate secrets making their way out through a misplaced data transfer on smart phones or other easily made mistakes. That’s why Samsung is all about making their smartphones SAFE

    Samsung announced today that the Galaxy S III is the first phone to get the Samsung Approved For Enterprise (SAFE) label in the United States. The move was made in response to their projections that say Android will be the number one platform for enterprise smartphones by next year. The Galaxy S III has a number of new features that should help make it the brand of choice for enterprise markets.

    Samsung says that the Galaxy S III “supports a full suite of enterprise-ready features and capabilities” right out of the box. Some of those features include support for on-device AES-256 bit encryption, enhanced support for Microsoft Exchange ActiveSync and support for Virtual Private Network and Mobile Device Management solutions.

    “It’s now safe to say that the ‘Next Big Thing in Enterprise’ is here with the near-term availability of SAFE-branded Galaxy S III devices at five U.S. carriers,” said Tim Wagner, Vice President and General Manager of Enterprise Sales at Samsung Mobile. “The highly desirable, SAFE-branded and QA-tested Galaxy S III smartphone systematically defragments Android to provide a consistent level of IT compliance for individuals who demand the very best in both their personal and professional lives.”

    As you can see, Samsung is really going all out to capture the enterprise market. After RIM began to crash and burn, other handset manufacturers jumped at the chance to capture the lucrative enterprise market. Since Samsung is now the number one consumer Android device manufacturer, it just makes sense for them to go after the Enterprise market.

    In other good news, Samsung will be starting a program called SAFE2SWITCH for those who want to trade in their old smartphones for the Galaxy S III. They’ll take handsets from both Samsung and their competitors. The deal isn’t just for Enterprise customers either as regular consumers can trade up to the Galaxy S III as well. Unfortunately, my HTC Inspire 4G is only worth $80.

  • Microsoft Unveils Windows 8 Enterprise Features

    With Microsoft recently announcing the editions of its upcoming Windows 8 OS, the software giant mentioned its Enterprise version for “those enterprise customers with Software Assurance agreements.” Essentially, Windows 8 Enterprise is Windows 8 Pro with additional IT features. Now the Windows Team Blog has just shed some light on the premium Enterprise features.

    Key enhancements of Windows 8 Pro include:

    Windows To Go is a fully manageable corporate Windows 8 desktop on a bootable external USB stick. This will allow IT organizations to support the “Bring Your Own PC” trend and businesses can give contingent staff access to the corporate environment without compromising security.
    DirectAccess allows remote users to seamlessly access resources inside a corporate network without having to launch a separate VPN and helps IT administrators keep remote users’ PCs in compliance by applying the latest policies, software updates, is easier to deploy, and it can be implemented with the existing IPv4 infrastructure.
    BranchCache allows users’ PCs to cache files, websites, and other content from central servers, so content is not repeatedly downloaded across the wide area network (WAN). When used with Windows Server 2012, Windows 8 brings several improvements to BranchCache to streamline the deployment process, optimize bandwidth over WAN connections and ensure better security and scalabilty.
    AppLocker can help mitigate issues by restricting the files and apps that users or groups are allowed to run.
    VDI enhancements: Enhancements in Microsoft RemoteFX and Windows Server 2012, provide users with a rich desktop experience with the ability to play 3D graphics, use USB peripherals and use touch-enabled devices across any type of network (LAN or WAN) for VDI scenarios.
    New Windows 8 App Deployment: Domain joined PCs and tablets running Windows 8 Enterprise will automatically be enabled to side-load internal, Windows 8 Metro style apps.

    Microsoft’s senior director of Windows, Erwin Visser, commented on likely the biggest Enterprise addition, ‘Windows to Go,’ calling it a “fully manageable corporate Windows 8 desktop on a bootable external USB stick – this feature will allow IT organisations to support the “Bring Your Own PC” trend.” This would fall in line with IT professionals allowing workers to “bring your own device,” a similar sort of practice.

    Microsoft launched its Windows 8 consumer preview in February, and along with Windows 8 Enterprise, the company will release Windows 8 and Windows 8 Pro editions. Expect a possible launch sometime in October.