Evaluate

Evaluate

Weigh the pros and cons of technologies, products and projects you are considering.

• What mobile thin clients offer and why to consider them

  The mobile thin client market might not be huge, but these portable devices can be a real boost for VDI shops in improving security and simplifying management. Continue Reading

• Get to know the device-as-a-service trend

  Everything is a service these days. You can even get Yankee candles delivered from Amazon on a subscription basis. For EUC admins, device as a service is probably a bigger deal. Continue Reading

• Tasting a flavor of cloud-based HR software in the future

  Through a quick-paced intro to six new products, our editor takes a glimpse into the future of cloud software for HR. New talent management features seem the most promising. Continue Reading

• Keep track of evolving IAM products, technologies

  IAM is at the heart of an organization's security strategy. To develop a strong IAM strategy, it's important to stay on top of the newest tools and trends. Continue Reading

• Salesforce implementation offers window into partner management

  Implementing Salesforce Sales Cloud, Service Cloud and Community Cloud has enabled a national window treatment company to streamline its operations. Continue Reading

• Apple Business Chat vs. WhatsApp business messaging API partners

  WhatsApp is taking a different approach than Apple when it comes to business messaging APIs. Tsahi Levent-Levi explains how WhatsApp is differentiating with vendor partnerships.Continue Reading

• Assess IT help desk software options based on these features

  Explore communication channels, ticket management, agent management, knowledge base options and reporting capabilities when evaluating prospective help desk management software.Continue Reading

• AI-assisted image and video search is next content frontier

  You can search text, but it's harder to catalog images and video. New tools are automating those processes at the enterprise level.Continue Reading

• Resistance to all-in cloud ERP systems is large

  For many enterprises, ERP and HCM deployments may take the path of hybrid deployments, a trend that is supported by Hewlett Packard Enterprise's quarterly earnings results.Continue Reading

• Group taps health benefits platform to personalize choices

  To boost benefits offerings, the Healthcare Transformation Alliance chose the Welltok platform. All 47 member companies will now share data on claims, health outcomes and more.Continue Reading

• How can IT determine the optimal smartphone lifespan?

  Smartphones don't last forever. Here's how organizations can determine their lifecycles to avoid security issues and keep smartphones functioning at peak performance.Continue Reading

• Postmodern ERP countered by continued appeal of single suite

  The loosely coupled enterprise applications that Gartner predicted may indeed be here, but integration and data integrity challenges make them inferior to monolithic ERP for some.Continue Reading

• What are the benefits of machine learning in supply chain optimization?

  Machine learning is being used to improve a wide array of business processes, including supply chain management functions. Here's a look at three areas it's helping the most.Continue Reading

• Evaluating SaaS HCM as a complete HR platform

  Faster, cheaper deployment, ease of use and leading-edge features make software as a service a popular choice. But can it replace your tried-and-true on-premises HCM?Continue Reading

• Ceridian eyes voice and predictive technology for HR

  David Ossip, chairman and CEO of Ceridian, talks about future technology for HR, including voice and predictive analytics. The good news? More work done with fewer clicks.Continue Reading

• It's time to embrace mobile VDI access

  Mobile devices have not taken the thin client market by storm, but they could become more popular as virtual app and desktop vendors gear their products toward smartphones and tablets.Continue Reading

• UCaaS providers and market are headed in new directions

  Even in this mature market, when so many unified communications services are starting to look alike, there are still possibilities for some exciting innovations.Continue Reading

• The hidden costs of unified communications in the cloud

  Many organizations expect to lower the costs of unified communications by adopting cloud communications, but that isn't always the case. Several factors influence costs when UC migrates to the cloud.Continue Reading

• Recruiting technology may be hurting veteran employment

  Recruiting technology could be contributing to a higher unemployment rate for young veterans. A startup run by a former sub commander is attempting to change this.Continue Reading

• With cloud-based contact centers, one size does not fit all

  Contact center cloud services are a fast-growing part of the SaaS market, a trend Mitel is responding to with its MiCloud Engage product that fills a gap in the company's portfolio.Continue Reading

• Understand Windows Insider Program for Business options

  With its business-friendly Insider Program, Microsoft allows IT and users to test Windows 10 preview builds for compatibility and performance issues.Continue Reading

• Win10 Version 1809 Makes Official Debut

  A quick screen capture of winver.exe from Build 17741 shows that Win10 Version 1809 makes official debut as the upcoming next version name.Continue Reading

• PSTN vs. VoIP: What's best for your business?

  Unsure of where your organization stands in the PSTN vs. VoIP debate? Use this feature-by-feature comparison to decide whether VoIP or PSTN services fit your organization's needs.Continue Reading

• Office 365 SharePoint Online features raise CIO concerns

  Most of Office 365's products can help solve specific challenges facing CIOs, but they also seem to compete directly with some of SharePoint's own capabilities.Continue Reading

• Nuxeo among new wave of content services platform vendors

  An Indigenous-led organization is preserving British Columbia's native languages with the help of a newer type of content management platform that's designed to handle multiple content formats.Continue Reading

• How can organizations calculate the TCO of mobile devices?

  There are a variety of factors to evaluate when determining the true cost of mobile devices in an organization. Unpack these factors to find the TCO.Continue Reading

• NoMo Snipping Tool Try Screen Sketch Instead

  Starting with a feature upgrade sometime soon, the screencap motto will be "NoMo Snipping Tool Try Screen Sketch Instead!" I take a look at what's what with Skip Ahead Preview Build 18204.Continue Reading

• Einstein artificial intelligence leaves headroom for AI tools

  Einstein AI shines, but sometimes Salesforce customers customize their cloud with additional AI tools in hopes of launching sales revenue into hyperspace.Continue Reading

• Sales enablement tool uses AI to hone pitches

  Sales enablement AI goes beyond Einstein lead scoring as Brainshark applies sentiment and other analyses to practice videos that salespeople create before meeting customers.Continue Reading

• SMBs see vertical ERP technology vendors meeting specialty needs

  The industry-specific ERP market is thriving, which is good news for SMBs looking to cost-effectively maintain their existing ERP systems with immediate specialty feature upgrades.Continue Reading

• Pressures mount on SMBs to modernize aging ERP processes

  To upgrade or replace their old and cranky ERP systems, SMBs must consider several options, and the cloud figures prominently. But the final decision is seen shifting away from IT.Continue Reading

• Fueled by SaaS, ERP for SMBs soars into the cloud

  SaaS is making ERP accessible to more small organizations, but is there a downside? Industry insiders weigh in on the ROI of SaaS vs. on-premises and hybrid ERP.Continue Reading

• Rethinking ERP cloud migrations in the age of AI and IoT

  The flight path from your legacy ERP vendor's on-premises software to a cloud version needn't be linear. In fact, you may want to rethink the entire route.Continue Reading

• Best practices for managing user profiles

  When IT establishes user profiles for virtual desktops, it has several profile options. If users work from multiple endpoints, for example, IT should use roaming user profiles.Continue Reading

• Customer service chatbots gain ground

  As chatbots begin to replace email as the go-to customer service channel, more and more companies are using AI and natural language processing to improve their chat services.Continue Reading

• Microsoft Surface Go holds promise for the enterprise

  Microsoft has failed in the tablet market before, but the Surface Go could be a promising second chance for the company. Learn its features and pricing that set it apart.Continue Reading

• Dell XPS 15 2-in-1 laptop slims down, but it's no tablet

  Despite Dell's best efforts, including combining CPU and GPU in a single processor to make the device smaller, the XPS 15 2-in-1 still falls short as a tablet.Continue Reading

• Google plays catch-up with cloud-based contact center AI

  Google is jumping into the cloud-based contact center market with AI services and vendor partnerships. But is it enough to help Google compete against more established providers?Continue Reading

• For ERP ROI, pay attention to these 12 business processes

  ERP consultant Jeff Carr explains how digitally transforming processes such as inventory and sales management, product development and forecasting can speed up the payback from ERP.Continue Reading

• French transit develops chatbot with SAP Conversational AI

  The transit system in the Paris metropolitan area is tackling an AI-driven chatbot project to create an easy way for riders to access personalized information. Here's a look.Continue Reading

• Salesforce Health Cloud for Payers brings CRM to insurance

  With its CRM system for payers, Salesforce is targeting a competitive market in which health insurers are fighting for members seeking lower costs and better health outcomes.Continue Reading

• How are contact center vendors using APIs?

  APIs are gaining relevance, as contact centers move to a more omnichannel experience. API expert Tsahi Levent-Levi explains how contact centers work with CPaaS providers.Continue Reading

• How to make the single-tenant vs. multi-tenant cloud ERP choice

  Choosing between single-tenant and multi-tenant cloud requires understanding what each offers and which factors are most important for your organization. Here's a look.Continue Reading

• Recruiting tech turns to text messaging, resumeless apps

  The younger generation likes text messaging and may not be big fans of the resume. Recruiting tech vendors are trying to make their platforms more appealing to these age groups.Continue Reading

• Tea Forte steeps value from new B2C CRM

  B2B CRM vendors like Marketo and Salesforce have tailored their wares for consumer-facing businesses, but B2C CRM vendor Zaius proved to be the right cup of tea for one company.Continue Reading

• Integrating unified communications products and other UC trends

  Communications and collaboration in the enterprise has never been more business essential. Learn how to make sense, and best use, of the latest UC products and services.Continue Reading

• Health and wellness benefits are exploding; are you keeping up?

  A WorldatWork survey shows companies offered a wide variety of health and wellness benefits at an expanded rate last year. Is your company keeping pace?Continue Reading

• How should a cloud migration plan include UC devices, endpoints?

  What an organization moves to the cloud will influence UC devices and endpoints. Networking expert Carrie Higbie Goetz explains the factors that influence endpoints in a cloud migration.Continue Reading

• Ruggedized devices face a mobile-fueled transition

  The next generation of smartphones is more rugged than ever, and this trend will change the ruggedized device market. Learn how and know what to expect in the next few years.Continue Reading

• The future of employee productivity begins in back office

  The technology innovations that increase employee productivity are being supported by ERP systems, and this includes embedded AI technologies.Continue Reading

• Cannabis CRM replicates dealer-customer relationship

  When a big-city medical marijuana business wanted to better serve clients, it opted for cannabis CRM software that tries to replicate the traditional dealer-customer relationship.Continue Reading

• ERP's increasing role in improving employee productivity

  ERP system vendors may be playing a central role in encouraging adoption of advanced technologies. But it may be a hard sell as IT budgets stay lean.Continue Reading

• Voice assistants present new challenges for call clarity

  Virtual assistant devices and applications offer ease and convenience when placing phone calls, but they could pose problems in terms of audio quality.Continue Reading

• PLM platforms evolve for a role in IoT

  Integration with IoT systems can extend the possibilities for PLM platforms, but according to experts, they must first evolve technically to handle the IoT data and processes.Continue Reading

• New HR tools for hourly workers, employee retention announced

  This week's news roundup includes an HR tool designed just for hourly workers, a new offering from Limeade to help with talent retention and a new cloud-based benefits platform.Continue Reading

• Need a post-merger talent management strategy? Try Jam

  Can 14 hospitals function as one happy unit? It's early days, but Jefferson Health CHRO Jeffrey Stevens is betting on his unconventional approach to talent management.Continue Reading

• CPaaS brings contextual communication to customer interactions

  Organizations that want to compete in an increasingly digital world and improve customer experience will find contextual communication benefits with communications platform as a service. Customers ...Continue Reading

• Explore enterprise accounting software benefits and products

  Explore enterprise accounting software vendors and products for growing and complex businesses -- products which fill the large gap between full-on ERP and SMB accounting software.Continue Reading

• Activists get organized with new Salesforce CRM for nonprofits

  Salesforce has adapted its CRM for nonprofits, giving activists a lower-cost way to track fundraising, organize activities and keep their communities engaged.Continue Reading

• How do you evaluate contact center platforms from UC vendors?

  If your organization is using third-party contact center services, make sure they integrate deeply with your unified communications environment.Continue Reading

• SharePoint hub sites raises migration questions among users

  In the newest rev of SharePoint Online, what used to be sub-sites are now new freestanding sites. This change and others may create migration migraines.Continue Reading

• How to select the right VDI hypervisor

  IT has several decisions to make when selecting a hypervisor for VDI, including choosing between a free hypervisor or a more feature-rich, paid option.Continue Reading

• Separating customer service chatbot hype from reality

  Vendors claim consumers want self-service chatbots. Turns out they'd rather scrub toilets or go to the dentist than converse with customer service in general, bots included.Continue Reading

• Do you need session border controllers with an SD-WAN deployment?

  As SD-WAN grows in popularity, enterprise SBCs still have their place on the network. Learn how the two technologies can work together to support and secure VoIP.Continue Reading

• Cloud DAM platforms vs. on premises for digital asset management

  Learn about digital asset management and how cloud DAM democratizes media management and delivery across the enterprise while reducing operations costs and increasing productivity.Continue Reading

• On-device machine learning offers security, reduced latency

  Where should IT process machine learning data? Mobile devices can now process machine learning, but it's important to evaluate all the options -- including the cloud.Continue Reading

• Tips and tricks for interacting with customers on social media

  To customers, all channels are equal: phone, email, voice, video, chat, text messaging and social media. But managing social media customer interactions can be thornier.Continue Reading

• Keys to customer engagement on social media CRM

  Responding to positive and negative customer inquiries on social media is important, industry experts say, and that can go far in retaining customers and promoting your brand.Continue Reading

• How the Microsoft Teams app can boost collaboration

  Microsoft Teams is an app users can work with to collaborate no matter where they're located. It comes as part of certain business-focused Office 365 subscriptions.Continue Reading

• Selecting a CRM cloud to host sales, service and marketing

  Azure, AWS and Google are popular public clouds. But not all CRM systems are interchangeable with each of them. Experts break down the decision-making process.Continue Reading

• Marketers face stiff challenges improving CRM capabilities

  Amid the proliferation of AI and cloud-based apps, marketers acknowledge and take partial blame for problems encountered along the way to improving their CRM capabilities.Continue Reading

• AI for customer service at the peril of personal relations

  AI tools in CRM help companies deliver hyper-personalized customer experiences but prevent customers from actually having personal interactions with service agents.Continue Reading

• Can low-code development benefit supply chain management?

  The low-code/no-code movement is exploding as it puts app development into the hands of business users. One possibly overlooked area for this technology is the supply chain.Continue Reading

• Is the lack of IIoT standards holding back industrial progress?

  Some companies are blazing forward in their efforts to implement industrial IoT, while the issue of standards causes some to hold back until there is more clarity.Continue Reading

• How can AI in mobile technology improve security?

  AI can help IT better detect mobile security threats, so determine how to take advantage of this nascent technology. Prep for AI-based systems to enter the mobile security market.Continue Reading

• Benefits of artificial intelligence in communication

  Enterprises that want to enhance their UC strategies can see several benefits of artificial intelligence in communication, collaboration, information access and UC endpoint control.Continue Reading

• On-premises contact center technology on the decline

  On-premises contact centers are decreasing in popularity as more organizations look to cloud-based and hosted services for their contact center technology. According to a recent Gartner Magic ...Continue Reading

• ECM gets a show of support from Zendesk Guide Enterprise

  Guide Enterprise captures insights and curates knowledge bases for customer service representatives and customers while helping large support teams streamline content production.Continue Reading

• Lifesize looks to make outfitting huddle rooms cheaper

  Lifesize has released a cloud-based device for wireless screen sharing. The vendor also previewed a video conferencing kit designed for outfitting huddle rooms for video conferencing.Continue Reading

• New Kronos headquarters design mirrors reinvention play

  Kronos is trying to redefine itself as a cloud company. The workforce management software vendor's new headquarters is meant to mirror that change.Continue Reading

• Cross-platform mobile app development is more viable than ever

  Organizations today support such a variety of devices that they need a way to deliver apps more seamlessly. Cross-platform development is a new reality that can help.Continue Reading

• LibreOffice 6.0 pushes for enterprise viability

  The debate of office suites may boil down to Microsoft Office vs. LibreOffice. The former is an expensive but consistent native suite, and the latter is third-party and free.Continue Reading

• Premium pay for technical CRM skills must reflect volatility

  Premium pay for skilled IT jobs remained largely unchanged heading into 2018, but workers will still be rewarded for CRM certification, according to Foote Partners' latest research.Continue Reading

• Workplace collaboration tool bolsters employee productivity

  The benefits of workplace collaboration tools trickle down to employee relationships, company growth, community engagement and training. Use this tip to choose the right tool.Continue Reading

• Open UC platforms improve communication workflow, but carry risks

  An API-based integration between UC and business apps can improve workflows and contextual communication. But the integrations may carry security risks.Continue Reading

• Huge potential of video interview software comes with risks

  Tech-savvy millennials' advantage over older workers risks ageism, and AI needs work handling emotions and ethnicity. But few doubt video's convenience as a data-rich vetting tool.Continue Reading

• How will speech technologies integrate with UC apps?

  Analyst Jon Arnold examines use cases for speech technologies in the enterprise and explains how UC vendors expect to add speech tools to their platforms.Continue Reading

• Why mobile HR apps are key to engaging deskless workers

  Creating a positive experience for deskless workers rests partly on making HR-related tasks easier for them. Here's a look at how mobile technology can help.Continue Reading

• Windows Command Line Reference Observations

  By checking which commands work in PowerShell and which have PowerShell aliases, I compile an interesting set of Windows Command Line Reference observations.Continue Reading

• New age collaboration tools empower the future of ECM

  Document management, file-sharing and ECM platforms might represent 'ancient' 1990s technology, but AI and collaboration tools are breathing new life into old systems.Continue Reading

• Three companies display 3D printing advances

  Take a look at three printers from Nano Dimension, XJet, and HP demonstrated at the Rapid + TCT additive manufacturing conference that are prime examples of advances in 3D printing.Continue Reading

• Adding artificial intelligence bots to Cortana for Office 365

  AI bots aren't just for requesting songs and definitions anymore. As enterprises look for ways to bring virtual assistants into the workspace, Microsoft's Cortana stands ready.Continue Reading

• Dolby Voice Room conferencing product wins Network Innovation Award

  Dolby's new video conferencing product, Dolby Voice Room, targets the huddle room market, while touting high-end audio capabilities and ease of management.Continue Reading

• Cohesive AI in CRM strategies requires a singular 360 view

  Implementing and upgrading AI CRM marketing and sales capabilities requires a holistic, multipronged strategy that encompasses all departments and customer engagement channels.Continue Reading

• How Conversational Queries aims to ease using Einstein Analytics data

  A new AI conversational feature from Salesforce lets users enter sales, service and marketing questions about timely customer data and build charts on their own in less time.Continue Reading

• Active shooter? Wildfires? HR's role in emergency notification systems

  Some HR departments have responsibility for notifying employees in a crisis, whether a natural disaster or man-made. They select, buy and deploy the emergency alert tools.Continue Reading

• Content, data services enable digital workplace transformation

  There's a lot of tech behind digital workplace transformations: middleware, application modernization, content and data services. Done right, it enables work-from-anywhere models.Continue Reading

• ECM, digital document management help energy company surge

  Sterling Energy can now expand its gas and water distribution services with a digital document management system that gives them real-time insight into business transactions.Continue Reading

• E-signature software market caters to contract-heavy industries

  How do electronic signature tools from DocuSign, eSignLive, Adobe Sign, SignNow and SignEasy stack up? A G2 Crowd expert helps us sort through the field.Continue Reading

• AV1 video codec carries clout with royalty-free status

  Industry giants, including Cisco and Microsoft, have backed AOMedia's new royalty-free codec. So, what does this mean for royalty-bearing video coding standards?Continue Reading