News

News

• April 17, 2020 17 Apr'20

  Verizon to buy Zoom competitor BlueJeans

  Verizon plans to acquire Zoom competitor BlueJeans for less than $500 million. The carrier wants to use the video conferencing technology to support telemedicine and remote learning.

• April 17, 2020 17 Apr'20

  Supply chain applications help ease COVID-19 crisis

  Supply chain applications from SAP Ariba, SourceDay and Kinaxis are helping companies find critical PPE, maintain manufacturing lines and plan for supply chain risk assessment.

• April 16, 2020 16 Apr'20

  With Zoom under fire, Microsoft rushes to boost Teams security

  Microsoft is accelerating the launch of features meant to enhance Teams meeting security on the heels of widespread criticism of rival video conferencing provider Zoom.

• April 15, 2020 15 Apr'20

  A tale of two telepresence robotics user stories

  Telepresence robotics is still a niche technology and very much a work in progress. But it has potential, and users see clear benefits of these remote work systems.

• April 15, 2020 15 Apr'20

  LogMeIn launches CCaaS platform to complement GoToConnect

  LogMeIn releases GoToConnect call center as a service features during a high-demand period for supporting remote customer service work amid COVID-19 stay-at-home orders.

• April 14, 2020 14 Apr'20

  Microsoft Teams to display 9 video panels, but users want more

  Microsoft Teams will display as many as nine video feeds at once by early May. But some users say the change doesn't go far enough.

• April 09, 2020 09 Apr'20

  Lawsuits: Zoom misled users, investors on video encryption

  New lawsuits allege Zoom misled users and investors by falsely claiming to use a more secure method of video encryption than it does. The suits also raise numerous other security and privacy concerns.

• April 09, 2020 09 Apr'20

  Food industry turns to AI hiring platform to fill 1M jobs

  The food industry is hungry for employees. It has a shopping list of occupations it needs filled to keep essential food producers and grocers stocked with workers.

• April 09, 2020 09 Apr'20

  New OpenText CE apps, services roll out

  OpenText containerizes its applications for cloud deployment; adds raft of content services and features for customer experience support, security, and app development.

• April 08, 2020 08 Apr'20

  SAP Cloud Platform app helps German citizens find their way home

  Rückholprogramm, an SAP Cloud Platform app, was built in just a few days to fulfill a request from the German Federal Foreign Office.

• April 08, 2020 08 Apr'20

  Microsoft Teams users want parity between webinars, meetings

  The coronavirus pandemic appears to be increasing demands for feature parity between live events and meetings in Microsoft Teams.

• April 08, 2020 08 Apr'20

  Box Shield adds malware detection

  Box Inc. quarantines malware-infected files with features that allow content to be viewed, with admin and security team alerts to address threats before they spread.

• April 06, 2020 06 Apr'20

  Pivot to remote call centers difficult for some; others roll with it

  Remote contact center tech easily supports agents working from home, experts say. It's the culture of each team that determines success in the current national health crisis.

• April 06, 2020 06 Apr'20

  H-1B work visa petitions hit record high, despite pandemic

  The U.S. received a record 275,000 H-1B work visas for the 2021 fiscal year. But these visa petitions were prepared in better economic times, before the economy began shutting down.

• April 03, 2020 03 Apr'20

  RingCentral dials back Zoom partnership with video app launch

  The launch of RingCentral's new video app, called RingCentral Video, is a sign the vendor's long-standing partnership with Zoom is winding down.

• April 02, 2020 02 Apr'20

  COVID-19 crisis opens possibilities for 3D printing industry

  As the coronavirus outbreak disrupts supply chains, manufacturers may increasingly turn to 3D printing to move beyond prototyping and into producing quality parts.

• April 02, 2020 02 Apr'20

  Remote team tech Sneek keeps co-workers in view

  Sneek, a remote team platform, uses frequently updated photographs of remote workers to connect co-workers together.

• March 31, 2020 31 Mar'20

  Best-case, worst-case pandemic scenarios for India service providers

  India's IT and business support services will be tested during that country's pandemic lockdown. Many workers are now operating out of their homes, but the government is still allowing some to work in offices.

• March 31, 2020 31 Mar'20

  Zoom privacy: Vendor faces lawsuits over Facebook data-sharing

  Two Zoom users are accusing the video conferencing company of sharing data with Facebook without permission. Zoom's privacy practices have come under increased scrutiny in recent weeks.

• March 31, 2020 31 Mar'20

  Adobe AI tools coming to Experience Cloud

  This year's Adobe Summit, held online, marked the debut of the Adobe Analytics Digital Economy Index, a massively scaled gauge of online purchasing trends. That, and AI tools.

• March 31, 2020 31 Mar'20

  Salesforce Live web series offers tips for uncertain times

  Salesforce execs and celebrity speakers deliver advice to help customers rewrite the sales and marketing playbook while working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic.

• March 27, 2020 27 Mar'20

  Businesses rethink conference room upgrades amid coronavirus

  Conference room upgrades are largely on hold for now. Tech buyers say the coronavirus outbreak will change their priorities once employees return to the office.

• March 27, 2020 27 Mar'20

  Farmers Insurance piloting human-like VR training

  VR training has become a best practice at Farmers Insurance Exchange. Its claims adjusters are being exposed to more scenarios and learning how to do their jobs faster with the help of VR.

• March 26, 2020 26 Mar'20

  Kansas City Royals spin up cloud contact center

  The Kansas City Royals closed its offices, but a telephony switch helped the call center address ticket holders' anxieties over baseball games affected by coronavirus shutdown.

• March 26, 2020 26 Mar'20

  Priority Software mobile apps open ERP systems

  Priority Software's mobile apps and Mobile App Generator improve access to its ERP systems and improve productivity for processes like inventory management and sales operations.

• March 25, 2020 25 Mar'20

  Logitech webcams in short supply amid coronavirus pandemic

  Logitech webcams and other cheap work-at-home devices are largely sold-out or on back order worldwide amid the coronavirus pandemic.

• March 25, 2020 25 Mar'20

  7 supply chain management best practices in a COVID-19 world

  Amid global disruptions due to coronavirus, businesses need to redo supply chain best practices immediately. Here are seven ways to get started down the right path.

• March 25, 2020 25 Mar'20

  Virtual hiring, avoiding layoffs part of HR's pandemic response

  In the face of a pandemic, many firms are trying to avoid layoffs and even hire. They are using virtual tools, including testing systems called virtual job tryouts, to select their potential new hires

• March 24, 2020 24 Mar'20

  Zendesk Relater primes customers for remote call center work

  Zendesk focuses on fledgling Sunshine and Sell CRM platforms, as well as helping its well-established customer service base switch to remote call center work.

• March 23, 2020 23 Mar'20

  Pandemic will delay, cancel ERP deployments and test vendors

  The pandemic will challenge ERP deployments in some unique ways. Travel restrictions are shutting down access to the people needed to plan and implement projects, and remote working may create a hurdle.

• March 20, 2020 20 Mar'20

  Workspot VDI key to engineering firm's pandemic planning

  Southland Industries was in the process of transitioning to a virtual desktop service when COVID-19 emerged. In this Q&A, Israel Sumano discusses how the outbreak accelerated those plans.

• March 20, 2020 20 Mar'20

  Coronavirus: Surge in remote work strains Zoom services

  Some Zoom services are faltering under the pressure from a huge influx in remote workers. Service disruptions are up significantly so far in March.

• March 20, 2020 20 Mar'20

  SAP Ariba Discovery now open to all buyers and suppliers

  Buyers and suppliers can now access SAP Ariba Discovery for free, and SAP Ariba, Fieldglass and S/4HANA are further integrated for an 'intelligent spend management' platform.

• March 19, 2020 19 Mar'20

  Workday salary bonus may pay workforce dividends

  Workday is giving its employees a two-week bonus to help them deal with coronavirus-related costs. The move may result in improved retention and productivity.

• March 19, 2020 19 Mar'20

  Slack redesigns app as Microsoft Teams hits 44 million users

  Slack introduced several features that make its app look more like Microsoft Teams, which now has 44 million daily active users.

• March 18, 2020 18 Mar'20

  Box, Dropbox shore up clouds; Box-Microsoft integrations go live

  Online document collaboration platforms Box and Dropbox shore up cloud bandwidth, security and customer support as remote work spikes due to coronavirus containment efforts.

• March 18, 2020 18 Mar'20

  Amid coronavirus, Microsoft Teams users balk at video stream limit

  Users working from home due to the coronavirus outbreak are complaining that Microsoft Teams can't display more than four video feeds simultaneously.

• March 17, 2020 17 Mar'20

  COVID-19 outbreak in China slows global supply chain

  The COVID-19 outbreak started in China, where a large percentage of major enterprises have factories. Here's what business leaders should learn from the resulting slowdown.

• March 17, 2020 17 Mar'20

  5 tips for HR: Employee communications during coronavirus outbreak

  As the future of work changes by the minute, CHROs and their teams serve important roles in managing responses to the coronavirus pandemic. Here are five ways they can take charge of communication.

• March 17, 2020 17 Mar'20

  Analyst: Distributed cloud may be the future

  In the enterprise, the trend has been toward centralizing data and work in the cloud, but an increased number of smart devices may push out infrastructure into a distributed cloud. Frank Gens, ...

• March 16, 2020 16 Mar'20

  HR response to COVID-19 can lower or boost employee experience

  As HR leaders are being tasked with difficult decisions amid the coronavirus pandemic, the employee experience depends on those decisions. Here's how to get them right.

• March 16, 2020 16 Mar'20

  Coronavirus: Microsoft Teams outage disrupts remote working

  A Microsoft Teams outage on Monday disrupted the workday of many users working from home around the world in efforts to avoid spreading the new coronavirus to co-workers.

• March 16, 2020 16 Mar'20

  How to prevent a coronavirus panic buying bullwhip effect

  Widespread coronavirus panic buying is likely to cause a bullwhip effect in some areas -- such as toilet paper. Here's how suppliers can work to minimize the negative supply chain effects.

• March 16, 2020 16 Mar'20

  Coronavirus may deliver an HR tech market shakeout

  The HR tech market, which has some 3,000 VC-funded firms, may see big impacts from the new coronavirus. That will depend on how long the crisis lasts and if it triggers a downturn.

• March 13, 2020 13 Mar'20

  Direct mail automation spikes in wake of conference cancellations

  Marketers are turning to CRM-ready e-gift and direct mail vendors to send postcards and swag boxes to prospective customers they would have met with at canceled conferences.

• March 13, 2020 13 Mar'20

  Coronavirus tests scalability of cloud collaboration services

  A spike in remote work due to the new coronavirus is testing the scalability of collaboration services like Zoom and Cisco Webex. Even small service disruptions could significantly impede productivity.

• March 12, 2020 12 Mar'20

  H-1B work visa ruling comes down to conjunctions

  The Trump administration's efforts to stop the use of H-1B workers by IT contractors suffered a major setback in court. This week, a federal judge ruled that the government exceeded the law.

• March 11, 2020 11 Mar'20

  Cognitive automation helps processes run on their own

  Merck Healthcare has implemented cognitive automation technology from Aera Technology to drive a digital transformation of its supply chain operations.

• March 11, 2020 11 Mar'20

  Coronavirus tests Trump's opposition to federal telework

  The Trump administration is trying to curtail federal telework. But the new coronavirus may change those plans, as some agencies are starting to shift to remote work.

• March 11, 2020 11 Mar'20

  ServiceNow Orlando update adds tools for human and virtual agents

  ServiceNow Orlando update and new partnerships builds on strategy of reaching into new verticals such as telecommunications and banking.

• March 10, 2020 10 Mar'20

  Chang takes leave from Cisco collaboration unit amid reorganization

  Amy Chang, head of the Cisco collaboration division, is on temporary leave from the company. Cisco is in the midst of a broad reorganization.

• March 10, 2020 10 Mar'20

  Lifesize and Serenova merge to create expanded portfolio

  Video conferencing hardware and software vendor Lifesize is merging with contact-center-as-a-service provider Serenova.

• March 09, 2020 09 Mar'20

  Salesforce adds new features to Trailhead Live and Go mobile app

  Trailhead Live now features a live chat option and is available on Trailhead Go. While the mobile app fills a need, users still gravitate toward the desktop version.

• March 06, 2020 06 Mar'20

  Amazon chatbots to employ neural networks for CX

  Amazon tests neural network bots to help site customers and human agents more quickly identify answers to refund and order-cancellation questions.

• March 06, 2020 06 Mar'20

  Coronavirus impact: Businesses forced to rely on video conferencing

  Companies are missing opportunities to connect on a more personal level with customers and partners as the coronavirus outbreak forces them to rely more heavily on video conferencing.

• March 06, 2020 06 Mar'20

  Remote work shift may boost SaaS management platforms

  The rapid rise of remote work, thanks to the coronavirus, may spur interest in tools that can measure employee productivity, such as SaaS management platforms.

• March 05, 2020 05 Mar'20

  Manufacturing outlook hopeful despite recession fears

  A new survey of midmarket manufacturing CFOs shows that most anticipate increases in revenue and profitability in 2020, in the face of an expected economic slowdown.

• March 05, 2020 05 Mar'20

  As remote work tools deploy, next task is behavioral

  The coronavirus could provide a major incentive to work remotely. The shift may have long-lasting impacts, as managers and employees get comfortable with virtual work.

• March 04, 2020 04 Mar'20

  Zendesk Sunshine CRM, social media upgrades released

  Zendesk upgraded Sunshine CRM and Support platforms to manage digital customer conversations, and added e-commerce tools that enable agents to work through order and payment issues.

• March 02, 2020 02 Mar'20

  Connected worker platforms bring people into digital transformation

  A dairy production company is using a connected worker platform to fill in the gaps of ERP and manufacturing systems and tie in front-line workers to its digital transformation.

• February 28, 2020 28 Feb'20

  Windows 10X OS may be a preview of features to come

  Microsoft is aiming its new Windows 10X OS at dual-screen devices such as the Surface Neo, but it could have a big impact on the enterprise if its features migrate to mainline Windows.

• February 28, 2020 28 Feb'20

  Microsoft antivirus software for Android, iOS a reflection of the times

  The announcement of Microsoft antivirus software Defender on Android and iOS caused some puzzlement, but experts said the move recognizes the current security landscape.

• February 28, 2020 28 Feb'20

  Cloud UC vendors rush to build Microsoft Teams integrations

  Cisco, RingCentral and Fuze this month released or improved Microsoft Teams integrations.

• February 28, 2020 28 Feb'20

  Contentful App Framework first major release under new CEO

  Contentful CEO Steve Sloan, who joined the company in November after leaving Twilio, discusses the release of App Framework, a bundle of APIs and workflow blueprints.

• February 28, 2020 28 Feb'20

  Coronavirus gets attention on Workday earnings call

  The coronavirus is having an impact on Workday, prompting cancellation of a sales meeting in Orlando and placing a greater reliance on its use of virtualization technology.

• February 27, 2020 27 Feb'20

  Aprimo partners with Templafy on digital asset management

  The Aprimo Connector for Microsoft Office allows users to streamline data assets through a Templafy connector to applications like PowerPoint and Word.

• February 27, 2020 27 Feb'20

  Cornerstone is building learning management's Netflix

  Cornerstone's acquisition of Saba Software for $1.4 billion takes out a learning management competitor and gives it a boost of engineering talent to speed innovation, analysts say.

• February 27, 2020 27 Feb'20

  ERP Advisors Group: ERP for SMBs to come of age in 2020

  In this Q&A, Shawn Windle of ERP Advisors Group explains why 2020 is the year of SMBs for ERP, as SMBs find ERP systems more cost-effective and industry-specific options increase.

• February 27, 2020 27 Feb'20

  Salesforce Vlocity acquisition to aid vertical CRM integrations

  As Salesforce co-CEO Keith Block steps down, the CRM vendor acquires Vlocity to spur growth in healthcare, energy, media, government, financial services and insurance.

• February 25, 2020 25 Feb'20

  Adobe Acrobat DC integrates PDF tools inside Google Drive

  With new Google Drive integration, Adobe embeds free features for commenting and annotating PDFs inside Google Docs. Acrobat subscribers can create, sign and modify PDFs, too.

• February 25, 2020 25 Feb'20

  Lenovo ThinkPad models upgraded to Intel 10th Gen, AMD Ryzen 4000

  New models include Intel 10th Gen vPro CPUs and, on select models, AMD Ryzen 4000 Pro CPUs. Wi-Fi 6, ThinkShield and modern standby are also featured in the new models.

• February 25, 2020 25 Feb'20

  Bank grows with Citrix Virtual Apps and Desktops without growing IT

  For more than a decade, Renasant Bank has partnered with Citrix to accommodate growth without a drastic IT staff increase.

• February 25, 2020 25 Feb'20

  Cloud broadens scope of ERP support to focus more on users

  A truly modern ERP support strategy must consider the needs of both internal and external users and ERP's expanded role in the employer and customer experience.

• February 24, 2020 24 Feb'20

  Trump's H-1B work visa actions disappoint ex-Disney workers

  President Donald Trump arrived in office promising to reform the H-1B visa program. But his actions have fallen short of what reformers wanted and went too far for IT services firms.

• February 24, 2020 24 Feb'20

  Coronavirus outbreak puts focus on supply chain risk

  Global supply chains have been disrupted by the coronavirus outbreak, and companies need to diversify suppliers and rethink strategies like lean and just-in-time manufacturing.

• February 21, 2020 21 Feb'20

  Users push for Outlook tab in Microsoft Teams

  A request from users for an Outlook tab in Microsoft Teams has been 'under review' since early 2018.

• February 21, 2020 21 Feb'20

  Latest Windows 10 update issue another QA stain

  Microsoft pulled a Windows 10 security fix this month, causing experts to call for more testing and oversight -- again.

• February 20, 2020 20 Feb'20

  Kronos-Ultimate Software merger creates $3B firm with product overlap

  Kronos Inc. and Ultimate Software are being merged by their private equity owner into a new, yet unnamed, entity. How this will affect employees and customers remains to be seen.

• February 20, 2020 20 Feb'20

  Augmented reality technology matures but deployment hurdles remain

  For IT admins who are just getting the hang of managing smartphones and tablets in the enterprise, AR may not be a welcome tech.

• February 19, 2020 19 Feb'20

  Salesforce Sydney event moves online amid coronavirus concerns

  As coronavirus spreads, Salesforce changed its March 4 live World Tour Sydney conference to a livestream event, citing safety concerns for employees, customers and Trailblazers.

• February 19, 2020 19 Feb'20

  Panorama ERP report shows continued satisfaction

  Panorama Consulting Group's 2020 ERP report finds that satisfaction with ERP remains high and the cloud is now the main deployment choice.

• February 19, 2020 19 Feb'20

  Limitations of Microsoft Teams private channels rankle users

  After waiting for Microsoft Teams private channels to launch for years, customers are now grappling with the limitations of the new feature.

• February 19, 2020 19 Feb'20

  Microsoft CDP leads 400-plus features in Dynamics 365 update

  Microsoft's Dynamics 365 2020 Wave 1 release opens up the floodgates for outside data sources connecting to Customer Insights, its customer data platform.

• February 17, 2020 17 Feb'20

  Chief experience officers, chief customer officers on rise

  Since 2017, more CXOs and CCOs have shown up in Gartner's customer experience management survey. They don't always report to the CMO, but marketing's ownership of CX is growing.

• February 17, 2020 17 Feb'20

  Take care of data before SAP S/4HANA migration

  In this Q&A, Rajesh Rengarethinam of ERP security vendor Appsian discusses why reviewing data security and business processes are important when planning a move to SAP S/4HANA.

• February 14, 2020 14 Feb'20

  Cisco collaboration revenue takes hit to start 2020

  Cisco collaboration and communications products generated less revenue this past quarter than they did one year ago, contributing to an 8% decline for the applications group.

• February 13, 2020 13 Feb'20

  Take care of ERP data security when moving to the cloud

  In this Q&A, ERP data security expert Greg Wendt of Appsian discusses data security needs to be addressed by organizations as they move ERP systems to the cloud.

• February 13, 2020 13 Feb'20

  Google's Meena AI chatbot to eventually find its way into CX

  Experts say Google's Meena chatbot is a leap forward in conversational AI. But using it for websites and customer service will require all-new deployments and training methods.

• February 13, 2020 13 Feb'20

  External collaboration in Webex Teams limited by new security control

  Cisco is attempting to improve security for external collaboration in Webex Teams with a new feature for IT admins.

• February 12, 2020 12 Feb'20

  BlackBerry enters digital workspace market

  BlackBerry's digital workspace offering is meant to strike a balance between connectivity, productivity and security, especially for IT admins who cater to a range of worker types.

• February 12, 2020 12 Feb'20

  New leadership, new features for LinkedIn Sales Navigator

  Sales Navigator adds features to create CRM contacts directly from LinkedIn, and content-tracking tools to see who's reading marketing materials salespeople send to customer leads.

• February 12, 2020 12 Feb'20

  Crestron and Logitech partner on AV system integration

  A new partnership combines Logitech's video systems with Crestron's hardware and software for AV system integration.

• February 12, 2020 12 Feb'20

  Federal workforce too reliant on degrees, says White House

  In its budget proposal, the Trump administration complains that hiring rules hurt its ability to hire those just out of college and can include unnecessary stipulations. It wants that to change.

• February 11, 2020 11 Feb'20

  Solid growth helps IFS ERP take aim at top-tier vendors

  Solid growth for 2019 may help IFS take on SAP and other top-tier ERP vendors, but it faces the same problems in moving customers to innovative cloud-based systems.

• February 11, 2020 11 Feb'20

  Akeneo rolls out newest version of PIM software

  Akeneo PIM version 4.0 features digital asset manager, API-integrated connection modules and AI attribute mapping to better organize enterprise data.

• February 07, 2020 07 Feb'20

  Salesforce Trailhead Playground launches starter app to help users

  The new starter app features tips for new Trailhead Playground users, along with an easier way to install packages from AppExchange and receive login credentials.

• February 07, 2020 07 Feb'20

  Gartner: Prepare pandemic planning around 25% absenteeism

  If the coronavirus isn't contained, it may prove disruptive for a long period of time. Pandemic planning should be underway, business research groups say.

• February 07, 2020 07 Feb'20

  New Antavo interactive kiosks push retail loyalty programs

  The kiosk features a prize wheel, treasure hunts and themed quizzes to engage and interact with shoppers while promoting in-store loyalty programs.

• February 07, 2020 07 Feb'20

  Google's third-party cookies ban bolsters new data tracking tools

  Google will cancel third-party cookies by 2022, and is already eroding their value. Analysts and vendors predict what data strategies and technologies will replace it.

• February 07, 2020 07 Feb'20

  BlackBerry smartphones pact will lapse, marking end of an era

  With the end of a BlackBerry devices licensing agreement, will the iconic smartphone brand disappear from the market? Experts discuss the company and its legacy.