Skype recently acquired GroupMe, a startup developing tools to make mobile communications simpler. The move underscores dramatic changes in that market, ones that will change how executives communicate.
Mary, video chatting has its place. It's not for every collaborative project. But it actually is pretty useful for replacing some face-to-face meetings and communicating things that can't be said with just text or audio. You can't replace an "eye roll" expression that can speak volumes about how well your project is performing....
Google doesn't really have to pull off everything it tries, as long as the stuff it tries doesn't directly conflict with its advertising cash-cow. Google is just trying anything to increase search user loyalty by providing services that draw more users to their platform. Google is, afterall, pretty quick to kill off its projects that aren't working out (eg.Google Health, Google Wave, etc...)
Mary, I don't think Skype itself is necessary, but Skype-like functions are becoming very useful for collaborative projects (and just keeping in touch with friends/relatives). So collaboration tools online are incorporating Skype-like functions -- but Skype itself isn't necessarily the only way to get things done.
These are exciting times with Google going head to head with Microsoft in this field while also going head to head with Facebook in social. Can Google pull off all these initiatives?
Microsoft's acquisition of Skype already has tech folks looking for alternatives to Skype -- b/c MSFT users are afraid of how MSFT will change Skype to make it annoying to use. There are plenty of alternative services to Skype, so it shouldn't be too hard for users to switch.
Thanks for an informative look at the collaboration market, Paul.
It's tough to figure out whether Microsoft can get its integration done well enough to beat out Google, and whether Google can get its enterprise act together to confront Microsoft's enviable position with enterprises.
I think the competition will be tough. Both firms have a history of dropping the ball in certain respects. Perhaps this will help generate sufficient competition to create solid products in reasonable timeframes.
While NFC's original goal was to enhance mobile commerce applications, it is finding its way into a number of other uses, which is creating both opportunity as well as challenges for IT departments.
Enterprises would like to move to cloud computing but are hesitant because they are concerned about providers’ ability to secure company data. Here are some tips that help to ensure that if breaches occur, the business is not left holding the bag.
Big-data has become a big point of emphasis for many businesses. While the technology is available to deploy these applications, the needed personnel often is not. As a result, analytic engineers' salaries have blown past the six-figure mark, and hiring these experts has become a challenge for IT managers.
Increasingly, companies are using videoconferencing technology to help employees collaborate with co-workers, partners, and customers. As a result, demand for technicians is rising, and companies are finding it difficult to retain their quality workers.
Software-defined networks, which deliver virtualization functions to enterprise networks, have the potential to dramatically change network design and significantly reduce costs and maintenance.
A recent survey by Endace found that 23% of companies experience some type of network problem daily and another 25% have a serious problem each month. Enterprise networks are still very unreliable and probably will continue to be in the near term.
ITRC found that more than 600 security breaches took place in 2012. Flaws were found in some of the nation's most respected companies: Apple, Citibank, and Wells Fargo. So, it seems the bad guys are doing better than the men in the white hats.
Microsoft's buy of Skype could revitalize Phone 7, give Microsoft a social, gaming, and collaborative strategy, and spell the end for old-fashioned telco voice. It will also certainly give Google a headache in its Voice, Chat, and even Android strategy!
That's what Larry Page said on Google's earnings call, referring to the conjunction of mobile and the cloud. Well, let's chart it then! We need to be thinking about an Internet where 90% of our traffic goes to 70 destinations within 40 miles of us.
A survey by JD Powers found that customer interest in product features is lessening as phones evolve. Rather than features, price is driving purchases, and that change could have a dramatic impact on how IT departments secure these devices.
Maybe Google+ will be competitive and maybe it won't, but it's likely to introduce video calling and OTT communications as a replacement for standard telephony. There will be major consequences to this, and we don't have an FCC or political framework capable of coping.
Subsidized handsets, rather than locked handsets, should be the focus of regulators. We're not getting good deals, not fostering innovation, and weakening our power as buyers.
The IBM Smarter Commerce Global Summit in Monaco kicked into high gear today, and we've already begun to see news emerging from that lovely city-state by the sea.
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