Marketing Love in a Time of Mobile Apps
December 22, 2011
As holiday shopping hits a crescendo this week retailers are examining how to increase sales, analyze shopper data more efficiently and strengthen mobile advertising all in one fell swoop. The article, Malls, Retailers Focus on Mobile Phones to Reach Shoppers, Boost Sales and Study Consumers, on http://www.cleveland.com/, explores some controversial mobile app and Smartphone technologies retailers are employing this holiday season.
Although the Federal Trade Commission and several consumer watchdog groups have put a nix to several Big-Brother-esque programs put in place by malls and large retailers to monitor shopper activity and behavior due to privacy violations, some programs are alive and thriving. Many complain that the programs are all one sided, in favor of the retailer, but that is not necessarily the case. In most instances consumers receive a nice reward for their privacy being violated.
As the article explains of the relationship between retailer and consumer,
With traditional retailers fighting online competition from companies from Amazon to Zappos.com, the retail industry must give consumers a reason to choose brick-and-mortar. Online retailers collect data about shoppers and use that information to tailor advertising and suggest purchases. Now stores and shopping-center landlords see cell phones as a path to influencing what people buy, how long they shop and how much they spend.
Before condemning retailers for utilizing scores of data mines waltzing in and out of their stores every day, consumers should examine their habits and devotion to mobile apps. Without consumer usage these app-utilizing marketing campaigns would be a waste of time. If one doesn’t want to be exploited by a retailer, turn off the phone. Easier said than done, just like search.
Catherine Lamsfuss, December 22, 2011
Sponsored by Pandia.com
Protected: Use SurfRay to Process Excel Import
December 19, 2011
Inforbix App Is a Step Above the Rest
December 5, 2011
In the beginning, apps were for the cool kids to play music and games on their new-fangled smartphones. However, with the evolution of the tablet computer, businesses could no longer ignore the chance to improve productivity while on the go. Mobility has become king, but until this point it has been based on document management. Inforbix is about to take a huge leap forward and introduce a business app that focuses on product data.
So what makes the Inforbix app so different from an app like OpenText Document Management OpenText Document Management? Inforbix will go beyond the documents and bring you such things as product drawings, data and information with a tap of a finger.
The focus of the Inforbix app is cutting edge. Traditional document management systems simply cannot handle the image, data and text files associated with technological product development. For example companies which manufacture components for products like the Amazon Kindle Fire and the Apple iPad have been left out of the app world…until now. Watch for the release of the Infobix App…it will change mobile business intelligence forever!
Catherine Lamsfuss, December 5, 2011
New Google App Sneaks Chrome on the iPad
December 3, 2011
In the battle between Apple and Google, it appears that the search giant has come out with new way to come out on top, and search is not the primary focus. Google has created a search app that is superior to the experience of any Android tablet and puts the core Chrome elements onto an Apple product.
If you are wondering why Google has suddenly decided to stop innovating for it’s own products, and has chosen to invade Apple’s, The Next Web article “Google Just Used It’s Search App to Sneek Most of Chrome OS onto the iPad” states:
“The reasons why it has shipped a pack of its most potent apps in one convenient dashboard are evident if you look at the tablet landscape as we know it. Google’s “official” version of Android is losing the tablet race, flat out. Products from manufacturers that have no access to an ecosystem beyond the Android Market have proven not to work. Now, Amazon has launched the Kindle Fire, which stands to quickly attain ’2nd place’ status behind the iPad, utilizing a tweaked version of Android that Google will gain nothing from.”
iOS devices account for 2/3 of mobile searches on Google’s platform, making it the largest outlet for Google’s primary product, ads. Google recognizes this fact and has created an app for its fans who use Apple products.
With such a seamless integration, it appears that Apple may not be able to separate itself from Google, no matter how hard they try. This is a certainly a clever move on Google’s part but definitely not the most innovative. Is this the new Google?
Jasmine Ashton, December 03, 2011
The Cloud Competition Gets Ugly Between Google and Microsoft
November 30, 2011
I recently read two articles discussing the competition that’s heating up between Google’s cloud services app and Microsoft.
According to a Wired Enterprise story “Google Vs. Microsoft: Not All Clouds are Created Equal” Google’s cloud technology has caused companies like Oracle and Microsoft, that have historically been on-premise companies to begin to change their ways. This is due to the fact that some of their chief officers have left to join Google and the company spent two days pitching its ever-growing collection of enterprise services to 350 businesses that were interested in adopting their business model.
In addition to this, the article states:
“Google is now offering round-the-clock phone support for all issues involving the core services in its Google Apps suite, and then David Girouard — the man who essentially founded Google’s enterprise operation — unveiled some new tools for managing smartphones that use Google Apps. But these additions served Google’s larger message: that its web-based services are more flexible and reliable than traditional “on-premise” software — or even the cloud services now offered by the likes of Microsoft and Oracle.”??
While this article makes Google’s cloud technology look like it’s on the cutting edge, Microsoft is trying its darndest to compete with the search giant. ??
According to “Microsoft Take a Fight to Google Over Cloud App Defections” Microsoft has come out with a team called “Google Compete” to try and convince people to stay with office and not deflect to Google cloud apps.??
Tony Tai, a senior program manager at Microsoft said:??
“In the case of Google, we find it quite common that their consumer-oriented approach falls short of meeting enterprise customers’ needs, thus providing an opportunity for us to win the customer. The wise words of Benjamin Franklin often apply: ‘The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten.”??
Ouch! when did things get so ugly? and where has the civility gone?
Jasmine Ashton, November 30, 2011
Content Management Best Practices
November 25, 2011
With the raging demand for content management systems, not all organizations know how to correctly implement such systems, such as the ubiquitous SharePoint. Specifically with SharePoint, an organization can’t just open the box and expect their content to be organized and retrievable. Patrick Sledz lays out some best practices when working with content in SharePoint in his blog entry, “5 Best Practices for Working with Documents and SharePoint.” In addition to advice about file naming, Sledz also addresses using SharePoint as a platform and not just a filing system.
“Use SharePoint as a Document Management Platform. And I mean Platform, not just a secondary file storage location. The file stored here is the ‘one version of the truth.’ This is your starting and ending point. DO NOT send this document to people, but send links to the document. This way you’ll keep just 1 version of the truth.”
Adding to the theme of organization and storage, Sledz recommends adding metadata. While the advice is good for SharePoint users, we have found third party solutions that offer intuitive applications incorporating these principles. Fabasoft Mindbreeze offers a suite of solutions that when combined provide for every aspect of an organization’s information storage and retrieval needs. Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise offers its own enterprise solution, or Fabasoft Mindbreeze Connector syncs up with an organization’s current SharePoint applications, increasing usability and retrieval.
“The Microsoft SharePoint Connector connects the Microsoft Office SharePoint Server to Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise and enables the search for documents stored in that application.”
Metadata is innate and intuitive with a solution like Mindbreeze. So while the above best practices are a good reminder for any organization using enterprise solutions, a smart enterprise solution will provide more answers and leave your organization with less questions. Check out Fabasoft Mindbreeze to see if their products can save you time and trouble.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 25, 2011
Sponsored by: Pandia.com
How to Personalize Your SharePoint Lists
November 18, 2011
Lately, we’ve been bringing SharePoint articles that focus on a list of some sort. Now we bring you an article that is centered on “Setting Query String Values on SharePoint Forms Using XSLT and Javascript” from the Sieena blog. In layman’s terms, it gives tips on working with list within SharePoint. How great is that?!
“In some cases, you may want to show your SharePoint list forms (new, edit, display, etc) in a specific layout or showing/hiding values to your will, this is something you cannot do using out of the box SharePoint list forms. But there’s a way to do this, and even take query string values as parameters: using javascript and XSLT data views on your forms.”
It gets even better! The process to personalize your SharePoint is outlined in a list. So it’s a useful article about manipulating javascript and XLST data on lists with a list of steps. In the manner of lists, it’s pretty straight-forward with small steps you need to follow with the new code at the end. If you want to personalize your SharePoint Search as well, Search Technologies‘ engineers can tailor almost any aspect of SharePoint and tune SharePoint search so it delivers a solid return on investment.
Iain Fletcher, November 18, 2011
Mindbreeze Picks Up Where SharePoint Leaves Off
November 17, 2011
SharePoint 2010 is a widely implemented application, but not one that solves every solution. The issue is explored further in, “SharePoint 2010 collaboration ISVs focus on workflow, analytics.” The author, Jonathan Gourlay, reports that users are increasingly relying on a number of independent software vendors to plug the holes in the service that SharePoint provides.
Mark Gilbert, lead analyst for Gartner Research had this to say:
“’Just because SharePoint is a lot of stuff, it doesn’t mean it’s all good stuff, but a lot of it is,’ said Gilbert, who estimates he’s spoken to 3,000 companies about SharePoint. He compares the platform to a Swiss Army Knife that allows the user to add tools. ‘To make [SharePoint] a real enterprise-class tool, you typically have to pay a lot of attention to the care and feeding of it and you have to add a lot of third-party tools.’”
Here’s the main question: if SharePoint is being advertised as enterprise-class, why do so many users need ISVs to bring it up to that level? The article goes on to argue that the opportunity for vendors to build upon the SharePoint platform is huge.
We argue that one smart and agile solution could single-handedly solve an organization’s enterprise and SharePoint woes. Fabasoft Mindbreeze is getting good feedback regarding its suite of solutions.
“Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise understands you, or to be more precise, understands what the most important information is for you at any precise moment in time. It is the center of excellence for your knowledge and simultaneously your personal assistant for all questions. The information pairing technology brings enterprise and Cloud data together.”
So while experts in the field are saying that system administrators have to hunt and search for several ISVs to supplement their SharePoint implementation, Mindbreeze might save a lot of time and energy with its single easy-to-use solution. It’s definitely worth a second look.
*Disclaimer – Mindbreeze is currently upgrading their website. Links will be checked and if problems arise they will be updated. Thanks for your patience.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 17, 2011
Softpedia Presents Another All-Encompassing Freeware Clipboard
November 13, 2011
Softpedia now features the Spartan Lite Multi-Clipboard as a free software download. Based on the website’s description, it appears to have some handy features. It reminds me of Evernote minus the graphics editors.
This software sells itself as being more than a clipboard application–it claims to be a complete information center for your computer. Looking at the list it can help you remember a cornucopia of different things: addresses, phone numbers, to-do lists, graphics, recipes, etc. When it boils down to it, basically the program will allow you to see if you’ve typed the same thing before, browse photos and paste them into an email, and other typical clipboard apps functions.
The site description also mentions this version’s shortcomings. It says:
“The Lite version has no time limit and no nags. The only difference between it and the full version is that it can only store 500 permanent clips whereas the full version can store 10,000.”
The purpose of this freeware in theory sounds great, but in reality it is another one of the jack of all trades but master of none applications.
Megan Feil, November 13, 2011
Mindbreeze Named Trendsetting Product
November 11, 2011
KM World lists Fabasoft Mindbreeze as one of its “Trend-Setting Products of 2011.” Microsoft SharePoint’s main claim is that it makes it easier for people to work together. However, we argue that a uniform platform does not guarantee ease, not unless the solution is customized to the organization and the situation. Fabasoft Mindbreeze boasts a highly customized enterprise solution allowing for not only efficient searching, but also “finding” across an organization’s entire system.
“Mindbreeze understands, relates and combines information from all sources and presents intelligent search results. Information can be grouped and is classified. Users can scan the different categories and spot a particular document without having to click through a list of links themselves. The information’s semantic relationship is recognized and depicted, navigation elements and facets are provided as well as a preview of any result in the browser. With Fabasoft Mindbreeze Enterprise you get a 360 degree view of your business, customers, competitors and more.”
Any discuss of an entity’s entire platform would be incomplete without some attention to mobile devices. Fabasoft Mindbreeze not only supports search and retrieval from mobile devices, but also ensures that access rights are continually maintained and updated on these devices as well.
“Fabasoft Mindbreeze Mobile supports your enterprise to profit from new opportunities to e-mail, collaborate and work with documents from any location. With Fabasoft Mindbreeze Mobile you can deliver any information to your mobile device’s interface and enhance it with context and classification features. Again, approved security procedures ensure that users can only see information for which they have rights.”
Since search is often carried out under time constraints, an easy and intuitive interface is essential. Explore the features of Fabasoft Mindbreeze to learn how this trend-setting solution can work for you.
Emily Rae Aldridge, November 11, 2011
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