iPhone Sales Disappoint Despite All The Hype
Apple’s Q1 2018 results are out, and the numbers point to Apple’s mighty iPhone cash generating machine might be starting to run out of steam. Sales of 77.3 million units makes this Apple’s second best iPhone quarter to date, and represents a massive 66 percent increase compared to the last quarter. However, this is a 1 percent decline compared to the year-ago quarter.
Appian Survey: Big Obstacles To Digital Transformation
The IT departments of most organizations are unable to meet the business goals of digital transformation because of several major obstacles according to a survey commissioned by enterprise software development platform, Appian. A lack of IT skills was reported by 82 percent; 91 percent are struggling with technical debt; 20 percent have huge application backlogs of more than 50 new app requests; and 72 per cent said they don’t have confidence in being able to scale IT to meet the needs of the business.
10 Most Popular Enterprise Apps From Okta’s ‘Businesses @ Work Report’
Each year, security and enterprise systems provider Okta releases its Businesses @ Work Report, which examines the applications and services companies across its customer network used on a daily basis. This year’s data, which comes from thousands of data points provides insight into enterprise software trends and suggests not much has changed in enterprise application preferences from 2017 to 2018.
Apple At Work Teams With CDW
In a recent conference call, Apple’s chief executive Tim Cook outlined an expansion of its “Apple at Work” initiatives, intended to help enterprise Information Technology workers to more efficiently procure, manage and deploy Macs and iOS devices for their workers. CDW, Apple’s initial launch partner, has been selling education, business and government agencies technology products and services for 34 years. By working with CDW as a partner, Apple can focus on making great products while benefitting from the experience of a well-known vendor to support and facilitate sales relationships with enterprise buyers.
Smartphone Push-To-Talk Apps Poised For Enterprise Growth
Smartphone push-to-talk apps are a viable option for enterprises because of the improved reliability of 4G and LTE networks. Their automation and integration tools could be key to future growth.
Lack Of Encryption In Cloud Applications Rendering Enterprises Vulnerable
Medium and large enterprises are developing and using enterprise applications on a large scale for various purposes, but a lack of encryption, coupled with serious security flaws in such applications, is also rendering enterprises vulnerable to sophisticated hacking operations.
Samsung Commits To Foldable OLED Phones For 2018
Samsung Electronics has committed to launching a foldable OLED phone this year to cement its premium leadership for its revived mobile business, while it expects steady growth for its chip business.
Google Partners With Appthority To Protect Enterprises From Unsafe Android Apps
In the past few weeks, Google Inc. has had to remove dozens of apps from Google Play after they were found to contain malware. The search giant’s latest partnership aims to address security concerns of this nature for companies whose employees use Android.
In Fingerprints And Banks We Trust: IBM Reports On The Future Of Authentication
Online security continues to be a trade-off between security and convenience, but the compromises are different depending on how old you are, where you live, and the value of the data, according to a global survey of 3,977 adults by IBM Security. The real problem is how to improve things, because “the traditional scheme of accessing data and services by username and password has repeatedly shown to be inadequate,” says IBM’s report.
MIT Launches MIT IQ, Aims To Spur Human, Artificial Intelligence Breakthroughs
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology is launching an initiative called MIT Intelligence Quest in an effort to combine multiple disciplines to reverse engineer human intelligence, create new algorithms for machine learning and artificial intelligence and foster collaboration. Perhaps the biggest takeaway from the structure of MIT IQ is that artificial intelligence needs to be a team sport to develop breakthroughs. MIT IQ is an effort to break down multiple research silos across the institute to rally around human and machine intelligence.
Cisco Throws Everything It Has At Containers, Hybrid Cloud
Cisco has decided to throw everything it has at containers by releasing its very own “Container Platform”. At first blush the Platform isn’t much more than Kubernetes, and Cisco doesn’t claim that it can do much more than anyone else’s packaging of the Google-derived container-manager. The important bit is the integration with Cisco management products, because Cisco has reached the conclusion that containers and Kubernetes are very useful but they need network management, persistent storage, load balancing and all the other things that other modes of application deployment rely on when they go into production at scale.
Oracle Betting On Autonomous Database To Compete With Cloud Leaders
Can Oracle challenge cloud-computing leaders like Amazon and Microsoft? The company says new technology like its Autonomous Database will appeal to its huge installed base of enterprise customers and attract plenty of new ones as well.
Amazon Alexa Adds Ability To Send SMS Messages By Voice
Amazon has updated its Alexa service with support for sending SMS text messages by voice. Users can now ask Alexa to send a message to their smartphone contact, and it can be routed through SMS or Alexa’s messaging platform.
Microsoft Extends Windows 10 Support For Businesses And Schools
Microsoft is giving its enterprise and education customers a little more time before their older versions of Windows 10 begin slipping out of support. Since the arrival of Windows 10, Microsoft has taken a “Windows as a service” approach to delivering operating system updates. Twice a year, users can expect a major feature update apart from monthly or emergency security patches like the ones that were recently issued to address the Meltdown and Spectre CPU vulnerabilities.
Financial Services To Lead Global Spend On Blockchain
The inaugural Worldwide Semiannual Blockchain Spending Guide from IDC forecasts global spending on blockchain solutions to reach US$2.1 billion in 2018, more than double the US$945 million spent in 2017. IDC expects blockchain spending to grow at a robust pace over the 2016-2021 forecast period with a five-year compound annual growth rate of 81.2 percent and total spending of $US9.2 billion in 2021.
What Life Is Supposed To Look Like On The Other Side Of Digital Transformation
After the digital transformation is underway, everyone eyes the new metrics, and pat each other on the back. The consultants go home. The cloud vendors issue their promises to keep things up and running. Executives and thought leaders put together slides and data for articles and presentations. All looks good. But what will the workplace itself look like, once the first wave of digital transformation has made its mark? After all, we need to be able to visualize the end-goal before we can believe this coming revolution is real.
Microsoft Adds New App Integrations, App Store To Teams
Microsoft is adding new application integration and control functionality to Microsoft Teams, its chat-based Office 365 workspace, starting January 29. Officials are calling the new additions “the biggest single release of new functionality since Teams launched last March.”
Mastercard Bares Five Year Contactless Roadmap
Mastercard laid out its initiative to create greater payment consistency using “tap and go” standard in the next five years. Starting in 2018, Mastercard will require a series of card and terminal upgrades across Europe, Latin America, Asia Pacific, Africa and the Middle East to bring secure and convenient contactless card payment technology to more people in more locations around the world. This move means that every cardholder will be able to “tap” their card or device to pay, in these regions and every day.
Microsoft Azure Cloud Revenue Nearly Doubles In Q2 2018
Betting on a cloud-first product strategy has proven to be a lucrative move for Microsoft. On Jan. 31, the Redmond, Wash. tech titan reported revenue of $28.9 billion for its second quarter of fiscal year 2018, representing a year-over-increase of 12 percent and beating Wall Street analyst estimates of nearly $28.4 billion. Net income was $7.5 billion and earnings per share of 96 cents surpassed analyst expectations of 86 cents.
How Best To Deploy Bots, Automation For IT Efficiencies
Companies are turning to bots to avoid the hassle that apps bring and create a pleasant CX, defined as “customer experience.” But best practices are a good idea.
Tighten Mobile Security For The Enterprise With New Strategies
It’s important to update your organization’s mobile security strategy. Stay informed with new security methods, such as biometric authentication and edge gateways.
Google Flights Uses AI And Machine Learning To Predict Delays
It’s important to update your organization’s mobile security strategy. Stay informed with new security methods, such as biometric authentication and edge gateways.Google has added updates to its flight booking service Google Flights that will give passengers a heads-up before they arrive at the airport. Google said in a blog post that Flights’ machine-learning algorithms will use historic flight status data to provide live updates and reasons for delays, such as weather or an aircraft arriving late. Passengers can search for their flight number or the airline and the route, and the delay predictions will be shown even when the information isn’t yet officially available from the airlines.
