Mobile App of the Week: Staying up to Date with your Business Contacts on Linkedin

For this week’s Mobile App of the Week our focus is on the LinkedIn iPhone app. This app version of the business social networking site gives users the ability to connect with their LinkedIn contacts and manage their profile on the go.

When users first click on the app and have signed on, they’re directed to the app’s home page where they can choose to go to their LinkedIn profile, groups, inbox or see updates. From there, users can browse their contacts, make new connections, update their status, edit their profile and see what they’re contacts are up to through the news feed.

Requirements

The LinkedIn app is a free download from iTunes. It's compatible with the iPhone, iPod touch, iPad and has been optimized for iPhone 5. Users must have iOS of 4.5 or higher.

If you aren’t an iPhone user, there is also an Android and Windows Phone version. The Android version is available in the Google Play store for users with versions 2.1 or higher, while the Windows Phone version is available for those who have Windows Phone 7.5 or higher.

Pros

As was mentioned, users have access to all of the features they have on the web version of LinkedIn, as well as a few mobile only options. Some of these features include:

• Being able to view and recommend jobs.
• Updating and editing your profile.
• Read suggested industry news of the day.
• Users can search based on a job title or keyword to see all their contacts that relate to that search.
• Receive suggestions on who should be part of your LinkedIn network.
• Ability to enable and receive push notifications.

Users, upon their initial sign in with the app are promoted to sync their calendar with their account. If a user chooses this option, LinkedIn says that the information isn't stored within their server and notes that users have the ability to opt-out or eventually sync their calendar by changing their settings. 

Final Thoughts

As a basic app, the LinkedIn app is merely a mobile version of the LinkedIn website. With this in mind, there isn't much that sets it apart from the site, besides being more compact.

This app would be useful for those who need to have their LinkedIn profile and contacts on hand in meetings or when they’re away from the office. If you’re not someone who spends a lot of time away from the office or uses their LinkedIn profile as a essential business tool, than you shouldn't bother with it.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Mobile App of the Week: Organizing your Files with Box.net

It's time for the Mobile App of the Week and this week our focus is on Box.net's Android app. Box's cloud-based file sharing and document collaboration platform allows users to view, share and collaborate on files from wherever they are.

After signing up for a Box.net account (which only takes a few seconds and is free), users have access to both the app and Box website. With the Android app, users are able to add folders and files (which include photo, video, audio, documents, spreadsheets and PowerPoints) directly from their phone. Users also have the ability to view, edit and download files to your Android device for offline access.

The app also links users to Box OneCloud, which is a mobile framework that helps connect content to a number of apps. Box OneCloud has a variety of other apps that could be useful for those in need of a collaboration tool set. Document collaboration capabilities already exist within the app, with the ability to share documents and files with colleagues, to give and receive feedback on shared files and the ability to track changes made by installing an update tab widget. 

Requirements

Box is available from the Google Play store for Android users who have a version 2.1 or higher. It currently has a user rating of 4.4 out of 5 stars.

Note that if you aren't an Android user, Box also offers an iPhone and an iPad app and an app for Windows Phone.

Box Android App - Open Document Options 

The Pros of Box on Android

Making the claim that over 120,000 companies use Box, the app promises to provide enterprise-grade solutions for users. Some of these features include:

• A way for files to be encrypted and password protected.
• Compatibility with other OneCloud apps.
• Files can be saved to your phone or tablet’s SD card.
• Users can leave notes and comments on work for colleagues.
• Up to 5GB of data.
• The ability to add a widget or shortcut to the device that will allow the user to receive notifications of files that are updated.
• The option to open documents, spreadsheets and similar files with a variety of other apps that include iAnnoate, Annotate with qPDF, ThinkFree, Breezy or with another app installed on your phone.

Issues with Box on the Android

Box isn't a very complex document collaboration app, so there aren’t many flaws, but one is:

• When creating a document, the app directs you to download the ThinkOffice app — even if you already have this app or another word processing app installed on your device.

Final Thoughts

This is a very easy to navigate app for those who need to manage their files when away from the office. If you are someone who simply wants to store a few items there might be simpler apps to use (like DropBox), as Box seems to be directed at those who need multi-platform document collaboration capabilities.
 

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

The Rise of the Engaged Enterprise

A pervasive lack of focus is epidemic in today’s workplace, and this shouldn’t come as a surprise. According to the New York Times, the average American worker consumes 34 gigabytes of information and reads 100,000 words in a single day. At the same time, employees are constantly shifting their attention; computer users change windows or check email and other programs an average of 37 times an hour. Multitasking is no longer an art but a norm. 

Distraction is one of the most destructive forces facing businesses today. This lack of engaged focus rapidly erodes a company’s productivity, but it doesn’t limit itself to employees alone. Disengagement has an equally negative impact on key audiences like customers and partners as well.

The Risks of Distraction

Customers: Your customers are confronted with more competing messages, more options and more distractions than ever before. More than 30 billion apps have been installed on mobile devices, where people are spending 94 minutes a day — even more than the 75 minutes they’re spending on the web.

Employees: With additional email overload, internal instant messaging platforms, social media platforms and open work environments, employees are bombarded by distractions throughout the day. When an employee doesn’t remain focused on the job at hand, they find themselves forced to work longer hours, later into the night and on weekends to compensate. This can quickly lead to burn-out and disengagement. Accord to Gallup, 50 percent of employees today are disengaged at work, costing U.S. business US$ 300 billion per year in lost productivity.

Partners: The same distractions tugging at our customers and employees are also impacting our partners. Beyond the obstacles mentioned above, partners are struggling to keep up with the training and products of every OEM they represent. Partners are asked to take training courses, register deals and connect with customers, all while trying to keep their heads afloat. Our partners are suffering from an understandable lack of focus, and companies that become complacent about their partner networks are inviting significant risk.

The Elements of Focus

Having realized the importance of keeping audiences as focused as possible, businesses are making every attempt to achieve focus. When looking at examples where focus is regularly achieved, we find a common set of elements that include:

• A clearly defined goal
• A system of measurable progress leading to that goal
• A notion of status against achieving that goal
• A reward for reaching the goal

The focus concepts of goals, progress, status and reward aren’t novel; they’re often used concepts that appeal to the human psyche (e.g. Frequent Flyer Programs). But today’s games target more digitally sophisticated players and therefore require a more intricate and involved playing field.

Putting Games to Work

Just putting basic elements in front of individuals isn’t enough. Over the past several years, a growing number of businesses have started investing in gamification technologies to bring focus mechanics — goals, progress, status and rewards — into their digital experiences.

Gamification helps businesses engage with customers and motivate employees. By applying the same principles that inspire people to play games to websites and other online experiences, businesses can dramatically increase the size of their audiences, boost customer engagement, drive deeper employee motivation and increase revenues.

In effect, businesses are transforming themselves into “Engaged Enterprises,” a term that refers to leading-edge companies that are successfully engaging every aspect of their organizations into cohesive, collaborative, loyal and focused communities. These companies, such as IBM, Cisco, Jive and Bluewolf, are characterized by highly active, loyal and focused customers, employees and partners and they realize that through the adoption of gamification technology, they can gain a competitive advantage across every spectrum of their businesses.

 

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Source : cmswire[dot]com

Cisco Takes WebEx to the Private Cloud, Expands Hosted Collaboration Solution

Cisco announces changes to its collaboration portfolio, with a strong focus on improving collaboration in the cloud.

WebEx Heads to the Cloud

Let's start with the web conferencing. Customers now have choices for how to support their meeting needs. Prior to this release, WebEx was an on premises solution for organizations. Many organizations also used the Cisco Public WebEx cloud offering (usage has increased 38 percent year over year according to Cisco). But for those who want to take advantage of the cost efficiencies of the cloud and keep control of their own content, something new was required.

Cisco has announced the Cisco WebEx Meeting Server built to run in private cloud environment where organizations can ensure data privacy. It's also a great solution for those who are still tied to a capital expenditures model as opposed to the new utility model that comes with cloud-based hosted solutions. This is a virtualized server solution that is designed for the Cisco Unified Computing System, so deployment and management is simplified.

If you also have Cisco Unifiied Communications Manager, you can extend IP telephony to your web conference. And this is a nice capability coming in January of 2013: if you are doing an IM session using Jabber, you can quickly turn that into a web conference directly from the Jabber interface.

Cisco Host Collaboration Solution

Whether you have the entire Suite of capability or only a couple of modules, there are some updates to the Hosted Collaboration Solution (HCS) that you will be interested in hearing about:

Telepresence capabilities have been enhanced: This includes enabling partners to conduct meetings at any time without a reservation, expanding intra- and inter-company collaboration with video experiences. The Cisco TelePresence Exchange (CTX) is now integrated into HCS which means partners can manage their infrastructure across all their customers. It also means that customers can now connect multiple locations at the same time.

HCS for Customer Collaboration (Contact Center): The workflows and management capabilities for each customer contact center can now be integrated together offering a more seamless way to support clients across the board. This includes a new Web 2.0 customizable desktop that supports call center agents.

Advancing Unified Communications: Enhancements for HCS here include supporting third party SIP endpoints and an expansion of the IMS Jabber integration to support third party phones in the Cisco UC environment.

Taking Collaboration to New Levels

Sometimes we talk about collaboration like it's something we've not been doing for years. The tools have changed though to support quicker ways to work together, often more efficient ways. And that's what we are seeing with much of the Cisco announcements today. This "collaboration" as Cisco clearly notes is not just internally focused, it's something we need to get better at with our partners, our suppliers and our own customers.

Much of the functionality announced today is expected to be available in the fourth quarter of this year. 

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Osmek Shifts From Framework Web CMS to Content API Solution

Hosted cloud-based Web CMS provider Osmek claims to have “rethought” the Web CMS model by shifting focus from the framework to the actual content being published.

Becoming a ‘Content API’

On its site, Osmek says it has transformed itself into a “content API,” rather than a traditional Web CMS provider. What this means is the Osmek CMS is platform-agnostic. Developers have their choice of programming language, framework, etc. and can also distribute content to an unlimited number of sites and in formats such as content templates and XML.

Through the use of “content bins” that replace frameworks, Osmek also says its CMS (or content API, if you prefer) developers can pick from a variety of back-end models including photo gallery and podcasting. The Osmek API allows remote access from any location and managers can set different levels of permission controls for different users.

Osmek – The Old Days

Osmek has always presented itself as a lightweight publishing system that gives the users multiple options for formatting content, but has not always used the content API model. In May 2010, CMSWire covered the introduction of Osmek into the hosted Web CMS marketplace. Osmek, the brainchild of Matthew McCloskey, founder and Principal at Kemso, LLC, was presented as a Web-based content management system that leverages the cloud for content storage.

Osmek did offer a language-neutral development API, a series of section modules and templates and system wide core functionality that enabled site features such as comments and tags. The system targeted the same customer base as Squarespace and LightCMS. Specifically, Web developers and designers who are looking for a content management solution for their clients.

However, although Osmek always offered a high degree of individual choice and language-neutrality, it still followed the typical framework CMS model. By completely eliminating frameworks and turning the whole CMS into an API, Osmek is maximizing the flexibility and scalability of the developer environment. Will it be stable enough for widespread use? If this proves to be the case, look for other CMS vendors to start ditching frameworks in favor of flexibility.

A Friend of the Developer

A friend of the developer is a friend of mine, but is the revamped Osmek CMS a true “friend” to developers? AppStorm recently asked this question, noting that the traditional “PHP-based application installed on your server that lets you log in and add/edit pages” works well, but “the way these websites work can make it difficult to customize your website, leaving the back end dictating how the front end works.”

In comparison, AppStorm deems Osmek’s user interface to be “a little clunky and convoluted.” However, overall Osmek gets a “very good” rating, with specific praise for the ease of using content bins, customizable data fields and quality of the developer API. On a scale of one to 10, Osmek receives an 8. Sounds pretty friendly.

Osmek pricing ranges across five basic levels from US$ 9 to US$ 149 per month, depending on number of content bins, users and servers.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com

Weekend Reading: Goodbye SharePoint, Hello Web Analytics

August is over and with it goes our SharePoint focus. But we ended the month with a bang, finishing up the series that gave us a 35,000 foot view of SharePoint 2013, looking at SharePoint governance from a few angles and returned to a question asked earlier in the month: SharePoint and WCM, perfect together?

Our contributors gave us a cheat sheet for recognizing an internet charlatan (print it up before your next interview), a look at new Federal records management requirements that apply to the public sector but will reverberate throughout the records management world and one more attempt to figure out who's in charge of metadata. Poor metadata, always pushed around.

Enjoy the holiday weekend all!

It's Time to Say Goodbye

SharePoint Governance: Needed Now More Than Ever

Jennifer Mason (@jennifermason):  Last week I had the opportunity to participate in the Tweetjam about SharePoint. One of the topics that came up was the importance of Governance. In this article I want to dive deeper into this topic and stress how important governance is within your environment. 

Got SharePoint? Start with the End User in Mind

Rich Blank (@pmpinsights):When it comes to information worker tools, it’s rare I hear someone from IT say “we walk a day in the life of our end users and start backwards from there.” Seldom do they ask “how do our people want to work?” or “what tools and information do our workers need exactly?”     

Is SharePoint Integration a Mandatory WCM Requirement?

Ian Truscott (@iantruscott): There are a lot of opinions about Microsoft Office SharePoint, some favorable and others less so, but no matter the camp you sit in, there is no denying it’s ubiquity in our organizations.

According to a recent AIIM (the Association for Information and Image Management professionals) Industry Watch Report “The SharePoint Puzzle,” that ubiquity is here to stay.

35,000 Foot View of SharePoint 2013 for End Users

Brian Alderman (@brianalderman):This is the last article of a four-part 35,000-foot overview of some of the major changes expected in SharePoint 2013. What's in store for the end user?

SharePoint Business Governance Strategy: Human Forces

Frederik Leksell (@letstalkgov): You can't run a SharePoint project and expect it to be maintenance free. You need to have an organization, both during and after the project.

Interview: NewsGator's J.B. Holston on Being a SharePoint Partner, Future of Collaboration

Barb Mosher Zinck (@bmosherzinck): When you think about Microsoft partners, one of the first that comes to mind is NewsGator. A successful third party integrator to Microsoft SharePoint, NewsGator Social Sites has over 4 million paid seats and is Microsoft's premier partner for social software integration. And while this last little while has seen a number of interesting events happen for NewsGator: Microsoft's acquisition of Yammer, a new version of Social Sites, a new version of SharePoint and a new CEO, it only spells good news for the social software company. Here we offer some of J.B. Holston's (now the former CEO of NewsGator) views on these topics.

Making Enterprise Information Secure, Accessible

What You Need to Know About Incorporating Social Media Into Your E-Discovery Strategy

Sheila Mackay: An employee, excited about a new product the company is developing, mentions it on Facebook. Due to his privacy settings, a competitor gets wind of potential trade secret information. In another situation, a disgruntled employee sends a negative Tweet about his company to hundreds of followers, including company shareholders.

New Public Sector Records Managers' Challenges: Transparency, Participation, Collaboration

Cheryl McKinnon (@cherylmckinnon):When was the last time a definition of records management left a person feeling inspired? August 24, 2012 just might be that time.

Managing Metadata - Any Volunteers?

Erik Hartman (@erikmhartman): Almost every content management (CM) book, presentation or other CM-related publication talks about metadata. So most CM people know what it is, what it's for and what it looks like.

But when it comes to insights about who manages the metadata, the available sources are quite limited and contradictory.

VMware Horizon Suite Secure Mobile Access to Enterprise Information Helps CIOs Sleep Better

Virginia Backaitis: Content Management from its earliest days has been about getting the right information to the right person at the right time. This was long before there were laptops, before email, before the web, before smartphones, before e-Readers, before tablet computers, before whatever comes next.

Failures, Charlatans and Writers, Oh My!

The Three P's of Avoiding Social CRM Failure

Chris Bucholtz (@bucholtz): With the social era in full swing, we hear on a near daily basis about all the benefits a social media and social CRM strategy can bring. Tactically, they can help sales with potential leads, give service a new window into building customer satisfaction and provide marketing with fresh opportunities to engage and entice new customers. Strategically, they can help you avoid becoming obsolete and irrelevant as customers increasingly go social.

 

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Source : cmswire[dot]com

Diversity Drives Innovation #ILTA12

Today starts our week-long coverage of ILTA 12. Though the International Legal Technology Association brings together a variety of legal professionals, the focus of this year’s conference relates to most, if not all of us in the enterprise — Act, Collaborate to Drive Change (AC2DC).

At the Corner of Diversity & Innovation

This morning’s keynote address, which featured Frans Johansson, author of "The Medici Effect”, laid a foundation for what the next few days are likely to bring, namely innovation at the intersection of disciplines and cultures. Mr. Johansson highlighted the different ways different companies have either embraced or foiled a culture of innovation to make inspired, meaningful changes to the way they work, develop and distribute products and services.

Mr. Johansson says that diversity drives innovation. Whether it is a diversity of culture, generations or experiences, when people of different backgrounds come together, the potential for innovation is at its greatest. Of course, it usually doesn’t start that way, because we usually refuse what we don’t understand. However, if you think about it from the perspective of innovation, consider Mr. Johansson’s facts about innovation:

• #1 all new ideas are combination of existing ideas.
• #2 people who change the world try far more ideas
• #3 Diverse teams can unleash an explosion of new ideas

At the intersection of culture we come up with better ideas, which is the reason why, when you embrace diversity, it can drive innovation.

Become Enabled to Make Things Better

How is this useful to you, the legal professional or enterprise worker? No matter what we do or at what level in our company we operate, we can leverage diversity of our organizations for new insights. We can use technology to drive (not just serve) new business models. We can make it easier to collaborate with everybody. Empowered employee meet diversity.

Find New Ways to Collaborate

How much innovation can you draw from a photo of a Formula One pit stop crew? Johansson asked audience members to stand up and discuss with the person beside us about how we can collaborate better based on information we gleaned from a photo.

In 3 minutes the person next to me and I came up with a few interesting ideas. Imagine if we doubled or even tripled the amount of time — 12 minutes at most? What if you and your colleagues spent 12 minutes a day or a week trying to figure out solutions to problems — how far would you get? What ideas could be dreamed up? How many of them can be useful?

Find New Ways to Be Inspired

If you truly want to drive change, find a way to think differently about things. Find a way to work together with new people, with new perspectives and see what can happen. Of course, this is a legal technology conference, so while it's great to start the first day with a sense of discovery and unlimited possibility, it's important to keep it real.

Many firms are still struggling to adapt to new types of new technology, never mind ready to drastically change how they work. Hopefully, however, Mr. Johansson's wisdom will stay alive throughout the week, reminding us that it's not the technology that's broken, it's our culture that needs to be fixed.

 

 

Source : cmswire[dot]com