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How To Drive Enterprise Collaboration
Earlier this week someone posted an article about why CIOs can’t sell enterprise collaboration tools and today I saw an article where IT leaders gave tips on how to drive enterprise collaboration and ensure its success. The IT leaders said the most common reason for CIOs having difficulty with enterprise collaboration is that they pursue solutions to problems that don’t exist.
Some of the tips given in the article included getting insight from employees and making sure they are invested in the selection process. They also said to CIOs should look for collaboration tools that require little training it will generally be adopted faster by more employees. Some IT leaders said gamification was the key to adoption because it provides incentives for employees to use the new collaboration tools. Other IT leaders said they use “the art of seduction” by creating collaborative tools that the user clearly sees as superior to previous tools or practices. Therefore, there is no need to drive adoption because users are already willing to adopt to a better solution.
Which tip do you think is most important in driving enterprise collaboration? In your internship or work experience, how have IT leaders tried to drive enterprise collaboration? Did it work?
Rocket maker for NASA and the Air Force to begin 3D printing parts
United Launch Alliance (ULA), who makes rockets for NASA and the Air Force, is planning to 3D print 100 parts for the next-gen model of its Vulcan rocket, which is expected to launch in 2019. Rockets cost about $165 million for ULA, and 3D printers are expected to save as much as $1 million per year in manufacturing costs. Creating these parts in house with 3D printing allows ULA to maintain internal quality control without having to deal with other companies. ULA has previously used 3D printing to make molds and guides, but has not used it to make parts before. Additionally, the company expects to use 3D printing for “rapid prototyping of parts.” This allows engineers to test a part for functionality before having to go through production or deal with a supplier.
Would you expect 3D printing to be adopted in something like rocket manufacturing?
What other manufacturers do you think could benefit from 3D printing parts?
Affordable 3D Printing May Be Just Around the Corner
Earlier in the semester when I gave a presentation on 3D printing, I suggested that Consumer 3D Printing won’t be mainstream for another 5-10 years. Well, it looks like it may be here sooner than expected. A team of engineers recently set out to develop a cheap, high-quality consumer 3D printer. With their product, named Tiko, they did just that. Tiko is a 3D printer that is easy to use, non-proprietary, accurate, Wi-Fi enabled, and even comes with its own software to design 3D models on (and be sent right to the printer) — and you can get one for a $179 pledge! This piqued a lot (well, several) peoples’ interest. The group of engineers created a Kickstarter campaign with the goal of raising $100,000 in order to further develop and mass produce the printer. As of now, with 10 days left in the campaign, $2,251,129 has been pledged by 12,663 backers — that is around 178x what they asked for.
As the Kickstarter campaign shows, there is a lot of interest in consumer 3D printing. With Tiko, it looks like it may soon be a reality. I personally think a product like Tiko can make a huge impact, especially in the toy industry. As I mentioned a lot in more presentation earlier in the semester, I think that a company like LEGO should be concerned by the arrival of product like Tiko. If I had one, for example, I could print all of the LEGO pieces that I want, and for much cheaper than buying actual LEGO sets.
What do you guys think, though? Do you guys think this could make a significant impact in the consumer industry, or is it still too early for consumer 3D printing to enter the mainstream market? Let me know what you think!
Why Digital Transformation Is a Make-or-Break Proposition
This article talks about how there is a growing global community of digital citizens that are demanding more from businesses, and that meeting these demands can be make-or-break for the business. Jeremy Burton, president, Products and Marketing, at EMC, gives five make-or-break attributes that companies must gain through digital transformation:
- The capability to predictively spot new opportunities in markets
- The capability to demonstrate transparency and trust
- The capability to innovate in agile ways
- The capability to deliver unique and personalized experiences
- The capability to operate in real time
For each of the attributes mentioned above, less than 15% of business leaders believe their company is doing well in that area. By 2020, 30 billion devices will have created 44 trillion gigabytes. There is serious value to be gained from this data that will help companies gain the five attributes, but “49% of business leaders admitted they do not know how to turn all of their data into actionable information.” Do you think companies are truly performing that poorly in these areas or are the business leaders not confident in their company’s performance? In what ways could a company improve in any one of the five areas? How can they begin to turn their data into actionable information?
4 Tips For Finding Funding For Your Startup
Forbes released an article discussing possible ways to fund startups. Having a great idea and product is only half the battle when launching a startup. You are going to need cash and a lot of it. Fortunately, in today’s day and age there are new alternatives to achieve funding. The article provided a few ways that may help you find the best route to go when starting your business.
1. Consider your niche – What makes your app special or stand out? Find this attribute and use it to locate investors that may be more inclined to investing in your product.
2. Find a grant – This may be difficult, but this will be a great way to get things rolling. There are grants for tons of different things, almost similar to the way scholarships are rewarded. There are grants for minorities, women, mothers, etc. This may be a difficult option, but it is definitely one that will provide great benefit.
3. Enter a contest – There are many contests now held to provide money for startup funding. If you chose to attempt this method you should focus on making your idea really stand out and being very clear when explaining your product/service.
4. Crowdfund your idea – These platforms are gaining attention from both businesses and investors. This has become increasingly popular in the past couple of years. Some of the popular sites include Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
4 Tips For Finding For Your Startup
Which tip do you think is the most helpful? Also, I am curious to everyone’s thought on crowdfunding. What is your stance on it?
Disruptive innovators and missteps
As a company trying to take on the big boy incumbents it is paramount to avoid the types of mistakes that will greatly effect your adoption rate. Sling was making some major headway in the market and enjoying a good buzz around its product. All until the march madness mishap that is talked about here. Is this ultimately going to end up fatal for sling? The biggest draw of the product was the fact that you wouldn’t have to miss the big events playing on your TV again, well if that is no longer a guarantee what will become of Sling?
Here is the article let me know what you think.
http://www.theverge.com/2015/4/5/8348885/sling-tv-ncaa-finals-problems-watching
Why CIOs Can’t Sell Enterprise Collaboration Tools
Enterprise collaboration is a concept that almost everyone supports, but is rarely implemented correctly and fully accepted. This is because businesses do not know what they are aiming to achieve, and end up failing the project. In order to improve the success of these projects, CIOs need to not only support the functionality, but also be a champion for it. This means using the software instead of telling others to.
Experts say that enterprises struggle with cross-functional communication from department to department or office to office. Collaboration tools can assist with this but requires identifying specific needs to choose what software to use. There is also a disconnect between the needs of employees and the C suite. Older executives are struggling to embrace technologies that seem simple to younger employees, which create a hazy picture for implementing a new technology. The biggest challenge, however, is the employees’ mindset about collaboration technology. If the demand for employees is not there, they will just work around the technology and ruin the return on the project.
What experiences have you had with collaboration tools at Temple or at an internship? What was more successful?
ATMs Get a Cloud Update
NCR, the leader in ATM technology, introduced new 
software that will allow ATMs to use the cloud in order to improve security and lower costs. About 75% of ATMs run Windows XP, which Microsoft suspended support for in April 2014. The new cloud software will allow machines to be updated remotely instead of the manual uploads required with Windows XP. NCR claims that this will allow banks to service machines twice as fast as before.
Do you think that NCR was late to implement this technology since Windows XP was no longer supported?
What other disruptive technologies do you think could be implemented into ATMs?
10 Tips for Group Presentations
Our presentation date is approaching quickly. I wanted to share an article that provides tips to presenting a successful group project. Hopefully you can use some of these tips to help you with your group presentation.
1. Show some energy – Monotony will kill your speech
2. Tell a story – This can help engage your audience
3. Learn how to structure your presentation – Focus on getting the main points across
4. Know your audience – Example: How many people are in the audience? What level of knowledge do they have on the materials being presented.
5. Be unique and memorable – Do something to make your group stand out
6. Keep it simple – Do not over complicate your presentation. You want your message to be clear. Do NOT confuse your audience.
7. Summarize – This helps get the main points across
8. Make it visual – Use visuals to enhance your message (People do not want to read a lot of text during a presentation)
9. Practice – This will help your group transitions better and maintain a steady flow during your presentation
10. Stick yo your allotted time – We have 9 minutes including Q&A(end between 7 and 9 minutes)
10 Tips to Nail a Group Presentation
Are there any other tips that you feel are important that were left out of this article? If so, please share!
Does Your Whole Home Need Antivirus Now??
Does Your Whole Home Need Antivirus Now_ – WSJ
I was happy to see this article, because my parents just recently put a security system in their home that they can access via mobile devices to unlock doors, etc. I told them I was pretty sure that makes them more vulnerable, but I was not positive. After discussing my concern with one of my IT security managers at work I found out they are without a doubt more vulnerable. When accessing your home security system via mobile device you are using wireless connection and wireless transmissions are not always encrypted. Information such as e-mails sent by a mobile device is usually not encrypted while in transit. In addition, many applications do not encrypt the data they transmit and receive over the network, making it easy for the data to be intercepted. For example, if an application is transmitting data over an unencrypted WiFi network using http (rather than secure http), the data can be easily intercepted. When a wireless transmission is not encrypted, data can be easily intercepted. Data such as a mobile security application that unlocks your home doors, and turn off your security system.
Even though this device isn’t functioning 100% correct as yet it still is an innovative idea, which will create a new market.
What is everyones thought on this home security issue?
Does anyone have a security system they can access via mobile device?
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