Part 6: Social Enterprises Get Googled
Google Apps for Business is now also in the social and collaboration software mix. Although not what one would classify as a full social intranet platform, is quickly evolving in true Google innovation style into the social and collaboration platform space. In particular with the evolution of Google Drive, their online document management and…
Part 5: Drupal Commons
The Gartner 2012 Magic Quadrant report on social software has missed a serious open source contender in Drupal Commons social media platform, but has recognized its sister Drupal CMS in the content management system space. In the 2013 reports, Drupal Commons landed on the map. Many people are not aware Commons refers to the cultural and…
Part 4: Salesforce Goes Social
One of the first companies to embrace and fly up to the clouds, Marc Benioff, a former Oracle executive launched Salesforce in March 1999. The longtime leader in Salesforce automation (SFA), Salesforce is one of the few solutions, which successfully crosses over multiple areas of functions providing mass mailing, campaign management, lead…
Part 3: What’s the Point of SharePoint?
Where does SharePoint make its point and its mark? Answer: Document and data management. A heavier, enterprise, legacy based software, the interface of SharePoint is reminiscent of the older software designs and ‘file folder’ structures. Eloqua, an enterprise level, legacy marketing automation platform, and Salesforce,…
Part 2: Jive Gets in the Social Groove
As an enterprise platform inherently designed to be social, Jive both competes with Igloo Software highlighted in Part 1 of our series, and also interestingly both differs from SharePoint (which will be highlighted in part 3 of our series. Interestingly, Jive competes with SharePoint, and also integrates with SharePoint. …
Part 1: Igloo Goes Global Out of the Gate
Igloo Software’s roots reign from international initiatives needing collaboration across the globe. Igloo is in our backyard, and a friendly software neighbour here in Waterloo Region, Ontario, Canada, so we have to put it at the top of the list and give kudos to this local success story. The company’s origins trace to 2004, when Mr. Jim…
The Benefits of Going Social With Your Intranet Series: Introduction
We have identified six intranets that will be profiled over the next week. Igloo, Jive, SharePoint, Salesforce, Drupal Commons and Google Apps are the leading intranets in their respective areas. Take a look below to see the key reasons why your business should consider a social intranet. The Benefits of Going Social with Your Intranet…
5 Ways to Encourage Women in STEM
Follow Your Degree & Your Dream Many STEM related positions are available but there are not enough qualified people to fill the positions. Incredibly, women who graduate with a STEM degree, are more likely to pursue health or educational careers, leaving males to fill computer science or engineering roles. Early Education…
Celebrate STEM-Science, Technology, Engineering & Math
STEM consists of fields involving the science, technology, engineering and math. STEM occupations are necessary in leading and assisting societies with resources and innovation. According to Million Women Mentors, women have been, and currently are, underrepresented in fields of STEM. There are a variety of suggestions that could possibly explain…
Life Lessons from A WWII Veteran ~ George Witzell
1) Be Humble Every year, I would make sure to take my Grandma Agnes, and my Grandfather George Witzell out for dinner when I visited Niagara Falls. One weekend, I choose a nice Italian restaurant and I let them know they could have anything they wanted on the menu. They were from the depression era, so they immediately had…
Varsity Athletics is a Powerful Brand Builder
It is very refreshing to finally have a Canadian Institution value and promote their varsity athletics with the same zest and zeal as our American counterparts. The Guelph Gryphons have significantly invested in athletics and it is paying off in a big way with branding and buzz building happening on campus, off campus and across the country.…
What is Big Data?
Lately there has been a lot of buzz around the words ‘Big Data’. It was all about just ‘data’ in the past and then all of a sudden there is a lot of talk about ‘Big data’. So what has changed? In my opinion – nothing. Data is data - be it small or big. It’s the process of how this data is converted into valuable information that has…
Dare to Think Different
Ideas can often be stalled or not let outside the box by the risk averse. Sometimes, but certainly not always, these are left-brained individuals. However, if left and right-brained thinking works together, either in the capacity of one individual or leader, or within a team; or if a left brained leader has a skew of right brain risk and…
The Knowledge Graph, Google Humanizes Search
In its constant quest to take technology to the next level, Google’s most recent service, the Knowledge Graph, is designed to enhance the user’s search experience even more. According to Google, it’s “a “graph”—that understands real-world entities and their relationships to one another: things, not strings.” The Knowledge Graph is…
Imagine Museums of the Future
I had a chance to visit some museums over the holidays and was pondering the challenge that they have to maintain relevance in today's hectic noisy society. I was particularly impressed by the changes that are in progress at the Toronto Royal Ontario Museum (#ROM) under the direction of their CEO @JanetCarding. During her…
Connecting to Customers
The artwork that can be created using Fractals is gorgeous. I just stumbled on Jock Cooper's Fractal Art animation gallery while we were looking for examples to post. Not only are they gorgeous, but they are a great example of how social media networks spread. Going viral is an ambitious goal, but it's not just a matter of luck. For…