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Digital divergence: Microsoft poll results

Respondents in developing and developed countries diverge on how technology will affect them going forward.

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CA Technologies Predicts Identity and Access Management Trends for 2015

CA Technologies has announced five key trends for security and identity and access management that will impact organizations in 2015.

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Application Economy Demands a New Approach to Security

Mobility, APIs and Business Enablement Spark New Attitudes Toward Security and Drive an Increase in Investment.

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Industry Trends

The Ultimate List of International Business Tools for 2015

When you spend more time up in the air than in your office, your productivity is dependent on your travel support tools.

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Dimension Data’s 2015 Global Contact Center Benchmarking Report

Increasingly mobile customers are forcing organizations to adapt their digital engagement models or lose relevance.

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OrionVM Named in CRN’s “Coolest Cloud Computing Vendors” List

OrionVM honored as one of the top 20 Cloud Infrastructure Vendors Of The CRN 2015 Cloud 100

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IBM Sponsored Study Finds Mobile App Developers Not Investing in Security

New IBM Mobile Threat Management Technology Helps Combat Mobile Malware.

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Creative And IT Collaboration On The Rise

Research Reveals Common Cross-Departmental Communication Challenges.

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Industry Trends

CA Technologies Study Finds that Brand Loyalty Has a Six Second Shelf Life

The results of a global study commissioned by CA Technologies reveal that mobile and desktop applications have become the new battleground for brand loyalty. In today’s software-driven world, where consumers are more discerning about what they expect from applications, the reality is that businesses that fail to deliver a positive application experience risk losing as much as a quarter of their customer base.

The study – Software: the New Battleground for Brand Loyalty – surveyed 6,770 consumers and 809 business decision makers in 18 countries to uncover how each group thought various characteristics of applications impacted user experience, and how well different industries delivered on those characteristics. Consumers identified three that have the biggest impact on the consumer experience:

1. Quick Loading – 68 percent of consumer respondents, who left a brand because of poor load times, said a loading time of six or less seconds was acceptable – and slightly more than half of those respondents demand a load time of less than three seconds.

2. Simple Functionality – More than 70 percent of consumers ranked ‘perform tasks with little difficulty’ and almost 80% ranked applications that have ‘easy to use features’ as top drivers of their decision to utilize or purchase an application.

3. The Assurance of Security – Out of users who had a fair or poor experience, 10 percent said that they would leave a brand forever because of issues with security.

“Consumers no longer view applications as nice-to-have novelties. They now have a huge impact on customer loyalty,” said Andi Mann, vice president, Strategic Solutions, CA Technologies. “As businesses navigate a new, always-connected reality that produces vast amounts of ambient data, they must react by delivering a personalized, secure and engaging application experience.”

There is a disconnect, the study revealed, between how well businesses decision makers think industries are able to provide application technologies, and how well consumers believe the same industries are actually delivering. Specifically, businesses think application delivery is largely better than consumers do: a difference of 15 percent in financial services, and 14 percent each in Information and Technology and Government Administration.

The study also highlighted how applications have become a crucial meeting point between consumers and organizations. According to the survey, 49 percent of consumers are using applications to bank and 48 percent use applications to shop; and more than half of respondents say they’d be willing to use applications to perform tasks like paying taxes, managing healthcare or even voting in elections.

“In order to tap into the growth potential of the application economy, businesses and governments must make software more than just a part of their business – it must become their business,” said Mann. “And to do this, they have to let their customers lead: listen to them, understand their needs, and apply the same rigor and predictive analysis to application development and deployment as they would to determine the best location for a retail store.”

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Industry Trends

This Year’s Tech Supports Your Sales Efforts

Technology and sales are almost inseparable these days. Salespeople are constantly on the go and need tools to help them connect with their team, access vital data and present their pitches to potential clients. So, what tech tools does your sales team need? Keep reading to find out.

Wearable Tech
One of the newest communicative technologies is the Samsung Gear S smartwatch, which has all of the functionality of your smartphone. This device links your sales team into the larger infrastructure of your business by giving them real time access to calendars, documents and emails. With a little clever app work, they can even log into shared printers and deliver official papers all from their watch. This gadget is perfect for traveling salespeople because it can go everywhere with them without the risk of being lost or forgotten.

Laptops
Your sales team needs a computer everywhere they go. This is a simple fact of revenue building. These men and women are the face of your products in the real world, and the technology they carry not only keeps them connected to your business, but also reflects on the quality of your organization.

Not all laptops are the same. Large, bulky and underpowered systems can cost you a client. This is why Samsung introduced its ultralight, super powerful Ativ Book 9 Plus at CES this year. This 13-inch computer packs a lot of power into its slim body, which weighs a little less than two pounds. This makes the laptop more portable, and with 11 hours of battery life, you won’t have to worry about your computer shutting down in the middle of a presentation.

Rugged Storage
Data storage is a huge issue, especially for a mobile sales team. Large data files cannot be easily downloaded at a local coffee shop or transported from device to device. This can cost you potential clients if you can’t show them your sales pitch in a timely manner. So, for times when your people need a lot of storage, consider using a large portable storage device, such as LaCie’s Rugged RAID 4-terabyte model that is water, dust and impact resistant. This storage unit is designed to be dropped up to five feet and withstand one ton of pressure. This means that if your salesperson accidentally drops it or even runs it over with a car, there would be no damage to the valuable data inside.

Brainstorming Tools
Although this year’s CES showcased a plethora of great tech tools for businesses, one that stood out was the SMART Kapp. This digital white board turns your sales meeting into an interactive and digitally retrievable multi-system workspace. Anything written on this dry-erase board is electronically captured so that your remote team members can see it in real time. They can view this information on a smartphone, tablet or laptop. And most importantly, the system is HTTPS secured so you do not need to worry about the information being seen by the wrong people. Using the Kapp system lets your sales team be involved in the company’s strategy without needing to bring them in from the field.