Forbes
Chris Barbin is the co-founder and CEO of Appirio, a 7-year-old San Francisco company that helps medium-to-large businesses move their systems to the cloud, and he’s made self-quantification a core part of his company’s culture.
Barbin, a track and cross-country athlete who has run eight marathons, had long used fitness to bring his team together through events like Tough Mudders and long-distance relay races. An early adopter of self-quantification apps like RunKeeper, Barbin decided to take his company’s fitness activities to the next level and devised the CloudFit Program to help hundreds of employees track their activity, nutrition and sleep.
Barbin’s unique program, which launched at the beginning of this year, is powered by Jawbone Up devices and technology, and connects directly with the company’s social intranet platform, Salesforce Chatter. Three hundred of Appirio’s 700 employees opted into the program, and 80 percent have agreed to seamlessly share their data with each other on Chatter. Barbin also hired a full-time virtual trainer to work with employees to help them develop individual nutrition and fitness plans...
Read more
Appirio in the News
Thursday, August 1, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
The rise of the digital nanny state
The Washington Post
...San Francisco-based cloud technology company Appirio has distributed 200 Up bands to its employees as part of its internal wellness program, CloudFit. The company chose the Up band for a few reasons: Jawbone offered them a discount, and the API could be integrated into Appirio’s system. The wristband also had a sleek design, longer battery life and collected activity data and sleep data, steering the company away from the Nike Fuelband. The deal made even more dollars and sense, since Appirio also negotiated with its U.S. health-care provider to cover the first $20,000 in costs dedicated to creating the company wellness program, with the goal of negotiating deeper insurance discounts once enough data had been collected, according to a company representative.
Appirio employees are not required to wear the bands, and if they do, they don’t have to share their data with one another or with the company overall. The wellness program has led to “an uptick in collaboration of its virtual employees that now have more in common (by sharing their UP data). This collaboration translates to a positive and motivational workforce,” according to the company representative...
Read more
...San Francisco-based cloud technology company Appirio has distributed 200 Up bands to its employees as part of its internal wellness program, CloudFit. The company chose the Up band for a few reasons: Jawbone offered them a discount, and the API could be integrated into Appirio’s system. The wristband also had a sleek design, longer battery life and collected activity data and sleep data, steering the company away from the Nike Fuelband. The deal made even more dollars and sense, since Appirio also negotiated with its U.S. health-care provider to cover the first $20,000 in costs dedicated to creating the company wellness program, with the goal of negotiating deeper insurance discounts once enough data had been collected, according to a company representative.
Appirio employees are not required to wear the bands, and if they do, they don’t have to share their data with one another or with the company overall. The wellness program has led to “an uptick in collaboration of its virtual employees that now have more in common (by sharing their UP data). This collaboration translates to a positive and motivational workforce,” according to the company representative...
Read more
Tuesday, July 9, 2013
Why SaaS HR Software Is Ready to Take Off
CIO
...Jason Averbook, chief business innovation officer at cloud services provider Appirio, says the HR application sector is in the midst of a replacement cycle. Averbrook was previously CEO at Knowledge Infusion, a human capital management consultancy Appirio acquired last year.
Up to 90 percent of the Fortune 1000 will replace or re-implement its core HR system in the next four years," he says. "Most of the software that's out there was written before the Internet was born. It doesn't meet the needs and expectations of employees and managers. That's why you see so much activity around the cloud."
CIOs opting for human resources in the cloud have a number of choices from companies that grew up in the cloud or have moved to SaaS delivery following a history on on-premises products. Vendors offering human resources management applications in SaaS form include ADP, Ceridian, Kronos, Oracle, SAP and Workday.
Averbook says a pending on-premises upgrade of a legacy human resources system can trigger a move to SaaS. Many aging in-house systems have been customized beyond recognition and require a ton of internal support to keep them running, he points out. "CIOs want to get out of the business of maintaining back office systems. When the time to upgrade comes, it's natural to look elsewhere."...
Read more
...Jason Averbook, chief business innovation officer at cloud services provider Appirio, says the HR application sector is in the midst of a replacement cycle. Averbrook was previously CEO at Knowledge Infusion, a human capital management consultancy Appirio acquired last year.
Up to 90 percent of the Fortune 1000 will replace or re-implement its core HR system in the next four years," he says. "Most of the software that's out there was written before the Internet was born. It doesn't meet the needs and expectations of employees and managers. That's why you see so much activity around the cloud."
CIOs opting for human resources in the cloud have a number of choices from companies that grew up in the cloud or have moved to SaaS delivery following a history on on-premises products. Vendors offering human resources management applications in SaaS form include ADP, Ceridian, Kronos, Oracle, SAP and Workday.
Averbook says a pending on-premises upgrade of a legacy human resources system can trigger a move to SaaS. Many aging in-house systems have been customized beyond recognition and require a ton of internal support to keep them running, he points out. "CIOs want to get out of the business of maintaining back office systems. When the time to upgrade comes, it's natural to look elsewhere."...
Read more
Wednesday, July 3, 2013
Skyrocket Your Business With The Cloud
techbubbles
For many organisations, cloud computing has become a way of connecting the dots between multiple business functions, and if done properly, can help future-proof a business model and drive innovation. As the lines between business and technology continue to blur, more organisations need to view IT as an integrated part of the enterprise that can impact long-term success, rather than just a mere side project. Agility is the currency of the new economy.
...At Appirio, we believe strongly in the role of the enterprise architect: an employee which manages the company’s IT services with a view to addressing overall business requirements – we push transparency to an extreme and we encourage communication through all levels and parts of the business. We also believe that people work better in an environment where they care and are supportive of each other. Cloud communication tools such as Salesforce, Workday and Google allow us to easily do that without investing millions of £s in building bespoke systems.
Cloud is helping organisations to reimagine their business. By applying technology to overarching issues, companies can maintain an agile stance, benefitting from an integrated IT infrastructure and from employees who know how to use it to its maximum potential.
Read more
For many organisations, cloud computing has become a way of connecting the dots between multiple business functions, and if done properly, can help future-proof a business model and drive innovation. As the lines between business and technology continue to blur, more organisations need to view IT as an integrated part of the enterprise that can impact long-term success, rather than just a mere side project. Agility is the currency of the new economy.
...At Appirio, we believe strongly in the role of the enterprise architect: an employee which manages the company’s IT services with a view to addressing overall business requirements – we push transparency to an extreme and we encourage communication through all levels and parts of the business. We also believe that people work better in an environment where they care and are supportive of each other. Cloud communication tools such as Salesforce, Workday and Google allow us to easily do that without investing millions of £s in building bespoke systems.
Cloud is helping organisations to reimagine their business. By applying technology to overarching issues, companies can maintain an agile stance, benefitting from an integrated IT infrastructure and from employees who know how to use it to its maximum potential.
Read more
Monday, July 1, 2013
Your Employer Wants To Know When You’re Sleeping
Chicago Grid
Employees at Appirio in San Francisco may not see their Chicago-based CEO on a daily basis, but they know how he slept last night.
Appirio, a cloud services provider, bought 200 Jawbone Up wristbands for employees as part of a wellness program launched this year. The bands, which retail for $129.99, use motion sensors to track sleep patterns and activity. Employers see only anonymous data, and employees can choose to share (or not share) their personal information with co-workers via a Web interface.
Appirio is among a growing number of companies buying fitness monitors for employees in an effort to reduce health insurance costs. The company’s health insurer gave Appirio $20,000 to start a wellness program, says VP of human resources Shannon Daly.
“I want to get enough data to go back to our benefits carrier this summer and say, ‘Look how we’ve been making change and traction on health,’” she says. “If we can get our benefits to stay static or go lower, that’s money for [employees] in their pockets.”...
Read more
Employees at Appirio in San Francisco may not see their Chicago-based CEO on a daily basis, but they know how he slept last night.
Appirio, a cloud services provider, bought 200 Jawbone Up wristbands for employees as part of a wellness program launched this year. The bands, which retail for $129.99, use motion sensors to track sleep patterns and activity. Employers see only anonymous data, and employees can choose to share (or not share) their personal information with co-workers via a Web interface.
Appirio is among a growing number of companies buying fitness monitors for employees in an effort to reduce health insurance costs. The company’s health insurer gave Appirio $20,000 to start a wellness program, says VP of human resources Shannon Daly.
“I want to get enough data to go back to our benefits carrier this summer and say, ‘Look how we’ve been making change and traction on health,’” she says. “If we can get our benefits to stay static or go lower, that’s money for [employees] in their pockets.”...
Read more
Thursday, June 20, 2013
10 best integrators for salesforce.com
ZDNet
Salesforce.com has one of the most established partner ecosystems of any cloud application provider, and Forrester periodically conducts a Wave ranking that evaluates which ones are doing the best job.
This week, the research firm updated its assessment, identifying the 10 companies that it feels are best-equipped to handle integrations, customizations and migrations related to the CRM platform (and all the various other applications, cloud or otherwise, that plug into it).
...Here are the 10 next-gen partners that Forrester ranks, along with where they fit. (The list is in the order that Forrester offers.)
Strong Performers
Appirio - The boutique services firm has 250 Salesforce.com-skilled resources, almost all of which are certified. (The company requires certification within 90 days of hiring.) It has two other differentiators: access to more than 70,000 developers through the CloudSpokes platform and relationships with other cloud providers, including Marketo, Workday, Google, Box and Jobvite...
Read more
Salesforce.com has one of the most established partner ecosystems of any cloud application provider, and Forrester periodically conducts a Wave ranking that evaluates which ones are doing the best job.
This week, the research firm updated its assessment, identifying the 10 companies that it feels are best-equipped to handle integrations, customizations and migrations related to the CRM platform (and all the various other applications, cloud or otherwise, that plug into it).
...Here are the 10 next-gen partners that Forrester ranks, along with where they fit. (The list is in the order that Forrester offers.)
Strong Performers
Appirio - The boutique services firm has 250 Salesforce.com-skilled resources, almost all of which are certified. (The company requires certification within 90 days of hiring.) It has two other differentiators: access to more than 70,000 developers through the CloudSpokes platform and relationships with other cloud providers, including Marketo, Workday, Google, Box and Jobvite...
Read more
Wednesday, June 19, 2013
Paid volunteer time increasingly common employee benefit
MPR News
...Boosting employee engagement also can save companies money. Low employee engagement levels mean high turnover, which is costly for employers, said consultant Jason Averbook of Appirio, a company that offers services to help its business clients develop better relationships with their customers and workforce.
Replacing an employee who earns $50,000 can cost a company about that much in time and expense, he said.
Human resources experts say letting workers use company time to volunteer is a pretty inexpensive way to drive engagement higher and keep workers around. It also may be more fulfilling for employees than a pay raise, as an enjoyable experience outweighs pay in many organizations, Averbook said.
Read more
...Boosting employee engagement also can save companies money. Low employee engagement levels mean high turnover, which is costly for employers, said consultant Jason Averbook of Appirio, a company that offers services to help its business clients develop better relationships with their customers and workforce.
Replacing an employee who earns $50,000 can cost a company about that much in time and expense, he said.
Human resources experts say letting workers use company time to volunteer is a pretty inexpensive way to drive engagement higher and keep workers around. It also may be more fulfilling for employees than a pay raise, as an enjoyable experience outweighs pay in many organizations, Averbook said.
Read more
Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Jawbone's UP Band Saves Appirio Healthcare Dollars
NBC Bay Area News
You may already wear one, to help your health. It turns out that cool high-tech band on your wrist may also save your company big money.
Jawbone, the San Francisco company that makes the popular UP band (full disclosure, one is dangling on my right wrist as I type these words...), just signed a deal to team up with Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a group that helps kids avoid obesity, by living healthy lives.
Yes, the guess here is that the plan will include bands worn, and data checked - In fact, the plan is to sell special orange bands, and donate $20 from each sale to Alliance. If you get one, you'll be helping yourself, and donating money to a good cause.
The band/healthcare plan is already in place at San Francisco's Appirio. The company says that, thanks to employees wearing the UP bands, they were able to negotiate a $20,000 reduction in their health insurance.
It's one thing to have a band lead you to more walking, or better sleeping. It's another to save a company lots of money. Look for the band/healthcare trend to catch on soon.
You may already wear one, to help your health. It turns out that cool high-tech band on your wrist may also save your company big money.
Jawbone, the San Francisco company that makes the popular UP band (full disclosure, one is dangling on my right wrist as I type these words...), just signed a deal to team up with Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a group that helps kids avoid obesity, by living healthy lives.
Yes, the guess here is that the plan will include bands worn, and data checked - In fact, the plan is to sell special orange bands, and donate $20 from each sale to Alliance. If you get one, you'll be helping yourself, and donating money to a good cause.
The band/healthcare plan is already in place at San Francisco's Appirio. The company says that, thanks to employees wearing the UP bands, they were able to negotiate a $20,000 reduction in their health insurance.
It's one thing to have a band lead you to more walking, or better sleeping. It's another to save a company lots of money. Look for the band/healthcare trend to catch on soon.
View more videos at: http://nbcbayarea.com.
Friday, June 14, 2013
Successful Bay Area companies serve their communities in myriad ways
San Jose Mercury News
...Appirio's CEO Chris Barbin is passionate about community programs that give back via employee time and talent. When the San Francisco-based company was still young, Barbin brought on an expert to lead the company's community outreach through the Silver Lining Program. Each employee has eight hours of volunteer time off annually to use as they wish. In 2012, Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties recognized the company's contributions. Appirio is 25th in the Small Companies category...
Read more
...Appirio's CEO Chris Barbin is passionate about community programs that give back via employee time and talent. When the San Francisco-based company was still young, Barbin brought on an expert to lead the company's community outreach through the Silver Lining Program. Each employee has eight hours of volunteer time off annually to use as they wish. In 2012, Second Harvest Food Bank of Santa Clara and San Mateo counties recognized the company's contributions. Appirio is 25th in the Small Companies category...
Read more
Friday, June 7, 2013
Why Appirio issued Jawbone fitness monitors to employees
CITE World
There are plenty of consumer tools that jump to mind as useful for boosting productivity at work. Smartphones, tablets, and apps like Evernote and DropBox.
How about fitness monitors? Appirio thinks so.
It has issued Jawbone UP monitors to 200 employees as part of an internal fitness and wellness program and said that benefits include increased productivity and employee satisfaction as well as the more tangible insurance savings.
Appirio is working with Jawbone on new features that will let it aggregate user data as well as tie corporate information into the Jawbone dashboard. In about a month it expects to have completed integration that will feed Jawbone data into Salesforce and Chatter, also.
The roots of the initiative go back to the very start of the company.
“We’ve always had an athletic and competitive culture,” said Chris Barbin, co-founder and CEO of Appirio, a seven-year-old business with around 700 employees who help enterprises migrate to public cloud services. From the start, the company would coordinate activities like working toward marathons.
Earlier this year, however, the company decided to formalize its fitness activities into a new program. Dubbed CloudFit, it includes offering employees Jawbone UP fitness monitors and hiring a “virtual trainer” who uses Chatter to set workouts, offer advice on nutrition and offer encouragement...
Read more
There are plenty of consumer tools that jump to mind as useful for boosting productivity at work. Smartphones, tablets, and apps like Evernote and DropBox.
How about fitness monitors? Appirio thinks so.
It has issued Jawbone UP monitors to 200 employees as part of an internal fitness and wellness program and said that benefits include increased productivity and employee satisfaction as well as the more tangible insurance savings.
Appirio is working with Jawbone on new features that will let it aggregate user data as well as tie corporate information into the Jawbone dashboard. In about a month it expects to have completed integration that will feed Jawbone data into Salesforce and Chatter, also.
The roots of the initiative go back to the very start of the company.
“We’ve always had an athletic and competitive culture,” said Chris Barbin, co-founder and CEO of Appirio, a seven-year-old business with around 700 employees who help enterprises migrate to public cloud services. From the start, the company would coordinate activities like working toward marathons.
Earlier this year, however, the company decided to formalize its fitness activities into a new program. Dubbed CloudFit, it includes offering employees Jawbone UP fitness monitors and hiring a “virtual trainer” who uses Chatter to set workouts, offer advice on nutrition and offer encouragement...
Read more
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
One in five people think Google Glass should be banned
CITE World
...It sounds like wearable devices aren’t being very widely used in the enterprise, yet. The study found that 6 percent of respondent businesses in the U.S. and U.K. are providing wearable technology devices for employees. It only gave one example of how though – Appirio, a cloud services provider, has an opt-in program where employees can track health information using the Jawbone UP. Surely there will be additional applications that could be useful to businesses as new devices hit the market...
Read more
...It sounds like wearable devices aren’t being very widely used in the enterprise, yet. The study found that 6 percent of respondent businesses in the U.S. and U.K. are providing wearable technology devices for employees. It only gave one example of how though – Appirio, a cloud services provider, has an opt-in program where employees can track health information using the Jawbone UP. Surely there will be additional applications that could be useful to businesses as new devices hit the market...
Read more
Monday, June 3, 2013
Logging our lives with wearable tech
BBC News
...The cloud technology firm Appirio has issued many of its staff with the UP wristband, tracking everything from their food intake to their sleep patterns. It is a voluntary scheme, and Lori Williams who runs the European division of the American business says it's already proving valuable for employees and the firm.
"We've had about a hundred employees that have lost a stone or more in the last several months. Last month alone, we collectively walked about 17,000km (10,563 miles). So it's making us not just better employees but I think better people. And I think that's the benefit."
The company has also managed to cut its health insurance costs in the United States by showing its insurer the impact of this life-logging plan.
But, although the scheme is voluntary at this company, there are bound to be concerns that this kind of monitoring will become standard. Ten years from now, how will an employer using life-logging technology view those who choose to opt out?...
Read more
...The cloud technology firm Appirio has issued many of its staff with the UP wristband, tracking everything from their food intake to their sleep patterns. It is a voluntary scheme, and Lori Williams who runs the European division of the American business says it's already proving valuable for employees and the firm.
"We've had about a hundred employees that have lost a stone or more in the last several months. Last month alone, we collectively walked about 17,000km (10,563 miles). So it's making us not just better employees but I think better people. And I think that's the benefit."
The company has also managed to cut its health insurance costs in the United States by showing its insurer the impact of this life-logging plan.
But, although the scheme is voluntary at this company, there are bound to be concerns that this kind of monitoring will become standard. Ten years from now, how will an employer using life-logging technology view those who choose to opt out?...
Read more
With data gleaned from workers, companies hope to improve bottom line
MPR News
...Consultant Jason Averbook of Appirio, a company that offers services to help its business clients develop better relationships with their customers and workforce, helps employers use these systems. He said when one of his clients in the financial industry used analytic software to identify its top performing money managers, it found that the best were former real estate agents; they had great people skills. Averbook said that insight then shaped recruiting efforts.
"They went out in the housing crash of 2008, targeted the markets that were hit hardest in the real estate bust, went out and did massive recruiting efforts [and] turned real estate agents into these money managers," he said. "And those have been the most successful money managers."...
Read more
...Consultant Jason Averbook of Appirio, a company that offers services to help its business clients develop better relationships with their customers and workforce, helps employers use these systems. He said when one of his clients in the financial industry used analytic software to identify its top performing money managers, it found that the best were former real estate agents; they had great people skills. Averbook said that insight then shaped recruiting efforts.
"They went out in the housing crash of 2008, targeted the markets that were hit hardest in the real estate bust, went out and did massive recruiting efforts [and] turned real estate agents into these money managers," he said. "And those have been the most successful money managers."...
Read more
Tuesday, May 28, 2013
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Monday, May 27, 2013
Four Must-Have Enterprise Mobile Apps
Forbes
...Another cloud services provider, Appirio helps enterprise firms make the most of new technologies and softwares like salesforce.com and Google Apps. A massive team of cloud experts identifies which inflexible softwares are bogging down your company and help bring your business dealings into the 21st century.
This extends to developing a proper mobile strategy, with configurable mobile apps and mobile content delivery. Figuring out how mobile can best impact your business is an asset few large companies can live without.
Read more
...Another cloud services provider, Appirio helps enterprise firms make the most of new technologies and softwares like salesforce.com and Google Apps. A massive team of cloud experts identifies which inflexible softwares are bogging down your company and help bring your business dealings into the 21st century.
This extends to developing a proper mobile strategy, with configurable mobile apps and mobile content delivery. Figuring out how mobile can best impact your business is an asset few large companies can live without.
Read more
Sunday, May 19, 2013
Cloud SIs do it differently
diginomica
...The need for speed also means that cloud SIs tend to reuse experience (and indeed custom development) from one customer to another. FirstHosted has a deliberate strategy of developing expertise in specific markets that it can leverage across customers. This is not dissimilar to the vertical strategies of traditional SIs, but with one key difference: on a multitenant cloud platform, custom code does not have to be rewritten for each customer’s separate implementation, enabling cost-effective, timely reuse.
The reusability of code written to a single, shared platform inspired cloud integrator Appirio to found the CloudSpokes developer community, where development challenges are solved by crowdsourcing. Appirio regularly uses it in projects on Salesforce.com, Google, AWS and other cloud platforms. “We’re using it in roughly 25% of our projects now,” Appirio’s CEO Chris Barbin told me earlier this month.
Barbin sees its use of CloudSpokes as a clear differentiator for the firm against larger, traditional SIs, who he feels would be reluctant to adopt the same approach because it would not suit their business model: “We believe that the next generation of evolution in the services vertical will be crowdsourcing. It’s difficult for an IBM or a Deloitte to embrace crowdsourcing because it’s taking food off their own plate.”
Last week, e-signature provider DocuSign teamed up with Appirio to add a DocuSign-specific Spoke to CloudSpokes, as file collaboration provider Box has previously done. In a statement released with the announcement, Neil Hudspith, DocuSign’s chief revenue officer, commented that in its customer engagements, “Appirio has figured out how to blend speed with business impact.” There’s that emphasis once more on speed and business outcomes...
Read more
...The need for speed also means that cloud SIs tend to reuse experience (and indeed custom development) from one customer to another. FirstHosted has a deliberate strategy of developing expertise in specific markets that it can leverage across customers. This is not dissimilar to the vertical strategies of traditional SIs, but with one key difference: on a multitenant cloud platform, custom code does not have to be rewritten for each customer’s separate implementation, enabling cost-effective, timely reuse.
The reusability of code written to a single, shared platform inspired cloud integrator Appirio to found the CloudSpokes developer community, where development challenges are solved by crowdsourcing. Appirio regularly uses it in projects on Salesforce.com, Google, AWS and other cloud platforms. “We’re using it in roughly 25% of our projects now,” Appirio’s CEO Chris Barbin told me earlier this month.
Barbin sees its use of CloudSpokes as a clear differentiator for the firm against larger, traditional SIs, who he feels would be reluctant to adopt the same approach because it would not suit their business model: “We believe that the next generation of evolution in the services vertical will be crowdsourcing. It’s difficult for an IBM or a Deloitte to embrace crowdsourcing because it’s taking food off their own plate.”
Last week, e-signature provider DocuSign teamed up with Appirio to add a DocuSign-specific Spoke to CloudSpokes, as file collaboration provider Box has previously done. In a statement released with the announcement, Neil Hudspith, DocuSign’s chief revenue officer, commented that in its customer engagements, “Appirio has figured out how to blend speed with business impact.” There’s that emphasis once more on speed and business outcomes...
Read more
Thursday, May 16, 2013
Appirio picks up DocuSign implementation practice
ZDNet
DocuSign has tapped global cloud integrator Appirio to handle implementation, integration and development services for its cloud-hosted e-signature transaction management technology.
Under the relationship, Appirio will expand its own use of DocuSign internally and invest in resources that will help it include the services within the solutions it offers. Currently, Appirio has more than 500 enterprise accounts.
Perhaps even more important: the alliance also means that DocuSign will become a more integral component for the roughly 75,000 independent cloud developers who participate in CloudSpokes, a community that Appirio uses to help extend the reach of its own technical resources...
Read more
DocuSign has tapped global cloud integrator Appirio to handle implementation, integration and development services for its cloud-hosted e-signature transaction management technology.
Under the relationship, Appirio will expand its own use of DocuSign internally and invest in resources that will help it include the services within the solutions it offers. Currently, Appirio has more than 500 enterprise accounts.
Perhaps even more important: the alliance also means that DocuSign will become a more integral component for the roughly 75,000 independent cloud developers who participate in CloudSpokes, a community that Appirio uses to help extend the reach of its own technical resources...
Read more
Tuesday, May 14, 2013
SoMoClo - ugly verbal invention but important business innovation
CloudPro
Lori Williams, European general manager at service provider Appirio says that organisations have to have a strategy that encompasses social, mobile and cloud.
“Social and mobile are fundamental changes in the way consumers and employees communicate, so a company’s strategy has to encompass both,” she says.
Cloud platforms and these applications fit naturally with both trends since cloud applications are designed to be accessible anywhere and across platforms through powerful, stable APIs. In addition, they are designed to evolve rapidly and support new ways of working, far more quickly than traditional applications.
For instance, Salesforce embraced social a few years ago with Chatter and now every one of its customers not only has access to Chatter but also the ability to create custom applications using Chatter or access Chatter data using mobile APIs. “We really see cloud as the critical enabler that helps organisations develop a technology strategy that can address social, mobile and the next revolution that comes along!” says Williams...
Read more
Lori Williams, European general manager at service provider Appirio says that organisations have to have a strategy that encompasses social, mobile and cloud.
“Social and mobile are fundamental changes in the way consumers and employees communicate, so a company’s strategy has to encompass both,” she says.
Cloud platforms and these applications fit naturally with both trends since cloud applications are designed to be accessible anywhere and across platforms through powerful, stable APIs. In addition, they are designed to evolve rapidly and support new ways of working, far more quickly than traditional applications.
For instance, Salesforce embraced social a few years ago with Chatter and now every one of its customers not only has access to Chatter but also the ability to create custom applications using Chatter or access Chatter data using mobile APIs. “We really see cloud as the critical enabler that helps organisations develop a technology strategy that can address social, mobile and the next revolution that comes along!” says Williams...
Read more
Monday, May 13, 2013
Oracle and SAP ARE big software, but for how long? Choked by the cloud, or death by a 1,000 cuts
The Register
...Fewer companies ask ‘Why cloud?’. Now they ask ‘Why not cloud?’
Two such areas are sales force automation and human capital management, both focuses for Appirio, a seven-year-old, San Francisco-based cloud integrator that has helped over 500 companies implement SaaS applications from Salesforce.com, Workday, Google Apps and Cornerstone. These are not small companies, either, says Lori Williams, Appirio’s general manager of European operations. They include coffee chain Starbucks, beauty firm L’Oreal, pest control company Rentokil and automotive giant Toyota.
“Over the last year we’ve seen fewer and fewer companies here asking ‘Why cloud?’. Now they’re asking ‘Why not cloud?’ instead,” says Williams. “It’s about seeing value early from SaaS applications, rather than in 18 months or 24 months with an on-premise implementation. Big companies that are looking at a Salesforce or a Workday have baggage from previous systems that they’re trying to move away from. They’re looking for a different way. They’ve lived through the legacy way - the big, legacy, on-premise projects with lots of people and lots of money involved.”...
Read more
...Fewer companies ask ‘Why cloud?’. Now they ask ‘Why not cloud?’
Two such areas are sales force automation and human capital management, both focuses for Appirio, a seven-year-old, San Francisco-based cloud integrator that has helped over 500 companies implement SaaS applications from Salesforce.com, Workday, Google Apps and Cornerstone. These are not small companies, either, says Lori Williams, Appirio’s general manager of European operations. They include coffee chain Starbucks, beauty firm L’Oreal, pest control company Rentokil and automotive giant Toyota.
“Over the last year we’ve seen fewer and fewer companies here asking ‘Why cloud?’. Now they’re asking ‘Why not cloud?’ instead,” says Williams. “It’s about seeing value early from SaaS applications, rather than in 18 months or 24 months with an on-premise implementation. Big companies that are looking at a Salesforce or a Workday have baggage from previous systems that they’re trying to move away from. They’re looking for a different way. They’ve lived through the legacy way - the big, legacy, on-premise projects with lots of people and lots of money involved.”...
Read more
Wednesday, May 8, 2013
Immigration vs. Job Creation in America
CNBC
Narinder Singh, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Appirio, says U.S. immigration policy must be addressed in the context of job creation.
Narinder Singh, Co-Founder and Chief Strategy Officer at Appirio, says U.S. immigration policy must be addressed in the context of job creation.
Monday, May 6, 2013
Appirio extends European reach
ZDNet
Cloud integrator Appirio, known for its crowdsourcing approach to cloud integration projects, has expanded its presence in Europe with several customer wins just two years after entering the market.
The companies that it is announcing publicly include test preparation company Kaplan, online betting site Sportingbet, and global energy and mining research company Wood Mackenzie. Another global client is media and information services company McGraw-Hill.
Appirio cites mergers and acquisitions in the financial, retail and media sectors as one key factor driving new business -- as companies seek to integrate their information technology assets...
Read more
Cloud integrator Appirio, known for its crowdsourcing approach to cloud integration projects, has expanded its presence in Europe with several customer wins just two years after entering the market.
The companies that it is announcing publicly include test preparation company Kaplan, online betting site Sportingbet, and global energy and mining research company Wood Mackenzie. Another global client is media and information services company McGraw-Hill.
Appirio cites mergers and acquisitions in the financial, retail and media sectors as one key factor driving new business -- as companies seek to integrate their information technology assets...
Read more
Thursday, May 2, 2013
Cloud broker or cloud provider: Who says you can't be both?
TechTarget
...Appirio, a cloud service broker, offers its customers both a pure advisory service and a technology focus, with integration capabilities among its public cloud provider partners -- Google, Amazon, Salesforce and Workday -- said Glenn Weinstein, Appirio's chief technology officer. "Regardless of what we are helping our clients with, we always bring to bear our own Cloud Enablement Suite (CES) -- Appirio's offering that organizes the entire integration project, everything from implementation to monitoring of their cloud platforms," he said.
In addition to CES, Appirio has three Software-as-a-Service offerings for its clients that work with Google, Salesforce and Workday platforms. Appirio's Cloud Factor ties together Google Apps with Gmail, and the broker's Cloud Sync and Cloud Storage offerings link Salesforce, Google Apps and Amazon Web Services to extend the capabilities of each platform for customers, Weinstein said. "Appirio is filling two big spaces for customers by offering both the product-ized integration across cloud systems, and also a customized service for managing cloud platforms," he said...
Read more
...Appirio, a cloud service broker, offers its customers both a pure advisory service and a technology focus, with integration capabilities among its public cloud provider partners -- Google, Amazon, Salesforce and Workday -- said Glenn Weinstein, Appirio's chief technology officer. "Regardless of what we are helping our clients with, we always bring to bear our own Cloud Enablement Suite (CES) -- Appirio's offering that organizes the entire integration project, everything from implementation to monitoring of their cloud platforms," he said.
In addition to CES, Appirio has three Software-as-a-Service offerings for its clients that work with Google, Salesforce and Workday platforms. Appirio's Cloud Factor ties together Google Apps with Gmail, and the broker's Cloud Sync and Cloud Storage offerings link Salesforce, Google Apps and Amazon Web Services to extend the capabilities of each platform for customers, Weinstein said. "Appirio is filling two big spaces for customers by offering both the product-ized integration across cloud systems, and also a customized service for managing cloud platforms," he said...
Read more
Tuesday, April 30, 2013
It's the end of the CIO as we know it
CITE World
The role of the Chief Information Officer is changing as fast as the IT landscape. Between BYOD, the tidal wave of big data metrics, the shift to the cloud, cost pressures, and any of the other thousand dozens of things that have shifted in IT over the last decade, the CIO's job is no longer so cut-and-dried.
Last night, I sat in on a debate between Narinder Singh, Chief Strategy Officer of cloud service provider Appirio (and Jay-Z enthusiast - he quoted the rapper several times during the evening), and R. Ray Wang, Principal Analyst and CEO of Constellation Research, as they discussed the changing nature of the C-Suite in general and the CIO in particular with moderator Chris Preimesberger, editor of eWeek...
Read more
The role of the Chief Information Officer is changing as fast as the IT landscape. Between BYOD, the tidal wave of big data metrics, the shift to the cloud, cost pressures, and any of the other thousand dozens of things that have shifted in IT over the last decade, the CIO's job is no longer so cut-and-dried.
Last night, I sat in on a debate between Narinder Singh, Chief Strategy Officer of cloud service provider Appirio (and Jay-Z enthusiast - he quoted the rapper several times during the evening), and R. Ray Wang, Principal Analyst and CEO of Constellation Research, as they discussed the changing nature of the C-Suite in general and the CIO in particular with moderator Chris Preimesberger, editor of eWeek...
Read more
Thursday, April 25, 2013
What Your Business Center Can Learn From One Corporate Remodel
Officing Today
There’s a lot of industry buzz about alternative workplace strategies. But what does it look like when companies decide to take the plunge on their own? And what can your business center glean from corporate remodels that tap into the alternative workplace strategy trend?
Appirio, a Bay Area-based startup technology firm that recently relocated its headquarters to downtown San Francisco, is sharing its story. When the firm relocated, it also set up a new officing paradigm designed for the future of work.
Appirio is using a hoteling model of desk space and utilizing large open spaces for group collaboration. Appirio also encourages virtual work. The office allows for about 60 employees at a time, just 10 percent of its 600 global employees. All four of its co-founders work outside the Bay Area.
OfficingToday caught up with Jennifer Taylor, Appirio’s senior vice president of HR, to discuss the company’s alternative workplace strategy, how they executed it, how it has benefited the firm, and more...
Read more
There’s a lot of industry buzz about alternative workplace strategies. But what does it look like when companies decide to take the plunge on their own? And what can your business center glean from corporate remodels that tap into the alternative workplace strategy trend?
Appirio, a Bay Area-based startup technology firm that recently relocated its headquarters to downtown San Francisco, is sharing its story. When the firm relocated, it also set up a new officing paradigm designed for the future of work.
Appirio is using a hoteling model of desk space and utilizing large open spaces for group collaboration. Appirio also encourages virtual work. The office allows for about 60 employees at a time, just 10 percent of its 600 global employees. All four of its co-founders work outside the Bay Area.
OfficingToday caught up with Jennifer Taylor, Appirio’s senior vice president of HR, to discuss the company’s alternative workplace strategy, how they executed it, how it has benefited the firm, and more...
Read more
Friday, April 19, 2013
Interview: Appirio eyes Europe for future growth
Enterprise Apps Expo
Appirio is a company attracting quite a buzz on its US homeground. To date, the seven-year-old San Francisco-based cloud integrator has helped over 500 companies implement high-profile software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications – from providers including Salesforce.com, Workday, Google Apps and Cornerstone – and attracted close on $77 million in venture capital funding along the way. Its customers include well-known brands such as coffee chain Starbucks, beauty firm L’Oreal and automotive company Toyota.
In Europe, it is less well-known right now, but general manager of European operations, Lori Williams, is determined to get the Appirio name out there. Much of its most recent tranche of venture capital funding – $60 million in total, awarded in March 2012 – was earmarked for international expansion. That work is well underway, Williams says.
Enterprise Apps Expo recently spoke to Williams about the company’s strategy for Europe and its progress in the region to date. The company’s overriding goal, she told us, “is to free people and the companies they work for from the bondage of on-premise technologies.” And at the same time, the company urges prospective customers to think in terms of ‘Your Business, Reimagined’.
“That may sound a little gimmicky,” Williams acknowledges, “but the way that you approach working with things like Salesforce, Workday, Google and Cornerstone – our four primary partners – is really different. The old days of an IT project, where the first third of a project was working out how much hardware infrastructure to buy are over. Now [with SaaS], you hit the ground running on day one, working through business processes and moving things forward.”
That’s a rule that Appirio lives by itself, she adds: despite having 600 staff, spread across the US, Japan, India, UK and Ireland, “we own no servers as a company – we practice what we preach.”...
Read more
Appirio is a company attracting quite a buzz on its US homeground. To date, the seven-year-old San Francisco-based cloud integrator has helped over 500 companies implement high-profile software-as-a-service (SaaS) applications – from providers including Salesforce.com, Workday, Google Apps and Cornerstone – and attracted close on $77 million in venture capital funding along the way. Its customers include well-known brands such as coffee chain Starbucks, beauty firm L’Oreal and automotive company Toyota.
In Europe, it is less well-known right now, but general manager of European operations, Lori Williams, is determined to get the Appirio name out there. Much of its most recent tranche of venture capital funding – $60 million in total, awarded in March 2012 – was earmarked for international expansion. That work is well underway, Williams says.
Enterprise Apps Expo recently spoke to Williams about the company’s strategy for Europe and its progress in the region to date. The company’s overriding goal, she told us, “is to free people and the companies they work for from the bondage of on-premise technologies.” And at the same time, the company urges prospective customers to think in terms of ‘Your Business, Reimagined’.
“That may sound a little gimmicky,” Williams acknowledges, “but the way that you approach working with things like Salesforce, Workday, Google and Cornerstone – our four primary partners – is really different. The old days of an IT project, where the first third of a project was working out how much hardware infrastructure to buy are over. Now [with SaaS], you hit the ground running on day one, working through business processes and moving things forward.”
That’s a rule that Appirio lives by itself, she adds: despite having 600 staff, spread across the US, Japan, India, UK and Ireland, “we own no servers as a company – we practice what we preach.”...
Read more
Thursday, April 11, 2013
Immigration and America’s high-tech industry: The jobs machine
The Economist
... Other companies in tech hubs have opened faraway offices to tap new pools of skilled labour. Appirio, which advises companies on cloud-computing strategies, has opened an office in Indianapolis. “Lots of talented students are hungry for tech jobs, which are rare there,” says Narinder Singh, one of the company’s co-founders, whose parents came to America from India. RingCentral, a Silicon Valley firm that supplies cloud-based phone systems to businesses, has hired 74 staff in an office in Denver that opened in 2011. Vlad Shmunis, the firm’s Ukraine-born founder, says it wanted to be near another big university that could be a source of smart employees...
Read more
... Other companies in tech hubs have opened faraway offices to tap new pools of skilled labour. Appirio, which advises companies on cloud-computing strategies, has opened an office in Indianapolis. “Lots of talented students are hungry for tech jobs, which are rare there,” says Narinder Singh, one of the company’s co-founders, whose parents came to America from India. RingCentral, a Silicon Valley firm that supplies cloud-based phone systems to businesses, has hired 74 staff in an office in Denver that opened in 2011. Vlad Shmunis, the firm’s Ukraine-born founder, says it wanted to be near another big university that could be a source of smart employees...
Read more
Employers: Benefits of a job go beyond pay packets
Financial Times
...Virgin America, an airline serving destinations throughout North America, reconfigured its method of communicating with its 2,700 staff at more than 20 locations.
“We had had an intranet platform for several years but we knew we had to revamp the way we communicated,” says Ben Eye, manager of teammate engagement and communication. “We had to deal with the 90 per cent of teammates [staff] who are remote, so we designed it to foster a sense of involvement.”
The company’s previous platform contained a lot of information but lacked two-way communications so did not make it easy to obtain feedback. It was not mobile-friendly and was proving difficult to maintain.
Working with Appirio, an IT services provider, Virgin America customised the Salesforce “Chatter” platform to allow a merging of social media with business processes. Part of what Virgin America calls its VX Connect platform is devoted to HR topics, including an explanation of the company’s benefits package. It also includes customised forms that allow staff to enrol in a pension plan and apply for medical leave.
Queries can be submitted to members of the benefits team online. “Because the entire department is monitoring what comes in they get an answer more quickly,” explains Mr Eye. “But this is broader than just benefits: it stimulates the level of engagement. We have a very open environment and we see that as our differentiator in the airline industry.”
Ms Wishart says: “Technology allows you to be more effective and targeted in your approach. Communication can be effective without having to go too far in terms of cost.”
Read more
...Virgin America, an airline serving destinations throughout North America, reconfigured its method of communicating with its 2,700 staff at more than 20 locations.
“We had had an intranet platform for several years but we knew we had to revamp the way we communicated,” says Ben Eye, manager of teammate engagement and communication. “We had to deal with the 90 per cent of teammates [staff] who are remote, so we designed it to foster a sense of involvement.”
The company’s previous platform contained a lot of information but lacked two-way communications so did not make it easy to obtain feedback. It was not mobile-friendly and was proving difficult to maintain.
Working with Appirio, an IT services provider, Virgin America customised the Salesforce “Chatter” platform to allow a merging of social media with business processes. Part of what Virgin America calls its VX Connect platform is devoted to HR topics, including an explanation of the company’s benefits package. It also includes customised forms that allow staff to enrol in a pension plan and apply for medical leave.
Queries can be submitted to members of the benefits team online. “Because the entire department is monitoring what comes in they get an answer more quickly,” explains Mr Eye. “But this is broader than just benefits: it stimulates the level of engagement. We have a very open environment and we see that as our differentiator in the airline industry.”
Ms Wishart says: “Technology allows you to be more effective and targeted in your approach. Communication can be effective without having to go too far in terms of cost.”
Read more
Monday, April 8, 2013
Job applicants and social media: Employers take 'eyes wide shut' approach
MPR News
...Some hire an outside company, such as Social Intelligence or Sterling, to conduct the social media research for them. Others delegate the research to an employee who is not part of the hiring process.
Third parties would then delete from their reports on job candidates any legally sensitive information, like race or age.
That kind of approach may help avoid lawsuits, but it could harm the recruiting process, said Jason Averbook, chief business innovation officer at Appirio, a company that counsels businesses on talent management.
Recruiters and hiring managers need to worry about finding the talent and not obsess over the problems that could come up during the search, Averbook said.
"Do I focus on those 'coulds' and not do it?" he asked. "Or do I focus on the things that are truly going to get me the best people, and deal with the 'coulds' as an exception?"
Averbook said employers in sectors like information technology cannot wall themselves off from social media. They need those avenues to identify talented workers they can poach from other companies. That's because the workers they need aren't seeking new jobs...
Read more
...Some hire an outside company, such as Social Intelligence or Sterling, to conduct the social media research for them. Others delegate the research to an employee who is not part of the hiring process.
Third parties would then delete from their reports on job candidates any legally sensitive information, like race or age.
That kind of approach may help avoid lawsuits, but it could harm the recruiting process, said Jason Averbook, chief business innovation officer at Appirio, a company that counsels businesses on talent management.
Recruiters and hiring managers need to worry about finding the talent and not obsess over the problems that could come up during the search, Averbook said.
"Do I focus on those 'coulds' and not do it?" he asked. "Or do I focus on the things that are truly going to get me the best people, and deal with the 'coulds' as an exception?"
Averbook said employers in sectors like information technology cannot wall themselves off from social media. They need those avenues to identify talented workers they can poach from other companies. That's because the workers they need aren't seeking new jobs...
Read more
Saturday, April 6, 2013
Committing to your developers will help you keep them
VentureBeat
Developers have a reputation.
The word “developer” evokes an image that has become synonymous with someone that writes code. As someone who codes, I am well aware of the most common images and words that people think of when they learn that, yes, I am a developer.
However evolving, these reputations have followed many developers into their day job, and employers end up benefiting solely from the skills that their coders brought to new hire orientation.
In Silicon Valley and elsewhere, developer talent is scarce, particularly for companies that are not “the” social network or named after a fruit. But when companies do find, recruit, and hire the talent, most aren’t taking the right steps to empower their developer talent to learn, grow and thrive.
Few companies truly harness and empower developer talent, but there are a few ways that any company can start...
Read more
Developers have a reputation.
The word “developer” evokes an image that has become synonymous with someone that writes code. As someone who codes, I am well aware of the most common images and words that people think of when they learn that, yes, I am a developer.
However evolving, these reputations have followed many developers into their day job, and employers end up benefiting solely from the skills that their coders brought to new hire orientation.
In Silicon Valley and elsewhere, developer talent is scarce, particularly for companies that are not “the” social network or named after a fruit. But when companies do find, recruit, and hire the talent, most aren’t taking the right steps to empower their developer talent to learn, grow and thrive.
Few companies truly harness and empower developer talent, but there are a few ways that any company can start...
Read more
Thursday, April 4, 2013
When Standard Is Not Enough
Talent Management Magazine
Technology, which is often seen as this century’s golden child, can also kill competitive advantage. We all tout the benefits that can come from technology — from efficiency to effectiveness in analyzing our data to the “nth” degree, which ensures we measure every nut and bolt that our technology spits out. But while this technology era is truly the golden era for HR — and more importantly for workforce technology — and we can truly measure and monitor the workforce to drive new business results like never before, the same tools that promise all of this value can also make us incredibly lazy.
As the evolution of cloud-based computing has become the norm when selecting talent management technology, so has the practice of implementing the vendors’ built-in best practices. The theory that the software can’t be customized continues to be touted as the biggest advantage since the birth of the computer. For those who have boxed themselves into a corner writing custom code and spending millions of dollars modifying vendor software, the thought of no customization is a sigh of relief. But maybe we as an industry need to land somewhere in the middle...
Read more
Technology, which is often seen as this century’s golden child, can also kill competitive advantage. We all tout the benefits that can come from technology — from efficiency to effectiveness in analyzing our data to the “nth” degree, which ensures we measure every nut and bolt that our technology spits out. But while this technology era is truly the golden era for HR — and more importantly for workforce technology — and we can truly measure and monitor the workforce to drive new business results like never before, the same tools that promise all of this value can also make us incredibly lazy.
As the evolution of cloud-based computing has become the norm when selecting talent management technology, so has the practice of implementing the vendors’ built-in best practices. The theory that the software can’t be customized continues to be touted as the biggest advantage since the birth of the computer. For those who have boxed themselves into a corner writing custom code and spending millions of dollars modifying vendor software, the thought of no customization is a sigh of relief. But maybe we as an industry need to land somewhere in the middle...
Read more
Monday, April 1, 2013
PSA software market: Key capabilities, vendor differentiation
SearchITChannel (TechTarget)
...Appirio Inc., a San Francisco-based cloud services provider, has managed its business using PSA since its 2006 launch. The company, which helps clients navigate Salesforce.com andGoogle Apps implementations, built its own PSA system using Salesforce.com's Force.com platform, noted Glenn Weinstein, Appirio's chief information officer.
Weinstein said Appirio decided to create a home-grown system to track its Salesforce and Google consulting activities. Eventually, Appirio commercialized its PSA, listing it on theSalesforce AppExchange. The company then migrated from the home-built PSA to the commercial version.
Appirio sold its PSA offering to FinancialForce.com in 2011. Weinstein said the product business, which grew beyond the company's expectations, proved too much of a diversion from Appirio's cloud services core. The company continues to use the PSA software, which is now called FinancialForce PSA.
"Other than email, it is our most mission-critical system," Weinstein said.
...Appirio's Weinstein said PSA solutions, over time, have pushed forward into sales and marketing while becoming more tightly integrated into back-end financial systems. At Appirio, FinancialForce PSA ties into not only Salesforce.com, but also Workday Inc.'s financial management application...
Read more
...Appirio Inc., a San Francisco-based cloud services provider, has managed its business using PSA since its 2006 launch. The company, which helps clients navigate Salesforce.com andGoogle Apps implementations, built its own PSA system using Salesforce.com's Force.com platform, noted Glenn Weinstein, Appirio's chief information officer.
Weinstein said Appirio decided to create a home-grown system to track its Salesforce and Google consulting activities. Eventually, Appirio commercialized its PSA, listing it on theSalesforce AppExchange. The company then migrated from the home-built PSA to the commercial version.
Appirio sold its PSA offering to FinancialForce.com in 2011. Weinstein said the product business, which grew beyond the company's expectations, proved too much of a diversion from Appirio's cloud services core. The company continues to use the PSA software, which is now called FinancialForce PSA.
"Other than email, it is our most mission-critical system," Weinstein said.
...Appirio's Weinstein said PSA solutions, over time, have pushed forward into sales and marketing while becoming more tightly integrated into back-end financial systems. At Appirio, FinancialForce PSA ties into not only Salesforce.com, but also Workday Inc.'s financial management application...
Read more
Monday, March 25, 2013
Appirio: Crowdsourcing crucial for scaling cloud projects
ZDNet
With more than 500 enterprise cloud customers to its name, San Francisco-based Appirio is one of the better-known players in the cloud integrator community, even though it only employs about 600 people outright. But co-founder and chief strategy officer Narinder Singh knows he can't compete with legacy integrators like Accenture with his on-staff numbers, which is why his company created the CloudSpokes crowdsourced development platform almost two years ago.
When ZDNet contributor Dennis Howlett chatted with Singh last fall, there were approximately 50,000 developers participating in the community. When I caught up with him two weeks ago, that number had eclipsed 73,000.
If you haven't read ZDNet's past coverage about CloudSpokes, the idea is for enterprises to use the site to help develop specific applications that plug in to broader platforms by running challenges to see what already exists and might be reusable. More than 600 challenges have been completed so far.
"You know somewhere in the world that someone else did something like what you need, maybe even just last week," Singh said.
The original plan was to use CloudSpokes as a supplement to Appirio's own resources, but a healthy development community has built up around several well-known cloud platforms, including Salesforce.com, Box and DocuSign, he said. That visibility reflects positively on Appirio...
Read more
With more than 500 enterprise cloud customers to its name, San Francisco-based Appirio is one of the better-known players in the cloud integrator community, even though it only employs about 600 people outright. But co-founder and chief strategy officer Narinder Singh knows he can't compete with legacy integrators like Accenture with his on-staff numbers, which is why his company created the CloudSpokes crowdsourced development platform almost two years ago.
When ZDNet contributor Dennis Howlett chatted with Singh last fall, there were approximately 50,000 developers participating in the community. When I caught up with him two weeks ago, that number had eclipsed 73,000.
If you haven't read ZDNet's past coverage about CloudSpokes, the idea is for enterprises to use the site to help develop specific applications that plug in to broader platforms by running challenges to see what already exists and might be reusable. More than 600 challenges have been completed so far.
"You know somewhere in the world that someone else did something like what you need, maybe even just last week," Singh said.
The original plan was to use CloudSpokes as a supplement to Appirio's own resources, but a healthy development community has built up around several well-known cloud platforms, including Salesforce.com, Box and DocuSign, he said. That visibility reflects positively on Appirio...
Read more
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Q&A: General Atlantic's Rochkind explains big bets on Box, Appirio, more
Silicon Valley Business Journal
...Appirio is a business that's been ramping very quickly. They've done some acquisitions. Most recently they bought a company in the East Bay called Knowledge Infusion to expand their practice.
It’s got a great management team with Chris Barbin and Narinder Singh. We only back existing strong managers. We love the guys at Box, too, with Aaron Levie, Dylan Smith and Dan Levin. So that's where it starts.
Then we were able to develop a partnership relationship with them where we could be very helpful to pursue some M&A targets that Appirio wanted to pursue. We were helpful in doing due diligence and in getting those deals done.
In addition we've been very helpful with introducing them to some of those Global 2000 and Fortune 500 companies we work with. So it’s been just a great partnership for a business that this year will do over $100 million in revenue and is growing very quickly, expanding globally wanting to get these large customers. It was a situation where we could invest just over $50 million of capital. So it's just sizeable enough for us to spend our time on. And they really believed in and believe in our value proposition, how we would differentiate from traditional venture capital money...
Read more
...Appirio is a business that's been ramping very quickly. They've done some acquisitions. Most recently they bought a company in the East Bay called Knowledge Infusion to expand their practice.
It’s got a great management team with Chris Barbin and Narinder Singh. We only back existing strong managers. We love the guys at Box, too, with Aaron Levie, Dylan Smith and Dan Levin. So that's where it starts.
Then we were able to develop a partnership relationship with them where we could be very helpful to pursue some M&A targets that Appirio wanted to pursue. We were helpful in doing due diligence and in getting those deals done.
In addition we've been very helpful with introducing them to some of those Global 2000 and Fortune 500 companies we work with. So it’s been just a great partnership for a business that this year will do over $100 million in revenue and is growing very quickly, expanding globally wanting to get these large customers. It was a situation where we could invest just over $50 million of capital. So it's just sizeable enough for us to spend our time on. And they really believed in and believe in our value proposition, how we would differentiate from traditional venture capital money...
Read more
Wednesday, March 13, 2013
Ignore Cloud Security Assessment at Your Own Risk
CIO
...Budget practices and economics also play a role in limiting SaaS testing. Glenn Weinstein, co-founder and CIO at Appirio, a cloud services provider based in San Francisco, says IT organizations may lack a formal budget line item for SaaS testing and instead rely on the vendor to provide security. "It's still not top of mind in the budgeting process. You don't see it broken out as a separate line of the security budget."
There Are No Dumb Cloud Security Questions
Just because an enterprise lacks a formal SaaS testing budget doesn't mean it isn't asking security questions, Weinstein notes. He's seen IT security teams invest significant time with cloud vendors as part of the RFP process.
As a cloud service brokerage, Weinstein says Appirio fields client security questions. The company defers some inquires to the SaaS vendor involved in a particular customer engagement-questions regarding infrastructure, data centers and the layers of security around a given application, for example.
Appirio, meanwhile, directly addresses questions related to its own security process, Weinstein notes. The company, or its business partners, may need to access a SaaS application on the customer's behalf. This means clients are interested in how Appirio protects data from internal breaches.
Specifically, customers may ask how the company handles data in transit, or in the development environment, or when it is passed among consulting partners, Weinstein notes, adding that customers continue to grapple with what to ask of their cloud providers. "We are in the very early days," he says, "and the types of questions that customers ask about the cloud...will continue to change."
If anything, Weinstein would like to see more probing questions from customers. "We still see a lot of questions aimed at considerations that are pretty well shored up at this point."
An RFP might ask cloud vendors about penetration testing or distributed denial of service vulnerability, but Weinstein says the top enterprise providers have those issues well in hand. He'd prefer to see RFPs ask about configuration security, authentication options, and the provider's ability to control access to data among employees and third parties. He suggests that those questions more closely address the security surrounding cloud applications....
Read more
...Budget practices and economics also play a role in limiting SaaS testing. Glenn Weinstein, co-founder and CIO at Appirio, a cloud services provider based in San Francisco, says IT organizations may lack a formal budget line item for SaaS testing and instead rely on the vendor to provide security. "It's still not top of mind in the budgeting process. You don't see it broken out as a separate line of the security budget."
There Are No Dumb Cloud Security Questions
Just because an enterprise lacks a formal SaaS testing budget doesn't mean it isn't asking security questions, Weinstein notes. He's seen IT security teams invest significant time with cloud vendors as part of the RFP process.
As a cloud service brokerage, Weinstein says Appirio fields client security questions. The company defers some inquires to the SaaS vendor involved in a particular customer engagement-questions regarding infrastructure, data centers and the layers of security around a given application, for example.
Appirio, meanwhile, directly addresses questions related to its own security process, Weinstein notes. The company, or its business partners, may need to access a SaaS application on the customer's behalf. This means clients are interested in how Appirio protects data from internal breaches.
Specifically, customers may ask how the company handles data in transit, or in the development environment, or when it is passed among consulting partners, Weinstein notes, adding that customers continue to grapple with what to ask of their cloud providers. "We are in the very early days," he says, "and the types of questions that customers ask about the cloud...will continue to change."
If anything, Weinstein would like to see more probing questions from customers. "We still see a lot of questions aimed at considerations that are pretty well shored up at this point."
An RFP might ask cloud vendors about penetration testing or distributed denial of service vulnerability, but Weinstein says the top enterprise providers have those issues well in hand. He'd prefer to see RFPs ask about configuration security, authentication options, and the provider's ability to control access to data among employees and third parties. He suggests that those questions more closely address the security surrounding cloud applications....
Read more
Monday, February 25, 2013
Crowdsourcing Developers To Connect Apps Using Appirio CloudSpokes
TechCrunch
Appirio has launched a new partner program for connecting cloud apps through CloudSpokes, its 72,000-member developer community. Apps increasingly need to connect to offer a workflow that can appeal to an application's user base.
The CloudSpokes partner program allows for companies to create their own spokes that act as networks for doing contests that developers participate in.
Smartsheet, a collaborative project-management tool with a spreadsheet-type app, ran a contest to create a connection with Salesforce.com. Updates from Salesforce.com are pulled into Smartsheet, which serves as the master document for managing a sales-lead pipeline.
The contest gave experts in Salesforce.com's technology a chance to see how the Smartsheet API functions. It also gave a way to improve the Smartsheet service in a way that would have potentially meant more investment in developer talent.
Crowdsourcing can represent an obvious cost advantage. It splits the development into different tasks, helping mollify recruiting costs...
Read more
Appirio has launched a new partner program for connecting cloud apps through CloudSpokes, its 72,000-member developer community. Apps increasingly need to connect to offer a workflow that can appeal to an application's user base.
The CloudSpokes partner program allows for companies to create their own spokes that act as networks for doing contests that developers participate in.
Smartsheet, a collaborative project-management tool with a spreadsheet-type app, ran a contest to create a connection with Salesforce.com. Updates from Salesforce.com are pulled into Smartsheet, which serves as the master document for managing a sales-lead pipeline.
The contest gave experts in Salesforce.com's technology a chance to see how the Smartsheet API functions. It also gave a way to improve the Smartsheet service in a way that would have potentially meant more investment in developer talent.
Crowdsourcing can represent an obvious cost advantage. It splits the development into different tasks, helping mollify recruiting costs...
Read more
Tuesday, February 19, 2013
AppExchange Seven Years On
Enterprise Irregulars
"The AppExchange is undoubtedly a significant portion of what makes salesforce.com unique. Pre-integrated solutions dramatically reduce the cost to the customer to extend the capabilities of Salesforce and the fact that it has already gone through growing pains means it will take other providers years to mimic its capability and impact." ~Narinder Singh, co-founder and CSO, Appirio.
Nine years ago I wrote The New Garage. It was a thought piece that tried to peer into the future of Software as a Service (SaaS) and make some predictions from a business and economics perspective. Salesforce had recently started promoting its platform in the making (then called S-Force) and encouraging third parties to develop applications that complemented and extended the basic Salesforce CRM solution so there was no reason to speculate about the impact this new approach would have.
But also, the history of business and industry is a long story of better, faster and cheaper and at that moment all three were all in the driver's seat. Back office software had already demonstrated many business process improvements leveraging automation and the Internet, and I thought it was time to turn some of these techniques on software. SaaS was a good start but it had further to go, I thought...
Read more
"The AppExchange is undoubtedly a significant portion of what makes salesforce.com unique. Pre-integrated solutions dramatically reduce the cost to the customer to extend the capabilities of Salesforce and the fact that it has already gone through growing pains means it will take other providers years to mimic its capability and impact." ~Narinder Singh, co-founder and CSO, Appirio.
Nine years ago I wrote The New Garage. It was a thought piece that tried to peer into the future of Software as a Service (SaaS) and make some predictions from a business and economics perspective. Salesforce had recently started promoting its platform in the making (then called S-Force) and encouraging third parties to develop applications that complemented and extended the basic Salesforce CRM solution so there was no reason to speculate about the impact this new approach would have.
But also, the history of business and industry is a long story of better, faster and cheaper and at that moment all three were all in the driver's seat. Back office software had already demonstrated many business process improvements leveraging automation and the Internet, and I thought it was time to turn some of these techniques on software. SaaS was a good start but it had further to go, I thought...
Read more
Tuesday, February 12, 2013
Cornerstone launches Salesforce native application
ZDNet
Cornerstone OnDemand launched Cornerstone for Salesforce, which is designed to offer talent management tools build directly into Salesforce's platform.
Specifically, Cornerstone, which just forged a partnership with Appirio, will offer training programs that can be tailored and delivered via Salesforce. Cornerstone is hoping to use Salesforce as a channel to deliver its social educational content. The company said its efforts complement Salesforce's Work.com efforts.
Cornerstone has more than 10 million subscribers to its learning and talent management tools. Cornerstone for Salesforce integrates with Chatter, Service Cloud, and partner portals...
Read more
Cornerstone OnDemand launched Cornerstone for Salesforce, which is designed to offer talent management tools build directly into Salesforce's platform.
Specifically, Cornerstone, which just forged a partnership with Appirio, will offer training programs that can be tailored and delivered via Salesforce. Cornerstone is hoping to use Salesforce as a channel to deliver its social educational content. The company said its efforts complement Salesforce's Work.com efforts.
Cornerstone has more than 10 million subscribers to its learning and talent management tools. Cornerstone for Salesforce integrates with Chatter, Service Cloud, and partner portals...
Read more
Friday, February 8, 2013
Virgin America used Salesforce Chatter to revamp its ancient intranet, and employees love it
CITE World
...Virgin America's mission is to "make flying good again," and that means a rock star experience for customers.
But for Virgin America's employees, that showmanship didn't always translate to the behind-the-scenes intranet experience. It took VXConnect, a custom employee portal built by systems integrator Appirio on top of the Salesforce.com Chatter social platform, to unify the airline's cross-continental workforce under the company's banner, says Amy Cisneroz, Program Manager at Virgin America.
Most of Virgin America's 2,700 employees operate remotely from the airline's Burlingame, CA headquarters -- working as gate agents, pilots and flight attendants all over the country (and beyond). Getting documentation, company resources, or essentially any information to this remote workforce required the use of an ugly, eight-year-old content management system (CMS) that only pushed data out, never pulled it in, and which was a pain to use besides, Cisneroz says.
Worst of all, there wasn't even a rudimentary mobile version of this intranet, meaning that Virgin America employees couldn't so much as log in from their smartphones and tablets.
Cisneroz's background in acting as a liaison between IT and management made her the natural choice to oversee the modernization of Virgin America's intranet -- which meant getting a full-immersion course in the cloud. When Cisneroz first joined Virgin America in mid-2011, she jokes that all she knew about the matter was that "clouds were in the sky."
She consulted both executives and employees alike, trying to get a sense for what they expected from an employee portal. Even Verizon, a Virgin America business partner, had some input on how best to go about it. Predictably, the major theme was that everybody wanted access from their iPhones and Android phones, in addition to a generally more user-friendly experience.
The company audited solutions from social business provider Jive and human resources management solution developer Saba Systems, but Virgin America executives eventually decided to purchase licenses for Salesforce.com Chatter, the SaaS giant's much-touted social enterprise platform (perhaps not a huge surprise, given Sir Richard Branson's friendly relationship with Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff).
Interestingly, Microsoft SharePoint was barely even considered for this undertaking. Cisneroz says that the team was looking for something really new and cool -- tapping Microsoft for this project would hardly be worth the effort of replacing the legacy CMS.
"Everything we do is big and over the top," Cisneroz says, and going with the established marketplace leader for internal collaboration would be too much like following the herd for Virgin America's taste.
Read more
...Virgin America's mission is to "make flying good again," and that means a rock star experience for customers.
But for Virgin America's employees, that showmanship didn't always translate to the behind-the-scenes intranet experience. It took VXConnect, a custom employee portal built by systems integrator Appirio on top of the Salesforce.com Chatter social platform, to unify the airline's cross-continental workforce under the company's banner, says Amy Cisneroz, Program Manager at Virgin America.
Most of Virgin America's 2,700 employees operate remotely from the airline's Burlingame, CA headquarters -- working as gate agents, pilots and flight attendants all over the country (and beyond). Getting documentation, company resources, or essentially any information to this remote workforce required the use of an ugly, eight-year-old content management system (CMS) that only pushed data out, never pulled it in, and which was a pain to use besides, Cisneroz says.
Worst of all, there wasn't even a rudimentary mobile version of this intranet, meaning that Virgin America employees couldn't so much as log in from their smartphones and tablets.
Cisneroz's background in acting as a liaison between IT and management made her the natural choice to oversee the modernization of Virgin America's intranet -- which meant getting a full-immersion course in the cloud. When Cisneroz first joined Virgin America in mid-2011, she jokes that all she knew about the matter was that "clouds were in the sky."
She consulted both executives and employees alike, trying to get a sense for what they expected from an employee portal. Even Verizon, a Virgin America business partner, had some input on how best to go about it. Predictably, the major theme was that everybody wanted access from their iPhones and Android phones, in addition to a generally more user-friendly experience.
The company audited solutions from social business provider Jive and human resources management solution developer Saba Systems, but Virgin America executives eventually decided to purchase licenses for Salesforce.com Chatter, the SaaS giant's much-touted social enterprise platform (perhaps not a huge surprise, given Sir Richard Branson's friendly relationship with Salesforce.com CEO Marc Benioff).
Interestingly, Microsoft SharePoint was barely even considered for this undertaking. Cisneroz says that the team was looking for something really new and cool -- tapping Microsoft for this project would hardly be worth the effort of replacing the legacy CMS.
"Everything we do is big and over the top," Cisneroz says, and going with the established marketplace leader for internal collaboration would be too much like following the herd for Virgin America's taste.
Read more
Appirio outlines 2013 focus; Eyes HCM as springboard
ZDNet
Appirio, a cloud integration and consulting firm, outlined its 2013 plans and indicated that it plans to use its human capital management focus as a springboard to new implementations in mobile, CRM and collaboration.
The company on Thursday outlined a deal to make Cornerstone OnDemand as its preferred talent management partner. That partnership, along with the acquisition of Knowledge Infusion, has made Appirio the go-to cloud HCM integration outfit.
Not surprisingly, Appirio's 2013 focus areas break down like this:
Read more
Appirio, a cloud integration and consulting firm, outlined its 2013 plans and indicated that it plans to use its human capital management focus as a springboard to new implementations in mobile, CRM and collaboration.
The company on Thursday outlined a deal to make Cornerstone OnDemand as its preferred talent management partner. That partnership, along with the acquisition of Knowledge Infusion, has made Appirio the go-to cloud HCM integration outfit.
Not surprisingly, Appirio's 2013 focus areas break down like this:
- Expand the HCM practice and make "people-based processes less tactical and more transformational -- across every functional area." In HCM, Appirio is pushing Workday and Cornerstone. According to Cornerstone CEO Adam Miller, speaking on a November earnings conference call, his company is a partner with Workday, but may tread on co-opetition. Appirio will have to be Switzerland should those two partners wind up duking it out.
- Appirio will take CloudSpokes, its community and cloud platform, and extend it more to independent software vendors.
- The company aims to bring more analytics and metrics to customers.
- And add global development centers around the world to support its core efforts as well as "a growing number of CRM, HCM, collaboration and mobile-focused customer engagements."
Read more
Appirio's next steps in HCM
#evilplans
Yesterday's announcement that Appirio is partnering with Cornerstone OnDemand as its preferred solution for talent management should not come as a surprise, following Appirio's recent acquisition of Knowledge Infusion, a specialist HCM consultancy.
Yesterday's announcement that Appirio is partnering with Cornerstone OnDemand as its preferred solution for talent management should not come as a surprise, following Appirio's recent acquisition of Knowledge Infusion, a specialist HCM consultancy.
On a pre-briefing call, Jason Corsello, VP corporate development and strategy at Cornerstone said: "In the past, we have done most of the hands on deployments ourselves. We can't scale at the rate we need to so this partnership comes at the right time. Knowledge Infusion are the biggest and best HR cloud services providers. We have 30 percent of the business in international plus we are expanding into the Asia-Pacific region where Appirio is already strong."
What may not be well known is that in a past life, Corsello was a senior executive with Knowledge Infusion so it doesn't take too much imagination to understand how the logic of this deal comes together. How it works out going forward is another matter...
Read more
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Thursday, February 7, 2013
Appirio, Cornerstone OnDemand Team To Extend Cloud-Based HCM
CRN
Cloud provider Appirio on Thursday said it has partnered with Cornerstone OnDemand, a software-as-a-service human capital management (HCM) company, to broaden its talent management portfolio.
Cloud-based talent management, which includes human resources and other business management resources, has become a hot market, in which Appirio intends to take a strong position.
The partnership follows and builds on Appirio's acquisition last October of HCM provider Knowledge Infusion, for an undisclosed amount.
"We are seeing more engagement in large-scale transformation efforts, not just involving human resources, but sales and services. So, Cornerstone OnDemand is a natural extension." Narinder Singh, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Appirio, said in an interview with CRN.
Appirio will become Cornerstone OnDemand's preferred service provider and work with Cornerstone’s clients to build talent and learning management applications. Appirio’s existing HCM portfolio includes recruiting, onboarding, human resources, performance management, learning management and employee engagement, the company said....
Read more
Cloud provider Appirio on Thursday said it has partnered with Cornerstone OnDemand, a software-as-a-service human capital management (HCM) company, to broaden its talent management portfolio.
Cloud-based talent management, which includes human resources and other business management resources, has become a hot market, in which Appirio intends to take a strong position.
The partnership follows and builds on Appirio's acquisition last October of HCM provider Knowledge Infusion, for an undisclosed amount.
"We are seeing more engagement in large-scale transformation efforts, not just involving human resources, but sales and services. So, Cornerstone OnDemand is a natural extension." Narinder Singh, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Appirio, said in an interview with CRN.
Appirio will become Cornerstone OnDemand's preferred service provider and work with Cornerstone’s clients to build talent and learning management applications. Appirio’s existing HCM portfolio includes recruiting, onboarding, human resources, performance management, learning management and employee engagement, the company said....
Read more
Cornerstone OnDemand, Appirio forge HCM pact
ZDNet
Appirio, which acquired Knowledge Infusion to bulk up its practice, will be the preferred service provider for Cornerstone's talent management tools.
Cornerstone OnDemand, a human capital management software as a service provider, has forged a deal with Appirio, a consulting firm focused on cloud deployments.
Under the deal, Appirio, which acquired Knowledge Infusion to bulk up its practice, will be the preferred service provider for Cornerstone's talent management tools.
The partnership will expand Appirio's human capital management efforts. Cornerstone gets services help, distribution and high-level engagements.
In a statement, Chris Barbin, CEO of Appirio, said Cornerstone is complementary to his company's HCM plans. Adam Miller, CEO of Cornerstone, said the partnership will put Appirio's cloud experience will help his customers...
Read more
Appirio, which acquired Knowledge Infusion to bulk up its practice, will be the preferred service provider for Cornerstone's talent management tools.
Cornerstone OnDemand, a human capital management software as a service provider, has forged a deal with Appirio, a consulting firm focused on cloud deployments.
Under the deal, Appirio, which acquired Knowledge Infusion to bulk up its practice, will be the preferred service provider for Cornerstone's talent management tools.
The partnership will expand Appirio's human capital management efforts. Cornerstone gets services help, distribution and high-level engagements.
In a statement, Chris Barbin, CEO of Appirio, said Cornerstone is complementary to his company's HCM plans. Adam Miller, CEO of Cornerstone, said the partnership will put Appirio's cloud experience will help his customers...
Read more
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Salesforce.com Apps Unify JDRF Diabetes Fund-Raising Records
eWEEK
...JDRF, a nonprofit organization focused on type 1 diabetes research, is using cloud computing to create a single location to track 5 million donor records. Since its founding in 1970, JDRF has raised more than $1.6 billion for its research on type 1 diabetes.
Before migrating to the cloud, JDRF would take all donations in cash and on paper, James Szmak, chief operating officer at JDRF, told eWEEK.
The cloud has substantially increased the fund-raising capabilities for JDRF, according to Szmak. Now the organization can contact potential donors through email instead of through postal services and take payments by credit card instead of cash and checks, he said.
Operating its applications in the cloud also allows JDRF to "run an IT shop in a very low-cost manner and put the requirements on the vendors," he said.
JDRF uses Convio Luminate, an engagement application from BlackBaud, on Salesforce's customer-relationship-management platform to manage fund-raising activities, communicate with donors and analyze constituent transactions. The organization also uses a budget and forecast system from Adaptive Planning.
In addition, a cloud-based application from Greater Giving allows the JDRF to manage auctions and track attendees to fund-raising galas, said Szmak.
The cloud enables JDRF to organize all of its records into a single platform and avoid duplication of its 5.5 million donor records, Szmak explained.
Cloud service provider Appirio is the chief integrator that allows JDRF to bring these multiple cloud applications together under one Salesforce platform, he said....
Read more
...JDRF, a nonprofit organization focused on type 1 diabetes research, is using cloud computing to create a single location to track 5 million donor records. Since its founding in 1970, JDRF has raised more than $1.6 billion for its research on type 1 diabetes.
Before migrating to the cloud, JDRF would take all donations in cash and on paper, James Szmak, chief operating officer at JDRF, told eWEEK.
The cloud has substantially increased the fund-raising capabilities for JDRF, according to Szmak. Now the organization can contact potential donors through email instead of through postal services and take payments by credit card instead of cash and checks, he said.
Operating its applications in the cloud also allows JDRF to "run an IT shop in a very low-cost manner and put the requirements on the vendors," he said.
JDRF uses Convio Luminate, an engagement application from BlackBaud, on Salesforce's customer-relationship-management platform to manage fund-raising activities, communicate with donors and analyze constituent transactions. The organization also uses a budget and forecast system from Adaptive Planning.
In addition, a cloud-based application from Greater Giving allows the JDRF to manage auctions and track attendees to fund-raising galas, said Szmak.
The cloud enables JDRF to organize all of its records into a single platform and avoid duplication of its 5.5 million donor records, Szmak explained.
Cloud service provider Appirio is the chief integrator that allows JDRF to bring these multiple cloud applications together under one Salesforce platform, he said....
Read more
Monday, January 28, 2013
With $1 Trillion at Stake, Enterprise Technology Gets Its Star Turn
WIRED
...But here’s why you should care about the latest enterprise software or services outfit knocking on your company’s door. Every 10 to 15 years the enterprise market goes through an upheaval where the next generation of technology replaces the old. We’re in the early stages of one of those big displacements right now, where huge companies are brought to their knees, and new giants are born.
The technology trends driving it are things we read about daily, the cloud and big data. But the reason it happens with such ferocity in the corporate world, is that unlike the consumer world, the enterprise market is a zero-sum game. There is only so much budget to go around. That means for every sale that some new hotshot company makes, some other company loses a sale.
The last time it happened was from 1990 to 2000, when companies like PeopleSoft, Business Objects, SAP, Oracle, Sybase even Microsoft grabbed share and saw their sales and market value balloon. Today it’s happening again with companies like Appirio, Box, GoodData, Jive, Netsuite, Palo Alto Networks, Okta, Service Now, Splunk and others gunning for companies like EMC, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and IBM...
Read more
...But here’s why you should care about the latest enterprise software or services outfit knocking on your company’s door. Every 10 to 15 years the enterprise market goes through an upheaval where the next generation of technology replaces the old. We’re in the early stages of one of those big displacements right now, where huge companies are brought to their knees, and new giants are born.
The technology trends driving it are things we read about daily, the cloud and big data. But the reason it happens with such ferocity in the corporate world, is that unlike the consumer world, the enterprise market is a zero-sum game. There is only so much budget to go around. That means for every sale that some new hotshot company makes, some other company loses a sale.
The last time it happened was from 1990 to 2000, when companies like PeopleSoft, Business Objects, SAP, Oracle, Sybase even Microsoft grabbed share and saw their sales and market value balloon. Today it’s happening again with companies like Appirio, Box, GoodData, Jive, Netsuite, Palo Alto Networks, Okta, Service Now, Splunk and others gunning for companies like EMC, SAP, Oracle, Microsoft, Hewlett Packard and IBM...
Read more
Friday, January 25, 2013
Why Mobile MUST be Part of Your HR Software Strategy
i-Sight
If you're not incorporating mobile into your business strategy, you might as well pack up your shingle now. The workforce of the future will incorporate mobile into everyday functions, and it won't be up to companies to decide whether or not to ride the wave. Those that don't will simply die off.
That's the message that Jason Averbook, Chief Business Innovation Officer at Appirio wants to send loud and clear. Averbook warns that HR departments need to become more outward focused and embrace mobile technology as part of HR software solutions now to be ready for the day when five generations of workers will be in the workforce, with the younger generations expecting to use the technology that they have grown up with.
Averbook talks about his eight-year old and five-year old children who are already making videos and getting their homework off websites. When they enter the workforce in 10 or 15 years, that's the way they are going to expect work, says Averbook. "They are not going to want to use desktops and laptops, they are going to want to use a tablet," he says.
"In 10 years that's where the world's going to be. There's no question. So, that being said, what do I do, as an HR function, to prepare? If my technology is such that people have to be in the office to use it, that's not going to work."
HR departments need to plan now to avoid being left behind. Hear what Jason Averbook has to say about the importance of mobile and collaborative technology for the future of business and why human resources departments need to prepare for the next Y2K...
Read more
If you're not incorporating mobile into your business strategy, you might as well pack up your shingle now. The workforce of the future will incorporate mobile into everyday functions, and it won't be up to companies to decide whether or not to ride the wave. Those that don't will simply die off.
That's the message that Jason Averbook, Chief Business Innovation Officer at Appirio wants to send loud and clear. Averbook warns that HR departments need to become more outward focused and embrace mobile technology as part of HR software solutions now to be ready for the day when five generations of workers will be in the workforce, with the younger generations expecting to use the technology that they have grown up with.
Averbook talks about his eight-year old and five-year old children who are already making videos and getting their homework off websites. When they enter the workforce in 10 or 15 years, that's the way they are going to expect work, says Averbook. "They are not going to want to use desktops and laptops, they are going to want to use a tablet," he says.
"In 10 years that's where the world's going to be. There's no question. So, that being said, what do I do, as an HR function, to prepare? If my technology is such that people have to be in the office to use it, that's not going to work."
HR departments need to plan now to avoid being left behind. Hear what Jason Averbook has to say about the importance of mobile and collaborative technology for the future of business and why human resources departments need to prepare for the next Y2K...
Read more
The 10 Must-Have Sales and Marketing Business Tools
Huffington Post
...In 2012, InformationWeek named one of the top 500 innovators and rule breakers of business technology. My company's CIO Dan Petlon was ranked 80th on the list for his game changing use of enterprise applications to drive business growth. In addition, Boston Business Journal named Petlon one of the top 10 CIOs in Boston.
Here are the 10 indispensable marketing and sales tools for you to consider, per Dan Petlon:
CloudFactor. CloudFactor is a very cool integration tool for Salesforce to Google integration. It provides context sensitive data from Salesforce right in your Gmail client. Without leaving Gmail you can see Salesforce contact, account, case, and opportunity info. There is also a contact syncing component to keep your Google and Salesforce contacts in sync. CloudFactor saves our sales force time as they are corresponding with our customers, they can quickly see current information as well as log the current conversation to the customer record in Salesforce.com....
Read more
...In 2012, InformationWeek named one of the top 500 innovators and rule breakers of business technology. My company's CIO Dan Petlon was ranked 80th on the list for his game changing use of enterprise applications to drive business growth. In addition, Boston Business Journal named Petlon one of the top 10 CIOs in Boston.
Here are the 10 indispensable marketing and sales tools for you to consider, per Dan Petlon:
CloudFactor. CloudFactor is a very cool integration tool for Salesforce to Google integration. It provides context sensitive data from Salesforce right in your Gmail client. Without leaving Gmail you can see Salesforce contact, account, case, and opportunity info. There is also a contact syncing component to keep your Google and Salesforce contacts in sync. CloudFactor saves our sales force time as they are corresponding with our customers, they can quickly see current information as well as log the current conversation to the customer record in Salesforce.com....
Read more
Wednesday, January 23, 2013
A Silver Lining In Every Cloud: Applying Time, Talent & Tech for Business & Social Good
Business4Better
Making homemade blankets for those in need and delivering high-impact business technology solutions are worlds apart at first blush. At Appirio, a global midsize Cloud Technology solutions company, they are one in the same, shaping how Appirio does business and serves the communities in which their employees and customers live and work.
“Doing good to do good” is the way Appirio looks at their business model and approach. As a growing company with 600+ employees, Appirio uses their employee time, talent, and company’s technology know-how to make a difference in the communities they serve. The leadership team sees community engagement, partnerships, and volunteering as the connective tissue that shapes their culture and brings together their employees, customers, and partners to create business success and community impact success. And, while it feels good to contribute, it is an effective tool to help the organization recruit and retain top talent in a competitive market, differentiate their brand and company, and open doors to meet other people who shape business opportunities.
The backbone of this corporate responsibility effort is an initiative called “Silver Lining.” Kicked off just 3 short years ago, Appirio’s Silver Lining Program was created to mobilize its employees to make a measurable impact on the communities in which they work and live. Inspired in part by community benefit programs created by technology partners like Salesforce.com and Google, the Silver Lining program was launched in 2010 through the passion of Appirio employees who have made giving back part of their personal and professional lives. The program’s keeper of the flame is Kim Arden, Appirio’s Community Engagement Manager.
Business alignment is one of the keys to success of any Corporate Responsibility and Employee Engagement program. “Cloud Technology, by its very nature, provides access to people, resources, and information that is both affordable and scalable,”said Narinder Singh, chief strategy officer, Appirio. “While it is not critical that Cloud Technology be at the center of all our community initiatives, it provides a powerful inflection point with the everyday heroes at organizations we work with, including JDRF, Architecture for Humanity, and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. At Appirio, we understand that we have to live up to the responsibility of our good fortune and take small steps that hold ourselves and the organizations we work for accountable to do more to help."...
Read more
Making homemade blankets for those in need and delivering high-impact business technology solutions are worlds apart at first blush. At Appirio, a global midsize Cloud Technology solutions company, they are one in the same, shaping how Appirio does business and serves the communities in which their employees and customers live and work.
“Doing good to do good” is the way Appirio looks at their business model and approach. As a growing company with 600+ employees, Appirio uses their employee time, talent, and company’s technology know-how to make a difference in the communities they serve. The leadership team sees community engagement, partnerships, and volunteering as the connective tissue that shapes their culture and brings together their employees, customers, and partners to create business success and community impact success. And, while it feels good to contribute, it is an effective tool to help the organization recruit and retain top talent in a competitive market, differentiate their brand and company, and open doors to meet other people who shape business opportunities.
The backbone of this corporate responsibility effort is an initiative called “Silver Lining.” Kicked off just 3 short years ago, Appirio’s Silver Lining Program was created to mobilize its employees to make a measurable impact on the communities in which they work and live. Inspired in part by community benefit programs created by technology partners like Salesforce.com and Google, the Silver Lining program was launched in 2010 through the passion of Appirio employees who have made giving back part of their personal and professional lives. The program’s keeper of the flame is Kim Arden, Appirio’s Community Engagement Manager.
Business alignment is one of the keys to success of any Corporate Responsibility and Employee Engagement program. “Cloud Technology, by its very nature, provides access to people, resources, and information that is both affordable and scalable,”said Narinder Singh, chief strategy officer, Appirio. “While it is not critical that Cloud Technology be at the center of all our community initiatives, it provides a powerful inflection point with the everyday heroes at organizations we work with, including JDRF, Architecture for Humanity, and UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital. At Appirio, we understand that we have to live up to the responsibility of our good fortune and take small steps that hold ourselves and the organizations we work for accountable to do more to help."...
Read more
Monday, January 7, 2013
CRM Watchlist 2013: It all starts...now. The Finalists
ZDNet
...For the novices out there, the CRM Watchlist has been around 5 years as of 2013. It’s an award designed to single out technology companies that will have a significant impact in the coming year in the market with customers, and in the industry they represent. It skews to the larger companies rather than the smaller companies simply because larger more established companies have a better chance to win because they can afford to do those things that have an impact more so than small companies can. However, small companies are definitely in the mix and thus are often among the winners – because they wow me with their stuff and they tend to flow with the trends in the market....
...This is just a list of the finalists, not the winners. That will be soon enough. Be patient, grasshoppers. These lists are in alphabetical order. There are several categories. The two major categories (both of which are weighted differently) are Vendors and Consulting Companies/Systems Integrators....
Consulting/Systems Integrators
Roughly a little less than half of the consulting/systems integrator entries qualified as finalists.
...For the novices out there, the CRM Watchlist has been around 5 years as of 2013. It’s an award designed to single out technology companies that will have a significant impact in the coming year in the market with customers, and in the industry they represent. It skews to the larger companies rather than the smaller companies simply because larger more established companies have a better chance to win because they can afford to do those things that have an impact more so than small companies can. However, small companies are definitely in the mix and thus are often among the winners – because they wow me with their stuff and they tend to flow with the trends in the market....
...This is just a list of the finalists, not the winners. That will be soon enough. Be patient, grasshoppers. These lists are in alphabetical order. There are several categories. The two major categories (both of which are weighted differently) are Vendors and Consulting Companies/Systems Integrators....
Consulting/Systems Integrators
Roughly a little less than half of the consulting/systems integrator entries qualified as finalists.
- Accenture
- Appirio
- CSC
- DRI Consulting
- Ernst & Young Advisory
- Innoveer
- ITC Infotech
- Solvis Consulting
- The Pedowitz Group
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
How the Cloud Changes Software Consulting
The New York Times
...Software can be deployed and updated faster in cloud systems because of the central control. If you make changes to a calendar function, for example, or patch a potential security flaw, it can show up on everyone’s machines the next time they log in.
You can also change the way that other programmers and consultants approach work. Appirio, based in New York, is attempting to build a crowdsourced method of writing custom business software applications. Called CloudSpokes , it involves companies submitting “challenges” in exchange for cash rewards. Programmers from around the world can compete to write the best software, possibly winning jobs as well as money.
“Companies pay for the top one or two submissions, but they get to look at multiple versions of the work,” said Narinder Singh, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Appirio. His company often gets a commission for managing the work, and can more easily spot talent around the globe. “You aren’t paying for labor before you have a sense of the person’s skills,” he said. The system also works for designers, he said. Much the way Cloud Sherpas sells Salesforce as well as Google, Appirio is increasingly selling more software from Workday, another cloud-based software company.
The new approaches to consulting underline how much collaboration figures in cloud technology. Google is gaining traction partly because its products have better features; even more important, traditional enterprises have come to accept cloud-based systems, and workers are used to communicating constantly, thanks in part to the habits of “sharing” information over Facebook and Twitter...
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...Software can be deployed and updated faster in cloud systems because of the central control. If you make changes to a calendar function, for example, or patch a potential security flaw, it can show up on everyone’s machines the next time they log in.
You can also change the way that other programmers and consultants approach work. Appirio, based in New York, is attempting to build a crowdsourced method of writing custom business software applications. Called CloudSpokes , it involves companies submitting “challenges” in exchange for cash rewards. Programmers from around the world can compete to write the best software, possibly winning jobs as well as money.
“Companies pay for the top one or two submissions, but they get to look at multiple versions of the work,” said Narinder Singh, co-founder and chief strategy officer at Appirio. His company often gets a commission for managing the work, and can more easily spot talent around the globe. “You aren’t paying for labor before you have a sense of the person’s skills,” he said. The system also works for designers, he said. Much the way Cloud Sherpas sells Salesforce as well as Google, Appirio is increasingly selling more software from Workday, another cloud-based software company.
The new approaches to consulting underline how much collaboration figures in cloud technology. Google is gaining traction partly because its products have better features; even more important, traditional enterprises have come to accept cloud-based systems, and workers are used to communicating constantly, thanks in part to the habits of “sharing” information over Facebook and Twitter...
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Monday, December 10, 2012
HR In The Cloud: Allowing For A Connected Workplace
Forbes
Guest post written by Jason Averbook. Jason Averbook is chief business inovation officer of Knowledge Infusion, a unit of Appirio.
Many of us would describe ourselves as digitally connected to our personal lives. We know what our friends are up to (and what they had for lunch) in near real time. Often the books we read, music we listen to, products we buy and even relationships we enter into are fed to us from the cloud, based on our habits and preferences. As a culture, for better or worse, we are becoming "plugged into" or connected to our own lives.
Yet as employees, many of us can't say the same about our workplaces. Without question, organizations are improving when it comes to accommodating a virtual workforce, as most have accepted the idea that employees can work efficiently from anywhere. However, the impetus for employees working from home or a remote office is often rooted in company-centric benefits like cost savings, productivity gains, or access to global talent.
To support these virtual factions of workers, HR is compelled to provide ways for remote employees to connect with headquarters. What's often still missing is giving thought to connecting employees with one another. The notion that "face time" equals being "plugged in" at work is still prevalent, but cloud technology is changing that. And let's face it: even those who work in a physical office daily would probably claim that their manager and co-workers don't know exactly what they're working on, past/current project contributions, newly acquired skills, or career interests. Likewise, most employees would tell you they aren't really sure how their day-to-day activities are contributing to the organization's mission or business goals. Being connected isn't necessarily a matter of proximity...
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Guest post written by Jason Averbook. Jason Averbook is chief business inovation officer of Knowledge Infusion, a unit of Appirio.
Many of us would describe ourselves as digitally connected to our personal lives. We know what our friends are up to (and what they had for lunch) in near real time. Often the books we read, music we listen to, products we buy and even relationships we enter into are fed to us from the cloud, based on our habits and preferences. As a culture, for better or worse, we are becoming "plugged into" or connected to our own lives.
Yet as employees, many of us can't say the same about our workplaces. Without question, organizations are improving when it comes to accommodating a virtual workforce, as most have accepted the idea that employees can work efficiently from anywhere. However, the impetus for employees working from home or a remote office is often rooted in company-centric benefits like cost savings, productivity gains, or access to global talent.
To support these virtual factions of workers, HR is compelled to provide ways for remote employees to connect with headquarters. What's often still missing is giving thought to connecting employees with one another. The notion that "face time" equals being "plugged in" at work is still prevalent, but cloud technology is changing that. And let's face it: even those who work in a physical office daily would probably claim that their manager and co-workers don't know exactly what they're working on, past/current project contributions, newly acquired skills, or career interests. Likewise, most employees would tell you they aren't really sure how their day-to-day activities are contributing to the organization's mission or business goals. Being connected isn't necessarily a matter of proximity...
Read more
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