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Spotlight On... Retail lags other industries in UC deployment
Fear and loathing at Amazon; To cloud or not to cloud and much more... News From the Fierce Network:
1. Attention Kmart shoppers: Data centers for sale
2. Survey: CIOs called on to make money, not just save money
3. Spotlight: Columbia University trains next generation of data crunchers
| This week's sponsor is Kony. |  | White Paper: Mobilizing the Entire Enterprise
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Today's Top News 1. Close to half of employees believe social tools increase productivity, survey finds
Close to half of employees said social tools help increase their productivity, and close to one-third said they would spend their own money to buy social tools for work, according to a survey of 9,908 information workers in 32 countries conducted by research firm Ipsos on behalf of Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT). It is no surprise that Microsoft is funding a study on social tools at work, given the company's recent integration of its Lync unified communications and Skype VoIP platforms and its strong portfolio of social tools such as SharePoint and Yammer. The survey found that 30 percent of companies underestimate the value of social tools and restrict their use, particularly in the financial services sector and the government. Security concerns and productivity loss are the primary reasons organizations restrict social tools at work. Of concern to IT managers, more than one-quarter of respondents said they know colleagues who have ignored IT policy and installed social tools on their work computers or work phones. The survey also found a gender divide over social tools at work. Men are more likely to attribute higher productivity levels to social tools in the workplace, while women are more likely to believe their company restricts the use of social tools. Men are more likely to say social tool restrictions are the result of security concerns, while women are more likely to attribute restrictions to productivity loss. "Enterprise social represents a new way to work, and organizations embracing these tools are improving collaboration, speeding customer responses and creating competitive advantages," said Charlene Li, founder and analyst at Altimeter Group. To emphasize the importance of social tools at work, Microsoft has launched the Worldwide Water Cooler site to encourage participants to share their thoughts about social tools at work. Commenting on the survey results, Mark Fidelman, CEO of social business consultancy Evolve!, observed that the problem with enterprises keeping tight control over social media "is that a rigid, tightly controlled process inhibits innovation and agility. And innovation and agility make organizations more adaptive to market changes and competitive threats." For more:
- check out the Ipsos-Microsoft survey
- read Fidelman's commentary in Forbes magazine Related articles:
Enterprises should find middle way on social media use, says Forrester analyst
Enterprise communications entering 'exciting and chaotic' time Read more about: Microsoft
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| This week's sponsor is Quest Software, now a part of Dell. | 
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2. BT, Ciena demonstrate support for terabit-rate speeds over BT's core network
British carrier BT (NYSE: BT) has teamed with network gear provider Ciena (Nasdaq: CIEN) to demonstrate support for terabit-rate speeds over BT's core network using Ciena's WaveLogic 3 transceivers, according to a release by the two companies. Conducted in March, the tests included the transmission of 100G, 200G and 400G speeds, as well as an 800G super-channel, which is equivalent to the simultaneous transmission of seven high-definition DVDs in a single second. The companies carried out the tests over a high polarization mode dispersion fiber link. The tests took place over a deployed 410-kilometer (255-mile) network link between BT's Adastral Park Research and Development Center in Ipswich and its BT Tower in central London. Since 2003, Ciena has supplied networking equipment to BT, which uses Ciena's 6500 packet-optical and 4200 advanced services platforms in its core network infrastructure. The two firms signed in January a multi-year collaboration agreement to conduct research and development of new applications and capabilities for BT's next-generation network. Commenting on the tests, Neil McRae, BT's chief network architect, said: "With the recent explosion in global connectivity, we have constantly looked for new ways to future proof our infrastructure and provide more bandwidth for the next generation of applications and services. These trials prove that we're heading in the right direction." Terabit speeds will be needed in the coming years as IP traffic quadruples by 2016, increasing at a compound annual growth rate of 29 percent, according to Cisco's (Nasdaq: CSCO) latest Visual Networking Index Forecast. Global IP networks will carry 3.6 exabytes per day in 2016, up from 1 exabyte per day in 2011, Cisco predicted. For more:
- see the BT-Ciena release
- check out Cisco's VNI Forecast Related articles:
Ciena's stock soars after beating Wall Street estimates with financial results
FCC's Gigabit City Challenge should spur business broadband access, says Ciena official Read more about: Cisco, BT
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3. Icahn in talks with banks to raise $7B for Dell bid
Billionaire investor Carl Icahn is working with partner Southeastern Asset Management to raise $7 billion from lenders to fund a bid for struggling computer maker Dell (Nasdaq: DELL), according to a report by Reuters. Jefferies & Co. is reportedly leading the lending group and has committed $1.6 billion in funding, the report noted, citing banking sources. The money will be used as a bridge loan for the Icahn-Southeastern offer to pay shareholders about $12 per share either in additional shares or cash and would leave a portion of the firm's shares publicly traded, a process known as a leveraged recapitalization. By contrast, Dell's founder, Michael Dell, and his investor group proposed to acquire all of Dell's shares for $13.65 per share, or a total of $24.4 billion. Michael Dell is contributing his stake along with cash through his private investment firm, MSD Capital. Silver Lake is contributing $1 billion in cash, and Microsoft (Nasdaq: MSFT) is loaning the group $2 billion. In addition, the group has lined up $11.75 billion in funding commitments from Bank of America Merrill Lynch, Barclays, Credit Suisse and RBC Capital Markets, according to Reuters. Earlier in May, the special committee set up by Dell's board to evaluate Michael Dell's offer and review alternative proposals asked the Icahn-Southeastern group to provide more information about its offer to evaluate whether it is credible. Icahn and Southeastern want to lock in financing before the shareholder vote in July on Michael Dell's offer so that shareholders will view their offer as a viable alternative, a banking source told Reuters. For more:
- read the Reuters report Related articles:
Dell special committee wants more information from Icahn, Southeastern
Report: Icahn, Southeastern Asset Management to submit alternative bid for Dell
Report: Blackstone Group, Icahn make offers for Dell Read more about: Dell
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4. TechNavio: Network-attached storage market to increase at 21.6% CAGR through 2016
The global network-attached storage (NAS) market is predicted to increase at a 21.6 percent compound annual growth (CAGR) rate through 2016, according to research (sub. req.) by TechNavio. A major driver in the NAS market is the enterprise need for less expensive, more efficient storage infrastructure due to the explosion of big data. To handle the flood of data, enterprises are upgrading their networks to support higher bandwidth and faster data transmission and deploying NAS equipment to store the data. "The increase in digital content in enterprise networks is leading to complications in the storage architectures. Enterprises are adopting various storage technologies and integrating them to obtain an architecture which can support all types of data storage and retrieval," commented TechNavio's networking team. "With the increasing demand for storage infrastructure, the frequently-accessed data is stored in the SAN [storage area network] architecture and long-term storage is supported over the NAS device. NAS devices are generally being used for timely backup of the storage and to maintain backup to support disaster recovery. The increased adoption of storage mediums and the need for data backup are leading to higher demand for NAS devices," the team added. A major challenge for enterprises is the increased congestion in their networks due to the high density of traffic being transmitted across them. Also, the transition from 8 Gbps to 10 Gbps networks is leading to network bottlenecks in places with lower bandwidth. Leading vendors in the NAS market are EMC (NYSE: EMC), Hewlett-Packard (NYSE: HPQ), IBM (NYSE: IBM), NetApp and Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL). Other vendors examined by TechNavio include Buffalo Technology, Hitachi, Iomega, Netgear, QNAP Systems, Synology, Thecus Technology and Western Digital. For more:
- see TechNavio's report summary Related articles:
Cloud sprawl worries IT execs
Dreaming of atomic-level big data Read more about: TechNavio
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5. Collaboration software growth to outpace other software segments, says IDC
The collaborative applications software segment is forecast by IDC to have higher growth than any other software category this year. It is also seeing more cloud deployments than other software segments. Overall, IDC expects the worldwide software market to increase 5.7 percent year-over-year in 2013, compared with sluggish growth of 3.6 percent year-over-year in 2012. The research firm predicts that the worldwide software growth phase will increase at a 6.3 percent compound annual growth rate (CAGR) through 2017. The structured data management software category is expected to show the strongest growth over the five-year forecast period, with a 9.3 percent CAGR through 2017. IDC explained that data management will play a vital role in the implementation of big data and analytics. Regionally, emerging economies are expected to see stronger growth than mature economies. For the Asia-Pacific (excluding Japan), Latin America, and Central Eastern, Middle East, and Africa, IDC is forecasting an 8.8 percent CAGR through 2017, while the average CAGR for the mature markets of North America, Western Europe and Japan is expected to be a more modest 5 percent CAGR. The emerging markets are expected to represent almost 19 percent of global software revenues in 2017, according to IDC. The market for operations support systems and business support systems (OSS/BSS) software is expected to post strong growth through 2018, according to a new report by Transparency Market Research. BSS software includes customer interface services such as billing, customer relationship management, order management and applications, while OSS software focuses on back office support systems for operating networks and provisioning customer services, such as inventory, designing, activation and service assurance, the research firm explained. Major OSS/BSS software vendors include IBM (NYSE: IBM), Alcatel Lucent (NYSE: ALU), Nokia Siemens Networks, Huawei, Oracle (Nasdaq: ORCL), Amdocs, Subex and Elitecore Technologies. New players are entering the market, driven by growth opportunities, and are pushing competition levels higher and bringing improved services for customers at competitive prices, Transparency Market Research related. At the same time, technological limitations faced in integrating OSS/BSS software with existing infrastructure is deterring some communications service providers from making the move as they face challenges in reducing operation cost while meeting revenue targets. This is spurring demand for customized OSS/BSS software products that are flexible enough to expand capacity and accommodate operational changes. For more:
- see the IDC release
- check out the Transparency Market Research release Related articles:
Spotlight: Wrike adds document tracking to online collaboration software
Tips for adopting collaboration solutions Read more about: IDC
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Also Noted | This week's sponsor is Skybot. |  | Enterprise Job Scheduling: 12 Things You Should Know — What should you consider before automating your job scheduling system?
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SPOTLIGHT ON... Retail lags other industries in UC deployment The retail industry is lagging behind other industries in its deployment of unified communications (UC), according to a survey commissioned by Elite Telecom in association with Swyx and Retail Week. The survey found that 69 percent of retail executives did not know what UC is and only 13.4 percent use UC currently. Only 35 percent of retailers are planning to deploy UC within the next two to three years, compared with 80 percent of businesses in other industries, according to an Ovum study cited by Elite Telecom. Read more > The only thing Amazon has to fear is Amazon itself. Article (Wired) > Stockholm's Plingm is a new startup vying for the mobile messaging/VoIP crown. Article (The Next Web) > Acrobits introduces push notifications to VoIP on Android. Release (Acrobits) > To cloud or not to cloud your unified communications applications? Article (SearchUnifiedCommunications) (sub. req.) > Unified communications 101: UC monitoring tools. Article (Enterprise Networking Planet) And finally… Chinese hackers gain access to U.S. weapons designs. Article (Washington Post) > Building Custom Apps for the Mobile Enterprise - Tuesday, June 18, 2 PM ET / 11 AM PT As the risks associated with publicly available apps continue to rise and the benefits of developing custom-built apps become apparent, more firms will move in the direction of custom enterprise apps to protect their workforce security. Register Today. > Optimizing field services with mobility - Thursday, June 26, 11am ET/ 8am PT Field workers want access to their applications and data wherever they are and mobile devices are the perfect tool for meeting their needs. Join us as we explore how to identify the most mobile-ready and mission-critical applications, form a mobile capture strategy and ensure continuous improvement of mobile services. Register Today!
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