According to a new report from managed enterprise mobility provider Good Technology, iOS devices (iPhones and iPads) hold the top three spots in the list of the top 10 enterprise activations by device type. The report includes data gathered by Good for Q4 2011 and includes half of the Fortune 100, providing insight into enterprise activation trends among some of the world’s biggest businesses.

The company found that despite Android’s overall market share growth and steady absolute growth among Good’s customers, only 35% of all smartphone activations were on Android, compared with iPhone’s 65%.

The mid-October release of the iPhone 4S helped that particular device quickly earn the number one position on the top 10 enterprise activations list, with the iPhone 4 moving into spot #2. The iPad 2, meanwhile, claimed the third position.

Since there are far more Android devices than iPhone models, it’s not as fair to compare trends on a device-by-device basis. After all, there’s aren’t just a couple models of Android phones out there – there are dozens upon dozens of “top” (popular) devices.

However, even when looked at as a whole, Android activations accounted for just 35% of the smartphone activations and only 6% of tablet activations. The Samsung Galaxy S II was the top Android device at spot #6 and was followed by the Motorola Droid Bionic, the Motorola Droid 3, Sprint EVO 4G (Q3′s most popular Android device) and the Motorola Droid X2. Motorola phones were popular over the course of the past year, too, and were represented in the top 10 each quarter.

Good does note that iPhone activations had slowed in the previous quarter, in anticipation of the new iPhone, then jumped significantly after its launch, with 31% of smartphone activations from that device alone. But collectively, iOS devices accounted for over 70% of all activations in Q4, an indication that enterprise customers’ iOS preference wasn’t just being boosted by the iPhone 4S launch. iOS is the preferred choice in the enterprise, Good says.

On the tablet front, iOS’s domination is even more apparent – the iPad and iPad 2 account for 94% of the total tablet activations in Q4, compared with 6% for Android tablets, where the Galaxy Tab leads the pack. iPads were most popular in three industries: financial services (accounting for 42% for the quarter), business/professional services and life sciences.

Going into Q1 and Q2, Good says that it expects iPad and iPad 2 activations to slow heading into March, as customers prepare for the (rumored) launch of the iPad 3. It also expects Android activations to increase on a relative basis after the immediate impact of the iPhone 4S lessens and as BYOD (bring your own device) programs become more common.

However, says John Herrema, Senior Vice President of Corporate Strategy at Good, the company expects the iOS/Android numbers to be roughly the same during the first half of 2012 as they are now. A change would require a major shift in tablet trends. “I don’t see that happening with the iPad 3 on the horizon,” says Herrema.

“If Android and iOS split smartphone [market share] or even if Android takes the overall smartphone lead, it would still likely be no more than 40% of all Good activations overall, given the dominance of Apple on tablets and the large numbers of tablets we are activating. Meanwhile, I don’t see Android dropping substantially below where it is now because that would require major shift among BYOD smartphone users.”

We should note that this report does not look at RIM devices or Windows Phone, as Good doesn’t have insight into these platforms. This is only a comparison between the iOS/Android adoption rates in the enterprise, which by itself, limits itself to enterprise environments where BlackBerry has already fallen from favor.

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While there were some big IPOs in 2011, Zynga and Groupon among them, overall it was a disappointing year for IPOs. Will 2012 be any different? As the first tech IPO of the new year, Guidewire Software certainly hopes so. Back in September, the insurance software company joined MobiTV, Angie’s List, Brightcove, and Jive, filing its S-1, announcing plans to raise up to $100 million and to sell approximately 7.5 million shares at $10 to $12 per share, in advance of its IPO on the New York Stock Exchange.

Guideware ended up exceeding its initial targets, pricing its IPO yesterday above its target range at $13 a share, selling 8.85 million shares and raising $115 million. The company has officially begun trading on the NYSE this morning under the symbol “GWRE” — after granting underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to 1.3 million additional shares of common stock to cover over-allotments, if any — and again proceeded to beat expectations. Guidewire stock jumped to $16.75 upon its first trade, up 29 percent. Since, it has gone as high as $18, and currently sits at around $17.25 per share.

Founded in 2001, the San Mateo, California-based company is a software vendor for insurance companies that provide property, casualty and workers compensation to their customers. The company offers a web-based claims system that supports personal, commercial, and workers’ compensation insurance, and enterprise app for coordinating and executing transactions, as well as underwriting and policy administrations systems for these carriers. In other words, Guidewire has sought to enable insurance companies to replace their core legacy systems and automate their businesses through web-based software.

After struggling through not-so-profitable early years, the software company managed to turn a profit in the last two years, seeing its first quarterly profit in 2010. In fiscal 2011, revenues rose to $172 million, with the company seeing a net income of $35.6 million compared to $15.5 million in fiscal 2010 — although current financials are not as strong, as revenues have been on the decline in recent quarters.

That being said, sales increased 51 percent to $52.4 million in the most recent quarter, perhaps due to a loyal customer base, as Chief Executive Marcus S. Ryu told the WSY, “No customer has ever left Guidewire. That gives us a lot of security, and allows us to plan our budgeting and investing.” (Check out The Deal Pipeline’s interview with Ryu this morning here.)

While the company counts more than 100 customers, including major insurance companies like Nationwide, CNA and American Family Insurance, Guidewire believes that the available market for their software is far bigger. Gartner, for example, found that insurance carriers spent $4 billion on software and $10.5 billion on IT services in 2010, and many of those are still using outdated technology systems.

And in another good sign for Guidewire, according to the Wall Street Journal, two of its leading investors, U.S. Venture Partners and Bay Partners, have indicated that they are not interested in selling, but buying more stock — as many as 400,000 shares of common stock at its IPO price. (The WSJ actually reported that Battery Ventures, another of the company’s investors, has purchased an additional 400,000 shares of common stock.)

The company is seeing some strong adoption of its software, especially its claims system, and both profits and sales are on the rise. Thus, the immediate outlook for Guideware seems positive, so keep an eye on its stock this week — it, too, may be on the up-and-up.

And just in case you want to see a bunch of people clapping:

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There’s more good news for the growth of the social enterprise. Gartner is reporting today that the social customer relationship management (CRM) market is forecast to reach over $1 billion in revenue by year-end 2012, up from approximately $625 million in 2010. Worldwide social CRM is projected to total $820 million in 2011.

Gartner says that spending by buyers on social software for marketing, customer service and sales has increased by 40 percent in 2010, but social CRM remained less than 5 percent of the total CRM application market. And more than 100 vendors have social CRM offerings, but most are not profitable and generate annual revenue of less than $1 million.

While the market is clearly competitive, Gartner says that certain factors can help differentiate Social CRM offerings, including interoperation between public social networks and internal collaborative communities, integration with established CRM products, analytics and more.

There’s no doubt that there is growth in the social enterprise in general. And there’s a lot of movement already taking place in the space. Jive just filed for a $100 million IPO, and Salesforce is making big bets on the space with Chatter.

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In the report, Forrester analysts place a particular emphasis on the consulting firm's strong client focus, technical expertise, and extensive service offerings, which set Deloitte apart from other companies in the risk and security consultancy space. "In Forrester's 75-criteria evaluation of information security and risk consulting service providers, we found that Deloitte led the pack because of its maniacal customer focus and deep technical expertise," the report states.

"(Deloitte) Client references pointed to flexibility, project management, and quality of relationships as areas of strength and contract terms and limited services in certain geographies as areas of potential improvement. Deloitte also attracts a more mature client base and excels in solving complex problems while consistently producing high-quality deliverables for its clients. If you have a large and complex environment and are dealing with complex issues that require an understanding of the business process and deep technical capabilities, you should look to Deloitte."

"Deloitte's vision of becoming the client's trusted partner, coupled with its extensive list of services and technical and business experience, separates it from the rest of the pack. Information security, privacy, and IT risk remain top corporate priorities for Deloitte, and this is evident in the company's recent investments. Deloitte also has an aggressive growth strategy, with plans to invest heavily in emerging areas in this space. It has an excellent customer support structure. Client references pointed to flexibility, project management, and quality of relationships as areas of strength and contract terms and limited services in certain geographies as areas of potential improvement. Deloitte also attracts a more mature client base and excels in solving complex problems while consistently producing high-quality deliverables for its clients. If you have a large and complex environment and are dealing with complex issues that require an understanding of the business process and deep technical capabilities, you should look to Deloitte."

"I am delighted with this independent recognition of Deloitte's market leadership in security and risk consulting," said Sundeep Nehra, leader for Information & Technology Risk at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited. "It's no surprise to us that Forrester cited a 'maniacal customer focus and deep technical expertise' when awarding its top honors. Deloitte has made a substantial investment in this area, and clients are now reaping the benefits."

"We believe this recognition by Forrester provides additional evidence of Deloitte's exceptional capabilities, not just in security and risk consulting, but across the full range of professional services," said Sanjoy Sen, Clients and Markets Leader at Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu India Private Limited. "Deloitte continues to set a standard of excellence that client's value and competitors aspire to."

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Now, more than forty years later, many companies are still relying on similar methods: expensive in-person panels, which can be labor intensive to set-up, yield variable success and lack in cost effectiveness.

Denver-based GutCheck is trying to offer an alternative with its self-described do-it-yourself platform for qualitative market research and they’re building up a warchest to convert the unconverted. The startup, founded by CEO Matt Warta and Marshall England, has just raised $2 million in a Series A round led by Highway 12 Ventures.

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The US Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that in the past 12 months, Information Technology jobs in the metro area of Tampa-St. Petersburg-Clearwater have declined by 7.2 percent. According to tbnweekly.com, the area had the biggest overall job loss in the state with 4,400.

The decision to create the positions is two-fold: to help local technology professionals that have been hurt by recent job cuts in the area and to support the company’s contribution to making Tampa Bay the high-tech hub of the Southeast.

“In order to become a world-class player in online interaction, we must possess the top talent available,” stated Greg Pearson, CEO. “We are not a conventional company and offer a growth opportunity that many other local companies can’t match. We want to help drive Tampa Bay to become the Silicon Valley of the Southeast.”

Global Marketing Resources, Inc. operates multiple websites; among them the Celebrity Interaction site StarCam.com®, online dating site
PlanetLoveMatch.com™, and social networking site MyDot.com™. All three sites are powered by KABUUM™, which has 20 patent-pending technologies and over 43 interaction services.

Ivan Peña, Marketing Manager and one of Tampa Bay Business Journal’s 2008 “30 Under 30″, joined Global Marketing Resources last year. “I decided to join the team 5 minutes after a meeting with [CEO] Greg. Everything, from his enthusiastic vision to the free lunch perk on Fridays, made me feel like this was the place to be and it turned out to be the case. The opportunity to be part of something global, unique and fresh – and with such income potential – was a blessing.”

Global Marketing Resources, Inc. is looking for the following web developer and IT-related positions:

• ASP.NET Developers (multiple openings)
• Javascript Developers (multiple openings)
• Adobe Flash Developers
• C# Flash Developers
• Mobile App Developers (iPhone, Android)
• Network Engineer
• IT Security Specialist
• Quality Assurance
• Technical Support

Interested applicants can get more information about these exciting positions can send a resume, cover letter and samples of previous work (developers only) to hr ( @ ) gmri dot net dot

http://www.gmri.net

Source:
http://www.1888pressrelease.com/webdeveloperjobs/tampajobs/global-marketing-resources-inc-to-invest-1-million-into-l-pr-244992.html

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Can a ragtag group of former newspapermen from the L.A. Times help newspapers fight off the content farms of the Web? The founders and backers of Ebyline, which has been in private beta for a few months and launches today more broadly, think they can streamline the way news organizations manage freelancers and syndicate their own articles. Some publishers testing out the system include Variety, ProPublica, and The Texas Observer.

Ebyline is a marketplace for freelance journalists and syndicated news. Freelancers must be invited by an editor at a participating publication, or be vetted through an application. They can pitch story ideas into the open marketplace, or take assignments directly from editors they work with. The freelance writer and editor agree on a price, the freelancer submits drafts through the system, and once the editor accepts it after any necessary revisions, payment is authorized. The story can then be dumped into whatever ancient content management system the newspaper uses.

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Microsoft Continues to Lose Browser  Market
Share!!!
Vista Dead In Its Tracks – Windows 7 Does Better?

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The summary findings in Janco’s Browser and OS Market Share White
Paper are:

• Firefox challenged Microsoft as no other competitor has done in quite some
  time but Microsoft seems to have addressed this


• The SmartPhone market has taken off and users no longer have to depend on
  a PC to access the Internet


• Users are staying current with the latest versions of IE, and Firefox via
  the automatic update feature.


• Google’s Chrome is disappointing and has captured only a little over 5% of
  the browser market since its introduction.


• Internet Explorer’s market share continues to fall.


• Attacks on browsers are moving many users to the automatic update feature
  to get the latest versions of the browsers.


• The door was open for Google with both Desktop and Chrome – it is not
  clear that the current offering by Microsoft’s competitors can do more damage
  to Microsoft browser market share.  However Microsoft must address the
  SmartPhone market to maintain its leadership position.

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Gartner released this ranking in a report entitled "Market Share: Telecom Operations Management Systems (BSS, OSS and SDP), EMEA, 2007-2009," authored by Martina Kurth, Kamlesh Bhatia and Norbert Scholz, 30 April 2010. The report ranks the top 50 telecom operations management system vendors in western Europe, with an emphasis on business systems support, operations systems support, and service delivery platform.

Accenture’s award-winning SDP solution utilizes Web 2.0 technology to promote the ultimate open and collaborative environment for providing the infrastructure and common business functions that can drive high performance. It helps providers to create, deliver and manage a wide range of products and services for consumers and enterprises more quickly, and at lower cost and risk.

"BSS, OSS, and SDP will continue to be the heart of any communications providers operations, providing the critical foundation for new, high-speed broadband networks, which are enabling a broader range of innovative services and content," said Angelo Morelli, Global Executive Director, New Product Development and Innovation, Accenture’s Communications and High Tech Group. "Today, traditional providers are working to transform their operations and platforms to serve consumers' emerging needs and preferences, while new providers are jockeying for position to become the new providers of choice"

Key consulting technologies that Accenture provides include:

Converged billing systems, designed to enable providers to address the increasing complexity of pricing models and revenue sharing to support new products and services roadmaps which require more real-time integration with the network, service platforms, and marketing;

Workforce management solutions that enable organizations to increase productivity, market share, and shareholder value by ensuring that they have the right people, with the right skills in the right role;

SDP, which delivers a common way to create, provision, and execute multiple service types across different types of networks, and data center operations processing and hosting;

Provisioning and activation solutions, which provide communications companies with end-to-end service fulfillment capabilities, including order entry, service and network design and provisioning, third-party provisioning, service test and activation and customer-facing order management; and

Inventory management solutions, which help companies track and manage their telecom assets through a central repository of all fixed and wireless, and voice and data networking assets across the service providers. Obtaining an accurate view of the network assets and services deployed by the service providers is particularly critical for optimized telco operations, from network design and build to capacity planning, service creation, provisioning and service assurance.

Apply for the latest IT consulting jobs on our job board.

Find the latest IT contractor leads on Top-ContractConsultant.com.

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IDC reports impressive year-over-year growth for global PC shipments of 27.1% in the first quarter of 2010, which has prompted the company to revise its projection for the entire year. In light of slow but certain economic recovery, IDC now foresees 19.8% growth in 2010, according to its Worldwide Quarterly PC Tracker.

Unlike most of 2009, netbooks are no longer driving the volume as much as in recent times. IDC says the recent market recovery has notably seen a small rebound in higher priced computers, including e-readers and tablets.

Although low to mid-range portable PCs continue to dominate the market, desktop computers also recovered with its first yearly growth since the second quarter of 2008.

Zooming in on geographical trends, IDC reports growth was positive across both mature and emerging markets, although emerging regions did see a record high 37% year-over-year growth in the first quarter of 2010. The strong surge in volume brought a corresponding slowing of price declines over the past year, IDC adds.

IDC expects PC market revenue in 2010 to surpass that of the previous revenue peak in 2008, as more purchases shift to higher margin SKUs. Netbook volume growth is unsurprisingly expected to moderate, and its share as a percent of the total PC market is projected to stay under 12%. The main driver of growth will come from mainstream notebooks, still according to IDC’s report, particularly in emerging regions.

(Image via Flickr / dm-set)

Crunch Network: CrunchGear drool over the sexiest new gadgets and hardware.

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