Erik Qualman's Blog, page 484

Hilton Hotel Launches Robot Receptionist (Connie) Today. Seriously.

 Quote of the Day: “Connie, where can I find sushi?”

The future is officially here now that you can have a robot in your hotel lobby. Connie is Hilton Hotel’s newest employee. Named after Hilton’s founder, Conrad Hilton, the IBM powered Nao robot greets guests when they arrive and answer questions for them. Don’t get too excited though, Connie is just a pilot bot that can only been seen at the Hilton in McLean, VA. (Source Engadget)

 

Verizon Slammed With FCC Net Neutrality Fine

Verizon has been in some trouble with the FCC for violating net neutrality rules with their use of supercookies. While supercookies are not cookies that are super, they allow websites to better target ads to visitors but without tracking or being able to opt out. The FCC said no no no to Verizon and is having them pay up a hefty $1.4 million and make sure they have customer permission before sharing tracked data. From now on Verizon needs to be thinking clarity and informing when it comes to dealing with customers and data. (Source The Verge)

 

Youth in Trouble Over Trump Tweet

We know it can be hard to not tweet your feelings. 20-year-old Eli Martinez of Chicago tweeted, “I think I have to kill Trump. None of y’all gon do it, I have to take measures into my own hands.” and a few days later Secret Service was knocking on his door. Turns out the Secret Service is taking all tweets seriously and has been paying visits to question those tweeting threats to any of the presidential candidates. (Source Mashable)

Worried about what your son or daughter is tweeting? We have a book for that: What Happens on Campus Stays on YouTube.

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Personality versus Professionalism on Social Media

Very little has been left untouched by the social media explosion of the last decade. Its ubiquitous presence has infiltrated all aspects of life. The world of work has been particularly transformed as 81% of SMBs now use social media and 94% of those are doing so for marketing purposes.

As social media continues to evolve, professionals cannot ignore the benefits of using social platforms in leveraging their careers. But for all of its positives, social media can also present a professional minefield.

Many people use it to engage with family and friends, sharing personal information as they do so. In an era in which workers are connected with an average of 16 colleagues online and where 60% of hiring managers use social media to screen potential hires, sharing too much information can be potentially career-threatening.

Personal and professional lives have become intrinsically linked on social media. Even out of office hours, you are still a representative of the company and any unprofessional behaviour can reflect negatively on the business. As social media continues to evolve, you must consider the image you want to present professionally and personally.

Use personality to build your brand on social media

By developing a strong personal brand, you can establish yourself as an expert in a particular field, or demonstrate digitally fluency – a must-have in a technology driven world. Cultivating personal brand is achieved by allowing your personality to shine through while maintaining a distinct degree of professionalism.

Your social media persona is an extension of who you are and should reflect this. Most platforms don’t require credentials to prove credibility, though being able to list where you work or your experience can help you to attract industry attention. If you are passionate about a particular subject and engage with the topic in a compelling manner, you can begin to generate a following. Showing personality through your social imprint, such as by embracing a sense of humour and incorporating your interests from outside of work, can help you to seem more authentic and personable while you deliver useful opinions or content.

As you begin to increase your social media presence and a substantial network, opportunities will start finding you. Once users recognise your knowledge in a particular subject, they will start turning to you for information or a professional opinion.

Be wary of voicing personal opinions on social media

It is important to recognise that with every tweet we send and every Facebook status update we post, we are representing both ourselves and, by extension, our employers. Some users make clear statements in their bios, such as ‘all opinions my own’, to help distance themselves. However, if you are using social media as a professional or work tool, focus must be placed on consciously marketing ourselves in the most positive way.

Further education recruitment experts AoC Jobs have pointed out that lewd or offensive content is likely to damage your professional image and harm your chances of securing future work. Even with a personal account, consider how it could reflect on you personally, were it made public. For instance, you may have a strong opinion on a particularly controversial taboo topic, but broadcasting this opinion risks alienating or aggravating someone within your professional circle.

In 2013, Justine Sacco, PR executive at New York-based internet empire InterActive Corp, lost her job after becoming embroiled in a social media storm. Sacco made a puerile tweet before a flight to South Africa that suggested the Aids virus was linked to race. Whilst in transit, her remark was retweeted over 2,000 times and went viral on both Twitter and Buzzfeed with the hashtag #HasJustineLandedYet.

After disembarking her flight and becoming aware of the uproar, Sacco deleted the tweet and her entire Twitter account. However, her employers had already been made aware of the tweet and subsequently fired her with immediate effect. You certainly have the right to share your opinions on social media, but the example of Sacco demonstrates why you should do so with awareness of the potential consequences.

Balancing professionalism to avoid consequences

To balance your social media persona, its important to maintain professionalism when making highly personal comments. While we often want to be the star of our own narrative, remember that the way you present yourself on social media should help you achieve specific goals. Professionally, your goal in any social media communication should be to craft a message that furthers intelligent discussion or elevates the conversation while being conscious of the different ways the message could be perceived.

Social media tools can be valuable resources not only communicating with people you already know, but also with expanding your professional network. The old adage about it’s not what you know, but who you know, is still alive in the world of work, so being aware of how your social media may impact you professionally will lead you towards continued career success.

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Instruct Your Team on Better Social Media Usage

How involved are your employees when it comes to promoting your company’s brand?

One of the keys to a winning brand is making sure your message gets out there on social media.

Yes, some companies have been lukewarm to the idea of social media over recent years, but many others have jumped on the bandwagon, riding it as far as it will take them in spreading their brand’s appeal.

With that in mind, take a look at your company’s social media efforts and see where they can improve in 2016 and beyond.

Social Networking Wins Customers

To start things off, sit down with your team and review what your social media goals are.

Do you find them to be realistic or out of reach? Are they ones with which you have the support cast on board to handle or should they be outsourced? Finally, where do you want to be six months or even a year from now with your social media efforts?

For starters, how often do you use social media in a given week?

While there is no magic formula when it comes to using social media, you and/or your team should be on it daily, with some days being more involved than others.

You also need to decide if you will zero-in on one site in particular (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn etc.) or spread your brand across a plethora of sites. Either way, have that as part of your strategy moving forward.

Next, what will you be sharing, tweeting, posting etc. on one or more sites to attract more customers?

Social media is a great business tool for doing how-to and other educational related posts.

If you’re in any business for that matter, use social media for posting details about operating a variety of products and services. Simple posts on manuals and related educational information are typically in great demand from consumers, one of the reasons companies such as Tradebit can use their social connections to elicit more promotions.

Once you put the information out there on one or more social networks, be sure to engage your audience not long after they inquire.

Too often, brands waste their time in getting back to consumers, missing out on golden opportunities to potentially convert a prospective customer into a sold customer. Monitor your social media endeavors, giving consumers prompt responses.

Take the High Road

Another area of focus should be on avoiding negative confrontations with the public.

As the Internet and social media have expanded in recent years, more consumers have taken to social sites to voice their displeasure with brands, oftentimes leading them into verbal spats.

The last thing you and your brand want to do is have negative talk filling the social media world regarding your business. Always be sure to take the high road, even when it seems you are totally right and the customer is in the wrong.

It is also important that anyone and everyone having a role in your social media plans (employees, those you outsource social networking initiatives to etc.) get the importance of always staying positive with the public.

Where is Your Social Media Headed?

Some three months into 2016, this would be a good time to sit down and review where your social efforts are taking your company.

Are they building trust with the outside world, leading to new customers, and moving you towards an increasing revenue stream?

If the answer is no, then you obviously have some work in front of you over these next nine months.

On the other hand, more customers and added revenue could very well be tied to the fact that you’ve been more active recently with your social media endeavors, something that should only increase moving forward.

Unless you are a one-person show, it certainly makes sense for you to instruct your team on how to improve your company’s social media output today, tomorrow, the next day, and down the line.

Take the time to see where social media is and is not working for your brand.

In the end, a few little tweaks here and there quite frankly may be just the answer to being a winning brand in the world of social media.

Photo credit: BigStockPhoto.com

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Minimizing Cloud Computing Hazards: A Detailed Analysis

The IT industry is smarting under certain deficiencies— urging noted stalwarts to bring forth the blooming concept of cloud computing. This technology has now taken a center-stage— managing and maintaining multiple burdens— synonymous to this industry. Some might argue about Cloud Computing’s efficacy in the smaller industries but lesser the data— greater is the systematic confidentiality. Again, bigger organisations have already advocated the inclusion of Cloud Computing— putting up theories regarding traffic volume, big data and a plenty more.

A closer look at Cloud Computing showcases several hard-hitting benefits. It all begins with the management of Big Data stores— working in harmony with virtual and distributed services. Remote servers are handled with ease as the Internet allows us to store, process and manage data. Cloud computing adopts a cohesive approach— running applications over something called the ‘Cloud Service Provider’. This has now relieved the IT conglomerate from the perils of ‘Local Server Maintenance’.

However, every great invention comes with loopholes and a few responsibilities. Implementing this tool wouldn’t be a great idea unless the security concerns are looked into— beforehand. Better understanding of Cloud Computing theorises the discussion of grey areas and plans towards mitigating each one of them. When an organisation adopts this technology— valuable pieces of information are sent over to the virtual servers— under the supervision of the Hypervisor. This is the vulnerable point and has to be secured— in order to keep the information safe.

Stack Models associated with Cloud Computing

For details to be spilled— one must understand the technicalities associated with Cloud Computing Models. These are synonymous to the services offered— starting from ‘Software as a Service’—‘Platform as a Service’ and finally ‘Infrastructure as Service’. However, some of the service providers make multiple offerings to the user— including ‘Amazon Web Services’ and the highly beneficial— Microsoft Azure. These entities offer both platform and infrastructure oriented services.

SaaS models offer software oriented services. The service provider hosts applications over the web and the user can access the same with predesignated accounts. End-User application for desktops have now been replaced with the SaaS models— on-board.

Examples: Some of the ‘Software as a Service’ precursors include Cisco Webex, Google Apps, Flickr, Concur and several more.

Threats: Common risks include password thefts and login violations.

PaasS models allow users to access hardware and platforms— put up by the providers. Most dwelling developers make use of software components for creating applications— working as the Middleware.

Examples: Associated entities include ‘Amazon Web Services’, Apprenda, GoDaddy and many more.

Threats: PaaS hazards include unwanted access and breached authentication.

IaaS brings in infrastructure— hosted and completely maintained by the service provider. Everything out here is rented— starting from virtual machines to physical structures. One can also avail VPNs, VDCs and even firewalls.

Examples: Live IaaS models include Google Compute Engine, Amazon EC2, Rackspace and a few more.

Threats: Some of the pertinent issues include lack of physical protection and data protection.

Cloud Computing Hazards: Enumerating ten of them

It all starts with Data Breach— with information loss being a threat. If the cloud computing models are compromised— Home depots and even Credit Card details are liable to forgery. Most of the reputed firms will then be facing harassments. Data Breach infiltrates the softest spot of this technology— utilizing remote gadgets towards parallel jobs. As Cloud Computing consists of nodal points— it is easy to infiltrate any or all by the attacker. Once the Hypervisor is sabotaged— there is no bringing back the lost information and ofcourse, credibility.

Next in line is Data Loss— occurring out of an accident. Some examples include a corrupted disk without a backup— misplacing the data key or any human error. However, any sort of Data Breach might also lead to data loss— giving way to a constant loop.

Traffic Hijacking: Most of the vulnerabilities arise out of hacking, phishing and even occasional data stealing. Hackers often resort of session riding— stealing user cookies. This way an invader can easily view the transactions— interfering with records and systems.

DoS: The Cloud Computing technology has been long affected by ‘Denial of Service Attacks’. This issue is best understood with virtual machines cutting off services— without prior intimation. Bills will be incurred on a higher rate as the invader might be using the resources. DoS is a threat— almost everywhere but with Cloud Computing depending upon virtual machines— damages are far greater.

Careless Insiders and Malicious Threats form a greater part of these intricacies. These include saboteurs and a few unhappy employees. This isn’t completely specific to cloud computing but can cause several potential damages. This is a breach from inside the organisation— compromising the CSP tenants. These issues can be mitigated using third-party audits.

Finally we can count in the insecure APIs— for rendering services on a massive scale. Besides platform services these APIs can also offer high-end cloud access. However, attackers can use the APIs for their applications. The customer data is therefore manipulated.

Cloud services are often abused in the form of DDos attacks and malware deployment. Most service providers are now well-equipped in handling these attacks and get out of the same.

Most organisations fail to understand the entire concept of cloud computing and make mistakes while hiring CSPs. The knowledge gap is imminent but organisations must be wary of the multiple contractual obligations. They must not be diligent. The most important part is to ask the right questions to the concerned CSP. Organisations must make it a point to include the most important clause in the contract—asking CSPs to delete the company data efficiently— once a new service provider is called in for the job.

Cloud computing is typically a combination of shared infrastructure— with multiple devices paired up in a virtual sphere. Therefore shared technology might just be the loose end with the entire concept of Cloud Computing as controlling a device or any part of the arrangement will compromise with the APIs, Operating Systems and even user privacy.

Service Quality can be an issue as even CSPs are bound to fail at times. The assurance of uninterrupted power, quality services and backups might not hold at every single point of time. An alternative way to criticality must always be there with the organisation.

Mitigating the Risks

Organisations need to implement certain protective measures like avoiding account sharing credentials. Two-factor techniques for account authentication is yet another method.

Before hiring a CSP— the organisation needs to review the references and security history. They need to check whether the service provider adheres to the set of industrial standards— concerning the job in hand.

Companies must make the best use of the SSOs. The Single-Sign-In is a great way of segregating the accounts— with lesser options in store— for the users to fall back upon. It is easier to manage accounts as customers are less likely to forget the passwords and login details.

Third-Party audits are extremely vital. Organisations must start working with experts to learn more about the Cloud Computing Technology. This is also a great way of gauging CSP compliance.

Another way out is end-to-end encryption— allowing CSPs to manage data even when it is in the static mode. Most providers guarantee transit services but we are always well-off with end-to-end solutions—pertaining to the time period— even prior to uploads. Storage encryption is therefore important as even after the transit— data can be encrypted using the secured key. Data mobility is yet another trait that needs to be included. Regardless of the nature— Data sources have to be secured by the CSPs— in a manner that covers all the loose ends. Secured communication protocols like TLS and SSL are also used— mainly for implementing end-to-end encryption.

What works well is an updated machinery. In-House applications need to be included as most CSPs falter if the software in store is obsolete and outdated. Most risks like data breaches, data loss and others can only be mitigated if the software versions are new. Even the browsers need to be updated— in order to keep up with the competition.

Conclusion

Cloud Computing is still a new technology— with several benefits in store for the companies and even individuals. For us to make the most of this technology— armed approach and open eyes are needed. We have now seen those pertinent threats, showing up rather frequently. The best way to deal with them is to be proactive in our approach. As Cloud Computing involves several nodal points including storage, processing, transmission, networking, user access and application security— every arena is prone to attacks and infringements. To avoid these— the hypervisor needs to be beefed up with highly secured techniques. In-House IT strategies have to be implemented with care— including shared services. The only concern should be high security standards— addressing the grey areas associated with Cloud Computing technology. In-House deployments are necessary— only for keeping a track of the data stores and information sources. With Big Data growing up as a huge entity— it will soon be all about Cloud Computing.

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3 Things That Can Lead to a Disastrous Production and Manufacturing Run

Running a successful procurement department isn’t something that’s going to happen at the flip of a switch. In order to get efficiency at an optimal position, it’s important for clear goals to be in place. But for the goals to matter, it takes a dedicated and knowledgeable staff to be able to spot the mistakes. The easiest way to diminish human error is through diligent processing or perhaps the implementation of ERP manufacturing tools.

Here are a couple of the easiest ways to disastrously mess up the flow of production and destroy efficiency – do your best to avoid them!                                                                     

Rushed Buying

This is likely the first mistake a procurement department at any company will make. This is typically found in newer businesses, but is still very possible in established companies if their procurement department is new and hasn’t quite become fully operational yet. The most common reason for rushed buying is that the company or department responsible for procuring items feels like they need to have everything ordered as soon as possible. Securing goods and procurements in a timely manner is a great quality to have, but making sure everything is purchased in the proper order is even more important. When you find the balance between being thorough and being prompt, the entire department will flow much smoother, with minimal headaches.

Inadequate Attention to Detail

The emphasis on being thorough cannot be overstated, with as many pieces as there are all the way along the supply chain, it is very easy to make common mistakes. Duplicate orders, while at a small scale, may seem like a trivial and perhaps unavoidable feature of business. But, when implementing large scale installations to a huge global conglomerate, simple errors can be catastrophic. Misunderstandings of contractual obligations can also lead to unnecessary stress on partnerships, which can lead to greater problems related to the infrastructure of your business. If your brand is a large part of your corporate identity, be sure to not procure items that may tarnish or otherwise conflict with your brand’s image. For instance, if your company’s marketing posits the company as against animal testing, procuring products from a manufacturer involved with, or more importantly seen to be involved with, companies who are associated with the harm of animals might be averse to your marketing goals.

These types of errors are emblematic of the human condition and most likely cannot be eradicated, however, they can be minimized with the implementation of ERP manufacturing software like that of Kenandy.

Poor NPI Project Management

New and unique products are the keys to success within today’s quickly adapting economy. New product introductions (NPI) are complex projects, and depending on how many components the new product is composed of, could involve a dense network of subassemblies. If a new product contains fifty new parts, you now have fifty new sub-projects you need to design, source, and qualify before final assembly. Each of those sub-projects also involve coordinating the activity of several high-level sectors: design engineering, compliance management, component engineering, manufacturing engineering and quality control.

With all these moving pieces, it takes a diligent project manager to avoid the infrastructure potholes and guide the project to completion.

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Instagram Now Available on Microsoft

What Happens when Instagram meets Microsoft..

Microsoft is happier than a seven year old boy who’s just been told the dentist called, and cancelled his appointment. Why, you ask? Oh, just because the long overdue Instagram app (owned by Facebook) is now in beta and available for Microsoft’s Windows 10 Mobile. This is a big deal since the absence of the app was affecting Microsoft sales. There was a version of the app for Windows 8 but it lacked serious features and was saturated with complaints regarding the lack of updates.

The new version isn’t exactly identical to what you’ll see on other devices and no word has been said whether a “universal app” will be released. However, Microsoft couldn’t be happier. Instagram asks that users report any issues on the app ASAP. **P.S wanna know the Top 100 Insta pages to follow, Rolling Stone has you covered. (Source MSN)

What Happens When Reflexes Kick In..

Do you find yourself instantaneously liking those ridiculously adorable puppy posts on Facebook? Well scammers figured this trend out and they’re taking advantage of it. The scam “like-farming” has been a popular trend among the hacking community for its ability to con people out of their private information and because it’s working. Like-farming is when scammers post an attention-grabbing story on social media for the sole purpose of curating likes, comments, and shares. At first the content doesn’t contain anything malicious but after the post gets a certain number of shares scammers will edit the article to contain spam.

The trend has been around for a while but Facebook is still seeing a huge amount of like-farming activity. Sooo how to protect yourself? When scrolling thru Facebook be wary of “emotional” posts, these revolve around heartfelt and sincere topics. Pause that reflexive thumb to determine if that post on “Cutest Ways Kittens Say I Love You”  is truly worthy of a like. (Source Consumer Affairs)

What to Have for Breakfast.

May I please have french toast and a side of Kevin Bacon. A new commercial from the American Egg Board has our favorite Footloose star and he’s getting frisky with a teen’s mom. The witty commercial stars Kevin Bacon alongside his brother Michael Sausage (haha jk) serenading the camera. Wanna see the witty commercial, check it out here. (Source Mashable)

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Ransomware Hits Apple Macs

Ransomware Hits Apple Macs

For the first time, Apple users have been targeted by hackers using ransomware. What’s that? Ransomware is a quickly growing cyber threat software that encrypts data and asks users to pay ransoms in currencies that are hard to trace (think: bitcoins) in order to receive an electronic key to obtain their data. Should I be concerned? The software is mainly being spread through torrenting software so if you’ve been downloading a lot of things then maybe. Apple is aware of this and taking steps to prevent attacks. (Source The Guardian)

Hillary Clinton Takes to Reddit

Presidential candidate Hillary Clinton took to Reddit on Sunday afternoon to thank her supporters for their help. People played nice and shared supportive messages with Clinton. While Clinton did not respond to any messages or questions, her Reddit use is thought to be done in hopes of gaining the younger voting demographic who have been more of Bernie Sanders fans.  (Source Mashable)

Trump on This

If Facebook “Reactions” are already boring you, Reaction Packs, a new Firefox and Google Chrome browser extension, rolled out with some other options recently. What better way can “Haha” and “Love” be portrayed, then using Pokemon characters or even Donald Trump expressions, because we haven’t had enough of him just yet, right? The fun part is, you can even publish your own. Have fun Reactioning it up! (Source Mashable)

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The 5 Best Ways to Use a LinkedIn Company Page

When it comes to social media marketing, every platform has a critical advantage. Facebook has the sheer access power, with more users than any other, Twitter has the bite-sized, (almost) universally public messages of its users, and LinkedIn has a niche demographic makeup with almost exclusively professional adults. Unfortunately, this advantage is also a disadvantage—at least when it comes to corporations and organizations.

A Double-Edged Sword

The makeup of individuals, almost all of whom are industry-specific professionals, makes it easy to be relevant as a marketer; you’ve instantly filtered out the very young or very old and honed in on an audience who is almost certainly making enough money to consume your products and services. Here’s the unfortunate flip side; LinkedIn makes it hard for businesses and organizations to communicate to these individuals using the tools of the platform.

Some features, such as important ones like Groups, are exclusively reserved for individuals, meaning “Company” pages can’t access them or take advantage of them. This is done to protect the interests and needs of individual users, but it makes it hard for a Company page to gain any visibility through the platform.

How to Get Around It

Fortunately, you don’t have to abandon your Company page altogether—there are a handful of loopholes and alternative strategies you can use to get more visibility for your corporate page:

1. Use your Company page as a billboard

Instead of using your Company page like a megaphone, the way you would on Facebook or Twitter, use it like a billboard. Because you’ll have a harder time reaching new people and messaging effectively (that is, without paid advertising), a more conservative course of action is to simply do what you can to make your page more appealing to those who happen across it. Fill out your profile as completely and accurately as possible, post new content regularly, and make sure new users will get a positive first impression of your brand.

2. Make high-profile content updates

Even though the organic visibility of your Company page is lower and harder to build than it is on competing platforms, that doesn’t mean your content can’t have an effect. Whereas Twitter tends to be fast-paced and in-the-moment, LinkedIn tends to be slower-paced and more thoughtful. When posting content to LinkedIn, do so at a lower frequency, and only post your absolute best, most detailed content. Your individual followers will be more likely to share this material, and in turn, generate more publicity. Hubspot is a great example of this.

3. Recruit promising candidates

LinkedIn is ripe with professional talent, so why not take some of that talent for yourself? Instead of trying to convince the world’s best and brightest to buy from you, convince them to join you. There are a handful of paid ways to do this, but you can also just advertise new job openings on your newsfeed. Major corporations and small organizations alike can take advantage of this—just take a look at Apple and Park West Gallery as respective examples.

4. Publicize the mission and vision of your company

Most marketing campaigns focus on the products or services you offer, but in the professional LinkedIn environment, it’s often a better strategy to focus on the mission and vision of your company. Not only is this going to make your organization more appealing to potential candidates, it’s also going to remove the modern stigma of over-advertising your products and services in search of profit. Take a look at Coca-Cola’s recent strategy. Rather than focusing on what makes their soft drinks “good,” they focus on what makes their company “good.

5. Get your employees involved

Finally, consider getting your employees involved in the promotion of your brand on LinkedIn. Because they’ll have individual accounts, they’ll have more access than you will, and other users will likely trust what they have to say more. Start by getting your employees to tag your business as where they work, which will instantly increase the visibility of your page, and then ask them to share pieces of your content that they feel are the best or most noteworthy.

Not all of these strategies may work for your business—for example, if you aren’t hiring, the recruiting benefit won’t appeal to you, and if you’re reluctant to pursue a personal branding campaign, you won’t want to incentivize your employees to promote your business on their own profiles. Still, at least some of these strategies should work to raise your visibility as a Company page on LinkedIn—otherwise, your best course of action will be to stick with an individual page or start working on another social platform.

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Why a Robo Advisor May be a Secret to Success in Online Investment Strategies

If this is your first time visiting Socialnomics.net, then “Welcome!” One of the first things you will want to do is click on “About” and learn who Erik Qualman is! You will also want to check out his books, and especially, “Socialnomics” (look to your right to click on the convenient links).

From the word, it sounds like it is about the economy and about economics, but Mr. Qualman takes it to a new, unique level (hence his celebrity status!) with the economics of people, the social aspect >> social-nomics. To quote Mr. Qualman, from his book, “It’s about the economy… No, it’s about a people-driven economy… Whether you are a businessperson or a high school student, social media transforms the way you live and do business” (Socialnomics, Kindle Locations 7041-7042).

So, why am I talking about money and investment strategy? For one reason, because while you are focusing your time on your digital reputation, where are you finding the time to manage your investment portfolio?

The other reason is that we live in a digital age. Things are not quite as black and white and they are starting to blur together in shades of gray (or shades of multi-color and rainbows). This is a phenomenal thing and a wonderful age in which we live, but if we are not careful, we can step into a “pretty” quagmire of color that isn’t so pretty once our feet hit the bottom of the “puddle.”

So, focus on the ROI (return on investment) of your social economics, your socialnomics, as Mr. Qualman teaches. While you are doing that, take a look at how the money side, that green stuff, is doing and how you can manage it with the wonderful technology that is available to us in this digital age, without losing your shirt in the process.

“If you fail to plan, you plan to fail.” – Benjamin Franklin

Planning for your financial future is necessary if you give a hoot on how your finances finish the race. Another way to put that is that if you want to have a little more control over your financial outcome, then planning should come up on that list of things to do.

If we are honest with ourselves, we all know we should be working on that financial planning part of our life, but many of us resist taking action. The idea of going to a bank and discussing financial resources seems cumbersome (and sometimes uncomfortable). Fortunately, there may be a better way and that is what we are discussing today.

The Robo Advisor

That is, the use of what is called a robo advisor. It sounds like something from the future, but it’s a real life financial advisor who can manage your portfolios online with minimal human interaction.

Investopedia defines a robo advisor this way: “Instead of doing your own research or paying high fees for a money manager, such services allow investors to deposit funds and allow an algorithm to take care of it all.”

Incidentally, as a side note… In the same way that some companies refer to “financial advisors” and some refer to “financial advisers” (the difference between the “-ors” and the “-ers”), robo advisor can also be spelled both ways. For our purposes, we are using the “-ors” spelling.

There are several advantages to using a robo advisor. We can think of a few advantages (over not using one) and have listed those in this article. But, first, a handy article that actually ranks the firms that offer the services of robo advisors and lets you enter some of your own information (or what you would like to be your own information) into a sort of calculator that helps you to choose which robo advisor is the best for you and your situation, based on their designated ranking criteria.

So Many From Which to Choose!

This tool and article ranks the robo advisors in a way that helps to determine the best robo advisors on the web. The criteria that is used includes:

Rating
Year founded
Number of users
Tax loss harvesting


Minimum initial deposit amount
Number of portfolios
Assets under management
Single stock diversification


Fractional shares
Human advisors
Direct indexing
Taxable accounts


401k plans
IRA accounts
Roth IRA accounts
SEP IRA accounts


Trust accounts
529 plan accounts

This list of criteria gives you a bit of an idea of some of the criteria that you should be considering when choosing your robo advisor, even if you are not using this handy tool. It also helps you to start to decipher the advantages that may be waiting for you if you choose the robo advisor route over the traditional route.

24/7 Access

As we started this article, talking about technology and all of the wonderful things that are available to us, as a result of technology, one that stands out is the 24/7 access. This is true of shopping at amazon.com, other stores, accessing our bank account, and in the case of robo advisors, accessing that, too!

Since using the Internet is already familiar, it is not likely that there is a huge learning curve to understanding how to use any tools that you would need to work with a robo advisor. It may mean learning how to use a private messenger program, but if you have ever used Facebook PM or any other PM or IM (private message or instant message) service, you are all set. Add to that, the email program and you know how to communicate on the Internet.

Robo advisors use the technology you’re already familiar with to bring your strategy for your investment portfolio to the forefront. You’ll be able to check in with your robo advisor outside traditional operating hours, and you’ll have a record of all communications.

In addition to convenience, robo advisor platforms put easy-to-use tools in your hands. You can check out investment and financial planning calculators, or read up on the latest financial trends. You’ll begin to see that finance can be fun. Another advantage is that as you learn more about the financial industry, you will feel like you have the handle on your finances and that is simply a “feel good” place to be, in your management of your investment portfolio.

You can watch your money grow around the clock. There’s no need to call your financial advisor to check on your portfolio. Robo advisors provide instant access to the details of your account. This exciting feature can help you stay on top of financial trends and make sure you have access to the best performing stocks right when you need it — instantaneously.

The Price Advantage

With traditional financial advisors, there is a lot of overhead with the office, the office furniture, the office expenses, the utilities, etc. What isn’t always evident (but I know from first-hand experience), is the wining and dining element and ensuring that the right image is upheld (especially in the Beverly Hills high net worth financial services arena).

The advantage, when dealing with robo advisors, is that you don’t have to pay for all of that. Therefore, the prices savings is passed down to you and you pay lower fees. Once your fees are lowered, there is a higher percentage of the monies that are combing back into your wallet!

To Use a Robo Advisor or Not to Use a Robo Advisor

There are pros and cons to choosing to use a robo advisor. It isn’t really a decision that you should make with a flip of a coin. There are those experts who swear by the use of a robo advisor and there are those who may claim that it is a mistake.

For example, according to the Huffington Post, you should use a robo advisor because there are lower fees, it is convenient, there are low minimums, it is as safe as a bank, and there is access to financial planning tools and services. Some of these reasons are the same as what we listed, as well. Even with that, if we were to play devil’s advocate we may ask whether the fees really are lower, just how convenient it is, are the minimums low enough, is it truly safe on all fronts, and are the tools and services worth the access?

There are also less obvious concerns that most people may not realize and that is where the article “5 Reasons Most Robo Advisors are Not, in Fact, Advisors” from ThinkAdvisor, comes in handy. Playing devil’s advocate on that one, in support of robo advisors, would be a question of “Did we truly think they were the same as the traditional human advisor?” What this comes down to, on some levels is a matter of managing expectations, but it also includes being informed.

In Conclusion

Robo advisors are the way of the financial future. These highly credentialed financial advisors love their jobs and their ability to work remotely. You may find that you’ll love that robo advisors cost less and get the same results as traditional financial advisors. And, they’re not robots – they’re real live people.

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NextGen Technology Update: Contribution of Advanced BI Tools in Self-Service Business Intelligence

While self-service business intelligence (BI) tools have helped analytics in the past, many organizations are still working hard to derive clues from the historical data to forecast what is next. It is a fact that consumers to any business do not make business decisions and rather expect marketers to know how they interrelate, their preferences, historical interactions and then take action accordingly with appropriate content at the correct time, through the accurate channels. This needs amalgamation of data from all the diverse touch points and the employment of advanced analytical methods to optimize targeted communication and product or service offering strategies.

The Self Service BI (business intelligence) is the new drift in the business and technology world. The need of impatient end-users for quicker access to data and shorter elapsed times to build up BI applications has caused a major shift in the industry. The BI and analytics market is now all about decentralized business-led initiatives, unlike earlier fairly centralized IT-led initiatives.

The IT department’s intervention and need remains intact, in fact more crucial, for operations and betterment of the BI data sources. As, exploratory end-users are pulling the latest competence of advanced BI tools that allow IT-independent analytics expansion and use with new data discovery modules.

What is Self-Service Analytics?

Self-Service Analytics is a form of business intelligence (BI) in which line-of-business professionals are enabled and encouraged to perform queries and generate reports on their own, with nominal IT support. Self-service analytics is often characterized by simple-to-use BI tools with basic analytic capabilities and an underlying data model that has been simplified or scaled down for ease of understanding and straightforward data access. – By Gartner

Read on to know more about the key BI/analytics capabilities that are derivative of the amazing 2015 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Business Intelligence and Analytics Platforms. Below given synopsis can assist you in perfect BI tool selection and make certain that your keen end-users obtain fast developed BI applications.

Cloud Operations

There are fairly two new means for building, setting and administrating analytic applications in the cloud, namely, Platform-as-a-service and analytics-as-a-service.In terms of business intelligence, cloud benefits comprise mixing external data accessible in the cloud with proprietary data administered either on-premises or in the cloud. The impetuous to merge external data with proprietary data is more often the more impact BI applications need this mash up. Check this out…

Supplier product stipulations and product accessibility to more precisely plan project work.
Weather by date/time and region to enhance dependability of sales by product prediction.
Competitor financial performance to benchmark company performance.
Macroeconomic predictions to perk up sales forecasts by country.

Like the above four, there are numerous more examples of analytics that gain from this combination of external and proprietary data.Formerly, developing analytic routines that needed external data also primarily required that the external data be imported into an on-premises data store and then obtained from there. This mechanism is usually too effort consumptive and operationally dull to be sustainable.

Development and Incorporation

As the need of the hour, Business intelligence tools should hold the capability to incorporate BI routines into a business process, a portal or a business application. The base to this lays in the capacity of self service business intelligence tools that offer a few of end-user visual programming tools and an expansion and modification facility for building reports, dashboards, queries and analysis. These tools facilitate scalable and bespoke distribution, scheduling and alerts.

Earlier, development and incorporation of this level required specific software development proficiency. The development work asked for more effort than even the most resolute end-user had on hand.

Business end-user data mashup

Now Graphical icons are used for drag and drop end-user-driven and created analytic routines unlike previously used arcane code. The icon module and operations serve to unite or mashup data from various data sources. These superior Business Intelligence capabilities give semantic auto-discovery, intelligent joins and hierarchy generation.

Previously, creating analytic routines with these advanced BI capabilities demanded software developers with particular expertise. The development job was purely afar the ability of even the most motivated and exploratory end-user.

Free-Form Interactive Exploration

Free-form interactive exploration enables the discovery of data via real-time handling of chart objects by end-users. This characteristic comprise a collection of visualization alternatives other than pie, bar and line charts, like heat maps, geographic maps and scatter plots. The advanced BI tools allow end-users to improve the analytics while exploring the data by relating openly with its visual representation.Check out what datapine – a leader in business intelligence software, mentioned in their blog article about the most important business intelligence buzzwords for 2016. These are the must know technology keywords that you cannot avoid while you are trying to understand application development through self-service business intelligence tools.

Previously, developing visual representations required software development expertise to code, run and then confirm the accuracy of specified visual representation with the end-user.

Do share your first hand experiences on how self-service business intelligence tools have saved your time required to deliver your BI applications.

 

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