Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of The Advisory View. Over the course of the next few months we will be producing content based on the services that we provide. This will be realised in themes for each month. First up, during March our content will be themed around ‘Cloud’. This will include news about the cloud, information on what Socitm Advisory does with the cloud and how we use it to change public sector organisations for the better. This week I have a round up of the news in the tech world over the last 7 days.
Google’s ‘Hire’ Launches in the UK 6 months after the US.
This week Google released its service ’Hire’ in the UK, six months after it was released in the US. ‘Hire’ is an automated HR platform which makes it easier for companies to fill job roles, using other Google related tools like contacting perspective employees through Gmail or setting up interviews through Google calendar to name a few features. But perhaps the highlight of ‘Hire’ is the Candidate Discovery feature. This feature draws on CV’s and information from all previous applicants to your company. Therefore, if a candidate was unsuccessful in the past but has the skills you require for a new position, their information can be retrieved and accessed so you can review them again.
IBM says you should expect more from your Cloud Service Provider.
This week IBM produced an article detailing their ‘bill of rights’ for cloud service providers. This article explained that all providers of cloud services should be adhering to certain rules. IBM was one of the first Cloud providers to commit to policies on security, data privacy and transparency. They released an infographic which details things you should not only have but expect from your cloud service provider. This includes basic rights when it comes to sharing like ‘all data is the exclusive property of the owner’ and commitment to security like ‘new technologies must be employed to proactively protect privacy’. I would recommend having a look through the article and considering what your cloud service provider does for you.
Slack ditches its fight against email in favour of integration.
‘Slack’ is a messaging service designed for business communication, it is used for quick 1 to 1 and group conversations as an alternative to emailing designed to be similar to your modern social apps. It is essentially a business version of WhatsApp or Facebook Messenger. Slack has announced, that they will be trying to secure their leading place in the market even further by adding email to their platform after years of stating that it is an outdated form of communication. Slack runs on a ‘freemium’ model and while it might not have the niche features of a tool that you need to pay for, like Microsoft’s ‘Teams’, it still provides integration of up to 10 applications and the ability to search over 10,000 messages. The choice to integrate email into their platform seems to have come from a realisation that it is a tool that cannot be ignored and is a key utensil in business communication.
Samsung announces first 5G enabled smartphone.
Finally, this week Samsung announced the first smartphone that will use 5G. This new phone is the biggest Samsung device to date boasting a 6.7-inch infinity display. While the smartphone will be capable of connecting to 5G, the questions are arising as to whether it will gain any benefit from it. Samsung’s new device is set to be releasing in the summer, but, 5G doesn’t roll out in the UK until late 2019 or early 2020 meaning that in reality we might not see this particular phone until next year too . Samsung has also announced the ‘Galaxy Fold’ a 2-screen smartphone/tablet. This new phone has a 4.6-inch screen on the front of the phone which then folds out into another 7.3-inch screen which folds down the middle. There are no visible creases when folding the phone rather a curved side like any other smartphone on the market. Just 2 phones thick. This product is said to cost around £1,500 ($2,000) and is set to release in the UK on May 6th just after the 26 April in the US.