Business Insights and Tech Tips May 2016

SAP’s Brigette McInnis-Day Recognized as an Outstanding Leader in HR

The Fox School of Business at Temple University recently named SAP Executive Vice President of Human Resources for Global Customer Operations, Brigette McInnis-Day, as their 2016 Outstanding Leader in HR. This award recognizes a “trailblazer” who has made vital contributions to the HR industry. McInnis-Day developed the “Build Your Brand” program at SAP North America to empower young professionals with confidence. She has also made a remarkable impact on the development of women business leaders through her HR work with SAP, notably launching the Leadership Excellence Acceleration Program (LEAP) that focuses on training women for senior roles. McInnis-Day helps SAP move forward with disruptive thinking and “a human touch.” She is both the first female and youngest recipient of the Outstanding Leader in HR award.

Source: SAP News

Seeking Unicorns: Creating SAP’S Next Great Apps

At SAP’s second #innotakeoff competition, more than 50 international participants gathered in Palo Alto, CA, to develop productivity and wellness apps for employees. The participants were sorted into teams and guided by SAP mentors and coaches as they brainstormed ideas using the SAP HANA Cloud Platform. Three winners were selected from more than a hundred submissions, receiving the “SAP Digital Innovation Award.” These winners were Bloom, an app focusing on performance management; xShop, an app that improves sensor-driven personalized information on shoppers’ mobile devices at the point of sale; and Path to Wellness, which would provide personalized wellness plans to employees. According to Christian Hastedt-Marckwardt, senior director of Globel Innovation Incubation at SAP’s CIO Center for Digital Leadership, these apps will be “consumable for all SAP employees” within six months of development.

Source: SAP News

SAP Announces Collaboration with White House’s “Computer Science for All” Initiative

The White House recently issued a press release detailing its collaboration with SAP on the “Computer Science for All” initiative. The initiative is designed to improve science and technology education in schools across the United States. This endeavor is one of many that SAP will focus on in 2016, as it continues to support STEM and computer science education for students K-12, host exciting tech and design events for young developers, and strengthen partnerships with high schools, universities, and businesses all over North America. Regarding the “Computer Science for All” initiative, SAP North America President Jennifer Morgan said  “Our entire industry must be focused on inspiring today’s youth to dream big and develop the skills they will need to ensure the United States remains the epicenter of technological innovation in the world.”

Source: SAP News

Is Fog Computing the Next Big Thing in Internet of Things?

The cloud-based Internet of Things is becoming a massive trend in business and technology today. Enterprises now rely on cloud storage for increased usage of Big Data platforms and analytics, both of which play a large role in enabling the IoT. However, there are still several issues with cloud computing, such as delayed streaming of data and applications that require local computing rather than digital. To mitigate these issues, tech leaders are developing a new form of computing referred to as “Fog.” Just like the real world weather phenomenon, the fog system floats in between the cloud and the “surface” of devices, effectively bridging the gap between them and enabling faster communications. Cisco, the tech company that originally coined the name, believes Fog computing will significantly improve the IoT as a dedicated infrastructure for the rapidly expanding network.

Source: Forbes

Need a Startup Logo? This Machine Will Design One for You

Designing logos can be a struggle even for long-established and highly successful enterprises. Mark Maker is an algorithmic prototype machine from the Emblemmatic project designed to simplify the process of business graphics creation. With just the name of your company, Mark Maker produces a variety of potential logos based on shapes and fonts. The algorithm notes which designs you like and generates similar logos, which can be tweaked to your preferences before downloading. Although it’s unlikely that Mark Maker can ultimately replace a human graphic artist, it could ease one difficult aspect of starting or rebranding a business.

Source: Inc.

Nasa Launches ‘Think Outside the Box’ 3D Printing Challenge

NASA has teamed up with the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) to host a “Future Engineers” challenge for students across the country. Participants in the “Think Outside the Box” challenge will design objects that can be produced by the International Space Station’s (ISS) newest 3D printer. The 3D printer is limited to printing rather small objects (10 cm x 10 cm x 14 cm) but allows the possibility of assembling or expanding the object to a much larger size. This interesting challenge was inspired by the need to reduce resources on rockets and space stations, which have limited room for cargo. The ISS recently installed its first “expandable habitat,” the Bigelow Expandable Activity Module (Beam), designed to provide astronauts and engineers with additional space for living and manufacturing off-planet. The winners of the “Think Outside the Box” challenge will receive a VIP tour of Bigelow Aerospace in Las Vegas. Designs are due by August 1, 2016.

Source: Gadgets 360

Wearable Tech Grows in Popularity, Helps Improve Lives

The wearable tech trend has taken off across many different industries. Mobile health technologies like smart phone apps and wearable devices have already reduced doctor’s office visits simply by giving patients a better way to monitor their health at home. The sports industry has adopted wearables in the form of clothing, watches, and gloves that monitor an athlete’s heart rate and technique. These devices not only allow precise measurement of health while active, they can provide insights into performance and drive athletic improvement. Another form of wearable tech on the rise is the virtual reality helmet, giving gamers an immersive experience with their favorite digital landscapes and stories. Virtual reality has proven to have applications beyond entertainment as well. Wearable tech has shown to boost productivity of employees and significantly increase job satisfaction. The growth of the wearable tech market is poised to continue and expand to new industries.

Source: Tech Cocktail

About VAR and SAP Gold Partner Cornerstone Consulting, Inc.

Based in Tampa, FL, Cornerstone Consulting, Inc. is a business consulting and information technology (IT) company. Not only is Cornerstone an award-winning value added reseller (VAR) of  extremely efficient and integrated business (accounting, customer and sales management (CRM), inventory tracking-control-management, warehouse management, materials requirement planning (MRP), light manufacturing, accurate real-time analytical reports, and more) software systems, our highly-skilled team specializes in cutting-edge solutions and tech support for:

  • SAP Business One
  • SAP HANA in memory database
  • Electronic and Mobile Commerce
  • Enterprise Mobility
  • Bar codes and Scanning
  • Business Intelligence (BI)
  • Big Data Analytics
  • Internet
  • Cloud Computing
  • Custom Programming
  • Web Development

Cutting Edge Business Management Software and Technology for Your Midsize Manufacturing and/or Wholesale Distribution Business/ Enterprise (SMB/SME)

Cornerstone provides software products, tech services and business process outsourcing which support all areas of a small or medium sized business, such as: financial accounting, operations, customer relationship management, sales, inventory control-tracking-management, warehouse management, e-commerce, and more. Cornerstone’s “dream team” of programmers, trainers and consultants specialize in providing our Manufacturing, Wholesale Distribution, Medical Device, and Online Retail clients with optimal business process configuration, integration and automation.

If you’d like your small or medium enterprise to run better, out-maneuver competitors, have better solutions for finding new customers and transform your business with the latest in technology, you have definitely found the right team to make it happen.

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