From an acquisition and a speed networking app to a new Microsoft Teams training resource, here are extracts from popular stories this week.
Empowering.Cloud Launches for Microsoft Teams Professionals
Empowering.Cloud (EC) has launched to provide regular and up-to-date Microsoft Teams insights, advice and training resources for IT professionals.
Briefings from Microsoft MVPs (Most Valuable Professionals), monthly Q&As with experts, learning paths and other resources can all be accessed on the EC platform.
Membership is free for individuals, but premium memberships are also available, which include further benefits such as a monthly live Q&A with experts, custom learning paths, private forums, priority on questions, and briefing topics.
Tom Arbuthnot, Microsoft Certified Master and MVP and Co-Founder of Empowering Cloud, said:
“There are 270 million monthly active Microsoft Teams users, but how many of them are getting all the value out of it, using all the features?
“The breadth of the Microsoft Teams and pace of change make it hard for IT Professionals to keep on top of it all, we are here to solve that problem.
“I work with lots of enterprise customers and with the demands on their IT teams they were struggling to keep up.
“If you’re not an enterprise customer with a larger IT team, it’s even more challenging. That was the genesis of Empowering.Cloud.”
Current solutions don’t quite cut it. The existing training space is slow-moving, according to Arbuthnot. Most courses are refreshed every 12 months, which he believes is not regularly enough as Teams changes every month. And typically training courses do not cover the wider Microsoft Teams ecosystem. Instead of long multi-hour courses, Empowering.Cloud will provide regular 15-minute briefings from a number of different experts.
twine Releases Speed Networking App for Zoom
twine has launched a speed networking app for Zoom which allows meeting hosts to match employees in timed conversations.
- What is Zoom Contact Center?
- Zoom Releases Scalable ‘Zoom One’ Package
- Zoom Apps SDK Launched for Developers
The US-based employee connection platform, twine, developed the app “twine for Zoom” using the Zoom developer platform.
twine for Zoom leverages the breakout rooms feature on Zoom, making it quicker and easier for meeting hosts to move participants between the breakout rooms.
Lawrence Coburn, CEO and Co-Founder of twine, said: “We are thrilled to make twine for Zoom available to all Zoom customers.
“At twine we are obsessed with building software that drives serendipity and human connection; twine for Zoom makes building connections among your Zoom attendees as easy as tapping a button.
“Zoom is an incredibly powerful tool, but one thing that’s missing is the concept of serendipity – those magical collisions that used to happen in the hallway, the elevator, and the lobby of the office.
“We believe that these unplanned conversations are crucial for company camaraderie and culture, so we decided to build on Zoom’s emerging developer platform.”
The app uses a combination of technologies, such as tags, spatial modes and automation to make it easy to orchestrate connections over Zoom.
HP Pushes On With Poly Acquisition
HP is pressing on with its acquisition of Poly after the latter’s shareholders approved the deal last week.
The takeover, which HP announced in March, sees Poly valued at $3.3bn.
HP has now started exchanging any Poly notes held by investors for a combination of new HP notes and cash.
The PC vendor also revealed that it would merge part of its business into Poly, with Poly “surviving the Acquisition as a wholly-owned subsidiary of HP”.
