| To: richardred who wrote (3621) | 2/6/2014 11:34:28 AM | | From: richardred | | | | Oracle Ups Its HR Cloud Game At HCM World
 Alexander Wolfe, Oracle
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Oracle ORCL +2.17% offered a powerful endorsement of human capital management for businesses intent on accelerating growth amid the transformational ascendance of mobile technology and millennial workers, with a rare dual appearance of its top executives at the inaugural edition of its HCM World conference in Las Vegas this week.
Oracle president Mark Hurd took the podium to open the first full day of the event on Wednesday. His talk will be bookended Thursday afternoon by a closing keynote from company CEO Larry Ellison. Noting that the two had never before been on the same program, with the exception of Oracle OpenWorld, Hurd said it was because “we want to make sure that everyone knows Oracle is serious about HCM, HR, and leading this space—that’s why we’re both here.”
 Oracle President Mark Hurd.
HCM is among the hottest arenas in software and the cloud, as HR professionals are being tapped by the C-suite to support a tough and growing global business to-do list. The highest priority revolves around finding solid candidates capable of stretching beyond the task-based job descriptions of pre-social-era workers. Most eagerly sought are so-called “enterprise contributors,” who can accelerate organizational performance by working more smartly and closely with peers.
Oracle cut the opening ribbon on HCM World with a slew of partners who either make or consult on the best use of HCM software. The group included Accenture , KPMG, PwC (better known to many as PricewaterhouseCoopers ), Baker Tilly, Cognizant, HireRight, Seertech Solutions, Wipro, and Deloitte.
In his keynote, Hurd related to the hurdles faced by a conference audience rich in vice president and director-level HR professionals, by analogizing to Oracle’s own personnel challenges. “We’re going to see half a million resumes this year and interview over 60,000 people, with the objective of hiring 20,000,” he said. “We need quality people and lots of them. That’s a challenge that keeps you up at night.”
But such tall recruitment tasks are getting help from a new generation of mobile, socially connected HCM tools. Gretchen Alarcon, vice president of Oracle HCM strategy, joined Hurd to demo one of the company’s newest such offerings. The two went through a recruitment scenario showcasing Oracle HCM Cloud on an iPad. Emphasized was the fluidity of the graphics-based interface, which showcased multiple candidates for sales jobs. Resumes, individual recruiting histories, and even LinkedIn profiles were all accessible on a real-time basis. Also available at a touch was analytical information on metrics like personnel attrition rates, salary bands, and the like.
Big Cloud News
Following Hurd’s keynote, Oracle provided some new product specifics, with two major HCM product-enhancement announcements. The first is a significant upgrade to Oracle HCM Cloud, boosting its capabilities for the tough HR tasks ahead with new mobile functionality, deeper analytics, and user-experience improvements. All told, more than 200 new innovations are embedded in the enhanced offering. You can read all the specifics in the press release. Oracle’s HCM cloud ecosystem includes Oracle Global HR Cloud, Oracle Talent Management Cloud, and Oracle Social Sourcing Cloud, which connects social-media-based sources of job talent like LinkedIn.
In a separate roll out, Oracle’s PeopleSoft got a performance-boosting upgrade via the release of the Oracle In-Memory Application. Oracle closed its PeopleSoft acquisition in 2005. Oracle remains committed to the product line, which continues to support a substantial customer base, and which it most recently upgraded in 2013 with the release of PeopleSoft 9.2.
The HCM World announcement centers on the ability to maximize the performance and speed of Oracle’s PeopleSoft In-Memory Labor Rules and Monitoring, which is configured as an in-memory application that can take advantage of the power of Oracle’s Engineered Systems. Engineered Systems are pre-integrated, high-end machines which elegantly combine multiple processors, software, and storage in an optimized, holistic design to achieve extreme performance. The PeopleSoft In-Memory Labor Rules and Monitoring package is aimed at enabling HR pros to effectively manage labor costs and policy rules in real time.
At HCM World, Oracle shared the spotlight with its partners in an exhibit hall packed with a rich collection of solutions. As well, the show program spotlighted a full slate of talks by HR thought leaders. Speakers included David Rock, CEO of the Neuroleadership Group, who talked about the implications of the latest research on the brain. And Brian Kropp, managing partner of the Corporate Executive Board offered some disruptive insights on performance assessment. Watch for an upcoming post on this aspect of the conference by my colleague John Foley.
forbes.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (3119) | 2/6/2014 12:06:48 PM | | From: richardred | | | | Cokes 10% investment in GMCR stirring up interest in coffee stocks. RE: JVA & FARM. IMO JVA needs a better commodity trader in coffee. I almost pulled the trigger below 5, but held off.
P.S. Does Warren Buffet like Coke or Coffee for breakfast? <g> |
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| To: richardred who wrote (3561) | 2/7/2014 9:40:16 AM | | From: richardred | | | | Boeing might be forced to make major defense acquisition
Boeing Co. is becoming dangerously dependent on its commercial side, which might force the company to make a major defense acquisition, a local aerospace analyst says, the Puget Sound Business Journal reports.
Richard Aboulafia, a vice president at Fairfax-based The Teal Group, gave his forecast this week to the annual Pacific Northwest Aerospace Alliance Convention. Boeing is losing traction in the jet fighter market because the Lockheed Martin F-35 is emerging as the unquestioned global market leader, squeezing out future sales of Boeing's own aging array of jet fighter offerings, he said.
Boeing F/A-18 production will end around 2016, and F-15 production by about 2019. The death of the latter program is guaranteed by South Korea’s decision to buy F-35s instead, he said.
bizjournals.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (3612) | 2/7/2014 11:03:16 AM | | From: richardred | | | | Added to TDC and BRKS today. TDC surprised me with good earnings. RE:bad guidance The stock faltered and continues weak . I have no problem with that, as the market is still growing for them, but slowing along with margins. IMO this ups the speculative appeal. TDC is a leader in the cloud space that competitors have targeted. Takeout talk has died down. Just the way I like it. IMO only a matter of time before rumors comeback. Beforehand, I thought HPC should have bought this company instead of Autonomy. I'm guessing SAP is a possible TDC hunter with Oracle a close second. Ironically, SAP the company Leo Apotheker came from before he went to HPC.
BRKS-Earnings were ok, but I very much the Life Science segment going forward. Some good backlog with good momentum prospects. The Dividend, I expect to be maintained though it's current earnings are just about paid out fully. Good speculative appeal, IMO, although untimely.
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| To: The Ox who wrote (3627) | 2/10/2014 10:23:37 AM | | From: richardred | | | | Fairly quiet Monday, except for this deal. Two Mondays in a row in the same field. This usually draws the attention of competitors who feel the need to make a move to maintain the status quo.
Perhaps this hunter will make a move soon in the field
Danaher’s gross margin expanded 33 basis points (bps) to 51.5%. The company’s operating profit was $888.0 million, an increase of 2.9% year over year, while operating margin declined marginally to 16.9% from 17.3% at the end of the quarter.
Segments
Revenues in the Test & Measurement segment increased 4.0% to $898.3 million year over year. The segment operating margin declined to 16.6% from 18.7% in the prior-year period.
Revenues in the Environmental segment were up 10.0% to $936.1 million. The segment reported an operating margin of 22.5%, a decline of 50 bps from 23.0% in last year.
Life Sciences and Diagnostics revenues were up 5.5% year over year to $1,939.6 million. The operating margin for the quarter was up 250 bps year over year to 16.7%.
Revenues from the Dental segment grew 3.5% year over year to $590.2 million with operating margin declining 150 bps to 13.7%.
In the Industrial Technologies segment, revenues grew a marginal 1.4% to $902.5 million, but operating margin dipped 80 bps to 17.3% on a year over year basis.
Balance Sheet & Cash Flow
Danaher exited 2013 with cash and equivalents balance of $3.1 billion versus $1.7 billion in 2012. The company had a long-term debt balance of $3.4 billion at the year-end 2013, down from $5.3 billion in the previous year.
Danaher’s cash flow from operating activities was increased 5.0% to $3,585.3 million compared with $3,415.0 million in the prior year.
Outlook
Concurrent with the earnings release, management provided its guidance for first-quarter and full year 2014 revenues and earnings.
The company has reaffirmed the guidance for the full-year 2014 earnings in the range of $3.60 to $3.75 per share and revenue growth in the range of 2% to 4%. For the first quarter of 2014, the company’s GAAP earnings are expected to be in the range of 76 cents to 80 cents a share.
finance.yahoo.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (3559) | 2/11/2014 9:17:52 AM | | From: richardred | | | | Google Is the Deal-Making King
By Trey Thoelcke 1 hour ago
There is no doubt that Google Inc. ( GOOG) has its finger in a lot of pies, as recent news that a subsidiary of the Internet search giant will operate an airfield in Silicon Valley attests. Bloomberg found that Google has executed more deals than any company in the world over the past three years. It edged out marketing and advertising firm WPP and tech giant Intel Corp. ( INTC), which came in second and third, respectively.
Google is cash rich, with $58.7 billion in the most recently reported quarter, and its mergers and acquisitions group is said to have expanded by at least 50% in the past two years. Google Ventures focuses on funding startups, while Google Capital backs later-stage companies. Google was involved with 127 deals in the past three years, at a total value of $17.6 billion. Intel, which was the top dealmaker in the previous three-year period, was involved in 121 deals.
ALSO READ: Six Stocks Buffett Never Sold
Recent Google deals include last month's agreement to purchase digital-thermostat maker Nest Labs for $3.2 billion, and the acquisition of robots company Boston Dynamics in December. Google also outflanked Facebook Inc. ( FB) and bought DeepMind Technologies, a London-based artificial intelligence developer, and mapping-software provider Waze.
Google Capital helped online questionnaire company SurveyMonkey raise about $444 million last year, and Google Ventures led a $361.2 million investment in app maker Uber Technologies.
Google bought the Motorola handset business or $12.4 billion in 2012, but agreed to sell it last month to Lenovo Group for $2.91 billion. In addition, Google shed Motorola's set-top box business for $2.24 billion last year.
Apple Inc. ( AAPL) is the only tech giant with more cash on its balance sheet than Google, but Bloomberg found that it only took part in 12 deals in the past three years. Both Blackstone Group L.P. ( BX) and General Electric Co. ( GE) had bigger total values to their deals of the past three years, at $62.3 billion and at $19.9 billion, respectively.
finance.yahoo.com |
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| To: richardred who wrote (3527) | 2/11/2014 9:49:21 AM | | From: richardred | | | | Google's RE:SCOR Comscore deal fits right into my social media looking for ad content theme. IMO this up's the speculative appeal what was once VCLK (name change). The company is now called CNVR Conversant. Twitter already has a TV ratings venture with Nielsen. IMO hypothetically CNVR could possibly fit. This to give them a better chance to attract advertisers. Ultimately giving them a faster profitability model.
I was on the verge of purchasing SCOR, about two weeks ago but just added it to my watch list.
Did Anyone Look at That Ad? By VINDU GOEL
For years, the advertising industry has been struggling to address a nagging problem: Who is actually looking at those ads on a webpage or embedded in a video?
About 54 percent of ads on the web are not seen by users, according to estimates by comScore, a leading online measurement and analytics firm.
On Monday, comScore announced a partnership with Google, the leader in digital advertising, to help advertisers figure out who is looking at their ads — in real time, while an ad campaign is going on — so brands can make adjustments on the fly and perhaps entice more people to click.
Under the deal, Google will integrate comScore’s Validated Campaign Essentials (vCE) technology for measuring ad performance directly into Google’s DoubleClick ad-serving platform.
Initially, the tools will be available to quickly measure how viewers are interacting with video and display ads on the desktop. Eventually, the partners plan to extend the measurements to mobile devices and other platforms, and they hope to persuade the broader advertising and media industries to support the technology.
“It’s going to, for the very first time, give advertisers and publishers real-time insights into whether their campaigns are delivering,” said Neal Mohan, vice president for display advertising at Google, discussing the partnership during a speech at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s leadership conference in Palm Desert, Calif., on Tuesday.
For Google, the partnership will bring some of the real-time analysis that advertisers can get with search ads to other types of ads. The company said the deal was part of a larger effort, which Google discussed in a blog post on Tuesday, to bring more transparency to advertising.
Data on viewership of display ads, such as the banner ads that run across the top or along the side of many web pages, is typically difficult to get quickly, Mr. Mohan said in his speech. “It’s kind of like a coach giving feedback to their team after the game is lost.”
For comScore, the deal validates vCE, which helps advertisers measure viewership of ads more precisely. Advertisers, meanwhile, will get faster, easier, real-time tools to assess their ads.
For web publishers and media sites, Mr. Mohan suggested, better measurement will help them wrest more ad dollars from television, which gets about 60 percent of advertising spending even though people spend more of their time online than watching TV.
As for web users? Perhaps we will finally see more relevant, interesting ads.
bits.blogs.nytimes.com
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