There’s open source and there’s open source.
There’s genuine free and open source software (FOSS) and then there’s largely locked down proprietary non-dynamic library open source that is generally supplied as a commercially supported version of an open source kernel base that doesn’t see whole lot of real world code commits — and, no, there’s no acronym for that.
Then, there’s other ways of evidencing real open openness such as non-technical contributions (could be language translation/localisation etc.) and then there’s plain old contributions.
Scale-out Postgres database technologies Citus Data is donating 1 percent of its equity to non-profit PostgreSQL organisations in the US and Europe.
The United States PostgreSQL Association says it has received the stock grant and will work with the PostgreSQL Europe organisation to support the growth, education, and future innovation of the open source Postgres database in both the US and in Europe.
To coincide with Citus Data’s equity donation, the company is joining the Pledge 1% movement, alongside technology organisations such as Atlassian, Twilio, Box etc..
“When people think about contributing to open source and building sustainable open source communities, there are different approaches,” said Citus Data CEO Umur Cubukcu. “You can open source software you’ve created, you can maintain certain features and projects, and you can contribute to events with speakers and sponsorships — all of which our team spends a lot of time on.”
Founded in 2011, the founders of Citus Data set out to bring the performance and economics of scale-out systems to the field of relational databases.
To give applications the memory, compute, and disk resources of a distributed database cluster, the team at Citus Data created an extension to Postgres that transforms PostgreSQL into a distributed database — something that was previously not possible with any other relational database, whether proprietary or open source.
Originally published by PRNEWSWIRE
Fastest Growing Top 5 Enterprise Software Company to Significantly Expand Regional Headquarters in Atlanta
Salesforce , the global leader in CRM, announced Salesforce Tower Atlanta, significantly expanding the company’s regional headquarters in Atlanta. As part of the expansion, Salesforce plans to add 600 new jobs locally, over the next five years, helping fuel the city’s economic development. The company will grow its footprint in The Atlanta Plaza in Buckhead, which will now be known as Salesforce Tower Atlanta.
Salesforce Tower Atlanta joins the ranks of other Salesforce regional headquarters, including Salesforce Tower New York, Salesforce Tower Indianapolis, Salesforce Tower London, and the company’s worldwide headquarters, Salesforce Tower San Francisco.
Salesforce employees will start moving into the newly renovated floors beginning in 2019. Plans for the building include a renovated immersive lobby experience and top “Ohana Floor” – an open hospitality space for Salesforce employees, customers and partners, which is also available for nonprofits and local education groups on weeknights and weekends at no cost.
“Salesforce continues to reach new heights and we’re thrilled to further our commitment to the city of Atlanta,” said Elizabeth Pinkham, EVP, Real Estate, Salesforce. “Salesforce Tower Atlanta provides a one-of-a-kind workspace where all of our employees can do the best work of their lives while supporting the community by giving back.”
“Atlanta is a fantastic market for world-class talent and we’re thrilled to grow our presence in the region,” said Warren Wick, EVP, Commercial Sales, Salesforce. “Many of our top customers call the city home and we’re excited to support these trailblazers in connecting with their customers in whole new ways.”
“Salesforce joins other market-leading global brands that have recently announced plans to grow their operations in Atlanta,” said Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms. “We are proud to be a top choice for companies looking for a talented workforce, quality-of-life, and a welcoming and inclusive business community. The Salesforce cloud will be an exciting addition to our ever-evolving skyline.”
New Tower Supports Salesforce’s Continued Growth in Atlanta
Salesforce has been named one of Fortune’s Best Places to Work for the past 10 years and was recently ranked one of Atlanta’s Best Places to Work by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Salesforce Tower Atlanta will be a hub for world-class, diverse talent, enabling the company to deliver new innovations to its more than 150,000 customers around the world. Salesforce has nearly 600 employees in the Atlanta area and more than 32,000 employees worldwide. Atlanta is home to many Salesforce customers including Coca-Cola, InterContinental Hotels Group, SunTrust and Kabbage.
Giving Back—Committing to 25,000 Volunteer Hours Next Year
Today, Salesforce employees in Atlanta are committing to deliver 25,000 total employee volunteer hours to local nonprofits in 2019. To date, Salesforce technology has powered more than 37,000 nonprofit and higher education institutions; Salesforce.org has provided more than $230 million in grants; and Salesforce employees have logged more than 3.2 million volunteer hours throughout the world. Employees in Atlanta have supported a variety of organizations including Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metro Atlanta, Camp Sunshine, Open Hand Atlanta and Junior Achievement of Georgia.
In addition, more than 6,000 companies from 100 countries have committed to Pledge 1%, an initiative spearheaded by Salesforce that encourages and challenges individuals and companies to pledge 1% equity, product and employee time for their communities. Local Atlanta companies that have joined Pledge 1% include accessnow USA, Chaplain&co, Medric Networks and QASymphony.
Salesforce—Fastest-Growing Top 5 Software Company
Salesforce is the global leader in customer relationship management (CRM), helping companies connect with their customers in a whole new way. Founded in 1999, Salesforce enables companies of every size and industry to take advantage of powerful Fourth Industrial Revolution technologies—cloud, mobile, social, internet of things, and artificial intelligence—to get closer to their customers. The Salesforce Customer Success Platform includes industry-leading services spanning sales, service, marketing, commerce, communities, collaboration and industries, all on a single trusted cloud platform.
Originally published by BizWest.
FORT COLLINS — Innosphere, the incubator for startup and scaleup science and tech-based companies, is partnering with the Community Foundation of Northern Colorado and Pledge 1% to help Innosphere companies participate in long-term giving.
Pledge 1% has a philanthropic model that allows companies to pledge 1 percent of equity, annual profit, employee time or company product to nonprofits of their own choosing.
“We’ve seen a rise in the number of companies that want to make the community a stakeholder in their companies,” said Scott Sampl, Innosphere operations director, in a prepared statement. “It’s an easy way for entrepreneurs to give and it starts with an easy pledge form on the Pledge 1% Colorado website.”
The Community Foundation will help startups consider their community impact and decide how best to provide their philanthropy.
Innosphere does not take equity in the companies it supports. But companies that decide to pledge 1 percent of equity can choose to direct a portion of their funds to Innosphere’s 501(c)(3) to help the incubator launch new initiatives. The Community Foundation of Northern Colorado will work with all companies on their philanthropic goals, regardless of location. Innosphere companies not based in Northern Colorado could select to give back to other Colorado foundations such as the Community Foundation of Boulder County, the Rose Community Foundation or the Denver Foundation.
“We’re excited to offer every Innosphere company the opportunity to invest in philanthropy when there’s an exit,” Sampl said.
Founding partners for Pledge 1% include Salesforce, Altassian and Rally Software.
Originally published on Looker Blog
Looker has been embedded in its community since the very beginning. That’s actually why we’re headquartered in Santa Cruz, CA. Our founder and CTO, Lloyd Tabb, was a long-time Santa Cruz resident who’d raised his family there and taught middle school in the community. So when he was starting his own company, he didn’t want to start it “over the hill” in Silicon Valley, but right in his own community.
And as Looker has expanded to offices in New York, Dublin, London, San Francisco and beyond, Lookers have found ways to give back to the communities they live and work in. From packing backpacks for school children who are living in homeless shelters in NY to cleaning up the river in Santa Cruz and learning CPR in Dublin, Lookers are passionate about contributing back to their communities.
But as the company has grown, we’ve been thinking about how we can give back in a more formal way. And we’ve asked ourselves ‘what we can uniquely give back’? Not surprisingly, what we realized is that Looker is uniquely qualified to provide reliable, self-service access to data. And while not every nonprofit needs that, plenty of charitable organizations are struggling with the same data chaos that their for-profit peers are.
That’s why we’re so excited to announce Looker for Good, our way of giving back to our communities and the groups that enrich them.
Looker Pledges 1%
The first component of Looker for Good is that Looker is joining Pledge 1%. We’re pledging 1% of our product to charity, as well as the employee time needed to help the charities we give Looker to be successful.
We’re thrilled to announce that the first recipient, Accion, is already standing up their Looker deployment and getting value from it. Accion is an amazing organization that’s been providing microfinance loans to small businesses all across America since 1991, and we’re so excited to help them get more value from their data with Looker.
And we are already looking for the next nonprofits to give Looker to, so if you work for a nonprofit or know of one that could benefit from free Looker, we’d love for you to nominate them here.
Nonprofit Discounts
The next component of Looker for Good is focused on making Looker accessible to all nonprofits. We’ve announced significant discounts off Looker’s list price for every nonprofit, whether they need a small deployment or a huge one. You can see all the details here.
Training Future Analysts
The final part of Looker for Good is that we’re offering free Looker deployments to educators who are interested in using Looker to train the next generation of analysts. If you’re an educator who’s interested, please don’t hesitate to reach out so we can discuss your use case.
We’re so proud of the work that Lookers are already doing to care for their communities. And we can’t wait to build out Looker for Good as a new channel for using our unique abilities to power the greater good with better data.
https://www.apnews.com/87fecbe6ed194f7a9c311bd0a20ad205
Originally published by NewVoiceMedia
SAN FRANCISCO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Oct 11, 2018–NewVoiceMedia, a leading global provider of cloud contact center and inside sales solutions, has been named in the inaugural FT Future 100, an annual list compiled by The Financial Times which celebrates fast growing UK businesses that are positively contributing to the future of their sector, business, and society.
The accolade builds on the FT 1000, a recent ranking of Europe’s fastest growing companies published by the Financial Times and Statista, in which NewVoiceMedia was featured.
Serving more than 700 customers, NVM is outperforming the rapidly expanding cloud contact center market twofold and continues to attract new customers through exciting technological developments. It recently unveiled key capabilities that will enable businesses to drive digital transformation and create unified, consistent and integrated experiences irrespective of the channel chosen by the customer.
NewVoiceMedia launched its Foundation in 2010 as part of its commitment to offer skills-based volunteering to local community projects, organize fundraising activities and match the funding raised by employees’ charitable initiatives. In 2016, the company was also among the first to join Pledge 1%, a corporate philanthropy movement which empowers businesses to donate 1% of product, 1% of equity, 1% of profit or 1% of employee time to improve communities around the world.
“It’s a real privilege to be named as part of the FT Future 100,” commented Ashley Unitt, Co-Founder of NewVoiceMedia. “We operate in a multi-billion-dollar market that is accelerating its transition to the cloud and have seen rapid growth, owing to our commitment to helping our customers deliver a better, more emotive customer experience. We’re proud to be able to share this success by contributing to the efforts of creating social impact on a global scale, while enabling our employees to support the causes that are important to them.”
For further information about NewVoiceMedia, visit www.newvoicemedia.com
– ENDS –
About NewVoiceMedia
NewVoiceMedia is a leading global provider of cloud contact center and inside sales technology that enables businesses to create exceptional, emotive customer experiences to serve better and sell more.
Its award-winning platform joins up all communications channels without expensive, disruptive hardware changes and plugs straight into your CRM for full access to hard-won data. With a true cloud environment and proven 99.999% platform availability, NewVoiceMedia ensures complete flexibility, scalability and reliability.
NewVoiceMedia’s 700+ customers include Canadian Cancer Society, Ebury, FCR Media, FlixBus, JustGiving, Kingston University, Lumesse, Paysafe and Vax. For more information, visit www.newvoicemedia.com or follow NewVoiceMedia on Twitter @NewVoiceMedia.
In September 2018, NewVoiceMedia entered into a definitive agreement to be acquired by Vonage (NYSE), a business cloud communications leader. The deal is expected to close in the fourth quarter of 2018.
View source version on businesswire.com:https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20181011005062/en/
CONTACT: NewVoiceMedia
Nicola Brookes
Tel: +44 (0)7500 006 458
Email:Nicola.brookes@newvoicemedia.com
Originally published by Cloud Co-Op
AUSTIN, Texas, Sept. 26, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Cloud Co-Op, an innovative product development consultancy and Salesforce systems integrator, started working with ICS+ as a free business coach addressing cash flow, accounts receivable and technology management issues, an ongoing challenge for many businesses. As a formal consultant, Cloud Co-Op improved operational efficiency and working capital by streamlining project management into one integrated Salesforce platform for all client-focused data and collaboration. The turnaround earned ICS+ recognition with a 2018 Tech ROI Award for innovative technology deployment in the industry and had returns on investment of 942% in just 6 weeks.
“We consulted with ICS+ at a pivotal time. Business was good, the product proven, and yet it was hard to scale due to inefficient internal systems. Cloud Co-Op developed an integrated Salesforce platform greatly improving project management, visibility, and gross margins. For many at this stage, it’s the difference between thriving or stagnating,” said David Franklin, CEO, and Founder of Cloud Co-Op.
To date, Cloud Co-Op’s new platform has yielded ICS+ an average annual benefit of more than $180,000. Download the full report from Nucleus Research to see how these benefits ‘extend across the entire business. Franklin is a speaker at Dreamforce 2018 where he will discuss becoming a Pledge 1% company during the keynote, as well as other topics.
“Cloud Co-Op has been great because they work with us as much or as little as we need, depending on our next objective. Better still, we don’t have to be coders. They are keen on teaching us to fish so we can be more independent in the future. Their strategic guidance has been truly instrumental to our success,” said CEO of ICS+, Bernard Morgan.
Cloud Co-Op designed a platform for ICS+ using Salesforce Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Community Cloud, Quip, and Inbox, to provide one integrated platform for all client-focused data and collaboration. Moving from NetSuite, e-mail, and a variety of spreadsheets to Salesforce, enabled the company to streamline project management, increase data capture and collaboration, increase employee productivity, and accelerate collections by one-third while increasing client satisfaction.
Salesforce, Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Community Cloud, Quip and others are among the trademarks of salesforce.com, inc.
About Cloud Co-Op
Cloud Co-Op, a Registered Salesforce Consulting Technology Partner, was founded by U.S. Navy veteran and 12-year Salesforce guru, David Franklinwho had the vision to create a team of certified Salesforce veterans to execute custom development and implementations for businesses getting started in Salesforce or scaling up their operations. Cloud Co-Op helps Salesforce customers reduce implementation and development cost, establish governance controls, increase user adoption, and develop growth strategies.
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View original content:https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/cloud-co-op-coaches-ics-to-big-returns-with-salesforce-and-tech-roi-award-300719452.html
SOURCE Cloud Co-Op
Originally published on Medium by Sean Dukes of Learnsmarter
Just recently we’ve seen some great stuff coming out about taking Trailhead into your communities. The timing is great, because we’ve been working on doing just that and finally had our launch event today.
The charity we’re working with is called Trinity Winchester. They’re based in the city where I live and work, helping vulnerable people in the community and particularly the homeless and victims of domestic abuse. Winchester, like many cities, has changed greatly in recent years and I’m sure that many of us have felt that it would be great to do something really positive to help the people you see living on the streets. I’ve raised a bit of money doing a few charity sleepouts, but after hearing about some of the Trinity clients and talking to a few of the staff, I thought “wouldn’t it be awesome if we could help someone get a job by teaching them new skills using Trailhead?”
Turning that thought into action took a while. First, we had to sell the idea to Trinity. They were interested, but it was hard to get beyond that. I kept pestering them and finally we got a meeting. Things progressed pretty quickly from there, but it took six months from our first conversation to our first session.
I realised I couldn’t do this on my own. I’m a leader of the Hampshire user group so asked Alison from the group and Elise from my team to help out. That was a good move.
We did some prep for the big day. We set up our developer org to track the badges, installed the Trail Tracker and had a quick go at setting up some Chatter Free test users and linking them to Trailhead. Alison bought biscuits and I even wrote a speech!
The first thing you notice when you go into the Trinity Centre is that there are a lot of homeless people that you never see on the street. There’s a friendly atmosphere at the centre and we were greeted enthusiastically by the learning manager, Niamh, but neither she nor we had any idea what was going to happen next.
Before we started, I thought if we got three people that would be great and five would be amazing. We had one. The speech seemed a bit pointless so I started talking to Felix explaining what Trailhead was and tried to encourage him to have a go. He signed up.
Then Jade and Adrienne walked in. I explained again and they signed up too. It was so helpful having Alison and Elise there. We had all the technical issues you could wish for — PCs running windows updates, monitors that didn’t work, locked email accounts; you name it. The team did a great job of smoothing the path, but it wasn’t easy.
And then more people came in. Soon we didn’t have enough seats and it was getting quite hectic. We had questions coming at us from all directions. Someone just got a badge. Fantastic! What was amazing was the energy in the room. I’d been a bit sceptical that anyone would really be interested at all but there was a real buzz. We were getting more and more interest. By the end of the day we’d got nine people signed up and we’d lost count of the number of badges. I just need the Trail Tracker to update so we can get the final score! (now done …)
An amazing start to this programIt was a fantastic morning and we all came away buzzing with enthusiasm. We’ve already booked up the next session and have promised cat recognition. I can’t wait and I have the feeling that some of our customers can’t wait either! I was careful not to promise that we could get anyone a job, but some of the group were really flying by the end. I wouldn’t bet against it.
Finally, a special mention of thanks to Scott Luikart who blazed the trail ahead of me and gave me so much great advice and support.
Key Takeaways:
- You need to sell your idea. Use examples from people who’ve had success already such as PepUp Tech and Scott Luikart.
- Get help. You can’t do this by yourself. Our little team is hoping to make this a weekly event and we’re going to need plenty of volunteers to make that happen.
- Prepare as much as you can. There’s a new Trailhead Workshop Basicsbadge which is the perfect place to start. Set up your developer org, the tracker, create any users you can, check out the room you’re going to use and practice the user experience so that you have some idea about what’s going to happen.
- Choose your trails ahead of time. Trailhead Basics and Trailhead Playground Management are my recommendations. And tell everyone in your team; I didn’t and we had to play a bit of catch up. Also have some trails ready to suggest for people to move on to. Users will find the choices quite daunting to start with.
- Give people a reason to come back. We’ve promised Cat Recognition for next time and people are genuinely interested. We’ll find out next week whether that works.
- Have fun. The biscuits were helpful and we had prizes. Not everything will go as you expect, so be prepared for that. Encourage all the positive signs you see around you and build on the enthusiasm you generate.
Make a difference where you are
What could you do to bring education and opportunity to people in your area? Join the movement and Be A Multiplier! Trailhead gives you the tools you need to be part of the change. Through five custom trailmixes, you’ll be guided through each step in organizing and hosting a learning event, wherever you are. Give back and lead a learning event today.
Originally published by Viv Networks, LLC
NORWALK, Conn., Oct. 2, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — There are 3 billion people worldwide who still cook over open flames, and one Connecticut company is doing something about it through social commerce. Wood-burning stoves and open fires are the leading cause of household air pollution and increased risk of respiratory illness, especially for women and children in developing countries. With a need this vast, large-scale international projects are being balanced by grassroots efforts with local nonprofits, like Viv’s One At A Time initiative, to make a world of difference.
Viv, a groundbreaking startup that provides energy and lifestyle products to make life better, has established the One At A Time service initiative as an extension of its mission, corporate values and roots in conscious capitalism. One At A Time merges what’s good for business and for the global community, making it possible for the average person to get involved, roll up their sleeves and contribute to the quality of life of children and families in at-risk communities.
A pending B corporation, Viv develops sustainable partnerships with local nonprofits internationally that deeply understand the culture and can identify programs and families with the greatest need. At the same time, the company contributes 1% of its profits toward helping communities access energy, water, health, education, sustainability and economic development.
Viv’s first international One At A Time service trip will take place on October 2-9, 2018, in Guatemala. The project is a collaborative effort between Viv and the local organization, Long Way Home, a nonprofit that fights poverty through innovative solutions to community problems. Two dozen Viv Life Consultants will spend a week in the community of Xiquin Sanaii, working inside homes to build clean cookstoves for 12 families. Viv has provided funding for another two dozen families to receive stoves to improve respiratory health for families in the community. Families were identified by Long Way Home in collaboration with local junior high students who did a census and survey of remote homes in the region.
“Finding the right partner for a project like this is so important,” explains Viv’s CEO Cami Boehme. “We look to work with partners with a long-term presence in the community and with a genuine understanding of the needs. That’s how we ensure our efforts will contribute to meaningful and lasting change.”
For Viv its One At A Time initiatives serve several purposes. Viv Life Consultants get to make a real difference in the lives of people the company serves. Consultants are fully immersed in a rich culture, creating connections and gaining a deeper understanding of how people live in different communities around the world. One At A Time also establishes loyalty for the company, and sets a standard for other companies to follow.
“There are immense needs for communities around the world to survive, let alone thrive. There are also inspirational and hard-working organizations almost everywhere looking for companies to support their local, grass-roots efforts,” explains Boehme. “As business leaders, we should look creatively at how to combine business goals with the very real needs of human existence and find ways, like our One At A Time journeys, to serve the needs of communities while growing our businesses. When people and planet come before profit, we all prosper.”
This is the first of many international One At A Time initiatives for Viv. The organization is committed to making a deep impact on other parts of the world in the near future.
ABOUT VIV: Viv Network, LLC (Viv) is a Connecticut-based technology company that provides energy and lifestyle products and services that everyone needs and uses every day—products that make Life Better, as the company’s tagline suggests. Providing radical transparency with a customer-centric focus and commitment to social good are core to the company’s mission to provide consumers a way of life that is easier, more affordable and more satisfying. Viv is a proud member of the Path One Group of Companies, along with sister company Utiliz, LLC. Viv’s flagship product, AutoPilot, is provided through a partnership with Utiliz, a licensed energy broker currently active in Connecticut, New Jersey, Maryland, Massachusetts, New York, New Hampshire, and Ohio. Savings vary depending on region and market dynamics.
For more information contact:
Hannah Wells
Hannah@justviv.com
203-548-0795
SOURCE Viv Network, LLC
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NORMAN, Okla., Sept. 27, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Nextep announced today that, through its charitable foundation, it has joined Pledge 1%.
Pledge 1% is a corporate philanthropy movement dedicated to making the community a key part of every business. The charitable program empowers companies to donate 1% of product, 1% of profit, or 1% of employee time to improve communities. Nextep has committed to achieving all three of these goals, including 1,000+ community service hours, $100,000 in charitable donations to families and community organizations in need, and free services to select startup nonprofit businesses.
“From families and schools to charities and businesses, the Nextep Charitable Foundation is working to remove the barriers that keep people in need from moving forward,” said Brian Fayak, Nextep’s founder and CEO. “We’re fortunate to be in a position to give back, make a positive impact, and to empower our employees to do the same. We’re glad to join the Pledge 1% movement.”
The Nextep Charitable Foundation is joining an impressive network of entrepreneurs and companies across the globe that have committed to philanthropic efforts and leadership through the Pledge 1% movement.
“We are incredibly excited that Nextep has taken the pledge,” said Amy Lesnick, chief executive of Pledge 1%. “Nextep can play a pivotal role in building this movement and promoting a new normal in which all companies—big and small—integrate giving back as a core value in their business.”
Nextep was inspired by the model put forth by Salesforce. The company hopes to be an example to others who are able to give of their time and resources. “Salesforce is dedicated to changing the way companies think about corporate philanthropy,” said Suzanne DiBianca, EVP of corporate relations and chief philanthropy officer, Salesforce. “Today, we’re excited that Nextep is joining us in giving their resources back to the community. This is another great example of the power that business has to create change in our communities.”
About Nextep
As a certified professional employer organization (PEO), Nextep provides comprehensive HR, benefits, payroll, and risk & compliance solutions for businesses throughout the United States. Through the PEO relationship, clients and their employees gain access to big-business benefits, technology, and support delivered by friendly experts. Nextep takes on the liability while clients maintain worksite direction and control, getting back to doing what they do best: growing their businesses. For more information about how PEO helps small business, visit nextep.com.
The IRS does not endorse any particular certified professional employer organization. For more information on certified professional employer organizations, please visit www.IRS.gov.
Nextep, Inc.
1800 N. Interstate Dr.
Norman, OK 73072
www.nextep.com
Phone 888.811.5150
resources@nextep.com
Contact
Adam Graham
Office 405.928.2361
agraham@nextep.com