HTML5 has been generating a lot of hype lately. So what is all this hype about, and how is HTML5 different from HTML4? HTML5 introduces new elements but also drops some deprecated elements from HTML 4.01. Having been in development for the past few years, HTML5 is the cornerstone of the W3C’s open Web platform - a framework designed to support innovation and foster the full potential the Web has to offer.
HTML4, the last major iteration of the language, has been around for over a decade, and we can all agree that the Web has undergone tremendous changes during that time. What was originally used mostly for displaying static information, the Web has evolved into a dynamic environment where users are constantly exchanging information, communicating and collaborating in real-time. When multimedia was introduced to the Web, plugins had to be created to ensure proper functionality. HTML4 became a patchwork of augmentations to accommodate features of the modern Web. With the advent of social media, video chat and other interactive systems, the average daily Web usage continues to increase as more people are using the Web as a means to communicate with each other. Creating engaging, rich user experiences have become more important than ever before.
Enter HTML5. HTML5 introduces a number of new features that reflect typical usage on the modern Web. Notable features include:
Multimedia - tags that allow multimedia to be directly embedded without any plugins
Offline & storage - ability to store offline data for Web apps
Semantics - a richer set of tags, along with RDFa, microdata, and microformats
Device access - geolocation API allows Web apps to present rich, device-aware features and experiences
3D, graphics & effects - natively rendered visuals in the browser
Interactivity - drag & drop and other desktop-like features
Does this mean HTML5 will kill Flash, Silverlight and the like? Probably not. But it will definitely play a helping hand when it comes to developing Web apps when mobile compatibility is a concern, now that certain plugins that aren’t supported by many smart phones are no longer needed.
In many ways, HTML5 marks the future of the internet. How will this impact content management? In this digital age, time is of the essence. Consumers want access to fresh, updated content when they need it, where they want it, whether it’s at home through a desktop or on-the-go through a mobile device. Multi-channel publishing is quickly becoming an important part of an organization’s content management objectives. HTML5 facilitates this by making it easier to display Web content in various formats. While HTML5 won’t fully mature for quiet some time, it’s exciting to see what it brings to the table and the potential to influence the future of the internet.
Enterprise IT is a continuously evolving process, just like how our existing Systems of Record were first introduced several decades ago, a new System of Engagement is making its way into today’s organizations. What prompted this system of engagement and what steps should organizations take to effectively incorporate this into their existing infrastructure?
The consumerization of IT has driven enterprises to redefine how they think about information management, control, and governance in order to deal with social technologies. Furthermore, organizations today have become more collaborative in their daily operations in order to better facilitate communication - both internally within departments and externally with global stakeholders. Social business is then, in effect, leveraging social technologies to improve collaboration and responsiveness.
In a recently published report by AIIM, Systems of Engagement and the Future of Enterprise IT: A Sea Change in Enterprise IT, Geoffrey Moore compares and contrasts existing Systems of Record with Systems of Engagement. These system of engagement tools overlay and complement organizations’ investments in systems of record by providing Web-based access, usability across a variety of hardware and software platforms, and cross-organizational collaboration.
The report addresses important questions such as:
How will the core value chains within our organizations - innovating, designing, procuring, marketing, selling, servicing, and governing - be impacted by social business systems?
What are the issues facing end users who wish to better leverage their information management systems to:
improve operating flexibility, and
better engage with customers?
What is the path forward for implementing, sustaining, and managing social technologies effectively and responsibly?
Analysis from the report was reviewed by 20 CIOs and IT executives from major corporations and government agencies and by a Task Force of executives. As a task force member, Alfresco has already started to adopt this System of Engagement by incorporating features into their ECM platform to form a new category of Social Content Management.
For more information and to download the report, click here.
Alfresco just selected Rivet Logic as the winner of their Americas Partner of the Quarter Award.
Alfresco Partner of the Quarter, Q2 2009 - Rivet Logic
We’re truly honored to be recognized again by Alfresco for our accomplishments. Over the past year, we’ve continued to see strong demand for our Alfresco consulting services as more and more organizations are becoming more liberal towards the idea of open source. Last quarter, we kicked off several new Alfresco projects in a variety of sectors - including higher ed, media/publishing, technology and non-profit.
We look forward to continuing our work with major enterprises, and contributing back to the Alfresco community.
The announcement was made yesterday by Hugh McKellar, editor in chief of KMWorld.
“We have always maintained that knowledge management is an attitude, not a specific application—a commitment to taking full advantage of all the information at an organization’s disposal and delivering it to the appropriate constituencies to facilitate decision-making at every possible level…
…We believe that each of the companies listed embodies as part of its culture the agility and limber execution of its mission… they embrace a spirit of innovation and adaptability. They each embody the resiliency and wisdom to identify and act upon their own areas requiring improvement and, more importantly, those of their customers.”
We’re honored to receive this prestigious recognition. As leaders in the open source enterprise content management and collaboration market, we will continue to strive to deliver bottom-line results for our customers.
With the “going green” trend gaining popularity, more businesses are starting to migrate towards a paperless office. Green computing is more than just choosing the right hardware for maximum energy efficiency, it’s also about reducing the amount of paper waste in our daily office operations. Going paperless would not only reduce clutter and increase productivity, but also help conserve natural resources at the same time. Think of all the times you’ve had to look and sort through piles of papers just to find that one small piece of information, all the while making more of a mess to make it even more difficult the next time around. Imagine that multiplied by the number of employees in your organization. That’s a lot of time wasted right?
With the right enterprise content management system, all those paper documents can be managed electronically. Better yet, those items can be tagged with keywords to make finding and sharing that piece of information hassle free. All that time saved can be used more productively. The fact that you’re helping to conserve natural resources is an added bonus. We all want a better environment for our future generations, right?
With the baby boomers fast approaching retirement, the workforce is making room for a new slue of younger Gen Y employees. What affect will this have on the technologies enterprises currently employ? Along with the influx of a younger generation of workers, will come an increase in the adoption of new technologies. This younger generation of workers grew up using computers and the internet, with “blogs”, “social networking”, and “instant messaging” a part of their daily vocabulary. Gen Y comprises the bright minds of tomorrow. They’re not going to want to work in an environment where the technologies are behind. They’re going to expect the tools at their companies to mirror what they use in their personal lives. Gen Y is going to change the Web in more ways than one. It would in a sense almost force enterprises to come up to speed with Enterprise 2.0 technologies to recruit and retain the best of this generation.
