From San Francisco Business Times
Clash of the titans:
The number of apps and services for workplace chat and collaboration has exploded just in the past year, with companies big and small — including Facebook, Google, Box, Slack and Asana — releasing new apps aimed at business. Microsoft was the latest, unveiling a new app in November called Microsoft Teams, squarely taking aim at Slack and seeking to leverage the software giant’s existing huge footprint in offices. However large this market is, it doesn’t seem big enough for all the rivals currently jostling each other. Expect consolidation in enterprise software in 2017.
Putting the intelligence in artificial intelligence:
While plenty of startups lay claim to AI or machine learning, the technology – despite its potential for automation and predictive power in business functions – hasn’t hit the mainstream just yet. With more big companies snapping up AI-focused startups, and major firms like Salesforce introducing their versions of AI software, we’ll see the technology (including its flaws) come into focus in 2017.
On the road, or driving in circles:
To skeptics, autonomous cars are the vehicle of the future — and always will be. Serious movement is happening, however: Late in 2016, Google spun off its car operations to make it more a company and less a pet project. Virtually every major automaker is working on self-driving vehicles. Uber started operating self-driving cars on streets in San Francisco and Pittsburgh, typically without gaining permissions in advance and setting off a new fight with California transportation regulators.
Person to watch:
Mark Zuckerberg. Facebook has evolved into so much more than a social network, rolling out a smattering of new business tools in 2016 as its ad revenue continued to soar. But its problems were also laid bare during the 2016 election cycle, with CEO Mark Zuckerberg facing heavy criticism for denying responsibility for false and misleading news that some say carried too much influence. As Facebook evolves from a technology company to a media company, its 32-year-old CEO must evolve with it.
Company to watch:
Lyft. 2017 will be a year of reckoning for the second-largest ridehailing company. Though nearly identical to Uber in terms of its service, Lyft’s business strategy — relying more on partnerships and a driver-friendly ethos than its hard-charging rival — will be tested in the race toward an autonomous driving future.
Five key events from 2016:
- A hack attack shook the Internet’s foundation:Less a single event than a series of breaches, 2016 was a year of cyberattacks that culminated with a DDoS attack that resulted in blackouts across much of the Internet. The attack was a call to arms for the cybersecurity industry and IT departments, which must now work to educate businesses and individuals on the threats posed by everyday devices in addition to traditional networks.
- Top price for LinkedIn: When Microsoft bought LinkedIn in June 2016, even industry insiders were shocked by the price tag of $26.2 billion. The deal shed light on the astronomical value of LinkedIn’s data to Microsoft as it seeks to retain its dominance in business software.
- GM buys Cruise Automation:When General Motors bought a little-known San Francisco-based autonomous driving startup for $1 billion, it represented a turning point: Autonomous cars were no longer the stuff of science fiction. Now a tense race is underway among startups and automakers to get the cars onto public roadways. Since then, transportation companies have continued to invest heavily in the software and hardware to make that happen.
- Yahoo gives up the ghost:Once an Internet giant worth more than $100 billion, the search giant’s heyday came to an ignominious end when it sold to Verizon for peanuts: less than $5 billion. Dogged by corporate bloat and waning relevance, the sale ironically paired it with AOL, its dot-com compadre, which Verizon purchased for $4.4 billion in 2015.
- Pokemon Go:It quickly became the most-downloaded mobile game ever. But it also raised alarm bells for IT departments and security experts, worried that the app would lead to data breaches – and distraction.
