The summer games may be winding down in London, but we just can’t let go of that whole go-for-the-gold-vibe. Hence, this week’s roundup of news bits and analysis from around the web explodes out of the blocks with three items about creating competitive advantage. Find out why Bing may well be the smartest search engine in the room but is still no match for well-connected Google. Also included for your reading pleasure in this week’s roundup: One expert’s take on how to keep IT competitive with outside service providers and why big data analytics may ruin the fun for coupon clippers.
You may be the smartest candidate for the job, but sometimes it’s all about social connections. This holds true in the Bing versus Google battle for search supremacy. Despite having what may be the smartest computer learning system in the world, the Microsoft-owned search engine lags far behind Google. Why? It’s all about the massive amount of personal information Big Brother Google captures about users.
If CIOs don’t think they have to compete for the business of internal customers, chances are they’ve already lost them. Check out these expert tips on keeping IT competitive and relevant to the business. While you’re at it, read why we think this just might be the new CIO benchmark.
What’s a little privacy when there’s money to be saved on diapers and coffee? In a quest to create competitive advantage supermarket chains put big data analytics into action by offering customers individualized pricing based on their shopping habits.
Instagram: It’s not just for shoe-gazing hipsters anymore. Increasingly, big-name companies like Starbucks, GE and Nike are leveraging the popular photo app to gather customer data.
Finally, in case you missed it, check out this week’s installment of CIO Matters in which news director Linda Tucci makes a case for the CIO’s need to know just how “green” cloud computing really is and why it matters to us all.
