Wisconsin Technology Network

Tablet deployment shows payoff in increased productivity

The latest results from giant IT products and services giant CDW’s quarterly survey of IT decision makers shows that a significant number of companies with tablets deployed are seeing productivity gains tied directly to their use. Seventy-four percent of IT decision-makers indicated that using tablet computers and smartphones led to an increase in productivity in their organization; 25 percent of those said it has led to a significant increase.

 

Facebook loses a big advertiser, buys a small company's employees

 

Plexus to build $50 million manufacturing plant in Neenah

Contract electronics manufacturer Plexus Corp. said Monday that it plans to build a $50 million manufacturing facility in Neenah, which will replace two existing leased plants in that Fox Valley city and create new jobs. About 1,000 employees will be consolidated at the new 410,000-square-foot building, expected to be completed in the fall of 2013, the company said.

 

CIO Executive Edge: What is the average age of your customers?

It is an interesting question and not one most companies consider on an ongoing basis. The average age of your customer is increasingly important, not just in the Consumer Products industry but in every industry. It is a question that gradually transcends all other demographics. Generating sustainable growth requires maintaining or decreasing the average age of your customers.

 

Inside Wisconsin: Madison businessman helps promote 'urban mining' at home, abroad

Neil Peters-Michaud doesn’t look much like a miner. He doesn’t carry around a pickax or wear a hardhat, but he’s uncovering deposits of gold, silver, copper and other minerals every day. That’s because Peters-Michaud is “mining” the growing, and increasingly valuable, stream of electronic waste that is a byproduct of the information age in the United States and worldwide. His story demonstrates how profit and recycling can go hand-in-hand.

 

After two months, how does the iPad's retina display stack up?

 

Computer capacity to get huge boost

The Milwaukee Institute will spend $1 million to add two petabytes of computer storage capacity - estimated to be enough to hold all of the information in a stack of phone books stretching from Milwaukee to the moon, the nonprofit group's chairman said Thursday. The institute is working to dramatically expand high-performance computing, high-speed data transport and mass data storage capacity and offer it at little or no cost to help southeastern Wisconsin's academic and industrial researchers.

 

Guest Column: Sears competes on big data and loyalty programs

Sears Holdings is betting on its innovative rewards program to spur the company’s growth. It is a path that Walmart can’t match because it doesn’t have a loyalty program — its best hope of understanding customer identity is through customers who use its credit card. Sears has a very intensive big data program to drive customer loyalty; the sophistication surprised me and should interest investors.