From email to file sharing, the article discusses how productivity has changed as new technologies have become available.

Now, as individuals embrace their new mobile and social lifestyles (in and out of the workplace), technology – specifically productivity applications – must continue evolving in order to meet their changing productivity needs.

To read the full article, visit: http://bit.ly/ZUkJXi.

The post The Evolution of the Productivity App appeared first on CloudOn.

The untapped opportunity is for new software services to focus on knowledge workers with an ease-of-use and mobile-first experience, all with the intent to enable a new wave of mobile productivity. Knowledge (or content) creation, consumption and sharing has been “stuck” in the PC paradigm for over 30 years. It is time to be unshackled and head into an increasingly mobile and social workforce, and not just through cloud-based file storage, but by bringing social context to content creation/consumption and enabling new models for sharing knowledge.

Mobile: The World in your Pocket 

Mobile is by far the biggest disrupting force in the industry. With individuals carrying a computer in their pockets, in the form of a smartphone, phablet or tablet, there is a need for instant gratification when it comes to information. Over the past 30 years, the industry has consolidated around the Windows PC platform and the innovation was limited by the possibilities of the end-point. Now with a range of different mobile devices with different OS and a wide array of capabilities, innovation has been awakened once again, and it is refreshing to see old habits being challenged. The near ubiquity of broadband networks (in most parts of the world), infinite storage and compute capacity in the “cloud”, and the rich capabilities of the end points lay the foundation for new services to be rolled out and utilized almost instantly. Employees find themselves empowered to select their solutions of choice on their device of choice. This will fundamentally change how people work and boost productivity in an increasingly borderless enterprise.

Strategies for the GTM barriers

The cost to start a company and roll out a product has significantly been reduced, thereby creating an over-supply of solutions for any given problem. The challenge is now less about development barriers, but more about go-to-market (GTM) and overall distribution barriers. With some seed capital, one can quickly overcome the development risks and be able to roll out a solution. If it is a mobile solution, one has to now crack the distribution and monetization challenges across Apple AppStore, Google Play, and the plethora of new app marketplaces. Since venture capital is the source of “oxygen” for entrepreneurs, the bar for Series A has gotten much higher as they are now expected to have solved the GTM and monetization requirements earlier in the life-cycle of the company. The funding chasm, which was traditionally between Series A and Series B, has been brought forward to between the Seed round and Series A. Hence there is increase in the trend of entrepreneurs picking one platform or OS to develop and focus their initial success and unfortunately for (Windows) Microsoft, it tends to be either iOS (Apple) or Android (Google).

To see the original post, visit: http://www.cioreview.com/magazine/The-Emergence-of-the-Mobile-Consumer-Enterprise—UGTF217939608.html

The post The Emergence of the “Mobile Consumer Enterprise” appeared first on CloudOn.

CloudOn is hiring a super-star PM, with strong background in R&D, combined with product management experience, preferably with Cloud / Mobile products aimed for the Enterprise market.

You’ll first need to be a great engineer and then layer on the exceptional understanding of the holistic concept of product usability. You will need to be able to work with cross-functional teams, influence quick decision making, and help the team deliver more than originally thought.

Responsibilities:

• Deliver key features or product upgrade/releases that resolved the initial problem or opportunity, while ensuring an excellent user experience.
• Represent the voice of the consumer and incorporates direct user feedback into product decisions through regular interactions with consumers, customers and partners.
• Help develop and execute the product roadmap and feature prioritization. Will work with client server mobile application frameworks.
• Measure and analyze opportunities to improve our existing product and innovate.
• Drive the coordination and clear communication of the product roadmap, working with all ranks and across multiple groups within the organization.
• Primarily interact with engineering, along with customer advocacy, marketing, and business development.

Desired Skills & Experience

• B.Sc. in Computer Science or related academic degree
• Minimum of 2-3 years professional experience with Inbound product management
• Minimum 3+ years of coding experience with backend infrastructure, C/C++, Network Protocols, Windows OS
• Experience with the following technologies is a big plus: iOS / Android / Windows 8, OS-X, Tables/Smartphones, Embedded, or Multi-threaded.
• Solid technical background and good understanding of current tools like Splunk, Flurry, Google Analytics and monetization tools like Zuora, IAP (In-App Purchase API).
• Experience driving the complete feature lifecycle from inception to GTM within a cross-functional, geographically-dispersed team
• Contributed to a product that has grown in the applicable metrics (e.g. UVs, $).
• Project management/Integration management/System Architecture experience
• Strong interpersonal, organizational, negotiation and decision-making skills.
• English – Mother tongue level.

To apply for this position, please send an email with your resume attached, along with any other relevant pieces of information, to jobs@cloudon.com. Please make sure to include the job title in the subject line of your email.

The post Technical Product Manager – Israel appeared first on CloudOn.

As the cloud has become prevalent in our daily lives, we have relied on it to facilitate content synchronization and sharing. We have begun to store our files, our work, in the cloud.

And, while all this has a great benefit, we at CloudOn began to feel it wasn’t enough. If files could be so easily synchronized, surely we could provide people with the applications they needed to be more productive with those files.

We have spent the better part of this year bringing applications like Microsoft Office® to tablets. But we didn’t just bring them to tablets, we made them usable on tablets. We have painstakingly explored, discovered, and developed ways to make these applications friendly to the form & design, the interaction model and the workflows needed for productivity on tablets. We investigated the simplest ways for creating and editing information and tailored our workspace to meet those needs. Open files from email, review and edit them, share them with others – we’ve thought of how to take you from consumption to production on tablets.

But there’s more to productivity than applications on tablets.

Ubiquity is a big part of what we’re after: the promise of being able to freely create, review, edit and share documents, spreadsheets and presentations on just about any device, in just about any situation. And not just as individuals, but with groups. We think you should be able to share links to content that can open anywhere, on any device, in a workspace that helps you get things done.

Today, we offer you our workspace on tablets, the iPhone and Mini tablets.

Tomorrow we look forward to bringing you much more.

The post Ubiquity: The Promise of the Cloud appeared first on CloudOn.

As you know, 2012 has been a pretty big year for us. 

On January 3rd, we quietly unveiled ourselves to the world with the first release of CloudOn for iPad. Since then, we’ve expanded service to Android tablets, opened the application to countries all across the world, and added features, like annotations and file sharing, to help make your tablets do more and keep you productive. 

It’s with these achievements in mind, that we would humbly like to ask a small favor… 

Nominations for the 2012 TechCrunch Crunchies have opened, and we’d be honored to have your vote. To show your support, simply click here to nominate CloudOn for “Best Mobile Application.”

Remember, you can vote once per day through December 6th, 2012. And, we certainly we won’t be offended if you encourage friends and family to nominate us, too. 

Thank you again for your continued support.

The post The Crunchies and a Request to Nominate CloudOn appeared first on CloudOn.

We are extremely grateful for this and thank each of you for your support.

But, who are you? Where are you? And, how you do you typically use the WorkSpace? 

Well, we decided it was high time we looked into that. 

First of all, with 95% of you falling into this category, it’s safe to say CloudOn users are also iPad fans.  But, we don’t play favorites. We know we have a strong, loyal community of Android users, many of who (1.3%) are using the Acer tablet. 

Also, while we are proud to support users in all parts of the world, we see the majority of you are located in ten countries – the most in the United States (40.5%) and the United Kingdom (13.6%). 

No matter where you’re located, we do know that you’re spending an average of forty minutes per month in the WorkSpace. During this time you’re typically working on Word documents (47%) and spending time with Excel workbooks (25%). 

Not surprisingly, the majority of files are being edited (53.8%) and reviewed (36.6%), but we were pleased to see that nearly ten percent of files have been created from scratch. If that’s not a nod in favor of mobile productivity, we don’t know what is. 

We know that we are just beginning to understand how you will use CloudOn to stay productive.  As we continue to expand the service and feature capabilities of the WorkSpace, these stats will undoubtedly change, and we look forward to sharing the evolution with you. 

In the meantime, we’d love to know how your personal use of CloudOn compares to these findings.  Check out all of the stats in the infographic below. Are you with the majority of users? Or, are you an outlier?  Let us know! Tweet to us on Twitter or post on our Facebook page.

And, as always, if you ever have any ideas for how we can enhance CloudOn, please visit us at help.cloudon.com. We look forward to your feedback. 

The post The Typical CloudOn User – How do you compare? appeared first on CloudOn.

This marked the day that we went global – bringing mobile productivity to users in all parts of the world. We expanded our data center coverage to a total of 7 locales around the world to ensure full global coverage (including some users in Antarctica).

In addition, we were able to release version 2.5 of the WorkSpace, taking CloudOn beyond Microsoft Office.  With features like the FileSpace and Annotations, our users now have the ability to better manage their information and provide context to their content as they create, review, edit and share work from their tablets.

I am extremely proud of the work we’re doing here at CloudOn, and it could not be done without you – the CloudOn Community.

It is because of you that I am able to share the statistics and information below. You have helped make us the fastest growing productivity application while also supporting us in becoming the number one productivity application in over 90 countries.

The work towards defining the next era of Mobile Productivity is just getting started, and I thank you for your continued support as we continue to grow together.

Cheers,

Milind

The post CEO Corner: CloudOn Goes Global appeared first on CloudOn.

This month, we are excited to introduce you to Shonagh Woods (@shonaghwoods), a freelance marketing and social media consultant from Surrey, England. 

Shonagh’s job frequently entails traveling between her home, client visits and conferences, while also requiring she stay on-task and on-deadline. 

After a friend recommended CloudOn, she was able to start using her iPad, along with other productivity tools, to get work done, and not just play games

Now, she makes her way from one meeting to the next, productively and comfortably – no longer needing her heavy laptop.

Read on for more about Shonagh and her road to mobile productivity.

—-

CO: How long have you been using CloudOn? How did you find us?
SW: I’ve been using CloudOn for a couple of months now. I came across the application during a discussion with a friend about how to use an iPad to do work. 

CO: What makes CloudOn stand out/different from other services? Has anything surprised you?
SW: I guess the first thing that surprised me was that it is a full version of Office. 

When using my iPad and CloudOn, I am typically writing pieces of content for clients of mine. Occasionally I’ll open an Excel spreadsheet, but I pretty much live in Word, and having the real application has been very helpful. On top of that, the interface is really slick and beautiful.

To be honest, I keep wondering, “what’s the catch,” but there isn’t one. It’s been precisely what I needed.

CO: Can you share a specific instance where CloudOn helped you be more productive or helped you complete a project?
SW: Recently, there was a conference I was going to attend. Because I didn’t want to lug my laptop around, I only brought my iPad. While at the event, I got a note from a client that needed a project sooner than the original deadline. With CloudOn, I was able to complete the work on my iPad without missing a beat.

CO: Do use your iPad more for entertainment purposes or for completing work and projects? 
SW: I use my iPad for both work and entertainment, but this has changed since I first purchased it. 

At first it was used mostly for entertainment, but I was trying to figure out what would make it more useful from the second I took it out of the box. Gradually, I added apps, like CloudOn and Dropbox that give me the ability to work on files that I previously have only been able to access with my computer. That said, I am not ready to completely give up my laptop, especially for bigger projects that require a fair amount of typing.

The iPad and CloudOn complement the work I do on my PC perfectly – along with my smartphone, additional productivity applications and social media tools. 

—

Shonagh knows that work isn’t about time and place – it’s about getting the job done. As she travels, her work has to follow her, and she relies on her iPad, CloudOn and other tools to help her stay productive. 

If you’re thinking about CloudOn, she says, “Definitely give it a try. It’s a full-featured time saver that has transformed my iPad from an item made for consuming to an item I can actually use for DOING!.” 

The post User Spotlight: Shonagh Woods appeared first on CloudOn.

We're excited to announce our next giveaway contest – #MobileProductivity Monday! 

The contest goes live at 8:00am PT on Monday, September 10, 2012 and offers you the chance to win one of eight prizes including a $100 gift card or a new 3rd generation iPad! 

We've made entering to win super easy! Once the contest starts, all you have to do is: 

1. Follow @CloudOnInc on Twitter.

2. Use the hashtag #MobileProductivity in a tweet.

An example tweet could be something like: 

"To me, #MobileProductivity means that I am able to get work done anywhere, at anytime." 

or

"My iPad and smartphone are my part of my #MobileProductivity dream team."

For full contest rules and guidelines, see below. 

We look forward to the chance to award you one of these cool prizes, and hope you'll help us spread the word! 

Tweet to you Monday! 

—–

OFFICIAL RULES FOR THE CloudOn, Inc. Follower Giveaway Contest

NO PURCHASE REQUIRED TO ENTER OR WIN

1. ELIGIBILITY: The CloudOn Follower Giveaway Contest (the “Contest”) is open only to individuals who (a) are legal residents of the United States and (b) are eighteen (18) years of age or older. Employees of CloudOn, Inc., or other companies associated with the promotion of the Contest, as well as the immediate family (spouse, parents, siblings, and children) and household members of each such employee are not eligible.

2. SPONSOR: The Contest is sponsored by CloudOn, Inc., 395 Page Mill Road, Suite 120, Palo Alto, CA 94306 (the “Sponsor”).

3. AGREEMENT TO OFFICIAL RULES: Participation in the Contest constitutes your full and unconditional agreement to and acceptance of these Official Rules and the decisions of the Sponsor, which are final and binding. Winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein.

4. CONTEST PERIOD: The Contest begins at 8:00 AM PT on September 10, 2012 and ends at 5:00 PM PT on September 10, 2012

5. HOW TO ENTER: During the Contest Period, the individual must visit http://www.twitter.com/cloudoninc, follow the CloudOn, Inc. Twitter page, and publish a tweet from their personal Twitter account using the hashtag #MobileProductivity. Upon completing these actions, the individual will be entered into the Contest for a chance to win one of the Prizes as specified in the “Prizes” section below. Other than the requirements listed in these Official rules no other criteria is required for participating in the Contest. No purchase is necessary to participate in the Contest.

6. LIMITS ON ENTRY: Each participant may publish multiple tweets to enter multiple times during the Contest Period, but may only enter from one account. Multiple entrants are not permitted to share the same email address. Any attempt by any entrant to obtain more than the stated number of entries by using multiple/different email addresses, identities, registrations and logins, or any other methods will void that entrant’s entries and that entrant may be disqualified. Use of any automated system to participate is prohibited and will result in disqualification. Sponsor is not responsible for lost, late, incomplete, invalid, unintelligible or misdirected registrations, which will be disqualified. In the event of a dispute as to the owner of an entry, the authorized account holder of the email address used to register will be deemed to be the entrant. The “authorized account holder” is the natural person assigned an email address by an Internet access provider, online service provider or other organization responsible for assigning email addresses for the domain associated with the submitted address. Potential winners may be required to show proof of being the authorized account holder.

7. SELECTION OF POTENTIAL WINNERS: At the top of each hour during the Contest Period, starting at 9:00 AM PT, a random drawing for one of the Prizes as specified in the “Prizes” section below will take place from all eligible entries received up to the time of that drawing. At the close of the Contest Period a random drawing for the grand prize, as specified in the “Prizes” section below, will be taken from all eligible entries received up to the time of that drawing. Winners of the Contest will be contacted and provided directions for validation. All potential winners are subject to verification before any prize will be awarded.

8. REQUIREMENTS OF POTENTIAL WINNERS: Except where prohibited, a potential winner may be required to complete and return an affidavit of eligibility and a release form within seven (7) days of being notified. If a potential winner cannot be contacted, fails to sign and return the documents within the required time period, or the prize is returned as not deliverable, an alternate potential winner may be selected according to the process set forth above. Winners must maintain the same account used to enter the Contest. The Sponsor shall not be liable for any loss or damage whatsoever that is suffered (including, but not limited to, indirect or consequential loss) in the delivery or use of the prize to the winner.

9. PRIZES: The winners of the Drawing(s) will receive one of eight prizes: three (3) $5 Starbucks gift cards, two (2) $25 Amazon gift cards, two (2) $100 Visa gift cards, and one (1) 16GB 3rd Generation iPad. Sponsor reserves the right to substitute a prize for one of equal or greater value if the designated prize should become unavailable for any reason. Winner is responsible for all taxes and fees associated with prize receipt and/or use. Any prize details not specified below will be determined by the Sponsor in its sole discretion. Prizes are not transferable or refundable and must be accepted as awarded. No cash or other substitution may be made, except by the Sponsor, who may substitute a prize with another item of equal or greater value if the prize becomes unavailable.

10. GENERAL CONDITIONS: In the event that the operation, security, or administration of the Contest is impaired in any way for any reason, including, but not limited to, technical errors, or fraud, the Sponsor may, in its sole discretion, either (a) suspend the Contest to address the impairment and then resume the Contest in a manner that best conforms to the spirit of these Official Rules or (b) cancel the Contest and award the prizes according to the process set forth above from among the eligible entries received up to the time of the cancelation. The Sponsor reserves the right in its sole discretion to disqualify any individual it finds to be tampering with the Contest or to be acting in violation of these Official Rules. Any attempt by any person to undermine the legitimate operation of the Contest may be a violation of criminal and civil law, and, should such an attempt be made, the Sponsor reserves the right to seek damages from any such person to the fullest extent permitted by law. Failure by the Sponsor to enforce any provision of these Official Rules shall not constitute a waiver of that provision. The Contest is subject to federal, state, and local laws and regulations and is void where prohibited.

11. RELEASE AND LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY: By participating in the Contest, entrants agree to release and hold harmless the Sponsor and Twitter and their respective officers, directors, employees, and agents (the “Released Parties”) from and against any claim or cause of action arising out of participation in the Contest or receipt or use of any prize, including, but not limited to: (1) any incorrect or inaccurate information, whether caused by entrants, printing errors or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in the Contest; (2) technical failures of any kind, including, but not limited to malfunctions, interruptions, or network hardware or software; (3) unauthorized human intervention in any part of the entry process or the Contest; (4) technical or human error which may occur in the administration of the Contest or the processing of entries; or (5) any injury or damage to persons or property which may be caused, directly or indirectly, in whole or in part, from entrant’s participation in the Contest or receipt or use or misuse of any prize. If for any reason an entrant’s entry is confirmed to have been erroneously deleted, lost, or otherwise destroyed or corrupted, entrant’s sole remedy is another entry in the Contest, provided that if it is not possible to award another entry due to discontinuance of the Contest, or any part of it, for any reason, Sponsor, at its discretion, may elect to hold a random drawing from among all eligible entries received up to the date and time of discontinuance for any or all of the prizes offered herein. Entrant further agrees that in any cause of action, the liability Released Parties named in such action will be limited to the cost of entering and participating in the Contest, and in no event shall the Released Parties be liable for attorney’s fees. Entrant waives the right to claim any damages whatsoever, including, but not limited to, punitive, consequential, direct, or indirect damages. Entrant acknowledges and agrees that all disputes in relation to the determination of Contest winner(s), including but not limited to, eligibility, and other related issues shall be determined in the sole and absolute discretion of Sponsor, and that such a decision by the Sponsor shall be final and binding. The Contest is in no way sponsored, endorsed or administered by, or associated with, Twitter, Amazon, Visa, Starbucks or Apple Inc., none of which sponsors of this Contest.

12. DISPUTES: Except where prohibited, entrant agrees that any and all disputes, claims and causes of action arising out of, or connected with, the Contest or any prize awarded shall be resolved individually, without resort to any form of class action, and exclusively by the appropriate court located in the state of California. All issues and questions concerning the construction, validity, interpretation and enforceability of these Official Rules, entrant’s rights and obligations, or the rights and obligations of the Sponsor in connection with the Contest, shall be governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of California, without giving effect to any choice of law or conflict of law rules (whetherof California or any other jurisdiction), which would cause the application of the laws of any jurisdiction other than California.

13. WINNER LIST: Winner List requests will only be accepted after the end of the Contest and no later than December 14, 2012. For the names of the winners, send a request via email to Winner List, legal@cloudon.com with “CloudOn Follower Giveaway Contest Winner List” as the subject line.

The post #MobileProductivity Monday – September 10, 2012 appeared first on CloudOn.

Read on to learn when he experienced a few challenges, some, “ah-ha!” moments, and what he thinks this means for the future of mobile productivity. 

—-

So, what was supposed to be a week without my laptop ended up being about three! Talk about jumping into the deep end without a life vest! Now that I am back from my travels, and back to my laptop, I am happy to say the overall challenge was a success. But, it wasn’t without its moments.

When I approached this challenge, the hardest thing was the mental hurdle to overcome to travel without my laptop. Having always been a grab away from it, I felt a tad exposed, maybe even a bit nervous. But, once I got going, I embraced the challenge and what it meant for me. 

First, productivity is about consuming and creating content. With email and the ability to access one’s files, one can consume the content on their tablets and smartphones while they are mobile. The challenge tends to arise when we need to do something with that content. 

In my most recent travels, I personally ran into this issue when I received a Word document and an Excel spreadsheet as part of follow up to a board meeting. 

I was able to view the files with the native iPad viewer, but could not make the changes needed. It was at this very moment, where I was glad (in a slightly biased manner, I know) that we had integrated CloudOn with email on the iPad. I was able to open the files in the workspace, make my changes using Microsoft Word and Excel, and send the edited files to the board members. I thought to myself, “the ability to review, edit and share on my tablet really is a new form of mobile productivity – even for me!”

But, there were still some challenges. 

As I mentioned in my update, connectivity is fairly critical, and without it, I couldn’t get as much done as I would have otherwise. But, even CEOs of start-ups can benefit from some true R&R every now and again, right? 

More than connectivity, I did come across some limitations with content creation. I was working in these files and found myself missing missed my physical keyboard. 

These weren’t showstoppers, but they did bring validity to what others have said – it requires a willingness to unshackle ourselves from the PC and embrace the power of our tablets/smartphones, but with the right tools and connectivity, we can stay productive while on the go.

More holistically speaking, it is obvious that as knowledge workers we are going to have multiple devices – PCs, tablets, smartphones and other variations of the same. As we also become more mobile and demand more flexibility in our work environment, it is going to become even more critical for us to be productive across all these devices.

Realizing that I can be truly productive on my iPad felt very empowering. I now am convinced that I can be both mobile and productive and really do not have to compromise on either front.  In fact, I am confident that all future trips will be laptop-free.

But, this is just the beginning. 

Productivity, which was defined and stuck in the PC-era, needs to evolve to address a mobile and social workforce. So to ensure the maximum productivity, we will need to create and consume content across multiple devices, and both individually and in groups.  I am excited to say that CloudOn is very committed to addressing this important, growing need.

The post Mobile Productivity Challenge: Summary & Insights appeared first on CloudOn.