The Ponemon study found that security budgets are growing despite any doubts about value received. That would be one reason why Microsoft just bought BlueTalon, which sells systems to block unauthorized data access by internal users. BlueTalon talks about security for “data estates”, which nicely captures the vast scope of data storage in today’s enterprises.
Quotient Technology manages a promotion network that it says accounts for 75% of all consumer packaged goods digital coupon activations. They’ve just launched a service to build digital ad audiences based on their data, which also includes purchase history on over 100 million consumers. Ads will be delivered through web sites, mobile apps, social media, smart TVs, and other digital channels.
Wow, you are a really loyal reader. Is that you, Mom? I promise I’ll come for dinner tomorrow. If you’re not Mom, here’s a Forrester Consulting report for adtech vendor 4C. They found nearly 80% of marketers agree video is becoming more important. What do the rest think, I wonder? Maybe if we read their brain waves….
Salesforce is buying Airkit.ai, which builds low-code, AI-powered e-commerce customer service agents. You might have thought Salesforce could already do that, but presumably Airkit does it better. It doesn’t hurt that the company founders sold a previous business to Salesforce, the company was partly funded by Salesforce Ventures, and the product is already listed on AppExchange. Price was not announced.