Salesforce launches NFT Cloud
In a move that has caused controversy both internally and externally, Salesforce moved forward and launched NFT Cloud. A feature that works under the Salesforce Customer 360 Platform and allows users to manage, sell, and mint non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
When first announced, a group of over 400 employees signed a letter presenting multiple objections. It cited the speculative nature of NFTs, scams, and their environmental impact.
To assuage their objections, Salesforce announced NFT Cloud will only support Proof of Stake blockchains who can prove their environmental sustainability. They stated customers can view the emissions impact of their blockchain purchase. And in turn, they can offset them by purchasing carbon credits.
Upon release, we can see now that the company has followed through on those commitments. The platform has fraud protection features and offers options to offset carbon emissions in real time. NFT Cloud users can also use the Salesforce customer data platform for collecting metrics on customers and tracking their experience.
At the Salesforce World Tour London conference, Web3 Studio Co-Founder, Marc Mathieu stated, “I’m really excited to introduce Salesforce NFT Cloud Pilot. This is a trusted, sustainable, connected NFT commerce solution for the world of today. It’s a solution that enables us to bridge the digital and the physical like never before to deepen loyalty and to engage communities.”
Adobe tests free web version of Photoshop
Canadian users can now test a free-use version of Photoshop that Adobe has slated for a wider release. The company sees this version as a means of introducing even more potential customers to the application.
This version is ‘Freemium’ (read more on freemium pricing) and will have a pay gate for some exclusive features. However, Adobe has left enough free tools on the platform to perform core functions.
You may remember Adobe released the Photoshop web version back in October. But this version completes the addition of a full range of features Adobe has rolled over the past 8 months.
Most notable is that a web version of Photoshop opens the app up for use on Chromebooks. Schools across the United States use the tablets in their classrooms, so this is an opportunity to expose Photoshop to millions of potential users.
The company hasn’t announced a wider release date as yet. But we can expect more tools and additional mobile support coming in the next few months.
Hubspot releases 2022 Sustainability Report
Company-wide, Hubspot has a key focus on issues pertaining to ESG — environment, social, governance. And each year, the company releases its annual Sustainability Report to highlight progress in these three areas of corporate development.
Speaking on the release of the report, Hubspot Director of ESG Yogesh Chauhan said, “Transparency is a core value at HubSpot and publishing our 2022 Sustainability Report is just one way we anchor our commitment to building a more sustainable future.”
Here are some key highlights from the report:
- At all building sites for the company, Hubspot reached 100% renewable energy.
- BIPOC (Black, Indigenous and People of Color) employee representation increased to 37%.
- Hubspot added self-service tools so users can learn more about security, controls, and data privacy at the company..
- The company now has four women as C-level Executives and over 50% of people leaders identify as women.
Read the report to learn more about the company’s future investments in ESG.
Paychex reaches 401k milestone
Paycheck, a leading SaaS provider of human capital management solutions, reached a huge milestone this week. The company now has over 100,000 direct 401(k) clients.
The milestone comes as the company has pushed their Pooled Employer Plan since its release in early 2021. And it adds to their 11 year record as the largest 401(k) recordkeeper in the US.
Michael Majors, Paychex Vice President of Human Resource Services, stated, “In today’s competitive hiring environment, offering a retirement savings benefit is not a luxury; it’s a necessity to attract and retain talent.”
Vendr nets $150M in Series B Round
If you’re not familiar, Vendr is a SaaS purchasing service based in Boston. They buy and renew SaaS services for clients and analyze their cost-effectiveness and usefulness.
This week, the company raised $150 million in a Series B round of funding. They announced they’ll use the funds to speed up the development of their platform to better help their customers.
Their primary goal is to reduce the cost of software for companies as Vendr CEO and co-founder Ryan Neu stated, “We’ve handled over ten thousand software transactions for our customers and learned that most companies overspend on software by 20-30%.”
Vendr cited they managed $1 billion in client SaaS spending and saved their companies $200 million over the past year.
GitHub to sunset Atom
On December 22, 2022, GitHub will begin sunsetting its free source code and open-text editor Atom. The company will archive the Atom repository and all other repositories associated with the editor.
It’s a bittersweet announcement for many users, as the program was introduced over ten years ago. However, many saw this coming as GitHub has transitioned to using Microsoft Visual Studio Code (VS Code) along with GitHub’s Codespaces as alternative solutions.
It makes sense as Microsoft acquired GitHub in 2018, so it became pointless to use two competing products to achieve the same goal. The blog announcement stated that the sunset is “tough goodbye,” but Atom “hasn’t seen significant feature development beyond maintenance and security” for the past several months.
Microsoft launches Dynatrace for Azure
This week Microsoft announced that Dynatrace for Azure is available in preview in the Azure Marketplace. This SaaS solution allows Dynatrace users to create an environment in Azure without managing infrastructure or setup.
The software uses an AI platform called Davis to provide problem mediation for IT teams and helps them discover, map, and monitor applications. It also offers full-stack discovery and observability through OneAgent, along with auto, real-time topology mapping through Dynatrace Smartscape.
Dynatrace has more documentation available on the integration on their support page.