LinkedIn Sales Tool Now Connects With Dynamics CRM

Today’s topics include how LinkedIn’s sales tools are connecting with Microsoft Dynamics CRM, a study finds that 30 percent of installed Servers Worldwide sit idle, France’s mandate on Google search results, and the popularity of Docker spawning the need to monitor containers.

LinkedIn recently updated its selling tool, Sales Manager, allowing organizations to embed its functionality directly into Microsoft’s CRM offering, Dynamics CRM. Emblematic of Microsoft’s new approach to breaking down barriers between software platforms–often including those of major rivals–in the name of improved productivity, the new integrations help employees streamline their workflows and maintain focus as they go about completing their tasks.

About 30 percent of servers in data centers around the world are sitting idle, wasting about $30 billion in infrastructure capital, according to a recent report. In all, about 10 million servers are “comatose”–sitting in facilities without delivering information or computing services for six months or more, according to the report by Anthesis Group, a sustainability consultancy. The June report found that the problem had less to do with technical issues and more to do with management practices, information flows and incentives.

France’s main data protection authority, CNIL, has given Google 15 days to start applying EU’s “right to be forgotten” mandate on search results worldwide or face potential sanctions. In a June 12 statement, CNIL said it has formally asked Google to start delisting links to search results on all of its domains worldwide when the company responds to RTBF requests from EU residents. Currently, Google applies the mandate only to search results that appear within the EU.

The open-source Docker application container virtualization technology is becoming increasingly popular, spawning a need for distributed monitoring capabilities. To help organizations understand what tools are available for container monitoring, Docker last week announced a new Ecosystem Technology Partner (ETP) program, starting with six vendors that have integrated their systems with Docker for monitoring. Those vendors include AppDynamics, Datadog, New Relic, Scout, SignalFx and Sysdig.