Data Sheet—Tuesday, July 7, 2015

Good morning, Data Sheet readers. Apologies for the delayed delivery of this morning’s newsletter, but I wanted to include this breaking news: former Hewlett-Packard executive Bill Veghte is now SurveyMonkey’s CEO. With no further ado, here’s your download for Tuesday. Have a super day!

TOP OF MIND

David Goldberg’s friend steps in at SurveyMonkey. Bill Veghte, a key architect of Hewlett-Packard’s pending split, will become CEO officially on Aug. 1. The online survey company launched the search for a new leader in May, after Goldberg’s untimely passing while on vacation with his wife, Facebook COO Sheryl Sandberg. Veghte has plenty of experience with enterprise software: He was a Microsoft exec for many years before joining HP in 2010, where he was involved with the enterprise division. Veghte described his new post as an "incredible and unusual opportunity.” At the time of Goldberg’s death, SurveyMonkey’s valuation was around $2 billion.

By the way, Sandberg is now a SurveyMonkey director. She wants to help realize her late husband’s “vision of building a lasting company that will impact the way we all do business.” David Ebersman, co-founder of Lyra Health, was also added to the board. Zander Lurie, the GoPro senior executive who stepped in after Goldberg’s sudden demise, was named chairman.

Zenefits calls ADP’s defamation suit “frivolous.” The well-funded human resources software startup is moving for dismissal, accusing the giant payroll company of using deep pockets to intimidate a smaller competitor. ADP went to court in early June after the two companies “complex but friendly relationship” turned sour.

The cost of some cloud services is actually rising. The culprit? Currency fluctuations. Microsoft is raising prices for some Azure products effective Aug. 1, at least in the Eurozone. The move runs counter to the predominant trend of the past year. Amazon alone made more than 40 price cuts during that period.

Businesses spend big bucks on big data software. Sales could increase 50% over the next four years. Right now, management technologies such as Hadoop account for almost 40% of all category spending. That isn’t likely to change anytime soon.

AMD lowers Q2 expectations. It now predicts a revenue decline of 8% sequentially, rather than the 3% it previously forecast.

Plus, Samsung just posted its seventh bad quarter in a row. Analysts believe the company badly miscalculated demand for its latest smartphone, the Galaxy S6.

THE DOWNLOAD

Companies need to share how they use data. Here are some ideas.

Consumers don’t know what the Internet of things is, but they do know they don’t want to share their data. Fortune’s Stacey Higginbotham has suggestions for how to get around that reluctance.

The Internet of things may be the buzzword du jour in business circles, but 87% of consumers don’t have any idea what that term means, according to a study from the Altimeter Group. What they do know is that companies are building more connected devices, and that those devices offer marketers a unique, and unsettling, window into their personal data.

Which is why companies need to develop better ways to communicate how they use and share consumers’ data, perhaps borrowing something from the food or even garment industry.

According to the study, consumers are familiar with the data implications of fitness trackers, connected cars or connected home appliances. And most don’t like them. The average Joe is uncomfortable with a company collecting his data, and really hates the idea of that company selling it to someone else.

While in general older people were least keen on data sharing, 45% of respondents express very low trust or no trust at all that companies are using their connected device data securely and in ways that protect their privacy. Since most companies are building business models for the connected era around data and providing context so companies can build services, it seems like getting consumers on board should become more of a priority for corporate America.

Currently, the choice is often pretty black and white. Someone accepts the onerous terms of service (which are often presented in convoluted user agreements someone clicks through on their way to download the app after purchasing a new device) or you don’t get to use the service. That has led to debates over privacy and how to educate consumers about the accessibility of their data.

Jessica Groopman, industry analyst with the Altimeter Group who conducted the research, suggests that companies should pay attention but isn’t sure how they should change their behavior exactly. In questioning consumers she realized that most weren’t satisfied by the blanket terms of service they get today, but they weren’t keen on getting an indication at every turn about how their data was used. Instead they favored some kind of middle ground that laid out broadly how their data might be used and shared at the time they purchased the device.

“It’s clear that there’s a communication and consent gap today,” Groopman said. “It isn’t smart for companies to move forward ruthlessly and relentlessly. It should be a bit more of a joint effort where companies educate consumers, and get their opt-in.”

Learn more about specific areas of concern, plus how businesses can help consumers get over the “ick” factor.

ALSO WORTH SHARING

It looks like Windows 10 is almost finished, reports the Verge. Microsoft’s latest operating system is due out publicly before the end of July.

Even Google has Uber envy. The search giant will use its Waze traffic app as the foundation for a new carpooling service, according to an Israeli newspaper, Haaretz. The first test bed for “RideWith” will be Tel Aviv.

Senior SAP marketing executive leaves for Hortonworks. Ingrid Burton, who gets a CMO title at the Hadoop company, led messaging for the software giant’s data and analytics software (including SAP Hana).

MY FORTUNE BOOKMARKS

Reddit is at war with itself: Is it a community or a business? By Mathew Ingram

Why tweeting potholes and smart bridges won’t solve our infrastructure problems by David Z. Morris

How Microsoft plans to make HoloLens attractive for business by Jonathan Vanian

Eric Holder suggests Edward Snowden could come back to U.S. by Kia Kokalitcheva

Coming soon: An Uber for trash by Katie Fehrenbacher

Plus, once again, with the missing link from Monday …

Want a promotion? Cheer up and be on time by Anne Fisher

ONE MORE THING

How’s this for robotic automation? Take a peek into Amazon’s latest fulfillment warehouse in New Jersey, where humans and machines work in “carefully coordinated harmony.” Need to pick a product? The shelves will come to you. Hat tip to MIT Technology Review for effective use of GIFs to show off different processes.