And now over to Chicago, where HfS roving analyst Peter Ackerson is trying to fathom what on earth is going on in the world of HR technology

We can't understate the importance of social media on the enterprise. Hey - we bet our whole business model on it! And that's why we hired one of the best thinkers in the social sphere to help us understand how social will impact business processes and how enterprises will operate in this new social world we live in. So we coaxed Jonathan Yarmis from his Dreamforce-induced hangover, where he was living it up with 90,00o 0ther technology geeks, to tell HfS why this matters....

Our trusted friends, over at the HR department, haven't given up the ghost in helping their organizations close these capability gaps either... and they look beyond service providers alone as the solution: they want to invest in better technology. So where better to spend your time that at the HR technology in Chicago from October 8-10, 2012, where Bill Kutik and crew will put on their annual ode to the world of.... HR technology.

HfS believes IBM is likely to be eyeing a further acquisition in the talent management software space as Kenexa brings very strong Recruitment Process Outsourcing competency and IP in employee engagement and compensation, but was still developing out its cloud platform.

Global business practices are starting to become disrupted in ways that is shocking many firms into retrenching, while others are realizing they have little choice but to embrace the change, otherwise get left behind. Jonathan Yarmis, aka "Doctor Disruptive" has crafted a trade where he combines an intimate knowledge of technology, media and global business dynamics to bring to you a unique research practice dedicated entirely to covering the impact that social media and disruptive technologies are having on global business dynamics and operations.

HfS invited a great group of people to form its research advisory board to help shape the HfS research agenda: some have have real experience executing operations in buy-side enterprises; some are the most influential thought leaders in the business services and technology industry; some have founded research companies; some are leading academics; some are industry events CEOs.

With its $4.3 billion cash offer, SAP answered every procurement technologist’s question, “Who is going to buy Ariba?” While this acquisition will rupture the procurement technology universe, HfS believes the real question that supply chain and finance professionals must ask is, “Now that SAP finally has a credible commerce network, can I eliminate and automate processes I’ve been busily outsourcing?”

Service providers are in pole position to provide the value clients need, however, there needs to be some give-and-take on both sides to move beyond mere "augmentation"

YOUR APPLE DEVICE MAY NOT BE AS SAFE AS IT APPEARS...

Thanks to Robert McNeill (HfS), Shawn Riegsecker (Centro Media), Paul Roehrig (Cognizant) and Bob Law (HP) for an excellent discussion today on Business Platforms. Here's the re-run: