linkedin

SugarCRM announced a new Cloud Connectors program on Monday that opens the leading open-source CRM solution to cloud services like LinkedIn.

SugarCRM also got a bit more social, with a new Social Feeds feature that provides alerts and status updates found in Web services like Facebook.

It's a great way of opening up the SugarCRM system beyond mere source code, as PC World reports:

If you're logging into third-party sites "while you're on the phone with someone, you're going to be hemming and hawing and you're not going to have it at your fingertips,&… Read more

It's a rough market, and likely to get worse before it gets better. For those (developers or otherwise) who think they may need to be finding new employment soon, I'd highly recommend that you sign up for the Open Source Group on LinkedIn. New jobs are constantly being listed. Here are a few from today:

The group provides other useful information and services, but given the criticality of employment, it may be the first thing that catches your eye.

TechCrunch reports that LinkedIn just upgraded its people search, but fails to mention the technology behind the upgrade: Lucene, the open-source search project. Nor is LinkedIn alone: MySpace has also used Lucene to revamp its search functionality, as Ars Technica reported earlier in June.

Indeed, borrowing from open source is now standard operating procedure for Web companies. What is interesting in the use of Lucene is how the Web is branching beyond the familiar LAMP stack to build in technologies like Lucene, Yahoo!'s User Interface Library, and other open-source components.

Arguably, the Web could not exist without open-source software, … Read more

Updated at 7:15 p.m. PST to correct number of LinkedIn members.

Nearly a month after unveiling a new developer platform, business social-networking site LinkedIn took the wraps off a new search platform Monday night.

In a summary of the new key features, Esteban Kozak, senior product manager at LinkedIn, said the new platform is "redefining the way professionals go about finding talent, business partners, customers, or a former colleague."

The site, which has about 31 million members, examined more than a billion search queries executed by members to create new productivity tools, Kozak says.

With the … Read more

Based on a nudge from Luke Kanies, I installed the TripIt application for LinkedIn. Others have been prodding me to use TripIt for at least a year, but this is the first time it made sense.

In one view, I could see my network activity, but right next to it is an upcoming trip to New York and people that I might want to reach out to while there, like my cousin.

What a perfect complement.

This is what Dopplr should have been, but it requires me to recreate my schedule (and network) just for it. I tried it for … Read more

Business-focused social-networking site LinkedIn announced Wednesday that it is cutting 10 percent of its workforce, or about 36 jobs, as part of a restructuring to focus on its revenue-producing businesses.

Company representatives did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The layoffs follow LinkedIn's announcement last month that it had raised an additional $22.7 million in funding from Goldman Sachs, SAP, McGraw-Hill, and longtime investor Bessemer Venture Partners. That round followed a $53 million series D funding round in June that gave LinkedIn a valuation of $1 billion. The latest round of funding brings the total funds raised … Read more

There's nary a sheep to be tossed on business network LinkedIn's new developer platform, which has officially gone live.

The array of internal- and partner-created applications includes a "reading list" app from Amazon, a trip-tracking app from TripIt, file sharing from Box.net, and presentation apps from SlideShare and Google Presentation.

"One of the big differences between LinkedIn and some of the other platforms is that we're being very selective about the apps that are integrated onto our platform," LinkedIn vice president of platform Jamie Templeton told CNET News. Developers and companies must … Read more

LinkedIn on Thursday announced the launch of LinkedIn Surveys, a service from the LinkedIn Research Network that allows market researchers and investors to access the site's 30 million professionals for market intelligence by creating a survey, and either opening it up to the entire LinkedIn community or targeting a select group.

In order to increase the number of members participating in the surveys, LinkedIn will allow those who participate to choose from a variety of rewards, including gift cards from Amazon.com, Starbucks, or Best Buy. For those that don't want gift cards, LinkedIn is also offering participants … Read more

LinkedIn has raised an additional $22.7 million in funding, giving the business-networking site a little cushion in difficult economic times.

The strategic investment, announced Wednesday, comes from Goldman Sachs, SAP, McGraw-Hill, and longtime investor Bessemer Venture Partners. The money arrives on the heels of a $53 million Series D funding round in June that gave LinkedIn a valuation of $1 billion. The latest funding round brings the total funds raised to just more than $100 million.

LinkedIn CEO Dan Nye announced the funding in a blog posting on his company's site: