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What Is a Business Case? A business case is a project management document that explains how the benefits of a project outweigh its costs and why it should be executed. Business cases are prepared during the project initiation phase and their purpose is to include all the project’s objectives, costs and benefits to convince stakeholders of its value. A business case is an important project document to prove to your client, customer or stakeholder that the project proposal you’re pitching is a sound investment. Below, we illustrate the steps to writing one that will sway them. The need for a business case is that it collects the financial appraisal, proposal, strategy and marketing plan in one document and offers a full look at how the project will benefit the organization. Once your business case is approved by the project stakeholders, you can begin the project planning phase. When Should You Write a Business Case? Around 70 percent of businesses that survive longer than five years follow a strategic business plan. And every project an organization undertakes should demonstrate real business value via a business case. A business case is created during the initiation phase of a project. At this point, the project is being conceptualized and evaluated on what the potential return on investment could be. The business case document helps determine the project’s needs and allows decision-makers to determine if the project aligns with the organization’s strategic goals. For example, a business case may be used when there’s a new project proposal, when entering into a new market, when upgrading software solutions or when there’s a major capital expenditure. Once the business case has been approved, the project will move to the planning phase. /wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Business-Case-Template.png Get your free Business Case Template Use this free Business Case Template for Word to manage your projects better. Download Word File Who Should Write a Business Case? As with most things in project management, developing a business case is a team effort. Here are some of the members of the project team who participate in this process. Project Sponsor The project sponsor plays a crucial role in developing the business case by ensuring it aligns with organizational strategy and objectives. They validate the business proposition, define project success criteria and ensure ongoing viability. Sponsors are responsible for initiating the project, prioritizing it within the organization, and securing necessary resources. They also serve as the project’s champion, advocating for its importance to senior leadership and stakeholders. The sponsor’s involvement is critical in establishing the project’s vision and ensuring it delivers value to the organization. Business Analyst Business analysts are instrumental in developing a comprehensive business case. They conduct root cause analysis to identify underlying issues and perform SWOT analysis to assess organizational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Business analysts collaborate with stakeholders to elicit and define high-level requirements, project objectives and potential risks. They help develop cost-benefit analyses, evaluate options and recommend solutions. Their expertise in requirements management and stakeholder engagement ensures the business case accurately reflects the organization’s needs and the project’s potential benefits. Project Manager Project managers contribute significantly to business case development by conducting research, gathering data and analyzing information. They work closely with the business analyst to identify project goals, assess risks and estimate costs. Project managers are responsible for integrating the business analyst’s approach and deliverables into the project plan. They collaborate with stakeholders to ensure the business case aligns with organizational objectives and strategic goals. Project managers also play a crucial role in presenting the business case to decision-makers and securing project support. Who Should Write a Business Case? As with most things in project management, developing a business case is a team effort. Here are some of the members of the project team who participate in this process. Project Sponsor The project sponsor plays a crucial role in developing the business case by ensuring it aligns with organizational strategy and objectives. They validate the business proposition, define project success criteria and ensure ongoing viability. Sponsors are responsible for initiating the project, prioritizing it within the organization, and securing necessary resources. They also serve as the project’s champion, advocating for its importance to senior leadership and stakeholders. The sponsor’s involvement is critical in establishing the project’s vision and ensuring it delivers value to the organization. Business Analyst Business analysts are instrumental in developing a comprehensive business case. They conduct root cause analysis to identify underlying issues and perform SWOT analysis to assess organizational strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Business analysts collaborate with stakeholders to elicit and define high-level requirements, project objectives and potential risks. They help develop cost-benefit analyses, evaluate options and recommend solutions. Their expertise in requirements management and stakeholder engagement ensures the business case accurately reflects the organization’s needs and the project’s potential benefits. Project Manager Project managers contribute significantly to business case development by conducting research, gathering data and analyzing information. They work closely with the business analyst to identify project goals, assess risks and estimate costs. Project managers are responsible for integrating the business analyst’s approach and deliverables into the project plan. They collaborate with stakeholders to ensure the business case aligns with organizational objectives and strategic goals. Project managers also play a crucial role in presenting the business case to decision-makers and securing project support. Why Is It Important to Write a Business Case Document? A business case document benefits projects for several reasons. Justifies why a project is needed, outlining costs, benefits and risks Engages stakeholders and gets their buy-in and support Allows decision-makers to assess feasibility and make choices based on data Provides estimates for costs, resources and timelines to improve resource allocation Helps hold teams accountable for delivering on commitments Overall, it helps guide the project initiation and execution to result in thoughtful and strategic decisions. Business Case Template Our business case template for Word is the perfect tool to start writing a business case. It has 9 key business case areas you can customize as needed. Download the template for free and follow the steps below to create a great business case for all your projects. /wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Business-case-template-word-projectmanager-600x631.jpgBusiness case template. Free download How to Write A Business Case Projects fail without having a solid business case to rest on, as this project document is the base for the project charter and project plan. But if a project business case is not anchored to reality, and doesn’t address a need that aligns with the larger business objectives of the organization, then it is irrelevant. The research you’ll need to create a strong business case is the why, what, how and who of your project. This must be clearly communicated. The elements of your business case will address the why but in greater detail. Think of the business case as a document that is created during the project initiation phase but will be used as a reference throughout the project life cycle. Whether you’re starting a new project or mid-way through one, take time to write up a business case to justify the project expenditure by identifying the business benefits your project will deliver and that your stakeholders are most interested in reaping from the work. The following four steps will show you how to write a business case. Step 1: Identify the Business Problem Projects aren’t created for projects’ sake. They should always be aligned with business goals. Usually, they’re initiated to solve a specific business problem or create a business opportunity. You should “Lead with the need.” Your first job is to figure out what that problem or opportunity is, describe it, find out where it comes from and then address the time frame needed to deal with it. This can be a simple statement but is best articulated with some research into the economic climate and the competitive landscape to justify the timing of the project. Step 2: Identify the Alternative Solutions How do you know whether the project you’re undertaking is the best possible solution to the problem defined above? Naturally, prioritizing projects is hard, and the path to success is not paved with unfounded assumptions. One way to narrow down the focus to make the right solution clear is to follow these six steps (after the relevant research, of course): Note the alternative solutions. For each solution, quantify its benefits. Also, forecast the costs involved in each solution. Then figure out its feasibility. Discern the risks and issues associated with each solution. Finally, document all this in your business case. Step 3: Recommend a Preferred Solution You’ll next need to rank the solutions, but before doing that it’s best to set up criteria, maybe have a scoring mechanism such as a decision matrix to help you prioritize the solutions to best choose the right one. Some methodologies you can apply include: Depending on the solution’s cost and benefit, give it a score of 1-10. Base your score on what’s important to you. Add more complexity to your ranking to cover all bases. Regardless of your approach, once you’ve added up your numbers, the best solution to your problem will become evident. Again, you’ll want to have this process also documented in your business case. Step 4: Describe the Implementation Approach So, you’ve identified your business problem or opportunity and how to reach it, now you have to convince your stakeholders that you’re right and have the best way to implement a process to achieve your goals. That’s why documentation is so important; it offers a practical path to solve the core problem you identified. Now, it’s not just an exercise to appease senior leadership. Who knows what you might uncover in the research you put into exploring the underlying problem and determining alternative solutions? You might save the organization millions with an alternate solution than the one initially proposed. When you put in the work on a strong business case, you’re able to get your sponsors or organizational leadership on board with you and have a clear vision as to how to ensure the delivery of the business benefits they expect. Key Elements of a Business Case One of the key steps to starting a business case is to have a business case checklist. The following is a detailed outline to follow when developing your business case. You can choose which of these elements are the most relevant to your project stakeholders and add them to our business case template. Then once your business case is approved, start managing your projects with a robust project management software such as ProjectManager. 1. Executive Summary The executive summary is a short version of each section of your business case. It’s used to give stakeholders a quick overview of your project to help them understand the project’s purpose, benefits and implications. Some components of an executive summary include the project overview, business need, proposed solution to the need, cost estimate, return on investment, risks, timeline and a call to action. 2. Problem Statement The problem statement defines the specific challenge or opportunity that the project aims to address. It outlines the problem’s scope, impact on business operations, and underlying causes. A clear problem statement helps stakeholders understand why the project is necessary and what will be achieved by implementing the proposed solution. 3. Analysis of Options Considered This section evaluates potential solutions to the identified problem, comparing their feasibility, costs, risks and benefits. It typically includes a “do nothing” scenario and alternative approaches. The goal is to justify the recommended solution by highlighting why it’s the most effective and cost-efficient option. 4. Project Definition This section is meant to provide general information about your projects, such as the business objectives that will be achieved and the project plan outline. It offers a comprehensive overview of the project including its objectives and scope. Here, include details such as the objectives, stakeholders, scope, expected outcomes and constraints. 5. Background Information Here you can provide a context for your project, explaining the problem that it’s meant to solve, and how it aligns with your organization’s vision and strategic plan. 6. Vision, Goals and Objectives First, you have to figure out what you’re trying to do and what is the problem you want to solve. You’ll need to define your project vision, goals and objectives. This will help you shape your project scope and identify project deliverables. 7. Strategic Alignment Assessment This section explains how the proposed project supports the organization’s broader strategic objectives. It demonstrates how the project aligns with corporate goals, market positioning and long-term growth plans. A strong strategic alignment increases stakeholder buy-in and ensures the project delivers meaningful business value. 8. Benefit Analysis The benefit analysis outlines the tangible and intangible advantages of the project. Tangible benefits may include cost savings, increased revenue or improved efficiency, while intangible benefits can include enhanced customer satisfaction or brand reputation. This section quantifies expected gains to justify the investment. 9. Financial Appraisal This is a very important section of your business case because this is where you explain how the financial benefits outweigh the project costs. Compare the financial costs and benefits of your project. You can do this by doing a sensitivity analysis and a cost-benefit analysis. 10. Project Scope The project scope determines all the tasks and deliverables that will be executed in your project to reach your business objectives. Think of it as establishing the project’s boundaries to help stakeholders better understand what to expect. A well-defined scope can also improve resource allocation and project planning, two key factors of the project’s long-term success. 11. Project Success Criteria and Stakeholder Requirements Depending on what kind of project you’re working on, the quality requirements will differ, but they are critical to the project’s success. Collect all of them, figure out what determines if you’ve successfully met them and report on the results. 12. Implementation Plan This implementation plan is a high-level view of the project plan. It should describe the project timeline and budget for the execution of the project scope. Estimated Project Budget Your project budget is an estimate of everything in your project plan and what it will cost to complete the project over the scheduled time allotted. It outlines the financial resources such as personnel costs, software or hardware costs, consulting fees, training costs and contingency funds. It also provides the return on investment information and shows how the benefits will outweigh the costs. Estimated Project Timeline Make a timeline for the project by estimating how long it will take to get each task completed. For a more impactful project schedule, use a tool to make a Gantt chart, and print it out. This will provide that extra flourish of data visualization and skill that Excel sheets lack. Project management software makes creating a project plan significantly easier. ProjectManager can upload your work breakdown structure template and all your tasks are populated in our tool. You can organize them according to your production cycle with our kanban board view, or use our Gantt chart view to create a project schedule. /wp-content/uploads/2023/02/operations-implementation-gantt-chart-150-cta.jpgVisualize your project plan on the Gantt chart from ProjectManager Learn more 13. Risk Assessment There are many risk categories that can impact your project. The first step to mitigating them is to identify and analyze the risks associated with your project activities. From there, you can assess the likelihood and impact of each and rank them based on this information. The risk assessment makes it easier to focus on the most pressing risks and includes a mitigation strategy to reduce the impact in case the risk comes to fruition. 14. Project Governance Project governance refers to all the project management rules and procedures that apply to your project. For example, it defines the roles and responsibilities of the project team members and the framework for decision-making. 15. Communication Plan Have milestones for check-ins and status updates, as well as determine how stakeholders will stay aware of the progress over the project life cycle. The communication plan can help foster an atmosphere of transparency and engagement among stakeholders. The plan outlines how, when and what will be communicated so that everyone is informed and on the same page. 16. Progress Reports Have a plan in place to monitor and track your progress during the project to compare planned to actual progress. There are project tracking tools that can help you monitor progress and performance. Again, using a project management tool improves your ability to see what’s happening in your project. ProjectManager has tracking tools like dashboards and status reports that give you a high-level view and more detail, respectively. Unlike light-weight apps that make you set up a dashboard, ours is embedded in the tool. Better still, our cloud-based software gives you real-time data for more insightful decision-making. Also, get reports on more than just status updates, but timesheets, workload, portfolio status and much more, all with just one click. Then filter the reports and share them with stakeholders to keep them updated. /wp-content/uploads/2024/05/portfolio-dashboard-screenshot-lightmode.png 17. Market Assessment Research your market, competitors and industry, to find opportunities and threats. The market assessment can also help outline the overall market condition and how that could impact the project. For example, what are the current market needs and trends? Are there any barriers to entry that could impact the project such as strong competition or high capital requirements? Note all of this information in this section of the business case. Competitor Analysis Identify direct and indirect competitors and do an assessment of their products, strengths, competitive advantages and their business strategy. For example, how does each competitor position itself in the market? What pricing strategy do they implement and where is there room for differentiation? Then, use this information to help guide future decisions. SWOT Analysis A SWOT analysis helps you identify your organization’s strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats. The strengths and weaknesses are internal, while the opportunities and threats are external. This is a structured approach to help stakeholders make more informed decisions and outlines how to better leverage internal and external resources. The SWOT analysis helps ensure that the project aligns with organizational goals and market conditions. Marketing Strategy Describe your product, distribution channels, pricing, target customers among other aspects of your marketing plan or strategy. Business Case Example To better understand what a business case looks like, let’s review a scenario that incorporates some of the elements explained above. Imagine a large multinational manufacturing company that needs to expand its production capacity by building a new facility. The business case example below describes the expected benefits and rationale for making this decision. 1. Problem Statement Current manufacturing capacity is insufficient to meet growing global demand, resulting in production delays, increased costs and missed market opportunities. Existing facilities are also operating at maximum capacity, limiting the ability to introduce new product lines. 2. Background Information The company has experienced a 20 percent increase in product demand over the past three years. Current facilities have reached 95 percent capacity, leading to production bottlenecks and increased lead times. Competitors are expanding, highlighting the need for increased production efficiency and capacity. 3. Analysis of Options Considered Here are some of the options that were considered to solve the problem. Option 1: Expand existing facilities – Limited by space and zoning restrictions, expensive to retrofit. Option 2: Outsource production – Loss of control over quality and supply chain complexity. Option 3: Build a new manufacturing facility – Higher initial cost but increased capacity, improved efficiency and long-term scalability. (Recommended) 3. Project Definition The project involves the construction of a new 500,000 sq. ft. manufacturing facility to increase production capacity by 30 percent and improve operational efficiency. The facility will be equipped with state-of-the-art automated production lines and sustainable energy systems to reduce operating costs and meet environmental standards. The project includes site selection, permitting, construction, equipment installation, staff recruitment and operational launch within a 24-month timeframe. The new facility will enable the company to meet growing customer demand, introduce new product lines and strengthen its market position. 5. Vision, Goals and Objectives The vision is what the company ultimately seeks to achieve by executing the project in the long term, while goals are broad achievements that are accomplished by completing more specific objectives. Vision: To become the industry leader in production capacity and efficiency. Goals: Increase production capacity by 30 percent within 24 months. Reduce production costs by 10 percent through improved efficiency. Objectives: Complete facility construction within 18 months. Ensure the facility requires less energy consumption than older facilities owned by the company. 6. Strategic Alignment Assessment This section explains why this project aligns with the business goal and the organization’s strategic objectives. Corporate Strategy: Supports the company’s growth and market leadership objectives. Market Position: Enhances ability to meet growing customer demand. Sustainability: Designed to meet environmental standards and reduce carbon footprint. 7. Benefit Analysis This section explains the expected benefits from this project, which in this case are related to operational efficiency, as financial benefits are described separately. Tangible Benefits: 30 percent increase in production capacity. 15 percent reduction in lead times. 10 percent decrease in production costs. Intangible Benefits: Improved brand reputation for reliability and innovation. Enhanced employee morale through improved working conditions. 8. Financial Appraisal The project financial appraisal of a project allows decision-makers to better understand the return on investment. Estimated Cost: $150 million Projected Annual Savings: $10 million Net Present Value (NPV): $50 million over 10 years Payback Period: 5 years 9. Project Scope The project scope section defines what will and won’t be executed as part of the project to avoid misunderstandings or unrealistic stakeholder expectations. In Scope: Construction of a 500,000 sq. ft. facility. Installation of production lines and automation systems. Recruitment and training of 500 new employees. Out of Scope: Distribution and logistics network updates. Product line changes. 10. Success Criteria and Stakeholder Requirements The project success criteria and stakeholder requirements set the parameters and metrics to deem a project successful. Success Criteria: Facility completed on time and within budget. Production capacity increase by 30 percent. Achieve targeted cost savings within 12 months of operation. Stakeholder Requirements: Compliance with environmental and labor regulations. No disruption to current production during construction. 11. Implementation Plan As stated above, this is a simplified version of the project management plan, which offers a high-level view of the timeline and budget needed to complete the project. Phase Description Duration Budget Phase 1: Site selection and design Identify suitable locations, conduct feasibility studies, and finalize facility design. 3 months $5 million Phase 2: Permitting and approvals Secure local government permits and environmental approvals. 4 months $3 million Phase 3: Construction and infrastructure setup Build facility structure, install utilities, and create supporting infrastructure. 10 months $100 million Phase 4: Equipment installation and testing Install and calibrate production equipment, including automation systems. 4 months $25 million Phase 5: Staff recruitment and training Hire and train 500 employees to operate the facility. 3 months $5 million Phase 6: Production launch Conduct trial runs, address operational issues, and commence full production. 1 month $2 million Total 24 months $150 million 12. Project Governance These are the project management team roles and responsibilities in terms of project governance. Project Sponsor: Chief Operating Officer Steering Committee: CFO, VP of Manufacturing, Head of Supply Chain Project Manager: Head of Operations Reporting Structure: Monthly progress reports to the executive board 13. Risk Assessment These are the potential risks that could affect the project, the risk mitigation strategies that would need to be implemented and their estimated cost. Potential Risk Mitigation Strategy Estimated Cost for Mitigation Construction Delays Develop contingency plans with contractors, monitor progress weekly and secure backup suppliers. $2 million Permit or Regulatory Delays Engage local authorities early, hire legal advisors to manage compliance requirements. $1 million Cost Overruns Implement strict budget controls, conduct monthly financial reviews and set aside a contingency fund. $3 million Supply Chain Disruptions Establish alternative suppliers, secure long-term contracts, and maintain buffer stock. $2 million Workforce Shortages Partner with recruitment firms, offer competitive salaries and benefits and provide employee incentives. $1 million Equipment Failure During Testing Perform phased equipment testing, maintain warranties and secure technical support contracts. $2 million Environmental or Safety Violations Conduct regular safety audits, ensure compliance with environmental standards and provide staff training. $1 million Total $12 million How ProjectManager Helps with Your Business Case ProjectManager, an award-winning project management software, can collect and assemble all the various data you’ll be collecting, and then easily share it both with your team and project sponsors. Once you have a spreadsheet with all your tasks listed, you can import it into our software. Then it’s instantly populated into a Gantt chart. Simply set the duration for each of the tasks, add any dependencies, and your project is now spread across a timeline. You can set milestones, but there is so much more you can do. /wp-content/uploads/2024/03/sheet-view-cta-light-mode-construction.jpgManage projects with our robust sheet view. Learn more You have a project plan now, and from the online Gantt chart, you can assign team members to tasks. Then they can comment directly on the tasks they’re working on, adding as many documents and images as needed, fostering a collaborative environment. You can track their progress and change task durations as needed by dragging and dropping the start and end dates. But that’s only a taste of what ProjectManager offers. We have kanban boards that visualize your workflow and a real-time dashboard that tracks six project metrics for the most accurate view of your project possible. Try ProjectManager and see for yourself with this 30-day free trial. Watch Our Business Case Training Video If you want more business case advice, take a moment to watch Jennifer Bridges, PMP, in this short training video. She explains the steps you have to take in order to write a good business case. Here’s a screenshot for your reference. Transcription: Today we’re talking about how to write a business case. Well, over the past few years, we’ve seen the market, or maybe organizations, companies or even projects, move away from doing business cases. But, these days, companies, organizations, and those same projects are scrutinizing the investments and they’re really seeking a rate of return. So now, think of the business case as your opportunity to package your project, your idea, your opportunity, and show what it means and what the benefits are and how other people can benefit. We want to take a look today to see what’s in the business case and how to write one. I want to be clear that when you look for information on a business case, it’s not a briefcase. Someone called the other day and they were confused because they were looking for something, and they kept pulling up briefcases. That’s not what we’re talking about today. What we’re talking about are business cases, and they include information about your strategies, about your goals. It is your business proposal. It has your business outline, your business strategy, and even your marketing plan. Why Do You Need a Business Case? And so, why is that so important today? Again, companies are seeking not only their project managers but their team members to have a better understanding of business and more of an idea business acumen. So this business case provides the justification for the proposed business change or plan. It outlines the allocation of capital that you may be seeking and the resources required to implement it. Then, it can be an action plan. It may just serve as a unified vision. And then it also provides the decision-makers with different options. So let’s look more at the steps required to put these business cases together. There are four main steps. One, you want to research your market. Really look at what’s out there, where are the needs, where are the gaps that you can serve? Look at your competition. How are they approaching this, and how can you maybe provide some other alternatives? You want to compare and finalize different approaches that you can use to go to market. Then you compile that data and you present strategies, your goals and other options to be considered. And then you literally document it. So what does the document look like? Well, there are templates out there today. The components vary, but these are the common ones. And then these are what I consider essential. So there’s the executive summary. This is just a summary of your company, what your management team may look like, a summary of your product and service and your market. The business description gives a little bit more history about your company and the mission statement and really what your company is about and how this product or service fits in. Then, you outline the details of the product or service that you’re looking to either expand or roll out or implement. You may even include in their patents may be that you have pending or other trademarks. Then, you want to identify and lay out your marketing strategy. Like, how are you gonna take this to your customers? Are you going to have a brick-and-mortar store? Are you gonna do this online? And, what are your plans to take it to market? You also want to include detailed information about your competitor analysis. How are they doing things? And, how are you planning on, I guess, beating your competition? You also want to look at and identify your SWOT. And the SWOT is your strength. What are the strengths that you have in going to market? And where are the weaknesses? Maybe some of your gaps. And further, where are your opportunities and maybe threats that you need to plan for? Then the overview of the operation includes operational information like your production, even human resources, information about the day-to-day operations of your company. And then, your financial plan includes your profit statement, your profit and loss, any of your financials, any collateral that you may have, and any kind of investments that you may be seeking. Related Project Planning Content Project Documentation: 15 Essential Project Documents How to Create a Project Execution Plan (PEP) How to Write a Scope of Work Project Scope Statement: How to Write One With Examples So these are the components of your business case. This is why it’s so important. And if you need a tool that can help you manage and track this process, then sign up for our software now at ProjectManager. The post How to Write a Business Case (Example & Template Included) appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

Manchester United unveiled plans on Tuesday to build the “world’s greatest” soccer stadium. A proposed 100,000-seater arena would replace its iconic Old Trafford home and surpass Wembley as the biggest in the United Kingdom. “Manchester United is the world’s most favourite football club and, in my view, is the biggest and deserves a stadium fitting of its stature,” part owner Jim Ratcliffe said. Ratcliffe, who is one of Britain’s richest people, said the new venue could be a tourist attraction in the manner of the Eiffel Tower. “We have 1 billion people around the world who follow Manchester United. They will all want to visit this stadium,” he said. Designed by British architect Norman Foster, the first released images of the stadium include three giant tentpoles that would be seen from 40km away. They support a surrounding covered area, which he describes as “arguably the largest public space in the world.” Wembley is currently the biggest stadium in the U.K., with a capacity of 90,000, and is home to England’s national soccer team. Twickenham, which is home to the national rugby team, holds 82,500. Old Trafford is the country’s biggest dedicated soccer stadium with a capacity of just over 74,000, but is dated in comparison to the likes of the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London, which regularly hosts NFL games. Old Trafford, which was bombed during World War II, has been home to United since 1910. Under the plans, the 20-time English champion said it would build next to its current ground, meaning it would not need to relocate during the construction process. It is estimated it would then take around 12 months to disassemble Old Trafford. British billionaire Ratcliffe paid $1.3 billion for an initial 25% stake in United last year and made a new stadium one of his priorities. “Today marks the start of an incredibly exciting journey to the delivery of what will be the world’s greatest football stadium,” Ratcliffe said. “Our current stadium has served us brilliantly for the past 115 years, but it has fallen behind the best arenas in world sport.” The possibility of redeveloping Old Trafford was considered but an entirely new construction was the preferred option. United has not set a start date yet but Foster said building work, which could include pre-fabricated parts and a “Meccano” type construction, could mean it is completed in five years. Timings would likely rely on government involvement in what United wants to be part of a wider project to regenerate the surrounding Old Trafford area. It said it would be worth 7.3 billion pounds ($9.4 billion) to the U.K. economy, and the U.K. government has already voiced its support for the project. “Our long-term objective as a club is to have the world’s best football team playing in the world’s best stadium,” United chief executive Omar Berrada said. Managerial great Alex Ferguson said the club “must be brave and seize this opportunity to build a new home, fit for the future, where new history can be made.” The announcement came days after thousands of United fans marched in protest against the club’s ownership in the face of cost cuts, ticket price rises and ongoing failure on the field. United is majority owned by the American Glazer family, which also owns the NFL’s Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Upon investing, Ratcliffe vowed to return the once-dominant club back to the summit of European soccer after more than a decade since it last won the Premier League. But his first year in charge of soccer operations has been turbulent. United endured its worst-ever Premier League season last year and is on course to set a new low this term, with the team currently languishing in the bottom half of the standings in 14th position. —James Robson, AP soccer writer View the full article

The Girl Scouts have been sued by consumers over the alleged presence of “heavy metals” and pesticides in its popular Thin Mints and other cookies. A proposed class action lawsuit was filed on Monday night in federal court in the New York City borough of Brooklyn against the 113-year-old nonprofit and the cookies’ licensed producers, ABC Bakers and Ferrero USA’s Little Brownie Bakers. It cited a December 2024 study commissioned by GMO Science and Moms Across America that tested samples of 25 cookies from three U.S. states. The study said Girl Scout cookies contained at least four of five heavy metals – aluminum, arsenic, cadmium, lead and mercury – that can harm people’s health or the environment, often at levels exceeding regulators’ recommended limits. It also said all samples contained glyphosate, a pesticide used in some weed killers, with Thin Mints containing the highest levels. “While the entire sales practice system for Girl Scout Cookies is built on a foundation of ethics and teaching young girls sustainable business practices, defendants failed to uphold this standard themselves,” the lawsuit said. The defendants did not immediately respond to requests for comment. Girl Scouts, short for Girl Scouts of the United States of America, addressed the study in a February 6 blog post. It said heavy metals occur naturally in soil, with trace amounts not a safety issue, while glyphosate is found “nearly everywhere” in the food chain. Girl Scouts also said its bakers are committed to complying with all food safety standards. “The health and safety of Girl Scouts and cookie customers is our top priority,” the New York-based nonprofit said.  “Rest assured: Girl Scout Cookies are safe to consume.” Cookies are sold by registered Girl Scouts from January to April, with net proceeds supporting councils and local troops. About 200 million boxes are sold annually, NPR reported in 2023. The lawsuit is led by Amy Mayo, a resident of Bayside, New York. Mayo said she bought numerous Girl Scout products such as Adventurefuls, Peanut Butter Patties and Caramel deLites, believing they were “quality and safe cookies.” She said she would not have bought the cookies or “would have paid substantially less” had Girl Scouts disclosed the presence of “dangerous toxins.” The lawsuit seeks at least $5 million in damages for U.S. cookie purchasers, for alleged violations of New York consumer protection laws, and an injunction requiring accurate labeling. Blake Yagman, a lawyer for Mayo, in an interview said the government does not adequately regulate many privately sold products such as Girl Scout cookies. “Lead is our foremost concern, but the presence of the other four heavy metals and pesticides is deeply concerning, especially because these products are marketed to and sold by children,” he said. Several chocolate makers including Hershey faced lawsuits after Consumer Reports in December 2022 found elevated levels of cadmium, lead or both in their products. The case is Mayo v Girl Scouts of the United States of America et al, U.S. District Court, Eastern District of New York, No. 25-01367. —Jonathan Stempel, Reuters View the full article

Bluesky's latest update adds a few more useful options to its impressive arsenal of anti-harassment tools. The changes make it easier to hide direct messages (DMs) from strangers, and to mute accounts even faster. You don't need to do anything to receive these features, too. As long as you're using the latest version of Bluesky's apps or log in to the website on any browser, you should see them. Here's everything that's now available as a part of Bluesky's 1.99 update. Block DMs from strangersNo one wants a bunch of DMs from strangers, and Bluesky has now acknowledged that. If you're on the end of a targeted harassment campaign, you'll now be able to sort out DMs from strangers quite easily. Go to the Chat tab in Bluesky's apps or website, and you'll see the new Chat requests button up top. This is where all DMs from strangers will now end up by default. You can accept these requests to allow the people behind them to DM you on a case-by-case basis, or reject them to stop them from pinging you again. Faster account mutingBluesky now lets you mute accounts directly from any post. If you're scrolling through your feed and you see a post you dislike, just hit the three-dots button next to the post and select Mute account. This will mute the account until you choose to unmute it. This is useful if you encounter accounts posting things you'd rather not see, such as spoilers, political content, or incendiary posts. It's much faster than having to go to their profile to mute them. Longer videos on BlueskyBluesky has increased the length of videos you're allowed to post on the service. Previously, you could post videos up to 60 seconds long, but with the 1.99 update, you can now post three-minute long videos, too. This brings Bluesky closer to its competitors. Threads allows you to upload individual videos that are up to five minutes long, while X (formerly Twitter) has the limit at two minutes and 20 seconds for people who don't pay for its premium subscription. Other notable improvementsThis update has a few other improvements, including translations to three new languages—Esperanto, Scottish Gaelic, and Welsh. It also has better layouts for those accessing Bluesky's website from tablets. The company also claims that it has improved the process of reporting posts to moderators and the error reports you see when you encounter an issue during the signup process. View the full article

AI search engines and chatbots often provide wrong answers and make up article citations, according to a new study from Columbia Journalism Review. Why we care. AI search tools have ramped up the scraping of your content so they can serve answers to their users, often resulting in no clicks to your website. Also, click-through rates from AI search and chatbots are much lower than Google Search, according to a separate, unrelated study. But hallucinating citations makes an already bad situation even worse. By the numbers. More than half of the responses from Gemini and Grok 3 cited fabricated or broken URLs that led to error pages. Also, according to the study: Overall, chatbots provided incorrect answers to more than 60% of queries: Grok 3 (the highest error rate) answered 94% of the queries incorrectly. Gemini only provided a completely correct response on one occasion (in 10 attempts). Perplexity, which had the lowest error rate, answered 37% of queries incorrectly. What they’re saying. The study authors (Klaudia Jaźwińska and Aisvarya Chandrasekar), who also noted that “multiple chatbots seemed to bypass Robot Exclusion Protocol preferences,” summed up this way: “The findings of this study align closely with those outlined in our previous ChatGPT study, published in November 2024, which revealed consistent patterns across chabots: confident presentations of incorrect information, misleading attributions to syndicated content, and inconsistent information retrieval practices. Critics of generative search like Chirag Shah and Emily M. Bender have raised substantive concerns about using large language models for search, noting that they ‘take away transparency and user agency, further amplify the problems associated with bias in [information access] systems, and often provide ungrounded and/or toxic answers that may go unchecked by a typical user.'” About the comparison. This analysis of 1,600 queries compared the ability of generative AI tools (ChatGPT search, Perplexity, Perplexity Pro, DeepSeek search, Microsoft CoPilot, xAI’s Grok-2 and Grok-3 search, and Google Gemini) to identify an article’s headline, original publisher, publication date, and URL, based on direct excerpts of 10 articles chosen at random from 20 publishers. The study. AI Search Has A Citation Problem View the full article

Getting from one’s current state to the desired future requires understanding what needs to be done to get there. That is the basis of a problem statement, which is used in everything from project management to research projects. What is a problem statement and when should it be used? We’ll answer those questions and add what must be included. To help illustrate that, we’ll offer problem statement examples and even a problem statement template that you can for yourself. /wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Problem-statement-template-featured-image.jpg Get your free Problem Statement Template Use this free Problem Statement Template for Word to manage your projects better. Download Word File What Is a Problem Statement? A problem statement is a concise description of an issue that needs to be addressed or solved. It identifies the gap between the current state and the desired outcome, providing context and defining the impact of the problem. In projects and research, a problem statement helps focus efforts by outlining what needs to be resolved. It guides the development of objectives, solutions and strategies to ensure all stakeholders understand the issue’s significance and scope. The problem statement is a great setup for the project’s planning phase to help achieve objectives. That’s because it does the groundwork for formulating a schedule, complete with tasks, resources and costs to achieve those goals. But all of this requires project management software. ProjectManager is award-winning project and portfolio management software that has multiple project views to plan and execute projects. Schedule tasks, resources and costs on Gantt charts that also link dependencies to avoid costly delays, filter for the critical path and set a baseline to track progress in real time. Then execute the plan on the visual workflow of kanban boards or task lists. Stakeholders can follow along with the calendar view for a monthly summary. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. /wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Gantt-CTA-2025.jpgProjectManager’s Gantt charts turn problem statements into actionable plans. Learn more When to Use a Problem Statement A problem statement is a powerful tool used to define an issue that needs solving. It sets the foundation for effective decision-making by identifying the gap between the current state and the desired outcome. Whether in project management, business process improvement, product development or research, using a problem statement ensures a focused and strategic approach to finding solutions. Project Management Use a problem statement at the start of a project to clearly define the issue the project aims to solve. It helps align team members and stakeholders on objectives and expected outcomes, ensuring the project stays focused and on track. Business Process Improvement In process improvement initiatives, a problem statement identifies inefficiencies or challenges within existing workflows. It provides a clear understanding of the current issues, guiding teams to develop targeted solutions for increased productivity and cost savings. Product Development A problem statement is crucial in product development to define customer pain points or market gaps. It helps teams design features and solutions that directly address user needs to increase the product’s relevance and value. Research Projects In a research plan, a problem statement establishes the focus and purpose of the study. It outlines the knowledge gap or issue being investigated, guiding the research questions, methodology and analysis to produce meaningful and actionable insights. What Should Be Included in a Problem Statement? A well-crafted problem statement provides a straightforward and comprehensive understanding of the issue. It outlines the problem, its impact and the context, ensuring stakeholder expectations are aligned and focused on the right objectives. Here’s what should be included. Problem Definition This is a concise description of the issue, specifying what is wrong or needs improvement. It sets the stage by clearly stating the problem to be solved, but it also provides a specific, measurable and understandable description of the problem. For example, it should include a quantifiable impact, affected parties, consequences of the problem and constraints, if any. Problem Background The background is crucial to help set the stage and provide context for the issue that’s being addressed. It includes context and background information that explains the root cause of the problem, including historical data or events leading up to the issue. Stakeholder perspectives and how they are impacted by the problem can also be included. Problem Scope In this section, include details on the extent and boundaries of the problem, including who it affects and how widespread the issue is. This section should also include what’s excluded so teams can focus their efforts and prevent scope creep. By measuring the scope of the problem, organizations can better understand what resources such as people, materials or equipment need to be allocated to solve it and how much it will cost. Impact and Consequences of the Problem What are the negative effects and potential repercussions of the problem? In this section, explain the negative effects of the problem, such as financial losses, inefficiencies or customer dissatisfaction. Indirect effects should also be considered, such as long-term reputation damage or legal implications. Stakeholders Here, identify all stakeholders affected by the problem or involved in solving it, including employees, customers and partners. This is a crucial section as it helps prioritize solutions that address the needs of all impacted parties and facilitates communication throughout the problem-solving process. Problem Timeframe The period during which the problem has existed or is expected to continue if left unaddressed. Be as specific as possible, including a date, month or year. If there are trends or patterns observed in this timeframe, note them here. Problem Location The specific area, department or geographical location where the problem occurs. The more specific the location, the better as it can lead to more effective problem-solving. Gap Analysis: Current and Desired State A comparison between the current state and the desired outcome, highlighting the gap that needs to be closed. Consider analyzing the causes of the gap such as human error, inefficient processes or lack of resources. Root Cause Analysis This is an investigation into the underlying causes of the problem to ensure that solutions address the core issues rather than symptoms. While a full root cause analysis is typically conducted once the problem statement is created, a brief mention of it beforehand can be beneficial. Supporting Evidence, Data and Documentation These include facts, figures and other documentation that provide evidence of the problem’s existence and impact, supporting the need for action. Details like these can help create a stronger problem statement. Problem Statement Template Download this problem statement template for Word to help clearly define an issue that needs to be solved. It provides a standardized format for describing the problem, its impact and the context, ensuring consistency and clarity. /wp-content/uploads/2025/02/Problem-Statement-Template.png The template includes sections to describe the problem and assess the impact of the problem and key stakeholders. It also identifies the problem location and timeline and does a gap and root cause analysis, with room to add supporting data, documentation and evidence. Problem Statement Example A problem statement helps define an issue that needs to be addressed so stakeholders understand its impact and urgency. In business process improvement, a well-written problem statement identifies inefficiencies, outlines their consequences and guides teams to develop effective solutions. Here’s an example of a problem statement focused on improving customer support response times. Problem Definition In our customer support department, response times for handling customer inquiries have consistently exceeded the company’s target of 24 hours. Currently, the average response time is 48 hours, leading to decreased customer satisfaction and negative feedback. Problem Background The issue began to escalate six months ago when the company experienced rapid growth, increasing the volume of customer inquiries by 35 percent. Despite hiring additional support staff, response times have not improved, suggesting underlying process inefficiencies. Problem Scope This problem affects the entire customer support team and directly impacts customer experience. It also influences customer retention rates and brand reputation. The scope is limited to the email inquiry process, excluding phone and live chat support channels. Impact and Consequences of the Problem The prolonged response times have led to a 20 percent increase in customer complaints and a 15 percent decrease in customer retention rates. Dissatisfied customers are more likely to switch to competitors, leading to potential revenue losses. Additionally, support staff are experiencing increased workloads and burnout due to inefficient workflows. Stakeholders The primary stakeholders affected by this issue are the customer support team, customers and the sales and marketing departments, as customer satisfaction directly impacts sales conversions and brand reputation. Senior management and the human resources department are also stakeholders, as they oversee staffing and resource allocation. Problem Timeframe The problem has been ongoing for six months and is projected to worsen if not addressed, especially during peak seasons when inquiry volumes increase. Problem Location This issue is occurring within the customer support department, specifically affecting the team handling email inquiries. Gap Analysis: Current and Desired State Currently, the average response time is 48 hours, double the company’s target of 24 hours. The desired state is to reduce response times to 24 hours or less, aligning with industry best practices and improving customer satisfaction scores. Root Cause Analysis Initial analysis suggests the following root causes. Inefficient ticket assignment processes, leading to delays in responding to inquiries. Lack of standardized responses, resulting in longer handling times for complex issues. Inadequate training for new support staff, impacting operational efficiency and response accuracy. Supporting Evidence, Data, and Documentation Customer satisfaction surveys indicate a 30 percent decrease in satisfaction due to slow response times. Internal reports show a 35 percent increase in inquiry volume, outpacing the 15 percent increase in staffing. Service blueprints show inefficiencies in the process of handling customer inquiries. Analysis of ticket handling times reveals bottlenecks at the ticket assignment stage. Summary This problem statement clearly defines the issue of delayed customer support response times and its impact on customer satisfaction and business performance. It provides context, scope and a detailed analysis of the root causes and supporting evidence. By addressing the identified inefficiencies, the company can improve response times, enhance customer satisfaction and strengthen brand loyalty. Benefits of Writing a Problem Statement Writing a problem statement offers several key benefits. Provides Clarity and Focus: It clearly defines the issue, helping teams understand exactly what needs to be addressed. This focus prevents miscommunication and scope creep. Guides Decision Making: A well-written problem statement sets the foundation for developing effective solutions. It guides strategic planning and ensures that resources are allocated efficiently. Ensures Stakeholder Alignment: By outlining the problem’s impact and scope, it ensures all stakeholders share a common understanding, leading to better collaboration and support for the proposed solutions. Related Project Management Templates A problem statement template is only one of the over 100 free project management templates for Excel and Word that can be downloaded to help manage projects across multiple industries. Here are some free templates that can help when writing a problem statement. Research Plan Template Use this free research plan template for Word to outline the rationale, objectives and timeline of a research project. This helps researchers organize their ideas, define the research question and detail the steps needed to achieve the project’s goals. Gap Analysis Template A gap analysis is used to compare the current state of a process, product or organization with the desired future state. Download this free gap analysis template for Excel to identify gaps, weaknesses or inefficiencies that need to be addressed to achieve strategic goals. Five Whys Template This free 5 whys template for Excel is a problem-solving tool used to identify the root cause of an issue by repeatedly asking “Why?” until the underlying cause is revealed. Use this free template to go beyond surface-level symptoms to effectively address the core issue. How ProjectManager Helps Turn Problem Statements Into Action A problem statement is the first step to resolving an issue. Templates can help, but they’re simply not as effective as project management software. Templates are static documents, projects are dynamic. Once the problem has been identified and a course of action determined, then it’s time to turn to ProjectManager. Our award-winning project and portfolio management software has multiple project views to plan, manage and track work to make sure it’s done on time and within budget. Robust Resource Management Keep Teams Productive Problems aren’t solved if the action plan isn’t followed. That means keeping on schedule and avoiding cost overruns. Managing resources helps to deliver projects successfully, first by scheduling resources on Gantt charts. Then, when onboarding teams, setting their availability (PTO, vacation and global holidays), streamlines assigning them to tasks. Project managers can then view resource allocation on color-coded workload charts that show who is overallocated or underutilized. Team workload can then be balanced to keep everyone working at capacity without threatening burnout. There’s also a team page that shows daily and weekly activity, which can be filtered by progress and priority. /wp-content/uploads/2023/01/Team-Light-2554x1372-1.pngMonitor Costs, Time and More With Real-time Dashboards and Reports Resources can also be monitored on other features. For example, for a high-level overview of the project or multiple projects, toggle over to the real-time project or portfolio dashboards. They collect live data and display it on easy-to-read graphs and charts that show workload, but also time, cost and more. Customizable reports go deeper into that data with project or portfolio status, variance, workload, timeline and other reports. All can be filtered to focus on key data points or provide a summary that can be shared with stakeholders to keep them updated. Even our secure timesheets help track labor costs to keep to the budget. /wp-content/uploads/2022/07/Dashboard-light-mode.jpg Related Content A problem statement is only a small part of figuring out issues and how to resolve them. For those looking to read more about how a business case can help or an action plan to put into motion the activities needed to fix a problem, below are some recent posts we’ve published on the topic. How to Write an Executive Summary How to Write a Business Case How to Write Effective Project Objectives & Goals Every Time How to Write an Action Plan How to Conduct a Gap Analysis: Definition, Steps & Example ProjectManager is online project and portfolio management that connects teams whether they’re in the office or out in the field. They can share files, comment at the task level and stay updated with email and in-app notifications. Join teams at Avis, Nestle and Siemens who use our software to deliver successful projects. Get started with ProjectManager today for free. The post How to Write a Problem Statement: Example & Template Included appeared first on ProjectManager. View the full article

Renovating your house has serious upsides in terms of your enjoyment of the property and the return on your investment—but there’s a price to be paid in time and discomfort. Renovation projects can take weeks or months to complete, and during that time your home will mostly likely be filled with dust, debris, and workers. It’s little wonder people choose to move out of their homes and live in a rental while the work is being done. Not everyone can do that, of course—and not everyone can spend the next few months living in a construction zone. If you’ve got limited time (and limited tolerance for the mess and disruption), you might choose to put off home improvement projects until you have more of each. Or you could re-calibrate your expectations, because there are several one-day renovation projects (including clean up) that will have a big impact but have you relaxing on the couch by dinner time. Refresh a bathroomA complete bathroom remodel can take weeks or months to complete, which is seriously inconvenient—especially if you only have one bathroom in the house. But you can accomplish a pretty dramatic refresh of your bathroom in one day if you keep your focus narrow: Re-caulking the shower should take just a few hours. This not only gets rid of unsightly stained, discolored caulk—it will also help prevent future leaks resulting from failing old caulk. A new showerhead can be installed in less than an hour. Alternatively, clean the one you have: Remove the existing showerhead and soak it in white, distilled vinegar for about an hour, then rinse, scrub, and re-install. Similarly, a new faucet on the vanity can be installed within an hour, unless accessing the supply lines and drain is difficult. Boom! A day’s work and your bathroom can be dramatically improved. You could also consider intalling a bath liner, instantly transforming your shower or bath in (theoretically) just a day. PaintPaint is the easiest and cheapest remodel of them all, and you can get a lot done with one day and a gallon of good-quality paint: Paint a room—you can absolutely paint an entire room in one day. You’ll need to budget in a few hours between coats, so get an early start and have a plan. Paint furniture: Any piece of furniture in your house that’s looking a little drab can be upscaled with a coat of paint—including upholstered pieces. You can also paint floors that have seen better days; additionally, lampshades, fireplaces, radiators, and kitchen appliances can all be successfully painted in just a few hours. Update your kitchen's detailsJust like your bathroom, a full-scale kitchen remodel can take a long time, and have your house filled with dust for ages. But you can transform your kitchen in one day by targeting a few relatively easy but visually powerful spots: New pulls. Swap out the old, tarnished, probably outdated pulls on your drawers and cabinets for shiny new ones. New faucet. Swapping out the old faucet for a new one shouldn’t take more than a few hours. Lighting. Adding adhesive lights under your cabinets will a) make the space brighter, which in turn will make it look cleaner and fresher, and b) add a touch of glamour to the space. Cover the backsplash with peel-and-stick tiles for a whole new look. Install vinyl plank flooringIf your current floors are a little sad and worn out, you might think that installing a whole new floor will take at least several days, if not a week. But you can install brand-new vinyl plank flooring in a day, as you can see here (and this guy tore out and replaced his subfloor, then installed vinyl plank, all in one day). Granted, your mileage will vary on how comfortable you are measuring and cutting the planks, but this kind of flooring is one of the easiest to install—and it looks great and wears well. Replace bathroom vanityIf you’re thinking about replacing the faucet in your bathroom as noted above, why not take it one step further and upgrade the entire vanity? Disconnecting the plumbing, removing the old vanity and faucet, and installing new ones requires just some basic plumbing knowledge and the use of a power drill, and should only take you a few hours from beginning to end—even if you include going out to buy the new vanity. Add new light fixtures and switchesIf you’re not afraid to do a little basic wiring, you can change the light fixtures in your house, the plates over the outlets and switches, and even the outlets and switches themselves all in one day. Once you’ve turned off the power so there’s no chance of killing yourself, changing out existing light fixtures can take just a few minutes for each one, so unless you’ve got a football field of lights in your house it shouldn’t take more than an hour or two to tackle them all (or however many you want to change). Similarly, swapping out outlet and switch plates takes just a few minutes each (and requires just a screwdriver). And upgrading your light switches to dimmer switches is a similarly quick and relatively easy project that you can do all over the house in one day, easily. Stick decals on your tile floorsIf you’ve got tile floors that need a little upgrade but you don’t want to install a floor over them or tear them out entirely, you can cover them up with peel-and-stick tile tiles or decals very quickly. While you shouldn’t rush, because the end result depends heavily on how accurately and neatly you cut your pieces to fit your space, you can definitely complete an average-sized room within a day, and you can probably do multiple rooms in one day if you’re focused once you get the hang of it. View the full article

Nationally, starts are higher even when seasonal differences are accounted for and in some areas distress is far above the U.S. average, Attom found. View the full article

We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. Tomorrow Apple will be releasing new MacBooks and iPads, which is why you're seeing discounts on the older MacBooks and iPads. There are two iPads being released tomorrow, the M3 iPad Air, which you can pre-order right now for $559 (originally $599) for the 11-inch version, or the the 11th-generation iPad for $329 (originally $349) for the 11-inch version, or $749 (originally $799) for the bigger 13-inch version. Impressive by Apple's standards considering they haven't even released yet. However, this could be because the older versions might be a better deal for you. Brand: Apple, Model Name: iPad, Memory Storage Capacity: 128 GB, Screen Size: 11 Inches. Apple iPad 11-inch (A16 chip) $329.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $349.00 Save $20.00 Pre-order Here Pre-order Here $329.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $349.00 Save $20.00 Brand: Apple, Model Name: iPad Air, Memory Storage Capacity: 128 GB, Screen Size: 11 Inches. Apple iPad Air 11-inch (M3 Chip) $559.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $599.00 Save $40.00 Pre-order Here Pre-order Here $559.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $599.00 Save $40.00 Brand: Apple, Model Name: iPad Air, Memory Storage Capacity: 128 GB, Screen Size: 13 Inches. Apple iPad Air 13-inch (M3 chip) $749.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $799.00 Save $50.00 Pre-order Here Pre-order Here $749.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg $799.00 Save $50.00 Brand: Apple, Model Name: iPad Air, Memory Storage Capacity: 256 GB, Screen Size: 11 Inches. Apple iPad Air 11-inch (M2) $699.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg Get Deal Get Deal $699.00 at Amazon /images/amazon-prime.svg SEE 1 MORE Yes, it's always nice to get the shiny new toy, but as Jake Peterson, Lifehacker's Senior Technology Editor explains, the new iPad Air might not be worth it when you can get the very capable M2 iPad Air for cheaper. Most people can justify an M3 chip over an M2 chip on a laptop, where there's more multitasking, heavier applications running, and speed is more important. But unless you're looking to do those things on a tablet, the difference between the M2 and M3 chip's speed might not be worth the money for you. If you can wait until after the release of the new iPads on March 12 to make your purchase, that will be the most sensible decision, as the M2 iPads will likely drop in price and be a better value than the new iPad Air (if you can find the M2 iPads in stock). While Apple might not sell the older iPads in new conditions, Amazon and Best Buy will. However, if money is not an issue and you want the best iPads available, both the iPad 11th-generation and the M3 iPad Air will be your best options. View the full article

Torsten Bell says government is ‘encouraging, not instigating’ investment in wider range of assetsView the full article

Washington says it will ‘immediately’ restore intelligence sharing and military aidView the full article

Southwest Airlines’ signature tagline “Bags Fly Free” seems to be a thing of the past. Since its inception nearly 60 years ago, the airline has offered customers two complimentary checked bags as part of its pitch to distinguish it from competitors. But by this summer, it seems, Southwest will have to replace its oft-repeated slogan with a new one: “bags fly for an added fee.” That’s because any customers who are not members of Southwest’s frequent fliers programs or traveling in an upgraded seat will have to pay for their checked bags, starting with flights booked after May 28, according to a company press release. The airline did not provide specific rates for the new fees. Southwest also announced that flight credits will now expire after one year, walking back a policy put in place during the pandemic that allowed customers to keep their credits indefinitely. So far, the reaction to the new bag fees has been overwhelmingly negative. But, when observed alongside all of the other changes that Southwest has made to its programming over the past several months, it’s not exactly surprising. As of last month, shares of Southwest’s stock (NYSE: LUV) were down nearly 50% compared to five years ago. In an effort to appease its investors, Southwest has been on a mission to aggressively cut costs and implement a slew of added fees. Those cost-saving policy changes appear to jettison all of the elements that once made Southwest’s brand identity distinct. Turbulence for Southwest’s leadership From its inception in 1966, Southwest has cultivated a reputation as a quirky, lower-cost carrier with unique perks and an equitable approach to seating that endeared it to a base of loyal fans. However, those perks have been first on the company’s chopping block as it’s reduced costs and implemented more Spirit-esque fees to drive sales. Over the past several months, Southwest has been rolling out an overhaul intended to catch up with competitors like Delta and United by reviving its shrinking profits and the downward trajectory of its stock. The breakneck pace of this overhaul has been egged on by hedge fund Elliott Investment Management, which owns a $1.9 billion minority stake in the company and has frequently publicly criticized Southwest for not adapting to the times and cutting costs. Southwest kicked off 2024 by debuting an interior cabin redesign, which is set hit runways this year. While the company argued that the revamped look was made with comfort in mind, customers pointed out that the seating looked like a major downgrade—mainly because, based on renderings provided by the company, the seats looked almost comically thin and rigid. TikTok users dubbed them “lawn chairs” and “Ozempic seats.” But, as it turns out, the lackluster seating was only a harbinger of the airline’s larger plans to come. A once-quirky airline joins a sea of corporate sameness Southwest has spent the last few months nixing its most distinctive offerings. In September, the company announced that it would slash its open seating policy, one of its characteristic brand traits, which allowed every Southwest passenger to choose their own seat when boarding. At the same time, the company revealed that it would swap a third of its seats for more “premium” chairs, which come with more legroom, faster Wi-Fi, and larger overhead bins—for an added cost, of course. This new seating policy on its own was enough to cause Fast Company to ask whether Southwest was losing its “Southwest-ness” by sacrificing its unfussy reputation for greater profits. Even during the September investor call announcing the end of open seating, though, Southwest executives argued that ending the signature “Bags Fly Free” plan would be a “destructive” step too far, adding that they estimated charging bag fees would bring in about $1.5 billion per year but cost another $1.8 billion in lost business. The program was so central to Southwest’s identity that the company trademarked the “Bags Fly Free” slogan and has a whole backlog of ads, going back decades, that center on the promise (see this spot from 2009 and this one from 2023.) Now, Southwest is scrapping the last vestige of its recognizable brand identity by backtracking on free bags. The backlash from fans has been swift. On X, one recent tweet with 4,000 likes and counting reads, “If Southwest Airlines had assembled a focus group and asked them ‘what’s the stupidest thing that we could do to ruin our company,’ this is what they would have come up with.” Another tweet with 11,000 likes adds, “Is Southwest aware that now people are no longer incentivized to fly with them??” Popular opinion may have turned against the airline, but the market seems to approve. As of this writing, Southwest stock is up around 9%. The market also responded positively last month when the airline announced that it planned to lay off 15% of its corporate workforce in another cost-cutting measure. As Southwest continues to whittle away the perks it once touted, it’s become just another set of wings in an industry full of likeminded competitors. View the full article

After years of intense rumor and speculation, Nintendo finally revealed the Switch 2 in January of this year. While the company hasn't yet announced each and every new feature the Switch's successor will sport, the company did confirm a number of details leakers had been hinting for a long time, including a larger display, redesigned magnetic Joy-Cons, a new kickstand, backwards compatibility, and, least consequentially, a large "2" embossed on the console and dock. Since the initial announcement, we've learned a bit more about the Switch 2 in advance of its full unveiling later this year. Nintendo announced a worldwide tour, where fans can try out the Switch 2 early. It also appears that the new Joy-Cons will have a "mouse mode" that will let you drag a controller around on a table...like a computer mouse. Other than that, things have been a tad quiet—until now. Here are new Switch 2 details, courtesy of FCC filings—and what they might hint for the future of the system. The Switch 2 will use NFC, which bodes well for Amiibo supportAs spotted by The Verge, Nintendo has submitted a number of filings to the FCC. The outlet scanned through these documents, and discovered the Switch 2 will support NFC (near field communication)—the technology the enables products like Amiibo to wirelessly communicate with the console. (It's also the tech behind tap-to-pay features like Apple Pay and Google Play.) If you've used Amiibo before, you might remember NFC communication happens through the right Joy-Con on the Switch. That appears the be the case for the Switch 2 as well. A second USB-C portAnother interesting confirmation in these filings concerns the console's second USB-C port. You could see this new port in the official Switch 2 announcement video, but Nintendo didn't elaborate on what it was meant for. Now we know: You'll be able to charge your Switch 2 via either USB-C port, which is great news for portable players. With the first generation of Switch, the USB-C port is on the bottom, meaning you can't charge the console while playing with the kickstand out (unless you get very creative). A second port on the side will solve for that issue. This isn't a necessarily reason to upgrade to a Switch 2, but it is a perk—perhaps one that should have been thought through a decade ago with the first Switch. Wi-Fi 6 supportFinally, the filings show that the Switch 2 supports Wi-Fi 6 with up to 80MHz of bandwidth. The OG Switch supports Wi-Fi 5, as Wi-Fi 6 wasn't even a thing when it came out back in 2017. The upgrade should enable faster internet speeds for game downloads and online play while potentially increasing battery life, as Wi-Fi 6 connections can turn off when you aren't using them. That said, we won't know how much the Switch 2's speed and battery life improve over the original Switch until reviewers are able to put the console through its paces. Mark you calendar for an April 2 Nintendo DirectThe Switch 2 has no current release date. However, the company did say in the announcement video that there will be a Nintendo Direct on Wednesday, April 2 at 6 a.m. PDT, specifically intended to offer "a closer look at Nintendo Switch 2." We'll see how much more information is leaked before that date. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I work in manufacturing, and I more or less have a desk job. My “office” is a clump of desks off to the side of the manufacturing floor. I have a coworker, Laura, who also works in this clump of desks, who is dating a technician. Laura is younger than me, was homeschooled, and sometimes has a hard time picking up on social cues. She has been dating her boyfriend, Nixon, for a few months now. The problem is that he spends every break in our desk clump, to the point that he made himself a folding chair so he can sit by Laura. I am super annoyed every time he is over here. They sit leaned over one another, and are constantly flirting, bickering, giggling, and sometimes even awkwardly touching each other (soft lingering touches on the arm / leg). I have even seen them kiss when they don’t think anyone is around. I don’t mind that they spend their breaks together, but does it have to be right next to my desk? We have a break room. There is a culture of people taking breaks at their desks here, but his desk is not over here, nor does he really have a desk. I find having Nixon around really annoying and distracting. He will insert his opinion on things I am working on my computer and most of the time he has no idea what he is talking about. He will also loudly complain about anything and everything that is happening at the company. I have talked to my other coworkers in the desk clump and they are also really annoyed about the situation. Do I have the right to ask my manager to talk to her (who also manages Laura)? My manager is pretty passive, but I believe he would talk to her if I ask. He has observed some of the behavior, but he isn’t in my building all of the time, so I do not think he knows the extent of the situation. I don’t want to ruin my working relationship with Laura and I believe it would crush her if she heard it was me complaining about her. What should I do in this situation? Do you have any advice for managing upwards, I really don’t want him to mishandle the conversation and worry that he will make her feel awkward around the rest of the people in the desk clump. Would you have any advice for my manager in this situation, if he does go talk to Laura? Should he get Nixon’s manager involved as well? Yes, you have the standing to talk to your manager and ask him to intervene; Laura and Nixon’s hang-outs are affecting your ability to focus on your work, and that gives you the standing to say something. However, it would be better to try to address it with Laura directly first — because it might take care of it, because ideally she’d have the opportunity to hear it’s a problem and fix it on her own before you involve your manager, and because there’s a good chance your manager will ask you if you’ve said anything to Laura directly about it and you want to be able to say that you tried to handle it yourself first. To be clear, there are situations where something is so egregious that none of the above would be considerations, like if she were, I don’t know, being abusive to people or falsifying documents. And if she were known to react hostilely to feedback, she’d have forfeited the opportunity to hear a concern directly from peers before it’s escalated to a manager. But in this case, the right next step is to say to Laura, “It’s really hard to focus with Nixon hanging out here. Could you take breaks with him in the break room instead?” You can also say something right in the moment when they’re being distracting. It’s fine to say, “I’m having trouble focusing — could I ask you to move to the break room?” If you try that and it doesn’t work, then the next step is to alert your manager. You’ll have given Laura a chance to fix the problem herself first and if she doesn’t … well, that’s what happens. You said you’re worried she’ll feel crushed, but there’s much less chance of that if you do try to talk to her first. And if she does feel awkward … well, she’s been doing something inconsiderate to the people around her, and sometimes feeling awkward after realizing that is part of how lessons stick. We’ve all been there, and she’ll survive. You asked if your manager should get Nixon’s manager involved as well, and he could but he doesn’t need to. It’s enough for him to tell Laura, the person he manages, to handle this differently. He could certainly speak to Nixon directly in the moment too if he needs to — there’s nothing wrong with him saying in the middle of one of these interludes, “Nixon, if you don’t need anything work-related from our team, I’m going to ask you to head out since we’ve got folks trying to focus here.” But in his shoes I’d just talk to Laura, tell her to cut it out, and expect her to handle it appropriately from there. View the full article

From service and support to IT, data, and development, ServiceNow acts as the ticket management interface between users (internal and external) and the IT department or support team that solves their tech problems. Salesforce is the go-to platform to manage customer data and streamline workflows for your customer success agents and sales team, converting opportunities into sales, and keeping your contacts organized across all business functions. Put together, these two tools become a powerhouse duo, sharing data, reinforcing pipelines, improving analytics, and creating more accurate forecasts. Let’s take a look at a couple of methods to get the most out of Salesforce and ServiceNow by integrating them. Why a ServiceNow-Salesforce integration? While Salesforce does have some service management features, many organizations prefer a dedicated platform like ServiceNow. An integration is incredibly valuable if critical data needs to be shared between environments, but doing so manually would be time-consuming and risk data errors from manual entry. For example, let’s take a company that uses Salesforce as a CRM to manage purchases, sales, and revenue generation with opportunity pipelines. Salesforce also generates a wealth of data crucial to sales predictions and forecasting. Internally they use ServiceNow for IT support and ticketing, incident management, and technical support. When integrated, either tool can then become a collection point for data, allowing users to perform analytics in one place without the need to manually collect data from multiple other tools or sources. You could either consolidate everything with Now Platform Reporting or build comprehensive data visualizations in Tableau through Salesforce. Integrating these tools opens the door to a streamlined analysis process and a quicker path to action. First method: Using ServiceNow Integration Hub ServiceNow integration hub is an additional module for the Now Platform that comes with nearly 200 connectors out-of-the-box, called Spokes. These spokes come in two forms: pre-built through templates, and customizable versions. It’s one of the most common ways to set up a Salesforce-ServiceNow integration. The pre-built spokes can be configured using triggers and actions to easily add some limited functionality to your workspace that pulls data into ServiceNow. The hub also supports the development of custom spokes for users who want to create their own integration for ServiceNow’s API. To do this requires training, scripting knowledge, or 3rd party consulting services. Step 1: Verify that your installation supports Integration Hub Step 1: Verify that your installation supports Integration Hub Before you can integrate Salesforce and ServiceNow, you have to ensure your tools are compatible. Here’s how: Verify that the Salesforce Classic or Lightning module you wish to connect is supported: Sales Cloud, Service Cloud, Platform, Customer Community, Partner Community, Company Community, or Chatter. Verify that the account you’re going to use to facilitate the integration has the correct permissions for the tasks the integration will need to perform. You can find a list of these here. Step 2: Register the Salesforce application in Salesforce With a Salesforce Admin account, register the Salesforce Application. Login and select Classic Environment. Go to Setup. In the left menu, select Build > Create > Apps. Under Connected Apps select New. Fill in the required information. Set the Refresh token policy value to Refresh token is valid until revoked. Click Save. Copy the Consumer Key and Consumer Secret fields and save them in a secure location. The Consumer Key (or client ID) and the Consumer Secret (or client secret) are sensitive information and should not be shared. Create a profile for the Salesforce Integration in ServiceNow. Make sure to set the scope to Global. Create an integration profile for the first Salesforce organization where you want to track software subscriptions and optimize licensing. Go to the Integration Profile: All > Software Asset > SaaS License > Direct Integration Profiles. Fill in the fields with the information below: FieldDescriptionDisplay nameName of the integration profile.Best practice is to use a name that easily identifies this profile with the organizations it integrates. A shorter name will format better on reports.Connection & CredentialConnection and credential alias for Salesforce.For the first integration profile, use the automatically populated default connection and credential alias.StatusStatus of the integration profile.Draft for when the integration is not published.Published will appear once the integration is launched.Profile typeThis value is automatically populated.Source Navigate to the Download Subscription Subflow tab. Make sure that the Subflow field displays Salesforce CRM Download Subscriptions. Go to the Reclaim Subscription Subflow tab. Make sure the Subflow field displays Salesforce CRM Reclaim Subscription. Lastly, go to the Download Consumption Subflow tab. Same as above, make sure that the Subflow field displays Salesforce CRM Download Consumption. Click Save Go to the connection & credential aliases record. Select the preview icon beside the Connection & Credential field. Click Open Record in the preview. While in the Connection & Credential Aliases form, click Create New Connection & Credential. This will open the Create Connection and Credential dialog box. Fill in the field with the below information: FieldDescriptionConnection NameName of the connection.The name should easily identify the organization you’re creating this connection and credential for.Connection URL (Instance URL)This is the URL that displays after logging into Salesforce, or the custom domain URL used for Salesforce.OAuth Client IDClient ID (consumer key) assigned to the Salesforce application.OAuth Client SecretClient secret (consumer secret) assigned to the Salesforce application.OAuth Redirect URLURL for the OAuth provider that users are redirected to. This field populates automatically based on the callback URL that you specified in Register a Salesforce application.Source Click Create and Get OAuth Token. Use the same Salesforce Admin account you used to create the application in Salesforce to login to the OAuth2 dialog box. ServiceNow will then create an OAuth token for Salesforce and automatically return to the Integration Profile form. Select Publish. Once the integration is published, ServiceNow will start pulling data from Salesforce. Smaller organizations with fewer than 100 users in Salesforce should see this complete in a few minutes. It may take up to an hour or more for organizations with 5000+ users in Salesforce. Limitations of this method One-way integration: ServiceNow only pulls data from Salesforce. Changes in ServiceNow are not reflected in Salesforce. Manual process: Setting up this integration can be slow and complex. High skill level: This integration requires some technical skills and admin permissions. Not scaleable: Additional connections require a similar manual process. Second method: Use Unito’s ServiceNow-Salesforce integration Unito is an extensible, enterprise-grade sync platform that’s fully configurable, yet no-code. With 50+ connectors to choose from, Unito lets users keep all their tools up to date with live 2-way flows. Here’s why Unito is the best way to do this: Lowest total cost of ownership: No need for specialized internal resources or third party consultants. Plus, a single Unito license includes all connectors. Launch in days or weeks, not months. POCs can be built quickly through an easily-repeatable flow creation process that our team keeps up-to-date with the latest releases from ServiceNow and Salesforce. Two-way sync: Unito can sync historical data without user maintenance required. Straightforward setup: Quickly set up, tune, monitor and evolve each integration with configuration options that anyone can understand. Below you’ll find a brief overview of the necessary steps, or if you’re more of a visual learner, you can follow along with this video tutorial from a Unito product expert. Step 1: Connect your tools Unito’s flow builder allows you to connect more than 50 tools, including Salesforce, ServiceNow, Jira, and Asana. Unito will need to connect to a ServiceNow account that has create, read, update and delete (or CRUD) permissions for the records or tables that you want to sync. Users can connect Unito to ServiceNow with either OAuth2 or a Username and Password. For details on how to connect using OAuth2, check out this guide. On the Salesforce side, make sure that the account used has permission to authorize third-party integrations. A quick list of permissions can be found here. Once the accounts are correct, go to your Unito dashboard and select Connect a New Tool from the top bar and follow the prompts. A detailed guide can be found here. Step 2: Pick flow direction This 2-way flow will automatically create new Salesforce objects based on ServiceNow records, and new ServiceNow records based on Salesforce objects. Unito syncs in either one or two directions. A one-way flow will behave much like the built-in ServiceNow spoke, but can be set to go either to or from ServiceNow. A two-way flow means that a change on either side will update on the other, ensuring that the data in both tools is always in sync and the same. Step 3: Build rules In this example, any Salesforce case created after July 22, 2024 with the custom field ServiceNow Assignment Group set to Product, will tell Unito to create a matching incident in ServiceNow. Rules determine what syncs and what doesn’t. Using the drop-down options provided in the interface, select the rules for how you want your flow to function at a larger scale. You could choose to filter out work items with specific labels, automatically set them to a specific status, or only sync items created after a specific date. Step 4: Map your fields Each pair of fields can have its own sync direction. This manages conflict resolution easily by setting a source and destination for all updates. In the case of 2-way updates, the most recent change will take effect. Finally, choose what fields sync to each other across the tools. Unito can do this automatically in most situations. For more detailed customizability, it can be done manually, which lets you choose exactly which information moves where. Some fields can also be set to be one-way or two-way at this level. Connect Salesforce and ServiceNow with the right integration ServiceNow and Salesforce have a lot of potential when working together. ServiceNow’s native integration is a great starting point for testing out what these two software can achieve together, but is limited by the manual connection process and unidirectional flow. Unito gives users the ease of use and the customization to truly see what these two tools can do together. Wanna see this integration in action? Sync up with us! Book a Demo FAQ: ServiceNow-Salesforce integration What is an integration between Salesforce and ServiceNow? A Salesforce-ServiceNow integration is software that takes data from work items in Salesforce (e.g. tasks, tickets, contacts) and pushes it to work items in ServiceNow (e.g. cases, incidents). ServiceNow offers one of these integrations natively, meaning you don’t need to install any additional software. You can also use third-party software to integrate Salesforce and ServiceNow. Some examples of this software include: Unito Zapier Workato Tray.io Mulesoft Will ServiceNow overtake Salesforce? There are currently no signs that ServiceNow will overtake Salesforce. According to some numbers, ServiceNow has over 7,700 customers while Salesforce has over 150,000. Additionally, ServiceNow reported $10.98 billion in revenue in 2024 while Salesforce reported $37.89 billion in revenue that year. What are the integration methods for ServiceNow? You can integrate ServiceNow with other tools using any of these options: 2-way sync tools like Unito ServiceNow IntegrationHub Salesforce’s built-in Mulesoft integrations Automation platforms like Zapier Is ServiceNow part of Salesforce? ServiceNow is not part of Salesforce. It’s a separate, distinct software platform. While there is some overlap between them, since both tools can be used to manage customer issues and service requests, they’re different platforms run by different companies. Can Salesforce integrate with ServiceNow? Yes, there are multiple ways to integrate Salesforce with ServiceNow. Here are a few of your options for integrating these tools: 2-way sync tools like Unito ServiceNow IntegrationHub Salesforce’s built-in Mulesoft integrations Automation platforms like Zapier Does Salesforce compete with ServiceNow? Yes, Salesforce competes with ServiceNow to some extent. Both can be used to handle support tickets and manage business processes within customer support teams. That said, many organizations use both ServiceNow and Salesforce, since they’re specialized in distinct areas. View the full article

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We may earn a commission from links on this page. Deal pricing and availability subject to change after time of publication. The M3 lineup of MacBook Air laptops is already seeing big discounts before the release of the new M4 MacBook Air laptops tomorrow. You can get the 13-inch MacBook Air laptop with 16GB RAM and 256GB SSD storage for $794.99 (originally $1,099) after an additional $54.01 on-page coupon on Amazon. This is the lowest price this MacBook has been since its release, according to price-tracking tools. M3 MacBook Air 13-inch Laptop (2024) $794.99 at Amazon $1,099.00 Save $304.01 Get Deal Get Deal $794.99 at Amazon $1,099.00 Save $304.01 If you're looking for longevity in your laptop, the 16GB RAM on any MacBook Air is vital and will last you a long time. All "older" MacBook Airs, including those with M2 and M1 chips, have good discounts right now (if you can find them in stock), but if you can afford to upgrade to the new M4 MacBook Air that comes out tomorrow, March 12, you'll be getting a better value for your money, according to Jake Peterson, Lifehacker's Senior Technology Editor. It's an even better value than the M4 Pro. However, if you prefer to save yourself some $200, the M3 is still a capable and powerful laptop in 2025. You can see the full breakdown of the M3 MacBook Air in CNET's review. The M2 is also deeply discounted, but it's not easy to find a new one in stock right now. Keep in mind the M3 chips have almost double the read speeds of the M2 and 33% faster write speeds. If you're not sure if it's worth upgrading from the M2 or are undecided about which one to get, you can read our breakdown comparing the two. One of the advantages of getting the M3 over the M2 is the dual monitor support on the M3 MacBook Air, a feature that used to come only from the MacBook Pro lineup. View the full article

More than three million developers are using OpenAI’s APIs as shorthand code to infuse apps and websites with an engine of advanced AI. And today, the company’s most popular API, called Chat Completions, is getting a significant sequel called Responses. Eight months in development, it will vastly expand upon and simplify the experience of plugging into OpenAI. For developers, Responses will mean using less code to stack more complex questions to the AI. A hundred lines of code will turn into just three, as the company is courting a wider set of developers who don’t consider themselves LLM experts. For consumers, it will mean you’ll soon be interacting with AI that’s faster, more fluid in using forms of media other than text, and more capable of taking more steps on your behalf. “Completions were very much designed in a world where you could only put text into it, and you could only get text out of it. But now we have models that can do work across multiple mediums. We can put images in, we can get audio out of the model, and [users] can speak to the model in real time and have it speak to you back,” says Steve Coffey, an engineer at OpenAI. “[Completions] is just like the wrong tool for the job…so Responses was designed from the ground up.” What is OpenAI’s new Responses API update? APIs are basically the software gateways to use features from a service or platform inside your own. And to OpenAI, its APIs are as carefully designed as any product—even if we don’t tend to consider APIs as designed objects. The iPhone has APIs for apps using its camera and accelerometers, for instance, while Stripe’s APIs make it possible for websites and apps to take payments—and in each case, the ease of integrating these APIs has been vital to courting developers and growing a business. OpenAI created the modern API for AI in 2020 (and Chat Completions in 2023) so developers could plug into its AI platform. Its competitors have since copied OpenAI’s approach to be something of an informal standard across the industry. Thousands of apps, ranging from Perplexity (an AI search engine) to Harvey (an AI for lawyers), currently integrate OpenAI APIs. Today, OpenAI offers a few different APIs, including one that generates images for Dall-E and another that exclusively works to summarize or write text from scratch. For this release, OpenAI is focusing on Responses, the evolution of its Chat Completion API—the company’s popular way that app developers can plug into the core conversational technology behind ChatGPT. The way the Chat Completions was designed, developers could only send one query in text at a time, and get a single answer in text back. Practically speaking, that meant complicated questions could take several steps, and each individual new question took time, introducing more latency. Now, a developer plugs strings of code into the Responses API, crossed with natural language queries that developers can use that are more or less the way you or I would talk to ChatGPT. (A long user manual helps developers understand what they can and can’t do.) OpenAI’s API will offer “multi turn” conversations that understand context and conversational flow—even when you mix in multimedia like images and, soon to arrive, voice/sound. Responses can also juggle several processes at once, because with a single line of code, you can connect “Tools” hosted by OpenAI into this process. These tools will include a web search (so OpenAI’s responses can be grounded in more real time data), a code interpreter to write and test code, and a file search to analyze and summarize files. The new API will also let developers connect to Operator—OpenAI’s agentic tool that can analyze screens and actually take actions on the user’s behalf—and comes with a new kit of software that helps developers juggle multiple AI agents at the same time. As the company explains, building APIs requires forecasting years ahead at the functions developers may want, and if you squint, it’s not hard to deconstruct OpenAI’s own thesis on the future lurking in the feature set. The API has vastly expanded upon what’s possible to do when you plug into OpenAI as a developer—embracing fuzzy inputs of multimedia, integrating information so responses are current, and perhaps most notable of all, acting on behalf of the user to save them time and effort. “I’m very excited for this year because of the agentic behavior that our models will unlock… the model is taking multiple steps on its own volition and giving you an answer,” says Atty Eleti, an engineer at OpenAI. “On the far end, [it makes way for] AI engineers, AI designers, AI auditors, AI accountants. Little junior interns that you can instruct and operate and ask them to go up and do these things. And I think we’re on the cusp of that becoming a very tangible reality.” Still, these long-term possibilities are grounded in immediate efficiencies. The API updates mean that a simple question, “what’s the weather in San Francisco,” goes from taking a hundred lines of code to just three. Adding all of the aforementioned tools requires just one line of code. This means that coding AI apps should be faster for developers. And because many queries hit OpenAI’s servers all at once, responses should come faster for end users. [Image: OpenAI] The challenge of bringing developers along Like any tool, APIs have to be designed for ease of use. They are not just about coding capabilities, the OpenAI team argues, but about designing clarity and possibility. “The education ladder of an API is something that has to be very consciously designed, because our target audience is not people who know how AI works or how LLMs work,” says Eleti. “And so we introduce them to AI in a sort of a ladder way, where you do a bit of work and you get some reward out of it. You do a bit more work, you understand some more concepts, and then over time, you can graduate to the more complex functionality.” OpenAI gives this instructive feedback to developers through their own mistakes. Whenever it generates errors, OpenAI tries to explain what went wrong in plain language, so the developer can actually understand how to improve their technique. The OpenAI team believes that such feedback, coupled with autocomplete coding tools, should make Responses easy for developers to learn. “I think that really good APIs sort of allow you to start off with the gas pedal in the steering wheel and graduate slowly to the airplane cockpit by exposing more and more functionality in the form of knobs, in the form of like settings and these other things that are hidden from you first, but exposed over time,” says Coffey. The tricky part of updating an API, however, is not just making it self-explanatory. The API also needs to be backwards compatible because software that’s already been built to connect to OpenAI can’t suddenly go dark after an update. So Responses is backwards compatible with software built upon Chat Completions. Furthermore, the Completions API itself will continue working as it always has. OpenAI will continue to support it into the future, offering updates that put Completions as close to feature parity with Responses as it can. (But to use those nifty tools, you’ll need to graduate to Responses.) Over time, the OpenAI API team bets that most of its developers will land on Responses, given the extra capabilities and that it will be price-equivalent to run. Assuming that OpenAI has bet on the right future, AI software is about to become faster, more capable, and more proactive than anything we’ve seen to date. View the full article

AI-powered search engines (e.g., OpenAI’s ChatGPT, Perplexity) are failing to drive meaningful traffic to publishers while their web scraping activities increase. That’s one big takeaway from a recent report from TollBit, a platform that says it helps publishers monetize their content. CTR comparison. Google’s average search click-through rate (CTR) was 8.63%, according to the report. However, the CTR for AI search engines was 0.74% and 0.33% CTR for AI chatbots. That means AI search sends 91% fewer referrals and chatbots send 96% less than traditional search. Why we care. This is bad news for publishers because it shows AI search won’t replace traditional search traffic. As AI-generated answers replace direct website visits, you should expect to see this trend continue. By the numbers. AI bot scraping doubled (+117%) between Q3 and Q4 2024. Also: The average number of scrapes from AI bots per website for Q4 was 2 million, with another 1.89 million done by hidden AI scrapers. 40% more AI bots ignored robots.txt in Q4 than in Q3. ChatGPT-User bot activity skyrocketed by 6,767.60%, making it the most aggressive scraper. Top AI bots by share of scraping activity: ChatGPT-User (15.6%) Bytespider (ByteDance/TikTok) (12.44%) Meta-ExternalAgent (11.34%) PerplexityBot continued sending referrals to sites that had explicitly blocked it, raising concerns about undisclosed scraping. Context. One company, Chegg, is attempting to sue Google over AI Overviews. Chegg claims Google’s search feature has severely damaged its traffic and revenue. Google announced last week an expansion of AI Overviews. It is now starting to show AI Overviews to users who aren’t logged in. About the data. There’s no methodology section, so it’s not entirely clear how many websites were analyzed, just that it’s based on “all onboarded ToolBit sites in Q4.” Toolbit says it “helps over 500 publisher sites.” The report. TollBit State of the Bots – Q4 2024 (registration required) View the full article

For the first time in almost two years, mortgage products available for consumers are at a level established in 2012. View the full article

This post was written by Alison Green and published on Ask a Manager. A reader writes: I’m a recently appointed executive director who is hiring a number of people for newly created roles. In the past, I’ve hired but never had the overwhelming response I’m getting now. Much of it is coming through my personal channels, such as LinkedIn, Facebook, Instagram, and even my personal email. Our organization uses an electronic applicant tracking system and we are vetting candidates that way. More and more, I’m receiving messages non-stop, to the point where my wife and some former colleagues have received requests for my contact details. A few candidates have sent surly follow-up notes. Is it okay to respond to them telling them not to contact me at my private email or on Facebook? I feel like they may need a refresher on networking and that this isn’t it. How should I handle these people? I answer this question — and three others — over at Inc. today, where I’m revisiting letters that have been buried in the archives here from years ago (and sometimes updating/expanding my answers to them). You can read it here. Other questions I’m answering there today include: Talking about pumping in a male-dominated office How to politely decline buying a shirt when it’s about cancer My colleagues are uninterested in my work View the full article

Avoid the dreaded “what’s the status of” questions. By Frank Stitely The Relentless CPA Go PRO for members-only access to more Frank Stitely. View the full article

Avoid the dreaded “what’s the status of” questions. By Frank Stitely The Relentless CPA Go PRO for members-only access to more Frank Stitely. View the full article

Reason for crash still unknown after container vessel struck tanker carrying US military fuel View the full article