Author: Nick Farrell

Good Law Project sues NHS over Palantir contract

Posted on February 21, 2024 by - News

The Good Law Project (GLP) has taken NHS England to court over its dodgy deal with US spooks Palantir.

The contract, worth a whopping £330 million, gives the firm access to the new Federated Data Platform (FDP), which supposedly links up patient data across the NHS.

But the contract, reluctantly published by the government in December, is full of blacked-out bits. The GLP claims that 417 out of 586 pages have been obliterated, leaving more blanks than a crossword puzzle in a power cut.

“We think this is not only outrageous, but illegal. Government policy says public bodies have to explain why they redact contracts, but despite the huge amount of ink used on Palantir’s contract, no reasons have been given,” GLP said.

“We have now sued NHS England to reveal what they are hiding.”

Security budgets growing

Posted on February 21, 2024 by - News

Infosecurity Europe has announced findings from research into the cybersecurity budgets of organisations, with 69 per cent of surveyed IT decision-makers citing that they have seen, or will see, their cybersecurity budgets increase between 10 and 100 per cent in 2024.

Almost one in five (19 per cent) of those surveyed are seeing or are expecting to see budgets increase between 30 and 49 per cent over the coming year.

Infosecurity Europe’s Advisory Council member Mun Valiji said: “We continue to see pragmatic budgetary spending on cyber security under mounting macroeconomic pressures. The fast-changing threat landscape and tightening regulatory pressures have, in the main, seen security budgets benefiting from much-needed increases, which is positively received.”

HPE’s bid to nab Juniper rattles Cisco

Posted on February 20, 2024 by - News

Hewlett Packard Enterprise‘s plans to snap up rival networking firm Juniper Networks is making some tech bigwigs worry about how the deal will shake up the wired and wireless networking market.

The £10 billion takeover – expected to wrap up by the end of this year or early 2025 – would give HPE the extra AI networking clout it needs to take on the likes of Cisco Systems.

Cisco Chair and CEO Chuck Robbins said it’s still too early for customers to ask about the megadeal even if the new combo would create room for direct competition with Cisco’s wireless kit.

“The one area where they have a lot of overlap is in wireless, and I don’t know if there’s any link to the fact that we had a 50 per cent increase in £1 million-plus wireless deals one after the other. So, it’s hard to say,” he said.

Legacy kit is killing the planet

Posted on February 20, 2024 by - News

A Daisy Corporate Services report has revealed that outdated IT equipment wastes money and harms the environment.

The study, Faster, greener, cheaper: Dealing with IT Infrastructure Complexity in a Hybrid Cloud World, has exposed a massive obstacle in legacy infrastructure, which is gobbling up power and spewing out carbon.

As well as being a drain on the grid, the old gear  burns a hole in the pocket, with cash spent on keeping the machines running. The IT industry has a chance to sell new and improved products, but this is more than just a sales pitch – it’s about saving the planet and cutting costs.

The report  showed a strong desire by customers to go green and be more eco-friendly. Nearly nine of ten IT bosses said sustainability and energy efficiency were necessary, and many had set their own goals.

Daisy, head of propositions and strategy consulting Andy Bevan, said sustainability was a key part of any modern business, and IT departments had a big role in helping the whole organisation go green.

“But legacy technology is a headache for IT teams, with old equipment still using much power,” he said.

The risks of sticking with legacy kit mean some of the options the IT industry can offer that would ease budgets and make customers more green should have been included.

“Customers can benefit from the green features of their cloud providers but are being held back by the difficulties of moving their legacy hardware,” he said.

“This is where modern hybrid cloud platforms can help bridge the gap between on-site infrastructure and cloud to deliver performance and sustainability benefits.”

A debate around legacy infrastructure is happening against a backdrop of increased awareness about other options. Daisy found that 86 per cent of those customers it spoke to agreed that a pay-as-you-go IT infrastructure model would benefit. A similar level was keen to use artificial intelligence to boost efficiency.

“Over the last few years, it has been a tough market for many businesses,” said Bevan. “Driving efficiencies is a big part of businesses’ survival strategies today, which significantly impacts IT teams.

At a time when IT bosses are under pressure to cut spending, many businesses are still paying a fortune on their legacy hardware, he added.

“By moving to the cloud and a pay-as-you-go pricing model, businesses can cut costs and increase flexibility by paying for what they use. This should be their dream come true for cash-strapped IT departments,” he said.

Crayon draws in £160 million and eyes AI domination

Posted on February 19, 2024 by - News

Crayon has smashed its fourth-quarter results with a whopping 27 per cent growth in gross profit and a staggering £160 million in cash flow.

The tech firm’s boss, Melissa Mulholland, said the figures show the huge demand for software and cloud services and vowed to keep boosting the company’s efficiency and profitability.

She said: “With the rise in cloud spending and demand for AI, we are in a prime position to grab the market by the horns.”

Crayon revealed its impressive performance in the first half of 2023, with a massive 23 per cent growth in gross profit, reaching over £110 million.

Lenovo to launch its own OS and take on Windows 11

Posted on February 19, 2024 by - News

Maker of ThinkPads Lenovo is set to unleash a bombshell on Microsoft by launching its own artificial intelligence (AI) operating system (OS) later this year.

The tech giant’s top boss, Liu Jun, said the new OS would be “built around multi-terminal products, focusing on AI PCs and personal agents”.

Lenovo announced its latest range of AI PCs, which will hit the shelves in the first half of this year. The company said it will show off its cutting-edge AI devices at MWC, the largest event for the mobile industry, in February.

VeUP in chaos as bosses quit and staff sacked

Posted on February 16, 2024 by - News

British AWS-focused consultancy VeUP is in trouble as bosses leave and reviews slam the firm’s “revolving door” culture.

According to LinkedIn and Companies House records, ex-CEO James Campanini quit the firm in August 2023, and several other top dogs followed him in the last months of 2023.

Ex-COO Owen Knowles and CFO Suzanne Clarke, who worked for VeUP as contractors, also walked out recently. Knowles left in February this year.

Sources inside the company say workers are being dumped and even faced with legal action without warning.

There have been shedloads of senior exits across finance, HR and sales at the start-up, which came to the UK market in early 2023 with Campanini in charge and Alexander Dick as its chairman.

Sophos boss quits as cyber firm booms.

Posted on February 16, 2024 by - News

Cyber security as a service outfit Sophos said that Kris Hagerman has packed it in as its CEO and will be an advisor to the firm until April 1, 2024. Joe Levy will be Sophos’s President and acting CEO.

Hagerman has been CEO of Sophos since 2012 and has seen the firm grow. The firm has tripled its revenue to over $1 billion. It has more customers, from about 150,000 to over 580,000 worldwide, making Sophos one of the top next-generation leaders in the cyber security business. Hagerman made Sophos go public on the London Stock Exchange in 2015 and sold it to Thoma Bravo in 2020.

Hagerman said he was happy with the company’s achievements over the last 12 years as it became a true next-generation cybersecurity leader and an industry pioneer in making cybersecurity a service.

“I am happy to hand over to Joe Levy as President and acting CEO to lead Sophos into the future. Joe and I have worked well together for over nine years, and he has been key in leading our product, services, and technology, which have made Sophos grow. He has my full and keen support.”

Flotek snaps up Welsh web firm

Posted on February 15, 2024 by - News

Cloudy Flotek has bought most of OES, a web and print firm from North Wales.

OES has grown fast and made £3.1 million a year, with a name for its service and bespoke plans, especially for the legal market.

The deal boosts Flotek’s reach in the region, along with the Chester office it got last year, and makes the Welsh MSP rake in more than £10.5 million.

The buy adds 22 OES staff to Flotek’s team, taking it to over 80 people.

SMEs turn to MSPs as economy bites

Posted on February 15, 2024 by - News

UK small businesses are flocking to MSPs as they struggle to cope with the economic turmoil.

A new report by JumpCloud claims that nearly two-thirds of SMEs are using an MSP for some or all of their IT needs, up from just over half in the previous report.

JumpCloud’s top tech boss, Greg Keller [pictured], said MSPs are a bargain for cash-strapped firms.

“MSPs are much cheaper than hiring your IT staff.  They are a game-changer for small firms, start-ups and scale-ups that are the backbone of the SME sector. They don’t have the money or the budget to recruit and train IT staff themselves,” he said.

Nvidia’s CEO Declares War on AI Costs

Posted on February 14, 2024 by - News

In a high-stakes battle for supremacy, Nvidia’s Chief Executive Officer, Jensen Huang, has predicted that reducing the costs of AI chips using faster chips could shake up the industry.

Huang, who presides over the self-proclaimed “world’s most advanced AI platform,” told the World Government Summit in Dubai of his cunning plan to harness technology’s relentless march and slash the cost of AI development.

Huang warned that companies could not just throw money at AI and expect miracles.

He said that the secret lies in faster and cheaper chips.

Amazon’s Valentine’s Day Massacre

Posted on February 14, 2024 by - News

Amazon’s workforce staged a Valentine’s Day revolt yesterday, leaving the e-commerce giant reeling. The battle lines were drawn as employees demanded fair wages and weren’t alone in their fight.

Delivery drivers, including those from popular food apps like Deliveroo, Uber Eats, and Eat, are set to join the fray.

It appears that now is Amazon’s winter of discount tents as they walk out on Wednesday, in a strategic move timed to coincide with the peak demand for swift Valentine’s Day dinner deliveries across Britain.

The GMB trade union has thrown its weight behind the workers, calling for a three-day strike at Amazon’s colossal Coventry facility. The heart of England will echo with their demands, as pay disparities continue to widen.

Nvidia’s mega deal with TD SYNNEX

Posted on February 13, 2024 by - News

Nvidia has struck a UK distribution deal with TD SYNNEX for its full enterprise software and computing range.

Channel partners can now get Nvidia products or platform needs, such as Nvidia AI Enterprise and Nvidia Omniverse Enterprise software licences for developers, through the distribution giant.

TD SYNNEX is one of only two total enterprise distributors in the UK for Nvidia and the company said it will support partners with both technical and commercial help so they can understand where accelerated computing can and is being used today and how they can boost their Nvidia offering.

TD SYNNEX is planning joint go-to-market plans with NVIDIA but with its OEM partners, such as Dell, HPE, Lenovo, NetApp, Supermicro and VMware/Broadcom, to “support resellers finding the right solution with their favourite vendor”.

Cohesity snaps up Veritas in £5 bn deal

Posted on February 12, 2024 by - News

Data security firm Cohesity has spent £5 billion to buy Veritas’ data security business, creating a £10 billion mega-merger.

Reuters revealed the deal, which will see Cohesity take over Veritas’ data protection unit. The unit is valued at over £2 billion, including debt.

Cohesity’s boss, Sanjay Poonen, said the cash and stock acquisition will help the firm boost its growth and profitability and expand into new markets.

He also claimed the merger will create a “profitable growth machine” that will innovate with AI.

However, analysts are not that keen on the deal, which they see as a risky move that could backfire for both firms and their customers.

Atea’s profits plunge as hardware sales slump

Posted on February 12, 2024 by - News

IT giant Atea has admitted its revenues have fallen by a whopping 4.3 per cent to a measly £704.58 million in the last quarter of 2023.

The firm blamed a tough hardware market for the dismal performance, as customers shunned its pricey gadgets and opted for cheaper alternatives.

Hardware sales plummeted by 8.8 per cent compared to the previous year, while the reseller only managed to scrape a 3.2 per cent increase in gross sales to £1.08 billion.

Despite the disappointing results, Atea’s board hiked dividends to £0.52 per share for the 2024 AGM, up from £0.47 last year.

The company claimed its software and services revenues rose by ten and seven per cent, respectively, but that was not enough to offset the hardware slump.