Author: Nick Farrell

Almond swallows rival Amossys

Posted on February 1, 2023 by - News

Security outfit Almond has written a cheque for all of Amossys’ shares.

Founded in 2007, Amossys provides consultancy and expertise in cyber-security, enabling companies and public authorities to evaluate and improve the security level of their computer systems.

With more than 60 engineers, and cyber-security experts, Amossys serves about 100 companies and other organisations, in a wide variety of sectors – defence, aerospace, the public sector, healthcare, banking, transportation, telecommunications, energy, . – and has an annual turnover of almost six million euros.

eGates will be a big thing claims Juniper

Posted on February 1, 2023 by - News

eGate hardware revenue will exceed $490 million by 2027; up from $207 million in 2023 according to a new report from Juniper Research.

The report, with the catchy title Border Security Technologies: Emerging Trends, Key Opportunities & Market Forecasts 2022 2027, predicts that rising levels of international travel and greater passenger flow will drive the adoption of eGates, as a more efficient means of border control manual processes.

eGates, otherwise known as ABC (Automated Border Control) gates, allow users to verify their identity by comparing their biometric signature, usually captured by a facial recognition camera, with the information stored on the biometric chip of their passport.

The research predicts airports will be looking to implement efficient border control solutions to help manage increasing passenger flows, as international travel continues rebounding following the lifting of COVID-19-related travel restrictions.

iplicit opens a reseller channel

Posted on January 31, 2023 by - News

Accounting software provider iplicit is launching a reseller channel that will allow its partners to offer true-cloud accounting software to growing businesses and land new, larger clients.

iplicit caters for organisations that have outgrown their entry-level finance systems but do not want to move to expensive enterprise-standard ERP solutions.

The iplicit Channel Programme will allow resellers to fill a gap in their portfolios, enabling them to retain their existing customers as those businesses grow while developing new and recurring revenue streams.

Everis turns on the gas with Cadent

Posted on January 31, 2023 by - News

Everis has scored a contract with the UK’s largest gas distribution network, Cadent Gas, to provide it with data quality tools from Informatica.

The agreement will enhance Cadent Gas’s asset data quality and provide insights into its business operations.

Cadent Gas currently manages enormous volumes of data, so the initial focus of this project will be to look at asset data to improve its quality and enhance the insights generated.

The improved quality of asset data and insights will help Cadent Gas to better manage its operations, reduce costs, and improve decision-making processes. These improved data management capabilities will also allow it to better monitor risks, including environmental challenges associated with operating a gas distribution network.

Eduardo Fernandez, Head of Gas, Power & Water at NTT DATA UK&I, said that Cadent Gas served 11 million homes and businesses, making it the largest gas distributor in the UK. Energy data management is a core area where OFGEM has asked energy licence holders to increase digitalisation and investment, and the partnership with Cadent Gas will help it to meet the regulator’s aims.

“By delivering quality improvements to asset data, energy suppliers can drive better management of the gas network and positively contribute to their Journey to Zero targets in the UK.”

Cadent Gas Head of Data Management and Data Science Marta Czerep said: “We are very pleased to be working with NTT DATA on the modernisation of the outfit’s data.

“Cadent wishes to improve its data capabilities and modernise our business to support the wider Net Zero aspiration. We are looking forward to working with NTT DATA and benefitting from its capabilities to future-proof our business with the latest technology for data management.”

Arrow inks deal with Synopsys

Posted on January 31, 2023 by - News

Arrow Electronics has signed a pan-European distribution agreement with Synopsys, to deliver the Synopsys Software Integrity Group’s application security (AppSec) testing solutions to resellers in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA).

Arrow and Synopsys will enable customers to enhance the security of their software through the integration of Synopsys’ AppSec portfolio of market-leading security solutions.

Arrow will resell and deliver joint Synopsys solutions and services, integrate them into DevSecOps workflows and help ensure an optimal customer experience. This will promote a streamlined procurement experience, enhanced security execution, cloud migration and digital transformation projects.

Mitel’s channel will get cross sell opportunities soon

Posted on January 30, 2023 by - News

Mitel’s channel has been promised that it will get the advantage of cross-sell opportunities once the deal to acquire Unify closes.

Mitel announced a €700 million move for the unified communications and collaboration (UCC) and communication and collaboration services (CCS) businesses of the Atos Group earlier this week, heralding the move as a positive one for the channel.

Mitel chief sales officer Graham Bevington said that his outfit and Unify share a common, channel-driven go-to-market approach that is well-suited to fuel success for channel partners.

“Partners would have a broader portfolio of products and services with which to ensure customers have the flexibility to choose the communications model they prefer, as well as more global resources to support the overall partner experience.

Managers want to improve databases

Posted on January 30, 2023 by - News

A new report shows that IT decision-makers at organisations in banking, insurance, and the public sector across the US, Canada, and the UK are largely clueless about the accuracy of the data they store.

The research – commissioned by Quantexa found that 42 per cent of Data and IT leaders believe that all business units trust the accuracy of data available to them. In addition, more than one in five leaders (do not think their organisation is maximising the value of its data.

About half of the managers want to improve their data quality, which is a big change from 2021 when improving data quality was a top priority for only 26 per cent of organisations.

SAP lays off staff

Posted on January 27, 2023 by - News

The business software maker which makes business products so esoteric that no one is quite sure what they do is laying off 3,000 employees.

The layoff plans were disclosed this morning during the company’s fourth quarter/full-year 2022 financial results conference call.

CEO Christian Klein said they are part of a targeted restructuring in select areas of the company and makeup 2.5 per cent of the company.

The company provided few details about where the layoffs would occur, although Reuters reported that slightly more than 200 jobs would be cut in Germany where the company is headquartered.

Atos wants to flog its UCC services businesses, Unify, to Mitel

Posted on January 27, 2023 by - News

Atos has entered negotiations to sell its unified communications and collaboration (UCC) services business, Unify, to Canadian vendor Mitel.

The talks are part Atos’ divestment programme announced during its Capital Markets Day in June 2022.

The plan involves its separation into two publicly listed companies – Evidian, which would bring together its digital transformation, big data and cybersecurity services; and Atos (formerly TFCo), which would make up managed infrastructure services, digital workplace and professional services.

Dell buys Cloudify for better cloud orchestration

Posted on January 27, 2023 by - News

Michael DellDell has acquired Cloudify to spruce up its cloud orchestration capabilities.

Apparently, Dell wrote a cheque for $10 million and filed a Form S-8 with the US Securities and Exchange Commission(SEC) “regarding certain outstanding and unvested options to acquire the ordinary shares of Cloudify Platform, an Israeli private liability company.”

A Dell spokesperson said that the transaction allows Dell to continue to innovate its edge offerings.

Arrow scores global agreement with Lenovo

Posted on January 26, 2023 by - News

Arrow Electronics has landed a global agreement with Lenovo to deliver its TruScale Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS).

For those not in the know, TruScale IaaS operates on a consumption-based subscription model that allows companies to use and pay for datacentre solutions – on-premise or at a customer-preferred location – without having to purchase the equipment.

The idea is to deliver the service using Arrow’s cloud management platform, ArrowSphere, to provide customers with a flexible cloud coupled with the security and control of an on-premises solution.

Microsoft concerned about Azure

Posted on January 26, 2023 by - News

Microsoft campusSoftware King of the World Microsoft is a little worried about the future of its Azure product after it posted a flat top line in its latest quarterly results.

Generally, Vole’s numbers were reasonable. Revenues in the second quarter climbed two per cent to $52.7 billion during the quarter. Net income was $16.4bn GAAP, a drop of 12 per cent compared to the same period of its last fiscal year.

Sales in Azure and other cloud services grew 31 per cent, aiding revenues in Microsoft’s intelligent cloud segment to bring in $21.5 billion.

Avery Design Systems partners with CoMira

Posted on January 26, 2023 by - News

Verification outfit  Avery Design Systems has teamed up with high-speed connectivity IP innovator CoMira Solutions to enable chiplet design using the UCIe (Universal Chiplet Interconnect Express) die-to-die interface standard.

The idea is that by combining Avery’s verification IP (VIP) and functional verification platform and CoMira’s high-speed protocol stack controller technology you will get a good method of designing and verifying multi-die systems using the UCIe standard.

For those who came in late, UCIe was announced earlier this year as a mean to provide interoperability of chiplets within a package, enabling an open chiplet ecosystem and ubiquitous interconnect at the package level.

Elliott Management prepares to take on Salesforce

Posted on January 25, 2023 by - News

Sparks are expected to fly after Elliott Management made a multibillion-dollar investment in CRM powerhouse Salesforce.

For those not in the know, Elliott Management has a history of investing in companies and then forcing them to turn over more money to shareholders. It is expected that Elliott will force more layoffs at the outfit.

Salesforce has been doing well as a company but not returned enough cash to investors, which makes it ripe for activism.

In a statement Elliott Management managing partner Jesse Cohn said his outfit was ,looking forward to “working constructively with Salesforce to realise the value befitting a company of its stature.

“Salesforce is one of the preeminent software companies in the world, and having followed the company for nearly two decades, we have developed a deep respect for (Salesforce co-founder and co-chief Executive) Marc Benioff and what he has built,” said Cohn.

 

 

Cloud rains profits

Posted on January 25, 2023 by - News

Public cloud service and infrastructure markets, operators and vendors’ revenue jumped 21 per cent to $544 billion in 2022.

New data from Synergy Research Group claims that the biggest growth was seen in infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and platform as a service (PaaS).

Annual revenue from these services grew 29 per cent to reach more than $195 billion, despite some headwinds from the strengthening US dollar and problems in the Chinese market.

In the other main segments, managed private cloud services, enterprise SaaS and CDN added another $229 billion in service revenues, having grown by an average 19 per cent from 2021.

Synergy said public cloud providers spent $120 billion on building, leasing and equipping their datacentre infrastructure, which was up 13 per cent from the previous year.