Category: News

Independent Business Network furious at lockdown

Posted on November 2, 2020 by - News

Chairman of the Independent Business Network, John Longworth, is rather miffed at the Government’s COVID response and is worried that it could kill off any pre-Christmas sales.

He said that the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE) in conjunction with “a hysterical broadcast media” have created the perfect environment for a pre Christmas lockdown.

“If SAGE’s insistence on this new lockdown has the desired effect of reducing COVID infections in the short term then they will doubtless claim victory heralding themselves as the heroes of Christmas saved. Of course we may then never know that their machinations destroyed our economy and people’s mental and physical health for nothing, as avoiding lockdown would have had a similar but longer lasting effect. It’s telling, however, that even the World Health Organisation (WHO) has opposed further lockdowns describing them as a cruel and blunt tool with questionable scientific merit”, he said.

Nazca’s Sales Process Development Platform promises enlightenment

Posted on October 30, 2020 by - News

Applications are now being accepted to join the beta programme Nazca’s Sales Process Development Platform which claims to help “humanistic sales organisations” better reflect the needs of people in sales engagements and usher in a new age of “sales enlightenment.”

Treve Wearne, CEO and Founder of Nazca Services said: “Over time, however, sales organisations have become increasingly inhuman – dominated by processes, targets and technology. The gap between what buyers need and how the sales organisations that they engage with respond has widened to the point where it risks real damage – to salespeople, to the people who lead and manage them, to the relationships with buyers and, as a consequence, to the businesses who need sales to thrive and grow.

It is inviting outfits to join its  beta programme, as it”marched towards a new age of sales enlightenment where the human (seller and buyer) is placed firmly at the centre of sales organisations and where their emotional drivers, engagements, wellbeing and happiness are the primary concern.”

Wipro deepens IBM relationship on cloud

Posted on October 30, 2020 by - News

Wipro is expanding its IBM Hybrid Cloud Practice and deepening its partnership with Biggish Blue.

The cunning plan is to help Wipro customers modernise their digital operations across hybrid cloud environments by using IBM Cloud Packs which are containerised software running on Red Hat OpenShift.

BoundaryLess Enterprise (BLE) is a hybrid cloud management platform that offers a comprehensive array of technologies in a single environment that enables customers to run their cloud-native applications from anywhere. BLE uses IBM’s open hybrid cloud capabilities to support containers, IaaS, and PaaS computing models that can help enterprises accelerate their transformation journey to the cloud.  

ISF releases security advice

Posted on October 30, 2020 by - News

Security group Information Security Forum (ISF) has released a report for businesses to improve and refine their security practices.

The report’s writer, Steve Durbin, Managing Director of ISF, said: ‘Cybercrime flourishes in an economic downturn, and as more organisations adopt digitalisation and move operations online, their need to protect data and critical assets increases. During these challenging times, the ISF is focused on helping our members meet business needs, manage risk effectively and provide assurance of the highest levels of protection across their organisation.”

Within the report, ISF give what it describes as vital information about the dangers of edge computing, instruct companies on how to protect their workforce by making them the strongest line of defence against any cyber-attack, and examines what the future holds for Chief Information Security Officers.

AMD buys Xilinx

Posted on October 29, 2020 by - News

AMD has bought rival chip maker Xilinx in a $35 billion all-stock deal.

Both firms expect the deal to generate $300 million in cost cuts. It will also create a combined company with about 13,000 engineers.

AMD’s CEO Lisa Su will serve as the new CEO of the combined company, while Xilinx’s CEO Victor Peng will continue to lead Xilinx’s operations – being responsible for Xinlinx’s business and growth initiatives.

Both companies expect the deal to close at the end of 2021.

Su said that Xilinx is very strong in some markets, and AMD believes that the deal would enable it “to accelerate some of the AMD products into those markets”.

Cisco gets up to date

Posted on October 29, 2020 by - News

Cisco lifted its kimono on a “new and improved” partner programme to reveal something its partners have never seen before.

But the company denied that, and said that the new programme includes the best bits of the old one but adds extra elements, incentives and support.

The company said that the new programme is based around four key partner roles: Integrator, Provider, Developer, and Advisor. These changes, Cisco said, will ensure it can better support myriad ways in which partners work with customers in the real-world – be that reselling, offering managing services, developing using their own APIs or acting as trusted advisors.

Wipro snaps up Encore

Posted on October 29, 2020 by - News

Wipro signed a definitive agreement to buy Encore Theme Technologies Private Limited (Encore Theme), a specialist in providing SaaS and Cloud stuff in financial services.

Over the past decade, it’s claimed, Encore Theme has spent its time and energy  e implementing a suite of Trade Finance solutions, developed by Finastra. It has delivered  stuff to over 75 large scale Finastra Trade Finance projects for banks across these regions. Its customers are not detailed, but we guess you know who you are.

Financial institutions are all looking to change their trade platforms. Trade Finance is a strong revenue generation stream with a high cost base structure, where technology will play a big part in driving future growth.  Interpreting this sentence is difficult but we think it means it costs a lot.

Robots set to rule the roost

Posted on October 28, 2020 by - News

The International Federation of Robotics (IFR) said that sales between 2018-2019 generated $11.2 billion, with prospects good for future growth.

And medical robot sales accounted for 47 percent of turnover in 2019 – robot surgery systems accounted for $5.3 billion – a rise of 28 percent from the year before.

Logistic robots, used in “smart” factories and in warehouses rose 110 percent in 2019 to generate $1.9 billion.

Content+Cloud endorsed by Microsoft

Posted on October 28, 2020 by - News

Microsoft has given Content+Cloud “preferred partner” accreditation, meaning that it is one of 17  top level firms worldwide delivering Project Cortex.

Project Cortex is a Microsoft attempt to integrate artificial intelligence with Microsoft 365.

Microsoft’s partner plans for Cortex includes three tiers – preferred, chartered and associate.

Content+Cloud worked on the development of Project Cortex. Because of that relationship, the firm claims that it had an early start in implementing the scheme.

It said that it has implemented Project Cortex at a major unnamed global financial institution.

Planning future SAP strategies falling behind

Posted on October 27, 2020 by - News

A report released by SAP outfit Avantra and its research partner ASUG  reveals organisations are spending more than twice as much time executing on their current SAP strategies than planning for the future.

ASUG conducted an independent survey to identify drivers in the SAP operations market, understand SAP-centric enterprise operational challenges, explore challenges in digital transformation, and uncover the tools and technologies enterprise leaders need to solve these challenges.

The study revealed:

Oracle releases dual-region government Cloud product

Posted on October 27, 2020 by - News

Oracle has announced a ‘dual-region Government Cloud’, private cloud infrastructure for the UK government.

The dual-region cloud consists of two data centres for disaster recovery purposes – an existing facility in London plus a new one in Newport, Wales  – connected by an Oracle-owned high speed network.

It expands on the company’s existing UK Government Cloud Region, by allowing data to move between the two regions, and includes services such Autonomous Database, Kubernetes, OCI services and Fusion Cloud apps as well as storage.

Oracle senior vice president Richard Petley said that the dual clouds will mean all Oracle’s customers across the UK can get their paws on  Oracle’s second-generation cloud.

“This is a completely unique offering to the UK government – no other cloud provider offers the sovereignty and performance we are announcing today.”

Computacenter’s Pivot purchase approved by shareholders

Posted on October 26, 2020 by - News

Computacenter’s £61.75 million acquisition of Pivot has been approved by the Canadian outfit’s shareholders.

The deal was first announced in September and will see Computacenter double the size of its business in the US.

Computacenter confirmed that shareholder approval had been given and the Ontario Superior Court is now expected to approve the acquisition, leaving the deal to be completed on Monday 2 November.

Sopra Steria hit by ransomware

Posted on October 26, 2020 by - News

IT services giant Sopra Steria has been downed by the Ryuk ransomware group.

Sopra Steria, which runs a joint venture with the UK Department of Health to provide services such as accounting, payroll and managed IT to NHS organisations said the attack happened on Sopra Steria’s IT network on the evening of 20 October.

“The Group’s teams are working hard for a return to normal as quickly as possible and every effort has been made to ensure business continuity. Sopra Steria is in close contact with its customers and partners, as well as the competent authorities.”

French media reports claim the company has fallen victim to Ryuk ransomware. The ransomware hit Sopra Steria’s Active Directory infrastructure has encrypted portions of the company’s network. 

LexisNexis Legal teams up with Foundation Group

Posted on October 26, 2020 by - News

Number cruncher LexisNexis Legal & Professional has teamed up with Foundation Software Group, developer of an intelligence platform for law firms.

The big idea is to integrate Foundation with LexisNexis InterAction, a client relationship management (CRM) solution purpose-built for legal and professional services, to empower the business development efforts of law and professional services firms.

LexisNexis Legal Business Solutions, GM Scott Wallingford said: “Law firm marketing and business development departments need a holistic view of client relationships to support their wide range of work from strategic planning to pipeline management. This natural integration of InterAction and Foundation provides insight into work that has been done, lawyers who did it, and all the parties involved – giving firms a competitive advantage.”

Datto worth $4 billion

Posted on October 23, 2020 by - News

MSP-focused Datto has raised $594 million after going public and is now worth a cool $4 billion.

The vendor’s share price rose by 20 percent on its first day of trading, before dropping back and ending around four percent up on its IPO price.

The company sold 22 million shares with a value of $27 each; the upper part of the $24 to $27 range the vendor had forecast earlier in the week.

The Connecticut-based firm submitted its IPO application at the end of last month.