Category: News

Diplomat LMS sews up loaned laptop market

Posted on July 5, 2017 by - News

36516ba51f4289dc3565ba655259c3d4The business model of manually loaning laptops or tablets to students a thing of the past, according to a recent survey carried out by LapSafe Products.

The study found that 44 percent of UK Universities have now automated their laptop/tablet loan service within or outside the university libraries.

More than 87 percent deploy the Diplomat LMS, a dynamic self-service, multi-bay locker system designed to loan devices.

The extremely popular Diplomat LMS, stores, charges and deploys laptops, Chromebooks, Microsoft Surface or tablets such as iPads in self-service locker bays. The lockers, allow users to borrow fully charged devices for set periods of time and makes device loans easy to manage. The automated service allows students to borrow devices whether staff are present or not.

The Diplomat LMS also allows a ‘mix and match’ of devices or the opportunity to borrow a charging locker space (BYOD). IT Technicians have the option to update or re-image all the devices from a chosen location saving both time and money.

The survey reveals that 100 per cent of customers that have already deployed the Diplomat LMS would recommend to other universities that they do the same. So why is this service so popular? Feedback has revealed that the main reason is to allow students access to devices outside of normal library opening and that providing a 24 x 7 x 365 access to devices is important. The annual student satisfaction surveys has also revealed that students want more access to this type of service.

According to the survey, the average loans provided by each UK university site per month is approximately 3,000 loans, however, one site is currently transacting 16,000 loans per month.

Most of the Diplomat LMS deployed are using LapSafe ultra-safe SmartLine charging inside the lockers. This means that there is no need for the devices own AC adaptors as it has LapSafe inbuilt charging system which saves the users time when accessing the devices. The Diplomat™LMS monitors the charge status of each device and ensures that it deploys the ‘best charged’ device. 93 percent of customers surveyed said that loaning the ‘best charged’ device was an important factor when choosing their self-service solution.

World shift due to digital innovation

Posted on July 5, 2017 by - News

fings-ain-t-wot-they-used-t-be-all-star-studio-cast-recordingFings ain’t wot they used to be, thanks to digital innovation and transformation, according to Tholons Services Globalization Index 2017” (TSGI) research report.

The report which ranks the Top 50 “Digital Nations” and Top 100 “Super Cities”  Services Globalization (outsourcing) shows that the industry has been shaken at the very core as big industry leaders are grappling to align their business model to the new world of enterprise digital innovation and transformation.

The biggest leaders in services globalisation like India, Philippines, East Europe, China and Latin America, are starting to see most of their services commoditised in the next three to four years.

Clients are asking for transformational and innovative services involving mobility, analytics, cloud, social media, cyber security and digital marketing – services that traditional business models will be challenged to deliver.

The automation of work like applications management, infrastructure support, testing, business processes, self-service and customer relationship management is quickly reducing the need for manpower.

While most of the smaller countries in the top 20 will find it easier to adapt their model and be more agile in working with clients on digital innovation, however more than half of the workforce in IT/BPO sector in leading outsourcing locations will become irrelevant in coming few years unless significant reskilling is done. And for an industry this large, making this gigantic shift will be a challenge.

The Globalization industry has been knocked by digital forces. Robotics, Artificial intelligence, Social Media, Mobility, Big Data, Digital supply chain, Digital Trust, As a Service will continue to punch established players.

The report said that the outsourcing industry has been shaken at the core; big industry leaders are slipping from top positions:

  • India, China, Philippines, Brazil and Mexico are the top ranked Digital Nations. Canada, Chile and Ireland are the new entrants to top 10 Digital Nations, along with Vietnam and Poland from earlier.
  • four Cities from India (Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Hyderabad) and Manila in Philippines continue to be in the top 5 of Super Cities but Manila has moved down to fourth position from previously held second position.
  • Pune and Cebu City have moved out of top 10 Super Cities while Sao Paulo and Buenos Aires have moved in the list representing significant inroads made by Latin American Cities.
  • Leaders like India, Philippines and China are being shaken by disruptors like Canada and Israel, while innovators like Brazil and Chile are going to collectively redefine the leadership for the next decade.

The opportunity of growing $2.4 trillion technology spend to $ 3.8 trillion by accelerated transition of legacy businesses to digital is not to be missed, the report said.

“It is good news for innovative startups, super cities and digital nation to claim the territory. An engaged focus in digital innovation at enterprise level will lead to emergence of new leaders. These new players clearly stand a great chance to be the winners given they are not saddled with legacy and big transformational effort and cost. We feel jubilant ringing the bell to dawn of certainty, opportunity and this new found world,” it adds.

Opsgility doubles in Dublin

Posted on July 4, 2017 by - Moving People, News

Ominous Clouds over Dublin CityMicrosoft cloud expert Opsgility has opened a new subsidiary office located in Dublin, Ireland.

Dr. Jonathan Tuliani has been appointed as the Managing Director of this new office, effective July 1. Tuliani will report to Michael Washam, CEO, and will oversee the rapidly expanding European market.

Tuliani comes to Opsgility after spending more than nine years at Microsoft, most recently serving as the Principal Program Manager on the Azure Networking Team. As part of a global team, he led the development of multiple Microsoft Azure services, including Azure DNS and Azure Traffic Manager.

“Not only are we excited to be opening this new office, we’re also thrilled to bring such a strong technical leader to Opsgility,” said Michael Washam, CEO of Opsgility. “The cloud readiness market is rapidly growing, and this new office, paired with Jonathan’s skillset, presents us the opportunity to better service our global clients.”

He said: “This new role will allow me to act as a bridge between Microsoft’s Cloud technology and Opsgility’s breadth of customers. I was drawn to the direct line between the work Opsgility does and the value that’s delivered to their customers. While Opsgility is a small team, they have seen tremendous growth over the past several years, and they are a powerhouse when it comes to Microsoft training. I am excited to be a part of this fast-growing company and eager to see where we go over the next several years.”

Prior to Microsoft, Tuliani was the Technical Director at Cryptomathic Limited, a specialist security software vendor. Reporting directly to the CEO, he was responsible for all UK technical activities. Tuliani earned his Ph.D. in Mathematics from the University of London and serves on the board of The Children’s House, a local school in Dublin.

Frost and Sullivan predict Blockchain will push into health

Posted on July 4, 2017 by - News

blockchain-health-care-tech-analytics-records-securityThe divination and oracles section of Frost and Sullivan has been shuffling its tarot cards and consulting the entrails and reached the conclusion that in the next five to 10 years, a blockchain ecosystem will emerge which will take control of the health industry.

A new report said that on-going digital democratization of care delivery models towards a much-anticipated personalized and outcome-based treatment will be the major impetus for blockchain adoption.

The convergence of blockchain with emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning, mHealth and Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) provides new opportunities to explore digital health economies. At its core, blockchain would offer the potential of a shared platform that decentralises healthcare interactions ensuring access control, authenticity, and integrity while presenting the industry with radical possibilities for value-based care and reimbursement models, the report said.

Frost and Sullivan Transformational Health Industry Analyst Kamaljit Behera, who penned the report said: “Burgeoning connected health devices and the need to protect against data breaches make blockchain, with its ubiquitous security infrastructure, the obvious foundation for emerging digital health workflows and advanced healthcare interoperability. It creates an additional trust layer through unique distributed network consensus that uses cryptography techniques to minimize cyber threats.

“Blockchain technology may not be the panacea for healthcare industry challenges needs but it holds the potential to save billions of dollars by optimizing current work-flows and dis-intermediating some high-cost gatekeepers”.

 

Mobile office goes all wobbly

Posted on July 4, 2017 by - News

old_officeMicrosoft’s Office 365 portal encountered problems for a second consecutive working day.

The admin portal for Microsoft’s cloud productivity suite experienced a wobble on Friday, but later in the day Microsoft said it had fixed the bug.  But it turned out that it had not and yesterday it admitted that it was looking into reports of further problems. The problem affects user and admin accounts and is centred around admin portal availability.

Network admins took to Twitter to moan. Users in multiple European countries, including the UK, Spain, Germany, Belgium, Finland, Sweden and Lithuania, confirmed that they had experienced difficulties logging in this morning. Others complained that it was working, but was very slow.

Some users have been even daring to say that Microsoft’s O365 is not enterprise ready and that Vole should never had said it was all fixed on Friday.

The danger is that with each outage or service issue, more and more organisations are understanding the risks of entrusting email and application data to a single cloud ecosystem.

A Microsoft representative insisted that the issue was “short lived” and was resolved yesterday morning at a 11am.

ASSA ABLOY sharks digital identity outfit Arjo

Posted on July 4, 2017 by - News

shark_attack_painting-t2 (1)ASSA ABLOY has acquired Arjo Systems, a leading provider of physical and digital identity solutions for secure government ID applications.

Johan Molin, President and CEO of ASSA ABLOY said that Arjo was n exciting technological addition to the ASSA ABLOY Group.

“The company reinforces our current offering within secure identity solutions. The acquisition of Arjo considerably enhances the Group´s position within government ID and will provide complementary growth opportunities,” he said.

ASSA ABLOY Executive Vice President Stefan Widin said: “Our acquisition of Arjo significantly advances our Government ID business, broadening our geographical reach and giving us critical mass,” says , g  and Head of business unit HID Global. “Arjo is a strong fit for HID Global, complementing our existing government ID offerings with an expanded range of capabilities for government agencies, state printers and local integrators.”

Arjo was founded in 2011 and has some 100 employees with operations in France, Italy and Hong Kong.

Sales for 2017 are expected to reach EUR 56 million

Channel-only jobs website launched

Posted on July 4, 2017 by - Moving People, News

1200px-Unemployed_men_queued_outside_a_depression_soup_kitchen_opened_in_Chicago_by_Al_Capone,_02-1931_-_NARA_-_541927Channelpeople.co.uk which is being touted as a website  for job hunters searching for jobs specifically among  IT vendors, distributors, resellers and MSPs has launched.

Co-founder Gavin O’Shea said 15 clients, who are being offered a free trial until September, have signed up in its launch week, .

O’Shea said he hoped to have 100 clients posting jobs on the site within a year, and 500 in the longer term.

Many firms prefer to keep recruitment in-house but have also concluded that generalist jobs sites do not address the specifics of the channel, he said.

The site uses industry-specific search filters designed to help IT channel professionals easily find vacancies that are relevant to them.

Both O’Shea and his Channelpeople.co.uk co-founder Leon Conway have spent the majority of their careers in IT distribution.  O’Shea was most recently a general manager at Exertis.

They said that there are between 6,000 and 10,000 active resellers buying through distribution every month. Then there are probably 1,000 or more vendors in the UK.

“We don’t think 100 clients in the first year is a lot. It would be lovely to get to 500 – that’s really what we’re aiming for long term.”

Microsoft snaps up Cloudyn

Posted on July 3, 2017 by - News

lightning-cloudSoftware King of the World, with shares in the moon and parts of Uranus, has confirmed it is writing a cheque for Israeli  cloud management company Cloudyn.

Writing in his bog, Microsoft director of product management Jeremy Winter confirmed the deal which was leaked to the Israeli press in April, but never confirmed.

The move appears to have involved Infosys which flogged off its entire investment in Cloudyn for a total consideration of approximately  $4,400,000.

Six-year-old Cloudyn offers software that businesses can use to monitor their cloud computing resources from Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, and Google. It also monitors clouds based on OpenStack technology.

In his post, Miller cited an unnamed Fortune 500 company that saw a 286 percent  return on investment using Cloudyn’s technology to boost efficiency.

He said that Cloudyn’s technology would become part of Microsoft’s lineup.  Cloudyn CEO Sharon Wagner said the focus on multi-cloud management would continue. That makes sense given that many Fortune 500 companies want to use more than one cloud provider, and in this arena, Microsoft is playing catch-up to the Amazon Web Services cloud juggernaut. It is in Microsoft’s best interest to preach multi-cloud at this point.

Cloudyn raised just over $20 million from investors including Carmel Ventures, Titanium Investments and RDSeed.

Certent signs deal with IBM

Posted on July 3, 2017 by - News

satanic pactCertent has signed a definitive agreement with IBM to acquire the IBM Cognos Disclosure Management (CDM), IBM Cognos Disclosure Management on Cloud (CDM on Cloud), IBM Cognos Financial Statement Reporting (FSR), and IBM Clarity 7 products.

IBM will continue to be a partner of Certent’s under a reseller agreement. Other terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

The IBM suite of products offers on-premise and cloud platforms for multi-author reports to financial and disclosure reporting teams in North America, APAC and Europe, which give organisations advanced capabilities to handle regulatory requirements involving US GAAP and XBRL, IFRS and European Banking Authority and insurance industry frameworks.

Hundreds of customers rely on these products to address complexities surrounding regulatory reporting mandates such as Solvency II, COREP and FINREP.

Certent CEO Michael Boese said: “This acquisition supports our strategy to be the leading global provider of financial reporting and compliance software and services.It will expand our product suite, accelerate our product roadmap and expand our international footprint.”

Certent VP Don Hill said that customers, partners and employees will all see tremendous benefits from this union.

“We have been providing Disclosure Management services as an IBM partner since 2013. In addition to the planned product innovations associated with this deal, we are excited to bring the same world class services to our expanded customer base around the world.”

 

Living on the mobile edge is more interesting

Posted on July 3, 2017 by - News

b5Beancounters at Transparency Market Research have added up some numbers and reached the conclusion that the global mobile edge computing (MEC) market is a dynamic and highly competitive one, which is making gigantic strides.

In a report, the analysts said that players operating in the market are constantly looking to develop more effective solutions in response to the different requirement of end-use companies.

They are investing heavily in cutting-edge technologies to stay ahead.

The report said that the many titans in the field were coming up with highly advanced hardware and software solutions that will help them steal a march over their competitors.

The top names in global mobile edge computing (MEC) market are IBM, Huawei, IDT, Nokia, PeerApp, Intel, Juniper, ADLINK, Saguna, Vasona Networks, ZTE and SpiderCloud Wireless.

As per a report by Transparency Market Research, the global mobile edge computing (MEC) market will register 51.0 per cent CAGR between 2017 and 2025 to become worth $4228.3 million by 2025 from $73.8 million in 2016.

Depending upon the part, the global mobile edge computing (MEC) market can be segmented into hardware, software, and service. Of them, the hardware segment accounted for a mammoth 80 percent share in the market in 2016.

The report claims this is because the entire mobile edge computing architecture is comprised of different hardware – servers, processors, routers, and switches. The segment is predicted to clock maximum growth in the forecast period.

Geographically, the key segments in the global mobile edge computing (MEC) market are North America, South America, Asia-Pacific, Europe, and the Middle East and Africa.

Europe is a major market and accounted for a leading share of about 43.5 percent in 2016. The primary reason for the region’s dominant position is the swift uptake of mobile edge computing on account of increasing monthly data usage and the rising adoption of devices having Internet of Things (IoT).

There are quite a few drivers that are bringing about phenomenal growth in the global mobile edge (MEC) computing market, the report said. One of them is the low latency networks, especially for media and entertainment purposes.

“MEC has the capability to hasten the distribution of media services by distributing content straight from the base station, which considerably improves the consumer experience in an aspect of high data traffic growth. This technology allows administrators to adapt traffic to the dominant radio circumstances, improve network efficiency and enhance service quality,” the report said.

Further, the growing number of IoT devices, automated cars, etc. are also supporting the growth of the mobile edge computing market. Moreover, the mobile edge computing market is predicted to see high demand worldwide owing to its growing application in different applications due to its low latency, high content delivery, and high quality of experience over the forecast period.

US Ensono snaps up Inframon

Posted on July 3, 2017 by - News

 

Finding-Nemo-Shark-Wallpaper-HDEnsono, the US outfit which bought Attenda last September, has grabbed another UK managed services provider – Inframon.

Reading-based Inframon is an Azure-based operation which specialises in moving large Microsoft-centric organisations to the cloud.

Ensono bought Attenda nine months ago which is a UK managed services and cloud services provider specialising in business-critical applications. It said that Inframon would bolster its AWS and Azure prowess.

Ensono CEO Jeff VonDeylen said that the investment further strengthens our managed cloud offerings.

“By coupling Ensono’s expertise in managing mission-critical operations and Inframon’s extensive knowledge and leadership in Azure managed service offerings, we continue to position ourselves as the best partner to help our clients optimise their IT infrastructures.”

Inframon will keep its name, and Inframon’s Sean Roberts will assume the role of general manager, Microsoft Cloud Services, with Gordon McKenna becoming CTO, Microsoft Cloud Services, reporting into Brian Klingbeil, Ensono’s COO, Ensono said.

 

 

StayinFront gets 20:20

Posted on July 3, 2017 by - News

spec_saversStayinFront announced today it had acquired UK-based analytics provider 20:20 Retail Data Insight a move to boost its sales revenues.

The company and current staff will be integrated with StayinFront’s global analytics and reporting team and will operate from Lincoln, UK.

20:20 has over 15 years experience of using a data-informed approach to direct field sales actions.

The company works with major grocers and retailers in the UK, Europe and North America and uses EPoS data to create relevant insights for in-field sales representatives, as well as their managers.

These insights are converted to in-store activities which maximise sales and promotion effectiveness.

StayinFront is based in the US and is a provider of mobile cloud-based field force automation solutions for the consumer goods industry. It was voted a Top Ten Technology Provider in the 2017 CGT Readers’ Choice Survey and ranked Best-In-Class in the most recent POI Retail Execution Vendor Panorama. Customers in over 50 countries, ranging from Fortune 100 companies and distributors to niche manufacturers and contract sales organisations, have deployed StayinFront’s solutions to standardise best practices, improve visibility and increase sales force effectiveness.

StayinFront CEO Thomas Buckley said there was a real opportunity to deliver advanced capabilities and guided selling via more meaningful store and route-level scorecards to our customers across the globe.

“We also see great potential in integrating analytic technologies with the digital merchandising and image recognition initiatives we have road mapped. In the end, the combination fits squarely within our goal of allowing our clients to Do More, Know More and Sell More.”

SAS talks of pushing and pulling in the data analytics market

Posted on June 30, 2017 by - News

 

cache_a1d87f158cdc877afe8b4214aec625e2SAS, which is Official Analytics Partner of British Rowing as a metaphor for what it has to do in the new markets, has been showing how data analytics have become crucial in sports..

It roped in double Olympic champion Helen Glover to row in an indoor practice tank rigged with sensors on the oars and footplates to show that a rower has to push just as much as they pulled.

Using the SAS collected and analysed data to visually illustrate each stroke and show there is always an opportunity to improve performance, even at the elite level, by highlighting inconsistencies, strengths and weaknesses.

Data collection and analytics are now being adopted across many different organisations, and sport has seen a considerable increase in use of data. It is no longer enough to simply record the speed or angle of a boat in the water, but a huge array of different data types are available to SAS to help allow British Rowing athletes to perform at their best and give them the best chance to succeed at international level.

For rowers benefiting from enhanced data analysis, the development has been vital in ensuring peak performance is achieved.

Speaking at an event hosted by SAS, Helen Glover said: “For me, data analytics was fundamental to my build-up to Rio. Having that information about myself, and knowing that I was going to be my best self on the start line was crucial.”

Previous Henley Royal Regatta winner and double Olympic Champion, Glover said that data analytics was crucial as  rowers up and down the country prepare for this year’s regatta.

Speaking about the types of data collected, Steve Ludlow, Principal Technology Consultant at SAS UK & Ireland, said: “British Rowing collects all sorts of data that we can help analyse. We can look at data from the sensors on the boat, the biomechanical data including the angles and forces working on the boat, temperature data, and even medical data.”

To put the sheer amount of data collected into perspective, Ludlow described how a new piece of data is collected “every two one thousandths of a second, so if you are doing a session of 24km, then you are collecting gigabytes worth of data [in a single session]”.

 

Redcentric no longer ginger about figures

Posted on June 30, 2017 by - News

8c06ff2279ed6947326598bb02e2e22dRedcentric has managed to put its “challenging year” behind it after hitting revised financial targets with revenue of over £100 million

The MSP was the subject of audits and investigations after the discovery of accounting errors revealed it had overstated net assets and profit by over £20 million.

A statement was released last month claiming Redcentric had however managed to hit its trading targets, and a further statement to the London Stock Exchange today revealed revenue of £104.6 million for the  year ending 2017.

Among this revenue was £90 million from clients who “remained loyal”, while key wins have brought in contracts worth over £19.4 million from the new clients.

Chris Cole, chairman of Redcentric, said that during this challenging period for the company but clients and employees have remained loyal and focused, thus ensuring the day-to-day externally facing business operations have continued satisfactorily.

The financial structure and personnel have been reinforced and changed to provide resilient and accurate reporting. The company was looking forward to the business operating normally and trading well in markets that provide opportunities for growth.

Redcentric has appointed a new chief financial officer and new auditors have been in place since last month. It has also implemented more robust internal controls and is in the process of scrapping multiple legacy back-office systems for a new Microsoft platform.

Cloud giants need channel for next phase

Posted on June 30, 2017 by - News

ae75610647df615b38555f1bc5ac6896Market analyst outfit Canalys says that the cloud giants such as AWS, Microsoft and Google are embracing the channel as they look to capitalise on the “next phase” of cloud adoption.

AWS, Microsoft and Google grew their cloud infrastructure revenues by 43 percent, 93 percent and 74 percent respectively in Q1, year on year, as the overall market rose by 42 percent to $11.4 billion, Canalys said.

But the big three have worked out that building an indirect business will be the only way to maintain that order of growth,

Canalys principal analyst Matthew Ball said that the next phase of cloud adoption means that they are looking at corporate and mid-market accounts, and for that they need greater reach and scale, and to do that they need the channel.

Big cloud providers, AWS and Google have not come from an enterprise IT background so they are starting to mature their partner programmes and channel engagements.

They are looking to focus on that more because they recognise that the channel has those relationships with customers.

Canalys thinks the channel will be a part of their go-to-market strategies, especially if they want to maintain their high levels of growth each quarter and year.

Canalys pegged AWS’ Q1 cloud infrastructure sales at over $3.5 billion but the market leader’s success need not be at the cost of the channel, said Ball, who argued that the rise of cloud has in some cases expanded the role played by resellers.

Ball said that the channel has made good business selling datacentre infrastructure in the past, and will do so.

Cloud is another choice for customers in terms of how they operate their IT environments and, for sure, it’s a concern for channel partners. Some partners have been affected by cloud and others changing their business model to develop consultancy or professional services to help their customers define a cloud environment.