Tag: COVID-19

HPE insists employees are double vaccinated

Posted on August 12, 2021 by - News

HPE has issued an order that all its employees are double vaccinated before they are allowed to return to the offices.

In a tweet yesterday, CEO Antonio Neri said he “didn’t take the decision lightly”.

“HPE will be requiring all team members, contractors, and visitors to be fully vaccinated as a condition of entering our sites and attending business events where legally permitted”, he said.

“Throughout this pandemic, we have continually assessed the ever-changing dynamic, we have addressed what we can control, and we have adapted. It is now clear that COVID-19 is going to be with us for a while, and that getting back to normal will take more than masks and distancing.”

The US is seeing an increase in cases due to the spread of the Delta variant with 726,160 confirmed new cases within the last seven days.

HPE announced last year that it intends to move its head office to Houston, Texas and build a new 440,000 square foot campus to accommodate its existing 2,600-strong workforce in the area. However, this is ground zero for the coronavirus surge.

Other tech giants including Microsoft and Google adopted the same policy in requiring proof of vaccination before entering their offices.

 

Channel players face stiff staff shortages

Posted on August 9, 2021 by - News

The KPMG and REC-generated UK report on jobs survey in the channel suggests that salaries have been rising because of a significant shortage of candidates.

In the post-COVID crisis, the demand for talent has been outstripping the number of people available in the market and forcing those who want to move to jack up their prices.

Kate Shoesmith, deputy chief executive of the REC, said it was a good time for people to be looking for a new job, with rewards on offer for those interested in the tech industry.

UK enterprises rushed to adopted hybrid IT solutions

Posted on July 2, 2021 by - News

Enterprises in the UK have accelerated their adoption of hybrid IT solutions and services to prepare for the long-term economic effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report published today by Information Services Group (ISG)

The 2021 ISG Provider Lens Next-Gen Private/Hybrid Cloud – Data Centre Services & Solutions report for the UK found companies were implementing hybrid IT solutions and IT operations led by artificial intelligence (AI) to optimise IT assets costs productivity and capacity and reduce short-term risks.

This trend is part of an ongoing expansion of outsourcing in the UK, ISG says.

ISG EMEA president Steve Hall said: “UK enterprises are turning to IT outsourcing to maximise both growth and productivity for a transformed post-pandemic economy. As a result, companies have started re-evaluating the balance between the IT resources they keep in-house and those they seek from partners.”

Businesses need clear vaccination strategies that put their people first

Posted on June 24, 2021 by - News

HR surveys reveal a high level of confusion amongst employers around their employee’s COVID-19 vaccination status and how to protect the health and safety of workers.

According to Mark Shaw, CEO of Tento Applied Sciences said a recent Gartner HR survey revealed that nearly half  large global organisations will not track the vaccination status of their employees, with less than eight percent requiring staff to show proof of vaccination. While a nationwide survey in Ireland this month showed that well over half of Irish employers want the right to ask their staff if they have received a COVID-19 vaccine.

Shaw said: “One of the biggest challenges organisations face now, and in the future, is ensuring the safety of their staff and customers during the present pandemic and those to come. Most organisations plan to reopen with social distancing and mask-wearing protocols in place, but it is clear to us that they will also need, as part of their overall strategy, a secure, confidential platform for managing the exchange of verified digital health documents between employers, staff, and customers.

COVID-19 made companies take IT more seriously

Posted on March 22, 2021 by - News

COVID-19 has caused IT to be viewed more strategically in their organisations, according to a new Nutanix report

Nutanix’s third annual Enterprise Cloud Index Report found that more than 70 percent of respondents believed COVID-19 has caused IT to be viewed more strategically in their organisations – even the public sector which has struggled with IT modernisation efforts.

While public sector organisations have historically grappled with regulations that deter home working, the pandemic forced them to take necessary steps to securely support a remote workforce. Nearly half of global public sector respondents said their organisations had no employees working remotely one year ago. However, since the onset of the pandemic, the sector has scaled its number of remote workers, with only 15 percent of respondents reporting employing zero remote workers today.

Organisations have begun strategically evaluating their cloud models – with more than 82 percent of global public sector respondents identifying hybrid cloud as the ideal IT operating model for their organisation, the report said.

COVID-19 makes UK manufacturers targets

Posted on February 9, 2021 by - News

The continuing pandemic has created a series of emergencies for UK manufacturers according to research conducted by the Ponemon Institute and commissioned by Keeper Security.

A combination of rapidly implemented remote working, together with reduced staffing, closures and supply chain disruption led to lost revenue and productivity, with security neglected as business leaders sought to fight the most visibly pressing issues first.

More than half of manufacturing firms experienced a cyberattack in 2020, with 37 percent saying the conditions created through COVID-19 made the attacks possible.

Kaseya grows on the back of COVID-19

Posted on January 14, 2021 by - News

IT and security management solutions for managed service providers (MSPs) and small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs), Kaseya announced today that the company grew by over 20 percent.

In response to the impact that COVID-19 had on the industry, Kaseya has continued to expand IT Complete, its workflow integrated platform of IT solutions.

The company also launched Kaseya Cares, a COVID-19 assistance program that helped businesses navigate government relief programmes and provides access to direct financial assistance and complimentary business guidance and assistance via Kaseya Powered Services. To date, the programme has assisted more than 4,500 customers and provided over $10 million in direct financial relief.

UK government, BT, fail kids on internet front

Posted on January 7, 2021 by - News

As we reported yesterday, a lack of foresight and even hindsight by the UK government has left some children high and dry on the lack of laptops.

But while it’s all very well having a laptop, if an underprivileged kid wants to study online that obviously requires a secure and reliable internet connection.

We have contacted BT as to whether it has been approached to tender for a cheaper interweb connection for kids maybe with a laptop but no way to conduct “online learning”. We have also dropped a line to the government.

As usual, BT’s really crap PR network has failed to respond to our urgent questions. So no change there. BT has failed to communicate anything for the last 40 years.  It is the backbone of the interweb, in the UK.

The BBC is inviting people to contribute laptops &c. But Auntie Beeb seems to have forgotten the lack of web access.

Avaya announces COVID-19 vaccine solutions

Posted on December 18, 2020 by - News

Avaya has announced a suite of digital communications solutions to address the unique challenges related to COVID-19 vaccine administration.

The company said the solutions are designed specifically for healthcare providers and government agencies and can be applied on top of any existing infrastructure to assist with the critical requirements of successful administration of the vaccine.

Avaya OneCloud CPaaS includes HIPAA-compliant innovation that has been on the front lines of COVID-19 response, used by healthcare providers and government agencies for Contact Tracing, responding to high volumes of medical inquiries, and rapid notification services, for example.

Channel’s SME base badly undermined by COVID

Posted on December 2, 2020 by - News

SMEs have been badly hit by the COVID-19 crisis according to BVA BDRC.

In its SME Finance Monitor  report, BVA BDRC found that three-quarters of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have been negatively affected by COVID-19, with 35 percent saying things have been really tough.

When asked, 40 percent of SMEs felt the worst was still to come, although the number of those that expected income to drop by half or more had reduced from 60 percent in the second quarter to 30 per cent in the three months from July to September.

IT budgets hammered by COVID-19

Posted on November 6, 2020 by - News

People will have to learn to do “more with less” next year as COVID-19 weighs heavy on their IT budgets, according to a new report from analyst outfit Forrester.

Forrester VP and principal analyst Thomas Husson claims that end users will want to invest in technology next year to help them endure the COVID-19 crisis, but lack the budgets.

He thinks that this will put more pressure on IT suppliers.

“Companies will have to do more with less meaning they will have to make some cuts and reprioritise some of their investments. And clearly, we see what is happening is that they are more demanding than ever”, Husson said.

“Into next year they are likely to feel more frustrated because they will have to deal with lower purchasing power, and some of them will unfortunately face unemployment.

Cyber security providers benefit from EU and local regulations

Posted on November 2, 2020 by - News

Enterprises in the UK are looking to cyber security providers to help them comply with European Union and local regulations, and protect data as employees work from home during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a report published today by Information Services Group (ISG).

The 2020 ISG Provider Lens Cyber Security – Solutions & Services Report, for the UK finds enterprises in the country counting on cyber security providers to help them comply with UK privacy and cyber security rules passed as the country separates from the European Union. At the same time, U.K. companies must continue to comply with E.U. data privacy regulations because of the country’s economic connections to continental Europe.

Jan Erik Aase, director and global leader, ISG Provider Lens Research said that UK enterprises are prioritising cyber security as most business processes have gone digital.

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.

Majority of UK firms want AI 

Posted on October 6, 2020 by - News

A survey of 430 UK companies has revealed business leaders’ perceptions of artificial intelligence (AI) and how COVID-19 has changed their attitude towards the technology.

Fountech.ai’s research also found that 45 percent of businesses are looking to implement one or more technologies that use AI in the next 12 months. The AI think tank found:

Organisations shout for cloud

Posted on October 5, 2020 by - News

Beancounters at Synergy Research said that organisations are demanding more cloud collaboration solutions.

While total on-premise spending saw a decline, there was growth in video conferencing. The largest segments for spend were IP Telephony, video conferencing, on-prem email and content management.

Teams software-as-a-service (SaaS), conferencing SaaS and communications platform-as-a-service (CPaaS) all saw the most growth out of the hosting and cloud segments. As a result of this, Slack, Zoom Twilio and Vonage all now rank in the top ten of collaboration vendors.