TECH Blog

Enhance Sales Productivity with Acronym IT's CRM Solutions: Efficient Follow-ups and Easy Reporting

Mon, 11 Dec 2023 18:56:09 Z

Effective customer relationship management (CRM) is crucial for sales teams to succeed in today's competitive business landscape. Acronym IT understands the challenges sales professionals face in following up with clients and generating insightful reports. That's why we offer comprehensive CRM solutions to streamline follow-ups, enable efficient communication, and provide easy reporting capabilities. This blog will explore how Acronym IT's CRM solutions empower sales teams, drive productivity, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Efficient Follow-ups with CRM Prompts:

Following up with clients promptly is critical to maintaining strong customer relationships. Acronym IT's CRM solutions have intelligent prompts and reminders that prompt sales teams to take necessary actions, ensuring no leads or opportunities fall through the cracks. These prompts help sales professionals stay organized, prioritize follow-ups, and provide personalized interactions, ultimately enhancing customer satisfaction and increasing sales conversion rates. With our CRM solutions, you can build stronger client relationships and nurture long-term loyalty.

Easy Reporting for Sales Teams:

Accurate and timely reporting is essential for tracking sales performance, identifying trends, and making informed business decisions. Acronym IT's CRM solutions offer easy-to-use reporting functionalities that empower sales teams to generate comprehensive reports with just a few clicks. Our CRM platforms provide intuitive dashboards, customizable reporting templates, and real-time data insights. As a result, sales teams can quickly analyze key metrics, track sales progress, and gain valuable insights into customer preferences and behaviours. Acronym IT's CRM solutions make generating insightful reports seamless and efficient, enabling sales teams to focus more on selling and less on manual reporting tasks.

Unlock Your Sales Potential with Acronym IT:

At Acronym IT, we understand that every business has unique CRM requirements. That's why our team of experts works closely with you to tailor CRM solutions that align with your specific needs and goals. As a result, we offer a range of customizable CRM platforms that can be seamlessly integrated into your existing sales processes, ensuring a smooth transition and maximizing the value of your CRM investment. With Acronym IT's CRM solutions, you can empower your sales teams, drive productivity, and deliver exceptional customer experiences.

Acronym IT's CRM solutions provide the tools and capabilities needed for sales teams to excel in customer relationship management. From efficient follow-ups with intelligent prompts to easy reporting functionalities, our CRM solutions empower sales professionals to streamline workflow, improve customer interactions, and make data-driven decisions. Unlock your sales potential and drive growth with Acronym IT's CRM solutions tailored to your unique business needs. Contact us today to discover how our CRM solutions can revolutionize your sales processes and deliver exceptional results.

Ready to streamline your CRM integration with Microsoft? Contact Acronym IT today for a seamless and hassle-free solution.

Acronym is Auckland's leading provider of IT support

Mon, 27 Nov 2023 22:29:21 Z

As technology becomes increasingly important in today's business world, it is essential for businesses to have reliable and effective IT support to ensure their success. This is where Acronym comes in. Acronym IT is a leading IT support provider and services to New Zealand businesses. With our expert knowledge and common-sense approach, we provide practical and cost-effective IT solutions that help businesses achieve their goals. Our "Freedom with Technology" tagline encapsulates our commitment to using technology to empower businesses to achieve their full potential.

At Acronym, we understand that each business is unique, with its own set of challenges and requirements. That's why we tailor our services to meet each client's specific needs. We start by conducting a thorough assessment of your current IT systems and processes, identifying areas that require improvement. We then develop a comprehensive IT strategy that aligns with your business goals and budget and implements solutions that optimize your IT infrastructure, increase efficiency, and enhance security. Our services include managed IT services, cloud solutions, cybersecurity, data backup and recovery, network infrastructure, and more. We leverage the latest technologies and best practices to provide innovative solutions that are scalable, reliable, and secure. Our team of experienced IT professionals is always on hand to provide fast and efficient support, ensuring that your systems are up and running at all times.

With Acronym's IT support and services, you can focus on running your business, confident in the knowledge that your IT systems are in good hands. Our solutions allow you to innovate, collaborate, and grow your business without worrying about IT issues or downtime. We are committed to delivering exceptional customer service and building long-lasting partnerships with our clients. We understand that IT is not just about technology, it's about people, and we strive to create a positive and supportive working relationship with each client.

Acronym provides expert knowledge and common-sense IT support to successful New Zealand businesses. Our proven methodology to provide practical and cost-effective IT solutions ensure that your ICT systems support the success of your business. With our tagline, "Freedom with Technology," we are committed to using technology to empower businesses to achieve their full potential.

Contact us today to learn how we can help your business succeed with IT support and services tailored to your specific needs.

Unleashing Business Growth with a Custom CRM Platform

Mon, 20 Nov 2023 22:25:38 Z

In today's competitive business landscape, companies constantly seek ways to drive growth and stay ahead of the curve. One powerful tool that can support and fuel company expansion is a CRM (Customer Relationship Management) platform. With the ability to manage customer interactions, streamline processes, and optimize data management, a CRM can be a game-changer for businesses. But imagine the possibilities when you combine the power of a CRM with a custom platform that is intuitive and tailored to your unique needs. This blog will explore how a custom CRM platform can support and accelerate business growth.

Streamlining Customer Relationships:

A CRM platform serves as a central hub for managing and nurturing customer relationships. By consolidating customer data, interactions, and preferences in one place, businesses can gain a holistic view of their customers. This allows for more personalized and targeted marketing efforts, improved customer service, and enhanced sales strategies. A custom CRM platform takes this further by aligning the system with your business processes and requirements. The platform can be tailored to capture and analyze the data points that matter most to your business, providing valuable insights to inform decision-making and drive growth.

Efficiency through Process Automation:

Manual and repetitive tasks can consume valuable time and resources. With a custom CRM platform, businesses can automate processes and workflows, freeing up employees to focus on strategic initiatives. Businesses can improve operational efficiency and maximise productivity by automating tasks such as lead generation, data entry, and follow-ups. A custom CRM platform also allows for seamless integration with existing systems and applications, creating a unified and efficient ecosystem that supports business growth.

Data Management and Analytics:

Data is a valuable asset for businesses, but harnessing its full potential can be challenging without the right tools. A custom CRM platform provides the flexibility to capture, organize, and analyze data in a way that aligns with your business goals. It enables you to track and measure key performance indicators (KPIs), customer behaviour, and sales trends, allowing for data-driven decision-making. By gaining deeper insights into customer preferences and behaviours, businesses can tailor their offerings and marketing strategies to serve their target audience better, ultimately driving growth and customer satisfaction.

Intuitive User Experience: One of the key advantages of a custom CRM platform is its intuitive user experience. Every business has unique processes and workflows; a generic CRM may not fully align with those needs. A custom CRM platform can be designed with a user-friendly interface that reflects your company's branding and operational requirements. This enhances user adoption and minimizes the learning curve, increasing employee efficiency and productivity. An intuitive CRM platform ensures that your team can easily navigate and leverage the system's features, enabling them to focus on building strong customer relationships and driving business growth.

A custom CRM platform is a powerful tool that can support and accelerate business growth. By streamlining customer relationships, automating processes, optimizing data management, and providing an intuitive user experience, a custom CRM platform empowers businesses to make informed decisions, enhance operational efficiency, and deliver exceptional customer experiences. With Acronym's expertise in developing custom CRM solutions, businesses can unlock the full potential of their customer data and take their growth strategies to new heights. Embrace the power of a custom CRM platform and embark on a journey of sustainable

Harnessing the Power of Sentiment Analysis with Microsoft: Unleashing Insights for Business Success

Mon, 13 Nov 2023 03:05:07 Z

In today's digital age, understanding customer sentiments is more crucial than ever. Sentiment analysis, a powerful technique that utilizes natural language processing and machine learning, allows businesses to gain valuable insights into customer opinions, emotions, and attitudes. Microsoft offers advanced sentiment analysis capabilities that can unlock a wealth of information for businesses across various industries. This blog explores the significance of sentiment analysis with Microsoft and how it can drive business success.

Understanding Customer Sentiments:

Customer sentiments hold immense value as they provide a deeper understanding of how customers perceive products, services, and brands. With Microsoft's sentiment analysis tools, businesses can analyze vast amounts of textual data, such as customer reviews, social media posts, and survey responses, to extract sentiment-related information. This valuable data can help businesses make data-driven decisions, refine marketing strategies, improve customer experience, and identify emerging trends.

Harnessing the Power of Natural Language Processing:

Microsoft's advanced natural language processing algorithms enable accurate sentiment analysis across multiple languages. These algorithms can identify positive or negative sentiments and nuanced emotions, such as joy, anger, sadness, and surprise. By analyzing customer sentiments at scale, businesses can understand customer perceptions and sentiments comprehensively, enabling them to tailor their offerings, enhance customer engagement, and improve brand reputation.

Real-Time Insights for Proactive Decision-Making:

With Microsoft's sentiment analysis tools, businesses can access real-time insights into customer sentiments. This allows for proactive decision-making, enabling timely responses to customer feedback, emerging issues, or trending topics. By staying ahead of customer sentiments, businesses can address concerns, identify areas for improvement, and capitalize on positive sentiments to strengthen customer relationships and drive loyalty.

Unlocking Competitive Advantage:

Sentiment analysis with Microsoft provides businesses with a competitive edge. By understanding customer sentiments and preferences, businesses can optimize their marketing campaigns, refine product offerings, and personalize customer experiences. Sentiment analysis also helps businesses identify brand advocates, monitor competitor sentiment, and stay informed about industry trends. These insights empower businesses to make informed decisions, stay ahead of the competition, and achieve long-term success.

Sentiment analysis with Microsoft is a powerful tool that empowers businesses to tap into the voice of their customers and gain a deeper understanding of their sentiments. By harnessing the capabilities of natural language processing and machine learning, businesses can extract valuable insights that drive informed decision-making and propel business success. To learn more about how sentiment analysis with Microsoft can transform your business, get in touch with us today. Let's unlock the power of customer sentiments together.

Transform Your Financial Systems with Acronym: EASA Software Development

Sun, 05 Nov 2023 22:48:40 Z

Is your business still relying on Microsoft Excel for critical systems and processes? While Excel may be convenient, it falls short when it comes to meeting auditability and compliance regulations. That's where EASA, a rapid software development tool, can revolutionize your operations.

Problem: Excel restricts usage to one user at a time, leading to copies of spreadsheets and potential errors. This instability can have serious implications for your business. Solution: With EASA, your Excel formulas are retained while a web front-end is added, making the application multi-user and improving data stability.

Problem: Excel lacks an audit trail, leaving your spreadsheets vulnerable to internal fraud and errors. Solution: EASA provides a managed development system that ensures only authorized changes to Excel spreadsheets can be made, maintaining data integrity.

Acronym IT worked with LeasePlan providing EASA compliance solutions. Read the full LeasePlan case study to learn more.

As the New Zealand and Australian distributor for EASA software, Acronym is here to help you harness the benefits of EASA compliance solutions. Contact us today to explore how EASA can benefit your business.

EASA Business Benefits:

Auditable processes

Compliance solutions

Multi-user interface

Rapid development

Unlock the potential of your financial systems with Acronym and EASA. Say goodbye to Excel limitations and embrace a more secure and compliant solution.

Revolutionise Your Retail Experience with Microsoft Foot Traffic Identity

Mon, 23 Oct 2023 20:57:08 Z

In the ever-evolving world of retail, staying ahead of the competition requires innovative strategies that enhance the customer experience. Microsoft Foot Traffic Identity introduces a groundbreaking technology that utilises Wi-Fi and Bluetooth software to analyze foot traffic and provide personalised prompts and offers to customers based on their location in the store. In this blog, we will explore the transformative power of Microsoft Foot Traffic Identity and how it can revolutionise your retail in-store strategy.

Understanding Microsoft Foot Traffic Identity:
Microsoft Foot Traffic Identity is a cutting-edge technology that harnesses the power of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth to gain valuable insights into customer behaviour and preferences within a retail store. By triangulating the entire store with strategically placed sensors, Microsoft Foot Traffic Identity can accurately track customer movements, dwell times, and engagement with specific store areas. This data is then leveraged to provide personalised prompts and offers to customers based on their real-time location and interests.

Enhancing Customer Experience:

With Microsoft Foot Traffic Identity, retailers can deliver their customers a highly personalised and engaging shopping experience. As customers move throughout the store, the technology can identify their location and send targeted prompts or discounts directly to their mobile devices. For example, customers browsing the electronics section may receive a special offer for a new gadget or accessory. This level of personalisation enhances customer satisfaction, drives impulse purchases, and fosters a deeper connection between the customer and the brand.

Boosting Sales and Conversion Rates:

The real-time data provided by Microsoft Foot Traffic Identity allows retailers to optimise their in-store strategy and drive sales. By analysing foot traffic patterns and customer behaviour, retailers can identify high-traffic areas, underperforming zones, and areas of interest. This insight enables retailers to optimise product placement, enhance visual merchandising, and tailor marketing campaigns to specific store sections. By delivering targeted prompts and discounts, retailers can boost conversion rates, increase the average transaction value, and maximise revenue potential.

Driving In-Store Engagement:

Microsoft Foot Traffic Identity goes beyond tracking foot traffic; it actively encourages customer engagement and interaction within the store. By leveraging the technology's capabilities, retailers can gamify the shopping experience, offering incentives for customers to explore different areas of the store. For instance, customers may be prompted to scan a QR code in a specific section to unlock an exclusive discount or participate in a virtual scavenger hunt. This interactive approach keeps customers engaged and helps retailers gather valuable data on customer preferences and behaviours.

Seamless Integration with Microsoft:

Implementing Microsoft Foot Traffic Identity may seem complex, but Microsoft makes it easy. With their extensive ecosystem of tools and technologies, including Azure and Power Platform, retailers can seamlessly integrate Foot Traffic Identity into their existing retail infrastructure. From initial setup to ongoing support, Microsoft provides a comprehensive solution that caters to retailers' unique requirements. With Microsoft Foot Traffic Identity, retailers can unlock the full potential of data-driven insights and create a dynamic and engaging retail environment.

Microsoft Foot Traffic Identity is a game-changer for retailers, enabling them to enhance the customer experience, boost sales, and drive in-store engagement. By leveraging the power of Wi-Fi and Bluetooth software, retailers can deliver personalised prompts and discounts to customers based on their location and interests within the store. With seamless integration and ongoing support from Microsoft, retailers can unleash the true potential of Foot Traffic Identity and create a dynamic and engaging retail environment. Embrace the future of retail and transform your in-store strategy with Microsoft Foot Traffic Identity.

Unveiling the Truth: Why Do Salespeople Hate CRM? (And How Microsoft CRM Defies the Stereotype)

Thu, 20 Jul 2023 02:57:37 Z

Why do salespeople hate CRM?" This question has long puzzled businesses as they strive to empower their sales teams with effective tools. The truth is, traditional CRM systems have often left salespeople frustrated and hindered their productivity. However, a new player in town is reshaping the narrative: Microsoft CRM. This article delves into the reasons behind the aversion to CRM and how Microsoft CRM is changing the game.

Complexity and Poor User Experience:
Salespeople despise CRM systems that are overly complex and lack a user-friendly interface. These systems demand extensive training, diverting valuable time and energy away from selling. Fortunately, Microsoft CRM breaks this pattern. With its intuitive design and familiar Microsoft interface, sales teams can easily navigate the platform without a steep learning curve. Microsoft CRM puts the power back in the hands of salespeople, allowing them to focus on what they do best: building relationships and closing deals.

Disconnected Systems and Limited Integration:
Salespeople thrive when their tools seamlessly integrate, enhancing their efficiency and effectiveness. Unfortunately, many CRM systems have failed to deliver on this front. Microsoft CRM, on the other hand, connects the dots by integrating with familiar Microsoft applications, such as Outlook and Office 365. This seamless integration ensures that salespeople have a unified view of customer information, communication history, and sales opportunities. By eliminating silos and fostering collaboration, Microsoft CRM empowers sales teams to work smarter, not harder.

Lack of Flexibility and Mobility:
Salespeople are constantly on the move, engaging with clients and attending meetings. Traditional CRM systems often fall short when it comes to providing flexibility and mobile accessibility. Microsoft CRM addresses this pain point by offering a mobile app that enables salespeople to access critical customer data, update records, and track their sales activities from anywhere, at any time. This level of flexibility keeps salespeople agile and responsive, fostering stronger customer relationships and boosting sales performance.

Insufficient Insights and Data Analysis:
Salespeople require actionable insights and data analysis to make informed decisions and drive results. Many CRM systems struggle to deliver on this front, leaving sales teams in the dark. Microsoft CRM changes the game with its advanced analytics capabilities. Salespeople can leverage customisable dashboards, sales forecasting, and data visualisation tools to gain valuable insights into their pipeline, identify trends, and prioritise their efforts. With this information, sales teams can make data-driven decisions leading to increased sales and revenue.

Salespeople have long been sceptical of CRM systems, but Microsoft CRM challenges the status quo. By addressing the pain points that have plagued traditional CRM solutions, Microsoft CRM offers a refreshing experience. Its intuitive interface, seamless integration, mobile accessibility, and powerful analytics capabilities empower salespeople to overcome their CRM aversion. Discover the difference for yourself and unlock the potential of your sales team with Microsoft CRM.

When was the last time you assessed your CRM system for efficiency? We can help. DM us for more information.

Unlocking the Power of Stack Solutions

Wed, 14 Jun 2023 22:04:46 Z

In today's rapidly evolving business landscape, organisations face the challenge of managing multiple software applications and systems to meet their diverse needs. This can lead to inefficiencies, data silos, and compatibility issues. However, leveraging Microsoft's comprehensive software offerings allows businesses to streamline their operations, enhance collaboration, and achieve greater productivity. This article will explore stack solutions and how Microsoft's software ecosystem can provide a robust foundation for organisations to thrive.

Understanding Stack Solutions:

Stack solutions integrate multiple software applications within an organisation to create a cohesive and efficient ecosystem. Organisations can optimise processes, improve data flow, and enhance overall productivity by aligning various software tools. Microsoft offers a wide range of software solutions that can be seamlessly integrated to form a powerful stack, enabling organisations to meet their specific needs and drive innovation.

Leveraging Microsoft's Software Ecosystem:

Microsoft's software ecosystem encompasses various applications and platforms designed to address various business requirements. Microsoft offers a comprehensive suite of software solutions, from productivity tools like Microsoft Office 365 to collaborative platforms like Microsoft Teams and customer relationship management solutions like Dynamics 365.

By leveraging Microsoft's software ecosystem, organisations can achieve seamless integration and interoperability between different applications. This enables data to flow seamlessly across systems, eliminates redundant data entry, and promotes a unified user experience. The result is increased operational efficiency, enhanced collaboration, and improved decision-making capabilities.

Enhancing Collaboration and Communication:

Effective collaboration and communication are vital for the success of any organisation. Microsoft's stack solutions excel in facilitating teamwork and knowledge sharing. With applications like Microsoft Teams, employees can collaborate in real time, share files, conduct video meetings, and streamline communication within and across teams. This promotes cross-functional collaboration, breaks down silos, and fosters a culture of innovation.

Driving Productivity and Efficiency:

Microsoft's software offerings are designed to boost productivity and efficiency across various business functions. With applications like Microsoft Power Automate, organisations can automate repetitive tasks, streamline workflows, and eliminate manual errors. The integration of Microsoft Power BI allows businesses to leverage data analytics, generate meaningful insights, and make data-driven decisions. By harnessing Microsoft's stack solutions, organisations can optimise their operations, minimise inefficiencies, and unlock their full potential.

Seamless Scalability and Flexibility:

One of the key advantages of Microsoft's software ecosystem is its scalability and flexibility. As organisations grow and evolve, their software needs may change. Microsoft's stack solutions are designed to scale alongside businesses, allowing seamless expansion and customisation. Whether adding new users, integrating additional applications, or adapting to changing business requirements, Microsoft's software ecosystem provides the flexibility to meet evolving needs.

Stack solutions powered by Microsoft's comprehensive software offerings provide organisations with a powerful toolkit to streamline operations, enhance collaboration, and drive productivity. By leveraging the integration and interoperability of Microsoft's software ecosystem, businesses can create a cohesive and efficient technology stack tailored to their specific needs. Embrace the power of stack solutions with Microsoft and unlock new levels of efficiency and innovation in your organisation.

Streamline Workflow Management with Microsoft Teams and Power BI: Simplifying the Transition with Acronym IT

Sun, 11 Jun 2023 21:44:55 Z

Effective workflow management is crucial for productivity and collaboration in today's fast-paced business world. Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Power BI are potent tools that seamlessly integrate to enhance workflow management, enabling organisations to optimise processes, improve communication, and make data-driven decisions. At Acronym IT, we specialise in making this transition easy, ensuring a smooth and efficient adoption of these tools. Let's explore how Microsoft Teams and Power BI, with the expertise of Acronym IT, can revolutionise your workflow management.

Streamlining Communication and Collaboration:

Microsoft Teams provides a centralised hub for team communication, enabling instant messaging, audio and video calls, and file sharing. By bringing conversations, meetings, and shared files into one platform, Teams streamlines communication and enhances collaboration. Acronym IT ensures a seamless implementation of Teams, helping your organisation leverage its full potential to improve communication, foster collaboration, and strengthen teamwork.

Empowering Data-Driven Decision-Making:

Microsoft Power BI complements Teams by empowering organisations to make data-driven decisions. Power BI integrates seamlessly with Teams, allowing you to visualise and analyse real-time data, create interactive dashboards, and share insights with your team. Acronym IT specialises in leveraging the power of Power BI, helping you unlock valuable business intelligence and gain actionable insights to drive better decision-making and enhance workflow efficiency.

Effortless Transition with Acronym IT:

At Acronym IT, we understand that transitioning to new tools can be overwhelming. That's why we are dedicated to making the transition to Microsoft Teams and Power BI easy and hassle-free. Our team of experts provides comprehensive support and guidance, from initial setup and configuration to training and ongoing assistance. As a result, we ensure that your organisation maximises the benefits of Teams and Power BI, enabling you to embrace efficient workflow management confidently.

Customised Solutions for Your Workflow Needs:

Every organisation has unique workflow requirements. Acronym IT tailors the implementation of Microsoft Teams and Power BI to meet your specific needs, ensuring these tools seamlessly integrate into your existing workflow processes. Our experienced team assesses your requirements, recommends the most suitable configurations, and provides personalised training to empower your teams to work efficiently and collaboratively.

Experience the Acronym IT Difference:

With Acronym IT as your partner, you can trust our expertise and commitment to simplifying your transition to Microsoft Teams and Power BI. In addition, we provide ongoing support and guidance, ensuring that your organisation optimises workflow management, improves communication, and harnesses the power of data-driven decision-making.

Microsoft Teams and Power BI are invaluable tools in streamlining workflow management, improving collaboration, and enabling data-driven decision-making. With Acronym IT as your trusted partner, the transition to these tools becomes seamless and effortless. Unlock the full potential of Teams and Power BI, enhance your workflow management, and experience the Acronym IT difference. Contact us today to embark on a journey towards efficient and productive workflow management with Microsoft Teams and Power BI.

Law firms do not run themselves

Wed, 07 Jun 2023 23:02:57 Z

Law firms can unlock the power of data analytics and visualisation with Microsoft Power BI. As the legal landscape becomes increasingly data-driven, law firms must leverage technology that provides actionable insights and enhances decision-making. Microsoft Power BI offers a robust business intelligence platform that empowers law firms to analyse, interpret, and present data visually compellingly.

With Power BI, law firms can better understand their operations, clients, and cases. By connecting multiple data sources, such as financial data, case management systems, and client databases, Power BI enables comprehensive analysis across different facets of the firm. This holistic view helps identify trends, track key performance indicators, and measure the firm's financial health.

Power BI's intuitive dashboards and interactive reports allow law firm professionals to explore data effortlessly and uncover valuable insights. From tracking billable hours and managing workloads to assessing case outcomes and forecasting revenue, Power BI provides real-time visibility into critical metrics, empowering law firms to make data-driven decisions with confidence.

The power of Power BI lies in its ability to transform complex data into clear and concise visualisations. Whether it's creating charts, graphs, or heat maps, Power BI's visual representations make it easy for law firms to communicate information effectively. Presenting data in visually appealing formats helps internal stakeholders understand complex information quickly and enables law firms to showcase their expertise to clients and stakeholders.

Moreover, Power BI's collaboration features allow law firms to share interactive reports securely with clients, co-counsel, and other stakeholders. This facilitates transparent and efficient communication, enabling all parties to stay informed and make well-informed decisions together.

The flexibility and scalability of Power BI make it an ideal solution for law firms of all sizes. Whether it's a small boutique practice or a large multinational firm, Power BI can be tailored to meet each firm's specific needs and requirements. From tracking business development efforts and analysing client satisfaction to monitoring profitability and identifying cost-saving opportunities, Power BI helps law firms stay competitive in a rapidly evolving legal landscape.

In conclusion, Microsoft Power BI empowers law firms to harness the power of data analytics and visualisation. By leveraging its capabilities, law firms can gain valuable insights, improve decisionmaking, and enhance client communication. Embracing the power of Power BI allows law firms to navigate the complexities of the legal industry more effectively, driving efficiency, profitability, and success.

Has the way we work changed for good?

Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:26:26 Z

By Patrick Moorhead | Forbes

I recently sat down with my friend and fellow analyst Daniel Newman, of Futurum Research, for a podcast discussion on some of the technology trends we expect to accelerate in the post-corona world. In addition to the tragic human cost, the global pandemic has changed many aspects of our lives and disrupted industries across the world. When an incident this large and disruptive occurs, it leaves an indelible mark on the people who live through it – not to mention on industry and society as a whole.

If you’re having trouble keeping up with the changes, hang on – even after the immediate danger of COVID-19 subsides, we’re going to be looking at a radically different world.

I wanted to share some of my thoughts on what that will look like specifically in terms of the tech industry, which has, in many ways, impressed me with its ability to step up and meet the challenges of the last few months. When all’s said and done, I believe many companies and trends will only continue to accelerate.

Everything WFH and collaborative

Perhaps the apparent change in the status quo is the sudden surge in those who work from home and collaborate remotely due to the quarantine. I’ve spent plenty of time over the last week taking Zoom, the videoconferencing company, to task. Though the virus has been very good for Zoom’s business, it’s landed in some hot water for making false claims about end-to-end encryption (which it does not feature in any true sense of the word), “zoombombing” (in which trolls jump onto non-password protected Zoom calls and screen share lewd content) and the revelation of controversial data-mining features feeding data to LinkedIn and Facebook.

While more and more employers have embraced letting their employees work from home in the last several years, I think COVID-19 could represent a real paradigm shift after the immediate danger recedes.

Luckily for those of us who prioritise secure communications, Zoom is not the only video conferencing tool on the market who has seen its star rise. Cisco Webex has seen a huge surge in usage, as has Microsoft Teams and Google Hangouts and Meet. I think we can also expect to see 5G PCs grow in popularity as more and more people desire its high bandwidth and low latency to drive their productivity while working remotely. While more and more employers have embraced letting their employees work from home in the last several years, I think COVID-19 could represent a real paradigm shift after the immediate danger recedes. After what basically amounts to the biggest work from home experiment the world has ever seen, I expect many will not be eager to return to the office.

Additionally, some employers who may have been dragging their feet on WFH will now see that it is possible. Also moving forward, I believe most companies will need to have an explicit “pandemic plan,” with the capability to get around 95% percent of their workforce out of the office and working remotely if need be. An interesting side effect, though, maybe the deceleration of the so-called “open offices” that have become widespread and a return to cubicles – for the sake of hygiene and limiting the spread of pathogens throughout the workplace.

Hybrid and multi-cloud

I also think that long-term the virus will accelerate the need for organisations to adopt a hybrid or multi-cloud strategy. Employees, as well as customers, are all over the place right now – they’re working from home, shopping from home, selling online, etc. To handle these fluctuations in traffic, organisations need the most flexible infrastructure they can find.

As part of an organisation's pandemic plan, it needs to be able to store not just its data in different places (multiple clouds, on-prem), but also its applications.

You can tell the ones who are self-hosting their collaboration because their connections are usually slow and choppy. This is not going to be sustainable. I also believe that, as part of an organisation's pandemic plan, it needs to be able to store not just its data in different places (multiple clouds, on-prem), but also its applications. This way, if there’s a breakdown on one cloud you can simply access your resources on a different one. It’s all about ensuring availability, continuity, scalability and disaster recovery. The companies that will benefit from this will be the usual suspects – HPE, Dell Technologies, Lenovo and Cisco, as well as the cloud providers like AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google Cloud Platform. IBM, who has a public cloud and a private cloud, should see opportunity as well.

Smart cities, 5G, edge, IoT

The third area I wanted to talk about revolves around how we connect the world around us – the potential of smart cities, 5G and edge IoT to grow in response to COVID-19. While this might sound like multiple different sectors, the fact of the matter is that these areas, for the most part, depend on each other to function. These interconnected technologies are actually poised to go through some interesting if not controversial growth in the coming years as a result of coronavirus. The government may soon have the technology to not only perform facial recognition scans in public places but to determine, based on body temperature, who is likely to be carrying the virus. This will certainly raise a lot of big brother privacy questions, but as we’ve seen before, the American people are sometimes willing to make compromises on civil liberties in exchange for perceived safety or for the sake of the economy.

I believe that we have the technology, such as smart cities, edge IoT and computer vision, to really help us mitigate future outbreaks.

I believe that we have the technology, such as smart cities, edge IoT and computer vision, to really help us mitigate future outbreaks – the question is whether or not the people go for it. We got the Patriot Act after 9/11, so it’s not impossible. On the flip side, these technologies promise to improve things like traffic control, or smart electrical grids that don’t use unnecessary power, autonomous driving, etc.

Supercomputing and quantum

Another area that I think will be accelerated by the current pandemic (and honestly already has been) is that of supercomputing and quantum technology. These technologies are capable of taking the world’s largest data sets and mining them to solve the world’s largest problems. With our current “largest problem,” many see supercomputing’s potential to hasten medical research, perform faster causality analyses and speed up testing and trials for desperately sought-after vaccines.

I think we’re going to see a lot more governments, corporations and organisations throwing big money at HPC in the years to come, in the interest of heading off the next major pandemic that threatens us. Many major tech companies, including the likes of AWS, Intel, IBM, HPE, Microsoft, NVIDIA and AMD have already come together to form consortiums to accelerate this research. Quantum computing, while not universally applicable, could help solve some problems magnitudes faster than even supercomputing. Likely researchers will employ some combination of classical and quantum computing to tackle problems like quickly identifying drug compounds.

VDI/streaming and SaaS apps

VDI streaming and SaaS also stand to grow as a result of all of this. These things are different-but-related, since both involve apps running somewhere else – not always in your enterprise or where the end-user is. Picture this (it shouldn’t be difficult): the next pandemic hits, and there are 50 million people who suddenly, immediately need to work from home. One way to manage this is to give everyone a full PC set-up with a corporate application on it, so they can take their desktop and run it at their house through a VPN. Another way to do it is to give everyone a Chromebook, or really any device at all, and set them up on VDI, giving them virtual access to their entire desktop workspace.

For organisations who only need their employees to access a single app, versus their entire workspace, there are streaming solutions like Amazon AppStream and Workspace. Quite similar to that concept is SaaS, or Software-as-a-Service, made popular by companies like Salesforce, Oracle, SAP and Zoho.

The fallout from COVID-19 illustrates the need to be able to run applications, including corporate ones, in places other than where your users are.

In short, I believe the fallout from COVID-19 illustrates the need to be able to run applications, including corporate ones, in places other than where your users are (since most of them could be stuck at home in quarantine). It significantly improves user experience to be able to access your work interface, in a similar way, on multiple devices. Additionally, I think many businesses are realising that, outside of their core competencies, they don’t want to deal with hosting their own applications. If embracing SaaS solutions has the potential to take some of the burden off of IT departments (which I believe it does), I believe more and more organisations are going to put the foot down on the accelerator in that direction.

Supply chain and manufacturing

Lastly, I wanted to talk about supply chain and manufacturing, and how that will be affected. Most of our goods – almost all of our electronics, medical equipment, clothes and more – are made in China, where manufacturers benefit from low costs and, particularly in tech, proximity to other parts of the supply chain. I believe the cost-benefits calculus is going to be changing as a result of the current crisis. On both sides of the aisle, it’s hard to imagine any politician advocating for making more things in China in their platform.

Instead, I believe we’ll see new manufacturing hotspots emerge in places like Canada and South America. While Apple seems to be staying in Asia for the time being, it has already moved some of its manufacturing out of China and into Malaysia and Indonesia. India is also being heavily explored as an option by many companies. In some of these regions, I think we’ll also see more and more robotics and automation in manufacturing to combat the low labour costs.

Wrapping up

We are certainly living in interesting times, and I don’t think it’s an exaggeration to say that things will never be the same again afterward. Long term, COVID-19 is going to change the way we work, the way our cities run, the infrastructure we choose to power our data centres, the way we think about supply chains and manufacturing and so much more that we couldn’t possibly predict. It’s going to be fascinating.

What does the office of tomorrow look like?

Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:22:33 Z

What does the office of tomorrow look like? Hard to believe the world has been remote for months now. Days seem to blur together in a sea of apps, video conferences and virtual realities. Life at the office is but a distant memory – a pile of sweatpants now your constant companion.

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended the global workforce, requiring millions to rely on their laptops for their livelihoods.

Some are relishing this break from their long commutes and overbearing bosses. Others find working from home a bit of a double-edged sword. Isolation is a real threat to our well-being, and as many have discovered, you don’t have to be physically present in the office to be micromanaged.

Companies across the board have hustled, bringing their key technologies, operational processes and communications all online. With no clear end in sight, many are wondering how long this new business as usual will last.

Businesses are being forced to be more open to WFH and work flexibility

Prior to the pandemic, many companies employed strict policies on suitable work hours, and only one location really made the cut: the office. As of last year, only about 42 percent of companies surveyed offered work from home or flex hours on a part-time basis. Even fewer, 27 percent, allowed it full time, according to a 2019 Employee Benefits Survey, administered by SHRM, the Society for Human Resource Management.

Now, companies are being forced to reexamine the necessity of these traditional policies. Shelter-in-place guidance has made our present-day work from home culture a non-negotiable. Moving forward, it could be more difficult, and expensive, to refuse remote work requests, especially when things are functioning relatively well.

Moving forward, it could be more difficult, and expensive, to refuse remote work requests.

As a thought experiment, consider what employee productivity actually means to most business managers. Is it tied to KPIs? Number of accounts closed? A certain volume of help tickets cleared? Now, how does that change if one is physically in the office – or ruining their posture working from the comfort of their couch? Turns out, output and productivity may have less to do with where you are in the world, and more to do with your state of mind. In fact, a well-cited Stanford study showed employees who work remotely were an average of 13 percent more productive than their in-office coworkers.

Which begs the question: Is a more sensible KPI achieving goals within an agreed timeframe? Many could rightfully argue that completing deadlines on time, staying responsive to your team and adhering to company culture make you a valuable and productive employee – no matter where you plug in your laptop to charge.

Business Benefits of Working from Home

There are many business benefits to working remotely.

From the employee side, commuting alone can take away from time spent with loved ones and exacerbate mental and physical stress. Now that more have tasted a balanced work life, they may not be so quick to give it up.

Working from home makes employees:

Less likely to burn out or quit

Take fewer sick days (they also are less likely to spread their illness with other employees)

Feel more company loyalty

More likely to be engaged in their work. On the employer end, the cost savings and productivity boosts are undeniable.

For every remote worker businesses employ, they save an average of $16,000 NZD a year.

Employers can improve their diversity, hiring qualified employees from anywhere in the world.

Companies can more easily penetrate different markets by onboarding employees from all over. Each is likely to have an ear to the ground in their local communities.

New hires aren’t restricted based on disabilities or chronic illnesses that once made in-office work a challenge.

Remote workers have higher productivity, as repeatedly cited by professionals.

Employers save by making one-time purchases for things like IT accessories, and spend far less on bulk office supplies, snacks and cleaning supplies.

Will in-person offices become smaller – or just more WFH accepting – in order to save revenue?

You hear it over and over again. Employers everywhere are dealing with exponentially increasing office rental rates. But working from home significantly decreases the need for expensive office spaces – or at least the need for more square footage.

Some companies have had success staggering their employees’ remote working days. Others have suggested collapsing the workweek into fewer days. Whatever the strategy, you can be sure companies in every sector will be looking to decrease their overhead in the wake of a global economic downturn.

In truth, the office probably isn’t going to disappear, even if the virus does. Still, our current work from home reality could very well be the tipping point for a new, long-standing business model. Maybe our jobs have always been doable with an email or an app. Now, they have to be.

Remote Working: What it means for RPA (Remote Process Automation)

Thu, 11 Jun 2020 22:16:47 Z

By Tom Taulli | Forbes

With the rapid spread of the COVID-19 pandemic, companies have been scrambling to adopt remote working technologies. The biggest beneficiaries of this, of course, are the developers of web conferencing systems.

Let’s face it, with sudden investments in new technologies, why will companies abandon them when the virus runs its course? In other words, companies will likely be less focused on business travel and there will continue to be more employees who will have remote working arrangements.

Such changes will certainly have wide-ranging impacts on other tech sectors. Just look at RPA (Robotic Process Automation). The technology allows for fairly easy automation of repetitive and tedious processes.

Demand for RPA was already very high before the world shifted to working from home.

“Demand for RPA was already very high before the world shifted to working from home,” Mike Beckley, who is the CTO and co-founder of Appian. “And while RPA isn’t a great way to help homeschool the kids, it is a great way to quickly change a legacy process. How many companies have had to adjust their paid leave and sick day policies due to COVID-19? It’s easier to program a bot than to rewrite your HR and Finance systems.”

Vadim Tabakman, who is the Director of Technical Evangelism at Ninex, believes that RPA can solve really tough problems – and quickly when managing remote workforces. “New hires can be provided with bots to help them access parts of the systems they aren’t used to yet and have trouble finding,” he said.

“Imagine a new employee needs to create a new task in a CRM system they have never used. You could show them how to get there, but if it’s something they only do occasionally it may not stick. Instead, provide them with a bot that performs all the necessary clicks and keystrokes to take them to exactly to the spot they need to be in the CRM system.”

Or consider UiPath, which has been creating solutions to help with remote working. Here are some examples:

Automatic chat updates: When working from home, your teammates do not know when you are not at your desk. So this bot updates your chat status based on your calendar activity.

Call notes distribution: UiPath has a bot that automates the sending of notes for a conference call that is sent out to the invitees.

Call scheduling: With no more water cooler run-ins, this bot will find conflicts on your Google calendar and send requests to reschedule.

“We can think about the benefits from RPA in multiple ways,” said Vijay Khanna, who is UiPath’s Chief Corporate Development Officer. “In the front office and call centre, customer contact is critical and call volumes have spiked dramatically. Freeing up front-line agents in the call centre or similar functions can help them spend more time with customers resolving issues that are otherwise just adding to the stress that customers are shouldering in the current environment.

Having bots to tend to much of the repetitive work that might have forced an employee to come to the office in these difficult times has the added benefit of both keeping that employee safe and ensuring that work still gets accomplished.

"Helping customers when they need it most can be a remarkable differentiator for all companies. Next, in the back office, having bots to tend to much of the repetitive work that might have forced an employee to come to the office in these difficult times has the added benefit of both keeping that employee safe and ensuring that work still gets accomplished – this is extremely important in considering some of the compliance requirements in highly regulated industries.”

The Challenges

RPA still has considerable risks with remote working. If anything, companies will need to engage in even more planning with their systems. “Enterprise grade security needs to be baked into any RPA platform from the start, which helps provide greater resilience and business continuity,” said Jason Kingdon, who is the Executive Chairman at Blue Prism.

Enterprise grade security needs to be baked into any RPA platform from the start.

There will also need to be more attention paid to managing bot development and deployment. Otherwise there could be much more sprawl across an organisation, lessening the benefits of the technology. This is why it's important to have a Center-of-Excellence or COE.

“You need to have a group of champions who control the system, and monitor what bots are being built and who is building them,” said Tabakman. “It’s best to provide regular training around bot design and consider an approval process, where your champions review bots before they’re deployed. You’ll want to ensure that a bot being created doesn’t create more problems than it solves, such as bots that go into infinite loops, resulting in more work for IT teams. Making sure your bots are successful will minimise the strain on IT, which is already spread thin, and help businesses continue to run well.”

Artificial Intelligence Factor

AI has been top-of-mind for RPA vendors. But expect even more urgency as this technology will be essential for remote working environments.

An example of what we will likely see is from Automation Anywhere. The company recently launched its Discovery Bot, which uses AI to map and optimise processes by tracking keystrokes, mouse movements and other actions within applications.

There will also likely be more development with process mining. This technology analyses log files to visualise processes and find the bottlenecks.

“With remote working, there will need to be a rethinking of processes,” said Yousuf Khan, who is the CIO of Automation Anywhere.

Work Remotely, Stay Secure

Mon, 16 Mar 2020 23:16:39 Z

Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, many of us are making big changes to keep the people around us healthy and safe. Teams at every type of organisation are adjusting to full-time remote collaboration. Teachers are connecting with students in online classrooms. And IT departments are finding new ways to help their coworkers stay productive while working from home.

Talk to us today about a tailored Microsoft solution to meet your business needs.

Worksheet: Are you making the most of Windows 10’s hidden features?

Tue, 10 Mar 2020 00:10:09 Z

Whether you’ve been using Windows 10 for a long time or are just getting started, there are a number of “hidden” features that you may not have yet uncovered.

Click Here to go to the Download Form

3 tech-driven ways to engage your employees

Tue, 10 Mar 2020 00:07:23 Z

By Brad Anderson | ReadWrite

Unengaged employees don’t just skip out on office holiday parties. Each day they show up, they do the bare minimum required. They’re one slightly better offer away from leaving the company. It’s understandable that Josh Bersin, industry analyst and founder of Bersin by Deloitte, believes “CEOs and business leaders everywhere are now evaluated by their ability to keep employees happy.”

Here's how you can turn to tech to start building engagement and trust today.

1. Communicate consistently and credibly

Intranets are frequently touted as the bridge from the C-suite to individual contributors. But the results depend on regular content from executives themselves. According to employee communication and engagement platform Simpplr, 22% of intranets fail due to stale content, which is why the platform’s auto-governance engine automatically clears old content to keep information relevant. When employees don’t see regular posts from management, they’re apt to believe their leaders don’t care about communication. Who can blame them? An intranet is only effective when employees at all levels participate.

22% of intranets fail due to stale content.

Beyond your intranet, leverage platforms your workers are already familiar with. Oft-used tools, such as LinkedIn, can enable communication with employees. Most users view LinkedIn as a tool for networking beyond their office walls. Company pages, however, allow administrators to alert employees about important posts, recognise employee accomplishments and welcome new hires. Employees can then engage with the content and share it, amplifying the message.

2. Prompt employees for feedback

Most HR software tools have built-in feedback features, making data collection as easy as sending a survey. One such solution is 15Five, which sends weekly surveys that should take employees 15 minutes to complete. In turn, they require just five minutes for managers to review. In addition to questions built into the platform, managers can create custom prompts for their teams and even individual employees.

Tech solutions make it easier than ever to gain insight into the overall happiness and performance of your workforce. By regularly collecting information, managers can minimise unpleasant surprises, such as an employee quitting in frustration or drama between two overworked team members. Feedback tools can also improve productivity by helping managers eliminate the obstacles employees bring to their attention. Furthermore, they can give high performers the praise they deserve.

3. Urge managers to act

A recent study from Gallup attempted to quantify the influence of the manager in employee engagement. It found that managers were responsible for 70% of the differences in engagement among a team of employees. That means managers hold an incredible amount of sway.

Managers might lean on surveys to help identify their own strengths and weaknesses, but implementing changes can prove difficult. One software tool, Glint, is designed to take employee survey results and suggest actions for managers to take. Down the road, the tool might direct managers to learning videos or LinkedIn courses to help build the skills they’re lacking. These kinds of tools can turn a system of static feedback into active skill development for both employees and managers.

Technology is often derided as something that isolates people. Technology also has the power to bring people together. Companies are increasingly finding that they can use it to improve boost employee engagement and earn customer trust as a result.

How interactive learning will shape the classrooms of the future

Tue, 10 Mar 2020 00:02:20 Z

The competition for students wandering attention is steeper than ever. Snapchatting has replaced note passing, and push notifications distract from even the most interesting lessons. For most students, cell phones and electronic devices are the centre of their budding universe.

But that can actually work to a teacher’s advantage.

The classrooms of tomorrow embrace tech, using a variety of device-supported, interactive learning methods to fully engage students in the material.

What is interactive learning?

According to Study.com, "Interactive learning actively engages the students in wrestling with the material. It reinvigorates the classroom for both students and faculty. Lectures are changed into discussions, and students and teachers become partners in the journey of knowledge acquisition."

Here’s what future classrooms might look like as interactive learning continues to evolve:

Highly creative lesson plans

In the past, dusty black and white chalkboards were the focal point of the classroom. (No wonder they couldn’t always hold our attention!)

Today, educators who understand the value of interactive learning employ a variety of mixed media like gamified content, video clips, quizzes, polls and social media, to keep lessons interesting.

Educators who understand the value of interactive learning employ a variety of mixed media.

For more complex material, teachers may cycle through several different software systems or web applications, making previously resource-intensive lessons easier to complete.

Interactive learning offers educators the ability to adapt and change lessons easily to accommodate different learning styles or simply to keep students engaged.

Increased student engagement

Interactive learning also promotes a culture of engagement. As students become more deeply invested in the material, their brains are less likely to succumb to distraction or shut off in the middle of a lesson.

Some classrooms accomplish this with digital whiteboards, which help students conceptualise subjects like never before. Even complex or seemingly unreliable material transforms into an immersive learning experience.

Even complex or seemingly unreliable material transforms into an immersive learning experience.

Students may also be invited to more fully engage with a lesson by inviting them to take more ownership in the learning process.

For example, some classrooms provide students with screen recording software. This lets them share what’s on their laptop or tablet and ask the rest of the class questions about a particular passage or concept. In this way, engagement becomes contagious as other students take part in the conversation and offer their insights.

Better communication

And it’s these conversations that foster better communication among students. Tomorrow’s classrooms encourage students to take their conversations and collaborations online. In doing so, they learn ways to work with remote and in-person teams and better communicate their ideas and plans.

Specifically, social media has been used to fuel communication through lessons using:

Facebook Groups:

These discussion forums make it easy for students to respond to teacher prompts while encouraging them to interact with other student posts. Collective comments can be monitored by teachers, making it easy for them to address any emerging themes or questions.

Twitter Hashtags:

Unique hashtags can be used to lead and facilitate group discussions pre- or post-lesson. Twitter feeds help students feel more invested in the class proposed questions or ideas, allowing them to respond to other discussions taking place among the group.

It’s also an ideal learning experience for students who struggle with sociability. Suddenly, instead of being too shy to participate, introverted learners can interact and communicate with classmates from the comfort of their devices.

Introverted learners can interact and communicate with classmates from the comfort of their devices.

Students may also use video conferencing technology to communicate and collaborate with peers anywhere in the world, making them more culturally competent, global learners.

More independent learners Most classrooms contain students of various abilities and aptitudes. Interactive learning makes it easy for teachers to slow down or speed up lessons based on a student’s individual interest level and learning style.

This is especially impactful for students who may outpace the rest of the class.

Teachers could easily push additional resources out to the cell phones, laptops or tablets of accelerated learners. They can then view these while waiting for their classmates to complete an in-class assignment, or after the school day. Either way, it encourages independent study of subjects that feel the most interesting.

Tech-savvy students

Whether using Twitter to report about an event in real-time or exercising safe search practises to identify reputable sites from unreliable ones, interactive learning increases the technology competent student body.

Students are also likely to master a variety of software applications and devices in the process.

According to Larry Bernstein at EdTech magazine, here are tech tools students in one Cambridge International study say they use:

48% Use desktop computers

42% Use smartphones

33% Use interactive whiteboards

20% Use tablets

Many interactive learning strategies rely on the latest technology, ensuring students get daily, hands-on practise with the tech most likely to follow them into the workforce.

Exactly how interactive learning will shape the classrooms of the future is still coming into focus. For now, we see clearly that interactive learning strategies are transforming devices once thought of as distracting into active partners during the learning day. As technology continues to evolve, so will these interactive learning environments, transforming student futures well beyond graduation day.

How data compliance challenges emerge in an as-a-service world

Thu, 05 Mar 2020 18:38:21 Z

By Dan Timko | Information Management

Organisations are increasingly coming to rely on software as a service, replacing applications that have previously been hosted on-premises.

In April, for example, Gartner predicted SaaS global revenue would grow 18.5 percent over 2018 to more than $141 billion NZD this year and that, by 2022, it would grow to $216 billion NZD. And while there are many benefits to a SaaS approach – lower costs, no on-premises equipment or software to operate, no updates or patches to manage – it does raise significant questions around compliance with GDPR and other regulatory schemas that govern company data.

Gartner has predicted that by 2022 SaaS global revenue will grow to $141 billion NZD.

So, who owns the data? Who has responsibility for compliance? And what questions should customers ask a potential SaaS vendor to determine whether their data will be compliant in their service?

Let’s address data ownership first. When it comes to security (and security is an important part of compliance) SaaS services typically operate on a shared responsibility model. The provider takes responsibility for securing its own infrastructure and environment, while the customer is responsible for ensuring access to the service is locked down.

This model extends to data protection and backups, where the provider protects the platform against catastrophic failure or breach, but when it comes to discrete recovery of individual items due to events such as accidental deletion, that’s up to the customer.

Nevertheless, from a practical point of view, the short and simple answer is: You own the data. The vendor may store and process it for you, but, ultimately, you’re responsible for ensuring that data is compliant with all relevant regulations. If the vendor fails, you could be on the hook for fines, other penalties and damage to the organisation's brand.

Compliance is an enormous topic, so we’ll just hit the highlights of the measures you should take when it comes to SaaS data.

Data protection

A recent study from 451 Research shows that nearly three-quarters of organisations either depend on the vendor to protect their data or have no protection for SaaS data at all. That’s a terrible position to be in, because if someone accidentally deletes data or the SaaS vendor suffers a catastrophic hack or natural disaster, your data could be gone forever. You need to take responsibility to ensure it is protected, especially for sensitive data such as financials, health or personally identifiable information and even emails or texts that could be relevant in a court case. Thankfully, there are solutions to help you back up data in SaaS applications, and many are themselves SaaS-based.

Data sovereignty

Many countries require that data produced or collected inside their borders be physically stored there. As such, it’s important for end users to understand what SaaS data falls under these requirements and where your SaaS vendors will store it. Make sure to get documentation so you can demonstrate compliance, should you need to do so.

Security

Be certain that your provider is taking proper security precautions to protect their own environment. If they have achieved SOC2 attestation, that’s a great indicator, but, at minimum, ensure that they encrypt data stored in their systems. In the absence of an attestation or certification, you may have the vendor complete a vendor risk assessment which provides you more details about the underlying protections and controls in their system.

At minimum, ensure that your provider encrypts data stored in their systems.

Also, make sure they will contact you immediately if there is a breach on their side. GDPR requires that organisations notify individuals if their data was part of a breach within 72 hours. From your side, ensure that you’ve locked down access for SaaS applications that store sensitive data. Your provider is responsible for securing their infrastructure, but it’s on the end-user to control access.

The right to be forgotten

This requirement from GDPR famously requires organisations to delete an individual’s data if they request it. As such, make sure that when you delete data from your SaaS application that it is also permanently deleted from the infrastructure.

There is some ambiguity about whether organisations are required to delete data from backups, but most experts believe this is not necessary to comply. That said, when you restore data, it’s important to make sure that no data is recovered that should have been “forgotten.”

Documentation

If you’re storing data that requires special treatment for compliance, make sure to obtain detailed documentation from your SaaS provider regarding their own compliance with GDPR, Sarbanes-Oxley, PCI DSS 3.0 and any other schemas that may apply.

Compliance in an as-a-service world doesn’t have to be any scarier than on-premises compliance.

Compliance in an as-a-service world doesn’t have to be any scarier than on-premises compliance. In fact, in some ways, it can be much easier, with the provider taking responsibility for many functions. But it’s critical to do a lot of vetting up front to ensure you’re working with a strong provider. After all, ultimately, the buck stops with your organisation.

If you entrust sensitive data to a SaaS provider that doesn’t live up to their responsibilities, regulators aren’t going to cut you any slack.

The machines are learning, and so are the students

Thu, 05 Mar 2020 18:34:57 Z

By Craig S. Smith | The New York Times

Jennifer Turner’s algebra classes were once sleepy affairs and a lot of her students struggled to stay awake. Today, they are active and engaged, thanks to new technologies, including an artificial intelligence-powered programme that is helping her teach.

She uses the platform Bakpax that can read students’ handwriting and auto-grade schoolwork, and she assigns lectures for students to watch online while they are at home. Using the platform has provided Mrs. Turner, 41, more flexibility in how she teaches, reserving class time for interactive exercises.

Students are excited to be in my room, they’re telling me they love math, and those are things that I don’t normally hear.

“The grades for homework have been much better this year because of Bakpax,” Mrs. Turner said. “Students are excited to be in my room, they’re telling me they love math, and those are things that I don’t normally hear.”

For years, people have tried to re-engineer learning with artificial intelligence, but it was not until the machine-learning revolution of the past seven years that real progress has been made. Slowly, algorithms are making their way into classrooms, taking over repetitive tasks like grading, optimising coursework to fit individual student needs and revolutionising the preparation for university exams. A plethora of online courses and tutorials also have freed teachers from lecturing and allowed them to spend class time working on problem solving with students instead.

Researchers are using AI to understand how the brain learns and are applying it to systems that they hope will make it easier and more enjoyable for students to study.

While that trend is helping people like Mrs. Turner teach, it has just begun. Researchers are using AI to understand how the brain learns and are applying it to systems that they hope will make it easier and more enjoyable for students to study. Machine-learning powered systems not only track students’ progress, spot weaknesses and deliver content according to their needs, but will soon incorporate humanlike interfaces that students will be able to converse with as they would a teacher.

“Education, I think, is going to be the killer app for deep learning,” said Terrence Sejnowski, who runs the Computational Neurobiology Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, and also is the president of the Neural Information Processing Systems Foundation, which each year puts on the largest machine-learning conference in the world.

It is well established that the best education is delivered one-to-one by an experienced educator. But that is expensive and labour intensive, and cannot be applied at the scale required to educate large populations. AI helps solve that.

The first computer tutoring systems appeared in the 1960s, presenting material in short segments, asking students questions as they moved through the material and providing immediate feedback on answers. Because they were expensive and computers far from ubiquitous, they were largely confined to research institutes.

By the 1970s and 1980s systems began using rule-based artificial intelligence and cognitive theory. These systems led students through each step of a problem, giving hints from expert knowledge bases. But rule-based systems failed because they were not scalable – it was expensive and tedious to programme extensive domain expertise.

Since then, most computer teaching systems have been based on decision trees, leading students through a preprogrammed learning path determined by their performance – if they get a question right, they are sent in one direction, and if they get the question wrong, they are sent in another. The system may look like it is adapting to the student, but it is actually just leading the student along a preset path.

Today, learning algorithms uncover patterns in large pools of data about how students have performed on material in the past and optimise teaching strategies accordingly.

But the machine-learning revolution is changing that. Today, learning algorithms uncover patterns in large pools of data about how students have performed on material in the past and optimise teaching strategies accordingly. They adapt to the student’s performance as the student interacts with the system. Bakpax asks teachers to notify parents how their children’s data will be used, and parents can opt out. But Bakpax and other companies say they mask identities and encrypt the data they do collect.

Studies show that these systems can raise student performance well beyond the level of conventional classes and even beyond the level achieved by students who receive instruction from human tutors. AI tutors perform better, in part, because a computer is more patient and often more insightful.

One of the first commercial applications of machine learning to teaching was by the company Knewton, founded by Jose Ferreira, a former executive at the private education company Kaplan. Knewton uses a mix of learning algorithms to evaluate students and match material to their needs.

“After a few questions we could very quickly figure out what level you are at and the optimal piece of content for teaching,” Mr. Ferreira said. “The more you worked with the system, the better our profile of you got and the more we could give you better and better content.”

AI tutors perform better, in part, because a computer is more patient and often more insightful.

Nonetheless, Knewton ran into financial difficulties and was sold in May to the education publisher Wiley. Mr. Ferreira said the company’s troubles were not because its technology did not work, but because the company had relied heavily on one customer, which dropped Knewton in favour of an in-house system. Mr. Ferreira, 51, left to start Bakpax.

At its core, Bakpax is a computer vision system that converts handwriting to text and interprets what the student meant to say. The system’s auto-grader teaches itself how to score.

“Instead of handing your homework in, you just take a picture of it on your phone, and a few seconds later we can tell you what you got right and what you got wrong,” Mr. Ferreira said. “We can even tell you what the right answer is for the ones you got wrong.”

Mrs. Turner said her students loved the immediacy. The system also gathers data over time that allows teachers to see where a class is having trouble or compare one class’s performance with another. “There’s a lot of power in all this information that, right now, literally is just thrown in the trash every day,” Mr. Ferreira said.

Not surprisingly, machine-learning solutions are making their way into the test preparation market, a multibillion-dollar global industry. Riiid, a Korean start-up, is using reinforcement learning algorithms – which learn on their own to reach a specified goal – to maximise the probability of a student achieving a target score in a given time constraint.

Riiid claims students can increase their scores by 20 percent or more with just 20 hours of study. It has already incorporated machine-learning algorithms into its programme to prepare students for English-language proficiency tests and has introduced test prep programmes.

Still more transformational applications are being developed that could revolutionise education altogether. Start-up Acuitus has drawn on lessons learnt over the past 50 years in education – cognitive psychology, social psychology, computer science, linguistics and artificial intelligence – to create a digital tutor that it claims can train experts in months rather than years.

John Newkirk, the company’s co-founder and chief executive, said Acuitus focused on teaching concepts and understanding. The company has taught nearly 1,000 students with its course on information technology and is in the prototype stage for a system that will teach algebra. Dr. Newkirk said the underlying AI technology was content-agnostic and could be used to teach the full range of STEM subjects.

Dr. Newkirk likens AI-powered education today to the Wright brothers’ early exhibition flights – proof that it can be done, but far from what it will be a decade or two from now.

The world will still need schools, classrooms and teachers to motivate students and to teach social skills, teamwork and soft subjects like art, music and sports. The challenge for AI-aided learning, some people say, is not the technology, but bureaucratic barriers that protect the status quo.

“There are gatekeepers at every step,” said Dr. Sejnowski, who created a massive open online course, or MOOC, called “Learning How to Learn.”

He said that by using machine-learning systems and the internet, new education technology would bypass the gatekeepers and go directly to students in their homes. “Parents are figuring out that they can get much better educational lessons for their kids through the internet than they’re getting at school,” he said.

Top 10 strategic technology trends for 2020

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 18:04:10 Z

By Michael Cooney | NetworkWorld

The pace of technology change is accelerating rapidly, augmented by factors that IT pros need to study up on, such as hyperautomation, multiexperience and human augmentation – all of which Gartner says will have a significant impact on enterprises.

In 50 years we've seen technology transform our enterprises, our relationships and society itself. The next five years may bring as much change as those last 50.

"It's been 50 years since the first message was sent across what became the internet. In 50 years we've seen technology transform our enterprises, our relationships and society itself,” said Val Sribar, Senior Research Vice President at Gartner. “The next five years may bring as much change as those last 50".

Looking ahead just one year, Gartner created the “Top 10 Strategic Technology Trends for 2020,” which the consulting firm released at its IT Symposium/XPO 2019.

One unifying factor of these trends is the focus on the direct impact technology will have on people.

“Putting people at the center of your technology strategy highlights one of the most important aspects of technology – how it impacts customers, employees, business partners, society or other key constituencies,” said David Cearley, Vice President and Gartner Fellow. “Arguably all actions of the organisation can be attributed to how it impacts these individuals and groups either directly or indirectly. This is a people-centric approach".

Here are the top 10 strategic technology trends for 2020 that Gartner identified:

Hyperautomation

Hyperautomation is the combination of multiple machine-learning (ML), packaged-software and automation tools to deliver work. Hyperautomation refers not only to the breadth of tools available, but also to all the steps of automation itself (discover, analyse, design, automate, measure, monitor and reassess). Understanding the range of automation mechanisms, how they relate to one another and how they can be combined and coordinated is a major focus for hyperautomation. Hyperautomation requires a combination of tools to help support replicating pieces of work where the human is involved in a task.

Multiexperience

Through 2028, the user experience will undergo a significant shift in how users perceive the digital world and how they interact with it. Conversational platforms with improved voice-driven and dialogue-management capabilities are changing the way that people interact with the digital world. And virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR) and mixed reality (MR) are changing the way in which people perceive the digital world. This shift in both interaction and perception models leads to a future multisensory and multimodal experience.

By 2021, at least one-third of enterprises will have deployed a multiexperience development platform to support mobile, web, conversational and augmented reality development.

By 2021, at least one-third of enterprises will have deployed a multiexperience development platform to support mobile, web, conversational and augmented reality development, Gartner stated.

“The model will shift from one of technology-literate people to one of people-literate technology. The burden of translating intent will move from the user to the computer,” said Brian Burke, Research Vice President at Gartner. “This ability to communicate with users across many human senses will provide a richer environment for delivering nuanced information".

Democratisation of expertise

Gartner defines democratisation as providing people with access to technical expertise such as machine learning or application development tools or business domain expertise such as sales process and economic analysis via a radically simplified experience and without requiring extensive and costly training. Citizen access for citizen data scientists or citizen integrators, for example, as well as the evolution of citizen development and no-code models, are examples of democratisation, the company stated.

Through 2023, Gartner said it expects four key aspects of the democratisation trend to accelerate.

Through 2023, Gartner said it expects four key aspects of the democratisation trend to accelerate, including democratisation of data and analytics (tools targeting data scientists expanding to target the professional developer community), democratisation of development (AI tools to leverage in custom-developed applications), democratisation of design (expanding on the low-code, no-code phenomena with automation of additional application development functions to empower the citizen-developer) and democratisation of knowledge (non-IT professionals gaining access to tools and expert systems that empower them to use and apply specialised skills).

Human augmentation

Gartner says human augmentation explores how technology can be used to deliver cognitive and physical improvements as an integral part of the human experience. Physical augmentation enhances humans by changing their inherent physical capabilities by implanting in or hosting a technology element on their bodies. Cognitive augmentation can occur through accessing information and exploiting applications on traditional computer systems and the emerging multiexperience interface in smart spaces.

Over the next 10 years increasing levels of physical and cognitive human augmentation will become prevalent as individuals seek personal enhancements. By 2025, 40 percent of enterprises will shift from designing for humans to architecting humans themselves by adopting human augmentation technologies and methodologies, Gartner says.

Transparency and traceability

Gartner says transparency and traceability refer to a range of attitudes, actions and supporting technologies and practices designed to address regulatory requirements, preserve an ethical approach to use of artificial intelligence (AI) and other advanced technologies and repair the growing lack of trust in companies.

By 2023, over 75 percent of large organisations will hire artificial intelligence specialists in behaviour forensics, privacy and customer trust to reduce brand and reputation risk.

As organisations build out transparency and trust practices, they must focus on three areas: AI and ML; personal data privacy, ownership and control; and ethically-aligned design. Consumers are increasingly aware that their personal information is valuable and are demanding control. Organisations recognise the increasing risk of securing and managing personal data, and governments are implementing strict legislation to ensure they do. Transparency and traceability are critical elements to support these digital ethics and privacy needs, Gartner said. By 2023, over 75 percent of large organisations will hire artificial intelligence specialists in behaviour forensics, privacy and customer trust to reduce brand and reputation risk, the company said.

The empowered edge

Edge computing is a computing topology in which information processing and content collection and delivery are placed closer to the sources, repositories and consumers of this information. The idea is to keep traffic and processing local to reduce latency and allow greater autonomy at the edge. “Much of the current focus on edge computing comes from the need for IoT systems to deliver disconnected or distributed capabilities into the embedded IoT world for specific industries such as manufacturing or retail,” said Burke. “However, edge computing will become a dominant factor across virtually all industries and use cases as the edge is empowered with increasingly more sophisticated and specialised compute resources and more data storage. Complex edge devices, including robots, drones, autonomous vehicles and operational systems will accelerate this shift". By 2023, more than 50 percent of enterprise-generated data will be created and processed outside the data center or cloud, up from less than 10 percent in 2019.

Distributed Cloud A distributed cloud is the distribution of public cloud services to different locations while the originating public-cloud provider assumes responsibility for the operation, governance, updates to and evolution of the services. Gartner defines this distributed cloud as where a public-cloud service architecture is replicated on-premises or is complimentary to the centralised service. The service provider owns and is responsible for architecture, development, deployment, governance, operations, evolution and updates. Enterprise customers may retain ownership, governance, operations and update of the physical components especially as distributed services move toward the edge. By 2024, the majority of cloud service platforms will provide services that execute at the point of need, Gartner stated. This represents a significant shift from the centralised model of most public-cloud services and will lead to a new era in cloud computing.

Autonomous Things

Autonomous things are physical devices that use AI to automate functions previously performed by humans, Gartner says. The most recognisable forms of autonomous things are robots, drones, autonomous vehicles/ships and appliances. Their automation goes beyond the automation provided by rigid programing models, and they exploit AI to deliver advanced behaviours that interact more naturally with their surroundings and with people. As the technology capability improves, regulation permits and social acceptance grows, autonomous things will increasingly be deployed in uncontrolled public spaces.

As autonomous things proliferate, we expect a shift from stand-alone intelligent things to a swarm of collaborative intelligent things where multiple devices will work together, either independently of people or with human input.

“As autonomous things proliferate, we expect a shift from stand-alone intelligent things to a swarm of collaborative intelligent things where multiple devices will work together, either independently of people or with human input,” said Burke. “For example, heterogeneous robots can operate in a coordinated assembly process. In the delivery market, the most effective solution may be to use an autonomous vehicle to move packages to the target area. Robots and drones aboard the vehicle could then affect final delivery of the package".

Practical blockchain

Blockchain has the potential to reshape industries by enabling trust, providing transparency and enabling value exchange across business ecosystems, potentially lowering costs, reducing transaction settlement times and improving cash flow. Assets can be traced to their origin, significantly reducing the opportunities for substitutions with counterfeit goods. Asset tracking has value in other areas, such as tracing food across a supply chain to more easily identify the origin of contamination or track individual parts to assist in product recalls. Another area in which blockchain has potential is identity management. Smart contracts can be programmed into blockchains where events can trigger actions. For example, payment is released when goods are received. By 2023, blockchain inspired technology will support the global movement and tracking of $2 trillion of goods and services annually.

By 2023, blockchain inspired technology will support the global movement and tracking of $2 trillion of goods and services annually.

“Blockchain remains immature for enterprise deployments due to a range of technical issues including poor scalability and interoperability. Despite these challenges, the significant potential for disruption and revenue generation means organisations should begin evaluating blockchain, even if they don’t anticipate aggressive adoption of the technologies in the near term,” said Burke.

AI Security

Gartner says AI and ML will continue to be applied to augment human decision making across a broad set of use cases. While this creates great opportunities to enable hyperautomation and leverage autonomous things to deliver business transformation, it creates significant new challenges for the security team with a massive increase in potential points of attack with IoT, cloud computing, microservices and highly connected systems in smart spaces. Security and risk leaders should focus on three key areas – protecting AI-powered systems, leveraging AI to enhance security defense and anticipating nefarious use of AI by attackers. Through 2022, 30 percent of all cyberattacks will leverage training-data poisoning, AI model theft or adversarial examples, Gartner said.

This article was written by Michael Cooney from NetworkWorld and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network. Please direct all licensing questions to legal@newscred.com.

As Microsoft prepares for the end of Windows 7, students urged to update

Tue, 10 Dec 2019 17:53:54 Z

By Stacey Blansky | Cornell University / Cornell Daily Sun

As Microsoft looks ahead to Jan. 14, 2020 — when the long-awaited Windows 10 update eclipses the current Windows 7 — a company in upstate New York is drumming up awareness on how crucial it is to update operating systems.

ICS is a tech services company that is hoping to send a message to all Windows users: keep up with the transition, appropriately termed “The End of Windows 7.”

After Jan. 14, Windows will stop releasing software bandaids and updates on the old software. Updating to Windows 10 will be crucial for Windows users. Without updating, their computers will be vulnerable to bugs and other problems.

“[Microsoft] has a team of programmers that are constantly writing new codes to secure the operating system for many vulnerabilities that come out,” Kevin Blake, ICS President, stated in a phone interview with The Sun. “When Microsoft sets these ‘end of life’ dates, they will stop writing those fixes.” Essentially, computers that remain on Windows & will be more susceptible to cyber hacking and malware.

Taylor Pero, ICS Marketing & Public Relations Director, told The Sun in a message that “users will have to be vigilant about security issues and bugs until they adopt a new operating system.”

Many smaller businesses outsource their IT support, and ICS is one of many companies providing that service, according to Blake. The company handles all of the technology for its clients — small- and medium-sized businesses throughout northern Pennsylvania and central New York.

Microsoft, which makes the Windows operating system for desktop and laptop computers, has evolved its operating system through the years — Windows 3.1, Windows 2000, Windows XP — and sets “end of life” dates years in advance.

When he was a student, Blake said that he personally used technology until it “absolutely didn’t work” — a practice that isn’t as safe anymore with the increased risk of cyber-attacks.

Students are very vulnerable. If some virus or ransomware were able to attack your OS and crash your computer, you may lose what you were working on.

“Students are very vulnerable,” Blake said. “If some virus or ransomware were able to attack your OS and crash your computer, you may lose what you were working on.”

According to Blake, students should be aware of this transition and take the necessary steps to replace or upgrade their laptops.

“Most cyber-attacks happen via an unpatched server or workstation,” Blake said. “It is important to keep up to date on supported operating systems.”

Although Cornell University does not directly outsource IT services from ICS, the company does conduct business with many Ithaca companies that work with the University.

“Microsoft has done a huge amount of PR and marketing around informing their customers that Windows 7 is ending,” Blake said. “It is important for us to drive it home, and to help the college or the businesses budget, plan and make this happen by the deadline.”

How to Prepare for Windows 7 and Server 2008 End of Life

Thu, 07 Nov 2019 03:26:50 Z

Support for Windows 7 and Windows Server 2008 ends in January 2020

Windows 7

After January 14, 2020, Microsoft will no longer provide security updates or support for PCs with Windows 7. If you continue to use Windows 7 after support has ended, your PC will still work, but it may become more vulnerable to security risks. Upgrading to Windows 10 is recommended to keep your employees productive and secure.

Time for a new PC? Contact us today and we'd be happy to give our recommendations for a new machine to get the best Windows 10 experience possible.

Windows Server 2008 / 2008 R2

After January 14, 2020, support Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 will end. That means the end of regular security updates. Don't let your infrastructure and applications go unprotected.

Acronym and Microsoft can have you covered with new options:

Migrate to Azure with free security updates

Rehost Windows Server 2008 and 2008 R2 workloads to Azure. Get three years of Extended Security Updates at no additional charge, and upgrade to a current version when ready. Use existing licenses and save up to 80 percent on Azure Virtual Machines with Azure Hybrid Benefit and Reserved Instances.

Upgrade on-premises and stay protected

Upgrade to Windows Server 2019 for greater innovation, built-in security, and container support. For continued protection beyond the deadline, buy up to three years of Extended Security Updates—cover only the servers you need while you upgrade.

Need Expert Advice?

To discuss the best options for your business, contact Acronym today using the form below.

AI: Sci-fi or smart buy?

Tue, 25 Jun 2019 01:41:41 Z

The artificial intelligence (AI) revolution has barely started, with many comparing its evolution to just the first page of the Gutenberg Bible or the arrival of the printing press. But with AI spending estimated to reach more than $52 billion by 2021, there’s no slowdown in sight.

AI proponents tout a range of benefits, including enhanced efficiency and throughput, solving complex problems and freeing up workers to do truly creative and value-adding tasks.

The technology is already impacting our daily lives, from built-in smart assistants on smartphones such as Alexa or Siri, to smart cars and drones. AI is curating our social media feeds, our music and media streaming services and serving up online ads based on individual preferences.

If you are travelling somewhere, AI is powering Apple and Google mapping to steer us in the right direction, while it could be watching over our homes with smart home devices and monitoring our bank accounts to protect from fraud.

And with technologies like facial and object recognition continuing to improve, it will not be too long before all security camera feeds are monitored by AI, which could make clearing airport customs a lot quicker.

Future applications

Experts surveyed by Pew Research Center predict AI will amplify human effectiveness but also potentially threaten human autonomy, agency and capabilities. Smart systems in communities, vehicles, buildings and utilities should save “time, money and lives” and offer opportunities for individuals to enjoy a “customized” future.

However, the same experts expressed concern over the long-term impacts of these tools on the “essential elements of being human.” Key concerns included decision-making being sacrificed; job losses; data abuse; and increased dependency, along with the risk of cybercrime.

More than 8,000 researchers, engineers, executives and others have signed an open letter calling for “responsible AI research that recognizes social impact” and “aligns with human values.”

Buying the right hardware

Nevertheless, with AI continuing to expand, businesses need to obtain the right software and hardware to take advantage of its capabilities.

Along with graphic processing units (GPUs), a range of new hardware architecture has been developed that is optimised for machine learning, deep learning and other AI applications.

These include neural networking processing units, field programmable gate arrays, application-specific integrated circuits and other neurosynaptic architecture, with the development of specialised AI chips.

Others suggest AI hardware will advance from GPUs to analog devices and ultimately fault tolerant quantum computers that can maximise system capabilities. Meanwhile, AI and machine learning tools continue to evolve for developers, too.

With AI coming in all sizes, from immense production scale to developer sandboxes and even production training, a range of hardware platforms are available for businesses.

The AI revolution may have barely begun, but smart businesses are already ramping up IT hardware and software systems to take advantage of its capabilities. After all, the Gutenberg Bible wasn’t printed overnight.

5 must-know IT trends in 2019

Tue, 25 Jun 2019 01:38:16 Z

IT budgets are set to swell in 2019 as organisations continue to embrace a suite of rapidly developing technologies. With the arrival of 5G set to send mobile network speeds soaring and long-hyped technologies such as artificial intelligence and blockchain approaching maturity, 2019 will be a transformative year for IT. Here are five key trends to watch this year:

1. 5G is here!

The arrival of 5G in 2019 will send the wireless revolution into hyper-drive. Your landline could be set for extinction as 5G mobile devices benefit from broadband network speeds. 5G also has huge implications for Internet of Things (IoT) technology that will soon have access to much faster mobile network speeds than was possible with 4G. This will drive a range of new innovations and capabilities as the first next-generation 5G mobile devices are launched in the coming months.

2. Blockchain goes mainstream

While blockchain has been present in the world of cryptocurrency for the last few years, it has had limited mainstream use – until now. With big players like IBM investing in blockchain development, we’ll likely begin to see a more digestible version of blockchain emerge that a range of businesses will be able to use to create more secure systems for recording and verifying transactions. The financial services industry is already making early moves into blockchain, and predictions are that the logistics sector will follow.

3. Artificial intelligence (AI) gets real

AI has been making big promises for some years now, but 2019 could be the year that transitions from theoretical musings into actual business tools. AI is tipped to move beyond data science to take on a more developer-centric focus. That means 2019 could be the year that developers start building genuine AI technology into a range of new mainstream apps across business functions.

4. NoOps transforms IT

DevOps could become NoOps in 2019 as software automation and cloud-based SaaS (software as a service) continue to take the software development and maintenance burden off in-house IT teams. As such, IT will need to accelerate its philosophical and cultural shift from an operations-based department to an outcomes-based department with a heavier focus on value-adding innovation.

5. Chatbots go to the next level

While frustrations have been common with early chatbots, that’s set to change in 2019. Advances in natural language processing (NLP) and sentiment analytics will drive the development of much smarter chatbots that will be capable of delivering more personalised customer experiences. Expect to see more sophisticated chatbots that possess a greater understanding of empathy and other human emotions.

Windows 7 is ending, is it time to upgrade?

Wed, 17 Apr 2019 05:51:36 Z

Have you upgraded to Microsoft Windows 10? Tell us about your tech plans for a chance to win a $2,000 Visa gift card!

Click Here to Enter