Deloitte: These Tech Trends Will Create The Symphonic Enterprise
Deloitte sees a future where businesses are able to use new technologies in concert rather than trying to master each one individually. In its just released ninth annual Tech Trends report Deloitte notes that companies would approach the integration of new technologies with a domain specific approach.
Mobile Innovation Has Become An OS Nightmare
There’s been more mobile operating system innovation in 2017 than any year since the smartphone was brought to the enterprise, but with advancements in technology come inherent risks in security. And the world’s two largest mobile OS creators, while pushing the ball forward, have opened their users to a new world of threat vectors and hacking capabilities.
CVS Health And Aetna Bet $69 Billion Merger On Digital Transformation
Can two companies merge their way to digital transformation, become a health care and analytics juggernaut and improve outcomes with one $69 billion deal? CVS Health and Aetna sure hope so. CVS and Aetna merged in a deal valued at $69 billion. CVS valued Aetna at $207 a share and combines a large pharmacy and retail footprint with pharmacy benefits and insurance. The deal also creates a massive data pool that could lead to more personalized medicine and follow-up and efficiencies.
Predictions 2018: Digital Transformation Ready To Hit Its Stride
By the end of 2019, digital transformation (DX) spending will reach $1.7 trillion worldwide, a 42 percent increase from 2017, according to the new IDC Worldwide DX 2018 Predictions report published recently. While IDC continues to see tremendous momentum and influence of DX on technology spending worldwide, across all geographies and industries, 59 percent of companies remain at either stage two or three of DX maturity, or what IDC calls a “digital impasse.”
IBM, Pivotal Collaborate On Tools For App Development
IBM is collaborating with Pivotal to make its software easier to access within Spring, Pivotal’s open-source framework, as well as on Pivotal Cloud Foundry cloud platforms. The idea is to help developers quickly and easily build cloud-native applications and microservices using their preferrred framework and tools, Andrew Hoyt, director of development for IBM Cloud Integration, said in a blog post.
Microsoft Low-Code SaaS Tool Helps Enterprises Jump Start IOT Projects
Microsoft Dec. 5 took the wraps off a new software-as-a-service offering called IoT Central that’s aimed at helping enterprises hit the ground running when they embark on their Internet of Things development projects. Although Microsoft already offers its cloud-based Azure IoT Suite, getting started on an IoT implementation can still be a challenge for many organizations, said Sam George, director of Azure IoT, during a virtual conference on the new Microsoft IoT Central product.
Microsoft Releases Whiteboard Preview App For Windows 10
Microsoft is taking a whiteboard experience like the one that ships with its Surface Hub hardware and making it available to Windows 10 users. Not all businesses have the budget or room for a Surface Hub digital white board display with a starting price of about $7,000, but there’s a good chance that their users have access to a PC. Catering to this market, on Dec. 5 the software maker announced the preview release of its Microsoft Whiteboard app for Windows 10.
Unmasking Digital Transformation: Six B2B Drivers For 2018
By the end of this year, two-thirds of the Global 2000 CEOs will have digital transformation at the center of their corporate strategy. Many companies understand that moving operations off of paper is a natural first step, but many fear selecting something too narrow or burdening the organization at large with some Stone Age product. With those two ends of the spectrum, what does it really mean for companies to embrace digital transformation? Leaving the bigger existential questions for another forum, let’s take a look at the evolving trends of digital transformation as they relate to B2B companies in 2018.
AI Is More Than Automation On Steroids, It Amplifies Human Innovation
Artificial intelligence has a lot of promising applications, especially for scaling complex tasks — be it within IT infrastructure or within business processes — to mass-production levels. At the same time, AI shouldn’t be looked upon as automation on steroids — it succeeds where it amplifies human activities and creativity, and needs to be designed accordingly.
Microsoft Delivers Public Preview Of Its New Azure IoT Software As A Service
Microsoft is making available a public preview of its IoT software-as-a-service offering called Microsoft IoT Central. Microsoft IoT Central is a software-as-a-service (SaaS) offering for connecting physical devices to back-end services, such as field service, customer engagement, predictive maintenance, asset utilization, energy management, and productivity services. It allows users to gain insights into devices via analytics services and make proactive decisions about those IoT devices.K.
Bitcoin Exchange NiceHash Hacked, $68 Million Stolen
Bitcoin mining platform and exchange NiceHash has been hacked, leaving investors short of close to $68 million in BTC. As the price of Bitcoin continues to rocket, surging past the $14,500 mark at the time of writing, cyberattackers have once again begun hunting for a fresh target to cash in on in this lucrative industry.
Apple Pay Cash Allows Person-To-Person Payments From Apple Devices
Apple Pay now enables iPhone, iPad and Apple Watch users to send or receive money directly to and from friends, family members or any others using new Apple Pay Cash capabilities that have been added to Apple’s 3-year-old payment services.
Amazon Launches Single Sign-On Service For AWS Cloud
Amazon Web Services’ re:Invent conference is wrapped up and in the bag, but the cloud juggernaut appears to have had at least one more product to release before the year’s end. The company quietly announced AWS SSO, a single sign-on service for the AWS cloud. Amazon describes the product as a centralized portal from which users can manage access to multiple AWS accounts and applications using their existing corporate credentials.
Google Brings New AI, Machine Learning Features To Sheets
Google is adding new machine learning and AI tools to its Sheets app that aim to simplify the way users work with large data sets in spreadsheets. One of the key updates relates to the creation of pivot tables. The powerful data analysis tool is used to find insights from large, detailed data sets, but creating one can be challenging.
Intel Demos 5G Facial-Recognition Payment Technology
In a showcase of several 5G-enabled technologies this week, Intel and Foxconn have demonstrated how facial-recognition capabilities can be used to make payments. Such “pay via face identification” technology could allow consumers to make payments for entertainment and retail services using Intel’s Multi-access Edge Computing (MEC) 5G solution along with advanced facial-recognition technology and artificial intelligence (AI).
IBM Security Adds New Multifactor Authentication Capabilities
IBM announced a series of new partnerships on Dec. 6 that provide expanded multifactor authentication integration capabilities. Among the new partner integrations are apps from BuyPass, DualAuth, Imageware and Yubico. IBM is now enabling the partner multifactor authentication (MFA) technologies through its IBM Security Access Manager (ISAM) platform. The partner integrations expand the native capabilities that ISAM already includes as part of the platform.
Mastercard Opens Proprietary Blockchain Technology To Developers
Mastercard announced that it will be opening up access to its blockchain technology via its API published on Mastercard Developers. Mastercard says it will initially implement the technology in the business-to-business (B2B) space to address challenges of speed, transparency and costs in cross-border payments.
Qualcomm Announces ‘Always Connected’ Windows 10 Mobile PCs
Qualcomm has announced the introduction of Windows 10 on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 mobile PC platform to create “always connected” laptops with up to Gigabit LTE connectivity. We’ve become used to rapid speeds on our smartphones and tablets, always-on connectivity, cool usage without fans or overheating, and generally acceptable battery life. However, this experience is not necessarily reflected in our laptops and hybrid devices.
Prediction: You’ll See A Whole Bunch Of People Wearing Robots At Work In 2018
It’s been a long, rocky road for powered robotic exoskeletons … most of which are still incapable of walking down long and rocky roads. But exoskeleton markets are set to reach $2.8 billion by 2023, up from $299.8 million in 2017, according to a global forecast by ReportsnReports. That’s an enormous spike — and I’d guess a slightly inflated one. But the signs are hard to ignore: Exoskeleton technology is market-ready, and a variety of industries are looking seriously at adopting the technology.
This Is Who Is Going To Run Your Digital Business Transformation Agenda
The influence of the chief data officer (CDO) continues rise within big businesses, with the data and analytics chief taking more responsibility for digital business transformation. Analyst group Gartner surveyed 287 CDOs, chief analytics officers, and other execs with responsibility for leading data and analytics projects in their organizations. It said that while the role was initially focused on data governance, data quality, and regulatory drivers, now CDOs are also being asked to increase revenue.
WhatsApp Expected To Roll Out Standalone Business App
WhatsApp is reportedly set to roll out a standalone business app to help the businesses communicate with its customers. Through its FAQ ‘Chatting with businesses’ section of the page, the platform has explained that there will be three different business accounts. The first account will be the verified one, which will carry a green checkmark badge in its profile.
Big Data: Three Ways To Turn Business Intelligence Into A Business Advantage
When it comes to big data, retailers have more information than most organizations. However, Julian Burnett, CIO at retailer House of Fraser, recognizes the amount of information is not always matched by a level of insight. “Retail is an industry that’s been trading on its gut instinct for quite some time,” he says. “Being able to back your decisions up with evidence of things that might work is crucial. I feel very confident that we’re getting our data set to enable us to properly inform our employees during their decision-making processes.”
IBM Introduces First Power9 Servers Designed For AI, Deep Learning
IBM took a significant step in the increasingly competitive and fast-growing field of deep learning and artificial intelligence with the introduction Dec. 5 of the first servers based on the Power9 processor and armed with an interconnect technology designed to accelerate the movement of data between the IBM processor and GPUs from Nvidia.
BlackBerry, Qualcomm Expand Automotive Partnership
BlackBerry said on Thursday that it will use Qualcomm’s hardware platforms as part of its push into the connected car space. The “non-exclusive” design agreement will see select Qualcomm hardware optimized for BlackBerry’s QNX software for use in areas such as virtual cockpit controllers, telematics, electronic control gateways and infotainment systems. BlackBerry said it will also optimize its over-the-air software and credential management services for use within certain Qualcomm Snapdragon modems.
