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Business applications

September 25, 2018 25 Sep'18
MI5 admits to ‘unlawful’ spying on Privacy International

The UK's intelligence agencies acted unlawfully by intercepting communications data on NGO, Privacy International, the UK's most secret court ruled.
September 25, 2018 25 Sep'18
Dreamforce 18: Salesforce vaunts Apple partnership and 'Customer 360'

As Dreamforce 2018 gets underway in San Francisco, Salesforce trumpets a partnership with Apple, a customer 360 service, and an upgrade to its MuleSoft “Anypoint” platform
September 25, 2018 25 Sep'18
Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella highlights importance of sharing the wealth of digital transformation

During the opening keynote of the Microsoft Ignite conference in Orlando, Florida, the company CEO Satya Nadella talked up the importance of ensuring the spoils of digital transformation are spread far and wide in society
September 18, 2018 18 Sep'18
Oracle first-quarter 2018-19 results show weak growth

Oracle’s first-quarter results for 2018-19 reveal $9.2bn revenue and 1% growth, with co-CEO Mark Hurd calling out “spectacular growth” for the NetSuite cloud ERP for SMEs business

September 17, 2018 17 Sep'18
Cutting through the blockchain hype

Blockchain adoption is still in its infancy, with security challenges standing in the way of more widespread deployment, according to a blockchain expert
September 14, 2018 14 Sep'18
How SAP is riding on Asia’s growth story

The enterprise software behemoth’s Asia-Pacific business is growing and believes its latest C/4 Hana suite is uniquely geared to the scale of the region
September 11, 2018 11 Sep'18
Fashion retailer Desigual boosts sales opportunities with data-sharing technology

Spanish fashion group Desigual reports 2% fewer lost sales after investing in technology to share stock, sales and pricing data between stores, websites and franchise partners
September 10, 2018 10 Sep'18
Pladis aims to get closer to consumers with S/4 Hana

Pladis, a UK-based Turkish-owned multinational biscuit and chocolate maker, has turned to cloud-delivered SAP software to move from a product-focused to a customer-centric way of doing business
September 05, 2018 05 Sep'18
Tibco plugs streaming data gap in Spotfire

New streaming data analytics capability in Tibco Spotfire X is expected to be well-received by enterprises in competitive markets across Asia-Pacific
September 05, 2018 05 Sep'18
How Ocado has disrupted its own model

At the Disruption Summit in London, Ocado’s head of technology explained how the firm built a technology-based model for efficient grocery delivery and how it has been disrupting that ever since

September 04, 2018 04 Sep'18
Element AI teams up with AI Singapore

The Canadian upstart is co-developing AI applications for local industries as part of its efforts to build new research capabilities via local talent pools
September 04, 2018 04 Sep'18
Three forthcoming government services to use Gov.uk Verify

Government Digital Service is in the process of private beta testing its identity assurance platform with three new central government services
September 03, 2018 03 Sep'18
CIO interview: Ian Cohen, global CIO, Addison Lee

Addison Lee’s global CIO is building a business strategy and ensuring the transport company has a flexible platform for growth
September 03, 2018 03 Sep'18
Dutch bank ING sees financial boost from employee performance management rethink

ING claims business has improved after replacing ‘scattered and fragmented’ IT systems to change the way it manages employee performance
August 30, 2018 30 Aug'18
Blockchain gains foothold in Australia

A number of blockchain projects are under way in Australia, but questions remain about whether the technology is wanted
August 29, 2018 29 Aug'18
IT leaders at a crossroads as they grapple with digital technology

CIOs have the opportunity to influence their company strategy as digital technology reshapes business. A survey of CIOs across 70 countries charts a path for IT leaders through emerging technologies
August 29, 2018 29 Aug'18
Heineken and Oracle create chatbot helper for polo events

Beer brand Heineken has enlisted the help of Oracle to create a chatbot to assist people attending the annual Heineken Urban Polo events ahead of expansion in 2019
August 23, 2018 23 Aug'18
No Deal Brexit papers warn of stark future for UK tech

The government has published the first of its No Deal Brexit contingency planning notices, containing sobering messages for the UK technology industry
August 23, 2018 23 Aug'18
KT shows off 5G’s potential at Asian Games

The South Korean telecoms bigwig is showcasing a host of 5G applications at the Asian Games in the run up to the commercial launch of its 5G network next year
August 22, 2018 22 Aug'18
Candy Crush maker King in Hadoop cluster move to Google Cloud

Online gaming firm is moving its massive big data analytics store off-premise and into the Google Cloud Platform
August 22, 2018 22 Aug'18
How Imperial Brands is taking control of its software licences

Central control gives the tobacco company the data required to manage software licences and ensure it pays only for the assets it needs
August 20, 2018 20 Aug'18
Job losses caused by artificial intelligence will dwarf those of Victorian revolution

The disruption to the jobs market caused by artificial intelligence will be far greater than that caused by industrialisation in Victorian times
August 17, 2018 17 Aug'18
Office 365 outage: Sign-in issues blight users across Europe and the US

Microsoft claims to have resolved a “subscription activation” issue that left Office 365 users unable to access its services yesterday
August 17, 2018 17 Aug'18
CIOs being welcomed back to marketing

The role of CIOs in shaping the technology buying decisions of marketers is being reinstated as more marketers realise the importance of integrating their services with IT systems
August 16, 2018 16 Aug'18
Lidl dumps €500m SAP project

Discount supermarket chain Lidl has spent millions on a SAP Hana system, and found it will need to spend even more to make it work
August 14, 2018 14 Aug'18
How Unit4 punches above its weight in APAC

The supplier of enterprise resource planning software is giving users the ability to tweak its software easily without the need for consultants, turning the traditional enterprise software business model on its head
August 09, 2018 09 Aug'18
Rentokil robot Trevor kills off mundane processes

Pest control firm has deployed artificial intelligence robots to take out manual processes and progress its learning organisation approach
July 31, 2018 31 Jul'18
Briton ran pro-Kremlin disinformation campaign that helped Trump deny Russian links

A British IT manager and former hacker from Darlington ran a disinformation campaign that duped former US intelligence agents and provided Donald Trump with manufactured “evidence” to deny that Russia interfered with the US election
July 26, 2018 26 Jul'18
Google brings machine learning data processing to IoT edge environments

Google is expanding its internet of things data processing offering by extending the ability for enterprises to carry out machine learning tasks in edge environments
July 23, 2018 23 Jul'18
IBM results leave Watson thinking

Artificial intelligence is at the heart of IBM's long-term strategy, yet its cognitive solutions business experienced a slight decline. Oh dear, Watson
July 20, 2018 20 Jul'18
Cloud sales stoke Microsoft’s strong growth

Microsoft says cloud-based Office products made a huge contribution to sales growth
July 19, 2018 19 Jul'18
SAP Q2 2018: Cloud revenue shows momentum, 600 more S/4 customers

SAP’s second-quarter results show cloud revenue now at one-fifth of total, indicating momentum. S/4 Hana customers now number 8,900
July 11, 2018 11 Jul'18
Oracle’s deal with Chile should go global

UK Oracle users may eventually see the ripple effect of a court ruling in a country almost 7,500 miles away
July 04, 2018 04 Jul'18
Singapore company turns to blockchain to improve food security

SMC Nutrition is using a blockchain distributed ledger developed by a Singapore-based company to gain visibility across its supply chain and ensure food security
July 02, 2018 02 Jul'18
Case study: Logistics firm GWC moves from paper to digital HR in three months

Qatar-based logistics firm Gulf Warehousing Company introduced smart appraisals for employees, cut the time it takes to recruit, and gave staff and managers access to accurate HR data by replacing paper systems with human resources software
July 02, 2018 02 Jul'18
Singapore’s Fullerton Health gears up for the cloud

Private healthcare service provider Fullerton Health is moving business applications to Microsoft’s cloud services before rolling out data analytics and artificial intelligence to enhance operations and patient care
June 27, 2018 27 Jun'18
HSBC puts humanoid in New York branch

HSBC has put its first humanoid member of staff into a branch role in New York City
June 25, 2018 25 Jun'18
SAP outlines approach to data management

Through its Hana Data Management Suite, SAP hopes to alleviate the challenges of managing data amid growing data security needs in an increasingly hybrid IT landscape
June 22, 2018 22 Jun'18
IBM early findings on disastrous TSB core banking system migration released

Report released by Treasury Committee criticises lack of rigour in preparation for core banking system migration, but TSB says report’s content is out of date
June 21, 2018 21 Jun'18
CDO interview: Andrei Belevtsev, Gazprom Neft

Russian oil giant will harness the latest technologies right across its business, says chief digital officer
June 20, 2018 20 Jun'18
Teradata sues SAP over Hana for stealing trade secrets

Data warehousing supplier Teradata is suing SAP in a Californian court for stealing trade secrets, copyright infringement and antitrust violations
June 20, 2018 20 Jun'18
Nine out of 10 enterprises will use robotic process automation by 2020

Robotic process automation take-up expected to reach 92% of European enterprises within two years, finds ISG survey
June 20, 2018 20 Jun'18
Oracle full-year results show 6% growth, but cloud revenue opaque?

Oracle’s full-year results for 2017-18 reveal total revenue of $39.8bn, up 6%, but reporting of cloud with on-premise revenue under “bring your own licence” policy has raised qualm over cloud weakness obfuscation
June 20, 2018 20 Jun'18
More APAC consumer goods firms expected to adopt blockchain

The adoption of blockchain technology is likely to increase in the consumer goods industry as more businesses use the technology to address fraud and improve supply chain management
June 20, 2018 20 Jun'18
Chief data officers go to summer school

Authors of the “Chief data officer’s playbook”, Caroline Carruthers and Peter Jackson, are running a summer school, supported by data governance software supplier Collibra
June 14, 2018 14 Jun'18
Government Geospatial Commission opens up OS MasterMap data

The Geospatial Commission, announced by chancellor Philip Hammond in his 2017 Autumn Budget, has opened up some Ordnance Survey MasterMap data to boost small businesses
June 11, 2018 11 Jun'18
London wants to show it’s open for business in Tech Week 2018

London Tech Week 2018 kicks off with attracting young people into tech a key theme
June 11, 2018 11 Jun'18
SAP banks on “intelligent enterprise” at Sapphire 2018

SAP, at its SapphireNow 2018 conference, promoted the “intelligent enterprise”, with Hasso Plattner and head of machine learning Markus Noga setting out the philosophy
June 07, 2018 07 Jun'18
IT spending reaches 10-year high as CIOs struggle with digital technology strategy

IT leaders have seen their budgets and headcounts rise for the first time in 10 years, but face challenges implementing their digital strategies
June 06, 2018 06 Jun'18
What SAP C/4 Hana means for the APAC enterprises

The cloud-based CRM suite could find takers, but it may not be enticing enough for Salesforce.com CRM customers that also run SAP’s ERP software to make the switch
June 06, 2018 06 Jun'18
Sapphire 2018: SAP will take over CRM market, says McDermott

SAP’s chief executive Bill McDermott tells 2018 Sapphire conference the supplier will storm the CRM market with its C/4 Hana business applications suite
June 05, 2018 05 Jun'18
Australia’s chief scientist calls for AI regulations

The proposal would require companies to apply for a trustmark so they know from the outset how their AI is expected to behave
June 04, 2018 04 Jun'18
Subpostmasters told to expect decision on alleged unfair prosecutions in August

The Criminal Courts Review Commission is expected to announce the findings of an investigation into alleged unfair subpostmaster prosecutions in August
May 29, 2018 29 May'18
Firms step up spending on digital tech, but struggle with strategy

Businesses and the public sector are stepping up their spending on digital technology, but many business leaders are struggling to keep pace with what it means for their business
May 29, 2018 29 May'18
Save the Children International uses Microsoft Azure to bolster cross-border charity work

Graham Kent, director of IT shared services at Save the Children International, talks about using Microsoft Azure to boost cross-border collaboration between the charity’s member organisations and present a more united front to the world
May 25, 2018 25 May'18
Former Macedonian PM convicted in corruption case exposed by illegal government surveillance

Information exposed by leaked recordings that were part an illegal mass surveillance campaign orchestrated under the government of former prime minster Nikola Gruevski have led to his conviction for corruption. He was found guilty of rigging a ...
May 24, 2018 24 May'18
England and Wales Cricket Board to improve players’ medical data

Cricketers’ medical images will be stored securely in an independent clinical archive, enabling clinicians to access medical data and make treatment decisions more quickly
May 23, 2018 23 May'18
Blockchain tourism being replaced by its application to business challenges

Deloitte reveals the next 12 months could see businesses move from exploring blockchain to applying it to business challenges
May 21, 2018 21 May'18
IT hub shadowed by Everest gives opportunities to homegrown IT professionals

Katmandu is the choice for offshore delivery for increasing numbers of multinational companies and is becoming more attractive to local IT professionals as a result
May 17, 2018 17 May'18
Singapore ropes in local polytechnics in AI talent boost

AI Singapore is working with three polytechnics to train lecturers and students on artificial intelligence while boosting AI adoption among SMEs
May 16, 2018 16 May'18
AI is more than just doing things cheaper and faster

Choose the parts of AI to deploy to demonstrate return-on-investment and differentiate your brand, says Volkswagen Australia’s chief customer officer
May 11, 2018 11 May'18
Virgin Trains on using AI and virtual reality to boost customer experience

Speaking at the Knowledge 18 ServiceNow conference in Las Vegas, Virgin Trains outlined the potential role immersive and data-driven technologies can play in improving customer experience
May 11, 2018 11 May'18
ServiceNow: Enterprises must rethink workplace communication as Generation Z enter workforce

Enterprises may find their tried and tested methods of communication fail to live up to expectations of digitally-savvy Generation Z members, warns ServiceNow
May 11, 2018 11 May'18
NHS Business Services Authority trials AWS chatbot tech to field customer calls in contact centre

Darren Curry, chief digital officer of the NHS Business Services Authority, shares details of how trialling the use of cloud-based chatbots in its contact centres has boosted staff morale and efficiency
May 10, 2018 10 May'18
Citrix touts digital workspace app in services play

Software supplier Citrix’s cloud-based workspace app is part of its efforts to deliver integrated services that support the modern workplace
May 10, 2018 10 May'18
Government must support SMEs, says Oliver Dowden

The minister for implementation, Oliver Dowden, provides further details on the GovTech competition and talks about GDS’s role as an “innovation incubator”, losing data policy to DCMS and the importance of SMEs
May 09, 2018 09 May'18
NatWest fintech investments bear fruit as SME loans platform goes live

Online lending platform enables small businesses to apply for loans of up to £150,000 in 10 minutes
May 08, 2018 08 May'18
Oracle’s autonomous database could leave DBAs unemployed

The long-term future of database administrators could be at risk if every enterprise adopts the Oracle 18c autonomous database
May 03, 2018 03 May'18
City Police use Lego simulation to teach businesses cyber security

City of London Police are offering to train business leaders and IT security in cyber security using a Lego simulation that is surprisingly close to real life
May 02, 2018 02 May'18
Fresh blow for Facebook as court refuses stay in Max Schrems legal action

Facebook has lost a legal attempt to delay the Irish High Court from seeking answers from the European Court of Justice over the legality of EU-US data transfers
May 02, 2018 02 May'18
IFS 18 Atlanta: CEO Roos asserts customer focus with upgraded ERP suite

IFS uses 2018 world conference in Atlanta to launch upgrade of its enterprise resource planning suite, shepherded by new CEO Darren Roos
May 02, 2018 02 May'18
Workday to continue investing heavily in APAC

Cloud applications supplier has increased its investments in the region by more than 50% in the past year, and is looking to maintain its double-digit growth in international markets
April 27, 2018 27 Apr'18
Government given six months to rewrite snoopers’ charter

The government has until 1 November 2018 to rewrite a key section of the Investigatory Powers Act 2016, after the high court declared them unlawful in a judicial review brought by human rights group Liberty
April 25, 2018 25 Apr'18
Gartner predicts AI will add $1.2tn to companies’ earnings in 2018

Gartner has forecast that artificial intelligence will create $1.2 trillion in economic value in 2018, up 70% on 2017
April 24, 2018 24 Apr'18
Criminal Courts Review Commission findings in Post Office computer case raise further enquiries

The Criminal Courts Review Commission forensic examination of the IT system at the centre of a legal case against the Post Office has raised further questions
April 24, 2018 24 Apr'18
SAP Q1 2018: Cloud revenue breaks €1bn, 400 more S/4 customers

SAP’s overall first-quarter revenue was flat, but cloud revenue and profitability were up, while its S/4 Hana customer base stands at 8,300
April 24, 2018 24 Apr'18
How application container technology is helping YMCA open up access to education

Youth charity YMCA is in the midst of a push to reduce its reliance on paper-based education aids, with the help of Droplet Computing’s application container technology
April 23, 2018 23 Apr'18
Next generation of SCADA industrial controls will protect against cyber attack

Oil, energy and chemical companies are rethinking how to control big manufacturing plants, replacing expensive control technology with cheaper, more secure systems, taking their cue from biology
April 20, 2018 20 Apr'18
Alibaba to set up digital hub in Thailand

Chinese e-commerce and technology giant Alibaba is expanding its Southeast Asian footprint with a new digital hub east of Bangkok that is expected to boost Thailand’s digital credentials
April 18, 2018 18 Apr'18
Australian supermarket chain hit by IT outage

Thirty-minute glitch knocked out checkout systems at half of Woolworths’ stores in Australia
April 17, 2018 17 Apr'18
Nginx debuts in Australia amid growing demand for microservices

The supplier of an open-source application platform is counting on the growing usage of microservices in the perennial search for agility and responsiveness among enterprises
April 17, 2018 17 Apr'18
Norway’s tax administration combats economic crime through IT

Authority has updated its IT system to step up the fight against tax evasion
April 16, 2018 16 Apr'18
Investments in skills, infrastructure and SMEs needed to help UK data economy hit new heights

The UK data economy may struggle to reach its full growth potential between now and 2025 unless action is taken, suggests research commissioned by datacentre operator Digital Realty
April 12, 2018 12 Apr'18
PepsiCo hires robots to interview job candidates

The food and drinks multinational is using artificial intelligence software, known as Robot Vera, to phone and interview candidates as it seeks to fill vacancies for factory, sales workers and drivers in Russia
April 12, 2018 12 Apr'18
IaaS emerges as fastest-growing sector of the global public cloud market

Gartner's public cloud spending forecast suggests enterprise demand for IaaS and SaaS deployments will continue to intensify between now and 2021
April 11, 2018 11 Apr'18
Australia needs to plug innovation gap

Being at the crossroads of technological change, Australia should decide if it wants to be a producer of cutting-edge applications or be contented with just being a user of technology
April 10, 2018 10 Apr'18
SAP bids to modernise indirect licensing with new pricing model

SAP has announced a new pricing model for indirect licensing scenarios that has been welcomed by user groups, who are still pressing for reassurance that they won’t pay more
April 09, 2018 09 Apr'18
Microsoft teams up with Japan’s JRCS on mixed reality

Software giant Microsoft has partnered with a Japanese supplier of maritime systems to test the use of HoloLens headsets for training and maintenance work
April 06, 2018 06 Apr'18
Why Lufthansa went back to the drawing board with its HR IT project

Aviation group says it is confident of landing a company-wide IT project following a sometimes turbulent journey
April 05, 2018 05 Apr'18
Deutsche Bank system replacement already paying back

Deutsche bank is replacing a complex IT infrastructure that helps its traders operate and automates regulatory compliance processes
April 03, 2018 03 Apr'18
How to rightsize your digital strategy

Don’t wait for a light-bulb moment. Small ideas are best, but businesses must also assess whether their IT is a speed bump, slowing down innovation
April 03, 2018 03 Apr'18
Oracle expands availability of cloud services from UK datacentre region

Database giant claims expansion of UK datacentre region shows its commitment to customers
March 29, 2018 29 Mar'18
UK government secures public sector discounts on Microsoft cloud products to April 2021

Government procurement chiefs have secured ongoing preferential pricing on Microsoft cloud products for the public sector through Digital Transformation Agreement
March 28, 2018 28 Mar'18
The Cambridge Analytica case: What’s a data scientist to do?

The Cambridge Analytica controversy has highlighted data ethics issues especially dear to early career stage data scientists
March 27, 2018 27 Mar'18
Capgemini turns to tech startup to identify ‘most engaged’ teams

Technology and consulting services firm Capgemini is using technology from a startup company to poll its employees’ views and provide feedback from managers every week. It is discovering what it takes to create “engaged teams”
March 23, 2018 23 Mar'18
Telefonica cuts HR running costs by 40% as it replaces hundreds of ageing IT systems

Multinational telecoms group Telefonica is on the verge of completing a project to replace 175 incompatible HR IT systems with a cloud service covering more than 40 countries
March 22, 2018 22 Mar'18
HMRC sets August launch date for customs IT system

HMRC plans to begin a phased deployment of its Customs Declaration Service this August, with completion expected by early 2019
March 21, 2018 21 Mar'18
AB InBev settles out of court in $600m SAP licensing dispute

SEC filing reveals that brewer Anheuser-Busch InBev has come to an agreement with SAP over the ERP provider's under-licensing claim
March 20, 2018 20 Mar'18
Oracle Q3 2017-18 results see cloud revenue grow to $1.6bn

Oracle’s third-quarter results for fiscal year 2018 show an increase of almost 7% of overall revenue to $9.8bn, of which 18% was cloud
March 20, 2018 20 Mar'18
SAP at the core of S Group’s €100m IT renewal

Finnish retailer S Group is putting SAP at the core of its IT transformation, which will be complete by 2021