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BULLETIN : TRENDS
6
Fixing IT problems could save SMEs millions of hours
Brother UK is encouraging channel
partners to make productivity gains
central to how they sell to small and
medium-sized businesses, following
research showing that simply by fixing
everyday IT problems they could save
UK SMEs as many as 5 million working
hours every week.
Three quarters (75%) of business
leaders surveyed for the company estimate
that each of their employees spends one
to two hours per week in front of frozen
computer screens; 71% believe employees
waste a similar amount of time dealing
with faulty printers.
Phil Jones MBE, Managing Director
of Brother UK, said: “Productivity is a big
issue for ambitious SMEs. Millions of hours
of employee time are wasted through IT
errors that have, wrongly, become part of
the working day. Fixing these issues can
deliver quick and long-term productivity
wins that improve staff morale, as well as
benefiting the balance sheet. The trick is to
preserve a small amount of time to look for
the seemingly inconsequential things that
waste time.”
Common time-wasters highlighted by
the research include the inability to find
documents on a server or as hard copies
(28%); printer problems (21%); other
business equipment failures (21%); and
computer crashes (20%).
GDPR: no time to lose
With less than a year until the deadline
for General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR) compliance, 73% of European
CIOs and IT managers are concerned
that their organisation might not be
able to meet the time-scale.
A survey of 750 CIOs and IT managers
from France, Germany and the UK by NetApp
also highlights a worrying lack of urgency
ahead of the May 25, 2018 deadline, with
only 37% of respondents having invested
extra funds in data regulation compliance.
NetApp warns that many business
managers remain ignorant of their
responsibilities. Of the UK respondents only
12% say they fully understand what GDPR
involves and just 17% have hired personnel
with data protection expertise.
NetApp points out that while the
originator of data remains its owner, under
GDPR anyone who processes that data is
also responsible.
However, 51% of the survey respondents
say responsibility for compliance rests with
the company that produces the data; 46%
say it lies in the hands of the company
that processes the data; and 37% believe
responsibility for data compliance is in the
hands of third-party cloud providers. In fact,
all parties will be individually responsible
for the data they handle.
Sheila Fitzpatrick, Worldwide Data
Governance & Privacy Counsel/Chief
Privacy Officer at NetApp, warns that with
the prospect of big fines for missing the
deadline, businesses must take action now.
She said: “We have entered the final
year of preparation before the GDPR
deadline on 25th May 2018. Businesses
need to act now to ensure they are
compliant in this timeframe, or be at risk
of fines of up to
€
20m, or 4% of global
annual turnover, whichever is higher.
“Brexit and the outcome of elections
will have little to no impact on whether UK
businesses need to comply with GDPR. It
applies to any business that comes into
contact with data on an EU citizen. As such,
companies of all sizes need to take an active
look at what data they hold, what they use
it for and where it’s stored. They can then
use this insight to conduct a comprehensive
review of data privacy policies, consents,
processes and so on to ensure they are
meeting the minimum legal requirements.
“GDPR isn’t a ‘nice to have’, it’s a legal
requirement. Companies have 365 days to
become compliant, or face the potentially
grave consequences when GDPR comes
into effect.”
Retail stores of the future will still have
human sales assistants, but the shopping
experience will be radically different due
to greater use of technology.
Seven out of 10 shop workers surveyed
by Epson believe technology will never
replace personal interaction in shops, but
they do admit that it
will revolutionise the
customer experience.
For example,
60% believe
Augmented Reality
will be used to
simulate products
in any environment,
helping customers
make purchasing
decisions. More than half (57%)
agree that wearable devices, such as
smart glasses and wristbands, will enable
retailers to enhance their service and
personalise recommendations.
Other findings include:
n
40% think stores will no longer hold
stock, but will instead produce customised
products on demand;
n
67% expect automatic ID of customers
so that brands can provide ultra-
personalised shopping experiences;
n
62% think the same technology will lead
to greater levels of security;
n
55% think there will be automatic
transactions, perhaps facilitated by mobile
POS systems;
n
36% think virtual shop assistants
equipped with advanced artificial
intelligence will help provide a faster and
better service.
Technology to transform shopping experience
New IoT report guides
companies to digital
transformation
IoT solutions provider Telenor Connexion
has produced a report explaining how
businesses can make the transition from
a product-based to a services-based
business model.
From product to a connected product-
as-a-service
answers key questions
including: What are the main benefits
to the company and its customers?;
What are the key considerations and
challenges in the process?; and What are
the best practices to ensure a successful
transformation?.
Telenor Connexion CEO Mats Lundquist
said: “Transforming a company’s business
model from a traditional product into an
IoT-enabled product-as-a-service can
be challenging from an organisational
perspective. It requires a shift in mindset
and impacts strategy, processes, people
and technology. The biggest barrier to a
company’s digital transformation is lack of
knowledge. Our established step-by-step
method will guide companies through the
whole process.”
Phil Jones MBE
Sheila Fitzpatrick
Mats Lundquist
