A recent research study from Epicor revealed that 96% of organisations surveyed worldwide have confidence in their ability to navigate the early stages of the ERP purchase process, from initial evaluation to requirements planning. However, 48% cited a strong need for more support and partnership from their ERP providers during the latter stages of the purchase journey – from implementation, go-live, and ongoing customer care – to ease migration and realise faster time-to-value. The 2022 Epicor Industry Insights Report surveyed more than 1,350 ERP users to reveal what is driving organisations to look for – and expect more – from their ERP providers, especially critical as organisations are increasingly presented with a growing number of options in making the move to the cloud and expanding technology capabilities beyond traditional ERP. According to the study, 82% of respondents were operating in a hybrid cloud environment, with 46% either primarily or entirely in the cloud, a slight uptick from survey findings in 2021 which saw a large increase in cloud consideration driven by the pandemic. In fact, 90% of decisionmakers indicated their move to the cloud was worth the effort, having realised a variety of transformational benefits including improved flexibility and adaptability, better security, simple regulatory compliance, and enhanced business resilience. www.epicor.com BULLETIN Epicor industry insights Struggling with technology With hybrid working models now the norm, hybrid meetings, featuring a mix of virtual and in person participants, will continue to play a vital role for businesses now and in the future. However, insights from Sharp reveal that ongoing technology challenges could have a significant impact on their success. Sharp conducted research with 6,000 office workers in SMBs across Europe to investigate the impact the pandemic had on workers’ expectations for workplace collaboration, and how they felt about the changing meeting environment. Just under half of office workers surveyed (47%) said they find it confusing having to use various different video conferencing platforms, and 53% said it’s harder to stay focused during remote meetings. Given the high reliance on technology to support meetings, it’s surprising to see that only 47% of office workers said they have received training on how to use the technology. Despite the concerns raised in the research, remote meetings provided more opportunities for many workers under the age of 30, with half stating they are more confident at speaking up in virtual meetings than face to face, and almost three in five (59%) stating that more people are able to contribute during remote meetings. www.sharp.eu Security incidents 98% of UK organisations experienced some form of a security incident in the last 12 months, according to a new report from Barracuda Networks. The data revealed that web application attacks were the most common security incident for UK organisations, with 45% encountering at least one in the last 12 months. Additionally, 29% suffered from a malicious external hardware or removable media, 36% encountered a DDoS attack, 31% had remote access compromised, and 29% encountered a compromised supply chain. www.barracuda.com Passwords are too easy to crack On average, tech professionals in the UK use weak passwords that are only 11 digits long, according to tech recruiters at Randstad UK. In a poll of approximately 400 tech professionals, more than three-quarters said they typically use passwords with fewer than 14 characters, while only 10% use passwords of more than 24 characters. Adrian Smith, Senior Director of Operations at Randstad said: “Cyber hygiene is a problem. While you expect 123456, qwerty and password to be the most popular choices with people who aren’t tech literate, you’d hope tech professionals would be making better password choices.” Randstad UK says tech users need to create longer passwords to protect their online security. A six character password, regardless of whether numbers and letters are included, can be cracked in less than three-quarters of an hour. Cyber security firms recommend using an 18 character password. www.randstad.co.uk Frustrations and challenges According to global research from IT monitoring firm Paessler, the biggest issue for IT systems administrators at work is when systems are flagged as having problems when none exist. A third (34%) say false positives are their main issue. A similar proportion, (33%) are irritated by excessive and unnecessary notifications. Management reporting is also cited as being a major frustration. Nearly one quarter, (23%) say they are being tied up with gathering information for often unnecessary reports, again acting as a distraction from their day-to-day roles. Alongside these current frustrations, IT systems administrators also have specific concerns about what lies in the future. The current frustrations are compounded with areas that they see as upcoming challenges in the next two to three years. Half say cloud adoption is the top challenge they anticipate and two in five (41%) fear the extra pressure to maintain a resilient IT infrastructure given the increased importance and size of network operations which must now deliver for both home-based and office-based employees. www.paessler.com 01732 759725 4 VOTING NOW OPEN https://printitawards.co.uk Adrian Smith technologylive.co.uk The essential show for IT and mobile resellers and providers Business Design Centre · London · 13 September 2022 22 In partnership with REGISTER NOW
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