Fans key to success
Burgeoning entertainment and media
industry segments, such as virtual reality
(VR), e-sports and music streaming,
highlight the vital role of ‘fans’ as a
source of competitive advantage, claims
PwC’s
Global entertainment and media
outlook 2017-2021
.
It expects the consumer VR content
market to grow at a compound annual
growth rate (CAGR) of 77.0% over the next
five years, reaching a value of US$15.1bn
by 2021.
Over the same period, total global
e-sports revenue is predicted to achieve
a CAGR of 21.7% and annual revenues
of $874 million in 2021, with music
streaming experiencing a CAGR of 20.7%
over the same five-year period.
Deborah Bothun, PwC Global
Entertainment and Media Leader, said:
“Accelerating change in technology, user
behaviour and business models has
opened up a gap between how consumers
want to experience and pay for E&M
offerings and how companies produce and
distribute them.
“The right user experience bridges
this gap. To deliver it, companies must
pursue two related strategies. First, build
businesses and brands anchored by active,
high-value communities of fans, united
by shared passions, values and interests.
And second, capitalise on emerging
technologies to delight users in new ways
and provide superior user experiences.”
Brexit uncertainties lower IT spend
More than half (58%) of UK consumers
say they are more likely to shop around for
technology purchases, following Brexit-related
price increases, according to a OnePoll survey
commissioned by Purch.
One in five (21%) says they would consider
switching allegiance from their usual brand of
technology; 42% are considering buying second-
hand technology; and 28% are putting off
investment until price rises have stabilised.
André Baden-Semper, VP Europe at
Purch, said: “From our survey of 2,000 British
consumers, it is clear that the impact of Brexit is
starting to take its toll on attitudes to purchasing
technology and spending patterns. An uncertain
economic backdrop that will see household
budgets squeezed, coupled with the rising price
of technology – whether people are aware of
the price hikes directly or not – is encouraging
consumers to shop around more than ever.”
Poor IT habits put one in 10 SMEs at risk
Software developer Reckon warns that
poor IT habits are putting small firms at
risk of data security breaches.
Research conducted by the company
shows that one in ten (10%) small business
owners and employees regularly share
confidential files on personal devices. One
quarter of small business owners and their
teams save documents onto desktops
rather than a central server.
Bad habits are most prevalent in
younger businesses, with 16% of businesses
founded within the last 10 years regularly
emailing files to personal addresses in
breach of data security guidelines. This
compares to just 7% of companies aged
10-20 and 4% of those aged 20-35.
Reckon believes people tend to adopt
bad habits because they want ease of
access when working remotely and like to
keep documents they need close to hand.
Organisations are struggling to counter
the widening skills gap within their
workforce, claims CompTIA in its new
report,
Assessing the IT Skills Gap
.
In a survey of 600 executives, nearly half
(46%) said the skills shortage within
their organisations had grown over the
past two years.
The skills gap isn’t confined to IT but
extends to marketing, sales and business
development, operations, customer service,
and accounting and finance.
Just one in three organisations has a
formal process and resources in place to
address the problem, with most depending
on informal processes or no process at all.
Speed of innovation is one of the
biggest challenges companies face in
keeping their employees skills up to date
and this show no sign of abating.
Amy Carrado, CompTIA senior director,
research and market intelligence, said:
“Organisations testing the waters with the
Internet of Things, artificial intelligence,
robotics and other emerging technologies
face even greater skills gaps due to the
fast-moving nature of these innovations. It
takes time for training materials to reach the
market and for opportunities to gain hands-
on experience to arise.”
AI to take a seat at the
boardroom table
Four in five (81%) executives have
increased their reliance on automated
security solutions, according to a report
by cyber security and application delivery
solutions provider Radware.
The report,
Cyber-Security Perceptions
and Realities: A View from the C-Suite
,
reveals that one-third of executives now trust
automated systems more than humans to
protect their organisation. More than half
(56%) say their company has experienced a
cyber-attack in the past 12 months.
Pascal Geenens, Radware EMEA
security evangelist, believes that turning
towards AI and automated cyber defence
solutions is a natural next step given the
threat that cyber attackers now pose.
He said: “The findings show that many
victims thought they had the correct
security measures in place to protect their
business, but the reality is that the nature
of the threats is constantly evolving and
hackers are exploiting tools such as the
Mirai or Brickerbot botnets that didn’t even
exist when respondents last reviewed their
security defences.
“It’s prompting business leaders to
consider intelligent security solutions so
that they can fight bad bots with good
bots. Manual cyber defences are no longer
strong enough. Many UK businesses suffer
daily attacks, and these attacks can come
in many different forms. But what we
have seen in the last 12 months is more
willingness from executives to look at
new solutions to new problems. Failure to
embrace automated cyber security systems
will almost definitely result in business
loss from cyber-attacks. We think it’s only
a question of time before AI gets a seat at
the board table.”
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Organisations struggle to close skills gap
