businessinfomag.uk
magazine
08
agenda
Time for SMEs to embrace
the cloud, says Kronos
Leading workforce management company Kronos
is encouraging SMBs to embrace cloud technology
to improve productivity, following a report
which found that 64% of workers believe cloud
applications play an important role in supporting
their day-to-day work.
The
CloudReady Report
reveals that workers today
expect technology that
supports their preferred
way of working, with 86%
seeing reliable software as
a fundamental requirement.
Flexibility (91%) and real-time access (89%) are seen
as two of the biggest benefits of the cloud.
Crowdsourced Green Guide goes live
Employees want to work for a firm that
has a ‘family feel’, CIPD, the professional
body for HR and people development,
claims in its latest
Employee Outlook
2015
report.
Over half of people (55%) surveyed
said that they would like to work in an
organisation ‘with a family feel, held
together by loyalty and tradition’. Yet only
26% of employees feel that their employer
has such a culture.
Instead, nearly 50% of employees
describe their organisation as ‘a formalised
and structured place to work, where
procedures govern what people do and hold
people together.’ This feeling was strongest
amongst people working in the public
sector (74%) and in large organisation with
over 250 employees (59%).
The survey by CIPD found that employee
engagement is at a three-year high: 39%
of respondents say they are engaged (up
from 38% in 2014 and 35% in 2013); 59%
describe their attitude as neutral; and just
3% say they feel disengaged.
Employees want ‘family feel’
London TechHub
Tapping into growing investment in the UK tech sector,
TechHub has opened a third London facility at 20
Ropemaker Street close to the City. TechHub already has
London premises at TechHub Shoreditch and TechHub@
Campus, as well as workplaces in Bangalore, Bucharest,
Boston, Madrid, Riga and Swansea. Home to 400
TechHub members, TechHub London provides a smart
environment where members can meet clients and
enterprise-focused venture capitalists.
NFC Update
NFC provides easy connectivity with
smartphones and other devices. In this new
column we highlight some of the latest
applications.
Conference management
Lumi Track is a delegate tracking and
verification solution that gives event organisers
the ability to automatically check-in attendees
with NFC-enabled mobile phones or tablets;
monitor their attendance; and generate reports
complete with entrance and exit timestamps.
Event organisers can view and monitor
attendance in real-time from Lumi Track’s
online dashboard and see instantly when a
room is nearing capacity.
Freedom from passwords
As well as using NFC to open doors, HID
Global is using it to reduce the complexity
of passwords. Its ActivID Tap Authentication
for Microsoft Office 365 enables users to tap
their smart card to laptops, tablets, phones and
other NFC-enabled devices for easy access to
Office365 and other cloud apps and web-
based services. Tim Phipps, vice president of
product marketing, Identity Assurance with
HID Global, said: “ActivID Tap Authentication is
designed to improve both security and the user
experience across a wide range of enterprise
applications in environments where it can
require 20 or more logins each day in order
to access enterprise data and services. As the
first solution to use our authentication service,
ActivID Tap Authentication for Microsoft
reduces the need for complex passwords and
diminishes password fatigue. It makes it easier
than ever for users to leverage a single smart
card to seamlessly access data, login to cloud
resources and open doors.”
Hands-free communications
The Octopus smartphone holder from
Geemarc can be placed on a car’s dashboard,
air vents, windscreen or stereo system. An NFC
version enables users of
NFC-enabled smartphones
to open applications, such
as a navigation or music
app, automatically.
Cyber insurance commonplace by 2025
The Association of British Insurers says that in the next 10 years cyber insurance will become
as normal as property insurance. Speaking at the ABI conference on cyber insurance, Huw
Evans, Director General at the ABI, said: “At the moment, despite more than 80% of large
businesses suffering a cyber security breach in a 12 month period, only around 10% have any
form of cyber insurance...The UK insurance industry is already providing cover for cyber risk
to customers around the world. More British firms are now taking advantage of this expertise
and by 2025 this type of cover will be seen as an essential business purchase.”
This year’s Green OfficeWeek, which
took place in May, saw the launch of the
UK’s first crowdsourced guide to green
working, Avery’s
Big Green Crowdsourced
Guide
. The free online resource features
tips and ideas collected from offices
around the UK, expert advice, case
studies and suggestions for eco office
products. Avery marketing director Fiona
Mills said: “Our guide is a collection of
real advice and examples to help inspire
and encourage businesses on their green
journey.”
April 2015
Cloud Ready
Unlocking the strategic
value of cloud forSMBs
