IT Outsourcing Trends
As a result of macro uncertainties, technology disruption, and intense competition, slow growth ahead is predicted for IT outsourcing by the research firm Everest Group. The increasing implementation of automation and cognitive capabilities could cause organizations to reevaluate what and where they outsource.
Our View: Our In-House vs. Outsourcing Decision-Making Tool is designed to help organizations analyze the cost and risk management effectiveness for security capabilities with respect to in-house implementation or outsourcing. Based on your input, this tool will suggest what should be outsourced or implemented in-house, or what the potential opportunities for outsourcing are.
Skype for Business Reveals New Features
At the Enterprise Connect unified communications conference, Microsoft announced new features for Skype for Business. These features include a new Call Analytics Dashboard, which is supposed to provide Skype admins with a diagnosis of issues that users are having on a call, and Auto Attendant, which lets businesses set up a system of menus that callers can navigate using their phone keypad.
Our View: Regardless of new features, Microsoft licensing is complicated. Often, the same software can be licensed a number of ways. It’s difficult to know which edition and licensing model is best. Review and assess your Microsoft contract to build a strategy that leads to dollars saved. Adopt a cyclical approach to reviewing Microsoft licensing with the help of our research, Take Control of Microsoft Licensing and Optimize Spend.
E-Commerce Security Concerns
At the recent Inspiring Growth conference in Edinburgh, e-commerce security concerns were raised by several speakers including Thrive Digital’s CEO, Emil Stickland. He said “there is a perception that cyber criminals are targeting major e-commerce business platforms and banks, but the reality is that they are hacking the websites of businesses of all sizes.”
Our View: It is now harder to identify the firms that have not been hacked, whether bricks-and-mortar with online networks or e-commerce firms, than those that have. Companies must use better encryption. This doesn't help after a hacking incident, but serious end-to-end encryption of customer data is now under way at the top technology firms. Learn more about other potential solutions to mitigate security risks in E-Commerce in Crisis.
The Lift: A Bug Story
Lois O’Brien met her husband Charles during a course in entomology where they both shared a love for insects. After amassing an insect collection over six decades, they decided to donate it to Arizona State University. The collection is worth an estimated $10 million with each specimen of the collection worth $5 to $300, depending on its rarity. The donation will help scientists study natural controls on the environment and piece together a large branch of insects’ genealogy as about 1,000 of the O’Briens’ insects are “new to science.”