Microsoft has quietly made changes to its plans to retire its hugely popular OS; Windows 7, for businesses at least. PC manufacturers will be able to continue to sell Windows 7 Professional machines beyond the October 31st cut-off date. The new, extended date has yet to be confirmed, but Microsoft will give out a 12 month warning before. It is easy to think slower than expected sales of Windows 8, especially in the business sector would be the cause for this alteration. Microsoft’s Shad Larsen, senior business program manager refutes this stating “Windows 7 remains the largest part of Microsoft’s install base and is still in the midst of being deployed by business customers, Microsoft wants to make it easy and possible for businesses to continue to obtain it.” Whatever the reason, Microsoft must hope it can deliver the business-value many find lacking in Windows 8 (or beyond), before this new deadline for Windows 7.
Month: February 2014
OnLive founders looking to solve low signal issues
Steve Perlman, founder of streaming service OnLive has moved onto his next technology venture, called Artemis. The venture is looking to solve the big problem of cellular congestion affecting modern carriers. The technology called pCell, harnesses interference, taking advantage of the thing itself that causes signal woes in busy areas. This technology was demonstrated streaming Netflix HD and 4K videos to a half dozen devices in the same room over a local LTE network, something currently impossible on current networks. Large scale tests will begin San Francisco later this year. So the question emerges, if this tests successfully, who will pick this technology up and start implementing into the real world?
UK Leads the way in having multiple suppliers for IT Outsourcing
A recent report has revealed that UK organisations are the most mature, multi-sourced IT outsourcers in the world, with 44% of all outsourced services split between five suppliers and with only 6% of contracts being single-sourced. This compares with southern Europe (France, Spain, Portugal and Italy), where 56% of contracts are multi-sourced between two and four service providers. The US by contrast, tried multi-sourcing but has largely reverted back to a more traditional single supplier model. Whilst it can be more difficult to manage numerous supplier relationships, there can be political and technological justification for this. The BBC is due to transfer its outsourcing business from March 2015 after a 10 year licence with single supplier Atos (on a contract worth £2bn). This will change to a “tower model” favoured by public sector organisations for its flexibility and value, through a number of specialist companies. As long as companies’ IT sourcing policies meet their business goals, it will ensure service providers are on their toes to optimise performance for their clients, or risk losing their business.
Paperless NHS? A start to a small part of it
South Tyneside NHS Trust has begun its paperless journey by moving its board meetings to the cloud using Huddle for iPad as part of its digital business strategy. This reduced paper output for just this management area by 100 reams a month, with the introduction of Apple iPads to the boardroom. With creation and collaboration on documents up to 600 pages in length each month and an update and approval process only via email, confusion about changes and editorship were common. Now documents are accessed via a secured cloud collaboration service through the tablet devices as part of the Trust’s BYOD scheme. Huddle is part of the G-Cloud service agreement and fulfils the Trust’s requirements for data protection. The company has come a long way since its start in 2006 and is making some competition for Microsoft – at least in the social collaboration market.
This message will destruct in 10 seconds
No longer a wild story line from the TV series “Mission Impossible”, the US military is funding a project to develop electronics that can self-destruct by remote control. US Defence Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), has commissioned IBM to work on a £2.1m contract for its Vanishing Programmable Resources project (VAPR). The proposal would create a networked application which would employ a radio frequency trigger to shatter a glass coating on a silicon chip, and turn it into powder, thus destroying it and preventing sensitive data falling into enemy hands. VAPR has also got applications in medical diagnosis and treatment which they hope to develop further. With VAPR targeted first for combat zones, wider ramifications for securing data in a similar vein for commercial use would certainly be interesting in a board room setting.
Telehealth top priority in Kent
Kent has the largest growing elderly population in the country. With this in mind, Kent County Council have announced that telehealth is a top priority for the region to provide digital health solutions. Kent has the benefit of a cluster of technology start-ups in the region. These are being actively supported with business loans. The focus of these new digital companies include providing secure solutions for sharing patient data with practitioners. If they succeed as hoped, they could be creating a new wave of innovative, preventative solutions, which could avoid an over reliance on residential care homes and use of geriatric wards in future. It would also save the Council purse and NHS serious money in the long run if they get the combination right.
Sony is stepping out of the PC biz
Sony is selling its PC division (Vaio) after 18 years in the business. The Japanese firm also announced 5,000 job cuts. This news comes after financial struggles for Sony, with the PC unit unable to make a turnaround – unlike it’s now successful smart phone unit. The buyer is Japan Industrial Partners (JIP) who have stated plans to continue making PCs under the Vaio brand. In a statement Sony said “drastic changes in the global PC industry” was to blame in its downfall, pointing the finger toward the rise of tablets and the fall of PCs, which it held less than 2%. This will likely be seen by the competition as an example of what can happen if you are unable to adapt quick enough to the ever changing PC environment.
What will the future hold for Microsoft with new CEO Satya Nadella in the chair?
Microsoft’s hunt for a new CEO has finally come to a close. Satya Nadella, previously head of Cloud and Enterprise and having spent two decades at the company has now officially risen to the rank of CEO. Nadella’s background in technology contrasts former CEO Steve Ballmer’s business centric experience and has more in common with founder Bill Gates. The Azure platform built under Nadella’s guidance now powers; Bing, Skype and Xbox LIVE, proving his ability to grow successful products within Microsoft in a modern Cloud world. This is an exciting time for the company as it transitions more so into a devices & services company, and with Nadella at the helm Microsoft is in an ideal position to raise to success.
Sense and sensibility as collaboration wins over censure
In an increasingly litigious age, it is refreshing to hear that technology and communication giants Samsung and Cisco have chosen to engage in a 10 year patent cross-licence agreement. During this period they will promise not to sue each other. Current and future patent portfolios will be shared between the two, opening the doors for greater innovation and future groundbreaking products, without the red tape and costly licence contracts. The agreement marks the third deal in recent weeks for the Korean company which has announced deals with Google and Ericsson to settle litigation and prevent . The join up will boost Samsung’s efforts with apps in the Connected Home, whilst Cisco’s network specialisation and dealings in the “Internet of Things” makes it a good marriage more than just on paper, although details are sketchy.
Data breaches widen – sort out your house or be damned
The Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) has just reported a 25% increase in data breaches in Q3. This reflects a continuing upward trend. Type of breaches include: personal information disclosed in error, lost or stolen paperwork, plus loss of hardware containing sensitive information. The shame is that with proper data handling procedures and staff training, these errors are nearly wholly preventable. With ICO fines of up to £500k, the countermeasures required are neither onerous nor expensive for businesses. Breaches have taken place across public and private sectors, with the UK’s greatest sinner being healthcare, accounting for 38% of all reported breaches. With 2014 being the year that the proposed EU Data Directive comes into force, organisations will rightly face greater scrutiny about how they handle data. Our advice to business is to get your house in order by reviewing data handling and data storage processes and rectify gaps before you face commercial loss, bad PR fallout – as well as possibly the anger of the ICO and a hefty fine.
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