Tag Archives: cloud

News

Manchester-based M247 bolsters senior team with trio of hires

Global connectivity and cloud services provider M247 has continued its run of strategic senior hires, appointing three new product managers.

Ashley Davies joins the Manchester-based business as cloud product manager; Liz Hawke has been appointed product manager for unified communications and collaboration (UC&C); and Robert Smith joins as product manager for cyber security.

Formerly cloud services director at THG Ingenuity, Ashley Davies has a track record of successfully leading product teams and transforming the way end users move from virtualised on-premise environments to automated cloud operating models. He will be responsible for commercial and technical ownership of M247’s flagship cloud product line, as well as full partner landscape management, to further M247’s strategic ambitions.

Liz Hawke joins the business from Gamma, the unified communications ‘as a service’ business, where she was direct product manager for over five years. Liz will lead on UC&C and develop M247’s workplace offering, as the communications needs of businesses evolve.

Robert Smith completes the current wave of senior hires, as product manager for cybersecurity. Prior to joining M247, Robert was networking and cyber security product manager at Maintel. With 25 years’ experience, Robert has a stellar track record of defining product strategy, overseeing product launches and delivering service improvement plans across a broad portfolio of services.

Darryl Edwards, CEO of M247, commented on the appointments: “I am delighted to welcome Ashley, Liz and Robert to the M247 product team teams. With ambitious plans for the business in 2023, the addition of three new Product Leaders, each with their own invaluable experience and expertise, will no doubt be instrumental to supporting the next step of our growth journey.”

News

Softcat study reveals priority tech investments for smarter digital transformation

A new report by leading providers of IT infrastructure, Softcat, offers an exclusive look at the tech investments businesses are prioritising in the year ahead for smarter digital transformation.

The findings are based on the views of more than 1,800 customers in the UK and Ireland, across 27 corporate and public sectors.

The report, which is produced annually, reveals organisations are now prioritising Cyber Security above all other technology areas, with 62% of organisations saying that it is their focus over the next 12 months.

 

Adam Louca, Softcat’s Chief Technologist for Security, explained: “This figure is understandable. More organisations are recognising the vital role cyber security plays in enabling their tech adoption and unlocking further opportunities for innovation. Rising investment levels and C-suite buy-in reflect this evolving mindset, one that is moving away from an ad-hoc reactive threat response.

“It’s clear from the report’s findings that organisations understand that cyber security must underpin every part of digital transformation and investment needs to be a long-term strategy. This ensures that gains made are not lost as hybrid working and cloud approaches evolve.”

After Cyber Security, Devices is the second most cited technology investment area for the next year as organisations continue to invest in the digital workspace (46% of respondents).

At a time of skills shortages and the great resignation, equipping staff with the right devices and tools they need to work well from anywhere will deliver productivity gains and a high-quality and secure employee experience.

Hybrid Infrastructure is the third most important technology investment area, with 21% of customers citing Datacentre and Private Cloud as a priority area over the next 12 months, followed by Public Cloud (17%) and Managed Infrastructure and Support Services (16%).

Over the past few years of on-off disruption, cloud technologies have proven they’re enterprise-ready, offering organisations the scalability, flexibility, and greater efficiency. But modernising in the right way is key to releasing the true value when investing in cloud solutions.

In response, organisations are moving towards a hybrid approach to ensure the user and customer experiences are consistent, deliver value and achieve the required business outcomes.

It’s clear from the survey findings that sustainability is moving higher up the agenda for many businesses, large and small, with 19% of respondents citing it as a priority this year, up from 9.6% in 2021.

 

Richard Wyn Griffith, Chief Commercial Officer, commented on the findings:

“The past year has been one of transition and adjustment for our customers after the disruption and uncertainty of recent years.

“Today, organisations are focused on switching off ‘emergency’ digital transformation mode and turning on smarter digital transformation, setting a clear and concise roadmap for the deployment of new technologies.

“This will help them to remain agile in the face of new headwinds – from rising inflation to skills shortages and supply chain delays – as well as taking positive action towards our shared sustainability goals. 

“One thing is certain; it will be the digitally mature businesses who prosper in the future.”

 

The full findings from the 2022 Softcat Business Tech Priorities Report, including expert analysis, can be downloaded here. 

Awards, News

Zerto Announces Partner of the Year Awards for 2022

AHEAD and TierPoint are recognised for their significant achievements 

 Zerto, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, today announced its 2022 Partner of the Year Awards as named by the company’s partner advisory board. The award winners were recognised for their outstanding contributions to the Zerto partnership program. Zerto also honoured these organisations for their respective abilities to deliver high-quality, innovative solutions that meet the needs of end-users focused on the protection, recovery, and mobility of on-premises and cloud applications. 

“Our partner ecosystem is fundamental to what makes Zerto a global success story. Together we deliver the message of migration, disaster recovery, and DRaaS to our customers,” said Eric Barnhart, VP, WW cloud and channel sales, Zerto. “Our award winners are shining examples of how our partner program supports their efforts as well as those of their customers, who are building complex and demanding environments that must operate without downtime, disruption, and data loss.” 

 

Zerto Consulting Partner of the Year: AHEAD 

The Zerto Award winner for Consulting Partner of the Year is AHEAD—a leading provider of enterprise cloud solutions. AHEAD leverages Zerto to provide enterprise-class disaster recovery and business continuity software for virtualised infrastructure and cloud environments. The company, which posted major year-on-year growth with Zerto, approaching 200%, achieved this success largely based on a strong focus across Zerto for data centre migration and disaster recovery solutions. Through its growth and acquisition strategy, AHEAD has acquired companies like Roundtower and Kovarus, which were top Zerto partners pre-acquisition. Now with AHEAD’s size and scale, both companies have turned into powerhouses in this space.

“Thank you to everyone at Zerto for this fantastic recognition,” said Keith Odom SVP, presales & specialist engineering, AHEAD. “We saw tremendous growth in the past year focusing on Zerto as a strategic partner for migration and disaster recovery. Our team recognises Zerto is a market leader in both areas, and together we have established programs to grow this segment of the business. We look forward to a bright future.”  

 

Zerto Managed Service Provider (MSP) of the Year: TierPoint 

For the second year in a row, the award for Managed Service Provider (MSP) of the Year goes to TierPoint—a leading provider of secure, connected IT platform solutions that power digital transformation initiatives. TierPoint’s disaster recovery as a Service (DRaaS), powered by Zerto, protects virtualised workloads from data loss and downtime. It also offers a variety of configurations with failover to private, multi-cloud, and public cloud services in the event of a disaster. Not only did TierPoint once again deliver significant revenue growth this year, but the company also grew the number of Zerto-protected VMs by more than two million instances. 

“Zerto has been one of our most valued partners for many years, and we’re honoured to be named MSP of the Year for the second year in a row,” said Pete Abel SVP and CMO, TierPoint. “Our long-term, cooperative relationship with Zerto has resulted in numerous successful joint customer wins and marketing efforts. We appreciate how knowledgeable the company’s cloud architects and sales teams are and how easy it is to work with them. We’re looking forward to another successful year of collaboration and shared success.”  

 

About Zerto 

Zerto, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company, empowers customers to run an always-on business by simplifying the protection, recovery, and mobility of on-premises and cloud applications. Zerto’s cloud data management and protection platform eliminates the risks and complexity of modernisation and cloud adoption across private, public, and hybrid deployments. The simple, software-only platform uses continuous data protection at scale to converge disaster recovery, backup, and data mobility. Zerto is trusted by over 9,500 customers globally and is powering offerings for Microsoft Azure, IBM Cloud, Google Cloud, Oracle Cloud, and more than 350 managed service providers. 

 

 

Driving, Driving Tech, News

Successful motoring platform hits major milestone

CarCloud, the new digital platform revolutionising the way consumers manage their cars, is celebrating this month, having reached its £1 million investment milestone. Achieved as part of a follow-on funding round that successfully closed in June, the business continues to experience impressive growth.

Available on smartphone, tablet and desktop devices, CarCloud enables users to programme vehicle reminders and store important documents in the cloud, reducing the risk of not having an MOT and eliminating unnecessary filing. The platform can also be used to check the value of vehicles, with 18,000 searches undertaken in June alone, renegotiate finance payments and search for the best available insurance premiums.

In just six months, the CarCloud platform has attracted 36,000 active users, with 44,000 cars registered. This equates to more than £500 million worth of vehicles under digital management. It is predicted that the user base will exceed 150,000 by the end of the year, with the platform shortly set to enter the business to business marketplace.

Founded by ex-Porsche UK MD Geoff Turral and retail automotive entrepreneur Paul Jewell, initial funding came from the founders, business angels and a crowdfunding initiative. The follow-on round attracted further capital from returning first round investors.

Geoff Turral, co-founder of CarCloud, noted: “We’re thrilled to have reached our £1m investment milestone. The cost of living crisis is here to stay and we are passionate about the role CarCloud plays in helping people to manage their second biggest investment, after the home. The equity in our cars is a real asset and we want to have the customer’s back in terms of maximising that.

“While we’re delighted to see ever-increasing download numbers, the retention of users, with a churn rate of just three per cent compared to an industry average of 43 per cent, is evidence that people see the unique value in the platform.

“This is just the beginning for CarCloud. We have a number of significant updates planned, as we look to deepen the offer and expand into new markets. Our priority is to offer an agnostic capability that allows the consumer to take full control of the administration of their car via the cloud.”

The CarCloud app is available to download through the App Store and Google Play. For more information, visit: www.carcloudcommunity.co.uk.

Fintech, News

Be A Know-it-all: The solution to the £61 billion late payment problem has launched

First of its kind cloud-based platform streamlines the approach to the credit management process, helping businesses mitigate credit risk, reduce debtor days and boost cash flow!

Know-it, a Scottish fintech start-up, has officially launched their cloud-based credit management platform. Founded by Lynne Darcey Quigley, the new platform gives businesses the tools and intelligence to automate and simplify the way they manage credit risk and the credit control process, helping save time, reduce late payments and allow them to focus on other aspects of their business.

As part of their commercial launch, they will be exhibiting at the sold out Xerocon, at Tobacco Dock, London, on 20th and 21st July in partnership with leading accountancy app Xero.

The platform, which is the first of its kind, allows businesses to credit check and monitor, chase for payment, collect overdue unpaid invoices, and more, all from one place. By partnering with some of the UK’s leading accountancy software and credit reference agencies – such as Xero, QuickBooks, Sage, FreeAgent, and Creditsafe – users can instantly credit check companies, get live data, and real-time updates to monitor customer’s credit behaviour and mitigate potential credit risks.

The platform also gives finance teams and business owners a simple way to check their customers’ credit worthiness. It also ensures customers pay on time through scheduled reminders and customisable chaser emails, letters, and SMS, helping reduce debtor days and increasing cash flow. Users can also get instant quotes to collect unpaid invoices quickly and efficiently through their commercial debt recovery partner, Darcey Quigley & Co, as well as receive 24/7 case updates.

Lynne Darcey Quigley, CEO, and founder of Know-it, explains: “Know-it is a fresh perspective on a traditional process – while the credit control process hasn’t changed over time, our new unique platform brings together all credit control functions into one place. By removing the need to access and subscribe to multiple different platforms, our cloud-based platform streamlines the credit control process so you can credit check and monitor, chase for payment, collect overdue unpaid invoices, and more all from one easy to use platform, levelling the playing field for SMEs. This is set to transform the way businesses view the credit control process, as it will immediately help them save time and costs by providing real-time data, all from the convenience of one place.

“With the current financial climate mounting huge pressure onto the economy, businesses across the country need all the help they can access. This is a crucial time for technology to step in and offer a helping hand through an affordable and innovative credit management platform. With the launch of Know-it’s platform, businesses of all sizes are now able to Check-it, Chase-it, and Collect-it, all in real-time and without the headache of manual processing.”

The Know-it platform has launched against the backdrop of a global financial recovery and an increasing culture of late payments, which have mounted pressures on businesses and their finance departments. According to recent figures, the UK is expected to experience the slowest economic growth among other developed nations and almost half a million SMEs are at risk of failure as a result of late payments. This bleak outlook for UK businesses only intensifies the need for further support for businesses to gain access.

Following a busy 12 months for Know-it, which saw many high-profile partnership announcements, including VFD Pro, FutureX, and Nimbla, to name a few. Know-it has laid the foundation before launching and is working alongside some of most respected names in the industry. These partnerships will help more SMEs reduce instances of late payments and also help accountants better serve their clients with either a full-serviced or outsourced solution.

Know-it were recently announced as supporters of the Good Business Pays Wait Off campaign, a movement calling for faster payment drive to support small businesses as operating costs soar. The alliance is supported by the Small Business Commissioner, Federation of Small Businesses, CBI, Liz Barclay, British Chambers of Commerce and major banks amongst others.

On the recruitment front, Know-it also announced the hire of Gordon Merrylees, former Managing Director of Business Banking Scotland and Head of Entrepreneurship for Natwest, Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), and Ulster Bank. Merrylees joined Know-it as its inaugural Chief Commercial Officer in the summer of 2021 following a 36-year career within the banking sector. Merrylees’ arrival has helped Know-it connect and form crucial partnerships across the UK entrepreneurial ecosystem in particular banks, serial entrepreneurs, industry bodies and the accountancy sector ahead of its commercial launch. The adoption of technology by small and medium sized businesses is massive as Gordon adds “Notwithstanding the many challenges of the current financial crisis post pandemic, technology adoption is a big driver of productivity, however micro SMBs are half as digitized as medium sized firms. We know that using 2 or more innovative, tech solutions such as our Know-it platform to automate their credit control process for example, micro-SMBs benefit from a 25% increase in productivity whilst at the same time are able to reduce their debtor days, tackle late payments and improve their cashflow daily.”

Know-it have also very recently appointed Wendy McMurray as Head of Product, an accomplished product manager and innovator with 20 years’ experience and a proven track record in designing, developing and delivering products in line with strategic priorities. They have also appointed a new Head of Marketing starting in August.

Marketing Director of Fintech Scotland, Mickael Paris adds “We’re delighted to see Know-it launch its exciting and innovative solution. The team engaged with FinTech Scotland early on so we’ve been privileged to witness their journey from ideation to commercialisation. Know-it will play a crucial role in helping businesses improve their cashflow which, now more than ever, can be vital for them to face the current economic uncertainty. Know-it exemplifies how fintech is a real force for good, delivering better outcome for businesses and people. We look forward to accompanying Lynne and her team on their road to success.”

Lynne concludes: “Although this platform has been several years in the making, it was not our intention to launch the Know-it platform during the global economic struggle. Yet there is a timely opening for the platform to provide an additional layer of support for vulnerable businesses at a time when they need it most. Support from automated and effective credit management systems has traditionally been out of reach until now. We hope this pioneering technology will provide businesses with the comprehensive and holistic solution they need to work smarter at a time when businesses are now turning to technology to help mitigate current financial challenges.”

5G, News

Nokia selects Infovista to deliver cloud-based automated drive testing to accelerate roll-out of 5G deployments

Global partnership includes centralized management and automation of critical testing process for new 5G and legacy networks

Paris, France – July 12th, 2022 – Infovista, the global leader in network lifecycle automation (NLA), today announced a global partnership with Nokia to accelerate the rollout and acceptance of 5G network deployments. The partnership will see Infovista deliver its cloud-based, automated testing solutions to support the verification, optimization and benchmarking of new 5G and legacy networks deployed and managed by Nokia.

The complexity of 5G, magnified by the environments in which networks are being deployed, make multi-site testing a costly and time intensive overhead. Infovista’s cloud-based testing solutions enable Nokia to automate and centralize the management of testing routines, significantly streamlining backend reporting and freeing Nokia engineers and service companies from manual drive testing to focus on high value network optimization tasks.

As part of the global partnership, Nokia will now be able to leverage innovative network testing solutions from Infovista such as Automated SSV solution. The solution not only predicts where to drive and what tests to perform, but also which hot spots and critical areas should be tested and then autonomously conducting the network testing routine. This automation of network testing processes removes trial and error and significantly impacts the time to market and efficiency of Nokia’s network deployments.

Infovista is delivering its TEMS testing solutions to Nokia. The cloud-based automation of network testing routines enables Nokia to centralize and automate reporting and real-time validation of testing, reducing the number of failed drive tests that must be repeated. The cloud-based solutions remove the need to Nokia to maintain dedicated servers and redundancy, reuse of licenses globally and use commercial off-the-shelf devices, significantly increasing the efficiency of network testing.

“5G network complexity combined with the proliferation of device types now requires a set of next generation testing solutions leveraging AI/ML, cloud and automation. For operators that are racing to deploy new 5G sites, while continuing to optimize and expand existing network coverage, this new network testing approach is a gamechanger,” said Faiq Khan, President Global Networks, Infovista. “We’re very pleased to be building on our long-standing partnership with Nokia, extending it from centralized reporting to deliver real innovation with cloud-based automation of critical 5G testing processes.”

As part of the partnership, Nokia will have access to the latest AI/ML data-driven approaches and automation innovations in network testing, including Infovista’s patent-pending Precision Drive Testing™ solution, which powers use cases including network acceptance automation, fine tuning 5G planning propagation models, geolocated troubleshooting and proactive network health monitoring.

Appointments, News

IRIS Software appoints new HCM Managing Director to give businesses time to thrive

IRIS Software Group (IRIS), one of the UK’s largest privately held software companies, is today announcing the appointment of Stephanie Coward as the Managing Director (MD) for its Commercial division.

Stephanie joins following an esteemed career in the technology sector, bringing over two decades of experience in managing and transforming businesses to best support their customers, as well as their people.

Stephanie will be driving forward IRIS’ Human Capital Management offerings, leading the mission to give every employee time to make a difference by automating vital HR processes to fast-track business success. She will play a key role in establishing IRIS as the leading supplier of software solutions and services that support HR professionals now and in the future.

Prior to joining IRIS, Stephanie held several senior director positions at Capita for 17 years, working across all areas of business. Initially commencing her career in sales, business development and operations, Stephanie moved into MD and Chief Operating Officer roles with a remit to transform traditional on-premise licence-based businesses into competitive subscription-based SaaS cloud solution providers.

Over the past decade, Stephanie has managed businesses providing strategic HCM software technologies as well as HR and Payroll managed services.

Alongside IRIS’ other sector MDs, Stephanie will focus on ensuring customers are placed at the heart of IRIS’ cloud technology solutions, so they have the time and tools they need to focus on what matters – making the best decisions for their people and business.

Stephanie Coward, MD for Commercial at IRIS Software Group comments on her appointment, “I am incredibly excited to lead IRIS’ commercial division. Businesses of all sizes are navigating an extremely challenging environment. Ongoing employee woes with the cost-of-living crisis and rehashed Government conversations around the future of work, has highlighted the need for HR teams to have agile, flexible technology that supports the myriad of difficulties impacting working lives.

“IRIS is the leading trusted advisor for HR management, that truly understands the needs of HR professionals and their people. I’m proud to support in delivering the best-in-class technology, that will give HR professionals the time they need to focus on value added work.”

David Lockie, Chief Operating Officer at IRIS Software Group says, “We’re delighted to welcome another experience Managing Director to our executive team. The market is constantly evolving, and digitisation is a critical enabler for businesses to not only survive but thrive. With Stephanie’s expertise, we can go the extra mile for our customers, providing them with the technology they need to grow their business and succeed in these difficult times.”

Cloud Migration, News

The sustainable advantages of cloud-native solutions are overlooked by businesses

London, UK, 31 May 2022 – While many businesses are looking to cloud native solutions to improve efficiency, save money and to provide better experiences to their customers, the environmental benefits of operating in the cloud can often be overlooked, according to Zoosh’s Chief Revenue Officer, Souvik Dutta.

Mr Dutta said: “Post-pandemic, many businesses will be focusing on digitalisation but that doesn’t mean the quest for sustainability needs to be pushed to the side. In fact, being cloud native automatically brings with it a host of environmental and social benefits that some companies are not recognising or quantifying”.

All businesses are now falling subject to sustainability targets, with many showing their sustainability campaigns publicly, as a result of the growing pressure to ‘play their part’. However, this responsibility doesn’t have to be a burden, but a blessing. According to the HSBC Navigator: the voice of business 2021 report, 78% of businesses say that a more sustainability-driven business model would have a positive impact on overall growth.

As a physical storage solution, data centres require upkeep and maintenance which results in downtime. Cloud native offers businesses an efficient and clean way to scale and adapt, meaning less maintenance and parts, which harm the environment and the business.

Cloud native solutions create a more scalable, and adaptable solution, lowering infrastructure and maintenance costs in the long term, but will also provide a more flexible working environment for employees in the new work-from-home era. This solution has proved invaluable for businesses looking for a secure solution for their new working environment, but businesses need to also focus on the sustainable benefits that cloud-native solutions have to offer, in order to realise its full potential and stay ahead of their competition in their sustainability and business goals.

Measuring a company’s success in sustainability will depend on how proactively it can adapt and invest in technology, as digital transformation continues to be at the forefront for many businesses. Many companies aren’t aware of the sustainability benefits of going cloud-native, instead they are fixated on the business benefits (cost savings, efficiencies, customer experience etc. Companies should look at the sustainable benefits, and use them as a competitive advantage.

Dutta went on to outline how it is essential for businesses to start considering cloud native now, to stay ahead of the curve for sustainability targets and prepare for future business growth. On-site and off-site data centres can be extremely costly to manage, maintain and upgrade, so by investing in cloud native solutions now, businesses will save money in the long term, as well as playing their part in saving the planet.

“It is well-known that data centres play a core part in carbon emissions, globally. Businesses need to not only think about their travel, waste, materials and energy, they need to think about how they are storing all of their data. Cloud native solutions are a sustainable, secure and future-ready opportunity for businesses to reach their goals.

Cloud Platforms, News

Financial Institution’s tolerance of poor cloud connectivity is costing them 50% of revenue

Dublin, Ireland, 31st May 2022 BSO, a global pioneering infrastructure and connectivity provider, today revealed new research uncovering a “resilience paradox” suggesting that financial institutions have come to tolerate poor cloud connectivity experiences.

Nearly all IT decision makers rated their connectivity as being extremely or very resilient, yet all had experienced outages to some degree with almost half experiencing outages at least monthly. The sluggishness to move to more reliable cloud options is costing financial institutions 21%-50% of revenue on average yet only 2% of financial institutions are planning to change cloud providers in the near term. The findings are a surprising contradiction given the availability of cloud solutions on the market that guarantee 99.99% uptime and 100% data durability for object storage.

The report, Cloud connectivity and the future of financial markets, is based on a survey of 600 IT decision makers in financial service sectors including banking, trading, brokerage, financial exchanges and crypto exchanges. Businesses from across the world were surveyed including France, Germany, the UK, the US, Hong Kong, Singapore and Brazil.

Key findings include:

  • Performance: In all sectors and countries average losses for financial service firms due to poor network performance topped $67mn for the past 12 months.
  • Data security: The most pronounced impact that security breaches had on businesses was on lost or misdirected payments, with over half of businesses (52%) experiencing them, closely followed by the inability to access accounts or accounts suspended (47%) and inability to use the full, promised functionality of cloud-based applications (41%).
  • Global scale: 2 in 5 (38%) respondents said poor cloud connectivity stopped them from expanding into a new geographic market. Nearly half (48%) said it stopped them from launching a new product or service. Over 2 in 10 (22%) said it stopped them from expanding into a new sector.
  • Top considerations for selecting a new cloud connectivity provider: Quantity of cloud on-ramps (51%), technology and services that align with business needs (49%), low number of transactions needing repairs or returns (48%), the ability to exit with no risk of vendor lock-in (39%) and better choices of currencies (39%) were the top five considerations for businesses when selecting a new provider.
  • The pandemic effect: Contrary to popular belief, the pandemic was not a major stimulus of cloud investment because most businesses (99%) had already started using cloud to access applications before the pandemic.

The research also found a “north-south cloud divide” when comparing markets across several cloud performance metrics. France, UK and US firms consistently estimated considerably higher impacts from poor cloud performance when compared to their southern hemisphere counterparts, Hong Kong, Singapore and Brazil. Cumulative losses topped $442.67mn for France, UK and US firms dwarfing losses of $64.71mn from Hong Kong, Singapore, Brazil firms.

The north-south cloud divide key findings include:

  • Low latency: On average firms lost $14mn due to lost trades in the past 12 months due to the inability to achieve low-latency goals with US ($64.45mn), UK ($16.18mn) and French ($15.97mn) firms experiencing the most significant losses.
  • Scaling resources: Over $25m in revenue was lost in the last 12 months on average from the inability to effectively scale resources. The US recognised shockingly higher losses ($142.83mn) than the rest of the world and dwarfs UK firms ($15.43mn) in second place.
  • Sourcing real time market data: The inability to source real-time market data cost banks $18mn on average. US banks lost $44.72mn followed by UK banks ($14.63mn) and French banks ($12.69mn).

“The importance of cloud technologies is well-established among financial service institutions, but this is the first report of its kind to uncover the impact of poor cloud connectivity on the commercial success of businesses. The losses financial service institutions have witnessed in the last year due to poor cloud connectivity should be a wake up call to the industry.” Said Michael Ourabah, CEO of BSO. “The findings raise an important question – why are institutions hesitating to make changes to their cloud connectivity when solutions are readily available? Whatever the answer, the most successful institutions will be those that take a proactive approach to their cloud strategy.”

The report is available at https://www.bso.co/cloud-connectivity-report

News

UKCloud to secure the UK’s sovereign digital future, powered by VMware’s latest technologies

UKCloud is expanding its support for the newest VMware multi-cloud and app modernisation innovations, solidifying its position as a trusted enabler of digital outcomes through the latest evolutions in cloud platform capability.

London – 28th April 2022 – UKCloud, the multi-cloud experts dedicated to digital transformation across the UK public sector, has today announced that it is strengthening its collaboration with VMware, a leading provider of multi-cloud services. By expanding its support for the next generation of VMware multi-cloud services, UKCloud cements its commitment to providing innovative, first-class sovereign cloud environments. The recent approval of the new investment in UKCloud under the National Security and Investments Act has paved the way for the expansion of its product portfolio, including significant enhancements to its platform and services.

The success of the UK’s digital future will be driven by the ability of organisations to leverage the latest technology and tooling across an increasingly diverse digital estate. Today, most organisations have adopted a multi-cloud strategy and use almost four cloud environments or suppliers to meet their digital needs. It is therefore vital that industry leaders like UKCloud continue to embrace the most advanced and robust multi-cloud technologies. Its close collaboration with VMware reflects UKCloud’s bold commitment to driving dynamic innovations in the nation’s digital capabilities.

UKCloud is embracing the newest evolutions from VMware in its core platform. These will support a service rooted in simplicity and ease of use, and will further benefit UKCloud’s core client base of market leaders, like GSA, who use the Sovereign cloud platform to provide software solutions for regulatory bodies. Utilising agnostic VMware multi-cloud and app modernisation solutions, UKCloud’s “VMware Anywhere” approach delivers a multi-classification, multi-cloud platform available in public cloud or on-premises through to the latest hybrid and edge deployment.

  • Leading edge VMware capability, increased performance, with intrinsic security across public and private cloud platforms; supporting a wide variety of workloads, including high performance computational and i/o intensive workloads, data encryption and immutable object storage
  • Developer Ready Cloud, with the introduction of VMware Tanzu customers can unify containers, Kubernetes and virtual machines to modernise traditional and cloud native applications, with consistent infrastructure and operations that can be deployed on premises, at the edge and across hybrid cloud
  • VMware App Launchpad delivers a catalogue of open-source developer ready applications with single click deployment to increase developer productivity
  • UKCloud DRaaS introduces a unified solution that allows for fast, efficient disaster recovery from on-premises to cloud as well as cloud to cloud. It is unified for all VMware vSphere clouds, supporting any vSphere site to our Cloud from within your vSphere client via a simple plugin
  • Revised packaging and pricing will be introduced for reserved instances over 1, 2 or 3 year terms

These innovations are underpinned by UKCloud’s sovereign and highly secure multi-classification cloud infrastructure, ideal for workloads which require heightened security and deployability.

UKCloud is an active member of the VMware Sovereign Cloud initiative, as it recognises the increasingly crucial requirement to maintain the UK’s core digital capability. As the geopolitical landscape becomes increasingly fraught and complex, data sovereignty and the role cloud services play in supporting it, are more crucial than ever. Developing expertise and sovereign cloud capability has critical national security implications.

Through the adoption of the latest VMware multi-cloud and app modernisation solutions, UKCloud will help ensure organisations can operate cloud in a consistent way from any location and use the latest innovative tooling to gain insight and value. Increasingly, organisations need the ability to migrate legacy systems using a familiar technology and also operate across a hybrid cloud environment, encompassing everything from edge, private and hosted, through to hyperscale environments. This is made possible through VMware Cross-Cloud services.

UKCloud will use all its expertise and guidance to support digital transformation and the flexible adoption of cloud services driven by the power of the latest VMware technologies.

Laurent Allard, Head of Sovereign Cloud EMEA, VMware commented:

“By supporting VMware’s latest multi-cloud and app modernisation innovations and capabilities in its core platform, UKCloud customers are empowered to implement lasting digital improvements, manage digital sovereignty requirements, and make significant cost savings to public sector services. All whilst simultaneously balancing their strategic goals of protecting citizen data, increasing choice and fostering their own home-grown digital and data economies.”

Simon Hansford, CEO, UKCloud commented:

“I am delighted to be deepening and strengthening our capability and services through expanding our relationship and partnership with VMware. Following the recent investment in UKCloud today’s announcement is the first of several we expect to make as we consolidate our position as the UK’s leading sovereign cloud infrastructure provider.”

Geoff Smith, Managing Director, GSA:

“As a SaaS supplier to both the public and private sector, UKCloud have provided GSA with an assured, agile and value for money proven platform with their VMware Sovereign cloud. This provides choice and flexibility which is a prerequisite when you need to support your distinct capabilities, skills and tools, without compromise but also conforms to customers internal and regulatory requirements. Hence, providing GSA and our customers with the confidence that we are supported by a secure, yet easy and simple data sovereign cloud infrastructure, where the staff at GSA have great confidence in the skills and expertise of UKCloud.”

For more information, please contact: info@ukcloud.com