Tag Archives: Report

News

Grant Thornton’s Scotland Limited Report 2022 shines light on Top 100 private companies in the nation

Grant Thornton has today released its Scotland Limited Report 2022, which identifies the country’s Top 100 private limited companies, and explores what lies behind their position as the nation’s most dynamic and successful businesses.
The Scotland Limited Report is compiled using the most recent publicly available accounts of Scotland’s best performing private businesses, which are ranked based on a hybrid measure of data, which includes turnover and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA).
This year’s report highlights the various achievements and contributions the Top 100 have made to the Scottish economy over the last year and provides key data for economic trends across oil and gas, manufacturing and engineering, real estate, food and beverages and other core sectors. It also analyses M&A activity, debt levels, export figures, and regional and international trends, offering detailed insights into the Scottish business landscape for 2022.
Food and drink companies dominate the list (22), with the majority based in the West – the region that is home to nearly half (47) of the Top 100 companies. The dominance of energy and natural resources and manufacturing and engineering in the North East of Scotland will surprise nobody, but it’s not a market that stands still – especially with the changing offshore landscape. Following a trend seen in previous reports, the north and south have the lowest number of Top 100 companies.
This year saw several large companies leave the table, including businesses that were sold to foreign or listed buyers. Unsurprisingly, businesses that were significantly impacted by COVID-19, such as Edinburgh Airport, Caledonian Heritable, and Apex Hotels also left the list – it will be interesting to see how quickly they make a return.
To read the full report, please follow this link: https://www2.grantthornton.co.uk/scotland-limited-league-table-2022.html
Neil McInnes, Partner and Head of Corporate Finance for Grant Thornton in Scotland, said: “Despite the more recent setbacks from multiple challenges posed by geo-political factors and global issues, the evolving story since Scotland Limited first launched in 2014 is still one of growth.
“The report highlights that Scotland is a successful trading nation and is an increasingly connected, global economy with good support and interest from funders and other key players in the financial ecosystem. The country has great strength in innovative technologies that underpin key industries such as food and drink, and energy and natural resources. If the leading private companies continue to capitalise on new international markets while implementing well-considered, measured growth strategies, they’ll undoubtedly remain the engine of the Scottish economy.
“Whilst inflation, supply-chain disruption and rising interest rates continue to test the navigation skills of management teams across Scottish business, it’s especially instructive to look at the private companies which have already demonstrated how to ride out the turbulence.
“Overall, the report for Scotland’s Top 100 businesses this year is positive, and the country has the international reputation, expertise, and opportunity to tackle the issues that lie ahead. While there’s uncertainty caused by ongoing geo-political turbulence, unlike the pandemic, we have the foresight of some of these challenges and we can predict, plan and prepare for the future.”
News, Telecoms

Small Cell Forum report forecasts that open networks, shared spectrum and new operating models can drive significant growth in small cell deployment

London, UK, 7 July 2022 – Small Cell Forum (SCF) has released its latest market forecast report.

The report, available here: https://www.smallcellforum.org/scf-market-forecast/, based on a survey of 101 service providers, confirms the continuing growth of the small cell market, while forecasting that 2022-27 will be a period of rapid change and expansion in the small cell market, driven by potent enablers that include increased diversity in use cases, deployment business models and architectures.

Key data points include:

  • The report forecasts compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for small cells of 15% for the whole global market, which will result in cumulative deployments of almost 36 million radios by 2027.
  • By the end of 2024, the most common architecture for indoor enterprise locations will be a two-unit, one-split network based on Split 6, with a dominant 46% of deployers choosing this option for at least some of their planned rollouts. The next most common choice will be to stick to integrated small cells (18% of deployers) followed by the O-RAN Alliance’s one-split Split 7.
  • The report forecasts the rising prevalence of enterprise small cells deployed and operated together with edge compute and/or packet core. Those deployed with both these functions will grow at a CAGR of 50% in 2020-27 to account for 25% of the total at the end of that period, while 27% of radio units will be run by a private core separate from any edge.
  • Manufacturing, utilities and energy, retail and transportation industries will be the biggest deployers of small cells in the period 2020-27, reflecting the large numbers of units they will need to support very large premises or infrastructure networks.
  • By 2027, the number of units deployed and run by neutral hosts will match the number deployed and run by private network operators (PNOs), at about one-third each. From 2023-27, PNOs will be the largest category of small cell operator, overtaking MNOs’ public networks from 2023.
  • The percentage of new small cells that will be deployed with 5G New Radio, or 4G/5G, support will rise from 13% in 2020 to 96% in 2027.
  • Deployment of Open RAN small cells will rise at a CAGR of 146% in 2021-27, to reach 51% of total small cells deployed at the end of that period, and a rollout rate of 2.7 million radio units in enterprise and private environments, and 1.8 million in public networks.
  • APAC will account for about 55% of total deployments throughout the forecast period; Europe will grow at 15% CAGR; deployments in the rest-of-the-world category will rise, from a smaller base, at 39% CAGR. North America, a very important driver of small cell rollout in the 2010s, will see its annual deployments peak in 2023, though it will still account for 13% of global deployments in 2027.

Caroline Gabriel, SCF Content Director, says: “Our survey tells us that open networks, shared spectrum and new operating models have the potential to drive significant growth in small cell rollout. However, this growth is reliant on several key challenges being addressed as a matter of urgency.

“Some challenges relate to ongoing issues around siting and regulation, others to consensus on technologies such as 5G in shared spectrum. Common foundations on which vendors and operators can innovate in a unified and interoperable way will be the biggest single factor in ensuring that the small cell industry meets or exceeds the growth predicted in this forecast.”

Prabhakar Chitrapu, Chair, Small Cell Forum, says: “The results from this year’s survey make compelling reading. Service providers are clear that the wide variety of enterprise 5G requirements demand many deployment models. To meet that demand, architectural change will not be sufficient on its own. There will need to be a far greater diversity of deployment and monetization models than exists for mobile broadband.

“In addition, the diversity of use cases implied will require common foundations to avoid fragmentation. This is an important area of focus for SCF as it seeks to drive common platforms and deployment blueprints throughout the ecosystem.”

Now in its seventh year, SCF’s Market Status Report is based on service provider surveys, modelling and forecasts. Completed in the first half of 2022, survey respondents comprised a total of 69 tier 1 and 2 mobile-only or fixed/mobile operators, along with 32 other organizations planning or deploying cellular networks, including neutral host providers, private network operators and enterprise service providers.

ESG/CSR, News

Sedex identifies 10 vital data points to demystify ESG reporting

Latest report from Sedex identifies the essential business and supply chain data to support companies’ sustainability goals and effective ESG reporting

London 6 July 2022 – A new report from Sedex, the trusted partner for environment, social and governance (ESG) and sustainability data, identifies the key data to collect for businesses looking to conduct effective ESG reporting.

ESG has become a business priority, as companies respond to investors’ increased interest in social and environmental performance. But a lack of reporting standards, with varying requirements across different ratings providers and frameworks, makes it incredibly challenging for businesses to meet ESG demands efficiently.

Data and technology provide essential solutions to this challenge. Capturing the right information equips a company to achieve ESG goals and supports other sustainability activities, such as producing modern slavery statements and demonstrating tangible progress against targets.

Data to meet multiple sustainability goals

Sedex has identified the data businesses need most to meet ESG demands, and which feeds into many other sustainability-related activities. Gathering this data can save companies time, reducing duplication and effort, and helping build supply chain visibility to make more informed decisions.

The 10 data areas:

  • Air emissions
  • Water use
  • Physical waste
  • Worker demographics
  • Accident and injury occurrences
  • Worker access to freedom of association
  • Modern slavery risks and occurrences
  • Gender pay gap
  • Corruption risks and occurrences
  • Governance bodies

See Notes to Editors for full descriptions

Data-led technology and tools enable businesses to collect, store, share and report on this data at scale across global operations and supply chains. Sedex’s Radar risk tool, for example, provides over 340,000 risk scores across countries and industries for businesses to compare social and environmental risks around the world.

Jon Hancock, CEO at Sedex, says: “Data on a business’s operations, employees and supply chain is crucial for identifying and tackling social and environmental sustainability issues, and evidencing a company’s ESG impact in a credible way. This data, and the insight it brings, also supports many other business benefits – including more effective risk management, better response to supply chain disruption, and improved reputation with stakeholders including consumers.

“We empower companies to do this with our solutions, including bespoke support on a company’s particular ESG and sustainability needs, and the tools to execute activities at scale. Businesses can capture the data they need in the most efficient way.”

View the full insights report on the 10 core data points here: https://resources.sedex.com/10-data-points-for-esg-reporting/

Broadband, News

Homes and businesses turning to independent providers for broadband connectivity, new report reveals

More than 5.5 million homes and businesses in the UK can now connect to an independent fibre broadband network, according to new figures published today. For the first time, the total number of live connections provided by the ‘alt nets’ is above 1m.

Compiled for the Independent Networks Co-operative Association (INCA) by Point Topic using data provided by independent network operators across the country, this year’s ‘Metrics for the UK independent network sector’ report shows that the sector has again doubled in size over the previous year.

The independent sector continues to pull in significant sums of private funding with investment and expenditure commitments predicted to reach £17.7bn by the end of 2025. When combined with the £12bn announced by BT Group, the £5bn announced by government, and £2bn planned by VM02, investment levels will exceed the previous estimates of £30bn for bringing next generation networks to every property in the UK.

INCA’s Chief Executive, Malcolm Corbett said: “This continued high level of investment, coupled with commitments from others in the private sector like BT and Virgin Media, and the money being put in by government, shows that the UK is on track, for the first time in its history, to have proper broadband infrastructure competition. Independent network operators are a key piece of this connectivity jigsaw which will offer consumers real choice and drive innovation in the broadband services they consume.”

The report also details operators’ concerns, which include;

  • planning and streetworks delays
  • the threat of overbuild from taxpayer-funded, Project Gigabit procurements
  • delivery times for services from Openreach or other operators (e.g., EAD circuits, PIA)
  • getting wayleaves
  • the impact of BDUK’s pause on community-led ISPs Gigabit Vouchers; and
  • access to skills and labour.

“This report shows the increasing maturity of the independent broadband sector”, commented INCA Chairman, Alex Blowers. “It is now transitioning from fundraising and planning mode to delivery and execution stage and is undeniably a key partner in the delivery of a 21st century digital UK. It is now crucial that the government and Ofcom ensure momentum is maintained, by evolving the underlying policy and regulatory framework in support of the infrastructure competition that has now arrived in the UK,” Mr Blowers continued.

The full report can be viewed at- https://www.inca.coop/2022-altnet-metrics.

For more information about their work or of INCA in general, please visit: https://www.inca.coop/.

News, Security

Bot attacks go undiscovered for average of 16 weeks

New Netacea research shows businesses are leaving attacks unchallenged for almost four months

Manchester, UK – 7th June 2022—Netacea, the bot detection and mitigation specialist, today releases its new report into how businesses are dealing with bot attacks. It reveals one key area where businesses are failing to tackle bot attacks—bots are going undiscovered for an average of 16 weeks, up two weeks from last year’s findings.

The study, The Bot Management Review 2022, surveyed 440 businesses across the travel, entertainment, ecommerce, financial services and telecoms sectors in the United States and the UK. It is a follow up to last year’s report, and finds that in almost every measure, businesses appear to be doing worse than last year in the fight against bots—though this may not necessarily mean they are losing the fight.

As well as the finding that bots attacks are going undiscovered for longer, the research also found:

  • Bot owners are shifting their tactics, with 60% of businesses detecting attacks on APIs and 39% detecting attacks on mobile apps (up from 46% and 23% from 2021 respectively).
  • Attacks from each of the main types of bots—sniper, account checker, scalper and scraper—have all increased by between 7-9 percentage points from 2021. 53% of businesses are now detecting attacks from account checker bots.
  • Almost all businesses, around 97%, report that customer satisfaction has been affected by bot attacks.
  • Retailers in the US are reporting fewer loyalty points being stolen by automated attacks, but the value of the average theft has more than doubled, suggesting a more targeted approach.
  • The revenue impact of skewed web analytics, caused by bots being treated as genuine visitors, has increased from 4% to 5%, though fewer businesses report a substantial impact from this particular effect of bot attacks.

“On the face of it, this looks like a very poor result for businesses hoping to fight the effect of bot attacks. Our research has shown that bots have a substantial effect on business revenues, and so it’s in their interest for our results to move the other direction,” said Andy Still, CPO and Co-Founder, Netacea.

“However, we think that the results can be interpreted another way. Businesses are taking time to wake up to the threat of bots, and we see at least part of this increase in bot attacks being down to a greater awareness. Businesses are getting better and recognising bot attacks, and so while it may look like things are getting worse, there is some cause for cheer.”

The report’s results on bot myths goes some way to confirm this theory, with incorrect assumptions about bots believed less than in previous years. Fewer businesses believe that all bot attacks come from Russia and China, that a Web Application Firewall will stop sophisticated bots, and that ReCAPTCHA is an effective tool against all bots. However, more than 50% of businesses still believe these myths, suggesting there is still some way to go.

“Businesses may be beginning to turn the tide against bot attacks, but if so it really is just the beginning,” said Matthew Gracey McMinn, Head of Threat Research, Netacea. “The most damning result of our research, that attacks go unreported for 16 weeks, shows the risk of complacency—bots can essentially run wild for months before the threat is tackled. Better understanding is vital, but just the first step.”

The full report can be downloaded here: https://www.netacea.com/bot-management-review-2022/

Customer Experience, News

Among IT Decision-Makers, 85% See Urgent Shift in Focus to Consumers’ Digital Experiences in New “Reprogramming the Enterprise” Report from WSO2

While a majority of 500 IT decision-makers agree on the priority around delivering digital experiences, the survey revealed gaps in organisational readiness

London, UK – 1st June 2022 – In a survey of 500 IT decision-makers, 85% agree that there is an urgent shift toward focusing on consumers’ digital experiences. Moreover, 73% of respondents say that the move to focus on the digital experience in their own organisation was sudden. The survey was conducted for a new report from WSO2, “Reprogramming the Enterprise: Keeping Pace with the Wave of Innovation”. The results highlight the factors that organisations must consider as they deliver innovative and differentiated digital experiences for their customers.

Most of the decision-makers surveyed indicate that the accelerated use of digital channels is reshaping both their organisational and technology strategies. The report from WSO2, a leader in digital transformation technology, examines these IT professionals’ strategies, as well as the roadblocks they face in delivering new digital experiences today. The full report can be downloaded here: https://wso2.com/reports/reprogramming-the-enterprise-digital-innovation/?utm_source=pr&utm_medium=pr&utm_campaign=pr_reprogramming_enterprise_220601.

Driving Customers’ Digital Experiences

How well do enterprises understand customer’s digital experiences? It depends on who you ask. Among C-level executives, 52% say their organisation understands its customers’ digital experiences extremely well compared to 30% of directors and 22% of managers. The responses suggest a possible disconnect between top decision-makers and those who are more closely involved with improving customers’ experiences on a daily basis.

However, the vast majority of IT decision-makers agree that four factors are key to driving better digital experiences, as well as gaining and maintaining a competitive advantage: improved security (90%), cloud adoption (89%), API integration (82%), and total data control (81%)

Seeking Ways to Speed Innovation

The push to accelerate innovation is putting additional pressure on enterprises already facing a shortage of software developers. In fact, 51% of IT decision-makers say the talent shortage of developers has had a negative impact on their business. Over half (54%) of respondents say that the shortage of developers has delayed projects and reduced productivity while 48% report that it has slowed the pace of innovation.

To address the shortage, enterprises are relying on a combination of staffing, professional development, and technology strategies. Among IT decision-makers, 40% report that they are increasing automation, and 87% think it is likely that more non-developers will use low-code or no-code development tools over the next three years. Meanwhile, 54% of respondents say their organisation is training other employees on developer skills, and 65% identify cloud-native development as the developer skill their organisation is most in need of.

“For the majority of survey respondents, the ability to rapidly deliver innovative digital experiences is becoming a critical factor in their ability to compete,” said Eric Newcomer, WSO2 chief technology officer. “Cloud-native benefits, such as scale, resilience, and agility, are integral to the experience, but not easy to achieve. Automating deployment is also essential but adds a complexity of its own. Developers, especially those with these skills, are in short supply, and need better tools to compete and succeed.”

Digital Transformation, News

New report finds more than two-thirds of business leaders think of digital as a continuous evolution, not a transformation

  • C-suite research reveals businesses must embrace constant evolution and iteration to achieve digital success
  • More than two-thirds (68%) no longer think in terms of ‘transformation’ but rather of constant evolution to embrace change
  • The balance of tech, digital and culture is not mature, with 42% of digital-first businesses less likely to see digital transformation as a fundamental change
  • Marketing’s potential to transform the digital experience is not being used to its full potential: almost half unable to focus on continual improvement

London, 26 May 2022 – A new report from Netcel, Optimizely and Siteimprove has found that senior business leaders are no longer thinking in terms of digital transformation. Instead, more than two-thirds (68%) are moving to constant evolution and iteration to embrace change, suggesting that digital evolution is likely to replace digital transformation as a more effective method for businesses to adapt to and embrace today’s constantly evolving commercial landscape.

Research carried out by independent agency, London Research, questioned more than 300 C-suite executives about their attitudes towards digital transformation and how it relates to their business.

The findings, published today in ‘From Digital Transformation to Digital Evolution: Survival of the Quickest’, demonstrate that business has entered a period when thinking in terms of digital transformation isn’t enough. Instead, organisations need to achieve a state of continual evolution and constant awareness of – and response to – changes in technology, customer behaviour, and the competitive environment.

Key Survey Findings

The report found that, in a rapidly changing world, many organisations don’t have a shared view on what their digital experience should be achieving for business and customers and are struggling to keep up with the pace of change: skills are in short supply, insights aren’t clear, decision-making is arbitrary, and experimentation is not widespread, understood or encouraged in a systematic way. Additional survey findings include:

Everything is digital: A significant number of respondents have abandoned the idea of ‘digital’ as something separate from the rest of the business, with two-thirds (64%) saying everything they do is digital.

Digital transformation is a state of readiness: Digital-first businesses are less likely to see digital transformation as a fundamental organisational change (42%) compared with offline businesses (50%). Combined with their enthusiasm for Web 3.0, more than half of these digital-first businesses see digital transformation less as a journey with a defined end point, and more as a state of readiness for whatever technology might throw at them next.

More opportunities for marketing and martech to improve the digital experience: The survey found that marketing’s potential to transform the digital experience is not being used to its full potential with almost half of respondents saying they are unable to focus on continual improvement. Sixty-six percent of respondents say their marketing technology enables them to tailor and personalise digital experiences to individuals or segments, yet 44% feel that their marketing technology would benefit from greater development and 34% don’t have a marketing technology stack that is seamlessly integrated in a way that breaks down organisational silos.

“The passing of time has revealed that, while digital transformation can be successful to create short-term wins, digital transformation alone is only the first step to achieving true digital excellence. Instead, to achieve true and sustained digital excellence, digital transformation needs to be followed by the highly complex and ongoing process of digital evolution. This report produces fascinating insights into how organisations are evolving and reshaping themselves to create digital experiences that are high performing over the long term,” noted Tim Parfitt, CEO of digital product consultancy, Netcel.

“Over the past two decades, digital has proved itself to be the theatre for the most exciting, innovative and disruptive commercial and social initiatives to impact how we shop, connect, build relationships, become more efficient and grow our businesses,” commented Dom Graveson, Experience & Strategy Director at Netcel. “This report has been designed to take the temperature of where we stand in 2022, after many years of discussing the concept of digital transformation as a strategic goal to enable these benefits. It asks how far we have come, whether we feel equipped for an uncertain, dynamic and exciting future and, most importantly, where do we go next to discover, create and optimise differentiating digital product experiences that benefit our customers and audiences, our organisations, and our wider environment.”

The research also showed that respondents felt that technology is not widely thought to be prepared for the challenges ahead: systems struggle with shared data, analytics and a single customer view. Integration is an issue, and evolution and rollout of enterprise architecture may be a challenge. On top of that, martech is often owned by the IT department, which may lack cooperation with marketing, front-line services, and data and insights teams.

“While the digital landscape is constantly evolving due to changing consumer behaviours, companies must adopt new marketing strategies to keep up with the digital evolution. The ones who will thrive are those that recognise the importance of building a digitally fluent culture,” said Shane Paladin, CEO of Siteimprove. “Our core mission at Siteimprove is to help marketers meet their goals at every stage of their digital maturity, continuously evolve and progress. By building richer, deeper, more complete digital experiences, we’re part of the movement toward an internet that’s built for everyone.”

“The report confirms that digital transformation is an antiquated mindset for marketers. Marketing is not a destination but a journey. Successful marketing organisations must be built for the journey of constant improvement and adaptability otherwise they will fall behind,” said Kevin Bobowski, CMO at Siteimprove.

Alex Atzberger, CEO of Optimizely, commented, “Our findings draw a clear conclusion for many who continue to think their digital transformation is complete: in fact, businesses are often only talking about systems and processes rather than the broader organisational and cultural integration that reflects true and durable digital maturity. In other words, many businesses are ‘digitised’ rather than truly ‘digital’.”

The research was carried out by independent agency, London Research, during March and April 2022, who questioned more than 300 C-suite executives about their attitudes towards digital transformation and how it relates to their business

News, Retail & E-commerce

Online Grocery: Making Business Matter launches Free Whitepaper on the emerging Rapid Grocery market

In an era of technology and ecommerce, Online Grocery has been around for some time even prior to the pandemic, with online ordering, home delivery slots and Click+Collect. An increase in popularity, consumer demand and consumer expectations sees the rise of Rapid Grocery, with services such as Getir, DoorDash, Gorillas, and Tesco Whoosh becoming more prevalent.

Rapid Grocery creates a whole new market: The 10-minute delivery.

Soft skills training provider Making Business Matter has compiled an in-depth Online Grocery Report for commercial professionals, which is freely available for download now.

The Online Grocery Report aims to enable readers to:

  • Learn more about the new era of grocery retail.
  • Talk credibly about the Rapid Grocery market.
  • See how the world’s market share breaks down across the globe.
  • Explore the online performance of the market players.
  • Understand some basics of SEO to know the battleground.
  • Share opinions on how the future looks.

Foreword of the Report is from the MD of Arla Foods UK, Ash Amirahmadi

“Technology-led disruption has been a key trend in the UK grocery sector and rapid delivery has been both an exciting and important development. Understanding the dynamics, and building awareness and knowledge are key for industry professionals. This report is the definitive guide and therefore I am delighted to support its publication.

Having worked with and known the team at Making Business Matter for a number of years I have been impressed with one of their core values of building capability in the grocery sector. They have consistently focussed on easy to understanding content and giving back to the industry, with which they are deeply passionate.

This publication is a must-read document for commercial professionals who are looking to develop their strategy for rapid delivery”.

The 70-page report is now available and covers everything from a detailed understanding and overview of Rapid Grocery, real-life examples, the global market, online performance and much more.

Resources:

Download the report at https://www.makingbusinessmatter.co.uk/online-grocery

Telecoms

RCS Evolving into Next-Generation Marketing Channel for MNOs and Advertisers, Reveals Upstream Report

Rich mobile messaging allows Mobile Operators and advertisers to engage consumers with tailored, media-rich interactions that can be measured and optimised for maximum conversion

MNOs uniquely positioned to tap into RCS potential

London, Rio de Janeiro, Athens, May 19, 2022 – RCS (Rich Communication Services) messaging is expected to account for a growing proportion of global mobile operator revenue and become a vital channel for advertisers as they seek to enhance direct-to-consumer interactions and grow their first-party databases. That’s according to a new white paper, “Unlocking multi-channel marketing with RCS”, published by mobile marketing automation experts, Upstream, which explores rich mobile messaging’s emergence as a vital part of the digital marketing mix.

RCS messaging allows MNOs and advertisers to create highly targeted media-rich messages that can be heavily personalized to engage and convert users. Performance metrics, including open-rates and message interactions, can also be used to help advertisers optimize their content for maximum impact.

“Audiences today are very fragmented and have come to expect personalized communication. There is currently no single communication channel that fulfils all of these needs effectively, so marketers have had to adapt to using a blend of different channels to maximize engagement. RCS brings unique value to any multi-channel mix, combining the rich media capabilities of digital channels with the hyper-personalized engagement of the SMS world. The marketing use cases for the channel can only be limited by imagination,” said Kostas Kastanis, Upstream’s Deputy CEO.

Upstream’s data suggests that RCS is already becoming a vital tool in helping advertisers connect with users on a personal level, showcasing click-through rates (CTR) as high as 22.2%[1] and a 37% rise in conversion rates[2] over traditional SMS in a series of campaigns run across industries.

Since 2020[3] and its global roll-out from the Google Messages app, RCS has been gaining significant traction and the number of RCS-capable subscribers is expected to reach 3.8 billion by 2026[4].

This emerging trend toward rich mobile messaging comes as third-party cookies, once the cornerstone of digital marketing, are to be retired permanently. Advertisers that can no longer tap into third-party cookies as a means of reaching wide audiences with broad but often superficial marketing campaigns will instead turn their attention to creating engaging and highly personalized experiences to grow their first-party customer base.

Being compatible with the MSISDN (Mobile Subscriber Integrated Services Digital Number), the unique mobile number of each user, RCS allows mobile operators to verify the identity of the subscribers, making it easier to provide targeted and personalized messaging. Global MNO revenue from RCS is expected to reach $4.6 billion in 2026[5].

Kastanis, concludes: “It is time for mobile operators to capitalize on the developments in the digital advertising ecosystem and take a leading role in it. They are uniquely positioned to do so through their millions-strong subscriber-base and “owned” channels such as RCS and SMS. Using technology platforms that allow them to run multichannel campaigns effectively – and by the numbers – is a step towards this goal, and will help revenues soar in the coming years”.

Upstream is one of Google’s official messaging partners enabling RCS, and is recognized as one of the key players in the RCS ecosystem by the GSMA[6]. In Brazil, one of the leading RCS markets globally, Upstream is the biggest RCS sender.

[1] Upstream martech platform data. Grow, Campaign for Food retailer, Web traffic increase

[2] Upstream martech platform data. Grow, Campaign for MNO, Pay plan migrations/upgrades

[3] Techradar, “Google releases RCS messaging globally”, November 2020

[4] Juniper, “RCS vs OTT: why 2022 is a crucial year”, February 2022

[5] Juniper, “RCS vs OTT: why 2022 is a crucial year”, February 2022

[6] GSMA Future Networks, “The RCS Ecosystem”, Accessed 20.4.2022

 

News, Security

3 in 5 Organizations Experienced Accidental Data Loss Over Email in the Past Year

New report from Tessian and the Ponemon Institute reveals that email has become the riskiest channel for data security in today’s organizations

SAN FRANCISCO – May 18, 2022 – New research from email security company Tessian and the Ponemon Institute reveals that nearly 60% of organizations experienced data loss or exfiltration caused by an employee mistake on email in the last 12 months. Email was revealed as the riskiest channel for data loss in organizations, as stated by 65% of IT security practitioners. This was closely followed by cloud file-sharing services (62%) and instant messaging platforms (57%).

The Ponemon Institute surveyed 614 IT security practitioners to also reveal that:

  • Employee negligence, because of not following policies, is the leading cause of data loss incidents (40%)
  • Over a quarter (27%) of data loss incidents are caused by malicious insiders
  • It takes up to three days for security and risk management teams to detect and remediate a data loss and exfiltration incident caused by a malicious insider on email
  • Almost one in four (23%) organizations experience up to 30 security incidents involving employees’ use of email every month (for example, email was sent to an unintended recipient)

The most common types of confidential and sensitive information lost or intentionally stolen include: customer information (61%); intellectual property (56%); and consumer information (47%). User-created data (sensitive email content, text files, M&A documents), regulated data (credit card data, Social Security numbers, national ID numbers, employee data), and intellectual property were identified as the three types of data that are most difficult to protect from data loss.

The top two consequences for data loss incidents were revealed as non-compliance with data protection regulations (57%) and damage to an organization’s reputation (52%). Furthermore, a previous study from Tessian found that almost one-third (29%) of businesses lost a client or customer because of an employee sending an email to the wrong person.

Lack of visibility creates data loss challenges

Organizations cannot protect what they can’t see. A lack of visibility of sensitive data that employees transferred from the network to personal email was cited as the most common barrier (54%) to preventing data loss. Further, over half of respondents (52%) report being unable to identify legitimate data loss incidents and standard employee data handling behaviors.

As a result, it takes security teams 72 hours, on average, to detect and remediate a data loss and exfiltration incident caused by a malicious insider on email, and almost 48 hours to detect and remediate an incident caused by a negligent employee.

Greater education required for employees

The majority of organizations (73%) are concerned that employees do not understand the sensitivity or confidentiality of data they share through email. In addition, marketing and public relations departments are most likely to put data at risk when using email (61%), closely followed by production/manufacturing (58%) and operations (57%).

Despite these risks, organizations do not have adequate training in place. While 61% have security awareness training, only about half of IT security leaders say their programs properly address the sensitivity and confidentiality of the data that employees can access on email.

“This study showcases the severity of data loss on email and the implications it has for modern enterprises,” said Larry Ponemon, chairman and founder of Ponemon Institute. “Our findings prove the lack of visibility organizations have into sensitive data, how risky employee behavior can be on email and why enterprises should view data loss prevention as a top business priority.”

Tessian Chief Information Security Officer Josh Yavor said, “Most security awareness training programs focus on inbound threats, yet fail to adequately address the handling of sensitive data internally. But data loss – whether accidental or intentional – is a major threat and should be treated as a top priority.

“To create awareness and mitigate data loss incidents, organizations need to be proactive in delivering effective data loss prevention training while also gaining greater visibility into how employees handle company data. Security awareness training that directly addresses common types of data loss – including what’s okay to share with personal accounts and what’s not okay to take with you when you leave a company – and a culture that builds trust and confidence among employees will improve security behaviors and limit the amount of data that flows out of the organization.”