Retail News CRM

Tag: software

  • Cashmaster Launches QR-Connect in APAC – New Integration Software Solution for Cash Management

    Cashmaster Launches QR-Connect in APAC – New Integration Software Solution for Cash Management

    Cashmaster Asia today announced the Introduction of Cashmaster QR-Connect, a QR code application providing enhanced software functionality for its Cashmaster One range of count-by-weight cash counting devices that offers an innovative, simple solution to integrating with back office or POS systems. When installed, count data is presented as a QR code on the display of the Cashmaster One device that can be scanned by a standard POS scanner or the camera of a mobile/tablet device.

    The count data is instantly transferred to the POS or other system. The QR code avoids the need for USB or ethernet cable connectivity between the POS and the Cashmaster Cash counter – effectively providing wireless transfer of the cash count (including vouchers/coupons in addition to notes and coins) as well as other information for process traceability, such as cashier ID and till ID.

    In a connected world, a deeper level of integration and seamless transfer of data to the POS is a growing requirement for Cashmaster’s clients. Its customers are looking to remove multiple levels of manual processing of data across their businesses in order to: reduce opportunities for errors; speed up the processing of data; give more real-time information that businesses can use to make better, faster decisions; and provide greater accuracy and accountability to their enterprises. Integration can be seen also as a key component in a loss prevention strategy.

    No matter the level of operation, these solutions provide data in a format that can be easily digested by cash management and analytics programs for big, medium or small companies. As competition increases, the rewards of deploying Cashmaster One and Cashmaster QRConnect can show directly in bottom line improvements. Gordon McKie, Group CEO of Cashmaster, commented, “Companies are under intense pressure to maximise income and improve efficiencies, while at the same time motivating staff. It’s a complex dynamic that Cashmaster understands; it has also been a powerful imperative for us in designing the intuitive technology for cash management that helps clients achieve those goals.

    “Solutions can be tailored to customers’ specific needs, from simple off-the-shelf tools requiring minimal customer resources to implement, to working with customers’ IT teams in providing more complex solutions. With a proven quick return on the initial investment to boot.”

    Cashmaster is a global company that specialises in the design and manufacture of count-by-weight cash counting devices using the most advanced touch-screen technology. The company has more than 30 years’ experience in creating innovative and reliable cash handling solutions for a wide range of international clients including supermarkets, convenience stores, retail, banking, fast-food restaurants and coffee shops.

    Website: www.cashmaster.com

    All trade enquiries for Cashmaster One:

    Tel (Hong Kong): +852 9334 8578; E-mail: jcheung@cashmaster.com

    Tel (UK): +44 (0) 1383 416 098; enquiriesasia@cashmaster.com

     

  • Operators shift IT spend to IT services and software

    Operators shift IT spend to IT services and software

    The 4Q17 Telecom Infrastructure Services Benchmark report by Technology Business Research (TBR) revealed that the spending shift by operators towards offerings from IT services‐ and software‐centric companies may spell bad news for equipment vendors. The spend coincides with an industry that itself is following the global digital transformation movement.

    TBR Telecom senior analyst Chris Antlitz noted that operator spend on digital‐related initiatives will accelerate over the next few years. “IT services companies will continue to garner a disproportionate share of digital‐related, software‐centric business from operators as their competencies and capabilities align with what operators need to pursue digital transformation,” he added.

    Lower RAN (radio access network) volumes globally significantly impacted most RAN vendors’ telecom infrastructure services (TIS) revenue throughout 2017. TBR’s research suggests the global RAN market peaked in 2015 with product-attached services revenue now tapering off as payments are fully recognized. RAN vendors are responding to this headwind by diversifying into other areas, such as the IT domain, and are concurrently restructuring their network deployment businesses to profitably align with the new demand level.

    The global RAN market is likely to bottom out in 2019 and then return to growth in 2020 as 5G deployments ramp up. Until then, operators are likely to continue to shift spend from RAN and RAN‐related services to other business areas.

    A Huawei spokesperson noted this trend towards IT, software and services, which forced the company to also make a course correction. “We have been actively investing in and developing these capabilities for some time. In addition, we have built an active global ecosystem of industry partners to support this industry shift, and count many of the world’s leading IT and software providers among our strategic partners today.”

    It is a similar comment from long time equipment vendor Nokia. Danial Mausoof, head of Strategic Marketing for Asia Pacific and Japan, commented that Nokia has taken steps to help the industry address this.

    “As an example, we are working on a common software foundation (CSF) which allows for a scalable library of common components and this gives us greater speed and flexibility by using pre-integrated blueprints to address the customer’s needs. In addition, we have identified key enterprise verticals such as energy and public sector transportation where we are able to leverage our extensive solution offerings to help industry players accelerate their digital transformation journeys,” he added.

    Not just operators

    “We do see the trend and it is not only happening to operators but many large enterprises as well. Apart from the cloud security and cloud infrastructure are more mature so that buying services on the cloud than the actual equipment on-site is more viable, said Linda Hui, managing director of Ruckus Hong Kong and Taiwan.

    “Secondly, many enterprises find that the technology has moved very fast, hence, before they can amortize the equipment, they need to upgrade their infrastructure to cope with the existing traffic, hence, it will be easier for them to just subscribe the service.”

    Lees ook:

  • AI to be in almost all new software by 2020

    AI to be in almost all new software by 2020

    Market hype and rising interest in artificial intelligence (AI) are compelling established software vendors to introduce AI into their product strategy, creating significant confusion in the process, according to Gartner.

    Analysts predict that by 2020, AI technologies will be virtually pervasive in almost every new software product and service. Gartner believes that by 2020, AI will be a top five investment priority for more than 30% of CIOs.

    “As AI accelerates up the Hype Cycle, many software providers are looking to stake their claim in the biggest gold rush in recent years,” said Jim Hare, research VP at Gartner.

    “AI offers exciting possibilities, but unfortunately, most vendors are focused on the goal of simply building and marketing an AI-based product rather than first identifying needs, potential uses and the business value to customers,” said Hare.

    To successfully exploit the AI opportunity, technology providers need to understand how to respond to three key issues.

    First is the lack of differentiation is creating confusion and delaying purchase decisions. More than 1,000 vendors with applications and platforms describe themselves as AI vendors, or say they employ AI in their products.

    This widespread use of “AI washing” — using the term indiscriminately — is already having real consequences for investment in the technology.

    A second key issue is that proven, less complex machine learning capabilities can address many end-user needs.

    Advancements in AI, such as deep learning, are getting a lot of buzz but are obfuscating the value of more straightforward, proven approaches. Gartner recommends that vendors use the simplest approach that can do the job over cutting-edge AI techniques.

    Third is that organizations lack the skills to evaluate, build and deploy AI solutions. More than half the respondents to Gartner’s 2017 AI development strategies survey indicated that the lack of necessary staff skills was the top challenge to adopting AI in their organization.

    The survey found organizations are currently seeking AI solutions that can improve decision making and process automation. If they had a choice, most organizations would prefer to buy embedded or packaged AI solutions rather than trying to build a custom solution.

  • Fiat Chrysler recalls 1.25 million trucks over software error

    Fiat Chrysler recalls 1.25 million trucks over software error

    Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said on Friday it would recall more than 1.25 million pickup trucks worldwide to address a software error linked to reports of one crash death and two injuries.

    The erroneous code could temporarily disable the side air bag and deployment seat of belt pretensioners – which reduce seat belt slack during impacts – during a vehicle rollover spurred by a significant underbody impact, such as striking onroad debris or driving off-road, the Italian-American automaker said.

    The company will reprogram computer modules in the affected vehicles to address this error.

    An FCA spokesman said the likelihood of an incident was very low because a sequence of events was needed to cause an incident.

    There is no definitive proof the error was involved in two accidents, one of which resulted in a fatality, but the automaker was conducting the recall proactively, he said.

    The spokesman declined to say whether the code was produced inhouse or by an FCA supplier, saying “we do not discuss supplier relationships.”

    Fiat Chrysler Automobiles said on Friday it would recall more than 1.25 million pickup trucks worldwide to address a software error linked to reports of one crash death and two injuries.

    The erroneous code could temporarily disable the side air bag and deployment seat of belt pretensioners – which reduce seat belt slack during impacts – during a vehicle rollover spurred by a significant underbody impact, such as striking onroad debris or driving off-road, the Italian-American automaker said.

    The company will reprogram computer modules in the affected vehicles to address this error.

    An FCA spokesman said the likelihood of an incident was very low because a sequence of events was needed to cause an incident.

    There is no definitive proof the error was involved in two accidents, one of which resulted in a fatality, but the automaker was conducting the recall proactively, he said.

    The spokesman declined to say whether the code was produced inhouse or by an FCA supplier, saying “we do not discuss supplier relationships.”

    Fiat Chrysler has been working to move faster to address vehicle issues after being fined twice in 2015 by the NHTSA.

    In December 2015, the company was fined $70 million for failing to report vehicle crash deaths and injuries since 2003.

    In July 2015, Fiat Chrysler agreed to a $105 million settlement with NHTSA for mishandling nearly two dozen recall campaigns involving 11 million vehicles.

    It agreed to a three-year consent agreement and monitoring by former Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Centric Software Opens New Office in Hong Kong

    Centric Software Opens New Office in Hong Kong

    Centric Software announces the opening of a new office in Hong Kong, bringing its innovative Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) solutions to local retailers, brands and manufacturers. Centric Software is the leading PLM solution for fashion, retail, footwear, luxury, outdoor and consumer goods companies.

    The opening of the Hong Kong office confirms Centric Software’s explosive growth in Asia, having recently opened an office in Tokyo, Japan in 2016 and Shanghai, China in 2014. In addition, the company recently announced the signature of its first customer in Australia, Redbubble. Leveraging the success and continued growth in the region, now with 25 Asian customers, Centric plans to further develop the market in Hong Kong and the surrounding regions.

    “Prior to the opening of our new Hong Kong office, we had already built strong momentum with several large customers.  Companies in Hong Kong and throughout South East Asia need modern, mobile-based PLM solutions. It’s a big space to grow,” said Nick Wei, Regional Sales Director Hong Kong at Centric Software.

    “The fashion market is very competitive and companies need every possible advantage beginning with the products they make and sell; products are the heart of any brand, retailer or manufacturer.  Making great products starts with great product development technology, like Centric PLM,” Wei adds.

    Supporting not only retailers and brands, but also original design manufacturers (ODM) and original equipment manufacturers (OEM) with flexible, configurable, out-of-the-box and intuitive PLM, Centric Software solutions enable companies to speed time to market, improve team collaboration and cut costs while developing deeper bonds with trading partners.

    “Fashion companies here are really excited to finally have a modern, mobile PLM solution available to them. They want innovative easy to use, cloud and mobile-based PLM software that provides a ‘single version of the truth’ solution,” Wei explains, “Centric’s mobile applications, which are the first to be developed in the sector, keep product teams connected at all times to aid product design development and execution.”

    “In Asia, when a company invests in a technology partner, they want to know you are present and a have strong local team to service them. This new office will allow Centric Software to work in close proximity with our customers and provide them with the industry best practices and Agile DeploymentSM knowledge needed to enable their ambitious growth strategies,” Wei concludes.

    “We are very excited to announce the opening of our new home in Hong Kong,” said Chris Groves, CEO of Centric Software. “We will continue to build on innovations made with our customer partners in the region and will look forward to welcoming new ones into the Centric family.”

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Renault denies report of emissions cheating software

    Renault denies report of emissions cheating software

    Renault is denying a report that its vehicles are equipped with software that allowed its vehicles to cheat on emissions testing.

    The statement Wednesday from the French carmaker followed a report in the newspaper Liberation, which claimed to have obtained an investigative document from the Economy Ministry indicating that emissions from two models – the Renault Captur and the Clio IV – spewed emissions more than 300 percent higher than the legal limit in real-life conditions.
    The ministry’s fraud department handed its findings to prosecutors in November.

    French authorities raided Renault premises after Volkswagen was found to have used software to cheat on U.S. diesel emissions tests. Renault recalled 15,000 cars last year over excessive levels of harmful gases, but the company insisted there was no intentional wrongdoing.

  • China Mobile taps Brocade software for SDN cloud rollout

    China Mobile taps Brocade software for SDN cloud rollout

    China Mobile will deploy NFV software from Brocade at several of its key data centers as part of its first SDN-based commercial public cloud rollout.

    The operator is deploying virtual traffic management technology from the networking vendor, initially at its Southern Base and Northern Base data centers.

    The deployment will be conducted in conjunction with China Mobile’s strategic SDN and NFV supplier Nokia. Brocade’s software will run within the Nuage Networks virtual service platform, which is being implemented by Nokia as part of a project announced last week.

    China Mobile is playing a major role in the Chinese government’s Internet Plus initiative to support the development of new business models enabled by ICT, such as fixed and mobile internet connectivity, cloud, big data and the IoT.

    As part of this effort, China Mobile has taken on the role of a large-scale cloud service provider for major enterprise and government customers, and is deploying SDN-based cloud services to support these operations.

    “The promise of network functions virtualization is the ability to scale services on demand. When it comes to service providers, they don’t come much bigger than China Mobile in terms of potential scale,” Brocade China country manager Henry Zhu said.

    “We’re naturally delighted that Brocade’s advanced NFV appliance technology has been selected by China Mobile. This is a groundbreaking project within China’s service provider landscape and we are fully committed to ensuring it results in complete success.”

    Lees ook:

  • Digital video software market to exceed $9b by 2021

    Digital video software market to exceed $9b by 2021

    The video software market is expected to exceed $9 billion in revenue by 2021, according to a new report recently released by IHS Markit.

    The atomization of media distribution and the switch from hardware-based technology solutions to cloud implementations are key drivers for the $3 billion in revenue growth over the next five years, according to the new Video Software, Security, and Analytics Intelligence Service report from IHS Technology.

    “Taken together, these two forces have created a market where value is shifting towards the frontend,” said Cecilia Zhu, analyst at IHS Technology. “A superior user-experience has become fundamental to securing increased consumer spend.”

    Globally, content security accounts for 32% of the digital video software market. While demand for robust security solutions is unlikely to deteriorate,  particularly in the presence of high-value UHD and HDR content,  the segment is effectively saturated.

    North America is the key region for the video software market, and generates roughly $2.9 billion. The region’s value relates primarily to confluence of three factors — the presence of large media companies, their outright scale, and their sheer number.

    The region’s economic dominance should not, however, overshadow the existence of cutting-edge video services in Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, and the technology demand that these services generate.

    Cisco has a 15% share of the video software segment, the largest globally. The company has proven adept at transitioning into the video space, and in using its longstanding presence in core, metro, and access-network infrastructure to cross and upsell video-specific software.

    Lees ook:

  • JDA expands in Australia

    JDA expands in Australia

    JDA Software Group, Inc. announced the opening of a new North Sydney office that expands on the company’s Australia and New Zealand (ANZ) presence, which includes an office in Melbourne.

    JDA opened its first office in Sydney in 1994 and now counts more than 100 customers across retail, manufacturing, third-party logistics and wholesale distribution.

    “Since its beginning in 1994, JDA’s ANZ presence has continually grown and we’re proud to count so many customers across industries and solutions that count on JDA to power their supply chains,” said Amit Bagga, regional vice president for Asia-Pacific, JDA.

    “The move to a new office in Sydney represents a commitment by the business to continue to build on the success that our team has achieved.”

    JDA offers a rich portfolio of solutions that have been delivering great value for its customers for more than 30 years, including technology from its merger with RedPrairie (2012), and acquisitions of i2 Technologies (2010) and Manugistics (2006).

    “The Australian and New Zealand market is unique globally. In all of our target market segments, customers face a highly competitive landscape and high operating costs. In addition, their consumers are rapidly embracing omni-channel and demanding a more personalized experience. In such a market, our customers are continuously looking to reduce inventories, increase supply chain velocity, and use their people and capital assets efficiently,” said Bruce How, vice president of sales, ANZ, at JDA.

    “JDA’s solutions are backed by years of experience and driven by continuous customer feedback and research thereby enabling success for our customers. Looking ahead, we plan to continue our focus in empowering customers and driving profitable customer commerce, adaptable manufacturing, and intelligent fulfillment,” continued How.

    The new office is located at Level 3, 60 Miller St, North Sydney.

    Lees ook:

  • Companies expect Olympics to strain their networks

    Companies expect Olympics to strain their networks

    The vast majority of companies (85%) plan to more closely monitor the performance of their applications and networks, including Wi-Fi, because of potential strain due to employees accessing Olympic content.

    A survey conducted by Riverbed Technology revealed that only 2% stated that they were very unlikely to monitor any differently during this the Olympics.

    The network strain in office is likely to be prevalent in Singapore, with national broadcaster Mediacorp only being able to air delayed telecasts of the Olympics due to broadcasting rights.

    “The time zone difference mean that finals will be aired during working hours, and with no live telecast in Singapore, sports fans are likely to turn to live streaming to cheer on Team Singapore – on company networks. IT organizations need to come together and prepare for the significant increase in network traffic that will occur as a result of employees streaming and accessing online content,” said Bjorn Engelhardt, SVP, Riverbed, Asia Pacific and Japan.

    Companies expected employees to access Olympic content using the company’s networks, including Wi-Fi, most frequently via their desktops and laptops (48%); followed by smartphones (34%); and then tablets or other non-smartphone devices (18%).

    The reason for monitoring employees’ access to Olympic content could potentially be linked to companies being unable to quickly pinpoint and resolve performance issues of critical business applications:  Less than half of the companies surveyed, 43%, were very confident that their organizations could safeguard critical applications during high network traffic events such as the Olympics, while 12% were not confident that their companies could handle the added strain and traffic.

    In one of the most revealing statistics, companies were asked if they’ve had an issue, even once, with their networks, including Wi-Fi, specifically because employees were accessing content during a popular event such as the Olympics. The majority of companies responded yes (69%), with 30% of these same companies saying that they have experienced more than one episode of issues. The survey also found that the majority (70%) of companies said they would limit or probably limit employees from accessing Olympic content through company networks, including Wi-Fi, in some way, with 24% saying they will definitely limit content and 46% saying they would probably limit content.

    “The results of the survey highlight how popular events such as the Olympics and the impact of BYOD are affecting companies and the need for greater visibility to safeguard networks and business critical applications. IT must take a proactive approach to managing application performance with end-to-end visibility across the network from the server to the end user,” said Engelhardt.

  • NEC sets up open-source software center

    NEC sets up open-source software center

    NEC in Japan and NEC Technologies India have established the “OSS Technology Center,” an organization specializing in technical support related to the use of open source software (OSS).

    The new organization began operations July 1, with approximately 50 staff based out of NTI, consisting of experienced OSS engineers who are well-versed in OSS solution architecture, as well as essential software development and support capabilities.

    The OSS Technology Center aims to strengthen the organizational structure for supporting global enterprises in building systems based on OSS, to reinforce collaboration with international OSS vendors and to provide rapid technical support to users who construct systems operated globally using OSS.

    Moreover, the new organization will actively carry out development of new network functions related to Software-Defined Networking (SDN), Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and application platform functions, such as container and Platform as a Service (PaaS).

    All of these are part of the OSS Technology Centre’s OpenStack-based development activities, in addition to its contributions to making source codes openly available by providing them to the OSS community.

    In recent years, the need for enterprises to capitalize on OSS, particularly OpenStack, in cloud computing, big data computing and SDN/NFV, has become increasingly pronounced.

    Also, in terms of next-generation ICT technologies, there are heightened expectations towards OSS applications in areas related to Systems of Engagement (SoE) and Internet of Things (IoT).

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook:

  • Telstra invests in security company vArmour

    Telstra invests in security company vArmour

    Australian operator Telstra has formed a partnership with – and made an investment in – data center and cloud security company vArmour.

    Under the agreement, investment arm Telstra Ventures has participated in vArmour’s recent $41 million Series D funding round.

    Telstra will also add vArmour’s security offerings to its portfolio of enterprise services. In the long term, the operator said it will also be able to develop security consulting and managed services for its customers.

    The vArmour platform is designed to give organizations application-layer control over their networks to help stave off, detect and respond to cyber threats.

    Jeremy Howe, Telstra’s director of IP Data and Security Solutions, commented that the acquisition is aimed at addressing its enterprise customers’ evolving security demands.

    “We see a growing demand among enterprise customers for solutions that help them secure their data in a private, public and hybrid cloud mix. One of the main concerns companies have in embracing cloud services is data control and security,” he said.

    “vArmour’s distributed security software addresses the problem of traffic blindspots inside data centers. This helps businesses protect themselves from one of the critical emerging threats in the security environment, in addition to the benefits of having greater visibility of what is going on with your data.”

  • Oracle aims to remove cloud adoption barriers

    Oracle aims to remove cloud adoption barriers

    Oracle has launched a new family of services designed to help remove some of the biggest obstacles to cloud adoption.

    While organizations are eager to move their enterprise workloads to the public cloud, many have been constrained by business, legislative and regulatory requirements that have prevented them from being able to adopt the technology.

    To address this, Oracle aims to make it easier for organizations to adopt Oracle Public Cloud Services and run them wherever they want – in the Oracle Cloud or their own data center.

    Oracle Cloud at Customer enables organizations to implement Oracle’s cloud services in their own data center. This is the first offering from a major public cloud vendor that delivers a stack that is 100% compatible with the Oracle Cloud but available on-premises.

    Customers can adapt the public cloud services for a number of use cases, including disaster recovery, elastic bursting, dev/test, lift-and-shift workload migration, and a single API and scripting toolkit for DevOps.

    By extending the Oracle Cloud into their data center, customers can have full control over their data and meet all data sovereignty and data residency requirements that mandate customer data remain within a company’s data center or contained within a geographic location.

    Lees ook:

    Lees ook: