TMT Issue 3 by AI Global Media

Are health tech apps really beneficial? 12-13

Why managers should love big Data 16-17

Top four vendors in the global FEA market 14-15

New search tool for online shopping 20-21

EDITOR’S NOTE Welcome to the February issue of TMT News. This month’s issue showcases the latest and most exciting developments from across the TMT sectors, including the news that Technavio has announced the top four leading vendors in their recent global FEA market report. Cyber security has always been a key issue, but how does this affect healthcare apps? Farzad Henareh talks us through this controversial topic.

H.Stevenson

We also take a look into the hottest recent deal: Connexity’s acquisition of Hitwise from Experian, which looks set to change the face of the market research data sector. Bark.com is the latest internet venture from Andrew Michael, the renowned start-up entrepreneur. We spoke to him to gain an insight into why he thinks internet start-ups are only going to get bigger and better in the future. Cortexica’s ground breaking visual search technology mimics processes found in the human visual cortex to recognize content from digitally captured images. We profile this unique tool and highlight the potential it offers for both businesses and software developers. We hope you enjoy this issue.

CONTENTS TMT News AMC Technology is Improving How Contact Centres Run

Global executive search firm cuts admin costs and reduces paper trail with Advancedâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s software

Global Telecoms Accelerate NFV Delivery with OpenStack

GlobalLogic Acquires REC Global Extending Software Product Development Leadership

Geotab ushers in a new era of business intelligence with powerful data visualization capabilities

Landmark Solutions launches Points of Interest On-Demand web portal

YuppTV Partners with Global Internet Technology Giant LeEco

ARTICLES Connexity Acquires Hitwise from Experian

12-13

Health tech apps are muddying the already unclear regulation waters

14-15

Technavio Announces Top Four Vendors in the Global FEA Market in the Industrial Machinery Industry

16-17

How next generation computing power is redrawing the relationship between technology and management

18-19

The Allure of Internet Start-ups

20-21

Visual Search Tool Taking Retail World by Storm

22-23

AMC TECHNOLOGY IS IMPROVING HOW CONTACT CENTRES RUN The Richmond based company is offering product discounts and providing education in their monthly webinar series to help organizations increase contact centre efficiency. AMC Technology, a leading integrator of CRM and contact center applications, has announced it will be offering a 20 percent discount on their Contact Canvas Adapter for enterprises with 500 or more seats that integrate to SAP, Siebel, Salesforce or Microsoft. The promotion will run from now until March 31, 2016. Additionally, AMC is kicking off their monthly webinars beginning January 28th with the topic of “Large But Nimble” to provide assistance to those that are seeking opportunities to improve contact center efficiency. AMC Technology, LLC, is a global industry leader in contact center and CRM integration with 20 years of experience. AMC powers contact centers for customers around the globe through certified products and unparalleled expertise. AMC Contact Canvas product suite allows customers to integrate business applications and communications across the enterprise, from call center agents to knowledge workers and mobile staff. Contact Canvas is able to reduce average call duration with features such as screen pop, which saves the agent time by presenting the information of the caller without the agent having to search manually, and automatic reporting, which helps reduce agent errors and identifies areas for improvement. According to Colleen Oliverio, Director of Guest Sales at Carnival Cruise Lines, “We struggled to capture critical attempt, contact and conversion data making it difﬁcult to maximize sales opportunities. This challenge made it impossible to test strategies for improvement. We had no real time call statistics that were actionable.

This enhancement [Contact Canvas] has been a critical component to understanding and increasing lead conversion. Additionally, sales managers have more real-time and accurate call data, offering opportunities to impact today’s performance. It has been an effective tool to optimize agent and lead performance.” AMC’s Contact Canvas delivers a robust offering of integrations between products like SAP, Siebel, Salesforce, Microsoft Dynamics and Cisco, Avaya and Aspect that can be mixed and matched. Different from point to point solutions, Contact Canvas customers can take advantage of all of the integrations offered without purchasing additional licenses or forklift upgrades. Contact Canvas is an excellent value for companies that have are looking for a solution that can greatly influence the way their organization services their customers.

GLOBAL EXECUTIVE SEARCH FIRM CUTS ADMIN COSTS AND REDUCES PAPER TRAIL WITH ADVANCED’S SOFTWARE

Definitive Consulting (Definitive), a leading global executive search firm, has gained major efficiencies by implementing a financial management solution from Advanced Exchequer (Advanced). The annual cost savings, which amount to approximately 2% of the company’s turnover, have been achieved by going ‘paperless’ and eliminating manual administration. The Exchequer software was selected to improve cash flow and productivity by enabling all finance documents to be distributed and processed electronically. Definitive has also increased financial transparency and streamlined reporting by gaining instant access to live data in multi-currency formats to better understand its current position. Definitive’s investment in rapidly expanding its international presence has seen turnover almost double during the last 12 months. The firm is headquartered in London and now operates from offices in Australia, Dubai, Hong Kong and Singapore with further strategic affiliations located in Germany and the United States. Ruth Martin, Group Finance Director at Definitive Consulting, says “Our previous finance system struggled to cope as we expanded our presence overseas. I had used Exchequer before in another role and knew the software was sufficiently scalable and flexible to cope with our demands for more immediate and accurate reporting information.” “We identified that Advanced’s software could provide us with notable cost and time savings by significantly reducing our need to circulate, handle and store paper.”

The Exchequer solution has enabled Definitive to automate its accounts payable and accounts receivable processes, whilst providing a full audit trail throughout the cash management cycle. Invoices are now sent directly to customers via email, alleviating the frustrations and delays associated with paperbased payment procedures. The system’s custom reporting capabilities can also quickly generate real-time figures on outstanding customer debts and accounts on hold. Automatic alerts notify the finance team when credit limits and invoice due dates have been exceeded, helping to tighten financial control.

our business performance to maintain our strong growth and profitability levels.” Definitive is considering implementing Advanced’s integrated mobile app, eXchequer365, to maximise efficiency. The solution provides remote access to key information via the Exchequer finance system from any device. Documents such as employee expenses and invoices can be easily submitted and tracked with automatic push notifications alerting users when approved.

Martin comments, “Cutting paper administration is delivering annual cost savings in excess of 2% of our turnover which are being reinvested to strengthen our competitive edge. Advanced’s solution has also provided greater traceability throughout the cash collection process and ensures we can quickly resolve supplier queries to remove barriers to payment.”

“With instant access to consolidated financial information we can view all related transactions and identify discrepancies. This allows us to constantly scrutinise 5

GLOBAL TELECOMS ACCELERATE NFV DELIVERY WITH OPENSTACK Report from OpenStack Foundation Charts NFV Adoption by World’s Largest Telecom Providers, Leveraging OpenStack as a Platform for Innovation Facing unprecedented traffic and rapidly evolving customer expectations, global telecom providers are accelerating their adoption of Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) to increase network agility and mitigate costs. OpenStack has emerged as the NFV infrastructure platform of choice. The OpenStack Foundation today released a comprehensive report on the adoption and business cases driving NFV deployment among the world’s leading telecom providers. Titled “OpenStack Foundation Report: Accelerating NFV Delivery with OpenStack,” the report was developed by an OpenStack community team comprising telecommunications company representatives and other telecom-focused members.

estimates a compound annual growth rate of 54 percent between 2015 and 20202. A 2015 Heavy Reading global survey found that nearly 60 percent of telecommunication professionals are actively exploring NFV3.

NFV is changing the networking landscape by offering telecom providers a way to significantly diminish reliance on expensive, proprietary hardware while at the same time dramatically increasing the speed and agility with which new network services are provisioned for clients when compared with traditional networks that rely on proprietary, purposespecific networking hardware. Telecom providers are the driving force behind the development of NFV technology, which leverages cloud computing, software and automation for networking infrastructure. NFV promises to expand the portfolio of revenue-producing services and reduce CapEx and OpEx burdens.

•

The adoption of NFV is considered to be in its early stages, but the NFV market is projected to grow dramatically. Infonetics Research forecasts a fivefold increase in the NFV market, reaching $11.6 billion by 20191. SNS Research

Already, numerous global telecom leaders have chosen to implement NFV with OpenStack. AT&T, Bloomberg LP, China Mobile, Deutsche Telekom, NTT Group, SK Telekom and Verizon are among the organizations documented using OpenStack and NFV in the new report. Brief case studies on several of these deployments are provided in the report, which describes:

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• •

The technological and businesses advantages that NFV provides to the telecom industry The integral role that OpenStack software and the OpenStack community are playing in NFV development efforts, particularly in conjunction with the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and the Linux Foundation Collaborative Project, OPNFV Why OpenStack is the perfectly suited architecture for (and thus considered “synonymous” with) NFV Specifically how OpenStack-powered NFV is being deployed by numerous carriers and enterprises in the telecom industry, including AT&T, Bloomberg, Deutsche Telekom, NTT Group, SK Telecom and Verizon.

NFV in the Spotlight at OpenStack Summit in Austin, April 25-29 The OpenStack Summit taking place this April in Austin

will include a two-day track devoted to telecom/NFV user presentations, workshops, panels and collaborative sessions. This track is co-sponsored by OPNFV. Discounted Early Bird Registration is available through March 11. Members of the media can contact jennifer@cathey.co for information about event registration. OpenStack is open source software for building public and private clouds. OpenStack-powered clouds enable businesses to rapidly develop and deploy new applications while reducing technology lock-in. OpenStack is backed by an independent foundation and a global community of more than 34,000 individual members and 550 supporting organizations across 177 countries. Superuser, the OpenStack publication, chronicles the hundreds of companies that rely on OpenStack. The OpenStack Marketplace offers in-depth information on vendors, with product comparison tools.

GLOBALLOGIC ACQUIRES REC GLOBAL EXTENDING SOFTWARE PRODUCT DEVELOPMENT LEADERSHIP Acquisition Expands GlobalLogic’s European Presence and Strengthens Embedded Software Capabilities GlobalLogic, a leading experience design and digital product development company today announced the acquisition of REC Global, a leader in the highly soughtafter embedded software space, headquartered in Poland. The acquisition extends GlobalLogic’s presence in Europe while enabling it to deliver even more sophisticated design and engineering solutions to customers worldwide. This move positions GlobalLogic as one of the largest software engineering service providers in the highly strategic Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) region, increasing the company’s specialized engineering skillsets as well as providing greater access to the broader European markets. REC Global is a software engineering company providing R&D software services, custom software solutions and consultancy expertise to companies across the globe. The company specializes in designing embedded systems and tailored software solutions for customers across a range of industries including automotive, telecommunications and industrial automation. These services are increasingly in high demand due to the broad transformation that companies in all segments are making towards softwarecentric products. Embedded software development is a critical skill-set required for a range of products including Internet of Things (IoT), software for chipsets, Human Machine Interface (HMI) applications, automotive and many others. REC operates research and development centers in Poland, Slovakia and Croatia, and employs a team of more than 500 highly qualified engineers.

“REC’s founders and management team have built an impressive platform with strong product engineering capabilities and a long and growing list of partnerships with world-class clients,” said Shashank Samant, Chief Executive Officer, GlobalLogic. “REC’s credibility and specialization will enable us to further differentiate our offerings and focus on emerging customer needs in the new software economy. We are truly excited to embark on this journey with the good people at REC.”

“Partnering with a brand like GlobalLogic opens up a world of new opportunities for REC, giving us broader design and development capabilities in Europe while also providing access to new markets and clients worldwide,” said Krzysztof Kulinski, Chief Executive Officer, REC Global. “Our goal has always been to use our capabilities to help the most innovative brands across the globe. We’re eager to take the next step in the evolution of our company, now as part of the GlobalLogic family.”

LANDMARK SOLUTIONS LAUNCHES POINTS OF INTEREST ON-DEMAND WEB PORTAL Over four million location-based POI features available

For organisations looking to access Points of Interest (POI) data for location-based intelligence, Landmark Solutions, a division of Landmark Information Group Ltd, has announced the launch of a new ‘Pay as You Go’ web portal – POI On Demand – which provides secure, immediate access to the full Point-X GB Points of Interest dataset, which includes over four million active features. The POI On Demand service enables users to access highly accurate location-based data that can be used for a wide range of projects, such as urban planning, retail or property development or other projects that require the very latest information regarding local points of interest. It includes everything from cattle grids, letterboxes, bus stops and public conveniences, through to nightclubs, cash machines and fish & chip shops. By overlaying the POI data onto OS Open Source mapping, users can select the geography, the exact features required and instantly download them ready for immediate use within the user’s own GI systems. Confirms Richmond Crowhurst, Senior Public Sector Manager of Landmark Solutions: “The new POI On-Demand web portal is designed to provide immediate access to a huge wealth of points of interest data for Great Britain. As a Pay as you Go service users can immediately access the data whenever they need it, on a case by case basis. Setting up an account is simple and training is provided beforehand, so users know exactly how to search the dataset to find exactly what they need. Once credit has been added, you can go in

and download data on pretty much any POI to support any projects you may be working on.” The Point-X POI dataset is broken down by nine groups*, which includes 52 categories of data, which in turn are broken down into 620 classes of Points of Interests. As an example, a user is able to search through the ‘Accommodation, Eating & Drink’ group, access the ‘Eating & Drinking’ category, and search on all ‘Restaurants’ within a set geographical location. An alternative example is the ‘Public Infrastructure’ group, which includes the ‘Infrastructure and Facilities’ category, and search the ‘Public Telephones’ class to identify the number of public phones within a set area. Licencing for the POI On-Demand service is based on a credit cache system from as little as £625 plus VAT. When data is downloaded it uses available credit and users can top-up their cache as often and as much as is needed. And, with Points of Interest data not included in the Public Sector Mapping Agreement (PSMA), the On Demand portal is the most cost effective way for public sector bodies, and consultants working on their behalf, to easily access the data they need.

YUPPTV PARTNERS WITH GLOBAL INTERNET TECHNOLOGY GIANT LEECO Move aimed to maximize end user value

Marking a pioneering change in the way digital content is approached, YuppTV, the world’s largest Over-The-Top (OTT) provider for Indian content, has announced its partnership with Chinese OTT and internet technology giant LeEco (formerly Letv). The move is aimed at maximizing the value to the end user by creating a ubiquitous content ecosystem that enables anytime, anywhere accessibility of video content. Under the partnership, YuppTV will be integrated into LeEco’s smart devices that give users the access to YuppTV’s catalogue of live TV channels. YuppTV’s latest move marks the first time a content platform and a smart device provider have entered into such an association. YuppTV will act as a market differentiator by adding value to LeEco’s end-user offerings through its comprehensive content library. YuppTV is one of the world’s largest internet based TV and On demand service provider, offering more than 200+ TV channels, 5000+ Movies and 100+ TV Shows in 12 languages. YuppTV offers Live TV and Catch-Up TV technology. YuppTV has its presence in more than 50 countries. It has recently launched YuppTV Bazaar which is an online market place for premium content curator. YuppTV is currently ranked #1 Internet Pay TV platform for Indians living abroad and also the largest Internet TV platform from premium content availability in India. YuppTV is the most downloaded Indian SmartTV app and it also boasts of 8 million mobile downloads with 4.0 user rating.

Speaking on the association, Uday Reddy, Founder & CEO, YuppTV, commented, “The past few years have seen rapid growth in OTT and video consumption through internet enabled devices such as mobiles and smart TVs. Through their multi device and content ecosystem strategy, LeEco has been very successful in China. The partnership with the global internet technology conglomerate was successfully forged due to a natural chemistry and a synergy of vision between the two companies. We are confident that this association will help in optimizing the value delivered to the end-users and take our extensive digital entertainment solutions to a larger audience.”

applications to e-commerce and Internet-linked superelectric cars, which were announced in late 2014. A listed company valued at more than 88.81 billion Yuan (US$14.06 billion), LeEco is set to bring in innovative technology with price disruption to the Indian market.

Mr Tin Mok, CEO APAC, LeEco added, “We are delighted to enter into an association with YuppTV which is one of the largest OTT content providers for Indian content in the world today. The partnership is in synergy with our expansion plans in India and will enable us to leverage YuppTV’s offerings to add value to our own services.” Founded in November 2004 by Jia Yueting and Liu Hong, a celebrated pioneer in China’s Internet landscape, Letv (now rebranded to LeEco) is committed to creating the “Le Ecosystem,” a next-generation Internet engine that is vertically-integrated to offer an online platform completed with content, devices and applications. LeEco employs nearly 10,000 people and is the world’s first video company to go public with a market capitalization of more than $12 billion USD. The Group is engaged in a rich array of businesses, spanning from Internet TV, video production and distribution, smart gadgets and large-screen

CONNEXITY ACQUIRES HITWISE FROM EXPERIAN Expands platform to include Hitwise AudienceView audience segmentation and marketing planning tools Digital marketing company Connexity Inc. has announced that it acquired Hitwise, a leader in large-scale online clickstream data collection and consumer behavioral analytics. Hitwise will operate as a division within Connexity. Hitwise’s broad, audience-based insights into consumer online behavioral trends bolsters Connexity’s offering to marketers, agencies and publishers—giving them an unmatched ability to understand, reach and acquire their target customer. Hitwise’s recently-launched audience segmentation and behavioral analytics platform, AudienceView, provides companies with a comprehensive view of demographic and psychographic enriched behavioral insights on their target consumers, including visibility into behavior patterns by device type, such as mobile phones.

“Hitwise’s shift from website analytics to audience-based analytics aligns perfectly with our audience activation approach at Connexity, which is focused on delivering highly-targeted audiences created from our expansive shopping network,”

says Bill Glass, CEO of Connexity. “The combination of AudienceView’s clickstream and panel-based data with Connexity’s programmatic audience targeting will enable our customers to research, understand and identify their target audiences (and their behaviors) and, eventually, in the same interface, activate those audiences.” Once fully integrated with Connexity, retailers could, for example, use AudienceView to compare the demographics, preferences and web behavior of customers that shop at their physical stores, to the customers that shop online, and then use that data to rethink their ad creative, update their media planning and then execute a campaign from the same interface. “Adding Hitwise extends the services we provide to retailers, marketers and agencies,” adds Glass. “With AudienceView we help them simplify the process of identifying their customers, segmenting them and then activating them with media.” This acquisition—the company’s fourth in less than two years—furthers Connexity’s position as a digital marketing platform for retailers, brands and agencies. Connexity is adding Hitwise to a collection of established businesses including retail product listings (second only to Google), voice of the customer feedback via Bizrate Insights, and programmatic audience targeting—all powered by data from its retail network touching over 100 million in-market consumers per month.

In a simultaneous transaction, Connexity’s private equity parent, Symphony Technology Group (STG), acquired Experian’s Simmons division, the publisher of the National Consumer Study (NCS), a world-class syndicated consumer research database in the US. Recognized as the “The Voice of the American Consumer,” the Simmons NCS provides leading marketers, media brands and agencies with critical marketing information including detailed usage information on over 8,000 brands, 500 product categories and virtually every conceivable media genre available in the United States. Simmons and Hitwise operate today under the combined entity called Experian Consumer Insights. The two business lines will continue to operate as a combined entity, though Connexity and Symphony will seek to separate the two properties over the course of 2016. Terms of the two transactions in aggregate were $47 million plus a further potential amount of up to $5 million based on an earn out. Hitwise helps digital marketers, publishers and agencies to understand, acquire and retain profitable customer segments by providing online consumer behavior, search marketing and competitive insights. Clients rely on Hitwise to improve the effectiveness of search, display, affiliate, email and social marketing campaigns. With the world’s largest sample of Internet users combined with offline lifestyle and life stage information, Hitwise helps companies build and optimize their online

multichannel marketing campaigns. Hitwise operates in the U.S., UK, APAC and Brazil and has more than 900 clients across industry sectors, including retail, travel, financial services, advertising, media, technology and pharmaceuticals. Connexity (http://www.connexity.com) With over 15 yearsâ&#x20AC;&#x2122; experience in eCommerce, Connexity help retailers and marketers sell more online. With its retail data and advanced audience modeling, Connexity help brands target the right audiences on any device with programmatically sold media. The company also helps performance marketers get more customers with syndicated product listings on its shopping-centric publisher network. And with Bizrate Insights, Connexity helps retailers keep and grow their customer base by providing direct consumer feedback that can improve customer relationships and their online store experience. Â Connexity, Inc., formerly Shopzilla, Inc., is headquartered in Los Angeles and operates in the United States, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and Italy. It is owned by Symphony Technology Group (STG).

HEALTH TECH APPS ARE MUDDYING THE ALREADY UNCLEAR REGULATION WATERS From cardiac devices to knee implants, millions of consumers across Europe rely on medical equipment to improve their health and overall quality of life. The sector is now growing more complex as it moves to embrace health apps: software programmes that have been developed to provide a wide range of services from monitoring life threatening conditions to reminding users to take critical medications. With this growing complexity, it becomes more important than ever for manufacturers to be prepared and maintain regulatory compliance. In August 2015 alone there were eight separate medical device alerts registered by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), ranging from syringes and insulin pumps through to home-use blood glucose monitoring systems and surgical hair clippers. The previous month this figure was even higher. As we’ve seen in recent recall events, there are a variety of reasons that can cause a recall to occur and manufacturers should be keenly aware that recalling a product could be necessary at any time. Looking at recalls in general, fault device connection is often the leading cause. As technology continues to advance it is likely that connection and software errors will continue to increase which will have a significant impact on the notification and recall landscape. To add to this, as we highlight in the Stericycle Recall Index for Q2 2015, the medical apps market is also challenged by product classification issues, so it has become incumbent on developers of these products to inform themselves about the regulations that they must comply with.

Both the MHRA and the European Commission have issued guidance on whether a healthcare app can be considered a medical device based on specific keywords. If an app is designed to ‘diagnose’ or ‘monitor,’ a patient’s condition it will be regarded as a medical device. However, apps that, for example, remind patients that they have a medical appointment come into the consumer application category. It’s not difficult to see how apps could be put into the wrong category. This would not only cause confusion and probably prompt a recall, but it will also expose brands to reputational and operational damage and, even more worrying, present a health risk to consumers. Whether it’s a consumer app or a faulty wheelchair, manufacturers across the sector will find that executing a recall is no easy feat and requires plenty of preparation. With increasingly complex domestic and international supply chain arrangements, and strict regulations, it is critical that manufacturers have best practices in place to address the challenges of recall execution. For instance, documentation and traceability are two key areas that manufacturers should be focused on for regulatory compliance reasons and staying prepared ahead of a potential recall event. This should be a major component of a product recall plan designed to streamline recall response and ensure the organisation is prepared for the eventuality of an issue. In addition, all stakeholders from manufacturers and developers to distributors and even consumers must take ownership to ensure product safety. This collaboration

is critical, particularly when you consider that looking across all categories of products, the number of safety notifications and recalls has been on an overall upward trend since 2003, and 88% of those incidents were classified in the most serious threat category. It’s time for us all to work together. By Farzad Henareh, VP Europe at Stericycle ExpertSolutions

TECHNAVIO ANNOUNCES TOP FOUR VENDORS IN THE GLOBAL FEA MARKET IN THE INDUSTRIAL MACHINERY INDUSTRY Technavio has announced the top four leading vendors in their recent global FEA market in the industrial machinery report. This research report also lists seven other prominent vendors who are expected to gain market share over the forecast period. To identify the top vendors, Technavio’s market research analysts have considered the top players contributing to the overall revenue of this market. The report includes market forecast of FEA in industrial machinery until 2019 with a breakdown of market shares by the leading regions, including APAC, Americas, and EMEA. Technavio is a leading global technology research and advisory company. The company develops over 2000 pieces of research every year, covering more than 500 technologies across 80 countries. Technavio has about 300 analysts globally who specialize in customized consulting and business research assignments across the latest leading edge technologies. The firm’s analysts employ primary as well as secondary research techniques to ascertain the size and vendor landscape in a range of markets. Analysts obtain information using a combination of bottom-up and top-down approaches, besides using in-house market modeling tools and proprietary databases. They corroborate this data with the data obtained from various market participants and stakeholders across the value chain, including vendors, service providers, distributors, re-sellers, and end-users. Shedding light on the key findings of this report, Technavio’s senior market research analyst for semiconductors and hardware, Navin Rajendra says,

“Cloud computing provides vast 14

space for data storage, ease of access, flexibility, and security. Companies that buy these solutions are increasingly showing their preference for cloud-based solutions for industrial machinery. Also, these end-users of FEA in industrial machinery are not required to pay license fees as they can access the software through the cloud itself. The deployment of FEA software in the cloud thus leads to faster distribution, low maintenance, and an increase in scalability for these companies. The leading market vendors of FEA will look to leverage this opportunity with increased investments in R&D over the next four years.”

Four of the leading FEA market players for industrial machinery, according to the report are: Dassault Systèmes The strategy of Dassault Systèmes is to expand its 3DEXPERIENCE platform to the global industrial machinery industry. The company follows three major strategies to compete in the global FEA market in the industrial machinery industry. The company offers novel software and solutions for new disciplines and segments within the industry. For instance, it provides different software or solutions for product design, engineering and simulation, quality assurance and compliance, manufacturing, business operations and planning, and project management within a single industry. The company also offers cloud and mobile platforms for several PLM solutions. It provides design simulation on the cloud. Dassault Systèmes is witnessing increased adoption of its products in mobile devices following the advent of tablets. The company has acquired or partnered with several vendors to compete with other large vendors in this market. MSC Software MSC Software specializes in providing multidiscipline simulation solutions that accelerate product innovation. The company focuses on expanding its FEA market presence through various strategic initiatives, including product launches and partnerships. The company’s Marc Nonlinear FEA software plays an important role in undergraduate teaching and composites research at Santa Clara University, California, US. The capabilities of this software are to simulate composite

curing and shrinkage, and it is critical in the development of an optimal curing cycle that minimizes curing cycle time and part warpage. MSC Software has also partnered with UNED, a Spainbased online university to allow students to obtain an advanced degree in FE method and CAE simulation. This post-graduate training program is targeting the professional application of the FE method and advanced commercial CAE software. Siemens Siemens PLM Softwareâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s overall strategy is to move from discrete industries toward hybrid and process industries. The company has a strong product offering for discrete manufacturing industries such as aerospace and defense, industrial machinery, and automotive. It has now extended its focus to hybrid and process industries. The hybrid industry is a mix of discrete and process manufacturing. Siemens PLM Software provides discrete solutions for these hybrid industries, and focuses on extending its services to the process industries as well. The company provides solutions for managing complex packaging and software configuration management processes in the retail, fashion, and consumer packaged goods industries. For the global FEA market in the industrial machinery industry, the company follows a product expansion strategy following which it has developed NX Nastran to service highly advanced customer needs in the market. ANSYS ANSYS, a global engineering simulation software and service provider also follows a product expansion strategy to increase its revenue in the global FEA market in the industrial machinery industry. The company focuses on providing new technology to the end-users to increase productivity and to provide engineering simulation solutions with extended functionalities that can be integrated with CAD, electronic CAD, and PLM solutions. The company provides FEA analysis tools to simulate every structural aspect of a product through the structural analysis software. The FEA tools offer unparalleled ease of use to help product developers focus on the most important part of the simulation process by understanding the results and the impact of design variations on the model.

HOW NEXT GENERATION COMPUTING POWER IS REDRAWING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN TECHNOLOGY AND MANAGEMENT Why you should love your technology department and your data In the age of next generation, in-memory computing all businesses can, and should, be data-driven. We’ve all heard the buzzword ‘Big Data’, but what does this mean? It means that managers no longer have to make decisions in the dark. They can gain insights from their data, on-demand, by working with their technology department to minimise the risk associated with all business decisions. The fact that IT can tap into the data means the relationship between the technology department, which was often thought of as a function on the periphery of the business, and the business leaders themselves, is being redrawn. Technology and management no longer work in silos. They work alongside each other to find vital insights from their deluge of data. These insights have seen online retailers increasing. In a nutshell, faster, smarter data analysis enables management to know who their customers are, what they are doing and how to keep them coming back for more. So why is next generation, in-memory data analysis making such a difference to the business of management? The latest business intelligence applications are providing unprecedented levels of speed, scale and simplicity to storing and accessing data at a price most companies can now afford. As a result valuable nuggets of information can be found by management and businesses have never been in a better position to capitalise on the real-time demands of their customer base. Managers can now access and visualise decision-changing data as soon as it is needed and this

means that technology is gaining new ground as integral across all areas of the business - from marketing to product development - not just as a function on the periphery, but central to it. Businesses that have managers who are embracing in-memory database technology are seeing unprecedented growth with levels of insight never seen before. Here are a few examples of how data analytics is working in the real world for a number of different companies: Channel 4 Since 2006, C4’s focus on becoming a data-led broadcaster has meant that management has worked closely with technology to implement cutting edge data warehouse and analytics tools to really understand its audiences’ viewing habits on its hugely successful on-demand website, 4OD. Powerful and superfast data analytic capabilities have consequently brought real-time intelligence to C4 that enables it to provide a number of valueadd services such as allowing viewers to resume a programme in the right place, across all platforms; or by offering viewers a menu of programmes that are likely to be of interest based on their previous viewing history. Coop -EG coop installed a new data warehouse-based business intelligence solution in 2011 to consolidate receipt data across all its stores and make overall evaluation possible in real-time. As a result of the new system, coop management was able to respond immediately to specific spikes in product demand at particular stores and adjust stock accordingly depending on

seasonal fluctuations, bank holidays, weather forecasts, school holidays or events and promotions in neighbouring stores. Wooga Rapid growth and the continuous development of social games placed great demands on the database technology that this leading, global mobile and social games developer used. The increasing amounts of data being produced that needed processing within a very short time, meant the company quickly adopted a high performance database with superfast, reliable analysis tools so that management was able to analyse and respond to user behaviour in real time and on an ad hoc basis. Real-time business intelligence and a new, powerful database meant that Wooga could cope easily with peak periods of global game play and remain attractive to users on a long-term basis.

THE ALLURE OF INTERNET START-UPS We spoke to Andrew Michael, renowned for his successful start-ups, on his latest addition, Bark.com, his experiences in the marketplace and why he thinks the Internet is the way forward for start-up companies. Andrew began his first company, Fasthosts, an online domain service, from his parents’ house aged just 17 and went on to sell this multi-million-turnover business for £61.5 million in 2006. He has since founded and built four online companies. His latest venture is Bark.com an online tool that links consumers to local professionals across a range of services, from personal trainers to wedding photographers. We spoke to him about what makes draws him to online companies and what lessons he has leant over the course of his journey from a room at his parents’ house to a successful Internet entrepreneur. Could you tell us more about Bark.com? Andrew: Bark.com is an online lead generation platform which helps connect customers to local service professionals. We operate across a wide-range of sectors, from gardeners and caterers to more obscure categories including a dove releaser. We make it as fast and easy as possible for customers to find local, reliable service professionals by doing all the legwork and providing multiple quotes for customers. We firmly believe that there is not another service that offers the breadth and quality of professionals that we do and because of that, we are very excited about the next steps. How did your experience running Fasthosts prepare you for setting up Bark.com? Andrew: The experience of growing a business from scratch put me in great stead for building Bark.com. I also love the fast

paced environment of working online which I first experienced running Fasthosts, I learned that it is always changing and evolving, and you have to be able to adapt constantly. But it is so rewarding to see your original idea build, grow and manifest itself into a multi-million pound business. Having a great team is essential in any venture. I am extremely appreciative of the work that goes in to launching a startup and maintaining its success, which is why I put a considerable emphasis on effective recruitment. You need to select talented people with the right ethos and then let them get on with what they do best, that’s when you see the most positive results. What drives you to keep founding new companies? Andrew: I think it’s just what I am passionate about; taking something small and growing it into something big. When it is your baby, so to speak, there is definitely an added motivation to make it a success and I am fortunate to have people around me who share that drive. Founding companies is what I have done since I left school and it is a challenge that I enjoy immensely. What do you believe is the biggest indicator of a business’s success, besides financial gain? Andrew: For me, a business is only as good as its customers. If they’re growing and giving you good feedback then you’re doing well, if not then you’ve got problems. We value feedback extremely highly and make sure we listen to both the buyers and sellers using our site, as their opinions are critical. If they don’t like the site then they won’t come back and repeat customers are much cheaper to service

than new ones, so it makes sound financial sense too. What advice would you give to anyone looking to set up their own business? Andrew: A big thing for me is that you have to be prepared to take risks. Never be afraid to make the wrong call, as the worst decision you can make is doing nothing at all. While you should listen to others around you, it’s important that you ultimately trust your gut instinct. You have to be confident that you’ve got to a certain position because of your decision-making skills. Never give up if you fail the first hurdle, plan A may not work but do not be afraid of plan B, C and D – many of the most successful business and individuals have had to endure their fair share of rejection so you’ll be in good company! You also have to be extremely nimble and be able to adapt as things progress. Of course, you will lay a strategy and plan in place but this has to be flexible and open for negotiation. How do you think the Internet has impacted on the business marketplace? Andrew: The rise of ecommerce has dramatically changed the way people shop for both products and services. Customers no longer visit a photo studio to chat to a photographer, their first port of call is to view the website. Looking for local professionals now starts on Google, as opposed to the Yellow Pages and these businesses and individuals need to adapt to ensure they remain front of mind. Bark is very much designed with this in mind and is aiming to bridge the gap between Google and local professionals to make it easy for Buyers and Sellers alike to find one another.

The move from physical to online to mobile is ever growing and ultimately, the businesses that succeed are going to be those that can service customer needs whenever and wherever they want. And finally tell us how you stay ahead in the business market? Andrew: It is crucial to try and stay ahead of the curve in everything that you do to ensure that youâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re offering your customers the best, and in our case most easily accessible, service possible â&#x20AC;&#x201C; running a business without reviewing what else is happening in your sector is like trying to drive with one eye shut. I regularly review competitors to see how the wider industry is attempting to take things forward. I also make sure that I heed advice of those closest to me; not just my colleagues but my friends and family as they are the people who know me best and will be looking for services in the market.

VISUAL SEARCH TOOL TAKING RETAIL WORLD BY STORM Cortexica’s ground breaking visual search technology mimics processes found in the human visual cortex to recognize content from digitally captured images, with scope to take clothes shopping to a whole new level. Online fashion shopping is being reinvented thanks to Cortexica’s new visual search software. The firm’s software, findSimilar, enables customers to find and buy products in a more natural way, as the firm’s technology mimics processes found in the human visual cortex to recognize content from digitally captured images. By allowing customers to browse for products online using software designed to recognise similar products the company offers a unique solution which creates an experience which combines the convenience of internet shopping with the more intimate feel of browsing through the shops. Cortexica is the leading provider of cloud-based image recognition systems and visual search technology, and although their current focus is the retail industry, the technology has the scope to extend beyond this into other industries such as the FMCG and automotive markets. Additionally, any business environment that wishes to provide customers a better experience online and in store, or has a large database of images that are currently referenced only by text, would benefit from the firm’s visual search offerings. Utilising state of the art image recognition technology developed by the biotech labs at Imperial College London, Cortexica provides the only visual search ‘white label solution’ for the retail industry, working with leading brands, retailers and app developers to provide their customers the ability to discover and purchase products simply by taking a photo with their smartphone or dragging an image from their desktop.

As text search is often a slow and an inaccurate way to search for visually inspiring items such as fashion garments and this is further complicated by language differences, Cortexica’s software offers a multifaceted solution for retail firms. High profile users of the technology include Macy’s, who have large inventories across many categories who want to provide a quicker product location for the customers, to the Net Set powered by Net-A-Porter, where the experience is one of locating product through inspiring ‘real world’ images. In both cases, Cortexica provides retailers the opportunity to engage their customers through a more intuitive and quicker visual method. Other popular clients in the fashion retail market include very.co.uk and Zalando. The core visual search technology is fully automated and is constantly being evolved by the firm’s 27 strong research and development team of engineers and scientists, making the product one of the most up to date visual search technologies on the market. Some of Cortexica’s competitors provide search using slower and less accurate techniques such as ‘mechanical turk’, colour only recognition or autotagging whereas Cortexica provides the search results back to the display within just one second, making their visual search product one of the quickest and most comprehensive on the market.

pattern or shape, to be displayed for purchase decisions with the software’s range of searchable items stretching from cars to sofas to shoes.

Additionally the technology is able to search for a broad variety of products, making its applications ideal for the retail industry. Cortexica’s technology has the ability to be applied to complicated scenarios such as a user’s query photo being of an item of clothing being either worn outside, draped on a chair or hanging on a rack. The complexity of the recognition software also allows items that are similar, in colour, texture,

The future for Cortexica will see the technology company expand beyond their current offering. The firm is moving into providing back end functions to customers, with the upcoming launch of Cortexica’s Visual Search Retail Platform, a Software as a Service (SaaS) product that provides efficiencies in speed and costs over both front and back end functions. The Visual Search Retail Platform provides, amongst other features, the ability to create online and in store cross merchandising ‘looks’, a significant reduction in speed to market and Digital Asset Management that is completely searchable by image as well as text. This offers retailers a significant time saving when laying out their website content. The technology also offers an innovative solution for retailers,

as they can maximise their customer engagement and loyalty by providing a fast, simple and inspiring way to locate products. When combined with an effective Omni-channel strategy this allows for seamless integration between online and in store shopping. Moving forward, Cortexica is also looking to continue to develop more advanced visual search technology solutions and support to retail businesses across the globe. By working in close partnership with their current client base, the company sees the potential for establishing visual search as the prominent trend by which retail businesses and consumers interact with each other.