Softech November 2016

November 2016

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Top Tools Needed to Manage Your Small Business Rebecca Oatley, Managing Director of Little Bear, highlights the top applications business leaders can use to transform their company.

Technology Spin-Off Reaches Commercial Milestone

New start-up software specialist Particle Analytics, a University of Edinburgh spin-out company, has attracted business leaders, investors, academics and clients to the official launch of its disruptive simulation technology.

Plus: IDFC Bank Implements Suntec’s Xelerate -Drooms Presents a New Generation of Data Rooms: Drooms Nxg

Welcome to the November edition of Softech International Magazine In this issue we have a section dedicated to corporate and consumer advice. Rebecca Oatley, Managing Director of Little Bear, highlights the top apps on the market at the moment which can help to transform your small business.

Meanwhile, Alipay, the world’s leading mobile payment platform, run by Ant Financial Services Group, has partnered with Zapper, the fast growing consumer insights and marketing platform, to allow 250,000 Chinese tourists visiting the UK to pay using the Alipay app.

Also featured in this month are two brand new sections – Education and VR software. Improving and refining IT Service Management is helping universities cope with staff and student demand, whilst in the virtual reality market, a new study from Juniper Research has found that gesture and motion control will become vital for human-computer interaction in the coming years.

Lastly, we wrap up all the news and deals in the software and technology industry.

We hope you enjoy this issue.

Matt Lewis, Editor Phone: +44 (0) 203 725 6842 Email: matthew.lewis@ai-globalmedia.com Website: www.softech-intl.com

Contents 4. News HEALTH 8. Salesagility and Apperta Release Suitecrm NHS Edition BUSINESS & CONSUMER ADVICE 10. Alipay Taps up Zapper as First UK Mobile Partner 12. IDFC Bank Implements Suntec’s Xelerate 14. Top Tools Needed to Manage Your Small Business SECURITY 16. Bullguard Reveals Nearly 200 Million Connected Devices Could Be Exposed to Hackers 18. Mariadb Maxscale 2.0 Enables Faster Innovation for Secure Scale-Out Deployments EDUCATION 20. Academies Enterprise Trust Turns to Saas Solution from Advanced to Achieve Cost Savings of £1.5m 22. How Enhancing Itsm Processes Is Helping Universities Meet Growing Student Demand 24.Technology Spin-Off Reaches Commercial Milestone VR SOFTWARE 26. Drooms Presents a New Generation of Data Rooms: Drooms Nxg 28. Local Partners Collaborate to Launch Immersive Technology Innovation in Northern Ireland 30. Motion & Gesture Interfaces Key to VR and Wearables’ Market, with Nearly 500m Devices Using the Technology by 2021 32. Deals

Soft Tech INTL / November 2016

NEWS

NEW VP SERVICES AND CLOUD SOLUTIONS APPOINTED AT NUVIAS GROUP Nuvias moves further towards cloud and annuity-based channel models. Nuvias (Wick Hill) wins ‘Channel Partner of the Year’ 2016 at the ‘Cloud Hosting’ awards.

Karl Roe has been appointed VP Services and Cloud Solutions for pan-EMEA high value distributor Nuvias Group. He will focus on transforming the delivery of services at Nuvias, utilising and enhancing current distribution routes to enable further channel adoption of cloud and annuity-based models.

to Nuvias and its channel and vendor partners,” said Roe. “Having held senior leadership positions with both IT vendors and resellers, I believe I can bring a global view of the service opportunities that are available. My focus is very much on customer success through developing and delivering innovative support and partner enablement services.”

Roe has over 20 years’ proven experience in qualifying, creating, selling and delivering profitable data centre, ASP, SaaS, IaaS, cloud and outsourced ICT business solutions into SMB and enterprise markets. He was instrumental in founding and developing the UK and MEA Software as a Service (SaaS) and cloud marketplaces.

Paul Eccleston, CEO of Nuvias, said, “We are delighted that Karl has chosen to join Nuvias Group. Karl brings a unique blend of skills and experience to our business, with a strong background in traditional services, consulting, integration and engineering, coupled with unparalleled experience of assisting channel partners and vendors build and transition to cloud services. Karl has held key service and cloud roles throughout EMEA and APAC, and has invaluable experience in building services fit for all parts of the market. With a strong focus and track record on delivering customer success, Karl will be instrumental in helping Nuvias deliver new levels of business value to all our partners.”

Roe has held global channel, service transformation and cloud enablement leadership positions, working on both vendor and reseller transformation, as well as working at major software companies such as Odin, Microsoft and Oracle. He has previously led ‘Buy & Build’ service acquisition strategies for venture capital backed businesses, and has created customer-success driven organisations with double digit business growth.

Channel Partner of the Year award Nuvias Group (Wick Hill) also announces it has won Cloud Hosting’s ‘Channel Partner of the Year’ award 2016. Barry Mattacott, marketing director cyber security for Nuvias, commented: “With cloud services becoming ever more important to our lives and businesses, we are particularly pleased to have been voted Channel Partner of the Year at the Cloud Hosting awards. This is particularly satisfying as these awards are voted for by Cloud Hosting readers.

The award win shows Nuvias’ (Wick Hill’s) commitment to delivering and supporting cloud-based solutions and services through the channel.”

Over the last ten years, he has focussed on enabling cloud services across the Middle East, Africa and Australia. This includes being engaged by sovereign wealth funds and public companies in Qatar and the United Arab Emirates to transform their local data centre investments into locally delivered, secure and scalable cloud service businesses.

“I am really excited about bringing my years of experience in developing market-leading cloud and managed services

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ANAGRAM SYSTEMS UNVEILS NEW CLOUDBASED ERP SYSTEM FOR UK SMALL BUSINESSES

PAUL HANCOCK JOINS TDB FUSION AS GENERAL MANAGER

Anagram Systems unveils new cloud-based ERP system for UK small businesses. Solution provides SMEs with affordable access to enterprise grade software and hosting facilities

As General Manager (EMEA), Paul has been appointed to accelerate the drive on international growth.

Anagram Systems (Anagram), a leading developer of business management software has announced the launch of its new cloud-based version of Encore, the company’s established Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software for small businesses.

The service has been developed as an affordable solution for businesses with between one and 150 employees. Encore, together with a company’s data-file, are hosted on a secure server in a dedicated data centre and users access the system from wherever they are working via the internet.

Encore is hosted in a state of the art facility which is managed by a team of experienced and highly specialist engineers. The system and a company’s commercial data are protected by the latest ant-virus and anti-malware applications which are updated on a continual basis.

Encore centralises different business areas within a single system, eliminating the need for multiple software applications.

The solution incorporates financial management, advanced stock control functionality, sales order processing, purchasing and customer relationship management (CRM). Additional modules which are fully integrated with Encore include Point of Sale (PoS) and web sales management.

Businesses can also migrate other business software applications to the cloud, reducing the need for in-house server infrastructure. As a result, business can significantly reduce the need for buying and maintaining their own computer hardware.

Andrew Morgan, Managing Director of Anagram Systems says, “Our new managed hosting service provides small businesses with affordable access to advanced, highly secure, hosting facilities that may previously been out of their reach. This is in-step with Encore itself, which includes advanced functionality that is usually only found in more expensive ERP systems designed for large companies.

“Businesses of every size are increasingly vulnerable to cyberattacks, including viruses and unauthorised network access by hackers. Our service ensure smaller businesses are as well protected as larger companies who employ IT personnel to manage dedicated security tools and resources.”

The service includes performance monitoring and nightly backup of the system. Encore updates are provided by Anagram’s software engineers and support is available via a dedicated helpdesk. A service level agreement (SLA) guarantees 99.5 % uptime and application availability.

TDB Fusion, the UK based software company, is positioned to accelerate strong year on year growth with the expansion of its international strategy and partner network following the appointment of Paul Hancock as General Manager (EMEA).

During the last two years, TDB has experienced significant growth, most recently reporting a revenue increase of 145% in 2016.

Paul Hancock brings significant industry experience to the role, and has joined following completion of an OEM agreement with Anuta Networks, where he held the position of Director of Sales UKI & Northern Europe. Prior to Anuta Networks Paul held positions of Sales Director Alteon Web Systems through to acquisition by Nortel; Sales Director Northern EMEA for Acme Packet through to a successful IPO; Managing Director of Camiant through to acquisition

by Tekelec, and Sales Director EMEA at Innopath. His experience in building sales teams, and a successful industry track record driving international business growth will enable TDB Fusion to continue to build on the strong growth delivered in recent years.

Commenting on the appointment Colin Aurelius, TDB Fusion CEO, said, “Paul has an excellent track record in building international sales teams and partner networks. I am very proud of the exceptional management team we have put in place over the last 18 months, and Paul’s wealth of experience will significantly enhance the quality of our commercial operations, whilst accelerating the expansion of the business both in the UK and internationally.”

Paul Hancock brings over 20 years of industry knowledge from a broad spectrum of technology sectors including telecommunications, networking, security and mobile wireless. During his career Paul has been responsible for expanding the EMEA operations of several organisations working with many to achieve successful acquisition.

Having started his career with the British Army serving in the Army Air Corps, Paul employs the same structured and determined approach to his business life and of course a sense of humour to match.

TDB Fusion has been expanding rapidly reporting a revenue increase of 145% in 2016, along with a doubling of the workforce, the opening of a new sales and support office in London and increasing the headquarters facility in Bracknell.

Paul’s appointment sees the management team reaching full strength, positioning TDB Fusion to continue its growth during 2016/7.

Anagram Systems is a market leading developer of accounting, inventory control and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software for small and medium size businesses. The company has more than 35 years’ experience of developing fully integrated front and back office management systems for SMEs in the UK and USA. Anagram supports more than 2,000 companies worldwide.

Soft Tech INTL / November 2016

NEWS

RAPID7 EARNS SPOT ON UK GOVERNMENT DIGITAL MARKETPLACE Public sector organisations now able to leverage the power of security data and analytics with Rapid7’s industry-leading, cloudbased products and services through G-Cloud 8 Framework.

Rapid7, Inc., a leading provider of security data and analytics solutions, has announced that its cloud delivered security solutions have been added to the Crown Commercial Service (CCS) registry and are now accessible to public sector organisations.

Rapid7 solutions accelerate insight into security and IT operations, arming customers with live information around vulnerabilities and user behaviours.

The Company focuses on giving IT and security professionals the power to act at the moment of impact to detect, deter, and investigate threats and incidents.

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Rob Attree, EMEA director of sales at Rapid7 commented on the agreement, “We are thrilled that eight of our products and services have been accepted into the G-Cloud framework, a fully EU compliant system. This arrangement will provide government and public sector bodies with direct access to Rapid7’s leading security and IT products and services to enable them to achieve their cybersecurity goals.”

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• According to the Information Commissioner’s Office Data Security Incidents Trends, healthcare suffers more data breaches than any other sector in the UK, with 184 breaches reported in the final quarter of 2015 alone. The second most breached sector was local government, which reported 43 breaches in the same quarter. Consequently, security is becoming increasingly high on the IT agenda for UK organisations, particularly the public sector. Rapid7 solutions aim to empower IT and security professionals to protect their organisations by collecting data and transforming it into prioritised and actionable insight.

The Company helps organisations to prevent attacks by providing visibility into vulnerabilities, and to rapidly detect compromises, respond to breaches, and correct the underlying causes of attacks.

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Rapid7 now provides a range of SaaS solutions and specialist security services to the UK public sector, including: • InsightIDR: Leverages attacker analytics to detect intruder activity on-demand, cutting down false positives and days’ worth of work for security professionals. The solution unifies the capabilities of SIEM, EDR, and UBA to detect behaviours

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that are indicative of compromised credentials, spot lateral movement across assets, uncover malware, and sets traps for intruders.

Managed Web Application Security: A highly accurate and scalable solution that collects web application data for vulnerability scanning, prioritises what needs to be fixed first, and helps security teams remediate fixes faster without purchasing, installing, and monitoring software.

Powered by Rapid7 AppSpider, the service is purpose built to scan all modern apps from Single Page Applications (SPAs) to mobile.

Managed Vulnerability Management: Live vulnerability monitoring using automated tools to scan identified systems and infrastructure within an organisations’ IT environment with support from a dedicated Managed Service Consultant (“MSC”). The MSC will complete these scanning activities and deliver prioritised insight that makes it easy for IT teams to remediate and reduce risk.

Managed Detection and Response (Analytic Response): An extension of customers’ internal security team, which provides continuous threat detection by accurately identifying known threats, unknown threats, and intruder movement from the endpoint to the cloud. Rapid7 analysts can also pivot seamlessly into incident response to identify the extent of the breach and provide detailed steps on how to contain it.

Cyber Security Maturity Assessment: A high-level operational gap analysis/risk assessment targeting approximately 20 critical control areas. The goal of this assessment is to drive measurable improvements over a multi–month timeframe and address both strategic and tactical aspects of improving security, including a prioritised set of security initiatives to be implemented by existing teams.

CREST-certified Penetration Testing: Network, application, wireless, device, physical, and social engineering engagements that demonstrate the security level of an organisation’s key systems and infrastructure. This simulation of real–world attack vectors documents actual risks posed to companies from the perspective of a motivated attacker.

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Security Awareness Training: Offering of eight training modules, each with a target duration of eight-ten minutes in length with a formal assessment at the end of each module. Topics include: Malware Awareness, Social Engineering, Password Security, Email Security, Physical Security, Mobile Device Security, Phishing Awareness, and Travel Security.

The G-Cloud initiative is designed to help ease procurement with the use of cloud computing for all sections and departments of the UK government and includes a series of framework agreements with a wide range of suppliers. CCS’s vision is to deliver value for the nation through outstanding commercial capability and quality customer service. Its procurement arrangements can be used by central government departments and organisations across the public sector including local government, health, education, not-for-profit and devolved administrations. As such, any public sector group can buy items or services without running a full tender procurement process.

CCS’s commercial procurement solutions are fully EU compliant and provide significant savings for the taxpayer, helping to protect the delivery of front line services. The speed and ease of the procurement of Rapid7 SaaS and specialist service solutions can also provide notable savings for customers in terms of time and money.

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HEALTH

SALESAGILITY AND APPERTA RELEASE SUITECRM NHS EDITION SalesAgility and the Apperta Foundation have announced their partnership to deliver SuiteCRM NHS Edition.

Based upon the award winning open source SuiteCRM application the enterprise ready CRM application is now available on the Apperta Github for general use across the NHS, Local Authorities, health and care related sectors.

Led by clinicians, the Apperta Foundation is a notfor-profit, non-dividend paying Community Interest Company that brings open products and services to market that truly transform the delivery of care for professionals and people.

Bill Aylward, Chair of the Apperta Foundation CIC commented “The partnership between SalesAgility and Apperta will ensure that NHS organisations can quickly and effectively deliver an out of the box, highly functional, open source CRM solution.”

SuiteCRM is an award-winning enterprise-class, powerful, customisable, free and open source Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application maintained

by SalesAgility. Some of the world’s largest companies are choosing SuiteCRM in preference to the last generation of applications. SuiteCRM delivers the same functionality with greatly reduced deployment costs and as every line of code is open source it’s completely free to use. SuiteCRM won the BOSSIE Award in both 2015 and 2016 for the world’s best Open Source CRM Based on the most recent version of SuiteCRM, the SuiteCRM NHS edition is fully customisable to suit the needs of any individual health organisations and departments. The application is open source and so is freely available to download, distribute and modify, without any charge, saving thousands on users’ subscriptions which are charged by most CRM applications.

SalesAgility, the authors and maintainers of SuiteCRM are G-Cloud 8 approved suppliers.

The SuiteCRM NHS edition has all features, functionality and modules readily available when downloaded ensuring everyone can utilise every feature and functionality straight away. This enterprise ready CRM solution can deploy in a local or cloud based platform and has no user restrictions .

Greg Soper, CEO of SalesAgility commented “As one of our large international clients stated, SuiteCRM is a game changer. Award winning, world-leading and enterprise-class, SuiteCRM is open source and completely free.

This means that implementation budgets can be focused on where the real value is - alignment with processes, training of users and ongoing support. A SuiteCRM implementation project is always going to be radically less expensive than the traditional alternatives.

For this reason, we’re delighted work in partnership with the Apperta Foundation. Transforming the cost profile of IT projects while delivering exceptional solutions is a win-win for the NHS” SalesAgility are also there to support deployments making available various training options for its implementation. Staff can be trained both on-site or by remote training sessions. There is also a number of dedicated CRM support options available depending on each individual organisations requirement.

SuiteCRM NHS Editions is available to download and use free on GitHub.

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BUSINESS & CONSUMER ADVICE

ALIPAY TAPS UP ZAPPER AS FIRST UK MOBILE PARTNER Chinese tourists to pay using the Alipay app in over 1,000 UK restaurants.

Alipay, the world’s leading mobile payment platform run by Ant Financial Services Group, has partnered with Zapper, the fast growing consumer insights and marketing platform which is enabled by mobile payments. This partnership will allow over 250,000 Chinese tourists visiting the UK to pay using the Alipay app in over 1,000 locations nationwide.

different countries and 12,000 affiliated businesses, to make assured payments and earn rewards by scanning a QR code using Zapper. With Zapper’s smart QR technology enabled to take payments from the Alipay app, 11.7 million Chinese tourists visiting Europe each year will be able to conveniently pay using Alipay at any venue also accepting Zapper.

Zapper is the first European mobile partner, allowing over 450 million active Alipay users to pay via the Alipay app across its full estate of affiliated Zapper businesses in the UK, Europe and North America.

Launching imminently, the partnership demonstrates a strong synergy between both brands in terms of innovative, mobile based QR code technology. With over 85% of mobile payments in China currently made by scanning a QR code, the customer journey will be identical for Alipay users when purchasing goods and services using Zapper.

Gerry Hooper, CEO Zapper UK & Ireland commented, “This is an incredibly exciting opportunity for us, pioneering the way by combining our synonymous QR code payment technology. A huge development enabling Chinese tourists to seamlessly continue using the highly popular Alipay app when travelling to the UK and our partnered Zapper venues to appeal more favourably to travelling Alipay users and stand out from the competition.”

“With Zapper as a partner, Alipay can further enhance our user experience as they can conveniently shop outside of China and pay with Alipay.” Rita Liu, Head of Alipay EMEA, said. “Meanwhile merchants, in addition to the Alipay payment solution, can better connect and understand hundreds of thousands Chinese tourists travelling in the UK.” Scanning a QR code to make simple and secure payments has been the ‘norm’ with Alipay users in China for the last 12 years. Zapper currently provides a similar experience for its near 1 million users across ten

According to VisitBritain, more than 250,000 Chinese tourists visited the UK in 2015, an increase in 45% from the previous year and spending a total of £586.22m. With an ever-increasing demand to visit the UK, this gives venues such as Burger & Lobster, CAU, The Big Easy, Vinoteca, Camino and Iberica, already benefiting from Zapper, the ability to strengthen their appeal to the Chinese market.

Zapper already has thousands of restaurants using the system internationally. The Zapper app is available for Android, iOS and Windows Phone platforms. For more information about Zapper please visit: www.zapper.com.

Soft Tech INTL / November 2016

BUSINESS & CONSUMER ADVICE

IDFC BANK IMPLEMENTS SUNTEC’S XELERATE SunTec’s Xelerate software implemented by IDFC Bank for customercentric real time pricing and billing.

SunTec, whose software helps financial services organisations increase the lifetime value of their customer relationships through effective revenue management and customer experience orchestration, has announced that IDFC Bank Ltd has implemented SunTec’s technology-agnostic product suite, Xelerate.

into the 21st Century. Embracing and combining customer centricity with new digital tools allow the leading financial institutions of tomorrow to pursue profitable decisions right from the beginning.”

Envisioned as a new age bank, IDFC Bank seeks to set a new standard in customer experience, using advanced technology and a service-oriented approach, to make banking simple and accessible, anytime and from anywhere. IDFC Bank’s parent, IDFC Ltd was formed in 1997 as India’s first specialized infrastructure financing intermediary with a specific mandate to build the nation. Since then, IDFC has successfully led private capital flows into commercial viable infrastructure projects.

Xelerate provides revenue management and business assurance capabilities for commercial and corporate banks. As part of that, it provides an end-to-end pricing and billing solution for banks. This enables banks to capitalize on already available customer data and provide personalized offers for a better customer experience.

Using SunTec’s expertise and innovation in customised pricing and bundling solutions, IDFC Bank can analyse, anticipate and cater to varied customer expectations.

IDFC Bank was formally inaugurated on October 19, 2015, by the Hon’ble Prime Minister, Shri Narendra Modi in New Delhi. The bank’s businesses include three distinct verticals of Bharat Banking, Commercial and Wholesale Banking, and Personal and Business Banking.

Through Xelerate, IDFC Bank aims to deliver a seamless, omni-channel experience across all touchpoints by providing personalised offers and services that customers deserve.

Nanda Kumar, SunTec CEO, said, “This era of banking is the most exciting so far for SunTec. We have seen organisations such as IDFC emerge as a national banking institution. These moves have propelled India

SunTec has provided solutions to over 300 million endcustomers worldwide across global banks like HSBC, Lloyds and ING.

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Soft Tech INTL / November 2016

BUSINESS & CONSUMER ADVICE

TOP TOOLS NEEDED TO MANAGE YOUR SMALL BUSINESS Rebecca Oatley, Managing Director of Little Bear, highlights the top applications business leaders can use to transform their company.

Starting a business can be quite daunting and managing it can be even tougher. You have to be a leader juggling many hats; business management, client management, human resources, marketing and sifting through piles of paperwork every day. Limited manpower, budget and time adds to the hassle. However, if you have the right tools at your disposal you can make your life much easier and maximize your efforts.

greater understanding of their cash flow by highlighting bank balances, outstanding invoices, upcoming bills and expense claims in a visually appealing way.

Evernote – Sticky notes and notepads are great, but this app help you organise and archive your notes. Everything you store in your account is automatically synced across all of your devices, making it easy to capture, browse, search, and edit your notes everywhere you are. Evernote has numerous features including sharing, file attachments, reminders, and voice memos.

Here are nine tools that can make your life easier as a small business manager: Asana – This tool helps you coordinate and communicate with members across your company to plan and complete tasks with ease. This team project management platform is useful for tracking tasks and projects for every client. You can break tasks into manageable sub-tasks, assign tasks to employees, track goals, set due dates and reminders, make comments, and attach files from your computer or Dropbox.

SmartPA – This service specialises in delivering outsourced back office support and managed services to businesses, either in-house or remotely. You can use Smart PA for adhoc administration support, or management of an entire inhouse function. Due to the tailored packages, the service offers affordable services on a part time or full time basis, so no need to worry about breaking the bank.

Wix.com - Regardless of its size or speciality, every business in the modern world needs a website that can be totally managed on the go. Wix is easy and free. If you don’t have a lot of time and just want someone else to do it for you, you can use Wix ADI (artificial design intelligence), which combines advanced AI technology with exceptional design and curated content to create a personalized website tailored for users’ specific needs. All you have to do is answer a few questions and your website will come to life in front of you.

Canva – Even if you don’t have Photoshop skills, aren’t an artist or don’t have the resources to hire a professional designer, you don’t need to worry. With Canva, it’s possible to create high quality banners, business cards, posters and flyers at a minimal cost. Most of their images and editing features are free, but you can use your own images as well. If you upgrade to Canva Pro, the tool will automatically resize a social media post you have created into optimal sizes for other social media channels.

Expensify - This expense reporting app helps you easily keep track of all your expenses. With Expensify, you get a receipt, and scan it reducing human errors such as duplicate entries. Based on your subscription type, Expensify will categorize expenses into travel, lunch, etc.

HootSuite – Social media is an extremely important element of running a small business, as it can help grow your business. Hootsuite is a social media management platform where you can connect with over 35 social media networking platforms such as Instagram, FourSquare, Tumblr, Google +, Youtube, Linkedin and more. The HootSuite dashboard is organized into a multi-column, customizable layout where you can manage your messages, get custom analytics on your social campaigns, and communicate internally. Interaction is made easy with Hootsuite and you can set up streams of various feeds to show social mentions, messages, followers, hashtags or even just keywords.

Xero – This cloud-based accounting service can be accessed anywhere, anytime and supports unlimited users.

Each user has their own login and can be given different permissions. For example, you could give all sales staff permission to raise invoices but allow only senior managers to approve them. It provides small business owners with a

These are just a few of my favourite resources and we use them every day. They make take a while to get to know but if you take the time to set up and understand them, you will not just save time and money initially, but streamline your staff requirements and build business efficiency for the long term, leaving you to focus on what you are good at.

Survey Monkey – With Survey Monkey, you can build surveys to conduct market research, as well as keep a check on customer desires and satisfaction. The software makes real-time results available as soon as responses start rolling in. You can also add logos and other branding to make each survey uniquely yours. The basic version is free and allows ten questions and 100 responses.

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SECURITY

BULLGUARD REVEALS NEARLY 200 MILLION CONNECTED DEVICES COULD BE EXPOSED TO HACKERS DDoS attack could be the tip of the iceberg.

The latest data from BullGuard’s IoT Scanner, a free tool that allows consumers to check if their connected devices are secure, suggests the recent DDoS attack could be just the tip of the iceberg.

To date over 100,000 unique IPs have been scanned by consumers using IoT Scanner, and though just 4.6 per cent revealed vulnerabilities, it’s the scale of the Internet of Things that makes this figure so concerning.

With around four billion connected devices in the world, this equates to almost 185 million vulnerable devices today. This is orders of magnitude higher than was used to cause the disruption seen in the DDoS attack, which is thought to have exploited tens of thousands. What’s more, experts predict around 50 billion connected devices by 2020.

“Even though the Internet of Things is in its relative infancy, this attack shows how just a small proportion of vulnerable devices can cause real concern,” said Paul Lipman, CEO at consumer security company, BullGuard. “We’re fortunate that this incident was relatively benign, but it is a timely reminder that security cannot be an afterthought in this emerging market. We would urge people to be vigilant and take the necessary steps to ensure that basic security measures are in place,” Lipman concluded.

BullGuard IoT Scanner is a free tool for scanning a network for vulnerable connected devices. BullGuard also offers free help and advice on how to secure these devices with its IoT Consumer Guide.

Web address: www.bullguard.com

It’s a stark warning for both device manufacturers and service providers – the rise of the Internet of Things is upon us, and cybercriminals now have a platform from which to launch coordinated attacks on an unprecedented scale.

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SECURITY

MARIADB MAXSCALE 2.0 ENABLES FASTER INNOVATION FOR SECURE SCALEOUT DEPLOYMENTS New features add real-time data streaming with Kafka, enterprisegrade security and high availability that make it simpler for DevOps to innovate without disrupting data services.

MariaDB® Corporation, the company behind the fastest growing open source database, has announced the general availability of MariaDB MaxScale 2.0, which adds new data streaming integration with Kafka, better security and high availability capabilities. MariaDB MaxScale is a next-generation database proxy that manages administrative functions like security, scalability, data streaming and high availability, enabling the database to focus on core functionality to drive faster innovation.

“To stay competitive, enterprises need to be highly responsive to allow for changes to web applications without downtime to the application or backend infrastructure,” said Roger Bodamer, chief product officer at MariaDB Corporation. “MariaDB MaxScale decouples admin functionality from the database so the database and applications run at peak performance at scale. This decoupling enables businesses to iterate quickly to support the speed of innovation.”

At its core, MaxScale has a multi-threaded, event-driven engine with its main functionality provided by plugins loaded at runtime. MaxScale plugins can handle the scalability and availability of a database cluster, and also secure it and manage the maintenance downtime. The unique plugin architecture of MaxScale makes it simple to extend with custom plugins that handle new tasks easily, enabling community contributors to extend the range and reach of MaxScale at every functional level.

New Features MaxScale 2.0 enhances database security, high availability and adds new data streaming capabilities for scale-out environments.

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Data Streaming: MaxScale 2.0 adds change data capture (CDC), which captures and streams all transactional data changes. This makes the data easily accessible to big data stores, like Hadoop, through messaging systems, like Kafka, for real-time analytics and machine learning applications.

Enterprise Security: MaxScale 2.0 builds on its advanced database firewall feature to also add end-

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to-end SSL to prevent unauthorized data access; MaxAdmin security enhancements to prevent attackers from gaining access and damaging configurations; and connection rate limitations to prevent DDoS attacks.

High Availability: MaxScale’s high availability solution allows applications to be 100 percent operational without any single point of failure. MaxScale 2.0 adds a new feature to ensure there is no impact on read transactions when a node fails so user experience is never compromised.

“At DBS Bank, we’re investing heavily into analytics,” said Madan Sugumar, application architect, Institutional Banking at DBS Bank. “The data streaming capabilities offered with MaxScale 2.0 will be a powerful new tool to stream the data from our MariaDB database and our Hadoop clusters.

Ability to stream data from our OLTP MariaDB database to our Hadoop cluster in real time is critical for us to have realtime insight into our customer data. We’re excited to add this to our current MaxScale environment.”

“CARDFREE is changing the way merchants interact with customers by integrating POS systems with endto-end capabilities such as mGifts, messaging, smart offers, loyalty, payments, order ahead and social media integration. With more than 22,000 current merchant locations, our traffic is growing at a massive rate,” said David Ting, vice president of engineering at CARDFREE. “With this kind of explosive growth, we rely on MariaDB MaxScale and Galera Cluster to allow us to scale effectively. Beyond scalability, MaxScale’s new high availability features will improve our uptime, which is absolutely critical to our business.”

“MariaDB continues its track record of innovation with its release of MaxScale 2.0,” said Jason Stamper, analyst, Data Platforms and Analytics, 451 Research. “This latest version offers enterprises advanced security, high availability and data streaming, necessary requirements for any company looking to respond to the exploding data market.”

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EDUCATION

ACADEMIES ENTERPRISE TRUST TURNS TO SAAS SOLUTION FROM ADVANCED TO ACHIEVE COST SAVINGS OF £1.5M The Progresso management information system will help to deliver an expected saving of £1.5m by centralising a key support system currently operating across the Trust’s national framework of academies, enabling it to refocus resources to maximise the impact on its learners.

The UK’s largest multi academy trust has selected a software-as-a-service (SaaS) education solution from Advanced. Academies Enterprise Trust will move its 66 academies to a centralised IT infrastructure to unify its entire system. This will enable the Trust to deliver a learner-centric solution to its academies, helping them to achieve compliance with Ofsted’s rigorous regulatory requirements, whilst significantly reducing costs.

The learner-centric approach within Progresso places ‘progress and attainment’ of the individual at the core of the solution, linking and using all key data, with a single view of the ‘learner’, to enable informed decision making and intervention.

Teaching and learning is enhanced with reduced administration and improved capture of learning events or evidence, allowing teachers to input key information at source, over and above normal validation expectations.

Chris Meaney, the Trust’s ICT Director, comments, “As a large, nationwide trust, it was critical we united all of our localised systems in order for us to illustrate success at both academy and trust level. Our senior leaders and teachers will be able to access important data to gain a real-time view of learner progress – at the trust, academy, cohort or learner level - facilitating an efficient and rapid response to any immediate issues identified, and fast dissemination of positive best practices. In short, this software will empower our academies and staff to positively impact outcomes, in an instant.

“The cost savings of £1.5m will enable us to reinvest in our network of schools, staff and resources to ensure the best possible learning environment for our students, and help us to realise our vision of delivering world-class learning outcomes.

“After a comprehensive market test it became clear that the Progresso solution from Advanced is both customisable and easy to use, making it very flexible, allowing us to construct different layouts for different levels of user access. In addition, its learner-centric approach enables staff to access relevant data-driven dashboards and widgets, at any time and on any device. This not only helps to improve outcomes by facilitating informed decision-making, but also reduce teacher workload.”

Seeking a SaaS management information system, the Trust’s wanted to realise savings from infrastructure and management, with a single supplier for all of its academies. Advanced will complete a data export and migration programme from the Trust’s existing MIS and its variety of subsidiary systems.

Once implemented, Progresso will link to external data sources in order to provide users with a 360-degree view of the learner and any environmental impacts that may be affecting their progression.

Nick Wilson, MD, Public Sector and Enterprise, Advanced, concludes, “With the regulatory landscape of Ofsted becoming increasingly more complex, AET needed to be much more proactive in improving learner progress with transparency and insight. This implementation will enable leaders and teachers to access real-time data, ensuring learner-centricity is at the heart of what they do while remaining agile enough to respond with speed and accuracy.

“We are thrilled to have been selected by one the country’s largest trusts, as it reaffirms our position as

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EDUCATION

HOW ENHANCING ITSM PROCESSES IS HELPING UNIVERSITIES MEET GROWING STUDENT DEMAND The adoption of ITIL has been vital in order to improve IT Service Management.

A focus on improving and refining IT Service Management (ITSM) through the adoption and adaption of ITIL® is helping universities across the world meet growing demand from students and staff. Two new case studies, presented by AXELOS Global Best Practice, outline how Cairo University in Egypt and De Montfort University in the United Kingdom are using ITIL to improve services.

Kevin explained that the ITIL guiding principle of ‘collaborate’ has been key to the improvement process.

He said, “Collaboration has enabled us to define what good looks like with stakeholders such as customers, suppliers and senior management. Defining expectations with our customers enabled us to set benchmarks and targets - it has been great to work as partners with the business instead of being a siloed department.”

Around 23,000 students and 2,800 staff attend De Montfort University, which is in the city of Leicester.

The IT and Media Services department (ITMS) has a staff of 150 and is responsible for IT across the University, including service desk support, networking and server infrastructure.

Kaimar Karu, Head of ITSM at AXELOS, said, “The role of a university IT team is vital in helping ensure students and staff make the most of technology. Furthermore, today’s universities operate in a competitive market where they are trying to attract students and academics, so they must ensure they provide high quality service management. The examples of Cairo and De Montfort clearly illustrate how adopting and adapting the ITIL guiding principles can help enhance processes and improve the user experience.”

ITMS Customer Services Manager Kevin Toone joined the University in 1998. He explained how a wider understanding of ITIL by colleagues has helped to improve the quality of service management.

He said, “One of the main reasons that the service was inconsistent in the past had been different attitudes, approaches and ways of working among individual team members. We have now put 100 staff through ITIL foundation training and have an agreed set of processes and service level agreements in place.”

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TECHNOLOGY SPIN-OFF REACHES COMMERCIAL MILESTONE New start-up software specialist Particle Analytics, a University of Edinburgh spin-out company, has attracted business leaders, investors, academics and clients to the official launch of its disruptive simulation technology.

Particle Analytics, which has already won awards for innovation, has developed intelligent software that allows organisations across a range of industries to simulate the movement of bulk solids and particles in a more advanced, efficient and cost effective way.

The game-changing technology enhances the efficiency of the conventional Discrete Element Modelling (DEM) software reducing the time needed for simulations from days to hours. It provides a more advanced and in-depth level of insight into the data produced, improving decision making and reducing design risk. Businesses are able to get products to market faster at a much reduced cost.

Having received nearly £300,000 in investment from Mercia Fund Management and a further £150,000 from Old College Capital, the University of Edinburgh’s in-house venture capital fund in 2015, Particle Analytics’ innovative technology has already generated considerable interest from companies involved in a wide range of industrial applications spanning mixing, storage, transport, milling, excavation and soil movement across sectors as diverse as pharmaceuticals, mining, oil and gas, agriculture, manufacturing and construction. Its portfolio of clients already includes Procter & Gamble, Johnson Matthey, Astec Inc and a number of research organisations.

The launch event, which will be hosted this Thursday 3rd November, will be used as a platform through which the technology and its implications for business will be showcased. Guests will hear about the benefits being derived by existing customers and how Particle Analytics software stands to revolutionise the field of DEM simulation and visualisation.

Dr Carlos Labra, CEO and co-founder of Particle Analytics commented: “This is a hugely exciting time for the company and we are looking forward to welcoming our clients, potential collaborators and industry specialists from around the world to our commercial launch this week. We’re also thrilled a number of science and technology specialists will be attending, along with investors and academics from the University of Edinburgh.

“Our software is already delivering significant benefits for the businesses we’re working with, helping them gain greater insights into their simulation activity.

Feedback has been resoundingly positive and we look forward to the opportunity to explain the innovation and technology behind our software at the launch.”

Tom Ogilvie, Enterprise Manager at Edinburgh Research & Innovation (ERI), said: “The launch of Particle Analytics is another prime example of how the University of Edinburgh is dedicated to successfully translating its world-class research into practical application by industry through Edinburgh Research & Innovation, the University’s commercialisation arm.

“We are delighted to have supported the commercialisation of this industrially important university technology into a Scottish-based spin-out company that will undoubtedly have a bright future.”

In 2016, Particle Analytics won both Spin-Out Out of the Year at ERI’s annual Inspire Launch Grow 2016 Awards and a Scottish EDGE award which recognises entrepreneurial talent.

Web address: www.particle-analytics.com.

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VR SOFTWARE

DROOMS PRESENTS A NEW GENERATION OF DATA ROOMS: DROOMS NXG Drooms introduces the first self-learning software into due diligence processes with its new virtual data room “Drooms NXG”.

Drooms introduces the first self-learning software into due diligence processes with its new virtual data room “Drooms NXG” Drooms, Europe’s leading provider of virtual data rooms, is presenting its new virtual data room Drooms NXG. The new platform introduces intuitiveness to transactions in addition to increased automation of due diligence processes, for example within the framework of mergers and acquisitions, real estate transactions and IPOs. As digitisation rises so too does the potential for individual users to benefit from underlying working processes.

The new virtual data room facilitates real-time document translation directly in the data room in addition to carrying out an automatic red flag analysis.

Automated data analysis to minimise risks A key objective of due diligence is identifying major risks.

These are known as “red flags”. With the initial release of an auto red flag feature, Drooms NXG’s algorithms are able to independently analyse the content of a data room and filter out the relevant information to enable user-based assessment. An overview of the results, known as “findings”, facilitates a rapid evaluation of potential risks and opportunities and further processing of information. This feature introduces self-learning software into due diligence processes for the first time.

Digitisation supports user-centric processes In order to benefit from digitisation in terms of saving time and increasing profitability, it is vital that further technical developments place users and their workflow at the heart of processes. Drooms, an owner-operated company, can boast a market experience of 15 years.

Drooms called upon this experience in addition to clientbased feedback during the two-year development phase of the new platform. The focus of features included in Drooms NXG is on the user, ensuring efficient workflows and a high degree of user-friendliness.

International transaction business On account of the increasingly international nature of transactions, it is often the case that transaction parties speak different languages. Translating documents into different languages takes up a lot of time and costs for language specialists are high, even for less relevant documentation. Drooms NXG facilitates a direct machine-based translation of documents uploaded to the data room. In order to find the most important information contained in the data flow, a comprehensive search function is indispensable. By entering the desired search term, an OCR (Optical Character Recognition) search of all index descriptions and document content is carried out in the data room for this key word, any synonyms and similar search terms. Any hits are then flagged up to users.

More than 25,000 companies around the world count on the support of Drooms’ secure platform during complex transactions, for example mergers and acquisitions, commercial real estate transactions, fundraising initiatives and IPOs. Drooms is headquartered in Zug, Switzerland and maintains a presence in Frankfurt, London, Paris, Amsterdam, Vienna, Madrid and Milan.

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VR SOFTWARE

LOCAL PARTNERS COLLABORATE TO LAUNCH IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION IN NORTHERN IRELAND The launch of Immersive Tech NI will examine the possibilities of virtual and augmented reality.

Immersive Tech NI, a new initiative designed to bring together the most creative minds in Northern Ireland to explore and expand the possibilities created by immersive technologies such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), has launched.

The initiative is led by Kainos staff Luke McNeice (Innovation Lead) and Matthew Fitch (Software Engineer), and Dr David Trainor (Founder and Principal of Sentireal Ltd).

The group’s first event - an immersive tech Hackathon – took place on 5 November, and was preceded by an official launch event on 4 November. Both events were supported by Belfast City Council, Digital Catapult, Kainos Group, Northern Ireland Screen and PwC. They were held at The Hive, PwC’s collaborative, technology innovation space in Belfast and were open to anyone with an interest in this exciting field.

Attendees experienced the latest innovations in immersive technology, including interactive demos of the Microsoft HoloLens and the HTC Vive.

The Immersive Tech Hackathon on 5 November was a 12-hour event open to technical developers, designers, product developers and more, who were encouraged to develop ideas on the theme of immersive technology in education. Attendees were mentored by industry experts and received hands-on experience of the latest immersive technologies.

“Immersive Tech NI will create space for people working with AR, VR and beyond to discuss the latest innovations, collaborate on projects,” said Immersive Tech NI co-founder Luke McNeice. “We aim to support the growth of this industry in Northern Ireland and to help enhance the region’s reputation for ingenuity and creativity.”

Councillor Aileen Graham, Chair of Belfast City Council’s City Growth and Regeneration Committee, said, “Over the past few years, Belfast has developed a reputation for being home to some of the most creative talents in the digital industries, and is rapidly establishing itself as a centre for innovation and cutting-edge innovation. At the Council, we are keen to nurture the sector and its continued growth, as it is very much at the centre of our own long-term

economic development and regeneration planning.

That is why we are pleased to support events such as this Hackathon.”

Tom Gray, Head of Digital Catapult Northern Ireland, commented, “Digital Catapult NI is delighted to support the launch of Immersive Tech NI. Immersive technologies, including virtual, augmented, mixed reality as well as new forms of human-computer interface and advanced data visualization, form one of Digital Catapult NI’s key strategic areas. We feel that Northern Ireland’s existing strengths in software development and the creative industries leave us well positioned to become world leaders in the development of both immersive content and industrial applications for positive economic impact.”

Dr Brendan Mooney, CEO of Kainos, added, “Kainos has a long history of fostering innovation in Belfast and beyond. We’re extremely proud to support this exciting new initiative: immersive technology offers potentially life-changing opportunities for businesses and society as a whole, and Immersive Tech NI will help secure Northern Ireland’s position as a leader in this arena.”

Richard Williams, Northern Ireland Screen CEO, said, “Supporting Immersive Tech NI is a great way for us to work directly with industry to help our local game developers reach their commercial and creative potential. Digital content is highlighted as a key priority in our latest strategy, where VR/AR is quickly changing how content is developed and new market opportunities are emerging. Initiatives like Immersive Tech NI allows ideas and expertise in VR/AR to be shared, encouraging an environment where innovation can flourish.”

Seamus Cushley, Director, EMEA FinTech and Digital, PwC, concluded, “PwC in Belfast is a centre of excellence for disruptive technology, Blockchain development and is home to one of only three collaborative Google Labs worldwide.

We are passionate about helping clients transform their business in the digital age through rapid experimentation and implementation. We are delighted to welcome the event to our PwC Hive. We want to help the growth of the sector and provide an environment for a new generation of leaders.”

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VR SOFTWARE

MOTION & GESTURE INTERFACES KEY TO VR AND WEARABLES’ MARKET, WITH NEARLY 500M DEVICES USING THE TECHNOLOGY BY 2021 ‘Minority Report’ interfaces redefine emerging computer interactions, but need major reinvention to go mainstream.

A new study from Juniper Research has found that gesture and motion control will become vital for certain forms of human-computer interaction in the coming years. The use of the technology in smartphone-based VR (Virtual Reality) will be particularly important in driving up usage. Juniper forecasts 128 million devices by the end of 2016, rising to 492 million by 2020 – a growth of over 280%.

Wearables and VR to Lead The new research, Gesture, Motion & Haptics: Future Use Cases, Shipments & Revenue Forecasts 20162021, found that great progress has been made in the development of gesture and motion interfaces, from companies such as Leap Motion and Thalmic Labs. Juniper expects nearly 50% of all wearables and almost all VR to use the technology by 2021.

However, for more established platforms like PCs and smartphones, Juniper believes that usage will remain low, with less than 5% of such devices using gesture control by that time.

Integrated, Not Integral Gesture and motion control is currently an add-on for most devices, despite many smartphones and tablets having sensors which can enable the technology.

“VR and wearables have shown the way that gesture and haptics can provide fresh ways to interact with technology,” remarked research author James Moar.

“The game changer for other platforms will be when technology firms are brave enough to reinvent their UIs to incorporate gesture and motion control, rather than considering it an optional add-on.”

The whitepaper, Gesture & Motion Control ~ The Wave of the Future, is available to download from the Juniper website together with further details of the complete research.

Juniper Research provides research and analytical services to the global hi-tech communications sector, providing consultancy, analyst reports and industry commentary.

The arrival of motion control for smartphone VR in 2017 will start a shift towards multimodal computing, using both peripherals and motion and gesture control. However, at the moment this will simply extend current functionalities, holding back adoption across devices as a whole, unless the UI (user interface) paradigm changes.

Soft Tech INTL / November 2016

Deals CYBERPOL SOLUTIONS PARTNERS WITH APRICORN FOR SECURE DATA STORAGE Partnership provides leading edge, critical data storage to secure European government and law enforcement agencies.

“This is a technical partnership where we can work together as separate companies to develop our products and ensure that they meet the highest standards internationally. This advanced secure device technology makes this partnership an indispensable tool to continue to meet the market needs in the rapidly changing world of data security,” commented Wouter Van Beirendonck, Managing Director - Cyberpol Solutions (BVBA). “The partnership and integration provides customers with a new approach to understanding their risk,” he added.

Apricorn, a leading designer and manufacturer of data security products for business, military and government, has announced an exclusive technology partnership with Cyberpol Solutions (BVBA). The partnership enables Cyberpol Solutions to provide vital cyber risk management solutions to its clients, addressing the secure data storage needs of members of the European Government and law enforcement agencies. The integration with Apricorn allows public sector organisations to gather critical evidence during cyber investigations following an attack and to confidently store and share information on Apricorn - Cyberpol Solutions devices.

About Cyberpol Solutions Cyberpol Solutions focuses on providing “Turnkey” solutions, deployable at anytime and anywhere, for all industries that need data protection and cyber management strategies. The company provides militarygrade encrypted data storage solutions that focus on the need for secure data.

Apricorn’s award-winning, FIPS-certified, hardwareencrypted storage devices include the Aegis Secure Key product range of USB flash drives and the Aegis Padlock product range of external hard drives and solid state drives that are affordable, robust, and easy to use.

About Apricorn Apricorn provides secure storage innovations to global companies and organisations particularly those faced with strict data security, compliance and regulation, such as finance, healthcare and government agencies. Founded in 1983, and headquartered in Poway, California, Apricorn provides the broadest family of secure USB storage products to secure data when it leaves the premises.

Cyberpol Solutions distributes products sanctioned by CYBERPOL and that are recommended for government and law enforcement across the globe. The ever growing need for securing information and intelligence on cyber security threats is now met by the militarygrade secure devices offered by Cyberpol Solutions, providing organisations, companies and government departments the capability to store and share data securely and to meet stringent government compliance legislation and regulations.

Apricorn’s family of Aegis USB storage devices employ a 100% hardware-centric approach, with full hardware encryption and a software-free design for a completely cross-platform experience. All authentication and encryption functions take place fully within the devices, and no critical security parameters are ever shared with their host computer, and tested and validated by NIST to the Federal Information Processing Standards (FIPS 140-2).

Jon Fielding, Managing Director, Apricorn EMEA said: “CYBERPOL’s international security efforts are focused on a wide array of technical environments and require secure collaboration between multiple entities. Apricorn’s family of cross-platform, PIN protected secure storage devices with unparalleled compatibility and data security was their ideal choice. Cyberpol Solutions distributes Apricorn products to enable organisations to seamlessly encrypt and store their data. Using combined technology from both Cyberpol Solutions and Apricorn, organisations can focus on reducing their most immediate security risks and, as a result, improve their overall security posture.”

This new international partnership was made possible with the support of CYBERPOL, The International Cyber Policing Organisation, which has been working with global law-enforcement and is presently coordinating with multiple agencies in the USA and abroad and acting as the global cyber “Watchdog” on cyber-crime.

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SWYX AND DEUTSCHE TELEKOM SIGN STRATEGIC AGREEMENT The German technology company Swyx is continuing its growth trend by signing a strategic agreement with Deutsche Telekom.

Following a record number of 750,000 users being reached during the summer with 130,000 in the past year, the Dortmund-based unified communications provider, Swyx, is to strengthen its cooperation with Deutsche Telekom. Both companies have signed a strategic cooperation agreement up to 2021. In addition, Deutsche Telekom has increased its existing stake in Swyx under this strategic cooperation agreement.

“We are very proud of the cooperation agreement we have signed with Deutsche Telekom. As a German technology company with a focus on unified communications solutions for small businesses, this strategic partnership allows us to unite our innovative product range with the intelligent market approach of Deutsche Telekom. Together we will create an even better proposition for the customer.

Furthermore, we will be well positioned to dominate the “Digitisation of SMEs” and drive forward our market leadership in this area” says Dr. Ralf Ebbinghaus, CEO at Swyx Solutions AG. Managing Director at Telekom Deutschland, Hagen Rickmann, also emphasises the importance attached to the digitisation of small to medium sized enterprises: “With the expansion of this successful cooperation we once again underline our commitment to driving forward digitalisation in the SME sector. Swyx is a reliable partner with whom we will therefore work more closely together in the future; providing equal benefit to both companies and to our customers.”

Deutsche Telekom offers innovative and intelligent IP solutions from Swyx both under its DeutschlandLAN cloud portfolio as well as on-premise phone systems for business customers. The combined product offering will be further developed within the framework of the strategic co-operation agreement.

About Swyx Swyx operates as a pan-European market leader via two-tier distribution and over 1,200 authorised resellers: the Dortmund based company with dedicated offices in the UK and France sells not only software solutions in six languages, but also has a range of suitable phones and other hardware devices in its product portfolio. Swyx’s award-winning unified communications provides not only in-house (CPE) solutions, but also cloud-based variants with well-known partners: Europe already has 750,000 users that rely on Swyx, of which around 10 percent have chosen to use a cloud-based solution. The company currently employs more than 150 staff who are responsible for continually improving the SwyxWare solution for the communication requirements of today and in the future.

TDB FUSION SIGNS OEM AGREEMENT WITH ANUTA NETWORKS TDB Fusion and Annuta Networks sign agreement to Integrate NCX into the Federos™ Product Suite.

TDB Fusion, the UK based software company, has signed an OEM agreement with California based Anuta Networks International for its NCX product. The agreement enables TDB Fusion to integrate Anuta’s product into the Federos Product Suite as Federos NCX. Federos NCX will drive Network Service Automation & Orchestration for the Data Centre, Campus, Branch and Carrier Core Networks. The Federos Product Suite provides organisations with a converged information solution significantly enhancing functionality and increasing management flexibility, enabling users across the business to review and consume key data through a simple browser based interface. Federos NCX will become another integrated module available within the Federos dashboard accessible to current and future TDB Fusion customers.

Commenting on the agreement Colin Aurelius, TDB Fusion CEO, said, “I am excited about the enhanced functionality that Federos NCX will provide to our customer and the business benefits and savings that will be achieved for them by adding this new module to the Product Suite.”

“There is a tremendous amount of synergy between our two companies and our two product ranges”, said Chandu Guntakala, CEO of Anuta Networks. “This OEM agreement will see our joint product offerings adding significant benefits to customers internationally and we are looking forward to working closely with the team at TDB Fusion”.

TDB Fusion has been expanding rapidly reporting a revenue increase of 145% in 2016, along with a doubling of the workforce, the opening of a new sales and support office in London and increasing the headquarters facility in Bracknell. This OEM agreement will enhance Federos breadth of offerings and opportunities for the company enabling it to continue its growth during 2016/7.

Web address: www.swyx.com.

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