TMT October 2017

October 2017 www.tmt-magazine.com

Lawson Conner Lawson Conner Wins EU Passport for VC Funds PTG Tours Limited Unique Rail Based Holidays Since 1998 Demodern GmbH A Digital Agency at the Front of the Technology Industry

Access all Areas Taking time to provide an in-depth profile of Idappcom is Stephen Meredith who works for the firm.

A Clear

View Ahead Clear View Systems Ltd. is a small Canadian software firm that develops business applications for the money exchange industry.

The firm’s President and CTO, Head of R&D, Tiran Behrouz provides a detailed insight into the firm’s work and the wider industry that they are a part of.

Editor’s Note

Welcome to the October edition of TMT News Magazine, bringing you the latest news and features on trends within the technology, media and telecoms markets.

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In recent news, leading global biopharmaceutical services provider, PAREXEL International Corporation, announced on 26th October a new feature for its RTSM (randomization and trial supply management) Mobile App that addresses the workflow and safety issues commonly associated with the packaging, transport, and storage of temperature-sensitive medications. The industry-first capability will provide endto-end temperature monitoring that records the complete temperature history of a product from the point of packaging through to patient dispensation via in-pack wireless sensors.

In this issue, we discover more about investment manager platform, Lawson Conner who have recently announced that they have been awarded the coveted EuVECA designation, from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA).

Taking time to tell us more about the announcement, was Andrew Frost, Director at Investment Management Solutions, Lawson Conner.

Speaking of success, established in 1998 UK based company, PTG Tours, offers “general interest rail, nature and culture” and a few “enthusiast” holidays from the UK using rail travel as a theme. Recently, we profiled the firm to reveal more about the secrets of their success.

Finally, global security and aerospace company, Lockheed Martin employs approximately 97,000 people worldwide.

Brandi L. Crouch tells us more about the company, discussing the services and products that the firm offers.

Here at TMT News, we hope that you thoroughly enjoy reading this insightful issue and look forward to hearing from you.

Jessica Daykin, Editor Phone: +44 (0) 203 725 6842 Email: j.daykin@aiglobalmedialtd.com Website: www.tmt-magazine.com AI Global Media, Ltd. (AI) takes reasonable measures to ensure the quality of the information on this web site. However, AI will not assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy, correctness or completeness of any information that is available through this web site. If errors are brought to our attention, we will try to correct them.

The information available through the website and our partner publications is for your general information and use and is not intended to address any particular finance or investment requirements. In particular, the information does not constitute any form of advice or recommendation by us or any of our partner publications and is not intended to be relied upon by users in making or refraining from making any investment or financial decisions.

Appropriate independent advice should be obtained before making any such decision. Any arrangement made between you and any third party named in the site is at your sole risk and responsibility.

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Contents

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Contents 4. News 6.

A Clear View Ahead - Clear View Systems Ltd

10. Access all Areas - Idappcom 12. Lawson Conner Wins EU Passport for VC Funds 14. Unique Rail Based Holidays Since 1998 - PTG Tours Limited 16. A Digital Agency at the Front of the Technology Industry - Demodern GmbH 18. Lockheed Martin Corporation - Engineering a Better Tomorrow 20. BMC Unveils Multi-Cloud Management Strategy and New Solutions to Maximise the Benefits of the Cloud 22. Proptech Start-Up Senses Big Opportunity For NHS Property 24. AA Calls On Fleet Industry To Provide More SME Guidance 26. Telecoms And Tech Industry Lead The Way In Race Towards General Data Protection Regulation Compliance 28. Turk Telekom Selects TEOCO to deliver Network Performance Managed Services Project 30. Global Expenditure On Trader Surveillance Set To Rise To US$758 Million In 2017 To Combat Market Abuse

October 2017 / TMT MAGAZINE 3

NEWS

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New Expansion Changing Face of London Technology Market

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NEWS

, Global tech start-up expands to London behind Microsoft partnership to change the future of business telecommunications, outlining commitment post-Brexit Async, part of the popular video messaging App Kwickie, has secured its commitment to the UK after being selected on the Microsoft Accelerator Programme 2017 in London.

Async is the first ever patented asynchronous video messaging App - where two videos shot separately are merged to appear as a live conversation. Partnership between the Australian-based company and Microsoft will see it establish a London presence for its front office systems and expand its offering to B2B markets as a white label solution to other platform providers.

Jacob Gough, Founder of Async, commented on this latest announcement.

“Our partnership with Microsoft and expansion in London demonstrates our commitment and faith in the UK market, even amongst the uncertainty over Brexit. Brexit is happening and there’s no shying away from that fact but we’re certain that London will remain a capital tech hub for the world alongside its investment and trade deals.”

“Video messaging has taken over our social communication but is becoming a key influencer for business marketing to reach their customer audiences. It’s time that city corporations get on-board and not get left behind their consumers.”

Aligned with Microsoft products such as Azure, LinkedIn, Office 365, Xbox and Skype, Asynchas already started to be marketed

by Microsoft’s internal sales teams and channel resellers.

Warwick Hill, CEO of Microsoft’s London Accelerator, added his comments on the deal and how it would affect both firms.

“At Microsoft, we only partner with the most dynamic and forward-thinking companies who

stand at the vanguard of technological development. Async was one of only eight companies to be accepted into our Accelerator Programme at the start of 2017 and we have been really impressed by its progress and growth potential. In Async, we see the opportunity to work with a team driven by creativity and the determination to succeed.”

In recognition of the opportunities partnering with Microsoft offers and its focus on delivering its video technology platform to a range of organisations, the company has transformed to become Async. Previously the company was called Kwickie, an App that leveraged the async technology and used by famous celebrities, actors and sports personalities to engage with their followers.

Async will continue to provide the initial Kwickie service under the KwikTV brand.

Finally, Jacob Gough continued: “Microsoft has played a pivotal role in the evolution of our company this year – firstly via its Accelerator and now as a partner.

While our clients can use any web infrastructure they choose, we are confident that Microsoft’s Azure environment will provide the scalability, performance and security we need to grow.”

Async is the world’s first video messaging platform that allows two video moments shot at different points in time to become one. Async offers its patented service as a white label solution to platform providers including media companies, telcos, social networks and businesses. Following its focus on B2B markets, the company has transformed from Kwickie to become Async.

Kwickie is an App that leverages the async technology to allow brands to harness fan interest in celebrities and other influencers.

Async was selected onto the Microsoft Accelerator Programme in London in 2017.

Telecoms Operators’ Enterprise Revenues Forecast To Rise Just 1% By 2022 Research from Analysys Mason highlights major opportunity for telecoms operators to grab share of ICT services market Leading telecoms research and consulting firm Analysys Mason has released its forecast for the global telecoms enterprise services market, which predicts that the worldwide market for telecoms business services will grow from $411 billion (USD) in 2017 to $415 billion in 2022. It will be a challenging market, with less than 1% growth over the next five years, but there will be opportunities for operators to compete for a share of the enterprise ICT market.

Some revenue streams will compensate for falling income from traditional services. Operator revenue from enterprise voice and data services has however reached saturation point, especially in high-income markets, and is in decline. Emerging markets will see growth of 2–3% per year until voice and data connectivity is more widespread.

Revenue from Internet of Things (IoT) connectivity will increase sharply at over 10% per year to fill some of the void left by voice and data revenues, accounting for 7% of operator enterprise revenue by 2022. However, the biggest opportunity for operators is to fight for a share of the rapidly growing enterprise ICT market, which is estimated to be worth more than $230 billion by 2022.

“Operators need to look at this as an opportunity to upsell new services,” said Catherine Hammond, senior research analyst at Analysys Mason. “When you’re hitting the wall in terms of reve-

nues, it’s about bundling, upselling and retaining customers by serving them with a bigger, better package of services. By providing cloud and business services to all sizes of enterprise, operators will be able to sustain their revenue and make themselves increasingly valuable to their customers.”

The enterprise ICT market is highly fragmented and operators are well placed to create bundled offerings of services for business customers, such as security, data storage, and other cloud services.

By adapting their offerings and creating packages across all levels of business customer, especially those with fewer than 10 employees, operators can shore up enterprise revenues. Analysys Mason predicts that operators should expect to own at least 15% of this market by 2022, but individual operators could take a larger share by concentrating on partnerships and, especially, through acquisition.

Regional variations • North America currently accounts for a large proportion of global enterprise revenue, but revenue is falling year on year (CAGR of –1.4%) • Western European enterprise revenues will be flat between 2017 and 2022 • In much of Africa and the Middle East, markets are currently small but they are growing rapidly (CAGR of 2.8% in sub-Saharan Africa) • Operators in Emerging Asia–Pacific benefit from both sizeable markets and sizeable revenue growth of 2.6% per year between 2017 and 2022

October 2017 / TMT MAGAZINE 5

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A Clear View Ahead Clear View Systems Ltd. is a small Canadian software firm that develops business applications for the money exchange industry. In this special interview, the firm’s President and CTO, Head of R&D, Tiran Behrouz provides a detailed insight into the firm’s work and the wider industry that they are a part of.

Clear View Systems Ltd. has a small team spread across four countries working remotely from home offices. They started with one client in 2003 and slowly grew to 350 clients in 30 countries.

They have been mentioned in major business forums and news sites such as Yahoo, Forbes, Bloomberg, and Wall Street Journal. Their product won the Product of the Year in the Feb 2017 edition of Softech International Software and the Cloud Services Award magazine.

Their typical clients include: Currency Exchange Stores and Money Services Bureaus (MSB); wholesalers and traders of foreign currencies; airport currency exchange kiosks; financial institutions such as banks and credit unions; travel agencies who offer money exchange services to their clients; hotels and motels that have international customers carrying world currencies; recreational stores in touristic areas; railway stations and cruise ships. Some of their prominent clients are: SBB (The Swiss National Railway); Desjardin Bank; Altour American Express; Lotus Currency Exchange and Globex 2000.

The firm’s suite of products and services are as follows: CurrencyXchanger POS; CurrencyXchanger BE (Business Edition); CurrencyXchanger Pro; CurrencyXchanger EE (Enterprise Edition) – to be released later this year; WebServices for checking name of entities and individuals against international sanction lists; WebServices for currency rates and digital rate board.

worldwide. We continue to improve our product line by supporting languages and implementing regulatory compliance requirements specific to each country. We advertise our product online as well as in local business magazines and newspapers. We work with the Canadian Trade Commissioners (CTC) office in each region to identify and approach larger prospects.

Clear View Systems Ltd. services can be summarised as follows: business training; software training (our own software only); remote support and troubleshooting; migration of data from legacy systems; consulting about best practices in the industry; helping with accounting and report generation; assisting during AML audits; hardware and software system integration; system customisation and AML consulting through partners.

The firm’s President and CTO, Head of R&D, Tiran Behrouz starts the interview by revealing the firm’s overall mission, the language or platform used to develop CXR and why they chose 4D as their development platform.

“All editions of CurrencyXchanger have been developed using 4D relational database (4D. com). 4D is a powerful database system which is secure and easy to maintain without the overhead and cost associated with commercial databases such as Oracle.

“Our mission is become the number one solution provider for money exchange businesses

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“4D offers an all in one solution allowing the developer to stay within one IDE and do everything from the structural design to coding to interface design to the database query language as well as the database engine. In addition, 4D allows development and deployment on both Mac OS and Windows platforms.”

Tiran then details new projects the firm is undertaking in 2017 and how they approach clients.

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A Clear View Ahead

Company: Clear View Systems Ltd. Name: Tiran Behrouz Web Address: www.clearviewsys.com Address: 1113-2012 Fullerton Ave. North Vancouver, BC, V7P 3E3 CANADA Phone: +1 (519) 971 5149

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“Clear View Systems Ltd.’s goal this year is to release CXR5, which is the next major release of our product. It will be localised in German, French, Italian, Spanish, and Swedish. There are about 100 new features in CXR5 and it will be one of our most powerful upgrades to date.

“With the help of our Swiss partner, Ergonomics AG, we are developing the CurrencyXchanger EE (Enterprise Edition) which will be targeted for larger customer and banks. CXR-EE will be deployed by the Swiss National Railways with over 250 stations across Switzerland.

“We have a one of the highest customer satisfaction rating in all competing products. With sixty reviewed customer testimonials on Capterra’s website, we have become a recognised brand name in our industry. Customers have a lot of unique requests and useful feedback that can ultimately enhance the product.

We simply listen and implement the needs of our customers by prioritising the most common requests. When customers see that their wishes are implemented, they become loyal to the product. Ultimately, it’s a win-win for everyone.”

Tiran then provides his expert insight into how the needs of new customers, the internal culture of the firm and who some of their competitors are.

“The needs of every one of our customers are unique. We only keep a single source code for all our products. This essentially means that every requirement of every customer is imbedded in the main product code. We selectively filter what each customer can see and use. The same product may look different based on the customer and based on the edition of CXR that has been deployed.

“Thus, we have a highly configurable product. When we first acquire new customers, an expert team members works very closely with them to configure and if necessary customise our

solution to fit their needs. We also help with migrating data from legacy systems into CXR ensuring a smoother migration for our customers.

Tiran then talks us through the software market today, pointing to the four categories of money exchange products currently on the market.

“I am happy to say that we are a flat structured company. I am the president and CTO, but my staff can ask me to do help them the same way as I ask them to help me. We are all working to make sure we offer a smooth service to the customers.

“Firstly, I’d like to discuss desktop solutions that are installed on systems. These solutions are fast and can integrate with POS printers and scanners. Desktop solutions are the most common type of software in our industry.

These solutions can usually work offline.

“We use online collaboration and support tools every day to keep our customers happy and stay in touch with each other.

Our most prominently used tools are: TeamViewer for online support; Groove as our ticketing and email tool; Ryver for internal communication; High-rise as our CRM tool and Pivotal Tracker for issue tracking “In terms of our competitors, I am happy to name these. We like it when our customers to do their research and evaluate what’s available, before making their decision. Here’s a few of our most relevant competitors: Money Exchanger by Vinit Solutions; CEIFX by Currency Exchange International; PCFX

by EJ Wang & Associates; GTS Retail by IMX Software and Office exchange by CGI design.”

“Secondly, when it comes to hosted web-based solutions, these are hosted by the providers and access to them is via a webbrowser. These solutions can be sometimes slow and integration with scanner and POS printers are non-existent. The data are hosted on a central server and usually accessible by the solution provider. Many customers don’t like these solutions because they don’t like to share their customer information with the vendors.

“Thirdly, customer-hosted webbased solutions are like the hosted web-based solutions with the exception that the servers are hosted by the customer themselves. Solutions providers don’t have access to the customer data which is usually preferred due to privacy concerns.

“Cloud-sync solutions are ideal for larger organisations as it offers the benefit of the installed desktop solutions yet the data are synchronised to a central server that is usually hosted on the customer’s cloud. Access to the data is only available to the customer. The sync capability allows the system to work offline if needed. We optionally offer all our products as a cloud-sync solution.”

Specifically, within the firm’s industry sector, Tiran highlights developments they are currently adapting to and how this impacts their work.

“The financial sector has become highly regulated across the world. These regulations have been mostly in the realm of AML (Anti-Money Laundering) and ATF (Anti-Terrorist Financing).

Most banking solutions offer regulatory compliance modules.

However, these systems are extremely costly, especially for smaller businesses. Small MSBs cannot afford to pay the high cost of banking software, therefore they will look for affordable solutions like ours.

“In terms of why compliance to AML (Anti-Money-Laundering) regulations is so important for clients, I would say that it is the

CXR offerings in a nutshell •

Keep track and control your daily monetary transactions;

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Keep customer records on file along with their transactions;

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View profit and loss made on each currency and in total;

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Minimise human errors leading to loss;

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Prevent internal theft and intentional mistakes by malicious users;

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Control your stock and have an exact idea about average cost and rates;

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Automatically update your currency buy/sell rates;

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Stay in compliance with AML/ATF regulations and;

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Provide better customer support and to handle larger sales volume.

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law and all companies should adhere to those laws. AML regulations are prone to regular updates, so it can become challenging to keep up with these changes, both from a systemic and operational aspect.

“To simplify the AML challenge for our customers, we stay upto-date and implement the latest regulatory requirements in our products, so that our customers don’t have to worry about their systems becoming obsolete or outdated.”

Tiran then underlines the major challenges and outside influences the industry is facing.

“The biggest challenge that the industry is facing is excessive pressure by the banks on the small money services businesses. Most banks do not accept new MSBs as customers and many have systematically closed the accounts of these

businesses in the past several years. Leaving MSBs without banking facility will push them to go under the radar or simply out of business. This is the biggest challenge of our industry and it is not fair for small businesses to be shut down like that by the big banks.

The question of - if the firm’s customers can increase their chances with the banks - is a very good and important question Tiran says. In closing, he suggests that the following strict measures should be implemented: •

“As to whether the banks somehow eliminating their competition in the name of regulations, I would say that their anti-competitive behaviour has become a global phenomenon.

It has certainly affected tens of thousands of MSB businesses across the globe. Many in the industry have serious concerns and have pointed that this is an excuse for the banks to kill their competition in the name of regulations. Who knows but banks are claiming that the rationale behind their discrimination boils down to riskmanagement.”

•

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Computerised AML compliant record keeping system, such as CXR or other systems. This is one of the most important points and without that the chance of bankability is almost zero; The management and all staff should be fully aware and trained on AML and ATF regulations and can prove it; Pay a third party to develop a comprehensive AML and ATF compliance programme for the firm;

A Clear View Ahead

address the system and the automated processes; •

All background checks against sanction lists must be automated;

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MSBs are prone to having suspicious transactions.

Evidence of reporting such transactions shall be kept and offered to the banks as proof;

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Regular AML training programme shall be signed up for and logged. It is better to have a contract with a third-party training officer;

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Having regular Internal and external AML audits is a must and;

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Staying ahead of the regulations.

The compliance manual or programme should

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Access all Areas Established in 2004, Idappcom is a small UK cyber-protection software development company that has had a big part to play in the growth of the global security industry. Taking time to provide an in-depth profile of Idappcom is Stephen Meredith who works for the firm.

Based in Ludlow, an historic market town in rural Shropshire, Idappcom is definitely punching above its weight, with its security tools and services now used by many of the world’s leading security vendors, mainly based in the USA but also now including mainland China.

As well as having to contend with new exploits and malware appearing on a daily basis, running old versions of software or relatively small changes to the network are just some of the many other factors that can have unintended consequences for the overall security posture of any organisation.

Current owner and CEO, Ray Bryant took over the reins of the company in 2007, with a successful business career behind him. Although he had officially retired, he couldn’t resist the challenge of being involved in developing the tools and services a business needs to ensure that their network security controls are doing the job they were designed for.

Security Controls need to be regularly updated to stay effective Idappcom’s core technology, Traffic IQ, is a software tool that allows security professionals and IT management teams to regularly test that their firewalls and intrusion prevention systems are working as they should. In practice, Traffic IQ replicates how a real attack works by playing the same exploit traffic used by the hackers themselves.

Having worked in senior management positions for several major businesses, Ray had seen the results of when networks come under attack and vulnerabilities in the system get exploited, enabling malware to infect business critical systems.

What he realised was that when a breach occurs, the business may have actually invested in the right security controls, but had failed to keep them properly configured and updated with the policy rules needed to detect and block the latest threats.

Unless organisations have unlimited resources, maintaining network security can be like painting the proverbial Forth Bridge – a never ending task.

While there are several products available that do a similar job, Traffic IQ is the only one that can be safely used during normal operational hours. In most cases, other traffic replay penetration testing tools perform a real, aggressive attack, which if successful, can disrupt the normal network traffic and potentially take down critical network functions.

This means that, tests have to be done out of business hours or by setting up a mirrored network requiring additional investment in redundant equipment and costly consultancy services.

Running on any basic MS Windows machine, Traffic IQ only

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plays the exploit traffic through the security controls than back to itself, without touching the main operational infrastructure.

By monitoring the traffic that comes back, Traffic IQ highlights the exploitable vulnerabilities, identifying the devices that have failed - hence the need for urgent remediation. IT managers can even set up regular tests to run automatically, with minimal human intervention needed after the initial set-up, saving time and budgets to focus on fixing any urgent issues.

New Cyber security threats are appearing every day As well as its security software specialists, Idappcom employs a team of researchers who are dedicated to capturing the latest exploits as soon as they appear.

These are categorised according to a variety of parameters, such as the OS or specific target applications, before they are added to Idappcom’s extensive library of exploit traffic files. At the moment, the library has over 13,000 exploits available for users of Traffic IQ and other replay tools to select from. With an average of 200 new exploits added each month, around five every day, it means that IT managers can replicate the most recent attacks within days of them first being added to the security threat lists.

When a new threat becomes known, it is vital that networks are assessed and security controls are updated as quickly as possible to prevent a successful hack.

Managing possibly 00’s of network security devices is major headache for IT teams While Traffic IQ provides the rapid assessment capability, Ray and his team realised that updating potentially hundreds of sensors deployed at various layers in the network to protect critical nodes and subnets was a major, labour intensive, time consuming task for which there was no easy, readymade solution. While IT managers could quickly discover where the holes were in their defences, they then faced with the daunting task of reconfiguring multiple devices individually within a limited time window.

From working with virtually all the leading security vendors for several years, Idappcom has built an extensive knowledge base.

Using this knowledge and their rule development expertise, the team decided to create a unique, one-to-many, Rule Management Suite to minimise the problem.

This allows users to import policy rules from multiple sources into a central database, where they can be grouped, edited and tested before being simultaneously distributed to the various multiple sensors in a local or wide-area network environment. Most of the leading security devices use the same industry standard, but may need some fine tuning or customisation for different manufacturers’ equipment.

To allow for this, the Rule Management Suite also includes a rule creation tool with standard

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templates that helps to facilitate the process for users that may have some in-house rule writing expertise.

Alongside the Rule Management Suite, Idappcom also provides users with access to its own library of policy rules, which are matched against the real exploits contained in Idappcom’s Traffic pcap library.

This means that IT managers can quickly select and deploy the correct rules that correlate with the vulnerability identified by Traffic IQ with minimal delay.

Idappcom aims to be a one-stop shop for security testing and remediation tools The combination of Traffic IQ and the Rules Management Suite, together with its extensive Traffic file and Rule library, positions Idappcom as a one-stop resource for the tools and services that are needed by security vendors and enterprise IT managers, to ensure their network security controls are maintained at the maximum effectiveness, 24/7/365.

Idappcom’s Managed CyberProtection service gives SMEs an enterprise-class security option With this wealth of expertise and depth of knowledge of the network security controls, Ray is aware that the SME sector of the market must deal with the same threats as those who do not have the budget or resources to implement the same defencein-depth strategy that’s used by larger organisations. Many SMEs choose to defer the decision and take a risk that they will not be targeted.

An understandable but an increasingly risky decision particularly with new European Data protection legislation (GDPR) coming into force in 2018 that does not differentiate based on company size. Any organisation that stores personal data has a duty to ensure the proper security controls are put in place and face significant financial penalties if they are responsible for a data leakage event and cannot demonstrate that they have implemented the necessary

policies and procedures to protect their data environment.

So, it was an obvious next step for Idappcom to leverage the years of accumulated knowledge and established, enterprise-class tools available within the organisation to offer SMEs an affordable managed cyber-protection service to fill the gap in the market.

Witness the birth of The BIPSY and The GIPSY. Automated security updates every 24 hours To ensure that the BIPSY is operating as intended, users can connect to the Idappcom SOC via an SSL VPN link and subscribe to a service that auto-updates the device every 24 hours using the Rules Management Suite and library. This means that users do not have to employ security specialists or engage expensive consultants to ensure that they are always as up to date as possible.

This unique service provides SoHo and SME type organisations with the same level of enhanced security, that’s used by larger enterprises and public-sector organisations, to protect their corporate data, at a fraction of the cost.

Protection outside the network perimeter is critical for 360° security In addition, Idappcom has gone one step further to help

organisations protect their employee’s laptops and tablets when users need to connect outside the secure network perimeter from home or via a shared Wi-Fi hotspot at an airport or hotel. Users can opt for the smaller HIPSY device or a portable version known as the GIPSY that uses exactly the same core intrusion detection software as the BIPSY. The HIPSY and GIPSY are ideal for home based employees and micro-businesses as well as for individual and family protection when browsing the Internet.

Looking to the future, Idappcom is continuing to invest in developing its core technology and services to help organisations and individuals ensure that they can continue taking advantage of the digital revolution to enhance their businesses and personal lives, as securely as possible. This has resulted in some exciting new developments including a close technology partnership with Endace, a global market leader in network visibility and traffic recording that takes Idappcom into an increasingly important area of forensic analysis technology.

The GIPSY easily fits into a laptop case, and is able to block malware downloads and prevent other users of a public network from monitoring communications over a shared internet connection.

Wi-Fi hotspots have long been known to be a security weakness.

These access points are now being particularly targeted by those looking for an easier back-door entry into a corporate network, by exploiting users’ weak password discipline. It is well publicised that many people still use the same passwords for all their applications, personal and business, despite the regular warnings. This means that once they have been compromised, hackers can use the credentials to “access all areas” with the same user privileges and ability to download corporate data and other valuable digital assets.

Our Managed Cyber-protection service is attracting interest from Telcos who are looking to provide their customers with a security enhanced broadband connection, which will see our technology deployed to protect hundreds if not thousands of SMEs. Not bad for a small UK business.

Name: Ray Bryant Email: ray.bryant@idappcom.com Web Address: www.idappcom.com Address: Unit 6 Rural Enterprise Centre, Eco Park Road. Ludlow, Shropshire. SY8 1FF Telephone: 0203 355 6804

October 2017 / TMT MAGAZINE 11

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Lawson Conner Wins EU Passport for VC Funds On the 6th September, Lawson Conner, the investment manager platform, announced that it has been awarded the coveted EuVECA designation, from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). We sat down with Andrew Frost Director, Investment Management Solutions, Lawson Conner, who told us more about the announcement.

Founded in 2010, Lawson Conner is an award-winning investment manager platform and a leading provider of outsourced compliance services solutions. The firm helps financial services firms navigate through the complexities of compliance and regulations in the UK, Europe, the US and Asia, using innovative solutions and expert advice, which save time, reduce risk and increase efficiency.

Recently, Lawson Conner announced that it had been awarded the coveted EuVECA designation, from the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA). This designation means that UK venture capital funds that use its platform, can now have unfettered access to Europeanbased investors.

The EuVECA regulation allows venture capitalists to market their

funds to investors across the EU through a voluntary EU-wide passport, without having to meet all the demands of the AIFM Directive. To qualify for EUVECA, you need to be a genuine VC firm who are putting 70% investments into SME equity.

Taking time to discuss the win is Andrew Frost, Director, Investment Management Solutions at Lawson Conner in London.

“At Lawson Conner, we are extremely excited to be one of the very first UK platforms to win a EuVECA designation,” says Frost.

“Now, we can help those VC funds that want to market their funds to European investors meet all the necessary compliance obligations, without having to do it in house.”

According to Invest Europe, venture capital fund raising grew to a post-crisis record of €6.4 billion in 2016. These VC funds collectively

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invested €4.3 billion in over 3,000 companies. “Taking advantage of the EuVECA designation will allow UK VC funds to tap into a huge pool of institutional capital,” says Frost.

Lawson Conner is in the process of helping its VC clients take advantage of its EuVECA designation. Firstminute Capital, a new $85 million VC seed fund has appointed Lawson Conner to act for it. “We aspire to be the most helpful seed fund in Europe,” says Spencer Crawley, Head of Investments and General Partner at firstminute Capital in London.

“It is important for us to be able to market our business to European investors quickly. By appointing Lawson Conner, we have saved having to undertake the regulatory process in-house. This means it has been a much speedier and cost-effective process.”

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Lawson Conner Wins EU Passport for VC Funds

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Unique Rail Based Holidays Since 1998 Established in 1998, PTG Tours is a UK based company offering “general interest rail, nature and culture” and a few “enthusiast” holidays from the UK using rail travel as a theme. Comfort, enjoyment, leisurely days and friendship are the secrets of their success.

Since their inception in 1998, PTG Tours specialises in countries and areas not covered by other operators. The company is one of the only rail holiday companies which are both ATOL & ABTA bonded.

The majority of PTG’s trips are for people who want to see the culture and scenery of the destination country, travelling by train and staying at great hotels.

Destinations in 2018 include Sicily, Loire Valley, Galicia, Portugal, Hungary, Portmeirion and Snowdonia, Douro Valley, Slovakia, Slovenia, the Baltic States, Scandinavia, Southern France, Sardinia, Corsica. Long haul destinations include Cuba, Sri Lanka, Mexico, Colombia, Alaska, Ecuador and Burma.

A regular tour is the renowned “Vintage Port” holiday, which celebrates its 40th running in September 2018. This tour is centred on the beautiful Douro Valley in the north of Portugal, famous for its Port wine and stunning scenery. A superb way

to see this unique landscape – a World Heritage Site.

For a holiday, away from the trains then PTG offer a unique “Royal” Douro River cruise in October using the Royal Barge “The Spirit of Chartwell” for a seven-night cruise through stunning scenery. This was the boat used by HM The Queen during the Diamond Jubilee celebrations.

Rail and Culture tours this autumn include Alpine Railways and Lakes of Austria, Vintage Port, Vintage Slovenia, Classic Baltics, Southern France and the Pyrenees, Sardinia and Corsica, Rail and Natural Wonders of Ecuador, Rail and Natural Wonders of Burma (by private charter train).

For steam enthusiasts, PTG are the only rail company now running rail holidays to Cuba, where this paradise island is traversed using a private railcar. Visits are made to see the last workings at the sugar mills and included several steam runs. As the visit is made during the sugar cane

14 TMT MAGAZINE / October 2017

harvest several “real” workings are expected to be witnessed.

The next tour departs from the UK on 19th February 2018 and readers are urged to visit Cuba now before increased numbers of Americans result in added investment and the loss of the unique “lost world” experience.

Other steam highlights are a week visit to Bulgaria with three different steam locomotives. Finally, in September, what we believe is the first dedicated rail tour of Colombia in the 21st century.

A unique attraction of PTG is that anyone booking a holiday is given a completely free customer day out on a special steam hauled charter train covering both the Welsh Highland and Ffestiniog Railways in North Wales – usually feature three of four different locomotives. The next trip is on Monday 3rd June 2018.

For a free copy of their colour brochure, see their advert in this magazine or contact PTG Tours on 01235 227288 or visit their web site at www.ptg.co.uk.

g Unique Rail Based Holidays Since 1998

October 2017 / TMT MAGAZINE 15

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A Digital Agency at the Front of the Technology Industry Demodern are a multi-award winning digital agency for online communication, design and digital projects. We invited Tobias Soffner to provide an insight into the services of the agency, and what makes it The Next Frontier in Tech.

Founded in 2008, Demodern consider themselves an agency of a new generation, seeing themselves as open, uncomplicated and 100% digital. Established by designers, staff’s passion lies in good digital presentations, creative technologies and a user experience which makes sense. The international team of specialists works passionately and collaboratively on digital solutions for all sectors, ranging from websites, mobile apps, store and event installations down to virtual and augmented reality applications. Its goal is to create high-quality, digital communication that makes an impact. Tobias describes Demodern’s overall mission, listing what it aims to achieve and what steps the firm will take in order to achieve its vision.

“Always looking for the next important development, our

motto is ‘Let’s push things forward’ and also our philosophy.

This not only applies to the team’s own desire to constantly develop our skills, but is also an expression of the way we look at every project from a new angle and achieve results that impress.”

With our finger on the pulse, we aim to define and establish common objectives with our clients. The best possible user experience is just as important to us as an aesthetically-pleasing experience. Coding as the final piece of the jigsaw brings our ideas and design to life.

Following on from discussing the company’s mission, Tobias goes on to explain staff’s approach to clients and projects, which is vital in helping it complete its vision of pushing things forward. Teamwork is vital, with staff working together in order to involve its clients in every aspect of the firm’s projects, from inception to completion.

“Essentially, the strength within this holistic approach is our team aspect. We are organised into interdisciplinary project teams consisting of strategy, design, UX and development specialist who work closely alongside one another throughout the entire project. In order to achieve the best possible result, we have defined three critical success factors of how we work. Applying iterative processes enables us to keep an eye on the project and guarantees high quality of our work. By working collaboratively and involving clients in our workflow, we can offer transparent insights into our processes, thereby increasing

“Interfaces and interactions are evolving, making it increasingly crucial to approach new projects from a holistic perspective. Therefore, our core competencies range from strategy and conception to design and development.

16 TMT MAGAZINE / October 2017

the quality of the results. Yet our work doesn’t end when a digital product comes to life or a campaign is launched. Also, we plan beyond that and support our clients and projects in the long term.”

Important in its success is also the way the company is able to mark itself out as the best possible option for clients. Striving for excellence and cooperation with clients is already part of Demodern’s vision, but also integral to its success. Tobias also notes that the agency sees itself as a custom shop, with bespoke products and solutions providing the best option for customers.

“During all stages of a project, we strive for excellence and cooperation with our clients.

Having the big picture in mind, we always aim to develop interactive applications that can act as platforms for integrated communication, interaction

g

and connection. Our user first approach assures that the solution fits to the target audience with a complete and engaging user experience.

“In comparison to other digital agencies we rather perceive ourselves as a custom shop.

We conceptualize, design and develop all of our interactive applications inhouse. By bundling our digital know-how we achieve and guarantee the best quality

A Digital Agency at the Front of the Technology Industry

for our clients. That is our idea of digital by nature.”

Looking ahead, Tobias predicts what the future holds for Demodern, keen to highlight Augmented Reality (AR), and how he foresees a general change with developments regarding 3D. Artificial Intelligence and Voice Interfaces are something which Tobias is particularly excited about.

“Moving forward, for us, AR is rising and we foresee a general change to more immersions via 3D. This development is already recognizable in Virtual Reality, but we will also discover this change more and more within the area of AR and ultimately in the whole web. Seamless and omni-channel shopping is still in advancement but will become increasingly important for the retail section especially at the point of sale. Last but not

least, we are looking forward to using artificial intelligence and voice interfaces as ongoing transformation topic.”

Company: Demodern GmbH Contact: Tobias Soffner Contact Email: hi@demodern.de Address: Schulterblatt 58, Hamburg, 20357 Germany Phone: 0049 40 210 91 28 22 Website: www.demodern.de

October 2017 / TMT MAGAZINE 17

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BWY17007

Engineering a Better Tomorrow Lockheed Martin is a global security and aerospace company that employs approximately 97,000 people worldwide, and is principally engaged in the research, design, development, manufacture, integration and sustainment of advanced technology systems, products and services. Brandi L. Crouch tells us more about the company, discussing the services and products that the firm offers.

Headquartered in Bethesda, Maryland, Lockheed Martin’s operating units are organized into broad business areas. It works in Aeronautics, with approximately $17.8 billion in 2016 sales which includes tactical aircraft, airlift, and aeronautical research and development lines of business.

The firm also deals in Missiles and Fire Control, with approximately $6.6 billion in 2016 sales that includes the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense System, PAC-3 Missiles as some of its high-profile programs.

Additionally, the team also work in departments involving Rotary and Mission Systems, with approximately $13.5 billion in 2016 sales, which includes Sikorsky military and commercial helicopters, naval systems, platform integration, simulation and training and energy programs lines of business. Lastly, concluding its areas of practice, staff produce products and services in Space Systems, with approximately $9.4 billion in 2016 sales which includes space launch, commercial satellites, government satellites, and strategic missiles lines of business. Brandi goes into more

detail about the company, as well as the customer base and her own role at Lockheed Martin.

“As a global security, innovation, and aerospace company, the majority of Lockheed Martin’s business is with the U.S. Department of Defense and U.S. federal government agencies. In addition, Sikorsky (a Lockheed Martin Company) provides military and rotary-wing aircraft to all five branches of the U.S. armed forces, along with military services and commercial operators in 40 nations. The remaining portion of Lockheed Martin’s business is comprised of international government and commercial sales of products, services and platforms.

“In my current role, I serve as the Senior manager over Cash Operations, which consists of accounts payable, accounts receivable and banking services.

My team is part of the Global Financial Services organization that provides shared financial services to the Lockheed Martin business areas. In that context, the Lockheed Martin business areas are the internal customers that we provide services for on a daily basis.”

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Talking about her experience, Brandi has held various positions in a variety of areas in management, and other sectors, to name a few, and she describes how her past experience helps her in her current role.

“Throughout my professional career, I have held various positions in the areas of management, accounting, finance, billing, travel and accounts payable, and project management. My experience with leading people, processes, and teams and migrating systems and processes has enabled my ability to drive innovative solutions for our customers. My experience has allowed me to develop a good combination of leadership and communication skills, that allow me to successfully balance energizing the team with delivering solid results.”

Brandi describes Lockheed Martin’s overall mission, as well its vision and values, all of which contribute hugely to the success of the firm. As well as staff collaboration, she also attributes other areas of the company to its success, notably her team.

“Looking ahead, Lockheed Martin’s mission is to solve complex challenges, advance scientific discovery and deliver innovative solutions to help our customers keep people safe. Our vision is to be the global leader in supporting our customers’ missions, strengthening security and advancing scientific discovery.

“Lastly, our values are to do what is right, respect others and finally, perform with excellence. I am extremely fortunate to have a strong leadership team that works closely by my side on a daily basis, to ensure that we enable the business areas to achieve mission success. Without them, I simply would not be successful.”

Regarding the technology profession currently, particularly with regards to her own career, Brandi describes her goals for the future and how they are going to achieve these goals.

“We have successfully leveraged technology and automation which has enabled us to achieve Top Performer recognition from Hackett for the services we provide. While we are extremely proud of these accomplishments, we continue to leverage emerging

g Engineering a Better Tomorrow

technologies (RPA, cognitive, and machine learning) to become more effective and efficient at delivering financial services to the Lockheed Martin business.

We are consistently looking for ways to deliver value back to the businesses through the services we provide.

“My ultimate goal is to deliver best in class shared services to the Lockheed Martin Business Units.

We are focused on increased value and efficiency at lower cost.

Emerging technology capabilities will enable this and reshape the way we provide our financial services. The theme on my team this year is ‘raising the bar’. The entire team, at all levels is focused on how everyone ultimately contributes to that goal. Overall, we have to continuously raise the bar to enable our business areas to remain competitive.”

Company: Lockheed Martin Corporation Contact: Brandi L. Crouch Address: 1040 S. Parkway Frontage Road, Lakeland, Florida 33813 Phone: 614-313-9627 (business) Phone: 614-832-9072 (personal)

October 2017 / TMT MAGAZINE 19

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BMC Unveils MultiCloud Management Strategy and New Solutions to Maximise the Benefits of the Cloud Distributed multi-cloud architectures require new management approach to secure data, avoid unforeseen expenses, and optimise performance.

BMC, a global leader in IT solutions for the digital enterprise, on the 12th October unveiled a comprehensive strategy for multicloud management and a range of new solutions and services that help IT professionals lead their companies into the digital transformation era. At the exclusive BMC Exchange NYC event, the company showcased TrueSight Cloud Cost Control and SecOps Policy Service to better manage cost and compliance, as well as next-generation performance monitoring and service delivery powered by artificial intelligence and machine learning.

The complexity created by multicloud and the need to enable speed and innovation, amplify the traditional challenges and pressures placed on IT and the business: visibility, cost, security, performance, automation, and migration. Businesses must

adopt comprehensive multi-cloud management solutions to better understand their IT infrastructure and securely optimise cloud performance and costs.

“Businesses are in the midst of dramatic transformation from the datacentre to the cloud and beyond,” said Bill Berutti, President, Enterprise Solutions at BMC. “Enterprises are poised to spend roughly $1.1 trillion in digital transformation technologies. This investment creates unprecedented opportunities for companies to develop new services, enhance employee productivity and efficiency, improve real-time decision-making, and develop new and innovative user experiences. Our multi-cloud management strategy and new solutions empower companies to fully realise the vast economic and technological benefits of the cloud.”

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In today’s multi-cloud environments, developers can spin off a public cloud instance, install any open source software desired, and move data from datacentre-installed apps to the cloud. IT organisations that try to operate in traditional ways take on enormous risk. BMC’s multicloud strategy, supported by new and expanded solutions, serves as a leading cloud management guide and measuring stick for businesses as they rapidly move to the cloud and develop insightful ways to manage their mixed environments securely, efficiently, and more costeffectively.

“A new approach is needed for effective multi-cloud management, and that starts with knowing which assets exist both on-premises and in multiple clouds. Unmanaged and unaccounted-for IT assets lead to costs spiralling out of control and are an open invitation to the next big hack,” Berutti continued.

An Innovative Family of MultiCloud Solutions IT is now charged with managing a dispersed multi-cloud environment, using multiple cloud services from multiple public cloud hosting providers in addition to on-premises infrastructure and data. In this new reality, as many as 60 percent of traditional IT assets and applications are not within IT’s direct control.

BMC today introduced solutions that address two amplified challenges created by multi-cloud complexity: cost and security.

TrueSight Cloud Cost Control is a cost management solution that analyses current and future costs and utilisation of multi-cloud infrastructure services, providing insight and control over capital and operating expenditures. With a single view of on-premises and public cloud infrastructure spend, organisations can track and analyse infrastructure costs and

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BMC Unveils Multi-Cloud Management Strategy and New Solutions to Maximise the Benefits of the Cloud

utilisation, identify overspending, and forecast future costs. The ability to simulate migrations to public cloud and compare on-premises and various public cloud service costs ensures applications run on the most cost efficient infrastructure.

“Understanding costs across any public, private, and hybrid cloud model is essential in increasing business acumen, and driving business strategy impact,” said Stephen Elliot, Program Vice President at IDC. SecOps Policy Service embeds compliance and security testing into the software development lifecycle, empowering developers to perform critical checks without stalling innovation.

The cloud-based solution provides continuous verification, analytics, and governance to

ensure compliance is protected, reducing risk when creating multi-cloud applications. SecOps Policy Service also prioritises and remediates non-compliant configurations across public cloud services, utilising a flexible architecture with built-in connectors and policy extensibility for virtually any data source.

Last month, the company also announced BMC Discovery for Multi-Cloud, extending BMC’s discovery and dependency mapping capabilities to provide dynamic visibility into public and private clouds.

Preparing for the Next Innovation Wave – Artificial Intelligence As multi-cloud environments are inherently more complex, the old ways of IT management by

exception and monitoring alone are not robust enough and can lead to outages and delays.

BMC is investing in machine learning, artificial intelligence and cognitive-driven capabilities to leverage predictive automation that can analyse data faster than people. These next-generation solutions, announced today, will enable the next wave of innovation and ambient user experiences.

•

TrueSight 11, BMC’s platform for Artificial Intelligence in IT Operations (AIOps), leverages machine learning and analytics to improve the quality and performance of services in multi-cloud environments.

•

BMC’s Cognitive Service Management solutions address the complexities

of multi-cloud computing by applying intelligence, automation and predictive capabilities. CSM enables an omni-channel service experience leveraging chatbots and virtual agents to simplify and enhance employee self-service, and to deliver speed and accuracy of ticket classification and resolution so agents spend less time on repetitive tasks.

To learn more about BMC’s strategy and product portfolio for multi-cloud management, visit www.bmc.com/multi-cloud.

October 2017 / TMT MAGAZINE 21

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Proptech StartUp Senses Big Opportunity For NHS Property New project aims to help the NHS make better use of its vast estate The NHS’s 500-million sq. ft. estate could be on the verge of an Internet of Things (IoT) revolution, following the development of a new sensing technology by a Scottish property technology start-up.

Beringar, working with CENSIS, the Scottish Innovation Centre for Sensor and Imaging Systems, has developed a non-intrusive sensor which will significantly improve the health service’s understanding of how its buildings and moveable assets, such as hospital beds and crash trolleys, are used.

Transmitting data wirelessly using a long range, low power, wide-area network (LoRaWAN or LoRa) – a type of IoT network – the sensor will replace traditional methods of measuring and assessing the utilisation of buildings, such as clipboard surveys, by accurately counting the number of people in a room, checking building occupancy levels and identifying trends in

the ways patients and staff use buildings.

identify how they could boost the building’s productivity.

It can also measure temperature, record air quality and monitor CO2 levels. As the product is developed further, it could be used to sense exactly which beds are vacant in a hospital in real time.

Mark Sorsa-Leslie, Co-founder of Beringar, said: “The NHS spends around a quarter of its budget every year on the provision and management of its buildings, but many rooms and equipment aren’t used to their full potential.

When NHS health planners want to commission a new service, but can’t see available space in their existing facilities, they might consider leasing or building a new property.

The NHS spends an estimated £30 billion every year managing its estates and facilities, but consultant-led studies suggest many of its buildings are being used to a fraction of their capacity. A recent trial of Beringar’s technology at the NHS’ Loxford Health Centre in Ilford, Essex confirmed this analysis.

Collecting more than 160,000 data points during a one month test at Loxford, the device detected empty space which staff thought was in regular use.

The sensor, which counted the number of occupants every ten seconds, transferred data back to a specially-designed dashboard, allowing Estate Managers to

22 TMT MAGAZINE / October 2017

“However, the statistics show that there is a lot of free space in the NHS. Having the right data could reveal suitable space they already own in that location, saving a significant amount of money, which could be used to improve direct patient care.

“It has been said that in ten years’ time, London will have expanded the equivalent of the city of Birmingham, and already, London’s population grows at twice the rate of the UK as a whole. Having access

to data like this will be extremely important for the health service, as it responds to ever-growing demand.”

Carolyn Botfield, Estates Director at the National Health Service, said: “It’s important for us to identify where the NHS is adding value, and adapt our services to the requirements of the local community - over time, its needs change. Clinics are often blockbooked, but we have no way of finding out if just a few people, or twenty patients, are attending every week. The sensor will allow us to achieve real-time feedback on how our buildings are being used, enabling us to make smarter decisions.

“Beringar truly understands the NHS and the pressures and challenges it faces. Our patients are at the heart of everything we do, and the team has taken into consideration the sensitivities surrounding the environment we’re working within. By creating a sensor that doesn’t record or identify individuals, the company has made patient confidentiality

g Proptech Start-Up Senses Big Opportunity For NHS Property

a priority. We look forward to working with Beringar in the months and years ahead.”

Beringar was recently named among the first set of successful companies at CENSIS’s IoT Explorer, an accelerator programme for businesses looking to develop IoT-related products. The Innovation Centre introduced Beringar to the LoRa network and has supported its development with engineering and technical capabilities.

Dr Stephen Milne, Business Development Manager at CENSIS, said: “Apart from traditional methods, such as clipboards and visitor registration books, property managers have had no real concrete evidence of how their buildings are being used day-to-day. Beringar’s device is changing that and presents the NHS, and potentially other organisations, with a suite of information to help them deliver a highperforming estate. This project underlines the positive impact the IoT can have, not only in business, but within the services people rely on.”

Company: Demodern GmbH Contact: Tobias Soffner Contact Email: hi@demodern.de Address: Schulterblatt 58, Hamburg, 20357 Germany Phone: 0049 40 210 91 28 22 Website: www.demodern.de

October 2017 / TMT MAGAZINE 23

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AA Calls On Fleet Industry To Provide More SME Guidance Businesses and SMEs set to be affected by upcoming emissions reduction targets deserve more fleet industry support to stay ahead of coming regulatory and legislative changes, says the AA’s fleet and SME division.

From 23rd October, vehicles driving through central London must meet minimum exhaust emission standards or pay a £10 emissions fee as part of the Toxicity Charge, or T-charge, in addition to a daily congestion charge. Between 7 am to 6 pm, Monday to Friday, it will now cost businesses £21.50 to drive each pre-Euro 4 vehicle in their fleets into London, which are typically diesel and petrol models registered before 2006.

The AA is the UK’s most popular breakdown cover provider. Trusted by millions, it provides 24/7, 365 day assistance to 65% of the top 20 fleets in the UK. The AA’s expert knowledge is backed by funding with a £44m investment drive in technology in 2016 alone.

Plus, the AA is working closely with manufacturers and its clients to implement route management, driving training, risk management and operational vehicle

technology to help reduce the risk drivers face on UK roads.

The change is expected to affect 10,000 pre-2006 vehicles. With other UK cities considering following London’s lead in introducing emissions charges for polluting vehicles, such as Birmingham, Leeds, Nottingham, Derby and Southampton, the AA is calling for the automotive industry to increase its support for its SME customers.

Almost 95% of fleets are currently made up of diesel or petrolfuelled vehicles. However, in five years’ time, 63% of SMEs and businesses expect to be using alternative fuels to power their business vehicles, according to the second annual Operational Fleet Insight report produced collaboratively by the AA and BT’s Fleet Solutions.

As the industry moves towards greater electrification, the report found that SMEs are increasingly

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worried that manufacturers aren’t always treating them as a priority when it comes to advice and support due to their small fleet size. The lack of expert fleet knowledge that often exists within small businesses means that only 26% of SME fleet managers and decision-makers say their role involves focusing on long-term fleet strategy, such as a switchover to alternative fuels, compared with an already low average of 29% across all sectors.

“As emissions reduction becomes a focus for the UK’s large cities, businesses are under pressure to futureproof their fleets to ensure they comply with any future targets,” said Stuart Thomas, head of fleet services and SME at the AA. “Fleet managers feel required to investigate alternative fuel sources, but they may not have enough information to make strategic decisions, or feel supported by the industry to take an informed step forward.

The AA has already trained all of its patrols to be able to respond to and assist owners of electric vehicles as well as joining forces with Chargemaster to set up the multi-brand Electric Vehicle (EV) Centre in Milton Keynes. The EV Centre is the first of its kind in the UK that provides information and advice on electric vehicles. The centre also provides free driving lessons with AA instructors to help motorists get the most out of driving and owning an EV.

“Small businesses which will be affected are likely to be hit hard by the introduction of the T-charge, which almost doubles the cost of driving a vehicle through London during peak hours. Fleets are the backbone of British business, and need more guidance to help them to make the most of the upcoming EV revolution. We urge the automotive industry to provide the support businesses require to help them to anticipate upcoming legislation and reduce costs.”

g AA Calls On Fleet Industry To Provide More SME Guidance

October 2017 / TMT MAGAZINE 25

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Telecoms And Tech Industry Lead The Way In Race Towards General Data Protection Regulation Compliance Only 1 in 4 businesses currently ready for GDPR, but a further 44% expect to be ready in time for next May, with finance (£215m) and IT (£266m) departments see the most funding for GDPR investment.

New research from leading information security company Clearswift has shown that the education sector is rivaling technology for the top spot when it comes to GDPR preparedness. This research was conducted by technology research firm, Vanson Bourne, on behalf of Clearswift.

Over 600 business decision makers and 1,200 employees from the UK, US, Germany and Australia were polled to map the attitudes of businesses and employees relating to cyber security.

The research surveyed 600 senior business decision makers and 1,200 employees across the UK, US, Germany and Australia.

When asked whether firms currently have all of the necessary processes in place to be compliant the top five performing sectors included technology and telecommunications (32%), education (31%), IT (29%),

business services (29%) and finance (29%).

The survey has also revealed, of all the sectors, healthcare is the least likely to be ready for the upcoming GDPR, with only 17% of private and public sector bodies claiming to have the processes in place to comply with the legislation. Following closely behind is the retail sector with a mere 18% of the industry ready for GDPR, and marketing at 19% and legal at 21%.

Overall, the research has shown that only a quarter (26%) of businesses are currently ready for General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). However with the deadline fast approaching, a further 44% are putting processes in place and expect to be ready in time for May next year, when the legislation comes into force.

Dr Guy Bunker, SVP of Products at Clearswift, said: “With 64% of UK businesses currently

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making moves towards GDPR compliance, the outlook is not as bleak as previously thought.

“It is clear that the regulation has grabbed the attention of businesses, but what is important is that their focus is in the right place. Those viewing GDPR as an opportunity will be in the best position to not only comply, but evolve their organisations, enhance their security posture and achieve business growth.

“Educating employees about how to safeguard critical information, introducing data protection guidelines and instilling a culture of data consciousness in the workplace will not only bring organisations closer to compliance but help reduce the chances of a data breach.”

Although the majority of businesses may not currently be ready for GDPR, employers have begun to identifying the departments within their

organisations where data protection is needed most. The most common departments to have budget allocated for spend on GDPR are finance and IT (31%). This is particularly relevant as most businesses believe their critical data predominantly lies in the finance department (55%), suggesting that finance will be under the spotlight in the coming months as organisations look at how they can prepare for GDPR. When looking at the size of an organisation, 46% of the businesses that reported they are ready for GDPR had between 500 – 999 employees. Compared with larger corporations of 5000 or more employees, only 19% reported they are ready, suggesting that bigger is not necessarily better. Smaller enterprises are leading the way over their larger counterparts in putting processes and technology in place ahead of May 2018.

While many organisations are

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Telecoms And Tech Industry Lead The Way In Race Towards General Data Protection Regulation Compliance

expecting to be ready for GDPR, our research has shown that a typical company-wide IT project takes around six months to rollout, meaning those that aren’t ready now are running out of time to introduce new technology which could help them comply with the legislation.

Dr Bunker added: “The key focuses for GDPR compliance are educating employees and understanding where your data lies. However, organisations that are still looking at how they can prepare should focus on security solutions that can be integrated within existing infrastructures, such as Data Loss Prevention (DLP) tools and content inspection software, which are the biggest priorities in preventing data loss and can be used to demonstrate compliance with GDPR legislation. This can save time and costs by adding these to existing security investments instead of the removing old technology and replacing it with completely new solutions.”

October 2017 / TMT MAGAZINE 27

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Turk Telekom Selects TEOCO to deliver Network Performance Managed Services Project Operator deploys TEOCO’s Service Assurance tool as part of multi-year project.

TEOCO, the leading provider of analytics, assurance and optimization solutions to over 300 communication service providers (CSPs) and OEMs worldwide, has been appointed by Turk Telekom to deliver comprehensive network service assurance services. The managed services agreement will be based on the broad capabilities of TEOCO’s HELIX service assurance tool, formerly known as OPTIMA. TEOCO’s appointment follows a competitive RFP process, led by Turk Telekom, designed to introduce cost reductions and enhanced operational efficiency across its multi-vendor, multi-technology network.

As part of this latest development, TEOCO’s HELIX will support network performance management functionality across Turk Telekom’s fixed and mobile infrastructure. In addition to optimizing network performance in the short-term, the operator was keen to ensure it was prepared to handle next-generation, crossdomain hybrid networks. This

meant being ready to support advanced network integration, run network-wide analytics, as well as to implement automation and closed loop functions. This full-service capability is available in the latest version of HELIX. Fundamentally, TEOCO’s appointment builds further on a successful 14-year relationship with Turk Telekom. The operator currently uses additional TEOCO tools including Connect, Forte, Mentor, Allcalls and Insight.

This longstanding relationship provides TEOCO with a detailed understanding of Turk Telekom’s network performance pressures, through a comprehensive view of parameters and measures being returned from all areas of its network. TEOCO is fully committed to supporting the Turkish telecommunications industry with local sales and technical personnel based in-country to ensure optimal customer satisfaction and maximum proactivity in identifying new opportunities.

“We’re committed to ensuring Turkey continues to establish

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itself as a key player in the global telecommunications arena,” says Mr Cengiz Dogan, CTO, Turk Telekom. “It is our intention to ensure Turkey is viewed as a thriving global digital hub, and an innovative advocate of optimal network performance. Our partnership with TEOCO spans our fixed and mobile networks and ensures the best possible user experience for Turkey’s growing digital population.”

“We’re thrilled to be extending the value we currently offer to Turk Telekom,” says Atul Jain, CEO, TEOCO. “As an established leader in network service assurance technology innovation, adding such a prestigious operator to our global customer portfolio is perfect validation for our suite of network tools. Driving network service assurance best-practice is fundamental for delivering a differentiated customer experience – the very platform from which all thriving digital economies are based.”

TEOCO is the leading provider of analytics, assurance and engineering solutions to

communication service providers (CSPs) worldwide. Our solutions simplify the digital transformation of CSPs with unique, actionable metrics and insights into network and subscriber behaviour.

Through advanced analytics, TEOCO enables global CSPs to drive maximum network efficiency, improve profitability and offer a differentiated customer experience. This includes the optimization, effective monetization, and delivery of new and existing services, such as VoLTE. Furthermore, its commitment to network flexibility and agility makes TEOCO the obvious choice for CSPs looking to harness NFV/SDN to maximise the lucrative potential of new opportunities tied to the emerging Internet of Things (IoT) and rise of 5G.

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Turk Telekom Selects TEOCO to deliver Network Performance Managed Services Project

October 2017 / TMT MAGAZINE 29

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Global Expenditure On Trader Surveillance Set To Rise To US$758 Million In 2017 To Combat Market Abuse Only 7% surveyed have complete surveillance across asset classes and geographies, and respondents are prioritizing artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool for improving surveillance capabilities.

Global expenditure on trader surveillance is set to reach US$758m by the end of this year, as financial institutions (FI) allocate increasing resources to detect and prevent market abuse according to new research published today

by Chartis Research and EY, The Future of Trader Surveillance.

This increase in spending marks a 5% increase on last year, with 71% of respondents reporting to be in the process of upgrading their current trader surveillance systems. One of the key objectives of financial institutions’ investment is to reduce false positives – a major challenge in trader surveillance. Notably, having the budget to improve their systems does not appear to be an issue for respondents: only 5% named budget availability as their biggest challenge.

The research finds FIs prioritizing the implementation of advanced technology to avoid a repeat of high-profile and costly events such as the LIBOR and foreign exchange (FX) trading scandals, as well as those connected with the manipulation of ISDAFIX earlier this year.

Key drivers of change identified in the research include: •

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Regulators want more detailed contextual information around trades.

[1] Rules such as the Market Abuse Regulation (MAR) require FIs to gather this contextual information. This in turn is driving a more holistic approach to surveillance, bringing together electronic communications (e-comms) and trade monitoring.

FIs need fewer and better alerts. Trader surveillance

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systems generate thousands of alerts per day, and to keep pace FIs are expanding their compliance departments with additional full-time employees, forcing up costs.

•

Regulations are pushing FIs to expand their surveillance into more asset classes and new trading venues. Fixedincome, commodities and other over-the-counter (OTC) products must be catered for, along with organized trading facilities (OTFs) and other emerging venues. Systems originally designed for more traditional, “regulated” asset classes (such as equities) are struggling under the weight of more trades, idiosyncratic reporting requirements and a huge volume, variety and velocity of data.

Glenn Perachio, Financial Crime Market Abuse and Trader

Surveillance Solution Leader, Ernst & Young LLP, offered his opinion on the findings and what they mean for the market.

“The research suggests that the default position for FIs has been to use systems designed primarily to meet the requirements of regulators. As a result, FIs have lost an opportunity by making only modest technical advancements within this space, wary of distinguishing themselves from their peers. Despite the increased investment, just 7% of firms surveyed have introduced complete surveillance across all asset classes and geographies.

Furthermore, about half of financial institutions could be missing out on vital surveillance insights by failing to monitor e-comms as well as trades and orders.”

The research found that while regulations allow for a certain degree of flexibility when addressing trader surveillance,

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Global Expenditure On Trader Surveillance Set To Rise To US$758 Million In 2017 To Combat Market Abuse

FIs tend to invest to keep pace with asset class expansion and regulatory change, not innovation, resulting in only modest technical advancements within this space.

Michael Patterson, Partner, Ernst & Young LLP, FSO, concluded by providing his insight into how the research will impact on businesses in the future. “Traditional solutions to combat market abuse may no longer be sustainable for some institutions.

FIs understand the need to improve trader surveillance and are allocating increasing resources to do so. Moving forward, the key will be to ensure that these resources are used correctly to reduce costs and enhance efficiency by applying smart technologies including automation and AI, rather than simply adding more full-time employees.�

October 2017 / TMT MAGAZINE 31

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