ICT Solutions • April 2014

Number 9 I april 2014

ICT Solutions ICT advice for managers

E-commerce A new way of doing business

Becloud E-commerce Your e-shop in the clouds

4G arrives on the scene Improve your company’s performance

Security trends

Cyber security dominates 2014

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World’s fastest desktop printers.

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Need more information or want to order?

Contact an ICT Expert near you via www.belgacom-ict-expert.be! * Valid from 14 February until 30 April 2014. After your purchase, demand your rebate at hp.be/superpromo.

1 Guinness World Records® record set on HP X551dw and X576dw models for fastest time to print 500 sheets by an office colour desktop printer, 6 Apr 2012; supervised and verified by wirthconsulting.org. Test documents ISO 24734 from sample four-page category test file printed in fastest colour mode for all products. Competitive set includes laser and inkjet colour desktop MFPs <100€ and printers <800€, Mar 2012. Details at guinnessworldrecords.com.

2 For more info: hp.com/go/printerclaims.

3 For more info: www.hp.com/go/learnaboutsupplies.

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Visit our new ICT information platform www.ictnews.be provides information for anyone interested in ICT and technological developments, and makes the link between the business world and ICT.

The customers come to you The world is changing, and so is the way we do business. Where you used to have to go to the customers, by having a shop in the neighbourhood, customers now come to you. And they don’t even have to get out of their armchairs. They just need a tablet, a WiFi network and the Internet. More and more people do their shopping like that. A new e-shop opens somewhere in Belgium every day.

Companies must be accessible through various channels these days.

They have to reach out to their customers with multichannel and even omni-channel marketing. Apart from the physical infrastructure of shops and offices, you need a digital presence too now, backed up by a solid ICT infrastructure. You suddenly need a whole lot of new elements to serve your customers well via the digital world. And that doesn’t just mean an e-shop, but also payment solutions and privacy protection for your customers. Solutions that have to perform perfectly 24/7 to provide the best possible customer experience.

In this edition of ICT Solutions we show you that these solutions are actually out there already, and that they are relatively simple and very affordable. Super secure e-shops exist now already. And your customers are ready too. Look out—they’re coming your way)!

Kris Verheye Vice-President Corporate Market, Enterprise Business Unit, Belgacom

In this number 3 Editorial 4 Dossier: Recommendations for your e-shop Compared to our neighbours, Belgian e-shops are underrepresented. It’s high time we caught up! The nine tips below, some of them strategic, some practical, may be helpful.

6 Dossier: Building blocks for your e-shop Are you planning to sell via the Internet or

do you do that already? It’s a good idea, but you should realise that a successful e-shop needs to be constructed with a few crucial building blocks.

14 Solution: Becloud e-commerce Manage your e-shop and online reservations in the cloud.

15 Tested: Why a 4G network?

12 Infographic: E-commerce in Belgium 16 Digitips: IT security trends in 2014 13 Solution: Sixdots Belgacom and BNP Paribas Fortis collaborate on a new smartphone payment standard to support online and mobile payments.

For questions concerning specific IT solutions you can always contact our account managers or our network of ICT Experts (www.belgacom-ict-expert.be).

17 Digitips: How to make your company accessible to your customers 18 Tested: New smartphones 18 Book: Buzz!

19 Explained: Big Data

A publication of Belgacom Group | Number 9, April 2014 | Publisher Belgacom nv, a public limited company, Boulevard Albert II 27, 1030 Bruxelles Concept and production: Minoc Media Services bvba, Parklaan 22 b10, 2300 Turnhout | www.minoc.be

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Nine recommendations for your e-shop Where e-commerce is concerned there’s still room for growth in Belgium. Compared to our neighbours, Belgian e-shops are underrepresented. So it’s high time we caught up! The nine tips below, some of them strategic, some practical, can be helpful.

Preparation 1. E-commerce cuts right across your company E-commerce is commerce, and therefore not an island unto itself. So involve every department. There is a danger that an e-shop may become a separate business within the organisation. Customers don’t see it like that though; as far as they are concerned it’s the same shop. Even if an e-commerce site starts off as a small, careful initiative, it is still better to be aware of its impact on all the other departments.

So it is always worthwhile involving all the departments in the project and addressing the key questions to them. These are:  Management: What objectives do we want to achieve in terms of future business, or number of visitors? What products will we offer? Who are the target groups? What are the sales objectives and forecasts?  Marketing: questions relating to market positioning, affiliate marketing, targeting, etc. should be looked at with the marketing department.  Logistics: what means and/or channel

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partners will we use for our shipments?

Should we allocate a separate stock to the website so as to avoid unexpected unavailability? How fast can products be delivered?  Financial: what should or should not be included in the general terms and conditions? How will products be taxed for international orders? What is the reimbursement policy? Do we want to do the payment processing ourselves or shall we outsource it to a third party?

And if the former, are we PCI compliant?

2. Start small, think big There’s nothing wrong with pragmatism, and that applies to e-commerce too. But, even as an SME, it’s best to have a bigger plan at the back of your mind. There’s work to be done in terms of integration, such as linking the e-commerce infrastructure to the internal computer systems.

3. Take charge Just as you do in a physical shop you have to put time and energy into maintaining it. It isn’t something you can just add to your daily tasks. If it is financially

feasible a dedicated e-commerce manager or someone to take charge is highly recommended. Obviously s/he should be appointed as early as possible in the process, so that s/he can register all the expectations and complaints from the very beginning, and can take them into consideration.

4. Think multichannel Multichannel is an important focus too, because not all purchases or contacts take place online only. Ecommerce is more than an e-shop. Ideally your e-shop should be linked to your travelling sales staff or your point-of-sales personnel. In addition, you should obviously be easily accessible by email and phone, via an 0800 number, for example. You might also consider other means of communication, such as chat.

Trading 5. Insistence doesn’t do any harm Urgency sells. The best examples are initiatives like Groupon or Vente Exclusive,

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with very temporary offers. Your e-shop can use techniques like these too. Think in terms of temporary offers (promotion of the day) or indicating the number of items still available. Both give visitors the impression that they might miss a unique opportunity.

6. Be transparent and strategic about costs to the customer It’s better to be transparent about the (extra) costs involved in sending the product. Excessively high shipment costs can, in the end, put customers off. It has a psychological effect too: the customer has a particular cost price in mind during the purchasing process. Be transparent about your returns policy as well, but be aware that your customers have a legal right to cancel their purchase within fourteen days of buying it.

cited is sales or margin per visitor. You might also compare these to the cost per conversion. With a click of your mouse you can change the whole e-shop around and see how the customers like it. Do they stay in the shop longer than before, do they purchase products faster or do visitors exit faster than ever before?

9. Work on customer loyalty This is perhaps the most important

recommendation. It is much more expensive to win customers than to keep them, and that applies to e-commerce too. So it’s worth creating a customer experience that makes customers want to come back again frequently instead of aiming for just one sale. As a small or new e-shop it is best to focus on your customer service and aftersales: an easy payment process and fast, satisfactory delivery.

Le Tiroir de Lou launches its e-shop Le Tiroir de Lou sells jewellery and fo-

the e-shop or to the site. It is possible to

cusses on three main sales channels: fa-

develop a blog, or make coupons for

shion boutiques and shops, direct sales

loyal customers, or develop promotions

at trade fairs, etc., and its e-shop. The

and send out a newsletter. With this tool

latter is the easiest way to reach a large

you can also adapt page content in

public. “We wanted to start an e-shop

various ways. The offer includes an SEO

quite early on, but were somewhat put

tool too (see page 10), which will give

off by the development costs. Finally

you advice on how to improve the site’s

we discovered Belgacom’s Becloud e-

ranking, such as helping with choosing

Commerce. It’s simple and economical,

search terms.

so we could open our eshop quickly.

“But opening an e-shop involves more

You can run an e-shop for between 20

than just the physical creation of the

and 50 euros a month”, says Christian

site”, stresses Christian Dezangré. “We

Dezangré, one of the founders of Le

had to take the legal aspects into

Tiroir de Lou.

consideration, draft the terms and con-

With Becloud e-Commerce it is possible

ditions, think of the aftersales service

After the launch

to link your e-shop to social media, with

and other elements, such as pay-

8. Have all the objectives been achieved?

automatic links to Twitter or Facebook,

ment methods. For that we work with

for example, if changes are made in

Docdata, an IT partner of the Becloud

7. No queuing at the till No one likes queuing at the till—and that also applies online. If the check-out and payment process takes too long you risk losing your potential purchaser just before the exit. It is therefore highly recommended that you keep that process as short and simple as possible. For example, a registration procedure for the purchase is not such a good idea.

After the launch of the e-commerce site the real business still has to start. A first important moment is when you check the extent to which you have achieved the strategic goals you set beforehand. The big advantage is that the Internet and e-commerce are extremely measurable.

Make sure you always have comparative material with which to assess your measurements. They may be very different criteria: the previous status, the situation before and after the launch of, for example, an Adwords campaign, branches in other countries, and so on.

A very concrete measure that is often

e-Commerce platform. There was a whole range of legal requirements to ponder too.”

And then there’s the marketing aspect.

“We’re actively present with publicity on Facebook and Google+ Adwords to

“Opening an e-shop involves much more than just the physical creation of the site.”

bring traffic to the site and improve the ranking. And, after all, the appearance of our e-shop also depends on the quality of the photos, graphics and animation. A website has to look very dynamic, so we change it regularly.”

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Building b for your e-shop

Are you planning to sell via the Internet or do you do that already? It’s a good idea, but you should realise that a successful e-shop needs to be constructed with a few crucial building blocks. We sum up the six most important.

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1. Front office The front office of an e-shop is both shop and shop window. It is the part that your customers get to see. But that’s where the resemblance with a real shop ends, because unlike a physical shop you don’t come across any staff or other customers there. So you need to be able to compensate for this with other elements that put

visitors at ease: things like clear information about delivery times, or the possibility of reimbursement and the total cost, including shipping costs—or about security and payment on the site, and making payments via a secure Internet connection. But there are other ways of winning visitors’ confidence too. Customer reviews, for example, can certainly help, even if they are negative. A few balanced negative

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g blocks

“Some balanced negative reactions can even increase customers’ trust, because they believe that you have nothing to hide.”

reactions can even increase customer confidence, because they show that you have nothing to hide.

Images speak volumes Site builders are often hesitant to put too many photos of the available products on the website. But don’t forget that your site has to compensate for the lack of the physical shopping experience. How

better to compensate for the inability to touch products than with lots of photos taken from every possible angle? An ecommerce site that also shows videos has far fewer ‘drop-offs’ (people who leave the e-shop during the purchasing process, before paying) as websites where no videos are shown. This observation is probably linked to the one above. Being able to admire a product from every angle and/or see it in action is not quite the same as the physical sensation of holding it and trying it out, but at least it gets you closer to it.

Obviously you have to be careful that adding videos and photos doesn’t substantially lower your website’s reaction speed. Studies have shown that a site that functions faster than previously brings in more revenues than before the intervention. It might not seem much, but for retailers that work with small margins of less than one per cent, increasing the reaction speed can turn out to be the most profitable intervention of the year. So ensure from the start that your e-commerce site is built as efficiently as possible, so that no time is wasted by putting in unnecessary code. Your technical people or an external partner will take care of that for you (see under ‘hosting’).

Mobile Take into consideration, too, that online shopping will increasingly be done via a

mobile platform. When you develop your site, try as far as possible to use a ‘responsive’ or ‘adaptive’ design. That is a design that adapts to suit the device with which the site is visited.

And whether you like it or not, the Apple iPad, in particular, will be used for a large percentage of the mobile site visits. So Apple’s strategic choices are often important for the design of your site as well. For example, for its mobile hardware, Apple abandoned Flash a while ago in favour of HTML 5. Nonetheless there are still many websites displaying Flash videos. That’s understandable if you made them a long time ago and don’t immediately want to change them. But those who make Flash animations or videos now deliberately exclude all iPad owners. So, unless you have compelling reasons for choosing Flash, it’s better to opt for the alternative.

2. Back office An e-shop is much more than just a website. Underlying it is an e-commerce application acting as a motor to make sure everything works as it should. Whatever software or service you consider when you set up your own e-shop, there’s a lot of preparatory work if you want to do it properly. It’s a serious misconception to think that it won’t take long to set up an e-shop.

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So, it is important to decide on your market positioning, pricing policy and product range. Only then can you begin to think about the technical details: will you opt for a cloud solution or will you contact a professional e-commerce company to customise it for your needs? Or perhaps you have the necessary time and expertise in house to build your own e-shop?

Modular Whatever you decide, your solution must include the specific processes required for e-commerce. After all, e-commerce involves the accounts, order processing and stock management, amongst other things.

This means that an e-commerce solution

must be open and easy to integrate. At the same time, e-commerce must also support and integrate third-party processes, such as payment service providers.

That’s why you need to opt for a solution that is easy to integrate and link up.

It is important for this sort of solution to be modular: you can start small and end up big. There are many different aspects to flexibility in e-commerce, after all. On the demand side, your e-shop must be able to grow in step with the rising number of visitors and orders. But the supply side makes various demands too. You have to be very flexible as regards your product range. If you plan a summer promotional campaign in your e-shop you must be able to implement it very fast. Because time is money! That is perhaps even truer in the case of e-commerce.

3. Hosting “Customers can access a locally hosted website faster, which is of paramount importance in hosting web applications.”

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In many cases, your e-shop doesn’t run on your own hardware. Hosting websites or e-shops is typically a job for specialised hosting companies such as Belgacom.

You use one or more of the webhost’s servers, or you use your own servers and put them in a data centre. In either case, it is crucial for your e-shop to be constantly and (rather) quickly accessible.

It is often advisable to choose a local

webhost rather than an international player, even though they are on the whole cheaper. Support is provided in your own language and by people who work in the same time zone. The service is usually more accessible to customers and offers more open (and honest) communication if there are problems. The servers are physically located in Belgium or the Netherlands, which can be legally necessary (privacy legislation), or useful in the event of conflict between the two parties.

A telecom specialist like Belgacom has the advantage of being able to offer a combination of hosting and network.

Customers with a Belgacom Explore connection can safely use their applications via this private network without using the Internet. And last but not least, a locally hosted network can be accessed faster by your customers, which is especially important where hosting web applications is concerned.

4. Fulfilment and logistics Fulfilment and logistics, and everything they involve are the next building blocks in the e-commerce story. They are often underestimated, certainly by those just starting a web shop. Fulfilment is more than packing up and sending parcels.

It’s about storing goods for the e-shop, picking up the products and dealing with returns. Often other activities are involved too, such as stock management and customer contacts. In its totality it’s a major process.

A large number of e-shops, especially those that are just starting up, fail to pay enough attention to all these activities.

That is the conclusion of a new report by the research bureau Panteia. New e-shops regularly go bankrupt because they lose their grip on the dispatch and logistics process, or because their business model doesn’t deal adequately with all these different aspects. At the same time, the success of e-shops is very dependent on good service and logistics. Customers expect a different type of service when they order online. In addition, there is a

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need for retailers to differentiate themselves sufficiently from the many other suppliers.

Perhaps the most important question for e-shops is whether they should do the fulfilment and/or logistics themselves or outsource it. As e-shops grow they are usually more inclined to outsource activities such as fulfilment and logistics.

They feel that’s a step towards becoming a mature company. It gives them more flexibility and space to concentrate, as entrepreneurs, on their core activities.

Figures from the research bureau Panteia show that many shops do their e-shop fulfilment themselves. This is because they are mostly small companies. The distribution to consumers is mainly outsourced though; the vast majority of e-shops send their products via parcel post.

5. Payments The last stage of any online sales cycle is payment. A difficult hurdle apparently, as the purchaser and seller have conflicting interests here. The majority of Belgians would prefer to pay offline rather than online with a credit card, for example. This is strange because it has been proved that the latter is the safest payment method, if only because in the event of fraud or delivery problems you almost always get your money back from the credit card companies.

But even suppliers cite the same lack of confidence in the payment methods and in the guarantee of payment as a reason not to go all out for e-commerce.

Both parties prefer hard cash. Customers want to see their goods delivered before

they pay and suppliers want to receive payment before delivery. That combined with the fear of identity theft means there is currently no ideal solution. Consumers are often more confident about paying with an application from the banks than using a credit card, although they don’t enjoy the consumer protection they do with the credit card companies.

For many companies it is a question of offering an adequate choice of payment methods in their e-shops with payment platforms such as those of payment providers like Ogone. It means consumers have a choice. When it comes to business customers there is another consideration too. They prefer to pay by invoice. So, classic bank transfers, either electronic or otherwise, will continue to play a key role for some considerable time, even in online shopping.

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6. Marketing

Seven answers to e-commerce worries Whether or not they are justified, web shopkeepers would be advised to bear in mind these seven worries we often hear about e-commerce.

1. “It’s not a real shop.”

Buying things in an e-shop that has no physical address or location often makes people uncomfortable.

2. “I don’t know what the product really looks like.”

Many people use more than just their eyes when they go shopping. They want to be able to feel or even smell a product. And, most of all, they want to avoid making the wrong purchase.

3. “Help!”

The idea of buying online is like shouting in the wilderness. There isn’t immediately appropriate help on hand—even though some traders try to solve that problem by, for example, offering assistance via chat.

4. “My personal details will be passed on.”

A lot of consumers are reluctant to enter the necessary personal details for fear of being overwhelmed with spam later. Sorry, I mean reply forms as in

Unique content

specialised emails or newsletters.

Moreover, the content should not only be relevant, it should also be unique. Often you see universal content being used to fill up e-shop sites—a standard manufacturer’s description of a product, for example.

If a lot of the texts on your site are ‘standard’ rather than unique content, the page has less chance of scoring high in Google.

For your site to end up high in Google’s search results it is, above all, important for other websites to refer to yours. The more important the website that refers to you, the greater the impact on the likelihood of your own site being found in Google.

5. “Can I trace my order?”

You place an order, you get a confirmation and then you hear nothing for a few days. Are the goods really on their way?

6. “If I’m not satisfied, I’ll be stuck with it.”

Without clear guarantees up front, shoppers are not certain that they can return their purchases afterwards.

7. “My credit card number will be stolen.”

No visitors to your e-shop means no sales.

They have to be able to find your e-shop.

For that you need Google, or a banner campaign, or offline advertising whereby you mention your website or e-shop on all your communications. A very efficient and, in the meantime, underestimated resource is the newsletter. And obviously there are the Search Engine Optimization efforts (SEO) of search engines like Google. If you want your e-shop to be found, you will have to make sure that your web pages are optimised for certain search terms.

Google constantly analyses all the content on the Internet. You have to set up your website so that it can be found using certain search terms. Ask yourself what the core of your website is: which is the area in which you want to claim authority and differentiate yourself from others? The trick is to ensure that your page comes out as high as possible in Google’s search results when people search using search terms that are important to you. In other words, which keywords are relevant to your site?

Now that cases regularly appear in the news of hackers stealing credit card details, this is still a pertinent fear. It’s up to you to make the payment procedure as transparent and as safe as possible.

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cloud_s

Safe and secure in the cloud Organisations are benefiting from the cloud more and more. However, it is important to carefully examine the new risks and challenges to security. How can you secure your business applications against targeted and persistent attacks? How can you put your data in the cloud with all the necessary security guarantees? How can you ensure the confidentiality of your data in the cloud? Choose a secure cloud, perfectly reliable cloud services and the security and availability of your network, your data and your business applications from the cloud. By trusting Belgacom, your activities in the cloud will be safe.

More info?

Surf to www.belgacom.be/security © Belgacom 2014. Belgacom SA under public law, 27 Bd. du Roi Albert II, B-1030 Brussels.

Each day more opportunities

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infographic

Rapid growth in e-commerce Increase in sales 18.40 % 1.80 billion euros. This puts

Sales in 2013 increased by compared to last year, to reach a total of

Belgians among the fastest growing groups of e-shoppers in western Europe.

Only Ireland did better, with 25 % growth.

Western European market continues to grow On average the whole e-commerce market in western Europe (France, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, Luxembourg, Ireland and Belgium) grew by 10 % to

174 billion euros.

Online sales In Belgium a new e-shop virtually opens its doors every day.

But there’s a long way to go yet:

Online spending 836

62%

of Belgian companies still don’t sell over the Net.

Here in Belgium we spend the least money on average per family in western

863 euros per family. In the Nether-

Europe via the Internet: about

lands it’s 1,365 euros per household.

Collection

Payment

Belgian consumers prefer to collect their

Belgians like to pay by credit card

classic bricks-andmortar store, in

purchases from a

contrast to Dutch and German consumers.

or bank transfer;

13.5 %

of payments are made via smartphone or tablet.

Bron: BeCommerce, Comscore, Smart Business Strategies

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solution

Sixdots

New payment standard Vast numbers of Belgians have discovered the advantages of online shopping. In order to support online and mobile payments, Belgacom and BNP Paribas Fortis are collaborating on a new smartphone payment standard.

B

elgian consumers increasingly go online to do their shopping.

BeCommerce figures show that Belgian e-shops achieved sales of 1.80 billion euros in 2013. That is a rise of no less than 18.40 per cent compared to 2012! As a consequence of the growing success of online shopping, payment operators and banks are constantly looking for new methods to support online and mobile trade, so that payments can be made more easily and more safely.

Mobile and online With this in mind, Belgacom and BNP Paribas Fortis set up the joint venture ‘Belgian Mobile Wallet’ late last year. The purpose of the collaboration is to launch a Belgian standard for smartphone payments so that, in the future, consumers will be able to use their smartphones as a means of paying. The standard is being commercialised under the name ‘Sixdots’–a reference to the six-figure pin number which will suffice, in future, as a unique code for making online and mobile payments in Belgium. The PIN will be combined with various smart security mechanisms to turn smartphones into a safe and user-friendly means of payment.

Smooth integration Sixdots uses the new MasterPass payment solution offered by MasterCard. This is a technology that makes it possible to keep MasterCard details, as well as details of

other credit cards, debit cards, prepaid cards and address details safe in a digital wallet. Sixdots ensures the security and integration of this payment solution into a trader’s site or mobile application. As a result, consumers don’t need to enter any details themselves any more. Card readers will be superfluous too, so the payment process will be much more efficient. One click on the button will be enough to make a payment.

Thanks to Sixdots, online traders will have a standardised solution for online payments and for the easy and smooth integration of in-app commerce into their own applications. And it will be customised to look and feel like their own app too. Traders will pay a small fee per transaction. For consumers, use of Sixdots will be completely free of charge. “The app will be accessible to all smartphone users with a debit card from any bank established in Belgium and a mobile phone subscription with any Belgian telecom operator”, explains Managing Director Frederic Lhostte.

Payment process The technological platform supporting Sixdots was developed by Accenture and has been operational since January this year. A trial with the focus on e-commerce payments started then with a limited number of traders and consumers. The commercial launch of the platform is planned for this spring. Developed by Belgacom

and BNP Paribas Fortis, Sixdots meets the demands of consumers and online traders for a standardised payment solution that ensures a safer and more user-friendly buying process. But it doesn’t stop there: later this year Sixdots want to add support for virtual tickets, e-coupons and loyalty programmes too, so that they can be directly integrated into the payment process. Points and discount vouchers will be saved automatically and factored into the payment process—so they will never be forgotten again.

Would you like your customers to be able to use Sixdots as well? For more information, visit www.sixdots.be.

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solution

Becloud e-Commerce

E-commerce in the clouds You manage your own e-shop and online reservations via the Internet—or, to put it in more up-to-date terms, in the cloud. This is one of the new trends we’ve noticed concerning the management and running of e-shops.

M

ore and more people shop online. So your (potential) customers may do too. These days, people are generally very familiar with the Internet and online shopping. And before you know it they’ll be buying via the Internet from the competition. If you haven’t taken your company online yet, it’s fairly easy to set up a professional e-shop and start using this new sales channel.

Everything via the Internet The only thing you need to get started is a web browser with an Internet connection. The web or cloud applications, like Becloud e-Commerce, make it possible for you to start your own e-shop without too much effort. You don’t need a lot of knowledge and you don’t need to install

all kinds of applications either. So you’ll be able to get started fast and reach new customers!

Belgacom’s Becloud e-Commerce offers you all these possibilities and they can be modulated as you like for your company.

Wide range of tasks

Customised

Contemporary solutions for e-shop management also enable you to take care of a whole range of tasks yourself. Not only can you manage the design of your e-shop, you also have the orders, stock, deliveries and payments at your fingertips.

Deal with them with a click of your mouse!

Belgacom’s channel partners, like GLS and Docdata Payments, can make your work even easier if you decide to let them take care of your deliveries or online payments.

In addition, you have tools to increase your presence on the social media, like Facebook and Twitter, or to score higher in the search results of online search engines.

The basic Becloud e-Commerce is standard, but every e-shop looks different. You can choose the design of your e-shop yourself, in line with your company’s house style, personalised and unique. There’s a selection of different optional payment and delivery modules you can offer your customers too. Having a wide variety is definitely important. After all, you don’t want your customer to give up at the last moment because he or she can’t pay for a product or can’t have it delivered, do you?

“With Becloud e-Commerce you can have an e-shop for as little as twenty euros a month.”

Affordable investment in the sustained growth of your company E-commerce solutions have gained a lot of ground in recent years and are being used by a growing number of companies.

The quality of the solutions has improved enormously and, what’s more, the prices are very affordable now. With Becloud eCommerce you can have your own unique e-shop from as little as twenty euros a month—with the constant, reliable aftersales support of Belgacom thrown in.

You’ll find more information about Becloud e-Commerce at www.becloud. be/e-commerce.

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Tested

Faster mobile Internet access

Why a 4G network?

These days it’s impossible to imagine the business world without mobile Internet. Mobile Internet access is available almost everywhere in Belgium, so you are no longer dependent on WiFi access points to be able to work. Until recently 3G speed was the norm in Belgium, but now the much faster 4G has been added.

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hese days Proximus 4G is already available in over 260 towns and cities, reaching fifty per cent of the population. So what good is a 4G network to you? First of all, it’s important to understand the advantages of 4G: 4G means incredibly fast Internet, sometimes even faster than your company’s fixed Internet connection. The average speed at the moment is 19.1 Mbps for downloading and 11.9 Mbps for uploading.

Those are exceptional results for mobile Internet. In comparison, 3G reaches an average of 6.2 Mbps for downloading and 1.3 Mbps for uploading. This means, especially for uploading, that 4G is almost fourteen times as fast as 3G! Proximus is expanding its 4G range every day and bought a twenty-year licence on the 800 MHz frequency at the end of last year, so it will have an even more efficient network in the future.

In practice One of the first professional users to test 4G was the university hospital UZ Brussels.

Every day, seventy people in Belgium have a stroke. Fast intervention by a specialised medical team offers the best chances of recovery. Now a trial project has brought the necessary expertise to the patient in the ambulance, via 4G. “Two elements are essential: speed and competence”, says Dr Raf Brouns from the neurology depart-

ment. “Every second is important and acting fast can mean the difference between life and death, or between recovery and a lasting handicap.” To make this possible in a moving ambulance we need a mobile connection with high availability and adequate bandwidth. Belgacom’s 4G network provides this.

Myriade is responsible for archiving the video images from security cameras. Jan Meeremans, director at Myriade, says: “At the moment we always send someone to physically fetch the images. If 4G is a financially attractive alternative, we will certainly switch and send the images online.” Patrick Van Zundert, ICT Manager at ADO Icarus, sums it up well: “4G is unbelievably fast, it’s as if you’re surfing via a fixed connection.”

So what use is a 4G connection to you? In fact the possibilities are endless because, from now on, you will be able to enjoy incredibly fast Internet in many, many places in Belgium, just like you can in your own office via a fixed Internet connection. Thanks to 4G you can attend video conferences in very high video quality and continue to work when you’re away from the office as easily as you can when you’re there.

Compatibility The only thing you must definitely take into consideration is whether your current

mobile devices are compatible with 4G. 3G-compatible devices don’t automatically work on 4G networks, but will use the available 3G speed. To enjoy 4G you need to use smartphones, tablets and USB modems that support 4G. Fortunately 4G is a fast-growing market and the newest devices all support 4G, but you should definitely check for compatibility. Proximus recently announced that it would give all customers 4G access from now on. Is 4G a worthwhile new investment for you?

Absolutely, because 4G is still only in the early stages of its considerable potential.

In the near future data transfer speeds will increase, as was the case with 3G. By the way, if you should see ‘LTE’ somewhere instead of ‘4G’, don’t worry. Both abbreviations mean the same in fact. According to the GSMA, 4G is presently available in 88 countries. By 2017, 4G will be available in 128 countries. Not sure whether 4G is actually available in your location? It’s simple, go to www.proximus.be/4G to analyse the current 4G range. It’s high time to switch!

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digitips

Cyber security dominates 2014 Digital technology is conquering the world. Whether you step into an airplane, walk into a hotel room or phone someone with your phone, there are computers everywhere to make sure that what you’re doing goes as smoothly as possible. But there is another side to the coin, of course.

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nything can be hacked and hackers are constantly looking for new opportunities to practice their dishonest activities. Your company should take this into consideration too. Further to the recent IT Security Convention that Belgacom organised at the end of 2013, we pass on some trends and recommendations to you here.

Mistrust emails from colleagues Phishing attacks send spam to thousands, if not millions, of Internet users in the hope that a few of them will log into a fake site.

Spear phishing, on the other hand, is a more targeted attack, usually aimed at a single individual who naturally has access to company information. For this, the attackers draft an email which appears to come from a source the victim trusts. As the email looks trustworthy the recipient has fewer doubts about clicking on the fraudulent link. ICT expert Luc Devreese comments: “ICT users are unaware of the risks they sometimes run. That is why retail companies need to give their consumers the necessary support.”

Cyber warfare Cyber warfare has only really made the headlines in the last five years. Should you, as an ordinary organisation, be afraid of falling victim to a cyber attack? Not

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directly perhaps, but indirectly definitely.

There is always collateral damage. Your organisation might not be the intended target, but it could just as well be hit. “If there were to be a successful cyber attack on our infrastructure it would have direct consequences for our services to the general public”, says Mehdi Ben Hassen, network manager at the Belgian Foreign Ministry. “That’s why we take the necessary measures to protect ourselves. We trace possible risks quickly and manage to block attacks.”

Bouncer lists Cyber criminals increasingly concentrate on advanced attacks that are difficult to trace. A nice example is `bouncer lists’ – virtual bouncers, you might say, who decide who does or doesn’t land on a phishing site; the rest just get a 404 Error page. Conventional malware threats will continue to develop too, but the bad news here is that few new attacks will occur.

Android: the weakest link?

There are two main reasons for the popularity of the Android platform with cyber criminals. The first is that Android has by far the largest market share.

Android is probably well on the way to achieving the same dominant position in the mobile market as Microsoft once had for desktop computers and laptops.

What’s more, Android was developed less securely than say the Apple or Windows Phone platform. In the meantime, Google has noticeably improved security on the Android platform, but it is still an attractive target for cyber criminals. “The arrival of new technologies offers some nice opportunities, but because of the economic crisis there are not always the resources to concentrate sufficiently on making them secure”, according to Jean-Michel Lamby, head of Security Services & Solutions at Unisys. “That’s why my advice is to remain alert. Companies should take the time to analyse and assess a new technology, to draw up a business case for it and only then take a decision.”

Windows The improved security of the Windows 8 operating system and the new 8.1 version is a good step forward, but that won’t immediately lead to an improvement in the business world, since most companies are not moving to Windows 8, or only the odd one here and there. Most still use Windows 7. Windows XP users should switch as soon as possible however, because support for it will stop within the next year.

For a complete overview of the main IT security trends and challenges that were dealt with during the Belgacom Security Convention, surf to www.belgacom.be/securityconvention.

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digitips

Four steps to

optimum accessibility It used to be simple: you had a phone and a computer with some software on it. Nowadays everything is more intertwined. Not just the hard- and software but our work and private lives as well. “Companies are faced with more challenges, but more possibilities too”, affirms Johan De Belie from Belgacom.

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hese days, communication is a basic requirement for companies both large and small. On the other hand, a contemporary communication solution is something that can be customised to suit a particular company to a much greater extent than previously. We review the various choices you need to make for optimal communication and accessibility with Johan De Belie, Specialised Sales Consultant Unified Communications at Belgacom.

Basic connectivity This is the basic connection. Where a telephone line used to be pure public property, that is no longer the case now.

There are more choices to be made. You might opt for an analogue line, or for a VoIP (Voice-over-IP) connection, whereby your conversations are transported over the network as data. “Sometimes there are extra services on a phone line too.

Perhaps you need to arrange for an 0800 number or a certain type of routing”, explains Johan De Belie.

Application Certain applications are involved here that enable better communication and collaboration. “Take, for example, applications for emailing and chatting, or for indicating your status or your presence - or even for enabling virtual meetings.”

External Until now the focus has been on internal communication between colleagues, but now companies increasingly pay more attention to accessibility for their customers.

“It’s about interaction with the customers.

Take contact centres: they need to provide optimal customer service through a variety of channels—telephone, chat, email and others.” It is important for e-shops to be easily accessible to visitors; for them to be able to chat with employees, for example.

For many companies, the four choices above are certainly not the only choices

“Companies are paying more and more attention to their accessibility for customers – what’s referred to as interaction.” they (have to) make. Because, in addition to using the traditional fixed line, employees increasingly need mobile connections.

That is clear from the rise in numbers of homeworkers, who also need to be accessible of course. “Actually, for the four technological choices above, you need to take mobile users into consideration too”, concludes Johan De Belie.

Basic communication This is the communication service on the line. What we mean by this is a telephone exchange, and there is a range of choices here as well. A telephone exchange used to be hardware on a company’s premises.

These days it can also be software or a service that an operator like Belgacom offers. “There’s a big difference technologically, but actually it shouldn’t make any difference to the end-user what he or she chooses. All the options should be equally easy to use.”

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tested

New smartphones Nokia Lumia 1520 How big can your next smartphone be?

The new Nokia Lumia 1520 is a sturdy smartphone with a Full HD screen measuring a whole six inches, but it fits into your jacket pocket or bag just fine. The large screen and the 1920 x 1080 pixels resolution is exceptionally user-friendly and therefore lends itself perfectly to both searching for and entering data into business applications. As a result, applications such as Word, Excel and PowerPoint are extremely pleasant to work with. The Office package is still a major advantage of Windows Phone 8 for business and

the integration with Lync, for example, is perfect. The colours really fly off the screen and you can make fantastic photos and high-quality Full HD films with the powerful 20 megapixel PureView camera.

Nokia has also installed some exclusive photo applications to make full use of the potential, and you have access to the Windows App Store. Other nice extras: wireless charging and an extremely long battery life. The Lumia 1520 is by far the best Windows Phone 8 device on the market. www.nokia.be

Acer Liquid Z5 With the Liquid Z5, Acer has launched an interesting smartphone. The five-inch screen doesn’t look very sharp due to the low image resolution of 854 x 480 pixels.

Nonetheless, the fast dual-core processor leaves extra breathing space for better performance. The Liquid Z5 operates with Android 4.2.2, to which, by the way, Acer has added its own twist. An update

to Android 4.3 or the newest 4.4 hasn’t been announced yet.

Acer’s own software has introduced ‘floating apps’. This means you can open several applications in different windows–and make optimal use of the large screen. At the back the Liquid Z5 has a 5 megapixel camera with a special lens that lets more light through, so that you can make better photos in comparatively darker conditions. A striking feature is the button in the centre of the back of the device. Press it once to unlock the smartphone, press twice to access your favourite application and hold it down to go to the camera app. Handy! The Acer Liquid Z5 is an exceptionally complete, budget smartphone. www.acer.be

book

Create a buzz Hear the words ‘viral marketing’ and you immediately think of social media, like Facebook, YouTube or Twitter. “Wrong”, says Jonah Berger, author of the book ‘Contagious: Why Things Catch On’.

“Mouth-to-mouth advertising on the Internet is overestimated; offline conversations are much more penetrating.” That said, here are six ways to get noticed, with examples from everyday life.

environment that are linked to thoughts of something. Thinking about coffee summons thoughts of Starbucks.

Social exchange

Do you know what Apple’s major issue was concerning the design of the PowerBook G4? The position of the logo.

You look intelligent if you know about things that are cool. What it boils down to is giving people something worthwhile.

We need to give them elements that create that impression.

Trigger Triggers are little reminders in your

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Emotions It seems easier to make people enthusiastic about pets and babies than about logistics management. But you can always target their emotions.

Visibility

Practical value One of the most popular YouTube films in recent years is the film of the 86-year-old Ben Craig, describing the most efficient way to clean corn cobs.

Stories People like stories and some of them survive for thousands of years. The bread chain Subway offered seven types of rolls containing less than six grams of fat.

Nothing special, till they were featured in the story of Jared Fogle, who lost 111 kilograms by eating only Subway bread rolls.

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explained

Big Data

First quality, then volume European companies are definitely not worried about ‘big data’. Only seven percent consider it to be very relevant to their business. In fact they are much more concerned about the quality of their data than the quantity.

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he figures from Steria’s Business Intelligence Maturity Audit at the end of last year don’t lie: big data is relevant for only seven percent of European companies. That is the conclusion of a survey carried out with a good six hundred companies from twenty countries about big data and business intelligence (BI). For almost thirty percent of the companies big data is no more than the hype of the moment. And the major challenges for which big data offers an answer (volume, speed and different types of data) come in only thirteenth to fifteenth on the list of European companies’ top priorities.

concerning big data is greater amongst IT respondents than amongst respondents from the business departments. For customer segmentation, for example, 30 percent of the business profiles answered that big data is important, as opposed to only 23 percent of the IT profiles. This illustrates the danger that companies may lose sight of the potential of big data because they are too much hampered by fundamental challenges concerning business intelligence, such as data quality, concludes Patricia Langrand, co-author of the Steria study. “European companies will have to focus on data quality, but they will also have to work on the gap in percep-

tion between business and IT concerning the importance of big data.”

No big data for SMEs? The relatively strong presence of SMEs in Europe obviously plays a role too. “At the moment big data is mainly for large groups that process huge masses of data”, concludes Agoria in an online opinion piece. “Only sixteen percent of European businesses would analyse more than 50 terabytes of data, and 44 percent currently have 5 terabytes or less to process. But do you really need to reach 50 terabytes to start using big data?” We examine this question in the pages that follow.

Work to be done One of the most important reasons for the lack of enthusiasm for big data is the realisation that if they want a successful big data strategy companies must first be able to rely on the quality of the data. And apparently, according to the study, that is not the case in all too many companies.

No less than 38 percent of the companies see data quality as the biggest BI challenge they have to contend with today.

Approximately one third of companies (34 percent) have no fixed processes for data quality. And according to 31 percent of the companies data problems are discovered by chance rather than by systematic checks. So there is a lot of work to be done in terms of ordinary business intelligence before we can begin to think of big data.

What is striking is that the scepticism

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SAMSUNG The NEXT secure entreprise mobile platform

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