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Column Insight Plus GOOGLE HIJACKS THE $180 NAIL COMPLIANCE WHILE KEEPING COMPANY NEWS BILLION GAMING INDUSTRY 2 CUSTOMERS ON THE LINE 10 TOP JOBS MAY 2019 | Issue 52 AI & Customer Experience: Mind the smoke and mirrors
ITWeb is an indispensable source of news, information and insight
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326 Rivonia Boulevard, Rivonia, South Africa
IN THIS
ISSUE
CREDITS
Publisher
JOVAN REGASEK
I n a recent thought leadership piece, Fadi Kanafani,
a director for NetApp MEA, put it strongly: “AI will
undoubtedly change the way we work and the way we do
Column
GOOGLE HIJACKS THE $180
BILLION GAMING INDUSTRY
2 10
Insight
NAIL COMPLIANCE WHILE KEEPING
CUSTOMERS ON THE LINE
Plus
COMPANY NEWS
TOP JOBS
jregasek@itweb.co.za business - but let's keep the hyperbole to a minimum.”
The hype is most likely adding to the confusion around
Editorial Director artificial intelligence and its role and practical application in MAY 2019 | Issue 52
RANKA JOVANOVIC business.
rankaj@itweb.co.za The ITWeb Freshworks survey (page 6) states that 22%
of respondents admitted to “fully understanding” how AI
Editor technologies can be implemented within their organisation,
CHRIS TREDGER while 76% said they “somewhat” understand the issues.
chris@itwebafrica.com As Gartner predicts that by 2020 customers will manage
85% of their relationship with the enterprise without
Sub Editors interacting with a human being, it seems that local business
HEIDI HURWITZ have a steep learning curve ahead of them.
SIMON FOULDS So what of the human being in the organisation? ITWeb
reports that according to Accenture predictions, around 5.7
Production Manager million jobs in SA will be at risk over the next seven years due
SINDISO KHUPE to technologies like robots, AI and machine learning.
sindiso@itweb.co.za In this edition we also feature a report-back on the ITWeb
AI & Customer Experience:
Business Intelligence and Analytics Summit 2019, which Mind the smoke and mirrors
Designers took place recently in Johannesburg and attracted a strong
ZACK HOOSEIN turnout.
YVETTE BOWER There is growing interest in how AI, analytics, robotics and machine learning can be controlled effectively
ANA GOLIJANIN and used to boost business.
Circulation Manager Enjoy the read.
BELINDA NDLOVU
belinda@itweb.co.za Chris Tredger
Editor
Business Development Director
CONTENTS
CARYN BERMAN
caryn@itweb.co.za
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IOT 22
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May 2019 | 01
COLUMN
Google hijacks the $180 billion
gaming industry
Stadia, Google's Gaming-as-a-Service platform, is a legitimate threat
to large parts of the video gaming industry.
and Google mentioned edge networking That Stadia appears to have and,
technologies at play here. It is not outside of providing it's easy to develop for, Stadia
the realm of possibility that this might be a can quickly expand to offer original and
viable service even for people on lower speed exclusive game content. Everyone outside
connections, at least fixed-line ones such as the developer/publisher ecosystem -
ADSL. Much more doubtful is if such a service hardware sellers, console makers, mobile
could ever work on the uneven latencies of app stores, distributors, retailers - will be
mobile broadband other than 5G. cut out of the loop.
There is no need to download a game nor are In what seems a little savage for how it
there client-side operating system limitation. cuts off the competition, Stadia makes it
Stadia will be cross-platform in the way Netflix very easy to stream onto Youtube and hasn't
is cross-platform. Providing a device can announced any support for services such
run the Stadia platform - presumably an app as Twitch. Considering some of the biggest
or browser portal - it should be able to play Youtube stars are gamers, this is a cop in its
James Francis, ITWeb contributor the game presuming it was designed for that own right.
platform. Realistically a PC action game won't
G oogle employees took to the stage
at the annual Game Developers
Conference (GDC), historically the place to
suddenly play seamlessly on a mobile device.
But such seamless crossovers are now feasible
and something Google highlighted.
Difficulty settings
Stadia is not the first attempt to stream gaming
in this fashion, but nothing before it had
gain support among the people who create remotely the skills, money and infrastructure.
video games. Microsoft set this trend when Game over? If Google is even partially successful, this
it used GDC to launch the Xbox, then a total Other than the development studios creating will cause ripples in the market. What could
upstart and unlikely competitor to Sony's games and the publisher funding them, hamper it?
unassailable Playstation platform. Stadia threatens just about every other part There is the question of how reluctant the
That announcement resulted in a radical of the gaming world. market will be. Some great gaming ambitions
change to the console and ultimately video Google will run the games on its servers. have failed from lacking the gaming industry's
gaming market. Google's revelation could be That means that the customer machines backing. Stadia supports common gaming
even more tectonic. If - and I'll get to that later will not need specialised hardware such as development standards that will be attractive
- they can pull it off, it could be the end of the graphics cards or large amounts of memory. to many developers, while its deep pockets
video game industry as we know it. One of the machines at the GDC demo can buy many powerful friends such as key
intentionally had the lowest specifications publishers. It is already clearly comfortable
Google's plan they could find. It also means bespoke with the likes of Ubisoft and Bethesda.
Google's attempt to take over video games is consoles are redundant and Stadia voids the But that's not nearly enough, nor cheap:
called Stadia. At face value, it's a streaming need for games on mobile app stores. Games can retail for $60 a copy in the US and
service. Players log in from any machine with This is Gaming-as-a-Service. You won't over R1,000 locally. That's a lot of publishers
a sufficient broadband connection. They can need the hardware, the downloads or to stand to lose if they don't get a good cut.
then play the game locally, but all of the actual overcome any of the expensive barriers that Streaming requires serious scale combined
processing is being done in Google's mighty kept many at bay from video games. The with top-line offerings to be successful,
datacentre empire. These visuals are streamed service will be able to facilitate everything let alone profitable. Netflix is currently in a
to the player, whose responding actions are from a single player to online massive perpetual loop of earn-and-spend as it pays
sent back to the service. If it happens at a low- multiplayer to playing four people on the lavishly both for distribution rights and making
enough latency, the experience should rival same TV. It will go beyond that, using the its own content, all to keep growing its business
that of playing a game on a local machine. It's massive scale of the Google network to with subscribers and reduce churn.
essentially gaming as a web service. add unmatched processing and bandwidth What Stadia represents is sufficient to
The advantage Google has here is its global to game development. And it already has blow the tyres out of the current $180
network. A map shown during the conference started attracting the crucial ingredient to billion video game industry, including
announcements reveal points of presence any successful gaming takeover: developer mobile games. Not just stores or just
across the world, including South Africa, support. hardware makers, but all of it.
02 | May 2019
COMPANY NEWS
BUSINESS
Adapt IT Holdings wins 2019 SAPSA Digital Data-driven de
Firm of the Year Award cision-making made possible using modern
Adapt IT won the Firm of the Year Award in the digital industry data stack
class of Commerce, Law and Management category. This accolade WeDoTech is a team of individuals whose mission is to simplify
was awarded by the South African Professional Services Awards life using modern technology. Norah Wulff, head of Technology
(SAPSA), in partnership with Sanlam Life Insurance, on Thursday, at WeDoTech, is a staunch advocate of the modern data stack
14 March 2019. Over and above this accolade, Jodi Joseph of tools entering the South African market. "WeDoTech's core focus
CaseWare Africa division was also nominated by the SAPSA in is on providing companies with smart, effective solutions and,
the Woman Professional of the Year category. The firm awards when it comes to analytics, Snowflake, Fivetran and Looker fit
were based on business growth, customer service, technical perfectly with this mantra." Wulff has been involved in delivering
excellence, contribution to the community, contribution to the BI solutions to companies for over 15 years, and has witnessed
profession, transformation record and commitment to ethics and first-hand how the traditional data warehousing technologies
professionalism. cause projects to lose momentum, mostly due to factors that can be
www.adaptit.co.za mitigated today.
www.itweb.co.za
GraniteWMS: from tech solution to world-
class brand ConnectWise announces pending acquisition
Marketing isn't just about taking a brand message to market, by Thoma Bravo
it's about building a brand story that resonates with a market, ConnectWise recently announced its pending acquisition by
as GraniteWMS has discovered through working with Digital Thoma Bravo, a leading private equity investment firm. Thoma
Kungfu. The aim of all innovative software solutions is to simplify Bravo's software expertise, extensive track record and deep capital
lives. In the B2B world, this means simplifying business processes, will enable ConnectWise to pursue a strategy focused on organic
streamlining organisations and solving challenges that are causing growth and strategic acquisitions. The transaction was expected
inefficiencies. GraniteWMS is a warehouse management solution to close on 28 February. After the transaction is completed,
that takes a discipline that is usually expensive, difficult and ConnectWise founder and CEO Arnie Bellini will transition into
painful to implement, and helps its customers to deliver the right an advisory role, and current president and COO Jason Magee will
goods, at the right time, to the correct customers at an efficient become CEO of the company. Terms of the transaction were not
cost-base, with zero mistakes. disclosed. "With this new relationship, we plan to accelerate our
www.cradle.co.za partners' success worldwide," said Bellini.
www.connectwise.com
Dario Debarbieri appointed Enterprise
Outsourcing APAC CEO
Enterprise Outsourcing appointed Dario Debarbieri as its new CEO of
the APAC region, effective 1 March 2019. After a rigorous and wide-
ranging selection process, the board unanimously voted to appoint
Debarbieri to the role. Debarbieri has worked for over 20 years for IBM
in a variety of senior management roles across multiple countries,
including Latin America, USA, South West Europe, Middle East and
Africa, and more recently, in Armonk, New York, as leading VP of IBM
Digital Channels. According to Enterprise Outsourcing, Debarbieri has
vast experience and a thorough understanding of the IT industry.
www.enterpriseoutsourcing.com
SCA decision: shake-up for insurers
Entrepreneurs attended NuPayGO’s entrepreneur workshop. Lisa Swaine, a Partner at Webber Wentzel, specialising in insurance
law, offers perspective on the SCA’s decision on 14 March 2019 to
Entrepreneurs can play a key role in boosting dismiss Centriq Insurance Company's appeal against the judgment of
SA's economy the Free State Division of the High Court in the action between it and
NuPay, a division of JSE-listed Altron, continues to unlock Marisa Vogel Oosthuizen and Jos'e Francisco Castro. The issue on appeal
opportunities for entrepreneurs and SMEs in SA. During a recent concerned the interpretation of a PI insurance policy underwritten by
roundtable discussion with entrepreneurs, Gill Nadas, founder of Centriq. The policy indemnified Castro, a financial advisor, from liability
Volure hair products and a NuPayGO customer, said: "Running a for breach of duty in connection with his business by reason of any
successful business comes with great responsibility, not only for negligent act, error or omission. The appeal was dismissed and Centriq
yourself, but for others' well-being too.” was found liable to indemnify Castro under the policy.
www.mynupay.co.za www.webberwentzel.com
May 2019 | 03
COMPANY NEWS
BUSINESS
The avoidable GRC UiPath backs ITWeb’s Business Process
tragedy Management and Automation 2019
Organisations need a command Robotic process automation (RPA) leader UiPath was a diamond
and control hub that provides the sponsor of ITWeb's Business Process Management and Automation
analytical capability to ensure 2019, held on 9 April at The Forum, in Bryanston. Adriana Rangel,
early warning of emerging risk head of Marketing MEA at UiPath, said UiPath recently opened an
issues and ongoing measurement office in South Africa, and the company wants to leverage all strategic
and monitoring across a opportunities to interact with the local business community, as
connected view of risk. RUBiQ is well as further educate the leaders about the benefits of automation.
a robust, advanced and content- Angela Mace, CRM and events director of ITWeb, said: "UiPath is a
rich platform created to ensure leader in the RPA space, and is ideally situated to help South African
your organisation proactively businesses navigate the automation sector.”
manages all relevant aspects of www.itweb.co.za
governance, risk and compliance.
Nicky Downing www.rubi-q.com
SqwidNet challenges university students to
embrace IOT
MakeMeMobile and Bartrans merge to form SqwidNet has launched the second round of its IOT SA University
Bidvest Mobility Challenge, aimed at getting students to solve real-world challenges
MakeMeMobile and Bartrans, both wholly owned by The Bidvest using IOT. "We developed this initiative in partnership with Sigfox as
Group, have merged to form a new entity called Bidvest Mobility, we believe that young people have a very different view of the world.
effective on 1 March 2019. This follows Bidvest's acquisitions of They approach challenges differently and because they have grown
MakeMeMobile at the end of October 2018 and of Bartrans during up with technology at their fingertips, they find alternative ways of
2017. Colin Adendorff, CEO of Bidvest Data, Print and Packaging, applying it to do so," says Chetan Goshalia, Chief Sales and Marketing
part of The Bidvest Group, commented on the acquisitions and Officer at SqwidNet. The company will offer the winning team a cash
merger, saying: "We recognise the importance of bar code and mobile prize and the chance to pitch the solution to experts at the Sigfox
computing solutions in the future across the supply chain as a key headquarters in France.
driver to accelerate automation and provide real-time valuable data, www.sqwidnet.com
which will drive down costs and increase efficiencies."
www.m3mobile.co.za
COMPUTING
Networks Unlimited Africa announces
multiple award wins
Networks Unlimited Africa announced that two of its partners, Scanning: so many choices, so much support
Carbon Black and Attivo Networks, have won multiple awards in Scanning is one of the most popular features, and a subject Bytes
the 2019 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards. Carbon Black (NASDAQ: Document Solutions gets many questions about, particularly because
CBLK), a leader in cloud-delivered, next-generation endpoint there are several ways to scan. On the multi-function printers (MFP),
security, has been recognised as a winner in four categories, and there is scan to PC, scan to e-mail, scan to a shared folder, scan to
Attivo Networks, a leading company in cyber security deception desktop, scan to USB, and more. Not all MFPs have all of the different
technologies, has won in five. The awards are sponsored by US-based types of scanning, and some forms of scanning may be an option. To
Cybersecurity Insiders, a 400 000-strong member community for help you navigate the scanning set-up(s), the Xerox Support YouTube
information security professionals whose online communities aim to channel has several videos to help you set up the different types of
inform, educate and connect professionals and technology vendors. scanning. Two new videos have been uploaded.
Carbon Black was recognised as a winner in four categories. www.bdsol.co.za
www.networksunlimited.africa
The future of payments
D6 Group says a cashless future is no longer a dream… the future
has arrived, particularly for schools. According to Stats SA, by 2018,
COMPANY NEWS more than half the population of South Africa owned a smartphone,
and, with a forecast of 18% annual growth in smartphone sales,
this number is set to rise. As a result, mobile data being consumed
To read the FULL company releases, visit has grown by 84% year on year since 2012. South Africans are
exploring online at an astonishing rate and discovering a world of
www.itweb.co.za new possibilities for connected, digital solutions. Across the income
Contact sales@itweb.co.za for any sales enquiries.
spectrum, schools are finding that the cashless future is closer than
they were led to believe.
www.d6.co.za
04 | May 2019
COMPANY NEWS
CHANNEL
TDGlobal expands international footprint It pays to partner with Xerox
TDGlobal, a data and digital services solutions and software provider, As more companies move to a channel-focused strategy, businesses
launched its global market strategy at a three-day conference in that go to market through the channel have the complicated task of
Midrand, Gauteng, early in February 2019. TDGlobal announced determining which vendor is the right fit for their business. Success in
the expansion of its footprint; with its head office established in the channel means finding a vendor that can truly help your business
Singapore, it has expanded into Europe and MEA. In collaboration grow and differentiate in an increasingly crowded market. Xerox is
with its local partner, Strategic Solution Architects, in SA, it will be credited with bringing xerography to the world, one of the first of
bringing powerful data technologies to the local market for the first thousands of innovations its scientists and engineers have created.
time. Stuart Pearce has been appointed CEO of TDGlobal and will That proud legacy of innovation has carried straight through to today,
work closely with chairman Alan Cowley and COO Wayne Borcher to with Xerox's receipt of the 2018 Channelnomics Innovation Award.
grow the business's presence. www.bdsol.co.za
www.thinkglobal.com
Troye helps cut infrastructure management
Star-studded line-up for 2019 Cape Town cost by 70%
International Animation Festival Managed IT services provider Troye has been awarded third place
The eighth Cape Town Animation Festival, sponsored by Adobe in Citrix's Cloud Partner of the Year for Emerging Markets category.
and Dax Data, which ran from 8-10 March, did not disappoint. The Citrix Summit partner conference was recently held in Orlando,
As the only dedicated African Animation festival, with a history of Florida. Troye CEO Helen Kruger is delighted to receive this award.
bringing world-class content to attendees, the 2019 edition boasted "Customers are seeing the benefits of having the control plane for the
a star-studded line-up of international and local industry experts. Citrix apps and desktops service delivered securely from the Citrix
Over three days, attendees experienced insightful workshops and cloud, which is constantly kept up to date and managed by the vendor
masterclasses on a wide range of topics, including some uniquely while having the flexibility of hosting their workloads themselves,
African content. Academy Award-winning producer, Aron Warner, wherever they choose, be it in their own data centre or cloud of their
from Sony Picture Animation, hosted a discussion on the future choice, or even multi-cloud.
of animation and why Africa is perfectly positioned to deliver. www.troye.co.za
Academy Award-nominated producer, Peter Ramsey, also attended.
www.daxdata.co.za
INDUSTRY SOLUTIONS
Cash in with the cloud: build your Azure
practice
First Distribution is giving resellers even more of a reason to sell OneLogix eliminates downtime, slashes data
Azure by providing access to two Microsoft cash-back incentives management overheads
until 31 May 2019. Azure resellers will receive $500 back on their Switching data management providers proved hugely beneficial for
Azure spend when they add any Net-New Azure customer that OneLogix, a holding company for 12 specialised organisations in the
consumes $500 of Azure services, and those Azure resellers that transport industry. Redstor's next-generation technology has enabled
scale a Net-New Azure customer's Azure consumption to $5 000 will the SA-based company to eliminate downtime by streaming data on
earn $3 500 when that consumption is purchased by the reseller from demand; restore files in minutes rather than hours; and free up
First Distribution. First Distribution will further provide a credit a member of staff who previously spent all day monitoring backups.
equal to 10% of consumption until 31 May 2019 for tenants added in Dawid Joubert, Group IT manager at OneLogix, said: “When we do
March 2019 for Net-New Azure customers that commence with First a restore with Redstor, I can confidently say I'm going to get a 100%
Distribution in March 2019. success rate. I recently restored 200GB of data, individual files and big
www.firstdistribution.com database files, and I had zero failure rate.”
www.redstor.com
A cloud solution that grows with your
business
Many businesses launch with a founder and a laptop, and possibly
one or two employees. Companies interested in growth, however,
soon move past this start-up phase. The team grows, and technology
ICT INSIGHT
solutions in particular start to increase exponentially. It's at this
point that many growing SMEs start to face a number of challenges,
explains First Distribution. These challenges include cash flow and To read the FULL company releases, visit
the need to maintain speed and agility. This requires the right toolset
and, according to First Distribution, Azure offers businesses the same
www.itweb.co.za
support and enterprise-level technology as Fortune 500 companies, Contact sales@itweb.co.za for any sales enquiries.
but at a 'pay as you grow' rate and access.
www.firstdistribution.com
May 2019 | 05
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE SURVEY
By SIBAHLE MALINGA
Business leaders admit to not ‘fully
understanding’ AI
An ITWeb survey reveals that 14% of respondents have only partially deployed AI.
it by 2020, while almost a third (27%) said stumbling blocks are a lack of AI knowledge
they have limited deployment, with return or maturity (49%), as well as concerns
on investment currently unknown. about integration of AI into the business
Customer service leads the way when decision-making process (42%) and data
it comes to driving revenue from AI integration to support the AI model for
capabilities, followed by the product better insight (38%). High deployment
innovation and R&D function and supply costs and lack of ROI (33%) also emerged as
chain operations. additional challenges.
Just under a third of respondents
believe that by the year 2025, 10% of their
organisation’s workforce will be replaced
Over 70% of by AI.
In terms of leveraging AI to derive
respondents expect AI return on investment, 72% of respondents
A bout one in five business leaders `fully
understand’ how artificial intelligence to improve customer
expect to improve their organisation’s
customer engagement and customer
(AI) technologies can be implemented
within their organisation, while over
engagement and experience, while 64% are hoping to
optimise operations such as supply chain
three quarters admit to only `somewhat’ experience. and business processes. Another 52% want
understanding it. to develop more innovative products and
This is according to the results of a services, while 44% expect AI to mitigate
recent AI and customer experience survey, the risk of cyber attacks and fraud.
conducted by ITWeb in partnership with Research firm Gartner predicts that by Most often, it is the CIO who is
software firm Freshworks. 2020, customers will manage 85% of their championing the development of an AI
The survey highlights that while relationship with the enterprise without strategy at their organisation, but it can also
most local organisations have a fair interacting with a human being. be driven from the very top – the CEO or
understanding of the value of AI in “Within the next few years, customer- the COO.
customer service, some are still holding centric organisations will gain tremendous Only 7% of businesses participating
back from investing in the technology advantages through digital customer in this survey have employed a Chief
due to financial constraints, lack of experience strategies, marketing AI Officer, while 13% report the AI
infrastructural support for AI, or integration, social media and leveraging responsibility already sits under another
underappreciation of its return on customer data and information,” notes the C-suite role.
investment (ROI). research.
According to experts, innovations such By far the strongest driving force
as AI and virtual reality (VR) will reshape behind AI deployments is the need to gain About the survey?
customer contact, helping brands create competitive advantage (65%). Others are
personalised customer experiences and influenced by customer demands (44%), The 2018 AI & Customer Experience
unconventional self-services. the need to resolve specific business Survey, was run online on ITWeb for a
When asked about their organisation’s operational or technical problems (39%), period of two weeks in November.
current implementation and use of AI and R&D and innovation (38%).
technologies, 14% of respondents reported The survey was conducted in
they have partially deployed AI and it’s Stumbling blocks ahead partnership with Freshworks and
working as expected. The biggest barrier to implementing explored the understanding of AI, its
Almost one quarter (24%) admitted AI strategies and goals across the potential to transform the customer
to having no AI deployment yet, with no organisation is cultural challenge or experience, and the driving forces
future plan to adopt it. Another 23% have change management, cited by over a half behind the early AI deployments in SA.
no deployment yet, but plan to implement of respondent. Also high on the list of
06 | May 2019
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE SURVEY
What is your personal current understanding of AI? What is the driving force behind your
organisation's deployment of AI?
Somewhat understand 65%
Competitive advantage
Somewhat understand 76%
Fully understand 22% 44%
76% Don't understand at all 2% Customer demands
39%
Specific business, operational or technical problems
38%
Improve DR and back-up
19%
Executive-led decision
10%
No driving force
How is your company currently using AI in customer service?
37%
We are currently experimenting with an AI trial or pilot in
our customer service
33%
We do not currently use AI in our customer service
32%
We do not currently use AI in any form
10%
AI currently plays a regular role in
our customer service
May 2019 | 07
ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE & CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE SURVEY
Which functional area of your organisation
is currently deriving revenue from AI capabilities?
50 46%
40
30 29%
25%
20
15% 14%
11%
10 8%
7%
6% 6%
0
None Customer Product Sales Marketing Supply chain Finance Security & Other Asset &
service innovation/ & operations risk capital
R&D management
How would you rate your organisation's current By the year 2025, how much of a workforce
experience in terms of its implementation and reduction would AI cause to your organisation?
use of AI technologies?
27% 35%
Limited deployment, results unknown Do not know
24% 27%
No deployment and no plans to deploy at all Ten percent
23% 26%
No deployment yet, but we plan to by 2020 Between ten and thirty percent
14% 6%
Partially deployed and they are working as expected Between thirty and fifty percent
6% 5%
Fully deployed and they are working as expected Between fifty and seventy percent
4% 2%
Partially deployed but they are not delivering to expectations Between seventy and ninety percent
1% 0%
Fully deployed but they are not delivering to expectations Ninety percent
08 | May 2019CUSTOMER
ENGAGEMENT
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+27 74 709 9515INDUSTRY INSIGHT: CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
Nail compliance while
keeping customers on the line
How to balance anti-money-laundering management with the pressure
to meet 'know your customer' requirements.
value to the customer using the same accomplishment.
technology, while meeting regulatory * People to feel inspired. By pushing
requirements at the same time. These are: decision-making and authority down the
leadership, intention and strategy. organisation, people rise to the occasion
and take responsibility, even during times
Step one: Leadership of change.
Leaders need to impart a clear understanding * The organisation's success to be shared by
to their people of 'why do we do what we all members and not just the "leaders".
do?', 'why do our customers want to buy * Leadership to be at all levels of the
from us?', and 'why wouldn't they want to organisation.
buy from us?'
This is the essence of Simon Sinek's 'Golden Step three. Strategy
Circle' model. Sinek, an American business This is crucial and often misunderstood.
strategist, uses the model to explain how Strategy is not only an aspirational and
legendary leaders like Steve Jobs, Martin potentially unattainable goal, but equally
Luther King Jr and the Wright brothers were about the steps required to realise it.
able to inspire, rather than manipulate, in We can compare the journey to a game of
Nick Truran, Founder and CEO, Agile IT order to motivate people. snooker. World-class snooker champions
Strategy is not only an aspirational and such as Ronnie O'Sullivan don't wipe out
potentially unattainable goal, but equally their competition without having a strategy
T wo worlds currently collide within
corporate IT: anti-money-laundering
management and the pressure to meet the
about the steps required to realise it.
The Golden Circle principles are grounded
in the tenets of human decision-making and
for playing the next shot. Talent alone does
not define their success.
Leaders need to be continually looking
imperative 'know your customer'. synchronous to the way our brains process out for that next "shot" in their product
The two linked together sound like a and accept ideas. Use this model regularly to and service delivery that will enable the
contradiction in terms. And to be fair, if my communicate the customer-centric ethos long-term strategy of the business and its
experience with banks and financial services so employees get to understand, live and competitive-edge.
companies is anything to go by, they generally breathe it.
are worlds apart. They then start to think like their leaders, Different outcomes
Current call centre technology takes the work with purpose and become advocates for If our bank or financial services institution
customer through seemingly endless prompts the organisation. was to apply these principles to customer
to get to an operator; then the client still has service, using the same call centre
to face the often-onerous proof of identity Step one: Intent technology, the outcome would be very
formalities. Meeting these requirements is David Marquet, a former commander in the different.
at odds with a customer-centric service and US Navy, sums up this process, which is Firstly, the initial prompt in a call would
often results in frustration. to embed the capacity for greatness in the be to establish whether the customer is an
Don't get me wrong, fraud and identity organisation's people and practices, and then existing or new one; the second prompt
theft are real issues and need addressing. decouple it from the leader's personality. would be to establish the customer's
But how do we get the information we need People then take ownership and control of name and the service required. Once this
from customers in order to comply with what happens in the business and customer information is received and the call is routed
anti-money-laundering regulations, and service. The two pillars that enable this to the required department or business unit,
still provide a value-added customer-centric are competence and clarity. Psychological the customer could be welcomed by name,
service? transfer of ownership means no instructions and only then his or her identity verified by
Firstly, we need to understand why we have are given, but rather intent is expressed. relevant security questions. The result is a
customers at all and then how we can deliver According to Marquet, in an intent-based totally different customer experience.
our products and services to them. No amount environment it is possible for: What's more, you've still implemented
of marketing or brand loyalty can cover over * People to feel valued and proud of being 'know your customer' and anti-money
the frustration gap between what you say you part of something bigger than themselves. laundering requirements, but managed not
are and what you actually deliver. * People to know the organisation's goals to tick-off the customer at the same time.
I believe there are three steps to delivering and thoughtfully contribute toward their Small shifts, same technology, big wins.
10 | May 2019INDUSTRY INSIGHT: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
The fifth
industrial revolution looms
The convergence of technology and humans is quickly barrelling us into
the fifth industrial revolution: the era of artificial intelligence.
T he world is currently deep into the
fourth industrial revolution and the
premise of each revolution thus far has
that's not only currently driving the fourth
industrial revolution but quickly barrelling
us into the fifth: the era of artificial
been that it improved human life. But will intelligence (AI).
the next one do the same? Which brings us back to the opening
Few of us realise just how fast our world question: that if industrial revolutions one,
is changing. Our very existence is being two, three and four all helped improve
reimagined and reshaped from one day human life, will the fifth one do the same?
into the next. With this phenomenal pace Computational power is increasing
of change, the future isn't something that exponentially every minute, making
happens off in the distance anymore. It is unheard of technologies suddenly very
here, now. possible. No doubt, the fifth industrial
Previous industrial revolutions have devolution will come down to taking Vaughn Naidoo, CTO,
always been identified by some or other tasks away from people and leaving them Altron Bytes Managed Solutions
major event. Before the first industrial in the hands of machines that can think
revolution, the majority of people were and learn autonomously without human
farmers working the land with their own intervention. Now let's consider robot utopia - where,
two hands, using rudimentary implements Already we have chatbots that are so yes, AI and robotics still significantly alter
that required a human body to drive them. well developed, you don't even notice how we work, play and live by replacing
With the advent of steam power, you're not talking to a flesh-and-blood repetitive and highly complex tasks and
mechanisation made it possible for person; until the chatbot runs out of assisting us with decision-making. Won't we
machines to take over a lot of the heavy answers and you're handed over to a then have more time on our hands to become
lifting. The second industrial revolution human being. But there will come a point, our very best selves?
saw electricity, petroleum and steel and soon, when they will have all the Instead of becoming null and void, we get
creating the platform for assembly lines and answers and what then? to rise to another level of effectiveness, where
the mass production of goods. A dystopian view could look something the more mundane tasks are handled for us,
The invention of the microprocessor like this: we are rendered obsolete by the leaving us to expand our skills, challenge our
kick-started the third industrial very machines we create. There's already capabilities, practise our human-ness
revolution, which completely transformed a term for this; it's called singularity - more freely.
the workplace with the development of the where robots ultimately become smarter For one thing, organisations can place all
personal computer. than humans (referred to as ASI or their focus on more strategic activities to help
We suddenly found ourselves with artificial super-intelligence) and then drive success. Optimistic futurists talk about
wearables on our arms, doing x-amount there's no stopping them. And according more people being uplifted than ever before;
of steps to earn ourselves a smoothie at to futurists, it's not a case of if but when about free energy, transport, communication
the gym. this singularity will happen. and the democratisation of technology;
With the fourth industrial revolution, The 1968 sci-fi classic "2001: A Space where ordinary people will have access to
there was no major event; the progression Odyssey" demonstrated this very some of the most powerful technologies on
to digital just kind of happened. Things eventuality with its sentient computer earth and exist in harmony with it all.
started existing in the cloud, data gradually character, HAL 9000. In the film, HAL In robot utopia, the importance of
became more valuable than oil and gas, the is capable of speech, facial recognition, innovation and advancement is not only
Internet of things saw connectivity move automated reasoning, interpreting embraced but celebrated without fear of a
beyond conventional computing platforms emotional behaviour, art appreciation and total machine takeover or the extinction of
such as PCs and mobile devices into an is even a chess master. man.
array of traditionally non-Internet-enabled HAL also goes on to kill the astronaut Ultimately, the unknown is exciting and
physical devices and everyday things. crew when faced with the prospect of as humans we can't seem to stop ourselves
We suddenly found ourselves with disconnection in order to protect and from delving into it and pushing every limit
wearables on our arms, doing x-amount continue with its programmed directives. to see what's possible. Whatever side of the
of steps to earn ourselves a smoothie at An extreme example perhaps, but fence you're on in predicting humanity's fate,
the gym. We were just in it. And it's this dystopian is about presenting the most there's no stopping the technology bullet
convergence of technology and humans unpleasant scenario possible. train or the robots it is carrying.
May 2019 | 11INDUSTRY INSIGHT: SOFTWARE
Harness the power
of domain-driven design
Systems work when we all speak and understand the same language.
value always means an amount including everything's so tangled up.
sales tax, and agreeing that we won't call A great deal of business value lies trapped
this anything else. I worked with a system in legacy code bases. DDD assists teams to
once, which had seven different meanings strategically refactor the code, taming any
for invoice value (among many other sins), 'big ball of mud' and thereby extending the
adding enormously to the confusion that life of legacy systems.
accompanied changing any code. But why wait for it to be a mess before
DDD is an approach for handling software applying good principles? DDD supports
that is strong on principle but does not the Agile process, helping a team to align
dictate implementation; it's what fits with business needs through a rigorous
YOUR domain. engineering design approach.
We call this agreement around naming, More in-depth design upfront definitely
"ubiquitous language", in DDD. It is our first helps to reduce some of the unknowns. But
alignment that says we will be consistent and upfront design is a Goldilocks problem. Too
Lorraine Steyn, Simplifier-in-chief, precise in the terms that we use. This means much upfront design can become "analysis
Khanyisa Real Systems that even under the covers, in any place paralysis" and can be out of date by the time
in code, data or communications where a we start development in a rapidly changing
term is used, ubiquitous language rules. It's business environment. Too little leads to
S oftware design is complex, and the lack
of good design plagues many teams.
This is visible in code that has become
not just a language between developers and
business, but a commitment by all parties to
use consistent language at all times. Pretty
errors and missed functionality and generally
unhappy users.
Finding the spot where Goldilocks's
"too difficult" to maintain and extend, and simple, yet very powerful. porridge is just right is partially experience,
ultimately ends up with business being told and mostly, good process. We're looking for
they need to rewrite core systems, in the an iterative process with a solid engineering
hopes of a better structured solution. approach. A merge of Agile and a modelling
Of course, rewriting a system just We're looking for an tool like DDD.
exchanges a set of known issues for a set Not that DDD suits all situations. Its
of unknown issues! In short, if the team iterative process with biggest value lies in aiding communication
hasn't learnt better design and refactoring and understanding of complex problems.
techniques before they start the rewrite, the
a solid engineering A simple problem may not benefit from a
new code base is very likely to drift into the approach. full DDD approach upfront, although many
same sort of mess as the old code base, in a simple problems have turned into complex
depressingly short space of time. problems over time; so again, experience
One of the approaches to avoid this needs to lead the team in deciding when to
happening and that can help to organise Organising and structuring code is look at a domain model to assist them.
code, and thereby keep it maintainable for necessary to help humans understand the We must also recognise that models are
longer (saving considerable bucks in system code we produce. The computer will run any limited, and DDD practitioners tend to say
rewrites/replacements), is domain-driven old mess, so long as it's syntactically correct. that all models are wrong, but some are
design (DDD). Unfortunately, us humans often forget useful. This references the goal of modelling
DDD describes a methodology for this truth and we write complex, difficult- complexity, and not modelling the entire
modelling software according to the to-understand code for a raft of incorrect system. The model is only useful in clarifying
fundamental language and behaviour of reasons, that completely ignores our own concepts, and we mustn't fall in love with the
the business domain. This is a powerful fallibility. perceived perfection of our model.
approach, as it helps to align the developers, Sometimes, it is because we really didn't DDD is an approach for handling software
and the code we write, more closely with understand the problem space when we that is strong on principle but does not dictate
the business. This in turn makes it easier to started. Further complexities arose as we implementation; it's what fits YOUR domain.
maintain and extend the code as business worked, and by the end, we had the well- At the very least, it provides a strong set of
needs change. known 'big ball of mud'. This is code that's guidelines or a methodology to cope with the
One of the first steps in DDD is agreeing horrible to follow: poor structure, complex complexity that is today's business domain
on the meaning of various business terms. interfaces, long methods that are hard to test, and assists everyone to be on the same page,
Getting agreement, for example, that invoice etc. It's also called spaghetti code because which can only be of benefit to all.
12 | May 2019INDUSTRY INSIGHT: NETWORK SECURITY
The secret to securing a
'nebulous' network perimeter
New capabilities are being demanded from security models which are
being called upon to automate tasks associated with onboarding multitudes.
A s many organisations around the globe
found in 2018, no business is bulletproof
when it comes to cyber security attacks.
Extending the concept to the network (via
hyper-segmentation) allows organisations to
build a secure foundation on which to establish
Facebook, Uber and many other high-profile defendable, defined network borders while
organisations experienced security breaches. reducing the network's attack profile.
We can expect cyber security threats It enables the network to be segmented
to worsen this year, according to industry end-to-end from the application server to the
analysts. end device and offers scalability in order to
As ever, the corporate network will be the isolate different traffic types, applications and
most vulnerable to attack. Previously, network user categories.
protection was handled by the traditional Hyper-segmentation ensures users,
firewall guarding the network perimeter, Now, applications and devices (including printers,
with support for the Internet of things (IOT), PCs and IOT devices) are placed automatically
as well as burgeoning numbers of personal in the correct network group (hyper-segment)
devices and remote workers and visitors and and complemented by the correct and most
connections spanning the campus edge ? and appropriate levels of service.
the presence of internal and external clouds ? Importantly, hyper-segmentation also Paul Stuttard, Director, Duxbury Networking
today's network perimeter is fragmented. improves the value of security appliances in
It is impossible to determine where an terms of their ability to deliver effective breach
organisation's perimeter is actually situated. isolation and improve the effectiveness of Even with the implementation of "manager
In fact, there is no longer a defined, rigid anomaly scanning. of management" tools, the goal of a global
perimeter, but rather an "everywhere When hyper-segments are created, security blanket is often unachievable as
perimeter". organisations reduce their attack surfaces, systems remain fragmented. An event in
Defending such a nebulous perimeter gain a quarantine function - in the event of a one security group is often not translated
demands new capabilities from security models segment being breached - and achieve greater effectively, precluding applicable action from
which are being called upon to successfully firewall efficiency. being taken by a completely separate group of
automate the tasks associated with onboarding The concept of hyper-segmentation is security tools.
thousands of devices, servers, users and often combined with a so-called "native The answer lies in the implementation of
applications on the network while also stealth capability" designed to reduce attack the combination of artificial intelligence (AI)
guaranteeing the safe and reliable transport opportunities by cloaking the network topology and automation technologies and techniques
of data. in invisibility from an IP perspective. This is found in emerging multi-vendor management
What's the solution? Traditional class-of- based on the certainty that what potential solutions.
service methods and the use of separate virtual hackers can't identify, they can't attack. These solutions are geared to accommodate
networks are too slow and labour-intensive Returning to the "everywhere perimeter", AI and automated responses from various
in their implementations to be of any real, hyper-segmentation should be "elastic" enough inputs (SYSlogs, e-mail, SMS or any SNMP
practical value in modern scenarios. to automatically stretch services to the network trigger from any vendor and thus allow events
There is no longer a defined, rigid perimeter, edge as required, but only for the duration of a associated with one group of security tools to be
but rather an "everywhere perimeter". specific application session. interpreted by other relevant groups.
The answer is hyper-segmentation of the As applications terminate, or end-point The goal is to facilitate an immediate and
network. This is essentially an extension of devices disconnect, the redundant networking predefined response resulting in a change in one
the concept of micro-segmentation which is services must retract from the edge and the or many network configurations; from VMs and
described as "a security technique that enables individual hyper-segment must be removed, switches to routers, firewalls and any number
fine-grained security policies to be assigned thus helping to maintain secure ports and of end-point devices, including IOT devices.
to data centre applications, down to the eliminate vulnerable "backdoor" entry points. With such a system in place, security events
workload level". One of the challenges facing organisations is seen by (say) a remotely-sited firewall (or any
In essence, micro-segmentation permits the management of network hyper-segments. other security device) will be able to trigger a
security policies to be synchronised with Most vendors have their own management and response that would exclude a compromised
a virtual network, virtual machine (VM), reporting tools, many of which do not integrate device from the network, rate-limit a port or
operating system or other virtual security with others, creating unacceptable islands ports or a switch and even create a new VM
targets. of security. as required.
May 2019 | 13COMPANY NEWS
FINANCIAL INTERNET
ACS terminal devices now accept IOT can change our world, but can't do it
Samsung Pay alone
With customers now having more choice of how and when to pay, The Internet of things (IOT) refers to the more than 24 billion physical
retailers and payment solution leaders are encouraged to adapt to the devices globally that are connected to the Internet, collecting and
changing technology. As mobile point-of-sale (mPOS) devices are sharing data. Thanks to affordable sensors and wireless networks,
spinning wheels in the payments industry, adopting mPOS technology people can connect anything, and this adds a level of digital
is crucial in today's market, giving customers the opportunity to pay at intelligence to devices that would be otherwise dumb, enabling
their convenience. ACS, a division of JSE-listed Altron, has partnered them to communicate real-time data without needing a human to be
with Samsung Pay to ensure customers can transact conveniently involved. According to FlowCentric Technologies, there is no doubt
and seamlessly, as selected ACS terminals now accept Samsung Pay that IOT will play an important role in the future, and Gartner predicts
as a payment option. While many South Africans are fearful of their that by 2020, more than half of major new business processes and
data, ACS devices have a point-to-point encryption solution, ensuring systems will incorporate some element of the IOT.
security for these transactions. www.flowcentric.com
www.acs-sa.com
ZTE, Qualcomm Technologies demonstrate
ZTE ramps up investment in 5G R&D live 5G services
ZTE Corporation reported its 2018 annual results and preliminary ZTE Corporation is demonstrating 5G network services based on an
financial results of the first quarter of 2019 and, according to the end-to-end sub-6GHz commercial system, in collaboration with
company, achieved turnaround from loss to profit in the first quarter Qualcomm Technologies. The live demonstration verifies ZTE and
of 2019, estimating net profit attributable to holders of ordinary shares Qualcomm Technologies' strong 5G technology capabilities to achieve
of the listed company to be from RMB 0.8 billion to RMB 1.2 billion. end-to-end 5G commercialisation. The demonstration over 5G NR
The company posted a full-year operating revenue of RMB 85.51 billion radio utilises a real-world end-to-end 5G NR network built with ZTE's
in 2018, with net profit attributable to holders of ordinary shares of the commercial core network and radio base station equipment, as well
listed company amounted to RMB -6.98 billion, which was within the as a ZTE 5G smartphone powered by the world's first commercial 5G
estimated range disclosed in the preliminary announcement of 2018 mobile platform, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855Mobile Platform,
annual results. paired with the Snapdragon X50 5G modem, as well as Qualcomm
www.zte.com Technologies' RF transceiver and RF front-end solutions.
www.zte.com
TECHFORUM ZTE introduces integrated IOT solutions
ZTE Corporation has introduced new integrated Internet of things (IOT)
solutions of IOT, MBB and IOV to provide intelligent solutions across
Smart contracts vs traditional contracts key verticals: person, family, drive. The company also announced the
Smart contracts mark the evolution of the binding contract from a 5G Indoor CPE, which supports the latest WiFi 6 access technology
set of terms and conditions, governed by the common law, into a (802.11ax) and provides a 10G Ethernet network port with download
set of conditional statements governed by a programming language rates reaching near 2Gbps. With 5G on the horizon, it's predicted there
and the tenets of blockchain technology. In developing a legal will be over 50 billion connected devices around the world by 2020.
understanding of this evolution and its ever growing implications, Large-scale 5G commercialisation will provide faster speeds, low latency
smart contracts can be regarded as the "mirror image" of the and high bandwidth, and with it, the evolution of the IOT.
traditionally understood binding contract, in that they are very www.zte.com
similar, but also very different, says Seshree Govender, associate
at Webber Wentzel. Smart contracts deployed to the Ethereum
blockchain are written in the Solidity programming language, which
operates a hybrid language that is contract object-orientated.
ENTERPRISE
www.webberwentzel.com
Pure Storage unveils NVIDIA-powered
How AI helps banks compete with solutions
digital-first players Pure Storage announced the industry's first complete portfolio of
Since the 2008 financial crisis, banks have spent a lot of time and solutions for any artificial intelligence (AI) initiative, from early inception
energy on regulatory compliance and cost-cutting. Until just to large-scale production. An all-new hyperscale configuration of
recently, as a result of growing regulatory demands, investment AI-ready infrastructure (AIRI) is designed to deliver supercomputing
in new technology took a back seat, as did innovation, says Patrick capabilities for enterprises that pioneer real-world AI initiatives and
Shield, CTO at Software AG. As banks fight against the new digital have grown beyond the capabilities of AI-ready solutions available in
competition, bigtechs and fintechs, they must invest in improving the market. Built jointly with the leaders of AI supercomputing NVIDIA
the customer experience, whether it is retail or commercial and Mellanox, hyperscale AIRI delivers multiple racks of NVIDIA DGX-1
banking. The benchmark for excellence in customer experience is and DGX-2 systems, with both Infiniband and Ethernet fabrics as
no longer Bank A versus Bank B; it's whatever the best app is on the interconnect options. The company also announced FlashStack for AI, a
customer's device. solution built jointly with Cisco and NVIDIA.
www.softwareag.com www.purestorage.com
14 | May 2019You can also read
