The importance of implementing a well-crafted seasonal pricing strategy cannot be overstated. It allows companies to capitalize on periods of high demand while maintaining customer interest during slower seasons. This approach helps in revenue optimization and contributes to better inventory management and resource allocation.  Leveraging Pricing Intelligence (PI) becomes crucial in executing a successful seasonal pricing strategy.

One key benefit of seasonal pricing is its ability to provide a competitive advantage. By adjusting prices based on market conditions, businesses can attract price-sensitive customers during off-peak periods and maximize profits when demand is high. This flexibility demonstrates market adaptability, a critical factor in today's fast-paced business environment.

The Role of Pricing Intelligence in Seasonal Strategies

Pricing intelligence (PI), particularly in travel and tourism, is crucial in developing effective seasonal strategies. By leveraging data-driven decision-making, companies can gain valuable insights into market trends, consumer behavior, and competitor pricing, allowing them to optimize their pricing strategies for maximum profitability.

Market analysis is a crucial component of PI offered by analytics platforms like DataWeave, BMI, Linked Eats, etc., enabling businesses to understand demand fluctuations throughout the year. For instance, Expedia Group, a leading US-based travel technology company, utilizes advanced analytics to predict peak seasons and adjust prices accordingly. This approach helps them capitalize on high-demand periods while maintaining competitive rates during slower times. By tracking rivals' pricing strategies, companies can position themselves more effectively in the market.

Price optimization is the ultimate goal of pricing intelligence. By analyzing historical data, current market conditions, and future projections, businesses can set prices that maximize revenue while remaining attractive to customers. Delta Air Lines demonstrates this principle through its dynamic pricing model, which adjusts fares based on demand, seasonality, and competitor pricing.

PI empowers travel and tourism companies to make informed decisions, adapt to market fluctuations, and maintain a competitive edge in an ever-changing industry.

Seasonal Pricing Strategies for Businesses

Various industries employ seasonal pricing strategies to maximize revenue and adapt to fluctuating demand. Here are some popular approaches:

Dynamic Pricing: This strategy involves real-time adjusting prices based on market demand, competitor pricing, and other factors. For example, Marriott International uses dynamic pricing for its hotel rooms, allowing rates to fluctuate based on seasonality and occupancy levels.

Time-Based Pricing: Prices are set according to specific periods, such as weekdays vs. weekends or morning vs. evening. Many restaurants offer "early bird" specials during off-peak hours to attract customers.

Peak Pricing: During high-demand periods, businesses increase prices to capitalize on increased willingness to pay. For instance, airlines often raise fares during holiday seasons when travel demand surges.

Off-Peak Discounts: Conversely, companies offer lower prices during slower periods to stimulate demand. Hilton Hotels frequently provides discounted rates during off-season periods to maintain occupancy levels.

Holiday Promotions: Special offers and discounts tied to holidays or events can attract customers and boost sales. Many retailers offer significant discounts during Black Friday and Cyber Monday.

Bundle Pricing: Combining multiple products or services at a discounted rate can encourage more significant purchases. Disney World often offers vacation packages that bundle hotel stays, park tickets, and dining plans at a reduced price.

Flash Sales: Short-term, deeply discounted offers create urgency and drive quick sales. Hotels.com occasionally runs 24-hour flash sales, offering substantial discounts on select properties to generate bookings during slower periods.

By implementing these seasonal pricing strategies, businesses can effectively manage demand, maximize revenue, and provide customer value throughout the year.

Implementing PI for Seasonal Success

In today's competitive retail landscape, PI tools have become essential for businesses looking to maximize their seasonal profits. These sophisticated systems leverage real-time data analysis to provide valuable insights into market trends, consumer behavior, and competitor pricing strategies.

One key advantage of PI is its ability to facilitate automated price adjustments. Retail giant Walmart utilizes advanced algorithms to adjust prices across its vast product range, ensuring it remains competitive while maintaining profitability.

Demand forecasting is another crucial aspect of PI. By analyzing historical data and current market conditions, retailers can anticipate fluctuations in demand and adjust their pricing strategies accordingly. This is particularly important during peak seasonal periods like Black Friday or the holiday shopping season.

Competitive Analysis is a cornerstone of effective PI. Tools that monitor competitor prices in real time allow businesses to stay ahead of the curve and respond swiftly to market changes. Amazon, for example, is known for its aggressive price-matching strategy, which relies heavily on continuous competitive analysis.

Customer segmentation is vital in tailoring pricing strategies to different consumer groups. By analyzing purchasing patterns and preferences, retailers can offer personalized pricing to maximize conversions and customer loyalty.

Price Elasticity Analysis helps businesses understand how sensitive their customers are to price changes. This information is crucial for setting optimal price points that balance revenue and sales volume.

Profitability analysis is essential for ensuring that pricing strategies contribute positively to the bottom line. Retailers can make informed pricing decisions by considering the cost of goods sold, operational expenses, and desired profit margins.

Finally, Dynamic Pricing Optimization combines all these elements, allowing retailers to implement flexible pricing strategies that adapt to changing market conditions in real-time. Target, for instance, employs dynamic pricing to optimize its online and in-store pricing, ensuring competitiveness while maximizing profitability.

By leveraging these PI tools and strategies, retailers can navigate seasonal fluctuations more effectively, ultimately driving success and maintaining a competitive edge in the market.

Challenges and Considerations in Seasonal Pricing

Implementing seasonal pricing strategies comes with its own set of challenges and considerations that businesses must carefully navigate. One primary concern is customer perception; frequent price changes may lead to confusion or frustration among consumers, potentially damaging brand loyalty. Maintaining brand consistency across different seasons and pricing tiers is crucial to avoid alienating customers.

Another significant challenge lies in the potential for pricing errors. Multiple price points across various products and seasons increase the risk of mistakes that could result in lost revenue or customer dissatisfaction. Businesses must invest in robust systems and thorough checks to minimize these risks.

Over-discounting is another pitfall to watch out for. While seasonal sales can drive traffic and boost short-term revenue, excessive discounting may erode profit margins and devalue products in the long run. It's essential to strike a balance between attractive offers and sustainable pricing.

Legal considerations also influence seasonal pricing strategies. Businesses must ensure their pricing practices comply with local regulations, particularly regarding price discrimination and fair trading laws. This is especially important for companies operating across multiple jurisdictions.

By addressing these challenges proactively and maintaining a customer-centric approach, businesses can harness the benefits of seasonal pricing while mitigating potential drawbacks.

CplusC’s approach is underpinned by Autodesk’s Revit and building information management (BIM) software, which the firm leverages for all architectural design, and makes data available to subcontractors working on-site.

The 3D modelling technology allows CplusC’s teams to create building models based on each individual client’s requirements, while encompassing sustainability strategies to minimise environmental impact.

Outside the office, site teams can access, build from and contribute to design models, streamlining each phase of a project to ensure on-time delivery.

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“CplusC’s mantra is to build homes with site specific designs reflecting our clients’ lifestyles that aren’t just sustainable, but give back to the environment,” said CplusC founder and managing director Clinton Cole, a registered architect, licensed builder and accredited construction supervisor.

“Creating regenerative homes relies not only on the skills of our team, but the ability to visualise their ingenuity, and communicate critical information to everyone involved in a project – from the design models right down to the plethora of correspondence that takes a project from concept to reality. Autodesk embodies these elements in one place so that every design, model and piece of information is accessible.”

The result of the partnership is evident through the completed Holocene house, located on the cliffs south of Manly Beach.

Autodesk claims it is the first Australian home to achieve Active House certification, a credential granted to buildings that have met demands for occupant health and indoor comfort, energy efficiency, and the environment.

Using Autodesk Revit and its BIM capabilities, CplusC designed a model with intricate details to not only visualise a stunning build, but also capture its passive environmental performance and expected occupant comfort levels.

This resulted in a structure complete with FSC-certified timber, low embodied carbon concrete, a 15,000 lite rainwater tank that serves the family’s water needs almost year-round, 66 solar panels sent to Tesla batteries, and returning the excess to the grid for a tidy profit.

The structure also features a heat pump system with hydronic in-floor heating and cooling to treat the floor slab as a solar battery. It has radiators in bedrooms to provide heat on zero power.
The property houses a 15m natural pool, polishing ponds, waterfalls, fruit and vegetable planting beds, and chicken coop within the landscape.

Centralising all information within Autodesk came with the added benefit of streamlining local council Development Application (DA) approval, which was achieved within just 40 days – versus the average 90 days (12 weeks) typically required for the same council – without pushback as sustainability goals could be easily communicated.

A Life-Cycle Assessment (LCA) was undertaken with the help of Autodesk Revit calculating embodied carbon for the entire life of the building, enabling a rapid pivot during council review to a lower impact Shou Sugi Ban (charred) timber cladding suitable for the harsh coastal and bushfire threatened area.

According to Cole, Autodesk was also integral for project management from start to finish, as shared from customers and program partners.

“If we hadn’t used Autodesk, it would have been a nightmare to coordinate subcontractors on this project, especially as the build was taking place during the tail end of Covid-19 lockdowns,” he said.

“On the canopy alone we had plumbers, electricians, carpenters, landscapers, and structural steel experts working to strict timelines. Having all data pertaining to the project within Autodesk – including 40,000 emails plus documents – made collaboration between on-site and off-site teams simple, and ensured we maintained the delivery date amid the two most stressful years the construction industry has faced.”

“Queries, responses, and requests were embedded into the Holocene House model rather than being siloed as list files. This meant there was no risk of losing paper trails, and on-site workers could review and understand material requirements, expectations, and costs,” said Cole.

“Autodesk became the bridge between architecture and construction for us. We are ambitious in the projects we tackle, and without BIM, they would have been a far greater hill to climb. But it hasn’t just eased our ability to design and build – it has driven new levels of productivity, and reduced working weeks from 70 to 35 hours,” said CplusC senior project architect and partner Hayden Co’burn.

“Buildings account for almost 40% of energy-related carbon emissions, and homes alone make up 20%,” said Autodesk senior regional director for ANZ Andy Cunningham.

“CplusC has demonstrated the possibilities of using digital design and project management tools to break that mould, and bring complex bespoke regenerative homes to life through modern processes and true collaboration.”

One of the leading drivers behind this shift is the creation of procurement software, which has changed how organizations manage their spending and relationships with suppliers. These practical tools have simplified procurement procedures, allowing businesses to make informed choices, negotiate better deals, and optimize supply chains.

Moreover, process automation and digital procurement strategies have become even more important aspects of the procurement transformation journey. Organizations can automate their day-to-day tasks by leveraging the latest technologies, freeing their procurement teams up for strategic moves.

Leading providers like GEP have played a pivotal role in driving this transformation. A wide array of solutions, from contract management to spend analysis, enables these vendors to help organizations realize the full potential of their purchasing processes.

Automation and Enhanced Efficiency

Procurement software has completely transformed the way businesses carry out their buying activities. This technology's various advantages improve efficiency across all stages of the procurement cycle.

The significant benefit of procurement automation is going paperless throughout the procurement cycle. Traditional approaches involve manual data entry, handling physical documents, or extensive emails, leading to errors or delays. Automated procurement solutions work by digitizing such methods, reducing human error risks and ensuring consistency across all organization units.

In addition, such systems' real-time tracking and reporting features enable companies to oversee expenditures at any given time, identify bottlenecks along the realization chain, and make decisions based on fresh information. This level of transparency is crucial for spending control and proper expense management.

Procurement automation also leads to efficient workflows. For instance, when you automate tasks like requisition approvals, purchase order generation, and supplier communication, you can reduce the time-consuming bureaucratic procedures and hasten the purchasing process.

Improved Supplier Management

Supplier performance management is critical in procurement and can be significantly improved by employing the software. By evaluating advanced supplier performance metrics, organizations can track a given supplier's on-time delivery, quality, or compliance levels, which allows for the identification of best-performing suppliers as well as areas that need improvements.

This kind of software provides centralization through which suppliers can communicate with buyers. Consequently, information exchange is made more accessible, increasing transparency among various stakeholders. This makes it convenient for buyers and sellers to share documents related to their business dealings while working together using the same platform.

Moreover, such systems assist in automating supplier onboarding guarantees, ensuring that all new entries meet the organization's policy expectations. This makes work easier for both parties, saves time, and reduces risks associated with non-compliant vendors.

Risk Mitigation

Procurement risk management is an essential component of contemporary business. Organizations must, therefore, have solid systems that help them identify and manage risks as supply chains become more intricate and regulatory environments become stricter.

The software helps companies comply with applicable regulations and industry standards, ensuring that all procurement activities follow laws and ethical requirements. This software can also bring enormous benefits to contract management. Firms can avoid the risks of missed deadlines, unauthorized changes, or non-compliance with contractual obligations.

The software can monitor spending patterns, supplier performance, and budget adherence. Transparency enables organizations to pinpoint areas where there may be potential hazards. Due to the high vulnerability of procurement processes to fraudulent activities, fraud detection is one of the most vital parts of procurement risk management. By identifying potential fraud early enough, an organization can take necessary measures to avoid financial losses and harm to its reputation.

Data-Driven Approach

In today's fast-paced business environment, data-driven decision-making has become crucial for organizations seeking to optimize their procurement operations and drive cost savings.

Modern procurement solutions have core features that include purchasing analytics, which assist businesses in conducting comprehensive spend analysis across various categories, suppliers, or locations. By looking at several sources of purchase data from different locations, a company can point out overspending areas, making it easier for them to negotiate better terms with suppliers, thus streamlining their procurement processes.

Procurement report tools provide real-time visibility into KPIs (Key Performance Indicators), contract compliance levels, and supplier risk factors. This enables companies to control supplier relationships, minimize risks, and maintain procurement policies and regulations. Procurement intelligence allows the firm to anticipate supply chain disruptions and take action against them.

Flexibility and Scalability

Procurement software offers unparalleled flexibility and scalability, making it ideal for businesses of all sizes. Organizations can access their procurement solutions from anywhere, at any time. This mobile procurement capability enables remote access, enabling a seamless process flow across different locations and enabling procurement teams to work harmoniously.

Furthermore, it provides businesses with cost-effective, scalable software that meets their growing needs as they expand in size and change their acquisition requirements. As a company expands or alters its procurement requirements, it can quickly scale up or down without investing heavily in hardware upgrades or complex software installations.

The software's flexible deployment options also eliminate the need for on-premises infrastructure, reducing the burden on IT resources and minimizing upfront capital expenditures. It does not require sophisticated hardware installation or upgrading, allowing organizations to adapt quickly to market dynamics and streamline purchase processes.

Cost Savings

Implementing the software can lead to substantial cost savings for businesses, making it one of the most compelling reasons to invest in such a solution. This offers many opportunities to reduce costs and maximize return on investment (ROI) by streamlining processes, improving negotiation leverage, and enhancing inventory management.

Process optimization is one of the main ways this kind of software helps reduce costs. For instance, automating and standardizing procurement workflow results in various improvements, such as eliminating inefficiencies, reducing manual errors, and eliminating redundant tasks. In addition, enhanced negotiation leverage, among other things, makes such an acquisition program very powerful for bargaining purposes; this directly affects a company’s bottom line, leading to substantial savings on costs.

This software allows businesses to have more control over spending. Organizations can identify and remove unnecessary expenses, ensuring that each dollar is spent wisely, by enforcing compliance with procurement policies, implementing approval workflows, and providing detailed spending analysis.

Firms must seek creative solutions to gain a consistent competitive advantage in today's fast-paced business environment. One such solution that has proved invaluable is adopting procurement software. These sophisticated platforms empower businesses to achieve greater efficiency, cost savings, and strategic decision-making by streamlining and optimizing the procurement process.

In the rapidly changing world of business, where the focus has turned to optimisation and task automation, entrepreneurs and business leaders continuously seek ways to streamline operations and stay ahead of their competition. Navigating this dynamic landscape is no small feat. Enter Zoholics 2024, a landmark conference held at the Austin Convention Centre in Austin Texas, by Zoho Corporation. This event brought together Zoho users from across the globe, offering a prime opportunity for networking and expert learning.

Spanning two days, Zoholics 2024 presented an extensive program featuring over 12 tracks and more than 100 different sessions. The event catered to a wide array of interest and expertise levels, covering everything from technical details to the latest industry trends. It provided invaluable opportunities for collaboration, knowledge exchange and strategic planning, helping businesses propel themselves towards their next phase of growth. The old adage is everything is bigger in Texas and Zoho took that to heart with Zoholics 2024 bringing four exciting new product announcements from this leading global technology company. More on those announcements soon.

With an attendance exceeding 1,500 decision-makers from various sectors, participants had unparalleled access to tailored content specific to their organisational needs. Whether exploring marketing strategies, sales techniques, financial management or advanced skill development workshops, Zoholics 2024 comprehensively addressed every attendee's professional requirement.

iTWire was on-site throughout the conference, diligently capturing pivotal moments and insightful revelations shared by Zoho and its user community. This coverage highlighted the transformative potential of harnessing Zoho’s suite of tools, showcasing how the event has empowered businesses to innovate and optimise their operations.

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Australian Expansion

In an exclusive interview with iTWire, Zoho chief strategy officer Vijay Sundaram sheds some light on the company’s bold decision to establish an office in Adelaide, Australia, diverging from the bustling tech hubs of Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane.

Sundaram shares Zoho’s vision for Australia. “Australia is in the top 10 countries for Zoho,” Sundaram asserts, highlighting the distinct advantages Adelaide offers. With Zoho serving over 150 countries, Australia has made itself to the top of Zoho’s radar. Proximity to surrounding states, the affordability and the ability for employees to have freedom of space are some of the key highlights of the area, with estimates the office which has only just recently opened will hopefully double in the next 12 months.

This strategic choice reflects Zoho’s broader approach to office locations, prioritising affordability and conducive environments for personal and professional development. By fostering a culture of holistic growth, Zoho aims to empower its employees both physically and mentally, a principal integral to the company’s ethos.

Zoho has been experiencing year-on-year growth in Australia of 33% with employee numbers growing year-on-year by 57% to support it. Australian businesses are taking up a suite of products from Zoho with the top applications being used by Australians being Zoho One, Zoho CRM and CRMPlus.

 

Zoho Major Product Announcements

Zoholics 2024 expanded its portfolio of product lineups with four key announcements across collaboration, CRM, security and developer tools.

• Zoho Collaboration
• Zoho CRM for Everyone
• Zoho Security Stack
• Zoho Developer Platform

 

Zoho Collaboration

Zoho is currently experiencing a 78% year-on-year migration growth away from some of its top competitors, driven by strategic emphasis on its collaboration solutions. AI Integration, workflow automation, and industry-specific features enhance Zoho’s collaboration tools making for a compelling proposition for customers. In an interview with iTWire, Zoho director of AI Ramprakash Ramamoorthy discussed the 5.5 billion AI hits per month across their products is a testament to the uptake of clients making use of the technology.

Zoho’s collaboration projects now feature advanced AI capabilities, including natural language processing (NLP) integrated into Zoho Projects through their proprietary AI engine, Zia. This integration enables users to issue colloquial everyday voice commands, significantly optimising time by extracting contextual information stored across Zoho’s suite of applications. Zia’s functionality extends further within Zoho Notebook, the company’s versatile notebook-taking application, offering users smart summarisations, task management, automatic topic tagging, data analysis, visual chart creation and colander integration to name a few. 

Image: Zoho NLP Enabled Search

To enhance workflow automation, Zoho introduces Blueprint, its visual workflow automation technology, now integrated into Zoho Projects, Zoho Workdrive, and Zoho Sign. With Zoho Projects, Blueprint empowers users to streamline traditional project workflows using templates, ensuring ease of use, repeatability, and scalability as projects evolve. In Zoho WorkDrive’s file management solution, users can efficiently map, manage and automate content procedures across departments and teams, particularly beneficial for HR operations for example. Additionally, Zoho Sign enables the creation of reusable templates for document distribution such as sales orders, HR paperwork or legal documents, facilitating signature capture and routing results back to appropriate team members.

 

Image: Zoho Sign

Zoho showcased the advantages of its latest technologies tailored to key sectors including construction, healthcare, manufacturing, and aviation. Among these innovations is the integration of Zoho Lens, the company's augmented reality remote assistance technology. This feature grants remote access to on-site workers' device cameras, facilitating real-time troubleshooting for industries such as construction and manufacturing. Healthcare providers benefit from robust Data Loss Prevention (DLP) security protocols embedded within Zoho WorkDrive, enabling manual or automatic checks and classification of sensitive data, ensuring compliance and peace of mind. For manufacturing clients, the incorporation of Blueprint into Zoho Projects facilitates streamlined communication and process management, automating steps in crucial processes such as prototype testing, phase gates, and inventory management.

Image: Zoho Workdrive

 

Zoho CRM For Everyone

Traditionally, CRM systems have been tailored by IT teams primarily for sales workflows, often overlooking valuable communications integral to client proposal development. Zoho addresses this disparity with the introduction of CRM for Everyone, a platform designed to grant each team within a company a dedicated space to actively contribute and organise information pertinent to their roles in the proposal process. Zoho goes a step further by empowering teams to customise their CRM views, ensuring the relevance and necessity of the information displayed. These team modules feature customisable fields, permissions, workflow automation, and other team-specific adjustments. CRM for Everyone ensures comprehensive capture of all team-contributed information vital to client proposals, seamlessly integrating into the overall proposal process.

Image: Zoho CRM For Everyone

 

Zoho Security Stack

Amidst frequent data breaches worldwide, securing your company against tracking, breaches, and attacks is paramount. With the global average cost of a data breach estimated at $4.5 million in 2023 by IBM, prioritising robust protection without compromising productivity is imperative. Zoho offers a comprehensive security stack centred around Ulaa, a privacy-first browser, Directory, a workforce identity and access management (IAM) platform, OneAuth for multi-factor authentication (MFA), and Vault for secure password management.

Ulaa, Zoho's privacy-first browser, integrates machine learning-powered phishing and crypto mining detection features to thwart unauthorised access by threat actors. Directory simplifies user, app, device, and network management from a unified console, empowering IT admins to automate access management and enforce conditional access and routing policies. Additionally, Zoho's Directory features a Bring Your Own Key (BYOK) capability, enabling users to deploy their encryption keys for enhanced data security.

Image: Zoho Director

 

Zoho Developer Platform

With over 25 years of developer support, Zoho continues to enhance its offerings within the developer environment. At Zoholics 2024, Zoho introduced significant upgrades tailored to professional developers and application teams. Catalyst by Zoho emerges as a pro-code platform, enabling rapid development, testing, and launch of full-stack, production-ready applications. Catalyst empowers developers to leverage existing infrastructure and data sources by seamlessly integrating with the Zoho ecosystem and third-party applications. The platform offers pre-built components and a suite of developer tools to streamline development processes, facilitating faster product innovation and market entry. Catalyst's latest features include automated testing and build for continuous delivery pipelines, along with a fully managed front-end platform compatible with popular frameworks like React.js, Next.js, and Sveltekit.

Following a product launch, data and analytics are pivotal in assessing app usage, performance, user engagement, and growth metrics. Zoho Apptics grants developers and management teams access to data streams, facilitating actionable insights through dashboards and reports, all while ensuring responsible data sourcing without compromising individual privacy.

Zoho provides a range of pricing tiers and plans to suit different business sizes and needs across all their products. To explore the range of applications and pricing models visit their website.

JFrog is on a mission to create a world of software delivered without friction from developer to device, driven by a "liquid software" vision. The JFrog Software Supply Chain Platform is a single system of record that powers organisations to build, manage, and distribute software quickly and securely, to aid in making it available, traceable, and tamper-proof. The integrated security features also help identify, protect, and remediate against threats and vulnerabilities. Its new partnership with GitHub, the world’s leading AI-powered developer platform, will see the duo drive a best-of-breed integrated platform solution that allows joint customers to holistically manage EveryOps for developers.

Development teams need to manage both source code and binaries, so a bi-directional integration between JFrog and GitHub is a natural fit. The two companies have jointly built a roadmap to focus on seamless navigation and traceability between source code and binaries, continuous integration and deployment with GitHub Actions and JFrog Artifactory, as well as a unified view of security findings to provide one solution for software supply chain security and policies across GitHub and JFrog Advanced Security offerings. Additionally, the roadmap provides the ability to leverage GitHub Copilot to chat and query artifact and pipeline status to keep projects moving forward.

“It’s time for developers and DevOps Engineers to enjoy both worlds together as one; the best source code platform alongside the best artifact platform,” said JFrog CEO Shlomi Ben Haim. “Our customers adopt technology rapidly and require managing DevOps, Security, CI/CD, and AI initiatives while consolidating tools. We’re thrilled about this powerful partnership and integration with GitHub, as it will not only provide a seamlessly powerful experience using both platforms but also improve development efficiency and users’ happiness."

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“We’re already seeing that GitHub Copilot is transforming the way developers write code. At the same time, more code means more binaries, which have their own management, security and delivery requirements,” said GitHub CEO Thomas Dohmke. “This is why we’re excited about a partnership with JFrog. We are taking our industry-leading technologies and seamlessly integrating them with the best-in-class artifact repository manager in Artifactory. With GitHub and JFrog, enterprises will have the most holistic option to generate, manage, secure, and deliver software across the supply chain.”

JFrog and GitHub now provide organizations with a seamless end-to-end experience in managing the Software Supply Chain:

• Bi-directional code and software package navigation – Allowing precise tracking and triage by offering native linking between code and built packages and vice versa, for more streamlined data, deeper compliance and security-oriented outputs, and software provenance.
• GitHub Actions tracking for stored artifacts – Seamless integration for resolving packages from Artifactory and storing binary artifacts generated by Actions, alongside build metadata in Artifactory, aiding more accurate SBOM generation.
• SSO, roles and project structures unification – Enabling seamless sign-on, project role mapping access management and CI integration to keep developers moving efficiently.
• Single pane of glass for JFrog & GitHub Advanced Security findings – Providing full security view of both source-focused and binary-focused security scans in a single place, providing full visibility of security posture from source to production and native linking of findings to either source or binaries (coming months).
• Copilot Chat integration – Allows developers to extend their Copilot Chat interactions to be interactively advised about the best software packages and versions to use, and to ask questions regarding security and JFrog project setup, etc., to gain a greater view of the software development lifecycle (coming months).

As an ongoing initiative, both companies are dedicated to maintaining a roadmap for continuous enhancements, ensuring users of both platforms can efficiently manage their code and binaries. Additional integration points will be introduced and shared regularly.

As CIOs and CISOs share more responsibilities throughout the software supply chain flow, the collaboration between GitHub and JFrog has already received strong support from customers across a variety of industries and roles.

“The community and market have been anticipating this natural ‘better together’ solution. Organizations are consolidating around major best-of-breed platforms, and the partnership between GitHub and JFrog has the potential to transform the DevOps and DevSecOps market and supercharge developers’ efficiency,” said Vimeo CIO and CISO Mark Carter. “This integration can simplify software supply chain security by displaying source-based security findings from GitHub alongside binary-based security findings from JFrog under GitHub’s Security tab, allowing developers to gain a holistic security view and shorten remediation times to improve the overall security posture. Software supply chain security is top of mind for every CISO, and this joint solution from JFrog and GitHub provides a critical, AI-infused cybersecurity control.”

JFrog has announced its upcoming annual user conference, swampUP, which is set to occur in Austin, Texas, from September 9 to 11, 2024. During this event, JFrog and GitHub will jointly present their vision, share ongoing roadmap items, and demonstrate recent developments for the community.

SD-WAN solutions are not the same, though. Deploying one does not automatically mean reliable protection. It is important to examine options carefully and find the SD-WAN product most suitable for specific requirements, especially in terms of geographic expansion, cloud migration, and the optimization of WAN capacity and resilience.

Below are five of the best SD-WAN solutions designed to maximize protection and optimize IT operations in highly distributed settings.

Check Point Security Gateway

Check Point is well known for its robust security products, and its AI-Powered security gateways are no exception. The company’s line of security gateways provides next-generation firewall protection for reliable threat prevention, unified management, and scalable deployment. They offer cloud-delivered and AI-amplified protection that touts a 99.8% block rate against zero-day attacks.

Check Point’s security gateways come with SD-WAN to provide not only threat protection but also the optimization of IT infrastructures and application performance under any network conditions. It features advanced traffic routing or auto-steering capabilities, including the ability to dynamically set the traffic paths of multiple applications based on a number of factors monitored in real-time. It examines latency, bandwidth, jitter, and other factors to ensure consistent performance while prioritizing the traffic of critical applications. It also comes with fast failover speed to minimize disruption, maintain application availability, and ensure good user experiences.

Check Point’s security gateways feature zero-touch provisioning and simple onboarding facilitated by a step-by-step wizard. They do not require complex configurations and setup procedures. They are also built with ISP redundancy in mind. They come with two SIM slots that allow organizations to switch to 5G or mobile data connectivity if they lose their main internet connection. The device itself can be the backup internet connection, provided there is 5G or other forms of wireless internet connection in an area.

Moreover, Check Point’s security gateways readily integrate with existing infrastructure. It is compatible with already deployed firewalls and other threat detection and prevention products. It supplements existing cybersecurity tools to maximize defenses cost-efficiently. These attributes make Check Point’s SD-WAN security gateways well-suited for distributed operations.

Fortinet Secure SD-WAN

Providing fast and scalable SD-WAN for cloud and on-premise applications, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN is designed to simplify deployment and security. It can serve as a foundation for organizations that are transitioning to Secure Access Service Edge (SASE). It extends secure high-performance connectivity to users in different locations, which makes it a great choice for organizations with distributed operations.

Fortinet’s SD-WAN enables robust security by providing advanced threat protection and integrated security. It comes with next-generation firewall functions including sandboxing, deep packet inspection, and intrusion prevention. It brings security and SD-WAN together, making it unnecessary to use multiple network security appliances while simplifying security management across multiple locations.

When it comes to performance optimization, Fortinet’s solution employs SD-WAN mesh networking to enable branch offices to have direct communication with each other to reduce reliance on central hubs while optimizing traffic flow. It also uses dynamic path selection in routing traffic across different connections and application acceleration to prioritize critical business applications like video conferencing platforms.

Fortinet has a centralized platform for an enterprise’s full SD-WAN network. This provides the benefits of simpler configuration, consistent policy enforcement, and more convenient troubleshooting. Just like most other SD-WAN solutions, it is also designed for scalability and agile deployment.

VeloCloud SD-WAN

VeloCloud SD-WAN from VMware is a high-performance but simplified SD-WAN solution. Organizations with branch and remote site operations benefit from its automated platform that enables WAN visibility, agile functions, and scalable deployments.

A key selling point of VeloCloud SD-WAN is its support for hybrid teams coupled with cloud migration. It allows organizations to deploy hybrid work arrangements seamlessly with the ability to connect a wide range of devices or users to any application, regardless of location. It supports the data centre, cloud, as well as edge connections, including cloud migration, to address the new IT arrangements of modern organizations. It also provides in-depth network analytics.

Additionally, VeloCloud provides zero-touch provisioning and cloud management, which not only help expedite deployments but also accelerate cloud adoption for organizations that are new to the cloud paradigm. It provides the functions and features organizations need to adopt multi-cloud strategies while maximizing network performance and reliability.

VeloCloud SD-WAN also provides comprehensive edge security. It comes with advanced threat defence, end-to-end network segmentation, and security virtual network functions. Together with centralized monitoring, it enables efficient, reliable, and properly protected connections that are a boon for enterprises with dispersed operations.

Cisco SD-WAN

Formerly known as Viptela, IT and networking giant Cisco’s entry to this list is an open, programmable, and scalable solution with cloud-scale architecture. Cisco SD-WAN makes it possible to connect branches, remote sites, data centers, campuses, as well as co-location facilities securely without sacrificing network performance. It is designed to maximize network speed and efficiency.

A key feature of Cisco SD-WAN is Cisco vManage. This console is responsible for the creation of an SD-WAN overlay fabric that connects a wide range of devices and users. It supports flexible WAN management and comes with a suite of services for branch and cloud security, application performance optimization, and collaboration.

Cisco’s solution is designed with cloud-scale infrastructure to ensure high availability and throughput. It includes multiple Gigabit ports as well as 5G cellular links. It is optimized for multi-cloud environments with its ability to integrate with IaaS solutions and synergy with SaaS products. Additionally, it is designed to enhance app visibility and support the transition of organizations to SASE.

Juniper SD-WAN

Juniper Networks has an AI-driven SD-WAN solution created to maximize the user experiences of those directly involved in IT management as well as end users. It combines multiple proprietary Juniper technologies, from Juniper Mist AI to Juniper Session Smart Routing, to simplify network operations while ensuring secure connections and resilient networks.

Juniper SD-WAN helps enterprises with highly distributed operations by providing AI-powered automation for deployments and troubleshooting. It establishes a tunnel-free architecture that addresses issues associated with inefficiencies, scaling, and cost constraints.

This SD-WAN solution helps ensure efficient and streamlined operations by ensuring simple deployments backed by automated templating functions, zero-touch provisioning, and rapid network troubleshooting. At the same time, it provides solid security through the principle of zero-trust or “deny by default” policies when it comes to access requests.

Conclusion

As businesses become increasingly geographically dispersed, organizations need to keep up with the performance and security challenges that impact connectivity. SD-WAN solutions provide a highly viable way to address current and emerging network performance issues while keeping security risks or threats at bay. The five solutions described above are among the best SD-WAN options at present, but it is important to cautiously examine them with respect to specific operational requirements to pick the most suitable solution to use.

However, the main caveat being that you need to find a way to successfully navigate different regulations, protocols, and logistics networks in unfamiliar territories. All of this requires a significant investment of time, effort, and resources - not to mention expertise. Talk about a headache.

But here’s the good news - instead of stumbling through it alone solo and trying to overcome the challenges of shipping your products internationally, there is a whole industry out there that has been built to take care of all the heavy lifting for you. Enter freight forwarders.

Dating back to the early 1800s, this specialized industry has evolved to cater to the complex needs of global trade - and its been given a digital makeover to help businesses navigate the ever-changing landscape of international logistics with greater ease and efficiency than ever before.

What is Digital Freight Forwarding?

To put it into simple terms, digital freight forwarders act as logistics platforms that take a data-driven, technology based approach to help simplify global shipping for businesses. But what does this actually look like in the real world?

Well, much like traditional freight forwarders, these digitally enabled platforms handle all of the critical aspects of the shipping process - procuring cargo space with carriers, preparing documentation, warehousing, and even customs clearance. Basically, you can think of it like a one-stop-shop concierge service for getting your products from point A to point B.

However, since they are fully digitized, digital freight forwarders can do all this much more quickly and efficiently through the use of seamless online coordination. This gives companies of any size the power to expand globally in a streamlined way, without struggling with complex logistics operations across disjointed solutions. So, if the fear of managing the stress of global logistics has been putting you off your quest for global domination, these digitally-enabled forwarders could be the answer you’ve been looking for.

How Digital Freight Forwarders Facilitate Seamless Market Access

Like most industries, the digital revolution has brought a wide span of benefits to the companies that have been able to adapt the latest tech to help drive more value to the end customers - and freight forwarding is no different. Let's quickly take a look at some of the main benefits that these digital freight forwarders now offer to their customers, particularly when compared to their more-traditional counterparts.

Instant quotes & bookings

Thanks to instant connectivity with an immense network of ocean, air, and truck freight carriers, digital forwarders can provide live pricing and departure details in seconds after an online shipment request. Companies can book logistics on the spot based on their timeline, budget and cargo needs without lengthy back and forth negotiations.

Lower costs

Since they maintain relationships with multiple carriers and can gather large shipments headed to the same location, these platforms have major leverage to score bulk discounts. We're talking big time savings they can pass onto companies of all sizes, not just the larger enterprises. Coupled with automation capabilities that cuts overheads, and companies can ship overseas at extremely competitive rates! This makes expanding into new markets much more affordable.

End-to-end transparency

Digital freight forwarders give you much more transparency into everything going on with your shipments. Old-school freight forwarders often played a "need-to-know" game that left companies in the dark. This resulted in a catalogue of issues that would eventually result in delays and other issues for the end customer. Now, thanks to these digitally enabled platforms, companies can enjoy real-time tracking backed with data analytics telling them where their inventory is at 24/7. Total supply chain transparency.

Customs Clearance Assistance

Every country has its own set of customs procedures and trade regulations spanning duties, taxes, restricted items lists, and declaration forms. Digital forwarders have dedicated customs teams familiar with all destination formalities. They prepare and submit the exact documents on the importer's behalf for smooth clearance and release of goods. No market entry know-how is required.

Overseas Warehousing & Fulfillment

For online sellers, finding and managing foreign distribution centers can be an obstacle in market expansion. Digital forwarders offer built-in warehousing/fulfilment services through overseas partner warehouses. Companies can stock inventory abroad in markets they want to penetrate while the forwarder handles storage and local ordering logistics.

Door-to-Door Delivery

Digital platforms give SMBs the same shipping capacities multinational corporations leverage. That includes comprehensive port-to-door transport both abroad and domestically from the origin warehouse to the final shop. Forwarders can dispatch shipments to make the overseas leg via ocean or air freight. Then, upon arrival, they coordinate trucking for direct store delivery in the new market. It’s a full end-to-end service that takes all of the logistical concerns away from the business owner.

Final Word

When it comes down to it, partnering with tech-savvy freight forwarders is the best bet for modern businesses looking to go global quickly and affordably. These logistics companies have got the process streamlined through their smart online platforms that handle everything - quotes, bookings, paperwork, customs, tracking, analytics - on one easy-to-use dashboard. It makes scaling across borders and managing global supply chains much smoother sailing.

With them handling all the intricate logistics behind the scenes, suddenly, the whole world opens up for effortless trade and rapid expansion into new territories. It's a plug-and-play global market any business can access at the click of a button now.

Sure, traditional freight forwarders still play a role for more complex shipping scenarios. But when every company now has the ability to dominate global markets from their laptop, these digital forwarders are soon to become standard operating procedure for imports and exports in our increasingly connected world.

While these technologies have lots of potential for innovation and progress, they also raise serious ethical concerns; in order to use AI and its tools safely, the practising of responsible use of it should start from a deep understanding of its capabilities. From that, users can leverage its benefits for good purposes and minimise unwanted risks. 

This article will look at the ethical implications of AI, the necessity of responsible use, and how diverse stakeholders should collaborate to ensure AI benefits society positively and ethically.

AI and its Power

AI's power lies in its ability to learn from vast data sets and recognise patterns, making it a transformative force across numerous aspects of life. AI-enabled tools, because of that, have also become more popular with mainstream users. From the simple usage of AI tools such as virtual assistants and chatbots to the more complex applications in the creative areas, AI has demonstrated its ability to replicate human-like activities and expand to the point where it can produce results depending on user choices. 

While these breakthroughs demonstrate AI's transformational potential, they also highlight the ethical problems and obligations connected with its usage, which must be addressed to ensure that it is ethically created and used.  

What is the Responsible Use of AI?

• Transparency and Explainability: AI systems should be transparent about their processes and outcomes, providing clear explanations for how decisions are made. 
• Fairness and Non-Discrimination: AI must be free from biases that could result in unfair treatment or discrimination. Developers train models on a variety of data sets and constantly review them for any bias to ensure fair results.
• Privacy and Data Protection: Because data is the foundation of AI, respecting individual privacy is extremely important to ensure that the use does not violate the data protection laws but should be performed responsibly to minimise data collection and retention to what is strictly necessary for the AI's function.
• Safety and Security: AI systems, particularly those used in high-risk areas such as healthcare or transportation, must prioritise user safety and security. 
• Human Oversight and Control: AI should enhance human capabilities, not replace them entirely, to ensure that decisions align with ethical and legal standards, especially in areas like law enforcement or healthcare, where AI mistakes can have serious repercussions.
• Social Responsibility: The use of AI should consider the broader impact of it on society, including potential job displacement. 
• Ethical Considerations in Design: Throughout the AI lifecycle, from data collection to deployment, developers must integrate ethical guidelines and industry standards to minimise risks and prevent unintended harm. Developers should create inclusive algorithms and consider the diverse impacts of AI deployment on different populations.

The Importance of Responsible Use of AI

Prevention of Unintended Harm

Responsible use of AI prioritises safety and minimises risks. It allows for the proper regulation and monitoring of AI systems and from that, avoids misinformation and biased outcomes. 

Avoidance of Unethical Applications

Responsible AI helps avoid such negative outcomes by adhering to ethical guidelines and standards. It provides appropriate leads to ethical actions to avoid such as privacy breaches, manipulation, and exploitation.

Protection Against Biased Outcomes

Responsible AI ensures fairness, preventing discriminatory practices and biased decision-making. It also prevents the inadvertent perpetuation of AI systems that are not tested thoroughly. 

Safeguarding Privacy and Data Protection

AI's reliance on large data sets can pose privacy risks. Responsibly use of AI helps organisations to protect individuals' data, align to data protection laws, and maintain trust with users. It prevents the privacy risks caused by the reliance of AI on a large data set. 

Maintaining Trust and Accountability

When AI decisions are clear and explainable, it builds trust among users and stakeholders and hence, allows for the continuous adoption and integration of AI technologies.

Ensuring Equitable Access

Responsible use of AI ensures equitable access to these benefits for all, regardless of socioeconomic status, race, gender, or other demographic factors.

Preservation of Human Agency

Responsible AI prioritises human oversight and decision-making authority, ensuring that technology augments human abilities rather than diminishing them. This helps preserve human agency and control, particularly in high-stakes scenarios.

Mitigating Social and Economic Disruption

Responsible AI involves proactively addressing these challenges through workforce retraining and support programs to help workers transition to new roles. This helps to avoid the unwanted disruption of AI toward the existing industries and labour markets, which can potentially lead to job displacement and economic disparities. 

Promoting Positive Societal Impact

Responsible AI ensures that it contributes to these causes and aligns with broader societal goals besides the process of making positive changes in such as healthcare, education, and environmental sustainability. 

How to Use AI Responsibly

Government Responsibility

Governments can regulate AI innovation by determining which products should be commercialised. They must establish clear principles and criteria for AI development and usage, ensuring that innovation helps society while causing no harm.

Developer Accountability

Developers should be responsible for the ethical design of their products, whether for research, commercialisation, or tech-enabled solutions to promote openness, justice, and safety in the work.

Importance of User Education

Educational institutions should include AI ethics in their programs, educating students and future professionals about the responsible use of AI to foster a culture of ethical technology use.

Businesses' Role

Businesses should embrace responsible AI practices to encourage development while upskilling their workforce by providing training programs for employees or encouraging them to complete an MBA online to bridge the gap between modern and traditional skills, ensuring a seamless transition as AI becomes more integrated into the workplace.

CONCLUSION

AI can transform businesses and enhance people's lives, but careful application is required to prevent problems such as financial losses, job displacement, and unethical behaviour. By encouraging ethical AI practices and efficiently controlling its expansion, we can use AI's power for good. As AI evolves, its ethical application will become increasingly important in crafting a future that balances innovation and human well-being. 

The Copilot-powered code scanning autofix is powered by GitHub Copilot and CodeQL, and covers more than 90% of alert types in JavaScript, TypeScript, Java, and Python, and delivers code suggestions shown to remediate over two-thirds of found vulnerabilities with little or no editing.

GitHub senior product marketing manager Eric Tooley said, “Our vision for application security is an environment where ‘found means fixed’. By prioritizing the developer experience in GitHub Advanced Security, we are already helping teams remediate 7x faster than traditional security tools. Code scanning autofix is the next leap forward, helping developers dramatically reduce time and effort spent on remediation.

“Even though applications remain a leading attack vector, most organizations admit to an ever-growing number of unremediated vulnerabilities that exist in production repositories. Code scanning autofix helps organizations slow the growth of this ‘application security debt’ by making it easier for developers to fix vulnerabilities as they code,” adds Tooley. 

Just as GitHub Copilot relieves developers of tedious and repetitive tasks, code scanning autofix will help development teams reclaim time formerly spent on remediation. Security teams will also benefit from a reduced volume of everyday vulnerabilities, so they can focus on strategies to protect the business while keeping up with an accelerated pace of development.

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When a vulnerability is discovered in a supported language, fix suggestions will include a natural language explanation of the suggested fix, together with a preview of the code suggestion that the developer can accept, edit, or dismiss. In addition to changes to the current file, these code suggestions can include changes to multiple files and the dependencies that should be added to the project.

Behind the scenes, code scanning autofix leverages the CodeQL engine and a combination of heuristics and GitHub Copilot APIs to generate code suggestions.

GitHub will continue to add support for more languages, with C# and Go up next. Developers can join the autofix feedback and resources discussion to share their experiences and help guide further improvements to the autofix experience. GitHub says it is committed to moving application security closer to a place where a vulnerability found means a vulnerability fixed.

At this special virtual event hosted by OutSystems you will come to understand the ways in which AI and Low-Code enable business leaders to make informed decisions, adapt to market changes, and drive successful digital transformations.

Speakers include key OutSystems specialists:

Key takeaways you will gain:

• Unlock the potential across the software development lifecycle
  
  
• Pivotal roles of key stakeholders in the software delivery pipeline and how Low-Code and AI can augment this process.
  
  
• Streamline Processes for Enhanced Efficiency
  
  
• Strategies that streamline processes and unlock bottlenecks at different stages of the software development lifecycle.
  
  
• Integrate AI for Robust Development
  
  
• Integration of AI within the development cycle and its transformative impact on creating a more robust and effective software development process
  
  
• Shape Business Outcomes with Predictability
  
  
• Make informed decisions, adapt to market changes, and drive successful digital transformations.

Together, let's explore and harness the transformative power of AI and Low-Code!

Join us at 2PM on 21 March and be at the forefront of innovation in the ever-evolving world of technology.