Displaying items by tag: Employees

GUEST OPINION: Deploying intelligent virtual assistants will help your people and culture specialists power through the hack work.

GUEST OPINION: Not too long ago, business was conducted by means of a single landline located in a single office. The technology was considered state-of-the-art back in the early 20^th century since it offered instant telecommunications. Fast forward to the early 21^st century and the landline has been replaced with digitized business phone systems that store data on the cloud and offer comprehensive app and computer-powered solutions such as website chat boxes. 

Employees in ANZ organisations need to play catch-up against regional colleagues by improving their vigilance in identifying malicious links and other forms of phishing, according to one phishing platform provider.

Serious data issues need to be overcome if businesses are to achieve their 2024 priorities

• 98% of Australian financial services professionals are not using real-time data
• Over 40% can’t access data to make decisions
• 40% don’t trust their data and the insights it gives them

Operations leaders within financial services are facing decision paralysis, painting a concerning picture for the industry across Australia.The latest research from ActiveOps, a provider of AI-powered Decision Intelligence for service operations, has revealed that senior operations heads are “struggling to make critical decisions due to poor data – highlighting a concerning state of play that involves significant data issues and challenges that are impacting businesses’ ability to achieve their priorities in 2024”.

Sixty-percent of all Australian businesses are already using, or planning to integrate, AI into their operations over the next two years. according to an independent survey commissioned by a small business organisation.

Fifty-one percent (51%) of employees were disciplined, 27% voluntarily left the organisation and 39% were fired following their involvement with a phishing incident, according to research undertaken by threat intelligence company Egress.

New data from job site Indeed reveals Aussies as “overwhelmingly fearless” when it comes to the adoption of AI in the workplace.

GUEST OPINION:  Pushed into the mainstream as a result of the global pandemic, working from home has become a standard feature in many workplaces.

Rapid shifts in the cyber security landscape and new techniques adopted by attackers attempting to sidestep traditional defences are revealed in the 2023 End of Year threat report from Cyber security artificial intelligence provider Darktrace.

GUEST OPINION by Lee Hawksley, President, Asia Pacific and Japan, UiPath:  The change from the traditional five-day to four-day work week is a concept that has gained traction in recent years in a bid to improve workplace culture, promote work-life balance, increase employee satisfaction and retention, and boost productivity. Large Australian enterprises such as Bunnings Warehouse, Telstra, Unilever, and Medibank have tested this idea and achieved mostly positive results, with many more organisations expected to follow suit.

IT services and consulting company Tata Consutancy Services (TCS) has announced it has strengthened its AI capabilities across its value chain, and after training over 150,000 employees in the foundational skills of Generative AI, TCS has launched an AI Experience Zone, to foster hands-on proficiency in Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Generative AI (GenAI) for its employees.

Acquisition is expected to add more than 940 employees to Cognizant's ServiceNow Business Group, creating one of the largest aggregations of ServiceNow professional certifications globally

COMPANY NEWS: Cognizant has entered into an agreement to acquire Broomfield, CO-based Thirdera, an Elite ServiceNow Partner specialising in advisory, implementation and optimisation solutions related to the ServiceNow platform, with a strong focus on emerging enterprise workflow products. As part of the acquisition, Thirdera's ServiceNow training platform, Thirdera University – one of the world's largest – is expected to play a central role in credentialing resources to fulfill growing demand in the ServiceNow ecosystem.

The addition of Thirdera, which brings an on-and-near-shore global presence for the Cognizant ServiceNow Business Group, is expected to further efforts on the path of Cognizant and ServiceNow's strategic partnership to build a $1 billion combined business focused on AI-driven automation.

Thirdera is the largest independent global pure-play ServiceNow consultancy and has been recognised as the 2023 Worldwide Creator Workflow Partner of the Year and 2023 ServiceNow Americas IT Workflow Partner of the Year, among other accolades.

The combined strengths of Thirdera and the Cognizant ServiceNow Business Group are expected to offer clients one of the most comprehensive experiences in the ServiceNow ecosystem, with robust capabilities in professional services across key ServiceNow workflows and emerging products, including generative AI.

"ServiceNow is leading a market shift toward customer, employee, and creator products," said Ravi Kumar S, Cognizant's CEO. "I believe the combination of Cognizant's deep industry, AI, and platform expertise paired with Thirdera's leading-edge offerings in enterprise transformation will position Cognizant at the forefront of thought leadership and innovation in the ServiceNow ecosystem."

The addition of Thirdera's ServiceNow consultants in North America, Spain, Colombia, the Netherlands, and Australia, among other locations, and Thirdera's leading position in ServiceNow training and certifications, including Certified Master Architects and Certified Technical Architects, will create a combined Cognizant ServiceNow Business Group with more than 2,400 specialists and 14,000 certifications – together creating one of the largest and most highly accredited ServiceNow partners in the world.

"This is a pivotal moment for redefining customer engagement and operational efficiency," said Jason Wojahn, CEO and Co-Founder of Thirdera. "We believe leveraging Cognizant's scale, resources, and cross-industry expertise will help us revolutionise how our clients work in order to unleash productivity and drive innovation. We aim to transform the fabric of our clients' work environments, creating substantial value and offering our employees significant opportunities for professional growth and learning."

"Cognizant's bold move is an example of how our partners are looking to capitalise on the enormous market opportunity with ServiceNow. Their plan to acquire Thirdera, the largest pure-play ServiceNow partner, will turbo-charge their ability to build GenAI industry leading solutions on the ServiceNow platform," said Bill McDermott, chairman and CEO of ServiceNow. "This acquisition puts Cognizant well on their way to building a $1B+ joint business that can accelerate value for our customers."

Cognizant and ServiceNow have expanded their strategic partnership since Cognizant's acquisition of ServiceNow consultancy Linium in 2021, including a June 2023 announcement regarding a strategic partnership to drive AI-driven automation and the path toward building a $1 billion combined business, as well as the launch of an AI-powered service assurance offering for the telecommunications industry.

The acquisition is expected to close in January 2024, subject to satisfaction of closing conditions. Financial details were not disclosed.

About Cognizant
Cognizant (Nasdaq: CTSH) engineers modern businesses. We help our clients modernise technology, reimagine processes and transform experiences so they can stay ahead in our fast-changing world. Together, we're improving everyday life. See how at Cognizant or @cognizant.

About Thirdera
Thirdera is an Elite-level ServiceNow partner, enabling customers to leverage the power of the ServiceNow platform through workflow-enabled services and solutions. Founded in 2021, Thirdera has quickly become an industry leader, evident by its recognition as a Major Contender in the Everest Group ServiceNow Services PEAK Matrix Assessment 2022 and distinction as the 2022 ServiceNow Global Emerging Industry Solutions Partner of the Year. As the largest global pure-play ServiceNow partner, Thirdera offers high-quality industry expertise and world-class innovation to help businesses accelerate growth and productivity via transformation, digitisation, and automation. Visit www.thirdera.com for more information. Thirdera is currently a portfolio company of Sunstone Partners.

Global technology company, HCLTech has been selected by the Department of Transport and Planning in Victoria to automate the concession entitlement process for public transport users.

GUEST OPINION by Bradley Pulford, Managing Director at HP Australia, and New Zealand: In just a few short years, our collective relationship with work has changed drastically. We recently released our first ever Work Relationship Index, revealing some interesting truths about how people view their own relationship to work, including the expectations they have of their bosses, and ultimately; how happy they are at work. The long and the short of it is; we want more from our jobs, and especially our bosses.

New Managed Security Awareness Service will help strengthen ‘human firewalls’ in organisations by training and preparing employees for cybersecurity risks

COMPANY NEWS: Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN), a leading global provider of cloud computing platform and solutions, has partnered with KnowBe4, the provider of the world’s largest security awareness training and simulated phishing platform, to help Asia Pacific (APAC) organisations expand cyber awareness and build an end-to-end security culture.

Professional services firm Accenture has acquired Bourne Digital, an Australian digital design agency focused on the SAP ecosystem.

Global human resource management solutions provider Remote has announced that Barbara Matthews has joined the company as its Chief People Officer.

Despite the majority (70%) of Australian employers being more concerned about their staff leaving their organisation in 2023 compared to 2022, many have stated that they are unable to address their employees’ concerns to entice them to stay,, according to new research.

Only 37% of IT pros are concerned about phishing or say they know what to do following a data breach 

A quarter of Australian office workers admit to using the same password for more than one account 

Data breaches have seemingly had little or no impact on how IT decision makers view the risks to their organisations, according to new research from security awareness training and human resources platform provider KnowBe4.

RECRUITMENT FEATURE: Employers are recognising that many of their employees are struggling to keep up with the pressures of inflation and the rising cost of living in 2023, according to new independent research by specialised recruiter Robert Half,which also finds that almost nine in 10 (89%) employers have taken action in their organisation to support employees with the rising cost of living, including more than half (53%) providing staff with a permanent pay rise.