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Entrepreneur Matt Farmer joins V2 Digital board

2023-11-24T00:59:08+11:00

Australian transformation consultancy V2 Digital has announced the appointment of Matt Farmer as a board member and investor.

V2 Digital says Farmer, renowned as a "serial entrepreneur and investor" in many successful startups, brings a wealth of experience, including having co-founded and successfully scaled technical consultancy Contino, which was later acquired by Cognizant in 2019.

Farmer is currently Co-Founder and Exec Chairman at Mesh-AI, a UK based Data Consultancy, and Founder of Ox Ventures.

V2 Digital says that in his new role Matt Farmer will act in an advisory capacity, drawing on his entrepreneurial insights to enhance V2's capabilities in delivering impactful digital and data solutions - and “will leverage his extensive past experience to help shape the company's strategic direction, and contribute to its ongoing success, further bolstering its market position”.

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"I’m overjoyed to join V2 Digital as an investor and Board Member, as the organisation’s ethos aligns seamlessly with my passion for positively impacting clients by driving innovation and unleashing transformational value," said Farmer.

"V2 Digital's commitment to accelerating vision to value for its clients through a unique blend of experience, data, and technology truly resonated with me. Additionally, I was eager for the opportunity to work again with Craig Howe and his exceptional leadership team as they strive to be the leading digital and data consultancy in APAC. I’m incredibly excited to join at this stage of V2’s growth story and thankful to be welcomed as part of the team.”

V2 Digital notes that rapid growth, commitment to delivering transformative solutions, and its team of 35 talented designers, data specialists as well as software and cloud engineers, have already positioned the company as a key player in the Australian market.

"We are delighted to welcome Matt Farmer to V2 Digital as an investor and Board Member," said Craig Howe, CEO at V2 Digital. "His experience in building and scaling successful consultancies, combined with his strategic vision, will be instrumental in guiding V2 through its continued growth and will take us from strength to strength."

Launched in April of this year, V2 Digital says that it has made a bold entry into the market.

“With offices established in Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane, the company has rapidly expanded and has already successfully delivered a number of transformative engagements for clients. Furthermore, it has achieved numerous accolades having recently become one of the fastest partners globally to attain Advanced Tier status within the prestigious AWS Partner Network and has been recognised as one of the Best Places to Work in Australia,” concluded V2 Digital.

With new interactive platform enhancements, 'nothing fits better' than BlueJeans video

2023-08-08T10:34:44+10:00

To better support cohesiveness in how we work today, at Enterprise Connect, Verizon Business announced several new, interactive feature updates across the BlueJeans collaboration and live streaming platform to boost video engagement.

“Video has exploded as the primary medium of choice for organisations when it comes to everything from broadcasting immersive company town halls to amplifying influential marketing messages and product launches,” said Chris Lewter, VP and General Manager, BlueJeans by Verizon. “With today’s announcements, we’re making it even easier for customers to unlock the power of video in a way that best suits their specialised business needs and deliver game-changing experiences for their customers, employees, and partners across devices and channels.”

Leveling up with BlueJeans Events

Since launching BlueJeans Studio, the simple and intuitive production suite built into BlueJeans Events, the goal has been to make it easier for presenters and producers to immerse and engage audiences and get maximum value from virtual events—powering amazing creativity that brings everyone attending along for the ride. To give event hosts an even more powerful set of features that can help them level-up their virtual stage presence, BlueJeans Events now offers a variety of new and exciting capabilities that will improve the presenter experience, give attendees fun new ways to participate in the event, and make production more intelligent.

Presenter: The new Presenter Dashboard view gives presenters clear line-of-sight into what the audience sees for a more cohesive experience and highlights when a presenter has their microphone and camera enabled. The new Presentation Upload feature enables access to presentations via Google Drive and Microsoft One Drive so that other members of the production team can drive the content in a seamless and secure way, without having to actually share potentially sensitive files.
Attendee: An expanded set of attendee reactions gives presenters more tangible feedback for when certain topics and content are resonating with the audience. From an accessibility perspective, the attendee view has been updated with better colour contrast, clearer iconography, and improved usability. Furthermore, the event join screen can be more customised to better articulate attendee expectations and deliver clearer guidance on the event that they are joining.
Producer: Designed to ease the administrative burden of producing virtual events, Smart Producer automatically recognises the active speaker and shifts layout options to accommodate the best possible view for attendees. This enables producers to stay focused on driving attendee engagement.

These new Events features will be available to preview in Q2, with GA anticipated for Q3. Learn more about today’s BlueJeans Events enhancements.

The BlueJeans Developer Platform
Video has quickly risen to the top of the customer-centric must-haves list for driving brand visibility and easy accessibility in today’s “always on” world. To help companies execute on their customer-first video strategy, the new BlueJeans Developer Platform provides a developer-friendly set of SDKs & APIs to power interactive video experiences for nearly any kind of application. This robust collection of developer tools makes it easy to integrate best-in-class video conferencing capabilities directly into any web or mobile application through the BlueJeans client SDKs for WebRTC (browsers) and mobile (Android & iOS) for fully customisable experiences, or via low-code Embed SDKs for web application development with minimal effort.

Key Developer Platform Features:

Dolby Voice Audio–Crystal-clear call quality featuring spatial audio
HD Video & Screen-Sharing: High-performance video delivered up to 720p
Layout Customisation: Flexible options for configuring multi-stream video
Audio/Video Controls & Settings: Complete customisation of available capabilities
REST APIs & Webhooks–Robust package of APIs for workflow automation pre, during, and post Meeting

Learn more about the new BlueJeans Developer Platform, including how customers across retail, healthcare and sports have leveraged the BlueJeans SDKs to deliver premium video performance within their apps.

Better Office Meeting Experiences with MultiService 2.0

Organisations looking to welcome employees back into the office will need to emphasise flexibility and inclusivity in their office workspaces. However, most video conferencing hardware currently implemented today doesn’t interoperate with all video conferencing services—getting in the way of employees being able to collaborate effectively with external partners. 

To help organisations apply a multi-service room strategy that ensures collaboration remains fluid, regardless of how employees are trying to connect from the office, BlueJeans is pleased to confirm the upcoming general availability for Direct Guest Join (Q2 2023). Requiring no additional hardware, Direct Guest Join provides a one-touch experience that allows Microsoft Teams Rooms users to easily join BlueJeans Meetings directly from their MTR using an embedded web experience. Similarly, BlueJeans Rooms users will easily be able join Microsoft Teams Meetings directly on newer Windows- and Android-based devices.

To further improve overall meeting quality and provide in-room meeting attendees with better insight into who’s in the meeting and what’s being shared, updates have also been made to the BlueJeans Gateway for Microsoft Teams, including the ability to automatically resize (Fit-to-Frame) incoming attendee streams to optimise poorly cropped participant feeds and advanced controls for Large Gallery View to enable in-room users to switch over to this mode directly from the supported endpoint. Gateway-supported users will now also receive Sharing Notifications other users are trying to share content from Excel Live, PowerPoint Live, OneDrive, and the Teams Whiteboard, which are not supported via CVI. Learn more about all of today’s room system operability enhancements

JTS launches premium podcast microphone with multiple sound recording solutions for various applications

2023-07-21T10:39:11+10:00

PRODUCT ANNOUNCEMENT: JTS has announced the release of its new premium JS-1P USB condenser microphone, designed for podcasters, online video calls, and use across live and recorded applications, offering a high-sensitivity cardioid pickup pattern for those looking for audio excellence. Available in the Advanced version, the JS-1P series is engineered to elevate every audio experience for professionals and aspiring creatives alike.

The JS-1P Plus Advanced Version’s dual-capsule technology offers a versatile solution that lets users switch between the microphone’s cardioid and omnidirectional pickup patterns. The cardioid pattern is highly sensitive to sound sources in front of the microphone. This is the most common microphone pattern in studio, stage, and podcasting, as it is great for making a single source with excellent sound isolation. In contrast, the omnidirectional pattern offers greater flexibility in the directionality of sound pick-up, providing equal sensitivity to sound from all directions and making it ideal for group discussions and ambient sound capture.

JTS’s premium microphone takes professional audio a step further by including an XLR cable for seamless integration into professional audio setups, mixers, or advanced controllers. This microphone is not just about functionality; it’s also about style. It’s available in an array of colours, including classic black, vibrant pink, and elegant white, accompanied by a specially designed stand and USB type-C cable.

Moreover, the JS-1P Plus Advanced Version includes an integrated headphone jack with volume control for real-time microphone and computer audio monitoring, ensuring perfect audio reproduction. The instant mute function is a perfect companion for those moments when users need to go silent at the tap of a button.

The JS-1P Plus Advanced Version is equipped with an integrated headphone jack for simultaneous monitoring and includes an instant mute function. These microphones are the perfect companions for podcasters, vocalists, and anyone looking to engage in high-quality online video conversations or live recordings.

FEATURES

JS-1P Plus Advanced Version (Dual-Capsule)

condenser microphone with USB output for digital recording
headphone jack with volume control lets users monitor the microphone and background music on the computer with no delay
cardioid and omnidirectional pattern selection provides multiple sound recording solutions according to different applications
instant mute function
XLR cable for pro audio connection to mixers or higher-end controllers
specially designed stand and USB type-C cable
available in black.

PRICING

JS-1P Plus Advanced Version (Dual-Capsule) – RRP $379

About JTS

JTS is a world-class manufacturer of wired microphones, wireless microphone systems, conference and interpretation systems, and accessories for a variety of commercial installations and professional sound applications.

About Amber Technology

Amber Technology is one of Australia's largest and most respected distributors of high-technology equipment solutions to professional broadcast, film, recording, live production, musical instruments, residential and commercial installation, specialist hi-fi and home entertainment markets. www.ambertech.com.au

With new interactive platform enhancements, ‘nothing fits better’ than BlueJeans video: Verizon

2023-04-07T14:23:16+10:00

Communications company Verizon Business has announced several new, interactive feature updates across the BlueJeans collaboration and live streaming platform to boost video engagement.

“With today’s announcements, we’re making it even easier for customers to unlock the power of video in a way that best suits their specialised business needs and deliver game-changing experiences for their customers, employees, and partners across devices and channels.”

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Since launching BlueJeans Studio, the simple and intuitive production suite built into BlueJeans Events, the goal has been to make it easier for presenters and producers to immerse and engage audiences and get maximum value from virtual events—powering amazing creativity that brings everyone attending along for the ride. - andt to give event hosts an even more powerful set of features that can help them level-up their virtual stage presence, BlueJeans Events now offers a variety of new and exciting capabilities that will improve the presenter experience, give attendees fun new ways to participate in the event, and make production more intelligent.:

Presenter: The new Presenter Dashboard view gives presenters clear line-of-sight into what the audience sees for a more cohesive experience and highlights when a presenter has their microphone and camera enabled. The new Presentation Upload feature enables access to presentations via Google Drive and Microsoft One Drive so that other members of the production team can drive the content in a seamless and secure way, without having to actually share potentially sensitive files.
Attendee: An expanded set of attendee reactions gives presenters more tangible feedback for when certain topics and content are resonating with the audience. From an accessibility perspective, the attendee view has been updated with better colour contrast, clearer iconography, and improved usability. Furthermore, the event join screen can be more customised to better articulate attendee expectations and deliver clearer guidance on the event that they are joining.
Producer: Designed to ease the administrative burden of producing virtual events, Smart Producer automatically recognises the active speaker and shifts layout options to accommodate the best possible view for attendees. This enables producers to stay focused on driving attendee engagement.

These new Events features will be available to preview in Q2, with GA anticipated for Q3. Learn more about today’s BlueJeans Events enhancements.

The BlueJeans Developer Platform

Video has quickly risen to the top of the customer-centric must-haves list for driving brand visibility and easy accessibility in today’s “always on” world. To help companies execute on their customer-first video strategy, the new BlueJeans Developer Platform provides a developer-friendly set of SDKs & APIs to power interactive video experiences for nearly any kind of application. This robust collection of developer tools makes it easy to integrate best-in-class video conferencing capabilities directly into any web or mobile application through the BlueJeans client SDKs for WebRTC (browsers) and mobile (Android & iOS) for fully customisable experiences, or via low-code Embed SDKs for web application development with minimal effort.

Key Developer Platform Features:

Dolby Voice Audio–Crystal-clear call quality featuring spatial audio
HD Video & Screen-Sharing: High-performance video delivered up to 720p
Layout Customisation: Flexible options for configuring multi-stream video
Audio/Video Controls & Settings: Complete customisation of available capabilities
REST APIs & Webhooks–Robust package of APIs for workflow automation pre, during, and post Meeting

Better Office Meeting Experiences with MultiService 2.0

Forty percent of Australians engaged in quiet quitting: RingCentral study

2023-02-23T19:48:24+11:00

Forty percent of all Australian workers say they are engaged in quiet quitting behaviours and only 9% are actively planning to leave their jobs, according to enterprise cloud communications and contact centre solutions RingCentral’s research conducted in partnership with Ipsos.

Seventy-one percent of Australian workers prefer hybrid work arrangements over other options, and 62% say they are more productive when working from home, the research said.

Quiet quitting involves only doing the minimum required to complete your job, and not engaging any more than is required, or going above and beyond in ways such as volunteering for projects or tasks.

While the survey was predominantly designed to track how Australia's work landscape has shifted post-pandemic, and workers attitudes towards that shift, the most surprising finding from the research was the prevalence of “quiet quitting” amongst the survey group.

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“One of the biggest concerns for business post-pandemic was the concept of the ‘great resignation,’ but it never reached the scale expected and this fear now seems largely unfounded. We found that only 9% of workers are actively planning to leave their jobs,” said RingCentral area vice president Peter Hughes.

“However, there is this largely hidden issue of ‘quiet quitting’ that needs to be addressed. In addition to the high rate of workers overall saying they have quiet quit, it's even higher for full-time remote and hybrid workers, at 43%. That’s a really jarring statistic when you line this up against the higher satisfaction levels of both hybrid and remote workers, and also how productive workers feel when they are working from home. That poses some challenging questions for organisations considering future working models,” Hughes continued.

The majority (78%) of Australian workers believe they are more productive when they have the ability to decide their work location.

Fully remote and hybrid workers are more satisfied (67%) with their current work arrangements than in-person workers at 51%.

If the issue isn’t how satisfied or productive workers feel, what is causing the problem?

In RingCentral’s current study, hybrid and remote workers feel that challenges of working remotely are staying motivated (27%), worrying about being perceived as not working as hard as colleagues who go to an office (24%), feeling disconnected from colleagues (21%), too many distractions (21%), and feeling less creative (12%).

The answer seems to lie in how well connected these workers are when working remotely.

Earlier research from RingCentral pinpointed that employees working for companies that foster a “connected culture” are twice as likely to be productive when working from anywhere.

“Organisations that want to prevent quiet quitting and increase the contribution from their top talent should do what they can to encourage open communication and connectedness at all levels – business decision-makers also rated very high in the quiet quitting stakes. It doesn’t necessarily take that much; just a concerted effort to increase the opportunities for collaboration and casual interactions with their colleagues and teams in a virtual way to build that connected culture in a hybrid working environment. For many individuals and teams there are significant benefits to be gained in returning to the office. In product development, for example, when employees are together they can build faster and work directly with engineers so less bugs come out of the process However, with the right collaboration tools, it is possible to connect and empower your workforce and build highly productive teams, all the while giving employees the flexibility to manage work around other commitments,” said Hughes.

Why effective hybrid collaboration must go beyond remote communications

2022-10-16T14:40:50+11:00

GUEST OPINION: When the COVID-19 pandemic forced businesses to allow staff to work from home, the biggest initial challenge to overcome was organising ways to effectively communicate. Many turned to services such as Zoom and Teams to allow group conversations while mobiles became the favoured one-on-one channel. Over a period of a few months, most staff became comfortable with these ways of staying in touch while working remotely. However now, with hybrid work practices likely to be a feature of business life for some time to come, many organisations are realising there is another challenge that needs to be solved. As well as enabling hybrid communication, there is also a need for hybrid collaboration capabilities.

Solving this challenge could be more difficult for leaders to navigate, even compared with the rapid switch to remote working in early 2020. But while challenging, this new, blended approach to work may also be a major growth opportunity, as well as a chance to foster greater engagement and innovation.

The same old (age-old) ways to collaborate

This challenge is why Facebook's introduction of a virtual reality workspace, Horizon Workrooms, is so interesting. Maybe we don't all need Oculus headsets and VR avatars to restore a sense of teamwork. But Facebook is on the right track: it's looking for ways to help people connect and collaborate, not just communicate, in virtual workspaces.

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To ensure this switch to the next normal has a positive impact, leaders and companies will need to adopt a whole new mindset when it comes to collaboration. Research commissioned by Lucid last year showed that while managers have concerns about how remote working impacts productivity, employees are more concerned about how it impacts their ability to collaborate.

This is unsurprising. Collaborative tools have been stale for a long time. While the advent of Slack, Zoom and Microsoft Teams have shifted businesses away from operating solely on email, they remain communication platforms at heart, not collaboration solutions.

The office suites we use today are broadly similar to those we used 30 years ago; we're still collaborating around virtual 8.5 x 11 documents, virtual spreadsheets, and virtual slideshows. Even within Facebook's Workrooms, the whiteboard is just a 4 foot by 6 foot rectangle floating in front of you. But the fact is, we no longer go to work to pass memos around. Why are we restricting our collaborative work to what fits on a virtual sheet of paper or inside an imaginary conference room?

Collaboration needs to be visual

We go to work to build things, whether it's a company, a product, or a market. And, as mentioned above, good communications tools are only part of what's needed to do this kind of creative work in a remote or hybrid setting. A 2021 paper from Microsoft suggests that employees might be "collaboratively isolated" during work-from-home stints, with mixed results for creative work. That's because building things requires focused work time, along with both effective communication tools and effective collaboration.

In order to empower employees to be more collaborative, leaders need to think differently. In short, hybrid environments need visual solutions that facilitate working side-by-side, not just face-to-face.

Creativity and collaboration are possible with a hybrid workforce, as long as managers are able to build a culture that supports and prioritises these values, not just productivity. Work practices and visual technologies can give people a voice and spark creativity, regardless of their location – remote or in the office.

For example, BambooHR entered a three-year strategy refresh process just after the pandemic hit in 2020. Normally, this is the kind of process that would take days or even weeks of intensive collaborative work in a conference room, with lots of scribbling on whiteboards and flipcharts, and pasting up sticky notes full of ideas. Instead, BambooHR conducted everything virtually using a virtual whiteboard.

Employees reported they found the ability to add sticky notes and ideas on a virtual whiteboard as they went along much more engaging than sitting through a PowerPoint presentation. The whiteboard's infinite canvas meant that when one section got full, people just swiped over to a new, blank area. There was no need to pause, take a picture, and start again. The virtual canvas also allowed everyone to see all ideas on their screens and discuss them in real time and afterward to quickly establish priorities and next steps.

It's time to reimagine working together

By putting everyone in a shared, virtual space, you can eliminate old barriers and constraints. By collaborating on an infinite canvas instead of a 4'x6' whiteboard, people's ideas can literally "stretch out" and go beyond the frameworks that normally constrain their thinking.

Besides brainstorming and planning, other areas where visual, collaborative technologies could use a more hybrid-friendly approach include process mapping, system diagramming, and product development.

As staff members become comfortable with these tools and processes, virtual workplaces will quickly become spaces where the most effective collaboration can happen. They will end up being the workspaces that best promote and enable innovation, creative thinking, and new ideas to push businesses forward.

Australian leaders back rise of the ‘distributed’ workforce

2022-10-16T14:28:16+11:00

As organisations think differently about what the future of work looks like, a corresponding shift in the underlying - enabling - technology is also underway.

GUEST OPINION by Oshadha Ranaweera, Manager for Connectivity Services at Somerville: Keen observers of future work strategies may have noticed a subtle but important shift in the narrative of discussions in the space in recent months.

That shift is: more and more, organisations are talking about modelling their workforces as ‘distributed’ rather than ‘remote’.

This adjustment in the terminology is not just semantics. ‘Remote’ and ‘distributed’ models are not the same. Moreover, they are enabled by very different underlying technology and network setups.

So, how did the transition from ‘remote’ to ‘distributed’ workforces come about?

When it materialised in its current form in early 2020, remote work described a structure where employees existed as appendages to the main body of a business. An ‘office’ was still the central point that all staff needed to interconnect with, and these connections were enabled with a fairly traditional ‘‘hub-and-spoke’ network architecture.

While this was a functional model, two years on it’s clearly not the only possible model for the future of work, nor is it necessarily the best option available. Instead, we are seeing alternative models being pursued.

In particular, it’s becoming more common to see businesses back ‘distributed’ workforce models. These models aren’t built around a central office. There may be no headquarters or single centralised point that staff must ultimately connect to virtually or occasionally attend in-person.

In a ‘distributed’ workforce, every person is a component of a larger and more widespread body, with an almost centreless network in place to connect all the different parts.

GLOBIS Insights crystallises the difference as such: “Remote work is ‘everyone in the office vs. that remote [person]’. The distributed workforce removes the ‘vs.’ and relies on a different social contract between employee and employer… A distributed workforce operates on a foundation of in-person meetings being irregular, assuming they happen at all. There are no questions about how individuals will function away from the office because everyone is away from the office.”

So why have ‘distributed’ models taken off?

Talent shortages are seen as one of the key drivers for adopting ‘distributed’ workforce models. Organisations are having to look further afield when recruiting new people. Restricting recruitment to a certain radius or commutable distance from an office may be the status quo, but it’s increasingly shortsighted, placing an artificial limit on the available talent pool. At the point when access to skills becomes a constraint to growth, organisations are clearly willing to entertain alternate structures and evolve to meet changing business needs.

Leaders understand this. Research by Deloitte shows that leaders “have bold aspirations to pursue a more distributed workforce.” This isn’t just a workforce of people working from remote locations; it’s a workforce that also comprises nearshore and offshore resources, and a mix of employees, contractors, freelancers, vendors, consultants, and everyone in-between.

It’s not just leaders that need to change their mindset here. Given the rise of ‘distributed’ models, all members of an organisation need to grow comfortable with this change in terminology because doing so allows for more accurate planning for the structures needed to support their organisation’s future.

Redefining the tech foundations

The flattened structure of a ‘distributed’ workforce requires a different kind of technology setup so that everyone in it can be productive.

For many ‘distributed’ workforces, the key enabling technology is likely to be a software-defined wide area network, or SD-WAN.

It is vital to ensure that ‘distributed’ employees can still have a great experience in using their workplace technologies. This was not such a pressing concept in previous decades, but in an era of vastly enhanced career mobility, exemplified by current trends such as the Great Resignation and Quiet Quitting, user experience (UX) has become significantly more important.

UX does not simply apply to employees’ choice of where to work, but also to technological challenges such as the quality of video chat technology, which can tax external internet connections and internal home networks heavily. With ‘distributed’ work becoming a fixture, it’s inevitable that collaboration technologies will continue to improve and expand, with a shift towards more immersive VR-styled working environments replacing the current multi-screen mosaic of Zoom and its competitors.

Outside of UX-friendly ways to meet and collaborate, ‘distributed’ workforces will also grapple with new demands around transferring data between each other. This poses severe scalability challenges to a traditional network system.

As a software-defined network, an SD-WAN uses multiple modes of transport that allow for secure connections to, from and between ‘distributed’ workers. These connections may be MPLS, broadband Ethernet, and cellular.

The SD-WAN allows for centralised management and configuration. This gives IT and security teams more visibility and control. It also means that ‘distributed’ workers won’t experience issues with accessing or sharing data, since the SD-WAN is programmed to find ways to get data to where it is needed, when it is needed, securely.

As ‘distributed’ workforce models continue to grow in stature and number, organisations with more traditional office-centric or remote work setups should take note. Observe leaders in this space and the changes they’re making, and start making plans of your own for what is likely to become the de facto structure for organisations everywhere.

How to steer safe paths through tenant-to-tenant migrations

2022-10-16T14:25:23+11:00

GUEST OPINION: One result of the widespread enterprise adoption of Microsoft 365 is the need to move users from one instance of the suite to a new or different instance: a tenant-to-tenant (T2T) migration.

These are high-stakes projects, and downtime during the migration or an incomplete migration can seriously impact the business. On the plus side, organisations are finding that an advanced third-party migration tool will mitigate the business risk.

Such an application can address the security concerns of enterprises undertaking T2T migrations, and deliver an essential structured approach for tackling the multifaceted projects.

Use of a T2T tool allows organisations of every size, shape and circumstance to move safely to the cloud. Like most businesses, the pandemic taught my company many things, among these being the importance of infrastructure that’s flexible and accessible, while supporting collaboration on a global scale.

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Consider this: prior to the pandemic, 18% of employees were working from home. That rose to 80% during the pandemic, and many are resisting the idea of returning to full-time office work. So, it’s no surprise that the acceleration of modern work has paralleled a significant expansion in cloud infrastructure.

Once organisations embraced cloud solutions to support remote and hybrid workforces, improved productivity, and enhanced security, they began to see opportunities for fine-tuning their cloud presence. Migrating between tenants is a strategy that can support enterprise objectives like work group consolidation or a brand spin-off.

Recently my company updated our white paper Secure tenant-to-tenant migrations, which sets out considerations for the enterprise to incorporate new information from partners and customers who are using an advanced migration tool at the enterprise level.

The document explores the many drivers of tenant-to-tenant cloud migrations including mergers and acquisitions, geographic consolidation and workforce efficiency. There is also a look at the advantages of using a purpose-built 100% SaaS migration tool and outline a step-by-step guide to successful enterprise migrations.

Thoughtful, deliberate enterprise migrations are essential. In many cases, the migration itself is a relatively small part of an enterprise IT initiative. That can be deceptive, because it’s still a high-stakes project and, if not done with care, can result in unacceptable downtime, re-work, or frustration.

Even organisations with migration experience often find that a new configuration such as a tenant-to-tenant migration adds complexity. Each workload has its own challenges; it’s important to choose a tool that can handle not only mail migrations but the nuances of OneDrive, SharePoint, Microsoft Teams, and even GCC/GCC High.

Some migration tools are built with a combination of simplicity and control and have been proven time and again in enterprise organisations with large and complex migrations. The technology is known for its ease of use, and IT teams quickly embrace features that provide nuanced control over migration planning, visibility, timing and testing.

Some of the features that make a tool uniquely suited for enterprise migrations, include:

• Speed and scalability with a 100% SaaS tool.

• Configuration, control, alerting and reporting through a simple GUI, or full automation with PowerShell SDK.

• Fine-grained command and control with advanced options.

• A wide range of support from help centre documentation to available technical support.

• Continual enhancements to keep up with the needs of technology teams and changing workloads.

• Focus not only on technical ease and capabilities, but also on a consistent end-user experience.

Remote and secure

Even with fully remote implementation, an advanced migration tool must maintain the highest levels of security protocols, including app-based authentication, token-based modern authentication, and least-privilege access. Technology that adheres to all applicable security standards, practices and controls is both required and recommended.

Before planning a tenant-to-tenant cloud migration, check all the information provided to assure success. A step-by-step guide to enterprise migration is essential, giving insights into the five recommended migration steps.

Start with an assessment of the current and desired data state, then move on to planning the migration scenario. These first two steps are followed by scoping the project and conducting a proof-of-concept, migrating and monitoring the move, then finally wrapping up the project post-migration.

The ideal migration will be a smooth one, using a migration tool should be intuitive and easy to use, ensuring that organisations are well informed before embarking on any project.

Three factors influencing security spending: Gartner

2022-10-14T11:32:56+11:00

Analyst firm Gartner has identified three factors influencing growth in security spending.

The three factors are the increase in remote and hybrid work, the transition from VPNs to zero trust network access (ZTNA), and the shift to cloud-based delivery models.

“The pandemic accelerated hybrid work and the shift to the cloud, challenging the CISO to secure an increasingly distributed enterprise,” said Gartner senior director analyst Ruggero Contu.

“The modern CISO needs to focus on an expanding attack surface created by digital transformation initiatives such as cloud adoption, IT/OT-IoT convergence, remote working and third-party infrastructure integration. Demand for technologies and services such as cloud security, application security, ZTNA, and threat intelligence has been rising to tackle new vulnerabilities and risks arising from this exposure."

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Gartner forecasts spending on information security and risk management products and services will grow 11.3% to more than US$188.3 billion in 2023.

Cloud security spending is tipped to increase by 26.8% in 2023, closely followed by application security spending at 24.7%.

Security services (including consulting, hardware support, implementation and outsourced services) is the largest category of spending, at almost US$72 billion in 2022, and a predicted US$76.5 billion in 2023.

Infrastructure protection is a distant second at US$27.4 billion and US$31.8 billion respectively.

The ongoing need to secure working from home means technologies such as web application firewalls, access management, endpoint protection platform and secure web gateway see continued demand to at least the end of the year, Gartner predicts.

In this environment, ZTNA is the fastest-growing segment in network security with forecast growth of 36% in 2022 and 31% in 2023.

Gartner notes that as organisations become familiar with the technology, there is a growing trend to use it for on-premises as well as remote work.

And multicloud environments add complexity and increase security risks, so Gartner sees increased use of cloud security and growth in cloud-native solutions' market share.

The combined market for cloud access security brokers and cloud workload protection platform is forecast to grow 26.8% to US$6.7 billion in 2023.

Gartner clients can learn more in Forecast Analysis: Information Security and Risk Management, Worldwide and Forecast: Information Security and Risk Management, Worldwide, 2020-2026, 3Q22 Update.

Atlassian’s Dominic Price talks future of work in a digital world ahead of The Tax Summit

2022-10-13T15:47:43+11:00

COMPANY NEWS: Surviving and thriving in a hybrid world needs connection and community, Atlassian Work Futurist Dominic Price set to reveal all at The Tax Institute’s Tax Summit event

The way in which we live and work has changed significantly over the past two-and-a-half years, and it’s likely to have an everlasting impact. The economic environment has also shifted. Australians are now experiencing higher inflation, mixed and delayed growth in wages, high levels of personal, small business and government debt, as well as increasing interest rates.

Given the challenges the past few years have presented with the pandemic, the Great Resignation and the rise of remote and hybrid styles of working, ‘Team Doctor’ and Work Futurist at Atlassian Dominic Price cuts through the noise to design collaborative patterns that are easily adaptable for any purpose and organisation.

Atlassian made waves as one of the first companies to take the bold step of closing offices indefinitely and transitioning all staff to work remotely at the height of the pandemic. An in-demand media commentator and keynote speaker, Price is revered for his ability to inspire people to transform their working lives and futures.

In the lead up to The Tax Summit 2022, presented by The Tax Institute, Dominic Price, ‘Price shares a “goodie bag” of pragmatic, tried-and-true tips that leaders can action to become a better leader, manager, teammate and professional in the modern work environment:

Onboard new team members remotely
Distribute ways of working and building effective teams
Focus on intentional togetherness and psychological safety in new teams
Have fewer meetings
Working across timezones to improve inclusion

“I’ve been working with teams across the globe to build cohesion and identity in an environment where none of them has ever met before physically. And it’s very doable. Many organisations just don’t have the muscle to do it. Building that muscle starts with becoming a good teammate and working within the limitations of our environments by tweaking our mindset,” says Price.

“My goal in life is to get people to connect across an organisation. We find true community where there’s diversity and inclusion. When you have those differences of opinion and get them to work together, that’s where the magic happens. There is so much opportunity for everyone to do a few degrees better every week. It has the potential to drive huge sustainable improvements.”

The Tax Institute’s President, Jerome Tse, CTA, says, “We are delighted to have Dominic join us at The Tax Institute’s Tax Summit event. Dominic’s ideas on community, inclusion and diversity echo some of our key priorities at the Institute and in the tax profession broadly. As our closing keynote speaker, everyone is sure to find value in his inspiring thoughts on these topics.

“This three-day experience is a unique opportunity to connect in person with fellow practitioners and explore perspectives from around the world of tax as we look ahead to a bright future shared – and shaped – together.”

Price joins a compelling speaker lineup of the nation's most forward-thinking minds, including Allegra Spender, MP; Leigh Sales, AM; Jeremy Hirschhorn; The Hon Malcolm Turnbull, AC, Australia’s 29th Prime Minister; and many more. With a theme of “Shine Together”, The Tax Summit will be held at The International Convention Centre (ICC) Sydney and see attendees, ranging from taxation specialists, accountants, newcomer tax professionals, business leaders as well as anyone with an interest in the latest issues impacting businesses on a local and global scale.

The Tax Institute is the leading forum for the tax community in Australia. It is committed to furthering tax education, representing its members and continuously improving the tax system for the benefit of all.

Register now to hear more insights from Price in his session at the tax event. And for more information on The Tax Summit and its line-up of more than 100 expert speakers, covering topics including economics, property, business, global tax developments and technology, please see the full program.