technology – TYoung Systems

New Survey Reveals What Small Businesses Are Spending Their Technology Budgets On—How Do You Compare?

Posted on 05/14/2019

How does your business technology spending measure up? What are your business priorities for the near future, and how is business technology helping you achieve them? A new survey by CompTIA has some insights. Top priorities for SMBs in the year ahead include implementing new systems and processes, identifying new customer segments and markets, renewing existing customer accounts, innovation, and launching new products and services.

Underlying all of these priorities is a focus on improving efficiency, whether by implementing brand-new systems or by fine-tuning the systems you already have. To help accomplish their goals, small businesses are turning to technology. In fact, nearly two-thirds (64%) say technology is a primary factor in pursuing their business objectives, and more than half (56%) of firms with fewer than 20 employees say the same.

How are small businesses using business technology?

Overall, 59% of small businesses are mostly satisfied with their use of technology. However, there is still room for improvement. The areas in which small businesses say they most need to improve their technology are:

Integrating different applications/data sources/platforms/devices: 38%
Cyber security/data security: 35%
Effectively managing and using data: 35%
Modernizing aging equipment or software: 31%
Getting more ROI or bang for the buck from technology investments: 31%
Hiring workers with the skills needed to work with newer technologies: 30%
Next-generation customer engagement/management 28%
Managing increasingly complex technologies: 25%
Understanding or deciding among the extensive choices available: 24%
E-commerce or mobile commerce: 23%

Technology spending: Too much or too little?

The average SMB in the survey spends between $10,000 and $49,000 per year on technology. More than half (52%) of small business owners feel they are spending too little on business technology, 22% feel they are spending too much, and 44% feel they are spending the right amount.

What have small businesses spent their technology budgets on in the past two years? Some 36% of respondents say they have been focusing on infrastructure: laptops, desktops, servers, phones, storage, and the like. (New or upgraded hardware is a top item on respondents’ technology wish lists.) In addition, 31% said they have been spending on industry-specific software, while 30% say their technology spending has focused on both areas.

Asked what type of technology is their biggest priority going forward, customer experience technology is by far the most important concern, cited by nearly one-fourth (23%) of companies as their biggest tech spending priority. Thirty-five percent of companies also say hiring skilled workers to help them drive technology initiatives into the future is a priority. (Learn more about digital transformation for small businesses.)

Read more: allbusiness.com

Press Marketing

Build a 5-Star Customer Experience With Artificial Intelligence

Posted on 02/11/2019

By Alston Ghafourifar and Michael Evans

Rapid technological advances have actually developed chances for smaller sized business to serve clients around the globe and successfully take on bigger business for brand-new clients. These smaller sized business are quickly going international, releasing a range of technology-enabled options such as automated call centers, customer support bots, and digital marketing intelligence.

But these advances, developed to help with client interaction and service in brand-new methods, can provide a threat. Business that accept the numerous types of brand-new customer-focused innovation threat losing an individual connection with their consumers and a nuanced understanding of their requirements. E-mail studies are no replacement for genuine human contact when it comes to comprehending how your business can much better serve consumers.

As little business scale their operations, they can lose touch with their consumers. Typically, it takes the loss of some other customer or a significant customer crisis to sound the alarm. In some cases a domino effect occurs: experts are generated; individuals are changed; expenses are cut. This might cause additional interruption from the root of the issue: an absence of clear understanding of client requirements, what to do to please them, and failure to successfully boost the consumer experience (CX for brief). CX broadly specifies the quality of all the interactions that happen in between business and their consumers. It’’ s a crucial consider structure trust, repeat, and commitment organisation.

So anybody thinking about CX patterns ought to pay very close attention to the newest Customer Experience Index report from Forrester Research . The yearly study asks almost 120,000 U.S. customers to rank 287 brand names throughout 19 markets, concentrating on how their company-specific experiences effect brand name commitment. The disconcerting surprise was that the aggregate measurement of client experiences stopped working to enhance, with more brand names than ever ranked ““ average. ” Just 37 brand names increased in the rankings; the staying 250 decreased or stagnated.

An essential insight from the report is that it is more difficult than ever to accomplish genuinely unforgettable consumer interactions, the types that turn clients into singing supporters. There is a silver lining. Effectively producing smooth experiences can be a considerable competitive benefit, specifically in markets where service or product distinction is narrow.

Read more: allbusiness.com

Press Marketing

Targeting Phishing Attacks: Security Best Practices to Protect Your Business

Posted on 12/16/2018

By Mike Petsalis

Email gets a bum rap. It’’ s dealt with as a troublesome messaging system that was created to deal with the system that came prior to the web, and has actually been reported to be ““ dead ” or craving years now. It is still utilized thoroughly any place interaction is required for typical organisation operations. Its openness is what makes it beneficial, however likewise insecure.

Fortunately, e-mail security and the procedures companies can require to stop e-mail hazards have actuallyadvanced adequately to still make e-mail important in its openness. One approach of attack still makes some e-mails frightening to staff members, supervisors, and business owners all over: targeted phishing. Targeted attacks are driven by adjustment and deceptiveness, causing jeopardized accounts and the theft of cash and information.

Phishing has quickly end up being a rewarding company for scammers, and has actually made the requirement for awareness and security more vital than ever.

. Targeted phishing: today ’ s leading e-mail hazard.

Targeted phishing is not almost password reset messages and phony assistance e-mails. It typicallyincludes complex social engineering tactics to get details or cash out of somebody. It ’ s a contemporary con that understands no borders, has a low barrier to entry, and provides an open door to countless prospective marks occupying the ranks of services worldwide.

In 2017, according to the FBI ’ s Internet Crime Report , organisation e-mail compromise (BEC), a kind of targeted phishing planned to defraud company, cost the typical target over$’43,000. In May of 2018, the FBI upgraded its numbers, specifying that reports suggested the risk had actually cost services more than $ 12 billion over the last 5 years. What ’ s more, due to the fact that these scams are so humiliating when they do happen, and due to the fact that there is really little option provided by police, these figures are more than likely underreporting the problem, making the danger much more worrying.

As Equifax and other headline-dominating big scale breaches loom, services and people must likewise be worried that more targets are developed each time a significant information breach happens.Beyond the clear dangers presented by jeopardized Social Security and charge card numbers, the information might be utilized to obtain much more info and produce simple access to prospective targets with seeming social evidence . These ripple effects of information breaches make fast action and personnel awareness a lot more essential.

. Direct effect of targeted phishing.

Beside the dangers to customers and services alike, there are 2 main methods by which targeted phishing triggers one of the most damage: the setup of malware onto a victim ’ s computer system and the social engineering of a scams.

On the malware front, ransomware makes a great deal of headings, however it ’ s direct costs typically fade in contrast to its secondary repercussions; the typical grievance to the FBI’was for$ 600. When the National Health Service( NHS) in England was struck with the WannaCry ransomware, the total expense in performance and performance it produced far exceeded the direct expense of ransoms paid.

The FBI advises NOT paying ransoms when ransomware does strike, as there is truly no warranty your material hasn ’ t been erased or that it would be opened upon payment. Other malware consists of exploits, such as keyloggers, which run without a user ’ s understanding, and take passwords and account details in the background. Trojans can likewise take and download information for many years while staying unnoticeable, as held true in the infamous U.S. Office of Personnel Management information breach .

. Since of the extremely high expense to victims, #ppppp> Socially crafted targeted phishing is frightening. BEC attacks have actually fleeced the similarity Google and Facebook for millions, and have actually likewise dealt with individuals purchasing realty, little record label owners, and much more.

. How an effective targeted phishing attack works.

Though the mantra goes “ The finest defense is an excellent offense, ” comprehending what your opponents are attempting to do is the very best method to secure yourself from targeted phishing. Here are the standard elements that comprise an effective phishing attack and how individuals are phished:

Email– 91 %of targeted attacks begin with a phishing e-mail , mostly due to the fact that of its openness and how quickly it can be utilized to misinform users. Phishing e-mail attacks can differin strategies—, consisting of phony password reset directions, a surprise URL, a spoofed domain in the header of the e-mail, social engineering text, and more.

In the past, bad grammar and style would function as a warning, today that scams have actually ended up being so profitable, an improperly set out e-mail can not be trusted as a great indication of threat. By scraping easily offered public records and already-compromised info about you( thanks, Equifax, Yahoo!, Home Depot, Target, and so on), enemies can consist of abundant info, pretending to be somebody you understand, make remarks about a current experience, and copy format or discussion designs that are currently familiar to you( like a real password reset e-mail).

It might appear tiresome, however by targeting you or business you work for, they stand to make a great deal of cash.

Attachments– Malicious accessories are progressively ending up being tools opponents are utilizing to set up macros, perform billing scams, and even worse. Assailants likewise use.zip,. rar, or.exe to accomplish their criminal ends.

URLs or clicks– If you continue with a click, the enemy has actually offered you or gotten you curious. You will likely wind up on a destructive site , whether to set up a make use of, ransomware, or to distribute your qualifications.

Downloads– If the aggressor can get the user to download anything, whether an accessory through a clicked link or through an external site, it is most likely too late, and you require to hope there are system backups.

Read more: allbusiness.com

Press Marketing

The Machine Learning Revolution: How Artificial Intelligence Could Transform Your Business

Posted on 10/14/201810/14/2018

By Alston Ghafourifar and Michael Evans

With an innovation as impactful as artificial intelligence (ML), it can be tough to prevent embellishment. Sure, billions of dollars in financial investment are putting into ML tasks. Yes, artificial intelligence is a focal point of digital improvement methods. And, to be specific, artificial intelligence is typically what individuals are speaking about when they utilize the umbrella term ““ AI. ” So it ’ s worth putting in the time to take a look at real-world ML abilities being established and released at digitally active business around the world.

.Expert system specified.

By meaning, expert system is ““-LRB- 1) a branch of computer technology handling the simulation of smart habits in computer systems; (2 ) the ability of a device to mimic smart human habits.””

Essentially, AI abilities permit a computer system to evaluate large quantities of info and information to reach a ““ reasoned ” conclusion about the topic at hand, mimicing the human choice procedure, typically with much better choices being made.

While it is simple to specify, the obstacle has actually been the application of AI to daily life. One effective application has actually remained in the location of material matching and suggestions for streaming media, drastically changing the on-demand audience experience. Instead of trying to scale the ““ specialist ” human work essential to categorize, curate, and brochure material into consumable collections, artificial intelligence has actually ended up being a core staple in tailored material shipment. By examining user habits, choices, and more, streaming services can more properly tailor suggestions and push targeted material with higher chance for money making and engagement.

Virtually every other market is or ought to think about integrating AI into their organisation designs. You do not require to be a big business to benefit from AI in order to supply much better service to your clients—– both at a lower expense and with much better outcomes. AI can assist mid-sized and little companies expect and fill consumers item requires much faster, enhance stock systems by integrating Just in Time procedures, lower shipping and equipping mistakes, and help with the payment and collection procedure.

.8 organisation domains where AI is exceptionally altering the landscape.Pharmaceuticals &&Life Sciences.

Wherever you fall on the death interruption dispute , we can all concur that aging is a tough experience. Even if you put on’’ t desire immortality, you likely acknowledge that increased joint discomfort and vulnerability to disease and injury will wear down anybody’’ s lifestyle. deep knowing (a subfield of ML) might be able to slow the aging procedure . Researchers are now utilizing the innovation to recognize biomarkers connected with aging. Quickly enough, an easy blood test might inform you which parts of your body are revealing indications of wear and tear, and your physician might assist you alleviate, and maybe reverse, those impacts through way of life suggestions and medication.

.Food.

Up to 40% of a grocer’’ s profits originates from sales of fresh fruit and vegetables. To state that keeping item quality is crucial is something of an understatement. Doing so is much easier stated than done. Grocers are at the impulses of their supply chains and customer fickleness. Keeping their racks equipped and their items fresh can be a fragile balancing act.

But grocers are finding that artificial intelligence is the trick to smarter fresh-food replenishment . They can train ML programs on historic datasets and input information about promos and shop hours too, then utilize the analyses to assess just how much of each item to order and display screen. ML systems can likewise gather info about weather report, public vacations, order amount criteria, and other contextual info. They then release a suggested order every 24 hours so that the grocer constantly has the proper items in the proper quantities in stock.

Read more: allbusiness.com

Web Optimization

Understanding the convergence of industry 4.0 and the rise of autonomous vehicles

Posted on 08/25/201808/25/2018

Chinese tech stocks tumble from more than just trade tensions

Posted on 08/04/201808/04/2018

Editor’s note: This post originally appeared on TechNode, an editorial partner of TechCrunch based in China.

Reports of trade tensions between China and the US in the past few months have been hard to ignore. In early July, the US imposed $34 billion on Chinese goods, prompting the Shenzhen Component Index, dominated by technology and consumer product stocks, to fall to its lowest point since 2014, igniting fears among investors.

“The U.S. tariffs, coupled with a falling yuan, will significantly increase the cost for many Chinese technology companies that rely on imported raw materials, such as semiconductors, integrated circuits, and electric components,” Zhang Xia, an analyst for China Merchants Bank Securities, told the South China Morning Post.

Additionally, the U.S. commerce department announced yesterday it will place an embargo on 44 Chinese companies—including the world’s largest surveillance equipment manufacturer Hikvision—for “acting contrary to the national interests or foreign policy of the United States.” The move caused the companies’ share prices to fall by nearly six percent.

However, the focus has shifted to more than just the trade war. And a number of big Chinese tech companies have seen their share prices plummet for other reasons.

Pinduoduo, China’s latest e-commerce giant to list on the Nasdaq, found that an initial public offering (IPO) is not a panacea. Conversely, its listing has drawn attention to the company’s counterfeit products. And investors are not happy.

Tencent’s shares have nosedived by over 25 percent since its peak in January, erasing $143 billion in market value over the past seven months.

Search giant Baidu also hasn’t been immune. The company’s stock price dropped by nearly 8 percent this week following news that Google plans to re-enter the Chinese market.

Government crackdowns

While IPOs are usually a cause for celebration, Pinduoduo has proven this past week they can also be bad for business. The company—which has integrated e-commerce and social media—caters to low-income consumers living outside first and second-tier cities. It has been plagued by accusations of facilitating the sale of counterfeit low-quality goods.

Just days after going public, its share price tumbled by 16 percent, falling below its offer price of $19. The drop was, in part, initiated by requests made by television maker Skyworth to remove counterfeit listings of its products from the e-commerce firm’s marketplace.

The company announced (in Chinese) this week that it had removed 10.7 million listings of problematic goods. However, this did little to assuage concerns from investors and regulators after the latter launched an inquiry into Pinduoduo’s product listings. Its stock price dropped to 30 percent below its closing price on its first day of trading, wiping out over $9 billion in value.

This is unlikely to be helped by the fact that seven U.S. law firms have launched investigations into the company on behalf of its investors. The statement issued by the firms shows that investors suffered financial losses after Chinese regulators began looking into the company’s dealings. The company met today with regulators and agreed to improve its products’ vetting procedures.

However, it’s not only e-commerce platforms that have been affected. Video streaming service Bilibili has seen its stock price drop by almost 21 percent since July 20. The decline comes amid renewed efforts led by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) to crack down on what it deems to be “vulgar” or “inappropriate” content.

The company has subsequently had its app removed from app stores in the country for one month. Nasdaq-listed Bilibili responded by saying it is “in deep self-review and reflection.”

Screenshot of the drop in Bilibili’s stock price. Accessed August 3, 2018

Rumored competition

Baidu, which runs China’s biggest search engine, found that even unconfirmed competition can cause stocks to tumble. In a move which could mark its re-entry into the Chinese market, news broke this week that Google has plans to launch an Android app that could provide filtered results to users in China.

Baidu currently commands nearly 70 percent of China’s search market. Google shut down its search engine in China in 2010 over censorship concerns, giving up access to a vast market. China’s online population now exceeds 770 million, double the entire populace of the U.S. and more than that of Europe.

Baidu’s income is still highly dependant on ad revenue, which increased by 25 percent in the second quarter. Google’s return is clearly seen as a threat, causing Baidu’s stock price to fall from $247.18 on July 31 to $226.83 on August 2. This marks the most significant fall since the company announced the departure of its chief operating officer Lu Qi in May.

Steady decline

Nonetheless, all these losses seem insignificant in comparison to Tencent’s. The company saw its stock price increase by 114 percent in 2017, reaching a record high in January 2018. However, since then, the price has dropped by nearly $130 per share, eviscerating a considerable portion of its market value. In July alone, its stock price fell by 9.9 percent. The company’s devaluation tops Facebook’s $130 billion rout following its earnings call last month.

In April, the company lost over $20 billion in value after South African investment and media firm Naspers — an early and loyal backer — announced it was trimming its stake by two percent. Additionally, Martin Lau, the company’s president, sold one million of his shares in the company. This, added to the Naspers sale and warnings of margin pressure, led to a loss of $51 billion in market value.

“Investors are increasingly pricing in lower expectations for Tencent’s interim results,” Linus Yip, a strategist at First Shanghai Securities in Hong Kong, told Bloomberg.

Yip expects the downward trend to continue, and not just for Tencent. “Overall, tech companies are facing a similar problem. They have been enjoying fast profit growth in the past few years, so it will be difficult for them to maintain similar growth in the future as the competition grows and some segments are saturated,” he said.

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