MSPmentor names Dimension Data As Top Managed Service Provider

Dimension Data, the global IT solutions and services provider, has announced that it is the top managed services provider (MSP) for the second year in a row as determined by Penton Technology's ninth-annual MSPmentor 501 Global Edition. This distinguished list identifies the world's top 501 managed service providers (MSPs) from diverse technology and business backgrounds.

Dimension Data's managed offerings are in strong demand by more than 200,000 companies globally as they seek services that provide end-to-end technical expertise, service consistency and flexibility across geographies. For the second year, this award highlights Dimension Data's growing managed service portfolio of comprehensive IT services and solutions spanning data centers, security, unified communications and collaboration and a hybrid public and private Managed Cloud Platform™. Designed to deliver transformative technologies that drive organizational agility and flexibility, Dimension Data provides clients with the latest technologies that can grow with their business and technology needs.

"Years of building a robust, multi-vendor managed service portfolio across the data center, cloud, security, collaboration and end-user compute towers has put us in a strong position to fully address the consumption and delivery need of our clients. Dimension Data remains a market innovator by bringing new functions and solutions to clients at a pace that meets their industry demands and provides them with the full value of their investment," said Grant Sainsbury, senior vice president, Strategic Services, Dimension Data Americas. "Being named top service provider for the second year in a row by MSPmentor underscores our commitment to putting our clients' needs first by providing a full-range of quality, reliable services."

The 2016 MSP 501 list is based on data collected by MSPmentor and its partner, Clarity Channel Advisors. Data was collected online from March through April 2016. The MSP 501 list recognizes top cloud service providers based on metrics including recurring revenue, growth and other factors. In addition to a ranking on the MSP 501 list, every company that participated in the study has been assigned a score reflecting its intrinsic value. The measure, known as the Total Service Provider (TSP) score, evaluates an MSP's mix of revenue from various activities, including consulting, cloud, reselling and managed services.

"On behalf of Penton and MSPmentor, I would like to congratulate Dimension Data for its recognition as an MSP 501 honoree," said Aldrin Brown, editor in chief, MSPmentor. "The managed service provider market is evolving at a rapid pace and Dimension Data along with all the companies showcased on the 2016 MSP 501 list represent the most agile, flexible and innovative organizations in the industry."

NITDA to pay more attention to tech-startups, online media...as Agency gears up for GiTEX 2016

The need to create an enabling environment for the multitude of technology start-ups in the country and turning Nigeria into a tech-hub in Africa, has been described as the current focus of the new management of the National IT Development Agency (NITDA). In his maiden meet with Lagos-based online media/bloggers community today, the Acting DG of NITDA, Dr. Vincent Olatunji reiterated the commitment of his agency in projecting the image of the country using the value in the new digital economy.

Describing the intention of NITDA to be on creating ‘ ICT based SMEs’, Dr. Olatunji expressed his confidence that this is a sure way of not only helping to diversify the economy but also creating youth employment that the Nation urgently needs. “The way we live and we love and work have gone online, so there’s need for NITDA to build up capacity to sustain these online activities and ensure maximum benefits are derived from it”, says the DG.   

While enumerating the comparative advantages of having Nigeria as destination point for the growing digital economy in Africa, Dr. Olatunji listed Nigeria’s size, English language, and high rate of education as some of the key advantages potential investors in this new economy will be looking at. In addition to that, a veritable platform to expose these tech-preneurs is also being vigorously pursued by NITDA using various avenues. Some of these includes the e-Nigeria Conference and Expo, which he described as “clearing house for adopting relevant ideas and innovation for defining and accelerating national economic growth”. The conference is structured to bring key players of the Nigerian innovation ecosystem and foreign and local stakeholders together to share experiences, identify challenges and propose strategies for using ICT-enabled innovation and entrepreneurship to diversify the economy and create jobs.

In a similar vein, the Agency is also using the annual GiTEX Technology show organised by the Dubai World Trade Centre, (DWTC) to also showcase the quality and potentials of local technology startups. NITDA is facilitating Nigeria’s participation at three levels including the Nigerian Pavilion, Nigerian Startups cobs inside the Innovation Hub, and the Gitex Africa Investment Forum being co-managed by the NITDA and the DWTC.

“All these levels of participation are designed to ensure maximum exposure to ICT and other non-oil sectors which is a cardinal economic goal of the current government under President MuhammaduBuhari. Dubai has become an international hub for business engagements. The NITDA has already opened talks with several business prospects through the support of the DWTC and the Consular Office in Dubai.

Since Nigeria started participating in Gitex, which is billed to kick-off October 16- 20 this year at the Dubai World Trade Centre, this is going to be the first time it’ll be showcasing tech startups at the global show. While making a pledge to always interact with online and conventional media on NITDA activities, the DG also promised to extend all aspects of media partnership with the Agency which includes training, empowerment and access to the online media community, describing them as “veritable agents of change in the digital age”. 

Sony makes PS4 software feel more like a real operating system

Sony’s latest software update to the PlayStation 4 is now coming to beta users. Unlike the last major update, which added support for remote streaming to Macs and PCs, the 4.00 firmware beta (codenamed Shingen) is mostly focused on tweaking the PS4’s user interface. 

One of the biggest changes is the ability to create folders to organize your games and apps, instead of relying purely on Sony’s existing organizational tools. Another is that instead of taking over the whole screen, the Share and Quick menus will open as windows that don’t entirely cover your current game or app, and you’ll be able to add and remove items from the Quick menu to customize it.

Sony says the update also adds some new system backgrounds and redesigned icons, along with other tweaks to what you’ll see in various menus. There’s also an offline mode that will let you see your game trophies even when you’re not connected to the internet. The final update will have features that aren’t in the beta, and we don’t know when it will come to all PlayStation 4 users, although Sony says it will release more information in the coming weeks. So far, though, the new changes seem meant to make the console’s interface more customizable and less obtrusive — like we’d expect from a phone or computer operating system.

Real reason Verizon spent so much to acquire Yahoo!

In a simple answer: It’s all about the advertising technology that could be combined with AOL! Or put another way: Why does a mobile telecom provider want to buy the core editorial business of a faded Internet portal? The short answer is advertising!

The deal, announced this week, marks the end of an era for Yahoo and is another piece of what has been a multiyear, $10 billion plan from Verizon to take on Facebook and Google, the biggest names in digital advertising.

Verizon is interested in buying Yahoo’s ad and content businesses for the same reason it acquired AOL last year for $4.4 billion. And that is to build the kind of scale that’s necessary to make money from digital advertising on mobile devices, as growth in the traditional telecom business slows.

“Verizon is trying to pivot its business from analog to digital,” analyst Craig Moffett of MoffettNathanson told the Wall Street Journal. “Verizon believes that a combined AOL/Yahoo would provide the digital advertising platform they need to execute their video reinvention strategy.”

Although it has failed to make much headway as a traditional digital-content company, AOL has managed to put together what analysts say is a fairly impressive combination of programmatic ad-buying and targeting tools—especially for video. That’s primarily what Verizon was interested in when it acquired the company. Since the acquisition, Verizon has added a number of other advertising-related businesses, including most of Microsoft’s ad-technology operations and an ad-technology company called Millennial Media that the telecom provider bought for $250 million. It has used some of that know-how to power Go90, the mobile streaming-video service it launched in October 2015.

“Just over a year ago we acquired AOL to enhance our strategy of providing a cross-screen connection for consumers, creators and advertisers. The acquisition of Yahoo will put Verizon in a highly competitive position as a top global mobile media company,” said Verizon chief executive Lowell McAdam in a statement.

Verizon has always been considered to be one of the most likely suitors for Yahoo, which has been officially for sale since April, after several years of failed turnaround plans executed under Marissa Mayer. With the deal, Tim Armstrong of AOL would in many ways be getting the merger he once wanted.

"Combining Verizon, AOL and Yahoo will create a new powerful competitive rival in mobile media, and an open, scaled alternative offering for advertisers and publishers," Armstrong said in a statement.

Armstrong, who heads Verizon's AOL unit, is expected to be a key player. A reading of his tenure at AOL offers some insight into what the future may mean for Yahoo, which would probably turn into a more focused advertising company. AOL is still heavily involved in media content, thanks to its ownership of the Huffington Post, but even with those businesses, it has kept a strong advertising focus.

Landing Yahoo would also provide Verizon with a sizable cut of the U.S. online market. Yahoo and AOL might not be trendy names, but they ranked No. 3 and No. 6 respectively in ComScore’s list of the top digital media properties in the United States in February. Add AOL and Yahoo together, and their unique visitors were 50 percent greater than No. 1 Google.

Verizon’s desire for Yahoo spotlights the grand scale of its ambitions: Not happy with just providing access to content, it wants to own a fat chunk of the online-content industry.

Consumers are migrating from simple email and Web browsing on their smartphones to rich mobile video and online games. And these data-hog services represent a lucrative opportunity to sell ads and, in some cases, could be a source of subscription revenue.

A review of the company's acquisitions over the past few years shows that Verizon has steadily brought on technology and content to help accelerate this strategic push in digital ad space.

Apart from the high profile acquisition of AOL last year that amounted to $4.4 billion, Verizon has also made a series of deals clearly aimed at bolstering its web video presence, including a joint venture with Hearst to acquire Complex; a stake in AwesomenessTV; and the purchase of Intel's internet TV service OnCue.

With an acquisition of Yahoo, Verizon will also be able to expand some content offerings, with the company lauding Yahoo's 1 billion monthly active users (including 600 million monthly active mobile users). But the strategic rationale for Verizon is probably something like four parts ad platform to one part content. Ad networks need scale, and for all of its other flaws scale is the one thing Yahoo still has. And now Verizon has it, too.

Verint Launches Robotic Process Automation Solution to Automate Routine Tasks

Verint Systems Inc. has introduced a set of advanced capabilities that uses software robots to automate, manage, and execute high volumes of time-consuming business processes. The aim of the solution is to reduce the need for manual processing of routine tasks or entire multi-step processes to improve the quality and consistency of transactions.

Using the new Verint Robotic Process Automation, organizations can automate functions such as customer address changes, claims processing, underwriting, policy administration, and other high-volume tasks and transactions. Verint says automating these routine activities can help eliminate the errors often seen with human manual data entry while also allowing employees more time to focus on value-added and customer-related functions that can have a greater impact on the business.

In addition to contributing to higher operational efficiency, productivity, and quality, as well as reduced costs, Verint says the solution also helps to maintain the security of sensitive information and ensure regulatory compliance.

Increasingly, in order to be competitive global market demands, organizations must do more in less time, according to

Kristyn Emenecker, global vice president, product strategy group, Verint Enterprise Intelligence Solutions. By automating and executing these routine, repetitive tasks, robots can help free up valuable human resources to handle more important work, translating into greater efficiency and employee engagement, she adds.

The Verint Robotic Process Automation solution uses patented visual recognition technologies that do not require integration or programming to work with other applications. It can run business processes across multiple applications and enable step-by-step process recording using clicks of a mouse and navigation within existing user interfaces of those applications, enabling organizations to record scripts for robots to execute on the front end. A centralized administrator or business user manager can also manage and monitor the productivity of robots by using the Robotic Process Automation solution’s web-based dashboard, the vendor says.

In addition, the company says, another use case for the technology is working with employees to guide them through new or infrequently used processes, or to assist with training new employees. Leveraging the new Verint Process Assistant solution, the same web studio and dashboard for recording tasks and monitoring usage can be used with scripts created to automate portions of tasks on the desktop that an employee picks up and completes.

Tigo signs MOU with Tanzanian Government for school internet connectivity

Tanzania’s leading digital lifestyle company, Tigo Tanzania has entered into a partnership with the Ministry of Communications, Works and Infrastructure to facilitate the roll-out of internet access points in the country’s secondary schools so as to complement the e-Schools Project for a period of 2 years.

As part of the agreement, the ministry will identify and provide a list of schools without computer labs to be connected and also guide the implementation of the project while Tigo will sponsor the infrastructural development in schools across the country that will include wiring classrooms and installation of wireless LAN with internet access points.

“We are grateful to the government for accepting to partner with Tigo in this very important initiative aiming at supporting the government vision of ensuring that all mankind benefit from the access and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in various discipline to improve their social and economic situations,” says Shavkat Berdiev, Tigo Chief Commercial Officer.

Berdiev said that Tigo was proud to be partnering with the Ministry of Communications, Works and Infrastructure to enable the youth and the wider communities to tap into the global mainstream of information and knowledge, where they will learn, expand their creativity and collaborate with peers across the world.

“Tigo will continue to work with the government on other innovative and exciting projects to uplift the lives of many Tanzanians,” adds Berdiev.

“It is through such partnerships that we shall be able to impart modern ICT skills and knowledge to the youth, to enable them to face the challenges of the ever-changing information trends in the society and global economy,” says Professor Faustine Kamuzora, The Permanent Secretary for Ministry of Communications, Works and Infrastructure.

“I commend Tigo for its readiness to engage in public and private sector partnerships in order to help secondary school students in Tanzania and also welcome the participation of other stakeholders in the integration of this technology,” adds Professor Kamuzora.

Tigo’s e-Schools’ Project is one of the company’s strategic social investment projects and to date Tigo has been able to connect 31 public secondary schools in Tanzania with internet with an envisaged plan to connect 50 more this year.

Noting that it was the first time that the government and a mobile network operator were cooperating on an ICT project of such a large scale and scope, the PS affirmed that the partnership will go a long way in imparting modern ICT skills and knowledge to the youth and enable them to face the challenges of the ever-changing information society and global economy.

“This technology will enable the students and teachers of the beneficiary schools and the wider communities to tap into the global mainstream of information and knowledge where they will learn, expand their creativity, collaborate with peers across the African continent and across the world, and generally  participate in defining the future of their world,” notes Professor Kamuzora.

The e-school’s project is among various projects that Tigo has undertaken to support community initiatives through the telecom’s corporate social responsibility portfolio. They include donation of over 2,700 desks to needy primary schools in a sustainable venture that is meant to alleviate the serious shortage of desks in the country’s schools.

Last year, Tigo partnered with Dar Teknohama Business Incubator (DTBi), a local NGO to offer scholarships worth over Tsh: 300m/- (about $ 136 363 ) to cover tuition fees, research fees, meals and accommodation for a period of four years to nine students undertaking ICT courses in local universities.

.................................via Biznisafrica

GIM-UEMOA and MasterCard partner to drive financial inclusion

MasterCard has announced that it has entered into a strategic partnership with GIM-UEMOA, in support of the Central Bank of West Africa’s (BCEAO) goal of being a cashless region. They made this announcement during the opening of the 5th Salon Monétique Régionale Conference held in Senegal. This new collaboration is part of an effort to increase financial inclusion in Africa.

“This partnership is part of our global commitment in delivering services to more than 200 million people previously excluded in the financial mainstream. We aim to reach 500 million people by 2020,” says Daniel Monehin, Division President, Sub-Saharan Africa, MasterCard said,

The partnership with GIM-UEMOA will focus on helping to modernise the payment systems and drive financial inclusion, initially focusing on eight countries including Senegal, Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Cote d’Ivoire, Mali, Niger and Togo.

As part of its global commitment, MasterCard has developed key partnerships across Africa to accelerate the financial inclusion of the unbanked and underbanked. In Rwanda, MasterCard is collaborating with the government to fast-track the country’s move to include 90 percent of its citizens in the financial mainstream, as set out in its Vision 2020 strategy. Across five countries, Vodafone, HomeSend and MasterCard expanded the real-time, mobile receipt of remittances by M-Pesa users in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Lesotho, Mozambique, and Albania.

“Through the region’s banking group association and the regional switch of Economic and Monetary Union for West Africa, GIM-UEMOA, we are entering the strategic partnership to boost and enhance the use of electronic payment systems in the region,” says Blaise Ahouantchede, GIM-UEMOA Chief Executive Officer.

“This allows us to continue on our drive to financially include those members of our society currently excluded,” adds Ahouantchede.

“This partnership will help us achieve our goal of reaching 30 million citizens in West Africa in the next five years. This in turn will drive economic growth, uplifting the communities that play a pivotal role in the future development of West Africa.”

GIM-UEMOA understands that for financial inclusion to be a success, governments, business and civil society need to embrace the power of ICT and its role in financial services. With its focus on driving innovation in Africa, MasterCard is perfectly placed to help Union Economique et Monétaire Oest Africaine (UEMOA) meet its financial inclusion goals.

The strategic partnership highlights the continued importance of the microfinance sector in providing access to financial services to low income citizens. Considering the wide disparities evident in West Africa relating to banked and unbanked groups, this continues to remain on top of the Central Bank’s agenda, and that of MasterCard and GIM-UEMOA.

“Increasing financial inclusion has become more important than ever and is critical in achieving inclusive economic growth across West Africa and ultimately across Sub-Saharan Africa,” concluded Monehin.