From refrigerators and lamps to door locks and heating, the Internet of Things (IoT) has revolutionised the way we live and work, making a truly robust ecosystem of smart devices a reality. Here Leigh Moody, UK Managing Director at SOTI, walks Finance Monthly through the developments of a ‘connected home’ and how these present opportunities for other sectors.

Indeed, IoT has quickly become one of the hottest technology topics around, expanding into all manner of industries as the rate of innovation shows no signs of slowing down.

Within the home, IoT has turned everyday objects into connected products designed to make our lives easier, more convenient, and more comfortable. The likes of connected electricity meters and doorbells have already been around for some time, giving consumers a taste of the possibilities on offer.

And momentum in the industry is continuing to intensify, with the worldwide connected home market predicted to grow from its $24 billion valuation in 2016, to $53 billion by the year 2022.

Smart devices have certainly made their mark among consumers, but this isn’t the only place where IoT is having a significant impact. Connected devices are also quickly becoming more commonplace in industrial settings such as factories and hospitals, as well as in traditional office environments.

It’s an area that more and more device manufacturers are trying to exploit and one that has endless possibilities – especially for those businesses that can learn from what has already happened within the connected home.

IoT in business

As the Internet of Things has become more mainstream, vendors and businesses alike have taken inspiration from the smart home model and quickly realised that connected devices have plenty to offer a B2B environment.

From increased productivity and more accurate decision-making, to reduced production costs and a better understanding of customer needs, there are countless examples of how IoT is bringing value to enterprises around the world.

For example, manufacturing firms have started to deploy smart sensors in their factories for predictive equipment maintenance. This enables them to save valuable money in labour costs and lost revenue by proactively identifying issues before they become a major problem, rather than waiting for something to break down.

Similar ‘smart’ technology is also transforming vehicle management in logistics companies, with the data collected enabling businesses to become much more cost-efficient by reducing fuel spend and vehicle downtime.

Then there is retail, where IoT is being used at virtually all stages of the product journey. This starts with optimising the supply chain and using analytics to ensure the right products are in the right place at the right time, while also enabling brands to transform the in-store experience and connect with shoppers in a more personal way.

These are all hugely compelling use cases, but just the tip of the iceberg with regards to what the Internet of Things will make possible in the future.

So, it’s clear that IoT is set to gain substantial value within the enterprise over the coming years. But, in order for its potential to be realised, there is one key challenge that will first have to be overcome.

Solving the data dilemma

The main driver for enterprise IoT is that the large volumes of data created by connected devices present a huge opportunity. By leveraging the power of analytics – either on a small scale or across large deployments – businesses can gain additional layers of insight into their operations and make improvements.

This is exactly what the smart home enables. By using connected products to track energy usage, for example, consumers can learn where they are spending the most money and become more cost-efficient.

However, from an enterprise perspective, the challenge comes in being able to efficiently manage and control hundreds or potentially thousands of smart devices. Simply keeping track of the vast swathes of data being generated from devices in a range of different locations and from an assortment of vendors, is already a serious issue and is likely to be the biggest IoT challenge IT departments will face in the future.

What they don’t want is to have several platforms pulling in different data streams. Not only would this be hugely confusing to manage, the lack of coordination would create a fragmented picture of what is going on across the business.

Instead, enterprises need to have one integrated view of everything, through one pane of glass, to manage their IoT ecosystem as simply as possible.

Incorporating an effective device management strategy such as this would go a long way towards helping enterprises enable all that the connected future has to offer. IT teams would have full visibility into what is going on across every single endpoint, enabling them to maximise the value of the data being collected.

There may be challenges along the way, but developments in the consumer world have already shown the impact IoT can have on our everyday lives. By taking the concept of the smart home to the next level and putting systems in place to efficiently manage the data that is collected from a growing number of devices, enterprises will be able to innovate and take advantage of the tremendous potential the Internet of Things has to offer.

With the future looking more cashless by the day, the future of cybersecurity looks even more risk heavy. Below Nick Hammond, Lead Advisor for Financial Services at World Wide Technology, discusses with Finance Monthly how banks/financial services firms can ensure a high level of cyber security as we move towards a cashless society.

Debit card payments have overtaken cash use for the first time in the UK. A total of 13.2 billion debit card payments were made in the last year and an estimated 3.4 million people hardly use cash at all, according to banking trade body UK Finance.[1] But with more people in the UK shunning cash in favour of new payments technology, including wearable devices and payment apps as well as debit and credit cards, the effects of IT outages could be more crippling than ever.

Take Visa’s recent crash, for example, which left people unable to buy things or complete transactions. Ultimately, payment providers were unable to receive or send money, causing serious disruption for users. And all because of one hardware issue. Finding new ways to mitigate the risk of system outages is a growing area of focus for financial services firms.

Application Assurance

At a typical bank, there will be around 3,500 software applications which help the bank to deliver all of its services. Of these, about 50-60 are absolutely mission critical. If any of these critical applications goes down, it could result in serious financial, commercial and often regulatory impact.

If the payments processing system goes down, for instance, even for as little as two hours in a whole year, there will be serious impact on the organisation and its customers. The more payments systems change to adapt to new payments technology, the more firms focus their efforts on ensuring that their applications are healthy and functioning properly. As Visa’s recent hardware problems show, much of this work to assure critical applications must lead firms back to the infrastructure that their software runs on.

Having a high level of assurance requires financial services firms to ensure that applications, such as credit card payment systems, are in good health and platformed on modern, standardised infrastructure. Things become tricky when shiny new applications are still tied into creaking legacy systems. For example, if a firm has an application which is running on Windows 2000, or is taking data from an old database elsewhere within the system, it can be difficult for banks to map how they interweave. Consequently, it then becomes difficult to confidently and accurately map all of the system interdependencies which must be understood before attempting to move or upgrade applications.

Protecting the Crown Jewels

Changes to the way financial services firms use technology means that information cannot simply be kept on a closed system and protected from external threats by a firewall. Following the enforcement of Open Banking in January 2018, financial services firms are now required to facilitate third party access to their customers’ accounts via an open Application Programming Interface (API). The software intermediary provides a standardised platform and acts as a gateway to the data, making it essential that banks, financial institutions, and fintechs have the appropriate technology in place.

In addition, data gets stored on employee and customer devices due to the rise of online banking and bring-your- own- device schemes. The proliferation of online and mobile banking, cloud computing, third-party data storage and apps is a double edged sword: while enabling innovative advances, they have also blurred the perimeter around which firms used to be able to build a firewall. is no longer possible to draw a perimeter around the whole system, so firms are now taking the approach of protecting each application individually, ensuring that they are only allowed to share data with other applications that need it.

Financial services firms are increasingly moving away from a product-centric approach to cyber-security. In order to protect their crown jewels, they are focusing on compartmentalising and individually securing their critical applications, such as credit card payment systems, in order to prevent a domino effect if one area comes under attack. But due to archaic legacy infrastructure, it can be difficult for financial institutions to gauge how applications are built into the network and communicating with each other in real-time.

To make matters more difficult, documentation about how pieces of the architecture have been built over the years often no longer exists within the organisation. What began as relatively simple structures twenty years ago have been patched and re-patched in various ways and stitched together. The teams who setup the original systems have often moved on from the firm, and their knowledge of the original body has gone with them.

The Next Steps

So how can this problem be overcome? Understanding how applications are built into the system and how they speak to one another is a crucial first step when it comes to writing security policies for individual applications. Companies are trying to gain a clear insight into infrastructure, and to create a real-time picture of the entire network.

As our society moves further away from cash payments and more towards payments technology , banks need the confidence to know that their payments systems are running, available and secure at all times. In order to ensure this, companies can install applications on a production network before installation on the real system. This involves creating a test environment that emulates the “real” network as closely as possible. Financial players can create a software testing environment that is cost-effective and scalable by using virtualisation software to install multiple instances of the same or different operating systems on the same physical machine.

As their network grows, additional physical machines can be added to grow the test environment. This will continue to simulate the production network and allow for the avoidance of costly mistakes in deploying new operating systems and applications, or making big configuration changes to the software or network infrastructure.

Due to the growth in payments data, application owners and compliance officers need to be open to talking about infrastructure, and get a clear sense of whether their critical applications are healthy, so that they can assure them and wrap security policies around them. An in-depth understanding of the existing systems will enable financial services firms to then upgrade current processes, complete documentation and implement standards to mitigate risk.

[1] http://uk.businessinsider.com/card-payments-overtake-cash-in-uk-first-time-2018-6

Given how new technologies have been revolutionising customer experience across a variety of sectors, proclaiming the importance for banks to embrace digital transformation may sound like old news. Haven’t all banks already created compelling online banking services by now, to satisfy the tech-savvy consumer’s demand for anytime, anywhere banking?  

Well, no. The banking and financial services industries have traditionally been digital laggards, partly as a result of the highly regulated industry in which they operate and partly because senior decision makers have been slow to recognise the potential ROI. We are now entering a critical new phase in which intelligent machines are enabling – indeed, compelling – banks to fundamentally see and do everything differently. With the growing threat of FinTech firms increasingly gaining traction with consumers due to the accessibility, flexibility and availability of the financial products which they provide, banks now have a significant incentive to accelerate the move into the digital age.

Embracing the digital age

Digital transformation will affect all working practices and the way banking organisations are structured. New intelligent technologies for augmenting human performance will make it easy to achieve things that seemed impossible before.

Employees will become more speedy and productive – as well as happier and more fulfilled.

Banks will be able to reach incredible new levels of efficiency, accuracy, safety and security, and adopt radical new approaches to the way products and services are constructed.

Banks will soon be able to digitise every conversation they have with customers and then use algorithms to anticipate problems – for example, with contactless cards or credit card misuse. Based on these predictions, glitches can be prevented before they even arise.

Another way that intelligent technology can create a win-win for banks, staff and customers alike is with Robotics Process Automation. Machines can be programmed to do mundane, repetitive tasks, thousands of times faster and more accurately than humans. This frees up employees to do more fulfilling work that needs a personal touch – significantly improving customers’ experience all round.

Reaping the benefits of early adoption

Not all banks have been slow to embrace digital transformation. Here are some examples of how digital innovation is already benefiting organisations whose technology-embracing boldness is paying off:

JPMorgan Chase

The global financial services firm recently introduced a Contract Intelligence (COiN) platform to analyse legal documents and extract relevant insights and data. If their staff manually revised 12,000 annual sales contracts, it would take around 360,000 hours. With Machine Learning technologies, the same task can be done in minutes.

The Bank of America

Meet ERICA, who works for The Bank of America. You can’t shake hands (she doesn’t have any). This is the first time Artificial Intelligence has been used to help customers manage their savings. ERICA does this using AI, Predictive Analytics and Conversational Interfaces.

N26

N26 describes itself as ‘a bank account for your phone’. Using an International Bank Account Number, customers can do everything they could with a traditional bank, except faster and from anywhere. The app is integrated with Pulse26, an analytical virtual assistant that provides personal insights based on each individual consumer’s needs.

CapitalOne

CapitalOne was the first bank to offer a new way for customers to interact through a completely different channel. It integrates online banking with Amazon Echo so that customers can ask Alexa (the virtual assistant in the device) real-time information about their bank account, and perform transactions just by using their voices.

Citibank

Citibank has recently acquired Feedzai, a Data Science company that works in real time to identify and eliminate fraud. By constantly and rapidly evaluating vast amounts of data, Feedzai identifies suspect activity and alerts customers immediately.

Act now or be left behind

As the above examples show, this technology is already revealing some astonishing benefits for financial institutions. And yet, many established banking organisations are still a long way from embracing this next stage of digital transformation. According to a recent PwC study, two banks out of three in the US have not yet adopted any meaningful application of these powerful new tools.

There are various reasons for this, such as operational, regulatory, budgetary and resource constraints. But the fact is, we are at a once-in-a-decade, pivotal moment – similar to the dawning of the internet age, back in the nineties. Leaders must transform how they run their banking organisations and embed these new technologies in their business or risk being left behind by the competition.

For those banking organisations looking to press ahead with their digital transformation journey, here are some important considerations:

Recognise the importance of agility

With the maturing world of powerful intelligent technologies such as AI, organisational agility is more essential than ever before, and many established financial institutions still lack this key requirement to digitally transform their businesses.

Engage the entire organisation

It’s imperative to have engagement from all levels of the organisation, from board level downwards. This is a fundamental transformation programme that will touch every aspect of the business. To truly benefit from these innovations, an entire organisation will need to be engaged in the journey and adopt the mind-set necessary to embrace the new technologies.

Be measured about the potential results

The potential benefits of the new technology are enormous, but it’s safer to be conservative with estimates – they will still be impressive. Organisations should exercise some healthy caution, perhaps born out of previous investments in technology that only delivered marginal improvements.

Demystify the terminology

Machine Learning, Intelligent Machines, Cognitive Platforms, Deep Learning, Intelligent Technology, Artificial Intelligence, Robotics, Robotic Process Automation, Intelligent Products, Virtual Assistants, APIs…. the list goes on and on. These new capabilities are wrapped in a language that to many is impenetrable. Find ways to simplify it. Compile a glossary. Educate everyone so you’re all speaking the same language.

Create powerful practical examples

It’s important to communicate effectively at board level, in a way that demystifies the potential of the technology. The best way to do this is by creating powerful examples that show this intelligent technology in action. Take a look at how IBM is demonstrating what these technologies can do: https://www.ibm.com/thought-leadership/you/uk-en/.

Bring in business areas early

Reinforce the idea that digital transformation is much more than a big IT initiative. Bring in other business areas early to work on proof of concepts.

For the first time, the technologies now exist to radically transform all aspects of a banking organisation. The potential of digital transformation is yet to be fully realised but the warning signs for banks are clear – those that don’t act now to embrace the future will rapidly be left behind.

Bitcoin was created in the aftermath of a catastrophic economic recession and a fiasco in the worldwide banking system. It was the poster-child of the ‘cypherpunk’ movement, which believed in the transformative power of cryptography to mitigate that of governments and of capitalism. More broadly, it was the latest in a long line of political movements that have occurred throughout human history – from the French revolution in the 18^th Century to the communist revolutions that gripped the 20^th – all of which have aimed to give power “back to the people”.

But Bitcoin, the cryptocurrency once heralded by anarchists and libertarians as a technology that would unfetter us from a domineering financial system, now stands on the cusp of assimilating with the very sector which it was supposed to circumvent. For staunch advocates of total crypto liberty, that philosophical sea-change might feel like an expedient betrayal – and they would be right. But Bitcoin has evolved in a way that even its founder surely didn’t anticipate: its popularity has forged a whole new financial market, and an entire crypto ecosystem in its wake.

That’s no small feat, and it’s not one that financial institutions can realistically ignore. The power of blockchain, crypto’s underlying technology, may be in its decentralised nature – and in many sectors, that level of decentralisation is viable. But for the world of finance, this simply isn’t the case, and it never will be. The destiny of all successful financial products is institutionalisation, and given the triumph of crypto, institutional involvement – and the regulation that follows from that involvement – was always inevitable. If the client demand is there, which it is, then institutions have every right to meet that demand – and many already are.

The horse bolted last year, when two exchange giants, CME and CBOE, launched bitcoin future trading operations. That set the gears turning for other exchanges and banks. In May this year, Goldman Sachs, the most prestigious of the major Wall Street Banks, waded into the crypto world with a crypto futures trading operation and a dedicated trading desk. There’s plenty of activity on the horizon too: the New York Stock Exchange, part of the Intercontinental Exchange, is reportedly setting up an online platform for buying and holding crypto.

Crypto has also strayed into the world of asset management, where the number of funds currently stands at around 251, with $3.5 - 5 billion in assets under management. Considering only 20 hedge funds for cryptocurrency existed in 2016, this represents substantial growth. Even George Soros is said to have given approval to trade virtual assets in the last few months, having called it a bubble in January of this year.

Firms like Soros Fund Management and Goldman Sachs are far from outliers in the world of finance. According to a recent survey from Reuters, one in five financial institutions is considering trading cryptocurrencies within the next 12 months. That’s a noteworthy shift from 2017, when BTC and crypto were derided by the financial world as a scam and an avenue for criminality. Financial institutions may be saying one thing, but they’re doing quite another, and there will be fast followers now that Goldman has put the wheels in motion: very few want to lead, but everyone wants to be second.

As tends to be the case with the crypto market, wherever BTC goes, others follow. Ethereum futures appear to be on the horizon, at least as far as CBOE is concerned. The Initial Coin Offering market as a whole has also witnessed rapid institutionalisation. Back in 2017, all token sales were public, and widely advertised. Now, most ICOs get their money in private sales from a handful of investors. Even if start-ups do decide to run public sales, the vast majority of funding still comes from institutional money.

The elephant in the room is now working out the effect of all this institutional involvement. Most obviously, we’ll soon be seeing the impact of big money, as the process unlocks billions on billions of dollars that float in the world’s financial systems. With that, we’ll see more block trades occurring. Prices are likely to rise. Volatility may increase, or indeed, it may decrease as the market becomes more liquid.

Regardless of price movements, institutionalisation looks set to be a positive thing for the market, providing legitimacy in the space: after all, the more positive actors there are in the market, the better.

More than two fifths (41%) of finance back-office processes could be automated in the next five years, a new study from global customer services provider Arvato CRM Solutions and management consulting firm A.T Kearney has found.

According to the new report, 41% of finance back-office processes are set to be performed by robots by 2023, with this figure rising to 53% within the next 10 years.

Implementation of Robotic Process Automation (RPA) is set to significantly boost firms’ productivity and efficiency, as bots are 20 times faster than humans with a 10% lower error rate. Subsequently, companies that adopt this technology, could potentially receive an ROI of between 300 and 1,000% over a three-year period.

It’s also predicted that the widespread roll-out of RPA solutions will result in an annual compound market growth of 50%, with the global market set to be worth $5billion by 2020.

New developments

The research also predicts that by 2023, RPA, with the help of cognitive capabilities, will be able to make automated decisions, and by 2028 robots will be able to carry out most back-office processes independently with minimal human intervention.

The new report, named ‘Robotic Process Automation: The impact of RPA on finance back-office processes’, interviewed more than 20 technology partners and players in the field of RPA, gathering together their view on the trends and developments within the sector.

Ben Warren, vice president of Digital Transformation at Arvato CRM, Global BPS, said: “RPA will revolutionize the finance back-office, as the new technology is more accurate, efficient and can work for longer hours, depending on demand.

“This can consequently help drive revenue for a business, streamlining processes and allowing employees to spend more time on higher value tasks.

“But although the benefits of automation can be great, it’s important that firms understand that to successfully utilize the technology they will need to invest.

“A full analysis of end-to-end systems and redesign of existing processes will be initially required, and companies will need to regularly review their processes as technology continues to evolve and develop over the coming decade.”

Dr. Florian Dickgreber, partner at A.T Kearney and co-author of the study, said: “Having transformed manufacturing, bots are now set to change processes in the service sector.

“We expect RPA, the automation of structured business processes, to take over more than half of all back-office processes over the next five to 10 years.”

(Source: Arvato CRM Solutions)

Three quarters of finance decision makers within UK businesses have admitted that their company could be susceptible to fraud because of poor accounts payable systems, according to a new report.

And 70% of finance decision makers also admitted that a failure to implement robust purchase order processing within their company was also putting them at severe risk from fraud.

In fact according to the ‘Changing trends in the purchasing processes of UK businesses’ report commissioned by document managing, accounts payable and purchasing solution provider Invu, less than a quarter (24%) of decision makers are ‘completely confident’ that they could prevent or detect fraud with their current systems.

The risk from fraud is also not limited by company size, according to the research, with 25% of large businesses and 30% of small companies harbouring some concerns about fraud due to weak processes and checks.

“Although we’ve seen a slight reduction in the amount of financial decision makers concerned about fraud, it is clear that concerns remain high within Britain’s business community and that not enough is being done to protect companies from becoming victims of fraud,” said Ian Smith, GM and Finance Director at Invu.

“Fraud is a huge problem for any business, with the results being potentially fatal. Automated processes, which can monitor purchase and payment processes, go a long way to prevent and detect these issues, but they are clearly not being deployed enough within UK businesses.”

(Source: Invu)

The rapidly expanding tech startups industry is progressively becoming the future and face of the business world and those who want to nurture their inner Elon Musk are increasingly travelling abroad to emerging tech hubs. Although, Silicon Valley still remains the undisputed destination for startups and venture capitalists, a new crop of global tech hubs are rapidly expanding to match the talent oozing out of the Bay Area.

A recent study by SmallBusinessPrices.co.uk has revealed the best rising tech hubs for people who are seeking entrepreneurial opportunities. The research took into account the average internet speed, the average business valuation, and cost of living, among other metrics.

1. Boulder, US - With the second highest internet speed, Boulder has over 5,000 business investors and an average business valuation coming in at $4.3 million. Boulder is a prime location for those wanting to start their next tech-startup.

2. Bangalore, India - In spite of an average internet speed of 11mbps, Bangalore has over 6,000 investors and an average business value of $3.4 million making it one of the best locations on the Asian continent.

3. Johannesburg, South Africa - As one of the most affordable tech hubs for young innovators, Johannesburg boasts reasonable average monthly rent cost of $416. The city has an average business valuation of $3.6 million and over 1,200 investors.

4. Santiago, Chile - With 1,201 startups, Santiago is considered as a new home for tech startup companies, making it a great destination for those in the South American continent. The city has an average monthly rent cost of $372, making it the second cheapest city to live behind Colombo in Sri Lanka.

5. Stockholm, Sweden - Named the 9th happiest country in the world, Stockholm is the capital of Sweden and ranks number 5 for the World's Rising Tech Hubs. The city also scores highly for its internet connectivity with the second highest average internet speed of 42mbps behind Houston, Texas.

Digital Hotspots
Connectivity is a non-negotiable in the 21st century working world, especially for tech startups. Although Houston has only having 322 public wifi hotspots, the city number one for the highest average internet speed of 65 mbps. Stockholm offers some of the highest internet speed outside of the United States at 37 mbps.

Business
Recently, there has been growing trends of millenials moving abroad for greater work opportunities. Bangalore is great for young innovators as it call home to over 7,500 startups and the largest amount of investors (6,236). While Boulder in Colorado has the highest average business valuation of $3.4 million.

Living

The cost of living is one of the biggest concerns for many young people especially when the majority of their capital is being used to fund their venture. Helsinki has the highest average monthly rent cost of $1,548, with Tel-Aviv ($1,338), and Boulder ($1,250) respectively. Whereas Lagos has the lowest infrastructure score of 2.4, with the highest being Stockholm (4.27).

Although many still regard cities such as Silicon Valley as one of the few locations where entrepreneurs can develop their untapped entrepreneurial talent. This new study gives insight to the best alternatives rising cities to live and work for innovators outside the overcrowded Bay Area.

Creating a balanced and even workflow will optimise productivity for robots – in the same way as it will for human workers.

Surely robots don’t get tired, can work 24/7, are fully skilled at what they are programmed to do, and don’t have any pesky motivational issues – so their productivity must always be consistently high? Absolutely not. This is according to Neil Bentley, Non-Executive Director & Co-Founder of ActiveOps, a leading provider of digital operations management solutions.

To believe this would be to forget everything we have learned about Lean Workflow and the way production systems work. For a processor (robot or human) productivity is best measured as a ratio of output:input. How much work did we get out for the amount of time we put in? For this to make sense we generally convert time into “capacity to do work” based on some idea of how much work could be done in a given time.

So, if Person A completes 75 tasks in a day and they had capacity to complete 100 then their productivity was 75%. Similarly, if Robot B completes 500 tasks in a day and had capacity to do 1,000 then their productivity would be 50%.

As we begin to increase our investment in Robotic Process Automation (RPA) and AI: the productivity of this (potentially) cheaper processing resource will matter – if not so much now then certainly when everyone is employing RPA to do similar tasks within the same services.”

But why would Robot B only do 500 tasks? They wouldn’t dawdle because they didn’t like their boss. They wouldn’t spend hours on social media, and they would surely only be allocated tasks that they were 100% capable of processing.

Maybe Robot B could only process 500 tasks because there were only 500 available to be done. Maybe the core system was running incredibly slowly that day, or there was so much network traffic that latency was affecting cycle times. Maybe someone changed a port on a firewall and the robot needed to be reset. Or there were hundreds of exceptions and the robot had to try them multiple times before rejecting them.

It is strange (isn’t it?) that if a person’s productivity is 50% we assume idleness, a propensity to waste time on social media, or a lack of skill but if it is a robot we quickly understand that it is the workflow that is the problem,” he continued.

Data-focused technologies such as Process Forensics and some digital operations management technologies or WFO technologies that seek to improve performance by URL logging or other screen monitoring techniques are totally missing the point: people’s productivity is far more influenced by the flow of work through the system than it is by their willingness to work or their skill level.

Workforce monitoring technologies seek to intimidate people into working harder, but you can’t intimidate people into having more work available to do. Equally, fluctuating demand, bottlenecks in the workflow, variations in work complexity will all drive variations in productivity – as with people, so it is with robots,” he added.

The answer is to introduce digital operations management solutions in the back office that will be the result of a blended human/RPA strategy made up of:

• Some degree of “demand smoothing” – using service level agreements to allow for carrying some work from one period to the next to even out resource requirements

• Some degree of cross-team collaboration – moving work or people between teams to balance demand and capacity.

The plain fact of the matter is that with humans and robotics increasingly working alongside one another in service operations a blended and balanced approach needs to be taken on the issue of productivity.

New research released from financial services technology leader FIS (NYSE: FIS) found that financial institutions with the most advanced operating models are growing nearly twice as fast as the rest of the industry.

The FIS research also found that financial services executives around the world are more confident in their underlying technology and operating models in 2018. Nearly half (47%) of firms surveyed said their operations function is strong enough to support their growth plans this year, compared with 28% in 2017.

The findings are part of the annual FIS Readiness Report, which surveyed more than 1,500 C-level and senior executives across buy-side, sell-side and insurance firms. The study asked executives of those firms to assess their organization’s capabilities across six key operational pillars. Based on their scores, FIS then further analysed those organizations ranking in the top 20% of the FIS Readiness scoring system. Classified as ‘Readiness Leaders,’ the top 20% were studied to see how their investment priorities differ from their peers and how that impacts their growth.

Readiness Leaders Outperform Peers

The research found that of the six operational pillars, firms’ digital innovation strategies have the most discernible link with stronger revenue growth, followed by automation and emerging technology. However digital innovation strategy ranked just 5.5 out of 10 on FIS’ index for performance, which highlights the weakest performance scores across the industry today.

Among the findings of the FIS 2018 ‘Pursuit for Growth’ report:

• Readiness Leaders achieved average revenue growth of 3.88% over the past 12 months, compared with 2.12% growth for the rest of the industry.
• 80% of Readiness Leaders have fully or near fully automated key processes, versus 46% of the rest of the industry.
• Nearly two-fifths of all respondents (38 percent) say they want to significantly reduce the size of their owned IT infrastructure over the next 12 months.

Martin Boyd, Head of Institutional & Wholesale at FIS, said: “Our research shows that financial services firms can increase their abilities to accelerate their growth if they evolve their traditional operating model of data management, efficiency and risk management into one built on digital innovation, emerging technologies and advanced automation. Based upon our research, those firms that have been able to expand their focus and modernize their operating model should be well placed for success in the future.”

(Source: FIS)

Getting away from your busy work life is for most a relieving feeling. All you’re missing is a well-prepared expedition somewhere else. This month Finance Monthly keeps you ready and up to date with the latest and best travel gadgets of the year. Here’s 2018’s list of must-have travel gadgets for the summer.

Olloclip Mobile Photo Lenses

We’ve tried Olloclip’s lenses ourselves and as endorsed by Apple, these are the best of the bets when it comes to mobile camera lenses. Perfect for taking epic snaps on your summer trip this year. You just clip them on and you’ll be surprised at the amazing photography you can achieve through enhanced optics and effects. With telephoto, wide angle, fisheye and macro lenses, these must have gadget is enough to win you awards in photography.

Myanmu Clik earbuds with Voice Translation

These aren’t on the go travel earbuds. The Myanmu Cliks are earbuds that allow you to speak face-to-face or with a group of people wherever they are in the world and in different languages. Powered by Mymanu Translate App, wherever you go this summer, you can have over 29 languages translated into your ears, allowing you to enjoy every conversation and exploration without the language barrier.

Triple Juice® Mains Charger

Thanks to the Triple Juice®’s multiple USB ports staying organised can be a breeze. Ideal for on the go power, the Triple Juice® offers a powerful (2.4amp) USB port to quickly restore iPads, tablets or devices, as well as two additional (1amp) USB ports for other mobile devices. No more charging worries on your travels this summer, but don’t forget your travel adapter!

Thumbs Up Solar Panel Charger

While you’re not in the hotel, you’ll need to charge up on the go too. Whether you’re hiking, camping, sunbathing or simply travelling this summer, Thumbs Up has the perfect portable solar charger for outdoor lovers. Simply open it up and place in direct sunlight to charge your device. It’s super lightweight, and includes a 2in1 android iOS cable, so rest assured this will keep your batteries pumped in the sun.

Lindy BNX-60s Headphones

These headphones are Lindy’s best-selling product to date with 5* reviews from the likes of What Hi-Fi, Stuff, Expert Reviews and Computer Shopper. They’re noise cancelling – meaning less distraction from the outside world and they’re perfect for those long-haul flights, long evenings at the beach and a solitary hike. They easily link up to your smartphone and sound really tight. Just what you’ll need to enjoy the relaxing summer ahead.

GoXtreme Vision 4K Action Cam

If you’re opposed to the classic GoPro brand, then this extraordinary alternative will more than do the job. Capture the waves as your surf away from your worries, or the long ride down the mountain as you escape peak working stress. The GoXtreme Vision 4K is a compact video and still image action camera with class leading features including stunning ultra-high definition true 4K/24fps video recording and still image capture at up to 16MP. The 170 viewing angle, built-in 2.0" LCD screen and WiFi connectivity allow you to capture, view and share every detail of your amazing travels.

Blink XT Home Monitoring System

No more worrying about your home while you’re away. With the Blink XT, you can now protect your entire home, inside and out, with top of the range security cams. Blink is easy to set up, just a fraction of the cost of other home monitoring systems and has no subscription fees or data storage charges. The cameras detect motion and send HD video with audio to your smartphone, or you can simply check in at any point while you’re away.

BruMate Hopsulator Trio

Hate warm beer? No longer a problem. Say hello to the BruMate Hopsulator Trio, the world's best beer can cooler! This clever 3-in-1 design fits all standard sized 16oz cans, but also includes an Arctic Adapter filled with freezable gel to convert the Hopsulator into use for 12oz tins too! But that’s not all, when empty the Hopsulator Trio has a capacity of 16 fluid ounces, so there’s little literally no excuse not to enjoy your summer travels this year.

The automation of work, including the use of robotics and artificial intelligence (AI), is expected to rapidly increase. In fact, recent research by think tank ‘Centre for Cities’ found that one in five jobs in Britain will fall victim to automation by 2030. These findings are further echoed by auditing firm ‘PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC)’, who estimate more than 10 million UK workers will be at high risk of being displaced by robots within the next 15 years.

As the prevalence of automation becomes more common in our day-to-day routines (supermarket self-service tills, air travel self-check in etc.), it’s threat towards human jobs only becomes more apparent.

Interested in this phenomenon, Reboot Digital Marketing analysed findings from Mindshare, who surveyed more than 6,000 individuals from across the UK to see whether they would prefer robots or humans in eight different occupations/scenarios.

Reboot Digital Marketing found that when making car comparisons with the intention to eventually purchase, a significant percentage of Brits would want robots (60%) aiding them instead of humans (40%). Thereafter, Brits would be most inclined to accept music/film recommendations from robots at 49% - though 51% would still opt to do so from other people (family, friends etc.).

Fascinatingly, even though most Brits (75%) would still prefer humans to be MP’s, 25% would elect robots to be in this position of power.

Moreover, despite the negative perceptions associated with bankers as a direct result from the fallout of the 2008 financial crisis, Brits would still select humans (71%) over robots (29%) to be in their respective role.

On the other end of the scale, 11% of Brits would be least willing to take medical advice from robots. Similarly, only 14% of Brits would not feel apprehensive about receiving legal advice from robots. Information for immediate release RebootOnline.com

Shai Aharony, Managing Director of Reboot Digital Marketing commented: “Automation is undoubtedly on the rise. As the technologies which underpin its development become more sophisticated and efficient, certain industries will certainly face the real prospect of robotics and artificial intelligence disrupting their traditional flow of human labour. Whilst the assumption tends to be that it will either be people or robots, I believe they will complement each other in different tasks and facilitate new types of jobs. What this research certainly demonstrates is that Brits currently favour humans as opposed to robots in a handful of occupations/situations. Although, as automation becomes more prominent and Brits understanding of it drastically improves, this may potentially change.”

(Source: Reboot Digital Marketing)

IBM announced a new technology called a crypto anchor verifier; which will allow consumers and businesses to track single object across supply chains. Forbes writer Michael del Castillo explains how this tech could disrupt different industries.