E-Business
Microsoft Reveals Top IT Trends, Fresh Business Perspectives @ Summit 2014
Microsoft at its Mobility Summit Exhibition, disclosed key trends in reinventing productivity to empower individuals and businesses to do and achieve more.
At the exhibition Microsoft introduced its ‘Microsoft mobile-first and cloud-first word’, while demonstrating exciting new features of the improved operating system Windows 8.1, showing how Cloud strategy supports businesses.
In an exclusive interview with Nigeria CommunicationsWeek on the trends, Oluyomi Alarape, business group director , C& E, said, customers are collaborating with each other, sharing information and influencing decision-making and must not be overlooked by companies.
He said Microsoft has also discovered that “employees want to be able to find and talk to each other, and to build new value together across traditional hierarchies and silos. When social information becomes embedded in your tools and processes, you become a fully connected and engaged enterprise”.
Alarape added enterprises need solutions to drive deeper, become more impactful while engaging with custimers.
These entail bringing together social capabilities across networking, collaboration, email, unified communications, and business applications to create new ways of engaging customers.
Microsoft reaffirmed its efforts toward the provision of comprehensive, integrated suite of social tools that spur interactions of customers and partners within consumer and business social networks; helping people bridge their business and personal lives and creating new ways of working and collaborating together.
From the cloud perspective, Ade Ajayi, business group director, MOD, said that successful digital businesses are holistically applying the concepts of mobile, social, and big data to reimagine their business.
According to him, Microsoft holds the view that cloud creates the connections that are not just people-focused, but enterprise-graded and that is the future of businesses.
This had necessitated the continuous upgrade of its suites like Windows 8.1 that has seen about150 new features added in the last 18 months.
Ajayi said the software giant has demonstrated how this world through the Office 365.
“Through the Office 365, Microsoft has been able to showcase how cloud delivers experiences that appeal directly to employees and partners, increasing their engagement and allowing them to drive maximum productivity”, the Company explained.
The enterprise-grade fundamentally changes how business operates and competes by partnering with a company that has the experience, reach, and footprint that can be trusted.
“No business is an island. Partner with the world’s largest developer base, with an integrated portfolio of cloud services across platforms, apps, and devices”, the Microsoft Mobility Report explained.
On mobility and productivity, Onur Altintas, business group director, Windows, Microsoft Nigeria, explained that the next wave in enterprise mobile will be focused on enabling a fluid, seamless mobile experience for users.
He added that going mobile is no longer about carrying a single mobile device, rather the ability for any user to pick up any device in the context of what they are doing, and have instant access to all of the “stuff”-settings, data, and applications that follow the user and flow seamlessly from device to device.
“Embrace device choice and anywhere access without compromising security”, he advised users while emphasising that “Windows 10 to be launched by next year will become pivotal in making this happen.
According to Altintas, organisations can grant it’s users access to their information from virtually anywhere, anytime, while still helping to protect their business information.
He said, “it’s possible, with the number of innovations unleashed by Microsoft, for you to even support compliant devices when they are personally owned rather than corporate provided, for maximum flexibility for users”.
He added that mobility and productivity solutions from the Company guarantee one can stay productive on the go with familiar, connected experiences.
Microsoft had earlier indicated that minimizing the learning curve is key to helping employees become more mobile.
To this end, Altintas said “We at Microsoft are committed to delivering best-in-class productivity experiences through business and social apps that work on the devices people want to use to get work done.
“For instance, by using LOB solutions that already support a mobile experience (such as Microsoft Dynamics CRM). As well as taking advantage of an infrastructure for mobility, your developers can write one solution that delivers the best experience across the PC, tablet, and smartphone.
“This is made even easier when you can use the familiar tools, languages, and back-end infrastructure that you already have in place”.
The trio believe that by tapping into information about the users’ context like their location and integrating their other apps and data like their contacts and social network memberships, an organisation can delight her customers with rich, immersive mobile experiences.
Essentially, the cloud based solution helps in meeting the challenge of delivering content to users around the globe on a variety of devices such as scaling to meet demand, managing and distributing rich media content, streamlining development, and enabling you to focus on delivering the optimal user experience.
Microsoft also released its expectations on the part of CIOs, financial, HR, marketing, health and other sectors.
In particular, it said, “Any data, big or small, can be a powerful force to accelerate competitive advantage. As an evolution of your overall business intelligence and analytics strategy, a tactical approach to Big Data can put you on the path to reimagine your enterprise.
It thus, advised chief executives to make their organizations more ‘intelligent’ by generating rich and valuable data with internet-enabled devices and sensors – transforming business operations and creating exceptional customer experiences.
“Use Data to your advantage: extend easy-to-use, powerful analytics and dynamic data visualization to your workplace. Enable a data-driven organization by weaving data and analytics into your business processes – making Big Data a natural evolution of your strategy”.
E-Business
Naija Shopping Festival: Konga Offers Unbeatable Christmas Deals
Nigeria’s leading e-commerce platform, Konga, has unveiled the Naija Shopping Festival, a Christmas sales event designed to offer shoppers extraordinary discounts and unbeatable deals.
This exciting shopping extravaganza begins on December 1 and runs through December 30, promising an unforgettable experience for all.
With discounts of up to 70% off on your favourite products, the Naija Shopping Festival is Konga’s way of spreading festive cheer and ensuring no one misses out on amazing deals.
This event caters especially to those who could not participate in Konga Yakata, giving everyone a chance to save big this holiday season.
The festival boasts a wide array of incredible offers across multiple categories, including mobile phones, electronics, FMCG, fashion, groceries, and accessories.
Shoppers can also enjoy specially curated deals such as Christmas Eve Deals, Flash Sales, Santa Shop, and Hamper Packs, ensuring there’s something for everyone this festive period.
Konga is partnering with top global brands such as Apple, Starlink, HP, Zinox, CeraVe, Lenovo, Haier Thermocool, Samsung, and Infinix to deliver the best possible deals. Customers can expect discounts of up to 70% on premium products, ensuring maximum value on every purchase.
Speaking on the launch, Onochie Melvin, E-commerce Manager at Konga, stated, “The Naija Shopping Festival is our way of giving back to our customers and making this Christmas season special for every Nigerian.
“We remain committed to easing the financial burden on Nigerian consumers, especially during challenging economic times. Also, we want to ensure shopping is fun, affordable, and stress-free. With our trusted partners, we’ve curated the best deals to meet the needs of every shopper during this festive period.”
As always, Konga is committed to making shopping easy and convenient for Nigerians.
“By offering substantial price cuts and collaborating with trusted brands, Konga continues to set the standard for e-commerce in Nigeria.
To have a feel of Konga’s Naija Shopping Festival, visit www.konga.com today and make your Christmas shopping a joyful experience.
E-Business
TD Africa Joins Forces with Check Point to Enhance Cybersecurity in Nigeria
TD Africa, a leading technology distributor in Sub-Saharan Africa, has joined forces with Check Point Software Technologies Ltd., a global cybersecurity leader, to enhance Nigeria’s cybersecurity resilience.
This strategic partnership, announced at a partner roundtable event in Lagos and attended by industry executives, stakeholders, and IT professionals, facilitated discussions on emerging cybersecurity trends and fostered strategic partnerships.
Participants explored innovative approaches to digital security, concluding with a networking session designed to spark future collaborations and strengthen Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.
Abiodun Idowu, Assistant General Manager for TD Africa, highlighted the company’s dedication to delivering cutting-edge technology solutions, saying: “This partnership with Check Point reflects our commitment to providing advanced tools that safeguard businesses against today’s complex cyber threats.”
Check Point’s Security Manager, Victor Ugwu, who underscored the partnership’s significance in strengthening cybersecurity frameworks in Nigeria, said, “With this collaboration with TD Africa, we aim to deploy innovative solutions like Harmony and CloudGuard to protect organizations across the country.”
TD Africa now offers Check Point’s Harmony and Email Collaboration solutions, incorporating Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) technology to enable secure connectivity for remote and hybrid work environments.
Additionally, the partnership provides CloudGuard, an end-to-end cloud security solution, and Quantum Firewall appliances, which scale to meet the needs of businesses of all sizes.
This partnership reinforces TD Africa’s position as a driving force in Nigeria’s technological advancement. By delivering robust cybersecurity solutions, TD Africa empowers businesses to navigate the digital age with confidence and resilience.
E-Business
Kaspersky Contributes to Joint INTERPOL-AFRIPOL Operation Combating Cybercrime Across Africa
Kaspersky has recently assisted its partner law enforcement agencies INTERPOL and AFRIPOL in a joint effort to disrupt cybercrime across the African region.
Dubbed “Serengeti,” the operation has led to the arrest of more than 1,000 individuals suspected of links to cybercrimes such as ransomware operation and business email compromise (BEC) attacks, resulting in nearly US $193 million in financial losses worldwide.
As Africa is going through a rapid digitisation, the threat of cybercrime on the continent is also escalating. In the African region in general and West Africa in particular, ransomware emerges as one of the most prominent attack vectors, targeting critical infrastructure, financial institutions, and manufacturing facilities, among others.
During the first 10 months of 2024, ransomware detections in West Africa surged by 36% year-on-year, according to Kaspersky data. Other noticeable cyberthreats targeting users and organisations in the region include spyware and password stealers.
Conducted from September 2 to October 31, operation Serengeti dismantled 134,089 malicious infrastructures and networks linked to cybercrimes including ransomware operations, BEC attacks, digital extortion and online scams — all identified as prominent threats in INTERPOL’s 2024 Africa Cyber Threat Assessment Report.
Kaspersky has contributed to the operation by sharing information on threat actors, data on ransomware attacks and malware targeting the region, as well as up-to-date indicators of compromise (IoCs) for malicious infrastructure across Africa.
Among the malware targeting African countries was also a well-known Brazilian banking trojan Grandoreiro – Kaspersky recently released new findings on this trojan at its Security Analyst Summit. Additionally, ransomware families detected in attacks on African organisations among others included LockBit, Rhysida, and Medusa.
The operation has also resulted in the identification of more than 35,000 victims of cyber offenses investigated.
Valdecy Urquiza, Secretary General of INTERPOL, said: “From multi-level marketing scams to credit card fraud on an industrial scale, the increasing volume and sophistication of cybercrime attacks is of serious concern.
Operation Serengeti shows what we can achieve by working together, and these arrests alone will save countless potential future victims from real personal and financial pain. We know that this is just the tip of the iceberg, which is why we will continue targeting these criminal groups worldwide.”
Ambassador Jalel Chelba, AFRIPOL’s Acting Executive Director said: “Through Serengeti, AFRIPOL has significantly enhanced support for law enforcement in African Union Member States. We’ve facilitated key arrests and deepened insights into cybercrime trends. Our focus now includes emerging threats like AI-driven malware and advanced attack techniques.”
“We are proud to contribute to this multi-stakeholder operation orchestrated by INTERPOL and AFRIPOL,” comments Yuliya Shlychkova, Vice President, Global Public Affairs, Kaspersky. “The emerging dynamics of the threat landscape in Africa requires a stronger regional dialogue on mitigating acute cybersecurity risks.
Kaspersky firmly supports INTERPOL’s and AFRIPOL’s efforts to prevent and disrupt cybercrime attacks across Africa and shares the holistic approach towards creating a more cyber-resilient environment within the continent.”
Thanks to the cooperation with INTERPOL and AFRIPOL, Kaspersky has been an active contributor to fostering a more cyber-savvy environment in the African region.
In addition to the vast record of joint operations in Africa, with the latest being INTERPOL-led operation Synergia II, Kaspersky has recently sealed a five-year cooperation agreement with AFRIPOL to further strengthen its role in creating a more cybersafe climate on the continent by sharing Kaspersky’s extensive data on local cyberthreats and cybercrime trends with the organisation.
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