Coffee Briefings are timely deliveries of the latest ITWC headlines, interviews, and podcasts. Today’s Coffee Briefing is delivered by IT World Canada’s editorial team!
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What’s new this week
OpsGuru achieves AWS Premier Tier Services Partner Status
Vancouver-based multi-cloud consulting company, OpsGuru announced that it is the only Canadian-based partner to have achieved AWS Premier Tier Services Partner Status, a recognition awarded to world-class partners in the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Partner Network (APN) who have demonstrated their technical expertise with AWS-validated solutions.
“This recognition reflects hundreds of successful cloud transformation journeys with great Canadian customers such as Equinox Gold and Trimac. Like AWS, OpsGuru’s steadfast customer obsession makes the AWS partnership entirely natural,” said Dave Lindon, general manager of OpsGuru.
Companies must achieve accreditation and certifications, have extensive expertise deploying customer solutions on AWS, and have a team of AWS-trained and certified technical consultants to achieve this status.
ServiceNow announces release of Now Platform Tokyo
California-based digital workflow company, ServiceNow announced the release of Now Platform Tokyo, which includes enhancements such as digital workflow automation solutions, designed to help organizations navigate complex business challenges and drive operational efficiencies.
The new features are as follows:
- Enterprise Asset Management (EAM) – automates lifecycle of physical business assets from planning to retirement, designed to reduce costs, mitigate risks and optimize inventory management.
- Supplier Lifecycle Management (SLM) – transform supplier engagements that live in email and spreadsheets into self-serving digital experiences to reduce operating costs and deflect common inquiries into respective teams
- Admin Center – part of ‘ServiceNow Impact’—allows system administrators to easily discover, install, and configure ServiceNow solutions through a self-service experience
- ESG Management – allows companies to establish and document ESG goals, in alignment with ESG reporting frameworks in a single end-to-end solution. ServiceNow is collaborating with, LTI, Mindtree, NTT DATA Corporation and RSM US LLP, to extend ESG Management’s reach and capabilities into the market.
- Manager Hub – a single destination, available through Employee Center desktop and mobile, for managers to support employee journeys and deliver personalized training.
- Issue Auto Resolution – applies natural language understanding (NLU) to analyze requests and deliver self-service content to employees through channels like Microsoft Teams, SMS, and email. Additionally, it identifies and redirects urgent HR cases directly to employee care representative
- ServiceNow Vault – protects business applications and confidential data while increasing regulatory compliance.
Emissions data key to accelerating Canadian organizations’ transition to net zero: Capgemini Research Institute
Seventy-eight per cent of Canadian organizations think that leveraging emissions data can accelerate an organization’s journey to net-zero, a study by Montreal-based Capgemini Research Institute has demonstrated. Senior executives from 900 organizations and 80 public sector organizations with net-zero goals were surveyed. Twenty in-depth interviews with senior industry executives and experts were also conducted.
Key insights from the study include the following:
- Canadian businesses have established net-zero targets, yet are limited in their scope
- Most organizations face key challenges in accurately measuring their emissions.
- The vast majority of Canadian organizations have been unable to link their net-zero targets with other key business functions.
- Most organizations have not established targets for internal teams/functions linked with their overall net zero targets.
The full report can be accessed here.
Eleven-x announces smart parking solution for University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee campus
Waterloo-based provider of Smart City solutions Eleven-x has announced the launch of eXactpark to improve the parking experience of staff, students and visitors on the 104 acre main campus of University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. eXactpark combines sensor-based space occupancy monitoring, real-time data, and intelligent enforcement amongst other features for more efficient parking management.
Eleven-x will install more than 1,200 units of its award-winning SPS-X sensors and solar powered signage to help drivers with wayfinding, reduce cruise times, improve pedestrian safety, and enhance the overall campus environment.
The company says that this new solution will help 4,700 employees, 23,000 students and countless visitors to find parking more easily.
Shopify launches Shopify Markets Pro and Shopify Translate & Adapt to expand international selling
Following the launch of Shopify Markets in 2021, Shopify has launched Shopify Markets Pro and Shopify Translate and Adapt to bolster cross-border selling.
Shopify Markets Pro seeks to make it easy for merchants to expand their businesses to over 150 countries by overseeing tax and duty compliance rules for merchants across countries, providing them with more competitive shipping rates, and optimizing their stores by creating a localized consumer experience.
Shopify Translate and Adapt translates merchants’ stores using both machine and manual translations to reach multilingual customers, while adapting custom content to each market or tailoring words based on local terminology.
Shopify also announced that they are enhancing their global postal code validation to power cross-border commerce. Merchants now have postal code validation coverage in 100 new markets.
Shopify Markets Pro is available in early access to US merchants, while Shopify Adapt and Translate is available to merchants globally.
More to explore
B.C. regional government acknowledges cyber attack
A British Columbia municipality has acknowledged being the victim of a cyber attack just over two weeks ago.
Cisco Canada survey reveals innovation is not a priority for most Canadian organizations
Cisco Canada and Angus Reid have released a survey which revealed that Canadian organizations are struggling to ramp up their investments in innovation.
Cloud services to bridge digital divide between small and big companies: AWS Impact Report
Just 34 per cent of small companies—those with fewer than 100 employees—use cloud computing, in contrast to 69 per cent of large companies (more than 500 employees), a Public First study, commissioned by Amazon Web Services (AWS), found. Over 1000 Canadian businesses and 750 cloud users were surveyed.
Canadian SMBs, employees criticized for poor cybersecurity practices
Employees at small and medium-sized Canadian organizations have been given a “C” rating for their knowledge of cyber safety and awareness.
Study reveals consumers have conflicting beliefs about digital privacy protection
New research from GetApp shows that Canadian consumers have conflicting beliefs about who should bear the responsibility for protecting digital privacy, with 41 per cent believing businesses should be in charge, and 25 per cent thinking it should be the federal government.
Forbes names CGI one of the “World’s Best Management Consulting Firms”
CGI has just been named as one of the best management consulting firms in the world in 2022 by Forbes magazine. This annual ranking aims to help business leaders assess which organizations offer the best expert advice for navigating an ever-changing business environment.
AWS announces Canada’s 2022 Partners of the Year
This week, Amazon Web Services (AWS) unveiled its 2022 AWS Partners of the Year for Canada.
Staying informed is a constant challenge. There’s so much to do, and so little time. But we have you covered. Grab a coffee and take five while you nibble on these tidbits.
Commvault adds early threat detection capabilities with Metallic ThreatWise
Data management vendor Commvault Wednesday announced the general availability of Metallic ThreatWise, a security service designed to uncover, maintain and minimize cyber security threats.
Listen to the latest episode of Hashtag Trending
TikTok could face a fine from the U.K. for failing to protect children’s privacy, Apple to manufacture the iPhone 14 in India, and a camera system using AI can catch drivers who are using their phones.
Listen to the latest episode of Cyber Security Today
This episode reports on the arrest of a teen in the UK may be tied to Uber and Rockstart Games hacks, security updates to watch for and controversial proposed US open-source legislation
Listen to the latest episode of Hashtag Tendances (Hosted by Direction Informatique)
If you live in Quebec, or prefer to consume the latest technology news in French, our sister publication Direction Informatique has you covered. Follow them on Twitter as well.