Spanish Bank BBVA to use Google's Cloud

Spanish banking giant BBVA is switching its 110,000 staff to use Google's range of enterprise software.

The deal is the biggest that the search giant has signed with one company for its cloud-computing services, where software is offered as a service via the internet.The bank told the BBC it would use Google's tools only for internal communication.

But the deal can be seen as a breakthrough in corporate adoption.
Banking - with its high security needs and strict regulations - was always considered to be one of the last industries to accept cloud-computing.
BBVA's director of innovation, Carmen Herranz, stressed that all customer data and other key banking systems would "stay in our own data centres" and be completely separate from the cloud solution.
The bank would use Google applications like email, calendar, docs, chat, video conferencing and other collaboration tools to "achieve a cultural change" and get "the whole company working together" across the 26 countries where BBVA is based. Ms Herranz said the project - with roll-out across all employees to be complete by the end of the year - was not about saving cost.
"The main goal is to promote innovation and making decisions and increase productivity. We are in a challenging market and need to make faster and more accurate decisions... and eliminate duplication," Ms Herranz told the BBC.
Also driving the change was the increasing mobility of the bank's workforce. A lot of the bank's computing needs had moved to smartphones, tablets, laptops and computers at home, she said.
Jose Olalla, chief information officer at BBVA, said because workers now had "access [to] the information they need at any time from any internet-connected device, anywhere in the world, [they] will be able to be more flexible and mobile".
BBVA is one of Spain's largest banks.
It is also the largest provider of financial services in Mexico, and has a large presence in the south of the United States.

'Largest ever deal'
Traditionally, companies have done all their computing on their own premises, to keep their data secure and to stay in control.
However, most enterprises leave some 80% of their computing power idle, and find themselves spending more than two thirds of their information technology budget on maintenance and software upgrades.

Cloud computing tends to be much more efficient, with firms like Amazon Web Services running their servers at more than 90% of capacity. That cuts cost and also helps the environment.

The man in charge of Google Enterprise apps in Europe, Sebastien Marotte, said that his corporate customers on average achieved cost savings of between 50% and 70%.
But the deal with BBVA, argues Mr Marotte, is important not only "because it is the largest ever agreement we have signed with an organisation, it is important because it is a very large financial company, it shows that now even banks are moving to the cloud".
BBVA's data would not reside on dedicated servers - a solution known as private cloud - but would sit distributed across the public cloud of Google's data centres. Both Mr Marotte and Ms Herranz stressed this would meet the demands of banking regulators and data protection officials, and be as secure as any solution on the bank's premises.
A bigger worry will be whether BBVA's computer network will be able to cope with the sharp rise in network traffic that cloud-computing solutions demand.
A pilot with 7,000 staff had not seen any issues, but the bank would closely monitor for any increases in network load. "Our biggest worry is around video conferencing," said Ms Herranz.
Network issues were blamed on serious performance problems when several years ago Google apps were introduced by the city of Los Angeles.
'Starting from scratch'
The biggest challenge for BBVA and other firms switching to cloud computing could indeed be cultural issues.
The bank says it has a training programme in place - including personalised guides - to prepare their staff for the move from their tried and trusted email solution and other tools to the new browser-based online world.
However, the bank encourages its employees to leave all their old email and data in those legacy systems. They will be accessible if necessary, but, says Ms Herranz, but we "want to start from scratch... don't want to carry across old behaviours".
"To move to the future, you have to leave the past in a box," said Ms Herranz.

Extract taken from:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16486796

Hellrunner 2012 for Cancer Research UK

Welcome to 2012 everyone!

I hope you all had a lovely break.

As some of you already know, I am taking part in an event called the Hellrunner on Saturday 11^th Feb to raise some money for Cancer Research UK.

With the event only being 5 weeks away, I thought I had better start trying to ask you beautiful people for some donations to this fantastic cause!

The Hellrunner (as the name suggests) is a horrible half marathon through bogs, swamps, rivers and up and down some quite steep terrain so it will be a big challenge (GULP!).

Here’s a link to my fundraising page:

http://www.runningsponsorme.org/chrismorrow

The above link to a video on You Tube gives you an idea of what's in store for me!

If you can be of any help donating to the cause that would be fantastic!

Thanks in advance,

Chris

New Vocalink Chief Executive

Payment processing specialist VocaLink has named David Yates as chief executive, replacing Marion King, who is leaving at the end of the year after 10 years in the post.

Yates joins from Western Union where he was president of business development and innovation and responsible for overseeing its electronic channels, prepaid, global top-up and loyalty businesses as well as leading Western Union's Business Payments Sector. Yates also spent six years at First Data Corporation, latterly as President of First Data International.

In this role, he had executive management responsibility for all of First Data's activities outside of the US including the merchant acquiring, merchant transaction processing, issuer processing and ATM network solutions business units.

In a statement, the company said that he will be "focused on VocaLink's ongoing investment in its core business as well as continuing to build solid foundations for future growth". Sir John Gieve, chairman of VocaLink, said the appointment" comes at a significant time in the company's growth".

Yates himself said that he is looking forward "to guiding our strategy to bring smarter payment solutions to international markets, as well as leading our continued focus on meeting the commercial needs of our customers".

Extract taken from:

http://tiny.cc/re2lw

New Mobile Recording Regulations from FSA

The banking industry has been scrambling to comply with the Financial Services Authority's new mobile recording regulation, which started on 14 November, but merely ‘ticking the box' now could mean firms losing out on long-term efficiencies, says Neil Ainger.

The requirement to record conversations between traders, brokers, investment managers and other market participants has long been established so that regulators can check the correct procedures are being followed and investigate any misconduct. Up until now it has only applied to fixed line conversations but all that changed on 14 November when the FSA's new mobile recording regulation came into effect.
 
All participants in the UK's capital markets must record all mobile communication between traders from now on, covering voice, SMS text and Instant Messaging. Other jurisdictions are likely to follow suit - indeed Norway has already introduced the rule - so lots of vendors were expecting a bonanza of business. It hasn't necessarily turned out that way, however, says Ian Philip, the managing director of Anvil, a Mobile Virtual Network Operator, who says that many firms, especially smaller ones, "have gone for a ‘tick box' approach initially so they can prove compliance".

According to Paul Metcalfe, head of voice trading solutions at Orange Business Services' Trading Solutions, "mobile recording has been on the agenda for some time now, admittedly with some false starts, yet some financial institutions have still left things to the eleventh hour. In some cases it's almost as if they are playing a game of ‘chicken' with the FSA.

"My suspicion is that everyone will be ready in the minimal sense of the word on 14 November, with firms doing what is necessary but no more," says Rik Turner, a senior FS analyst at Ovum, who has produced his own report in conjunction with recording vendor Compliant Phones and the enterprise search specialist HP-Autonomy, entitled Mobile Communications Recording in the Financial Markets: An Update.

This outlines the requirements that firms need to comply with, principally that:

■ Recording must start when a mobile device is switched on, be continuous, and not be reliant on the user. It must also be tamper-proof to avoid data being spoiled.  
■ The recording solution must work on all forms of mobile communication to and from the device(s) that a regulated firm allows traders to use for their job. Interestingly, the FSA also says all ‘personal mobiles' used for work must be covered, recognising a potential problem here and shifting responsibility on to firms.
■ The solution must work wherever the regulated employee is (i.e. a recording must be made even if a trader is in Hong Kong on a UK registered phone).
■ The recordings must be stored in an ‘easily retrievable fashion' (the FSA does not specify if this means in the cloud or on premise; leaving this up to the discretion of the firm. Various strategies have been adopted so far).

The technological considerations are substantial, especially as there weren't any off-the-shelf solutions available to start with. Delivering seamless voice as traders roam across networks and countries, consistent browser access without interference, integration with existing landline recording systems if so desired, and delivering easy retrieval on vast call volumes, is a challenge for anyone. With BlackBerry, iPhones and other types of handsets/networks there are multiple points of entry so you cannot just record calls coming in or out via the PBX switch anymore.

Then there are the business continuity concerns - theoretically if the recording function stops then all trading must cease as no record is available. Needless to say this isn't acceptable, especially with demanding traders who are used to always-on service. Getting busy traders to buy-in to training programmes and migration policies has been another challenge.

Extract taken from:

http://tiny.cc/9jnte

Steve Jobs - Stanford Commencement Address 2005

Here's a very inspiring video of Steve Jobs delivering a commencement address at Stanford University in 2005.

In the video, Steve urges students to pursue their dreams and see opportunities in setbacks...

Cameron backs young British 'Dot Com' Boom

The Prime Minister yesterday praised eight groups of students for inventions that send people useful information straight to their mobile phones - using new government data.

At a reception in Downing Street, the entrepreneurs received prizes for bright ideas that bring “significant social and economic benefits” to the UK.

One winning invention, called SchoolHunt, allows parents to compare the difference between the quality of local schools. Another technology is A&Express, which helps people to find the nearest hospital with the shortest waiting time for emergency problems.

The 32 prize-winning students will now embark on a tour of California’s famous technology belt, known as Silicon Valley.

Among the other winners, SafeTrip shows mobile phone users the safest routes home at night, while EyeSore lets people send reports of flytipping or vandalism to their local councils.

Mr Cameron is placing his hopes on the technology industry as a sector that will create private sector jobs.
The Government is currently hoping to transform the east end of London into one of the “world’s great technology centres”.
“I am committed to making the UK the best place in the world to start, run and grow a high tech company,” the Prime Minister said yesterday.
“This type of innovation can produce new applications and services that generate significant social and economic benefits across our society.”

The data used in the projects was released by Government departments as part of a new drive to open up the inner workings of Whitehall.
Francis Maude, the Cabinet Office minister, said: “These applications prove the potential power of public data to drive entrepreneurial growth, choice and competition in public services.

“Since we came to office, we have begun to publish more government data, in a useable format, than any other country but we need entrepreneurs to start developing it.”
The young entrepreneurs are being funded by Silicon Valley Comes to the UK, a project set up by Reid Hoffman, the co-founder of LinkedIn, the business social networking website.
Sherry Coutu, co-chairman of the group, said the point of the project was to put students in touch with leading “entrepreneurs, angels, investors and scientists from around the world”.

Extract taken from:

http://tiny.cc/wc08b

Widespread Enthusiasm For Flexible Working

New figures released by Opportunity Now back up recent research by Elan showing that, regardless of whether they work in permanent or contract positions, UK workers value flexibility in their roles.

In a poll carried out by YouGov, a remarkable 83% of UK employees said they would like more flexible working, believing that this would increase their productivity and decrease stress levels.

This figure is backed up by Elan's research, which revealed “flexibility about working hours” was the second highest priority for permanent workers (68%) and contract workers (60%) alike.  Only "the stability of a permanent role" was ranked higher.

Thousands of UK workers took part in the poll, and a third suggested flexible working would increase productivity, and almost half that it would reduce stress – good for both the business and employees.