CANTO Weekly Newsletter – BNamericas 01/09/15

IN BRIEF: Haiti delays mobile portability – Haiti

Orange, France Telecom to pay fine for Caribbean anti-competition practices – Caribbean

Digicel deploys Alepo’s AAA server in Caribbean – Caribbean

Secure access will be critical in 2015 – Citrix – Regional

The figure would represent a 7.3tn Korean decline over fourth quarter 2013, although above the 47.5tn Korean won the electronics giant saw in 3Q14.

Operating profit guidance is set at 5.2tn Korean won, below the 5.47tn Korean won Samsung recorded in 4Q13 but over the 4.1tn Korean won seen in 3Q14.

The firm did not provide segment predictions, although Samsung Chile’s product manager Ignacio Reyes previously told BNamericas that Brazil and Chile are Latin America’s foremost market for Samsung wearable technology.

Pictured above is the Samsung Gear S watch, which was recognized at the Consumer Electronics Show held from January 6-9 in Las Vegas. CREDIT : AFP FORUM

IN BRIEF: Haiti delays mobile portability – Haiti Haiti will delay the launch of its mobile number portability service until later this year, website Haiti Libre reported.

Jean Marie Guillaume, head of the regulating body Conatel, said that the service, which was supposed to be available this month, will start on November 1.

The reason behind the delay is that vendors have been late in supplying necessary equipment to operators, which now expect the shipments in May,

Digicel and Natcom worked with Conatel on postponing the service, according to the website’s report.

Orange, France Telecom to pay fine for Caribbean anti-competition practices – Caribbean A French court upheld a fine of 59.5mn euros (US$70.2mn) against Orange Caribe and its former parent company France Telecom for anti-competition practices in the Caribbean, French newspaper Le Figaro reported.

The fine was levied in 2009 by French antitrust authorities for hindering the expansion of rival operators Bouygues Telecom Caribe (later acquired by Digicel) and Outremer Telecom, in Martinique, Guadeloupe and French Guyana.

The practices included exclusivity contracts with independent distributors and repair providers.

Digicel deploys Alepo’s AAA server in Caribbean – Caribbean Digicel Jamaica has deployed solution provider Alepo’s AAA server to support growing demand for services over 2.5G, 3G and 4G mobile networks.

Alepo said in a press release that its AAA infrastructure will support over 1mn mobile subscribers in 12 countries on 2.5G, 3G and 4G.

Alepo and Digicel have been business partners for over five years and have projects in 12 Digicel markets in the Caribbean and Southern Asia.

Secure access will be critical in 2015 – Citrix – Regional Employees are increasingly using mobile technology to access corporate information from anywhere to carry out their daily tasks, a trend that can bring about cost and productivity benefits. With the generation of employees behind the drive, companies have no choice but to embrace this trend but at the same time ensure the right security policies are in place to not leave themselves exposed to data theft.

In a recent report, Juan Pablo Jiménez, Citrix’s VP for Latin America and the Caribbean, sums up the five information access trends he sees for 2015.

HUMANIZING TECHNOLOGY

Technology design will increasingly center on the user pushing computers to act and interact like humans. Software will be designed with the user in mind and require a greater understanding of human needs and behavior.

THE VIRTUAL OFFICE

Companies face the challenge of moving beyond the obsolete computing models of storing all data in one place to manage their mobile workforce. Today, workers are not tied to one location and neither should their data. This new paradigm of a virtual office will not depend on a single physical location but rather follow us wherever we go, creating new work spaces and enabling us to take better advantage of our time and boosting productivity.

“THERE’S AN APP FOR THAT” REACHES THE WORKPLACE

Applications have already become the center of the consumer world and Bring Your Own App (BYOA) is reaching the workplace. Adapting to this trend will require a proactive role on the part of IT departments and clear policies on the use of apps to keep sensitive information secure. Companies will have to invest in tightening security measures to protect data and user privacy. They will also have to develop corporate app stores and choose applications that meet access control policies.

Citrix’s sales manager for southern Latin America (SOLA) told BNamericas in November that mobility application products such as mobile device management (MDM) represent some 10-15% of Citrix’s revenues in Latin America as companies increasingly adopt bring your own device (BYOD).

IT SECURITY A BIGGER PRIORITY THAN EVER

As employees increasingly access corporate information from multiple devices and on multiple secure and not-so-secure networks, secure access becomes essential.

Virtualization will allow the development of secure infrastructure where data is stored in data centers and not on devices. The increased adoption of mobile device management (MDM) will allow companies to have greater control of both devices and information.

Erika Díaz, Citrix Chile field sales manager, told BNamericas in November that Citrix expects some 20% of its clients to have migrated to its Workspace Suite by end-2015, compared to roughly 5% today. The company demonstrated to journalists how virtualization is driving technology spending at Chile’s 130-year old Santa Rita winery.

A MORE STRATEGIC ROLE FOR THE CIO

CIOs will be required to take a more proactive role in facilitating the access company employees have without putting corporate information at risk. CIOs will take on an increasingly strategic role, coordinating with different departments and proposing IT solutions that have an impact on business objectives.

“Latin America will continue to progress, like we saw in 2004 with the implementation of IT models based on improving productivity, developing secure IT infrastructure from its conception and allowing mobility of employees,” said Jiménez.

“Many companies are at a crossroads where they have to choose between the traditional IT model or migrate to more complete and flexible model focused on the business and which embraces both new IT trends and the new generation of employees.”