Southtechreviews

B y Mandy Duncan, Aruba Country Manager South Africa The pandemic changed not only our lives, but also the way we work. Employees' needs shifted drastically during and post-pandemic, something organisations and HR cannot overlook. After a long period of working entirely remotely, many of us are coming back to the office and embracing hybrid work. Indeed, almost half of South African workers say they have returned to the office full-time. Inevitably, HR and IT stakeholders must address several hybrid work problems, which range from reinforcing inclusivity to fostering office culture. This is especially true for younger South Africans, who seem to be the hardest to lure back to the office.   But how can local HR practitioners make the office space attractive for younger employees?   We recently collaborated with Leesman, a leading global provider of original research on workplace quality and employee satisfaction, to create a report that utilises their insights and l...

Mandy Duncan, Aruba Country Manager South Africa In today’s digital economy, the Chief Financial Officer (CFO) has historically always been well-acquainted with the enterprise network. After all, without a solid understanding of the network, how it operates, its associated costs and savings, and its impact on the business, CFOs would not be able to perform their role as the final sign off on all buying decisions, including network investment. However, this relationship is changing. And it’s changing in a way that I think will be quite attractive to CFOs. Why? Because new developments are meaning that network investment is becoming much more reliable, predictable and profitable than before. Here’s how. 1.       The business case is clearer than ever Discussions around investing in the network have moved well-beyond providing proof of ROI. Even if it’s not an explicit bid for network investment, the reality of today’s digital world is that the majority ...

Fact: SD-WAN solutions now incorporate firewall capabilities that enable organisations to perform quick deployments without compromising security. By Mandy Duncan, Aruba Country Manager South Africa  Originally created primarily to support WAN virtualisation, SD-WAN capabilities have evolved to manage more aspects of the network—including security. Today,  secure SD-WA N solutions  have also enabled IT teams to eliminate branch firewalls in favour of a simplified branch WAN infrastructure. There are many reasons why. As network architecture continues to shift to the cloud, branch offices must now tackle new security challenges as the network grows more complex as more users connect outside the traditional security perimeter. At the same time, enterprises want additional flexibility to cope with the growing number of cloud applications, the ability to open new branches faster or host new applications more quickly. The traditional network structure, built on MPLS, routers, ...

By Mandy Duncan, Aruba Country Manager - South Africa Post pandemic trends have accelerated the need for agility in IT, network procurement, and management. IT procurement cycles have accelerated, and investments have increased – much more than pre-COVID. According to a  IDC , 71% of organisations report their long-term planning cycles have shortened due to COVID-19, with 82%   of the same participants stating that long-term planning cycles have been reduced to two years or less.  In addition, the post-COVID world has seen the hybrid workplace become the new norm. With a majority of employees splitting their time between the home office and workplace, managing and securing the enterprise inside and outside its boundaries in a flexible and scalable manner is a priority.  To address this requirement and ensure seamless connectivity, organisations are rapidly adopting consumption-driven NaaS models to balance the cost of their network growth with the dig...

By Mandy Duncan, Aruba Country Manager South Africa, a Hewlett Packard Enterprise company There’s a quote by Eleanor Roosevelt that says: ‘True hospitality consists of giving the best of yourself to your guests’.   It’s a sentiment that surely resonates with everyone in the hospitality industry, whether you welcome guests to your hotel, restaurant, or entertainment venue. But hospitality companies will also likely agree that these days, giving the best of yourself is getting harder and harder to do.   While it used to be enough to simply offer top-notch food, drinks and facilities, companies must now also provide the latest data-driven, digital-first experiences – while somehow maintaining a human-to-human connection with their guests.   To  help, Aruba has worked with global trends agency,  Foresight Factory   to identify five predictions for how hospitality experiences will evolve over the next five to ten years.   Here’s what’s in store:   1. ‘...