AI Issue 5 2017

Acquisition International - May 2017 7 Cloud Adoption Growing among SMBsWorldwide The company surveyed more than 2,000 ITDMs globally, including Australia, and found that the majority are positive about cloud and are planning to expand the types of IT services they run in the cloud in the coming years. Overall, ITDMs from nearly 100 countries had an overwhelmingly positive opinion of cloud, with 80.1% responding affirmatively, with 63.5% of respondents working for companies with fewer than 500 employees. While many appear to be comfortable with cloud as a strategic IT delivery model, it does not necessarily mean they have moved their entire IT infrastructure there. Findings show that the most popular cloud functions were Web hosting, blog and content management (39.2 %), email (32%) and file sharing (32.2%) capabilities. While many of the ITDMs surveyed, claimed that they are hosting a number of basic applications on the cloud, a significant number are planning to deploy more complex business applications in 2018. The most popular include: network monitoring (34.6%), sales, CRM and ticketing systems (35.4%), and backup (33.9%). “Widespread migration to the cloud in the SMB market is already underway, especially here in Australia, said Andrew Timms, Sales Director for APAC at Paessler. “The uptake of cloud and prevalence of BYOD has played a major role in the IT department. We will continue to see system administrators leverage the cloud model, together with existing on-premise applications to better manage local area networks, switches and data rooms. Welcome to the hybrid future.” Despite high levels of cloud approval overall, many ITDMs were still sceptical about certain aspects of the technology. Specifically, data security stood out as the biggest concern, with 44.7% stating it poses a significant obstacle, with an additional 41.3% who said it is somewhat concerning. “The findings from this survey confirm that the transformative impact of the cloud does not only exclusively impact enterprises; the SMB market are also starting to reap the true benefits,” said Timms. To view the full report, please visit www.paessler. com/campaign/cloud-survey. For more on PRTG, please visit www.paessler.com . Paessler AG, the innovative network monitoring specialist, on May 4 released the findings of new research into how global IT decision makers (ITDMs) feel about cloud computing and how they are using it to meet the demands of today’s changing business climate. Independentpartner-ownedwealth management business Plurimi, has launched an institutional- approach Discretionary Portfolio Management Service, established and run by Piers Cushing and Rob Cloete. Complementing the firm’s decade-old investment advisory service, Plurimi’ s new discretionary team will take an original approach to investment management, providing an intuitive and scalable investment solution drawing on over 20 years’ combined experience of private client portfolio management. Using client segregated accounts, Cushing and Cloete will lead with two global, multi- asset class strategies: the “Dynamic Strategy” focuses on wealth preservation and the “Astute Strategy” on growth-orientated relative returns. Both strategies have a flexible and dynamic approach to asset allocation, enabling the team to proactively react and adapt to changing market conditions. Unlike many private client offerings which focus on a static risk profiled approach, they utilise direct instruments. This approach reduces costs, increases accountability, and permits a greater expression of investment conviction and more effective risk management. DPM Managing Director Piers Cushing said: “We are delighted to have established the Discretionary Portfolio Team here at Plurimi. Rob and I have been working together on our approach to investment management for several years and we are confident that our philosophy represents an attractive alternative to the conventional ‘one off’ risk-profiling used elsewhere.” Director of DPM Rob Cloete said: “Piers and I have placed the majority of our investable wealth in the models we run. In an industry where it’s rare for portfolio managers to ‘eat their own cooking’, we want our clients to know that our financial interests are materially aligned to theirs.” www.plurimi.com Plurimi Appoints Pioneering Discretionary PortfolioManagement Team NEWS / From Around The World