News, views and reviews from AU’s tech sector No Images? Click here Dear , It’s been a tough week for the Australian telco market – and its employees – with news that Telstra is axing a quarter of its workforce as part of a ‘reset’ to become more agile, and survive, in a rapidly changing market. Like telcos around the world, Telstra is fighting to find a footing in a new era where an abundance of over the top players like Skype, Messenger and WhatsApp erode their traditional revenues from voice calls and messaging. Telstra’s CEO doesn’t want to be lumped with traditional companies risking being disrupted by not responding to the rapid change of technological innovation and competition. His staff might ask if that’s not what this is, then what is? Across town, Optus also found itself under fire in the disruptive flux (and glare) of live sports streaming. It seems there’s no fun in telco land right now. In other news:
And we take a look at how the latest Dynamics 365 solution has provided big benefits to an agricultural powerhouse. Happy reading, Hayden McCall (p.s. Jonathan Cotton is taking a well-earned break, and we welcome a couple of new voices to the iStart team – Patrick Pilcher and Heather Wright) Tectonic shifts in Aussie telco market'Radical, bold' reset sees Telstra slash 8,000 jobs... Telstra is shedding 25 percent of its staff, spinning off its infrastructure business and simplifying product offerings to reset itself for growth. “The future of our workforce will be…agile enough to deal with rapid change.” Optus World Cup woes continueCompensation confusion adds to customer unhappiness... A significant marketing opportunity turned into a nightmare for Optus last week when streaming coverage of the World Cup Soccer went very wrong. “A game of bureaucratic ping-pong is well underway as affected consumers seek the right body with which to lodge complaints.” Huawei’s Aussie 5G banUS intelligence agencies add to Chinese tech giant’s conspiracy theories… Speculation is mounting that US intelligence agencies are pushing the Australian government to ban Chinese telco Huawei from bidding for 5G contracts. “Ironically…US intelligence agencies planned to exploit Huawei network hardware for intelligence gathering purposes.” Legal issues likely to dampen AI/ML uptakeWhen machines are making the decisions, they’re not always black and white... Legal issues could slow uptake of AI and machine learning, with an analyst warning A/NZ businesses to consider the implications carefully. "You can control what data goes in but it’s very difficult to process exactly how that data is used.” Google Maps API change hits company pockets3,000 percent cost increases reported… Local companies are among those caught out by a massive price increase to use Google Maps API products, which are now billed under a single pay-as-you-go pricing plan. “We thought carefully about how to price Google Maps Platform products.” How upgraded ERP sows the seeds of successSeed producer boosts operations with first Kiwi-led Dynamics 365 for Operations and Finance implementation… When agricultural powerhouse Genetic Technologies needed an upgrade to an ageing enterprise resource planning solution, it looked to Intergen for answers. “We recognised the advantages in one common IT setup across all systems, servers, financials, CRM and so on.” This week's sponsor: Upcoming events: > 2018 Online retailer: Where the future meets retail | July 25-26 | Sydney iStart is proudly supported by these leading Australian software providers: Latest Buyer's Guides ERP Buyer's Guide | CRM Buyer's Guide | HR/HCM Buyer's Guide | BI & Analytics Buyer's Guide Privacy statement: We have sent this weekly eNewsletter to you at your e-mail address: [email address suppressed]. iStart will never share your e-mail address, but you may from time to time receive other event invitations or partner communications from us. You can opt out of these by managing your subscription preferences, where you can also update your e-mail address and other details. Find out more about iStart | Advertise with iStart | Subscribe Please support independent journalism! If you feel the same way, and like what we do, then we welcome your support through crowdfunding platform PressPatron. |