News, views and reviews from AU’s tech sector No Images? Click here Dear , After much anticipation, doomsaying and gnashing of teeth, Amazon’s Australian launch ended up going off with more of a fizz than a bang. Perhaps it’s that poor early showing that’s behind the company’s otherwise baffling decision to bar Australian customers from shopping via the e-commerce giant’s US site. Ostensibly, the company says that new tax laws (announced two years go) put global shopping for Aussies in the too-hard basket, something that doesn't add up for several reasons. The decision is surely one that Amazon AU makes at its own peril. With Chinese giant Alibaba increasingly eyeing non-Chinese markets, and no shortage of others, Amazon’s Australian arm may be setting itself up for a hard lesson in just what happens when your competitor is willing to offer perfectly reasonable functionality – and pricing – that you could, but won’t. Also this week:
Australians are using more electricity than ever before. Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) needed insights into how electricity grids cope with the ebb and flow of polar blasts and summer heatwaves, and 18 terabytes of data across separate systems wasn’t delivering it. Enter IT services provider Empired, who, with the help of data platform Microsoft Azure, allowed AEMO to tap the power of its data. The results, described as “magical”, means AEMO can create energy, population and weather data forecasts on the fly, and even micro-monitor grids nation-wide every two minutes. Happy reading and have a great weekend. Jonathan Cotton Amazon pokes the KoalaAmazon takes exception to Aussie tax changes, are Kiwis next?... Amazon has announced that, as of July, it’ll no longer ship goods from its US site (or other non-Australian Amazon sites) to Australian consumers. “Amazon appear to have failed to consider the fact that they are not the only online retailer out there.” Top 4 takeaways from the Mary Meeker internet reportIt’s Silicon Valley’s favourite slide deck, but at a whopping 294 slides, Mary Meeker’s 2018 Trend Report is well and truly death by Powerpoint. But despair not: we’ve separated the wheat from the chaff on your behalf... This year’s report shows Amazon taking over the world, internal comm platforms improving efficiency and a bunch of other things. “Tech-driven trends are changing so rapidly that it’s rare when one side fully understands the other.” Touch and grow: Visa claims sales growthData analysis points to payment method helping increase sales for merchants… Cashless payment technologies have been widely embraced on both sides of the Tasman. “Contactless provides merchants with a the ability to provide a better customer experience, improved competitive advantage and greater operational efficiency.” FinancialForce expands partner ecosystem with Appirio dealERP cloud vendor FinancialForce has announced a new sales and implementation partnership with Indianapolis-based CX company Appirio... It’s an agreement that’s been a long time coming and somewhat formalises the long relationship between the two companies. “The partnership should help FinancialForce in its acquisition aim for professional services organisations.” A new survey has found that less than 50 percent of workers believe their CIOs are aware of digital technology problems that affect them. "Non-IT workers aren’t likely to use the IT help desk as their first source of assistance." World-leading solution unlocks unprecedented energy insightBig data solution drives smarter energy consumption and improved forecasting accuracy across Australia… The Australian Energy Market Operator’s (AEMO) vision is to deliver energy security for all Australians. “It is magic. But it is a true story and an enormous success story.” 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. |