News, views and reviews from AU’s tech sector No Images? Click here Dear , Technology brings both challenges and opportunities for businesses everywhere. While it has the potential to disrupt, and indeed to invalidate some businesses, it also provides an opportunity to differentiate, develop new ways of working more efficiently and productively - and to reap the financial returns. But it’s a balancing act. Technology for the sake of technology is rarely a winner. But when it delivers convenience and expedience to users, it will win in the end. And that’s something retailers across Australia are facing with Amazon, and the newly launched Amazon Prime. Do they invest in their own e-commerce and supply chain tech to compete, or do they join the “you sell it, we ship it” promise of Amazon and pay a different price? In other news:
The use of robotics in distribution centres take a different slant in this story looking at what it takes to deliver gains in supply chain efficiency by using robotic process automation to take on document-heavy, transactional processes. And lastly if year-end accounting has you considering robotic improvements to your processes, check out the upcoming webinar, Best Practise ERP Evaluation. Happy reading, and a welcome from me to iStart readers, Heather Wright Surviving Amazon: What’s a retailer to do?Locals must ‘lead or leave’ the market, analyst says... Retailers across Australia and NZ are being urged to open up their IT wallets in order to compete as Amazon increases its assault on the region with the launch of Amazon Prime in Australia. “You sell it we ship it.” The internet of hype?IoT overhype? The answer is not quite so clear-cut... The gap between early hype and the reality of the Internet of Things (IoT) is starting to show according to a recent IoT confessional, and it’s largely due to telcos not understanding their customers. “If your organisation doesn’t have a strong digital strategy for data, then attaining value out of your IoT solution will be difficult.” Copyright reform: Tech companies lose againWhat will it take for the Australian government to actually protect Australian tech companies?... Last week the government passed the Copyright Amendment (Service Providers) Bill 2017, expanding safe harbour provisions for a range of organisations – but not for tech companies. “Tech and online companies have been relegated to the ‘too hard basket’.” Slap a tail on it and call it AIIs it machine learning and artificial intelligence, or just good IT? Artificial intelligence and machine learning have been touted as new wonder-things for business, cutting costs, helping businesses be more productive and smarter and all the usual good stuff. “ML and AI are potential endpoints on a long journey.” Open banking: A solution looking for a problem to solveWill open banking wither and die quick smart? Phil Kernick argues the case... It’s a hot topic across the financial services sector, but the jury is still out on just how much value open banking will deliver to Australia. “In reality, this will be a lot harder to achieve than you might think.” How distribution benefits from the next evolution of automated document processingWhen you hear talk about robotics in the distribution centre, you may envision some of the innovations Amazon is using to streamline operations... Maybe you picture self-guided forklifts equipped with sensors and automatic controls stacking inventory to fulfilment. “These ‘robots’ can perform the same tasks currently performed by humans without ever slowing or making errors.” This week's sponsor: Upcoming events: > Best practise ERP evaluation | July 25 | At your desk 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. |