Tag: #irishbusiness

Irish family business Kefron to create up to 40 new jobs in 2022 as it reveals €1m investment

Leading Irish information management and accounts payable automation specialist, Kefron, has today announced a new partnership with Exclusive Networks. This partnership will support Kefron’s growth strategy as it seeks to create up to 40 new jobs within the coming year.

Kefron was selected by Exclusive Networks, a global trusted cybersecurity specialist and solution provider, as their global accounts payable automation partner. Using Kefron’s innovative software, Exclusive Networks can reduce the amount of manual data entry effort associated with processing their vendor and supplier invoices as the cyber security specialist enters new markets.

Today’s announcement will see Kefron provide Exclusive Networks’ global finance teams with a cloud-based platform that provides an accurate snapshot of Exclusive Networks AP department.  The Accounts Payable (AP) platform has been developed by Kefron’s in house development team while also benefiting from the latest advancements in machine learning technology, supported by a team of data engineering specialists based in Kefron HQ in Dublin.

With this new partnership Kefron will be able to pursue its own growth trajectory, investing €1m to bring its AP platform to new markets and expand its global customer base. This will result in the creation of 40 roles in the areas of emerging technology, customer experience and support. They will join the existing team of 120 at Kefron based out of Dublin and London. 

Paul Kearns, Managing Director, Kefron, said: “We are very excited to announce this partnership with Exclusive Networks today. As well as supporting Exclusive Networks as they seek to digitise their invoicing processes, eliminate errors and save valuable time, this partnership aligns with our own growth strategy as we look to enter new markets and expand our portfolio information management solutions. The new jobs being created will further enhance our capabilities and meet the needs of our global customers. We are very proud to partner with Exclusive Networks and look forward to working with them as they look to a future of enhanced transformation.”

“We chose Kefron as our global AP automation platform partner because they were one of few suppliers who could support both of our key requirements which include AP Automation and E-invoicing globally” said Stephanie Riera, Group Director of Finance & Transformation. “E-invoicing is fast becoming a mandatory requirement in European countries. This means that by law, clients will need to submit documents in specific formats approved by government to do business in that country. Kefron’s integration with Oracle NetSuite was also a key factor for us as we have invested in NetSuite to support our global growth”, commented Riera. Kefron is a “Built For NetSuite” verified solution and achieved the status from Oracle NetSuite in January 2021.

By 2024, it is estimated that the global e-invoice market will be worth more than €16 billion. This strong growth is being driven by digitalisation and government policy in countries across the world.

The new partnership between Kefron and Exclusive Networks will see Kefron’s AP software used in Singapore, Belgium, Denmark and Norway and in early 2022 will become available in a further 21 countries. As Exclusive Networks continue to scale their business, the intention would be that every location in which they operate in will eventually use Kefron AP as their invoice automation tool, creating further potential for expansion into new markets.

To find out more on Kefron’s AP automation solution log onto www.kefron.com/accounts-payable-invoice-automation-solution/

Google searches for picnic baskets and windbreakers soar as consumers prepare for an Irish summer outdoors

Irish consumers have started planning for a summer outdoors, and recent Google search terms show that the weather is top of mind with searches for ‘retractable windbreakers for gardens’ increasing by 429% last month.

Other popular items are picnic baskets and barbecue tool sets, searches for which increased by 119% and 180% respectively month-on-month. With recent trends showing a 20,000% increase in searches for “support local businesses”, Google is highlighting the importance of for small businesses to be visible online in order to reach new and existing customers.

Commenting, Alice Mansergh, Director for Small Business at Google said, “These trends show that people are already planning how they are going to make the most of the longer days and warmer weather. We know that Irish consumers are actively supporting local businesses, and what we’re seeing is that they are searching for very niche products to buy locally. This is a prime example of how being visible online and appearing in those search results can help retailers capture business and ultimately drive sales.” 

Google has announced a number of free tools and resources for Irish SMEs to help them transition to operating online, regardless of their skills or resources including the Google for Small Business and free digital skills training.

Google for Small Business is designed for small Irish businesses and provides a free step-by-step guide to taking a business online, from setting up a Google Business Profile to creating a website, along with tips and advice on how to reach and grow a customer base.

“While getting online is crucial for small businesses, it can be overwhelming especially in the midst of the challenges that businesses are facing. We’ve launched Google for Small Business for those who possibly don’t know where to start. Our goal is to support them on their online journey in their own time and at their own pace,” concluded Alice Mansergh.

Any businesses hoping to start reaching customers immediately can do so by setting up a free Google Business Profile and simply adding their location and contact details, in addition to photos of available stock and other details like availability of click and collect and delivery options.

Other Google tools and resources such as free digital skills training is accessible for Irish SMEs on the Grow with Google website.

Expleo invests €100K in free consultancy services for COVID-19 impacted firms. #Expleo #COVID19ireland

Expleo, the technology partner for innovative companies, today announces that it is investing €100K in helping businesses to get back on track following the disruption caused by COVID-19. The company’s specially-designed COVID-19 recovery package includes free consultancy services in areas that will be critical to business stimulation, including business strategy, digital transformation, change management and business agility.

Expleo’s investment will cover initial assessment of businesses’ needs, referral to a leading consultant and in-depth business analysis to establish a clear plan of action. Services will be offered to businesses of any size operating in all sectors including financial services, retail, manufacturing, travel, insurance and IT.

Irish firms continue to suffer from the fallout of COVID-19 and the disruption it has caused to day-to-day functions, supply chains and their ability to operate to full capacity. Business group Ibec anticipates that investment will fall by as much as 40% this year and the economy will continue to be impacted by the pandemic ‘well into 2021’.

With Government restrictions easing, organisations are now looking to the future and the key areas they need to address in order to limit the pandemic’s impact on their business. And with digital transformation expected to play a central role in economic recovery, Expleo believes its services can give Irish businesses a vital boost.

Phil Codd,pictured above, Managing Director for Ireland, Expleo, said: “At Expleo, we feel very strongly that the business community needs to work together to overcome the challenges set by COVID-19. We wanted to make sure that we played our part and believe that our experience in helping enterprises across all sectors to digitally transform and manage change will be of great assistance to businesses as they look ahead and prepare for a drastically more digitised world.

“Economic hardship can inspire great innovation and entrepreneurial thinking. We want to embark on that journey with Irish businesses to help them thrive in the years ahead and make our economy stronger as a result.”

Businesses who wish to avail of the COVID-19 recovery package and speak to one of Expleo’s leading digital transformation experts can register their interest here.

Irish Businesses Held to Ransom; 41% of Irish Businesses Suffer Cyber Attack. #cyberattack #ransomware

A recent global report by Hiscox Insurance has found that 41% of Irish firms had experienced at least one cyberattack event in a six month period from September 2019 to February 2020. These are among the findings of a study of 5,569 companies across eight countries that was commissioned by insurer Hiscox, which includes Irish data for the first time.

 

The report revealed that 6.5% of Irish firms paid a ransom following a ransomware attack.

The total cost of cyber incidents and breaches among the 335 Irish companies in the Hiscox Insurance study group was over €113m, the second lowest total of the eight countries surveyed. Despite this, of the 125 Irish companies that suffered a cyber breach, Ireland also had the highest median cost (€91,860). One Irish company suffered total cyber losses of €17.8m, with the largest single event costing approximately €4.5m.

 

The most heavily targeted sectors were financial services, manufacturing and technology, media and telecoms with 44% of firms in each sector reporting at least one incident or breach.

The Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report, now in its fourth year, surveyed a representative sample of private and public sector organisations in the US, UK, Belgium, France, Germany, Spain, the Netherlands and Ireland. Each firm was assessed on its cyber security strategy and execution, and ranked accordingly.

Irish companies are ahead for most cyber spending categories for the coming year, and by some margin, in enhancing disaster recovery capabilities, improving the security of customer-facing services and apps, and enhancing top management engagement in cyber policies and procedures.

 

Ireland also tops the table for the percentage of companies expressing confidence in their IT and security readiness (70% and 66% respectively). They are also most likely to have a standalone cyber insurance policy (38%).

Patrick Mettler, Head of Sales and Distribution for Hiscox Insurance Ireland said; “To have an Irish snapshot in the Hiscox global survey on Cyber Readiness gives us a great insight. It is shocking to see so many Irish companies suffering a cyber attack and likewise the number of businesses that have paid a ransom following a malware infection is chilling. 

There is, however, one very positive message from this year’s report. There is clear evidence of a step-change in cyber preparedness, with enhanced levels of activity and spending. Take-up of standalone cyber insurance remains patchy, but this report is a reminder that firms are many times more likely to have a cyber incident than either a fire or a theft – for which most automatically insure.” 

 

The global picture for Cyber Readiness is a lot more encouraging. While losses increased, the proportion of businesses targeted fell from 61% to 39%. Cyber losses among businesses targeted in the past year have risen nearly six-fold, from a median €8,900 per firm to  €50,732. But there are signs that firms are responding with more rigorous security measures and higher spending, to combat the loss, which increased by 39%.

 

Key Findings:

  • 335 – number of companies surveyed in Ireland

  • 41% of Irish Firms reported at least one cyber event in the last 6 months

  • 6.5% or 22 firms paid a ransom following a ransomware attack

  • The total cost of all cyber incidents and breaches among the 335 Irish companies was €96million

  • The largest Cyber incident or breach reported cost the firm approximately €4.5 million

  • Irish firms were ahead of the rest in terms of spending on Cyber protection

  • On average, Irish businesses spent 13% of their IT budget on Cyber Security

  • One quarter of firms (24%) ranked as Cyber readiness experts and are most likely to have either a dedicated head of cyber security or a dedicated team (89%)

  • 38% of firms say they have specialist cyber insurance cover

  • 18% of businesses responded with ‘don’t know’ when asked if they had experienced a Cyber event.

  • 5% of businesses stated they do not back up their critical data.

 

Global Key insights;

 

  • 5,569 professionals responsible for their organisation’s cyber security strategy were surveyed

  • The number of firms affected by a cyber event this year fell considerably, from 61% to 39%

  • Total cyber losses among the affected firms were $1.8 billion – up from $1.2 billion the previous year

  • More than 6% of total respondents paid a ransom to an attacker. Their combined losses came to $381 million.

  • Firms increased their cyber security spending by 39%. Expert firms spent more and plan to go on doing so

  • 15% of businesses reported difficulty attracting new business, following a cyber crime incident

  • Twice as many firms responded to a breach by adding new security and spending more on employee training

The Hiscox Cyber Readiness Report 2020 can be accessed at www.hiscoxgroup.com/cyber-readiness from 22 June 2020.

Preparing Irish businesses for increasingly extreme weather events.Noel O’Grady, Sungard AS #Weather #ICT #SungardAS

The impact of extreme weather events on business performance, both positively and negatively, should not be underestimated. Abnormal weather is the difference between observed weather and its normal value, which is typically calculated using the 30-year average.  With the news that Ireland can expect plunging temperatures and extreme storms to become a more regular occurrence, the question of how companies can best prepare and respond should be an increased priority for business owners. 

 

Production, supply, demand and operations can all be impacted by extreme weather. Abnormal weather patterns offer a unique form of disruption for companies and, in recent years, organisations in the fields of energy, water, telecoms, transport, retail, leisure and agriculture have all been affected in a variety of ways. Small businesses are the most vulnerable, with there being no simple way of telling how long the weather-related disruption can last. Prolonged periods of disruption can lead to financial distress, triggering shortfalls in sales, store closures and even job cuts.   

 

Thanks to climate change, the frequency and intensity of abnormal weather patterns have increased too, with a shift to warmer temperatures only set to further the threats. Financial losses caused by adverse weather that didn’t seem material enough for companies to concern themselves with 10 years ago, are now examined and managed by weather-based financial instruments that seek to cover the risk to which businesses are exposed. As recently as October 2019, the Irish government were forced to send out an orange weather warning in preparation for ex-hurricane Lorenzo, proof that the time has now come when businesses can no longer fail to have an effective back-up plan in place to limit the negative impacts of a disaster.   

 

Failure to plan 

 

The European Economic Area records that, over the period 1980 – 2017, total reported economic losses caused by weather and climate-related extremes in the member countries amounted to approximately EUR 453 billion. In 2018, Sinn Féin proposed a bill to make it compulsory for employers to close its place of business during a red alert weather warning. It stated that in the event of a place of work being subject to a red weather warning, an employer would be required to “close such place and make reasonable measures to inform all employees to stay away from it for the duration of that warning.”  

 

Organisations must review assumptions about the risks they face because of their direct influence on both organisational resilience and the bottom line. Key to deciding how to move forward is making an accurate assessment of the level of risk a business is willing to accept, and taking a multi-tiered approach to assess and plan for a range of threats.

 

Advice for organisations to consider today 

 

To best address extreme weather events, companies should consider the following: 

 

  • Get a good weather forecast. The quality and range of forecasts has improved markedly in recent years.
  • Evaluate how to react to a disruption of this nature – organisations should look at completing an assessment of business impact, risk and overall resilience. 
  • Ensure ICT is robust yet agile – businesses must ensure an ICT service continuity plan is in place, and that it extends to disaster recovery scenarios. 
  • Prepare operations for action accordingly – this should consider business continuity processes, training and awareness processes for staff at all levels of the business, and vendor/supplier risk management too. 
  • Develop crisis leadership competencies within the executive team – this can include training, executive coaching and coached crisis scenarios.   
  • Foster a mutually supportive network of suppliers and stakeholders – examine market-wide crisis exercises and identify best practice. Also assess supply chain resilience. 

 

A growing trend 

 

Environmental risks have grown in prominence over the last decade and we can expect this trend to continue. Findings from the World Economic Forum’s 2019 Global Risks Report send a clear message to companies, with extreme weather events, natural disasters and climate change all highlighted as top concerns. 

 

As tempting as it might be to think “that’ll never happen to us”, understanding and investing in a business continuity plan, and business interruption insurance can greatly support recovery. The latter can be an invaluable safeguard for a business, for example allowing for the reimbursement of ongoing expenses and lost gross profit while a permanent business location is being repaired. 

 

Disasters can happen when least expected. Companies might not be able to prevent the storm, but they can take steps to handle the situation and keep operations up and running with minimal disruption. This is what the most resilient companies do, and it’s why they’ve stayed afloat while others have not.