Author Archives: Yarris

The newly released national cloud computing strategy for Australia has been met with praise by leading industry group OzHub, who say the 'government-first' approach is a critical milestone.

The national cloud computing strategy was released by communications minister Stephen Conroy at the recent CeBIT business technology trade show in Sydney.

The strategy outlines the federal government's vision for cloud computing in Australia, setting out three core goals to help support the Australian adoption of this technology.

One of the key aspects of the new strategy is the positioning of the federal government as a leader in the use of cloud services for greater efficiency and the delivery of better services for the public.

As part of this goal, government decision makers are encouraged to evaluate the benefits of cloud services and government agencies are required to consider public cloud services for new IT procurements.

The strategy has been welcomed by OzHub, who state that the guidance of the government will help to promote cloud to other users such as small businesses, not-for-profits and Australian consumers.

"From the time it was established as the representative of the Australian cloud industry, OzHub has argued that it was crucial for the government to demonstrate best-practice as a consumer," OzHub chairman Matt Healy said in a May 29 statement.

"The understanding and commitment to cloud has been patchy across government agencies. The direction by the minister setting an expectation and providing a set of actions to help agencies get on board is what is needed to break through this resistance."

The Victorian government is well placed to take advantage of the cloud computing trend, as it already utilises a legal services management system from Yarris called Yarris Legal Gateway.

Yarris Legal Gateway is a cloud-based software package which works to streamline the legal e-procurement process for large corporations and governments, providing more effective management of services.

The Australian government's national cloud computing strategy has been unveiled in a recent business technology trade show in Sydney.

The national cloud computing strategy was released by communications minister Stephen Conroy at the CeBIT show in Sydney on May 29.

The strategy sets out how "world-class cloud services" will be created and used to help boost innovation and productivity, by identifying three core goals and a set of actions to help the government achieve its cloud computing vision.

The three goals identified in the strategy are:

1. Maximising the value of cloud computing in government
2. Promoting cloud computing to small businesses, not-for-profits and consumers
3. Supporting a vibrant cloud services sector

To help state and local governments take full advantage of cloud computing, the strategy outlines how the federal government will drive cultural change, share lessons on successes and failures, improve procurement practices and measure progress.

In addition, the government will "empower agencies with tools" to help them assess the pros and cons of cloud computing.

"Government agencies are no strangers to cloud computing. Individual agencies are already using private, public and community cloud services," the strategy reads.

"In many cases these are significant ICT projects delivering tangible benefits for the community. These services have provided better value for money and more innovative services than was possible through traditional ICT sourcing."

In his address at CeBIT on Wednesday, Mr Conroy said that one way cloud computing value will be maximised for government is by ensuring that changes are made to procurement policy.

Under the strategy, agencies will be encouraged to consider using cloud services and share their experiences in the process so that the value of the cloud can be fully communicated.

Yarris provides a cloud-based legal services management software for large corporations and governments called YarrisLegal.

Clients such as the Victorian government and SunCorp are already using YarrisLegal to help streamline and improve their services procurement and customer service management.

Utilising legal services can be very frustrating if you lack the proper tools and processes to help you deal with matters relating to legal services procurement.

However, cloud-based e-procurement software can help to streamline this process and make it much more efficient, which can save your organisation both time and money.

Yarris offers a software solution tailored specifically for legal services called YarrisLegal, which is used by clients such as SunCorp and the Victorian government.

If you haven't yet considered the benefits of software for legal services management such as YarrisLegal, here are a few points that may give you some food for thought.

Improved legal workflow

The right software can help you stay up to date with the flow of legal work in your organisation, giving you the ability to direct tasks such as the approval of payments and deliverables, conflict reviews and quality reviews to the appropriate person more efficiently.

By simplifying the legal workflow, you can benefit from greater financial visibility and cost management throughout the process of procuring legal services.

Better performance management measures

YarrisLegal can not only help streamline the legal workflow process in your organisation, it can also provide performance management measures so you can get a better idea of the quality of your legal services.

With this flexible software, you will be able to track and manage almost any key performance indicator (KPI) of your choosing, allowing you to compile an assessment of the legal services your organisation is using, both in-house and external.

If the quality of the service isn't up to your standards, the system will use lower star ratings that will in turn lead to less new work.

Business intelligence benefits

As well as streamlined processes, the YarrisLegal system also collects comprehensive data about operational costs and outcomes so you have accurate information to help drive your business decisions.

For many companies, adequately handling car insurance claims can be a tricky procedure if you don't have the proper tools in place to streamline the process and make it more efficient for both your company and your clients.

Yarris software such as Arnie (a cloud-based e-procurement solution) can help to improve the insurance reinstatement process for insurance providers.

Companies such as SunCorp and the Royal Automobile Club of Queensland, South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania use the Arnie system to help improve their management of services.

Here are just some of the ways Arnie can help to improve the insurance reinstatement process:

Greater efficiency

Perhaps most importantly, cloud-based services procurement software such as Arnie ensures that the overall process of handling auto insurance claims and insurance reinstatement is streamlined and made more efficient.

By linking together all of the relevant parties in the process (such as insurers, repairers and policy holders) into a central network or hub, the Arnie system helps to see interactions between these parties moving more quickly, seamlessly and efficiently.

The Arnie system is able to 'smart' select auto repairers based on a range of decision criteria, while managing communications with policy holders for a more effective process overall.

Cost reduction

When the insurance reinstatement process is improved in this way, your company is spared the costs associated with delays or other obstacles that may arise from using a traditional paper-based system.

Instead of manually shuffling through paper-based records to find the relevant information, Arnie makes the process move more quickly, as all of the necessary data is housed in a central hub - saving insurance providers time and money.

Competitive advantage

With a quick, efficient and seamless insurance reinstatement process at your disposal, your organisation can benefit from increased productivity and greater business advantages as a result.

The National Broadband Network (NBN) Co released its rollout update for the March quarter earlier this week (May 15), revealing that the number of families and businesses using the network has grown once more.

According to the March quarter update, 48,600 families and businesses are now benefiting from the high-speed capabilities of the NBN.

In addition, at the end of the month a total of 363,360 premises were included in the overall coverage footprint of the network, while a further 96,060 were passed with fibre.

The news comes after another recent announcement from the NBN Co which outlined the next 1.3 million premises next in line to get high-speed fibre optic broadband, adding almost 190 new towns and groups of suburbs to the NBN Co's updated three year plan.

That means that by June 2016, a total of 4.85 million premises will either have had construction of the network commenced already, or will be able to order services.

"We're getting on with the job of rolling out the NBN in every state and territory," NBN Co chief executive Mike Quigley said in a May 5 statement about the updated three year plan.

"Our plan is to deliver better broadband to every Australian over the remaining eight years of this ten year build."

The NBN rollout is designed to deliver the high-speed broadband network to areas in a way that is both efficient and cost-effective, by extending the network in areas where work has already begun first.

Several major contractors are involved in the construction and rollout of the NBN in Australia.

One of these, Silcar, uses a services procurement software from Yarris called ConSol - a cloud-based system designed especially to improve e-procurement procedures for telecommunications contractors such as Telstra, Silcar and Syntheo.

An extra $12.9 million in funding has been announced to help deliver new digital initiatives that highlight the potential of the National Broadband Network (NBN).

Stephen Conroy, minister for broadband, communications and the digital economy, made the announcement yesterday (May 14).

The funding will help build on the work already undertaken by the government's Digital Enterprise program and the Digital Local Government program, which are both aimed at Australians make full use of the NBN's capabilities.

The Digital Enterprise Program provides free group training and support for small-to-medium enterprises and not for profit organisations, encouraging them to improve their business activities and boost delivery of online services.

On the other hand, the Digital Local Government program encourages local governments to make the most out of the NBN by helping them to develop online services as well.

Under this new round of funding, a further 21 Digital Enterprise services will be realised (including a virtual service in remote regions of the country), which is expected to benefit approximately 49,000 participants.

In addition, the funding allows for a further 15 Digital Local Government programs to be rolled out across the country.

"Since launching in February 2012, the Digital Enterprise and Digital Local Government programs have successfully delivered expert digital training to small businesses and not for profit organisations around Australia, as well as assisting local councils take advantage of the NBN," Mr Conroy said in a May 14 statement.

"The NBN is being rolled out to all Australians so it is essential that all of us develop the skills and understand how we can best take advantage of the fast, reliable and affordable broadband it delivers."

The NBN rollout and construction involves many contractors, some of which utilise cloud-based services procurement software from Yarris.

Silcar is a top level contractor currently working on the NBN project and they use ConSol, a service which helps to provide improved procurement solutions for telecommunications companies.

Global cloud computing services market revenue will grow to reach $35.6 billion by the end of this year, driven by the increasing adoption of cloud computing by organisations.

The results come from a new Visiongain report entitled 'World Cloud Computing Market 2013 - 2018', which contains a comprehensive analysis of the global cloud computing market's prospects for the years ahead.

The report was created in consultation with industry experts and leading companies, and the results show that for many companies, cloud computing appears to be a "very lucrative and commercially interesting solution" to existing issues with IT infrastructure.

According to the report's abstract, companies need a flexible and more complex IT solution that will accommodate the evolving needs of businesses today.

Cloud computing is seen by many as the solution to the problems with slow deployment of applications, limited resources and unpredictable system integration that can occur in existing IT infrastructure.

"Undeniably, cloud computing is already transforming the business landscape, and will continue to do so as it matures," the report reads.

"Cloud computing will play an increasingly important role in the business segment as future systems will further exploit the capabilities offered by this technology."

According to the report, companies who adopt cloud computing need to consider it as part of the overall move towards more efficient IT management, in order to get the maximum benefits from the technology.

Yarris offers several systems which operate in the cloud, which means upfront costs can be reduced and companies can also experience a range of other benefits that are associated with cloud computing technology.

These systems include ConSol, a service management software for telecommunications contractors, Arnie, a services procurement solution for automotive repair companies, and YarrisLegal, which deals with the management of services for governments and large corporations.

The National Broadband Network (NBN) rollout is progressing well, according to the new chair of NBN Co.

Siobhan McKenna, in an exclusive interview with The Australian, said contractors are working towards targets and have expressed their eagerness to ramp up the network's development.

Organisations are "assiduously working and want to receive more work from NBN Co and they are making good progress", she explained.

"Since I have become chairman, I have reinforced with [NBN Co] management their accountability to the board. And they understand they need to deliver significant progress by June 30 and beyond."

Her comments may be encouraging for contractors working on the network rollout, with an NBN Co board adviser telling The Australian that some much-needed transparency is being brought to proceedings.

Top tier contractors currently working on the NBN include Silcar, Service Stream, ISGM and Syntheo, all of which use ConSol for boosting subcontractor and contractor management processes.

Ms McKenna, who was appointed to her new role in March, reinforced her commitment to ensuring the NBN was delivered within the specified timeframes and without political interference.

The Gillard government and the Opposition have locked horns over the project, with the former preferring a fibre to the premises (FTTP) rollout, while the latter has expressed a desire to pursue fibre to the node (FTTN).

FTTP is often touted as the more expensive option, however it will provide faster internet speeds overall.

Talking to ABC last year, Service Stream director Stephen Ellich said the cost of each method is difficult to quantify and there are additional expenses that could result from FTTN that are not being considered.

But Ms McKenna refused to be drawn into the debate, stating: "I am not a political appointee to this board, nor to any other government boards I have been appointed to."

Businesses experience more value from cloud computing as they increase the amount spent on adopting the technology.

This is according to a new survey by RightScale, which found larger organisations are more likely to be exploring the advantages of cloud technology than smaller firms.

The research, titled State of the Cloud, revealed businesses reported fewer challenges and more benefits as they expanded their use of the cloud in their operations.

Michael Crandell, chief executive officer of RightScale, said the level of cloud maturity shown by an enterprise often correlated with the success it was having deploying such solutions.

"The results reveal a clear cloud value imperative: more cloud adoption unlocks more cloud value," he explained.

"The data shows that investments in cloud adoption will continue to drive increased value for their business."

All of Yarris' systems operate in the cloud, helping to reduce the large upfront costs associated with an on-premise installation.

These systems are ConSol, which is designed for telecommunications service delivery; Yarris Legal Gateway for legal services management; and automotive repair service management software Arnie.

RightScale's survey polled 625 businesses from a range of different sectors, finding that larger organisations with more than 1,000 employees were more likely to be using the cloud, with 77 per cent claiming some involvement with the technology. This compared with 73 per cent of smaller firms.

Bigger enterprises were also more commonly using multi-cloud solutions, including hybrid strategies.

"Enterprises with hybrid cloud strategies are making progress toward their goals, with 61 per cent of those organisations already running apps in public cloud, 38 per cent in private cloud and 29 per cent in hybrid cloud environment," Rightscale stated.

Of the companies polled, just eight per cent said they had no intention of using cloud computing in the future.

New South Wales' Central Coast has now officially switched on to high-speed broadband, with the National Broadband Network (NBN) rolling through Gosford.

More than 2,300 premises in the city centre have now been passed, NBN Co revealed, with a further 5,000 homes and businesses in the region expected to be complete within the next few months, including in Springfield, East Gosford and Point Frederick.

The NSW rollout is being spearheaded by Silcar, with the organisation using Yarris' cloud-based system ConSol for sub-contractor and contractor management functions.

ConSol links all the parties involved in the telecommunications service delivery process, facilitating standardised work practices and ensuring employers have maximum visibility across their teams and projects.

NBN Co said construction will have commenced or been completed on more than 100,000 homes and businesses on the Central Coast by the middle of 2015.

This will include the majority of premises in Gosford, as well as areas of The Entrance, Erina and Erina Heights, Bateau Bay, and Long Jetty.

Across NSW, over one million dwellings will be under construction or finished within two years, the organisation claimed, while 3.5 million premises will be reached nationally by this time.

The rollout is already being celebrated by NSW business groups, with Regional Development Australia Central Coast chief executive officer Andrew Roach saying it will be "an important boost" for local companies.

"We also expect that over time it will lead to a significant rise in telework activity in the area as locals jump on their computers to do their work rather than jumping in the car to make the arduous trek to Sydney or Newcastle each day," he explained.

His organisation is planning to host a week-long event in May that will promote the use of tele-commuting, as well as establishing provisional smart-working hubs in Gosford and Wyong.