Copyright TechTarget - All rights reserved https://cyber.law.harvard.edu/rss/rss.html Techtarget Feed Generator en Tue, 21 Jul 2026 10:37:17 GMT https://www.techtarget.com/whatis editor@techtarget.com <p>The arrival of Andy Burnham as prime minister has naturally provided the tech industry and business groups with an opportunity to outline their hopes and proffer some advice to the Labour leader.</p> <p>After an unopposed Labour leadership nomination process, Burnham stepped into the shoes previously filled by <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/ezine/Computer-Weekly/Is-the-UKs-digital-ID-scheme-doomed-to-fail">Keir Starmer</a> yesterday and outlined his ambition to reshape the narrative across the country and “bring back hope”.</p> <p>His comments and efforts to restructure government departments and appoint a new cabinet drew reactions from various industry stakeholders, many of whom responded positively to the early signals regarding artificial intelligence (AI) and fostering business expansion.</p> <p>Mark Boost, CEO of <a href="https://www.civo.com/">Civo</a>, welcomed the decision to merge the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT) into an expanded Department for Business and Trade, under the leadership of secretary of state for business and trade Jonathan Reynolds.</p> <p>“The key will be ensuring tech doesn’t get diluted by traditional business priorities. In a fast-moving AI arms race, we cannot afford to lose momentum. But with 90% of IT leaders calling for a more proactive government stance, this unified department has a clean mandate to embed tech sovereignty directly into the UK’s primary economic and industrial strategy,” he said.</p> <p>Boost also welcomed the decision to have an AI minister, Kanishka Narayan, viewing it as an opportunity to ensure the technology is represented at a senior government level.</p> <p>“Giving the AI minister direct access to cabinet decisions demonstrates that the government recognises AI’s existential importance to our future economy. Positioned inside a high-powered business and trade department, an AI minister with Cabinet authority will have real leverage to break down cross-Whitehall silos, accelerate national AI infrastructure, and give British tech companies the proactive backing needed to maintain a competitive global advantage,” he said.</p> <blockquote class="main-article-pullquote"> <div class="main-article-pullquote-inner"> <figure> This is a golden opportunity to restart the Parliament, go for growth, and get it right on supporting small businesses </figure> <figcaption> <strong>Tina McKenzie, Federation of Small Businesses</strong> </figcaption> <i class="icon" data-icon="z"></i> </div> </blockquote> <p>For Roy Shelton, group CEO of Doncaster-based managed service provider (MSP) <a href="https://connectus.org.uk/">Connectus Business Solutions</a>, the arrival of a northern prime minister presents a chance to boost the region.</p> <p>“Investment in cyber skills is virtually a no-brainer, as around half of all UK businesses have reported a skills gap for basic technical cyber skills and a 30% gap in more advanced areas,” he said. “Getting the north to be a powerhouse of production is going to require improved connectivity and investment in cyber to close those gaps.</p> <p>“Andy Burnham showed with the <a href="https://tfgm.com/">Bee Network</a> that the north can build world-class infrastructure when it’s handed the powers to do it,” he added.</p> <p>Tina McKenzie, policy chair of the <a href="https://www.fsb.org.uk/">Federation of Small Businesses</a> (FSB), also urged the prime minister to create the conditions to support business growth.&nbsp;“This is a golden opportunity to restart the Parliament, go for growth, and get it right on supporting small businesses,” she said.</p> <p>“The new prime minister has set out a positive, pro-small business stall in recent weeks, and we are optimistic that he can galvanise the new government to make these plans a reality. That will mean reworking the mistakes on business rates made by the last government, by increasing Small Business Rate Relief, acting on costs after the sledgehammer of National Insurance rises, and scrapping pointless paperwork that holds business back,” McKenzie added.</p> <p>“For the prime minister to get growth in every postcode, he needs to back the UK’s 5.7 million small businesses, which are at the heart of local economies and communities right across the country,” she concluded.</p> The advent of Andy Burnham’s premiership creates an opportunity to accelerate investment in AI, advance digital skills training, and enhance outcomes for the channel and its customers https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/ComputerWeekly/HeroImages/London-Westminster-Parliament-government-10-Downing-St-pcruciatti-ED-ONLY-adobe.jpg https://www.computerweekly.com/microscope/news/366645887/Change-of-prime-minister-seen-as-a-chance-to-improve-tech-sector Tue, 21 Jul 2026 10:30:00 GMT <p>The role of a forward-deployed engineer (FDE) is quickly becoming one of the most important and sought-after roles in tech companies today.</p> <p>Platform and product vendors employ forward-deployed engineers. They are embedded into client organizations and do the following there:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Design and build customer software.</li> <li>Ensure that the software is designed to meet that organization's specific needs.</li> <li>Respond to changing requirements that increase value-add to the client organization.</li> <li>Develop a deep knowledge of the client's business.</li> <li>Apply that knowledge to design custom solutions.</li> </ul> <p>The forward-deployed engineer is not just a role – it's a development model. This model arose from the need for intense focus on individual customers.</p> <p>In this article we'll review the history of the role and the responsibilities that the forward-deployed engineer executes. We will assess the experience and qualities needed for success in the role. Finally, we will address how to determine if the forward-deployed engineering model is the best choice for your organization's software purchasing strategy.&nbsp;</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="The history of the forward-deployed engineer"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>The history of the forward-deployed engineer</h2> <p>The title of forward-deployed engineer comes from the military domain, in which forward-deployed means on the front lines. Forward-deployed engineers are on the front lines of technology; they are embedded in client's teams. Although they belong to the vendor's organization, they are fully allocated to one customer and focused fully on that customer.&nbsp;</p> <p>In the early 2000's, <a href="https://www.cfodive.com/news/palantir-snowflake-tie-up-yield-ai-promises-snowflake-cio/804142/">Palantir</a> created the role in response to the difficulty of obtaining the requirements of its intelligence agency customers. Engineers were embedded with the client on-site to understand the client's workflows and to create custom designs using proof of concepts. This was called the gravel road to paved highway approach; a series of proof of concepts was built to create a custom, client-specific product. It is the opposite of SaaS development, where core products are designed and then configured and customized for individual clients.</p> <h3>Forward-deployed engineers vs. SaaS implementation teams</h3> <p>The approach of bringing experts onsite to manage the installation of vendor packages is not a new concept. SaaS integration teams -- either vendor-internal teams that designed and sold the software or platform, or external, third-party consultant integrators -- have been an integral part of implementations for many years. The size of these teams was often quite large, depending on the scope and complexity of the installation. They were comprised of delivery managers, software engineers, solution architects and various consultants.&nbsp;</p> <p>The forward-deployed engineer model differs from the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/tip/Considerations-for-a-successful-SaaS-implementation">SaaS implementation team</a> approach in several significant ways. Most importantly, the forward-deployed engineer builds custom software based on the client's needs, whereas the SaaS teams install, configure and customize a core product. The forward-deployed engineer combines all team roles into a single expert. This expert has a role beyond installation and initial configuration.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="The role of the forward-deployed engineer"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>The role of the forward-deployed engineer</h2> <p>The forward-deployed engineer is responsible for ensuring that the platform provides long-term value to the client. They must have expertise in a wide range of skills, sometimes disparate:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>They are highly technical engineers, but also consultants with a customer focus who can understand and empathize with their needs.</li> <li>They are the ultimate <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsoftwarequality/tip/The-role-of-the-T-shaped-software-tester-in-modern-dev">T-shaped tech professional</a>; deep technical expertise -- the vertical pole -- combined with equally strong soft skills, domain expertise, integration and operations expertise, as well as creative design experience -- the horizontal line.</li> <li>They are responsible for the success of not only the implementation, but also for the system's value to the organization on an ongoing basis.</li> </ul> <p>Specifically, the forward-deployed engineer's role includes the following responsibilities:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li><b>Solution architect.</b> The FDE must be able to elicit business needs, develop the technical requirements and create the technical design.</li> <li><b>Full-stack development engineer.</b> The FDE must be able to code high-level prototypes as well as scalable, production-deployable platforms and products.</li> <li><b>Customer success manager.</b> The FDE is responsible for the client's ongoing success with the product.</li> </ul> <h3>What are the requirements of the forward-deployed engineer role?</h3> <p>Candidates for the forward-deployed engineer role must have strong technical skills with equally strong communication, critical thinking and requirements elicitation skills. Candidates must demonstrate an intense customer focus to fully understand business needs and an ability to solve complex technical issues with elegant solutions.&nbsp;</p> <p>Forward-deployed engineers must have full-stack development experience as well as a deep understanding of operations, security and user experience. Startup founders are sought after as FDEs are highly skilled in all aspects of their business. They have a critical combination of technical skills, domain expertise and customer focus. Finally, they must be highly experienced in working with AI agents, LLMs and machine learning models to integrate them into legacy business applications.&nbsp;</p> <p>For anyone wishing to pursue a career as a forward-deployed engineer, it would be helpful to join a startup where you can gain experience across the various parts of the FDE role.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="The increasing importance of the forward-deployed engineering model"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>The increasing importance of the forward-deployed engineering model</h2> <p>In recent years, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/feature/The-rise-of-the-AI-forward-deployed-engineer">this model has gained traction</a> among AI companies, including OpenAI and Anthropic, as well as tech startups, such as BugO and HoneyHive.&nbsp;</p> <p>These organizations find that by implementing the FDE model, they can mitigate many of the challenges brought on by the complexity of AI development. These challenges include:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>How AI transforms data.</li> <li><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/feature/6-ways-to-reduce-different-types-of-bias-in-machine-learning">Managing bias</a> in AI systems.</li> <li>Understanding how AI will affect business models and workflows.</li> </ul> <p>With its intense focus on the client, the FDE model offers flexibility in implementing and scaling AI within highly customized, legacy systems.</p> <p>Potential clients of the forward-deployed model are organizations that are interested in how AI can add value and reduce cost, but have a vague idea of their requirements. Usually, requirements are organization-specific. For example, embedding LLMs into legacy systems requires a deep understanding of systems workflows. These workflows are usually specific to the domain and the client's organization.</p> <p>More recently, <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366645811/Inside-AWSs-1bn-forward-deployed-engineering-initiative">organizations, including Amazon</a> and Microsoft, have found value in implementing the FDE model because it embeds ownership and accountability for the creation of business value from their software.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Does your organization need forward-deployed engineering?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Does your organization need forward-deployed engineering?</h2> <p>Here are some questions to ask yourself in determining whether forward-deployed engineering is the right approach for your organization:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Does your organization operate in the intelligence or security domain, in domains that require security clearances, or in a domain where data and code must be kept top secret? This indicates the need for highly experienced staff onsite at your location for the long term.</li> <li>Are your business workflows highly complex and your legacy systems highly customized? This indicates that you will need specialized customizations and technical expertise to manage the integration.</li> <li>Will your new software or platform require a high level of customization to meet your business requirements? Are your requirements unclear? If so, you'll need an expert who can quickly understand your business needs and translate them into requirements, then software.</li> <li>Will your organization require ongoing support to make changes in real time in response to changes in the industry or competitive climate? This indicates you will need a critical thinker with a high level of technical expertise to quickly address these changes.</li> </ul> <p>If your answers are yes to any of these questions, the FDE model should be considered as you develop your tech stack strategy.&nbsp;</p> <p>In conclusion, the forward-deployed engineering model and the role of the forward-deployed engineer address issues in many of our current software development models because it focuses intently on the long-term success of the customer rather than the product. The forward-deployed engineer is entrusted with and accountable for that success. In this way, perhaps the most important responsibility of the forward-deployed engineer is accountability.</p> <p><i>Gerie Owen is a QA engineering manager at Roobrik. She is a conference presenter and author on technology and testing topics, and a certified Scrum master.</i></p> </section> Explore the forward-deployed engineer role, its origins, core responsibilities and why the forward-deployed engineering model is becoming essential for AI deployments. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/code_g1196680867.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/tip/When-should-you-adopt-the-forward-deployed-model Tue, 21 Jul 2026 10:00:00 GMT <p>Part of what gives football its global appeal to billions is its simplicity – for well over a hundred years, children from all around the world all have set up goals using jumpers and started a game of football.</p> <p>At one level, this simplicity still exists even at the top level of the sport, the FIFA World Cup. Yet while the 2026 event was essentially about Lionel Messi, Erling Haaland, Kylian Mbappé, Rodrigo Hernández Cascant and Harry Kane kicking balls around, the tournament was also the most technologically enabled of its kind.</p> <p>The technical standards achieved will be a permanent fixture for how the game is played, watched, organised and even refereed, with football refereeing legend Pierluigi Collina saying the need for more technology was a necessary step to avoid “being like the Amish”.</p> <p>The first thing to consider about any World Cup – run by world football governing body <a href="http://www.fifa.com/">FIFA</a> – is the concept of scale. It is the most watched event on Earth. With final detailed figures yet to be released, it is expected that 2026’s event was viewed by more than six billion people worldwide. This compares with around 5.1 billion people for Qatar’s World Cup in 2022.</p> <p>Yet off the screen, the scale issue looms even larger. The 2026 event featured, for the first time, 48 national football teams, playing 104 games in 16 stadiums in the US, Canada and Mexico. As well as breaking new boundaries in scale, the FIFA World Cup 2026 presented similar-sized challenges to those charged with its operational responsibilities, perhaps none more so than official technology partner Lenovo.</p> <p><a href="https://www.lenovo.com/gb/en/sports-partners/fifa">Lenovo’s partnership with FIFA</a> started in October 2024. In addition to this year’s main event, it has supported other FIFA programmes such as under-17 and under-19 tournaments, and it will support the FIFA Women’s World Cup in Brazil in 2027.</p> <p>The technological commitment spanned a variety of core functions including corporate solutions, event solutions, fan experiences and football technology. Lenovo technology supported digital workplace services, technology observability and IPTV streaming; venue technology implementation, a digital seatbelt and an intelligent command centre; and fan experiences included a smart wayfinding map, holograms and the FIFA creative studio. Meanwhile, specific football technology encompassed the AI Football Pro solution, 3D avatars for VAR and the Referee View AI Stabiliser.</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Critical systems supported by AI"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Critical systems supported by AI</h2> <p>At the heart of the technological infrastructure for the World Cup was an international broadcast centre (IBC) in Dallas distributing live match feeds to more than 200 countries working alongside a technical operations centre (TOC) in Miami which formed the IT and networking nexus.</p> <p>Lenovo director of the sports vertical Santiago Manso explains that the challenges are as much about dealing with people as technology: “This is the biggest event on the planet at this moment, and it has been particularly difficult because it’s happening in three countries and 16 venues for 48 teams for the first time in history.</p> <p>“But [it also involves] how many people are moving around to make this happen – for example, more than 250,000 staff volunteers are working in Miami to make sure that our hundreds of critical systems are available.”</p> <p>The critical systems begin with a fully redundant, diverse network connecting the IBC to the TOC and to the 16 stadiums. Three infrastructure providers – Telstra, VIDI and Verizon – provided separate links to and from each venue to ensure full redundancy. As a mark of their confidence in the infrastructure, FIFA’s technical staff in the TOC compared the reliability and robustness of the network to that found in hospitals and military applications.</p> <p>Among Lenovo’s aims for the World Cup was to show how its hardware, end-to-end technology backbone and “big moment” technical expertise could deliver what was required for the organisers, teams and six-billion fans engaging across the globe. Essential technology delivered encompassed fully redundant cloud and networking infrastructures, the 3D avatars, immersive technologies and artificial intelligence (AI).</p> <p>Before the event kicked off, Lenovo expressed confidence that fans would be able to enjoy live football like never before through new experiences powered by AI.</p> <p>“This is the first World Cup where AI has been deployed massively,” says Manso. “Before, it was deployed in certain solutions. But in this World Cup, we have brought AI to many other systems that are core to the World Cup, and it’s a good opportunity [for us] to change [perception].</p> <p>“Lenovo has been always seen as a hardware company, producing nice laptops, nice equipment. However, we want to be a company that is providing AI, democratising AI in the world and [offering] smarter AI for everybody.”</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="The technological backbone behind the World Cup"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>The technological backbone behind the World Cup</h2> <p>For the event, FIFA and Lenovo worked to develop 12 cloud solutions under four different towers of scope, corporate solutions working to support daily operations in use at the intelligent command centre. To ensure redundancy and reliability, the FIFA cloud apparatus used datacentres based in Western Europe, central Sweden and a location in the centre of the US.</p> <p>The centres and network provided a backbone helping FIFA to monitor all activities during the tournament and the equipment used in the venues. At the heart of this was a digital cockpit – called Orchestration – showing the state of the various networks and technology in use at all the sites within the event footprint, indicating uptime and whether systems were working within optimal performance tolerances. This footprint stretched to around as many as 600 sites across the US, Mexican and Canada, encompassing not only football stadia but also the likes of airports, hotels, hospitals and medical centres, training grounds and other facilities.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/computerweekly/Lenovo-Fifa-Orchestration-2026-1200px.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/computerweekly/Lenovo-Fifa-Orchestration-2026-1200px_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/computerweekly/Lenovo-Fifa-Orchestration-2026-1200px_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/computerweekly/Lenovo-Fifa-Orchestration-2026-1200px.png 1280w" alt="A screenshot of the Lenovo Center’s Orchestration system, which tracks workforce coordination, vendor management, security issues, real-time intelligence and automated summaries of problems occurring on the site." data-credit="Lenovo/FIFA" height="314" width="560"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>Lenovo’s Orchestration system uses AI to help staff to quickly and efficiently address problems that arise leading up to and during matches. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p>The other key system displayed within the dashboard was cyber security, with services provided by <a href="https://www.paloaltonetworks.com/">Palo Alto Networks</a>. FIFA says that the event’s systems were facing as many as 300-500 million cyber attacks each day by the first week of July. While this figure was higher than at Qatar 2022 – which attracted 11 billion attacks – the FIFA technical team was used to dealing with the scale of attacks on an event that had such geopolitical significance.</p> <p>While ensuring operational capability was the primary task for the technology, the public face of how well the tech worked was how the action on on the pitch and fan experience was perceived. As regards the latter, Lenovo says its aim was to bring new “fun” experiences to fans, designed to help FIFA engage those watching at home, in the stadium or on the go, giving them new opportunities to enjoy the FIFA events in a different way.</p> <p>More significant were the core football technology systems that were used to help FIFA improve how it can both support tournaments and those that are competing there. In all, FIFA gave Lenovo unprecedented access to data and analytics, with the technology provider noting that there has never been this much data been available and meaningful to so many.</p> <p>For example, AI Football Pro was described by Lenovo as “something revolutionary” – a specialised football interaction tool orchestrating multiple AI agents based on millions of data points, analysing more than 2,000 different metrics and delivering insights via multiple outputs, including immersive animations.</p> <p>The technology also allowed national teams, the governing body and its officials to access the millions of data points that FIFA generated in each match. This helped FIFA analysts and the teams’ analysts to understand team performance in real time, allowing them to make tactical changes, and help to guide national teams – in particular coaches – to prepare for games. Another facet was allowing broadcasters to capture billions of pieces of football-related data and representing this as insight for viewers.</p> <p>The other key tool was the 3D avatars. For these, Lenovo created a digital twin of every football player who participated into the World Cup. These were used to provide greater context and understanding to the video assistant referee (VAR), semi-automated offside technology (SOAT) and goal-line technology (GLT) offered by fellow FIFA technical partner <a href="https://www.hawkeyeinnovations.com/">Hawk-Eye</a>.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/computerweekly/Lenovo-FIFA-Player-Avatar-1200px.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/computerweekly/Lenovo-FIFA-Player-Avatar-1200px_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/computerweekly/Lenovo-FIFA-Player-Avatar-1200px_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/computerweekly/Lenovo-FIFA-Player-Avatar-1200px.png 1280w" alt="Photo 1 shows a man facing the instructions for ‘A-pose requirements’ so that he can be accurately scanned in the booth that will take measurements and images of him to create his 3D avatar. Photo 2 shows a digital replication of the booth and the positions of the cameras." data-credit="Lenovo/FIFA" height="210" width="559"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>FIFA World Cup 2026 football players had their likeness captured by Lenovo tech to create their 3D Avatars. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p>“The avatar is a good way to enhance the reality of a situation,” says Manso. “Before, this solution had regular avatars with the same shape and same face. Now we [put a] real reproduction of the players, helping fans gain a realistic view of what was happening.”</p> <p>As part of its official role, Lenovo built and managed the 3D player models with “millimetric accuracy”, scanning each of the 1,248 participating players. It also undertook the process of quality checks and asset management – a challenge given creating realistic, scalable 3D content has traditionally been time-consuming and expensive. Moreover, 3D models have previously lacked the accuracy needed for high-quality analytics, simulation and digital experiences.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="How Formula 1 helped inform Referee View AI"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>How Formula 1 helped inform Referee View AI</h2> <p>The last core part of the football technology was the Referee View AI Stabiliser, which provided a technological boost to the footage generated by cameras carried by officials. The primary use was to help on-pitch decision-making, but the technology also offered a referee’s perspective of action in high clarity and consistency.</p> <p>Producing this was no easy task. Given that referees are constantly in motion, there was the danger of producing poor video quality that could limit situational awareness for broadcast teams. The stabilisation tech has seen Ref Cam footage move from the professional domain of decision-making to being compelling, complementary fan content.</p> <p>For the World Cup, the video enhancements were made through real-time visual intelligence, Al-powered computer vision and network edge inferencing and analytics technology which could stabilise and enhance video as it was captured.</p> <p>Speaking with Computer Weekly, Manso reveals that developing stabilisation technology began in earnest in Formula 1 racing, where Lenovo’s technology was used to improve the content created by the cameras attached to cars mobbing somewhat faster than referees: “Whenever there were changes in light in the ride – for example, getting into the Monte Carlo tunnel – they had to adjust the colour, contrast and brightness manually.”</p> <p>From this arduous environment, and taking these issues in mind, the Referee View Al Stabilizer in its recognisable form was first developed and tested in 2025 at the <a href="https://www.fifa.com/en/tournaments/mens/club-world-cup/usa-2025">FIFA Club World Cup</a>, where the partners found that tweaks needed to be made.</p> <p>“We realised that when the referee was running, the experience for the spectator watching the TV was [suboptimal] because of the balancing and shaking due to the running,” says Manso. “So, we decided to work with FIFA to put in software that transformed [output], reducing the jitter, but also giving a good consistency of the quality of the images in terms of colour, light and brightness. This [new] solution monitors the different kind of frames, contrasts and all the different parameters, adjusting automatically.”</p> <p>Getting the correct technology within the referees’ cameras was not just a matter of software. Having AI-based stabilisation meant avoiding the need for extra hardware in the camera, thus cutting down on weight. But the most important facet was that the camera was a head-mounted device and not a chest-mounted camera. The former meant viewers could follow the eyes of the officials, unlike with a chest-based device, which could likely have produced shakier content from a worse perspective.</p> <p>Hardware considerations were stressed by Pierluigi Collina in his official capacity as chairman of the FIFA Referees Committee and chief refereeing officer at FIFA. He expressed satisfaction in the device used: “When you are on the field of play, every gramme matters. I asked [FIFA] to reduce [camera weight] as much as possible. Another problem was how comfortable the camera was, which was initially linked to the audio system they had.”</p> <blockquote class="main-article-pullquote"> <div class="main-article-pullquote-inner"> <figure> For FIFA, it’s all about seamlessness and being able to turn up and do their job </figure> <figcaption> <strong>Myles Spittle, Lenovo</strong> </figcaption> <i class="icon" data-icon="z"></i> </div> </blockquote> <p>In all, data from Lenovo showed that, compared with previous technology, Referee View Al Stabilizer produced a 60% reduction in video jitter for content at 60 FPS transmitted with less than 2-second latency. Lenovo says this meant up to 70% smoother video trajectories with zero image quality degradation in both colour and sharpness. To the viewer, this has meant interesting and watchable close-quarters content that broadcasters have been keen to show.</p> <p>On a broader note, Lenovo DWS delivery program lead Myles Spittle points out the extent and scale of the engagement of the World Cup. Mulling on what the tournament means, he says that it shows “planning and a good partnership really works” operationally.</p> <p>“We wanted to…take great ideas and operationalise them,” he adds. “[We were] embedded across the entire tournament. The avatar piece is a great innovation, hopefully adding a lot of value when it comes to off-site decision making. Our technology, hardware and people were everywhere. All those devices must come ready-made, ready image, so that end-users could hit the ground running.</p> <p>“For FIFA, it’s all about seamlessness and being able to turn up and do their job. We had over 17,000 pre-image laptops, tablets and a whole host of other equipment. On top of that, we ended up shipping well over 25,000 units with very bespoke requirements.”</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="‘No going back’ from tech’s involvement"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>‘No going back’ from tech’s involvement</h2> <p>While there were still plenty of arguments about refereeing decisions made during the tournament – such as the infamous “VARgentina” – what could not be disputed was that decision-making was made using more views and insights that ever before.</p> <p>Collina is an evangelist in the positive effect of technology – even if he says the headcams made referees “look like Robocop” – and that it has been a “very demanding” competition for all involved, including referees: “They’re doing a great job. We get to see how hard [the referees’] job is. We think it’s amazing. We live surrounded and supported by technology.”</p> <p>From this perspective, Collina suggests that there was no real going back with tech, saying it levels the playing field for teams, viewers and official alike. He adds that the tech arms officials with the same insight as viewers and administrators, for the betterment of the game.</p> <p>Looking at why it was necessary to decide to provide referees with more technology and deploy systems such as the enhance camera, he says there were two possibilities: “One was to make the football match a sort of protected area like an Amish community in Pennsylvania where they still go without technology – this was not an option.</p> <p>“The other possibility was to give the same tools to the one who was on the field – and it was obvious to go in this direction. We started with the line technology, because it is impossible for a human being to detect if the ball is over the line or not by an inch or two, and it was very successful. Then we extended to other decisions.”</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/computerweekly/England-Croatia-3DReplay-Lenovo-Fifa-2026-800px.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/computerweekly/England-Croatia-3DReplay-Lenovo-Fifa-2026-800px_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/computerweekly/England-Croatia-3DReplay-Lenovo-Fifa-2026-800px_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/computerweekly/England-Croatia-3DReplay-Lenovo-Fifa-2026-800px.png 1280w" alt="A digital image of two football players’ 3D avatars used in VAR replay to judge whether a player was onside or offside. The text onscreen reads ‘onside’. " data-credit="Lenovo/FIFA" height="381" width="559"> <figcaption> <i class="icon pictures" data-icon="z"></i>3D avatars of football players are used in VAR calls to support referee judgements. </figcaption> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p>Collina stresses how even the best, most prepared officials are still human and so have limits, and tech is there simply to prevent game-changing mistakes from being committed. He also emphasises how the IT solutions in the round have contributed to the referees’ preparations for games.</p> <p>“We now know what the referee is able to see, and thanks to this vision, understand what could have been done better and if something will go as we were expecting,” he says. “People normally complain when a referee makes a decision, but there is now the possibility to see what you can from the field of play, and maybe that makes you understand that the job referees do on the world field of play is very complicated.”</p> <p>Collina says he was delighted that the AI Football Pro technology would be implemented for the World Cup 2026, observing that it was not only the 48 football teams who were able to get the benefit from the system. The referees benefited a lot, he says, making a game-changing difference to preparation, and a step change from when he was prepping for World Cup finals more than 20 years ago.</p> <p>“I was delighted because we have many analysts,” he adds. “The reference preparation means that we can know players and know teams in terms of what they do, their tactics, characteristics and so on. I remember in 2002, I was appointed for the Germany vs Brazil World Cup final. At that time, the way for me to prepare that was to get a VHS video recorder and play these VHS tapes back and forward for a day. Today, I’m very envious that my fellow referees can use a technology like [AI Football Pro] to prepare for the matches.”</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="What faults remain with AI refereeing?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>What faults remain with AI refereeing?</h2> <p>Despite his strong conviction about the use and utility of technology and how he feels it has made for a stronger tournament, Collina warns that there are still misconceptions about its potential and overall capability – one of which was people thinking that technology can provide an answer to everything in football, which he says it cannot.</p> <p>“If you take a bicycle race, an inch can be easily seen by technology. Football is a sport of contact and there is no technology that can assess [fully accurately] something like pushing and pulling,” he says. “There are different criteria to be considered to assess this. But we made a great step forward – having technology solves many of those decisions, which in the past created a problem.”</p> <p>On this point, he highlights the controversy surrounding England’s third and winning goal in the 1966 World Cup final, adding: “We are [still talking about] something that has been discussed for 60 years – but that won’t be the future.”</p> <p>In addition to misconceptions, he says there remain some challenges, mainly down to people issues. From his perspective, technology is quite binary: it works or it doesn’t. But for people, events such as the World Cup can generate high levels of pressure.</p> <p>“It’s also making sure that all our teams are built in such a way and supported in such a way that they’re able to deliver and execute without external pressures or stresses,” says Collina. “Unfortunately, I have two guys who work for me, running two stadiums, both who are impacted by the Venezuelan earthquakes. It was sometimes less about the technology, [more about] the people, because it is such a unique environment. You need people operating at the highest level – whether that’s the athletes, the referees or the tech.</p> <blockquote class="main-article-pullquote"> <div class="main-article-pullquote-inner"> <figure> You need people operating at the highest level – whether that’s the athletes, the referees or the tech </figure> <figcaption> <strong>Pierluigi Collina, FIFA Referee Committee</strong> </figcaption> <i class="icon" data-icon="z"></i> </div> </blockquote> <p>“We are the users of the technology, and I didn’t see any major challenge during the competition. The challenge I’ve seen is how the answer of the technology is received by people. It’s still a matter of people. So, the objective of using technology is to try to make good, correct decisions on field play. I’m afraid that sometimes there are some who prefer emotions compared to what is fact, and this sometimes is a challenge.”</p> <p>On a forward-looking note, it is challenging to predict with any great accuracy what new technologies will be around the corner. Collina expresses surprise at how technology develops and concedes that when first thinking in 2014 of how technology could support the game in general, he could not have imagined that referees would be using the likes of AI Football Pro and the camera technology. He says it is difficult to imagine how far the technology could go.</p> <p>“Technology is able to provide great support to humans, but humans are still those who are entitled to make the final call and the final decision,” says Collina. “We spend a lot of money in technology, developing technology to support the [game], but my goal, my objective, is to get it redundant.</p> <p>“My goal is to have the referee so good on the field play, so well prepared on the field play, that all their calls are correct, and therefore technology is redundant. But I know that it cannot happen; it cannot be realistic. So, [we need to have] a technology ready to support them, not to replace them. I’m always surprised by what our innovation division within FIFA propose in terms of next steps. We are providing many innovations.”</p> <p>On the pitch, innovation was provided in great quantity by the winning Spanish team, whose passing and movement seemed to be computer designed. And as the celebrations of the much-deserved victory continued into the long night in New York, Spain and among the Spanish diaspora, it’s worth noting that the focus was on the game, not the technology supporting it. When assessing what lay ahead before a ball was kicked, Lenovo’s Spittle says that, for his company, failure was not an option. Goal in.&nbsp;</p> <div class="extra-info"> <div class="extra-info-inner"> <h3 class="splash-heading">Read more about technology in sports</h3> <ul class="default-list"> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/ehandbook/Technology-at-the-2026-World-Cup">Technology at the 2026 World Cup</a>: The 2026 FIFA World Cup represents an unprecedented convergence of sport and technology. Spanning three nations and attracting millions of fans, this tournament has been described as the "largest entertainment attack surface in history".</li> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366634535/Singapore-Sports-Hub-to-get-Wi-Fi-7-network">Singapore Sports Hub to get Wi-Fi 7 network</a>: The upgrade will provide faster, more reliable connections for visitors during concerts and sporting events, and will help manage crowds and improve services.</li> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/Ryder-Cup-takes-its-best-network-shot">Ryder Cup takes its best network shot</a>: The Ryder Cup sets sporting and organisational bar higher than ever, depending on ‘an AI-driven connected intelligence platform’ to gain required real-time insights and intelligence.</li> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366632113/Boldyn-Networks-enhances-5G-fan-experience-at-AO-Arena">Boldyn&nbsp;Networks enhances 5G fan experience at AO Arena</a>: UK neutral host network provider engaged to deliver advanced 5G connectivity at sports arena in Manchester, one of the UK’s busiest entertainment venues and one of the largest indoor sporting homes in Europe.</li> </ul> </div> </div> </section> Computer Weekly looks at the technological backbone in place for global football’s pinnacle event, the FIFA World Cup, and how AI has become a permanent fixture and first on the timesheet https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/ComputerWeekly/Hero%20Images/Lenovo-TechWorld2026-FIFA-hero.png https://www.computerweekly.com/feature/AI-kicks-in-for-2026-FIFA-World-Cup Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:54:00 GMT <p>O2 has switched on its 500th Giga Site, in North Elgin, Scotland.</p> <p>The roll-out comes as O2 says demand for mobile connectivity continues to rise, driven by growing demand for streaming, social media, gaming, remote working and artificial intelligence (AI)-powered applications.</p> <p>It also forms part of the operator’s £700m <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366620541/Virgin-Media-O2-looks-to-supercharge-mobile-network-reliability">Mobile Transformation Plan</a>, which is upgrading mobile coverage, reliability and performance across the UK and will see investment in 2026 to expand mobile network coverage, improve reliability and boost mobile speeds through new sites, small cells, 4G and 5G upgrades, automation, and additional spectrum deployment.</p> <p>It is designed to focus investment in areas of the network that experience the highest levels of demand and where connectivity is most critical. Priority areas where the operator is looking to deliver significant improvements include railways, roads, dense urban areas, hard-to-reach remote locations, stadiums and venues. As part of the move, O2 parent Virgin Media O2 (VMO2) has signed multi-year <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366640826/Virgin-Media-O2-accelerates-UK-5G-upgrade-programme">agreements worth hundreds of millions of pounds with Ericsson and Nokia to upgrade its UK mobile network</a>.</p> <p>Giga Sites are O2’s most advanced mobile sites, combining low, mid and high-band spectrum with <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366587546/Nokia-Telia-claim-successful-outdoor-trial-in-6-GHz-range-with-Massive-MIMO">Massive MIMO</a> technology, and designed to boost network performance by giving customers faster speeds, better coverage and greater capacity, helping meet rapidly growing demand for mobile data.</p> <p>The roll-out is part of O2’s plan to increase network capacity where it is needed most, with each Giga Site delivering 10 times more capacity than previous infrastructure. This enables more customers to stay connected, stream content, make video calls and access online services, even in some of the busiest locations across the country.</p> <p>With North Elgin, 500 Giga Sites have now been switched on in towns and cities across the UK. This marks the halfway point in O2’s ambition to deploy 1,000 Giga Sites nationwide in 2026.</p> <div class="extra-info"> <div class="extra-info-inner"> <h3 class="splash-heading">Read more about UK 5G</h3> <ul class="default-list"> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366643663/EE-accelerates-UK-5G-roll-out-teams-with-Meta-to-boost-mobile-video">EE accelerates UK 5G+ roll-out and teams with Meta to boost mobile video</a>: UK mobile provider activates advanced 5G connectivity at more than 25 major events and in more than 30 tourist destinations, and teams with social media giant to bring about smoother video.</li> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366643033/Vodafone-to-offer-5G-fixed-wireless-access-in-the-UK">Vodafone to offer 5G fixed wireless access in the UK</a>: UK provider introduces 5G-based wireless broadband to deliver full-fibre-like speeds to a further 3.7 million homes across the country, especially areas and customers traditionally underserved by high-speed comms.</li> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366640826/Virgin-Media-O2-accelerates-UK-5G-upgrade-programme">Virgin Media O2 accelerates UK 5G upgrade programme</a>: UK operator inks multi-year agreements with strategic essential equipment partners to upgrade radio access network to next-generation 5G technology, boosting capacity, coverage and reliability.</li> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366637131/Hutchison-Ports-completes-private-5G-network-at-UK-hub">Hutchison Ports completes private 5G network at UK hub</a>: Hutchison Ports taps into global mobile network to support autonomous trucks and future digital innovation.</li> </ul> </div> </div> <p>The milestone comes as demand for mobile connectivity continues to rise, driven by growing demand for streaming, social media, gaming, remote working and AI-powered applications.</p> <p>“Reaching 500 Giga Sites is a major milestone in the transformation of our mobile network,” said Jeanie York, chief technology officer at Virgin Media O2.</p> <p>“As customers use more data than ever before, these cutting-edge sites are helping us add capacity where it’s needed most and deliver a faster, more reliable experience across the UK. We’re not slowing down, with more towns and cities set to benefit throughout the year as we continue investing around £2m per day in our mobile network.”</p> UK operator reveals latest part of Mobile Transformation Plan passing the halfway mark on plan to have 1,000 advanced mobile sites across the country https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/ComputerWeekly/Hero%20Images/O2-5G-Hamburg-Antenna-hero.jpg https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366646019/O2-hits-Giga-Site-mobile-network-milestone Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:45:00 GMT <p>Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS) specialist Leaseweb has picked up the Broadcom VMware white-label VCSP customer base of European services player ITQ.</p> <p>The acquired white-label VCSP partners had previously been working under the Broadcom VMware Advantage Partner Programme and are still able to carry on with their offerings under Leaseweb’s Pinnacle Partner Status.</p> <p>The move has been made against the backdrop of an evolving Broadcom VMware channel, where fewer partners are working with the vendor.</p> <p>Since the introduction of the VCSP programme last October, Broadcom VMware has moved to work with partners that can offer VMware Cloud Foundation (VCF) as a managed service. That has seen a more select group of partners emerge that have continued to serve the vendor’s customer base.</p> <p>Other players in the Broadcom VMware ecosystem have also been using acquisition as a means of bolstering their position, with 11:11 Systems a key example after having <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/microscope/news/366637004/1111-Systems-bolsters-position-in-VMware-ecosystem">made numerous additions</a> to bolster its position as a VCSP.</p> <p>Leaseweb and ITQ are known to each other, and recently announced a strategic partnership, with the former offering VCF services to the latter’s VMware customer base.</p> <p>The decision to acquire ITQ’s white-label VCSP customer base will see 51 customers migrate to Leaseweb’s VCF platform, which represents 35,000 cores, taking Leaseweb’s core count to 65,000.</p> <p>The move also makes it the largest VMware Pinnacle Partner in the Netherlands and continues to bolster the channel player’s position within the vendor’s channel ecosystem across Europe.</p> <p>“This announcement represents an important step in the expansion of our Broadcom VMware Cloud Foundation business and reinforces our long-term commitment to organisations building their future on VMware,” said Lex Boost, co-CEO of <a href="https://www.leaseweb.com/en/?srsltid=AfmBOorFkbq1m2eaa1BI-Ui5hGm8KEf7m2ZUD_FMozQ9TsKyXPb3zZvY">Leaseweb</a>.</p> <p>“We are delighted to welcome ITQ’s VCSP partners to the Leaseweb platform and look forward to supporting their continued growth with enterprise-grade infrastructure and direct access to Broadcom through our Pinnacle Partner status.”</p> <p>Leaseweb is also working with ITQ to target non-renewing Broadcom VMware VCSP partners across Europe to offer a support option for the business to keep them involved in the ecosystem.</p> <p>Francisco Perez van Oord, founder and president of ITQ, said its involvement with Leaseweb was a positive for its user base. “Leaseweb’s Broadcom VMware VCSP Pinnacle Partner status and enterprise-grade infrastructure make it a natural fit for our white label VCSP customers,” he said.</p> <p>“It also allows us to continue supporting them with our VMware expertise while providing a trusted platform for long-term growth,” Perez added.</p> <p>Leaseweb has been enhancing its ability to work with more UK partners, and last month cut the ribbon on a fresh programme and appointed Jason Goody as UK channel sales manager.</p> <p>The three-tiered programme has been designed to support partners with increased flexibility to enable increased profitability.</p> <p>Speaking <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/microscope/news/366644432/Channel-catch-up-News-in-brief">last month</a>, Terry Storrar, managing director UK at Leaseweb, stated: “The UK channel represents a significant growth opportunity as more organisations look to adopt hybrid cloud strategies that offer greater flexibility, control and cost efficiency.</p> <p>“Our new channel partner programme reflects Leaseweb’s long-term investment in the partner ecosystem, giving partners the flexibility, support and scalability they need to deliver tailored services to customers.”</p> <p></p> IaaS specialist bolsters its position as a VMware Pinnacle Partner with the addition of more customers across Europe https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/German/article/acquisition-winner-adobe.jpg https://www.computerweekly.com/microscope/news/366645951/Leaseweb-picks-up-ITQs-white-label-VCSP-customer-base Tue, 21 Jul 2026 09:04:00 GMT <p>Wi-Fi industry groups are hailing the decision by UK comms regulator Ofcom to implement a spectrum sharing framework for the Upper 6 GHz communications spectrum band, making the UK the first country in Europe to establish a regulatory framework enabling Wi-Fi access across the entire band of frequencies between 5925 and 7125 MHz.</p> <p><a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/spectrum/innovative-use-of-spectrum/consultation-expanding-access-to-the-6-ghz-band-for-commercial-mobile-and-wi-fi-services">In an official statement following a January 2026 consultation</a>, Ofcom said it had decided to implement its proposals for a prioritised spectrum sharing framework in the Upper 6 GHz band comprising a Wi-Fi priority portion in the lower 160 MHz of the band (6425–6585 MHz) and a mobile priority portion in the upper 540 MHz of the band (6585–7125 MHz).</p> <p>Historically, mobile and Wi-Fi services have had to use different parts of radio spectrum to avoid interference. This has led to a period of sustained lobbying between mobile telecoms and Wi-Fi services providers to gain use of upper 6 GHz spectrum&nbsp;for their users.</p> <p>Telcos have argued that enabling the 6 GHz band for mobile use will ensure&nbsp;<a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/252500991/Unlicensed-6GHz-spectrum-puts-5G-economic-potential-at-risk-warns-GSMA">consumers and businesses receive even faster and more reliable 5G services</a>&nbsp;over the next five to 10 years, while avoiding a mobile capacity crunch caused by soaring demand for bandwidth as more devices and services – such as&nbsp;<a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366554354/Qualcomm-looks-to-reshape-digital-world-through-spatial-computing">augmented reality headsets</a>, health sensors and vehicles – are connected to mobile networks that require greater processing power and capacity.</p> <p>For their part, Wi-Fi players said the 6GHz band in their domain is satisfying growing demand for higher-bandwidth services and more immersive experiences. Wi-Fi trade associations have noted that demand for high-performance Wi-Fi has accelerated as artificial intelligence (AI), immersive applications, <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366622516/AI-led-automation-drives-strategic-forces-for-industrial-transformation">industrial automation</a>, cloud computing and next-generation enterprise networks require greater capacity, lower latency and wider channels.</p> <p>Moreover, the Wi-Fi community has maintained that access to the full 6 GHz band will enable the advanced wireless technologies needed to support these increasingly demanding applications and deliver faster, more reliable connectivity across homes, businesses, schools, healthcare facilities and public venues.</p> <p>As it was announcing its framework, Ofcom noted that it was making the Wi-Fi priority portion of the band available on the same licence exempt basis as the Lower 6 GHz band. This includes low-power indoor use and very low-power use. Outdoor and higher power use is also permitted, but only where devices operate under the control of the <a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/spectrum/innovative-use-of-spectrum/enabling-automated-frequency-coordination-afc-in-the-6-ghz-band">Automated Frequency Coordination (AFC) system</a>.</p> <div class="extra-info"> <div class="extra-info-inner"> <h3 class="splash-heading">Read more about 6GHz communications</h3> <ul class="default-list"> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366642758/Extreme-Connect-26-Wi-Fi-7-line-aims-to-address-needs-of-6GHz-era">Extreme Connect 26: Wi-Fi 7 line aims to address needs of 6GHz era</a>: Wi-Fi 7 access points designed to provide reliable, high-speed connectivity and key deployment made at University of Florida arena.</li> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366637063/Ofcom-sets-out-plans-for-mobile-Wi-Fi-to-share-upper-6-GHz-spectrum-band">Ofcom sets out plans for mobile, Wi-Fi to share upper 6 GHz spectrum band</a>: In an aim to provide a boost for the country’s economy, UK comms regulator Ofcom reveals proposals for mobile and Wi-Fi to share some of the same airwaves.</li> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366624494/European-Wi-Fi-firms-make-their-call-for-6GHz-spectrum">European Wi-Fi firms make their call for 6GHz spectrum</a>: Trade body for Wi-Fi community calls on European Commission to grant access to coveted wireless spectrum band to ensure digital society objectives and support Europe’s Digital Decade.</li> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366623736/Leading-European-telcos-call-for-exclusive-access-to-6GHz-band">Leading European telcos call for exclusive access to 6GHz band</a>: Open letter from Europe’s leading telcos demands exclusive access to key wireless spectrum band for the benefit of Europe’s economy and to ensure successful roll-out of 6G, underpinning digital societies.&nbsp;</li> </ul> </div> </div> <p>The regulator said it was also allowing licence exempt Wi-Fi access to the mobile priority portion – but only for those devices under the control of an AFC system. This, it believed, would enable Wi-Fi use of the full 6 GHz band while ensuring that such use can be managed as mobile deployment occurs.</p> <p>In another part of the judgment, Ofcom also revealed that it was consulting on draft regulations and updated Interface Requirement (<a href="https://www.ofcom.org.uk/siteassets/resources/documents/spectrum/interface-requirements/ir-2030.pdf?v=415472">IR 2030</a>) to implement the Wi-Fi priority decision above and extend existing Wi-Fi use from 5925-6425 MHz to also include 6425-6585 MHz.&nbsp;</p> <p>Kevin Robinson, president and CEO of trade body the Wi-Fi Alliance, described Ofcom’s decision as a “landmark achievement” for wireless innovation in Europe.</p> <p>“By adopting a forward-looking spectrum sharing framework, the UK is maximising the value of the 6 GHz band and ensuring consumers, businesses and public services can benefit from the advanced connectivity enabled by next-generation Wi-Fi,” he said. “This decision demonstrates that regulators can support both today’s growing demand for Wi-Fi and tomorrow’s mobile services through innovative spectrum management.”</p> UK comms regulator announces prioritised spectrum sharing framework for Wi-Fi in the Upper 6 GHz band, available on the same licence exempt basis as the Lower 6 GHz band https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/ComputerWeekly/Hero%20Images/Wi-Fi-6-wireless-device-ZinetroN-adobe.jpg https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366645885/Ofcom-green-lights-UK-Wi-Fi-access-across-entire-6-GHz-band Tue, 21 Jul 2026 07:45:00 GMT <p><span style="font-weight: 400">CRM software has spent the last two decades helping companies keep track of customers.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Lightfield thinks the next two decades may look rather different.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">More AI-native than the likes of Salesforce and therefore potentially appealing to developers and their operations team counterparts who will implement it, Lightfield is building what it describes as a system of record for organisations where humans and AI agents work side-by-side.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">The company’s platform automatically captures customer conversations, decisions and relationship history, then turns that information into a shared source of truth that both people and agents can access.</span></p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Building a customer world model"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><span style="font-weight: 400">Building a customer world model</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">The company was founded in late 2025. Its platform builds a world model of every customer interaction for companies — from the calls, emails, and meetings a company already have — with no data entry required. On top of that model sit agents that prep every meeting, work every deal, and find pipeline in the customers a company already has.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Lightfield’s users are typically AI-native companies, where engineers, product managers and go-to-market teams all work from the same customer record.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">The platform reflects what CEO </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/keithpeiris/"><span style="font-weight: 400">Keith Peiris</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> defines as a customer agent platform, moving beyond rigid account, opportunity and contact records to capture customer conversations, commercial value, product usage and other context by default, creating a “corpus of data” about each customer.</span></p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Beyond legacy CRM"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><span style="font-weight: 400">Beyond legacy CRM</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">The company’s technology proposition hinges on a promise to “shift CRM” from a static database into an active, thinking workspace.</span><span style="font-weight: 400"><br> </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">“For the last twenty years, software companies were organised around people. Sales teams managed customer relationships, customer success teams managed implementations, product teams gathered feedback. Information moved between departments through meetings, handoffs, dashboards and software designed for human operators,” notes Lightfield CEO Peiris.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">AI is of course changing that structure.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Peiris and team remind us that across engineering, product, support, operations and go-to-market functions, agents are beginning to perform work that previously required dedicated teams. Information no longer needs to move slowly between people.</span></p> <blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Agents can access it, reason over it and act on it directly. According to Peiris, that shift is also creating a new class of customer-facing technical roles, often referred to as “forward-deployed engineers” – technical specialists embedded directly with customers to integrate software, build integrations and solve custom problems.</span></p> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">According to Peiris, the way CRM is used today (i.e. beyond being a mere sales tool) at reality creates new infrastructure demands. The systems companies rely on today were built for organisations where humans were responsible for capturing, organising and distributing information throughout the business.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">They were not designed for organisations where people and agents work together.</span></p> <blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">“The software stack that defined the SaaS era reflects that reality. Systems like Salesforce became the source of truth because people were responsible for updating records, managing workflows and carrying information between teams,” said Peiris. “They don’t know what actually happened on the call, in the email, in the meeting — and agents working from that record are just guessing faster.”</span></p> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Peiris says that agents need access to customer history, decisions, conversations, implementation details, product feedback and relationship context. They need systems designed for reasoning and action, not systems designed primarily for manual data entry.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Adding AI features to legacy software does not change the foundation underneath it, so companies adopting agent-driven workflows require a new kind of system of record.</span></p> <blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">“Lightfield builds its own record of every customer — from the calls, the emails, the meetings — without anyone typing it in. That record is what your people and your agents both work from, so nobody’s guessing and nothing gets lost between teams.,” explained Peiris.</span><span style="font-weight: 400"><br> </span></p> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Instead of relying on manually updated CRM records, scattered notes and disconnected systems, organisations gain a continuously evolving source of customer intelligence that reflects what is actually happening across the business.</span><span style="font-weight: 400"><br> </span></p> <div id="attachment_12181" style="width: 335px" class="wp-caption alignright"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12181" class="wp-align wp-image-12181 " src="https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/1677269205970-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="325" height="325" srcset="https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/1677269205970-300x300.jpg 300w, https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/1677269205970-150x150.jpg 150w, https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/1677269205970.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 325px) 100vw, 325px"> <p id="caption-attachment-12181" class="wp-caption-text">Peiris: Most companies still have customer knowledge split across teams. An AI-native CRM brings that information together by default.</p> </div> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">The goal is to give engineering, product, customer success and sales teams access to the same customer truth, allowing them to understand customer requirements, implementation history and the reasoning behind feature requests from a shared system of record.</span><span style="font-weight: 400"><br> </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Product teams can understand customer requirements. Engineers can ramp up on a customer more quickly, understand what they need, influence the roadmap and get to the root of the problem a customer is actually asking about. Customer-facing teams can retrieve relationship context. Agents can reason across the same information to automate workflows, support decisions and execute tasks.</span><span style="font-weight: 400"><br> </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">As organisations adopt new ways of working, Peiris promises us that Lightfield will provide the foundation that allows people and agents to operate from a shared understanding of the customer.</span></p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="CEO deep dive"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><span style="font-weight: 400">CEO deep dive</span></h2> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400">The Computer Weekly Developer Network (CWDN) sat down with Lightfield CEO Keith Peiris for a deeper dive into the company’s technology to find out what it really means to use the company’s platform.</span></em><span style="font-weight: 400"><br> </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400"><strong>CWDN:</strong> You argue that AI is creating a new generation of customer-facing technical roles, including forward-deployed engineers. How does that change who a CRM is built for?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400"><strong>Peiris:</strong> CRM used to be built mostly for sales teams because they owned the customer relationship. Product, engineering and customer success worked from different systems, and customer information moved through meetings, tickets and handoffs.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">That model is changing. Forward-deployed engineers, product teams and AI agents now need direct access to the same customer context. They need to understand the implementation, the commercial relationship, the feature requests and the reasoning behind them. CRM has to become a shared customer system for everyone working with the customer. The buyer is still the founder or the operator running go-to-market — but the users are everyone who touches the customer, engineers included. That’s the shift.”</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400"><strong>CWDN:</strong> What software system architectural changes are required to build a system of record that both people and AI agents can rely on?</span></p> <p><strong>Peiris:</strong> Legacy CRMs were designed around structured fields, because humans were the ones typing things in. Agents don’t need fields — they need what actually happened. The calls, the decisions, the history, in the customer’s own words. Enough context to reason and act on, not enough context to fill in a form.</p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-align alignright wp-image-12184 size-thumbnail" src="https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/nspzfO21_400x400-150x150.jpg" alt="" width="150" height="150" srcset="https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/nspzfO21_400x400-150x150.jpg 150w, https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/nspzfO21_400x400-300x300.jpg 300w, https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/nspzfO21_400x400.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px">AI has turned this on its head. Agents don’t just need a few structured fields. They need conversations, decisions, implementation history, product usage, commercial context and relationship history. They need enough context to reason, make decisions and take action.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400"><strong>CWDN:</strong> How does an agentic CRM change the way engineering, product, sales and customer success teams work with customer information?</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400"><strong>Peiris:</strong> Most companies still have customer knowledge split across teams. Sales has commercial context, customer success has implementation details, product has feature requests and engineering usually gets the compressed version of the problem.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">An AI-native CRM brings that information together by default. Engineers can understand what customers actually need, product can see how often requests come up, and customer-facing teams can work from the same relationship history. And agents can use that same context to prepare meetings, draft follow-ups and move work forward.</span></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </section> CRM software has spent the last two decades helping companies keep track of customers. Lightfield thinks the next two decades may look rather different. More AI-native than the likes of Salesforce ... https://www.computerweekly.com/blog/CW-Developer-Network/Lightfield-Legacy-CRM-wasnt-built-to-work-with-agents Tue, 21 Jul 2026 07:31:03 GMT <p>Dylan J. White is an independent researcher and writer based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and a visiting fellow within the Digital Policy Hub at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. He recently completed a Ph.D. in philosophy at the University of Guelph, where his research focused on AI ethics.&nbsp;His current work examines AI safety and the governance challenges posed by emerging technologies</p> Dylan J. White is an independent researcher and writer based in St. John's, Newfoundland and Labrador, Canada, and a visiting fellow within the Digital Policy Hub at the Centre for International Governance Innovation. https://www.techtarget.com/contributor/Dylan-J-White Tue, 21 Jul 2026 07:12:00 GMT <p>New survey <a href="https://health.usnews.com/health-care/best-hospitals/articles/how-patients-choose-hospitals-key-priorities-from-the-2026-us-news-survey">data</a> from U.S. News &amp; World Report shows that hospital brand loyalty is one of the biggest drivers of patients' care access decisions, cementing consumer engagement as a must-have in today's healthcare landscape.</p> <p>The survey, which included 500 people in the U.S. who've sought care for themselves or a loved one in the past 24 months, revealed that most folks are interested in receiving all or most of their care within a single hospital system. When choosing a new healthcare provider, most (53%) patients either choose a hospital first or select a hospital and a provider at the same time.</p> <p>According to the researchers, this indicates that patients want a <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/patientengagement/news/366584447/Benefits-of-Care-Coordination-Tick-Up-with-Patient-Activation">cohesive healthcare experience</a>, with their doctor being affiliated with their hospital or health system of choice.</p> <p>Still, hospital brand loyalty hasn't completely taken over. The survey showed that patients who've built a relationship with a healthcare provider remain most interested in maintaining it. Specifically, 80% of patients would switch hospital systems, not providers, if their <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/patientengagement/feature/What-does-usual-source-of-care-mean-in-healthcare">usual source of care</a> were to make a switch.</p> <p>But that remaining 20% of patients are notable. It shows that a sizeable group of patients is prioritizing where they'd receive hospital care, potentially marking a shift toward hospital brand loyalty.</p> <p>"When patients seek care for a new health issue, they aren't just choosing a single provider -- they are choosing a comprehensive care partner for their full spectrum of care," Sumita Singh, executive vice president and general manager of Health at U.S. News, said in a <a href="https://www.usnews.com/info/blogs/press-room/articles/2026-07-20/u-s-news-survey-growing-importance-of-hospital-and-health-system-brands-in-patient-healthcare-decisions">press release</a>. "This strong hospital brand loyalty shows that consumers highly value the safety, technology and coordinated care that a trusted healthcare system provides."</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="How do patients pick healthcare providers?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>How do patients pick healthcare providers?</h2> <p>Of course, patients' decisions to find a new provider are more complex than brand affiliation. According to U.S. News, patients' decisions come down to various factors, including:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Clinical expertise/success rates (22%)</li> <li>Years of experience (17%)</li> <li>Location (17%)</li> <li>Referral from another clinician (17%)</li> <li>Patient experience ratings (10%)</li> <li>Referral from friends/family (9%)</li> <li>Gender, language or cultural compatibility (8%)</li> </ul> <p>There's also <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/patientengagement/news/366584760/Travel-Times-Still-a-Challenge-for-Rural-Health-Access-Disparities">hospital or office location</a> to account for, the survey continued. Notably, the extent to which patients consider location differs depending on the type of care they access.</p> <p>Overall, convenient location is essential for patients. But between routine visits and more specialized care, some patients are more flexible, the survey revealed.</p> <p>For example, nearly two-thirds of respondents (62%) said office location was very important when accessing routine care. When accessing more specialized care, a third of patients said they'd be willing to drive more than three hours.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Where do patients find information about clinicians?"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Where do patients find information about clinicians?</h2> <p>Before patients can book an appointment, they need to actually <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/patientengagement/news/366591748/Most-patients-find-new-doc-online-via-provider-directories">find a doctor</a>. And despite evolving technology, this process isn't changing, the U.S. News data showed.</p> <p>The referral is still king, with patients rating a provider referral a 4 out of 5 on a trustworthiness scale. Patients are also fairly trusting of online directories or hospital websites, ranking them 3.5-3.7 out of 5, the survey showed.</p> <p>But perhaps the biggest finding was the trust patients place in newer communication channels, such as social media, podcasts and even AI chatbots. Although industry experts have flagged these as emerging patient engagement channels, patients don't entirely trust them, rating them at 2.7-2.8 out of 5 on the trustworthiness scale.</p> <p>That doesn't mean patients are starting to experiment with AI-powered provider search. Earlier this year, data from rater8 showed that nearly <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/patientengagement/news/366643954/Almost-half-of-patients-use-AI-for-online-provider-search">half of patients are using AI for online provider search</a>. To that end, healthcare organizations must stay abreast of emerging best practices, especially as they pertain to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/patientengagement/feature/AI-provider-search-is-here-How-can-health-orgs-stay-visible">AI search visibility</a>.</p> <p>However, the U.S. News survey confirms that patients still value the relationships they've developed with their providers, whether it's trust in a provider's referral or willingness to follow a provider to a new health system.</p> <p>Still, it would be prudent for health systems to also catch onto the growing emphasis healthcare consumers place on hospital brand loyalty.</p> <p>Patients are seeking a seamless and connected care experience, from outpatient routine care to any relevant inpatient stays. This will require organizations to focus on a range of issues from patient loyalty to staff retention.</p> <p><em>Sara Heath is an executive editor at Xtelligent Healthcare Media, where she covers patient engagement, healthcare policy and health IT.</em></p> </section> U.S. News survey data show that patient loyalty is increasingly being placed in the hospital brand, likely because patients want a comprehensive care experience. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/ai_a352095729.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/patientengagement/news/366646077/Survey-Hospital-brand-loyalty-drives-care-access-decisions Tue, 21 Jul 2026 07:00:00 GMT <p><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366644212/UK-minister-of-AI-calls-for-more-attractive-datacentre-builds">Kanishka Narayan</a>, who was previously minister for artificial intelligence (AI) under the UK’s Keir Starmer government, has joined the Andy Burnham cabinet, jointly working in the Cabinet Office and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade (BSIT).</p> <p>In his speech yesterday outside 10 Downing Street, Burnham spoke about “re-industrialising Britain, using public procurement to back British industry”.</p> <p>“I will bring forward a new plan for Britain, a 10-year plan, laying out a path from where we are now to where I believe we all want Britain to be, wherever we’re coming from, whatever party we support, and we will take power out of here and carry it into every postcode in the land,” he said.</p> <p>As minister for AI in the Starmer government, Narayan was parliamentary under-secretary at the now-defunct Department for Science Innovation and Technology (DSIT).</p> <p>Earlier in July, for an interview with <em>The Mirror</em>, he spoke about why Britain’s economic and security future is about AI future and digital sovereignty.</p> <p>However, DSIT has been criticised for not looking at the implications of the US Cloud Act. In a House of Lords report, UK cloud services provider Civio told MPs that the US Cloud Act grants US authorities the power to request access to data held anywhere in the world from providers subject to US jurisdiction, with no legal requirement for providers to inform customers. “This is a structural condition of the infrastructure,” it said.</p> <p>In response to a written parliamentary question in March 2026, DSIT minister Ian Murray said the department had not made any central assessments of the US Cloud Act and the implications for UK government data.</p> <div class="extra-info"> <div class="extra-info-inner"> <h3 class="splash-heading">Read more about Sovereign AI</h3> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Reeves speaks up about <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366645913/Reeves-speaks-up-about-UK-sovereign-AI">UK sovereign AI</a>: The UK government has ambitions to build out its own AI capabilities, but its plans are stumped by high datacentre power costs.</li> <li><a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366641874/UKs-Sovereign-AI-supports-supercomputing-and-drug-discovery-AI-startups">UK’s Sovereign AI</a> supports supercomputing and drug discovery AI startups: The UK government’s £500m Sovereign AI fund announces first cohort of startups backed to boost economic growth and national security.</li> </ul> </div> </div> <p>The <a href="https://lordslibrary.parliament.uk/digital-and-technology-policy-and-national-sovereignty-2/"><em>Digital and technology policy and national sovereignty</em></a> paper, published on 16 July in the House of Lords Library, quotes Matthias Bauer, director at the European Centre for International Political Economy, who is “highly sceptical” that the Donald Trump administration would choose to use a digital “kill-switch” to suspend digital services in Europe or the UK.&nbsp;</p> <p>Digital rights advocate Open Rights Group has warned that if the <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366625614/US-lawmakers-say-UK-has-gone-too-far-by-attacking-Apples-encryption">UK got into an argument</a> today with the US administration – over Greenland, Israel or trade – Trump could swiftly close down the UK’s government by shuttering US-owned IT and cloud systems. For instance, in 2025, the <a href="https://www.whitehouse.gov/presidential-actions/2025/02/imposing-sanctions-on-the-international-criminal-court/">White House announced</a> that Karim Khan, chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC), had been sanctioned by the US due to what it described as having “engaged in illegitimate and baseless actions targeting America and our close ally, Israel”. The sanctions meant that Khan’s access to Microsoft Outlook was blocked.</p> <p>Writing on social media platform X, <a href="https://x.com/KanishkaNarayan/status/2079349690881970365">Narayan tweeted</a>: “AI is likely the most significant technology in human history. Its impact will dwarf other things. The best case for it is compelling beyond our dreams: a re-industrialised Britain, stronger national security, public services transformed for the better. The risks, too, are real: it is right that the British public shares those worries, for jobs, for the pace of change.”</p> <p>Narayan said he would work relentlessly to secure British influence in shaping AI.</p> <p>Mirroring Burnham’s goals to move governmental power and the economic focus of the country away from the capital, he said: “I will also bring to this job the place I represent – a constituency in Wales, a nation with industry and ambition at its heart, a proud history of punching above its weight on the global stage.”</p> <p>Commenting on the importance of AI to the UK economy, John Lazar, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said: “There are real challenges for the new government when our competitors in other countries are forging ahead with implementing advanced technologies, particularly AI, to improve productivity. Our latest research shows that over half of UK engineering and technology firms have not yet adopted any of these potentially beneficial technologies. This needs to be tackled to really unleash potential growth, which is something our network of engineers and innovators are ready to help with.”</p> AI minister will attend cabinet meetings held by UK prime minister Andy Burnham, with focus on ownership of UK tech https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/ComputerWeekly/HeroImages/Downing-Street-Westminster-Nigel-adobe.jpg https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366646018/Kaniskha-Narayan-takes-on-AI-sovereignty-in-Burnham-cabinet Tue, 21 Jul 2026 06:30:00 GMT <p>The UK financial services regulator took enforcement action against 74 “<a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/feature/Finfluencers-A-guide-to-personal-financial-content-creators">finfluencers</a>” last year, as it continues to target unregulated individuals who use social media to give financial advice.</p> <p>Last year was the second year to see a steep rise in action against so-called finfluencers, who use social media to offer financial advice, often without the necessary credentials.</p> <p>According to figures from a Freedom of Information request by BrokerChooser, which matches traders with brokers, there were 74 enforcement actions in 2025 and 27 in 2024. This compares with just 11 in the previous four years combined.</p> <p>Enforcement actions include cease and desist letters, warning alerts, interviews under caution, criminal action and arrests.</p> <p>Last year, warning alerts accounted for 50 of the 74 total enforcement actions, while there were three cases of criminal action and three arrests. In 2024, there were no warning alerts or arrests, but criminal action was taken in nine cases.</p> <p>In a statement last year, Steve Smart, <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/stephen-smart-68284826/">joint executive director of enforcement and market oversight</a> at the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), said: “Our message to finfluencers is loud and clear. They must act responsibly and only promote financial products where they are authorised to do so – or face the consequences.”</p> <p>This year, the FCA and 16 other regulators worldwide took part in what they called a “week of action”, which included enforcement activity, consumer awareness campaigns, and educational programmes for finfluencers who want to act responsibly.&nbsp;</p> <p>Smart said: “This collective push with international partners is vital in helping to protect millions of consumers from harm. We will only make real progress in the fight against financial crime if every part of the system plays its role – including social media firms.”</p> <p><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-nasli/">Adam Nasli, head broker analyst at BrokerChooser</a>, said: “A practical rule of thumb for retail investors online is this: if an investment opportunity or product cannot be accessed through a well-regulated online broker supervised by authorities such as the FCA, the SEC or major EU regulators, investors should approach it with extreme caution – or avoid it altogether.</p> <p>“Regulation does not eliminate market risk or even the risk of fraud, but it significantly reduces the likelihood of bad actors holding on to traders’ money and the emergence of misleading structures and uneven playing fields.”</p> <p>BrokerChooser said in its own research of 100 TikTok trading videos, only six encouraged viewers to do their own research, with 80% of them containing misleading information.</p> <p>The FCA uses data and technology to <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366627601/Technology-fuels-successful-FCA-fight-against-unauthorised-financial-services">identify and shut down websites and apps that could cause financial harm</a>. It scans hundreds of thousands of websites every day, using the latest technology to pinpoint those that could cause consumers financial harm.</p> <p>Nikhil Rathi, CEO of the FCA, said last year that the regulator had “embraced data and technology to crack down on harm and ensure high standards”.</p> <p>It was in July 2022 that the FCA announced that rather than react to problems after consumers have been affected, <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/365530224/Finance-regulator-finding-more-misleading-promotions-quicker-through-improved-digital-tools">technology was improving the regulator’s use of analytics</a> to gain insights and prevent future problems. The websites blocked were suspected of promoting financial services without permission, while the FCA worked with tech giants to identify apps offering unauthorised services.</p> <div class="extra-info"> <div class="extra-info-inner"> <h3 class="splash-heading">Read more about financial regulation</h3> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Financial Conduct Authority wants small businesses and consumers to be able <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366641736/Finance-regulator-outlines-its-open-finance-vision">to use their data to get better finance deals</a>.</li> <li>Treasury Committee says public and finance systems are ‘exposed to potential serious harm’ from AI because <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366641650/Finance-regulators-to-address-AI-risks-after-MPs-say-they-are-not-doing-enough">regulators are ‘not doing enough’ to manage risks</a>.</li> <li>MPs warn that action is needed to <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366637516/Financial-regulators-exposing-public-to-potential-serious-harm-due-to-AI-positions">ensure artificial intelligence is adopted safely</a> in the finance sector as companies capitalise on its opportunities.</li> </ul> </div> </div> After a slow start, the Financial Conduct Authority’s is taking action to curb the activities of unregulated individuals who use social media to give financial advice https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/German/Hero-Regulations-Gesetze-by-1292788026-Adobe-01.jpg https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366646017/UK-regulator-crackdown-on-finfluencers-gathers-pace Tue, 21 Jul 2026 05:50:00 GMT <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400">This is a guest post for the Computer Weekly Developer Network written by </span><a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/robintatam/"><span style="font-weight: 400">Robin Tatam</span></a><span style="font-weight: 400"> in his role as principal technical marketer &amp; evangelist, Puppet by Perforce.</span></em></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400">Puppet by Perforce is known for its technology that automates server provisioning and continuously enforces security compliance, while also preventing configuration drift across hybrid IT environments.&nbsp;</span></em></p> <p><em><span style="font-weight: 400">Tatam writes in full as follows…</span></em></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">A modern edge environment can generate more operational change in a week than many datacentres once experienced in a year.&nbsp;</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">New applications are deployed, artificial intelligence models are updated, devices are added to the network, and software moves continuously through automated delivery pipelines. The pace of change is remarkable. Maintaining control of that change across a distributed estate is another matter entirely.</span></p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Architecture afterburn"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><span style="font-weight: 400">Architecture afterburn</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Most conversations about edge computing focus on architecture. Latency, connectivity, data locality and workload placement dominate the discussion. Yet these are rarely the sole factors that determine whether an edge initiative remains sustainable as it grows.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">The larger challenge lies in maintaining consistency across an environment that may span hundreds or thousands of locations.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">As organisations expand edge deployments, they inherit a technology estate that may span manufacturing facilities, retail locations, transportation networks, healthcare environments, utilities, and remote offices. Every location introduces systems that must be maintained, secured, monitored, updated, and managed throughout their lifecycle.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Provisioning is often the easiest stage of the journey. The real test begins six months later, when systems have evolved independently and teams need confidence that standards are still being applied consistently.</span></p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Divergence, drift &amp; dependencies"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><span style="font-weight: 400">Divergence, drift &amp; dependencies</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Over time, software versions diverge, configuration drift accumulates, dependencies evolve independently, and local practices adapt to immediate business needs. Every additional location creates another opportunity for drift between intended policy and operational reality.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">The implications extend well beyond operations teams.</span></p> <blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Financial institutions must demonstrate operational resilience under regulations such as the Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA). Organisations affected by the Network and Information Security Directive (NIS2) face heightened expectations around cybersecurity governance and risk management. Across industries, regulators, auditors, customers, and business leaders increasingly expect organisations to understand their technology environments, maintain effective controls, and respond quickly when conditions change.</span></p> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">That expectation becomes difficult to satisfy when large numbers of distributed systems are managed as individual assets rather than as a coordinated management platform. Visibility becomes fragmented, operational variance increases, and it becomes harder to determine whether controls are being applied consistently.</span></p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Common standards &amp; configuration baselines"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i><span style="font-weight: 400">Common standards &amp; configuration baselines</span></h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Organisations that are succeeding at scale approach edge environments differently. Instead of managing remote locations independently, they establish common deployment standards, configuration baselines, governance policies, security guardrails, and lifecycle processes that apply consistently across the broader estate.</span></p> <blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Many organisations are turning to platform engineering to bring greater consistency to their operations. It provides a framework for applying common standards across diverse environments without restricting teams’ ability to move quickly. Governance is embedded directly within the operating model instead of being applied through downstream reviews and approvals.</span></p> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Policy enforcement, configuration standards, and operational controls are incorporated directly into everyday workflows. The platform becomes the mechanism through which organisations can enforce approved configurations, policies, and operating practices across distributed locations. This allows teams to verify that controls remain effective as environments evolve, rather than waiting for scheduled reviews or audits to uncover issues.</span></p> <div id="attachment_12230" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"> <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-12230" class="wp-align wp-image-12230 size-medium" src="https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/1595428083678-300x300.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/1595428083678-300x300.jpg 300w, https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/1595428083678-150x150.jpg 150w, https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/1595428083678.jpg 400w" sizes="(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px"> <p id="caption-attachment-12230" class="wp-caption-text">Tatam: The future of edge will not be defined solely by advances in hardware, connectivity, or processing power – the more enduring challenge is maintaining trust, resilience &amp; control across an expanding infrastructure footprint.</p> </div> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Infrastructure-as-code contributes to that shift, but its importance extends beyond provisioning.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Distributed environments require confidence that systems remain aligned with approved configurations over time. That requires continuous validation, drift detection, remediation workflows, lifecycle management, and visibility into how systems are actually configured and operated.</span></p> <blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">For edge, visibility extends well beyond troubleshooting. Operational telemetry, system health, configuration status, and security signals provide the information needed to verify that controls remain effective across an estate. Without that visibility, maintaining confidence in security, compliance and reliability becomes increasingly difficult.&nbsp;</span><span style="font-weight: 400">Artificial intelligence adds another layer of operational complexity. Models require frequent updates, supporting infrastructure evolves, and dependencies multiply across an increasingly distributed estate. Maintaining consistency, visibility, and control through manual processes alone quickly becomes unsustainable.</span></p> </blockquote> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">The organisations making the most progress combine automation, policy-driven controls, lifecycle management, observability, and continuous validation. These capabilities allow organisations to manage through a common set of controls and processes while allowing individual locations to meet their specific requirements.</span></p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Edge forward"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Edge forward</h2> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">The future of edge computing will not be defined solely by advances in hardware, connectivity, or processing power. Those technologies will continue to evolve. The more enduring challenge is maintaining trust, resilience and control across an expanding infrastructure footprint.</span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">Organisations that treat governance as a foundational design principle rather than a downstream operational activity will be better positioned to scale edge initiatives successfully. Success will depend not only on where workloads run, but on how consistently organisations can manage change across a modern estate. </span></p> <p><span style="font-weight: 400">That capability may prove to be the defining characteristic of a mature edge strategy.</span></p> <p><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="wp-align alignnone wp-image-12232" src="https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/bottoonm.jpg" alt="" width="580" height="145" srcset="https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/bottoonm.jpg 1400w, https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/bottoonm-300x75.jpg 300w, https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/bottoonm-1024x256.jpg 1024w, https://itknowledgeexchange.techtarget.com/cwdn/files/2026/07/bottoonm-768x192.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 580px) 100vw, 580px"></p> </section> This is a guest post for the Computer Weekly Developer Network written by Robin Tatam in his role as principal technical marketer &amp; evangelist, Puppet by Perforce. Puppet by Perforce is known ... https://www.computerweekly.com/blog/CW-Developer-Network/Edge-series-Perforce-Why-edge-governance-at-scale-is-the-real-challenge Tue, 21 Jul 2026 04:50:55 GMT In this week’s Computer Weekly, we talk to Unilever’s global CIO about empowering people to innovate – from IT departments to entrepreneurial women in India. We analyse the arguments for and against the NHS’s controversial Federated Data Platform project. And veteran IT leader Paul Coby shares his top tips for business success. Read the issue now. https://www.computerweekly.com/ezine/Computer-Weekly/How-the-CIO-of-Unilever-delivers-business-empathy Tue, 21 Jul 2026 04:00:00 GMT In this week's Computer Weekly, we talk to Unilever's global CIO about empowering people to innovate – from IT departments to entrepreneurial women in India. We analyse the arguments for and against the NHS's controversial Federated Data Platform project. And veteran IT leader Paul Coby shares his top tips for business success. Read the issue now. https://www.bitpipe.com/detail/RES/1784555209_900.html Tue, 21 Jul 2026 00:00:00 GMT <p>Despite cybersecurity professionals' best efforts to protect their organizations' networks and data, employees have long been the weak link in the chain. They click malicious links in emails, reuse weak passwords, share sensitive information and make other mistakes that threat actors exploit.</p> <p>Then came generative AI, which promised productivity gains but created new security risks. Employees' unsanctioned use of AI tools now amplifies those risks at machine speed and scale.</p> <p>Nearly half (47%) of cybersecurity professionals admit they lack full visibility into the AI tools used by their organizations' employees, according to a recent Bitdefender <a target="_blank" href="https://www.bitdefender.com/en-us/business/campaign/2026-cybersecurity-assessment" rel="noopener">survey</a> of 1,200 global cybersecurity professionals. The research also found a gap between what company leaders think they know about internal AI use and what frontline workers report. While 58% of IT and security managers said they have full AI visibility, just 46% of practitioners agreed. That means companies are likely underestimating the <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/Shadow-AI-poses-new-generation-of-threats-to-enterprise-IT">security risks that unsanctioned AI poses</a>.</p> <p>"This isn't a technology problem alone; it's also a governance vacuum," said the Bitdefender report. "Shadow AI may appear to be the new shadow IT, but it's harder to detect, and the potential for data leakage is orders of magnitude greater."</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Shadow AI strategies for CISOs"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Shadow AI strategies for CISOs</h2> <p>A blanket AI ban can make a bad problem worse, according to Chase Cunningham, a zero-trust security expert, strategic advisor to several cybersecurity providers and chief strategy officer for software demonstration platform Demo-Force.</p> <p>"A policy that simply says, 'Do not use generative AI,' is not a strategy," he said. "It frequently pushes usage further underground, where security teams have even less visibility."</p> <p>Rather than restricting AI use, Cunningham argues that security leaders should first focus on understanding how employees use the technology. If they determine which shadow AI tools employees are using -- and why -- they can create <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/tip/Strategic-approaches-to-effective-shadow-AI-governance">governance policies</a> that encourage workers to adopt AI responsibly rather than hide how they use it.</p> <blockquote class="main-article-pullquote"> <div class="main-article-pullquote-inner"> <figure> A policy that simply says, 'Do not use generative AI,' is not a strategy. It frequently pushes usage further underground, where security teams have even less visibility. </figure> <figcaption> <strong>Chase Cunningham</strong>Chief strategy officer, Demo-Force </figcaption> <i class="icon" data-icon="z"></i> </div> </blockquote> <p>"Organizations can't govern what they can't see," Cunningham added.</p> <p>Internal corporate messaging often encourages users to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/feature/10-AI-business-use-cases-that-produce-measurable-ROI">adopt AI for business efficiency</a>. But enterprises must also communicate <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/ChatGPT-security-risks-in-the-enterprise">AI risks</a>, from data leakage to model hallucinations, in ways that resonate with nontechnical employees, said Erich Kron, CISO advisor at security awareness training provider KnowBe4.</p> <p>"From compiling reports to writing or rewriting code, employees are aware of how AI can help them be more efficient, something critical in this modern day of doing more with less," Kron said. "Unfortunately, people do not hear about the problems that AI can cause."</p> <p>Awareness by itself won't solve the problem of shadow AI, according to analysts. As the Bitdefender survey results suggest, organizations also need better visibility into how workers use AI tools across the business.</p> <p>"What will characterize the ones that successfully manage such risk will be ... an up-to-date inventory of which generative AI services are sanctioned and which ones aren't," said Rik Turner, an analyst at Omdia, a division of Informa TechTarget.</p> <p>AI visibility and governance are key, Cunningham agreed.</p> <p>"Don't try to stop employees from using AI," he reiterated. "Stop them from using AI invisibly, indiscriminately and with more access than the task requires."</p> <p><i>Craig Galbraith is the founder and owner of Galbraith Multimedia, an independent journalism company that provides writing, editing, video hosting, podcasting, onstage presentation and consulting services to the technology industry.</i></p> <p>&nbsp;</p> </section> Employee behavior has always presented one of the biggest enterprise cybersecurity challenges. Add AI into the equation, and education and governance become even more critical. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/LeMagIT/hero_article/Cybersecurity_search_AdobeStock_1884692525-hero.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/news/366646095/Employees-shadow-AI-use-is-poorly-monitored-survey-finds Mon, 20 Jul 2026 22:30:00 GMT <p>Health information blocking has been in the federal government's crosshairs since the ONC's rules prohibiting efforts to prevent the exchange of health data <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchhealthit/news/366579231/ONC-Interoperability-Rule-Information-Blocking-Regulations-Launch">took effect in April 2021</a>. Though information blocking has decreased in recent years, health information organizations contend that some actors, particularly certified health IT developers, are continuing to engage in it. &nbsp;</p> <p>At the end of last month, ONC <a href="https://healthit.gov/data/data-briefs/trends-in-health-information-organizations-experiences-of-perceived-information-blocking-2019-2025/">released a data brief</a> detailing state, local, and regional health information organizations' perceptions on information blocking. The brief mines the results of the 2019, 2023 and 2025 National Survey of Health Information Organizations to assess practices that HIOs believe may constitute information blocking.&nbsp;The HIOs include health information exchanges and emerging health data utilities.</p> <p>Overall, the share of HIOs reporting information blocking has decreased from 2019 to 2025. In 2019, 91% of HIOs reported at least one instance of potential information blocking, compared with 71% in 2025.</p> <p>However, HIOs noted that developers of certified health IT were the main culprit behind potential information blocking. Nearly two-thirds (62%) of HIOs reported that certified health IT developers engaged in information blocking in 2025, compared with hospitals and health systems (49%), national networks (20%) and other HIOs (7%).</p> <p>According to HIOs, certified health IT developers set unreasonable fees and pricing to potentially block information exchange. While the share of HIOs saying that developers use this tactic has decreased overall, from 81% in 2019 to 59% in 2025, it remains the most commonly reported information-blocking practice. HIOs also cited artificial barriers (40%) and contract language (30%) as tactics developers used in 2025 to block data sharing. &nbsp;</p> <p>As for hospitals and health systems, HIOs stated that they use strategic affiliations, such as ownership structures, to potentially hinder data exchange. In 2025, 42% of HIOs said hospitals and health systems used this practice to block information exchange, down slightly from 45% in 2023.</p> <p>Notably, HIOs reported that information-blocking practices were not widespread among developers. While 55% of HIOs reported potential information blocking by some or most developers in 2019, only 27% did so in 2025.</p> <p>On the other hand, the share of HIOs reporting that some or most hospitals/health systems engage in information-blocking practices remained steady -- 24% in 2019 and 28% in 2025. &nbsp;</p> <p>"Data also show that even though most HIOs report experiencing possible information blocking, a majority of HIOs that experienced potential information blocking indicated that these practices and behaviors are not widespread among hospitals and health systems or developers of certified health IT," the report stated. "Many HIOs, therefore, experienced potential information blocking but increasingly by a smaller group of entities."</p> <p>Still, potential information blocking significantly impacts information exchange, according to HIOs. About one in five HIOs reported that information-blocking behaviors had a great impact on information exchange.&nbsp;</p> <p>"Based on these analyses, deterring the small group of actors who may be engaging in potential information blocking practices including those related to business, market, or other organizational constructs to not share information could make a substantial impact on improving information exchange activity among HIOs and HDUs," the report concluded.</p> <p><em>Anuja Vaidya has covered the healthcare industry since 2012. She currently covers healthcare IT and innovation, including artificial intelligence, digital healthcare, EHRs and interoperability.</em></p> Organizations, including HIEs and HDUs, report that information blocking has declined from 2019 to 2025; however, they note that certified health IT developers remain the main culprit. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/ehr_g1366566196.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchhealthit/news/366646094/Health-information-orgs-blame-developers-for-blocking-data-sharing Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:30:00 GMT <p>The last thing modern organizations need is to impede agility or interfere with essential daily functions. Legacy systems do exactly that. However, they are more than merely outdated. Common legacy system issues include:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Constrains agility, decision-making and speed to market.</li> <li>Increases operational risk and fragility.</li> <li>Prevents businesses from maximizing investment returns on other systems.</li> <li>Locks organizations into inflexible processes and technologies.</li> <li>Prevents businesses from introducing cutting-edge products.</li> </ul> <p>Legacy systems include older applications, platforms or technologies <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcio/feature/6-reasons-legacy-systems-are-still-in-use?Offer=ab_MeteredFormCopyEoc_var3">that remain in use</a> despite being based on outdated architectures, infrastructure or programming languages. They often underpin critical business operations, making them difficult to replace. They may be characterized by high maintenance costs, limited scalability, poor integration with other tools, security vulnerabilities and reliance on specialized or older skill sets.</p> <p>System modernization is the process of updating, transforming or replacing IT systems to better support current business needs, technology standards and future growth. It typically involves rethinking architecture, workflows and integration, targeting performance, integration, security and scalability.</p> <p>When approached strategically, system modernization is a critical enabler of innovation and long-term resilience. Failing to address modernization opportunities represents a significant and broad organizational risk.</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="The business case for modernization"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>The business case for modernization</h2> <p>Positioning system modernization as a strategic investment means enhancing resilience, reducing costs and enabling the organization to pioneer new opportunities. Modernization is more than just a technical upgrade; it's a chance to reexamine what works and what doesn't.</p> <blockquote class="main-article-pullquote"> <div class="main-article-pullquote-inner"> <figure> Modernization is more than just a technical upgrade; it's a chance to reexamine what works and what doesn't. </figure> <i class="icon" data-icon="z"></i> </div> </blockquote> <h3>Boost resilience</h3> <p>Legacy systems are often brittle because they rely on tightly coupled components, single points of failure and manual recovery processes. Furthermore, they lack upgrade opportunities that address these concerns. System modernization enhances the resilience of existing business workflows.</p> <p>Modernized systems, by contrast, are designed to handle failure. Workloads on cloud-native platforms, modular architectures and automated recovery mechanisms can scale dynamically and recover quickly from incidents. Modernization strengthens business continuity and enhances customer trust by reducing downtime, limiting the blast radius of failures and enabling quicker incident responses.</p> <h3>Reduce long-term costs</h3> <p>Modernization requires upfront investments in resources, time and effort, but it significantly lowers costs over time. Legacy systems may demand expensive maintenance, specialized support skills and inefficient workarounds to keep them operational. Modern platforms reduce technical debt, simplify operations, enable automation and lower infrastructure costs via cloud consumption models. Focus on the benefits of modernization from a total cost of ownership perspective.</p> <h3>Enable innovation</h3> <p>Perhaps the most strategic benefit of modernization is its ability to unlock innovation and enhance agility. Legacy systems impede experimentation due to their rigidity and lack of integration. This friction discourages new ideas and limits responsiveness to market opportunities.</p> <p>Modernized systems act as a flexible foundation for innovation and experimentation. Modular services, APIs and data accessibility lend themselves to building, testing and deploying new capabilities rapidly and with minimal cost in time and effort. Today's emerging technologies -- AI, automation and advanced analytics – are more easily adopted without extensive reworking of existing systems. Modern systems transform IT from a constraint to a catalyst for growth.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="The challenges of legacy system modernization"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>The challenges of legacy system modernization</h2> <p>Modernizing legacy systems is complex and risky. Many initiatives fail or struggle because they underestimate these challenges. Identifying and planning for these obstacles is essential to a successful modernization strategy. Common challenges include risks to business continuity, architectural complexity, data management and cultural resistance. Addressing these risks involves effective <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchITOperations/tip/Top-IT-governance-best-practices?Offer=ab_MeteredFormCopyEoc_var3">governance</a>.</p> <h3>Risk to business continuity</h3> <p>Legacy systems frequently support mission-critical operations, making any change inherently risky. Organizations are often reluctant to touch functional systems for fear of downtime, performance degradation or functional regressions that impact customers and revenue. Modernization efforts must be carefully staged, with robust testing, rollback mechanisms and parallel operations where possible.</p> <h3>Architecture complexity</h3> <p>Many legacy systems evolved over time, with ad hoc layers of enhancements, hidden dependencies, workarounds and patches. They may be tightly coupled with other systems, lack documentation and be based on a monolithic design incompatible with today's architecture.</p> <p>This complexity makes it challenging to isolate functionality, introduce new technologies and migrate components incrementally without unintended consequences. Such complexity further underscores the need for careful testing and rollback planning, along with effective documentation.</p> <h3>Data integrity, compatibility and compliance</h3> <p>Legacy systems may rely on outdated data models, inconsistent or incompatible formats, or tightly bound application logic. Migrating or synchronizing this data without loss, corruption or duplication is often a significant challenge. However, data is one of the most valuable -- and vulnerable -- business assets. Ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements for privacy, security and retention is critical. Failure to maintain data integrity or adhere to compliance standards may result in legal or financial penalties.</p> <h3>Cultural resistance</h3> <p>System modernization is as much a cultural challenge as it is a technical one. IT teams that have maintained legacy systems for years may resist changes due to familiarity, fear of job displacement or concerns about learning new technologies. Skills gaps, unclear ownership and a lack of shared vision can further slow progress.</p> <p>Users may also resist change for their own reasons. They are intimately familiar with how the legacy systems work, and their job requires using them successfully. Any disruption threatens their productivity and performance. These users may also resist the growing pains associated with relearning new processes and software.</p> <p>Without strong leadership, clear communication and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/infographic/By-the-numbers-How-upskilling-fills-the-IT-skills-gap">investment in upskilling</a>, cultural resistance can undermine even the most well-designed modernization plans.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Proven modernization patterns"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Proven modernization patterns</h2> <p>There's no need to reinvent the wheel with system modernization. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchCloudComputing/tip/Use-the-7-Rs-to-develop-an-app-modernization-strategy?Offer=ab_MeteredFormCopyEoc_var3">Established patterns</a> and repeatable approaches exist that allow controlled, low-risk system modernization projects. These patterns emphasize business continuity with incremental changes, enabling IT leaders to manage complexity, reduce risk and deliver value progressively.</p> <p>Three common modernization approaches are the strangler fig pattern, replatforming and domain decomposition.</p> <h3>Pattern 1: Strangler fig pattern</h3> <p>This <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/tip/A-detailed-intro-to-the-strangler-pattern">strangler fig pattern</a> is an incremental modernization approach that builds new functionality alongside legacy systems and gradually replaces them over time. Instead of rewriting an entire application at once, it implements specific features as modern components. The pattern gets its name from gradually "strangling" the legacy system.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/apparch-the_strangler_pattern-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/apparch-the_strangler_pattern-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/apparch-the_strangler_pattern-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineImages/apparch-the_strangler_pattern-f.png 1280w" alt="strangler pattern" height="1001" width="560"> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p>Benefits include:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Reduced risk to business continuity and functionality.</li> <li>Continuous validation.</li> <li>Effective rollback processes if required.</li> </ul> <p>To be successful, the strangler fig pattern requires strong architectural oversight, clear interfaces and close collaboration between development and operations teams. Many organizations can implement this pattern in-house.</p> <h3>Pattern 2: Replatforming</h3> <p><a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/replatforming">Replatforming</a> focuses on moving applications from legacy infrastructure to modern platforms, such as cloud environments. Changes to the application's code are minimal, making the pattern faster than other approaches. This pattern seeks to improve scalability, performance, reliability and cost efficiency quickly without requiring a complete rewrite or refactoring of the application.</p> <figure class="main-article-image full-col" data-img-fullsize="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/comparing_rehosting_vs_replatforming_vs_refactoring-f.png"> <img data-src="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/comparing_rehosting_vs_replatforming_vs_refactoring-f_mobile.png" class="lazy" data-srcset="https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/comparing_rehosting_vs_replatforming_vs_refactoring-f_mobile.png 960w,https://www.techtarget.com/rms/onlineimages/comparing_rehosting_vs_replatforming_vs_refactoring-f.png 1280w" alt="replatforming" height="409" width="560"> <div class="main-article-image-enlarge"> <i class="icon" data-icon="w"></i> </div> </figure> <p>Replatforming is often a practical first step in system modernization. While it can be done in-house, many organizations find it more efficient to leverage the expertise of external partners to accelerate migration and reduce risk. The pattern requires expertise in cloud architecture, infrastructure automation and platform services.</p> <h3>Pattern 3: Domain decomposition</h3> <p><a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/topics/computer-science/domain-decomposition" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Domain decomposition</a> involves breaking down large, monolithic systems into small, domain-aligned services. These domains represent distinct business capabilities, enabling clearer ownership, independent development and improved scalability.</p> <p>However, the domain-driven pattern can be complex and resource-intensive. It is best suited to organizations that already structure modern components using domain-driven design principles, microservices and modular architectures. These organizations typically already have the necessary deep understanding of business processes, experienced architects and strong collaboration between business and technical teams. Combining in-house expertise with external partners helps ensure successful execution.</p> <p><em>Damon Garn owns Cogspinner Coaction and provides freelance IT writing and editing services. He has written multiple CompTIA study guides, including the Linux+, Cloud Essentials+ and Server+ guides, and contributes extensively to TechTarget Editorial, The New Stack and CompTIA Blogs.</em></p> </section> Legacy systems are more than just a drag on efficiency or merely older programs; they are strategic inhibitors that prevent resilience, innovation and growth. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/German/article/cloud-computing-4-adobe.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/tip/A-primer-on-modernization-strategies-for-legacy-systems Mon, 20 Jul 2026 16:07:00 GMT <p>Software as a service made enterprise software easier to consume. It did not make it easier to absorb.</p> <p>That difference matters more as vendors update products more often, add features in smaller increments and change user experience, workflows, reporting, permissions and administration settings through regular release cycles.</p> <p>The old software model led enterprises to undertake large-scale upgrade projects.</p> <p>The <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchcloudcomputing/definition/Software-as-a-Service">SaaS</a> model gives them a steady stream of change.</p> <p>That can be useful. Companies get new capabilities faster. IT teams do not have to manage every infrastructure layer. Business users can benefit from product improvements without waiting years for the next major version.</p> <p>But the work of understanding, testing and explaining software change never really ends.</p> <p>That is why SaaS release management now needs business discipline. A vendor release may look routine from the outside, but inside the enterprise it can affect a report, approval path, integration, role, screen, workflow, notification, dashboard or user habit.</p> <p>SaaS releases need an internal triage process, business translation, feature-toggle ownership, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsoftwarequality/definition/regression-testing">regression testing</a> and communication before users discover the change on their own.</p> <p>The vendor can ship the release. The enterprise must decide what the release means.</p> <p>Several parts of SaaS release management now need more structure.</p> <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-0" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/pLsdKM57CP8?autoplay=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;widget_referrer=null&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0" loading="lazy"></iframe> </div> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Vendor releases now create internal work"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Vendor releases now create internal work</h2> <p>SaaS releases can feel deceptively light.</p> <p>There may not be a large upgrade project, a long outage window, a major infrastructure plan or a big migration event. Instead, the release appears in an admin console, release note, customer email, roadmap session or feature preview.</p> <p>That does not mean the work is small.</p> <p>A vendor update can create internal work across IT, business systems, security, data teams, process owners, support teams and line-of-business managers. Someone must read the release notes and decide whether the change affects the organization. Someone must know whether a feature is already enabled, optional, delayed, region-specific, role-specific or tied to a licensing change.</p> <p>That work often arrives without a clean path.</p> <p>IT understands the platform while business teams grasp the workflow. Procurement understands the contract, security assesses the risk and support addresses user questions first.</p> <p>None of those groups may own the release from end to end.</p> <p>That is where SaaS release management gets messy.</p> <p>The release belongs to the vendor.</p> <p>The consequences belong to the enterprise.</p> <p>A stronger release process starts by treating vendor updates as inputs to an internal decision process. Not every release needs a meeting. Not every change needs testing. Not every feature needs a rollout plan.</p> <p>But every release needs a triage path.</p> <p>What changed? Who needs to know? Which business process could be affected? Is the change mandatory or optional? Is there a deadline? Does it affect permissions, data visibility, reporting, integrations, automation or user experience?</p> <p>Those questions keep a routine release from becoming an accidental rollout.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Release notes need business translation"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Release notes need business translation</h2> <p>Release notes are not the same as business readiness.</p> <p>Vendors often describe changes in product language. They explain what a feature does, where it appears, what admin setting controls it or which edition includes it. That information matters, but it may not answer the questions business users care about.</p> <p>What will change in the way people work?</p> <p>Will a screen look different?</p> <p>Will a report change?</p> <p>Will an approval path behave differently?</p> <p>Will users need training?</p> <p>Will support tickets increase?</p> <p>Will a role, permission or setting need review?</p> <p>That translation step is easy to skip because release notes can feel like documentation rather than decision material. But in enterprise settings, release notes are often the first signal that a business process may need attention.</p> <p>The same release can matter differently to different teams. A finance change may be minor for one region and significant for another. A new HR workflow may be irrelevant to employees but important to managers. A collaboration update may look cosmetic but change how files, approvals or summaries appear. A CX feature may create a new service option that support teams are not ready to explain.</p> <p>Release notes need someone who can read across the gap.</p> <p>Not only, "What did the vendor change?"</p> <p>Also, "What does this change mean for our business?"</p> <p>That translation does not have to be elaborate. A simple internal summary can clarify: what changed, who is affected, what action is required, which teams should test and when the change takes effect.</p> <p>Without that step, users often become the first people to discover the release.</p> <p>That is a weak release-management model.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Feature toggles need owners"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Feature toggles need owners</h2> <p>SaaS vendors increasingly give customers more control over when and how features appear.</p> <p>That is usually good. <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchapparchitecture/definition/feature-flagging">Feature flagging</a> can separate a feature's availability from its broader rollout. Admins may be able to enable a capability for a small group, delay adoption, test a change or turn something off until the business is ready.</p> <p>But flexibility creates another question.</p> <p>Who decides whether the feature should be turned on?</p> <p>The answer is not always IT. It is not always the business. It is not always security, data governance, procurement or the application owner.</p> <p>The right answer depends on what the feature does.</p> <p>A reporting feature may need data-owner review. A workflow feature may need process-owner review. A communications feature might require input from legal, compliance or records departments. A user-experience feature could need support and training. Additionally, any permissions changes may need security review before business teams experiment with it.</p> <p>The danger is treating feature toggles as harmless admin settings.</p> <p>They are not always harmless.</p> <blockquote class="main-article-pullquote"> <div class="main-article-pullquote-inner"> <figure> The vendor can ship the release. The enterprise must decide what the release means. </figure> <i class="icon" data-icon="z"></i> </div> </blockquote> <p>Some toggles change how work moves. Some change what users can see. Some change how data is summarized, routed or shared. Some create new automation. Some expose a feature that looks helpful but is not ready for the way the company actually operates.</p> <p>A release process should make feature ownership explicit.</p> <p>Which toggles can application admins control themselves? Which require business review? Which need security approval? Which should be piloted before broad rollout? Which should stay off until a training or communications plan exists?</p> <p>A toggle is not a strategy.</p> <p>It is a control point.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Testing cannot stay only in IT"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Testing cannot stay only in IT</h2> <p>SaaS updates make testing more continuous.</p> <p>That does not mean every release needs a full test cycle, but it does mean enterprises need a practical way to decide which releases deserve testing and who should help validate them.</p> <p>Some tests are technical. Does the integration still work? Did an API change? Did a permission model shift? Did a customization break? Did a browser, desktop, mobile or identity setting create a new problem?</p> <p>Other tests are business tests. Does the approval still route correctly? Does the report still answer the right question? Does the exception path still work? Can a manager, service rep, HR partner, finance analyst or field employee still complete the task?</p> <p>Those tests cannot stay only in IT.</p> <p>The people who know the work must help validate the work.</p> <p>That is especially true for SaaS testing, because vendor updates can arrive continuously and affect both standard functions and company-specific configurations. A regression testing strategy can help teams decide which existing workflows, reports, permissions and integrations to test when changes occur.</p> <p>The point is not to slow every release.</p> <p>The point is to know which releases can move quickly and which ones need evidence.</p> <p>A payroll change deserves different scrutiny than a cosmetic update. A new dashboard filter deserves different scrutiny than a changed approval rule. An update to the collaboration interface deserves closer scrutiny if the tool is used for regulated records, customer escalations or executive decisions.</p> <p>Testing should follow risk.</p> <p>If the release can affect financial transactions, compliance, access, customer commitments, employee records, service outcomes or executive reporting, the business needs to help test it.</p> <p>In higher-impact SaaS environments, release reviews may also require continuous testing practices that connect business scenarios to the broader delivery pipeline.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Communication is part of release control"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Communication is part of release control</h2> <p>Many SaaS release problems show up as user confusion.</p> <p>A button moved. A field changed. A report looks different. A workflow asks a new question. A feature appears before anyone explains it. A process that worked last week now behaves differently.</p> <p>The software may be functioning correctly, but the release still failed operationally.</p> <p>That is why communication belongs inside SaaS release management. It should not be treated as a final message after all the real work is done.</p> <p>Communication helps define who is affected, what changed, what users should do differently, where to get help and what is not changing. It also gives support teams, managers and super users the context they need before questions arrive.</p> <p>The communication does not need to be elaborate.</p> <div class="extra-info"> <div class="extra-info-inner"> <h3 class="splash-heading">A quick SaaS release triage checklist</h3> <p>Not every vendor update needs a project, but every release should have a path. Before a SaaS release reaches users, teams should be able to answer a few basic questions:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>What changed?</li> <li>Is the change mandatory, optional or controlled by a feature toggle?</li> <li>Which users, roles, reports, workflows or integrations could be affected?</li> <li>Does the release change permissions, data visibility, automation or compliance risk?</li> <li>Who should test it?</li> <li>Who needs to know before it goes live?</li> <li>What should support teams watch for after release?</li> </ul> <p>The goal is not to slow every update. The goal is to separate routine vendor change from business-impacting change before users discover the difference.</p> </div> </div> <p>Many releases need only a short note. Some need a manager brief. Some need office hours, training or help desk scripts. Some need targeted communication only to admins or power users.</p> <p>The important thing is that communication matches impact.</p> <p>A low-impact release should not create noise. A high-impact change should not arrive as a surprise.</p> <p>That balance is hard when releases are frequent. But without it, users learn to distrust the software environment. They do not know when a change matters, who approved it or whether something is broken.</p> <p>That can make the software feel unstable even when the platform is working exactly as designed.</p> <p>Post-release monitoring should also watch whether releases increase <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchitoperations/definition/change-failure-rate">the change failure rate</a>, support tickets or rollback work.</p> <p>If a release creates a production issue, teams also need a clear path for fixing bugs in production, retesting the change and explaining the fix to affected users.</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="SaaS release management needs a repeatable rhythm"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>SaaS release management needs a repeatable rhythm</h2> <p>SaaS changes the meaning of software management.</p> <p>The enterprise no longer waits years for a major upgrade and then faces a single large change event. It receives smaller changes more often. Some are useful. Some are optional. Some are disruptive. Some are invisible until a user, report or workflow breaks.</p> <p>That creates a different operating burden.</p> <p>Someone must keep translating vendor releases into business impact.</p> <p>Someone must know which features are safe to enable.</p> <p>Someone must test the workflows that matter.</p> <p>Someone must communicate changes before they create confusion.</p> <p>Someone must monitor what happens after the release.</p> <p>This is not a call for bureaucracy. It is a call for rhythm.</p> <p>Without rhythm, SaaS release management becomes reactive. Admins skim release notes when they have time. Business teams discover changes after the fact. Support teams learn from tickets. Leaders ask why a feature was not used, why a report changed or why users were surprised.</p> <p>With rhythm, the work becomes more manageable. A release rhythm can also help teams see where <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/whatis/definition/SaaS-sprawl">SaaS sprawl</a> is making release review harder. The more SaaS tools the enterprise uses, the more vendor updates, feature changes, permission shifts and user communications it must absorb.</p> <div class="youtube-iframe-container"> <iframe id="ytplayer-1" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/P15CDq1Zc_E?autoplay=0&amp;modestbranding=1&amp;rel=0&amp;widget_referrer=null&amp;enablejsapi=1&amp;origin=https://www.techtarget.com" type="text/html" height="360" width="640" frameborder="0" loading="lazy"></iframe> </div> <p>Not every release becomes a project.</p> <p>But every release has a path.</p> <div class="extra-info"> <div class="extra-info-inner"> <h3 class="splash-heading">Signs a SaaS release needs more review</h3> <p>A release does not need to be large to create business impact. Consider extra review when a SaaS update affects any of the following:</p> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Roles, permissions or administrative controls.</li> <li>Reports, dashboards or business definitions.</li> <li>Approval paths, routing rules or workflow steps.</li> <li>Integrations, APIs or connected applications.</li> <li>Customer, employee, supplier or financial records.</li> <li>User interface elements that support daily work.</li> <li>Features that are optional, newly bundled or tied to licensing.</li> <li>Automation that changes when work moves, pauses or escalates.</li> </ul> <p>A release that touches these areas may still be low risk. But it should not be invisible.</p> </div> </div> <p>Review the release. Triage the impact. Assign owners for the decision. Test what matters. Communicate what changed. Watch for issues after the release.</p> <p>That rhythm turns vendor change into managed business change.</p> <p>SaaS makes software delivery continuous.</p> <p>Enterprise software management must become continuous too.</p> <p><em>James Alan Miller is a veteran technology editor and writer who leads Informa TechTarget's Enterprise Software group. He oversees coverage of ERP &amp; Supply Chain, HR Software, Customer Experience, Communications &amp; Collaboration and End-User Computing topics.</em></p> </section> SaaS releases can change workflows, reports, permissions and user experience. Enterprises need a repeatable way to decide what matters. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/searchServerVirtualization/benefits_virtualization/servervirtualization_article_006.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searcherp/feature/SaaS-releases-need-business-discipline Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:31:00 GMT <p>With vector indexing a crucial aspect of AI development, the latest release of Zilliz's open source Milvus vector database is designed to improve the vector search results that feed AI pipelines.</p> <p>Milvus 3.0, which was made generally available on July 16, features an architectural update that simplifies development by adding lake-native data access. Native access to data lakes such as <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/news/366616623/Amazon-S3-storage-adds-new-capabilities-for-data-lakes">Amazon S3</a>, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/news/252515666/Google-grows-cloud-capabilities-with-BigLake-data-lakehouse">Google BigLake</a> and Microsoft <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/tutorial/How-to-create-an-Azure-Data-Lake-Storage-Gen2-account">Azure Data Lake Storage</a> enables Milvus to read, write and query data where it's stored using open file formats including <a target="_blank" href="https://iceberg.apache.org/" rel="noopener">Apache Iceberg</a>.</p> <p>Previously, users had to extract and load data from data lakes into Milvus as part of their development pipelines, adding cost, complexity and data movement that could accidentally expose proprietary data.</p> <p>In addition, Milvus now features an updated data retrieval engine to better discover and operationalize contextually appropriate vectors for agents and other AI applications that require large amounts of <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/opinion/Context-is-the-make-or-break-layer-for-AI-in-production">relevant data to deliver accurate results</a>.</p> <p>Given that using Milvus now eliminates certain data migration projects, the latest update is significant for not only existing users but also potential new ones, according to Mike Leone, an analyst at Moor Insights &amp; Strategy.</p> <p>"[It's valuable] as long as your data already sits in one of the open table formats Milvus can read," he told TechTarget. "If it does, adopting Milvus isn't a migration project, and that opens it up to teams that could never justify the migration in the first place."</p> <p>Based in Redwood City, Calif., Zilliz is a vector database vendor that competes with fellow specialists such as Pinecone, Qdrant and Redis, as well as broader-based data management providers that offer vector database capabilities, including AWS, Google Cloud and Oracle.</p> <p>In addition to Milvus, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/news/252524175/Zilliz-raises-60M-for-open-source-Milvus-vector-database">Zilliz</a> offers Zilliz Cloud, a managed service that includes Milvus' vector database capabilities.</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Aiding AI development"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Aiding AI development</h2> <p>As interest in building agents and other AI applications <a target="_blank" href="https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-1-15-gartner-says-worldwide-ai-spending-will-total-2-point-5-trillion-dollars-in-2026" rel="noopener">has surged</a>, so has the importance of vector search.</p> <p>Vectors are numerical representations of data that make information, including unstructured data such as text and audio, searchable so it can found and used to feed inform applications.</p> <blockquote class="main-article-pullquote"> <div class="main-article-pullquote-inner"> <figure> [It's valuable] as long as your data already sits in one of the open table formats Milvus can read. If it does, adopting Milvus isn't a migration project, and that opens it up to teams that could never justify the migration in the first place. </figure> <figcaption> <strong>Mike Leone</strong>Analyst, Moor Insights &amp; Strategy </figcaption> <i class="icon" data-icon="z"></i> </div> </blockquote> <p>As vector databases have <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/feature/Vector-search-now-a-critical-component-of-GenAI-development">gained widespread popularity</a> over the past few years, providers have updated and improved their capabilities to deliver more accurate search results so that the data fed into AI pipelines enables organizations to build trustworthy AI tools.</p> <p>For example, <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/news/366642768/MongoDB-adds-new-vector-performance-capabilities-to-aid-AI">MongoDB</a> and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/news/366639802/Teradata-updates-vector-indexing-suite-to-aid-AI-development">Teradata</a> have each added new vector embedding and search capabilities this year.</p> <p>Now, Zilliz is following suit with its latest Milvus database update, adding capabilities tailored to meet the needs of users doing more complex work than when they were building analytics and traditional AI tools such as predictive models, according to James Luan, co-founder and CTO of Zilliz.</p> <p>"[The update] was very much driven by what we were hearing from production AI users, including large language model labs and self-driving companies," he told TechTarget. "As AI workloads matured, teams weren't just doing simple search anymore."</p> <p>One of the most pressing problems organizations faced was wasted time, effort and money spent copying and <a target="_blank" href="https://getdeploying.com/reference/data-egress" rel="noopener">moving data</a> from data lakes into Milvus, Luan continued.</p> <p>"It's the kind of invisible infrastructure tax that slows AI teams down considerably," he said. "Milvus 3.0 tackles this by bringing production-grade vector indexes directly to lake-resident data. … Teams can search, analyze, and process from one copy, which is simpler to manage and much less expensive to operate."</p> <p>New Milvus database capabilities aimed at bringing vector search closer to where data is stored and improving the relevancy of vector search include the following:</p> <ul type="disc" class="default-list"> <li>Loon, a new storage engine that optimizes <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/object-storage">object storage</a> reads to reduce latency and improve the accuracy of searches.</li> <li>StructList, a multi-vector retrieval tool that enables users to discover documents, images and other data represented by more than one vector.</li> <li>An index that strengthens sparse and hybrid vector retrieval searches while reducing the compute power required to run such searches.</li> <li>External Collections, a feature that defines collections in Milvus over data stored in Apache Iceberg, Apache Parquet, Lance or Vortex to build searchable indexes.</li> <li>Snapshots, a tool that enables users to create point-in-time, read-only views of collections so they can perform offline jobs such as evaluations and validations while production work continues in online environments.</li> <li>A Spark connector that exposes Milvus as a data source for <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchaws/definition/Amazon-Elastic-MapReduce-Amazon-EMR">Amazon EMR</a>, Databricks and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/definition/Apache-Spark">Apache Spark</a> pipelines as part of standard batch data workflows.</li> </ul> <p>Kevin Petrie, an analyst at BARC U.S., noted that Zilliz's blending of database and data lake capabilities in Milvus 3.0, which helps users more easily combine previously disparate analytical and transactional data workloads, plays to a growing trend.</p> <p>Numerous vendors, including <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/news/366638723/Databricks-launches-PostgreSQL-Lakebase-to-aid-AI-developers">Databricks</a> and <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/news/366625068/Snowflake-acquisition-of-Crunchy-Data-adds-Postgres-database">Snowflake</a>, are now providing database capabilities that enable customers to unify data to build a foundation for AI.</p> <p>"Zilliz's support of lakebase environments plays well to the convergence trend, which leading platforms such as Databricks are pushing aggressively," Petrie told TechTarget. "Zilliz enables enterprises to deploy rich vector capabilities to support those converged workloads in lakebase environments."</p> <p>In addition, the Milvus update is significant for users given that it reduces the need to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchstorage/definition/data-migration">migrate data</a> and improves the database's search and indexing capabilities, he continued.</p> <p>"Zilliz addresses several market requirements with this release," Petrie said. "First, data remains highly distributed, [so] Zilliz is wise to help customers index vectors in place without moving them. … Second, enterprises need multimodal AI that goes beyond basic vectorization to handle capabilities such as the full-text search and indexing that Zilliz provides."</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Competitive standing"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Competitive standing</h2> <p>Although Zilliz is addressing user needs with its latest Milvus database update, the vendor faces a significant challenge as it competes for market share, according to Petrie.</p> <p>With hyperscale cloud and data platform providers adding vector search and storage capabilities over the past few years, many enterprises that already use those providers for data management no longer need to seek out <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/tip/Top-vector-database-options-for-similarity-searches">a specialist</a> for their vector database needs. Specialists sometimes still provide more robust vector embedding and search capabilities than broader-based vendors, which appeals to certain potential customers. But for many, simplification is a selling point.</p> <p>"Zilliz faces a similar challenge as all vector database companies, [which] is that vectors are just one piece of the multimodal puzzle," Petrie said. "Larger vendors such as Google manage and retrieve vector, graph and tabular data from the same multimodal database, which simplifies enterprise AI architectures compared with point vector solutions."</p> <p>Leone noted that Snapshots is perhaps the most valuable of the new features because it allows users to evaluate their <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/tip/Tools-and-techniques-for-optimizing-AI-data-pipelines">retrieval systems</a> even if their data is continually changing.</p> <p>From a competitive standpoint, he added that, while certain new Milvus capabilities are found in other vector databases as well, indexing data formats that aren't converted to vectors -- Apache Iceberg, Apache Parquet, Lance and Vortex -- is a potential differentiator for Zilliz.</p> <p>"The area to pay attention to is indexing formats you never had to convert first," Leone said. "That's harder than it sounds, because serving live queries straight off object storage is slow. It's why Zilliz built Loon, the new storage engine underneath Milvus."</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Looking ahead"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Looking ahead</h2> <p>With the latest version of Milvus now GA, over the second half of 2026 Zilliz plans to add deeper integrations between the database and data lakes that better enable users to <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchenterpriseai/tip/How-to-audit-AI-systems-for-transparency-and-compliance">audit and debug</a> AI behavior, according to Luan.</p> <p>In addition, smarter storage and elasticity at scale to optimize usage are part of the product development roadmap for Milvus, he continued.</p> <p>Beyond Milvus, Zilliz plans to bring all the new capabilities planned for its open source database to its Zilliz Cloud offering.</p> <p>"Bringing the full Milvus 3.0 feature set into this managed platform is a key part of our [second half] roadmap," Luan said.</p> <p>Leone, meanwhile, suggested that Zilliz add <a href="https://www.techtarget.com/searchsecurity/tip/Evaluate-cloud-database-security-controls-best-practices">security capabilities</a> beyond access controls to reduce reliance on system administrators.</p> <p>"If Milvus is reading straight from a customer's tables, someone in security is going to ask who can see what," he said. "Milvus already has its own access controls, so next I'd want the permissions on those tables to carry through automatically. Otherwise, an admin is keeping two separate systems in sync by hand."</p> <p><i>Eric Avidon is a senior news writer for Informa TechTarget and a journalist with more than three decades of experience. He covers analytics and data management.</i></p> </section> Native access to data lakes and a new data retrieval engine highlight the latest release as the vendor competes for market share amid a crowded field. https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/rms/onlineimages/machine%20learning_g1186820873.jpg https://www.techtarget.com/searchdatamanagement/news/366646015/Zilliz-ups-vector-search-results-with-Milvus-database-update Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:57:00 GMT <p>Cosmetics multinational Estée Lauder is <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/system/files/ELC%20-%20U.S.%20Individual%20Notification%20Letter.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noopener">contacting both current and former employees</a> after discovering internal data was compromised in a breach orchestrated through <a href="https://www.oracle.com/applications/ebusiness/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oracle’s E-Business Suite</a> (EBS) service in the summer of 2025.</p> <p>The New York-based Estée Lauder group told victims that on or around 9 August 2025, an unauthorised third party gained access to its EBS system and was able to obtain data including names, postal and email addresses, dates of birth, US Social Security numbers, passport data, bank details, health information, and internal human resources (HR) data such as payroll and performance reviews.</p> <p>“After learning of the issue with the Oracle E-Business Suite system, we quickly launched an investigation and worked with leading outside cyber security experts to determine the nature and scope of the issue and impacted information,” the firm said.</p> <p>“We also notified law enforcement authorities. We have put in place additional safeguards to further protect the system.”</p> <p>The firm is offering affected employees access to identity monitoring through Kroll, and advising people to remain alert for suspicious inbound contacts.</p> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Ransomware gang"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Ransomware gang</h2> <p>Multiple firms were compromised via their EBS instances over a three-month period, <a href="https://cloud.google.com/blog/topics/threat-intelligence/oracle-ebusiness-suite-zero-day-exploitation" target="_blank" rel="noopener">most prominently by the Clop/Cl0p ransomware gang</a>. For a time, there was also some suggestion that individuals associated with the ShinyHunters collective were involved in exploit activity, but according to threat researchers, there was not enough evidence to verify this.</p> <p>Many of these breaches are thought to have <a href="https://www.halcyon.ai/ransomware-research-reports/security-alert-cl0p-abuses-oracle-e-business-suite-for-account-takeover" target="_blank" rel="noopener">originated via a number of flaws</a>, most prominently a remote code execution (RCE) flaw in the widely used service, tracked as CVE-2025-61882. <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366632397/Oracle-patches-E-Business-suite-targeted-by-Cl0p-ransomware" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Oracle patched this particular vulnerability in October 2025</a>.</p> <p>Estée Lauder has neither confirmed nor denied that it was attacked by Cl0p gangsters, or whether or not it was affected by ransomware.</p> <p>Commenting on the firm’s update, Dray Agha, <a href="https://www.huntress.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Huntress</a> senior manager of security operations, said: “The Estée Lauder breach highlights the cascading threat of mass-exploitation campaigns targeting enterprise platforms like Oracle EBS, demonstrating how a single vulnerability can hand attackers a highly toxic mix of employee financial, health and identity data while giving them a multiple-month head start to weaponise it before victims are even aware.</p> <p>“Beyond the technical failure, this is a deeply human issue for the retail and beauty industry. A brand’s reputation is built on trust, and failing to protect the highly sensitive health, financial and identity records of the very employees who represent the company creates a devastating personal crisis for the workforce. For today’s socially conscious consumers, how a brand protects and treats its own people is just as important as how it protects customer credit cards.”</p> </section> <section class="section main-article-chapter" data-menu-title="Widespread attacks"> <h2 class="section-title"><i class="icon" data-icon="1"></i>Widespread attacks</h2> <p>The Cl0p ransomware gang has an established modus operandi built up over several distinct campaigns over the years. Historically, it seeks out and exploits vulnerable services – often file transfer software packages – and compromises multiple victims simultaneously. These campaigns are often rather more successful than the gang has capacity to manage, and result in <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366621086/Clop-resurgence-drives-ransomware-attacks-in-February" target="_blank" rel="noopener">noticeable spikes</a> in ransomware statistics.</p> <p>Its Oracle EBS campaign was no exception to this, with multiple other victims of the campaign already identified, many of them in the higher education sector. These include US Ivy League colleges <a href="https://www.thedartmouth.com/article/2026/01/more-than-40000-hit-by-dartmouth-data-breach" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dartmouth</a>, <a href="https://www.darkreading.com/cyberattacks-data-breaches/harvard-breached-oracle-zero-day-attack" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Harvard</a> and <a href="http://cyberscoop.com/university-pennsylvania-oracle-e-business-suite-clop-attacks/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Penn</a>.</p> <p>Other known victims include New York City entertainment and sports venue <a href="https://www.scworld.com/brief/oracle-ebs-breach-hits-madison-square-garden" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Madison Square Garden</a>, and a US subsidiary of UK-based events and publishing business <a href="https://www.teiss.co.uk/news/oracle-ebs-data-breach-compromised-close-to-6000-informa-employees-17482" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Informa</a>.</p> <div class="extra-info"> <div class="extra-info-inner"> <h3 class="splash-heading">Read more about ransomware</h3> <ul class="default-list"> <li>Proposals to ban UK government organisations from paying ransomware gangs appear to have lost momentum. The conversation should move towards making critical systems <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/opinion/Ransomware-bans-wont-stop-ransomware-Resilience-might" target="_blank" rel="noopener">more resilient to attack</a>.</li> <li>Data from the UK’s Report Fraud service reveals the scope of ransomware attacks is going underreported, with few businesses confident enough to <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366645146/UK-businesses-fear-stigma-of-ransomware" target="_blank" rel="noopener">identify themselves as victims</a>.</li> <li>Ransomware pressure and stricter resilience expectations are exposing a gap that Gulf enterprises have <a href="https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366644014/Gulf-enterprises-face-the-resilience-gap-ransomware-is-exposing" target="_blank" rel="noopener">not fully confronted</a>.</li> </ul> </div> </div> </section> Employee data at US-based cosmetics firm Estée Lauder was compromised through a vulnerability in Oracle’s software, likely orchestrated by the Cl0p ransomware gang https://cdn.ttgtmedia.com/visuals/ComputerWeekly/Hero%20Images/Skincare-cosmetics-2-adobe.jpg https://www.computerweekly.com/news/366645849/Cosmetics-giant-Estee-Lauder-victim-of-mass-Oracle-breach Mon, 20 Jul 2026 14:27:00 GMT 60 webmaster@techtarget.com