Visa creates Visa Business Hub to help SMBs with technology and strategy

· Visa Business Hub to provide software-as-a-service (pay as you use) services that can help SMBs save up to 25% on IT expenses

· A Business Academy on the hub will provide latest trends on a range of topics via videos and expert opinions

· Malaysia and Singapore are the first markets to try the hub

Visa has set up the Visa Business Hub for small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) to help them navigate potentially confusing technology and gain insights on managing their companies better. Singapore and Malaysia are the first markets where the hub has been launched.

About 80% of companies in Singapore say in a survey that their decision to acquire SaaS/cloud was because of ‘best practice’ – that this technology is seen as ‘the way forward’ and not a fad. Among users of SaaS/cloud, 37% expect to upgrade or take on more software. Upgraders are motivated by cost saving, efficiency, but most of all just by ‘keeping up with technology’.

According to the survey, about half of Malaysian businesses conduct international trade. CRM software is the least adopted software, but like other software, it increases in adoption with larger SMBs (30+ employees).

The hub incorporates software-as-a-service that Visa says can help companies save up to 25% on IT expenses. The pay-on-use model  reduces upfront costs and implementation time for IT. A Business Academy section will provide tips on business success via videos and expert opinions. The hub includes resources related to sales, marketing and customer communication, work collaboration, project management and customer relationship management (CRM), human resources, accounting and legal, and website building and hosting. 

The platform is also designed to help banks increase usage of commercial cards (also called corporate cards, or cards that are issued to companies for corporate use) by allowing offers and discounts relating to SaaS and cloud services to be paid for through a commercial card.

“SMBs are a key segment for Singapore, given that they contribute to almost 50% of our country’s GDP and 70% of the workforce. At Visa, we constantly look to create solutions that are innovative and meet the needs of our clients. The launch of Visa Business Hub will be able to address the key strategies that SMBs mall are looking for, including improving customer service and increasing productivity through streamlining of processes,” said Ooi Huey Tyng, Visa Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei. 

Awareness of cloud services is at 76%, and overall usage is at 34%. The survey also revealed that 40% of businesses might consider SaaS or cloud services in the future, showing that there is a need for a platform such as the Hub.

Vikram Kshettry, Head of Small Business Products, Asia Pacific, Visa said, “Modern businesses face increased demands from their stakeholders to be digitally-enabled and this is often daunting.  With the portal, SMBs can improve cash flow, optimise business processes, while reducing IT spend and complexity.  SMBs can also access advice and coaching from industry leaders on how to stay competitive.  For Visa clients, the portal will ensure deeper engagement with SMB customers and differentiate their solutions.”

Interested?

Visit the Visa Business Hub. The first six digits of a Visa commercial card must be input to enter the site.

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New e-book offers advice on aceing the resume, the interview and more

iCIMS, a provider of software-as-a-service (SaaS) talent acquisition software solutions, has introduced the second in a two-part series of e-books designed to help job candidates in their search. Searching for the Perfect Job: The Resume, Interview, and More is now available for complimentary download on the company's thought leadership site, the Hire Expectations Institute™.

Earlier this year, iCIMS conducted a survey of 700 job seekers and found that many do not know what to expect from the screening process or how to set themselves apart from other qualified candidates. By accessing the rich data available within 2,200+ customers' use of the company's flagship Applicant Tracking System, iCIMS Recruit, the Hire Expectations Institute research team was able to analyse more than 1.3 million jobs created in 2013 and survey more than 450 recruiting professionals to provide a better understanding of their hiring practices.

"Today the job market is very competitive with a lot of qualified candidates vying for available positions," said iCIMS Chief Marketing Officer, Susan Vitale. "We created this e-book series to offer job seekers a glimpse into the minds of recruiting professionals and the talent recruitment industry so they know what to expect, and therefore how to properly prepare to land the job they want.

According to iCIMS' research, 42% of recruiters do not like to see alternatives to traditional resumes, such as infographics and personal websites. More than half (54%) believe that non-traditional resumes should only be used when it is appropriate to the job being applied for. This study points out these recruiting professional preferences to provide job seekers with the information they need to separate themselves from other candidates and get recognition from potential employers.

Below are a few excerpts from the new e-book:

• Cover letters are still useful – 59% of recruiters consider the cover letter a useful tool, and 25% claim that the absence of a cover letter will result in disqualification. It is in the job seeker's best interest to submit a well-written cover letter with their job application. 
• Recruiters search online – 76% of recruiters say that they "always" or "sometimes" perform a Google search on candidates before hiring them. Furthermore, 40% of recruiters report finding online information that disqualified a candidate from consideration. 
• Behavioural interviews are common – 45% of recruiters will ask the job seeker for specific examples of past work experiences and 32% reported conducting unstructured interviews based on the individual's application documents. 
• Use specific examples to demonstrate soft skills – Soft skills like communication and teamwork must be demonstrated by adding examples to the resume and cover letter in order to make the resume stand out. 

"The end goal of talent acquisition and recruiting is to connect qualified individuals to positions that are mutually beneficial and rewarding for both candidate and employer," Vitale added. "By using candidate-friendly technologies, such as easy-to-navigate, mobile-optimised career portals and iCIMS' applicant screening tools, employers can effectively find the best fit for a job while balancing a positive candidate experience."

To view the e-book visit the iCIMS Hire Expectations Institute site. iCIMS' thought leadership site offers the latest information about industry trends and best practices for employers along with content specific to job seekers.

Early adopters of cloud-based software are seeing clear payback: IBM

IBM has announced that nearly half of the businesses using Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) are achieving competitive advantage, rather than simply reducing costs, according to a recent global survey involving with more than 800 IT and business decision makers that was conducted by the IBM Center for Applied Insights.

The study confirms that SaaS is delivering on a wide array of benefits, on top of lowering total cost of ownership, and shows that organisations that strategically and collaboratively deploy SaaS are able to execute on programmes that drive business growth better than their peers who lag with SaaS deployments.  

Princess Cruise Lines, which organises cruises in Southeast Asia among other destinations, originally turned to SaaS to save money and benefit from increased efficiencies while gaining instant access to technology resources. 

Over time, the company realised that the IBM Connections social software platform, delivered as a service through the cloud, fostered a more team-oriented environment that encouraged more innovative thinking. Princess uses this as a competitive differentiator in the market to tout its superior customer service, the net effect of a socially advanced workforce.

Nearly one in five companies that responded to IBM’s survey has deployed SaaS broadly and is now gaining competitive advantage as a result. Specifically, compared to peers that are newer or less advanced with their SaaS adoption, these "Pacesetters" are:

·        79% more likely to have increased collaboration across their organisation and ecosystem through SaaS
·        More than twice as likely to have leveraged analytics across the organisation to turn big data into insights using SaaS
·        More than twice as likely to have increased innovation using SaaS
       
“It’s common knowledge that deploying SaaS broadly has economic advantages, but the truly innovative companies have recognised that SaaS delivers real competitive advantage to fuel top-line growth, as well,” said Craig Hayman, IBM General Manager, Industry Solutions and executive sponsor of the study. 

IBM unveiled the industry’s first cloud-suites for the entire c-suite in June 2013. A series of new SaaS applications were announced yesterday. 

Global spending on SaaS is expected to reach US$45.6B by 2017, according to industry estimates. SaaS is often used by line-of-business leaders who are looking to deploy technology to rapidly provide their teams with needed functionality, increase productivity and address new market opportunities. In fact, industry analysts estimate that by 2017, CMOs will spend more on IT than CIOs, while Forrester reports that 65 percent of business leaders have plans to buy technology for their group without involving IT at all.

However, circumventing IT to deploy SaaS without provisioning and securing it first can have unintended consequences, and IBM’s study suggests that organisations in which IT and business leaders work together to select, secure and deploy SaaS applications are the ones who see the greatest payback.
Click here for more information, or to download the full report.  

*To gain a better understanding about how leaders are unlocking competitive advantage through SaaS, the IBM Center for Applied Insights** conducted a survey of 879 IT and line-of-business decision makers in six countries globally, including Brazil, China, India, South Africa, the UK and US. Twenty-two percent of respondents are C-level executives (10% C-level IT and 12% in other C-suite roles). They work in enterprises of varying sizes, 20% with 10,000 or more employees and, at the other end of the spectrum, 40% with fewer than 2,500 employees.

IBM Kenexa Talent Suite puts big data to work for HR

IBM today announced a new software-as-service (SaaS) that allows Chief Human Resources Officers (CHROs) and C-Suite executives to gain actionable insights into the data shared by their staff. 

With the cloud-based IBM Kenexa Talent Suite, organisations can streamline and add precision to hiring practices, increase workforce productivity and connect employees in ways that impact business results. 

The software allows HR resources to sift through large volumes of employee data – such as work experience, social engagement, skills development and individual interests – to identify the qualities that make top performers successful. They can then use the findings to locate individuals on social recruiting sites whose skills match these qualities. 

“We know people are the lifeblood of an organisation, and business success on today’s stage requires not just talent but social capabilities that can energise, empower and nurture each team member so they can reach their full potential,” said Craig Hayman, General Manager, Industry Cloud Solutions, IBM. “By combining social, behavioural science and analytics in the cloud, we give businesses a clear path to empower their most valued asset – employees.” 


According to an upcoming IBM C-Suite study that surveyed 342 CHROs representing 18 industries, many businesses are not taking full advantage of the insights delivered by workforce big data and analytics. The study found that just over half of organisations are using workforce analytics, with far fewer applying predictive analytics to optimise decision making and outcomes in areas such as sourcing and recruiting (7%), employee engagement and commitment (9%), talent development (10%) and retention (13%).

The CHRO study also found that human resources executives are in the early stages of applying social approaches within the organisation. Currently, 66% are regularly using social for their recruiting efforts, but only 31% are using it for knowledge sharing and 41% for learning.
 
AMC Entertainment, which is majority-owned by China's Dalian Wanda group, uses recruitment technologies from IBM to gain a deep understanding through data analytics of what it takes to succeed at the organisation. AMC then uses that knowledge to attract candidates who are more likely to succeed once they're hired.  

“Harnessing the power of data gives us a better picture of what top talent looks like in our industry. IBM’s talent management solutions allow us to use data in new ways so we can make better informed decisions that have a greater impact on our business,” said Heather Jacox, Director, Diversity, Recruitment & Development at AMC.

The IBM Kenexa Talent Suite includes the following:
·        Talent acquisition: Includes recruitment, skill and behavioural science-based assessments and onboarding. These functions provide a deep understanding of what the best talent looks like and then how to attract, hire and engage them. 

·        Talent optimisation: Includes performance management, succession planning and compensation planning to empower and get the most out of employees. 

·        Social networking:  Increases productivity with expertise identification and knowledge discovery – connecting employees and accelerating the time to productivity.