Utilities: the most critical industry in the world, says Vertiv

Utilities, including electricity, gas, nuclear power and water treatment, are the most critical industries in the world according to a new ranking from Vertiv, formerly Emerson Network Power.

Vertiv convened a panel of global critical infrastructure experts to systematically quantify and rank the criticality of multiple industries based on 15 criteria. Mass transit—specifically rail and air transportation—ranked second on the list, followed by telecommunications, upstream oil and gas activity and cloud and colocation. The full list is available in a new report, Ranking the World’s Most Critical Industries, released today.

Source: Vertiv website.

The panel set criteria encompassing the range of potential impacts from the loss of availability of critical systems and weighted them based on the severity of the impact. These criteria then were used to create a criticality rubric the panel used to score the industries, which then were ranked by their average scores.

“If there is a common theme at the top of this list, it is the interconnectedness of these industries,” said Jack Pouchet, VP, market development, Vertiv. “These sectors are important to the foundation of today’s society, and downtime in any of these areas can reverberate across industries and around the globe. This will only continue as our world becomes more mobile and more connected and as the Internet of Things (IoT) expands.”

Clean power and water are fundamental needs in a developed society and underpin most other industries and services, making utilities a clear choice as the most critical industry. Mass transit ranked second, with panelists citing not just the safety of travellers, but the massive impact delays and disruptions can have across multiple businesses, markets and the world. The No. 3 ranking for telecommunications reflects the importance of communications and connectivity in personal and business activities and emergency situations.

Financial services topped the list of industries ranking highest in terms of financial impact of unplanned downtime. E-commerce was second, followed by cloud and colocation. Cloud and colocation also ranked fifth overall in the list of most critical industries due to the increased dependence on those platforms across multiple businesses. The panel also identified cloud and colocation as one of several rapidly emerging industries that are becoming increasingly critical.

“Cloud and colocation growth continues to accelerate,” said Tony Gaunt, panelist and Senior Director for colocation, cloud and banking, financial services and insurance for Vertiv in Asia. “We are right at the beginning of the up curve for core industries’ cloud adoption, and it’s likely that future critical services—the IoT networks that support smart cities and manufacturing, for example—will develop in the cloud.”

Interested?

Get the Ranking the World’s Most Critical Industries report

To see how other industries rank, use the Criticality Calculator

Parallels' Windows enhancement tools save time, effort

Source: Parallels. Parallels Toolbox for Windows is a great sidekick for Windows users.

Parallels, a global leader in cross-platform solutions and creator of software for running Windows applications on a Mac, has launched Parallels Toolbox for Windows to streamline common computing tasks.

“Parallels Toolbox for Mac received an outstanding response after its initial launch last August, so we decided to bring these time-saving benefits to Windows users,” said Jack Zubarev, Parallels President. “Now, whether you use a PC or Mac, you can simply and quickly get tasks done on either platform.”

Parallels Toolbox for Windows is a go-to resource for accomplishing daily tasks, at a lower price than a single utility from competitors. Tools that save time and effort include the ability to easily download and convert YouTube videos, take specialised screenshots, block the computer’s built-in camera and record a video of your screen.

Some of these functionalities may be available in Windows but relatively inaccessible, or they may not be available at all. Users would typically have to buy a third party app to provide a single function, whereas Parallels Toolbox for Windows includes a wide range of utilities for an affordable yearly subscription.

Capabilities in Parallels Toolbox for Windows include:

• Archive: Create compressed archives from your files to save space or easily share files

• Block camera: Block the built-in camera so applications will no longer have access to it

• Capture area: Take a screenshot of a part of the screen

• Capture screen: Take a screenshot of the entire screen and save in different formats (PNG, JPEG, TIFF, PDF and GIF)

• Capture window: Take a screenshot of a single window

• Convert video: Convert many video types to MP4 so they can be played on phones and tablets

• Do not disturb: Disable notifications and animations that would interrupt your work or presentation

• Do not sleep: Prevent the computer from going to sleep

• Download video: Download video from the Internet to the computer

• Eject volumes: Eject all external hard drives, memory cards, network volumes and mounted disk images with one click

• Hide desktop: Hide icons on the desktop for clutter-free presentations

• Lock screen: Lock the screen to prevent unauthorised access

• Launch: Open several items—such as applications, folders, links or other files—all at once with just one click

• Mute microphone: Mute the computer’s microphone

• Record area: Record video from a selected area on the screen

• Record audio: Record audio from the microphone

• Record screen: Record video of the entire screen

• Record window: Record video from a single window

• Take photo: Take photos immediately using the PC’s camera

• Take video: Immediately use the computer camera to take video with the click of a button

• Unarchive: Unpack various file compression formats—such as RAR, RPM, XAR, and Z—to obtain usable files

Interested?

Free trials of Parallels Toolbox for Windows 1.0, as well as Parallels Toolbox for Mac 1.7, are available online. Each version is available for US$9.99 per year, and includes free future updates with additional tools as they are added.

Global recruiter Airswift Holdings has 57 operating locations

Source: Airswift Holdings. From left, Duncan Gregson, CEO of Air Energi; Janette Marx, COO, Airswift, Ian Langley, Chairman, Airswift; Peter Searle, CEO, Airswift; and Tobias Reed, CEO of Swift Worldwide Resources.

Air Energi Group and Swift Worldwide Resources have merged to form Airswift Holdings. a company specialising in global recruitment for contract staff and permanent hires, resource consultancy, global mobility and managed solutions for the energy, process and infrastructure industries. 

The company will have a total of 57 operating locations and three corporate hubs, in the UK, the US and Singapore.

LinkedIn's Asia Pacific members mostly from tech, financial sectors

Need to reach a particular industry? You're in luck if you are looking for people in tech-related industries and would like to mine LinkedIn's professional network for the right audience targets. 

IT & Services is the top industry for Asia Pacific LinkedIn members, while Telecommunications, Computer Software, Semiconductors and Internet also appear.

Financial Services professionals are also easily reached through the LinkedIn network, according to the table below. The other industries in the top five regionally are Oil & Energy and Hospitality, but are likely highly represented in other countries in the region, rather than those shown.

 

Source: LinkedIn