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Computers & Software Technology U.K U.S

Review Your Cybersecurity Stack to Stop API Breaches

Earlier this month (January 2023, if you’re reading this in the future), T-Mobile revealed that it had been hacked and had the information of 37,000,000 customers stolen. 

The company filed an 8-K form with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which is a document that companies must file if there is a development that shareholders should be aware of.

The form stated that the company had “…identified that a bad actor was obtaining data through a single Application Programming Interface (“API”) without authorization.”

Data breaches that exploit API security flaws are not new. Last year, a leading cybersecurity journal, SC Media, reported that API security incidents affected 95% of the surveyed organisations in 2021-22.

In a more recent article, the magazine discusses how re-evaluating the cybersecurity stack of the company might be essential for stopping API breaches.

If you aren’t sure what an API is, this article might be difficult to follow. So, to answer your question (and feel free to skip to the next section if you already know)…

What’s an API?

An API is a bit of software that helps two different applications “talk” to each other. APIs can be very useful in application and software development because they save you the time and effort of building a tool when something already exists. 

Simply use an API to get that tool to show up within your application and you’re done.

It’s like when you want to show your location on the map on your website. Why code your own map when you can use Google Maps and have it show up on your website using an API?

Why Are APIs Vulnerable to Attacks?

The problem is, with so many applications being built, the use of APIs has increased exponentially.

Since APIs are programs that transfer information between two entities, they are prime targets for those who want access to that information.

As a result, cyberattacks that exploit APIs are on the rise.

According to the SC Media article, the rate at which APIs are being developed makes them difficult to secure.

On top of that, most companies don’t even know how many APIs they have, let alone a complete list. So, they have no idea how many of their APIs can access sensitive information.

Finally, the biggest problem APIs are facing is attacks using bots. Malicious automation is used to find vulnerabilities in the APIs as well as to exploit these vulnerabilities to gain access.

That means bots can quickly—at a much, much faster rate than a human—get access to a company’s database and grab information that can then be used for nefarious purposes.

Now, don’t get me wrong. It’s not like developers aren’t doing anything to secure their APIs. API management best practices include a discussion about security. However, regular security tools, like WAFs and API gateways, can be inadequate for bot attacks.

Is Re-Evaluating Your Cybersecurity Stack the Answer?

In the article, SC Media cites a report by Forrester (Planning Guide 2023: Security and Risk) which says companies must evolve their defences to keep up with the evolving threats. 

That might mean reviewing your current cybersecurity stacks and removing tactics and solutions that don’t work. CISOs should also be focusing on API security and bot management in 2023, the article advises.

Another thing to keep in mind is that the bot defence should be “proactive and dynamic”. Companies should be aware of the potential vulnerabilities of their products and plan their defences accordingly, and not rely on a one-size-fits-all approach.

As the bots evolve and change their attack methods, your API security should be smart enough to block them from every direction. If it’s not, then it might be time to take a look at it with a critical eye.

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Business Marketing & Sales Media & Communications Professional Services U.S

Ross B. Williams, Founder of Modern Profits, Reveals How Personal Branding Can Be a Game Changer for Entrepreneurs

Personal branding has become one of the most important foundations for entrepreneurs as they build a business and professional reputation to promote their image to their ideal clients and there are three crucial keys to ensure personal branding success. Unfortunately, if these are not part of the initial business strategy, it can derail the best laid out plans since personal branding is much more than color combinations, fonts, and a cool logo. It is, in fact, an essential ingredient for every aspect of marketing a business that includes websites, social media posts, advertising, and everything digital.

Ross B. Williams, founder of Modern Profits, is a Personal Branding Strategist and he says, “When personal branding is done correctly, it will differentiate you from your competition and elevate your reputation, but business branding is very different from personal branding. Not only do you need to understand the difference between the two, but you also must understand why you need both. You can be successful at your business but if your personal branding is not aligned with who you are, you are missing opportunities that ultimately affect your bottom line.” 

Williams, who was recently interviewed on Tampa Bay’s Morning Blend, the local ABC-TV station, has a unique background as a personal branding strategist.  He has contributed multi-seven–figure sales revenue to several companies with his mastery of sales and uses his business building skills and digital marketing expertise to help successful business owners dramatically increase revenue by transforming their personal brand.  When he works with his clients, he incorporates three crucial keys to ensure personal branding success.

1. Personal branding should reflect the entrepreneur’s authentic self. A personal brand should be an accurate, yet authentic, version of who the entrepreneur is so they attract the types of clients with whom they want to work. According to Ross B. Williams, this is crucial for ultimate success, “I see a lot of successful entrepreneurs promoting their lifestyle on social media, for example, but I have no idea what they actually do, what business they’re in, or how I can help them by referring business. If people don’t know what you do, they can’t refer business to you and that is why a personal brand is so important.”

Ross continues, “The ultimate point to keep in mind is that people buy from people so your personal brand is a reflection of you even when you’re not the face of a company. Since you are promoting yourself, you need to create your branding assets according to your personality. If you are selling something that’s not true to you, others will feel it.” 

2. Entrepreneurs must build their personal brand alongside their business brand. Today, more than ever, it’s not enough to build a business brand, but entrepreneurs need to build a personal brand in tandem as they build their business. Why? Williams advises, “It’s imperative that you begin with the end in mind. If you have an exit strategy when you build your business to sell it five years down the road, you only want to be the ‘face’ of a successful business without having your name tied to the brand because if you do, you can’t sell your business as a separate brand.”

Ross goes on to say, “If you choose to sell your business someday without a personal brand developed alongside your company, you’d have to start another business from scratch and cannot use your name on your business.”

3. The logo and color combinations are just “gift wrap” for a personal brand. Many entrepreneurs start their personal branding with a logo and branding board, but it is much more complex and scientific, according to Williams, “Personal branding starts with how you make people feel with what you do in your business, how you want to be portrayed and have others see you, then you wrap it in colors and design. The graphic designer understands the creative color combinations, fun fonts, and logo design, but most don’t understand which colors, and even fonts, trigger emotions and attract clients to buy from you before they even get to peek inside the box. These are psychological touch points that can dramatically increase sales and ultimately revenues.”

Content creation for personal branding can be overwhelming for most business owners and that’s why Ross B. Williams has put this all together in a done for you package that’s simple for any business owner. The key is not to build a little bit at a time and then try to bring it all together since that’s chaotic or doesn’t match. “Effective personal branding demands that social media, photos, graphic design, and media are cohesive and congruent so that it extends your digital footprint and your omnipresence.” Ross concludes.

Ross helps coaches, consultants, entrepreneurs, and business owners build their personal brand with his brand accelerator package. This helps entrepreneurs perfect their messaging and expand their digital footprint with a website, funnel, social media, and press that seamlessly work together as a cohesive brand that people remember and buy from. 

Ross B. Williams works with clients based in the U.S. and around the world to develop personal branding strategies that get results. He is available for Personal Branding Strategy sessions and can be contacted at RossBWilliams.com or connect with Ross on Instragram.

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Professional Services Technology U.S

A Case For Consolidating Insurance Systems and Data

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Insurance has been in existence since 1750 BC. With such a history, it’s logical to assume that any technology used in the industry is a recent phenomenon. 

And, it’s probably been adapted and adopted piecemeal.

The problem is, when solutions are bolted on bit by bit, they don’t really work well together. In an article by Damco (a digital transformation and technology company), insurance companies are advised to consolidate their disparate systems.

The article starts by talking about how various systems that try to coordinate with each other can lead to friction in internal communication, optimisation of processes, and collaboration within the business.

More importantly, it can also negatively impact customer-facing metrics. 

A multitude of systems spread across multiple databases doesn’t really scream “synergy”. To create synergy (and we all love buzzwords!), insurers must consider insurance systems and data consolidation.

The article discusses the three important reasons to do so:

  • Harnessing the power of data to grow the business
  • Giving customers a seamless and consistent experience
  • Improving product offerings

Business Intelligence and Data Management

Information is power. When it’s your business’s information, you want to use it to accelerate your growth. For that, however, this data needs to be accessible and cohesive.

Siloed information gives you parts of the story. Then, you either need to patch it all together to get the complete picture or stockpile information in vast quantities without getting any value out of it.

For insurers, this information is especially important. According to the Financial Times, technology has failed to disrupt the insurance industry because people don’t want to think about insurance.

In such a scenario, any bit of information that could help you improve your figures is invaluable.

Suppose the marketing department has information that can help the sales team, or the sales team has client information that could help marketing design a better campaign. That information needs to be accessible for you to exploit it.

Segregated data also means the formats could be different or it is tagged inconsistently. So, even if all teams have access to it, it doesn’t have the same impact or meaning for everyone.

Part of data management is bringing it all together in a consistent way so all teams have equal access to it. That means everyone has the complete picture, resulting in better decision-making.

Customer Experience and Satisfaction

Marketing today is not limited to one channel or format; neither is communication. You may advertise your wares through paid ads, social media, knowledge-sharing blogs, and more. Your customer could find you through any one of these.

Then, they could contact you via email, phone call, or maybe a LiveChat feature on your website. Or, a combination of these.

Good customer service would mean that once the customer contacts you, they don’t have to introduce themselves in great detail in any subsequent interactions.

If they have to share their information over and over again, they are not going to be happy.

Similarly, if they’ve already bought a product, they don’t want to see ads for the same one. At the same, you don’t want to miss out on the chance to upsell to existing customers.

When you have a consolidated insurance and data management system, it’s easier to have all of this information accessible (and ready to be utilised efficiently and seamlessly).

Product Development and Innovation

In the process of insurance evolution, the one trend that has emerged is that people want customisable products. 

Customisation makes sense as well. People have different needs (and different risks). Something like insurance cannot be a “one size fits all” kind of deal.

If you could offer your customers a product that was designed for them, you’d see better satisfaction levels. And, they’d be more likely to buy from you. 

However, in order to do so, you need to have a well-rounded profile of your customers. That would enable your marketing team to plan a campaign designed for them, your sales team to pitch the product to them, and your underwriter to calculate their risks and premiums.

That’s how you’d be able to offer them products they just can’t refuse.

Of course, you’d need a well-planned strategy in order to get everything together, along with a software solution that works for you. For example, a Third Party Administrator product would help link different business processes under one “roof”.

The key is to design a roadmap that works for you and then select the technology that will help you get there.

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Computers & Software Technology U.K U.S

Luminos Software to Offer App Development Services to Start-Up Companies

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Leading app development company, Luminos Software, now offers app development to start-ups. 

The business is known for building digital products on fully flexible terms for its clients. Now, it offers a complete lifecycle app development service to visionaries who have a new idea and want to take it to market.

The services include helping clients develop their concept, designing the user journey and experience, building a Minimum Viable Product (MVP), and scaling up with an off-shore development team, the business claims.

Luminos Software explains that it only hires experienced teams and talent. That is the reason why it can offer clients any tech stack they require. As such, the company offers expertise in Ruby on Rails, Python, Django, Node.js, React, React Native, Ember, and Flutter.

The company also promises unlimited scalability, which allows clients to rest assured that as their user base grows, their app will be able to handle the load.

Scalability can be very important, the business explains, as start-ups should ideally launch an MVP before they bring out the full-scale product.

That, the business claims, is its main focus for start-up clients.

An MVP is an app that has the minimum feature set required to make it viable, the company explains. Since it doesn’t have non-essential features, it’s quick and affordable to build, which allows enterprises to quickly get their apps out onto the market.

Since the MVP encapsulates the business’ core idea, it helps them identify any issues with their product and get feedback from real users. Luminos points out that it also allows them to determine if the idea is viable or not.

In short, an MVP can help clients manage their funding and budget better. By releasing a stripped-down version of their product, a company can release a low-cost version, which can be used both for marketing the product to both users and potential investors.

The funding from this version can then be used to fund further iterations of the product. In each iteration, more features can be added based on the product roadmap and the feedback received from users.

Luminos also emphasises that since an MVP is a minimalist product, clients often need help in identifying the essential feature set they would need in the first draft. They would also need to prioritise the remaining features and decide when to add them.

The Product Consulting service is designed to help in such situations, the company claims. Using its expertise and experience, Luminos provides clients with a roadmap that will maximise their investment and help them get the most out of their idea.

Luminos Software allows businesses to develop smart solutions. The company offers complete lifecycle app development, starting from developing the concept to scaling up. To learn more about what the business offers, please visit https://www.luminos.software/ 

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Automotive Living Technology U.K U.S

Parking Management Software Market Size Forecast to Reach a Revenue of $8.60B in 2030

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Having innovative technologies such as payment digitalisation, enforcement processes, access control, and reporting at the core, parking management software is fast gaining currency among local authorities and private parking companies.

Global smart parking management market size was valued at $4.38B in 2022. It is forecasted to hit a staggering $8.60B, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 12.50% between 2022 and 2030, according to an article by Market Research Future (MRFR) published in Digital Journal.

What is a parking management system?

A parking management solution helps optimise parking spaces, better manage the influx of vehicles, and ensure the safety of both people and vehicles.  

It aids in managing vehicles efficiently by offering full control of the entire lifecycle of parking enforcement information—from issue to recovery and the stages in between.

Driving forces behind the increasing demand for parking management software

The parking management market is gaining traction as more and more companies look to optimise their parking spaces. 

In addition, the rising number of vehicles, growing global demand for smooth traffic flow, and rapid development of smart cities are the pivotal factors promoting the adoption of automated parking management solutions, particularly across some regions of the world.

According to MRFR, due to developers creating additional spaces instead of not making the most of the existing ones, many parking slots remain unutilised.

The solution: leveraging state-of-the-art parking management software.

By notifying keepers of empty parking spaces, a class-leading parking management system with improved signage and real-time parking indicators helps minimise parking space waste. The result: fortified customer experience and a substantial saving on time and fuel.

On top of that, a high-end parking management system helps differentiate between under-pricing and overpricing parking spaces, enabling improved revenue management that leads to effective resource utilisation.

An integrated, cost-effective parking management solution can often address parking requirements by 20-40%, offering many social, economic, and environmental benefits.. 

How the Covid-19 pandemic affected the global parking management software market

Along with vehicle manufacturing activities, parking management software production remained halted in response to the Covid-19 pandemic. 

Many countries enforced stringent regulations declaring lockdowns and discouraged crowding on public vehicles and in transport stations. With declining need for parking management, the growth of the parking management software market witnessed a modest decrease for a short period. 

However, with more and more countries now easing travel and quarantine restrictions, the need for parking management is getting a substantial push. As a consequence, the demand for end-to-end cloud-based parking management software, such as ZatPark, is expected to increase.

North America to reign the global market

Accounting for more than 35% of the market share, North America reigned in the parking management software market last year. 

Countries with robust economies, such as the US and Canada, are the leaders in driving the growth of the parking management system industry across the region.

That said, with the demand for parking management systems on the rise, it’s critical for businesses to ensure enhanced user experience while also saving time and money. A high-end parking management system helps streamline enforcement and management for private enforcement companies and local authorities. 

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Business Education Marketing & Sales Professional Services U.S

Ross B. Willimas to host The Modern Profits Mastermind Cruise For Entrepreneurs

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Orlando, Florida – January 9th, 2023 – Ross B. Willimas founder of Modern Profits is hosting the second Modern Profits Mastermind Cruise For Entrepreneurs. This is an exclusive entrepreneur experience business owners won’t get at other conferences or masterminds. At this mastermind, guests will learn business strategies, tactics, and tips all while networking and enjoying a luxury vacation on a beautiful cruise ship with amazing like-minded people.

During the mastermind attendees will enjoy 3-4 hours a day learning from a dozen expert speakers on how to grow their influence, dominate their market and turn their followers into dollars. Guests will learn skills in personal branding, the art of selling, and authority marketing and so much more. Business owners, coaches, and digital marketers that want more leads and more sales in their business can learn all the new trends from the best in the biz on this cruise.

At this event, entrepreneurs will meet and build relationships with other like-minded industry leaders. Daily activities will be held outside of the conference room to encourage everyone at the event to build meaningful long-lasting friendships and business relationships. Activities include beach cabanas, sailboats, snorkeling, dinners, and nightly networking parties. 

Attendees will enjoy awesome vacation time on an amazing cruise ship, relax in the pool, enjoy the private island and make new adventures on excursions.

The cruise will set sail on January 29th, 2023 on the MSC MERAVIGLIA out of Port Canaveral, Florida (Just outside of Orlando). It will be sailing to Nassau, Bahamas, and the private island Ocean Cay Marine Reserve.

MSC Meraviglia is packed with extraordinary features for the perfect experience at sea. Enjoy gourmet dining and out-of-this-world entertainment with new panoramic areas, an innovative ocean-view lounge, a two-deck “inside promenade” with an LED dome, and a spectacular amusement area connected to an outdoor water park. Best of all, MSC Meraviglia features late-night and overnight stays on our exclusive private island, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve, in The Bahamas

Exclusive to MSC Cruise guests, Ocean Cay MSC Marine Reserve was designed to show their appreciation of the environment and ensure they are doing their part to take care of the planet, all while giving guests a slice of paradise. With docking right on the island, guests can walk straight off the ship and onto 2 miles of white sand beaches where chairs, umbrellas, and cabanas await to help guests sit back and relax beside crystal blue waters.

For more information about the Modern Profits Mastermind Cruise For Entrepreneurs please click the link below.

www.ModernProfitsCruise.com

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Computers & Software Technology U.K U.S

S/4HANA Transformation: Protera Discusses the Role of SAP Migration Cockpit

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Protera, a global SAP® Partner, urges SAP-centric businesses to leverage class-leading automation tools along with SAP Migration Cockpit for a smooth S/4HANA migration.

Reliable and efficient data migration is critical to successfully implementing a new SAP system.

The SAP Migration Cockpit is a key tool in ensuring a successful data migration process. A central control repository, the SAP S/4 Migration Cockpit helps enterprises efficiently execute SAP HANA transitions and upgrades from legacy SAP and non-SAP systems.

Due to SAP sunsetting its mainstream support for SAP ERP Central Component (ECC) solution in 2027, enterprises are being pushed to migrate to the S/4HANA environment.

Even though S/4HANA is a rewrite of the predecessor SAP ECC, it’s a completely new system, which means migrating to SAP S/4HANA is a complex process requiring businesses to convert their legacy ERP data into a format that’s interpretable by S/4HANA.

With predefined migration objects, Migration Cockpit helps pinpoint and transfer business-critical data for a more streamlined S/4HANA transition. 

“Mapping is a system of rules that tell the SAP Migration Cockpit how to reorganize and reformat data for S/4HANA,” explains a spokesperson from Protera.“The data itself doesn’t change, but individual entries are—for example, if you had two vendor records and two customer records for one company, the system would combine all that data into a single business partner record, containing all the addresses and other data in those four records.”

By automating data migration and walking users through the process, the SAP Migration Cockpit offers in-depth insight into their progress. 

That said, even though Migration Cockpit aims to help businesses effortlessly implement their new SAP systems by minimizing conventional issues, it does have some shortfalls. 

SAP Migration Object may not be the most viable option for enterprises with custom fields in specific business objects—for tools specific to a company, the SAP Migration Cockpit system is not capable of moving custom fields to S/4HANA by default. 

Due to these custom fields failing to map to a standard S/4HANA configuration, enterprises need to add custom fields in their SAP S/4HANA system. 

Plus, they may need to create transformation rules for Migration Cockpit. 

According to Protera, before enterprises move their data to S/4HANA, they must build their own landscape following a string of steps—multiple cycles of planning, building, validation, and refining.

Combined with third-party automation tools, SAP Migration Cockpit can ensure a S/4HANA transformation journey that is efficient, non-disruptive, and cost-optimized, the company explains.

By helping spot custom codes, determine processing power requirements for a new S/4HANA system, and figure out upgrade dependencies, automation tools like Protera FlexBridge enable faster S/4HANA transition.

Serving as a central system for all migration tools a business requires, FlexBridge predicts migration timelines while also helping automate critical processes such as quality control and project management.

Built on 15+ years of SAP expertise, Protera FlexBridge is a high-end SAP digital transformation solution that ensures a company’s S/4HANA journey goes without a hitch.

Interested parties can learn more about Protera’s guide to SAP Migration Cockpit by visiting https://info.protera.com.

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Computers & Software Technology U.K U.S

Agile Solutions Releases New Guide on Cloud Data Lakehouse

Leading Data Management expert, Agile Solutions, recently released a guide on what Cloud Data Lakehouse is and the benefit it offers.

The business explains the difference between a Data Warehouse, a Data Lake, and a Data Lakehouse. 

A Data Warehouse is a repository for structured data, used to support business intelligence. However, since it only stores structured data, a Data Warehouse comes with certain limitations, such as more storage space required to organize information. For that reason, it also costs more.

In contrast, Data Lakes are databases that store semi-structured or unstructured data. Since the information is not organized, it requires less storage space and can be accessed quickly. Also, this type of storage costs less.

However, because it is not structured and organized, it is difficult to extract meaningful information from it.

A Data Lakehouse, explains the company, lies between these two extremes. While it has the capability to store unstructured and semi-structured data, it also has the power to glean data from it for analytics.

Unlike a Data Warehouse, where the data is organized, a Data Lakehouse assigns a metadata layer over the stored information. As a result, storing the information is cost effective, yet allows business intelligence reporting and visualization.

Consequently, Agile Solutions states that it’s possible to extract and analyze this information without having to use two different systems. More importantly, this raw and unstructured Data Storage system can be ideal for Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence integration.

The business goes on to explain how a Cloud Data Lakehouse is built and that the architecture can vary based on a business’s needs. Similar to the Data Warehouse and Data Lakes, it will be composed of ingestion, storage, processing, and consumption layers.

However, it will also have an additional metadata (Data Catalogue) layer. This layer is responsible for storing information about each object in the Cloud Data Lakehouse architecture.

Since a Cloud Data Lakehouse is effectively Cloud Data Lake storage running under a Cloud Data Warehouse processing capability, it provides a central space for storing all business data. 

Whether the information is structured, semi-structured, or unstructured, it can all be housed and analyzed together. The raw information does not need to be modified in order to make it compatible with a storage system.

As a result, a business can extract detailed information from this raw information for better Data Analytics, the company claims.

Since a business no longer needs two different Data Storage systems, Data Lakehouse enables the creation of a better, more robust, governance framework.

Another benefit Data Lakehouse offers is that, since all of the business’ data is in one place, data scientists can construct and carry out their own learning initiatives.

Data Lakehouse also helps in enabling ACID—or Atomicity, Consistency, Isolation, and Durability—transactions. This is a data transaction model where each transaction is complete and always consistent.

In short, the list of benefits cited is not exhaustive. However, Cloud Data Lakehouse can be a key aspect in maintaining DataIntegrity and reliability during a business’ Digital Transformation.

As the provider of data advice, support, and delivery services, Agile Solutions helps businesses ensure that their data reaches its full potential. To learn more about its solutions and the services it offers, please visit https://www.agilesolutions.co.uk/

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Health & Medicine Pharmaceuticals & Biotech Science Technology U.S

Decentralization Plays a Key Role in Enhancing Oncological Care, Says ObvioHealth

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New York, NY, Jan 20 — Leading Virtual research organization (VRO), ObvioHealth sheds light on the role of decentralized clinical trials(DCTs) in improving the quality of care for oncology patients.

“Extending the survivability of an illness is a key goal in the development of new medications, medical devices, and treatment protocols,” explains a spokesperson from ObvioHealth. “Increasing overall quality of care is an equally worthwhile objective. Incorporating DCT elements facilitates both goals.”

According to the VRO, conducting clinical trials is an effective way of improving the quality of life for cancer patients during and after treatment. However, clinical research in oncology isn’t reaching the patients who could benefit the most. 

Even though the barriers to clinical trial participation have been a topic of frequent research, no subsequent policy changes have shifted the paradigm enough to vastly change trial participation rates over time.  

Case in point: Clinical barriers (e.g., not meeting eligibility criteria) and structural barriers (e.g., the absence of an available clinical trial, travel cost, etc.) make trial participation unachievable for more than three-quarters of oncology patients, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. 

For cancer patients with rare, irremediable, or life-threatening physical conditions, DCT designs can bring new care options by increasing their access to innovative therapeutics. 

However, due to having logistic constraints, full decentralization is not feasible for some types of clinical trials in the oncology space. 

Delivering drugs to a patient’s home, maintaining drug stability, and hiring certified nurses to administer drugs to patients at home are some of the constraints to oncology trial decentralization. 

Despite these hurdles, adopting DCT elements through hybrid trial models is rapidly gaining momentum. 

As a more patient-centric approach to oncology trials, DCTs can streamline trial processes while also significantly enhancing trial logistics. 

A DCT’s potential to facilitate access by eliminating geographic barriers to entry is a game-changer for cancer research and treatment. With DCTs in place, local oncologists can refer patients to trial screenings without overwhelming a small community hospital that can’t support centralized research.

The VRO highlights DCT and hybrid clinical studies as the way forward to reduce patient burden in oncology trials. 

Even though much of oncology research still requires on-site participation, specific appointments are more administrative than interventional and don’t need the one-on-one involvement of a physician.

Allowing participants to volunteer for trials from the comfort of their homes, DCTs minimize the need for in-person visits, thus decreasing patient burden substantially.

In addition, participants’ reluctance to report symptoms or hesitation to contact their trial support staff if they develop side effects can impact data quality and ultimately, the accuracy of trial endpoints. 

DCT solutions include convenient in-app messaging tools that help patients communicate with physicians and flag symptoms that they might otherwise consider insignificant.

On top of this, by enabling real-time reporting and communication, DCT solutions drive data quality and allow study teams to make evidence-based, data-driven decisions around the effect of a treatment on a participant’s quality of life.

Instead of capturing a brief snapshot of a patient’s health during a clinical visit, DCT solutions enable study teams to gain a longitudinal view of how their patients’ health may be trending. Continuous monitoring of risk factors, health outcomes, or both, based on the symptoms logged by patients with ePRO, helps sponsors make data-driven decisions about patient care.

To navigate challenges to success and extend access to life-improving treatments for cancer patients, adopting the modular approach (e.g., leveraging digital questionnaires or online recruitment) to oncology trials is critical, explains ObvioHelath.

Headquartered in New York, NY, ObvioHealth is a global digital health company committed to driving innovation in healthcare. With its tech-enabled nextGen DCT platforms, ObvioHelath helps sponsors effortlessly produce robust therapeutic evidence. 

Interested parties can find more information about ObvioHealth by visiting https://www.obviohealth.com

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Computers & Software Technology U.S

What’s an IT Carve-Out? Ask Fission Consulting

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Chicago, IL, Jan 19th — Companies that are about to undergo a merger or separation will need to understand what an IT carve-out is and how the procedure starts. 

When a business unit is highly integrated, it can be challenging for the company to keep it solvent while selling it off completely. That’s when a business needs an IT carve-out. 

The most frequently asked questions when starting an IT carve-out project have been compiled by Fission Consulting, experts in complex IT transformations.

According to the company, “an IT carve-out refers to the activities needed to identify and separate NewCo’s IT assets from Parent’s IT environment. To operate as an independent company, NewCo will need to establish its own IT environment to support the business after separation.” 

If a company still owns equity in the subsidiary, a carve-out enables it to profit from a business sector that may not be a part of its core operations. A carve-out is comparable to a spin-off, but in a spin-off, existing shareholders receive shares from the parent company rather than acquiring new ones. 

In Fission’s latest FAQ guide, it helps clients succeed with their most significant IT transitions and transformations, and provides its clients with the necessary knowledge about IT carve-outs to ensure they do not lose. 

Fission defines IT carve-outs as identifying and separating NewCo’s IT assets from its Parent’s.

NewCo will need its own IT environment to function independently after separation. To operate NewCo’s business effectively, Parent’s critical systems are transferred into the company’s IT infrastructure.

To avoid disrupting business operations, IT carve-outs differ from typical system implementations.

For an IT carve-out, Fission suggests creating a project team with Parent, NewCo, and outside resources (where applicable).

Fission believes that the success of the IT carve-out signals success for the parent company. As a result of the TSA, NewCo will no longer rely on Parent’s IT infrastructure or its employees for support. All Parent data will be removed from NewCo’s environment on the first day of separation, and each company will behave differently.

With this advice, its clients can understand the importance of IT carve-outs, as well as the process and key points that will be of value to their business. 

The company urges companies who are separating a business unit from their current organization to understand the importance of the IT carve-out and know it. 

Interested parties can learn more about the IT carve-out in Fission’s latest FAQ guide at https://www.fissionconsulting.com/.