JG Summit to Upgrade Employee Experience Through Microsoft Office 365 and the Cloud Platform

JG Summit to Upgrade Employee Experience Through Microsoft Office 365 and the Cloud Platform

Tuesday, September 25

With a vision to become the leading digital conglomerate in the Philippines, JG Summit Holdings Inc. aims to achieve this goal through a digital transformation journey that will embed digitalization in its core business strategies to meet the evolving needs and lifestyle not just of its customers, but also of its employees.

“Our vision is to be the leading digital conglomerate in the Philippines. To achieve that goal, multiple groups within the JG Summit Business Units, Subsidiaries, and Affiliates have been working behind the scenes to bring about this transformation,” said JG Summit President and CEO Lance Y. Gokongwei.

Among the initiatives will be to upgrade the employee experience across the entire conglomerate through the use of Microsoft Office 365 and the cloud platform. JG Summit is transitioning from on-premise systems to Microsoft’s cloud services. 

Office 365 is a set of Microsoft applications that allows users belonging to the same network to store files and share information. Compared to earlier versions of Microsoft applications, Office 365 uses the cloud platform, which offers agility, greater efficiency and security benefits.

JG Summit’s move to the cloud platform will further enable its employees to transform their environment into a digital workplace. With this project, the conglomerate envisions a New Culture of Work where employees will be introduced to the Modern Digital Workplace which will empower people across the organization to achieve more by enabling better communication, collaboration, and sharing of information from computers to mobile phones in a single cohesive platform.

The first step is to migrate everyone away from current e-mail platform and put everyone up unto the cloud platform accessible from anywhere in the world and enable collaboration on any device.

Ricky Kapur, General Manager, Enterprise Operating Unit, Microsoft Asia Pacific, reiterated how JG Summit’s initiatives closely aligns with Microsoft’s mission. “At Microsoft, we empower every person and every organization to do more. The fourth industrial revolution is here, and organizations must digitally transform not just to optimize operations, but to enable their people. We’re very excited to work with JG Summit and be part of their digital transformation journey.”

JG Summit is one of the largest and most diversified Filipino conglomerates, engaged primarily in businesses that serve a growing middle class with rising disposable incomes in the Philippines, Southeast Asia, and Australasia. These businesses include branded snack foods and beverages, commodities, agro-industrial businesses, air transportation, banking, real estate, and petrochemicals.

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Microsoft Helps Organizations Understand Cybersecurity Threats

Microsoft Helps Organizations Understand Cybersecurity Threats

Thursday, May 31

Microsoft commissioned Frost & Sullivan to conduct a study on cybersecurity threats in Asia Pacific and the Philippines which aims to provide business and IT decision makers with insights on the economic cost of cybersecurity breaches in the region and identify the gaps in organizations' cybersecurity strategies.

The study, "Understanding the Cybersecurity Threat Landscape in Asia Pacific: Securing the Modern Enterprise in a Digital World" involved a survey of 1,300 business and IT decision makers ranging from mid-sized organizations with 250 to 499 employees to large-sized organizations with more than 500 employees.

The study revealed that:

• a large-sized organization in the Philippines can possible incur an economic loss of US$7.5 million which is more than 200 times the average economic loss for a mid-sized organization
• cybersecurity attacks have led to job losses in 7 out of 10 organizations over the last year
• cybersecurity concerns delay digital transformation plans
• organizations are increasingly leveraging artificial intelligence to enhance their cybersecurity strategy

Frost & Sullivan has created an economic loss model based on the macro-economic data and insights shared by the survey respondents to calculate the cost of cybercrime. The three kinds of losses which could be incurred due to cybersecurity breach are:

• Direct: Financial losses associated with a cybersecurity incident which includes loss of productivity, fines, remediation cost, etc.
• Indirect: Opportunity cost to organization such as customer churn due to reputation loss; and
• Induced: The impact of cyber breach to the broader ecosystem and economy such as the decrease in consumer and enterprise spending.

Cybersecurity incidents in the Philippines are undermining the organizations' ability to capture future opportunities in today's digital economy with 57% of the respondents stating that their enterprise has put off digital transformation efforts due to the fear of cyber risks.

Key Cyber Threats and Gaps in the Philippines Organizations' Cybersecurity Strategies

High profile cyber attacks like ransomware have been garnering a lot of attention from enterprises but for the organizations in the Philippines that have encountered cybersecurity incidents, data exfiltration and data corruption are the biggest concern as they have the highest impact with the slowest recovery time.

Aside from the external threats, the study revealed key gaps in organizations' cybersecurity approach.

• Security an afterthought: Only 44% of organizations consider cybersecurity before the start of a digital transformation project. Majority of respondents either think about cybersecurity only after they start on the project or do not consider it at all. This limits their ability to conceptualize a deliver a "secure-by-design" project, potentially leading to unsecured products going out in the market;
• Creating a complex environment: Negating the popular belief that deploying a large portfolio of cybersecurity solutions will render stronger protection, the survey revealed that 17% of respondents with more than 50 cybersecurity solutions could recover from cyber attacks longer compared with 38% of respondents having fewer than 10 cybersecurity solutions that can recover within an hour.
• Lacking cybersecurity strategy: While more organizations are considering digital transformation to gain competitive advantage, the survey has shown that 46% see cybersecurity strategy only as a means to safeguard the organization against cyber attacks rather than a strategic business enabler. 

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is the Next Frontier in Cybersecurity Defense 

Speakers (L-R) Mr. Hans Bayaborda, Managing Director Microsoft Philippines; Ms. Mary Jo Schrade, Assistant General Counsel Microsoft Asia Digital Crimes Unit; Mr. Angel Averia Jr. President Philippine Computer Emergency Response Team; Atty. Raul Cortez Corporate, External, and Legal Affairs (CELA) Lead Microsoft Philippines

Cyber threats are constantly evolving and attack surface is rapidly expanding. AI is becoming a potent opponent against cyber attacks as it can detect and act on threat vectors based on data insights. The study revealed that 79% of the organizations in the Philippines have either adopted or are looking to adopt an AI approach towards boosting cybersecurity.

The ability of AI to rapidly analyze and respond to unprecedented quantities of data is becoming indispensable in a world where cyber attacks' frequency, scale and sophistication continue to increase. An AI driven cybersecurity architecture will be more intelligent and more equipped with predictive abilities to allow organizations to fix and strengthen their security posture before problems emerge. It will also grant companies with the capabilities to accomplish tasks such as identifying cyber attacks, removal of persistent threats and fixing bugs faster than any human could thus making it an increasingly vital element of any organizations' cybersecurity strategy.

Recommendations for securing the modern enterprise in a digital world

Artificial Intelligence is only one of the many aspects that organizations need to incorporate or adhere to in order to maintain a robust cybersecurity posture. For a cybersecurity practice to be successful, organizations need to consider People, Process and Technology, and how each of these contributes to the overall security posture of the organization.

In order to help the organizations better withstand and respond to cyber attacks and malware infections, here are the five cybersecurity best practices recommendations:

1. Cybersecurity as a Digital Transformation Enable: Disconnect between cybersecurity practices and digital transformation effort creates a lot of frustration for the employees. Cybersecurity is a requirement for digital transformation to guide and keep the company safe through its journey. Digital transformation presents an opportunity for cybersecurity practices to abandon aging practices to embrace new methods of addressing today's risks
2. Invest to Strengthen Security Fundamentals: Over 90% of cyber incidents can be averted by maintaining the most basic best practices. Maintaining strong passwords, conditional use of multi-factor authentication against suspicious aunthentications, keeping device operating systems, software and anti-malware protection up-to-date and genuine can rapidly raise the bar against cyber attacks. 
3. Maximize Skills and Tools with Integrated Best of Suite Tools: The best tools are useless in the hands of the amateur. Reduce the number of tools and the complexity of your security operations to allow your operators to hone their proficiency with the available tools. Prioritizing best-of-suite tools is a great way to maximize your risk coverage without the risk of introducing too many tools and complexity to the environment. 
4. Continuous Assessment, Review, and Compliance: The organization should be in a continuous state of compliance. Assessments and reviews should be conducted regularly to test for potential gaps that may occur as the organization is rapidly transforming and address these gaps. The board should keep tab not only on compliance to the industry regulations but also on how the organization is progressing against security best practices; and
5. Leverage AI and Automation to Increase Capabilities and Capacity: With the security capabilities in short supply, organizations need to look at automation and AI to improve their security operations. Current advancements in AI are promising not only in raising detection level that would otherwise be missed but also in reasoning over how various data signals should be interpreted.

 For more information on the study, visit 

https://news.microsoft.com/apac/features/cybersecurity-in-asia

To better undestand the cyber threats happening globally and in Asia Pacific, download the Microsoft Security Intelligence Report Volume 23 at

https://info.microsoft.com/ww-landing-Security-Intelligence-Report-Vol-23-Landing-Page-eBook.html

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Microsoft Education: Pushing Boundaries Through Digital Transformation

Microsoft Education: Pushing Boundaries Through Digital Transformation

Thursday, November 23

There is no denying that the world is going digital. 86% of leaders consider digital as their number one priority. It is changing all industries and education should not be left behind. Microsoft, in its constant push for innovation to empower every person and every organization to achieve more, is leading the charge in the digital transformation of education in the Philippines.

Mr. Ferdie Saputil, Enterprise Commercial and Public Sector Country Lead at Microsoft Philippines

Microsoft has launched several efforts to bridge educational gaps in the Philippines. This includes empowering the visually impaired through a more inclusive SPED with ATRIEV. Microsoft also launched the Microsoft Experience Hub at Asia Pacific College, a classroom of the future where students are prepared with 21st century skills.

Microsoft is celebrating key milestones in the Education Summit. The summit that took place at SMX Convention Hall in SM Aura, Taguig aims to deliver impactful sessions on the digital transformation journey that involves school leaders, administrators, students, and institutions.

Minecraft: Education Edition

Microsoft is pushing the boundaries of education and in order to transform it, the company provides tools such as Power BI & Azure Machine Learning for data analysis and coding, collaboration on O365, Teams, OneNote, Skype in the classroom, and Kaizala messaging app.

Students are also engaged through Minecraft in the classroom. Minecraft: Education Edition is an open world game that promotes creativity, collaboration, and problem-solving in an immersive environment where the only limit is your imagination.

Top educators believe that Minecraft supports social and emotional learning (SEL) as well as promotes the 5Cs: Creativity, Critical Thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Computational Thinking.

Teachers also felt that their students' decision-making and communication abilities were positively impacted by the time they spent playing Minecraft, whether working in small groups or individually.

Minecraft also helps in the emotional development of the students. It can be used as a learning platform to advocate empathy. In a study conducted, it has been observed that Minecraft enables students to build empathy skills by personally interacting with classmates, as well as with the characters within the game.

Clarissa Segismundo, Microsoft Philippines Education Programs Lead

"At Microsoft, we believe that technology alone cannot develop the future-ready skills students require. Technology is an accelerator, but alone it does not enable change. We believe in the power of schools and the impact school leadership can have when they work towards a common goal," said Clarissa Segismundo, Microsoft Philippines Education Programs Lead.

Microsoft Education Ambassadors

Image courtesy of Andy Patricio Bonifacio, Microsoft Education Ambassador from Panghulo National High School, Division of Malabon City

The Microsoft Education Ambassadors program is a community of passionate individuals who aim to bridge the gap in learning through the proper use of technology for teaching and learning. This program enables Microsoft to scale and sustain the support given to educators, schools and communities.

Empowering Educators

Microsoft is empowering educators in the country by conducting scalable training programs on teaching with technology through partner in institutions like the Department of Education (DepEd) and its various Microsoft Showcase Schools. Educators are equipped with modern tools to transform teaching and learning in the classroom.

Teach the Teachers Program

Microsoft celebrates a key milestone, reaching 1,000 Microsoft Education Ambassadors in the country. It is the highest number in the entire Asia-Pacific region. There are also 100 Microsoft Certified Educators (MCEs) in the Philippines. 

Microsoft Showcase Schools

Microsoft continues to optimize institutions to transform education through the Microsoft Showcase Schools. These schools are part of a global network of schools who exemplify innovation in the campus through technology and it covers the institutions, educators, and the students.

The 2017 Microsoft Showcase Schools promote digital transformation through their leadership in personalized learning, amplified by 1:1 deployments effectively using Microsoft solutions such as Windows 10, Office 365, Office Sway, OneNote, Skype, to enable anytime, anywhere education for all.

Microsoft Showcase Schools in the Philippines include Asia Pacific College, De La Salle Santiago Zobel, De La Salle University Dasmarinas, Lyceum of the Philippines Manila, National University, Xavier University, Ateneo de Cagayan, and Silliman University.

These schools also use Kaizala, a mobile app and service for communicating and coordinating work to promote productivity and collaboration. The app makes it easier for both teachers and students to manage their work and connect with large number of people inside and outside the classroom.

Take advantage of the power of technology. Visit https://education.microsoft.com/

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PLDT HOME Bags Best Digital Innovation Award In CIO Asia

PLDT HOME Bags Best Digital Innovation Award In CIO Asia

Thursday, March 24

PLDT HOME, the home digital services unit of telecoms leader PLDT, has been recognized for its leadership in digital innovation in Asia for its pioneering data sharing initiative, in partnership with Smart Communications (Smart), in the recent CIO Asia Awards.

PLDT HOME won in the Leadership category and is one of only five outstanding companies in the region included in the Roll of Honour list at the 15th Annual CIO Asia Awards .

“The PLDT HOME DSL data sharing offer is just the beginning of more game-changing converged innovations from PLDT and Smart. This recognition from CIO Asia fuels our inspiration to raise the bar and continuously break new ground in digital and mobile technology,” PLDT VP and Home Marketing Director Gary Dujali said.

The converged data sharing service from PLDT HOME and Smart is a product of collaboration between the Business and IT teams of the country’s digital and mobile leaders. It is the Philippines’ first data plan that enables subscribers of Home DSL service to share their data allocation with their family’s Smart-powered mobile phones.

It is offered under the Speedster Fam Plan 1299 which gives PLDT HOME DSL subscribers speeds of up to 10 Mbps and a monthly data allocation of 50 gigabytes. By upgrading their Speedster Plan with a Smart Mobile Plan 399 or Plan 600, subscribers can share up to 6 gigabytes of their monthly allocation to their mobile phone lines which they can use even outside the home.

In its citation, CIO Asia Awards said that PLDT HOME and Smart’s data sharing service is “particularly relevant in the Philippines where large, closely-linked family units are common.”

Also in the Honour Roll in this year's awards are Singapore's National Library Board for the Innovation category, Philippines' Manila Water for Transformation, US’ Avnet Inc. for Growth, and Malaysia’s Fraser & Neave Holdings Berhad for Performance.

The CIO Asia Awards is a “prestigious annual listing of the top Asian companies that have deployed information and communications technology to derive the highest strategic value and to yield the greatest returns for their key operations and businesses." It was organized by CIO Asia, a leading resource for IT and digital developments in the region.

To know more about the PLDT HOME Speedster Fam Plan 1299, log on to pldthome.com

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