By the London technology Team
Dell’s record breaking $67bn mega-deal for EMC
This week saw Dell agree a $67bn proposal to acquire EMC. This mega-deal would turn the company into an IT giant large enough to rival HP, IBM and Cisco. The company will be hoping that the deal enables stronger performance in the cloud market – predicted to be worth $32bn by the end of the year. Dell will be looking forward to exploiting EMC’s extensive customer base and benefiting from access to its sophisticated patented software and cloud technology.
Whilst Dell has elected to go for rapid growth via its ‘mega-deal’ with EMC, others have taken a different approach to corporate restructuring. Dell’s major rival, HP, and other tech giants such as Symantec and eBay, have undergone a series of divisions and corporate splits in order to establish smaller, distinct, independent divisions. Reporting the deal, V3, suggests that Dell is in a position to do things differently following its decision to go private, “taking it away from the glare of shareholders and into a position where mega-deals like this are acceptable.”
The rise of cyber-crime
Cyber-crime has been included in official crime statistics for the first time resulting in overall crime rising for the first time in years. The Office of National Statistics recorded 5.1 million incidents of cyber-crime (mostly fraud related), with 3.8 million victims, compared to 6.5 million ‘traditional’ crimes reported.
The new figures are awkward for the Government who have been lauding falling crime stats despite cuts to police services. Labour claimed that the Government were now being forced to ‘come clean’ over rising cyber-crime, but the ONS and police say the statistics reflect new data capture methods as opposed to an increase in cyber criminals. There’s a good summary of the story in SC Magazine and BBC News detailed a £20m cyber theft of UK bank accounts.
Taxi for taxi drivers! Uber ruled lawful, but the journey isn’t over yet
The High Court ruled that ride-hailing app Uber is lawful after being asked to decide whether Uber should be classified as a taximeter (which are banned in private hire vehicles).
Both Transport for London and Uber themselves have welcomed the decision, with TfL stating that there had been “significant public interest in establishing legal certainty in the matter”. Unsurprisingly the LTDA, which represents thousands of licensed cabbies, said it will appeal to the Supreme Court.
The debate on regulating Uber will continue to rumble on with the Business Secretary, Sajid Javid, describing TfL’s proposed regulations (which include a minimum five minute waiting time) as “heavy handed” and not in the interest of consumers. The Conservatives support disruptive tech across a variety of markets so it remains to be seen whether they will hold this position. The Telegraph covered the story.
