Big Data, IoT and Walmart: AVG’s CEO Discusses Top Technology Trends
Walmart (WMT) earned more than $136 billion in net sales during fiscal year 2014, but did you know this multinational retailer is leveraging big data in ways many shoppers might have never imagined? AVG Technologies (AVG) CEO Gary Kovacs noted Walmart installs tracking chips in its shopping carts to collect customer data so it can deliver real-time offers and discounts to consumers, illustrating the retailer’s commitment to big data.
Kovacs discussed big data, the Internet of Things (IoT) and other technology trends that are impacting both managed service providers (MSPs) and small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) in his presentation today at the AVG Cloud Partner Summit in Phoenix.
Kovacs joined AVG as its CEO in July 2013, but he pointed out his company recently has been unclear about its commitment to its SMB partners.
His message today to SMBs, however, was loud and clear: “We hear you.”
Kovacs said AVG is prioritizing its SMB partners and will work with them to deliver solutions that meet their needs.
“I joined AVG a year ago, and the number one priority I said is to become THE online security company,” Kovacs told attendees. “SMB is an area where we’ve significantly underinvested in in the past. You’re going to see a very different AVG and a much bigger commitment to SMB.”
Kovacs also shared his thoughts on four key technology trends:
- Malware — Kovacs noted the majority of data breaches are taking place in businesses with 100 employees or less.
- Big data — “Everywhere we go, we’re generating data,” Kovacs pointed out, and big data likely will have far-flung effects on SMBs worldwide over the next few years.
- Cloud — Kovacs said he believes the cloud is “the new common denominator in a multi-device world” and can play an important role in an SMB’s success.
- Multi-device — The majority of SMBs are already using mobile devices to access business-critical apps to support their everyday operations, Kovacs said.
“AVG’s strategy is we can only [perform] in partnership with [SMBs]. And I know we need to do a better job of committing to that,” he said.
Kovacs noted AVG has set up SMB goals in three areas:
- Products — “We’ve updated Managed Workplace to be much more efficient, save money and work in a much more productive manner,” Kovacs said. AVG will update CloudCare and provide users with an HTML 5-based front end too. The new versions of Managed Workplace and CloudCare are expected to be available by the end of the year.
- Investments — AVG has announced a new partnership with identity-as-a-service (IDaaS) software provider Centrify to deliver CloudCare Secure Sign-On (SSO) and is planning several cloud investments over the next two quarters, Kovacs said.
- Connections — AVG is transforming its partner advisory council (PAC) and plans to make it more structured and more interactive.
Flexibility will play an important role in AVG’s future as well, according to Kovacs.
“We have to be flexible. We have to be supportive. We have to have a framework, but it has to be a flexible framework,” Kovacs said. “We need to work better with [SMBs], and I’m making a commitment that we will do a much better job of that.”
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