Intelligent CIO Africa Issue 65 | Page 7

EDITOR ’ S NOTE

Welcome to the latest edition of Intelligent CIO Africa . Cybersecurity firm Group-IB , recently unveiled its second annual guide to the evolution of threat number one Ransomware Uncovered 2021 / 2022 .

According to the report , between Q1 2021 and Q1 2022 , the data belonging to 147 companies from the Middle East and Africa ( MEA ) region was uploaded on ransomware DLS . In the GCC region , 17 companies from the UAE had their data posted on DLS , followed by Saudi Arabia with 15 victim-companies , Kuwait with six and Qatar with five . information and generating financial reports took a great deal of manual effort for the financial team . We wanted to reduce the time and effort it takes to generate these reports , so that our financial team can focus on growth and strategy rather than routine reporting . We operate in a fiercely competitive , lowmargin industry , where we are under constant pressure to improve efficiencies and drive down costs .” You can read more by turning to page 50 .
Elsewhere in the magazine , we look at how enterprises in Africa are deploying SDN to improve network management . You will find this feature on page 34 .
In this regard , we continue to cover articles in this edition of the magazine addressing the issue of data protection , cyber breaches and the evolving threat landscape Gracing the cover of this month ’ s edition is Daniel Smith , Chief Financial Director , Life & Brand Portfolio , who tells us why it was important to for the company to implement Sage Intacct and streamline its financial reporting across the group .
“ We were running the Sage Pastel desktop product as our core financial system , but we realised that we were starting to outgrow the solution as our business expanded and became more complex ,” explains Smith .
As usual , we have all your favourite features , opinion , insight pieces and analysis articles from the African continent . You can also read daily news updates on our website at www . intelligentcio . com / africa /.
And kindly , don ’ t forget if you would like to get in touch , please email me at manda @ lynchpinmedia . com .
Once again , I would like to wish you a great month . Enjoy the read !
Among the many insights , Smith shares that : “ Given that the group comprises eight brands , three companies and 40 restaurants , consolidating financial
Manda Banda Editor
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