QTS has announced an increase in customer operation and business benefits after implementing QTS’ Service Delivery Platform (SDP) to manage and optimize hybrid colocation deployments, the company announced on Wednesday.

“Customers value the innovation we are bringing to the data center enabling higher levels of transparency, visibility, compliance and sustainability that are at the foundation of SDP…we have published the API’s and look forward as developers and the open source community collaborate and refine QTS APIs as the basis for an open standard in the data center industry,” said Brent Bensten, chief technology officer of product at QTS.

QTS created SDP as part of the company’s commitment to digitize its end-to-end systems and processes in 2017. SDP has enabled customers to interact with the data and QTS services, providing real-time visibility, access and control of critical metrics across hybrid IT environments in a combined platform.

Through continued innovation, the platform has led the industry in data center services delivery, as evidenced by QTS’ industry-leading customer satisfaction results. Customers that use the new SDP applications, including Switchboard, Power Analytics, Asset Manager and Online Ordering gain a greater control over the IT environments, increase security and reduce risk.

QTS has added new SDP features to increase functionality throughout 2019, improving customers abilities. SDP now supports more than 200 customer-facing open-source APIs compared to 157 in 2018.

In addition, QTS made 1,362 enhancements and feature releases to SDP compared to 872 in 2018. SDP and related automated workflows created new sales opportunities for each QTS hybrid colocation salesperson and the platform.

QTS has reported the 2019 SDP business highlights, which stated that the total contract value of orders placed directly through SDP increased over 1,300 percent year-over-year. The technology also provided unique customers transacting orders on SDP increased 333 percent year-over-year. SDP users increased to 17,000 active users across more than 1,200 QTS customers.

“We are extremely proud to report on continued growth and significant customer use of QTS’ Service Delivery Platform,” added Bensten.

About QTS

QTS Realty Trust, Inc. (NYSE: QTS) is a leading provider of data center solutions across a diverse footprint spanning more than 6 million square feet of owned mega scale data center space within North America and Europe. Through its software-defined technology platform, QTS is able to deliver secure, compliant infrastructure solutions, robust connectivity and premium customer service to leading hyperscale technology companies, enterprises, and government entities.

Harper College has selected Oracle Cloud Application to integrate Oracle Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) Cloud, Oracle Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Cloud and Oracle Human Capital Management (HCM) Cloud improve user engagement, collaboration and performance, Oracle announced on Wednesday.

“Moving business processes to the cloud with Oracle…will help to reduce costs while providing an easier path to innovation. Managing finance and HR on the same platform will enhance business processes, improve insights, and increase efficiency to help us continually advance our student services.”  said Patrick Bauer, chief information officer (CIO) of Harper College.

Oracle Cloud Applications will enable collaboration within the college’s human resources and finance teams. Harper College will automate manual processes and drive end-to-end business innovation.

Oracle ERP Cloud and Oracle EPM Cloud will provide Harper College with efficient financial processing, track project statuses and identify patterns in operational and financial data. As the college integrates Oracle HCM Cloud, it will be able to help faculty and staff supply a higher degree of service to students and improve the workplace experience for employees, candidates, and HR professionals.

“With Oracle Cloud Applications, Harper College will be able to manage its finance and HR processes on a single platform. This will not only help drive efficiencies and improve decision-making, but also help Harper College deliver the best possible experience for its students and staff,” said Hari Sankar, group vice president of product management at Oracle.

In addition to Oracle Cloud Applications partnership with Harper College, the company has started work on federal projects. The Defense Information Systems Agency (DISA) has authorized Oracle to operate at Impact Level 5 across the government cloud regions of Chicago, Phoenix and Ashburn, Va in Dec. 2019.

Oracle will provide cloud services to federal customers, including the Department of Defense, across these regions under the DISA IL5 provisional authorization. Don Johnson, executive vice president of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, said the company’s Generation 2 cloud technology works to help government agencies meet national needs via secure infrastructure.

Oracle seeks to extend its services across the U.S. government’s entirety. The company plans to implement more Gen 2 cloud regions in 2020.

About Oracle

The Oracle Cloud offers a complete suite of integrated applications for Sales, Service, Marketing, Human Resources, Finance, Supply Chain and Manufacturing, plus Highly Automated and Secure Generation 2 Infrastructure featuring the Oracle Autonomous Database.

K2 Intelligence and Financial Integrity Network (FIN) has unveiled CFIUS Advisory Services to help clients with investments, mergers and acquisitions that involve the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and foreign investment review tools outside of the United States, the company announced on Wednesday.

“Our deep investigative acumen and independent fact-finding, coupled with professionals who helped shape these rules in government, will help clients across industries and sectors identify, mitigate, and monitor risks, encouraging more successful outcomes across the board,” said Robert Brenner, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Legal Officer of K2 Intelligence.

K2 Intelligence and FIN will help clients navigate new CFIUS regulations, focusing on investors and acquisition targets, to implement the Foreign Investment Risk Review Modernization Act of 2018 (FIRRMA).

The advisory consists of  a team of experts in the CFIUS process, U.S. regulations and the current national security review regimes in other countries, including the UK, Germany, Canada, and Australia. The new services will also help clients manage financial and economic security risks.

The expert team will assist clients in all the stages of the CFIUS review process, including transaction assessment, mitigation and remediation and monitoring and compliance. The advisory will include former U.S. government officials, former regulators, law enforcement, intelligence professionals, prosecutors, compliance officers, technology experts, forensic accountants and cybersecurity experts.

The team will bring extensive experience in assessing and mitigating risks stemming from a broad range of investment transactions involving defense, technology, artificial intelligence, energy, and other sectors.

“As national economic security concerns create more demands on investment and financial transparency, there is a premium on the ability of investors, banks, and commercial actors to understand and assess the security implications of their investments and to manage that risk proactively,” said Juan Zarate, co-founder and chairman of FIN.

About K2 Intelligence Financial Integrity Network (FIN)

K2 Intelligence is an industry-leading investigative, compliance, and cyber defense services firm founded in 2009 by Jeremy M. Kroll and Jules B. Kroll, who is credited with originating the modern corporate investigations industry. Redefining 21st-century corporate intelligence, the firm combines subject-matter expertise with cutting-edge technology, bringing to bear the industry’s best multidisciplinary teams to solve its clients’ most difficult problems.

The Defense Innovation Unit is teaming up with new commercial firms and accelerating the development of technology platforms for warfighters through the use of other transaction authority agreements authorized by Ellen Lord, defense undersecretary for acquisition and sustainment and a 2020 Wash100 award winner, National Defense reported Tuesday.

“She delegated that authority so that we could award our own OTA contracts, which is a pretty big deal to continue moving fast,” Mike Madsen, director of strategic engagement at DIU, said of Lord’s move.

DIU has awarded approximately 150 contracts to 122 nontraditional companies and Madsen said 66 of those are first-time suppliers to the armed forces.

“What we’ve represented is a lowering of those barriers to entry, making it easier for those leading-edge technology companies to get their technology to the men and women in uniform,” he added.

DIU has identified artificial intelligence/machine learning, cybersecurity, space, autonomy and human systems as its top five tech focus areas.

“Those are the areas that we see undergoing the greatest rate of change in the commercial sector. We think they also best represent the defense mission set,” Madsen said. “But we’re not just sitting back static on those.”

The Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency is working with stakeholders and other partners to secure the national elections from cyber threats. CISA said it is engaging with partners to protect the U.S. election infrastructure and develop resilience against foreign adversaries under the #Protect2020 effort.

The agency intends to spread awareness, boost local engagement, further risk initiatives, apply lessons learned and improve security practices for this year’s national elections. The effort also aims to boost the effectiveness, efficiency and viability of audits for the elections.

CISA works with the Election Infrastructure Government Coordinating Council to drive #Protect2020 forward. The agency’s #Protect2020 Strategic Plan can be found here.