AA saves SME transport costs

The Automobile Association (AA) has released a new online navigation tool which it claims can help businesses save money through more efficient planning, according to More Than Business.

Aimed at hauliers and couriers, the pay-as-you-go Route Optimiser claims to reduce transport costs by up to 20%, while slashing carbon emissions by 30%, using the same technology as the group's Route Planner.

The service uses software that previously cost $80 000, according to developer Postcode Anywhere, meaning small businesses were priced out of the market.

As many small and medium enterprises (SMEs) consider cloud storage, one of the concerns they have to tackle is how secure their data will be, writes Processor.

Security as it relates to cloud storage is often equated to how and if the data is going to be encrypted, but in reality, security of data in the cloud is much more than that.

According to Justin Moore, CEO of Axcient Technologies, a cloud-based backup provider, “Encryption is important, but there are two additional types of security that users should be looking for. First, there is the security of the facility that the storage provider is utilising and, second, there is the level of data protection that the provider is using.”

SMEs often find themselves struggling for a breakthrough in innovation due to lack of funding, scientific resources and technological know-how, states Asiaone.

Enterprise development agency Spring Singapore says it has just the right booster for local SMEs that find themselves in this situation - the Technology Innovation Programme (TIP).

The TIP helps smaller firms develop technological innovation as a competitive strategy, according to Spring, which acknowledges that SMEs play a critical role within their respective industries when it comes to innovation.