Retailers - be they small local shops, online sellers, or top global brands - generate, transfer, and store more data than ever before, ranging from customer data (both online and in-store, as we have considered in previous articles), to supply chain and asset tracking data. Whether it's shopping online or utilising in-store apps to access the latest savings and special offers, the way customers shop has fundamentally changed forever, with the data they generate online and in person allowing retailers to build up unique personas that drive truly bespoke experiences.

As a long-standing technology partner for multiple financial organisations across the UK, the team at Exponential-e have been observing the sector's evolving relationship with technology for some time - both the growing demand for a higher standard of operational resilience, and an increasing awareness of the challenges and opportunities that Cloud transformation presents.

For some years now, Cloud adoption has been steadily on the rise across the UK's Finance sector, with organisations including banks, insurers, and investment firms phasing out increasingly cumbersome legacy systems in favour of more scalable, agile, and cost-effective infrastructure. Indeed, more than 48% of UK banking services are now built on Cloud infrastructure.

In a heightened cyber threat landscape - where ransomware attacks are increasing in frequency and sophistication - and having weathered the challenges of COVID-19 and the resulting move to hybrid working, the Finance sector is still continually challenged to demonstrate to its customers that critical services will remain available no matter what, and that sensitive financial data will remain fully secure at all times.

Cyber professionals say that companies involved in the manufacturing industry are more exposed to cyber-attacks. This was revealed by a number of studies produced by the Manufacturers Alliance for Productivity and Innovation (MAPI). According to MAPI; 40% of manufacturing firms experienced a cyber-attack within the last year. Of those attacked, 38% of them suffered over $1 million in damages.