
<p>While South Africa’s airline industry has seen dramatic consolidation over the past few years, the gap left by shuttered local airlines has opened the doors for other carriers to meet the growing demand for seats as the country returns to pre-Covid travel. However, this increasingly competitive landscape is placing significant pressure on airline leaders to optimise their operations and improve customer satisfaction.</p>



<p><a href="http://www.clickatell.com">Clickatell</a>, a CPaaS innovator and Chat Commerce leader, began work with South Africa&#8217;s favourite low-cost airline, FlySafair, in 2021, rolling out a <a href="https://www.clickatell.com/products/whatsapp/">WhatsApp</a> customer communication channel. The introduction of the chat platform has not only injected new efficiencies, but it has dramatically boosted customer satisfaction.</p>



<p>“As an airline obsessed with efficiency and maintaining our reputation for being the most on-time carrier, we are always looking for new ways to improve the customer journey and internal processes to ensure superior customer experiences. So when Clickatell approached us about their Chat Commerce Platform, we knew we had to jump at the opportunity,” explains Eswee Vorster, FlySafair Executive Manager and CIO.</p>



<p>Clickatell’s Chat Commerce platform has enabled FlySafair to expand their customer service offering to the popular WhatsApp channel which is <a href="https://www.statista.com/statistics/291540/mobile-internet-user-whatsapp/">used by</a> 96% of South Africa’s digital population.</p>



<p>“Today’s consumers want the flexibility and convenience of engaging with the brands they love and trust on the channels that they use every day. WhatsApp is the logical channel for us to reach our South African customers,” Vorster says.</p>



<p>His views are supported by <a href="https://www.clickatell.com/infographic/chat-commerce/trends-report-the-future-of-digital-commerce/">research</a> conducted by Clickatell which shows that 89% of consumers want to conduct business on chat channels.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading" id="h-digital-solutions-that-make-life-easier"><strong>Digital solutions that make life easier</strong></h2>



<p>Like every airline, managing a busy call centre had been one of the biggest challenges for FlySafair. But, with more and more customers preferring to use digital channels to answer queries and solve their own problems, Vorster and his team were on the lookout for a solution that could help them deliver.</p>



<p>The airline’s busy call centre receives several thousand calls during a normal day, which can triple or even quadruple during promotions. Reducing the pressure on agents, as well as empowering customers to find answers to their queries and manage their bookings themselves, was an obvious priority for airline management.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Clickatell’s digital contact centre solution<em>, </em><a href="https://www.clickatell.com/products/chat-desk/">Chat Desk</a>, which allows organisations to run and manage live agent support in chat, enable FlySafair to resolve customer queries faster, eliminate hold times, and taking the frustration and inconvenience out of the customer service experience.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Clickatell’s Chat Commerce workflow builder and automation tool, <a href="https://www.clickatell.com/products/chatflow/">Chat Flow</a> allows FlySafair teams to design intelligent self-service engagements for their customers.</p>



<p>The Clickatell solution makes it possible for FlySafair customers to find helpful information or connect with a customer service agent by simply sending “Hi” on <a href="https://wa.me/27873570030"><strong>WhatsApp</strong></a>&nbsp;to&nbsp;+27 87 357 0030.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>A better experience from start to finish</strong></h2>



<p>FlySafair has invested significant time assessing how it can improve its offering across the digital journey, especially when it comes to busy holiday periods.</p>



<p>The FlySafair WhatsApp channel hosts key information about flight cancellations and changes, luggage restrictions, identity requirements, Covid-19 safety requirements, as well as the option to chat to a live agent. In addition, customers can also choose to receive their boarding pass on WhatsApp, significantly improving and streamlining the passenger experience.</p>



<p>Providing answers to frequently asked questions, self-serve options including boarding passes on WhatsApp reduces queues and improves the overall travel experience.</p>



<p>“Our customers can efficiently manage their travel experience in chat. From accessing helpful information, receiving their boarding passes, check-in via WhatsApp, and can even request a call back from a call centre agent if they need in-person support. As our <a href="https://www.clickatell.com/enterprise-solutions/chat-commerce/">Chat Commerce</a> Partner, Clickatell enables us to offer customer service more effectively and efficiently through WhatsApp,” Vorster says.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>The Clickatell implementation forms a key part of FlySafair’s digital future.&nbsp;</strong></h2>



<p>“Constant technical innovation has enabled low-cost airlines to make their mark and truly compete with the established carriers. We see chat technology as a game changer for us going forward. Not only does it perform the basics very well, but it allows us to better understand travellers, taking us a step closer to a single view of our customer,” Vorster explains.&nbsp;</p>



<p>Reflecting on the partnership, Vorster says the companies’ comparable cultures have laid the foundations for an exciting future.</p>



<p>“I love the hands-on approach of the Clickatell team and their agile mindset fits perfectly with our culture of moving on opportunities when we see them. Clickatell helped us to completely transform our customer’s digital experience. Our goal is to offer all the functionality currently available on our website on WhatsApp,” Vorster shares.</p>



<h2 class="wp-block-heading"><strong>Chat Commerce offers exciting use cases for the airline industry</strong></h2>



<p>Chat Commerce solutions are quickly gaining traction with companies across many sectors, helped in part by its scalability and rapid deployment capabilities.</p>



<p>Enterprises are able to launch a Chat Commerce solution in as little as two months with minimal disruption. This means companies can get started immediately and then refine their offering over time, making it perfect for airlines who cannot afford a single minute of downtime.</p>



<p>What’s more, the competitive nature of the airline industry lends itself perfectly to the many use cases of Chat Commerce and supporting automation, not least of all, the ability to upsell services.</p>



<p>Upselling over a known and trusted chat channel, like WhatsApp, is as simple as a quick text message. Once bookings are confirmed, travel agents and airlines can offer seat upgrades and even suggest places to stay at specific destinations, complete with special offers and promotions that passengers can take advantage of right then and there. In addition, by using payment links consumers can complete a travel related purchase within their favourite messaging channels.</p>



<p>Making payments over chat has already been warmly welcomed by travellers. Clickatell’s latest <a href="https://www.clickatell.com/press-center/travelers-embrace-mobile-messaging-and-payments/">Chat Commerce Trends Report: Travel Edition 2022</a>, found that 71% of consumers indicated that they are more willing to make a purchase with a travel company through a payment link only after chatting with a live agent or automated bot. By implementing a robust Chat Commerce solution, FlySafair has laid the groundwork for any number of future digital offerings. And, by choosing to work with <a href="https://www.clickatell.com/solutions/travel/">Clickatell</a>, they can rest assured that they can stay ahead of the competition without their passengers experiencing any unnecessary delays or cancellations.&nbsp;</p>



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FlySafair Works With Clickatell to Expand Its Customer Service Offering on WhatsApp

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<p>QT Software, a tech firm based in Kigali has launched a brand-new messaging app that is said to be an alternative to WhatsApp. QT Connect has sold over a 1000 licenses in less than a year and is looking to triple that number within 2021. CNBC Africa spoke to QT Software CEO, Vincent Ruzibuka for more.</p>


Tech firm QT Software launches Rwanda’s very own messaging app

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<p>This week, Made in Rwanda cashless payment app, Nokanda, a product of software company, Hexacomb; rose to the number one spot on Google Play Store’s, “Top Free” category in Rwanda. The ranking, which often belongs to social media giants such as, WhatsApp and Facebook reflects a change in priorities for mobile users in the country. CNBC Africa spoke to Ernest Kayinamura, founder and CEO of the company for more.</p>


Nokanda becomes first locally made App to rank #1 on Google Play Store Rwanda

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<p>Pieter de Villiers, CEO of Clickatell joins CNBC Africa to talk about the company’s revolutionary invention of enabling computer systems to send text messages from the internet to a cell phone, but also creating WhatsApp’s 4 digit code sign up method.</p>


How this African played a hand in WhatsApp

By <span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nic-cheeseman-180800">Nic Cheeseman</a>, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-birmingham-1138">University of Birmingham</a></em></span>

<p>There is growing concern about the potential for the message and media sharing platform WhatsApp to undermine democracy in a number of countries across the world including <a href="http://theconversation.com/whatsapp-skewed-brazilian-election-proving-social-medias-danger-to-democracy-106476">Brazil</a> and <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/13/big-tech-whatsapp-democracy-india">India</a>. </p>

<p>Because WhatsApp is encrypted – and so offers users far greater protection from prosecution than Twitter or Facebook – it has become particularly notorious for spreading “fake news”. </p>

<p>This is a major concern in Africa, where WhatsApp is the most <a href="https://qz.com/africa/1206935/whatsapp-is-the-most-popular-messaging-app-in-africa/">popular messaging app in 40 countries</a>. This is due to its low cost and the ability to easily share messages with both individuals and groups. </p>

<p>But is this really how WhatApp is used? And if it is, to what extent does this compromise the quality of elections? </p>

<p>A joint team from the Centre for Democracy and Development (Nigeria) and the University of Birmingham (UK) has spent the last few months researching the impact of WhatsApp on the 2019 Nigerian elections held in May. </p>

<p>Their <a href="https://www.cddwestafrica.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/WHATSAPP-NIGERIA-ELECTION-2019.pdf">report</a> comes to conclusions that are both troubling, as well as encouraging. </p>

<p>The research reveals that the platform was used to mislead voters in increasingly sophisticated ways. But it also shows that Whatsapp strengthened democracy in other areas.</p>

<h2>Misinformation and disinformation</h2>

<p>The term “<a href="http://blogs.royalsociety.org/publishing/ignorance-can-be-fatal-countering-the-crisis-in-fake-news-and-fake-science/">fake news</a> has become widely used over the past few years. However, it is problematic because it lumps together very different kinds of information and behaviour. For example, we need to separate out deliberate attempts to mislead others by creating false stories (disinformation) from the innocent sharing of made up stories by people who believe it to be true (misinformation).</p>

<p>The 2019 Nigerian elections saw both disinformation and misinformation. We studied this by conducting 46 interviews in the states of Abuja, Oyo and Kano, as well as seven focus groups and a survey of 1,005 people.</p>

<p>During the course of conducting the research candidates consistently told us that they predominantly used WhatsApp to share information about their qualities and campaign pledges. But many WhatsApp users said that at a high proportion of the messages they received were designed to undermine a rival leader’s reputation – to &#8220;decampaign” them.</p>

<p>There were some high profile examples of disinformation. The most notorious story circulated on social media was that the president had died while undergoing medical treatment outside of the country, and had <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-46424562">been replaced by a clone from Sudan</a>. </p>

<p>Other fabricated communications were less outlandish but no less significant. Many ordinary citizens shared these messages, in some cases because they knew they were false and wanted to amplify their impact, but in many cases because they thought they were true.</p>

<p>The most effective decampaigning strategies were those that shared messages that resonated with individuals because they contained an element of the truth, or played on recent experiences. </p>

<h2>WhatsApp takes over</h2>

<p>The political influence of WhatsApp has expanded rapidly in line with its growing penetration. As a result, it has become part of the fabric of election campaigns and is now a key mechanism through which political leaders seek to communicate with their campaign teams and supporters. </p>

<p>Fully 91% of the people we interviewed were active WhatsApp users; as one person put it:</p>

<blockquote>
<p>I use WhatsApp more than I use the toilet.</p>
</blockquote>

<p>In Nigeria, election candidates were already using the platform to <a href="https://www.academia.edu/32414216/The_Impact_of_Social_Media_during_the_2015_Nigerian_General_Elections">push messages in 2015</a>. But the people we interviewed agreed that the <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/monkey-cage/wp/2019/02/15/its-nigerias-first-whatsapp-election-heres-what-were-learning-about-how-fake-news-spreads/">2019 elections</a> saw a significant step up in terms of how the leading parties organised their social media strategy.</p>

<p>Politically, WhatsApp was used in an increasingly sophisticated way at the presidential level. In 2019, the two main presidential candidates – President Muhammadu Buhari and opposition leader Atiku Abubakar – both had dedicated teams pushing out messages over social media: the <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6B-DqX1o370">Buhari New Media Centre</a> and <a href="https://www.atikulatedyouthforce.com/membership">Atikulated Youth Force</a>. By forming hundreds of Whatsapp groups of 256 members, these organisations could send messages to tens of thousands of people at the touch of a button.</p>

<p>Buhari’s effort was better funded and particularly impressive. It established a network of local and regional representatives connected to a “central command” in Abuja. This enabled the campaign to rapidly send messages from the national to the local level, while also responding to hostile messages and rumours shared by its rivals.</p>

<p>While those in power typically had more money to invest in their campaigns, many opposition leaders pointed out that in important ways WhatsApp had created a more level political playing field. Those who had been involved in politics for some time explained that “fake news” was nothing new in Nigeria, but that in the past it was sometimes impossible to counteract these messages because there was no way to get airtime on government aligned radio. </p>

<p>WhatsApp had changed this situation. Opposition leaders now have a cheap way of fighting back. It has also been used to coordinate anti-corruption campaigns and election observation, strengthening democracy. </p>

<h2>Evolution or revolution?</h2>

<p>It’s also important not to overstate the significance of WhatsApp. Things look very different below the national level, for example, where campaign structures were less developed and a significant proportion of activity remained informal.</p>

<p>We found that while candidates for Governor and Member of Parliament did set up WhatsApp groups, they were much less organised. In many cases, candidates relied on existing networks and social influencers to get the message out.</p>

<p>Candidates were also keen to stress that while they used WhatsApp during their campaigns, they did not rely on it. Voters expect to see their leaders on the ground, and expected them to provide a range of services for the community. Advertising good deeds over WhatsApp could help a leader get credit, but only if they had fulfilled their responsibilities in the first place.</p>

<p>In other words, WhatsApp can amplify and complement a candidate’s ground campaign. But it cannot replace it.</p>

<h2>Throwing out the water but keeping the baby</h2>

<p>These findings suggest that solutions to the power of social media platforms like WhatsApp isn’t to ban them, or to allow governments to censor them. This would merely exaggerate the vast advantages of incumbency that ruling parties already enjoy. </p>

<p>A better solution would be to promote <a href="https://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2016/11/09/what-is-digital-literacy.html">digital literacy</a>, develop <a href="http://www.comminit.com/democracy-governance/content/guidelines-development-social-media-code-conduct-elections">social media codes of conduct</a> around elections, and empower WhatsApp uses to control which groups they are added to, and what information they receive.</p>

<p><em>The research was conducted, and publications authored by, Jamie Hitchen, Idayat Hassan, Jonathan Fisher and Nic Cheeseman.</em><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/121064/count.gif?distributor=republish-lightbox-basic" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" style="border: none !important; box-shadow: none !important; margin: 0 !important; max-height: 1px !important; max-width: 1px !important; min-height: 1px !important; min-width: 1px !important; opacity: 0 !important; outline: none !important; padding: 0 !important; text-shadow: none !important" /></p>

<p><span><a href="https://theconversation.com/profiles/nic-cheeseman-180800">Nic Cheeseman</a>, Professor of Democracy, <em><a href="http://theconversation.com/institutions/university-of-birmingham-1138">University of Birmingham</a></em></span></p>

<p>This article is republished from <a href="http://theconversation.com">The Conversation</a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the <a href="https://theconversation.com/whatsapp-played-a-big-role-in-the-nigerian-election-not-all-of-it-was-bad-121064">original article</a>.</p>

With WhatsApp having played a major role in Nigeria’s elections does it undermine democracy ?

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<p>It&#8217;s happening worldwide, professionals and entrepreneurs across industries are depending more and more on social media and the internet to conduct their businesses – this is especially true for freelancers who use platforms such as Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and WhatsApp to obtain and communicate with clients. But what happens when an unexpected social media tax is put in place, this is exactly what happened last year in Uganda, and now a year on. Digital Marketer and self-proclaimed &#8216;Citizen of the Internet&#8217;, Bernard Ewalu Olupot joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Social media tax a burden on Ugandan freelancers?

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<p>Social media platform Facebook has created the Facebook Community Leadership Program and officials say that it aims to empower community leaders who are building their communities around the world. 115 people from across the world have been selected into the program. Joining CNBC Africa for more is Ime Archibong, VP of Partnerships at Facebook.</p>


Facebook announces community leadership program participants

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<p>Digital trends that will shake up the future. One of those trends is WhatsApp. It&#8217;s becoming increasingly important in the business work. Quinton Pienaar, CEO of Agilitude joins CNBC Africa for more.</p>


Business of WhatsApp

<p><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/jordan-novet/" rel="author">Jordan Novet</a> | <span class="twitter-url"><a href="http://twitter.com/jordannovet">@jordannovet</a></span></p>
<ul>
<li>Facebook plans to move WhatsApp, which is used by more than 1 billion people, from IBM&#8217;s SoftLayer cloud to Facebook&#8217;s own data centers.</li>
<li>The WhatsApp messaging app relies on more than 700 high-end IBM SoftLayer servers.</li>
<li>WhatsApp is one of IBM&#8217;s high-profile customers for its cloud service, which lags behind market leader Amazon Web Services, as well as Microsoft Azure.</li>
</ul>
<div class="group">
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<p><a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/FB" target="_self" data-gdsid="139619" data-inline-quote-symbol="FB">Facebook</a>&#8216;s WhatsApp messaging service, which is used by 1.2 billion people across the globe, is planning to move off of <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/IBM" target="_self" data-gdsid="20553" data-inline-quote-symbol="IBM">IBM</a>&#8216;s cloud and into Facebook&#8217;s own data centers, according to a person familiar with the matter.</p>
<p>The WhatsApp move, which could begin later this year, would result in IBM losing a high profile customer for its public cloud. A source claims that WhatsApp has been one of IBM&#8217;s top five public cloud customers in terms of revenue, and was at one point spending $2 million a month with IBM. (IBM says WhatsApp is not currently one of its top five public cloud customers.)</p>
<p>IBM&#8217;s public cloud business lags behind <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/AMZN" target="_self" data-gdsid="9399" data-inline-quote-symbol="AMZN">Amazon</a> Web Services (AWS), which is on top with 33 percent of the market in April, as well as <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/MSFT" target="_self" data-gdsid="25619" data-inline-quote-symbol="MSFT">Microsoft</a>&#8216;s Azure cloud, according to <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/28/cloud-market-share-data-synergy-research.html" href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/04/28/cloud-market-share-data-synergy-research.html" target="_self">Synergy Research</a>.</p>
<p>Facebook <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.cnbc.com/2014/02/19/facebook-to-acquire-whatsapp-for-about-16-billion.html" href="http://www.cnbc.com/2014/02/19/facebook-to-acquire-whatsapp-for-about-16-billion.html" target="_self">acquired</a> WhatsApp for $19 billion in 2014 and has left the app running on the servers it has always used. Other companies that Facebook has acquired over the years initially used similar IBM SoftLayer servers, and Facebook was quick to bring them in-house, another source said. But with WhatsApp, Facebook has taken a much longer time.</p>
<p>Part of the reason was prioritization. When Facebook bought WhatsApp, it was already in the midst of a <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.wired.com/2014/06/facebook-instagram/" href="https://www.wired.com/2014/06/facebook-instagram/" target="_self">yearlong migration</a> of its Instagram photo-sharing app, which it acquired in 2012, from AWS to its own data centers.</p>
<p>Also, Facebook separated its own Messenger messaging and calling app out from the core Facebook app months after the WhatsApp acquisition, and the social network&#8217;s CEO, <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/mark-zuckerberg/" target="_self">Mark Zuckerberg</a>, didn&#8217;t want WhatsApp to &#8220;get Facebooked&#8221; — in other words, to get integrated with its own apps too soon, a source said. Since then both Messenger and WhatsApp have gained hundreds of millions of users.</p>
<p>At IBM, WhatsApp is considered a poster child for its cloud, two sources said — just as AWS has the likes of Airbnb and Netflix to boast about, while <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/GOOGL" target="_self" data-gdsid="19004" data-inline-quote-symbol="GOOGL">Alphabet&#8217;s</a> Google points to Snap and Spotify. (<a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/SNAP" target="_self" data-gdsid="163704" data-inline-quote-symbol="SNAP">Snap</a>, which operates the Snapchat social media app, has committed to paying Google $2 billion and Amazon $1 billion for hosting over five years, the company <a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/09/snap-cloud-bill-aws-google-cloud-higher-than-2016-revenue.html" target="_self">disclosed</a> in February.)</p>
<p>&nbsp;</p>
</div>
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<div class="group-container "></div>
<div class="group-container ">
<div class="group">
<p>IBM hasn&#8217;t broadly advertised its business with WhatsApp, although the company has detailed WhatsApp&#8217;s usage in an off-the-record case study, a source said. It shows that WhatsApp runs atop more than 700 high-end servers split between data centers in San Jose, California, and Washington, D.C. At one point Facebook was spending nearly $2 million per month on the IBM cloud, a second source said.</p>
<p>&#8220;WhatsApp has been a great client of IBM Cloud as they used our global footprint and capabilities to scale their business,&#8221; IBM said in a statement. &#8220;We are proud of the role of IBM Cloud in their success. It is completely natural for Facebook to seek synergies across their business.&#8221;</p>
<p>Facebook did not immediately respond to a request for comment.</p>
<p>People sent 63 billion messages on WhatsApp on New Year&#8217;s Eve, Facebook said. That usage requires hefty computing resources. Presumably, the WhatsApp app will operate more efficiently once it&#8217;s using Facebook servers, which could help Facebook save money. It&#8217;s unlikely — although not impossible — that WhatsApp&#8217;s users will notice any changes during the migration.</p>
</div>
</div>
<div class="group-container last">
<h4 class="subtitle">A common move as companies grow</h4>
<div class="group">
<p>Relying on a third-party cloud provider is common for young companies, which have to choose their priorities. But cloud costs can add up as companies grow. Dropbox and Zynga are among the companies that have reduced their dependence on AWS.</p>
<p>When WhatsApp started in 2009, its engineers chose to run the underlying code on hosted servers from SoftLayer, which was then an independent company.</p>
<p>Typically in the public cloud, software that would normally run on a single server is chopped up into slices that are known as virtual machines, and can also be further divided into containers, all of which lets them run more efficiently with less hardware.</p>
<p>But WhatsApp has long circumvented this type of cloud resource, opting instead to use so-called <a class="inline_asset" title="http://highscalability.com/blog/2014/3/31/how-whatsapp-grew-to-nearly-500-million-users-11000-cores-an.html" href="http://highscalability.com/blog/2014/3/31/how-whatsapp-grew-to-nearly-500-million-users-11000-cores-an.html" target="_self">bare-metal servers</a>, which can deliver better performance. The SoftLayer public cloud was best known as a provider of these bare-metal servers when IBM acquired SoftLayer for $2 billion in 2013, and its bare-metal offerings remain available alongside virtual machines under IBM&#8217;s Bluemix portfolio of cloud services.</p>
<p>While Facebook has housed its own servers and storage in co-located facilities from the very early days of the company, it started building its own data centers in 2010, following in the steps of Alphabet&#8217;s Google. Facebook has also designed a lot of its own data center hardware to improve efficiency, and has released many of the designs under the Open Compute Project, allowing low-cost manufacturers to build and sell the hardware to both Facebook and other companies. The company has saved more than $2 billion in data center costs by building in accord with the designs that it has shared in the Open Compute Project, an executive <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.infoworld.com/article/2895067/data-center/facebook-open-compute-project-billions-in-savings.html" href="http://www.infoworld.com/article/2895067/data-center/facebook-open-compute-project-billions-in-savings.html" target="_self">said</a> in 2015.</p>
<p>Last week Laurent Potdevin, CEO of athletic goods retailer Lululemon, <a class="inline_asset" title="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/02/lululemon-ceo-blames-ibm-for-site-outage.html" href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/06/02/lululemon-ceo-blames-ibm-for-site-outage.html" target="_self">faulted IBM</a> for an outage of its website. But IBM did score a victory recently, signing <a class="inline_quotes" href="http://data.cnbc.com/quotes/LLOY-GB" target="_self" data-gdsid="23680" data-inline-quote-symbol="LLOY-GB">Lloyds Bank</a> to a 10-year deal, according to <a class="inline_asset" title="https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/06/lloyds_confirms_ibm_cloudy_outsourcing/" href="https://www.theregister.co.uk/2017/06/06/lloyds_confirms_ibm_cloudy_outsourcing/" target="_self">The Register</a>.</p>
<p><i>Disclosure:</i> <i><a href="http://www.cnbc.com/2017/03/03/nbc-invests-500-million-in-snapchat-ipo.html" target="_self">CNBC parent NBCUniversal is an investor in Snap</a>.</i></p>
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