Citycom Technologies Limited blog

From AI pilots to AI results

vinod.kakkar@citycom.co.uk (Vinod kakkar) — Wed, 04 Nov 2026 17:58:38 GMT

Almost every organisation is experimenting with AI. Far fewer are seeing results.

Research from MIT, The GenAI Divide: State of AI in Business 2025, found that 95% of generative AI pilots stall at an early stage and never reach scaled adoption. Meanwhile Flexera’s 2026 State of the Cloud Report found that 81% of organisations now use generative AI. Adoption is high. Return is not.

Why pilots stall

The MIT researchers found that failure has less to do with the quality of the AI models than with how organisations use them. Three patterns stand out.

AI is bolted on, not built in. Pilots sit beside the way work is done, rather than inside it, so they never change the process.
The data is not ready. AI is only as good as the information it can reach. In Flexera’s survey, data quality was the second biggest challenge for cloud-based AI, and security and compliance the first.
Investment goes to the wrong places. The MIT study found the strongest returns in back-office operations, such as process automation and reduced outsourcing, yet more than half of AI budgets go to sales and marketing.

The study also found that tools bought from specialist partners succeed about twice as often as those built entirely in-house.

Five steps from pilot to result

Start with a business problem, not a tool. Choose a process where speed, accuracy or cost clearly matter, and define what success looks like before you begin.
Fix the foundations. Bring data together, clean it and decide who can access it. AI built on fragmented data produces fragmented answers.
Govern it from day one. Agree how AI is approved, monitored and audited, especially in regulated sectors.
Put it where the work happens. Embed AI into existing systems and workflows, so people use it without changing how they work.
Keep people in the loop. The best results come when AI handles the volume and people provide judgement, context and accountability.

AI that earns its place

At Citycom, AI is not a separate project. It runs through everything we manage. Ark Intelligence, our AI-first platform, connects Cloud, Infrastructure, Security and Communications into one real-time view, so AI works with your data, your context and your governance.

If moving AI from pilot to results is on your board’s agenda, let’s talk. Start a conversation at citycom.co.uk or call 0330 912 1212.

Three networks and a view from space: what UK mobile’s big changes mean for business

vinod.kakkar@citycom.co.uk (Vinod kakkar) — Wed, 04 Nov 2026 17:58:06 GMT

The UK mobile market has changed more in the last eighteen months than in the decade before it. There are now three mobile network operators instead of four, and the first satellite services are reaching ordinary smartphones. For any business that depends on mobile, both shifts bring risk and opportunity.

Four networks become three

The merger of Vodafone and Three completed in 2025, creating VodafoneThree with around 27 million mobile customers, alongside EE and Virgin Media O2. To secure approval, the Competition and Markets Authority required a joint network plan and commitments that include £11bn of investment over ten years, caps on selected tariffs for three years, and pre-set wholesale terms for virtual operators.

The opportunity

Better networks. Significant investment in 5G coverage and capacity should improve service for business users over time.
A moment to renegotiate. Integration brings new tariffs, new plans and competitive pressure between three larger players.

The risk

Fewer choices. With one fewer operator, buyers have less leverage, and the price protections are time-limited.
Change on the ground. Integrating two networks takes years. Migrations and changes to coverage can affect business users along the way.
Single-network dependence. Many organisations rely on one operator for every handset. Consolidation makes that concentration more significant.

Mobile reaches for the sky

In February 2026, Virgin Media O2 launched O2 Satellite with SpaceX’s Starlink, connecting standard smartphones directly to satellites in areas with no mast coverage. In April 2026, Ofcom approved VodafoneThree to offer a similar service with AST SpaceMobile, with customer trials planned from this summer.

The opportunity

Coverage where it was missing. Field teams, engineers and rural sites can stay reachable in places that have never had a signal.
A new layer of resilience. Satellite offers a fallback when terrestrial networks fail, supporting lone-worker safety and business continuity.
Connected assets. Remote equipment and sensors can report from locations that were previously out of reach.

The risk

Early days. Today’s services are limited in speed and features, and depend on compatible handsets and tariffs.
Not a replacement. Satellite complements terrestrial networks. It does not yet replace a proper resilience plan.
Governance. Regulated firms must consider how messages sent over new channels are captured and retained, just as with any other business communication.

What leaders should do now

Review contracts and renewal dates against the new market, before the price protections expire.
Map where your people and assets lose signal, and decide where satellite could make a difference.
Design for resilience rather than relying on one network for everything.
Keep communications compliant, so new channels are covered by your capture and retention policies.

Citycom has managed business mobile for 18 years. Today we manage Communications alongside Cloud, Infrastructure, Security and AI, with Ark Intelligence bringing every layer into one real-time view.

Tap into the expertise of multiple vendors. Deal with one.

If your mobile strategy is on your board’s agenda, let’s talk. Start a conversation at citycom.co.uk or call 0330 912 1212.

Cyber resilience: five questions every board should ask

vinod.kakkar@citycom.co.uk (Vinod kakkar) — Wed, 04 Nov 2026 17:57:37 GMT

Cyber risk used to be delegated to IT. Today it sits squarely with the board.

In April 2025 the UK government and the National Cyber Security Centre published the Cyber Governance Code of Practice, setting out what boards and directors should do to govern cyber risk. It is voluntary for now, but it is quickly becoming the benchmark. Meanwhile the Cyber Security and Resilience Bill is making its way through Parliament, bringing managed service providers and data centres into scope and tightening incident reporting.

Directors do not need to be technical experts. They need to ask the right questions, and expect clear answers.

1. Do we know what really matters, and where it sits?

Every organisation has a handful of systems, data sets and services it cannot operate without. The board should know what they are, who owns them and how they are protected. If the answer takes a week to assemble, visibility is the first problem to solve.

2. Who is accountable, and when did we last rehearse a serious incident?

A plan that has never been tested is a hope, not a plan. Ask when the leadership team last walked through a realistic scenario, such as a ransomware attack or a major supplier outage, and what changed as a result.

3. Could we report a serious incident within 24 hours?

Under the Bill, in-scope organisations will need to send an initial notification of a significant incident within 24 hours and a fuller report within 72. Financial services firms already face similar expectations. The real test is whether you could establish what happened, and what was affected, that quickly.

4. How exposed are we through our suppliers?

Attackers increasingly come in through the supply chain. The Bill reflects this by allowing regulators to designate critical suppliers. Boards should know which suppliers have access to their systems and data, what assurance they hold, and how many separate providers they rely on. Every additional supplier is another door to secure.

5. Can we see our whole estate in one place?

Most breaches exploit gaps between systems, teams and suppliers. If security tools, networks, cloud platforms and communications each report separately, nobody sees the full picture. A single, joined-up view is the foundation for every other answer on this list.

From questions to confidence

The Code’s five principles, risk management, strategy, people, incident planning and response, and assurance, all depend on the same thing: clear, timely information the board can trust.

At Citycom, security is designed into every layer we manage, not added afterwards. We are certified to ISO/IEC 27001:2022 and Cyber Essentials Plus, and Ark Intelligence brings Cloud, Infrastructure, Security, Communications and AI into one real-time view, so risks are found before they reach you.

Data you can see. Results you can control.

If cyber resilience is on your board’s agenda, let’s talk. Start a conversation at citycom.co.uk or call 0330 912 1212.

The workplace network, rethought

vinod.kakkar@citycom.co.uk (Vinod kakkar) — Wed, 04 Nov 2026 17:57:16 GMT

The way people work has changed for good. The networks most of them rely on have not.

More than a quarter of working adults in Great Britain now split their week between home and the workplace, according to the Office for National Statistics. The office has become a place for collaboration, client meetings and focused team days. Yet many workplace networks were designed for a world of fixed desks, five days a week, behind one firewall.

What has changed

People move, and the network must follow them. The same person works from the office, home, a client site and a train, and expects the same secure experience in each.
Demand comes in peaks. Busy days bring full meeting rooms, video calls and large file transfers all at once, while quiet days leave capacity idle.
The perimeter has gone. Applications live in the cloud and users connect from anywhere, so security can no longer depend on being “inside” the building.
Downtime is more visible. When connectivity fails, it is not one person who stops. It is a client meeting, a trading floor or a clinic.

What a rethought workplace network looks like

Identity first. Access is granted to the person and the device, not to a location, so security travels with them.
Built for peaks. Wi-Fi and connectivity are sized for the busiest collaboration day, with the ability to scale as the business grows.
Resilient by default. Diverse connections and automatic failover keep critical sites working when a line goes down.
Managed end to end. Networks, devices and the services that keep people working are monitored continuously, so issues are fixed before users notice.
Informed by data. Insight into how spaces and services are actually used helps leaders decide where to invest, and where to stop spending.

One estate, not a collection of contracts

Infrastructure rarely fails in isolation. A slow video call might be the Wi-Fi, the internet circuit, the device or the cloud service behind it. When each of those sits with a different supplier, finding the cause takes longer than fixing it.

That is why Citycom manages Infrastructure alongside Cloud, Security, Communications and AI, with Ark Intelligence bringing every layer into one real-time view. When something goes wrong, one team owns it.

If your workplace strategy is on your board’s agenda, let’s talk. Start a conversation at citycom.co.uk or call 0330 912 1212.

Hybrid by design: why the right cloud is rarely just one cloud

vinod.kakkar@citycom.co.uk (Vinod kakkar) — Wed, 04 Nov 2026 17:56:22 GMT

For a decade, the cloud conversation was framed as a destination: move everything, switch off the data centre, done. Most organisations have learned that the reality is more nuanced, and more useful.

Flexera’s 2026 State of the Cloud Report found that 73% of organisations now run hybrid environments, combining public cloud, private cloud and their own infrastructure. Hybrid is no longer a halfway house. It is the operating model.

Why all-in rarely fits

Every workload has its own needs, and one platform seldom meets all of them well.

Regulation and data residency. Firms in financial services, legal and healthcare often need to know exactly where data sits and who can reach it.
Cost predictability. Steady, well-understood workloads can cost less on infrastructure you control. Variable or seasonal ones suit public cloud.
Performance. Some systems need to sit close to the people and devices that use them.
Legacy and timing. Not every application is worth re-engineering. Some are better modernised in place, or retired.
AI. Training and running AI models raises fresh questions about where sensitive data can be processed.

The real risk is accidental hybrid

Hybrid by design is a strength. Hybrid by accident is a liability. When each platform arrives with its own supplier, contract, portal and support desk, the estate becomes harder to secure, harder to cost and harder to change.

The question for leadership is not “cloud or not?” It is “which workload belongs where, and can we see and manage all of it as one?”

Four principles for hybrid by design

Decide by workload. Place each workload on its merits: regulation, cost, performance and lifespan.
Keep data residency in your hands. Know where data lives and make residency a design decision, not an afterthought.
Secure every layer the same way. One set of policies, identities and controls, wherever a workload runs.
Run it as one estate. One accountable partner, one support model and one view, however many platforms sit underneath.

One view across every platform

That last principle is where Citycom focuses. We design, migrate and manage public, private and hybrid cloud alongside Infrastructure, Security, Communications and AI, and Ark Intelligence brings every layer into one real-time view.

Tap into the expertise of multiple vendors. Deal with one.

If your cloud strategy is on your board’s agenda, let’s talk. Start a conversation at citycom.co.uk or call 0330 912 1212.

Renting GPUs: AI compute without betting the balance sheet

vinod.kakkar@citycom.co.uk (Vinod kakkar) — Wed, 04 Nov 2026 17:55:46 GMT

Every serious AI ambition eventually meets the same question: where will the compute come from? Graphics processing units, or GPUs, are the engines behind modern AI, and they are expensive, power-hungry and quick to date.

For most organisations, the answer is not to buy them. It is to rent them wisely.

The market has shifted in the buyer’s favour

Two years ago, GPUs were scarce and rental prices were at their peak. That has changed. According to industry analysis, the hourly cost of renting an NVIDIA H100 fell from around $8 at its late-2024 peak to roughly $3 by the end of 2025, as new capacity came online and hundreds of new providers entered the market.

Capacity is also arriving closer to home. Stargate UK, a partnership between OpenAI, NVIDIA and Nscale, is building sovereign AI infrastructure in the UK, aimed at uses where jurisdiction matters, such as financial services and public services.

Why renting usually wins

No capital tied up. GPUs can cost tens of thousands of pounds each, before power, cooling and specialist staff. Renting turns that into an operating cost you can scale up or down.
No stranded assets. New GPU generations arrive every year or two. Renting means you are not left holding yesterday’s hardware.
Speed. Capacity can be available in days, not the months it takes to buy, install and commission hardware.
Matched to real demand. Most AI workloads are bursty. Training, testing and seasonal peaks rarely justify hardware that sits idle the rest of the time.

When to rent, reserve or own

A useful rule of thumb from the same analysis is to look at how busy the GPUs would really be.

Variable or experimental work: rent on demand. Pilots, proofs of concept and occasional workloads belong on flexible, pay-as-you-go capacity.
Steady, predictable work: reserve. Committing to capacity for a fixed term lowers the price while keeping you off the balance sheet.
Constant, heavy use: consider owning. Ownership only starts to pay back when GPUs are busy most of the time, and when you can run them well.
Most organisations: blend. A reserved baseline with on-demand capacity for peaks gives control of cost without limiting ambition.

Five questions to ask before you rent

Where will our data be processed? For regulated firms, the location and jurisdiction of the GPUs matter as much as their price.
Who can access the environment? Treat rented compute as part of your estate, with the same security, identity and audit controls.
How will we control spend? GPU hours add up quickly. Budgets, approvals and monitoring need to be in place from day one.
What is the exit plan? Avoid lock-in by keeping models, data and workflows portable between providers.
How does it connect to everything else? AI compute is only useful when it is joined up with your data, networks, cloud platforms and security.

Rent GPUs through Citycom

Through our partnerships with Microsoft and AWS, Citycom customers can rent GPU capacity on Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services, on demand or reserved, without buying a single piece of hardware.

We help you choose the right capacity and region for each workload, set it up securely, and manage it alongside your Cloud, Infrastructure, Security and Communications, on one contract with one support model. GPU capacity never becomes another silo, with its own supplier and its own bill.

Ark Intelligence brings every layer into one real-time view, so you can see what AI is costing and what it is delivering.

Tap into the expertise of multiple vendors. Deal with one.

If AI compute is on your board’s agenda, let’s talk. Start a conversation at citycom.co.uk or call 0330 912 1212.

Cloud spend is now a board issue

vinod.kakkar@citycom.co.uk (Vinod kakkar) — Wed, 04 Nov 2026 17:51:21 GMT

Cloud was meant to make technology costs simpler. For many organisations it has done the opposite. Spend is spread across platforms, subscriptions and teams, and the bill often arrives before anyone can explain it.

That is why cloud spend has moved from the IT budget to the board agenda.

The numbers have turned

Flexera’s 2026 State of the Cloud Report, a survey of more than 750 cloud decision-makers, found that managing cloud spend is a top challenge for 85% of organisations. Respondents estimate that 29% of their cloud spend is wasted, and that figure has risen for the first time in five years.

The reason is AI. Generative AI is now used by 81% of respondents, up from 47% two years ago, and AI workloads are among the hardest to forecast. They scale quickly, they are easy to start and easy to forget, and they rarely sit neatly inside one department’s budget.

Why this belongs with the board

Cloud spend is no longer a technical line item. It is an operating cost that grows with every new initiative, and it carries risk as well as cost. When nobody can see the whole estate, three things happen.

Waste goes unchallenged. Idle resources, oversized services and duplicate subscriptions persist because no single owner can see them.
Forecasts lose credibility. Finance cannot plan with confidence when the largest variable cost in IT is the least predictable.
Value is hard to prove. Without linking spend to outcomes, every renewal becomes a debate about cost rather than return.

Five steps to take back control

Make it visible. Bring every cloud platform, subscription and contract into one view. You cannot manage what you cannot see.
Give every pound an owner. Tag spend to the teams and services that drive it, so accountability sits where decisions are made.
Measure value, not just cost. Unit economics, such as cost per customer, per transaction or per user, turn a cloud bill into a business conversation. Flexera found 49% of organisations now use them, up from 40%.
Put guardrails around AI. Agree budgets, approvals and review points for AI workloads before they scale, not after the invoice arrives.
Review continuously. Cloud costs change daily. An annual review is a post-mortem, not a control.

Control made visible

This is the problem we built Ark Intelligence to solve. Our AI-first platform brings Cloud, Infrastructure, Security, Communications and AI into one real-time view, so leaders can see where money and risk sit, and act on it.

Data you can see. Results you can control.

If cloud cost is on your board’s agenda, let’s talk. Start a conversation at citycom.co.uk or call 0330 912 1212.

18 years. Same team. A new vision for how you conduct business.

vinod.kakkar@citycom.co.uk (Vinod kakkar) — Wed, 04 Nov 2026 17:34:27 GMT

For 18 years, Citycom has kept UK businesses connected. Today we begin our next chapter, with a new brand and the launch of Ark Intelligence, our AI-first platform.

Same company. Same team. A new vision for how you conduct business.

Business is demanding

Every single day, the market accelerates, the regulatory landscape shifts, and the volume of information increases. The challenge is no longer acquiring data. It is how you find the signal in the noise.

We believe that data without clarity is just clutter. Business leaders require more than raw information. They need immediate, AI-powered insights to drive their decision-making.

What is new

Ark Intelligence. Our AI-first platform brings every layer we manage into one real-time view. It spots, predicts and resolves risks before they reach you, so nothing stays hidden.

One accountable partner. Most organisations run their technology in silos: separate suppliers, separate contracts, separate support desks and separate dashboards. We bring Cloud, Infrastructure, Security, Communications and AI together under one team, one contract and one support model.

A new look. From today, you will see our new logo and brand on everything we send. Our full website follows in the new year.

What stays the same

The people you work with, your contracts, your support and the service you receive. Citycom Technologies Ltd remains the same company, led by the same team.

Control made visible

The idea behind our new brand is simple: control made visible. You see what is happening. You understand why. You direct what happens next.

Data you can see. Results you can control.
Tap into the expertise of multiple vendors. Deal with one.
Powered by AI. Guided by people.

By consolidating service providers, contracts and support models under one AI layer, Ark Intelligence, we remove blindspots and turn fragmented information into visible knowledge. Accessible and actionable, in an instant.

A single, seamless managed services partnership you can trust? Consider it done.

Thank you to every customer, partner and colleague who has been part of the last 18 years. If you would like to see what the new Citycom could do for your business, let’s talk. Start a conversation at citycom.co.uk or call 0330 912 1212.

Vinod Kakkar, CEO, Citycom Technologies