April 2021

PLUS

Seagate’s Lyve Data Transfer Services Enable to Move Mass Data /06 www.smechannels.com

India’s leading IT magazine for channel business VOLUME 12 | ISSUE 02 | PAGES 32 | APRIL 2021 | RS. 20/-

INTERVIEW / 22

Partner Ecosystem is the Pillar of Strength for US.

INTERVIEW / 24

Our Prime Focus is to Deliver Monitors with the Latest Technology.

CASE STUDY / 28

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital (JDWNRH).

THE CLOUD ERA AND ELEVATE CLOUD STRATEGIES FOR COMPANIES P/16

TIAN BENG NG

ANIL SETHI

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R3 Development Fund invests first USD 10 million in over 20 start-ups Pg: 15 www.smechannels.com

India’s leading IT magazine for channel business INTERVIEW / 22

INTERVIEW / 24

Partner Ecosystem is the Pillar of Strength for US.

Our Prime Focus is to Deliver Monitors with the Latest Technology.

CASE STUDY / 28

Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital (JDWNRH).

MY EXPERIENCE EDITORIAL

DIGITAL TO CYBER SECURITY, PANDEMIC HAS OPENED UP REQUIREMENT FLOOD GATES SANJAY MOHAPATRA

sanjay@smechannels.com

Dear Friends This is one of the worst periods of the human history when the whole world is again in the grips of pandemic. Hope you and your family are safe. The second strain appears to be more severe and fatal but the business has to go as usual.

Today’s priority of the enterprises is digital and security. In digital, they are going for making the customer engagement platform digital and then making their internal system digital. At the same time, the access of core applications from the customers are being taken care of through some trusted security applications and moving into the internal resources access of the applications. These days this has been the broad strategy of the customers. In this strategy what pieces they are taking care of is cloud, automation, zero trust security, etc.

Depending upon the customers’ business, they are investing accordingly. But migration to cloud or use of SaaS is very practically happening across the board. Automation – specially RPA and some physical robotics are being implemented on an application level or physical level. To accommodate all these applications, surely there is a huge refresh happening by the customers. Now end point computing is gradually becoming thin clients instead of PCs and laptops, which are being controlled from the DC. This is how the IT leaders are allowing the workers to access applications from a central server but from remote machines, which reduces threats of cyberattacks and offering better visibility and control of the assets.

But the biggest thrust is on the security – whether it is cyber security or internal threats. Since the employees are working from homes or remote locations, they are not under the surveillance systems whatsoever. There is a lot of possibility of data leak. Since these people are out of the corporate periphery, there is no firewall that they are working in. They are using VPN to access the assets and resources to execute. The network they are using are from the service providers, which are basically shared, which does not have necessary security apparatus to protect from the basic infiltration. What the users have is the end point security in their PCs. So customers are now looking for a lot of solutions which were not heard earlier or not discussed seriously – for example zero trust security, ATP, anti-ransomware, PIM, Data Classification, etc. Management has not given free hand to the CIOs or IT Head to go for best of breed solutions.

So the opportunity is huge now. One needs to develop relationship with customers to go into the radar.

Dell EMC PowerStore Dell EMC PowerStore is a next-generation midrange data storage solution targeted at customers who are looking for value, flexibility, and simplicity. It provides customers with data-centric, intelligent, and adaptable infrastructure that supports both traditional and modern workloads. The accomplishes this through Purpose-built all-flash Active/Active storage appliance that supports the new Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe Non-Volatile Memory Express (NVMe) is a communications protocol specifically developed for SSDs.) communications protocol.

It supports NVMe Solid State Drive (SSD) and NVMe Storage Class Memory (SCM) media types for storage and supports NVMe NVRAM media type for cache.

The PowerStore platform design includes two major configurations, i.e.

PowerStore T and PowerstoreX.

KEY FEATURES: IT SUPPORTS SAS SSDS

BY EXPANSION.

FINAL THOUGHTS: IT SUPPORTS SAS SSDS BY EXPANSION.

SME CHANNELS APRIL 2021

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contents

Trusted Advisor of Channel Business

VOLUME 12 ISSUE 02

2021

APR ate por Cor ory St

Publisher: Sanjib Mohapatra Editor: Sanjay Mohapatra Sub Editor: Nidhi Shail Designer: Shadab Khan Web Designer: Vijay Bakshi Technical Writer: Manas Ranjan Lead Visualizer: DPR Choudhary MARKETING Marketing Manager: Vaishali Shukla Circulation and Printing: Rajkumar Hansa SALES CONTACTS Delhi 6/102, Kaushalya Park, Hauz Khas New Delhi-110016 Phone: 91-11-41055458 / 8587835685 sanjeev@smechannels.com Bangalore #28/1, 3rd Floor, Sri Lakshmi Krupa, Near Shamanna Park, Model House Street, Basavanagudi, Bangalore - 560004 Ph. No. +91 88618 21044 Mumbai Tahmeed Ansari 2, Ground Floor, Park Paradise, Kay-Bees CHS. Ltd.,Opp. Green Park, Oshiwara, Andheri (west), Mumbai - 400 053.

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Accept… Adapt & Survive….!! /20

Nothing more matters other than survival for the Enterprises during this pandemic but the changes that the industries are now accepting Dell already has it in its DNA.

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Save time saving your company www.kaspersky.co.in Authorised Distributors E-Caps Computers India Private Limited 9842211022 gunaa@caps.in

Sea-Infonet Private Limited 7980096201/1800-2586800

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Seagate’s Lyve Data Transfer Services Enable to Move Mass Data Seagate Technology launched Lyve Data Transfer Services with its fleet of Lyve Mobile data shuttles, arrays, and services, enabling businesses to move mass data quickly, securely, and simply from edge to private, public, or hybrid clouds. The new Lyve Data Transfer Services on-demand, web-based purchasing model enables customers to pay only for what they need, when they need it. Businesses are generating massive amounts of data. Seagate’s Rethink Data report notes that enterprise data is expected to grow at an average annual rate of 42.2% over the next two years. And a new Seagate-commissioned IDC survey found that enterprises frequently move

this data among different storage locations, including endpoints, edge, and cloud.

In over a thousand businesses surveyed, more than half move data between storage locations daily, weekly, or monthly, and their average total of physical data transferred is 473TB. The faster they can move this data from edge to core to cloud, the more quickly they can unlock insights and derive value from their data.

Seagate’s Lyve Data Transfer Services solution consists of Lyve Mobile modular and scalable hardware, purposebuilt for simple and secure mass-capacity edge data storage, lift-and-shift initiatives, and other data movement for the enterprise.

Siemens Named A Leader in Product Lifecycle Management Siemens Digital Industries Software announced that it has been named a leader in product lifecycle management (PLM) by Forrester Research. Siemens was among the select companies that Forrester invited to participate in The Forrester Wave™: Product Lifecycle Management for Discrete Manufacturers, Q1 2021 evaluation. In this evaluation of the Teamcenter® portfolio

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SME CHANNELS APRIL 2021

and six other PLM platforms, Siemens was top ranked in the current offering category, tied for the highest score in the strategy category, and received the highest score possible in the market presence category.

“For over 20 years, Teamcenter has been the PLM solution of choice for thousands of innovative companies that have placed it at the heart of their digital

transformation strategy. Siemens is honored and appreciative to be recognized by Forrester Research as a leader in PLM,” said Joe Bohman, Senior Vice President of Lifecycle Collaboration, Siemens Digital Industries Software. “Now with Teamcenter X, we are leading the way with an instant-on full PLM solution that grows with our customers’ needs, built on a modern cloud platform.”

PMP

TM

Peak Throughput up to

1.2Gbps

SNIPPETS

IceWarp Witnesses an unprecedented demand for its Business Email and Collaboration Solutions

GoDaddy adds Instagram integration to Websites + Marketing

IceWarp announced that the company has witnessed an increased demand for its Business Email and Collaboration Solutions in India during and post COVID-19 lockdown. The pandemic and remote working culture have prompted many businesses to revise their IT Strategies which further gave rise to the adoption of a full-fledged email and collaboration suite to meet their collaboration needs.

Leveraging on IceWarp’s Solutions, ShishirDhulla, Chief Technology Officer, Emkay Global Financial Services Ltd. said, “IceWarp is the best in class Enterprise Messaging, Collaboration & Communication Suite. We feel empowered with this cloud solution which is a robust platform and a secured framework that has helped us reduce our infrastructure costs and manageability issues during the lockdown.”

Commenting on the recent development, Pramod Sharda, CEO, IceWarp, India & Middle East said, “Remote working has been adopted by organizations wherever possible and we feel proud that we have been the key enabler for organization to adopt the change. Though, this new way of working has brought in challenges and opportunities for everyone, however, gradually, enterprises have understood the importance of hybrid collaboration. And now, digital connectivity in the time of COVID-19 is not just a necessity rather, it has become a lifeline ensuring business continuity in the social distancing scenario”.

Social media is an essential part of every company’s 2021 playbook for success. With their massive reach, platforms like Instagram, Facebook, Google, and Twitter help small business owners increase brand awareness, connect and engage with customers, and increase sales. Now, GoDaddy makes creating, posting, scheduling, and tracking your company’s social media easier and more efficient than ever, freeing up more time for entrepreneurs to focus on their core businesses.

Within Websites + Marketing, you can now publish your posts directly to Instagram and keep track of the comments and views.

Scheduling posts for the future is just as easy and allows you to create a steady stream of engaging content even when you’re offline.

The dashboard offers content suggestions to help you stand out in your customers’ fast-moving feeds, which may mean the difference between getting noticed and being ignored.

Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Grew 10.4% in 2020

EXECUTIVE MOVEMENT

Table 1. Top 10 Semiconductor Vendors by Revenue, Worldwide, 2020 (Millions of U.S. Dollars) 2020 Rank

2019 Rank

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

1 2 3 4 6 5 7 13 16 14

Vendor

Intel Samsung Electronics SK hynix Micron Technology Qualcomm Broadcom Texas Instruments MediaTek NVIDIA KIOXIA Others (outside top 10) Total Market

Source: Gartner (April 2021)

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2020 Revenue

2020 Market Share (%)

2019 Revenue

2019-2020 Growth (%)

72,759 57,729 25,854 22,037 17,632 15,754 13,619 10,988 10,643 10,374 208,848

15.6 12.4 5.5 4.7 3.8 3.4 2.9 2.4 2.3 2.2 44.8

67,754 52,389 22,297 20,254 13,613 15,322 13,364 7,958 7,331 7,827 194,228

7.4 10.2 16.0 8.8 29.5 2.8 1.9 38.1 45.2 32.5 7.5

466,237

100.0

422,337

10.4

DRONE TECH SKYE AIR MOBILITY APPOINTED WING COMMANDER S VIJAY (VETERAN) AS COO TREND MICRO APPOINTS VIJENDRA KATIYAR AS COUNTRY MANAGER, INDIA & SAARC SPICE MONEY, INDIA’S LEADING RURAL FINTECH, APPOINTS FINANCIAL STALWART ABHAY AIMA AS AN ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER COMMVAULT APPOINTS PRAVEEN SAHAI AS VP, CHANNELS, ALLIANCES & SERVICE PROVIDER, APJ

Transforming telecommunications enriching the customer experience atos.net

SNIPPETS

Gartner Says Worldwide Semiconductor Revenue Grew 10.4% in 202 Worldwide semiconductor revenue totalled $466.2 billion in 2020, an increase of 10.4% from 2019, according to final results by Gartner, Inc. “Memory, GPUs and 5G chipsets led semiconductor growth, driven by hyperscale, PC, ultramobile and 5G handset end-market demand, while automotive and industrial electronics suffered due to lower spending or a pause in spending owing to COVID-19,” said Andrew Norwood, research vice president at Gartner.

Intel retained its position as the No. 1 global semiconductor vendor by revenue in 2020, followed by Samsung Electronics, SK hynix and Micron (see Table 1). Intel’s semiconductor revenue grew 7.4%, driven by growth of its core client and server CPU businesses. Overall, the top performers in the top 10 were NVIDIA and MediaTek. NVIDIA’s 45.2% growth was primarily driven by the company’s gaming-related and data centre businesses. MediaTek’s revenue grew 38.1% in 2020 driven by the disruption to Huawei’s business throughout the year.

Atlassian plans to recruit 300 R&D engineers in India over the next year Atlassian plans to hire over 1000 employees globally including 300 R&D engineers in India, over the next year as part of a major recruitment drive.

The company is known for fostering a culture of openness & transparency and is a strong advocate on how the future of work will reshape workplaces, practices, and policies. It recently unveiled a host of benefits, employee-first policies, and resources to support the personal and professional growth of its employees globally. As part of this, the company offers five days paid foundation leave every year enabling all employees to volunteer at their preferred charity, giving them the opportunity to give back to the community. To tackle new remote ways of working accentuated by the pandemic, Atlassian is also providing all employees with an allowance of $US500 to enable an effective WFH environment, in addition to its existing perks and benefits.

Zebi launches native non-fungible tokens and digital ecosystem for Cricket Zebi leveraged its blockchain portfolio with NFT (Non Fungible Tokens) capabilities and announced the launch of a native blockchain ecosystem for the world of Cricket.

NFTs are unique blockchain based tokens which can be utilised to represent rights over digital collectibles. With the entire blockchain industry stabilising globally and seeing a massive uptrend in the past few months, especially around NFTs, Zebi is launching a native network for Cricket, India’s favorite passion along with its ecosystem players.

“We started Zebi blockchain way back in 2016 with the intention of bringing the latest technology for India. Having launched India’s first native private blockchain and first public blockchain, we have now leveraged our NFT capabilities with few of our esteemed and forward thinking partners. We are delighted that our partners are able to see the true potential of this technology, which further empowers their business model” said, Pruthvi Rao, Co-Founder & CEO – Zebi.

Truecaller launched enterprise solutions for businesses Truecaller introduced brand identity solutions as its premier Enterprise offering. The offering allows businesses to verify their identity which increases consumer safety by preventing fraud and scam calls. Businesses can drive efficiency in their communications while improving call-pickup rates for genuine and important calls.

With frauds & scams using spoofed identities on the rise across the world, there is a dire need to bring in more trust in communications. Apart from the green Caller ID and green Verified Business badge, a verified business on Truecaller gets a verified tick mark icon and can lock their brand name and profile photo. This lets consumers know exactly which calls to trust. Importantly, consumers will continue to see the number of spam markings as usual and they retain the right to mark verified numbers as spam or block them completely. To reiterate, our spam algorithms continue to work in the same way and the Truecaller global community of over 270 million active users will be able to mark calls that are potentially spam/scam/sales calls, even if they have a verified badge and Caller ID.

10 SME CHANNELS APRIL 2021

Enea Launches 5G MicroCore for Enterprises using Private 5G Networks Enea announced the launch 5G MicroCore for enterprises using private 5G networks to support smart manufacturing and Industry 4.0 initiatives.

Developed for a minimal footprint, Enea designed its 5G MicroCore based on the company’s 5G Core solutions, that have been deployed by some of the world’s largest tier 1 operators. There are multiple trials taking place in Asia for Enea’s 5G MicroCore.

As with the operator version the 5G MicroCore is interoperable, giving enterprises the freedom to mix and match best of breed products and avoid vendor lock-in. The 5G MicroCore leverages several data management capabilities including Unified Data Manager (UDM), Authentication Server Function (AUSF) and User Data Repository (UDR) and delivers numerous benefits for enterprises to effectively manage their data.

Benefits include telco-grade reliability and security for data storage and access from the core to the edge to safeguard the enterprise network.

The cloud-ready containerized architecture makes edge integration seamless, making it perfect even for very small-scale enterprise settings. Zero-touch operations using self-management features enable easy configuration and fast deployment.

SNIPPETS

MAIT- ETMS 2021 to Be Kicked off from 22nd April MAIT will be hosting its flagship Electronics & Telecom Manufacturing Summit 2021 from 22nd to 23rd April 2021. This will also mark the 3rd edition of the event which has been the voice of the Electronic H/w Industry.

MAIT-ETMS 2021 with the theme “2030 – The Decade of Electronics & Telecom H/w for India”, aims to achieve key objectives like • Making India a global sourcing hub for Electronics & Telecom Sub-assemblies and components for the World leading to authentic manufacturing out of India • Policy support for making India a Global Hub for Electronics & Telecom Hardware Systems Design • Launch of MAIT’s championing 1000 Electronics Hardware Start-up Program • Policy Support & an enabling framework for large companies to outsource Parts & Parts of Parts from Indian SMEs • Making India the global hub for Electronics & Telecom Repair Services Outsourcing.

Cisco AppDynamics Expands Global SaaS Offering With Five New Locations

Microsoft Announces Enterprise Solution for SME/Bs in India Microsoft India has announced the general availability of Dynamics 365 Business Central, a comprehensive business management solution for small and medium-sized businesses. An all-in-one cloud solution, Dynamics 365 Business Central helps companies ensure business continuity by connecting sales, service, finance, and operations teams to help them transform faster and deliver better results. It brings the rich functionality and full flexibility of Microsoft Dynamics Navision, the company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) app, to deploy in the cloud or on-premises. It can be accessed from any mobile device to conduct business on-the-go. Customized for India, the solution comes with inbuilt features that address local regulatory and market requirements for ease of business, including a tax engine comprising over 500+ pre-configured use cases and business scenarios for Goods and Services Tax (GST), Tax Deducted at Source (TDS), and Tax Collected at Source (TCS).

Speaking at the event, Shri Nitin Gadkari said that digitalization is of utmost importance in the development of MSMEs, and could make the system more transparent, time-bound, and result-oriented.

Cisco AppDynamics, the industry leading Business Observability platform, has expanded its SaaS offering through five strategic new locations, enabling fast, secure and reliable access to the AppDynamics Business Observability platform. Built on Amazon Web Services (AWS), new locations in Cape Town (South Africa), Hong Kong (China), London (England), São Paulo (Brazil) and Singapore will provide regional customers and partners with access to full-stack observability solutions that are secure, scalable and adhere to their local data residency regulations, enabling companies to deliver a superior digital experience Recent research from Gartner indicates that almost 70 percent of organizations using cloud services today plan to increase their cloud spend in the wake of the disruption caused by COVID-19.

“The pandemic validated cloud’s value proposition,” said Sid Nag, research vice president, Gartner. “The ability to use on-demand, scalable cloud models to achieve cost efficiency and business continuity is providing the impetus for organizations to rapidly accelerate their digital business transformation plans.”

Samsung Launches Pick-up & Drop Service for Smartphones and Tablets Samsung expanded its contactless service offerings in the country with a new pick-up and drop service for mobile devices. Consumers visiting Samsung service centers can also opt for drop-only service to get their mobile devices delivered to their home post repair. This will ensure Samsung smartphone and tablet consumers do not have to step out of the safety and comfort of their homes to get their devices serviced.

The pick-up and drop service for mobile devices has been kicked-off in 46 cities – Delhi, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Pune, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Ghaziabad, Faridabad, Noida, Chandigarh, Ludhiana, Jalandhar, Jaipur, Udaipur, Jodhpur, Agra, Lucknow, Varansi, Dehradun, Guwahati, Bhubaneswar, Patna, Durgapur, Ranchi, Thane, Aurangabad, Kolhapur, Nagpur, Surat, Vadodara, Bhopal, Indore, Raipur, Rajkot, Jabalpur, Coimbatore, Madurai, Kochi, Calicut, Tirupati, Hubli, Hyderabad, Vijayawada and Vishakapatnam – for non-containment zones falling within municipal limits and with adherence to curfew rules.

boAt Gets investment from Qualcomm Ventures for ‘Make in India’ boAt, the audio player in the Indian market, has received funding from Qualcomm Ventures, the investment arm of Qualcomm Incorporated, an industry leader in wireless technologies. The investment will support the brand’s journey to roll out the next-generation audio & lifestyle products across geographies. boAt continues to achieve rapid revenue growth – 100%+ over the past several years. In the past year, it has doubled its employee strength and has built up a local R&D in Bangalore. The company has also expanded into newer categories like smartwatches, besides launching over 20 new products in the audio category in FY21.

“Qualcomm is a world leader in wireless technologies and we have a shared vision of building world-class products for India and the world.

SME CHANNELS APRIL 2021

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SNIPPETS

Zoho Corporation Launches Qntrl to Address Wide Mid-Market Gap in Workflow Orchestration Market Zoho Corporation launches a new business division, Qntrl (pronounced “control”). As a separate brand, Qntrl delivers workflow solutions aimed at solving the widening gap in process management for modern, complex workflows that require tight alignment between multiple stakeholders. With Qntrl, department and process managers—also called orchestrators—gain more visibility, control, and automation over their workflows, making it easier for them to collaborate across stakeholders and departments. Qntrl empowers orchestrators with tighter alignment for non-linear modern workflows, so tandem efforts can be managed with seamless clarity.

Atal Innovation Mission & Dassault Systemes Foundation to Push Innovation and Entrepreneurship NITI Aayog signed an agreement with Dassault Systemes Fondation to jointly work towards providing a digitally rich ecosystem of Innovation in India and promoting STEM based innovation and entrepreneurship among aspiring young minds across the country.

One of the flagship programs of AIM, the Atal Tinkering Labs (ATLs) has played a pivotal role in fostering creativity and imagination amongst school children. Dassault Systemes Foundation, dedicated to transform the future of education and research in India with 3D technologies and virtual universes, is all set to contribute to the ATL program in three broad areas – project based, self-paced learning content, hackathons and challenges and inter-country academia collaborations.

Bharti Airtel Brings Focus on Digital, India, International and Infrastructure Bharti Airtel rejigs internal structure to sharpen the focus on exploring the digital opportunity in India while enabling it to unlock value.

The new structure envisages Airtel Digital Limited folding into the listed entity, Bharti Airtel. This will now house all of the digital assets spanning Wynk Music, Airtel X stream, Airtel Thanks, Mitra Payments platform used by a million retailers, Airtel Ads, Airtel IQ, Airtel Secure, Airtel Cloud and all future digital products and services.

The digital ambition of Bharti Airtel Limited is closely intertwined with the spine that connectivity provides across the country. It is therefore intended to house all the telecom businesses in a newly created entity, Airtel Limited – a wholly owned subsidiary of Bharti Airtel Limited. Bharti Telemedia, the 100% arm operating DTH services will sit alongside Airtel Limited for now. It is intended to eventually fold the DTH business into Airtel Limited to move towards the NDCP vision of converged services to customers. The company has moved the government to seek clarity on licensing policy given that carriage i.e. telecom and DTH is currently being regulated and managed under two separate ministries of Communications and I&B respectively.

Microsoft Acquires Nuance Acquisition will combine solutions and expertise to deliver new cloud and AI capabilities across healthcare and other industries Microsoft Corp and Nuance Communications have entered into a definitive agreement under which Microsoft will acquire Nuance for $56.00 per share, implying a 23% premium to the closing price of Nuance on Friday, April 9, in an all-cash transaction valued at $19.7 billion, inclusive of Nuance’s net debt. Nuance is a trusted cloud and AI software leader representing decades of accumulated healthcare and enterprise AI experience. Mark Benjamin will remain CEO of Nuance, reporting to Scott Guthrie, executive vice president of Cloud & AI at Microsoft. The transaction is intended to close this calendar year.

Microsoft has accelerated its efforts to provide industry-specific cloud offerings to support customers and partners as they respond to disruption and new opportunities.

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DIGEST CAPGEMINI BRINGS TOGETHER ITS ENGINEERING AND R&D EXPERTISE WITH THE LAUNCH OF NEW BRAND: ‘CAPGEMINI ENGINEERING’ CAPGEMINI UNVEILED TODAY ‘CAPGEMINI ENGINEERING’, WHICH CONSOLIDATES A UNIQUE SET OF MARKET LEADING CAPABILITIES IN ENGINEERING AND R&D. ALONG WITH THE GROUP’S DEEP INDUSTRY EXPERTISE AND CUTTING-EDGE TECHNOLOGIES IN DIGITAL AND SOFTWARE, IT WILL SUPPORT ORGANIZATIONS AS THE DIGITAL AND PHYSICAL WORLDS CONVERGE. THE GLOBAL BUSINESS LINE1, WITH ITS 52,000 ENGINEERS AND SCIENTISTS AND A PRESENCE IN ALL MAJOR ENGINEERING HUBS ACROSS THE WORLD, BUILDS ON THE INTEGRATION OF ALTRAN, ONE YEAR ON FROM ITS ACQUISITION BY CAPGEMINI. “TODAY’S LEADING ORGANIZATIONS UNDERSTAND THAT ENGINEERING AND R&D IS FAST-MOVING AND EVER EVOLVING. AS A RESULT AN END-TO-END PARTNERSHIP WITH CLIENTS IS NEEDED FOR DEVELOPING, LAUNCHING, MANAGING AND MODERNIZING BREAKTHROUGH PRODUCTS,” COMMENTS AIMAN EZZAT, CEO OF THE CAPGEMINI GROUP. “THE LAUNCH OF CAPGEMINI ENGINEERING BUILDS ON THE INTEGRATION OF ALTRAN’S CAPABILITIES INTO THE GROUP, A YEAR ON FROM ITS ACQUISITION. IT PERFECTLY COMPLEMENTS THE GROUP’S ALREADY WELL-ESTABLISHED PORTFOLIO OF BUSINESS OFFERINGS AND SUPPORTS OUR LEADERSHIP POSITION IN INTELLIGENT INDUSTRY.”

R3 DEVELOPMENT FUND INVESTS FIRST USD 10 MILLION IN OVER 20 START-UPS R3’S DEVELOPMENT FUND HAS REACHED THE MILESTONE OF USD 10 MILLION IN CAPITAL DEPLOYED ACROSS OVER 30 INVESTMENTS IN MORE THAN 20 OF THE MOST PROMISING EARLY-STAGE BLOCKCHAIN AND CONFIDENTIAL COMPUTING COMPANIES. THE FUND INVESTS IN INNOVATIVE STARTUPS BUILDING APPS ON R3’S ENTERPRISE BLOCKCHAIN PLATFORM, CORDA, AND ITS NEW CONFIDENTIAL COMPUTING PLATFORM, CONCLAVE. THE FUND LAUNCHED IN 2019 TO SUPPORT FIRMS LEVERAGING BLOCKCHAIN FOR GLOBAL COMMERCE AND TO FURTHER ESTABLISH R3’S PRESENCE IN FINANCIAL SERVICES, TRADE FINANCE, INSURANCE AND DIGITAL ASSETS. DAVID E. RUTTER, CEO AT R3, SAID: “R3’S STRENGTH IS DERIVED FROM ITS COMMUNITY, WHICH INCLUDES A DIVERSE RANGE OF START-UPS FROM A MYRIAD OF INDUSTRIES – FROM INSURANCE TO EDUCATION, SUPPLY CHAIN FINANCE TO PAYMENT MESSAGING – BUILDING AND DEPLOYING APPS FOR CUSTOMERS ACROSS THE GLOBE. THE R3 DEVELOPMENT FUND IS ALREADY KNOWN IN THESE INDUSTRIES AS AN EXPERT STRATEGIC INVESTOR WITH A STRONG TRACK RECORD IN BACKING THE MOST PROMISING EARLY-STAGE COMPANIES.

SNIPPETS

Ingram Micro India signs agreement with Shycocan Corporation Ingram Micro India has entered into a strategic partnership with Shycocan Corporation to distribute their innovative Virus Attenuation Device – Shycocan. The risk of Covid-19 transmission is the highest in indoor spaces. Offices and businesses must operate under strict safety guidelines and reduced capacity, resulting in higher operating costs and lower revenue.

Hailed as the world’s first virus attenuation device, Shycocan aims to help revive the economy and restore normalcy by effectively neutralizing the transmission of Coronavirus & Influenza family of viruses in indoor spaces by 99.9%. as proven in multiple virology test reports from accredited laboratories.

The device is invented by an Indian scientist – Dr. Rajah Vijay Kumar who holds over 30 inventions globally. It continuously produces high-intensity photons which after striking aerosols, microscopic impurities, viral particles in the air, solid surfaces, and objects creates an electron cloud in an indoor space.

OpenText Launches OpenText World Europe and Asia Pacific OpenText announced the dates for OpenText World Europe (April 14-15) and OpenText World Asia Pacific (May 20-21). These will be two of the largest events OpenText has ever held, using an interactive virtual format to connect directly with customers across Europe and the Asia Pacific region.

Each two-day event will bring together OpenText leadership and experts, guest speakers, strategic partners and industry professionals to discuss market trends, explore the opportunities within the European and Asian markets, and show customers how they can grow faster with OpenText.

“Businesses of all sizes are looking to grow, increase efficiency, and improve sustainability,” said Mark J. Barrenechea, OpenText CEO & CTO. “At OpenText World we will be launching our Grow with OpenText program, which will bring together everything organizations need to transform their business and accelerate growth. No matter their point of departure, OpenText can guide customers on a successful journey to the Ultimate Cloud™.”

Italian Tech Brand ‘Celly’ enters Indian Markets, with Beetel as its distributor Celly, the Italian brand known for its high quality & stylish accessories for smartphones, tablets and laptops, today announced its foray into the Indian Market. The brand sees India as a high growth potential market and plans to expand its foothold, in a partnership with Beetel, an Indian household name, and a leading technology brand offering contemporary solutions for modern India’s connectivity and IT needs.

Blending Italian craft with technology, Celly shall launch a range of products under audio, power, photography, utility & travel category. With over 20+ products to launch in India by the end of April, the lineup includes several marquee innovations of Celly. The products shall be priced among the mid – high end segment and will be available with leading ecommerce platforms – Amazon and Flipkart along with brick and mortar stores Commenting on the announcement, Stefan Fink-Jensen, International Business Development for Celly, said, “Celly and Beetel have been working hand in hand for the past year to prepare for this exciting moment.

Legrand India Launches LDCS as a one-stop shop for all Data Center Infrastructure Solutions Legrand launches a new entity, Legrand Data Center Solutions (LDCS) which brings together a portfolio of global brands including Legrand, Numeric, Raritan & Server Technology under one specialist team. Keeping ‘agility’ as the core focus, LDCS offers one-stop modular, scalable, and customizable solutions enabling performance while ensuring efficiency. It provides business with maximum flexibility and scalability for growth and enables quick technology or application upgrade in a cost-effective manner.

LDCS aims to address all sizes of data centers, ranging from hyperscale to micro data centers.

It offers a wide range of server and network racks, high-performance cooling solutions enabling optimum cooling in all conditions and a full range of 3-phase UPS solution. It also uniquely positioned to provide optimum security through high-performance PDUs and switches for any installation configuration, detection, control, and protection.

Radware Awarded “Leader in DDoS Protection” by Forrester Radware was named a Leader by Forrester Research for DDoS protection, in The Forrester Wave: DDoS Mitigation Solutions, Q1 2021, released this week. Moreover, Radware was ranked in the Forrester report with the highest score in the current offering category.

DDoS protection is now more important than ever, as the size and sophistication of attacks continues to rise. Just in the past 12 months we saw the largest ever DDoS attack by size (bit per second), the largest ever DDoS attack by rate (packets per second), as well as targeted global campaigns against financial institutions, gaming providers, healthcare providers, and more.

“We believe Radware’s recognition in this report demonstrates Radware’s commitment to excellence across multiple domains”, shared Forrester spokesperson.

Radware provides the industry’s leading DDoS protection technology, based on our behavioral detection and mitigation capabilities. Radware uses sophisticated behavioral-based algorithms to distinguish between malicious and legitimate traffic, and instantly identify DDoS attacks and reduce false positives.

SME CHANNELS 13 APRIL 2021

SNIPPETS

Web3 Foundation expands their Blockchain developer Ecosystem to India Web3 Foundation, a Swiss Foundation that facilitates a fully functional and user-friendly decentralized web in association with Lumos Labs, today announced the launch of the first edition of Polkadot Buildathon: India to build and expand the blockchain developer ecosystem in India. The inaugural edition of the Hackathon aims to empower and equip the developer ecosystem in India with the right set of information to build a blockchain for the Polkadot ecosystem, thereby initiating mass adoption of this next phase of the Web3 wave in India. Polkadot, an advanced sharded, multichain network, founded by Dr. Gavin Wood, the Co-founder and former CTO of Ethereum and creator of the Solidity programming language, is the flagship project by the Web3 Foundation.

Spanning over eight weeks, the hackathon will be divided into two phases of four weeks each – the Ideation Phase and the Integration Phase. During the course of the Ideation Phase, the participants will be provided with training workshops to learn basic local node deployment and identify viable real-world problem statements that can be solved on the chain.

Hitachi to Acquire GlobalLogic Hitachi will acquire GlobalLogic Inc. The acquisition is based on the definitive agreement among Hitachi Global Digital Holdings Corporation (“HGDH”), a U.S. subsidiary, an SPC established by HGDH for the acquisition and GlobalLogic Worldwide Holdings, Inc., the parent company of GlobalLogic. The transaction is subject to customary conditions and regulatory approvals and expected to be completed by the end of July 2021.

Through the acquisition, Hitachi expects the addition of GlobalLogic’s advanced digital engineering capabilities, and its solid client base including major technology companies, to strengthen the digital portfolio of “Lumada.”

Hitachi Vantara LLC, a U.S.-based subsidiary of Hitachi and its digital infrastructure, data management, and digital solutions business, plays a key role in driving Lumada business growth in the global market.

The acquisition will create synergies across Hitachi’s five sectors – IT, Energy, Industry, Mobility and Smart Life – and automotive systems business (Hitachi Astemo) by accelerating the advanced digital transformation of social infrastructure such as rail, energy, and healthcare at a global scale. Through its Social Innovation Business delivered by collaborative creation with customers, Hitachi aims to increase social, environmental, and economic value for its customers and realize a sustainable society.

Myanmar’s Digital Restrictions Amplified Usage of VPN IntSights, the threat intelligence company focused on enabling enterprises to Defend Forward, released a research report that dives into the cyber threat landscape of Myanmar today. The threat brief examines how the political developments and digital crackdowns in the past few months have driven citizen and opposition movement toward anonymous channels to communicate.

With more than 68 million mobile users in Myanmar, IntSights researchers found that the demand for VPNs and alternative methods of communication has skyrocketed and new methods to overcome internet access issues are emerging daily, including the increasing popular use of mesh network apps that use Bluetooth – like Bridgefy and FireChat. Many citizens are also taking to the Tor browser to access the dark web to circumvent the internet blocks and restrictions imposed by the government and find private communication channels to securely share information with one another, and mostly to seek a sense of normalcy.

The crackdowns gave rise to international hacktivist efforts to launch cyberwarfare operations including hacking and defacing the Myanmar government and Myanmar police force official websites.

AWS Announces General Availability of Amazon Lookout for Metrics AWS announced the general availability of Amazon Lookout for Metrics, a new fully managed service that detects anomalies in metrics and helps determine their root cause. Amazon Lookout for Metrics helps customers monitor the most important metrics for their business like revenue, web page views, active users, transaction volume, and mobile app installations with greater speed and accuracy. The service also makes it easier to diagnose the root cause of anomalies like unexpected dips in revenue, high rates of abandoned shopping carts, spikes in payment transaction failures, increases in new user sign-ups, and many more—all with no machine learning experience required. With Amazon Lookout for Metrics, there is no up-front commitment or minimum fee, and customers pay only for the number of metrics analyzed per month. To get started with Amazon Lookout for Metrics, visit https://aws.amazon.com/lookout-for-metrics/ Organizations of all sizes and across industries gather and analyze metrics or key performance indicators (KPIs) to help their businesses run effectively and efficiently.

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Salesforce Reimagines Sales Cloud to Drive Growth in a Sell-From-Anywhere World Salesforce introduced the next generation of Sales Cloud — new technology to support a digital-first selling world.

Sales Cloud 360 is the complete growth platform for the new world of digital sales, with flexible technology and the world’s largest sales partner ecosystem that companies of every size can rely on to grow revenue and boost productivity.

Sixty-one percent of sales people believe their roles have changed permanently since COVID-19 began.[1] Even when salespeople are able to get back on the road and into offices, 51% expect to travel less than they did pre-pandemic[2], and fewer than half expect to go back to the office[3].

With business optimism at an all-time high as CEOs expect a return to growth in 2021, companies must quickly create new sales processes and adapt to new technology to ensure they can lead in this competitive landscape.

SNIPPETS

Gartner Forecasts Worldwide Social Software and Collaboration Market to Grow 17% in 2021

RiT Tech enters into a strategic partnership with Champak Infosolution (CIS)

The worldwide social software and collaboration market is forecast to total $4.5 billion in 2021, an increase of 17.1% from 2020, according to the latest forecast by Gartner, Inc. The need to support remote work during COVID-19, as well as social software integrations within other enterprise applications, is driving significant growth.

“Many of the existing use cases propelling the social and collaboration market, such as coordinating a distributed workforce and providing a ‘virtual water cooler,’ got a sudden jolt from the pandemic,” said Craig Roth, research vice president at Gartner. “Social and collaboration tools went from a ‘nice to have’ to a ‘must have’ within a matter of weeks.”

Even as some workers begin to return to offices, COVID-19 has caused a permanent change in workforce structure that will require additional investment in technologies to facilitate, capture and organize open conversations and information sharing.

RiT Tech announced a strategic partnership with Champak Infosolution (CIS), a leading IT distribution company providing end-to-end technology solutions.

The partnership is a move to grow RiT Tech’s DCIM, AIM and its comprehensive connectivity offerings and will provide a platform for innovative solutions that will meet the immediate and future needs of varied clients. As an exclusive partner, CIS will be catering for the delivery of RiT Tech’s comprehensive suite of connectivity products and its software solution, XpedITe. Speaking on the strategic partnership, Assaf Skolnik, CEO, RiT Tech quoted, “Through this wonderful alliance with CIS, we will be able to increase our market share in the Indian market.”

RiT Tech’s CEO continues “As a growing force in data centre infrastructure management through our innovative software, XpedITe, RiT Tech’s pedigree in connectivity management and our reputable structured cabling offering, CIS is the perfect partner to provide access to wider distribution- connecting to many more customers and creating a partnership for future growth.”

On this collaboration, Anuj Shukla, Country Director, RiT Tech quoted, “It is a real pleasure to forge such a partnership with Champak Infosolution.

Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution and Analog Devices Launch Ocean and Climate Innovation Accelerator Woods Hole launched the Ocean and Climate Innovation Accelerator (OCIA) consortium. ADI has committed $3 million over three years towards the consortium which will focus on advancing knowledge of the ocean’s critical role in combatting climate change as well as developing new solutions at the intersection of oceans and climate.

“Carbon emissions feature as a centerpiece in global efforts to mitigate climate change. Oceans are among our most important defense mechanisms against a warming planet – yet their ability to continue to play this critically important role is being threatened by the effects of climate change,” said Vincent Roche, CEO of Analog Devices. “Through the Ocean and Climate Innovation Accelerator, we are committed to engaging ADI’s engineers and technologies to advance knowledge of the oceans, in order to gain a better understanding of how oceans are impacted by climate change and to develop solutions to restore ocean health. By doing so, we hope to drive meaningful impact on the global fight against climate change.”

R3 Development Fund invests first USD 10 million in over 20 start-ups R3’s Development Fund has reached the milestone of USD 10 million in capital deployed across over 30 investments in more than 20 of the most promising early-stage blockchain and confidential computing companies.

The Fund invests in innovative start-ups building apps on R3’s enterprise blockchain platform, Corda, and its new confidential computing platform, Conclave. The Fund launched in 2019 to support firms leveraging blockchain for global commerce and to further establish R3’s presence in financial services, trade finance, insurance and digital assets.

David E. Rutter, CEO at R3, said: “R3’s strength is derived from its community, which includes a diverse range of start-ups from a myriad of industries – from insurance to education, supply chain finance to payment messaging – building and deploying apps for customers across the globe.

Rackspace Technology Defines a New Category in Cloud Services with Launch of Rackspace Elastic Engineering Rackspace Technology launched their new service model designed to help customers build and operate modern cloud environments, Rackspace Elastic Engineering. While traditional cloud managed services are fixed scope and focused on infrastructure operations, Rackspace Elastic Engineering helps customers embrace a cloud native approach while delivering ongoing innovation, modernization, and transformation, in addition to world-class 24x7x365 operations. Releasing today to support all three major public cloud providers, Amazon Web Services (AWS), Microsoft Azure, and Google Cloud Platform (GCP), Rackspace Elastic Engineering marks the beginning of a significant shift in Rackspace Technology’s approach to managed cloud support.

“Customers gain the most from cloud technologies when workloads, teams, and processes are transformed to a more cloud native and agile operating model. Traditional managed services struggle to deliver in these environments due to inflexible scope and contract structures,” said Tolga Tarhan, Chief Technology Officer, Rackspace Technology.

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PARTNER CORNER

DELL’S POWERSTORE SOLUTIONS WILL REVOLUTIONIZE THE CLOUD ERA AND ELEVATE CLOUD STRATEGIES FOR COMPANIES In November 2020, Dell Technologies launched their PowerStore initiative that aimed to provide partners with 20 points in combined front-end discounts and back-end incentives. Now, dell is increasing discounts and expanding the initiative to include the PowerScale family, including Isilon.

Under this expanded initiative, partners selling eligible PowerStore or PowerScale products with approved deal registration will get an increased front-end discount on those products, aimed at providing an average 20 points in addition to standard eligible storage and acquisition back-end rebates. Partners are free to set their own resell pricing and actual margin may vary by transaction, region, partners’ own resell price and other factors.

This expanded initiative is effective immediately, and demonstrates the continued focus on storage that we spoke about in February when we launched the 2021 Dell Technologies Partner Program. At that time, we announced continued investment in New Business, Competitive Swap and Tech refresh rebates, as well as continued unit incentives to support midrange selling momentum, given the significant market opportunity in that area.

Tian Beng Ng, Senior Vice President & General Manager – Channels, APJ at Dell Technologies, said, “2020 has been a very good year for the tech industry. I am happy to say that we had very strong FY-21 results at Dell as the full year revenue was 94.2 billion, which is up by 2% YoY. And if you look at our Q4 revenue, it was 26.1 billion, actually up 9% YoY. But we really had record performance in many areas. Operating incomes was a

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new record effort by 1 billion. Cash flow was very strong at 11.4 billion for the full year. In fact, if you look at our partner business, we delivered $52 billion through our partners globally in orders. So you can imagine just by the business by itself, 52 billion is very significant.

As per him Dell Client Solution Business did really well. The company had 7% compounded annual growth in the last 5 years. It ships 50.3 million PC units which was up 8% YoY. 50.3 million units just last year and then on the server side it gained 240 basis points. He admitted that Dell is No. 1 now on the mainstream server revenue for the last 3 years.

Tian Beng expressed his wish by saying, “We are also pleased to say that globally our strategy is to be No. 1 in many areas all in one place. So, if you look at the industry, in Channel, we continue to specialise around specific industries.”

As per him the pandemic has brought a lot of challenges and opportunities. Dell has identified 6 key technologies including cloud, Edge, AI, Machine Learning, 5G, Data Management and Security which are really important for digital transformation.

Tian Beng added, “If you look at the partner landscape and the trends, I think the first big one we’re seeing is multi-cloud. In fact, we estimate that by 2023 70% of all enterprises will actually be deploying multi-cloud strategies. Multi-cloud means that you’ll be both on-premise and across different public clouds. So with multi-cloud obviously the complexity will increase. I think channel partners will have a huge opportunity to play here to support customers as they adopt a multi-cloud

strategy.”

He added, “The Second one is around the Edge.

I think Edge computing is really one of the big trends that happening. Edge computing is very important, because it’s so important to bring computing now closer to edge to process the data faster. There’s really not enough time now to wait to move the data all the way from the edge back to the data centre. And then with 5G the bandwidth will increase, so you will see a lot of trends will move to edge. And we believe that nearly 80-100% of edge computing will happen through our channel partners, because to do edge computing you really need very specific types of solutions. And I think our partners are in a best position to actually do that.

For Dell, the next trend is around the whole area of as-a-service and the consumption model.

As per Beng all the organisations are looking for very specific business outcomes and partners can take advantage of that.

In fact, Dell has over 2,000 customers already that are currently on the as-a-service or the consumption model. In India Dell recently launched its Flex on Demand. Besides, demand for PC would certainly continue as work from home is again coming to the picture due to the growing case of Covid-19.

This is what at Dell Beng and his team is really focussed on with its channel partners and their 3 tenets of channel vision include trust, growth and change.

Coming to PowerStore, he added that “we are excited about this mid-range product as it offers the largest opportunity. In fact, in APJ, just within

PARTNER CORNER

Channels, Dell Technologies, India, added, “At Dell we live with that culture of optimism. And with that culture, we ended up the year with phenomenal performance. We couldn’t have expected better. It was historic year for us in India, and we haven’t done as well in many past years. Every single LOB showed a huge growth year on year on a quarter basis, and that was phenomenal by any standard. And this all led to the big winning in the market as a company, as a subsidiary. Even as Dell India we did extremely well and it was a historic quarter to Dell India as well.”

He added, “And, that led us to gaining No. 1 positions in multiple things. We have never seen No. 1 in our entire client offering which could be notebooks or workstations or other commercial client solutions. We were #1 in servers, and some of the storage and Hyper Convergent Infrastructure which is HCI. So #1 in client, #1 in servers and #1 in storage. So this has been a historic year in many-many ways where we had a phenomenal year-on-year growths coming up towards the end of the year and leading us and placing us into the leadership position in every single category that we sell.”

ANIL SETHI VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER, CHANNELS, DELL TECHNOLOGIES, INDIA

TIAN BENG NG SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER – CHANNELS, APJ, DELL TECHNOLOGIES

“WE ENDED UP THE YEAR WITH PHENOMENAL PERFORMANCE. WE COULDN’T HAVE EXPECTED BETTER.”

“I THINK CHANNEL PARTNERS WILL HAVE A HUGE OPPORTUNITY TO PLAY HERE TO SUPPORT CUSTOMERS AS THEY ADOPT A MULTI-CLOUD STRATEGY.”

this region, mid-range market accounts for 62% of the storage market and it’s about 2.2 billion dollars, just this year. And we are excited because PowerStore, the platform, really addresses a lot of the cloud challenges that I talked about earlier.”

PowerStore is a revolutionary architecture. It really combines the best of the hardware with Apps-on capability. In fact, with this platform, the partners can run the apps directly on the clients, which is really unique. There are actually three big advantages of PowerStore. No. 1 is data centric. So it can really pick on any workload. It’s up to seven times faster, in fact it’s three times more responsive than Dell’s previous mid-range solution. No. 2, it’s actually more intelligent. You can program it and it

easily integrates with the VMware kubernetes. No. 3, it’s adaptable. It is really very flexible because of the Apps-on feature. So, with PowerStore customers can really deploy it to meet their cloud strategy and their business needs very well.

On this Dell is giving higher upfront discounting to its partners. Though the company had announced this last year but just last week, the company announced some changes where further the discuouns would be increased.

Last but not the least is the project APEX, which is the new as-a-service initiative.

Anil Sethi, Vice President & General Manager,

Anil describes Dell being number one in many categories as a consolidation of the trust.

Profitability is the center of everything. As per Anil, on PowerStore the company is committing a 20% margin to the partners. Any LOBs which Dell is selling with the partners are focused on their profitability.

Midrange storage is a space where Dell has not gained more share and that is where a new offering called PowerStore is coming up and also there are some other offering like PowerScale.

Anil expanded, “While talking about PowerStore, we feel that in today’s market we are in a data era, Cloud era, you need devices which can talk to each other and being AI enabled, or MI or a 5G enabled. So those are technologies which are going to be super important and that is what you will keep hearing, we are coming up with the products into this category. So that is our priority focus on the midrange storage.”

Finally…

As Dell has identified 6 key technologies including Cloud, Edge, AI, Machine Learning, 5G, Data Management and Security as these are important for digital transformation, it is changing is strategy to adapt to the market and at the same time equipping the partners with right products and channel program.

SME CHANNELS 17 APRIL 2021

GUEST ARTICLE

CHANNEL PARTNERS LEANING TOWARDS LOW-CODE PLATFORM FOR AMPLIFIED RESULTS IN DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION JINEN DEDHIA, Co-founder and MD – DronaHQ

The onset of the COVID-19 pandemic highlighted the importance of rapid development as channel partners raced to create digital solutions for their customers dealing with business disruptions.

Channel partners are leaning towards low-code application development platforms that allow them to create more applications faster with a limited number of developers and accelerate value to customers.

Interest in Low-Code Platforms Set to Soar With the rise of digital transformation projects, interest in low-code platforms has never been higher. The market for low-code app development has quickly flourished in the past few months owing to increased need for business agility and growing pressure on IT teams to deliver faster solutions over multiple channels. In the last 6 months alone, low-code vendors were able to raise at least $500 million in funding. 2020 witnessed the entrance of major technology companies in the low-code arena – Google (AppSheet), Amazon (Honeycode), SAP (Ruum). The market for low-code platforms was $4.3 billion in 2017. It is predicted to grow to more than $27 billion by 2022. “By 2024, three-quarters of large enterprises will be using at least four lowcode development tools for both IT application development and citizen development initiatives.”

— Gartner How Channel Partners Benefit from low-code When it comes to application development, IT Channel Partners are amplifying their conventional development strategies by adopting low-code platforms and low-code methodologies.

The partners work with customers to drive innovation and create solutions that respond to change (that are future-proof). A common reason to adopt low-code among the channels is the speed and ease

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of development. But more recently the ISVs have taken to low-code due to the ease of integration that comes along with it to build new solutions while leveraging a visual development platform.

Custom software development agencies in the United States employ approximately 1 million people, with revenues over 155 billion. Agencies are competitive and they are feeling the pressure to pull down estimates and costs. Low-code tools are positioning themselves to help with that. By leveraging low-code platforms, tools and templates, the agencies are able to produce faster and Increase their profitability. Integration, reliability, reusability, scalability – these are exactly the great benefits that the platform is designed to offer.

In the era of digital transformation, low-code platforms drive innovation more swiftly. These platforms can provide channel partners with core features like database and app integrations, singleclick deployment with continuous integration and delivery, an array of application types, and full-stack visual development. All these features help software development houses – 1. Save time and cost – low-code libraries of ready-to-use components, apps, workflows reduce the amount of development time needed to put the solution live. (Rapid Prototyping) 2. Innovate using lean principles – Supports the ability to differentiate as the partner’s get to showcase their extensive expertise in complex, missioncritical systems with easy integration capabilities that low-code tools provide.

3. For the technology partners who are leaders who understand the enterprises that use specific software, like SAP or Salesforce, can deliver exactly what the customer needs in a fraction of time.

GUEST ARTICLE

4 KEY STEPS FOR HEALTHCARE PROVIDERS TO COMBAT RANSOMWARE DAN SCHIAPPA, Chief Product Officer, Sophos

Globally, ransomware attacks have been one of the biggest threats to cybersecurity, particularly in the healthcare sector. In fact, in November 2020 the United States FBI, Department of Health and Human Services, and Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency issued strong warnings of an “increased and imminent” threat of ransomware attacks on hospitals and other healthcare providers. This announcement followed a previous attack on Universal Health Services (UHS), on one of the largest chains of healthcare facilities in the U.S., that knocked its systems offline. While patient care was still safely provided while UHS restored its computers, the fact that adversaries even targeted UHS and then succeeded at the attack is eye opening.

How did we get here? In one sense, this has been a long time coming. Hospitals and health systems are, quite unfortunately, ripe for ransomware and other cyberattacks. Some of the factors most responsible for the rise in healthcare-targeted cyberattacks are due to the nature of the industry itself, like decentralized operations across hospitals and healthcare providers, and exponentially growing volumes of patient health information being captured and stored electronically (i.e. electronic health records) by health systems.

COVID-19 is also, in many ways, a culprit for these accelerating healthcare ransomware attacks.

The sudden onset of the pandemic forced healthcare providers to very quickly set up emergency COVID-19 facilities, with little time to plan out robust IT security infrastructures to protect these facilities. On top of that, the practically overnight shift to telehealth and remote working meant scores of new security gaps were opened – and discovered by attackers – just as quickly.

This trend has moved in tandem alongside another disturbing one: a growing sophistication among ransomware groups. Instead of large-scale, brute force attacks, ransomware attackers have rapidly shifted to more focused, strategically planned and executed strikes – resulting in more precise attacks that are harder to detect and defend against.

This is no assembly line, mass-produced product; this stuff is the craft beer of malware. And it’s the reason why resurgent ransomware gangs like Ryuk,

which has been credited with one-third of all ransomware attacks occurring in the past year, have had such devastating success by targeting healthcare providers.

So how do they respond? Here are four key steps every healthcare provider needs to undertake to get ahead of their growing ransomware problem.

1. Identify your weak points.

Ransomware attackers move alarmingly quickly. If a target opens a phishing email attachment, it only takes a little over three hours for the cybercriminals to begin performing recon across the target’s network; within a day, they’ll have accessed a domain controller and begun deployment of their ransomware package. So knowing where your vulnerabilities are is critical. Servers with Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) enabled, unpatched web servers, and a lack of multifactor authentication for logins are all common and key weak points that attackers will exploit.

2. IT hygiene + companywide awareness and education.

The obvious next step once you’ve identified your weak points is to patch them. Don’t have two-factor authentication? Implement it. Security definitions out of date? Update them. RDP servers are enabled?

Shut them down or put them behind a VPN. This is as much an awareness issue as an IT one. Anyone in the organization that sends an email, has a password, or uses a device to log onto a network needs to know and practice basic IT hygiene, including creating stronger passwords and knowing how to spot spear-phishing emails. If they don’t know what that means, they need to be taught. The security of a hospital’s network is only as strong as its weakest password.

3. Implement EDR with human-led threat hunting.

Endpoint detection and response (EDR) shores up security defenses for every device linked to a network, while also providing crucial information on potential threats to response teams who track down and neutralize these issues.

SME CHANNELS 19 APRIL 2021

CORPORATE STORY

ACCEPT…

ADAPT & SURVIVE….!!

Nothing more matters other than survival for the Enterprises during this pandemic but the changes that the industries are now accepting Dell already has it in its DNA.

BY NIDHI SHAIL

nidhi@accentinfomedia

During this pandemic Survival is the only key to succeed. Industries during these tough times are redefining the work dynamics only to survive.

While there are associated benefits, some challenges could also mean that remote working will not be the future of workspaces in India when the activities are back to normal. Anil Sethi, Vice President & General Manager- Channels India, Dell Technologiessays,” COVID-19 has brought everything to a grinding halt though businesses are limping back to normalcy and organisations have allowed their workforce to join back office with adequate safety and personal security.

During the lockdown OEMs have taken adequate steps to support their partners and customers to do away with physical, mental and financial challenges”.

Things have come to stand still but even during this pandemic , Dell is fully committed in supporting its partner’s community as it has always been partner centric .He adds ,” Dell Technologies is fully committed to supporting the partner com-

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munity navigate through the changing environment. The current situation demands the partners to collaborate with technology players to enable their businesses with required infrastructure to support business continuity. Understanding the importance of financing and cash flow liquidity, we recently launched Partner Relief Package, with an intent to provide immediate financial relief to our metal partners, while helping them build capabilities and pipeline for the future”.

In addition to this Dell has also introduced new team-based pricing options for solutions providers to make all training more affordable for its partners. · MDF (Marketing Development Funds) validity extended till end-July – thus giving partners more time to plan and execute (up to 3 months more than the current 6 months window) · Option of advance withdrawal – up to 50% of their earned MDF – to ease cash flow · Free training and certifications – for solution deployment capabilities

· Digital Marketing Tool – enabling partners to execute Digital Marketing – the best tool in current contact-less economy to run customer outreach marketing activities · Attractive Working Capital Solutions – minimizing the financial burden and working capital pressure for partners – when they transact with Dell · The Dell Financial Services (DFS) team has introduced a new Payment Flexibility Program (PFP). One of the best in the industry, the program offers more choice and predictability for our customers. · In a recent global announcement we also talked about how our services are helping our customers and partners to drive business continuity in this new normal and how we are offering $9B in financing this year for critical technology.

Dell is one of the best players in the market it has, is and will be constantly working on innovative ways to continue supporting the partners through these times and enable them to serve

CORPORATE STORY

telecommunication and digital cities will be more now than ever. With the digital economy growing exponentially, Dell Technologies will continue to work towards enabling our customers and partners to achieve their goals”.

their customers better and help their employees remain productive.

As per the critical situation enterprises are only left with the option of work from home. Anil sethi comments on this,” Flexible working is in Dell’s DNA and we have a longstanding culture of work from home. Dell has the right infrastructure, automation, monitoring tools and network technology, which has been empowering our team members to work from home. We use our established infrastructure to manage our facilities remotely, securing workspaces and seamless connectivity, to enable all our team members to be productive from any location.

Mentioning above about the fact that Work from home culture has been adopted by Dell Technologies way earlier so they are not compromising on anything in fact Dell promotes this.

He adds to this,”In India, our entire workforce is working from home and with the required infrastructure in place, we are fully prepared to support this flexible work environment. Our global advisory on the current situation is regularly updated with the latest news, information about working from home, considerations for events and meetings and tips for keeping our people healthy” The present situation has enabled everyone to be closer to the customers and partners more than ever before. He mentions ,”One of our key focus being digital transformation and given the current scenario we see it as a necessary journey which will enable companies to chart out the best of business continuity plans.Our focus on sectors like healthcare, online collaboration, education,

Here are the projects Dell is working on with the Government to help under this situation: With intent to make valuable contribution, Dell has developed a focused approach to support the societies and communities through various efforts nationwide.

Some of the key initiatives undertaken are: · Dell is technology partner to Ministry of Family Health and Welfare (MOHFW) for the Ayushman Bharat Non-Communicable Diseases (NCD) program and has developed a technology platform which is being used across 21 states.

Studies show that people with NCDs like Hypertension, Diabetes, Heart Disease and Cancer are at higher risk for COVID-19 complications and would benefit from proactive interventions and monitoring. Hence, the Dell team is enhancing the NCD software system with a module for Covid19 Risk Assessment and monitoring of NCD patients · In collaboration with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare (MoHFW), Dell has prepared a COVID-19 awareness video for Community Health workers. The video has been translated into 10 regional languages and is available on the Ministry website (link) · Through our partnership with Invest India - a national investment promotion and facilitation agency of NITI Aayog, we are contributing INR 3 crore to provide Personal Protection Equipment (PPE) for healthcare workers · Provided 25,000 N95 Masks to healthcare professionals through Invest India · To help the daily wagers, who have been the worst-hit community in India, due to lockdown, we are focusing on fund-raising efforts to support them with our NGO partner HOPE Foundation The expectation and optimism about COVID19 aftermath Dell’s four acceleration points which will shape the future: · It will have a larger remote workforce, expanding talent pools and reducing environmental impact: The remote workforce is here to stay. 451 Research finds approximately 40% of organizations expect expanded work from home policies to remain in place long-term or permanently.

Dell’s own pulse survey among customers validates this view, with up to 40% stating it will shift to a more robust work-from-home environment.

This results in less people traveling and could

have a compelling impact on reducing the carbon footprint. Passenger vehicles account for nearly 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions. Reduce the amount of traffic and transportation – make a significant change on the environment · Global supply chains will undergo rapid transformation – diverse, resilient and digital: It has built incredibly strong global relationships throughout the supply chain over decades. And it has been undergoing its own digital makeover that has put it in the position to be more agile during one of the greatest moments of uncertainly it has ever faced. Dell has got powerful data sets that give real-time visibility, intelligence and automation across planning and delivery, procurement, manufacturing and warehousing. It can apply predictive analytics to model a variety of outcomes to make smart decisions with speed. This resiliency is core to being able to meet customer needs now and in a post-COVID world. · The 4th industrial revolution will arrive faster and will give it a path to economic recovery: The shift to a remote workforce and the “just stay home” movement have underscored the importance of digital transformation for organizations – to innovate and rapidly put technology to work to create new ways of doing business. Companies that have started optimizing for digital experiences are a step ahead as others grapple with creating the same – or even better, a seamless experience online as they offer in-person. AI and Machine Learning play a big role to glean meaningful business insights from vast amounts of data. · Healthcare and education will transform to have the greatest impact on society if Dell gets it right: Embracing digital transformation means positive changes for healthcare and education, creating the ability to reach everyone to close skills gaps and prepare the workforce of the future. The gaps in the digital divide need to close. Government stimulus can further accelerate the speed at which education and healthcare organizations can digitally transform to serve their communities in new ways. 5G and scalable technology infrastructure can drive these necessary changes.

Conclusion…..

Though the times are quite rough but the current situation has taught the world to be flexible and adaptable and open to many new things. He further adds to this,” The ongoing environmental change is going to open brand new opportunities that none of us have even dreamt of yet. The current situation is bringing us closer and making us innovative. We will witness new innovations, new capabilities and new ways for people to connect with one another and new ways for businesses to collaborate”.

SME CHANNELS 21 APRIL 2021

INTERVIEW

K BHASKHAR, SENIOR VP CANON INDIA

PARTNER ECOSYSTEM IS THE PILLAR OF STRENGTH FOR US. Please throw some light on the role of office automation for the SME segment in a Post COVID world?

The new normal has led to a tectonic shift towards automation and digitization across industries.

Greater adoption of digital or online communication, cloud storage and collaboration services have emerged as essential technology needs. With an increased focus towards resource optimization and automation, businesses started pushing for operational efficiency, cost reduction, improved turnaround time and better serviceability; and

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SMEs are no different to pick up this trend.

With hybrid working, the need of the hour is to streamline workflows and access documents on the go as working from home presents different challenges than office working. Digitization and Document Management solutions can manage routine communication, data entry and maintenance, documentation, and so on.

Thus, we foresee a positive demand for office automation solutions in the coming times, where data accessibility and security will be key aspects to be considered. Canon’s business solutions are

well equipped to help SME’s in achieving the desired objectives effectively.

Can you elaborate on the role of MFD’s to improve work ecosystem amidst the emerging economic crisis?

The coronavirus pandemic weakened many sectors of the Indian economy, however now the economy has started showing signs of recovery.

In such a scenario, office automation solutions can help in increasing the return on investment and

INTERVIEW

“AT THE END OF THE DAY, OUR PARTNER ECOSYSTEM IS EXTREMELY CRITICAL TO US AS UNLESS OUR PARTNERS GROW, WE CANNOT GROW. IT IS THUS IMPORTANT TO SUPPORT THEM, ESPECIALLY IN THESE DIFFICULT TIMES.”

achieving benefits such as better compliance, cost optimizations and scalability.

“Do More with Less” is the key requirement for the SME segment. Accordingly, Digitization, Streamlined Workflows, Print and Document Management is all possible with Multi-function Devices (MFDs). Today, there are advanced MFD models available in the market that are a perfect confluence of hardware and software and can help SMEs with all their key asks.

MFPs are playing an important role in the modern workplace.

Please share your thoughts on the expanding footprint in the SMEs with the help of MFPs? SMEs are the backbone of India’s economy in terms of the value addition they provide in areas of employment, technological advancement and

industrial output to name a few. An SME ecosystem involves multiple stakeholders, right from internal members to vendors, suppliers, customers, channel partners, banks etc. To manage all this effectively, SMEs need their workforce and their established processes to work in perfect harmony. The shift to digitization or the adoption of office automation is of utmost importance to optimize operations and make the best use of limited resources. Here, Multi-Functional Printers (MFPs) are the answer to the current evolving needs of SMEs in India.

The A4 MFP segment is particularly appealing for SME’s as they are compact in size and offer more features at a less investment. Therefore, we foresee a huge surge in this segment to meet this demand.

What are some of Canon India’s offerings through their product range that can help SMEs improve their workflow?

At Canon, we believe that ‘Business Can Be Simple’ and it is our constant endeavour to support our customers with the best-in-class products and solutions. With each new series that we launch, we aim to keep our customers’ needs in mind and bring out products that bring ease to their business operations. Keeping in mind the diverse needs of the SME segment, we have a perfect range of products to cater to all their needs.

Let us look at our flagship “imageRUNNER” series of MFPs which has models ranging from 20 PPM going up-to 80PPM, however as 90% of the printing happens on A4 sheets, the A4 models in this series are best suited for SMEs – as they offer more for less. These models are designed for smooth functionality, high reliability and ease of operation as machines on the same network are connected.

Many models in the imageRUNNER series also come equipped with “Uniflow Online Express” software which allows organizations to track and monitor their printing, thereby enabling them to optimize costs.

Apart from this, with majority of businesses shifting their focus to hybrid working wherein document access becomes crucial, we have stateof-the-art cloud solutions on a leading cloud provider platform, which ensures secure and seamless management of information. “Therefore™” solutions efficiently allow users to capture, secure, manage, access, analyse and automate information even when on the move. “Kofax Power PDF” is another product in demand as it allows easy editing of PDF files, forms and allows users to collaborate on PDF’s. We have also designed special

packages of our Solution offerings, that are particularly suited for SMEs. What is the opportunity that Canon provides for its partners?

After technological innovation and our diverse product portfolio, the most important pillar for our success is our partner ecosystem as they are the pillar of strength for us. They have contributed a lot towards the growth of Canon India, particularly for our B2B division. So, it is very important that we constantly support them, especially during this tough period. We have organized Webinars for our partners on how Document Management and Cloud based Solutions can be beneficial for their business as well as for their customers. Trainings have been organized for our partners and their sales teams to up their skills in selling Solutions, and how to effectively use Digital marketing for their business. Moreover, we have enabled our partners to offer No Cost EMI facility to their end customers.

As many SMEs prefer to get a demo of the product before they purchase, we have opened Business Imaging Solutions Lounges in association with our partners wherein customers can experience all Canon Office Automation products as well as evaluate the best model that suits their business. We currently have 15 BIS Lounges across the country.

At the end of the day, our partner ecosystem is extremely critical to us as unless our partners grow, we cannot grow. It is thus important to support them, especially in these difficult times.

What are some of the new models that Canon India is bringing out to adapt to the hybrid workplace?

One of the key requirements of a hybrid workplace is secure and easy access to documents. We are seeing an increase in demand for our Document Scanner range and our Cloud-based Solutions like “Therefore Online”. Another Solution that we are seeing a demand for is “Kofax Power PDF” – that makes editing and collaborating on PDF documents easy for users. We plan to bring more Document Management solutions in the Indian market particularly suited for SMEs. Our recently launched range of MFDs – the imageRUNNER 1643i – is a compact A4 MFD with low hardware and low cost per print, and is perfectly suited for SMEs. New compact MFD models are in the pipeline, to be launched later in the year. We also provide Customized Solutions, and customers they can easily contact us through our Website or contact our authorized partners for demos.

SME CHANNELS 23 APRIL 2021

INTERVIEW

SANJOY BHATTACHARYA, IT BUSINESS HEAD, VIEWSONIC INDIA

“WE BELIEVE THAT A LARGE NUMBER OF PROFESSIONALS WILL CONTINUE WORKING FROM HOME IN 2021 AND ARE EXPECTING THAT MANY CUSTOMERS WILL MOVE TO GOOD QUALITY MONITORS.”

OUR PRIME FOCUS IS TO DELIVER MONITORS WITH THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY What are your Strategies and expansion plans?

We are witnessing development and progress in the audio-visual industry which is expected to bring a change in the technology consumption patterns of the end users over the next few years.

Compared to the global market, our monitor business has shown tremendous growth and hence, we are focusing on the Indian market as we aim at bringing new technologies and solutions.

The onset of Covid-19, a shift in the consumer preferences have been observed. As soon as the country went into the lockdown and the professionals started working from home, we observed a spike in the demand for multimedia items such as speakers, HDMI +, and multiple connectivity options. Many people working from home moved to larger display screens and our 24- and 27-inch products saw an increase in sales.

It is an important phase for us to develop and enhance our products and services to distinguish

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ourselves in the industry.

What is the growth opportunities for next-gen gaming monitors?

As the segment is seeing a rise in the demand amongst the younger generation and avid gamers, most of the electronic brands have joined the gaming display segment. While the preference for mobile gaming is still strong, the monitor provides a different experience. The developers build new games with impressive graphics, which compared to a mobile phone screen, can be viewed best on larger screens. The gaming experience is further improved by monitors with value-added features such as high refresh rates, high resolution and HDR capabilities.

Our prime focus is to deliver monitors with the latest technology, dwelled with high-end functionality and catering to the customer need.

Last year, our star Gaming Monitor XG2405 performed really well in the industry. The product

offers perfection for graphic – intense gaming with a stylish style, fitted with Flicker free technology & Blue Light Filter, AMD FreeSync Technology that helps eradicate screen tearing and choppy frame rates.

Along with an astonishing touch-based display, we will also be coming up with modified professional monitor soon. We are looking forward to come up with an improved product and deliver the best to our clients..

What kind of Trends that will continue in 2021?

We believe that a large number of professionals will continue working from home in 2021 and are expecting that many customers will move to good quality monitors. We are focusing to introduce new products with the latest technology with high quality performance.

Good displays, such as HD and 4K, would also remain a significant consideration for customers when buying a monitor.

What are the New and innovative product launches that your planning?

Our pursuit is to offer latest technology and deliver what our consumers require. As the gaming enthusiasts in India are growing, we are planning to launch elite gaming monitors which can leverage the gaming experience at par for our end users.

Brief us about the technology that goes behind these products?

With thorough research and in-depth analysis, our entire team of R&D, manufacturing and distribution are all involved in designing product or technologies to bring the best for customers.

What kind of challenges the OEMs faced during the pandemic?

In March 2020, when the entire nation went into lockdown, most of the industries witnessed a downfall in their businesses. After the lockdown, as everyone began to adjust to the new standard and the on-ground activities were revived in the different sectors, we began to concentrate again to provide our viewers with nothing but the best.

Our team was able to curb this challenge during the lockdown when everyone was working from home, and our distributors and logistics worked smoothly.

WORK FROM ANYWHERE

The shift in the workforce paradigm will have direct effects on the technology organizations choose to rely on, how they are managed, and the way people leverage it on a daily basis. From infrastructure and physical offices to changes in the organization’s culture, SMBs will have many elements to consider as a new year quickly approaches.

Moreover, cyber threats are on the rise. In fact, 90 percent of organizations report experiencing an increase in attacks, and 80 percent say those attacks are more sophisticated. Small and midsize organizations need to be ready for the hybrid workforce, which will only add complexity to IT and security operations.

Moving forward, a fully zero-touch process will be critical to provide users with the equipment they need directly and set up by themselves – a much more frictionless approach to remote onboarding and maintenance. Additionally, “bring your own device” will come back into consideration to simplify supply chains and delivery in this new hybrid environment.

Shadow IT – In a remote work environment, IT proliferates more than ever before. Employees connect their work devices through their home network, leverage personal devices and rely on a variety of online tools – some which are unsanctioned by IT, which leaves more entry points for security threats. Having a strong identity and access management strategy is critical to ensure both employees within the corporate perimeter and those in home offices are secure at all times.

Security Culture – In the 2020 Verizon Data Breach Investigations Report, phishing is noted as the top threat action against small businesses.

Building a strong security culture can help to minimize security risks like these among a widely dispersed workforce. Maintaining regular security trainings – whether in-person or virtual – will instill stronger awareness among employees and enhance security overall.

Physical Environment – Remote work can also be an opportunity to streamline your office network. For instance, if you had multiple offices with an inter-office connection, consider if you need that now. If the offices are turned into an “offsite” location, treat them as isolated environments.

This leads to a lower infrastructure management burden and ironically leads to lower IT service desk calls.

To adapt to and secure this new workforce, SMBs will have to take into consideration the following: Infrastructure Shifts – In a post-pandemic world, no organization, from SMBs to large enterprises, should continue having infrastructure ‘on site’ that ties the team members to a physical location. Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) will be critical to helping SMBs navigate this shift. SaaS allows organizations to access, support and monitor everything from anywhere. This cloud versus onprem approach provides employees with access to the resources they need while giving IT and security teams more control over the network no matter where teams are located.

Zero-Touch Tech Delivery – With employees more dispersed than ever, organizations will need to have zero-touch tech delivery in place. Many organizations are still delivering pre-imaged devices from company IT teams which can introduce unnecessary steps and shipping delays.

The “Work from Anywhere” Future The corporate office is no longer the perimeter.

Organizations need to acknowledge this and take the “work from anywhere” approach as an opportunity to simplify the workspace, boost your technology stack and implement new processes that will help both your company and employees stay secure. In a post-pandemic world, hybrid workforce models are likely here to stay. Consider the flexibility and efficiency new technology and processes like SaaS and zero-touch device delivery can bring to your organization and get started building it into your SMB’s business plans today.

Ian Pitt is the Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer at LogMeIn, where he is responsible for global Cyber Security, Governance, Corporate IT, Business applications and Product Operations. He has over 20 years of experience leading business process management and optimization, as well as industry compliance/ governance processes and cyber security.

PREPARING FOR A NEW FUTURE OF WORK: THE HYBRID WORKFORCE It’s no secret that workplaces around the world are having to adjust the way business is conducted.

The full-scale transition to remote work has brought countless challenges, from managing disparate teams to ensuring employees have the tools needed to continue work from afar. For small and medium-sized businesses, this has created a new reality.

Improving the existing technology stack can often take a backseat on the priority list for SMBs, whether due to budget and resource constraints or simply other priorities taking over. However, the pandemic necessitated a quick and drastic shift in this approach and made improved technology critical to operating in a remote work environment. Now more than six months since this transition, things are about to change again.

A New Paradigm Takes Shape: The Hybrid Workforce We are on the verge of a new shift in the workforce which will push every organization to rethink how they manage their infrastructure, provide resources in an efficient way and keep employees secure. We are talking about a “split workforce.”

While the majority of employees are still working from home, a new report shows that most Americans are expected to slowly begin returning to the office over the next 12 to 18 months – giving rise to a new hybrid workforce. Expectations are that not everyone will be back in the office, but rather organizations will give more flexibility to employees to split their time between the physical office and their home, creating a rotating pattern.

Key Considerations for a Secured Hybrid Workforce

SME CHANNELS 25 APRIL 2021

SECURITY

KEYSIGHT RELEASES FOURTH SECURITY REPORT HIGHLIGHTING THREE CRITICAL AREAS OF CONCERN TO NETWORK SECURITY 2020 RANSOMWARE ATTACKS 30922 20155 15396

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eysight announced its fourth Keysight Security Report. The 2021 report features network security trends over the past year from Keysight’s Application and Threat Intelligence (ATI) Research Center and highlights three areas of critical concern to network security.

The report draws on Keysight’s in-depth experience in network security testing, as well as the company’s expertise in network and cloud visibility. The elite, globally distributed team of dedicated cybersecurity professionals that make up Keysight’s ATI Research Center monitor and analyze evolving indicators that threaten the security of enterprise IT networks. This team leverages input to the research process from multiple sources, including honeypots placed worldwide which actively seek threats in the wild, independent research by the team, international exploit databases, the Dark Web, scans of security news alerts and crowdsourcing, as well as social media and partner feeds.

“This report combines lessons learned in 2020 with impactful insights for network security professionals for 2021. Both the data and insights are based on research conducted by Keysight’s Application and Threat Intelligence (ATI) Research Center,” said Scott Register, vice president, security solutions for Keysight. “Cybercrime did not take a holiday during the pandemic. Cyber criminals leveraged phishing, ransomware and supply chain vector attacks to strike networks for financial gain.

We believe that these network security trends will continue in 2021.”

Three trends characterized cybercrime

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for most of 2020: Phishing attacks increased by 62 percent. Keysight research shows that there was a 62 percent increase in phishing attacks in 2020 over 2019. In fact, there was rapid increase in these attacks when the pandemic took center stage in March and April as social engineering attacks were related to the pandemic.

Monetary gain took center stage as a key cybercrime motivator. There was a huge uptick in the deployment of ransomware starting in June.

While this trend was directed across all industries, healthcare was hit especially hard. 59 percent of the attacks occurred during the second half of 2020.

Supply chain attacks hit the headlines with the SolarWinds attack. The supply chain continues to be a weakness and the SolarWinds attack reinforced the need for security architects to embrace a holistic and comprehensive approach.

Strategic Insights from the Keysight Security Report, 2021 Strategic Insight #1: Phishing and additional social engineering attacks will continue to take advantage of pandemic-related headlines. Keysight’s recommendation: People need to recognize social engineering vaccination scams and network security teams must be aware that bad actors target personally identifiable information (PII) in a healthcare and government setting.

Strategic Insight #2: Ransomware is highly popular because it makes a lot of money for bad actors. While it’s not going away, business models continue to mutate along with malware variants.

Keysight’s recommendation: It’s critical to keep

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enterprise threat detection systems up-to-date with the latest signatures and behavioral patterns, as ransomware builders are getting better at obfuscation and avoiding detection. In addition, network security teams should also be aware that exploitation practices evolve.

Strategic Insight #3: An organization’s supply chain is more than just components. There is a tendency to think of a supply chain as outside entities that either supply a company with software and hardware components or the supplies used when building a product. Keysight’s recommendation: The supply chain is critical to the operation of a business, including utilities, email, cloud providers and even coffee suppliers. Network security must consider non-traditional components that may touch an organization and IT systems.

Strategic Insight #4: Zero-trust is more than just a buzzword. It does not mean limiting what users can see when they connect to an organization’s network. Keysight’s recommendation: A successful zero-trust implementation requires that systems and users can only access the internal or external resources that they absolutely need.

Strategic Insight #5: Assume an organization is breached and behaves accordingly. Keysight’s recommendation: Organizations need visibility into their networks and cloud resources. If network security teams cannot spot anomalies hiding in their network (whether on-premises, in the cloud, or a remote user), then they are allowing breaches to remain undetected indefinitely.

INTERVIEW

ZAKIR HUSSAIN, DIRECTOR, BD SOFT

“WE PLAN TO BE PRESENT IN AT LEAST 100 CITIES OF INDIA BY THE END OF 2021 WITH ALL OUR SOLUTIONS.”

IT IS TIME THE CHANNEL BUSINESS GETS STRUCTURED Post pandemic has opened up a lot of market opportunity – specially for the security OEMs, though business growth is all around the technology spectrum. SME Channels tried to understand the market sentiment from Zakir HussainDirector, BD Soft.

How is the demand for cybersecurity solutions from data centers and CSPs during 2021?

The demand from data centers and CSPs has always been there and keeps on increasing every time for cybersecurity solutions. Along with that, they provide security to their users by becoming MSP themselves.

What challenges have you faced during lockdown? And how was

the business once the lockdown was relaxed?

The challenge was to reach the market and be there on the field. However, after a month of lockdown, our industry became the key discussion point and opened several new markets. Also, in this period we focused on maximum brand visibility and recall, being, seen & heard in the minds of partners and consumers. Our business did not decline after the first 2 months of lockdown rather we have seen a steady growth thereafter.

Also, from business perspective in the Year 2020 we have engaged Tie ups and partnerships with several international brands specific to Indian Markets.

Where do you see the channel business going in the next 2-3 years in India?

The channel business is streamlining continuously. It is time the channel business gets structured. At the moment there is multi-channel strategy, which we feel will go obsolete as we move forward. There will be only 2 tier of channel partners. As the business starts, we will see more distributor to reseller connects than tier 2 distribution. The channel business will definitely grow in a country like India. We are completely focused on our partners and we do 100% business via them.

What are the most common cyber threats nowadays?

Ransomware that employs encryption to hold a victim’s information, Phishing attacks to be the most familiar due its simplicity, effectiveness and high return on investment, and Insider threats are most common threats nowadays a company faces.

The Year 2020, had 1 attack every 14 seconds, right from ransomware, phishware to Data breach.

What are the areas of growth for BD Soft in the country and what is your roadmap for the same?

We have added products complementing our solutions and we are focused on the same. Our solutions, will save money for the customers (not just cost effective but combating the long term financial damage) and at the same time, offer better features, which are useful. We believe that the market for Endpoint Detection and Response, Data Leakage Protection, Employee monitoring, backup & mailing solutions will grow and there is a good opportunity for channel partners in the same.

What are your plans for 2021?

We plan to be present in at least 100 cities of India by the end of 2021 with all our solutions.

Our team is also on a growth path and we will be around 70 team members by the year end, focusing on sales, support and presales activities. We are also adding Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing (VAPT) & Security operations center SOC services for our partners who will then take it to their customers.

SME CHANNELS 27 APRIL 2021

CASE STUDY

JIGME DORJI WANGCHUCK NATIONAL REFERRAL HOSPITAL (JDWNRH) THE NATIONAL REFERRAL HOSPITAL TRUSTS MATRIX TIME-ATTENDANCE AND ACCESS CONTROL SOLUTIONS Project Highlights: Application: Access Control, Time-Attendance and Visitor Management Users: 3,000 Devices: 200+ Locations: Thimphu, Bhutan (Single Location) Industry: Healthcare

Company Profile The Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital is one of the top most renowned institutions in Bhutan delivering Healthcare services.

The hospital caters to the population of Thimphu and neighbouring districts. The hospital not only functions as the National Referral Hospital for the entire country but also functions as: Regional Referral Hospital for the Western District, District Hospital for Thimphu District, Human resources pool and technical backup for District Hospitals, Clinical training centre for the Royal Institute of Health Sciences (RIHS) and Technical support to the Public Health Programmes.

Challenges As the hospital works round the clock, one of the major concerns was to manage complex shifts of employees. Elevator control, where only users with access rights can call the elevator, was another challenge the hospital wanted to meet. Furthermore, the customer also wanted a solution, with the help of which the admin could assign entry and exit points for patients, visitors and employees. Lastly, the management wanted to restrict visitor entry to a pre-defined time and rooms of the hospital for better visitor management.

Solution Offered Matrix pitched its Access Control, Time-Attendance and Visitor Management Solution along with the different variants of biometric devices, which fulfills every requirement of this renowned Hospital. Around 206 devices were installed in the hospital that are used in controlling access at rooms and elevators. Devices were installed at the Main Entrance, Ward Rooms, Server Rooms, Outside Elevators and at Ramps on every floor to restrict access. So, there is no individual in the building who is not enrolled in the system. As the Hospital works 24 hours, there are multiple shifts

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in which the employees work. Through this, the Hospital could manage multiple shifts of employees. Approximately, 700 visitor profiles were created with constrained time to visit, limited rooms to enter and a pre-defined route of access. Also, crowd at the elevator was controlled by restricting the use to only users with elevator access rights.

Results JDWNRH fulfilled its requirement with Matrix People Mobility Solution and achieved the following results: • Improved Security by Restricting Un-authorized Entry Using Access Control Solution • Reduced Complexity of Shifts by Time-Attendance Solution • Crowd Controlling through Elevator Access Control • Time based and Zone based Entry Restrictions for Visitors and Patients

The Products Product COSEC VEGA FAX Quantity 47 Description Fingerprint and Card based Door Controller for Time-Attendance and Access Control Application Product COSEC VEGA CAX

Quantity 65 Description Card based Door Controller for Time-Attendance and Access Control Application Product COSEC PATH DCFE Quantity 28 Description Fingerprint and Card based Door Controller with IP65.

For further information, please contact: Toll Free -1800-258-7747 E-Mail: : inquiry@matrixcomsec.com https://www.matrixaccesscontrol.com/

REVIEW

PRODUCT

OPTOMA LAUNCHES NEW INTERACTIVE FLAT PANEL DISPLAYS 5 SERIES

TENDA LAUNCHED HG9, A HIGH SPEED WIRELESS GPON ONU IN INDIA

BY MANAS RANJAN

Optoma announced its Creative Touch 5-Series Interactive Flat Panels (IFPs), available in 65″, 75″ and 86″ sizes. The new 5-Series Interactive Flat Panels offer stunning 4K UHD resolution, multiple easy-to-use annotation tools and extensive connectivity features for enhanced learning, sharing and collaboration in classrooms, lecture halls, boardrooms and other professional environments.

info@smechannels.com

TENDA INTRODUCES HG9 its first GPON ONU WiFi device. The Tenda HG9 is a Gigabit Passive Optical Network (GPON) terminal, ideal for Fibre To The Home (FTTH) solutions. It’s an all-in-one device allowing users to access high-speed internet, VoIP and IPTV connections via a GPON port. With a 867Mbps wireless speed over a 5GHz band and 300Mbps over a 2.4GHz band, it provides strong Wi-Fi signals. It’s an ideal solution for seamless online gaming, HD video streaming, and other bandwidth-intensive tasks.

KEY FEATURES AND BENEFITS • Wireless Standards: IEEE 802.11 a/b/g/n/ ac • Transmit Power: 2.4G: <23dBm(EIRP) , 5G: <23dBm(EIRP) • Wireless Functions: Enable/Disable Wireless Radio, WDS Bridge, WMM, Wireless Statistics • Wireless Security: 64/128-bit WEP, WPA / WPA2, WPA-PSK/ WPA2-PSK encryption, Wireless MAC Filtering

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY: TENDA HG9 AC1200 DUALBAND WIFI GPON ONU, IS AVAILABLE EXCLUSIVELY THROUGH AUTHORIZED PARTNERS AND OTHER RESELLER CHANNELS AT MRP OF INR 7900/- IN

OPTOMA CREATIVE TOUCH 5-SERIES INTERACTIVE FLAT PANEL FEATURES: l Native 4K UHD panel with 4000:1 contrast in DC (Dynamic Contrast) mode l Built-in Android system and compatible with popular operating systems, including Windows, Mac and Chrome l Precise dual-tip and dual-color pens instantly trigger the Team Share app once removed from the penholder, producing a quick and seamless experience that mimics a real whiteboard for easy annotation l Optoma’s Team Share app strengthens collaboration and efficiency through features such as a floating whiteboard, quick-access toolbar and built-in templates l Live screen recording across all inputs enable easy saving of meetings, lessons or notes for later viewing or sharing – without additional hardware l TapCast app enables simultaneous image, document and screen sharing from up to four devices

INDIA.

SME CHANNELS 29 APRIL 2021

PRODUCT PRODUCT

MATRIX

MATRIX COSEC ARGO SERIES KODAK

KODAK S3060 SCANNER FROM KODAK ALARIS Kodak S3060 Scanner processes the documents of all types in the scanner and directly delivers to your system to use it further. This is one of the very cost effective scanner with faster ROI yield.

Kodak S3060 Scanner is one of the fastest and intelligent scanners that one might have seen in the industry in A3 range. This scanner takes every type of document starting from thick ID cards to paper documents to Cheque leaves and scans in seconds; although it takes little wider documents also. With 60 ppm / 120 ipm, S3060 Scanner is not a very impressive machine from its foot print but the amazing speed, accuracy and functionality changes the perception about the functionality of the scanner. You can scan the documents in a variety of formats and send to the destination. n Price: Kodak S3060 MRP Rs. 303620 +18% GST Kodak S3060 MOP for trade Rs. 227340 + 18% GST n Contact: Kodak Alaris India Pvt. Ltd. Toll free : 1-800-210-8989 Email: askme@kodakalaris.com Website : www.alarisworld.com

Matrix COSEC ARGO is designed to offer unmatched performance that will revolutionize the security challenges. It is a next-generation biometric door controller with a 3.5’’ IPS Touchscreen LCD. This device is designed for offering multiple applications such as Access Control, TimeAttendance, Cafeteria management and Job Processing & Costing. Thus, eliminating the need for dedicated hardware for various solutions!

Armed to offer contactless credentials, it is designed to withstand challenging outdoor conditions!

Key Features: • Mobile-based Access • Wi-Fi or PoE+ IT Infrastructures • New age Bluetooth based Credentials • Compact and Easy to Install • Multiple Mounting Options • Auto Push Event Data • 50,000 Users and 5,00,000 Event Storage Capacity • Access Control and Auxiliary Devices Interfaces • Innovative Design • Power to Lock • 3rd Party Readers Support n Know More: https://www.matrixaccesscontrol.com/cosecargo.html n Toll-Free: 1800-258-7747 E-Mail: : inquiry@matrixcomsec.com

POLY

POLY EAGLEEYE MINI HD VIDEO CONFERENCING CAMERA There are plenty of perks for employees while working remotely but there are various challenges the employees face in their day to day life. Matching workplace productivity from outside of the office can be demanding, which leaves businesses facing lower output and productivity. Thankfully, technology can overcome the problem the remote workers face.

You may have heard the acronym K.I.S.S. before, but as it turns out, Keep It Stupid Simple is a design principle that was first used by the US Navy in 1960. Effectively, it means that any designs or

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systems should be as simple as possible. In that vein, the EagleEye Mini is about as simple as it gets: Installing the device is as easy as plugging it in; no drivers required for installation means you’ll be ready to start conferencing in just seconds. This handy little USB-powered HD video conferencing camera connects to your laptop or home computer, and features 1080P HD video to bring clarity to your meetings, while 4x electronic zoom and 74-degree field of view makes confer-

ence calls feel like in-person meetings. n Poly Black Eagle Eye Mini Camera is available https://www.poly.com/eagleeyecube at a price point of INR 11,750

NE W PRE CIS ION MOBILE W ORKS T AT IONS

AS POWERFUL AS IT IS INTELLIGENT. Let’s make genius real.

Precision 15/17 3000/5000/7000 Series (Models 3551, 5550, 5750, 7750, 3550) Mobile Workstations

Please Contact

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Date of Publication: 13 of Every Month Date of Posting: 15 & 16 of Every Month