February Issue 2022 by SME Channels

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INTERVIEW / 32

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MATRIX’s Video Surveillance Provides Security 24 x 7: Case Study.

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India’s leading IT magazine for channel business INTERVIEW / 32

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MATRIX’s Video Surveillance Provides Security 24 x 7: Case Study.

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Our Vision is to Help Brands Mitigate a Massive Dependence on the Physical Workforce.

MY EXPERIENCE EDITORIAL

POST - PANDEMIC ERA FOR IT INDUSTRY SANJAY MOHAPATRA

sanjay@smechannels.com

Dear Friends What is happening in the horizon is very interesting. People are pretty gung-ho about it. All the partners are eagerly waiting for collaboration with each other physically and officially. The government has allowed opining of the offices and education sectors in full attendance. Organizations have started cutting cakes for this occasion of first day at Office after the pandemic. It is looking like people are regaining their life which was lost for a long time. Business is as usual compared to the pandemic era but what has changed is how people are looking at the business. There has been good among of trust building among the people. Customers could know about their requirement from the digital standpoint. Pre-pandemic there was a dilly dally in taking decision about whether to fast forward digital strategy but the pandemic era expedited that decision making. IT departments literally begged the OEMs to implement solutions. The biggest gainer apart from cloud computing has been cyber security. A whole lot of innovation took place in the cyber security. AI ML and analytics went strongly into the security solutions. Gartner coined a new terminology called SOAR –Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response. Now most of the security OEMs are after it how to become fast to the market with the solutions along with SIEM - Security Information and Event Management). Micro Services and container technology was not great from adoption point of view in India but during pandemic also it received good number of takers. As I am assuming that we are at the complete fag end of the pandemic, we are seeing a big hype cycle of Metaverse. Enterprises have already started planning about creating their own metaverse – meaning they have started thinking about how to equip their customers and employees who are working remotely or connected remotely to give a live experience. We are also seeing a lot of investment and M&A happening in the cyber security landscape. First of all, the big ticket one is Cisco’s acquisition of Spluk. Analyst at GlobalData says: “Cisco’s acquisition shows us that cybersecurity will continue to be a key driver of mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in 2022. Similarly in the cyber security analytics space, Securonix Receives $1 Billion+ Growth Investment Led by Vista Equity Partners. My prediction is that it is just the beginning we have to see a lot many investment and M&A in the tech space in next 2 years.

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BPE All-Rounded UPS - A Breakthrough In The Industry India’s leading power manufacturing brand, Best Power Equipments (India) Private Limited has brought in a revolution in the UPS industry. Considering, that the WFH culture is now in its full bloom, the power solutions giant has come up with a robust and effective solution for power outages. The latest addition in their product line, a 5kw Lithium UPS will be suitable for both home & office with high speed charge. Covering a power supply of 2,000 cycles, the product comes with 5 years warranty to ensure hassle-free and satisfactory returns on the investments of its customers. Additionally, the product highlights a 4 parallel power expansion that can go up to 20kVA, recording an ECO mode efficiency of 90% in the process.

FEATURES: IT HIGHLIGHTS A 4 PARALLEL POWER EXPANSION THAT CAN GO UP TO 20KVA FINAL WORDING: NOT VERY SMALL PRODUCT THOUGH BUT WITH 5 YEARS WARRANTY, IT IS ABSOLUTELY FIT FOR YOUR WFH ENVIRONMENT

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Trusted Advisor of Channel Business

VOLUME 12 ISSUE 12

2022

FEB er Cov y r Sto

Publisher: Sanjib Mohapatra Editor: Sanjay Mohapatra Sub Editor: Nidhi Shail Content Editor: Manash Ranjan Debata 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. Ph. +91 22 26338546, Fax +91 22 26395581 Mobile: +91 9967 232424 E-mail: Info@smechannels.com Kolkata S Subhendu BC-286, Laxmi Apartment, Kestopur Kolkata-700101 Phone: 9674804389 EDITORIAL OFFICE Delhi: 6/103, (GF) Kaushalya Park, New Delhi-

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Dell Technologies Launches 2022 Partner Program Dell Technologies launched the 2022 Dell Technologies Partner Program, celebrating the fifth anniversary of the Program and its continued success with the partner community. In the span of five years, the Dell Technologies APJ Channel has achieved 70% growth. The program and strategy have been working hard for partners: Rebates payout has grown 80% and earned Marketing Development Funds (MDF) has increased by 95%. The updated Dell Technologies Partner Program will streamline and enhance the partner experience across multiple Program tracks. Solution Providers, Cloud Service Providers and OEM partners will now enjoy one regional incentive structure, one tier structure, and one set of tier requirements. The consistency across these tracks and their

associated selling motions – such as reselling, hosting, and embedding – will enable partners to focus on positioning the best solution for their customers while earning consistent, lucrative incentives, regardless of route to market. Tian Beng Ng, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Channel, Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ), Dell Technologies, said, “Our channel partners are integral to our overall success; in Q3 FY22, APJ partners grew orders revenue by 46% Y/Y. In a world where technology is the driver of progress, it is imperative that we are providing the support our partners need with our portfolio, the Partner Program and its benefits, so they can continue to deliver the outcomes our customers want.

More than Half of Organizations Face Gaps in Their Zero-Trust Implementations: Fortinet Survey

Fortinet unveiled the Global State of Zero Trust Report. The survey reveals that while most organizations have a vision of zero trust or

SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2022

are in the process of implementing zero-trust initiatives, more than half of organizations cannot translate this vision into the solutions they

are implementing because they lack some basic core fundamentals of zero trust. For a detailed view of the findings and some important takeaways read the blog. Highlights of the report follow: A FortiGuard Labs Threat Landscape Report demonstrated an increase in the volume and sophistication of attacks targeting individuals, organizations, and increasingly critical infrastructure.

Organizations are looking for solutions to protect against these evolving threats and zero trust is top of mind, but for multiple reasons. Additionally, the shift to workfrom-anywhere has put a spotlight on zero-trust network access (ZTNA) in particular, as organizations need to protect important assets from workers connecting from poorly protected home networks.

Transforming telecommunications enriching the customer experience atos.net

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Check Point Software’s World’s Fastest Firewall Delivering 20 Times Better Price Performance Check Point has extended the “Check Point Quantum portfolio with Quantum Lightspeed Firewalls” to introduce the biggest network security revolution in the last decade. Quantum Lightspeed claims to set the standard for firewall performance to enable Hyper-fast datacenter security for every enterprise: • 5 times better firewall throughput – Up to 3 Tbps per system / 800 Gbps per single gateway • 10 times faster – Ultra-low latency at 3 microseconds • 20 times better price performance than competing solutions With the emergence of distributed SaaS applications and the need to better support remote workers, the modern data center is rapidly evolving to a hybrid architecture, with both on-premises and cloud operations. With network traffic growing 2X every 3 years, enterprises of all sizes are challenged with delivering hyper-fast datacenter security at the speed of the network. Utilizing an innovative ASIC technology developed by NVIDIA, Check Point Quantum Lightspeed delivers breakthrough firewall performance that allows enterprises to support elephant flows and securely transfer terabytes of data in minutes instead of hours.

TeamViewer’s Augmented Reality Platform ‘Frontline’ Recognized as number one European Enterprise AR offering Frontline 4.0 now includes comprehensive capabilities to create AR-based workflows in 2D and 3D on numerous devices to digitalize industrial processes across verticals TeamViewer announced the fourth major release of its enterprise Augmented Reality (AR) platform, TeamViewer Frontline. Building on the software from the acquisition of Ubimax in 2020 and TeamViewer’s own AR development, the latest version now also integrates the technology of AR specialist Upskill and Mixed Reality (MR) pioneer Viscopic, which have been subsequently acquired in 2021. With this comprehensive AR offering, TeamViewer has been very recently recognized as the number one provider of enterprise AR solutions in Europe and globally achieving second rank according to reputable industry analyst firm ABI Research. “TeamViewer’s recent AR product movement and acquisition has led to a comprehensive enterprise AR platform with best-in-class device support, notable strategic partnerships in place and a large customer base to sell to. TeamViewer’s implementation capabilities are highly scalable and time-to-value from a customer perspective is short.

Top 10 Semiconductor Buyers Increased Chip Spending by 25.2% in 2021 2021 2020 Vendor Rank Rank

2021 Spending

EXECUTIVE MOVEMENT

2021 2020 2020-2021 Market Spending Growth (%) Share (%)

Apple

68,269

11.7

54,180

26.0

Samsung Electronics

45,775

7.8

35,622

28.5

Lenovo

25,283

4.3

19,023

32.9

BBK Electronics

23,350

4.0

14,258

63.8

Dell Technologies

21,092

3.6

16,814

25.4

Xiaomi

17,251

3.0

10,254

68.2

Huawei

15,382

2.6

22,710

-32.3

HP Inc.

13,789

2.4

10,745

28.3

Hon Hai Precision

8,855

1.5

7,387

19.9

Hewlett-Packard Enterprise

24.8

6,736

1.2

5,395

Others (outside top 10)

337,695

57.9

269,849

25.1

Total Semiconductor

583,477

100.0

466,237

25.1

TAM = Total Available Market Source: Gartner (February 2022)

10 SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2022

ANIL MEHRA IS MATRIX’S NEW SENIOR VP – GLOBAL SALES AND MARKETING

LENOVO APPOINTS CHANDRIKA JAIN AS INDIA MARKETING DIRECTOR

T-SYSTEMS NAMES ANANT PADMANABHAN AS MANAGING DIRECTOR

RODOLPHE BELMER TAKES OFFICE AS NEW CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER OF ATOS

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Vertiv Joins the RISE Partnership Program Vertiv announced a new partnership with RISE Research Institutes of Sweden, a leading research institute and innovation partner. Vertiv is entering the partnership program for data centre systems technologies at the platinum level, joining founding partners such as Facebook, Ericsson, Vattenfall, ABB, LTU and the Norrbotten region. The data centre research at RISE is based in Luleå, Sweden, and RISE is owned by the Swedish state and supported by EU funds. Collaborating with universities, industry and the public sector, RISE performs industrial research and innovation, with the overall objective to support sustainable growth by strengthening industry competitiveness and renewal. Through the partnership with RISE, Vertiv will specifically support the Infrastructure and Cloud research & test Environment (ICE), which is a data centre testbed providing access to study results and experts, as well as publications and demonstrations by RISE and engagement in small research and development studies. A key value delivered to the partners in the collaboration is the largescale test environment with data centre modules, climate and heat boxes, wind tunnels, edge and liquid cooling testbeds, and the ability to take simulations and concepts to the point of implemented demonstrations and tests for data collection and analysis.

HFCL: Sterlite Technologies’ Claim is Baseless HFCL Limited, responding to the infringement claims made by Sterlite Technologies, has described the claim baseless. Further, the claim is based on misleading information given by STL for registration of impugned Patent. The Company says that the product in question is being manufactured and used globally by a multitude of Corporations for more than last fifteen years and patent claims made by STL have no veracity, whatsoever. In fact, STL’s application on a similar patent was rejected by the European Union. HFCL has been manufacturing the Multi-tube Micro Cable since 2014 as per customer specifications much before the date of application of patent by STL and confirms that there is no infringement of the impugned Patent. This is in the context of the Delhi High Court had restrained HFCL and its subsidiaries for allegedly manufacturing and selling of optic fibre cable based on STL multitube technology, in a patent infringement case following non-appearance of the former. HFCL is a more than 30-year-old trusted manufacturer of various types of optical fibre cables and supplies its products to some of the largest Communications Service Provider’s (CSP) worldwide.

Logitech’s Cloud-based Software Expands to OSI Infotech LLC Expands in India Support Users Wherever They Work Logitech announced a major update to the Sync device management platform, built to support the modern, hybrid workforce. Sync now supports personal collaboration devices, such as webcams, headsets, and docking stations, making it easy for IT to manage conference rooms and workstations from a single cloud-based interface. More than half of all global knowledge workers are working remotely, and a majority of workers (83%) prefer a hybrid work arrangement in the future. * While a boon for employee satisfaction and productivity, hybrid work brings a host of challenges for IT professionals, including an uptick in remote help tickets, the need to properly equip workers for remote collaboration, and a disconnect between in-office and remote device administration and maintenance. “Remote work and collaboration tools in many ways saved the global economy and allowed all of us to maintain our productivity through the pandemic. But it also created an enormous problem now that hundreds of millions of people are at home and IT teams have limited to no visibility into tech issues and how to troubleshoot this.

LDS Infotech Pvt Ltd Announces New Partnership with Minitab LDS Infotech Private Limited, provider of World-Class IT products, services and consulting to a diversified range of businesses is pleased to announce its new partnership with Minitab, LLC, the market leader in data analysis, predictive analytics and process improvement. Since its inception in the year 1999, LDS Infotech has been helping its clients manage change through high-quality, cost-effective, simple, and practical technology solutions. The new partnership with Minitab will allow LDS to offer their end-users the opportunity to unlock the value of their data with deep analysis and visualizations with the first-class support LDS end-users demand. Celebrating its 50th year in business, Minitab has a rich history of delivering customized and personal support to its customers, and LDS is no different, making the two companies even better together. “We are complete products and IT services and Cloud Solutions Company which adapts highest standards of honesty, integrity and transparency in all that we do.

OSI GLOBAL IT DISTRIBUTION, part of OSI INFOTECH LLC(Dubai) group of companies, which is a leading Security specialized VAD in the Middle East & India region, expands in to the Indian sub-continent region. The expansion plans are in response to the company’s growing business, robust partner network and strong demand for IT Security Solutions in India. OSI INFOTECH LLC, has established an excellent track record in the Middle East region, delivering world-class products and excellent customer service and Value Addition has been at the very core of OSI INFOTECH’s operations since its inception in 2011 making the company grow from strength to strength. ‘’Over the last few years, OSI INFOTECH LLC has seen a significant growth and a strong demand for our security solutions in the Indian region. We are very pleased to launch our new office in the Indian sub-continent region under the name – OSI Global IT Distribution which brings on board, immense experience, wide partner network and regional expertise to provide continuous and excellent value-added services to our channel partners and customers. Our aim is to have a good penetration across different verticals and across different market segments in India, ’says Mr. Keerthi Kumar, Sales Director- INDIA – OSI Global IT Distribution.

SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2022

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SAP and Icertis Expand Partnership to Deliver Enterprise Contract Intelligence SAP and Icertis have expanded partnership for enhanced contract management to help companies increase efficiency, minimize risk and realize the full intent of their agreements. The partnership, which includes a financial investment from SAP in Icertis, will lead to a joint product road map and deeper technological integration to deliver enterprise-wide value, including faster negotiations, greater compliance and AI-powered business insights and automation. Christian Klein, CEO and member of the Executive Board, SAP SE, said, “The expanded cooperation with Icertis will help our customers take advantage of market-leading innovations for contract management from Icertis while managing core business processes with SAP solutions. This partnership is a great complement to our portfolio, with multiple touchpoints to SAP systems across ERP, finance, procurement, sales and HR.” This expanded partnership builds on the existing relationship between SAP and Icertis.

Online Tracking is More Rampant Than Most People Realise: Norton Labs Report

5G Subscriptions in APAC to grow at 25.5%: GlobalData The 5G service has been gaining strong ground in the Asia-Pacific (APAC) region, with its subscriptions expected to increase at an impressive compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.5% over the forecast period of 2021-2026. The growth is primarily driven by national 5G strategies/ policies/action plans adopted by several countries, outlining their vision and guidelines to establish 5G ecosystems, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company. An analysis of GlobalData’s Asia Pacific Mobile Broadband Forecast Model (Q4-2021) indicates that though 4G/LTE will remain the leading mobile technology in the region, by subscriber volume, through 2026, rapid adoption of 5G services will reduce its share of total mobile subscriptions from 59.8% in 2021 to 47.4% by 2026. On the other hand, 5G’s share of the total mobile subscriptions in the region will grow from 17.6% in 2021 to 45.8% by 2026 with all the developed APAC countries boasting commercial 5G services and 5G network expansions. Most of the emerging APAC countries that have not yet launched 5G services are having the plans to launch soon.

NortonLifeLock global research team, Norton Labs,has released their fourth quarterly Consumer Cyber Safety Pulse Report, sharing the top consumer cybersecurity insights and takeaways from October to December 2021. Leveraging the company’s global threat telemetry, the Norton research arm shared analysis, including new findings on the omnipresence of online advertising trackers, as well as scams dominating the final quarter. Norton Labs found that consumers are tracked as soon as they go online by many different organizations, and the trackers collect significantly more of our digital lives than previously reported, including sensitive information about individuals’. The report reveals that half the tracking organisations encountered by a user in a typical week when browsing, take this data within the initial two-hour browsing period. This suggests that even if users were to clear their browsing history every day, it would only take an average of two hours to re-encounter half of all online trackers.

Calsoft honored with the Mint Marketing Award 2021 for Best Digital Strategy

Gartner Predicts Hyperscalers’ Carbon Emissions Will Drive Cloud Purchase Decisions by 2025

Calsoft has been adjudged winner of the Mint Marketing Award 2021 for ‘Best Digital Strategy’ in the category of Marketing Cognition With Technology. Mr. Somenath Nag, VP-Marketing, Calsoft, was present to receive the award during the Mint Marketing Summit 2021. The inaugural Mint Marketing Summit highlights the efforts taken by organizations to outperform their traditional practices and adopt a wider range of modern marketing approaches to connect with the customers effectively. The award also recognizes the excellence in creativity and execution of modern marketing campaigns by presenting awards in three main categories—content marketing, marketing cognition with technology, and leadership. An elite jury comprising some of India’s finest marketing minds picked the winners after a rigorous evaluation process of multiple rounds identifying the ones that created success metrics, won the organization newfound respect, recognition, revenue gain, and added to the business growth.

By 2025, the carbon emissions of hyperscale cloud services will be a top three criterion in cloud purchase decisions, according to Gartner, Inc. As environmental, social and governance (ESG) priorities and reporting received growing levels of enterprise attention, more than 90% of organizations increased their investments in sustainability programs since the start of the pandemic compared to investments in 2017. “Leading providers of cloud infrastructure and platform services are increasingly focusing on how they can disrupt higher-level business, compliance, societal and environmental issues,” said Ed Anderson, distinguished research vice president at Gartner. “Hyperscalers are aggressively investing in sustainable cloud operations and delivery, aspiring to eventually achieve net zero emissions within the decade, or sooner.

12 SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2022

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NASSCOM ‘Shaping the Techade: The New Now’, NTLF 2022 will delve deeper into three focus areas The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) will be hosting the 30th edition of its flagship NASSCOM Technology and Leadership Forum (NTLF) from February 16th -18th, 2022. Themed ‘Shaping the Techade: The New Now’, NTLF 2022 will delve deeper into three focus areas –the new wave of growth, and the changing transformation of every business as a tech business; leading in the new and reimagining models to maximize the impact of tech and the role of future technologies in shaping a better future. The disruptions caused by the pandemic in the past two years have made digital transformation a buzz word – giving rise to a ‘New Normal’. Today, technology innovation has a role to play in every aspect of our lives.

CyborgIntell Raises $1.19 Million In Pre-Series A Round CyborgIntell, an enterprise AI software company, today announced that it has raised $1.19 Million in funding from SenseAI and Pentathlon Ventures, followed with extended additional investments from existing investors and Ghosal Ventures. The current funding will be harnessed for strengthening the talent pipeline in Sales, Marketing and Product R&D, scaling operations geographically across the North American Markets, accelerating customer acquisitions and expanding in existing markets of India and South Africa. The investment is an indicator of the high interest in next gen technologies like AI and the journey of empowering the growth of start-ups that are unlocking this value proposition. SenseAI Ventures invests in early stage Artificial Intelligence first startups and works closely with founders from the initial stages to provide support in product and go-to market strategies.

Zoho Workplace Achieves Exceptional Growth Spurred Zoho’s enterprise collaboration and communications platform - Workplace now serves more than 16 million users globally. The company attributes this substantial growth to increasing business demand for contextual applications with utmost standards for user privacy as well as rising costs from other collaboration platform providers. Since the start of the pandemic, Zoho Workplace adoption has accelerated as businesses of all sizes transitioned to digital-forward, remote work. “Zoho has always been about persistent long-term execution, and our investment in Zoho Workplace attests to that. As competitors continue to raise prices or eliminate free editions for those who need them most, Workplace continues to serve businesses and professionals with a feature-rich suite that increases productivity while remaining broadly affordable,” said Sridhar Vembu, CEO and Co-founder, Zoho Corporation. “Our ad-free approach and respect towards user privacy will add to the overall experience that our solution provides.”

LANXESS Makes Siemens a Global Alliance Partner Further strengthening its long-standing cooperation with Siemens, LANXESS have signed a contract with Siemens for the procurement of technical goods for the global production facilities of the specialty chemicals company. As per the agreement, Siemens will now supply LANXESS not only with digital control systems and software, but also with motor control centers and fire detection systems, among other things, at globally uniform conditions. The contract, which will initially run for five years, covers an order volume in the mid-double-digit million euro range and is expected to be extended to other material groups at any time. In addition, the two companies want to accelerate the digital transformation at LANXESS through the joint development of digital applications and technologies. “We are pleased to expand our cooperation with Siemens and to be able to rely on the reliable technical solutions of a premium partner on our growth course.

DIGEST VIAVI OFFERS SUPPORT FOR DETECTING INTERFERENCE BETWEEN 5G AND AVIONICS SYSTEMS VIAVI SOLUTIONS ANNOUNCED SUPPORT FOR VERIFYING THE EXISTENCE OF ANY INTERFERENCE BETWEEN 5G COMMUNICATIONS NETWORKS AND RADAR ALTIMETERS USED IN THE AVIATION INDUSTRY, BASED ON ITS HISTORY OF TESTING BOTH WIRELESS AND AVIONICS EQUIPMENT FOR COMMUNICATION SERVICE PROVIDERS, AIRLINES, MILITARY BRANCHES AND EQUIPMENT MANUFACTURERS WORLDWIDE. ANY POTENTIAL INTERFERENCE WOULD OCCUR IN A VERY NARROW BAND OF RADIO FREQUENCY, ONE THAT IS TECHNICALLY NOT EVEN PART OF THE C-BAND (3.7-3.98 GHZ) BEING UTILIZED BY COMMUNICATION SERVICE PROVIDERS. RADAR ALTIMETER (RADALT) SYSTEMS USE THE 4.2-4.4 GHZ BAND.

CLICKHOUSE INFRASTRUCTURE PROVIDER CHISTADATA RAISES US$3M AS IT BUILDS ITS OPENSOURCE FUNCTION CLICKHOUSE, WHICH AIMS TO BUILD THE FASTEST AND THE MOST SCALABLE MANAGED CLICKHOUSE IMPLEMENTATIONS IN THE WORLD, HAS RAISED USD 3 MILLION IN A PRE-SERIES A ROUND OF FUNDING FROM SEQUOIA CAPITAL INDIA. THE STARTUP PLANS TO USE THE FUNDS RAISED TO DEVELOP A FULLY OPEN SOURCE CLICKHOUSE SERVER AMONG OTHER ORCHESTRATION TOOLS THAT ADDRESS AUTOMATION AND DEVOPS FOR ENTERPRISE-GRADE COLUMNSTORE SOLUTIONS. IT WILL ALSO FOCUS ON DEVELOPING CHISTADATA CLOUD – A COMPLETELY AUTONOMOUS AND SELF-HEALING CLOUDNATIVE CLICKHOUSE OFFERING THAT CAN BE PROVISIONED AND PAID FOR BY DATA VOLUME AND WITHOUT REQUIRING CUSTOMERS TO THINK ABOUT SERVERS AND DEVOPS.

NOW.GG LAUNCHES NOW.GG FUNGIBLE GAMES (NFGS) THE BUILDING BLOCKS OF MOBILE GAMING METAVERSE NOW.GG, THE MOBILE CLOUD COMPANY, ANNOUNCED ITS NOW.GG FUNGIBLE GAMES (NFG) PLATFORM FOR MOBILE GAMES DEVELOPED ON UNITY, UNREAL AND COCOS ENGINES. NFG ENABLES THE UNBUNDLING OF THE GAME SO PIECES OF IT CAN BE OWNED BY DIFFERENT PEOPLE, ITS DYNAMIC RE-COMPOSITION IN THE CLOUD, AND DELIVERY TO THE GAMER. NFG ALSO ENABLES THE GAMES TO BE INTERLINKED WITH EACH OTHER BY SHARING THE UNBUNDLED PIECES ACROSS GAMES. “I AM A BIG MARVEL FAN AND AWED BY HOW THEY INTERLINK THE MOVIES TO CREATE THE MARVEL CINEMATIC UNIVERSE. THE MOBILE METAVERSE IS INSPIRED BY MARVEL. GAMES TODAY ARE LIKE MOVIES, WHAT IF YOU COULD INTERLINK THEM WITH MATTER, AVATARS, SPACE AND TIME. MATTER BEING THINGS LIKE WEAPONS IN A GAME, AVATARS BEING THE HEROES, SPACE ARE THINGS LIKE MAPS WITH PORTALS LIKE DR. STRANGE CAN MAKE, AND TIME IS THE TIME OF THE GAMER.”

SME CHANNELS 13 FEBRUARY 2022

SNIPPETS

Hiranandani Group Forays into Technology-led Emerging Consumer Services with Tez Platforms After a successful foray into Datacenters, Cloud Computing and Enterprise Technology offerings with Yotta Infrastructure, the Hiranandani Group is now ready to focus on broader technology-led consumer services with its new venture - Tez Platforms. Tez Platforms will focus on large opportunities in the arena of social media, entertainment, gaming and e-sports, e-commerce, personal mobility, artificial intelligence and blockchain linked solutions. “We believe that the potential of digital has barely scratched the surface. In keeping with the Digital India vision of the Hon’ble Prime Minister and the Government of India, as echoed in the Union Budget 2022, we are widening our focus on technology-led, new-age services. Yotta Infrastructure will continue to be the vehicle for us to invest in areas of cloud computing, interconnectivity, enterprise applications and enterprise cyber security technologies, which are enhanced by our hyperscale and edge datacenter roll-outs.

Logsign appoints BD Soft to deliver its SIEM and SOAR platforms in the Indian Markets Logsign SIEM, a robust, clutter-free, next-generation cybersecurity solution, joins hands with BD Soft, extending its solutions to Indian enterprises by effectively penetrating the IT Channel. Leveraging BD Soft’s far-reaching presence across India and its more than 200 channel partners who are experts in giving cyber security solutions, have industry expertise, new and potential customers will now have expanded access to a wide range of preferred channel partners offering Logsign’s comprehensive, centralized SIEM and SOAR products. Together, Logsign & BD Soft will enable even more Indian businesses to experience the benefits of smartest, simplest-to-use and fairly-priced security detection and response products. Trusted by more than 600 enterprises, ministries and state agencies Logsign provides comprehensive network visibility and control of the business data. It allows security analysts to collect and store unlimited data and investigate, detect, and respond to threats automatically.

MeitY Startup hub onboards MathWorks to support tech start-ups in India MietY Startup Hub (MSH) an initiative of Ministry of Electronics & Information Technology (MeitY), focused on building the tech start-up ecosystem across India by encouraging technology innovation, start-ups, and creation of intellectual properties, has formalized their partnership with MathWorks, the developer of mathematical computing software for scientists and engineers. Under this partnership, startups at MSH incubators will receive free access to MATLAB, a programming and numeric computing platform used to analyze data, develop algorithms, and create models, and Simulink, a simulation environment for products and systems. MSH entrepreneurs also gain access to more than 100 add-on toolboxes, engineering support from MathWorks’ experts, and access to the MATLAB Central user community. These tools have been adopted by many industries across application areas including artificial intelligence, electrification, simulation, wireless among others. MSH and MathWorks will host a virtual onboarding for all MSH incubators and startups.

LogRhythm Unveils New Brand Identity LogRhythm introduced its new brand identity. The rebrand is designed to represent the company’s commitment to helping security operations centers close workforce gaps, increase knowledge of new attacks and techniques and navigate an ever-changing threat landscape with confidence. The rebrand is the first of many changes to come in 2022 for LogRhythm, including a fresh visual look, an upcoming cloud-native platform and new outlook that reflects the company’s vision and evolution. “The new brand communicates our continued commitment to being cyber advisories and technology allies for our customers and partners by making cybersecurity operations easier and more effective for the people tasked with protecting our families, businesses and global communities,” said Cindy Zhou, chief marketing officer of LogRhythm. “With two decades of experience in cybersecurity, nobody understands the adversary better than LogRhythm. We give our customers the upper hand by proactively identifying threats and the technology to defend against them.”

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Vedanta and Foxconn Sign MOU for Manufacturing Semiconductors in India Vedanta, one of India’s leading multinational groups, and Hon Hai Technology Group (“Foxconn”), world’s largest electronics manufacturing company, today announced signing an MOU to form a joint venture company that will manufacture semiconductors in India. This first-of-its-kind joint venture between the two companies will support Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to create an ecosystem for semiconductor manufacturing in India. According to the MOU signed between the two companies, Vedanta will hold the majority of the equity in the JV, while Foxconn will be the minority shareholder. Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal will be the Chairman of the joint venture company. The targeted project plans to invest for manufacturing semiconductors. It will provide a significant boost to domestic manufacturing of electronics in India. Discussions are currently ongoing with a few State Governments to finalize the location of the plant. The collaboration between Vedanta and Foxconn follows the India Government’s recent policy announcement for Electronics Manufacturing & PLI scheme for incentivizing organizations to contribute towards development of this sector.

SNIPPETS

LogMeIn Rebrands as GoTo LogMeIn, a recognized leader in remote-work technology, announced today it has rebranded as GoTo to reflect its deep dedication to making IT easy, anywhere. GoTo’s announcement goes far beyond a new name and logo, as the company is launching a simplified product portfolio with a single application and two flagship products: the all-new IT management & support product, GoTo Resolve, and a new experience for the unified-communicationsas-a-service (UCaaS) product, GoTo Connect. These products are united by a single application, administrative system, and converging user experience. The company has also launched a new partner program to further enable its growing ecosystem of partners around the globe. The evolution comes from listening to its nearly 800K customers, over one billion people joining meetings, classes, or webinars, and half a billion connections on the company’s remote access and support tools. Their lives and their businesses have been forever changed by the pandemic, and GoTo is committed to empowering these small and midsize business (SMB) customers to drive simplicity and ease with its flexible-work tools, while focusing on affordability. With a new partner program and upcoming global expansion, this launch builds on the company’s strong growth, 99.9% uptime, and experience with zero trust security.

MailVault’s Email Plus functionality offers dedicated support for Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace DigitalGlue has launched MailVault v5, with an upgraded technology stack and new Email Plus functionality which will allow organizations to backup their emails as well as documents, files, calendars and contacts. The distributed and remote working scenario of our current times has increased not only the volume of email and shared documents, but has also made it imperative for an organization to have secure control over the humongous amount of data that is being generated. MailVault securely backs up the entire organization’s email (and now other data too) into a central archive. Powerful search and restore mechanisms allow companies to view and restore email and data for any user, over any time period. Compatible with all email systems, MailVault readies an organization for eDiscovery and compliance, while helping them to save money, time and effort. “Thousands of companies use Microsoft 365 and Google Workspace for communication and collaboration.

Sophos Announces Plans for a New Data Center in India Sophos plans for a new data center in Mumbai, India in March. The new data center is planned to enable organizations across the country to meet strict data sovereignty laws and regulations, which are increasingly required for those in banking, government and other tightly regulated market sectors. The new data center would expand Sophos’ existing base of data centers around the world in the U.S., Canada, Ireland, Germany, Japan, and Australia. “The data center in Mumbai would help Indian organizations accelerate digital transformation and cloud migration,” said Sunil Sharma, managing director of sales for India and SAARC, Sophos. “India is one of the most important markets for us and we have heavily invested in the country. We already have a large base of our research and development in India, and the data center would enable Sophos to further build its leadership presence in the region by providing local data sovereignty and security solutions.”

Rahi and Xtreme Media, to Redefine Display Solutions Rahi, India’s leading global enterprise solutions provider has announced a strategic partnership with Xtreme Media, a pioneer in active LED Displays and Digital Signage innovations and solutions. Headquartered in Mumbai, India, Xtreme Media Pvt. Ltd. is the largest active LED display solutions provider in India accounting for 30% of the market. They have over 25 years of expertise and have executed major installations in some of the country’s most prominent establishments, including State Bank of India, Landmark Group, Tata Trent, Inox Movies and many more. Xtreme Media has installed 700+ LED display installations in India. India’s Digital Signage Market is expected to grow at a 15.1% CAGR between 2019 and 2025, from $328.79 million in 2016 to $906.65 million by the end of 2022. A strengthened public infrastructure is leading to the awareness of digital signage in the country. Businesses are investing in digital signage and active LED solutions to promote their products and services, which will drive growth in this segment. “Rahi is one of the largest system integrators in the IT & Audio-video space having a strong global footprint across various industries. Partnering with Rahi, we look forward to redefining the display solutions business not just in India but across the globe”, said Sanket Rambhia (Director, Xtreme Media).

Optoma Announces High Brightness WUXGA Projector Series of up to 21000 lumens Brightness Optoma announced its highest brightness professional laser projectors to-date, filling a need for high-end installations, including the entertainment, exhibition, and digital signage markets. At 16,000, 18,000 and 21,000 lumens respectively, the Optoma Ultra Bright Series ZU1600, ZU1800 and ZU2100 projectors establish an incredibly high brightness benchmark to the category, as well as extreme flexibility with eight interchangeable lenses to meet the needs of even the most complex installations. As part of Optoma’s DuraCore laser line up, the Ultra Bright Series high-performance projectors feature 4K HDR compatibility, pure engine video processing and colour matching to produce visually striking, lifelike images with exceptional detail and high colour accuracy. Additionally, the new models feature Optoma’s Visual Suite** software, along with an integrated camera, creating seamless setups with automatic image adjustments, warping, and calibration.

SME CHANNELS 15 FEBRUARY 2022

SNIPPETS

SAIL Selects HPE GreenLake for its Central Marketing Organization Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced that Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL), the largest steel producer in India, has selected the HPE GreenLake edge-to-cloud platform for its Central Marketing Organization (CMO) to accelerate digital transformation and reduce their environmental footprint through an innovative on-premises cloud with capacity available on demand. HPE Pointnext Services worked closely with SAIL to manage the entire system integration project and full end-to-end implementation. HPE designed a new architecture based on open standards together with a complete storage refresh. The HPE team delivered a seamless Unix to Linux migration with minimal upfront investment and application downtime. The new, modernized environment significantly lowered the datacenter footprint and has therefore resulted in reduced power consumption and operational complexity, improved operating costs and environmental footprint. “We are excited to build on the decades’ long partnership with SAIL as we offer them the HPE GreenLake platform to obtain the best on-premises cloud experience to address their current and future business challenges,” said Som Satsangi, managing director, Hewlett Packard Enterprise, India. “Customers are increasingly turning to HPE GreenLake and our extensive system integrator capabilities to design and implement a modernized, end-to-end solution that can support their digital transformation and easily scale to meet future requirements.

Kyndryl and Pure Storage Announce Global Alliance Kyndryl, the world’s largest IT infrastructure services provider, and Pure Storage, the IT pioneer that delivers storage as-a-service in a multicloud world, today announced a global alliance that joins the expertise and operational experience of Kyndryl with the best-inclass storage technology of Pure to deliver mission-critical capabilities to enterprises. As part of the new alliance, Kyndryl will become a key delivery partner for Pure, expanding on already integrated solutions and increasing its existing Pure skills and capabilities to drive transformative business outcomes for customers. Together, Pure and Kyndryl will deliver jointly optimized solutions to address the complex challenges enterprises face related to application and infrastructure modernization, automation, multicloud management, containerization, and more – providing cyber resiliency elements natively at the storage layer to enable cloud-based applications coupled with data portability in the cloud or on-premises.

Dell Technologies Speeds Journey to MultiCloud with Portfolio Expansion Dell Technologies introduces multi-cloud capabilities that offer a consistent experience wherever applications and data reside. The company also expands support for developer operations (DevOps) with new offers and resources to help choose the right cloud environment combined with the security, support and predictable cost of Dell infrastructure. “Today’s multi-cloud reality is complex as data becomes more distributed across on-premises and colocation data centers, multiple public clouds and edge environments,” said Jeff Boudreau, president, Infrastructure Solutions Group, Dell Technologies. “We have the industry’s broadest technology portfolio, consistent tools, experience building open ecosystems and leading data storage capabilities, services and supply chain. All this uniquely positions Dell to help customers take control of their multi-cloud strategy.” “Our customers want simplicity, agility, and a consistent experience to manage their data across multiple cloud environments.

3i Infotech Plans to Setup COEs Across India 3i Infotech Limited plans to setup COEs (Center of Excellence) across India and global markets in the upcoming quarters. The company has an upcoming COE and Lab setup planned in collaboration with a leading research park in India focussed on 5G and cognitive computing. They will also look to expand these COEs across Tier-3 cities. The company is investing in insurance COE to offer end-to-end solution on cloud platform and will also build COEs for Credit Union, Mortgage and Capital Markets. Post the recent strategic alliance signed with MDEC Malaysia to launch the Oracle-powered NuRe 3i+ services for mid-market & SMB, 3i Infotech will further partner with various government bodies to generate employment and work on skill development. One of the other strategic initiatives which is operational, is around creating a Resident Entrepreneur Program in the fields of cognitive computing services and education technology. They also have a white labelled startup accelerator program that is active with SD WAN/SASE technologies and blockchain powered - video content lifecycle management.

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Credence Security Announces Thirteen-City Roadshow Across Middle East, Africa, and India Credence Security, the leading regional distributor of specialized solutions in cybersecurity, forensics, governance, risk and compliance, has announced the sixth edition of its most sought-after roadshow, which will be hosted in 13 cities, across three weeks in the Middle East, India and African markets. To be held under the theme, ‘Working Together Towards a Cyber-Resilient Tomorrow,’ the roadshow will bring together pre-eminent technology experts, vendors, and speakers to discuss the latest trends, strategies and innovations in today’s security landscape. Over the years, the Credence Security Roadshow has proven to be the platform of choice for security and digital forensics professionals across the region as they look to keep pace with a threat landscape that’s evolving at a never-before-seen rate. Catering to end-user security and digital forensics professionals, Credence Security Roadshow 2022 will deliver the necessary tools and industry knowledge that will enable regional organizations to design cyber-resilient security strategies and stay protected in the digital era. These insights will also empower them to unleash the full power of the security stack.

PARTNER CORNER

IRIS GLOBAL SUPPLIES PARTNER WITH ACER PCS, DELL SERVERS FOR UP POWER DISCOMS, WORTH 15 CR

ris Global Services has recently supplied their Delhi NCR partner Axis Infoline with Acer Desktop Computers PCs, Dell Servers and Laptops for 2 Uttar Pradesh Power Discoms – UPPCL and Kesco. The UPPCL-Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation Limited through its 4 Strategic Business Units namely – Purvanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd, Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd, Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd and Dakshinanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd, that distributes quality energy to the state. Iris Global’s valued partner has supplied them with large quantity of Desktop PCs for energy distribution audits. Virendra Goel, MD of Axis Infoline, said, “We have been working with UPPCL over the last 8 years. We sourced 3,500 Acer Desktops from Iris Global and supplied them at their Sub stations to enable internal audits of energy parameters.” The partner installed the PCs at their various substations throughout the state of UP along with other hardware. “Iris has helped us with quick order loading and timely deliveries that helped us to complete the prestigious installation on time,” added Goel. UPPCL got these computer systems to measure their distribution feeder load input and output. “Axis Infoline, in another bid, had also sourced Dell Servers and Laptops worth 2 crores for supplying to KESCO-Kanpur Electricity Supply Company,” said Pankaj Dhingra, GM, Iris Global Services.

SANJIV KRISHEN

FOUNDER-CMD IRIS GLOBAL SERVICES Earlier, Iris Global had delivered for the Bihar Government’s prestigious World Bank aided Rural Women’s Livelihood Project “Jeevika“ a trust that focuses, supports women’s livelihood. The project is said to be a key foundation for building an affluent rural India by helping rural women of today and tomorrow. Under the G2G program, Iris had supplied Lenovo Tabs for the Noida based Public Sector Undertaking – EdCIL, Educational Consultant India Limited in doing up the ICT Infrastructure deployment in Primary Schools of the Republic of Mauritius. “Iris, continues significantly in empowering Digitalization of India. The supplies to Axis Infoline, our valued partner on the UP Discoms are yet another imitative enabling India towards digitization,” said Sanjiv Krishen, Founder-CMD, Iris Global Services.

IVALUE APPOINTED AUTHORIZED DISTRIBUTOR FOR DIGICERT TLS/SSL, IOT AND PKI SOLUTIONS

Value InfoSolutions has been appointed as an authorized distributor of DigiCert, a leading provider of TLS/SSL, IoT and other PKI solutions for identity and encryption. DigiCert’s innovative TLS and PKI-based solutions are aimed at securing the enterprise and new growing markets such as IoT, cloud, and DevOps. As an authorized reseller of DigiCert products, iValue will now cater to customers seeking new and advanced security solutions and data security. Subodh Anchan, Vice President – Vendor Alliance, iValue InfoSolutions, said, “DigiCert is a pioneer with customer-focused products, tools, and platforms that advance strong security. They continuously drive the digital trust market towards better practices by providing certificate management, global customer support and strong value to their consumers. DigiCert sets high goals for product innovation, industry standards, and superior customer experience.” Headquartered in the US, DigiCert has 16 global offices and customer support teams for every region. With DigiCert ONE, the company offers a modern, holistic approach to PKI management. Based on an advanced, containerbased design, DigiCert ONE allows customers to rapidly and flexibly deploy and automate enrollment, and customize workflows. DigiCert CertCentral is an enterprise-grade TLS management platform. DigiCert is also recognized for its fast and knowledgeable customer support. “We’re very excited to have iValue InfoSolutions as a DigiCert partner. We share a common goal of providing the latest technology solutions and innovations, which enable enter-

SUBODH ANCHAN

VICE PRESIDENT VENDOR ALLIANCE iVALUE INFOSOLUTIONS prises to easily manage, optimize, and protect their digital assets. Through this partnership, we are able to grow our offerings in the region and help Indian enterprises to not just modernize and automate signing solutions but also ensure business continuity against increasing threats. We believe this relationship is a win-win for partners and customers in the region,” said Deepika Chauhan, DigiCert’s Trust Solutions Group EVP. iValue has offerings that are aligned and customized for organizations, across verticals and sizes, through its global, national, regional and local system integrators partnerships. The company also provides digital asset protection, Data, Network and Application Management (DNA), digital transformation solution and remote work solutions. Their virtualization and cloud security, SSL/VPN security, 2 factors authentication among other solutions aid in data security. iValue’s framework is set to precisely target the right set of enterprise customers through analytics based on customer life cycle adoption framework.

SME CHANNELS 17 FEBRUARY 2022

COVER STORY

SHRIKANT SHITOLE TO DRIVE TO THE NEXT PHASE OF GROWTH

n a bid to grow faster in this decade, iValue InfoSolutions, India’s premium technology enabler, has embarked upon a lot of out of the box thinking. It is not only bringing in innovative products and brands around Data, Network and Applications (DNA), expanding to different geos, expanding the partners, but also strengthening the head count and bringing in senior IT leadership from the industry. So, IT Veteran and former Vice President & Country Head - India & SAARC at FireEye, Shrikant Shitole coming onboard as its Chief Executive Officer is not a surprise. His appointment comes in as part of the strategic planning iValue InfoSolutions has designed for next 5 years. iValue, as a technology enabler is looking to extend the core business by expanding the portfolios based on relevance and investing in promising adjacent markets. iValue has planned to execute a framework consisting of three distinct phases that will unfold during the coming fiscal year which will be defending, extending, and transcending the core business. Shrikant’s expertise around Cloud Services, Cyber Security, IOT, Smart City, Data Center Services, IT Infrastructure Planning & Management, and Outsourcing services will go hand-in-hand in creating a futuristic win-win situation. iValue has been maintaining its growth at CAGR 40% YoY. iValue has been persistently investing on growth, allowing it to develop at 3X plus market growth rate in the last 10+ years. Its focus has been to address the complete needs around Data, Network and Application for Enterprise customers in a consultative way. Following the PE investment in 2019, iValue launched 3 main efforts to continue the company’s growth

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trajectory: 1. Expand geography coverage: iValue expanded to South-East Asia with a Singapore office. Appointed a CEO and team for SouthEast Asia covering SAARC markets with direct presence across Sri Lanka, Myanmar, Cambodia, Nepal, and Bangladesh along with Singapore & Malaysia. 2. Technology investment: iValue established COE, training centres, and services connected to customer life cycle management in order to give a better customer experience and efficiency 3. Exploring acquisition: iValue has been actively pursuing inorganic growth opportunities across India, SAARC, and Southeast Asia to accelerate next phase of growth. With Shrikant’s 25+ years of strong leadership experience iValue looks to turnaround the processes to grow at 5X times in next 5 years. Shrikant has been known in the industry for his B2B business management leadership roles across IT, Telecom, VAS, Software, and Cyber security industries, in his energetic 30+ years of experience. Shrikant, with his management skills, will focus on differentiating iValue to capitalise on the changing Cloud adoption & Cyber-Security landscape. Shrikant takes over from KrishnaRaj Sharma (KRS), who led iValue through a strong period of growth and raised capital from highly reputed private equity firm, Creador. KRS has steered iValue to become an enterprise company with a significant footprint in India as well as the Southeast Asian (SEA) markets. KRS moves on to overseeing iValue’s Southeast Asian markets. Welcoming the appointment, Varun Khandelwal, Director of Creador said, “I am pleased to

“iVALUE WILL CONTINUE TO FOCUS ON BFSI, GOVERNMENT AND ENTERPRISE PRACTICES, WHICH HAVE ALWAYS GIVEN iVALUE A HEADS-UP AROUND EMERGING NEEDS AT TOP 100 CUSTOMERS.”

COVER STORY

SHRIKANT SHITOLE CEO iVALUE

“IT WOULD BE AN HONOUR TO LEARN, WORK, DELIVER, AND EXPAND ON OUR STRATEGIC IMPERATIVES TO TRANSFORM AND MODERNISE OUR BUSINESS, REMOVE COMPLEXITY FOR OUR PARTNERS, AND BECOME AN INDISPENSABLE ORGANISATION BEHIND THE NUMEROUS BRANDS WE SUPPORT.” SME CHANNELS 19 FEBRUARY 2022

COVER STORY

SUNIL PILLAI

FOUNDER & MANAGING DIRECTOR iVALUE INFOSOLUTIONS

“I AM DELIGHTED TO WELCOME SHRIKANT AS CEO OF IVALUE. I HAVE KNOWN HIM FOR A LONG TIME, AND VALUE HIS ABILITY TO DEVELOP, MANAGE AND GROW PRODUCT AND SOLUTIONS BUSINESSES. I LOOK FORWARD TO LEVERAGING HIS ENTREPRENEURIAL ABILITIES TO DISRUPT EXISTING MARKETS AND ACCELERATE OUR GROWTH INTO NEW SEGMENTS. HIS STRATEGIC VISION, AS WELL AS OPERATIONAL EXPERTISE AND RIGOR, WILL BE PIVOTAL IN THE COMPANY’S NEXT PHASE OF GROWTH, AND THE IVALUE BOARD LOOKS FORWARD TO WORKING WITH HIM.” welcome Shrikant into the role as Chief Executive. He has brought incredible experience, vision, and pragmatism to every organization he has been associated with. With his excellent leadership and business acumen, I am confident that iValue can become even more of a force to be reckoned with in the tech industry.” Creador is a leading Southand Southeast Asia-focused private equity firm, with over USD 2bn in assets under management. The company invested in iValue InfoSolutions in 2019. Accepting the responsibilities that come with the leadership role at iValue, Shrikant Shitole said, “Thanks to KRS and his able leadership, iValue has grown into a remarkable organisation. It would be an honour to learn, work, deliver, and expand on our strategic imperatives to transform and modernise our business, remove complexity for our partners, and become an indispensable organisation behind the numerous brands we support.” 20 SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2022

KrishnaRaj Sharma, Founder & Director of iValue InfoSolutions said, “We are excited to get Shrikant Shitole on board. I am confident that Shri, with his domain experience built throughout his career, is going to help iValue to create incredible value in the years ahead.” With the addition of SEA market as part of iValue’s geographic expansion strategy, there has been a build-up on Consulting & Services business over the last 2 years. iValue has seen encouraging response from enterprise customers which has led iValue to continue its focus on Consulting & Services business for next few years. Apart from this, iValue will continue to focus on BFSI, Government and Enterprise practices which have always given iValue a heads-up around emerging needs at Top 100 customers. Analysing these demands will help iValue explore and on-board the best available technology OEMs to address the market needs on an on-going basis.

All of the statistics about our magnitude, diversity, and years of experience, as impressive as they are, bear little resemblance to the ultimate measure of iValue: the differentiating impact we bring on to our fraternity. Here at iValue, we’re constantly reinventing how we work and how we approach market constraints so that we can keep delivering meaningful, sustainable, and long-term results for our clients and communities. We strive to be the best at everything we do, from assisting customers in realizing their goals to making a positive impact on society with numerous CSR drives apart from maximizing the performance of our employees. This inspires us to come together to make an impact that matters in the world. A market leader in smart, cutting-edge technology solutions who assists businesses in managing, optimizing, and protecting their digital assets. iValue stimulates creativity as a leading Technology Enabler by providing comprehensive services that support Data, Network, and Application (DNA) management for businesses. Our “Go to Market” consists of niche, compelling, and complementary offerings that assist businesses of all sizes and verticals with their optimization and transformation efforts by leveraging the Customer Life Cycle and Product Life Cycle Adoption framework. iValue is proud to have served for over 6000+ customers across industry verticals through 900+ Partners & direct alliances with 65+ “Best of Breed” Technology OEMs. iValue has a direct presence across 18+ locations covering South-East Asia & Africa continents with Consulting; Solutioning; Vertical & Horizontal focused teams, addressing Technology enablement, Pre-sales, Sales & Post-sales needs of Customer for Private, Public and Hybrid cloud needs. iValue ASEAN operates with HQ in Singapore, with local entities in Cambodia, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka apart from Nairobi (Kenya) office for Africa foray. We continue to grow at 4+ times market growth rates, at 50%+ CAGR for the last 13+ years. For more information, visit iValue and follow us on LinkedIn and Twitter

Hybrid Cloud Management

Security Analytics

Next Gen Security

Availability & Performance Management

Services

Consolidation & Automation

iValue Infosolutions Digitally Empower and Transform Your Enterprise At iValue we help companies manage, optimize and protect their digital assets. Our capability set encompasses decisively implementing and deploying solutions that power Data, Network & Application (DNA) management for enterprises in collaboration with our trusted partners. We possess over two decades of experience as “Technology Enabler”, while our vertical expertise and practices cover BFSI, Government & Enterprises of all sizes. Our global presence spans 18+ locations across multiple continents. Forge ahead with confidence Our competency and experience help us craft and develop seamless digital infrastructure solutions spanning the entire gamut of enterprise needs. We help organisations scrutinise and reimagine their existing IT infrastructure smartly, efficiently & effectively.

Winner of the Deloitte India technology Fast 50 award for India and Fast 500 award for AsiaPac for “The Fastest Growing companies” and Red Herring “Asia 100” ﬁnalist across two consecutive years.

Contact: www.ivalue.co.in / marketing@iValue.co.in / +91 95359 99484

GROWTH FACTOR

HOW INDUSTRIAL CHANNEL PARTNERS CAN BE A CATALYST FOR CLOUD INNOVATION The pandemic has prompted a review of more than half of all large-scale global industrial projects, and cloud presents a big opportunity that the channel simply cannot afford to miss, says Kerry Grimes, Head of Global Partners at AVEVA. KERRY GRIMES HEAD OF GLOBAL PARTNERS AVEVA

“AS A REGIONAL CHANNEL PARTNER DELIVERING INDUSTRIAL AND HIGH VALUE SOFTWARE SOLUTIONS FOR LARGE ENTERPRISES, YOU ARE LIKELY TO FIND THAT YOUR CUSTOMER PERSONAS ARE ALSO CHANGING.”

loud computing solutions enable enterprises across verticals to power their digital transformation journeys. Living in a pandemic has made every business realize the need to be digitally agile, robust, reliable, and secure. Deploying the cloud for business is the fastest and surest way to achieve this. Every other digital transformation solution can be bolted on after the enterprise has adopted and migrated to a cloud platform. Today, customers from all industries are either planning to migrate to cloud platforms or have already started that journey. It is imperative for system integrators and value-added partners for industrial solutions, traditionally facing oil and gas, energy and power, engineering and construction and utility networks, to similarly advance their journey into the cloud and keep pace with their customers. As every organization moves towards becoming a cloud-first business, channel partners must make a similar transition – or risk being left behind. COVID-19 has served as a catalyst for every company to accelerate its move to the cloud to unlock the benefits of digital transformation, from resilience and cost reductions to new products and services. For channel partners, the trend represents an opportunity to build a holistic cloud journey at speed and scale for innovation-focused clients. Lateral integration is necessary for channel partners As a regional channel partner delivering indus-

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trial and high value software solutions for large enterprises, you are likely to find that your customer personas are also changing. If you dealt with the vice-president of capital projects or the chief investment officer before, now be prepared to interface with other personas including the chief information officer (CIO), chief digital officer, and chief innovation officer. The language of business services has evolved from long-term returns to shorter demand-based consumption and outcome-based returns. Channel partner solutions and services therefore need to integrate laterally with other enterprise application solutions. Cloud-based application interoperability, OT-IT gateways, digital twins, manufacturing execution systems and cyber security policies are now as important, if not more so, than the upgrade of the ten-year old SCADA control systems that is on your quotation list. With your customer now likely to be a digitalfirst C-suite executive, it is necessary that your credentials showcase technical proficiency as well as the skills of a trusted advisor. The key consideration for this new breed of corporate partners is likely to revolve around delivering the plug-andplay infrastructure that eases their digital transformation. This comes back to ensuring the customer is well supported on their cloud journey as they build bridges between industrial and digital. As channel partners begin or advance in their cloud skills development, they need to progressively move through a checklist to guarantee great customer experiences and complete satisfaction.

Key questions to understand customer requirements 1. What is the customer’s cloud adoption strategy and progress in cloud adoption? 2. Is the customer looking for choice and flexibility? 3. What is the business value that cloud will need to deliver in the short and medium term? 4. Do you know the IT decision makers and their technology expectations? 5. Do you have an Opex based service price list to combine with the vendor’s? Key questions to select the most ideal vendor offerings 6. Does the enterprise application vendor offer all flavors of cloud? 7. Are the solutions suitable for the target markets you operate in or plan to? 8. Does the vendor have a cloud partner program and specialization? 9. Does the vendor offer training programs for your cloud enablement? 10. Is the vendor incentivizing your cloud services? The cloud is not a short-term strategy for either the customer, the channel partner or the vendor. For now, it is a joint partnership effort and all stakeholders can benefit over the medium and long term. Technology and innovation are very important in the customer’s digitalization journey, and trust, partnership and the human journey are the keys to success.

SECURITY

VIRSEC DELIVERS AN END TO ATTACKS ON SERVER INFRASTRUCTURE Security attacks on the servers is not rare. Even if there is enough protection, the attack vectors are growing. It has baffled the minds of the CISOs about how to go about it. Now here is a solution provider who offers most deterministic protection. DAVE FURNEAUX COFOUNDER AND CEO VIRSEC

“WHEN WE FOUNDED VIRSEC, WE TOOK A ‘FIRST PRINCIPLES’ APPROACH TO PROTECT SOFTWARE, REGARDLESS OF THE ATTACKER’S PREFERRED EXPLOIT OR ATTACK METHOD. NOW, THE NAME OF OUR PLATFORM SAYS IT ALL–WE CAN DETERMINE WHAT YOUR SOFTWARE IS SUPPOSED TO DO AND IMMEDIATELY STOP ANY ATTACK.”

irsec’s Deterministic Protection Platform (DPP) ensures better protection against all known and unknown threats to software workloads and reduces threat actor dwell time from minutes to milliseconds, with true protection and runtime observability. Combining the broadest attack coverage and highest accuracy in the industry, DPP by Virsec protects server workloads across the entire runtime stack, eliminating false positives, when deployed on bare metal, virtual machines (VMs), containers, or in the cloud.

DPP by Virsec is the next evolution of the company’s flagship and award-winning Virsec Security Platform (VSP), which was the first solution that could truly eradicate threats to the software workload at runtime in real-time. DPP by Virsec makes security response obsolete by improving the protection that conventional, probabilistic solutions simply cannot: • Full application stack protection at runtime, automatically protecting vulnerable workloads covering all facets including applications, files, processes, and memory space that are typically targeted by attackers. • Only trusted execution is allowed, ensuring zero adversary dwell time and stopping an attacker’s malicious actions within milliseconds against both known and unknown threats—specifically protecting against ransomware, remote code execution, supply chain poisoning, and memorybased attacks. • Uniquely detects advanced attacks at the web, host, and memory levels that bypass Extended/ Endpoint Detection and Response (X/EDR), Web Application Firewall (WAF), Intrusion Detection and Prevention System (IDPS), Endpoint Protection Platforms (EPP), and Antivirus (AV) solutions. It can reduce, or entirely negate, the need for patching. • With its read-only approach to mapping the software workload, DPP by Virsec does not harm applications while providing true protection. This unique approach also allows for fast deployment, performance maintenance, and automation at scale. “Security practitioners are exhausted at the failed promise of ‘protection’ when many vendors merely offer alerts after an attack on

their applications. As we’ve seen with Log4j, PrintNightmare, and other recent attacks, this approach is not working,” said Dave Furneaux, Cofounder and CEO of Virsec. “When we founded Virsec, we took a ‘first principles’ approach to protect software, regardless of the attacker’s preferred exploit or attack method. Now, the name of our platform says it all–we can determine what your software is supposed to do and immediately stop any attack.” Attacks continue to increase exponentially. In 2020, the FBI saw more than 2,000 ransomware incidents, and more than a 200% jump in ransom demands in 2021. Software vulnerabilities continue to plague legacy and modern systems and the commonality among these events is that they target – and in many cases hide within – software at its fundamental levels on hosts and in memory. In fact, on its 20th Anniversary, OWASP updated its top 10 most critical risks to applications and added a new category, Software and Data Integrity Failures. Attackers are constantly changing their techniques. EDR and other traditional tools don’t protect against the “attack-of-the-week.” A new approach is needed. DPP by Virsec secures the full-application stack – web, host, and memory – at runtime, regardless of application type or environment. This deterministic approach to security ensures precision protection for legacy unpatched workloads, consolidated VMs and containers, and provides runtime web application protection and application control. The platform’s coverage for all of these use cases helps organizations achieve better protection, reduce the cost of operations, and ensures continual compliance, aiding their overall business outcomes.

SME CHANNELS 23 FEBRUARY 2022

CHANNEL TECH PREDICTION

ADAPTION TO CLOUD OFFERINGS, AND VETERAN SECURITY PARTNERS ADDING MSSP OFFERINGS, SERVICES DIVISION TO THEIR SECURITY OFFERINGS TO PREVAIL IN 2022 As part of this special series of Tech Forecasts, Mohan Kumar TL, Director, Netpoleons India registers its predictions for 2022.

MOHAN KUMAR TL DIRECTOR NETPOLEONS INDIA

“WE STRONGLY BELIEVE IN ADAPTING TO THE CHANGES IN THE MARKET AND AS FIRST STEP HAVE DECIDED TO CHANGE THE USUAL APPROACH FROM PRODUCT TO SOLUTION SELLING.”

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makeover in the new year. As part of our effort to get the channel community better informed and get an earful of what the leading distributors, who sit at the most critical point of IT business, are thinking, expecting, and planning for the channel community in 2022, we

have started this new section to record the channel predictions of the most prominent players of the IT industry. Here, as part of this special series of Tech Forecasts, Netpoleon Solutions India registers its predictions for 2022.

CHANNEL TECH PREDICTION

A true Value-Added Distributor (VAD) of Network Security products, Netpoleon is headquartered in Singapore. Through its strong partnership with Channel Partners, the company has gained a strong foothold in several highly demanding industries namely the Financial Services Sector where Data Protection is a key competitive edge for the businesses, the Telecommunication sector which is a critical information infrastructure and the Public Sector where highly secure and protected environment is required to protect governmental classified information. Through its partnership with major technology vendors, the VAD continues to value-add the Vendors’ offerings through pre-and post-sales services, as well as professional advisory services on Cybersecurity to its channel partners across the region. The person behind Netpoleon’s remarkable growth in the country has been its experienced Director Mr. Mohan Kumar TL. With a demonstrated history of working in the Information technology and services industry, skilled in Business Alliances, Routing, Business Development, Sales Operations, and Channel Sales, Mohan has led the company through the turbulent pandemic times. Under Mohan’s dynamic leadership, Netpoleon has been transformed into a resilient organization that has confidently sailed through the ever-changing distribution landscape. As a business leader, he has established himself as a powerful conduit between vendors and the channel community. In a special interaction with SME Channels, Mohan Kumar TL – Director, Netpoleons India, shares his company’s Channel Predictions for the year 2022. Edited excerpts… Give a brief introduction about your company Netpoleon Solutions India (NSIN) started its operations in 2015 under the name of TechKnowLogic Consultants India Pvt. Ltd with the regional headquarters in Bangalore and branch offices in Delhi and Mumbai. NSIN has been plugging in the present-day IT security infrastructure gaps with niche premium products and Seamless Sales, Pre & Post-sales Technical Support. It is a part of Netpoleon Group – a Value-Added Distributor (VAD) of Network Security products, headquartered in Singapore with various full-fledged offices across the Southeast Asia region in Singapore, Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. Further strengthening the company, Netpoleon entered into another growth phase in 2017, where Macnica Networks Corporation entered into an

equity partnership with Netpoleon. The equity partnership with Macnica, a leading Value-Added Distributor of Network Security solutions to the Japanese and the Global market, has elevated Netpoleon into the Global arena where Netpoleon can engage global players in the market. Netpoleon continues to look forward aiming to be one of the Most Trusted Partners (MTP) to our Vendors, Resellers, and Customers. As the pandemic is still there and a new variant is spreading, what are the major market trends you are forecasting for 2022? Due to the ongoing pandemic, it is predicted that Work from Home culture will continue to prevail and effectively managing, monitoring & protecting end points will be a focus area in the IT market. Threat intel market will also play a major role in the upcoming years which organizations uses to understand accurate and actionable intelligence at the right place giving utmost visibility needed to stay one step ahead about the Brand / Vulnerability / Geopolitical / Fraud Intelligence. Also, organizations have now realized it’s about time to rethink security such as End-to-end identity security/governance for privileged and non-privileged accounts as it is very crucial to their ecosystem. Netpoleon India will increase its focus on these areas in addition to our existing offering in space of Networking and Cyber Security. What major trends would you forecast in the channel market? In current pandemic scenario most of the partners who use to focus mainly on Infra / Storage / Software specific solutions have also added Security practise in their portfolio offerings due to huge demand in market for IT / OT security Opportunities. The existing Security partners who are veterans in space of Offering Security products are adding MSSP offerings, Services division to cater to their existing client requirements. Biggest trend setter observed in Channel market is adaption to Cloud offerings and the industry is getting ready to take the next leap in space of cloud security offerings and services. Lastly, one positive emerging from the outcome of Pandemic is most of channel community are collaborating and working to address each other’s client requirements to overcome travel and local body support restrictions. As a distributor, do you have any channel expansion plans for 2022? Do you plan any additional investment in terms of skillsets enhancement including

technical, sales and marketing for your team? We strongly believe in adapting to the changes in the market and as first step have decided to change the usual approach from product to solution selling. Also, we have already added teams in Hyderabad / Chennai region newly in 2022 adding to the increased manpower across Mumbai / Delhi and Bangalore to ensure we have a better reach in the market and serve our partners with quick turnaround. We have designed unique marketing activities targeting our channel partners like Boot camps and Netpoleon partner League which are ongoing and strongly believe that 2022 will be the year to focus more on Digital marketing activities. What are your plans for onboarding new brands or addition of new business lines for next year? We are always ahead of others in market in identifying latest and niche technologies, which has kept us apart from other competitors. As we enter 2022, we are shortly announcing our partnership with BlackBerry which has been a leader in the field of Trusted Unified End Point Security/ Management to delivery Zero Trust Security and Experience. Being very confident to bring lot more technologies in 2022, the second signup for India is CYCOGNITO which will empower companies to take full control over their attack surface by uncovering eliminating the critical security risks they didn’t even know existed. Welcome to the Shadow Risk Revolution! How would you like to value add to presales, training, post-sales services for your partners and customers? Being a VAD is always believing in building the technical expertise with partners as the success factor. Hence, we have defined few unique approaches to enhance technical expertise with the partners like Capture The Flag, ASK ME ANYTHING, Virtual BOOT Camp etc. What is your geo – spread? What is your plan for enhancing geographies presence from Point of Presence or sales points perspective Netpoleon Solutions India is a part of Netpoleon Group – a Value-Added Distributor (VAD) of Network Security products, headquartered in Singapore with various full-fledged offices across the Southeast Asia region in Singapore, Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam.

SME CHANNELS 25 FEBRUARY 2022

TECH PREDICTION 2022

LIQUIDITY AND TIMELY SUPPLY OF GOODS AND SERVICES FROM OEMS TO SPURR GROWTH In a special interaction with SME Channels, Debashish Banerji, Director, Sales and Service, Power Quality Division, Eaton India, shares his company’s Channel Predictions for the year 2022. Edited excerpts…

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offices, manufacturing plants, service centers, and research facilities in the region. Eaton moved its Asia Pacific headquarters from Hong Kong to Shanghai in 2014. Today, we have nearly 17,000 employees, six R&D centers, and manufacture in 34 manufacturing facilities across countries and regions including China, India, Japan, South Korea, Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, Philippines, and Australia for all of Eaton’s distinct business. Eaton Power Quality Private Limited, India is a 100% subsidiary and a part of the electrical sector of Eaton Corporation. We are catering to every industrial segment with versatile solutions which include Switchgear: LV & MV Solutions, Fusegear: LV & MV solutions, UPSs, and software solutions. As the pandemic is still there and a new variant has surfaced, what are the major market trends you are forecasting for 2022? 2022 will be the 3rd year in a row with the pandemic persisting and, we feel we have learned now how to work and sustain in the given situation. With the onset of the new variant forcing a semilockdown situation across the country, it is not so grave so far as businesses are adapting quickly to the new normal. For the Power-backup (UPS) industry the focus would be on ensuring sales and service to their new and existing customers. Digitalization will get a big push as remote monitoring & management of IT assets would be necessary to ensure business continuity. Work from Home (WFH) will also boost sales of smaller rating UPS amongst the working professionals in all the sectors. Also, there is an emergence of a Hybrid office which will positively impact Edge computing infrastructure

as there would be multiple locations for people to work from. What major trends are you forecasting in the channel market? For the Channel community to sustain their businesses amidst challenging scenarios, they need liquidity and a timely supply of goods and services from the OEMs. Partners must focus on not just retaining their customers but also adding new ones to cement their positions in the market. On the positive end, the digital offers (software solutions) would yield good returns bundled with the right mix of services for channel partners. Which areas do you want to focus in the channel – skillsets – sales and marketing, vertical and technology practice development, service capability, etc.? All the areas are important to grow the business but to scale quickly we feel skill-set and technology practice development should be in focus followed by service capability and sales and marketing. Eaton has a robust partner program called ‘Power Advantage Partner Program’ (PAPP) which encompasses training, business mapping, service enhancement, and sales and marketing tools for the partners. What percentage of budget growth are you expecting for channel development? We expect a healthy 35% to 40% increase in channel spends year-on-year. What is your expectation from the channel this year? We expect the channel to grow at a healthy pace while increasing its customer base and penetra-

TECH PREDICTION 2022

DEBASHISH BANERJI DIRECTOR, SALES AND SERVICE, POWER QUALITY DIVISION EATON INDIA

“CONSIDERING THE MASSIVE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION TAKING PLACE, POST-PANDEMIC, WE DO SEE GREAT OPPORTUNITY IN EXPANDING OUR CHANNEL FRATERNITY IN GEO EXPANSION LOCATIONS ACROSS THE COUNTRY.”

tion with digital products. Are you planning any new product addition for the channel market? We have new product launches and product upgrades planned in 2022 in 1PH and 3PH UPS which will help channels boost their sales. In addition to physical products, Eaton’s Brightlayer Data Centers suite (software applications) includes

everything from data center infrastructure management (DCIM) with capacity analytics and 3D visualizations to advanced, automatic remediations and cloud-based analytics that help predict power component failure. We believe that the Brightlayer software suite will be a strong driving force for the channel partners in 2022. Is there any channel expansion plan in

terms of numbers in 2022? Channel will be key to our success and long-term growth objectives. We will continue to focus on onboarding new channel partners in our current locations as well in newer geographic locations. Considering the massive digital transformation taking place, post-pandemic, we do see great opportunity in expanding our channel fraternity in geo expansion locations across the country.

SME CHANNELS 27 FEBRUARY 2022

FEATURE STORY

CL0UD NINE

As the India market remains in the eye of a major digital transformation buoyed by a tech-centred Union Budget and the prevailing pandemic, cloud players, aided by next-gen technologies, are aiming for a big kill

loud Technology has been gathering momentum over the last several years. But the Pandemic and the ensuing shift to online operations and massive adoption of work-from-homeculture and online learning gave it a much needed shot in the arm. As the India market remains in the eye of a major digital transformation buoyed by a tech-centred Union Budget, SME Channels embarks upon analyzing and mapping the Great Indian Cloud scape for you. As part of our effort to record the Cloud Predictions for the current year, we will fleece out every bit of the cloud strategy adopted by cloud leaders, the most prominent trends that will characterize the cloud market, the inner dynamics of the cloud technology, the vision and plans of cloud vendors and distributors for the channel community. So, stay tuned to catch up a piece of the cloud drama as it unfolds before your eyes. Two years into the pandemic, we have witnessed massive innovation as companies of all sizes have embraced technology to navigate a rapidly changing business landscape replete with new operating models, customer challenges, and managing a remote workforce. As per an IDC estimate, the global cloud computing market is

28 SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2022

expected to grow from USD 445.3 billion in 2021 to USD 947.3 billion by 2026, at a Compound Annual Growth Rate (CAGR) of 16.3%. Businesses, worldwide, are using cloud as the foundational pillar for innovation, collaboration, and digital transformation. In India too cloud is witnessing an accelerated adoption by enterprises across verticals. Businesses are upping their investment plans for cloud infrastructure and platforms, even adopting cloud-native services to enable new architectures and functionalities. According to IDC, India’s public cloud services (PCS) market, including infrastructure-as-aservice (IaaS), platform-as-a-service (PaaS) solutions, and software-as-a-service (SaaS), revenue totaled $2.2 billion for the first half of 2021. The overall Indian public cloud services market is expected to reach $10.8 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 24.1% for 2020-25. Pandemic: The Key Driver The impact of the pandemic still continues to be the key driver of cloud adoption, as businesses go on with their investments in cloud infrastructure, platforms, and software to boost up the resiliency of their business operations. “The pandemic is a driver; it has changed the

way we work and live and many of those changes will be lasting for a long period of time. The shift to remote work has transformed businesses, accelerating technology initiatives from enhanced collaboration capabilities and security to automation via artificial intelligence and machine learning. This is a welcome development.” Says, Amer Warsi, Director Channel, SMB & Ecosystem, HPE India. “The pandemic boosted digital growth in India at an unprecedented scale. Organisations across India adopted online strategies to achieve operational competence. Most have already realised the importance of deriving real-time insights from data and the dynamics of cloud computing in their day-to-day processes. This has helped the cloud ecosystem,” says Srinivas Rao, Senior Director, System Engineering, Dell Technologies, India. “During the pandemic period, the demand for Cloud and Data Center services has significantly grown. ESDS aims to capitalize on growth projections and opportunities through scaling its operations,” Piyush Somani , Managing Director and Chairman, ESDS Software Solution. “We also believe that value drivers like customizability, control, autonomy and interoperability would play a significant role in retaining and improving the market share when competing with other hyperscalers in the market.” Towards a Multi-Cloud Future As the dynamics of the organisations change with Industry 4.0 and rapid move to digital processes, the emergence of a multi-cloud future has become

FEATURE STORY

a reality. As cloud models mature, it isn’t public cloud or private cloud anymore. It’s multi-cloud. Next year, more than 90% of enterprises are expected to deploy workloads on a mix of private clouds, public clouds, SaaS and existing infrastructure. “The multi-cloud future is now, and the architects of data management, artificial intelligence and machine learning will depend on seamless access to multiple clouds. Those who can access multiple clouds, with the right workloads on each cloud, will have a strategic advantage,” says Dell’s Srinivas Rao. A new Forrester Consulting study commissioned by Dell Technologies reveals that 83% of organisations have adopted a multi-cloud approach or plan to within the next 12 months. “With our sustained investments in an expanded multi-cloud portfolio and a vibrant cloud ecosystem, we will enable organisations to improve spend predictability, transparency, and scalability,” adds Rao. Multi-cloud solutions allow users to use multiple cloud services from different cloud vendors. This helps them avoid vendor lock-in while benefitting from the best cloud offerings from each vendor. Growing Cloud Alliances Going ahead, we will see more and more vendor partnerships wherein they will combine their mutual strengths to fast-track market launches and time to market for multi-cloud products and services. Companies like Microsoft and Oracle have already joined forces to link their cloud services, letting their customers to run enterprise applications across Oracle Cloud and Microsoft Azure. The alliance landscape will also see more examples of vendors finding common ground as demand grows for more complete, multi-technology solutions. Alliances will be driven by not only the customers of today, but the customers of tomorrow as the technology landscape drives innovation and more complexity. “Nutanix recently forged strategic relationships with Red Hat and Citrix which have both proved to be of great value to our partners with solutions that are certified and supported together,” says Naresh Purohit, Director- Systems Engineering, Nutanix India & SAARC. Artificial Intelligence Gaining Ground As the cloud industry evolves application of new technologies like Artificial Intelligence is finding greater usage and acceptance. AI is fast becoming an important tool to power IT operations and automation.

VIJAY ANAND IBM CLOUD PLATFORM SALES LEADER, IBM TECHNOLOGY SALES IBM INDIA/SOUTH ASIA

“WE BELIEVE A HYBRID CLOUD ARCHITECTURE, WHICH IS OPEN BY DESIGN, PROVIDES THE ‘CHOICE’ TO BUILD ONCE, DEPLOY ANYWHERE, ULTIMATELY OFFERING FLEXIBILITY AND EFFICIENCY WITH NO VENDOR LOCK-IN.” MATTHEW OOSTVEEN VICE PRESIDENT & CHIEF TECHNOLOGY OFFICER, ASIA PACIFIC & JAPAN, PURE STORAGE

“PURE IS ENABLING CUSTOMERS TO MOVE TO THE CLOUD WITH SOLUTIONS LIKE CLOUD BLOCK STORE, FUSION AND PORTWORX. WE ARE HEAVILY INVESTING IN THE CLOUD SO THAT CUSTOMERS CAN SIMPLIFY THE COMPLEXITY OF THE ENVIRONMENT.” “Cloud computing is rapidly evolving in the post-pandemic scenario. AI in cloud computing will become the new norm in cloud environments. Most of the regular AI usage such as Instagram filters or Google search, etc, is already cloud-native, and going ahead. this will become the standard practice,“ says Karan Kirpalani, Cloud Head, NTT India. Echoing similar optimism for AI, Vijay Anand, IBM Cloud Platform Sales Leader, IBM Technology Sales, IBM India/South Asia, opines, “IBM is a hybrid cloud and AI company. Our IBM Cloud Paks are AI-powered software that help businesses build, modernize, and manage applications securely across any cloud.”

“In view of increasing cyberthreats across environments, AI will play a critical role in identifying and responding to threats more efficiently, as businesses move towards a “zero trust” approach to further reduce risks,” he adds. In a recent IBM Study, CIOs in India have rated AI among their top 5 technology investments in the next three years. Hybrid Cloud Finds Increasing Resonance According to a recent IBM IBV CIO Study, CIOs in India reported maturity in hybrid cloud operations increased 850%, followed by process automation and intelligent workflows at 536%.

SME CHANNELS 29 FEBRUARY 2022

FEATURE STORY

AMER WARSI DIRECTOR CHANNEL, SMB & ECOSYSTEM, HPE INDIA

“OUR HPE GREENLAKE PLATFORM ACCELERATES MULTI-GEN IT TRANSFORMATION THROUGH A UNIFIED CLOUD SERVICES EXPERIENCE, HELPING CUSTOMERS TO ACCESS, CONTROL AND MAXIMIZE THE VALUE OF THEIR WORKLOADS AND DATA.”

With demands for Hybrid cloud growing, cloud vendors are taking note and increasingly focusing on hybrid cloud offering to cater to their customers’ needs. Karan Kirpalani, Cloud Head, NTT India, predicts, “Hybrid cloud adoption will rise, leading to the blurring of line between private and public cloud.” “Hybrid cloud architecture will be increasingly preferred increasingly by enterprises that do not want to be restricted by vendor lock-ins and want to achieve more with their existing resources and data. Hybrid environments with improved operations infrastructure and robust governance will equip business leaders with real-time, insightful analysis of critical business scenarios and enable a proactive approach,” says Sandeep Bhargava, Managing Director, APJ, Rackspace Technology. “Through our cloud solutions such as Hybrid Cloud Management X, we empower our customers to unify their multi-cloud and on-premises operations, speed up provisioning, and gain management consistency,” informs Saurabh Saxena, Country Director, Micro Focus – India.

More Automation in Cloud Space Over the past two years, the need to accommodate remote work has huddled businesses to the cloud. But the requirement for business continuity was soon followed by the evaluation of other technologies that would allow greater innovation both during the crisis and in preparation for a post-Covid future. “Running everything using a cloud operating model enables enterprises to automate their operations, creating a flexible infrastructure that, in turn, provides their organizations with ondemand access to data services,” says Matthew Oostveen, Vice President & Chief Technology Officer, Asia Pacific & Japan, Pure Storage. Oostveen adds, “As a result, we expect to see more automation and orchestration tools to enable businesses to deploy cloud operating models seamlessly.” Cloud distributors like ZNet are taking to automation to equip their partners to grow their cloud businesses. “We are empowering them with the right tools and strategies to build a successful cloud business. RackNap – which is our cloud automation arm will further act as a USP

– by adding automation in selling cloud services,” says Sabarinathan Sampath, SVP & COO, ZNet Technologies

KARAN KIRPALANI

PIYUSH SOMANI

SANDEEP BHARGAVA

CLOUD HEAD NTT INDIA

30 SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2022

MD & CHAIRMAN ESDS SOFTWARE SOLUTION

As-a-service Model in Vogue While cloud remains the fastest going category, Cloud vendors are doing everything they can to woo their customers. They are helping customers to embrace the future of cloud and data flexibility with a true, as-a-service model that is simple to manage and always evergreen. “Pure offers everything-as-a-service for flexible consumption and cloud economics. Pure Storage is bringing the cloud operating model to its customers and providing them with the infrastructure experience that enables a single and seamless model across private and public clouds. We have a unified data management platform that interconnects the edge, the cloud, and the core so that customers can move their data, applications, and information across these boundaries seamlessly,” informs Oostveen. From Transactional Volume Sales to

MANAGING DIRECTOR, APJ RACKSPACE TECHNOLOGY

FEATURE STORY

SRINIVAS RAO SENIOR DIRECTOR, SYSTEM ENGINEERING DELL TECHNOLOGIES, INDIA

“THROUGH OUR STRATEGIC ECOSYSTEM APPROACH, CUSTOMERS CAN SECURELY STORE, ACCESS, AND CONSUME DATA WHEREVER IT IS CREATED AND CONSUME CLOUD SERVICES ANYWHERE THEIR BUSINESS NEEDS IT.”

Partner Training Takes Front Seat Since cloud is a tech-intensive business, cloud providers are leaving no stone unturned in equipping and upskilling their partners through right training and tools. Following a partner-first approach,

Rackspace Technology provides its partners with access, support and flexibility needed to create new revenue opportunities, across leading public, private and hybrid cloud platforms. “With our Global Partner Program, an all-around business support structure is set in place, including technical and operations support, inside and field sales support combined with access to partner tools and product enablement materials. Dedicated support from our experts at every stage, right from the planning and assessment phase to execution guidance, and formulation of a custom go-tomarket strategy, ensures that the customers are fully-equipped to make well-informed business decisions using their data and resources to the optimum,” claims Bhargava. Speaking about partner support, Ritesh Syal: Director, Partner Ecosystem, Red Hat India/ SAARC, says, “At Red Hat, it is our constant endeavour to up-skill our partners and build programs that are designed to enable them and take advantage of the opportunity. This enables our partners to differentiate themselves in a saturated market of IT service providers. Furthermore, vendors are also equipping

RITESH SYAL

SABARINATHAN SAMPATH

Technical Services One of the visible trends in the cloud space has been the new thrust on technical services. As the cloud journey intensifies, companies are shifting their focus away from transactional volume sales toward technical services in areas including cloud computing and hybrid multicloud infrastructure, and security. There is also an untapped opportunity in granting the right partners secure access to telemetry. “It will be a whole new dimension of validating solution adoption and usage, and ultimately will better enable partners to provide proactive and reactive support. Partners will be instrumental in identifying new opportunities to improve customer experience and success once they have access to these insights,” says Naresh Purohit, Director- Systems Engineering, Nutanix India & SAARC.

DIRECTOR, PARTNER ECOSYSTEM RED HAT INDIA / SAARC

SVP & COO ZNET TECHNOLOGIES

partners with partner tools such as customer experience and success insights that can help drive greater growth, intimacy and value for the customer. To conclude… Cloud has emerged as one of the top technological winners over the last two years, and still growing stronger. It emerged both as a trend promoting innovation and a universal standard that allows for flexibility and cost savings. As the cloud’s size, variety and importance continue to accentuate, it touches upon literally every other verticals and businesses. Cloud technologies are moving away from a linear evolution to prepare for an exponential evolution. Even in the post pandemic world, the appetite for cloud solutions will remain strong. Going ahead, at the backdrop of this varied colossal digital landscape, new cloud-specific trends will continue to greet us.

SAURABH SAXENA COUNTRY DIRECTOR MICRO FOCUS – INDIA

SME CHANNELS 31 FEBRUARY 2022

INTERVIEW

LOGMEIN IS NOW GOTO After becoming catalyst for many SME business success during last many years and specially during pandemic, LogMeIn is now rebranding it as GoTo, where the company is combining its management and support product. We spoke to Mathew Philip, Senior Director, Business Development, India at GoTo (LogMeIn) To understand the impact on India market. Why is GoTo / LogMeIn rebranding? Why now? GoTo’s launch goes far beyond a new name and logo, as we are also launching a simplified product portfolio with a unified experience and two flagship products: the all-new IT management and support product, GoTo Resolve which unifies our world class remote access and support solutions into an all new conversational entry point and ticketing system through a single unified application and a new unified-communications-as-aservice (UCaaS) GoTo Connect experience which has the best of our meetings, virtual events and telephony solutions again in a unified experience to our users . This evolution comes after listening to our nearly 800k customers. Their lives and their businesses have been forever changed by the pandemic, and GoTo is committed to empowering these SMB customers to adapt to the new normal with simplicity and ease with its flexible-work tools, while focusing on affordability for those businesses. What is the primary differentiator for GoTo? We are the only vendor that can support SMB’s IT management and communication needs. We bring these critical functions together under one company, a unified admin system, and a converging user experience. In addition, we are hyper focused on security, reliability and Flexibility. With the launch of GoTo Resolve, we are bringing a first-to-market zerotrust approach to our new support tool. When it comes to reliability, we have been supporting our

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customers with 99.9% up-time with products that can be deployed in minutes or hours, not days, and even offer tools like GoTo Resolve as freemium solutions which gives businesses amazing flexibility. Finally, we are building for SMBs, but powerful enough to support Enterprise customers. Can you give me some more details on your new products? Yes! In addition to a new brand, we are streamlining our product portfolio with a brand-new IT management and support tool, GoTo Resolve and a totally new experience for our Unified-communications-as-a-service tool, GoTo Connect. We are also bringing together our support and collaboration products through a single application and admin system. GoTo Resolve streamlines IT support like never before, unifying GoTo’s world-class remote access, management, and support solutions into an allnew, conversational entry point, and ticketing system. With enterprise-grade zero-trust security, consumer-grade ease of use and the ability to be activated in minutes allowing employees to receive consistent support whether they are in the office or miles away with the ability to meet any user on any device. Best of all, we are giving GoTo Resolve away for free for small businesses that need it most with multiple tiers including a robust freemium offering. In addition, we announced, a new GoTo Connect experience. The company’s UCaaS portfolio has evolved to provide a completely new, comprehensive experience bringing together GoTo’s collaboration solutions in a single unified applica-

tion. The new GoTo App is now available to all customers, and today includes cloud telephony, meetings, messaging, training and contact center capabilities with additional features and functionality coming soon. I see you’ve announced two new flagship products GoTo Connect and GoTo Resolve. What does this mean for other products, such as Rescue, Pro, Central etc? We are really excited to have unified our portfolio and launched these two new products with incredible new user experiences. Rescue, Central and other products remain important point solutions within our overall portfolio for our customers to meet their evolving IT needs. What are your strategies & plans for the Indian Marketnomic ramification behind SaaS? India is one of those fastest growing economies where businesses are increasingly inclined towards digitalisation and automation. We have users and customers from almost all the sectors including micro-businesses and large enterprises of the country. Many of the leading Global System Integrators in India are using Rescue our remote tool to support their large employee base as well as support their enterprise customers. We will continue to make our products more user friendly with additional features, so that our customers can work seamlessly from any corner, across any device, securely without any friction. We are especially excited to bring to market our new GoTo Resolve product to help support the growing SMB

INTERVIEW

MATHEW PHILIP SENIOR DIRECTOR, BUSINESS DEVELOPMENT INDIA, GOTO (LOGMEIN)

“WITH THE LAUNCH OF GOTO RESOLVE, WE ARE BRINGING A FIRSTTO-MARKET ZEROTRUST APPROACH TO OUR NEW SUPPORT TOOL.” organizations. What is the Channel strategy for GoTo? Partners have played a very important role in the growth of LogMein and would continue to be an integral part of the new GoTo In a crowded channel market, we are establish-

ing ourselves with solutions tailor-made for SMBs, built for IT but powerful enough to support the enterprises and a partner program that incentivises partners to work with us by making it easier for them to grow and engage with their customers. Streamlining our global partner ecosystem is a major focus in the new GoTo, to bring better benefits, more support and additional revenue

opportunities for our partners. We know our partners and we understand what they need to be successful. Launching GoTo and the new partner program came from us listening to our partners and what they were hearing in the buying environment. We’re confident the new GoTo and partner program will empower our partners to be successful at every stage.

SME CHANNELS 33 FEBRUARY 2022

CHANNEL TECH PREDICTION

A SLOWER SHIFT TOWARDS D2R (DIRECT-TO-RETAIL), AS MOST BRANDS LOOK FORWARD TO EMBRACE IT As part of this special series of Tech Forecasts, Supertron India registers its predictions for 2022. An excerpt from the interaction with Vibhor Agarwal, Director Marketing, Supertron India. Edited excerpts…

VIBHOR AGARWAL DIRECTOR MARKETING SUPERTRON INDIA

“THE GROWTH IN INDUSTRY IS THERE BUT AT THE SAME TIME EVERY PARTNER AT HIS LEVEL HAS TO EVALUATE AND SEE THE VALUE ADDITION THEY ARE DOING BY ADDING SERVICES WHICH WILL HELP THEM IN GROWTH WITH GOOD BOTTOM LINE.”

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CHANNEL TECH PREDICTION

mid the increasing blare of the pandemic and the spectre of omicron casting its long shadows over the tech landscape, we have ushered into 2022. Channel success which has always been the holy-grail for any business is all set to get a makeover in the new year. As part of our effort to get the channel community better informed and get an earful of what the leading distributors, who sit at the most critical point of IT business, are thinking, expecting, and planning for the channel community in 2022, we have started this new section to record the channel predictions of the most prominent players of the IT industry. Here, as part of this special series of Tech Forecasts, Supertron India registers its predictions for 2022. From servers to laptops, from components to accessories, Supertron is a leading player in IT & Telecom distribution and services intermediary in India. The company boasts of a wide national network of over 9000 retail points, 24×7 logistics support, safe warehousing. The company caters to all formats of the business – whether it is traditional retail, modern trade or the online marketplace. The architect behind Supertron’s growth story is its Marketing Director, Vibhor Agarwal. Agarwal, an industry veteran with over 30 years experience in IT hardware distribution, has led the company through the turbulent pandemic times and has successfully forged a dynamic and resilient organization that has sailed through the ever-changing distribution landscape. Through his long stint as a business leader, he has earned a distinct reputation as a healthy interface between vendors and the channel community. As Director Marketing in Supertron since 2004, Agarwal manages the overall Sales and Distribution for the Group and is also part of the Board. In a special interaction with SME Channels, Vibhor Agarwal, Director Marketing, Supertron India, shares his company’s Channel Predictions for the year 2022. Edited excerpts Give a brief introduction about your company. Supertron is in to IT Hardware Distribution for more than 25 years and we are rated among TOP 5 IT National Distributors in India. Our Headquarter is based out of Kolkatta and the Marketing Headquarter is in New Delhi. We have more than 35 Global Brands in our portfolio of distri-

bution. Out of that approximately, 75% Brands are exclusive with us as ND PAN INDIA. We have 53 branches across the country employing approximately 700+ head counts and are a professionally managed Organization with robust Growth Plans of 20% year-on-year. As the pandemic is still there and a new variant is spreading, what are the major market trends you are forecasting for 2022? The pandemic has redefined many things in life and there are many new normals which have come into practice. It does impact the Retail market to a great extent. We see a shift toward ONLINE due to fear of going out and shopping among the people. The new variant, as of now, is more visible in metros and we still do not see its impact in B & C class cities. The market for IT products will continue to grow, as our all market TAM has increased and users have understood that for computing there is need of a computing device like Desktop/Laptop and only phones can not fulfil the requirements. The WFH/LFH/EFH , are very much in practice which will help IT to grow but yes the growth will not be as it has been since Pandemic started as that was the time when the overall TAM had increased. Now, it will be regular growth on that increased TAM. What major trends would you forecast in the channel market? Channel market had seen very healthy last 1.5 -2 years in terms of overall business, but yes, now going is not easy. The growth in Industry is there but at the same time every partner at his level has to evaluate and see the Value addition they are doing by adding services which will help them in growth with good bottom line. Trend is slowly moving towards D2R ( Direct-to-Retail). Most of the Brands are looking forward to take this route.

Manpower training and Channel Training for specific product category is an ongoing process in our organization. With help from the vendors, we keep organising such training sessions that help in skill development, Marketing and Sales training. Pre Pandemic, we used to have regular sessions for our team from consultants, which we have shifted now to virtual sessions. We also have our in-house training sessions for sales team. What are your plans for onboarding new brands or addition of new business lines for next year? As stated above, we are looking for growth above 20% every year. Hence, when we have to grow more than the industry, then adding new brands are very important and we have plans for adding multiple brands which suits our portfolio not only in IT but also in CE, Mobility and other verticals. How would you like to value add to presales, training, post-sales services for your partners and customers? We have a full-fledged VAD ( Value Added Division ) which is into SI sales and they have technical manpower helping SI partners for Pre-Sales/ Technical briefing, etc. Post Sales mostly are done by vendor/brands we deal in. But in some cases, our VAD provides special warranty services end to end for Corporate Customers. What is your geo – spread? What is your plan for enhancing geographies presence from Point of Presence or sales points perspective? Have already answered the same above.

As a distributor, do you have any channel expansion plans for 2022? Do you plan any additional investment in terms of skillsets enhancement including technical, sales and marketing for your team? Yes as ND, our objective is to increase our partner base month on month and that is the only mantra of success for us, the more we expand our addressable markets, the more we can drive sales. We are already very strong in Upcountry Markets and are further investing to grow in smaller towns.

SME CHANNELS 35 FEBRUARY 2022

CHANNEL TECH PREDICTION

INCREASED ADOPTION OF CUTTINGEDGE TECH WILL BECOME THE NORM As part of this special series of Tech Forecasts, TechnoBind India registers its predictions for 2022. An excerpt from the interaction with Harikrishna Prabhu, COO, TechnoBind. Edited excerpts…

HARIKRISHNA PRABHU COO TECHNOBIND

“WE WILL EXPAND BOTH IN TERMS OF OUR SOLUTIONS COVERAGE BY ADDING RELEVANT SECURITY SOLUTIONS TO OUR OFFERINGS AS WELL AS CHANNEL COVERAGE IN TIER 2 CITIES, AS WE VISUALIZE A NEWER THREAT LANDSCAPE WITH MORE AND MORE BUSINESSES MOVING ONLINE PROVIDING TURF FOR BAD ACTORS OF THE CYBER WORLD.” 36 SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2022

planning for the channel community in 2022, we have started this new section to record the channel predictions of the most prominent players of the IT industry. Here, as part of this special series of Tech Forecasts, TechnoBind India registers its predictions for 2022. TechnoBind is the first Specialist Distributor in the Indian IT channels space, offering a hybrid distribution model placed synergistically between broad-based and niche distribution, to deliver

high business value for its reseller partners. TechnoBind helps partners to implement solutions, which solve specific business pain points arising out of the rapidly changing facets of technology for businesses. The company’s sole focus has been on technologies that help the customer handle his Data and the associated challenges of Data Treatment. The person credited to have scripted TchnoBind’s remarkable journey as a distributor has been its experienced COO, Harikrishna Prabhu.

CHANNEL TECH PREDICTION

Harikrishna has led the company through the turbulent pandemic times. Harikrishna’s unique leadership has transformed TechnoBind into a resilient organization that has sailed through the ever-changing distribution landscape. As a business leader, he has succeeded in serving as a powerful rapport between vendors and the channel community. In a special interaction with SME Channels, Harikrishna Prabhu, COO, TechnoBind, shares his company’s Channel Predictions for the year 2022. Edited excerpts… Give a brief introduction about your company. TechnoBind solutions private limited is a nongovernment company which came to existence in the year 2010. We are a specialised technology distribution company with our headquarters in Bengaluru. We focus on the Use-Case based selling approach which helps partners to implement solutions for their customers, which help solve specific business pain points arising out of the rapidly changing facets of technology for businesses. Our sole focal point has been on technologies that help the customers handle their Data and the associated challenges of Data Treatment. We are experts in providing diverse data infrastructure that focus on the innovative offerings for Storage Solutions, Systems Management, Virtualisation and Cloud Management. Our products include data storage, data management, data protection and data security. As the pandemic is still there and a new variant is spreading, what are the major market trends you are forecasting for 2022? The year 2021 has been an unprecedented year for us. With the pandemic still metamorphosing people’s lives, the cyber world has not been an exception. Security has been and always will be important for everyone. At individual as well as corporate levels, there is a need for securing and protecting data. The pandemic has given us the opportunity to digitalise, the use of cutting-edge technologies has also proliferated during these times. While organizations worry about newly pressing concerns, cyber security focus is being overshadowed and risks are rising. 2022 will see security trends such as increased use of automation, shift to Secure Access Service Edge (SASE) security architecture, Rise of artificial intelligence (AI), and EDR systems. This has attracted attention this year improving on the quondam Endpoint Detection and response.

What major trends would you forecast in the channel market? The Indian IT distribution market has been growing expeditiously during the past decade and has gone through a massive progression. The pandemic has augmented the growth of the tech industry and the demand for technology. With IT becoming the backbone, and the market becoming more competitive than ever, the fixation on technology has been escalated. As we move towards more advanced and deeper aspects of digital transformation, the adoption of cuttingedge technology will rise. This has resulted in the enormous transformation of IT distribution business in India and has become more advanced than before. The competition in the distribution business has also risen exponentially due to emerging opportunities and increasing market size. But the companies who have well-planned GTM strategies are doing extremely well. As a distributor, do you have any channel expansion plans for 2022? Do you plan any additional investment in terms of skillsets enhancement including technical, sales and marketing for your team? The market has started showing positive vibes in the last couple of months. We see that the market has accepted and moved on with a new way of living alongside the pandemic. As a VAD we would continue to penetrate the tier 2 markets which have been our area of concentration for some time now. The channel expansion plans will also fall in place in tier 2 cities for us. We intend to expand both in terms of our solutions coverage by adding relevant security solutions to our offerings as well as channel coverage in tier 2 cities for we are continuing to witness a newer threat landscape with more and more businesses moving online providing turf for bad actors of the cyber world. The roadmap is very exciting for us. We continue to drive cybersecurity awareness and evangelization across the regions with the help of our channel partners’ network. With more markets opening up in the coming time, we will have our plans in place to cater and service the customer, partners, and the market with our expanding technical and servicing teams. What are your plans for onboarding new brands or addition of new business lines for next year? We are currently associated with the top credible brands like Microfocus, Thales, Beyond Trust, Sonicwall, ESET, StorCentric, ColorTokens,

Cloudian, LogMeIn, Quest, Tidal, Seclore, Commvault, Druva, etc. All the products that we sell have the requirements today, whether it is Backup, Cybersecurity, Network Management, Migration, EDR, DLP, IRMS, Encryption, Endpoint Management, or other solutions that we sell. With the rapidly changing scenario at the customer end, our products and solutions are well suited to cater to any demands. With every passing day, we have newer challenges coming in due to changing requirements of customers and market demand. We are always on the lookout for vendors providing newer solutions to address the changing demands of the customers in the market. Our aim continues to provide the best solutions in the market in the space of data management and security for which we will keep associating with relevant newer brands. How would you like to value add to presales, training, post-sales services for your partners and customers? The IT industry is changing, and traditional ways of selling will not go too far. With the Digital Transformation happening, adoption of the Cloud is increasing rapidly in the on-going pandemic, customers looking at options on multiple cloud options, need partners who can act as consultants for their overall infrastructure rather than looking at someone selling point solutions. The more quickly partners will adapt to this change, the more they will be successful. Our Roadmap is very clear, we need to be known as VAD who provide compelling solutions and Technologies which solve the pain point of the customers in the changing environment today through our partner model that we have built and carved over the years. Our solutions today are the need of the hour and solve most of the problems that arise on the front of Data and we would continue to add more and more to that front While everyone across the world continues to navigate the uncertainty of pandemics, TechnoBind is committed to supporting its partners and hence customers’ business during this ups and downs of pandemic and to always providing continuity of service. We are committed to providing superior support for every product, solution, and service we take to the market. We understand that in difficult times and crisis situations like the current pandemic, customers need more support from us than usual.

SME CHANNELS 37 FEBRUARY 2022

TECH CIRCLE

DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION DRIVES FIVEFOLD GROWTH IN VC FUNDING INTO LOW-CODE/NO-CODE PLATFORMS With growing number of companies investing millions into digital transformation for business resilience, low-code/no-code (LCNC) platforms are gaining momentum. GlobalData’s FutureTech Series report reveals the VC funding trends in LCNC platforms over the past four years.

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TECH CIRCLE

midst a growing number of companies pouring millions into digital transformation for business resilience, primarily against the backdrop of the COVID-19 crisis, low-code/no-code (LCNC) platforms are gaining momentum to cut down lengthy software development cycles to create new applications that meet immediate business needs. This has resulted in an yearon-year fivefold rise in the venture capital (VC) funding into LCNC platforms in 2021, according to GlobalData, a leading data, and analytics company.

Kiran Raj, Principal Disruptive Tech Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “VCs seemingly consider LCNC technologies as part of their core investment strategy backed by the ‘software is eating the world’ phenomenon now more than ever while most companies are still challenged to quickly develop software due to the lack of skilled developers. LCNC vendors claim to address this gap, notably in the enterprise race to digital transformation, by enabling non-IT professionals to develop new applications remarkably fast.” GlobalData’s FutureTech Series report, ‘Codeless Tomorrow: Can Low-Code/No-Code Platforms Revolutionize Application Development in Digital Age?’, reveals the VC funding trends in LCNC platforms over the past four years. Raj continues: “The focus of VC investors has been on funding high-value LCNC startups that offer enterprise-grade applications to enhance customer journeys, streamline workflows, modernize legacy applications, and support data visualization for increased business productivity. Over the last four years, digital workflow automation is the most targeted area by VC investors, followed by simpler spreadsheets representation and fast and secure transactional development.” Workflow Automation Boston-based startup OutSystems offers a lowcode platform to build web and mobile applications such as employee portals, workflows, and operational dashboards to streamline and automate internal business processes across an organization. In February 2021, OutSystems has raised $150m in Series F funding from Abdiel Capital Advisors and Tiger Global Management LLC.

Some of its key clients include Mazda, Santander, and Humana. Spreadsheets San Fransisco-based startup Airtable provides a no-code platform that uses a spreadsheet-centric database to build collaborative applications for enterprises to automate repetitive tasks and minimize errors. In December 2021, Airtable has raised $735m in Series F funding led by XN taking its total funding to nearly $1.4bn. Its key investors include Franklin Templeton, Salesforce Ventures, and Michael Dell’s MSD Capital, while major clients include Netflix and Shopify. Transactional London-based startup Genesis has launched an LCNC application platform that accelerates the digital transformation of financial service companies by primarily tracking and managing real-time risk and high-frequency trade. In March 2021, Genesis has secured $45m in Series B funding led by Accel, GV, Salesforces, and existing investor Citi. Its major customers include Citi, ING, London Clearing House, and XP Investments. Raj concludes: “As businesses seek extremely efficient working models, digital transformation will become crucial to business survival creating more demand for LCNC platforms. In future, investors will channelize more investments in LCNC platforms with emerging concepts such as micro-SaaS-enabled services, codeless automation, pro-integrated low-code, SAP-Integrated LCNC, and integration platform as a service (iPaaS), among others.”

SME CHANNELS 39 FEBRUARY 2022

TECH CIRCLE

84% OF INDIAN CONSUMERS FEEL LIKE SERVICE IS AN AFTERTHOUGHT: ZENDESK STUDY The global Zendesk (NYSE: ZEN) Customer Experience (CX) Trends Report 2022 shows that a majority of Indian businesses surveyed (88%) agree that there is a direct link between customer service and business performance.

endesk’s annual research has highlighted the potential for businesses to drive business success with a focus on customer experiences as 94% of Indian consumers report making purchase decisions based on the quality of customer service they receive. The global Zendesk (NYSE: ZEN) Customer Experience (CX) Trends Report 2022 shows that a majority of Indian businesses surveyed (88%) agree that there is a direct link between customer service and business performance. Despite this, many Indian consumers (84%) feel like customer service is an afterthought for businesses, indicating a gap between consumer expectation and company actions. Customer expectations grew over the past year as 88% of Indian consumers say their customer service standards have increased over the last 12 months. CX is a determining factor for retention and loyalty as 85% of Indian customers are willing to switch brands after one bad experience. Indian businesses recognize the need for having a standout customer service team, with 61% saying that it has an impact on retention. It is perhaps why 65% of Indian companies expect funding for their customer service teams to rise by 25% in the next 12 months. “Businesses cannot afford to take a transactional approach to their relationships with their customers. Customer service is now a key differentiator, but this year’s report reveals some gaps exist between expectation and delivery,” said Adrian McDermott, Chief Technology Officer, Zendesk. “Customers are noticing this gap and voting with their business – and that’s perhaps the clearest signal to businesses that change needs to happen, and fast.”

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“Businesses need an institution-wide shift where investments into tools and processes that enhance CX become a priority. The insights are clear on the competitive advantage and scalability that Indian businesses can achieve through these investments. All that’s required now is for businesses to take action on these insights to unlock the returns that positive customer experiences can deliver,” said Vasudeva Rao Munnaluri, Regional Vice President India & SAARC, Zendesk. The report draws on input from customers, agents, customer service leaders, and business leaders from across 21 countries. Data was also gathered from more than 97,500 Zendesk customers who participated in the company’s Benchmark program. As customers call out increased expectations and the readiness to switch after just one bad experience, the need to close the gap between these expectations and the customer experience delivered has never been more urgent. The oppor-

tunity cost for many is nothing short of revenue loss and missed opportunities for growth. DETAILS OF THE STUDY ARE AS FOLLOWS Consistent Truths – Customer Service Can Drive Growth A majority of Indian businesses surveyed (88%) see a direct link between customer service and business performance compared to their counterparts in Korea (57.7%), Japan (59%), Singapore (66%) and Australia (76%). Most businesses in India (85%) estimate that customer service has a positive impact on business growth. The opportunity is not simply to deliver a single solutionbased interaction with the consumer, but to use that point of engagement as an opportunity to deepen the relationship. Customer engagement is up 14% globally from the previous year, with 69%

TECH CIRCLE

of Indian companies saying that it presented more opportunities for cross-selling. This cuts both ways though, and the insights reveal that customer expectations can drive or stifle growth plans. As consumers spend more online, a majority say that their customer service expectations have increased in the past year. Channels play a big part in meeting these increased expectations and particularly, being where the customer is. However almost half the companies surveyed did not have a strategic plan for customer service over the immediate to medium term. Key insights: l 94% of Indian consumers say a positive customer service experience makes them more likely to make another purchase l 99% of consumers are willing to spend more money on businesses that offer personalized and streamlined experiences l 73% of Indian companies report having a three-year strategic plan for customer service l 98% of Indian consumers say they are willing to spend more to buy from companies that offer them the chance to find the answers they need themselves l Nearly half of Indian companies (46%) view CX as a revenue-generating engine for growth, while only 28% view CX as a cost centre. The Agent X Factor Increased expectations leads to increased pressure on agents, who act as the front line. In fact the research found that 90% of Indian organizations agree that customer service agents are essential to retaining customers. When it comes to resolving issues, almost half the consumers surveyed worldwide are looking for agents who are helpful and empathetic. And customers will parlay this goodwill in a positive experience to being open to recommendations from service agents. Many businesses, though, have yet to recalibrate their view of customer service as a cost center. This has meant that investments in optimizing the function have not kept pace with growth, let alone with increasing customer expectations. So while a majority of businesses acknowledge customer service agents as being pivotal to driving sales, a very small number of those same agents are extremely satisfied with their workloads. l Nearly half of consumers say that helpful and empathetic agents are what matters most when they want to resolve a customer service issue. l 73% of APAC consumers are open to prod-

uct recommendations from service agents. l On the other hand, only 59.7% of agents in India are extremely satisfied with their workloads. Agent empowerment is a clear focus area for 2022, as agent burnout continues to be a challenge. Nearly half (49%) of agents in India are extremely satisfied with the quality of training they receive compared to agents in Australia (10%), Japan (2.5%), Singapore (12%) and Korea (12.2%). Pair this with the fact that 89% of customers in India, 50% in Australia, 46% in Japan, 69% in Singapore and 37% in Korea feel that businesses need to improve agent training, and you have the first case for investing in what agents need. These also include better performance metrics, clear advancement opportunities and, fundamentally, more respect. Key insights: l 48% of Indian company leaders expect an increase in the amount of training offered to agents by a great extent l 69% of Indian businesses expect to focus training their agents in providing service across multiple channels l 68% of Indian companies plan to develop flexible work team to resolve specialized problems Closing Gaps and Mapping Paths To Growth Eight in ten Indian businesses view customer service as a critical business priority and only 29.5% report that it’s not owned by the C-suite. Indian businesses fared better in identifying customer service as a board-level priority compared to companies in Australia (44.9%), Japan (55.3%), Singapore (40.3%) and Korea (54.9%), where it is not owned by the C-suite. While the insights clearly indicate a business case for investments in customer experience, this isn’t necessarily being followed through with executive sponsorship or the right tools or programs, such as training for agents. Alongside this is the need for customer service metrics to be mission critical and reviewed with the appropriate frequency and gravitas. 60% of leaders say ROI has been positive over the past 12 months. However, only 23% strongly agree that customer service spending has kept pace with company growth. The future hinges on AI and Conversational Experiences Customers want on-demand service that’s available when they need it. 100% of Indian customers surveyed say they are willing to spend money on businesses that offer them the freedom to com-

municate over whatever channel they choose and don’t want to waste valuable time getting agents up to speed on their order or issue. Key insights: l 90% of Indian customers expect AI to save time when contacting a company l 88% of Indian customers expect AI to keep them from having to repeat themselves after contacting a company for support l 87% of Indian customers expect a majority of customer service interactions to be automated at the same time increase the quality of service This means that businesses looking to drive and sustain growth—both now and in the future—need to focus on two emerging customer service capabilities: artificial intelligence (AI) and automation, and conversational customer service. More than half (56%) of Indian business plan to speed up adoption of AI in customer service, while 43% have already implemented conversational customer service and 38% plan to implement it in the future. “The business case for customer service is clearer than ever and getting buy-in from the top is a critical first step. Getting this engagement relies on evolving the key metrics – look beyond CSAT and identify the broader business impact that can tell a compelling story,” McDermott adds. “This year’s findings bring into sharp focus the need for there to be a more concerted effort across the organization – including better integration of systems and a regular review of metrics. In short, let the insights lead you.” Zendesk’s customers in India include ITC Foods, Ola, 1MG, DevFactory, Dream11, Slice, Magicbricks.com, etc. For more information, download the report, CX Trends 2022 here Access the interactive report here Methodology Zendesk’s 2022 CX Trends Report surveyed more than 3,511 consumers and 4,670 customer service leaders, agents and technology buyers from 21 countries and organizations ranging from small business to enterprise during July and August 2021. Results from each survey were weighted to remove bias from the survey samples. Zendesk Benchmark product usage data came from over 97,500 Zendesk customers worldwide who participate in the Zendesk Benchmark. Zendesk Benchmark data is based on product usage from July 2020 to July 2021.

SME CHANNELS 41 FEBRUARY 2022

PARTNER CORNER

INSPIRA ENTERPRISE ACQUIRES AL GEBRA SECURITY & SOLUTIONS

NETPOLEON PARTNERS WITH BLACKBERRY TO STRENGTHEN ITS CYBERSECURITY OFFERING

I N

etpoleon has signed a distribution agreement with BlackBerry that will enable greater availability of BlackBerry solutions among Indian organizations. As per the agreement, Netpoleon will offer BlackBerry solutions including BlackBerry Cyber Suite, BlackBerry Spark Suite, BlackBerry Alert, BlackBerry AtHoc, BlackBerry Guard, and BlackBerry Security Services. Netpoleon technical engineers will undergo a training program and be certified by BlackBerry, enabling them to deliver expert and specialised support to businesses across India This partnership brings together Netpoleon’s extensive network and BlackBerry’s comprehensive suite of intelligent security solutions powered by Cylance AI to pursue their mutual goal of protecting end users, end points, and businesses from cyber-attacks. Graeme Pyper, Director, Channel Partner and Alliances, APAC, BlackBerry, said, “We greatly appreciate the role of our distributor network in helping us

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extend the reach of our AI-driven, prevention-first cybersecurity software suite, at a time when high profile threats and actors have never been more top of mind for today’s business leaders. With Netpoleon on board as our new Indian distributor, we look forward to providing our customers with the most comprehensive endto-end solutions in the industry so they can forget about security and focus more on what matters most to their business.” “As a leading player in the cybersecurity solutions space working with a number of established brands, we’re very excited about becoming the national distributor for BlackBerry in India. The milestone affords us a greater opportunity to make deeper inroads in a market that is growing rapidly. With BlackBerry’s security at the core, our customers can be confident that we have what it takes to prepare, prevent, detect, and respond to any and all cyber threats,” said Mr. Mohan Kumar TL, Director, Netpoleon India.

nspira Enterprise India has acquired Pune-based Al Gebra Security & Solutions Pvt Ltd., a privately held, cloud security and identity access management organization. The company provides cuttingedge services in Security Awareness, Cloud Identity Services, Privilege Identity and Access Management, Identity and Access Management. Ashika Capital Limited acted as an advisor to the transaction. Inspira Enterprise offers a wide range of offerings in the Cybersecurity, Analytics and Cloud domain across multiple verticals and geographies, possess capabilities spanning the digital lifecycle of services ranging from consultation, architecture, solution design and implementation, to monitoring and providing managed services based on next-generation technologies and SOC 2.0 concepts. On the acquisition, Chetan Jain, Managing Director, Inspira Enterprise, said: “The acquisition of Al Gebra is in line with our strategic expansion plans through inorganic growth opportunities in new markets and geographies. Enterprise customers want to address real and increasing Cybersecurity threats and intend to take steps to keep their operations secure. The identity and access management is an integral part of a larger IT infrastructure and Al Gebra helps them manage the same quickly and effectively. Through the acquisition of Al Gebra, we intend to increase the scale of our operations, access new clients and enter high-growth geographies. We have successfully acquired and integrated capabilities, including our recent acquisition of SmartCirqls Infotech’s ‘analytics’ business unit in

November 2020 that provides services like advanced security analytics and automation. These acquisitions have helped us expand our capabilities in Cloud Identity Services, Privilege Identity and Access Management, Artificial Intelligence Operations, IT operational analytics, and machine learning-based IT service intelligence, and acquire client relationships associated with the Al Gebra and Smartcirqls business.” The business acquisition comes amidst a bigger shift in the security industry. In the intervening years cybersecurity threats have only grown, fuelled by the ongoing shift to more cloud services and people and organizations doing more business digitally. It is estimated that the average cost of a breach now stands at $3.86 million, although that also does not include the significant cost to an organization’s reputation and trust with its users. Within that bigger trend, identity management has especially been a vulnerable area, with malicious hackers using a variety of techniques relying both on sophisticated technology and human error to crack into systems. When considering the different threat vectors in the market today, “70% of them are a direct result of poor identity management,” added Jain. “AlGebra and Inspira jointly are better positioned to help our customers create and maintain more secure and robust security architecture and reduce data breaches, meet legal obligations, and manage user identities to maximum possible extent. We are excited to be part of this journey as we take rapid steps toward a more secure digital experience Globally”, said Mahen Gawde, Director, Al Gebra.

SECURITY

RANSOMWARE 2021 YEAR END REPORT REVEALS HACKERS ARE INCREASINGLY TARGETING ZERODAY VULNERABILITIES Ivanti report identified 32 new ransomware families in 2021, bringing the total to 157 and representing a 26% increase over the previous year. The report also found that these ransomware groups are continuing to target unpatched vulnerabilities and weaponize zero-day vulnerabilities in record time to instigate crippling attacks.

vanti, the provider of the Ivanti Neurons automation platform that discovers, manages, secures, and services IT assets from cloud to edge, announced the results of the Ransomware Spotlight Year End Report that it conducted with Cyber Security Works, a Certifying Numbering Authority (CNA), and Cyware, the leading provider of Cyber Fusion, next-generation SOAR and threat intelligence solutions. The report identified 32 new ransomware families in 2021, bringing the total to 157 and representing a 26% increase over the previous year. The report also found that these ransomware groups are continuing to target unpatched vulnerabilities and weaponize zero-day vulnerabilities

in record time to instigate crippling attacks. At the same time, they are broadening their attack spheres and finding newer ways to compromise organizational networks and fearlessly trigger high-impact assaults. Below are a few top observations and trends from the Ransomware Spotlight Year End Report: l Unpatched vulnerabilities remain the most prominent attack vectors exploited by ransomware groups. The analysis uncovered 65 new vulnerabilities tied to ransomware last year, representing a 29% growth compared to the previous year and bringing the total number of vul-

nerabilities associated with ransomware to 288. Alarmingly, over one-third (37%) of these newly added vulnerabilities were actively trending on the dark web and repeatedly exploited. Parallelly, 56% of the 223 older vulnerabilities identified prior to 2021 continued to be actively exploited by ransomware groups. This proves that organizations need to prioritize and patch the weaponized vulnerabilities that ransomware groups are targeting – whether they are newly identified vulnerabilities or older vulnerabilities. l Ransomware groups continue to find and leverage zero-day vulnerabilities, even before the CVEs are added to the National Vulnerability Database and patches are released. The QNAP (CVE-2021-28799), Sonic Wall (CVE-202120016), Kaseya (CVE-2021-30116), and most recently Apache Log4j (CVE-2021-44228) vulnerabilities were exploited even before they made it to the National Vulnerability Database (NVD). This dangerous trend highlights the need for agility from vendors in disclosing vulnerabilities and releasing patches based on priority. It also highlights the need for organizations to look beyond the NVD and keep an eye out for vulnerability trends, exploitation instances, vendor advisories, and alerts from security agencies while prioritizing the vulnerabilities to patch. l Ransomware groups are increasingly targeting supply chain networks to inflict major damage and cause widespread chaos. A single supply chain compromise can open multiple avenues for threat actors to hijack complete system distributions across hundreds of victim networks. Last year, threat actors compromised supply chain networks via third-party applications, vendorspecific products, and open-source libraries. For example, the REvil group went after CVE-202130116 in the Kaseya VSA remote management service, launching a malicious update package that compromised all customers using onsite and remote versions of the VSA platform. l Ransomware groups are increasingly sharing their services with others, much like legitimate SaaS offerings. Ransomware-as-a-service is a business model in which ransomware developers offer their services, variants, kits, or code to other malicious actors in return for payment. Exploitas-a-service solutions allow threat actors to rent zero-day exploits from developers. Additionally, dropper-as-a-service allows newbie threat actors to distribute malware through programs that, when run, can execute a malicious payload onto a victim’s computer. And trojan-as-a-service, also called malware-as-a-service, enables anyone with an internet connection to obtain and deploy customized malware in the cloud, with zero installation.

SME CHANNELS 43 FEBRUARY 2022

TECH CIRCLE

BARADA SAHU CO-FOUNDERS, MASON

MASON AIMS TO EMPOWER 1,00,000+ ONLINE BUSINESSES WITH NO-CODE TECHNOLOGY BY 2022 Mason is a headless eCommerce toolkit that powers rapid growth for online brands & marketplaces through no-code storefront automation. The platform is trusted by 10,000+ Shopify first as well as other global e-commerce brands and teams across India, the USA, Canada, Europe, and Australia.

KAUSAMBI MANJITA CO-FOUNDER & CEO MASON

“NO-CODE TECHNOLOGY WILL BRING THE NEXT WAVE OF E-COMMERCE, ENABLING ENTREPRENEURS TO GO DIGITAL OMNICHANNEL, SINGLE-HANDEDLY. THE DAY’S NOT FAR WHEN EVERY SMB HAS AMAZONLIKE STOREFRONT INFRASTRUCTURE AT THEIR FINGERTIPS.”

he future is full of innovation potential with no-code and low-code systems. And it is not surprising to see how such no-code tech has emerged as the

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mainstream to help SMBs & entrepreneurs with an astonishing ability to scale quickly- in a digital omnichannel landscape. Especially in eCommerce, where business teams are rapidly embracing digital transformation, no-code SaaS platforms have helped thousands of entrepreneurs to succeed without investing in heavy technology & teams. And 2021 has been a transformative year in this regard. With this vision to make technology more accessible – and more human– for every eCommerce business, co-founders Barada Sahu and Kausambi Manjita started Mason and accelerated the no-code journey for its global community of eCommerce merchants. Apart from big brands, Mason has helped numerous SMBs to run successful online stores without having to spend thousands of dollars on multiple toolkits and skillsets. Mason is a headless eCommerce toolkit that powers rapid growth for online brands & marketplaces through no-code storefront automation. The platform is trusted by 10,000+ Shopify first as well as other global e-commerce brands and teams across India, the USA, Canada, Europe, and Australia. Notable early adopters for Mason include Skechers, Dunzo, Jack’s Surfboards, Myntra, Swiggy, and more. The high-growth startup has raised seed funding from Accel Partners (Subrata Mitra), Lightspeed (Dev Khare), Venture Highway (Neeraj Arora) and is currently building a team of passionate makers and future leaders in the eCommerce technology space. Round-up of major milestones achieved

in 2021: 1. No-code Automations for High Performing Storefront Experiences Delivering real-time shopping experiences is pivotal to online success. With this in mind, the team launched no-code ‘automations’ that power store owners to auto-update storefront changes that are in sync with the backend business updates. Some of these powerful automations are now powering more than 200 million orders worldwide every month. 2. ModeMagic Partner Program: More Global than Ever In the month of July, Mason launched the ModeMagic Partner Program – an initiative for retailers & merchants in India & across the globe to collaborate with the industry’s leading e-commerce agencies experts & technologies. Through this program, Mason collaborated with 50+ global teams to empower DTC brands to run and grow their eCommerce operations. 3. Launch of The Maker’s List- An Exclusive Club For Founders & Makers Mason also works hand in glove with a worldwide community of brand makers to inspire, educate and empower DTC brands to run high-performance storefronts. As a part of the community, Mason launched its first newsletter – Unlock Commerce, that shares actionable insights on the eCommerce industry to help eCommerce teams to run their stores efficiently.

INNOVATION

AMD CONTINUES DRIVING HIGH PERFORMANCE CLOUD COMPUTING Amazon EC2 C6a instances use 3rd Gen AMD EPYC processors for 15% better compute price performance over C5a instances1 DAN MCNAMARA SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND GENERAL MANAGER, SERVER BUSINESS, AMD

“OUR EXPANDING PORTFOLIO OF NEXTGENERATION, CLOUD SOLUTIONS POWERED BY 3RD GEN AMD EPYC PROCESSORS FOR AWS UNDERSCORES THE GROWING ADOPTION OF AMD TECHNOLOGY IN THE CLOUD AND WE’RE EXCITED TO CONTINUE OUR WORK TOGETHER.”

MD announced the expansion of Amazon Web Services Inc. (AWS) AMD EPYC processor-based offerings with the general availability of compute optimized Amazon EC2 C6a instances.

According to AWS, the C6a instances offer up to 15% better compute price performance over previous generation C5a instances for a variety of compute focused workloads. The C6a instances support compute-intensive

workloads such as batch processing, distributed analytics, ad serving, highly scalable multiplayer gaming, and video encoding. This is the second AWS EC2 instance type powered by 3rd Gen AMD EPYC processors, following the release of the M6a instances. These instances continue the collaboration between AWS and AMD providing AWS EC2 customers access to the performance and price performance capabilities of the latest generation of AMD EPYC processors. “AMD EPYC processors continue to offer a crucial solution for AWS customers that need access to powerful compute performance and cloud scalability for their workloads,” said Dan McNamara, senior vice president and general manager, Server Business, AMD. “Our expanding portfolio of next-generation, cloud solutions powered by 3rd Gen AMD EPYC processors for AWS underscores the growing adoption of AMD technology in the cloud and we’re excited to continue our work together.” “Amazon EC2 C6a instances, powered by 3rd Gen AMD EPYC processors, continue our collaboration with AMD, providing customers the ability to run compute intensive workloads,” said David Brown, Vice President, Amazon EC2, AWS. “C6a instances deliver on AWS’s history of offering the latest AMD EPYC processors while enabling the best price and performance for AWS customers.” The C6a instances take advantages of AMD EPYC processor features including: l High core density – this enables up to two large instances sizes, 128 vCPUs and 192 vCPUs, the largest with 384 GB of memory, twice the size of the largest C5a instances l Always on hardware security – encrypts main memory to help protect the data sitting in the physical memory, l Compute Focused Performance – utilizing the ‘Zen 3’ core, the C6a instances enable up to 15 percent better price performance compared to the previous generation C5a instances l Networking / Bandwidth – C6a instances deliver up to 50 Gbps of networking speed and 40Gbps of bandwidth to the Amazon Elastic Block Store, more than twice that of C5a instances. C6a instances are generally available today in AWS US East (Northern Virginia), US West (Oregon), and Europe (Ireland) Regions, offer a variety of sizes including 2, 4, 8, 16, 32, 48, 64, 96, 128, and 192 vCPUs, and utilize Elastic Fabric Adapter on the 48xlarge size for low latency and highly scalable inter-node communication. AWS customers can visit the C6a instances page to get started.

SME CHANNELS 45 FEBRUARY 2022

PARTNER CORNER

PURE STORAGE MODERNIZES PARTNER PROGRAM TO ALIGN WITH AS-A-SERVICE EVOLUTION Updates Empower Partners with Flexibility and Support for One-to-Many Routes to Market

ure Storage announced a series of new updates and benefits for its robust Partner Program. These enhancements reflect the ways in which Pure’s services-led strategy and portfolio is enabling new levels of flexibility, agility, transparency, and simplicity for partners. Pure has been 100% channel led since its founding, and providing a world class Partner Program is critical to its success. To deliver continuous improvements to the Program, Pure aligns partner feedback, customer needs, and its company strategy to advance its Program in ways that help partners drive faster, smarter, and more innovative business. “Pure Storage is renowned for delivering simplicity, flexibility and value to complex enterprise storage deployments and we are bringing this to our Partner Program as well. Services and recurring revenue streams will define the winners and losers of the IT channel this year and the enhancements we are announcing today will help ease the transition to these services for our partners,” said Andrew Fisher, Area Vice President, Asia Pacific & Japan, Pure Storage. The latest updates to the Partner Program include the capacity for partners to participate in one-to-many routes to market, differentiated benefits based on tier, and more: Power to sell the portfolio in the way that best

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aligns with partners’ unique business and customer needs: Pure’s Partner Program now provides specific requirements and benefits for partners whether they are reselling or offering managed services, as-a-service solutions, or cloud native architecture. Since Pure has seamlessly integrated Portworx offerings into its 100% channel model, this flexibility in routes to market also applies to cloud native and Kubernetes-based applications in an increasingly container-driven world. Profitable, predictable, and tiered rewards for capability and solution specialization: Pure is introducing new, differentiated benefits for Elite partners who have invested in partnering with Pure, including incentives, discounts, marketing resources, and more. Expanded programs to support service specialization and distribution partners: New Service Specialization Program enables partner-branded professional and support services around Pure technology. Pure has also introduced a formal program to support Pure distribution partners. More simple than ever: These changes also include a simplification of the requirements by aligning to solutions, further enabling partners to invest in multiple routes-to-market enablement. Additionally, the Pure Partner Program will now adhere to Pure’s fiscal year, beginning February 7, 2022. To learn more about becoming a Pure Partner, visit Pure’s partner page.

ANDREW FISHER

AREA VICE PRESIDENT, ASIA PACIFIC & JAPAN PURE STORAGE

“SERVICES AND RECURRING REVENUE STREAMS WILL DEFINE THE WINNERS AND LOSERS OF THE IT CHANNEL THIS YEAR AND THE ENHANCEMENTS WE ARE ANNOUNCING TODAY WILL HELP EASE THE TRANSITION TO THESE SERVICES FOR OUR PARTNERS.”

PARTNER CORNER

SUPERTRON NAMED AS BEST DISTRIBUTOR FOR 2021 BY SILICON POWER

emory product giant Silicon Power has announced Supertron Electronics Pvt Ltd. as Most-Valued Partner for the year 2021 globally in appreciation of its outstanding performance and contribution towards their SSD, RAM and other range of products business in India. The award ceremony was held at SP Head Quarter last week where the trophy was handed over by CEO of Silicon Power Mr. Michael. “We are happy and proud to have Supertron as our distribution partner for Indian market. These achievements have made us proud. SP is confident with the years we will make this relationship much stronger,” said Mr. Mehul and Mr. Marvin of Silicon Power. “It is really good to be associated with Silicon Power and it was a wonderful journey to work with them, as they have always focussed on quality of the products. Silicon Power has very good understanding of technological aspects and it is an opportunity for us to be associated as their national distributor and grow together,” said Mr. Vibhor Agarwal, Director Marketing, Supertron. “This recognition and appreciation will give a moral boost to our entire team to ensure our relationship with Silicon Power gets more stronger in the coming days,” said V. K. Bhandari CMD of Supertron. He also said that we are thankful

LDS INFOTECH PARTNERS WITH MINITAB

L VIBHOR AGARWAL

DIRECTOR MARKETING SUPERTRON

“SILICON POWER HAS VERY GOOD UNDERSTANDING OF TECHNO LOGICAL ASPECTS AND IT IS AN OPPORTUNITY FOR US TO BE ASSOCIATED AS THEIR NATIONAL DISTRIBUTOR AND GROW TOGETHER.” to Silicon Power leadership team and all our valued partners for their constant support.

DS Infotech Private Limited, provider of WorldClass IT products, services and consulting to a diversified range of businesses is pleased to announce its new partnership with Minitab, LLC, the market leader in data analysis, predictive analytics and process improvement. Since its inception in the year 1999, LDS Infotech has been helping its clients manage change through high-quality, cost-effective, simple, and practical technology solutions. The new partnership with Minitab will allow LDS to offer their endusers the opportunity to unlock the value of their data with deep analysis and visualizations with the first-class support LDS end-users demand. Celebrating its 50th year in business, Minitab has a rich history of delivering customized and personal support to its customers, and LDS is no different, making the two companies even better together. “We are complete products and IT services and Cloud Solutions Company which adapts highest standards of honesty, integrity and transparency in all that we do. Deal with us once and You will never leave us,” says Amarnath Shetty, LDS Managing Director.

AMARNATH SHETTY MANAGING DIRECTOR LDS INFOTECH

“WE ARE COMPLETE PRODUCTS AND IT SERVICES AND CLOUD SOLUTIONS COMPANY WHICH ADAPTS HIGHEST STANDARDS OF HONESTY, INTEGRITY AND TRANSPARENCY IN ALL THAT WE DO. DEAL WITH US ONCE AND YOU WILL NEVER LEAVE US.” SME CHANNELS 47 FEBRUARY 2022

PARTNER CORNER

PRIYAM INFOSYSTEMS & BD SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTION PVT. LTD. JOIN HANDS AS THE NATIONAL DISTRIBUTOR FOR SMART TALLY CUSTOMIZED ADD-ON TOOL FOR TALLY USERS As things are coming to normalcy, Industry is looking at unique solutions from the OEMs and its partners. Priyam Infosystems and BD Software Joining hands is a great initiative

D Soft enters into a strategic partnership with Priyam Infosystems Pvt. Ltd. as a national distributor for its customized add-on tool Smart Tally for Tally users. As an authorized distributor, BD Soft will be responsible for promotion, creating a robust national distribution channel, and educating the employees, partners, and clients about the features and significance of the product. On the other hand, Priyam Infosystems will be the core technology partner. Smart Tally is India’s most popular tally add-on tool used by over 8000 users across India. The customized tool is designed and developed by Priyam Infosystems. It integrates well with the Tally License and gets the users enhanced efficiency and optimization for better functionality. The solution is easy to configure and could be used by users from non-technical backgrounds as well. Smart Tally is available in two editions; Smart Tally.PRO & Smart Tally LITE. The solution is focused on mass tally users. Priyam Infosystems Pvt. Ltd. is a 25 years old organization indulged in IT consultancy, development, and sales of software applications. They have been serving customers from Government, Finance, Manufacturing, Distribution, Automobile, & Transport sectors with an excellent track record. Priyam Infosystems has developed more than 200 solutions including the Smart Tally Add-On tool. The organization has been long associated with Tally as a technology partner. The customized add-on tool has gained popularity in small time for its 36+ utilities that not only

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ease the work of any organization but enhance efficiency as well. Smart Dustbin, Document Attachment & Auto Backup are the key features of the solution. Additionally, GST Paid Billing, Smart Invoice, Signature Image, Message Board in Invoice, Terms & Conditions in Invoice, Font Selection in Invoice for Company Name, Auto Email, etc. are some of the features that make the Smart Tally universally useful for all industry types be it hospitality, education, automobile or retail. BD Software Distribution Pvt. Ltd is a renowned name in the sales and distribution of IT solutions in India. It is the national distributor of Bitdefender in the country. The organization has a wide network of channel partners across the country. BD Soft has already staffed over 60 employees for sales, pre-sales, administration & finance functions. Zakir Hussain Rangwala, CEO, BD Software Distribution Pvt. Ltd. added “We are excited about the association with Priyam Infosolutions. Smart Tally Add-On solution includes many exciting features that are of great use for the customers. And, the solution is available for a very attractive price as well. The tool is easy to use and is available in the annual subscription and perpetual licensing models. As we move ahead in this year, we are expecting exponential growth in the segment.” Dhiraj Vijayvargia, Founder and CEO, Priyam Infosystems Pvt. Ltd. says “There are over 2 million users of Tally accounting software. With the increase in digitalization, the new challenges pose a threat to the smooth working of any organiza-

ZAKIR HUSSAIN RANGWALA CEO, BD SOFTWARE DISTRIBUTION PVT. LTD.

“WE ARE EXCITED ABOUT THE ASSOCIATION WITH PRIYAM INFOSOLUTIONS. SMART TALLY ADD-ON SOLUTION INCLUDES MANY EXCITING FEATURES THAT ARE OF GREAT USE FOR THE CUSTOMERS.” tion. We have developed Smart Tally keeping in mind the challenges the users face every day using Tally. For example, we have introduced Smart Dustbin, Document Attachment & Auto Backup features so that the data deleted is backed up automatically and the user can cross-check the deleted entries in the Smart Dustbin. Smart Tally includes many such other features that will ease the functioning of Tally for the users.”

INDUSTRY WATCH

CTRLS DEPLOYS ASIA’S LARGEST GAS INSULATED SUBSTATION IN MUMBAI The state-of-art GIS facility can scale up 700 megawatts

trlS has announced deployment of Asia’s largest Gas Insulated Substation (GIS) in Mumbai, which is uniquely poised to be a game changer in the Indian data center industry. The state-of-the-art gas insulated substation (GIS), is currently equipped with a whopping 300MW and can scale up to 700MW and backed by three different sources and diversified paths ensuring 100% availability of power at all times, thus powering the two million square feet CtrlS Datacenter Campus spread across 10 Data Centers. The campus is currently under construction of which four rated-4 data centers are operational. CtrlS GIS facility has very limited sensitivity to environment, humidity. It is highly corrosion resistant, seismic resistant, enjoys an operating life of greater than 50 years, with no maintenance requirement for 25 years and protected against aggressive environmental conditions. This GIS facility will now help businesses collocate their high density IT infrastructure combined with seamless scalability to address their growth requirements. The GIS deployed by CtrlS is one of the first

large scale deployment in Asia powered by 3 line configuration (N+N+1). It has 3 source substation backed by 2 or more substations. Thus, providing highest reliability. The power is sourced from express feeds which have seamless 24/7 supply and which will never go down. CtrlS is equipped to deliver large capacities such as 100 MW of power to any customer in 15 to 18 months. Gopalakrishnan, Managing Director, GBCI, Southeast Asia and Middle East, said, “CtrlS deploying a 300 MW gas insulated substation (GIS) is a path breaking phenomenon in the industry. This is the first of its kind deployment of power infrastructure by any data center company in the Asia Pacific region. What is more interesting is the fact that CtrlS has planned ahead by ensuring that the GIS can be scaled up to 700 MW. Combined with its planned addition of 2 million green data center footprint in Mumbai the company is now poised to address the needs of high-density racks. Through this investment, CtrlS has again placed sustainability and efficiency at the core of its operations to provide its customers with world-class green data centers in India. Demonstrating its unparalleled commitment to

sustainability, Ctrls Mumbai received its LEED Platinum certification under LEED v4 O+M in 2017 and has registered their second project within the same campus for LEED under LEED v4 BD+C in 2019.” The Gas Insulated Substation (GIS) technology originally began in Japan in the 60’s, where there was a critical need to develop substations with a greatly reduced footprint. In comparison, a conventional (AIS) or Air-Insulated Substation, occupies more space than GIS. In the US, only about 2 to 5% of new substations are constructed as GIS. The Air insulated substation (AIS) leads to wastage of space, suffers from seismic instability and poor dielectric strength of air. “The deployment of 300 MW gas insulated substation scalable to 700 MW is our commitment to the industry as we continue to address the growing needs of hyperscalers, telcos, BFSI, healthcare, gaming, and new age companies. We stay committed to adopting innovative approaches to serve the unmet needs of our customers, said, Sridhar Pinnnapureddy, Founder and CEO, CtrlS Datacenters.” With GIS technology, the clearance needed for phase to phase or phase to ground for all equipment is much less than that of an AIS or air insulated substation. The total space required for a GIS is roughly 10% of that needed for a conventional AIS facility The salient features of CtrlS deployed GIS include: Protection system such as over voltage, Under Voltage, short circuit, instantaneous, master trip, intra trip, axillary etc and more 40 protection systems of the entire GIS infrastructure is built in N+N architecture The GIS facility has lighting arresters, dedicated BCU (Bay control units), BPUs (Bay protection units) for each bay. It has alarm systems and is fungi resistant. It has aluminium casing and an ethernet interface. The GIS has a Windows based monitoring system. The GIS has a gas leak detector. All the cables laid are of 1100V grade FRLS armoured PVC copper cables conforming to IS 1554. Continuing its tradition of rolling-out innovative solutions to its customers, CtrlS has successfully deployed a new generation 300 MW gas insulated substation (GIS) with unmatched levels of reliability, performance and security through real-time monitoring, interoperability and automation. The company stays committed to delivering best-in-class solutions as it expand its hyperscale data center footprint to 6 million in the next 18 to 24 months across Mumbai, Hyderabad, Chennai, Kolkata, besides enhancing its edge data center network in tier-2 and tier-3 cities in the country.

SME CHANNELS 49 FEBRUARY 2022

PARTNER CORNER

NEUAILES GLOBAL APPOINTS JNR MANAGEMENT AS ITS DISTRIBUTOR The partnership creates a new chapter in Email Security & Visibility

sender’s domain. VMC certificates are a scalable way to ensure that corporate logos are not used fraudulently. Businesses have long sought ways to better identify themselves to customers in emails, and VMC certs for BIMI will enable verified brand marks to be displayed. BIMI will work only when both the email and the logo are properly validated. The email must be authenticated through the Domain-based Message Authentication, Receiving & Conformance (DMARC) standard with a policy of quarantine or reject; the logo itself will be validated by the VMC. With the widespread use of VMC, BIMI, and DMARC, brands will be able to amplify their online presence in the inbox through authenticated messages to consumers that are instantly recognizable through known, protected brand marks. JNR already distributes DigiCert SSL, TLS, VMC and with JNR & Neuailes coming together to make customers’ domain eligible for VMC in order to make email communications more secured and effective. After VMC Before VMC

euailes Global, a Leading DMARC Service Provider, appoints JNR Management as its Distributor. This was done to empower enterprises in deploying DMARC and be in line with the latest deployments with respect to security & visibility in email authentication. This collaboration will streamline the core communication aspect of email security. The aim of this association is to provide enterprises with the best solutions to secure and streamline their digital assets & communication efforts. DMARC (Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance) solution authenticates email accurately, protects brands, stops phishing attacks, and improves email deliverability. Using DMARC, enterprises gain complete visibility into email authentication status & gaps of SPF & DKIM. DMARC instructs receiving servers on how to deal with emails that use a customers’ domain. DMARC can help protect against the following: As email has become more critical than ever for organizations to connect and communicate with their customers, the ecosystem is looking to BIMI (Brand Indicators for Message Identification). BIMI is a new standard that provides a secure, global framework enabling email inboxes to dis-

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play sender-designated logos for authenticated messages. It allows domain owners to specify a logo that will appear in the inbox, alongside authenticated email messages sent from their domains. It is an opportunity to increase the wide adoption of email authentication while simultaneously providing senders with a way to provide their customers with a more immersive experience. Email recipients using participating email providers like Gmail will see registered brand logos from BIMI users in their emails. Beyond benefiting security, adopting BIMI with DMARC can provide an organization’s customers with a more immersive experience in Gmail. By encouraging the deployment of DMARC and promoting its adoption, BIMI benefits the whole email ecosystem to promote strong sender authentication. Several major brands have already begun adopting BIMI standards and use of VMCs to authenticate their email communications. The BIMI standard requires a Verified Mark Certificate (VMC) from an authorized Mark Verifying Authority. The VMC works alongside an organization’s Domain-based Message Authentication, Reporting and Conformance (DMARC) protocol policy. A VMC is a new type of digital certificate that proves the authenticity of a logo tied to an email

Why VMC: l Deliver brand recognition and authenticity to the customer’s inbox. l Take control of the brand image that appears on email communications. l Have your message stand out in a busy inbox. l Significantly increase the number of brand impressions by having your logo alongside every email. l Prevent email spoofing with DMARC technology Using GoDMARC, Enterprises gain complete visibility into email authentication status & Gaps of SPF & DKIM. Go-Simulator educates and tests your end users through automated attack simulations, quality security awareness training, and actionable reporting metrics. Detect and thwart cyber-criminal and hacker activity using our Continuous proactive security monitoring tools. Neumails Email is simple to use, efficient and full-featured email marketing channel with impressive features set.

PARTNER CORNER

VEDANTA AND FOXCONN TO MANUFACTURE SEMICONDUCTORS IN INDIA India as a country needs to boost its manufacturing and semiconductor manufacturing is the priority. Today every organization is becoming an IT organization and every device is becoming IP enabled therefore, creating an ecosystem of electronics and IT manufacturing in India was the call from the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India.

edanta, one of India’s leading multinational groups, and Hon Hai Technology Group (“Foxconn”), world’s largest electronics manufacturing company, signed an MOU to form a joint venture company that will manufacture semiconductors in India. This first-of-its-kind joint venture between the two companies will support Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision to create an ecosystem for semiconductor manufacturing in India. According to the MOU signed between the two companies, Vedanta will hold the majority

of the equity in the JV, while Foxconn will be the minority shareholder. Vedanta Chairman Anil Agarwal will be the Chairman of the joint venture company. The targeted project plans to invest for manufacturing semiconductors. It will provide a significant boost to domestic manufacturing of electronics in India. Discussions are currently ongoing with a few State Governments to finalize the location of the plant. The collaboration between Vedanta and Foxconn follows the India Government’s recent policy announcement for Electronics Manufacturing

& PLI scheme for incentivizing organizations to contribute towards development of this sector. This will be the first joint venture in the electronics manufacturing space after the announcement of the policy. Along with this, as reported in Mint, five proposals for semiconductor and display fabs have been received with total investment nearing $20.5 billion or Rs. 153,750 crore, the ministry of electronics and information technology (MeitY) said in a statement Saturday. The same news paper also reports that Vedanta is planning to set up 28 nm-65nm semiconductor fabs with capacity of 120,000 wafers per month, wherein $5.6 billion of fiscal support is being sought from the central government. Vedanta Group is a global diversified group of companies with presence in metals, mining, oil & gas, power, telecom and glass. Vedanta Group has presence in electronics and technology business through group companies, Avanstrate Inc. and Sterlite Technologies. Established in Taiwan in 1974, Hon Hai Technology Group (“Foxconn”) is the world’s largest electronics manufacturer. Hon Hai is also the leading technology solution provider, and it continuously leverages its expertise in software and hardware to integrate its unique manufacturing systems with emerging technologies.

SME CHANNELS 51 FEBRUARY 2022

TECH PREDICTION 2022

PARTNER TOOLS LIKE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE AND SUCCESS INSIGHTS WILL HELP DRIVE GROWTH As part of this special series of Tech Forecasts, Nutanix India registers its predictions for 2022. An excerpt from the views of Naresh Purohit, DirectorSystems Engineering, Nutanix India & SAARC

s part of our effort to make the channel community better informed and get an earful of what the leading vendors are thinking, expecting, and planning for the channel community in 2022, we have started this new section to record the channel predictions of the most prominent players of the IT industry. Here, as part of this special series of Tech Forecasts, Nutanix India registers its predictions for 2022. In a special interaction with SME Channels, Naresh Purohit, Director- Systems Engineering, Nutanix India & SAARC, shares his company’s Channel Predictions for the year 2022. Edited excerpts… Give a brief introduction of your company. Nutanix is a global leader in cloud software and a pioneer in hyperconverged infrastructure solutions, making clouds invisible, freeing customers to focus on their business outcomes. Organizations around the world use Nutanix solutions to leverage a single platform to manage any app at any location for their hybrid multicloud environments. Today, the Nutanix Cloud Platform is enabling thousands of companies around the world to run their apps and workloads with unparalleled performance in whichever cloud makes sense— private, public, or edge—knowing it’s working seamlessly with minimal intervention. We were also ranked by IDC as India’s Dominant HCI SW Vendor for the 15th Consecutive Quarter. As the pandemic is still there and a new variant has surfaced, what are the

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major market trends you are forecasting for 2022? Two years into the pandemic, we’ve seen massive innovation as companies of all sizes have embraced technology to navigate in a rapidly changing business landscape that includes new operating models, customer challenges, and managing a remote workforce. We have witnessed an acceleration of digital services in every sector, with businesses using cloud technologies to extend their offerings. As businesses increase their cloud adoption, costly lock-ins will become more of a concern. Organizations will lean further toward hybrid multicloud strategies that enable flexibility and avoid cloud lock-in. This will give them the best cloud mix the market has to offer, with freedom and choice for their applications and data. Artificial Intelligence (AI) will become an even important tool to power IT operations and automation. AI can help organizations tackle multiple challenges between advancements in technology and the shortage of skilled labor in a number of areas. While AI implementations may not always succeed in the first attempt, those who leverage existing models developed by leading research or company projects will be ahead of the pack. What major trends are you forecasting in the channel market? Companies will shift their focus away from transactional volume sales toward technical services in areas including cloud computing and hybrid multicloud infrastructure, and security. There is also an untapped opportunity in granting the right partners secure access to telemetry. It will be a whole new dimension of validating solution adoption and usage, and ultimately will better

enable partners to provide proactive and reactive support. Partners will be instrumental in identifying new opportunities to improve customer experience and success once they have access to these insights. Furthermore, partner tools such as customer experience and success insights can help drive greater growth, intimacy and value for the customer. In the coming year, we anticipate there will be greater demand among partners for these insights and they will look at growing these practices alongside vendors. Along the way, the term “sales rep” will likely phase out as “customer success managers” become the norm. The alliance landscape will also see more examples of vendors finding common ground as demand grows for more complete, multitechnology solutions. Alliances will be driven by not only the customers of today, but the customers of tomorrow as the technology landscape drives innovation and more complexity. This isn’t a new trend – Nutanix recently forged strategic relationships with Red Hat and Citrix which have both proved to be of great value to our partners with solutions that are certified and supported together. Which areas you want to focus in the channel – skillsets – sales and marketing, vertical and technology practice development, service capability, etc.? Nutanix’s primary focus is to simplify engagement for our channel ecosystem as much as possible, so that our partners can focus on helping customers move to multicloud environments. Our business is 100 percent channel-driven in the country, and we ensure that our partners have the resources, technology and tools that are necessary to succeed. We recently launched a Partner Support Center

TECH PREDICTION 2022

NARESH PUROHIT DIRECTOR- SYSTEMS ENGINEERING NUTANIX INDIA & SAARC

“AS CUSTOMERS MOVE TO CONSUME IT PRODUCTS AS A SUBSCRIPTION SERVICE RATHER THAN A ONE-TIME PURCHASE EVENT, VENDORS WILL FACE THE PRESSURE TO ALIGN PARTNER INCENTIVES WITH THAT OF THE CUSTOMER’S LIFETIME JOURNEY.”

in India that will enable our partners to quickly move to an Everything-as-a-Service model. We have also introduced the Nutanix Elevate Service Provider Program to provide further support to our service provider partners. We are also prioritising attracting and retaining the next generation of talent as the world tries to bounce back from the pandemic. We are actively looking at DevOps as one of the next practices to drive differentiation and growth. Low code /no code development methodologies will transform solution delivery – slashing engagement time and costs and thus, providing a significant competitive edge. This is likely to attract the next wave of digital-native channel professionals entering the workforce embracing these new approaches and will become a new source of vibrancy, innovation, and growth for organizations. What is your expectation from channel this year? Legacy sales methods and incentive models are quickly becoming a thing of the past. As customers move to consume IT products as a subscription service rather than a one-time purchase event, vendors will face the pressure (and opportunity) to align partner incentives with that of the

customer’s lifetime journey. Nutanix believes that disaggregating the incentive stack will create more sustained value for customers and are exploring how we can incentivize partners throughout the full lifetime of a customer’s engagement with us. This will better enable partners to deepen their engagement with customers and benefit them in a more sustained way as they drive solutions and services development with us and their customers over a time. As we transition into the new year, workfrom-anywhere continues to be a top priority for CIOs as the emergence of new Covid-19 variants delay the return to work. In order to cater to this

demand, we’ve expanded our relationships with Citrix and Lenovo TruScale to support our clients with safe and confidential access to corporate applications for their remote workforce. In this new world of work, organisations are increasingly adopting a hybrid multicloud solution to deliver new capabilities, maintain a competitive advantage, reduce inefficiencies and enable rapid scalability. Furthermore, Indian enterprises in the future are likely to seek a higher level of automation- automation of databases, automation of security, automation of applications to work efficiently and deliver higher business outcomes.

SME CHANNELS 53 FEBRUARY 2022

TECH PREDICTION 2022

CLOUD AND 5G WILL BE TOP DRIVERS OF GROWTH FOR CHANNEL PARTNERS Commvault continues to expand and unify its full set of data management offerings across Metallic and Commvault in line with the growing needs of enterprises for cloud-delivered data management and protection

s part of our effort to make the channel community better informed and get an earful of what the leading vendors are thinking, expecting, and planning for the channel community in 2022, we have started this new section to record the channel predictions of the most prominent players of the IT industry. Here, as part of this special series of Tech Forecasts, Commvault India registers its predictions for 2022. Commvault’s Anshuman Rai, who as Area Vice President for India & South Asia, oversees the company’s operations and growth strategy across India, Bangladesh, and Sri Lanka, had spoken to SME Channels. With over 20 years of deep tech expertise, Anshuman leads a highly driven and passionate team. His role encompasses growing the market share and driving healthy ecosystem growth among both customers and partners in the region. Anshuman has donned several roles in his previous stints and managed multiple responsibilities and businesses – large and small including dynamic start-ups, with a focus on selling products and services. Prior to joining Commvault, Anshuman started and built the UiPath business in India, a company that grew from $ 30M to one of the most stellar IPOs of 2021 with close to $ 2B investment in total. He had built a culture of collaboration, accountability, ownership, and trust within and across teams which resulted in consistently high performance. In a special interaction with SME Channels, Anshuman Rai, Area Vice President, India, and South Asia, Commvault, shares his company’s Channel Predictions for the year 2022. Edited excerpts… Give a brief introduction of Commvault.

54 SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2022

Commvault give businesses the peace of mind that liberates businesses to do amazing things with data. We simplify and manage the complexity of our customers’ data, uncovering insights, accelerating their growth, and helping to ensure the fundamental integrity of their business. With technology excellence at our core, we continue to lead the market with our Intelligent Data Services Platform. Today, we deliver our Intelligent Data Services as software on-premises; in the cloud; as a managed service through partners; or as SaaS—a critical differentiator in the market. We are uniquely positioned to address the critical uses cases customers encounter on their transformation journeys. We’ve been at the forefront of innovation for our rich 25-year history and recognize that customers need flexibility and choice. As we go into 2022 and beyond, we will continue to expand and unify our full set of data management offerings across Metallic and Commvault, in line with the growing needs of enterprises for cloud-delivered data management and protection. As the pandemic is still there and a new variant has surfaced, what are the major market trends you are forecasting for 2022? With digital transformation plans continuing to pivot due to the ongoing global pandemic, there is a greater need for speed, agility, and security for uninterrupted business operations. Resilience will form the core of all data management strategies to rapidly combat a threat and a robust backup and recovery plan must be in place to secure the organization’s critical data. We will see how enterprises bring DevOps’ agility to data management. These DevOps teams will combine software developers with IT operations staff into a single group focused on applica-

tion development and improvement. In doing so DevOps teams will enable enterprises to implement agile software development methodologies, shortening application development times and speeding the improvement of applications on an ongoing basis. Businesses will also be working towards gaining control over data sprawl to be able to secure the fundamental integrity of their business and accelerate their digital transformation efforts. In 2021, we saw companies completing the second lap of their cloud journeys by outsourcing management of the application infrastructure. This year, we will witness partnerships with cloud Managed Service Providers (MSPs) to help these companies effectively manage the set-up, customization, and administration of their cloud-based applications, expanding revenue opportunities for IT service providers. The SaaS dynamics has changed completely amidst the pandemic, as we now know the benefits of subscription-based models. As enterprises will strive to empower their agile workforce with a secure, fast and reliable data ecosystem, Data Management-as-a-service (DMaaS) will be crucial in keeping a federated view and control of their data to ensure that their IT infrastructures remain protected, compliant and cost-effective. What major trends are you forecasting in the channel market? As enterprises, big and small, continue to leverage technology to drive business growth, the onus is on channel partners to imbibe and align their strategies to capture expanded opportunities to service the customers. There will also be a need to develop different skillsets to increase their chances for success in the market with its variegated offerings and deep expertise within the areas most valued by customers. Cloud will remain a top opportunity driver

TECH PREDICTION 2022

ANSHUMAN RAI AREA VICE PRESIDENT INDIA, AND SOUTH ASIA COMMVAULT

“PARTNERS WILL HAVE TO ALIGN THEIR STRATEGIES TO CAPTURE EXPANDED OPPORTUNITIES TO SERVICE THE CUSTOMERS. THEY WILL ALSO NEED TO DEVELOP DIFFERENT SKILLSETS TO SUCCEED IN THE MARKET WITH ITS VARIEGATED OFFERINGS AND DEEP EXPERTISE WITHIN THE AREAS MOST VALUED BY CUSTOMERS.” for channel partners with small to medium businesses opting for affordable and feature rich MSP cloud offerings to accelerate their transition to cloud. The rollout of 5G will enable bring a whole new array of possibilities to channel partners in terms of traction in the marketplace and we will see a rise in Partner Experience (PX) strategies to build, sustain and drive channel growth. What is your expectation from your channel ecosystem this year? Which areas you want to focus in the channel – skillsets – sales and marketing, vertical and technology practice development, service capability, etc.? The Channel is a significant layer to Commvault’s go-to-market strategy. We are a partner-led organization and we co-sell with our channel partners. The Channel market growth certainly has a positive outlook and the same will continue as more organizations are embracing digitalization at a faster pace. In 2022, we will continue to grow our data

management channel in India, with Metallic SaaS data protection technology as it offers every digital enterprise – guaranteed cloud data protection and backup as a service ensuring flexibility and scalability in the hybrid cloud market. As a channel-led company, nurturing and evolving our strong partner ecosystem is critical to everything we do at Commvault, and is a key priority for our Global Partner Organization. To empower our partners, we have created a simple, streamlined program with all of the critical tools, training, and innovative solutions that drive our partners’ business opportunities – further strengthening our partnerships and joint success. Are you planning any new product addi-

tion for the channel market? We have recently launched Metallic – our awardwinning solution of SaaS backup and recovery offerings, in India. Metallic provides simple, flexible and integrated data protection for cloud and hybrid cloud workloads as opposed to point products that solve only part of the problem. Metallic’s capabilities, including breadth of coverage for SaaS applications, endpoints, hybrid cloud datacenter workloads, and its unique SaaS Plus storage flexibility eliminate the need for disparate point solutions and siloed data. With simplified management, reduced infrastructure costs and faster time to value for customers, Metallic provides quick and easy protection for all data with a simple, easy-to-use BaaS model.

SME CHANNELS 55 FEBRUARY 2022

TECH PREDICTION 2022

INCREASING ADOPTION OF MANAGED SERVICES, MORE INTEGRATED SOLUTION OFFERINGS, AND MORE SOLUTIONS TO SUPPORT WORK FROM HOME WILL PREVAIL SANDEEP PURI COUNTRY MANAGER INDIA & SAARC GURUCUL

56 SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2022

“CHANNELS ARE KEY TO OUR GROWTH STRATEGY AND WE ARE GOING TO HAVE MULTIFOLD INCREASE IN FOCUS ON CHANNEL DEVELOPMENT THIS YEAR. STRATEGIC INVESTMENTS HAVE BEEN MADE IN OUR PARTNER PROGRAM THAT WILL SIMPLIFY HOW OUR PARTNERS ENGAGE WITH US AND CREATE NEW BUSINESS AND REVENUE OPPORTUNITIES.” and Risk Analytics Platform combines machine learning behavior profiling with predictive riskscoring algorithms to predict, detect and prevent breaches. Gurucul technology is used by Global 1000 companies and government agencies to fight cyber fraud, IP theft, insider threat and account compromise as well as for log aggregation, compliance and risk-based security orchestration and

automation for real-time extended detection and response. As the pandemic is still there and a new variant has surfaced, what are the major market trends you are forecasting for 2022? The pandemic is the new reality. New COVID19 strains will continue to emerge that will force organizations, supply chains, and transportation systems to deal with employee shortages and staff turnover. The fluid change in staff schedules and additional responsibilities opens up new vulnerabilities for cyber criminals to exploit. This will require more rigorous access controls and realtime monitoring of users across all industries, especially in cloud environments. The most effective technologies for detecting and preventing cyberattacks are AI-powered cybersecurity controls. There is not enough time to counter these attacks manually before a breach occurs. What major trends are you forecasting in the channel market? 1. More adoption of managed services – Customers are increasingly looking to their channel partners for help to manage all of their IT stack. We expect to see more specialized channel partners with a managed service focus, especially around SIEM and XDR. 2. More integrated solution offerings – Customers want tested and integrated solutions instead of piecing Best of Breed solutions together on their own. The channel will be tasked with providing complete solutions vs. point products. 3. Work from home/remote working is here to stay, even after the pandemic is over. Channel will have to adapt to support technologies and solutions to facilitate the shift to remote. Which areas you want to focus in the channel – skillsets – sales and marketing, vertical and technology practice development, service capability, etc.? Customer success is very important for Gurucul and its channel partners. So, we lay strong emphasis on service capabilities of our partners. What percentage of budget growth are you expecting for channel development? Channels are key to our growth strategy and we are going to have multifold increase in focus on Channel development this year. Strategic investments have been made in our partner program that will simplify how our partners engage with us and create new business and revenue opportunities.

CASE STUDY

MATRIX’S VIDEO SURVEILLANCE PROVIDES SECURITY 24 X 7: CASE STUDY

A Manufacturing giant in Maharashtra has the distinct mark of making India’s 1st Diesel Engine and Iron Mold Ploughs. The company’s legacy dates to 1922. This company is the reason behind a new wave of industrialization in some of the towns in Maharashtra while preserving their rich heritage. Challenges the Company Faced includes: Large Area to Monitor- Spread across a wide area employing more than three thousand people, maintaining quality is crucial and therefore, every area needs to be under surveillance. For this reason cameras producing good quality image and can cover a greater area for monitoring was the

requirement. Centralized Control – Divided into various branches which are located at various places in Satara, gave rise to the need for a centralized solution at a centralized location from where all other sites can be monitored at a time. Matrix provided IP Bullet and Dome Cameras cover the large monitoring area that has greater Field of View when compared to other brands. According to the requirement, various cameras were installed at different locations such as reception area, canteen, security area, entrance, production area, etc. These cameras also provide exceptional low light images which aid in providing high-class security.

For storing the streamed videos, Matrix offered Network Video Recorders. These NVRs have features such as Adaptive Recording which aid in storing more data in a defined space. Moreover, it has Intelligent Video Analytics such as Intrusion Detection and Motion Detection which were also applied. Instant notifications and alerts ensured real-time security of the premises. For storing the streamed videos, Matrix offered Network Video Recorders. These NVRs have features such as Adaptive Recording which aid in storing more data in a de Thus Matrix provides centralized control, 24X7 Real-Time Surveillance and higher security with intelligent video analytics.

SME CHANNELS 57 FEBRUARY 2022

SME CHAT

OUR VISION IS TO HELP BRANDS MITIGATE A MASSIVE DEPENDENCE ON THE PHYSICAL WORKFORCE After pandemic ruling on the earth for more than two years, WFH, remote work or hybrid work has been accepted norms. People are more productivity in WFH mode than in office. With this, all the expos, events and social gatherings have become virtual too. However the question comes what is there Post- Pandemic. Abhinav Jain, Co-Founder, Almond Solutions spoke to Sanjay Mohapatra, Group Editor, Accent Info Media Pvt. Ltd.

BRIEF BIO OF

ABHINAV

Abhinav is a technologist turned marketer, Co-Founder & CEO at Almond, A Meta engagement platform that helps brands scale and power their channels, customers and audience engagements. Abhinav has 16+ years of hands-on experience in Digital, Technology, Mar-Tech with leading positions at SAP, Dell, Citrix, JetBlue Airways, PlaceIQ, OnDeck Capital in the USA. Abhinav travelled across the world and lived in 22 cities in 8 countries.

ABHINAV JAIN CO-FOUNDER ALMOND SOLUTIONS

“AS WE HAVE GOOGLE FOR SEARCH INSTAGRAM FOR SOCIAL, WE WILL ALSO HAVE METAVERSES FOR UNIQUE INTERESTS’ SPORTS, SOCIAL, BUSINESS ETC. IN FUTURE.” 58 SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2022

SME CHAT

What is your opinion about the trend in virtual events? Virtual events are here to stay parallel to the physical events and help event organizers scale up the audience for their physical events globally. Do you know virtual events are most suitable for generating the leads for a company and effective cost is only about 30% of the typical per lead cost generated via physical events and other mediums? Costeffectiveness puts Virtual Events in the future Go-To-Market Stack of Smart CMOs.

our houses are not made for the virtual environment, what is your opinion? Now, this is where it gets fascinating because the gadgets will crush the limitations of physical space and boundaries. You may know, in CES 2022, there were VR glasses displayed that can move you in the virtual space without having you move an inch physically. And not just that, glasses will also take your voice commands to take you anywhere you want to go in the virtual world. Virtual is limitless, and we are just getting started.

Do you think post-pandemic still people would go for virtual events? They are already preferring and attending virtual events. A PWC report cited that 45% of the people are not looking forward to physically attending business conferences this year, and 20% said to only join when it’s in their city. These numbers indicate that the future is hybrid and inclining towards virtual events.

Are you of an opinion like Mark Zuckerberg about metaverse that it will be a reality? Yes, I do, and I firmly believe there will be thousands of metaverses in future like we have websites for everything today. As we have Google for search Instagram for social, we will also have Metaverses for unique interests’ sports, social, business etc. in future. A retailer giant based in Africa and the USA recently approached us to build a metaverse shopping mall with worldwide brands, and they already have 800+ brands onboarded for the project.

How can you make it more inclusive and exciting for people to go for it? In 2021 I ran a poll on LinkedIn, which got 10k+ views, where I asked people to vote for the things they miss in virtual events. None complained about the content experience, and 80% said they miss food and souvenirs. So, we created a digital café on the platform for people to order free food from the café that gets delivered at their doorstep and built a souvenir shop on the platform to order free personalized souvenirs of the event. Lastly, we also implemented an instant poll feature to share their feedback with the organizers and get rewarded. Just the poll shot up engagements by 35%. As India is more about touch and feel, do you think virtual things can ever replace physical ones? A video call has replaced travel in many ways, and it’s not about touch and feels; it’s about convenience and saving time. While the virtual may not replace everything physical, it mitigates physical inconvenience in many ways. For example, we do virtual property shows for a leading property aggregator platform globally. There is a virtualreality-based property listing on our platform for buyers to get the 360-degree feel of the property and location without even visiting the property. If the buyer is interested, they can see the property physically. The lead pipeline increased by 25% with the virtual property show.

Give us a note on the inception and growth of the company and its products? We launched in 2018 as a digital solutions company for marketers, and 2020 shaped us into a product company. While we did some exciting work in the virtual events space in 2018, we officially launched Almond Virtex - a virtual and hybrid events platform in April 2020. For the Govt Of India, India International Science Festival, Almond Virtex also won 5 Guinness Book of World Records for hosting the world’s largest science conference. Later in Sep 2020, we built Almond Vingage - a short-format video-based interactive education platform, Almond Vgift - an Instant reward platform. This year we are launching Almond Vouch - a digital sampling platform. Our team has grown 20X, and business has grown 40x since its inception. What is your vision around Almond Solutions? As per Markets and markets reports, around 300bn US Dollars are spent on four key physical activities like events and exhibitions, product education and sampling, and rewards every year. Our vision is to help brands mitigate a massive dependence on the physical workforce, be it for events, education, sampling or rewards with our mobile-first products that work with or without the internet.

What kind of innovations would you like to bring into the virtual platform? Personalization and engagement are keys to success for any virtual event or platform. We feel proud to share that we started with personalized digital business cards exchange on virtual events in march 2020 which now most of the platforms use this feature. Since the future is hybrid, we are developing a 5 point technology that connects the physical audiences or physical exhibitors to virtual audiences or virtual exhibitors under the supervision of the organizer. This is going to be game changing. How is it different from other platforms? Almond Virtex is one of the most customizable platforms out there in the market. We are a unique platform that can offer 2D, 3D, 3D 360 environments and now events in the metaverse. Additionally, our products are integrated via a secure blockchain-based data hub, which means pre-event, during event and post engagement data can be unified to drive complete KPI analytics and calculate true ROI. Lastly, we are super-fast to market, and our customized events can go live in less than 24 hours. Major customers who have used your platform, and what do they say about it? 80% of our business in either repeat or referral. Brands like Coca-Cola, Nestle, Asian Paints, Udaan, EXL, The Guardian, PropTiger and associations like The World Bank, UNICEF, CII, PHDCCI, AIMA, The Govt Of India are using our platforms regularly. We have recently launched our business in the USA, working for the Ministry of textile and helping them host one of the most significant virtual fashion events. Our customers love our platform customization, speed of work and customer support. What is the business model around it? We are working with agencies as well as brands directly. With agencies, it’s a yearly/quarterly subscription model for several events that they can host from our SAAS panel. With brands, as they need more handholding, support and customization, we work on an event subscription model where we take care of everything end to end for them from creative to customization to execution.

The second impediment is that

SME CHANNELS 59 FEBRUARY 2022

PARTNER CORNER

LOGRHYTHM EMBRACES NEW BRAND IDENTITY The rebrand is the first of many changes to come in 2022 for LogRhythm, including a fresh visual look, an upcoming cloud-native platform and new outlook that reflects the company’s vision and evolution

CINDY ZHOU

CHIEF MARKETING OFFICER LOGRHYTHM

ogRhythm has unveiled its new brand identity. The rebrand is designed to represent the company’s commitment to helping security operations centers close workforce gaps, increase knowledge of new attacks and techniques and navigate an everchanging threat landscape with confidence. The rebrand is the first of many changes to come in 2022 for LogRhythm, including a fresh visual look, an upcoming cloud-native platform and new outlook that reflects the company’s vision and evolution. Visually, the new LogRhythm logo is representative of the fact that the company’s value is not just rooted in technology alone, but that it’s both analog and digital; a mix of people, expertise, and know-how that allows LogRhythm to best apply technology to its customers’ pressing security concerns and challenges. As a stylized sine wave, the new logo connotes being in rhythm with our customers, colleagues and partners. Perpetually in motion, the wave signals LogRhythm’s commitment to adapting to the ever-changing threat horizon to keep customers protected in the face of uncertainty.

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“The new brand communicates our continued commitment to being cyber advisories and technology allies for our customers and partners by making cybersecurity operations easier and more effective for the people tasked with protecting our families, businesses and global communities,” said Cindy Zhou, chief marketing officer of LogRhythm. “With two decades of experience in cybersecurity, nobody understands the adversary better than LogRhythm. We give our customers the upper hand by proactively identifying threats and the technology to defend against them.” “The weight of protecting the world rides on the shoulders of cybersecurity operations teams, and it’s a load that LogRhythm helps lighten for our customers,” continued Zhou. “The people who work at LogRhythm are cyber advisory and technology allies to our customers. This brand identity supports our new technology offerings coming in 2022 that align with the mission we have always had: to ensure our customers are ready to defend against today’s top threats.” Ranked as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for several years in a row, LogRhythm brings together comprehensive technology solutions to

“WITH TWO DECADES OF EXPERIENCE IN CYBERSECURITY, NOBODY UNDERSTANDS THE ADVERSARY BETTER THAN LOGRHYTHM. WE GIVE OUR CUSTOMERS THE UPPER HAND BY PROACTIVELY IDENTIFYING THREATS AND THE TECHNOLOGY TO DEFEND AGAINST THEM.” improve security posture. The company combines a comprehensive and flexible security operations platform, technology partnerships and advisory services to help SOCs close the gaps.

REVIEW

PRODUCT

RAPOO INTRODUCES NEW RANGE OF WEBCAMS

WESTERN DIGITAL INSPIRES MORE GAMERS TO LEVEL UP THEIR GAMING RIGS BY MANAS RANJAN info@smechannels.com

TO HELP PC GAMERS PLAY AT THEIR BEST, Western Digital just released its latest addition to the WD_BLACK portfolio, the WD_BLACK SN770 NVMe SSD. The new drive fuels gaming PC rigs with faster speeds and longer gameplay, offering up to 40% faster performance and up to 20% more power efficiency at maximum speed over the previous generation.1 The WD_BLACK SN770 NVMe SSD features a PCIe Gen4 interface2 that delivers ultra-fast read speeds of up to 5,150MB/s3 (1TB and 2TB models only) to fuel in-game responsiveness, minimize stutter, and provide smooth streaming for a performance boost that gamers can see and feel. The drive is an accessible option for gamers looking to transition to Gen4 while also being backwards compatible for those with Gen3 systems. Purpose-built for PC gaming, it’s an ideal solution for enthusiast PC builders and long-time gamers looking to elevate their gaming experience.

KEY FEATURES OF THE NEW DRIVE INCLUDE • Blazing fast sequential read speeds up to 5,150 MB/s3 (1TB and 2TB models only) for quick game load times • Smooth streaming and minimal in-game stutter thanks to the drive’s PCIe Gen4 compatibility with modern motherboards and laptops2 • Consistent performance at maximum speed thanks to advanced thermal management and 20% increased power efficiency over previous generation internal NVMe SSDs1

IN A BID TO EXPAND ITS BUSINESS IN INDIA, RAPOO ANNOUNCES ITS FORAY INTO WEBCAM MARKET. TO CATER TO THE CONTINUOUS DEMAND OF VIRTUAL WORK SYSTEM FROM ALL SECTORS RAPOO HAS COME UP WITH INNOVATIVE STATE -OF- ART WEBCAMS IN INDIA. THESE DAYS WEBCAMS ARE A BOON WHERE IT SERVES VARIOUS PURPOSES LIKE ATTENDING A VIRTUAL CLASS, PROFESSIONAL MEET, A VIRTUAL CLIENT MEETING, ONLINE DOCTOR CONSULTATION, SOCIAL MEDIA CONTENT, GAMING AND MANY MORE VIRTUAL ACTIVITIES. TO MEET THESE DEMANDS RAPOO HAS ANNOUNCED 5 NEW HIGH-END WEBCAMS FOR YOUR WORK DESK. THE RAPOO NEW C-SERIES WEBCAMS ARE HIGHLY PORTABLE, COMPLETELY PLUG-N-PLAY (NO DRIVERS NEEDED) AND FEATURE HIGH-DEFINITION CAMERAS AND MICROPHONES TO TAKE CARE OF YOUR ONLINE NEEDS. RAPOO C200: THESE WEBCAMS ARE MEANT FOR THOSE WHO WANT THE BEST OF CLARITY IN THE LEAST BUDGET POSSIBLE. THE C200 CATERS TO HD 720P VIDEO CAPTURES FOR SHARP AND CLEAR IMAGES ALONG WITH A GOOD 89° WIDE-ANGLE LENS ON A FLEXIBLE AND ROTATING FIXTURE.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY: The WD_BLACK SN770 NVMe SSD is now available for purchase from select IT retail stores amazon.in, primeabgb.com, www. themvp.in, pcstudio.in, kryptonitemicrosystems.com & mdcomputers.in. Available in capacities ranging from 250GB4 up to 2TB4, starting at an SRP of Rs 4749/To learn more about the WD_BLACK line of purpose-built gaming solutions please visit www.WDBLACK.com. You can also follow WD_BLACK’s official Instagram page to stay in the loop on the latest news.

PRICING AND AVAILABILITY: RAPOO’s lineup of C-Series webcam is designed to cater to the needs of every budget. The RAPOO C200, C260, C270L, C280 and C500 are priced at INR 3,499, INR 3,999, INR 4,699, INR 4,999 and INR 10,999 respectively. These products are available on Amazon.in and other leading online and offline stores. Warranty: 2-Year warranty

SME CHANNELS 61 FEBRUARY 2022

PRODUCT PRODUCT

AMD

AMD RADEON PRO W6000 SERIES The new additions to the AMD Radeon PRO W6000 Series Desktop and Mobile workstation graphics lineup, designed to deliver exceptional performance, stability, and reliability for professional users, including CAD designers, engineers and office knowledge workers. Built on the award-winning AMD RDNA 2 graphics architecture and 6nm process technology, the new solutions include the Radeon PRO W6400 desktop graphics card, designed to deliver a blend of performance and efficiency for modern workloads and the Radeon PRO W6500M and Radeon PRO W6300M GPUs that offer dependable performance to power next-gen professional mobile workstations. • AMD Radeon PRO W6400 Graphics Card – Offering an ideal blend of performance and efficiency at an affordable price, the new graphics card is optimized for the requirements of today’s popular CAD and office workloads in a compact design that can be easily added to modern small-formfactor desktops. Compared to the previous generation, the new graphics card delivers up to three times higher performance in Autodesk AutoCAD 2022 in 3D orbit rotational tests in shaded mode. n Pricing and Availability: The AMD Radeon PRO W6400 graphics card is expected to be available beginning in Q1 2022, Price: $229 USD

TOSHIBA

TOSHIBA N300 NAS 18TB HARD DISK DRIVES Toshiba Electronic Components Taiwan Corporation’s massive capacity 18TB is the addition to its N300 NAS HDD line-up. The 18TB N300 delivers greater storage capacity and power efficiency to meet the growing needs of storage customers. The 18TB N300 is a 9-disk helium-sealed conventional magnetic recording (CMR) drive that leverages Toshiba’s Flux Control MicrowaveAssisted Magnetic Recording (FC-MAMR) technology. FC-MAMR advances CMR capacity to 18TB and delivers increased density per platter over previous designs. This is the 3rd generation to use Toshiba’s 9-disk helium-sealed mechanical design. MAMR technology helps extend HDD data capacities. The 18TB N300 models has a workload rating of 180TB/year. Up to eight drive bays are supported by the NAS 3.5-inch drive. The 7200RPM 18TB N300 drive is designed with a 512MB buffer and has a sustained transfer rate of 268 MiB/s, adequate to address the storage needs of home offices and small businesses. n Price: On Request, Warranty: On Request , Contact: visit: https://www.toshiba-storage.asia/n300-nas-hard-drive/

ASUS

ASUS EXPERTBOOK B1400 ASUS’s ExpertBook B1400 notebook is a new slim and light weight notebook targets the fast-paced businesses and enterprises. Coming under the premium range of laptops, the new ASUS notebook offers customization options to serve specific business mandates. Powered by 11th Generation Intel Core processors, ExpertBook B1400 is sleek and configurable. The device comes with a contemporary design, with a aluminium top shell and is of sturdy build. The new ExpertBook B1400 includes optional features such as NumberPad 2.0 and backlit keyboard, along with standard features such as dual-heat pipe cooling, fingerprint-enabled power-on key, ErgoLift-enabled 180-degree lay-flat hinges and a NanoEdge display. The ExpertBook B1400 offers I/O ports ranging from USB-C 3.2 Gen 1 that allows for high-speed data transfer, display-out and power delivery; along with USB-A 3.2 Gen 2, USB 2.0, HDMI, VGA, Gigabit ethernet enabled full-size RJ-45 port, and high-capacity and high-speed PCIe 3.0 SSD enabled hybrid storage. The 14-inch ASUS ExpertBook B1400 also offers optional NVIDIA GeForce discrete graphics and up to 48 GB of upgradable memory and capacious storage. The laptop can be specified with up to two storage devices,

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with a combination of up to 1 TB SSD and a 2 TB HDD providing high-speed data access and larger capacity for content storage. n Pricing and Availability ASUS ExpertBook B1400 is expected to be available soon at ASUS Exclusive Stores, leading Commercial PC channel partners, starting at ₹32490 (exclusive of GST).

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