SME January Issue 2018

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IBM Crosses 100,000-patent Milestone /08 www.smechannels.com

india’s leading IT magazine for channel business VOLUME 08 | ISSUE 11 | PAGES 40 | JANUARY 2018 | RS. 20/-

SECURITY CORNER /24

GUEST ARTICLE /30

WD: Surveillance Sector to Enable Major Growth For WD Business in India

Tata Teleservices: Crests of Digitization: IT Trends to Watch Out for in 2018

PARTNER CORNER /36 Newvik Teleservices: Matrix offers support to its partners on all the aspects of mutual business.

INDUSTRY EXPERTS VIEW THE

TOP TRENDS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR 2018

2017 has been a year of ups and downs for the tech industry, with artificial intelligence, blockchain and others making their way to the forefront of technologies to watch and major acquisitions from top tech players including Cisco’s purchase of AppDynamics to cybervillains showing no signs of slowing down. ..... /20 1

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InstaSafe Ranks No. 2 on 2017 Best Places to Work List /14 www.smechannels.com

india’s leading IT magazine for channel business PARTNER CORNER

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HCL: HCL Info to Become Specialized VAD

SME BIZ

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MATRIX: A sucess Story of

a Local Manufacturer with Global Output

DATA CENTER

/28

LENOVO DCG: Lenovo Leads in Data Center Performance

MY EXPERIENCE EDITORIAL

HELLO! TO THE CHANNEL FRATERNITY SANJAY MOHAPATRA

sanjay@smechannels.com

First of all, I would like to wish a Happy and Happening 2018. As January goes, it is time to gaze into crystal ball when it comes to the next big thing in the country. Development of any country is not based on the technological advancement rather political stability. It is always human driven. We can take example of the immediate neighbor – Pakistan and Afghanistan which are struggling to keep the country united and safe from civil war and terrorism. Now if we look inward we do not have that sorts of worries rather we have a strong political party in majority of states and center, which means people are in the hands of one party and one ideology. Luckily the party is being managed by Shri Narendra Modi and who is the prime minister of India. He not only thinks of big reforms but also big growth. By now he has established very good relationship with the global community and getting support from all advanced countries, which is resulting in reduction in corruption and increase in the value of our currency. This has resulted in high growth in stock market. This is one aspect. The other aspect is that huge number of infrastructure projects under construction and many in pipeline, which will push the economy through to 2018-19 on an upward surge. So, partners should be ready with preparedness to meet the challenges of not running out of capacity. Secondly, they should have domain knowledge and skillsets of multiple technologies. Some of the technologies are of course in hyper cycle but are going to be mainstream now. With the rise in the frequency and severity of cyber-attacks with the passage of time, security providers should be, as usual, in for business. IOT, still fresh in the minds of most technology pundits and professionals, continues to dominate the landscape. We will see IOT automation will dominate the entire 2018. Connected devices are going to see good adoption this year.

Cloud and virtualization will pick up multiple times. It will be a year of robotics and Drones. AI and ML will influence every business - probably replace many work force and generate new work force.

The market numbers and size will also surpass the prediction.

Of course, some deterrents which are temporary are there. Like demonetization and GST reduce the rate of growth, however soon India would continue to be a robust economy thanks to the fact that basics are fundamentally strong. So be prepared and be informed.

Bose SoundLink Revolve Bluetooth speaker THERE ARE BLUETOOTH SPEAKERS of many hues in the market. However, the sleek Bose SoundLink Revolve Bluetooth speaker stands out from the crowd for its compact size.

Featuring an aluminum construction, the Revolve sports an attractive design taking the shape of a lantern.

I would recommend downloading the free Bose Connect app which makes it easy to connect and automatically switch between Bluetooth devices. From the app you can access all the speaker’s features, keep track of the battery life.

SPECIFICATION: 15.2 CM H X 8.2 CM W X 8.2 CM D, 0.66 KG FINAL WORDING: Engineered to deliver loud and immersive sound, the Revolve has seamless aluminum body that is IPX4 rated and water-resistant.

OVERALL RATING

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SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

contents

Trusted Advisor of Channel Business

2018

JAN VOLUME 11 ISSUE 08

ER COV RY STO

Publisher: Sanjib Mohapatra Editor: Sanjay Mohapatra Associate Editor: Deepak Singh Associate Editor: Chitresh Sehgal Designer: Ajay Arya Assistant Designer: Rahul Arya Web Designer: Vijay Bakshi Technical Writer: Manas Ranjan Satya Sagar Sinha Lead Visualizer: DPR Choudhary MARKETING Marketing Manager: Kajal Sharma Circulation and Printing: Panchanan Bhoi SALES CONTACTS Delhi 6/102, Kaushalya Park, Hauz Khas New Delhi-110016 Phone: 91-11-41055458 / 8587835685 sanjeev@smechannels.com Bangalore #28/1, 3rd Floor, Sri Lakshmi Krupa, Near Shamanna Park, Model House Street, Basavanagudi, Bangalore - 560004 Ph. No. +91 88618 21044 Mumbai Tahmeed Ansari 2, Ground Floor, Park Paradise, Kay-Bees CHS. Ltd.,Opp. Green Park, Oshiwara, Andheri (west), Mumbai - 400 053.

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Industry experts view the top trends and opportunities for 2018 /20 2017 has been a year of ups and downs for the tech industry, with artificial intelligence, blockchain and others making their way to the forefront of technologies to watch and major acquisitions from top tech players including Cisco’s purchase of AppDynamics to cybervillains showing no signs of slowing down.

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IBM Crosses 100,000 - patent Milestone IBM inventors received a record 9,043 patents in 2017, marking the company’s 25th consecutive year of U.S. patent leadership and crossing the 100,000-patent milestone.

The new patents were granted to a diverse group of more than 8,500 IBM researchers, engineers, scientists and designers in 47 different U.S. states and 47 countries.

“For the past 25 years, IBM’s patent leadership has changed the way the world works with advancements critical to the modern era of computing,” said Ginni Rometty, IBM chairman, president and CEO. “Today, nearly half of our patents are pioneering advancements in AI, cloud computing, cybersecurity, blockchain and quantum computing – and all are aimed at

helping our clients create smarter businesses.”

IBM inventors also received 1,200 cybersecurity patents, including one for technology that enables AI systems to turn the table on hackers by baiting them into email exchanges and websites that expend their resources and frustrate their attacks. It could substantially reduce the security risks associated with “phishing” emails and other attacks.

This year’s milestone builds on more than 105,000 U.S. patents granted to IBM from 1993 to 2017.

IBM inventors have received patents for such transformative ideas as secure credit card transactions, guiding the visually-impaired using RFID, the world’s fastest supercomputers and earthquake detectors.

QNAP, Netgate Partner To Improve NAS Network Security QNAP Systems in partnership with Netgate showcased a joint solution by implementing pfSense software on QNAP NAS to create new security and networking deployment at CES 2018.

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SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

“We are pleased to join hands with Netgate to enhance network security. Netgate pfSense provides numerous security options for users to help safeguard their QNAP NAS in a protected network environ-

ment,” said Meiji Chang, General Manager of QNAP. QNAP and Netgate also plan to collaborate on advanced firewall solutions that address the expanded throughput, encryption, and

management flexibility needs of enterprise-class organizations. The availability of advanced Netgate secure networking solutions for QNAP NAS will be announced separately.

SNIPPETS

Scott Belsky Rejoins Adobe To Lead Product And Design Adobe has appointed Scott Belsky as chief product officer and executive vice president, Creative Cloud.

In the new role, Belsky will lead product management and engineering for Adobe Creative Cloud products and services, Adobe Spark and Behance. In addition, he will oversee the Adobe Design team which focuses on experience design across Adobe products. Belsky’s responsibilities will include driving product delivery and longterm innovation strategy.

Synology Rolls out Active Backup for G Suite/Office 365 Synology has announced the launch of Active Backup for G Suite/Office 365, on-premise cloud backup solutions for businesses to ensure the safety of data stored on G Suite/Office 365 drives cost-effectively.

“As a growing number of businesses are relying on cloud collaboration to enhance work efficiency, the security of cloud-based data is becoming highly valued”, said Jia-Yu Liu, Senior Manager of Cloud & Backup Division at Synology Inc. “Active Backup for G Suite and Office 365 are our first two backup solutions that protect off-premise business data, allowing cloud data to be backed up to local Synology NAS devices for the prevention against malicious attacks and accidents as well as the complete control over employee data”.

Thales Agrees to Buy Gemalto in US$ 5.6 Billion Deal French Aerospace and defense group Thales has agreed to buy Dutch cybersecurity provider Gemalto for 4 US$ 5.6 billion, outbidding the fellow French firm Atos to expand in the fast-growing digital security market.

Patrice Caine, Thales’s Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, commented: “The acquisition of Gemalto marks a key milestone in the implementation of Thales’s strategy. Together with Gemalto’s management, we have big ambitions based on a shared vision of the digital transformation of our industries and customers. Our project will be beneficial to innovation and employment, whilst respecting sovereign strategic technologies.

“We have a tremendous respect for Gemalto’s technological achievements, and our two Groups share the same culture and DNA. I would like to personally thank Gemalto’s management and Board of Directors for their unanimous support and I welcome warmly Gemalto’s 15,000 employees to our Group.”

10 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

MY POINT

Multiple analysts state that in the coming couple of years as much as 75% of the applications used by the enterprises will have some form of embedded AI MAKARAND JOSHI –AREA VICE PRESIDENT AND COUNTRY HEAD, INDIA SUBCONTINENT, CITRIX.

Tally Xcelerator enables SMEs to be Competitive Tally Solutions has launched a one-of-a kind program called Tally Xcelerator (TX) to offer consultancy services to small and medium businesses, with an aim to empower SMEs and facilitate their growth.

Under this program, Tally appointed partners called Tally Xcelerators will extend business advisory services playing the role of a coach, mentor and trainer to all of Tally’s partners and small businesses across the country. The program aims to help SMEs realize their trade and investment opportunities and become competitive in both the domestic and global market.

On the occasion, Joyce Ray, India Business Head, Tally Solutions said, “Through the TX program, our aim is to upscale and upskill these businesses which will eventually contribute towards the development of the country’s economy.”

Tech Mahindra Joins Forces with Gao Feng to Set up AI Lab in Shanghai Tech Mahindra has partnered with Gao Feng Advisory Company, a global strategy and management consulting firm with strong roots in China, to set up a Joint Artificial Intelligence (AI) Lab in Shanghai.

The AI lab will work in the areas of futuristic digital technologies including AI Chatbot Services, Smart Process Automation, NLP ( Text Analytics), Image Recognition & Processing, Machine Learning and Predictive Analytics. With this, both the firms aim to deliver unique and comprehensive set of services to their clients in the Greater China region starting from strategy to implementation and enabling clients in their Digital Transformation journey.

The collaboration aims to play a significant role in transforming local Chinese as well as multinational enterprises to move to the next levels of digitalization powered by AI. The lab aims to create unique IPs and Proof of Concepts (PoCs) to address not only industry specific business challenges but also create newer revenue streams for companies, specifically in Automotive, Healthcare, Hightech and Retail segments.

SNIPPETS

Iron Mountain Acquires OEC Records Management Information storage and management services vendor Iron Mountain Incorporated has acquired OEC Records Management, providers of records management, imaging services and offsite storage of media. The move will expand Iron Mountain’s presence and strengthen the company’s leadership position in India. The acquisition will add 16 facilities across 10 locations, and a storage volume of 4 million cubic feet.

Commenting on the acquisition, Hitesh Gupta, Managing Director– Iron Mountain – India said, “OEC is one of the leading providers in India, with a strong reputation for service that dates back to 1929. With this acquisition, Iron Mountain reiterates its commitment to India market and reinforces its leadership position in the country. In response to the growing demand for outsourced records and information management services, we are poised to expand our service footprints to new regional customers while enabling us to serve existing Iron Mountain customers in India.”

NCDEX Selects NetApp for Storage Infrastructure National Commodity & Derivatives Exchange Limited (NCDEX) has announced NetApp as the partner of choice for their data backup and storage needs. NCDEX is a nation-level, technology driven, independently run online commodity exchange.

“In NetApp, we found the right partner who provided a simplified, cost-effective and efficient data management, backup and recovery plan that ensured data restoration and up-to-date information,” said Anand Iyer, Chief Information Officer at NCDEX. Anil Valluri, President, NetApp India & SAARC said, “NCDEX understood the need to become a data-centric organization to drive business value and to enable new customer touchpoints through technology. As a result, they were under tremendous pressure to transform, but were required to accomplish this transformation with limited time, skills, and budget. This is where NetApp was able to come in and provide simplified data management.”

EXECUTIVE MOVEMENT

WORLDWIDE SECURITY SPENDING WILL REACH $96 BILLION IN 2018, UP 8 PERCENT FROM 2017 Worldwide security spend will reach $96.3bn in 2018, an increase of 8% from 2017. Organizations now spend more on security measures as a result of regulations, shifting buyer mind set, awareness or emerging threats and the evolution of digital business strategies.

Worldwide Security Spending by Segment, 2016-2018 (Millions of Current Dollars) SEGMENT

2016

2017

2018

Identity Access Management

3,911

4,279

4,695

Infrastructure Protection

15,156

16,217

17,467

Network Security Equipment

9,789

10,934

11,669

Security Services

48,796

53,065

57,719

Consumer Security Software

4,573

4,637

4,746

Total

82,225

89,133

96,296

Source: Gartner (December 2017)

12 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

Xerox has appointed Raj Kumar Rishi as Regional General Manager and Managing Director of Xerox India. In this role, Rishi will focus on driving growth and achieving the business objectives for Xerox India.

In2IT Technologies has announced the appointment of Parichay Joshi as CEO for its Enterprise Business Services (EBS).

Prior to joining In2IT, Parichay Joshi served as a Global Account Director in SAP where he was managing some of the largest SAP accounts. iValue Co-founder Sriram S has stepped down as CEO. And it’s current Director for BFSI, Krishna Raj Sharma has been appointed as Director and Chief Executive Officer.

Teradata has appointed Souma Das as its Managing Director for India operations.

SNIPPETS

Toshiba Storage Partners Complete Bali Voyage Successfully As part of its Partner Engagement initiatives, Toshiba Electronic Devices & Storage Corporation successfully concluded its flagship Foreign Trip Scheme (FTS) for partners. Under the scheme, Toshiba along with Rashi Peripherals and Balaji Solutions took 89 Storage partners an exotic trip to Bali, Indonesia.

The FTS is a target based scheme from Toshiba, where Storage partners get foreign junket for achieving sales targets. This year, 89 partners from B and C class cities were taken to Bali to felicitate and celebrate their success.

The scheme was based on two major product categories namely: External HDD and Surveillance HDD. The FTS provided a platform to all partners to engage and interact with the senior leadership of Toshiba, Rashi Peripherals and Balaji Solutions.

Dell Launches Fresh Batch of Inspiron Notebooks in India Dell has announced the Indian availability of fresh Inspiron notebook range; Inspiron 13 7000 2 in 1 (7373), Inspiron 15 7000 (7570) and Inspiron 13 5000 (5370).

These striking ultra slim notebooks immaculately sport a thinner and irresistibly lighter build, with seamlessly integrated high performance and are dedicated to offering a high quality of entertainment to users.

With innovative technologies designed to help users get more out of everyday life and meet the needs of today and tomorrow, the new Inspiron thin and light notebooks are equipped with brilliant displays for the best visual experience, high responsiveness with latest processors and graphics, and portability that will draw in envy. These visually brilliant devices are equipped with 8th generation Intel Core processor.

“Dell has been responding to consumer interests on sleek and slicker designs and here we are with our latest Inspiron family! We’ve brought in durability and long–lasting strength in encased anodized aluminum body,” said Alen Joe Jose, Product Marketing Director, Consumer & Small Business, Dell, India said.

InstaSafe Ranks No. 2 on 2017 Best Places to Work List InstaSafe, a leading provider of Cloud based security solutions, has been identified as the second best start-up to work for in India, according to the Workplace Experience Ranking initiated by Culturro, an HR Tech startup in partnership with Businessworld , Indian Angel Network and F6s.

The winners are determined through Culturro’s proprietary methodology and analytics engine to rank companies across the 10 Workplace Experience parameters, viz. Enablement, Organizational Alignment, Communication, Wellbeing, Ownerships, Performance Focus, Growth & Development, Agility, Innovation, and Developing Leaders, and an overall Workplace Experience Index.

On the basis of these parameters, InstaSafe has been presented with this coveted award in the category of small company.

Hitachi Vantara Announces Key Appointments to Management Team Hitachi Vantara has announced new appointments to its global leadership team: Mark Ablett has been named senior vice president of global go-to-market (GTM) strategy and Daniel Chong has been named senior vice president of Asia Pacific (APAC). Both will report to the company’s chief revenue officer, Hans-Peter Klaey.

Ablett previously served as Hitachi Vantara’s senior vice president (SVP) of APAC, where he helped Hitachi Vantara’s APAC theatre to achieve record growth. In his new role, Ablett will be responsible for developing the company’s global GTM strategy, partnering with Hitachi Vantara’s customers to help them successfully navigate and execute complex digital transformation journeys. Prior to joining Hitachi, Ablett held executive positions with Juniper Networks and SpectraLink, among others.

Chong will assume Ablett’s former post as SVP of APAC at Hitachi Vantara. He previously served as the company’s vice president and general manager (GM) of mainland China and Taiwan, where he grew revenue in the region by more than 150%. During Chong’s tenure as GM, the company has been recognized as a “Great Place to Work” in the region for the past five consecutive years. Prior to Hitachi, Chong held senior management positions at Oracle, PeopleSoft, BMC and Informix, etc.

iValue wins ‘ CA Upcoming Partner of the Year’ Award iValue InfoSolutions, has announced that it has won the ‘Upcoming Partner of the year’ award by CA at their Transformers Partner Summit 2017 held recently in Bentota, Sri Lanka. iValue was recognised for distinctive approach in addressing the need of emerging enterprise segment and exemplary reach in tier-2 cities for CA Technologies’ Privilege Access Management and Service Desk Manager (SDM) services.

The Privilege Access Management ensures high level of security, where users can securely access their critical IT resources without gaining a footprint on the network-while monitoring all the activities across the entire IT infrastructure.

The Service Desk Manager provides organizations the capabilities to help streamline support operations for advanced user experience. iValue and its partner ecosystem, empowers enterprises to manage, monitor and streamline operations with these unique offerings by CA Technologies.

“CA offerings relevance to iValue’s portfolio helping its Customers in their Digital transformation journey has enabled in this early recognition and credit goes to our partner eco system for quickly taking advantage at their customer base,” said Subodh Anchan of iValue InfoSolutions.

SME CHANNELS 13 JANUARY 2018

SNIPPETS

Konica Minolta Exhibits Next Generation Digital Printing Solutions at PAMEX Konica Minolta Business Solutions India recently presented its portfolio of its printing businesses, showcasing its industry-leading Bizhub and Accurio Press series at PAMEX 2017 exhibition.

The four-day exhibition served as a key platform for Konica Minolta to demonstrate its next-generation digital printing solutions, tailored for end to end requirements of printing businesses in the country.

The exhibition garnered a slow but encouraging response in the first half and the number of attendees visiting the KM stalls soared significantly in the 2nd half and continued to draw high footfall till the fourth day of the event.

The key spokespersons from the company including, Yoshinori Koide Director Business Strategy & Project Management (Konica Minolta Business India) and Manish Gupta, DGM PP & IP marketing were present at the event.

Ness Appoints David Mahoney Senior VP of Mergers and Acquisitions

Rashi Peripherals Concludes Super Champions Meet in Mumbai With a view to communicating a strong message about its strong presence in the peripherals and accessories business, leading India Value Added Distributor organized a Peripheral and Accessories Super Champions Meet from the 15th to 16th December in Mumbai.

First, of its kind, the event was aimed at educating Super Champions on the market insights into the memory, accessories and peripheral vertical and discuss business avenues in this rapidly growing business segment.

Themed as ‘Super Champions’ the two-day knowledge packed event brought about 75 key Champions from all over India and world-renowned IT accessories and peripheral vendors on a common platform. Leading brands such as Logitech, Google Chromecast, SanDisk, Plantronics, Fitbit, and Belkin showcased their latest solutions and conducted in-depth product training sessions for Super Champions.

During the event, vendors showcased their path-breaking solutions to Super Champions and also explained their product roadmap for FY 2018. Apart from product training, there was also a discussion on topics like on-field support from vendors, partner relations and overall market positioning of the brands.

In his session, Kartik Bakshi, Country Head – Indian Sub-Continent, Belkin International, discussed with Super Champions the opportunities in the Wireless business in India. “The Wireless technology is Belkin’s key focus area in 2018 and many new wireless products are slated for launch in the next fiscal year. We discussed with Super Champions the opportunities in the Wireless business and together how can we tap right markets in India. Overall the event was good but we expect more Champions’ engagement in the upcoming events.”

Rajesh Goenka, Vice President, Sales & Marketing at Rashi Peripherals, highlighted company’s ambitious growth plans in the peripheral and accessories space.

Ness Digital Engineering has appointed David Mahoney to Senior Vice President of Mergers and Acquisitions.

Mahoney, an experienced growth strategist, will support the company’s commitment to providing clients with the advanced, forward-thinking expertise they need to evolve digital platforms that drive revenue and operational efficiency. “As our clients’ business partner, we are focused on being at the forefront of innovation and expanding our expertise to help our clients build competitive advantage using technology,” said Paul Lombardo, Ness Digital Engineering CEO. “David has deep experience in helping companies leverage M&A to drive organic growth via added capabilities, intellectual property, and scale, which in turn, enables us to extend the value we provide to our customers and increase company and shareholder value.”

Tenda Organises Partner Training programme in Delhi Tenda India recently held a partner training program titled as Networking Conclave for its partner in New Delhi. The meet was attended by 30+ Prime Partners across New Delhi Region.

The objective of Tenda’s Partner Training program was to help partners gain insight into Tenda’s hot-selling units as well as to make partners equipped for its new soon to be launch products, Plus to address numerous challenges they face. After a slowdown in IT Market due to some uncalled reasons, Tenda wanted to be certain it makes it partners ready and capable to work unitedly during market’s crucial situation. With a perfect run through of Networking Conclave, Tenda plans to inform its partners that they are soon going to get chance to sell more number of Tenda products in India.

With respect to it, Partners received a chance to sneak peek and test and feel Tenda’s soon to be launch Nova MW6; a true mesh networking router.

14 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

SAP Concur Brings Continued Innovation and Connected Experiences to Customers SAP Concur has unveiled the deeper integration of two powerful brands to provide a truly connected, customer-centric experience that scales with businesses of all sizes. The unified brand will enable SAP Concur and their partner ecosystem to leverage and drive innovation and continue to simplify expense, travel and invoice management for greater visibility and control. “We at Concur believe that digital transformation of an organization should be such that it is easy and intuitive to use and the people using it should be able to reap its benefits. By combining our best- in class solutions and SAP’s expertize, we are now in a much stronger position to provide the superlative expense management products to our customers. ” said Neeraj Dotel, Managing Director, India and SAARC, SAP Concur.

SNIPPETS

Avaya Honours Top Performing Channel Partners, Plans To Strengthen Partner Ecosystem Avaya has successfully concluded its premier channel partner event – Avaya Edge World Tour on 22nd December, 2017 in Mumbai. The event which saw participation from more than 180 channel partners across the country was organized to reward the top performing regional ecosystem partners, training and discuss strategy moving forward.

Avaya Edge World Tour is a premier Avaya event wherein more than 180 channel partners and the top leadership of Avaya get together to discuss the journey, strategy and way forward for

Avaya and give the partners the flexibility to meet their customers’ needs in today’s fast-paced digital marketplace to help them achieve their Digital Transformation goals. It also serves as a platform to provide greater rewards for those partners that deliver exceptional value for Avaya.

During the Tour, company executives explored how Avaya and its industry partners can design enhanced customer experience solutions that go beyond the digital experience, namely through the application of artificial intelligence, analytics, blockchain and the Internet of Things.

DIGEST SYNOLOGY RELEASES THE BETA TO REFORM NETWORK STORAGE Synology has announced the Beta release of three major packages – Drive, Office, and Moments, inviting the Synology community to participate in the development process and the reformation of network storage.

“Synology has been working closely with the industry, hoping to create an intelligent platform for users to securely manage their digital assets”, said Allen Kao, Director of Application Division at Synology Inc. “Drive, Office, and Moments are three additional packages to Synology’s Collaboration Suite, designed to reform the way in which work files and personal photos are normally organized”.

VEEAM AVAILABILITY SUITE 9.5 UPDATE 3 AVAILABLE NOW IN THE MARKET

Kaira Global Enters the Indian IT Distribution Market Kaira Global, a leading IT distribution house in Singapore, today announced its entry into the Indian IT distribution market. With more than 13 years of expertise in IT supply chain, spread across 6 countries, Kaira Global caters to a wide range of end-users from SME, Education and Government agencies, to online and large format retailers.

“Regular availability of stocks across a broad range of consumer and corporate products, efficiency in logistics, and value added services for our channel and retail partners, has given us a unique position in IT supply chains of the countries we operate in. The IT distribution market in India has consolidated and GST implementation has opened up tremendous opportunities for us to scale-up operations. We will start with a focus on retail products, adapting, learning & improvising as we expand our teams as well as our reach,” said Manoj Attal, Director at Kaira Global.

Dell EMC Launches Trail Blazer Program for Partners Dell EMC has announced the launch of Trail Blazer program for focus partners and distributors. The objective of the program is to develop an ecosystem for partners and distributors and will be supported

by Vmware. The program is expected to play a key role in generating consistent and repeatable business model for marketing VxRail. As the only fully integrated, preconfigured, and pre-tested VMware hyperconverged infrastructure appliance family on the market, VxRail dramatically simplifies IT operations while lowering overall capital and operational costs. Combined with Dell EMC PowerEdge server options, VxRail offers highly configurable appliances that meet any use case.

IAMCP India West organizes sessions on Microsoft 365, Azure Data Storage IAMCP India West held a spectacular members-only technology session which included keynote speeches and sessions from Microsoft Partner Technology Strategist Nilesh Yawalkar, IAMCP India West Vice-President Chetan Shahand IAMCP Jt Secretory Neeraj Gargi along with IAMCP WIT India President Nazmeen Ansari.

IAMCP is a strong collective voice for Microsoft partners and has been contributing to the IT community by providing industry’s best ways of developing partner-to-partner business opportunities and knowledge sharing sessions. IAMCP conducts monthly exclusive conferences, updating its members on new Microsoft technologies and proffering solutions to technological issues.

The new Veeam Availability Suite (VAS) 9.5 Update 3 (U3), to extend comprehensive data management and ensure Availability for ALL workloads—virtual, physical, and cloud—centrally managed via a single Veeam “pane of glass” is available now in the market. With this release, enterprises can now replace legacy backup offerings, which have hindered business transformation for so long, and ensure Availability across their enterprise with a single, consistent platform. As Veeam unveils the industry’s most comprehensive data protection and availability solution, they prove yet again that they are the clear market leader.

NEW FUNCTIONALITY ADDED ON GST PORTAL A new functionality has been introduced on the GST portal to allow the taxpayers to see the status of their filed and submitted returns.

“All users logging on the GST portal can now see the status of their returns filed for all the returns like GSTR-1 or GSTR-3B at one place,” said Prakash Kumar, CEO, Goods & Services Tax Network (GSTN).

Taxpayers has been provided with the functionality to claim refund of Exports of services with payment of Tax , ITC accumulated due to inverted tax structure and On account of supplies made to SEZ unit/ SEZ Developer (with and without payment of tax. Further a functionality of Pre-login tracking of refund status with ARN has also been provided to taxpayers.

TOSHIBA LAUNCHES WORLD’S FIRST 14TB CONVENTIONAL HARD DRIVE Toshiba has announced the launch of the MG07ACA Series, the world’s first enterprise 14TB Conventional Magnetic Recording (CMR) HDD. Using a 9-disk, helium-sealed design, the new MG07ACA Series provides the powerefficient capacity and storage density needed by cloud-scale and enterprise storage solution providers to achieve their TCO objectives.

The drives support a SATA 6Gbit/s interface and 7,200rpm access performance. The 9-disk 14TB models achieve a 40% increase in maximum capacity over previous MG06ACA 10TB models.

Additionally, the 14TB models improve power efficiency by over 50% (W/GB).

SME CHANNELS 15 JANUARY 2018

SNIPPETS

Polycom to Acquire Obihai Polycom has announced the signing of a merger agreement to acquire Obihai Technology, a San Jose-based innovator in VoIP audio solutions.

The deal is expected to close early in first quarter of this year.

Obihai Technology develops software and hardware for VoIP endpoints. The strategic addition of their best-in-class software and talented development team allows Polycom to compete more effectively in the global voice market and broadens Polycom’s portfolio to include complementary technologies for the service providers and customers of all sizes.

The pending agreement demonstrates Polycom’s focus on expanding the availability of high-quality Polycom desktop phones to a broader range of customers and partners.

The planned move also underscores Polycom’s commitment to the global network of service

McAfee Augments Cloud Security with Skyhigh Networks Buy Cybersecurity vendor McAfee has completed its acquisition of cloud security company Skyhigh Networks. With the close of this deal, Skyhigh Networks becomes part of the McAfee Cloud Security Business Unit.

With the cloud access security broker (CASB) technology, pioneered by Skyhigh Networks, McAfee is now in a position to offer a cloud portfolio that addresses the three primary challenges of managing multi-cloud environments — visibility into networks, workloads and data, advanced threat protection; and pervasive data protection.

“Today’s announcement marks a new milestone for the future of our company,” said Chris Young, chief executive officer, McAfee.

“With two industry leaders coming together under one company, we will make cybersecurity an enabler to the transformative power of our digital age. We are focused on securing customers from their devices to the cloud, giving customers access to market-leading capabilities in the architectural control points that matter most.”

D-Link Unveils DAP-1325, a N300 Wi-Fi Range Extender D-Link, the leader in end-to-end networking announced the launch of DAP-1325, an N300 Wi-Fi Range Extender. DAP-1325 is a portable plug-in repeater that lets one extend an existing wireless network. Place it anywhere in the home to extend the range of wireless network. Supporting Wireless N, N300 Wi-Fi Range Extender gives connection speeds of up to 300 Mbps, while still compatible with existing wireless devices.

Setting up the N300 Wi-Fi Range Extender is an easy 3 step process. The QRS Mobile app on an iPhone, iPad, or iPod touch, or Android mobile device can be used to set up the DAP-1325 without needing a computer. Once the app is downloaded, connect to the default Wi-Fi network of DAP-1325 with the SSID and password mentioned on the device and then get started. Follow simple instructions on the app, and extend your Wi-Fi within a matter of few seconds.

Barracuda buys phishing simulation company PhishLine Barracuda Networks, has acquired PhishLine, a leading SaaS platform for social engineering simulation and training. Combining Barracuda’s AI-driven protection against phishing and spear phishing with PhishLine’s platform gives customers comprehensive defense against email-borne targeted attacks and social engineering.

Email remains the most targeted threat vector and one that requires both security technology and the human layer of defense. PhishLine offers data analytics and reporting to allow customers to measure and report on risks at macro and micro levels across the human and process layers. With this transaction, Barracuda combines gateway security, data protection, AI-based targeted threat protection, and user awareness training to deliver comprehensive protection against email-borne threats.

“Security awareness training is an important and quickly evolving area, particularly with increasingly targeted attacks making the human element a critical link in the security value chain,” said BJ Jenkins, president and CEO at Barracuda. “PhishLine has a culture of developing innovative email protection solutions, including social engineering and data analysis offerings. Combining the power of the Barracuda security technologies with PhishLine’s capabilities gives us the opportunity to deliver integrated, adaptive security training aimed at preventing email security threats.”

16 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

In2IT Technologies conferred ‘Bhubaneswar Best Employer Brand Award 2017 In2IT Technologies, the leading IT consulting and services company has been awarded the Bhubaneswar Best Employer Brand Awards 2017

by World HRD Congress. The award ceremony took place at Sandys Tower Hotel & Conventions, Bhubaneswar.

The Bhubaneswar Best Employer Brand Awards 2017 features the top organizations from Odisha, who are exemplary in HR Practice and use marketing communications effectively for Human Resources Development. Some of the key criteria of assessment were translating and combining vision with action with HR Strategy, Building line to mesh HR Strategy with Business, and cultivating competencies for the future to enable building the organization to be future-ready.

As part of its HR initiatives, In2IT Technologies has been promoting workplace flexibility culture within the organization which offers employees a variety of working arrangements including flexible working locations and hours.

In the past also, In2IT Technologies had created several initiatives including programs specifically designed for work-life balance, developing entrepreneurship abilities and leadership qualities among employees.

SNIPPETS

CtrlS addresses BFSI Infra needs Banking Community Cloud Solution CtrlS has successfully launched World’s 1st Tier-4 Banking Community Cloud to address the needs of banking community globally. Banks today are challenged by issues arising out of technology obsolescence and re-investment of costs again and again, complexities arising out of regulatory needs, business continuity, and security needs. Over a period of time, IT infrastructure has become extremely complex, and even large organizations have challenges in addressing all these needs.

CtrlS Banking Community Cloud (Bank-ina-Box Solution) – World’s 1st Tier-4 Banking Community Cloud is a reliable, on-demand self-service with rapid elasticity and measured services enable Banks to optimize costs whilst maintaining desired levels of security, compliance management and efficiencies. This unique Next Generation “Bank in a Box” service with enhanced functionality is specifically tailored to meet the burgeoning digital needs of the financial industry with strong underlying IT Governance to ensure effective and efficient usage of banking information technology infrastructure.

Konica Minolta Showcases Digital Printing Solutions at CEIF Konica Minolta Business Solutions has recently showcased its industry-leading digital printing solutions including Accurio C6100, Bizhub Press C71HC and MGI JetVarnish JV3DS with iFoilS at CEIF 2018 at Bombay Exhibition Centre Goregoan Mumbai from 9th-12th January 2018.

The four-day event is organized by All India Photographic Trade and Industry Association to showcase products which are relevant to the photographic trade & industry.

The Accurio Press Series C6100 is an extensive and fully modular line of digital printing technologies & solutions, digital press suites, software and cloud based tool for integrating, managing and executing a seamless production colour workflow. The Accurio Press series supports business growth by expanding its printing services, automating efficiency, raising output quality and lowering costs.

The machine also furnishes support for paper sizes of minimum 100 mm × 139.7 mm and upto a maximum size of 330.2 mm × 487.7 mm (with optional banner kit: max. 1,300 mm long) and sports impressive printing speeds of upto 100 ppm and 85 ppm for A4 sized sheets on all medias upto 400 GSM. The bizhub Press C71HC boasts of a unique High Chroma toner technology which furnishes magnificent colour reproduction. The colours produced by the machine are also printed virtually as reflected on the monitor display. It is also the most widely used machine in India for the Wedding Photo Book Printing.

With a print speed of 71 colour pages per minute, the solution empowers printing businesses to gain a competitive advantage of meeting high printing job requirements in a short turnaround time. Sporting a resolution of 1,200 x 1,200 dpi x 8 bit full colour resolution coupled with a High Chroma polymerized toner along with unmatched finishing versatility, the bizhub Press C71 HC is an ideal solution for booklet making, perfect binding, multi (GBC) punching.

“We hereby take this opportunity to thank the Photo Industry in India to embrace the Konica Minolta technology for the Photo Printing Applications. Our trendsetting solutions like the bizhub Press C71HC are a testament to the commitment of our proficient and dedicated workforce to disrupt the Indian printing industry with rapid innovation”, says Yoshinori Koide– Director, Business Strategy & Project Management.

Businesses to have direct access to IBM Cloud via BT Network BT has announced the launch of a new service to provide global businesses with direct access to IBM Cloud via the BT network. BT Cloud Connect Direct for IBM offers businesses the benefits of highly predictable, security-rich and reliable network performance when building and deploying critical business applications and data on the IBM Cloud.

With Cloud Connect Direct for IBM, BT customers receive a dedicated, highperformance connection to the IBM Cloud so they can access services, including compute, network and storage infrastructure as well as an extensive catalogue spanning AI, Blockchain, Internet of Things (IoT), data and analytics capabilities. Direct cloud connectivity helps businesses achieve better performance, security and availability compared to connecting over the open internet.

Cloud Connect Direct for IBM is being delivered into IBM Cloud data centers in the UK via IBM Cloud Direct Link, a network service designed to secure and accelerate data transfer between private infrastructure and the public cloud. This will be followed in the coming months with direct connectivity into IBM Cloud data centers in mainland Europe, the US, Australia and Asia, optimizing performance and compliance for customers in those regions. Cloud Connect Direct for IBM will be managed and supported from a single BT-managed service desk, providing proactive management and quality of service.

Hitachi Vantara recognized Based on its recent analysis of the media and entertainment (M&E) storage market, Frost & Sullivan recognizes Hitachi Vantara (Hitachi) with the 2017 Global Customer Value Leadership Award for its ability to assess customers’ underlying goals and requirements accurately and provide blended data storage and business application system solutions that meet those needs.

“Media and entertainment organizations are dealing with an explosion of content and consequently facing a storage-needs crisis,” said Frost & Sullivan’s Research Analyst, Melody Siefken. “With a heritage of industrial innovation and a wealth of information technology infrastructure experience, Hitachi Vantara seeks to uncover the underlying goals and necessities an organization faces in devising a data storage strategy.

Approaching the issue with the purpose of providing long-term and lasting value, Hitachi Vantara ‘co-creates’ with customers’ solutions that blend storage and business application systems for efficiency.”

SME CHANNELS 17 JANUARY 2018

GUEST ARTICLE

DATA SECURITY IN THE CLOUD The growing adoption of cloud solutions brings with it the inherent factor of exposure to the security breaches. Here are why the organizations need to be cognizant that the liability not only lies with the provider but the users too.

RAHUL KUMAR, Country Manager & Director of India Business Operations at WinMagic India Pvt Ltd.

PROFILE Rahul’s responsibilities include defining and executing the business strategy for the Indian subcontinent for WinMagic.

His focus is on creating and growing the India business by helping customers solve the business pains that they have in today’s market scenario and by creating a robust channel ecosystem where the channel players would add increasing value to their customers. He is a technology enthusiast and has a keen business acumen which helps him tremendously in his role.

It has not yet reached epic proportions, but the number of organizations adopting cloud-based technologies is growing dramatically. Organizations of all sizes across industries are turning towards cloud-based infrastructure and cloud computing for better scalability, accessibility and a collaborative work environment. However, after moving to the cloud, many organizations mistakenly assume that it is the role of the cloud service provider (CSP) to secure data and ensure compliance.

Even though the CSP may provide services for protecting data, organizations must understand the fact that virtual environments are not always fully secure and that they—organizations—too have a role in protecting the security and privacy of their data. Remember, the liability to notify those affected and remediate damages is on you should your company suffer a data breach!

Knowing the levels of responsibility does matter When it comes to choosing between cloud infrastructure and cloud computing, companies must make the decision backed by a plan to implement the right security solution. The solution should effectively address issues such as securing data, managing risk related to unauthorized access, and meeting compliance and regulatory requirements.

Remember, the cloud is subject to the same threats as a data center. Whether cloud or on-premise, organizations have to deal with human error, malicious breaches from internal and external sources, as well as system glitches. The massive amounts of data located on shared cloud servers always entice criminals. Things get a lot more complicated when a multitude of mobile devices are used in organizations.

With increased sophistication of threats, cloud security is becoming even more dynamic as it evolves. Organizations continue to be responsible for security, privacy and compliance even when under different cloud service models. The need for consistent policies, password rules and specialized data encryption methods has never been greater.

18 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

Boththe organization and the CSPhave roles that vary in scope, but then both also have different levels of responsibility that encompass the entire gamut of operations—from data classification, endpoint protection, identity and access management, application and network level controls, to host and physical security.

There are clear boundaries defined and responsibilities identified for organizations and CSPs. For instance, in both on-premise and cloud models, the organization is responsible for ensuring that the data is classified and encrypted in compliance with the regulatory obligations. In the case of endpoint devices, CSPs may facilitate the management of these devices by providing secure device management, mobile application management, and PC management capabilities; however, the responsibility of implementing the security solution again lies with the customer organization.

Who is responsible for a breach?

There is no question about who is responsible when a breach occurs. For businesses, the vital consideration in securing the infrastructure and data relates to where the CSP’s responsibility ends and the organization’s begins so that a breach does not occur in the first place. This means that while the provider is responsible for protecting the hardware, software, physical facilities and other aspects involved with running the cloud services provided, businesses maintain control over a number of key security measures.

Some key security measures for businesses include: l Network configuration and security (such as firewalls) l Data Security (including encryption) l The use of third-party security tools such as encryption key management software

To read the complete article, log on to www.smechannels.com

PARTNER CORNER

WILL SANJIV KRISHEN’ 2ND INNINGS BE AS EXCITING AS BEFORE Iris Computers, under its original master, would now be more focused on the value-added services including cloud computing, mobility, etc. At the same time the company would work in the new areas of Solar products - including Solar Panels, Solar Tube wells, Solar Pumps, etc.

SANJIV KRISHEN, CHAIRMAN, IRIS COMPUTERS

BY SANJAY MOHAPATRA sanjay@smechannels.com

O

nce sold to Dragon Singapore through Inflexionpoint in 2013, Iris Computers is now back to its feet as an independent company with 100% controlling stake with Sanjiv Krishen and his partners.

Aptly called the second inning of Sanjiv Krishen with Iris Computers, he is likely to take different routes now because the market is not the same after 4-5 years. There is a huge implication of Cloud Computing for everyone. Companies like AWS, Google, IBM and Microsoft Azure are changing the game of IT. So, in this situation, how far Iris would go with the legacy ideas. However, Sanjiv, as the master of the ship, has his own mantra of taking it for a smooth sailing.

“We are changing the flavor of distribution. We are diversifying into an area which would give us a better margin as “diversification is the name of the game now”. So, we are doing three - four new things”, said, Sanjiv Krishen, Chairman Iris Computers. “One, we are offering equipment on rent – meaning if someone has machine requirement and he does not want to pay upfront, he can now take it on rent. Second, we are entering into solar systems - including solar panels, solar tube wells and solar pumps. Third, we are getting into offering cloud services. Fourth is mobility. It means we would not only sell tablets but also the solutions that goes in it required for any organization.”

Justifying the statement, Sanjiv elaborated that there is an education institute called Narayana which offers preparatory course for medical and

engineering and they have special curriculum for each vertical of studies. Iris Computers has supplied tablets to this institute with customized applications for each of the students built into it.

So, it is more than selling a box which allows more margin for the distie and its partners.

Renault, the car manufacturer, has also taken tablets loaded with customized content. For Uber cab too, Iris has supplied 3000 tablets (Iris Tablets) along with Taxi Craft.

In order to supply to the large projects, the company needs in house service support which the company has already acquired over the period.

In the projects where Iris branded products are involved, the company offers replacement warranty otherwise for third party products including Samsung or Lenovo, the parent company offers service support.

Another important diversification what Iris is doing is offering solar tube wells. In the newly created state of Andhra Pradesh, Iris Computers has supplied Rs.3 crore worth 100 solar powered tube wells out of 4600 tendered number. The company executes the entire project end to end. Good news is that the company has again bagged an order of 150 solar tube wells from the same state. Besides, the company has also purchased 60% stake of iValue, the Bangalore based national VAD. So, the sense is that Iris Computers in its second innings would keep some of its old flavors including traditional distribution and renting business, it would now focus more on the value-added services. Apart from the aforesaid projects, the

company has bagged orders from some of the large projects. For example, the company has bagged large orders from the IT department of government of Jharkhand and Kendriya Vidayalaya Sangathan.

When Jharkhand government has placed an order worth of Rs.60 crore Tablets with Iris Computers’ through partners, Kendriya Vidayalaya Sangathan has placed an order worth Rs.38 crore desktops with education software inbuilt. Logistically the company has delivered 8000 desktops in 320 schools across the country.

As per Sanjiv, with his efforts and bank credit limit of Rs.100 crore, Iris Computer would be able to touch a turnover of Rs.1000+ crore next financial year.

From a pureplay distribution point of view, Iris Computers is carrying all its existing brands relationships except Lenovo. At the same time, it has added Microsoft Azure, EnGenius and Meonix to address cloud computing, wireless and call centre PBX market. The company would also pursue traditional strategy of incentivisation and events to engage and motivate the partners and the customers.

Finally…

Sanjiv concludes, “Iris Computers would now be called a Value-Added Distributor for Modernising India.” This is certainly possible as Sanjiv now has all his trusted aides back into action - including Kamini Talwar, Som Arya, Sameer Chaudhary and Himanshu Chawla.

SME CHANNELS 19 JANUARY 2018

COVER STORY

INDUSTRY EXPERTS VIEW THE

TOP TRENDS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR 2018

2017 has been a year of ups and downs for the tech industry, with artificial intelligence, blockchain and others making their way to the forefront of technologies to watch and major acquisitions from top tech players including Cisco’s purchase of AppDynamics to cybervillains showing no signs of slowing down.

To arrive at 2018’s top technology trends, SME Channels talked to some of the analysts, and backed up their predictions by speaking with value-added resellers. We also contacted vendors and others serving the channel community.

BY DEEPAK SINGH

deepak@smechannels.com

CLOUD COMPUTING Cloud Computing has come a long way from being a technological craze.

Today deploying cloud technology to drive business innovation and reduce cost is already a mainstream tactic. In the coming years, to stay ahead of the competition, visionary organizations recognize that they can exploit cloud as a technology convergence platform for more advanced strategic reinvention. Cloud solutions melded with disruptive and emerging technologies – like blockchain, artificial intelligence (AI), the Internet of Things (IoT), big data and predictive analytics – can revolutionize businesses and industries.

20 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

VIKAS ARORA, COUNTRY MANAGER, CLOUD BUSINESS, IBM INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA

“WE FORESEE CLIENTS ACROSS BFSI, PHARMA, HEALTHCARE, TELECOM, GOVERNMENT, MANUFACTURING, E-COMMERCE, RETAIL ETC LOOKING AT A MULTI-CLOUD STRATEGY WITH A LARGER EMPHASIS TO CO-INNOVATE WITH THE ECOSYSTEM OF STARTUPS, PARTNERS AND DEVELOPERS. IN A NUTSHELL, WE FORESEE TECHNOLOGIES LIKE MULTI-CLOUD AND CLOUD CONTAINERIZATION HELPING SHAPE THE CLOUD MARKET IN THE COMING YEAR.”

COVER STORY

ANAND EKAMBARAM, COUNTRY MANAGER, TABLEAU INDIA

“AS ENTERPRISES GROW INCREASINGLY WARY ABOUT BEING TIED TO A SINGLE LEGACY SOLUTION, EVALUATING AND IMPLEMENTING A MULTI-CLOUD ENVIRONMENT CAN DETERMINE WHO PROVIDES THE BEST PERFORMANCE AND SUPPORT FOR EACH SITUATION. “HOWEVER, WHILE FLEXIBILITY IS A PLUS, THIS APPROACH INCREASES OVERHEAD COST BY SPLITTING WORKLOADS ACROSS PROVIDERS AND FORCING INTERNAL DEVELOPERS TO LEARN MULTIPLE PLATFORMS.”

SHASHANK DIXIT, CEO, DESKERA.

“2018 LIKE 2017 CONTINUES TO BE THE YEAR OF CLOUD COMPUTING. A GROWING NUMBER OF SMES IN INDIA ARE NOW WANTING TO CATER TO NOT JUST INDIAN BUT GLOBAL MARKETS. TO COMPETE WITH THE WORLD, AND THAT TOO IN REALTIME WITH SPEED AND EFFICACY, THEY NEED TO HAVE ACCESS TO SOPHISTICATED TECHNOLOGIES; ALL THIS WITHOUT HAVING TO INVEST IN SETTING UP A HUGE IT INFRASTRUCTURE. ”

ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WILL CREATE REVENUES AND JOB PROFILES

In 2017, we have seen massive DDoS attacks using hundreds of thousands of compromised IoT devices in people’s homes and workplaces to generate traffic. This is not expected to change with cyber criminals looking to exploit the poor security settings and management of home IoT devices. Furthermore, the inputs and sensors of these devices will also be hijacked, with attackers feeding audio, visual or other faked inputs to make these devices do what they want rather than what users expect them to do.

SUBRAMANIAN ANANTHAPADMANABHAN, VICE PRESIDENT, ENTERPRISE BUSINESS, SAP INDIAN SUBCONTINENT.

“AI IS POISED TO MERGE WITH CORE SOFTWARE SYSTEMS OF IT INFRASTRUCTURE OF LARGE ENTERPRISES, IN THE NEAR TERM. OWING TO ENHANCEMENTS IN PROCESSING POWER, MEMORY, STORAGE, AND DATA TOOLS, AI WILL GET MORE MAINSTREAM AND WILL BECOME A KEY COMPONENT IN THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION JOURNEY OF THESE ENTERPRISES. GARTNER FORECASTS THAT AI WILL LEAD TO $200 BILLION IN NEW REVENUE AND 768,000 NEW POSITIONS IN 2018 ALONE. THIS IS CAPABLE OF HAVING A CONSIDERABLE IMPACT ON LARGE BUSINESSES AND AS WELL FOR THE NATION,”

MAHESH LALWANI, VP, HEAD OF DATA & COGNITIVE ANALYTICS AT MPHASIS.

“THE BIG HYPE FOR 2018 WILL CONTINUE TO BE AROUND ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI) WHICH IS DEFINITELY A CONTENDER FOR THE TOP TECH BUZZWORD OF THE YEAR, AND FOR GOOD REASON. ADOPTION AND INNOVATION IN THIS SPACE IS NOT GOING TO SLOW DOWN ANYTIME SOON. “MORE ORGANIZATIONS ARE USING ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE TO HELP CUSTOMER FIND ANSWERS TO THEIR PRODUCT, BILLING OR TECHNICAL QUESTION,” SME CHANNELS 21 JANUARY 2018

COVER STORY

KT PRASAD, COUNTRY SALES DIRECTOR, ZENDESK INDIA.

“WE ARE ALREADY WITNESSING AN UPWARD TREND IN THE NUMBER OF COMPANIES EMBRACING AI TO ENHANCE THE CUSTOMER EXPERIENCE, AND THIS IS NO DOUBT A SIGN OF WHAT WILL BECOME THE NEW BUSINESS STANDARD IN THE NOT TOO DISTANT FUTURE. WHAT IS FUELING THIS EVOLUTION IS THE VAST AMOUNTS OF DATA THAT ARE BEING GENERATED EACH DAY, WHICH IS THEN BEING CONVERTED INTO MEANINGFUL INSIGHTS THAT CAN BE APPLIED TO MAKE SWIFT AND IMPACTFUL BUSINESS DECISIONS.“

IOT RISKS ARE HERE TO STAY In 2017, we have seen massive DDoS attacks using hundreds of thousands of compromised IoT devices in people’s homes and workplaces to generate traffic. This is not expected to change with cyber criminals looking to exploit the poor security settings and management of home IoT devices. Furthermore, the inputs and sensors of these devices will also be hijacked, with attackers feeding audio, visual or other faked inputs to make these devices do what they want rather than what users expect them to do.

BHASKAR AGASTYA, COUNTRY MANAGER- IXIA, INDIA

“AS THE RELIANCE ON THE IOT GROWS, SO WILL THE STRAIN AND ULTIMATELY THE POTENTIAL DANGER ASSOCIATED WITH HUNDREDS OR EVEN THOUSANDS OF CONNECTED DEVICES HAVING THE POTENTIAL TO BE COMPROMISED AND TURNED INTO BOTS. THESE GROWING RISKS, AND A GENERAL LACK OF WI-FI PROTECTION WILL CREATE A CONSTANT STREAM OF VULNERABILITIES, WHICH ARE MORE LIKELY TO BE REPURPOSED.”

BLOCKCHAIN NEERAJ ATHALYE, HEAD – S/4HANA | GST ADOPTION | LEONARDO, SAP INDIAN SUBCONTINENT.

“WHILE BLOCKCHAIN HAS COME INTO EXISTENCE ONLY RECENTLY, IT HAS THE MOST POTENTIAL FOR ENTERPRISES CURRENTLY FROM AMONG ALL OTHER NEW-AGE TECHNOLOGIES. BLOCKCHAIN LEDGERS WILL SOON INCLUDE LAND TITLES, LOANS, IDENTITIES, LOGISTICS MANIFESTS – ALMOST ANYTHING OF VALUE. THE TECHNOLOGY IS STILL NEW, BUT THE IMPACT IT CAN HAVE ON BUSINESS IS EXCITING, AND IMMENSE” 22 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

MOHUA SENGUPTA, EVP & GLOBAL HEAD OF SERVICES, 3I INFOTECH LTD.

“BLOCKCHAIN IS HERE AND IT’S HERE TO STAY. WE NEED TO COLLABORATE TOCAPITALIZE ON THE POTENTIAL ADVANTAGES OF BLOCKCHAIN FULLY, “

COVER STORY

KAMOLIKA PERES, VICE PRESIDENT, STRATEGIC CUSTOMERS PROGRAM, SAP INDIA.

“THE INDIAN IT INDUSTRY IS IN A PHASE OF CONTINUOUS DISRUPTION THANKS TO TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS DATA ANALYTICS, IOT, ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE, BLOCKCHAIN AND OTHERS. DRIVING THIS GROWTH ARE LARGE ENTERPRISES THAT HAVE RECOGNIZED THE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE BY ADOPTION OF THESE NEXT GENERATION TECHNOLOGIES,” In a recent study commissioned by SAP called the ‘Digital Transformation Executive Study’, we discovered that the top 100 companies in the world are starkly different from others in their technology investment priorities and progress. For one thing, they are already investing in what many other companies still think of as next-generation technologies. In fact we found that 94% of the top 100 leaders have already invested in big data analytics, compared to only 60% of others. This number can be expected to increase significantly in 2018. The leaders are not merely picking technology winners. They are also picking a winning strategy for prioritizing and investing in technology, the effectiveness of which will be seen starting next year.”

SUBRAMANIAN ANANTHAPADMANABHAN, VICE PRESIDENT, ENTERPRISE BUSINESS, SAP INDIAN SUBCONTINENT

“AI IS POISED TO MERGE WITH CORE SOFTWARE SYSTEMS OF IT INFRASTRUCTURE OF LARGE ENTERPRISES, IN THE NEAR TERM. OWING TO ENHANCEMENTS IN PROCESSING POWER, MEMORY, STORAGE, AND DATA TOOLS, AI WILL GET MORE MAINSTREAM AND WILL BECOME A KEY COMPONENT IN THE DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION JOURNEY OF THESE ENTERPRISES. GARTNER FORECASTS THAT AI WILL LEAD TO $200 BILLION IN NEW REVENUE AND 768,000 NEW POSITIONS IN 2018 ALONE. “

SECURITY There is also a growing criminal element looking to exploit these new technologies. The proliferation of online devices accessing personal and financial information, and the growing connection and interconnection of everything – from armies of IoT devices and critical infrastructure in cars, homes, and offices, to the rise of smart cities – have created new disruptive opportunities for cybercriminals.

Trend Micro has warned that ransomware will continue to be the leading cybersecurity threat in 2018, following a sharp rise in ransom malware last year.

STORAGE Data or information is never going to happen.

The amount of data being generated, processed, stored and retain will continue to increase. The demand for storage will intensify in 2018, continuing the trend in recent years of exponential growth. SMBs are generating large amount of data in day-to-day operations and realizing that storage in not a dead end activity.

“WE FORESEE THAT THE RANSOMWARE BUSINESS MODEL WILL STILL BE A CYBERCRIME MAINSTAY IN 2018, WHILE OTHER FORMS OF DIGITAL EXTORTION WILL GAIN MORE GROUND. THE RANSOMWARE ATTACKS WILL MANIFEST ITSELF IN A MORE ‘SPECIALIZED’ AND ‘TARGETED MANNER’, UNLIKE THE EARLIER APPROACH. WITH RESPECT TO INDIA, IN 2018 WE WILL EXPERIENCE MORE NUMBER OF ATTACKS TARGETED AT THE ATMS, ESPECIALLY MALWARE ATTACKS. WE ALSO EXPECT TO SEE A RISE IN SECURITY INCIDENTS ACROSS PUBLIC CLOUD PLATFORMS,” NILESH JAIN, COUNTRY MANAGER, INDIA & SAARC, TREND MICRO.

Due to the increasing adoption of connected devices and personal mobiles being used for access to business applications, IoT, Connected devices and mobile devices will increasingly become an attack vector for cybercriminals.

SME CHANNELS 23 JANUARY 2018

SECURITY CORNER

SURVEILLANCE SECTOR TO ENABLE MAJOR GROWTH FOR WD BUSINESS IN INDIA As demand for higher resolution camera is increasing thanks to the changing compliance mandated for surveillance data analytics, Video surveillance storage is well on the way to evolve to a scenario where sophisticated technology are being used to analyze and retrieve data on real-time. In this scenario, HDD vendor like Western Digital finds the places most suitable to be in and leading the technology changes needed for the market.

BY SANJAY MOHAPATRA

sanjay@smechannels.com

T

oday, IP based surveillance system has come to the forefront of conscious attention. It has the potential of providing real-time intelligence to the remote control rooms. As demand for higher resolution camera is increasing thanks to the changing compliance mandates for surveillance data, Video surveillance storage is well on the way to evolve to a scenario where sophisticated technologies are being used to analyze and retrieve data real-time.

The adoption of video surveillance systems is creating positive impact on the growth of the video surveillance storage market in India.

Last month Western Digital demonstrated what it called the world’s first MAMR, or microwaveassisted magnetic recording, hard drives. The technology will completely revolutionize the way hard drives function. The breakthrough technology, Khwaja Saifuddin, Senior Sales Director, Middle East, Africa and India, Western Digital forecast, will take the hard drive spinning to 40 terabytes by 2020.

The MAMR technology will pave the way to higher recording densities and lower the cost per terabyte of hard disk drives for not just video surveillance systems and consumer NAS products but also for enterprise data centres.

The surveillance storage market in India The surveillance storage market in India is grow-

24 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

ing between 13 to 15% CAGR. The biggest drivers are the migration of the existing customers to the IP bases surveillance.

Apart from that, the rising infrastructure, government regulations mandating all public places to have a 360-degree surveillance as increasing terrorism and criminal activities are the biggest factors that have spurred the market for video surveillance in India.

The affordability of IP-based camera solutions and the advent of mass connectivity have propelled the growth of video surveillance market.

The growth of mass surveillance however, throws up a number of challenges. “The biggest challenge which we see is the unorganized market.

With the implementation of GST we were very optimistic, that at least now the unorganized segment will go out of the market and only the organised people will remain, which has not happened,” says Saifuddin.

Setting the standards in Place Saifuddin underscores the importance of putting standards in place. There is an urgent need to set the video surveillance standards in place to ensure high quality and sustainability. “The biggest concern I want to raise is the lack of standards on the duration, coverage area and the quality of surveillance recording. When we have the global technologies and experiences available, the brands are ready to share their whitepapers that they have

worked on globally then what is stopping the government to put standards when it comes to security and surveillance,” says Saifuddin.

According to Saifuddin, “Currently we are lacking standards on both the duration, coverage area and the quality of surveillance recording. CCTV surveillance is being implemented without keeping in mind any minimum standards. Globally, these are the basics of any investment in CCTV as this not only ensures the return on investment but it also the future scalability and stability of data.”

Data deluge Data is the lifeblood of an organization. The growing adoption of IoT and digital transformation has resulted in the production of data on a huge scale.

As the governments implement regulations that require minimum retention times, the data will only increase.

“Today of the total data which is being creating globally, we are using only half a percent, the other 99 and half percent of data yet to be used. As the exponential rise in data is a truism, faster and cost effective storage solutions are also in demand,” says Saifuddin.

Businesses can turn data into useful information to make better business decisions. The exponential rise of data has the potential to challenge the existing storage dynamic.

Since businesses and organizations will want to capitalise on the efficacy of surveillance to

SECURITY CORNER

KHWAJA SAIFUDDIN, SENIOR SALES DIRECTOR, MIDDLE EAST, AFRICA AND INDIA, WESTERN DIGITAL

“THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE WHICH WE SEE IS THE UNORGANIZED MARKET. WITH THE IMPLEMENTATION OF GST WE WERE VERY OPTIMISTIC, THAT AT LEAST NOW THE UNORGANIZED SEGMENT WILL GO OUT OF THE MARKET AND ONLY THE ORGANISED PEOPLE WILL REMAIN, WHICH HAS NOT HAPPENED.”

increase productivity and analyse data that is being created over longer periods of time, there is a need for drives that can withstand the 24×7 data writing involved with capturing multiple streams of high definition video. This will result in the growth of a company’s ROI. Today surveillance HDD line-up offers the reliability, capacity, robust, scalability and performance needed for today’s 24 x 7 surveillance environments.

Surveillance is a huge market for HDDs and India is going to be a key player due to Smart City initiative. With high-resolution video cameras being used for surveillance in the smart city projects, the storage systems will have to be upgraded in terms of storage capacity.

Channel Challenges Western Digital has launched the My WD surveillance installer program that aims to offer training, sales support, value added benefits and incentives to the security and surveillance channel providers. “The main emphasis is on industry-relevant education, that they should know how many terabytes to get for that many days of recording, how to install the hard drive, how to configure a DVR, how to configure a mobile app, those things which we train and certify them. We also help them time to time about the changes which will happen in the technology,” said Khwaja Saifuddin, senior sales director, Middle East, Africa and India, Western Digital.

According to the vendor, the programme is designed to offer a comprehensive lineup of benefits for the security and surveillance channel providers.

Finally…

Infrastructural investment, government mandates, smart city initiatives, increasing risk of terror activities, etc. are driving the surveillance storage market in India. With the increasing adoption of Internet of Things, there would be more sophisticated storage solutions designed to reinvent the paradigms of video surveillance industry.

Western Digital has certainly taken the lead in this direction.

SME CHANNELS 25 JANUARY 2018

PARTNER CORNER

HCL INFO TO BECOME SPECIALIZED VAD Today it is an absolute must that your channel partner should feel enough value in the partnership for them. As businesses move bare metal ICT solutions to the emerging technologies like cloud, virtualization, AR, VR, AI, BI, IOT, etc. and traditional distribution is giving way to the new systems, HCL has hit upon the idea of empowering the channel partners to make them remain competitive and sustain growth.

BIMAL DAS, JOINT PRESIDENT, ENTERPRISE DISTRIBUTION, HCL INFOSYSTEMS

BY DEEPAK SINGH

deepak@smechannels.com

T

here is no denying that the basis of any organisation today is technology. Technology is becoming an integral part of the business model of companies and businesses across verticals are positioning themselves as digital companies. HC recognises that these companies have chartered their next phase of growth with technology as their core differentiator. The role of System Integrators is changing wherein the customer expects system integration partners to understand deeply their business and help them re-conceptualize their business models. Under the P3 program, HCL Infosystems will leverage their System Integration expertise to enable the Channel Partners to provide a complete business aligned IT solution to their respective customers.

HCL is committed to providing robust technical knowledge platforms that will enable its partners to deliver business aligned new-age technologies and exceptional value to the customers.

“We have to do something for the channel community beyond what we have been doing traditionally. This has been the clarion call of Bimal Das, Joint President, Enterprise Distribution, HCL Infosystems, who also said that the company is on its way to move from hybrid business model to do business through channel. To this end HCL recently launched is a comprehensive and exclusive engagement programme P3 or Premier

26 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

Partner Programme in October last year for its channel partners across India to take the partnership to the next level.

Through this new initiative P3, the company has inducted 26 channel partners into the programme. Plan is afoot to increase the number to 100. According to XYZ, HCLI P3 will empower the Channel Partners to grow their business through a suite of exclusive benefits including Subject Matter Expert (SME) support, Demand Generation Campaigns, Priority Response, Financial and Operational Support Services.

Leaders from HCLI will also regularly interact as Executive Sponsors with P3 Channel Partners to chart out respective growth paths.

“The idea behind the launch of the programme is to enable our partners to confidently offer appropriate new technology products and solutions that fit in with the new digital business model of the Customer. This is one of several HCL initiatives to bring value to the channel partners.

P3 will also help HCL to get better visibility in the market and the response is huge,” says Bimal.

HCL wants its channel partners to be successful in today’s connected world and keep pace with the latest technology advancements in order to secure their future. Partners with their strength in the four key technological areas -Data centre, Network Security, Work place (BSI, Physical surveillance unified communications) and Cloud have

“WE HAVE TO DO SOMETHING FOR THE CHANNEL COMMUNITY BEYOND WHAT WE HAVE BEEN DOING TRADITIONALLY.” been selected under the P3 progamme.

According to Bimal, “While crafting this programme we brain-stormed on various aspects including how to grow business for our channel partners and enable the channel partner to address customer expectations by leveraging new technologies and solutions.

The programme will provide the extra edge to our partners to gain traction with their customers by providing a complete technology solution and thereby adding value and growing their share of business in a very highly competitive market.”

Finally…

To position itself as a premier value added distributor is high in the scheme of things for HCL. The company is all set to give its partners greater agility and flexibility so they find themselves better equipped to meet their customers’ expectations.

SME BIZ

JOURNEY OF A DOMESTIC

MANUFACTURER TO THE GLOBAL MARKET

Independent India in its history of 70 years, might have seen many manufacturing organization which have done excellent job as far as domestic requirement is concerned but there are few who have taken the products to the overseas market completed with them.

BY DEEPAK SINGH

deepak@smechannels.com

W

ith the passage of time Matrix Comsec is cementing its reputation of being a manufacturer with a diverse range of exceptional security surveillance product portfolio. The company caters to the complete security infrastructure requirements of customers across India, Middle East, Africa, Europe, the Americas, Asia and Australia.

With a strong channel strategy and complete client focus, the company has been witnessing strong growth. Ganesh Jivani, Managing Director, Matrix Comsec, talks about the company’s performance, products, solutions and channel base and explains how the company has grown from strength to strength.

Matrix has been an integral part of some of the security industry’s ground-breaking technological innovations when it comes to cloud, IP-PBX, VoIP Gateways and Terminals, Universal Gateways, GSM Gateways, Access Control and TimeAttendance Systems, Video Surveillance System and Fire Alarm Systems. This has been possible by dint its emphasis on a robust R&D, which Jivani believes, is sine qua non for a company’s success.

Matrix, which Jivani touts as a ‘company of engineers’, has never lost sight of this vision. Matrix boosts a state-of-the-art R & D center approved

by Department of Scientific & Industrial Research (DSIR).

Securing Data Centres Companies are switching to cloud from traditional on premise systems. This is translating into the expansion of data centres. The success of any data centre depends on how securely it manages sensitive data of multiple clients. Hence, it is of

GANESH JIVANI, MANAGING DIRECTOR, MATRIX COMSEC

utmost importance that there should be no unauthorized access of data centres. “Using Matrix solution, data racks are secured biometrically, with records of every access along with its duration. Only an authorized person can access specific racks for the stipulated time using biometric verification,” says Jivani.

“As a company, we believe in a holistic understanding of security industry. We have developed considerable expertise all these years and aim for market leadership. We are able to achieve our objectives to a good degree,” says Jivani.

With its key customers drawn from different verticals across different geographies, the company has a considerable regional reach to address customer support. Matrix offers a professional range of services providing value for money to the customers and prides itself on providing unmatched support services which sets the company a cut above the rest.

form of face time, campaigns and collaterals. The marketing team of the company takes resort to engagement with the partners, which is a regular feature. This provides the partners with necessary inputs on business, products, as well as customers.

One of the most effective strategies, brand promotion is the key to the success of a company.

Matrix aims to promote the brand for the customers through by understanding the requirements of clients and offer solutions to them.

Channel key to Business

Eying 25% growth in 2017-18

Channel partners are integral to Matrix’s business plan. That partners have to come to play a decisive role in today’s competitive environment has been aptly recognized by Matrix. The company has set up a robust distribution and reseller channel network spread across the globe.

“We work together to grow the business. We also continue to add compelling new solutions to help channel partners enhance their engagement and growth opportunity. Complimenting each other helps both sides to achieve productivity and expedite results,” says Jivani.

As both share the same objectives, team play rules the roost in the duo relationship. Matrix is ever ready to give them maximum support in the

A complete client focussed company, Matrix has been able to register good growth in terms of revenue throughout the years. Having achieved a growth rate of 40 percent in the previous year, Jivani forecasts strong year for Vadodara headquartered company.

“WE HAVE DEVELOPED CONSIDERABLE EXPERTISE ALL THESE YEARS.”

Finally…

Matrix belongs to the rare breed of companies that have the foresight to recognise the potential that security and surveillance industry holds as a business proposition. A trusted name in the security landscape, the company has positioned itself as a holistic company with an extensive portfolio of products and solutions in security.

SME CHANNELS 27 JANUARY 2018

DATA CENTER

LENOVO LEADS IN DATA CENTER PERFORMANCE With a simplified go-to-market strategy, a rich partner program and a comprehensive data center product portfolio, Sumir Bhatia, President, Lenovo Asia Pacific, Data Center Group, Lenovo, is of the opinion that Lenovo is all set to be a data centre power house. In an interview with SME Channels he discusses the DCG’s new data centre vision that will stand the company in good stead in capitalizing on data center market disruption.

BY DEEPAK SINGH / SANJAY MOHAPATRA

deepak@smechannels.com

S

ince its acquisition of IBM’s x86 business in 2014, Lenovo has come a long way when it comes to data centre solutions. The company is focusing on harnessing the potential of new technologies such as high performance computing (HPC), artificial intelligence (AI) and big data analytics. The company’s data centre portfolio spans over a wide range of solutions which includes storage, servers, converged and hyper-converged, hyper scale, networking, software and services.

Last year Lenovo revamped its data center portfolio with the launch of the ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile brands as well as a set of server, storage, networking and software defined systems designed to support cloud, software-defined environments, artificial intelligence, and analytics & decision support applications. While the ThinkSystem is a standalone server and unified portfolio of servers, storage and networking solu-

28 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

tions, ThinkAgile is focused on software-defined data centers. The company’s ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile portfolio of solutions are engineered to help customers reduce complexity and tackle their most challenging workloads.

“This is the most comprehensive data centre portfolio launch in Lenovo history, featuring the new ThinkSystem and ThinkAgile brands. The new portfolio features 14 server platforms, seven storage offerings, and five network switches. It is the most comprehensive launch to address the data centre market,” says Sumir Bhatia, President, Lenovo Asia Pacific, Data Center Group, Lenovo.

Lenovo has scored an impressive collection of performance benchmarks on its ThinkSystem line of servers. In November last year the company has doubled its x86 world record benchmark count with 46 new benchmarks based on the Intel Xeon Scalable Processor. With 88 total world record

benchmarks, Lenovo continues driving their lead in data center performance.

In 2017 Lenovo completed the delivery and implementation of the world’s largest, Intel-based Supercomputer at the Barcelona Supercomputing Center (BSC). The system is powered by more than 3,400 nodes of Lenovo’s next-generation servers, featuring Intel Xeon scalable processors, interconnected with more than 60 kilometres of high-speed, Intel Omni-Path Technology 100 Gb/s network cabling.

Proven Global HPC Leader Since its debut on the Top500 list in 2014 Lenovo has become the fastest growing TOP500 vendor in the world. Lenovo is #2 in global TOP500 positions with 92 entries. Lenovo is #1 in supercomputing in China, the largest and fastest growing region for supercomputing in the world, claiming 50% more entries than the nearest competitor.

DATA CENTER

“We are the fastest growing super computer provider in the world and will make rapid strides in future” says Sumir.

The number of benchmarks Lenovo achieved is much higher than those of its nearest competition.

This is testament to overall lead the company has achieved in data center performance.

Lenovo has launched a Data Centre Partner Program which is specific to the Data Centre Group. Talking about the global Lenovo Data Centre Partner Programme Sumir says that the program reflects Lenovo’s solid commitment and dedication to the channel partners in the region.

As the only major data centre brand with no legacy to protect, Lenovo is uniquely positioned

to help business partners meet diverse needs in the enterprise market, through best-of-breed data centre solutions and open eco-system of partnerships with leading IT providers. We are 100% dedicated to our ‘channel first’ strategy.

The programme provides Lenovo business partners with exclusive access to top quality support and attractive incentives – designed to help them grow their businesses, and to reward their commitment to Lenovo’s solutions. Channel partners are rewarded with generous economic incentives, training, and dedicated resources regardless of their partner tiers.

Partners can also look forward to clear and simple pathways through the programme, with

various tiers awarded through the meeting of revenue thresholds, and by maintaining certified expertise on Lenovo’s solutions. Partner tiers include Silver, Gold, and the exclusive Platinum tier, which extends additional privileges such as certification vouchers, invitations to advisory councils and direct access to Lenovo’s knowledge base.

India is an important market for Lenovo DCG. When it comes to adoption of data center solutions, India is the fastest. ThinkAgile will be playing a large role in the Asia Pacific region, as organizations are focused on data centre consolidation and implementing hyper- converged solutions, as well as software-defined networking and HPC. “These are some of the key areas where we have started to implement really well,” says Sumir. In 2017, the data center market in India was valued at $2.2 billion, and is expected to touch $4.5 billion mark by 2018. Main drivers for this huge increase are growth in data and digital intelligent devices, digitalization and also the government’s digital India campaign.

Finally…

Lenovo’ is committed to disrupting the legacy status quo. Thanks to its proven expertise in x86 server reliability and equipped with a comprehensive data center product portfolio, the company is one a mission mode to become the market leader in datacentre solutions. It is investing in the delivery of disruptive IT solutions to shape nextgeneration data centres.

SUMIR BHATIA, PRESIDENT, LENOVO ASIA PACIFIC, DATA CENTER GROUP, LENOVO

“AS THE ONLY MAJOR DATA CENTRE BRAND WITH NO LEGACY TO PROTECT, LENOVO IS UNIQUELY POSITIONED TO HELP BUSINESS PARTNERS MEET DIVERSE NEEDS IN THE ENTERPRISE MARKET, THROUGH BEST-OFBREED DATA CENTRE SOLUTIONS.” SME CHANNELS 29 JANUARY 2018

GUEST ARTICLE

CRESTS OF DIGITIZATION: IT TRENDS TO WATCH OUT FOR IN 2018 India will continue to witness a wave of digital business transformation that is generating new prospects for enterprises across every industry. Business leaders in the country are cognizant of the power of technology, making it a boardroom consideration. Every budget has an IT component, every campaign has an IT dimension, and all business decisions have IT at its core.

VISHAL BHAT, Regional Operations Head for North & East (SME), Tata Teleservices Ltd.

PROFILE Vishal manages business operations for North India. Stationed at New Delhi and apart from DNCR, the operations are spread across other states of North.

Tata Docomo Business Services sees SME as a large opportunity and with companies looking to go Digital, the company with its Managed Services product line sees this as an added advantage to engage with SMEs apart from being the leader in data and voice product line.

Beyond smartphones and tablets – we have seen the emergence of pay-as-you-use services on the internet, growing use of social media in life and at work as well as the elevation of the science of analytics as the root of all intelligence. Truly - social, mobile, cloud and big data / analytics have disrupted every business value chain that has ever been set in place.

In this environment, we see four broad trends – which will significantly strengthen in 2018.

Adoption of Digital and Social by Enterprises Over the last couple of years an increasing number of Enterprises have started using social and digital media platforms to engage with their customers. In order to become a seamless part of their lifestyles, a company- large, small or the start-ups must enable customers to interact with it on their terms; anytime, from anywhere, and from any device. Thus, businesses of all sizes are being challenged by new business models where customers control their own experience—this makes the role of digital and social platforms inevitable.

A report by IDC, suggests that most business leaders in India are generally optimistic about the potential benefits of prioritizing customer engagement, however, there is still more work to be done to fully take advantage of new technology. 66% of these leaders believe that their active participation in the digital economy is essential to their survival.

Over half of the firms are already using technology solution and 51% of them believe that their size gives them an advantage over larger competitors.

Adoption of Cloud by SMEs Growing at 9%, Indian SMEs clearly see their opportunity being here and now1. Large scale adoption of cloud services by SMEs across business verticals is allowing these organisations to become more flexible and agile, more in tune with local customer

30 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

needs, being able to serve customers more effectively. All of this is being enabled by smart business connectivity & collaboration solutions.

Cloud Adoption by Indian SMEs has witnessed an increased CAGR of 20% in the last four years2.

The increased momentum of cloud adoption will continue to steadily expand as we step into 2018.

Mobile data content generation and consumption has exponentially increased the scope of cloud needs. Some vital areas where the demand for cloud services by SMEs is high are disaster recovery, remote database management and e-mail hosting. To its credit even the Indian government sees the inherent potential. Powered by its Digital India vision, the Government plans to support the digital transformation of 90% of SMBs in India to accelerate business growth – and eventually enable socio-economic transformation in the country.

New Skill-Set Requirements Enterprise customers are looking at ways to optimize investments in technology infrastructure and management – while investing into new age applications which are taking the business online and on to social platforms. But for that to succeed, the industry needs people with the skills to enable the company to compete in this new age.

The emergence of Chief Digital Officer, Chief Information Officer (CIO), Data Scientist and Chief Security Officer is indicative of the fact that technology solutions such as big data, IoT and mobility are getting bigger and more relevant to businesses, making it imperative for organizations to plan for a robust telecommunications infrastructure to attain business efficiencies.

Scaling of digital businesses will make the To read the complete article, log on to www.smechannels.com

CASE STUDY

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

Company Profile:

THE PRODUCTS Product

Quantity

Description

COSEC VEGA FAX

47

Fingerprint and Card based Door Controller for Time-Attendance and Access Control Application

COSEC VEGA CAX

65

Card based Door Controller for Time-Attendance and Access Control Application

COSEC PATH DCFE

28

Fingerprint and Card based Door Controller with IP65

COSEC PATH RDCE

66

Card based Exit Reader with IP65

COSEC ENROLL CARD

1

Card Enrolment Station

COSEC ENROLL FINGER

1

Finger Enrolment Station

COSEC VEGA CPM EM PROX

112

EM Proximity Card Personality Reader Module for VEGA Series Door Controller

COSEC CPM EM PROX

1

EM Proximity Card Personality Reader Module

COSEC CENTRA LE

1

Application Server Platform with 1,000 Users and Expandable up to One Million Users for basic Access Control and Raw Event Data

COSEC LE TAM

1

Time-Attendance Module for COSEC CENTRA LE Users

COSEC LE ACM

1

Access Control Software Module for COSEC CENTRA LE Users

COSEC LE VMM

1

Visitor Management Module for COSEC CENTRA LE Users

COSEC USER100

5

User license for 100 users

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

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

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

Solution Offered: Matrix pitched its Access Control, Time-Attendance and Visitor Management Solution along with the different variants of biometric devices, which fulfills every requirement of this renowned Hospital. Around 206 devices were installed in To read the complete article, log on to www.smechannels.com

SME CHANNELS 31 JANUARY 2018

GUEST TALK

HOW CRM CAN HELP IT RETAILERS COMBAT COMPETITION FROM E-COMMERCE PLATFORMS E-commerce has become the preferred choice of consumers today for purchase of a wide range of products, including consumer electronics, computers and hardware products. Like other industries, the IT and computer hardware retail sector too faces tough competition from the e-marketplace.As per industry reports, the IT retailers today operate at a meager profit margin of 0.03% vs the 30% profits they enjoyed a decade ago.

With rising costs for managing a brick and mortar retail set up, lower margins and a struggle to retain the ever experimental consumer base, traditional IT retailers are forced to re-think their existing business models. With its versatile potential to drive business growth, Customer Relationship Management (CRM) software can be instrumental to turn around the IT retail business model and make it sustainable, while offering insights into potential growth areas. Some of the key areas where CRM can help the IT retail segment include: 1. Organized customer database The significance of maintaining a record of customers walking into a retail outlet for purchase or enquiry has largely been undermined in the IT Retail sector. As a result, there has been limited scope of connecting, engaging and understanding the customers, who form the very basis of the retail business.

A well planned and strategic CRM module can help build an accurate and updated customer database, while offering robust insights into store walk-in patterns, purchase interests and enquiry subjects. It also provides valuable information into the specific customer demographics – average age, spending power, occupation and socio-economic background, all of these been key factors to predict the preferred products and services these customers would be looking for.

2. Driving sales Driving sales is the key backbone for any business to grow. This has been significantly impacted in

32 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

the IT retail segment, with tough competition from the e-marketplace. Combating heavily discounted pricing, vast range of products across Indian and International brands and advance tools like consumer reviews and comparison of similar products offered by the e-marketplace, IT retailers have been at a loss of ideas to drive sales in the real marketplace.

Equipped with a CRM software that has a wellorganized consumer database in place can be a starting point to create a well thought out sales and marketing strategy. With valuable insights into customer demographics, a more customized range of products can be displayed to meet the product features, budget and aesthetic preferences of your customer base. Further, with insights into buying patterns, frequency, potential enquiries that can be converted to sales and an enthusiastic sales force can all help to drive sales in an organized form.

3. Enhanced customer experience Having an accurate and updated database and a relevant marketing strategy can lead up to good sales and thus a corresponding growth in business. However, in order to maintain a long term momentum of success, an effective customer engagement strategy is imperative. Further, the scope of face to face interactions and a customized service delivery are the key differentiators for the IT retail segment – something that is lacking in the e-marketplace model. It thus needs to be effectively capitalized by creating enhanced customer experience at every interaction. Be it interactions at the initial level of enquiry, a process of closing a

LIMESH PAREKH, CEO of Enjay IT Solutions

lead and making a purchase or during the set up/ after sales service, customer experience is crucial.

Aided with insights and managed through intelligent processes, CRM can help generate effective modules to engage with the customers at every step of the interaction. Further, with insights into customer behavior and demographics, CRM can be helpful in predicting the customer feedback to specific services or product offerings, thus assisting in ‘intuitive’ marketing and customer service strategies. What’s more, CRM can also help monitor the performance of your sales staff and provide timely guidance to ensure there is a consistent focus on enhancing consumer experience.

4. Reinventing offerings Often retailers assume that the most popular, most modern or most cost effective product or service is what will be highly preferred by their customers – a notion that is not always true.

While reinventing ones offerings from time to time is crucial to maintain customer interest and to attract new buyers, selection of the right set of products is vital.

Here is again where CRM can offer valuable insights into the success and popularity of a new range of products or services.Gaining insights from customer demographics, purchase patterns, enquiry formats and feedback from customers during engagement sessions, CRM can be effective to drive the course of the business module in the direction with highest growth potential.

To read the complete article, log on to www.smechannels.com

GUEST ARTICLE

ROLE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AND DIGITIZATION IN INDIAN ECONOMY SUNDER MUTHEVI

The era of digitization and Artificial Intelligence is here and the Indian economy can gain significantly from an efficient and planned implementation. The advantages range across all verticals, in the private and government/public sectors.

CTO, Pi DATACENTERS

PROFILE Sunder is an accomplished Senior IT Executive with over 24 years of domestic and international experience in Information Technology, Enterprise Applications, Infrastructure, Architecture and Strategic Planning for companies with large global footprints in Modernization and Enterprise Cloud initiatives. He is a Practical Result oriented and a decisive leader with proven success in meeting new challenges in IT Executive Management

India’s Digital India initiative intends to make the nation take a digital leap. Papers are old school now and everything is digital. Aadhar is a living example of the principle that Digital India stands upon.

Every day more and more people are adapting to the digital way of living, be it commuting, paying or enrolling somewhere. When we add the technology on rise Artificial Intelligence, to the existing force, the digital and the smarter India is not too far. In the coming years, the role of Artificial Intelligence and Digitization in Indian economy is going to be a very crucial one.

Digitization -in public and private sectors bothmakes the lives of people easier by communication and synchronization across the platforms. While De-monetization rang the bell of digitization, projects like Aadhar have been on a consistent progressive track. Having to carry only one unique ID rather than multiple different documents for enrollment or verification, has helped the Indian public in an enormous way.

AI and Digitization in Governance India’s consumers -who may not realize it- are at the forefront of Artificial Intelligence (AI) technology with products like Google’s Assistant, Netflix’s watch suggestions, etc. AI touches more common lives than it does on the business or government side.

With a proper implementation of AI, the Indian government can set up better communication channels with citizens. The communication of new policies, their effects and enrollment become more seamless in conjunction with digitization. These two phenomena can truly revolutionize the governance.

Artificial Intelligence can help the government track any leakage in subsidies, making sure that the

funds are utilized properly. After digitizing all the tax filings on synchronized platforms, Artificial Intelligence can be used to find out any kind of fraud or tax evasion patterns. It makes the job automated and easier rather than people going through the records, where it is possible for them to miss critical details.

An efficient and planned roll out of digitization and AI can minimize the corruption and in turn, will help the economy flourish.

AI and Digitization in Industrial sector In the industrial sector, the implementation of Artificial Intelligence and automation will bring up the production quality and speed to match and surpass the existing production market leaders like China and USA, which are way ahead of the Indian subcontinent. The increased percentage of production in a relatively smaller timeframe will boost India’s GDP significantly. In IT sector, introductory jobs like testing, patching and troubleshooting will be managed more conveniently with the use of Artificial Intelligence. It will optimize the efficiency of organizations which will also boost the revenue generation.

Roadblocks Ahead Bringing Artificial Intelligence to work for the Indian economy has a steep curve ahead. Automation threatens 69% of the jobs in India, while it’s 77% in China, according to a World Bank research. Many major figures in the industry believe if automation is not planned well and addressed holistically, it is a disaster in the making. India has a history of pushTo read the complete article, log on to www.smechannels.com

SME CHANNELS 33 JANUARY 2018

SME CHAT

ADAM CASON, DIRECTOR OF PRODUCT MARKETING, FUTUREX

FUTUREX FOLLOWS CLEAR PROCESSES FOR ONBOARDING ITS PARTNERS Security in IoT devices potentially can include anything from the IP-connected television to intelligent sensors used on the production floor to industrial control systems at a utility or biomedical device used by a healthcare provider. Obviously, device manufacturers can and should ultimately play a critical role in this, but many don’t do enough because it is not easy. So companies like Futurex can help develop and enforce a hardened configuration for the IoT devices.

What are the IOT market opportunity and challenges in India?

India is a burgeoning market for the adoption of IoT. Many companies are aggressively pursuing security enhancements for their devices that directly communicate with users, centralized management infrastructure, or other devices.

The goal moving forward is to help establish and create roots of trust and demonstrate the strengths and reliability of encryption during the IoT device management process.

Given the fact that biggest challenge is the data security, what is the perception and preparedness of the users?

Users expect that security is built into their systems, and so we are seeing a bigger demand for cryptographic solutions with these functionalities from a core manufacturing perspective. Futurex is in a unique position to be able to provide these services to our customers and partners.

Who are the early adopters of IOT solutions and why?

34 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

We’ve seen a lot of early adoption from the financial industry. For example, point of sale and MPOS device manufacturers have largely recognized the benefits that IoT security offers them, as well as the advantages in manageability for their ecosystem. We have also seen a great deal of interest in the automotive industry and among computer component manufacturers.

How Futurex does address the security piece?

Futurex’s enterprise security solutions help in protecting the IoT from the initial point of manufacture until their deployment in the field. In particular, our key and certificate management solutions help in establishing root of trust and encrypting data and communications, including cryptographic key management.

What is the competitive advantage of Futurex because there are many such solution providers who have key management, authentication and encryption, etc.

One major advantage of the Futurex platform

“ONE MAJOR ADVANTAGE OF THE FUTUREX PLATFORM IS THAT IT PROVIDES TURNKEY SOLUTIONS FOR KEY, CERTIFICATE, AND IDENTITY MANAGEMENT THAT REQUIRES NO RELIANCE ON THIRD PARTY ENTITIES. ” is that it provides turnkey solutions for key, certificate, and identity management that requires no reliance on third party entities. Additionally, Futurex devices are PCI HSM and FIPS 140-2 Level 3 validated, as well as standards-compliant.

Which product /solutions of Futurex is selling in India?

Futurex focuses on providing general purpose and payment-focused hardware security modules (HSMs) with unique capabilities such as managing and monitoring remotely to enhance security and compliance. As well, our key management solutions include remote key loading and certificate management functionality.

OFFICE OFFICE

AUTOMATION SIMPLIFIES THE COMPLEXITIES OF GST The automation of GST makes it convenient for you to fix your mistakes and errors without running around in government offices asking for solutions.

WILLIAM RAU, SENIOR DIRECTOR, ENGINEERING, AVALARA

W

ith a country as large and diverse as India undergoing a major tax reform, it is not unexpected to see massive confusion at all the levels of a supply chain. Be it a manufacturer, retailer or a supplier, every level has questions about the computation of the taxes. With the Goods and Services Tax (GST) comes a plethora of compliance liabilities for business entities. A lot of electronic data formatting and calculations need to be done, records need to be maintained, and minute details need to be taken care of. All of this also must be completed on time and to shifting due dates.

Now with a lack of clarity in the market regarding GST, complying with all these necessities mandates that tax payers take the help of a professional to avoid the possibilities of any error or rejected returns. Agreed, that this aids the growth of professionals like chartered accountants, company secretaries, cost accountants, tax consultants, etc., but it also increases the chances of human errors, especially with frequent filing deadlines. Thus, hiring such professionals is not a sure-shot way of filing the GSTR accurately. To overcome manual errors, a very convenient way to comply with the GST norms is using cloud-based automation solutions through certified GSPs (GST Suvidha Providers) or ASPs (Application Service Providers).

Apart from overcoming manual errors, there are numerous other ways in which GST automation simplifies this new tax reform, thereby effectively overcoming the complexities associated with GST:

Reduces audit risk First and foremost, the automation of GST filing ensures that all the transaction are recorded correctly. A good automation solution will provide defense in depth against error as well as ample opportunity to review and crosscheck results. Thus, the possibilities of a wrong filing of tax become negligible, and hence any errors which could have arisen in the future due to false auditing are entirely avoided. l Manage Input Tax Credits Probably the single biggest financial risk that comes with GST is the requirement for businesses to actively manage their input tax credits. The key element here is that one must collect and remit the full GST tax amount on each transaction, then claim credit for prior taxes paid on the input goods and services that produced the tax items. l

What Automation Solution should one choose?

Choosing the right automation solution for GST will be key to help businesses save money and avoid non-compliance costs. Automation will help businesses navigate the GST faster and efficiently as it will be humanly impossible to manage the extremely high volume of reporting and GST transactions as information will cross a number of check points.

Key capabilities to look for are: l Reconciles invoice Manually ensuring that all the transactions match with each other, is a tedious task. Thus,

with the automation of the Goods and Service tax, proper records are maintained online which facilitate invoice matching between both the seller and the buyer. Thus, any discrepancy can be highlighted at the root level and can easily be corrected without much hassle in the future. l Highlights mismatches In case a mismatch does turn up between your paid and your actual calculated amounts, it gets highlighted in the initial stages of the process and post that, you can make the change in the payments almost immediately. Similarly, if there is any ITC that you can claim and have filed for it, an automation system quickly brings it to light if there arises any discrepancy between the calculated amounts.

Simplifying Features –Besides the key capabilities above, one should also consider: l Timely Compliance The automation of the Goods and Service Tax gives you the freedom to file for GST returns from within the comforts of your home. You do not need to wait for long hours in a queue or fix an appointment with a tax consultant or a chartered accountant. The right automation solution will encourage data processing early and often, as close to the time of transactions as possible. l Report generation GST requires a lot of paperwork to be done and it can become a mess when it comes to organizing To read the complete article, log on to www.smechannels.com

SME CHANNELS 35 JANUARY 2018

PARTNER CORNER

VIKAS GIRDHAR, DIRECTOR, NEWVIK TELESERVICES, NEW DELHI

MATRIX OFFERS SUPPORT TO ITS PARTNERS ON ALL THE ASPECTS OF MUTUAL BUSINESS. Good to see India is growing in this decade and voice solutions business is thriving too. Delhi based Telecom solution partner Newvik Teleservices sees it an opportunity.

SME Channels spoke to Vikas Girdhar, Director, Newvik Teleservices, New Delhi to know his strategy. Excerpts.

Brief us about your company?

NEWVIK TELESERVICES has a vast experience in Voice Solution business. We are one of the leading solution providers with a long association of around 15 years with MATRIX for their complete range of Telecom, GSM, IP, Access Control solutions. Our main focus is to provide our valuable clients with the best of solutions and services they deserve. We firmly believe in quality and value for money. Our friendly and cooperative backend, field service and sales staff promises to make your experience a memorable one.

How do you find telecom market in India?

Telecommunication has supported the socioeconomic development of India and has played a significant role to narrow down the ruralurban divide to some extent. It has also helped increase the transparency of governance with the introduction of e-governance in India. The government has pragmatically used modern telecommunication facilities to deliver mass education program for the rural folk of India.

36 SME CHANNELS JANUARY 2018

What kind of telecom solutions you have?

We have telecom solution such as IP-PBX, Gateways and GSM Products.

How do you find Matrix products in terms of its advantages vis-àvis other brands?

Matrix is a brand that stands for ‘SUBSTANCE’ in terms of technology, depth, genuineness and going beyond the mere outer façade and offering more values in all areas. This is what differentiates Matrix from its competitors. It strives to offer MORE in everything it does – technology, applications, functions, features, performance, flexibility, reliability and support. Matrix positioning is based on offering more of these true, inherent values which customers expect from infrastructure solutions.

The company provides specific solutions with heavy focus on quality and customer service.

Key differentiators lie in providing pre-sales, post-sales and R&D support. Most importantly, Matrix has an in-house manufacturing unit

“THIS YEAR WE WOULD LIKE TO ADD DATA, VIDEO CONFERENCING AND CLOUD SOLUTION.” and R&D Centre to offer quick turnaround for clients.

As a partner what kind of products you want to add this year?

This year we would like to add Data products, Video Conferencing solutions and Cloud solution.

What is your strength in terms of market reach?

Our key strengths are Quality, Reliability, Competence and Openness.

As a partner, how are you gearing up with the latest market trends? What kind of excitement do you see among your customers?

As latest trend in the market we have seen, our customer to develop from Analog system to Hybrid and from Hybrid to IP. We are fascinated with the talks on Cloud technology for EPBX and hope we will grow with our customers along with the latest converged technology solutions.

REVIEW

PRODUCT

DIGISOL 16 PORT GIGABIT ETHERNET UNMANAGED SWITCH

DIGISOL’s new Gigabit Ethernet unmanaged desktop version switch is designed to enhance network performance in a compact form factor. The DG-GS1016D-A offers 16 x

MCAFEE POWERED D-LINK WI-FI ROUTER

BY MANAS RANJAN

uses store and forward packet switching technology which ensures reliable data transfer.

The switch also supports automatic MDI/ MDI-X detection which eliminates the need of a cross over cables or dedicated up-link ports.

Thus the DG-GS1016D-A is an ideal solution for small Ethernet work groups.

info@smechannels.com

D-LINK AC2600 WI-FI ROUTER POWERED BY MCAFEE (DIR-2680) is an all-in-one solution that automatically increases security for devices on the home network and delivers on both companies’ vision to address the pressing need for online security as people’s lives become increasingly connected. The comprehensive solution includes D-Link’s high-performance dual-band 802.11ac router with MU-MIMO technology that enhances network capacity and efficiency for users, McAfee Secure Home Platform that automatically protects all devices connected to the network, and the Intel® Home Wi-Fi Chipset WAV500 Series to deliver robust Wi-Fi connectivity to numerous connected devices at the same time, running a range of high-bandwidth applications.

The new D-Link AC2600 Wi-Fi Router Powered by McAfee immediately and automatically helps secure all connected devices at the network level in a home, including non-display IoT devices, providing an additional layer of protection from potential hackers and for members of the home using devices and accessing online content.

McAfee’s Global Threat Intelligence features adaptable machine learning that protects by preventing, detecting, and correcting malicious malware and attacks, which enables a safer internet browsing experience for consumers.

Designed for families and smart home owners looking for the ultimate home networking without sacrificing privacy and security, the DIR-2680 keeps connected devices safer from unwanted intrusions and thefts. Additionally, comprehensive parental control features provide customized protection for children in the household.

10/100/1000 Mbps Ethernet ports. The switch

The DG-GS1016D-A Switch offers

FEATURES n Comprehensive Security Made

Simple Easy set up and instant protection for all devices with full control from anywhere End-to-end protection designed to help prevent, detect and correct potential threats n Superior Performance Without Compromise Enjoy streaming HD video and lightning-fast downloads with dual-band 802.11ac with MU-MIMO performance Intel Home Wi-Fi Chipset allows support for up to 128 simultaneously connected devices, delivering robust Wi-Fi connectivity even as the number of devices grows in the home n Connected Home Protection

Real-time monitoring for a safer browsing experience and powerful security for IoT device protection n Comprehensive Parental Controls Customized protection for every child, including personalized content filters and screen time controls n Machine Learning

McAfee’s Global Threat Intelligence provides an adaptable solution that blocks malware, and malicious websites

16x10/100/1000 Mbps Gigabit Ethernet ports.

This Switch also allows for auto-sensing and auto negotiation of highest available speed (10/100/1000Mbps) and duplex mode, providing an automatic and flexible solution for the network. The devices connected to switch can be easily identified by LED indicators.

FEATURES n 16x10/100/1000 Mbps RJ-45 ports n Complies with IEEE802.3, IEEE802.3x, IEEE802.3ab n Standards Supports Auto MDI/MDI-X Crossover n Data transfer speed up to 2000Mbps (Full-duplex) n High Performance n LED indicators for monitoring Power, Link/ Activity n Switching Capacity: 32Gbps Backplane n Plug and Play installation n Desktop Version

n Price: 4999/-, Warranty: Limited Lifetime Warranty, Contact: DIGISOL Systems Ltd.Smartlink House, Plot No. 5, Bandra Kurla Complex Road, Santa Cruz (E)Mumbai - 400 098, India

SME CHANNELS 37 JANURARY 2018

PRODUCT

NETGEAR MATRIX

MATRIX SPARSH VP710 – THE SMART VIDEO IP DESKPHONE KNOWING THAT VIDEO CALLING and collaboration is becoming the need of the hour, Matrix’ User Terminal for high level professionals is backed by robust IP network and two Gigabit Ethernet ports to bridge communication gaps by offering uninterrupted and enhanced video and audio calling experience. Besides classy looks and reliable architecture, the phone has a bundle of functionalities to deliver such as: Seven Inch Multi-touch Intuitive Touch Screen: The enlarged seven inch HD screen offers the essence of face to face interactions, and hence, enables employees to automate decision making process. Fitted with a shutter that can be slid over the camera, this phone offers flexibility of protecting users’ privacy, if required.

The deskphone comes with an in-built USB port that enables employees to insert external devices and back up their call recordings or take screenshots.

The same port can be used for easy media exchange of Apps, Music, Video and other files. Personnel can charge their smartphones or tablets by plugging them in the USB port of SPARSH VP710. n Price: On Request, Warranty: On request, Contact: Matrix Comsec, 394 GIDC, Makarpura, Vadodara, +91 0265 2630555/329

NETGEAR INSIGHT MANAGED SMART CLOUD SWITCHES NETGEAR IS EXPANDING ITS EMERGING family of Insight managed Smart Cloud Switches with two new 28-port models offering greater capacity for growing businesses. Currently available as a mobile app, the remote setup, monitoring and management features of the Insight management solution will be available in mid-February through the new NETGEAR Insight Cloud web portal, providing the benefit of a larger display screen for a single-pane view of all devices and locations.

As an honoree in the 2018 CES Innovation Awards competition for excellence in design and engineering, the NETGEAR Insight management solution is a progressive way to instantly discover, configure, and continuously monitor and manage your network. Designed for easy remote management of NETGEAR Smart Cloud Wireless Access Points, Smart Cloud switches and ReadyNAS Network Storage, Insight will now also provide support for the Orbi Pro Tri-band WiFi System for small businesses as of the update in mid-February. n Price: On Request, Warranty: On request, Contact: www. netgear.com

SYNOLOGY

SYNOLOGY DISKSTATION DS918+ SYNOLOGY DS918+ IS DESIGNED FOR small and medium-sized businesses and IT enthusiasts. With a powerful built-in AES-NI hardware encryption engine, DS918+ provides exceptional encrypted file transmission. Also capable of transcoding up to two channels of H.265/H.264 4K videos at the same time, DS918+ is ideal for sharing and storing ultra-high definition media content.

FEATURES n Flexible Shared Folder/User Quota System provides comprehensive quota control on all user accounts and shared folders n Snapshot Replication provides schedulable and storage capacity-saving data protection with 1,024 shared folder backups and 65,000 system-wide snapshots n File or folder level data restoration makes data recovery fast and flexible n Automatic file self-healing detects and recovers corrupted files without user intervention

38 SME CHANNELS JANURARY 2018

n Price: On Request

RNI NO: DEL ENG/ 2010/ 31962 Postal Reg. No.: DL-SW-1/4145/16-18 Licensed to Post without pre-payment U(SW)/19/2017-18

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

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