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Dell EMC brings in VxRail to improve VMware systems

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Growing concern on Cyber-Enabled Espionage Friday, 7th June 2019 Hotel Shangrila, New Delhi

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Thales announces the completion of acquisition of Gemalto

Thales has completed the acquisition of Gemalto in 15 months, for €4.8 billion.

This creates a Group on a new scale and a global leader in digital identity and security employing 80,000 people. The larger Thales will now master all the technologies underpinning the critical decision chain for companies, organisations and governments.

Larger Thales globally also translates into larger Thales in India as the local team gets strengthened to 1,150 with the acquisition of Gemalto. Incorporating the talent and technologies of Gemalto, Thales will develop secure solutions to address the major challenges faced by our societies, such as unmanned air traffic management, data and network cybersecurity, airport security or financial transaction security.

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TRUSTED BRANDS

Branding is absolutely critical to a business because of the overall impact it makes on your company and it is more important when trying to generate future business.

The BRAND BOOK is aims to deliver the best of experiences to the featured corporates which help them further reach out to their target audience .

Youtube announces India as its largest and fastest growing audience in the world

YouTube has shared insights on the exponential growth of online video ecosystem and how it is interlinked to India’s Internet growth story. It revealed the insights in its annual flagship event, Brandcast. Kicking off the keynote, YouTube’s CEO, Susan Wojcicki announced that the platform has more than 265 million monthly active users in India (as per ComScore).

She said, “India is now both our biggest audience and one of our fastest growing audiences in the world. YouTube today has become the first stop for users to consume content, whether they’re looking for entertainment or information. It is this incredible variety of content combined with the growing reach that makes YouTube a perfect platform for brands to drive personalized engagement.”

CIOs stress transformation starts by educating the board, gaining trust of CEO and CxOs, and influencing the process to drive digital transformation.

Brand Book speaks about the Top priorities for Eminent CIOs of India in 2019.

WWW.MYBRANDBOOK.CO.IN

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HELLO INDIA

India touches the Tipping Point in the Telecom Sector Survival mantra is Quality & Performance India is the world's second-largest telecommunications market in 2019. Technology product managers will have to get more strategic with their portfolio mix by balancing products and services that will post growth in 2019 with those larger markets that will trend slower growth. The worldwide IT spending is projected to total $3.79 trillion in 2019, an increase of 1.1 percent from 2018, according to the latest forecast by Gartner.

This reflects in India with the consolidation of the ever growing telecom sector, with the merger of two telecom giants – Vodafone and Idea Cellular with 387 million subscribers across the country. It plans to extend its 4G network to over 80 percent of Indian users, wireless service mapping company. India’s remaining operators are now seeking other ways to differentiate their services rather than undercutting each other.

With this consolidation happening in the industry, the focus is already shifting towards service quality, whereas, both Airtel trio (Airtel-Telenor and Tata Tele services) and Vodafone Idea talking up their 4G network improvement plans. At the same time, Jio has gone one step ahead with a pledge to bring 5G to India before its rivals.The rise of Jio to 300 million subscribers base has been the standout story in India’s mobile market in recent years, with the growth of its 4G availability to 97.5 percent — the highest national score we have ever recorded.During the same time Airtel showed the greatest growth in this category, as its average score jumped by over 10 percentage points to cross 85 percent.

The merger of state-run PSUs, BSNL and MTNL have the potential to increase the overall valuation and make the merged entity financially stronger to compete with private telcos in the country.The merger will help both companies to become leaner and thereby significantly bring down their capex and opex.

India has only three private players in the telecom industry, i.e. Airtel, Vodafone, Jio and the fourth telecom PSU - BSNL and MTNLare struggling to sustain themselves in a highly competitive market. Now, we can expect the trend to reverse with a 7% revenue growth in 2020 fiscal, owing to an expected increase in average revenue per user (ARPU) by 11%.

A recent report from Deloitte has estimated that the total investment required to cover India with 5G would be a staggering $70 billion — partly because the country lacks widespread fibre backhaul infrastructure necessary for high-capacity networks. However, the 4G subscriber count will go up to 432 million in India by 2020, Lastly, all eyes are on the growth of rural markets to add subscribers, given low tele-density.

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CONTENTS

DIGITAL INDIA - FOCUS PSU 31

Website: www.varindia.com

Publisher: Deepak Kumar Sahu Editor: S Mohini Ratna Executive Editor: Dr. Vijay Anand Deputy Editor: Samrita Baruah Sub - Editor: Aparna Mullick Correspondent: Lopamudra Das Tech Analyst: Brajendu Das Art Director: Rakesh Kumar Network Administrator: Ashok Kumar Singh Manager-IT: Subhash Mohanta Manager-SEO: Bidyadhar Behera BUSINESS: Commercial Manager: Amit Kumar Jha Sr. Marketing Manager: Ashok Ranjan Dash Circulation Executive: Manish Kumar CORPORATE OFFICE: VAR House, A-84A/3 Rose Apartment, Paryavaran complex, IGNOU Road, New Delhi - 110030 Tel: 011-41656383, 46061809 Email: edit@varindia.com Bangalore: Bureau office Marketing Manager: S. Kamala kar Correspondent: L. G. Swami D-103 G.F., Ashish JK Apartments Thubarahalli Extended Road Bangaluru- 560066 Tel: 080-49530399 | Mobile:09886280836 E-mail: kamlakar@varindia.com Mumbai: Bureau office Regional Manager (West): Anil Kumar Sr. Correspondent: Mamta S. Anurag Residency, 203 - “B” Wing, Plot No-5, Sector-9, Kamothe, Navi Mumbai-410 209 Tel: 022-65561292, Mobile: 08108017479 E-mail: anil@varindia.com, mamta@varindia.com Chennai: Bureau office Branch Manager: K. Parthiban F1, Meadows Green Apartments, 64, Chetty Street 1st Cross, Mel Ayanambakkam, Chennai - 600 095 Cell No. : 98400 55626 E-mail: parthiban@varindia.com Hyderabad: Bureau office Branch Manager: Sunil Kumar Sahu 32-161/3, 202 Neha Paradise, Nr. Maissamma Temple, Venketeswara colony Ramakrishna Puram, Hyderabad - 500056 Telangana, Tel: 040-32989844/ Cell No. 08100298033 E-mail: sunil@varindia.com Kolkata: Bureau office Marketing Officer: Sunil Kumar Correspondent: B Kiran Dutta 123 SDF Building, Block GP Sector V, Salt Lake City, Kolkata - 700091 Mobile: 08100298033, E-mail: sunil@varindia.com Mobile: 09903088480, E-mail: kiran@varindia.com

REGULARS Round About CEO Speak Hot Bytes On the Ramp Voice N Data Channel Buzz Movers & Shakers

© All rights are reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher. (1999-2016) * All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi only.

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COVER STORY 26

Emerging Technologies to look for in Future

DIGITAL INDIA - FOCUS PSU 31

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Dell Technologies witnesses India as its growth trajectory

LEAD STORY

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LG strives to become the no. 1 in all the channels

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ACT Fibernet enters the consumer product category, launches ACT Stream TV 4K’ device

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Digital Transformation of PSUs

Emerging Technologies – a boon or a bane?

VAR SECURITY 46

“We have for years been delivering high quality solutions”

VAR ANALYSIS

VAR MOBILITY

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Closing the CYBERSECURITY skill gap

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ROUND ABOUT

IT Beyond General Elections In less than two months’ time, a lot will happen in Indian political landscape. Foremost is the new government, which will assume office, no matter which party or coalition forms the government. If the government led by the present alliance comes to power, one can expect continuation of the same policies. Perhaps, there may be change in the focus or priorities based on vast experiences that they had accumulated over the last five years or so. If on the other hand, a different party or coalition comes to power, will there be any change in the approach regarding policies towards information technology?

My guess is that there will not be. The reason is not far to seek. Our commitment and focus towards IT are irreversible. No one can put the pendulum back. Every political party can take credit for pushing information technology to the center stage. Not only that, everyone is taking advantage of IT to promote their cause, interests, candidates and to galvanize their manifesto so much so that the election watchdog in India has come with a set of do’s and don’ts for political parties. It has instructed the internet companies like Facebook, Goggle, WhatsApp, Twitter and Instagram to be circumspect about the trolls and other messages that are frequently forwarded. Some of them have installed filters to weed out such messages. Some political parties are using Predictive Analytics to predict and target potential voters. As the election process is gaining ground and still there is more than one month for the process to reach its logical end, one can expect not only war in the cyber media but also massive cleaning up operations by the internet providers.

Let me go back to the main theme: what will be the prospects of IT under various dispensations.

My analysis is just only illustrative and I do not venture to go for an apocalyptical prediction. For analytical sake, I am, presuming three scenarios.

One, the existing government comes back into power with various configurations of alliances and support base. In that case, one can hear more about Digital India, Smart India, internet India and things like that. One can vouch that in the last five years or so, a lot has been done about connecting people digitally. Admittedly, a lot of financial transactions are taking place through the cashless medium. Not only that, cashless transactions are happening in tier 2 and 3 cities, which were earlier confined to metros only a few years back. Net penetration is increasing thanks to more awareness of the people coupled with the efforts of the government to create a strong digital infrastructure. It is a fact that mobile phones, which were imported in large numbers some two years back, are now being made in India thanks to the Make in India program initiated by the government. For the first time in India, the electronic goods imports have recorded less than the domestic production. It is

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for every citizen, which works in the digital platform so also many other devices that ensures transfer of subsidies, auction platforms, GST network etc., which later has been horned up by the succeeding BJP government.

What I am trying to drive home is that there is meeting of minds as far as the BJP and Congress are concerned on the digital domain.

Rather, I would say their polices in many counts are similar, though apparently, they try to make people realize they are different.

If a BJP led government is voted into power, can they shy away from the universal income program promised by the Congress on the ground that it would lead to fiscal profligacy?

They cannot do so. They have to match the promises made by the Congress, if not improve upon that. Otherwise, they will be distancing from the masses since this single scheme of minimum income has ignited the expectations of the people and no government however popular it may be, cannot distance itself from this program. a major achievement. More so, it can bode well for India since it is committed to take electronics sector in the same league as the software sector.

There are a few other areas also that need mention, which the present government can list as their achievement.

Now, let me turn to the second possibility: a government formed by the main opposition party -Congress on their own or with post election allies. Some people believe that it was during the successive Congress–led governments, IT had received the type of priority it deserved.

In 1980s, Rajiv Gandhi had confronted stiff opposition, when he introduced computers in India. Yet, he managed to do so through sheer determination and I would say pragmatism. Why I mentioned this is that earlier to that, during the Janata Party government, we know how the IBM was shunted out from India mainly driven by the misplaced apprehension that it would lead to loss of employment. Now, IT is looked upon as a force multiplier of employment and an effective tool for inclusive growth.

The Congress government is also credited with giving importance to technocrats to rule the roost. We know the far-reaching changes made by technocrat Sam Pitorda and Nandan Nilekini in revolutionizing telecom sector and digitization in India. Now, according to some estimates, arithmetically every Indian has more than one telephone connection. We know how mobile phones have transformed the lives of common man; the way he does business, transacts, buy provisions and what have you.

Later, some years after, Congress government has introduced the unique identification number

In another likely event of a non-BJP and non-Congress government coming into power what would be fate of IT? Here I must say that IT is secular in the sense that it is neither a proreform nor an anti-thesis to reform.

I feel that India will continue to enjoy a conducive environment for the growth of the IT industry and no government in power will tweak the policies to give less importance to IT. Secondly, IT landscape has changed much in the recent years with the induction of artificial intelligence and robotics. Yet, we are late in realizing this global change. That has affected our off-shore contracts and business outsourcing markets. Many jobs, which were earlier carried out by man is replaced by machine, through Internet of Things (IOTs). Our capabilities in these disciplines are mostly to be seen in papers than on the ground. Now experts are debating who would unleash first 5G-whether China or US. Available statistics indicate that Huwaei of China may pipe Qualcomm in the bargain. However, one has to keep the fingers crossed. The sad commentary is that nowhere in the game, India’s name is mentioned though we claim to be the third largest IT power in the world. Yes, we are the third, but a distant third.

I have always maintained that I am an incorrigible optimist. Setbacks and hiccups, I treat as part of the game. India has the strength to build on the IT power. Despite our shortcomings in a few areas, we have the potential to overcome the hurdles to touch newer heights in IT. We should accept and absorb the best technologies, even if they come at a higher cost. We should set our goal in innovation, creating a national pride in research and development. n

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CEO SPEAK

“High value workloads onpremise is a critical part of the hybrid cloud picture” Dell EMC brings together teams that were earlier having different product conversations to form a bigger team, fostering a common customer-centric narrative. The company understands the challenges and requirements of its customers and so helps them with its wide product portfolio.

In a chat with VARINDIA, Kris Day, Vice-President, Modern datacenter – Asia Pacific & Japan Dell EMC discusses about the modern data center, HCI and CI, growth in the APJ market and the success factors of the organisation -

A modern datacenter consists of automation, orchestration, self-service, service catalogues. Customers are shifting to it from a traditional environment as a modern datacenter helps in workloads. Explaining on the concept of a modern datacenter, Kris says, “This is about transformation; this is about customers that consistently want to move from a traditional thinking environment where they construct best of breed three tier infrastructure to an environment where they consume infrastructure. It’s more about automation, orchestration, self-service, service catalogues. These are the things that define the modernization of the datacenter. That doesn’t mean that they no longer have a requirement for infrastructure or traditional storage, but this becomes a workload conversation. It becomes a conversation that says you are going to have different workloads and it will have different requirements.”

Hyper-converged & Converged Infrastructure

Hyper-converged and converged infrastructures provide a cloud like experience to the customers. HCI and CI are often deployed together as a part of the same eco-system to provide customers a seamless experience.

On-premise and high value workloads on- premise are important and a challenging aspect of public cloud.

“Hyper-converged infrastructure (HCI) and conversed infrastructure (CI) is a very relevant part of this journey. These environments are there to provide a cloud like experience. Once we have identified that somebody wants to save money on traditional IT, automate and orchestrate, we see in many situations where both of them are deployed together and will be deployed as a part of that ecosystem. On-premise and high value workloads on-premise are really important and critical part of this hybrid cloud picture that we are building together. It is also one of the

most challenging things in public cloud. High value workloads like SAP, Oracle high value applications still represent around 51% or more of the applications deployed on-premise and they are growing. So, they are not moving to public cloud as was initially anticipated. Now, we are no longer talking about cloud first conversation,” explains Kris.

Growth in APJ Markets

It has been observed that 80% of the organizations are shifting its workloads from a public cloud environment to on-premise. It does not mean that cloud is not growing. It will continue to grow. There are a few big happenings that is going on in this environment and is driven by the idea of transformation and the idea of different landing zones for different workloads.

“Cloud is definitely still growing and what we are seeing is a trend of workload repatriation. When I think about the other indicator being the share, the total storage market last year that ran 3.4 billion was projected to decline by 2% and then IDC kept refining that judgement as we went through the course of the year. In India, the market was even more aggressive; it was a 16.7% growth in the storage market, which was phenomenal. The Indian storage market is one of the fastest growing markets in the world. Our revenue grew by 35% or more in the APJ market. Dell EMC continues to be the undisputed leader in the storage market. Our mid-range business grew by 20% and in a market like India, price point is one of the key indicators. We have about 30% share in the mid-range segment. There is a huge potential for India and the market is expected to grow by eight % in the next three-four years,” foresees Kris.

SUCCESS FACTORS OF DELL EMC Strength of our portfolio- We are not a single product company. We have the ability and the portfolio reach to have a consultative engagement, understand the customer requirements and challenges.

Consultative Approach- It is not just about having a wide product portfolio. It is also about being able to know how to have that conversation with the customers around their requirements and how do we help them in the transition & transformation.

Engagement in alignment with the strategically aligned businesses- Crucial to our success is on how we engage with strategically aligned businesses like VMware, Pivotal or Boomi. When we think of the multi-cloud business, there is the Dell EMC part of the story and Dell Technologies one-cloud strategy, which brings together the capabilities of VMware and Dell EMC to deliver a much more capable and highly differentiated cloud platform.

Complete idea of the cloud strategy- Dell Technologies is a company that provides end-to-end solutions. For example, our CloudIQ comes with everything that we sell. It is not something we charge for but it is a cloud based data collection environment based upon literally thousands upon thousands of installed based units gathering diagnostic & health information so that we can use AI to get lot more predictive and present information to customers help with real-time issues before they even get there. Then there is cloud consumption model which we do with our partners, then there is Dell Financial service (DFS) to help us put in place unique financial models that help satisfy the needs of the customers and finally the full cloud solutions businesses.

Timing- Stars are aligning perfectly for Dell Technologies. Markets are accelerating and our results are maintaining the momentum. We are growingApril well in most of the markets that we operate in.

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FACE TO FACE

Dell Technologies witnesses India as its growth trajectory JOYCE MULLEN

President, Global Channel, OEM & IoT, Dell Technologies

Dell EMC sets the benchmark in redefining the channel policy and the growth plan at the global level, which has already been proven in India as a region. It has set an example by establishing the channel business growth. The channel business of Dell EMC has grown quickly than its overall business. DELL EMC has clocked a revenue of $50 billion in orders in the channel and India has shown the largest channel growth region in APJ.

our PC business, the incredible server momentum that we have seen and also the growth in storage for four quarters,” says Joyce Mullen.

Elaborating on the APJ market, Ng Tian Beng says, “In APJ, we grew our business even quicker than the global averages and have been making strong progress. The Channel business specifically grew quicker than our overall business which is a good sign and that means channel partners are giving us their vote of confidence. In India, we are happy about our channel business growth; it is actually one of the largest channel regions for us in APJ. I think a lot of our partners are really happy working with us. We call it the sort of net promoters score where we do a survey of all our partners every year. In fact, India has one of the highest scores in this region.”

In the fiscal 2019, Dell Technologies has added over $ 11 billion in revenue on the top line and gained its share in all the major categories.

The company is attributing the credit to a couple of things - one of them is the company’s presence in the India market in terms of investment and commitment that customers are doing around digital transformation.

Along with Dell, its partners are also doing well. The growth is also credited to the combination of Dell and EMC which has fortified the product portfolio. Moreover, the robust channel community is like a cherry on the icing, as they represented the products and solutions, and for that same period the company clocked $50 billion in orders in the channel which is obviously more than half of the total and was growing faster than the total.

“We are excited about the 24 consecutive quarters of share growth in

Dell Technologies has taken three initiatives for the betterment of the partner community, Joyce explains.

“The three strategic initiatives that we have laid out a year ago for our partners remain unchanged. The first and foremost is making it easier to do business with us. Second is helping our partners transact and engage across the family of businesses in Dell Technologies. Third, helping our partners embrace and monetize new technologies. The most important thing is, I think our relationship is of long term and we still have a long way to go, but we are starting to see lots of interest in AI and machine learning and augmented reality and IoT, etc.” she says.

Ng Tian Beng Senior VP, APJ Channels, Dell EMC 12

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Partner initiatives

Strategy

Dell Technologies has invested a huge amount of money into R&D and the company is committed towards innovation. The team is keeping a track of the market to understand technologies by leveraging the technological expertise of the Dell Technology family. The company will continue to invest in skill development, talents etc.

“For the last three years, we have spent over $ 12½ billion on our R&D. So, we are very much committed towards innovation. We have a very robust R&D budget, we also have a Dell Technology ventures team which is keeping an eye on the market and understanding the technologies of today and tomorrow. There is a tremendous opportunity for partners. If you think about the kind of complexity of the servers, and how they are changed to support AI etc., or the need to manage data in a very different way - the advantage is we have so much scale that we can spend that kind of money and can also invest into newer technologies that are coming into the market.

We also believe it as a highly advantaged sort of market strategy that we are going to continue to invest in. So, we have the world’s biggest direct sales force and have an incredible channel community. We will continue to invest in skills and development etc. We will always be working on improving efficiency, skill and talents.

The third big area is around figuring out how to optimize the scenes. It is very similar to our second strategy initiative which is helping our partners

to transact and engage across the Dell Technology family of businesses.

VMware, SecureWorks, Pivotal Software, Dell EMC in silos are all strong but how to create the opportunities in the seams and make those things work together, so that we are leveraging each other’s strength in a much more efficient way. It is a three trillion dollar market and we are at $92 billion,” reveals Joyce.

Balance between Direct and Partner Business

Talking about the balance between direct and partner business, Anil Sethi says, “It has always been very clear at Dell that both businesses are equally important. So the objective is both to grow. There could be sometimes, so one is to grow exactly in the same ratio and then we just ensure that we have very well segmented accounts and RTMs are clearly defined, they say in accounts we got to go it with this RTMs vis-à-vis these RTMs. We have gone to an extent where we have given log incumbency we have created, the storage accounts will always be with the partners, we will never go direct. You can call it account protection. So I think partners continue to engage with us in a profitable way and that’s why we see today ranked as No 1 in many categories, because I think that’s one reason. We are super clear the way we deal with registration process. Second, where does this whole thing come up? We have a defined market after that there is a bottom of pyramid market and this is SB you can call it, our other markets.

I believe in that one thing that between success and the failure there is only thing which works is hungers. It matters both sides, if you are successful you get your hunger, if failed you will be more hungry to be successful.

We are super hungry people. So we have a capacity build up and no other company has it. We don't want to leave any piece of the market because our portfolio is right from the edge to core. So, we have this whole range of CSG Client portfolio, from Vostro to Lati, the entire Notebook range. We can address entire segment of the market.”

DELL Financial Services

While explaining about the financial facilities given by the company, Anil Sethi says, “We are the only company in the country which gives credit lines to the partner directly other than distributors. Partners include SIs, Systematic Integrators or our metal partners. In APJ, the company has more than 20,000 channel partners of which 600 have been elevated to a three-tiered structure of metal partners. Metal partners have contributed 70% in Dell EMC’s India business, while Strategic partners, a sub-set of the metal partners contribute 45%. We have given extended credit lines. It runs into some couple of hundred million which we have created as credit lines all put together. This led to the trust.”

He further adds, “We don’t do it through DELL Financial Services, we have financing capital solutions which we have created through other organizations. DFC is operating but we partner with some of them and other companies locally because it is not registered in the country and also due to RBI rules. I think 20% credit lines have been increasing for the last three years since we started. Today, for example, if somebody has $ 40 million dollar project, we can get it done tomorrow or day after tomorrow.

So that’s the way we have created it.”

Shadow Channel v/s Traditional Channel

These days Shadow Channel is playing an important role in Digital cities. It is on the growth side and will play a critical role in all big projects, but the traditional IT partner will also play an important part as they have the delivery capability and execution capability.

“Shadow Channel definitely would come up and play a role especially in Digital cities so they are on the side of growth, but is IT going to be the traditional business? The answer is no. But they are going to be coming up into all these big projects and IT would remain depending upon the percentage, it could be ‘x’ amount of percentage in those projects. In the next couple of years it is going play a very important role.

But most of it is going to get fulfilled through these traditional partners itself because while they have the financial capability they don't have a delivery capability or execution capability. So, they are taking up project management role and getting the pieces together and I gave one guy’s responsibility to second guy, so you will see IT traditional partner will play an important role,” highlights Anil Sethi.

Cloud and Traditional IT hardware business

Anil Sethi VP and GM - Channels, Dell India

Cloud is definitely gaining grounds these days but every organization is converging it. Earlier we used to think cloud is going to survive exclusively but at present, organizations are opting for a converged model of both hybrid cloud and on-premise.

“We heard IBM say it’s going to go multi cloud, AWS say it’s kind of multi cloud, Google and everybody is saying that. So I think we are now converged on a position, of course I’m sure there is some variation in how much of each but everybody is saying that the path forward is going to be a combination of these,” says Joyce.

Elaborating on the same Ng Tian Beng says, “I think in the past people thought that it will be mutually exclusive, but obviously now and actually we were one of the first, in the industry to keep saying that it will not be mutually exclusive, it will be a Hybrid Cloud. We have been advocating hybrid now for quite a few years. It is great to see now that it is happening in a quite big way. Hybrid Cloud would also continue to grow but the on-premise will grow rapidly. In fact, one of the trends that we have been seeing is that a lot of our customers who previously moved aggressively to the public cloud were actually moving their workloads back to on-premise.” n

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HOT BYTES

VMware introduces its new partner program Secure Cam enters India with a Rs 200 VMware has announced a fundamental transformation of its partner program landscape, re-imagining the way the company does business with crore project and for its partners to deliver simplicity, choice and innovation.

VMware has unveiled VMware Partner Connect, a new, dramatically simplified and flexible program that will go live early next year. The program

will enable partners to do business with VMware in a way that aligns to their business models. VMware Partner Connect will empower partners with flexibility to meet customers’ needs, making VMware technologies and services opportunities more accessible. Partners will have an enhanced experience that recognizes and rewards them based on the value they bring to customers, creating a clearer path to profitability.

VMware Partner Connect will offer three tiers - Partner, Advanced Partner, and Principal Partner. Principal Partners will be the most capable partners to help customers identify and implement ideal VMware solutions as evidenced by achievement of Master Services Competencies across different strategic IT priorities.

Nutanix strengthens its India commitment with new customer support centre

Nutanix has announced the opening of a new customer support centre in Pune in another sign of the enterprise cloud leader’s continued commitment and investment in India and the wider Asia Pacific.

The new support centre will be part of the Nutanix global service and support function, helping enable 24-hour support to customers worldwide as part of Nutanix’s “follow the sun” and “always on” support mission.

The addition of Pune now increases the total number of Customer Support Centres of Excellence to ten, 5 of which are based in Asia.

The Beijing, Sydney, Tokyo, Bangalore, and now Pune based centres highlight the rising importance Asia plays in regard to the enterprise cloud leader’s regional and global ambitions.

Sankalp Saxena, Senior Vice President and Managing Director, Nutanix India, said, “This is great news for Nutanix, for India and for our customers worldwide. Nutanix commands one of the highest customer satisfaction ratings in the world and consistently standing at over 90%.”

Secure Cam IT Solutions, a United Arab Emirates-based security surveillance and IT solutions provider, is expanding into India as part of the launch of its global campaign.

The company has earmarked about Rs 200 crore for the implementation of ‘Secure Our City’ in India. As part of the $1.5 billion worldwide campaign that was announced last October, Secure Cam has promised to install about 10,000 cameras for free in one city across 150 countries by 2025.

The IT service provider has registered in India as Secure Cam India with offices in Bengaluru and Kochi.

"We are expanding into India as the country offers a fast-growing market for us within the IT sector. The surveillance camera industry in itself is expected to experience a double-digit growth of about 15 to 20 percent in the next three years and we want to ensure that we are at the forefront of the growth story," says Chairman and CEO Rijoy Thomas.

HCL inks partnership with Xerox to accelerate operational transformation

HCL Technologies has signed a managed services agreement with Xerox. Under the terms of the agreement, HCL will manage portions of Xerox’s shared services, including global administrative and support functions, including, among others, selected information technology and finance functions (excluding accounting).Leveraging HCL’s global scale and capabilities,Xerox will strategically evolve its shared services into process-first, technology-led digital operations.

This seven-year agreement for an incremental $1.3 billion continues to build on the success of the Xerox-HCL relationship, which began in 2009 with product engineering and support services. Under that agreement, HCL currently manages aspects of Xerox’s mechanical, electrical and software engineering activities for printer and imaging product lines.

As part of the agreement, a group of Xerox employees will transfer to HCL (subject to compliance with European works council consultation and employment regulatory requirements). The employees who are transferring to HCL will have an opportunity to be part of a leading global technology company.

Sonata Software inks strategic ArisGlobal migrates its infrastructure to AWS investment in Retail10X

ArisGlobal is migrating its infrastructure to Amazon Web Services (AWS) — going all-in on AWS, and moving more than 1,200 virtual machines and over 100TB of database workload to AWS. ArisGlobal chose AWS for its global infrastructure, unmatched reliability, and breadth of functionality to enhance the experiences of its global customers and help them deal with growing regulatory complexity, time to market pressures, and an increasing need to reduce R&D costs. ArisGlobal has already migrated more than 85 life sciences customers to AWS and will continue to transition its remaining customers.

With AWS, ArisGlobal will continue its agile growth, reducing operational costs, and accelerating its pace of innovation to serve existing customers that include 40 of the top 50 life sciences companies and nine government health authorities. Now, every instance of its LifeSphere platform, which covers all primary functions of the product lifecycle -- clinical development, regulatory, safety, and medical affairs -- will be powered by AWS Cloud.

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Sonata Software has announced that it has made a strategic investment in Retail10x, a Palo Alto, California Headquartered Retail AI software-asservice platform company.

The platform leverages advanced AI and ML capabilities to deliver actionable field-level recommendations. Retail10x team has deep industry experience having worked for some of the leading organizations like Apple, Walmart, Coke, Heineken, Moet Hennessy, SC Johnson and IRI. Sonata software has been focused on being a Digital Transformation Partner of choice for customers in Retail, Distribution, Manufacturing, and Travel industries with their unique Platformation methodology, endto-end digital platforms. This investment is an extension of its endeavour of Digital transformation for the retail, distribution and CPG companies by providing them a real-time integrated data rich platform. As a result of the investment Sonata gets exclusive rights, worldwide, to implement and service the R10x platform and market the R10x platform under its own brands.

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HOT BYTES

SUSE joins hand with Intel to meet transformation challenges

Tech Data along with Barracuda to offer IT security solutions

SUSE has announced support for 2nd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors, formerly code named “Cascade Lake,” following on the heels of becoming the first enterprise Linux optimized for Intel Optane DC persistent memory with SAP HANA workloads earlier this year.

With solutions running on SUSE Linux Enterprise Server on Intel Optane DC persistent memory and 2nd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors, businesses will be better able to address the challenges of massive data increases with greater speed and agility while incurring lower infrastructure and management costs.

SUSE is committed to enabling enterprises with open source solutions to implement best-of-breed digital transformation and realize the hybrid and multi-cloud workload management they require to power continuous innovation, competitiveness and growth. Support for 2nd Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors and Intel Optane DC persistent memory is included in SUSE Linux Enterprise 15 and SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 Service Pack 4.

Tech Data has announced the signing of an Indian distribution agreement with Barracuda Networks. Under this agreement, Tech Data will now deliver Barracuda’s email protection, network and application security, and data protection solutions to local partners across India.

Sundaresan Kanappan, vice president and country general manager, India - Tech Data, comments, “Barracuda is an important addition to our solutions portfolio.

77 percent of enterprises today have adopted cloud technology for either a portion of, or their entire business, according to IDG. This presents a huge opportunity for our partners to support their customers with leading-edge cloud-enabled security and data protection solutions.”

Murali Urs, country manager – India, Barracuda Networks, says, “We are delighted to work with Tech Data in India. Barracuda is a leader in security and data protection technologies and with Tech Data on board as a distributor, we are looking to scale greater heights. India is a growing market and we are looking to cement ourselves further with this association.”

NITI Aayog with ABB accelerates AI adoption by MSMEs

Synology recommends private cloud to its customers

'Manufacturing in the age of AI' - a workshop organized by NITI Aayog and ABB India, has brought together entrepreneurs, policymakers, state government functionaries and technology experts. It was the culmination of a partnership between the two organizations to work together, make key sectors of Indian economy ready for a digitalized future, and realize the potential of AI, big data and digital connectivity.

Last year, NITI Aayog and ABB signed a Statement of Intent (SoI) to support the Indian government to realize its ambitious vision of “Make in India” through advanced manufacturing technologies that incorporate the latest developments in robotics and artificial intelligence.

The workshop, held at the ABB Ability Innovation Center (AIC) in Bengaluru featured MSME entreprenuers from the selected sectors of pharmaceuticals, textiles, electrical and electronics, food processing and manufacturing.

Manufacturing industries across the world are in the process of incorporating artificial intelligence to reap productivity gains from automation in areas such as labour flexibility, better finishing, more reliable demands forecasting, agile supply chain and inventory optimization.

Subex signs a 6-year contract with VodafoneZiggo

Subex has been awarded a six-year deal with VodafoneZiggo to deploy its ROC Partner Settlement and Route Optimization Solutions. The solution will be deployed on a SaaS-based model for VodafoneZiggo’s new Interconnect Billing Platform, replacing three different existing legacy billing systems with a single solution, to reduce complexities and optimize costs. This deployment will also help VodafoneZiggo further reduce its operational costs through the Subex Managed Service Center of Excellence, to which certain business operations will be outsourced.

VodafoneZiggo is a Netherlands based operator offering fixed, mobile and integrated communication and entertainment services to consumers and businesses. VodafoneZiggo is a joint venture of Liberty Global, the biggest international TV and broadband Internet Company, and Vodafone Group, one of the world’s biggest telecommunication companies. Post the merger in 2017, VodafoneZiggo has begun an IT transformation and system consolidation project. As a part of the project, the service provider selected Subex’s solutions for their Wholesale Department, to achieve business objectives through Subex’s expertise in Wholesale Management and Managed Services.

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Synology Inc. has urged businesses to face up to the hidden cost and risks after adopting public cloud services. It is suggested that businesses should consider NAS, which bases on the private cloud architecture and provides file sync services, collaboration suite, corporate communication app, mail services, and high availability services simultaneously, helping businesses to minimize the risks and losses caused by public cloud services anomalies.

Chad Chiang, Synology Product Manager, says, “The threshold of deploying public cloud services may be lower. But once the public cloud services are abnormal, the losses caused by services disruption will be considerable. In this case, businesses are strongly suggested to establish a private cloud system in order to ensure maximum service uptime and master data autonomy.”

For companies that already use public cloud services, Synology also offers Active Backup for Office 365 and Active Backup for G Suite to protect data of Office 365 and G Suite, minimizing the risk and losses caused by public cloud anomalies.

Tally Solutions targets to empower SMEs of Tamil Nadu

Tally Solutions has announced its plans to reach maximum SMEs across the state to help them attain the transparency and efficiency benefits provided by GST. The company further aims to provide support for a seamless transition to automation of daily business operations. With the help of automation, the daily operations like cash flow management, managing stock, compliance and accounting can be done in a simple, faster, and reliable manner. In addition to the better management of business data, automation can also help with providing powerful business reports which will help business owners in important decision making.

With an aim to create technical literacy amongst SMEs and encourage the adoption of automation,Tally has been actively educating SMEs about the optimized ways of conducting the business through various industry associations, partner organizations, business forums etc. in association with the key influencers in SME sector i.e. Chartered Accountants and tax practitioners.

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ON THE RAMP

TeamViewer unveils IoT Starter Kit for immediate set up

TeamViewer has presented its new easy-to-implement IoT product.

With this IoT Starter Kit, it is now possible to simply implement an IoT application without a time-consuming concept phase, a preliminary project and a high upfront investment.

With this do-ityourself solution, businesses of any size can get started with IoT immediately.

Alfredo Patron, Executive Vice President Business Development at TeamViewer, says, “With our IoT Starter Kit, we enable our customers and partners to come up with their own IoT use cases and to experience how IoT can work for them. Just walk into your factory, building or whatever you want to make smart and place the gateway and sensors and use our IoT solution. The sensors will immediately start collecting data regarding predefined parameters like vibration, temperature, or lighting condition and send them to the gateway and to our cloud.”

NetApp launches MAX Data 1.3 supporting the Intel Optane DC persistent memory

NetApp has announced NetApp Memory Accelerated Data (MAX Data) 1.3 supporting the Intel Optane DC persistent memory. The combination of MAX Data and Intel Optane DC persistent memory enables organizations to stay competitive by doing more with their data so they can do more for their customers.

Companies are challenged with using unprecedented volumes of data to achieve real business impact. Taking advantage of data is often easier said than done. New applications such as artificial intelligence, machine learning, deep learning, real-time analytics, and Internet of Things (IoT), all of which are memory hungry and fueled by massive datasets, compound this challenge. By using a promising new memory tier, NetApp helps customers put their data to work without having to re-architect their critical applications.

MAX Data gives customers the tools to unlock the value of enormous datasets and extend a Data Fabric strategy all the way into their servers with applications and data that are critical to their business.

Intel India introduces new memory and storage solutions

Intel has unveiled a new portfolio of data-centric solutions consisting of 2nd-Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors, Intel Optane DC memory and storage solutions, and software and platform technologies optimized to help its customers extract more value from their data. Intel’s latest data center solutions target a wide range of use cases within cloud computing, network infrastructure and intelligent edge applications, and support high-growth workloads, including AI and 5G. Intel’s investment in a broad processor portfolio that ranges from general-purpose compute to purpose-built processors enables Intel architecture to power the industry’s widest array of high-growth workload targets. The data-centric processors that Intel released today represent the most expansive portfolio of Intel Xeon processors in the company’s history with more than 50 workload-optimized processors, complemented by dozens of custom processors designed with deep engineering engagements with customers.

Intel released 2nd-Generation Intel Xeon Scalable processors, which provide a powerful platform that delivers evolutionary enhancements in performance, AI inference, network functions, groundbreaking persistent memory bandwidth and security.

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McAfee with Microsoft Teams launches McAfee MVISION Cloud

McAfee has announced McAfee MVISION Cloud for Microsoft Teams, a comprehensive security and compliance integration for Teams.

McAfee MVISION Cloud for Microsoft Teams is an extension to the already available comprehensive security solution that McAfee MVISION Cloud has for Microsoft Office 365. This solution nicely complements Team’s capabilities by using a frictionless API-based cloud-native approach that allows IT teams to seamlessly enforce data loss prevention (DLP) policies and collaboration controls, contextual access control, address threats from insiders and compromised accounts, audit all user activity and secure corporate data as users collaborate in the cloud.

Rajiv Gupta, vice president of the Cloud Security Business Unit, says, “McAfee MVISION Cloud enables IT and security teams to consistently enforce security and compliance controls across all their SaaS, PaaS and IaaS applications, including Microsoft Teams. We’re thrilled to integrate with another industry-leading cloud solution to protect corporate data, while providing employees with the freedom to use cloud services that drive productivity and collaboration.”

Juniper Networks announces SD-WAN as a service

Juniper Networks has announced a cloud-delivered version of its SDWAN solution, the most scalable offering on the market. Juniper’s Contrail Service Orchestration now gives enterprises a simple way to manage and secure not only the WAN infrastructure, but also branch LAN and Wi-Fi networks typically deployed alongside it.

Manoj Leelanivas, Chief Product Officer at Juniper Networks, says, “Juniper’s SD-WAN as a service easily connects and manages the full suite of Juniper’s branch and WAN solutions, making the benefits of SDN accessible to any enterprise. This is a significant step in enabling our customers’ journey to AI for IT, extending the SDN transformation beyond cloud and data centers to the branch and the WAN.” With Juniper’s SD-WAN as a service, the company is setting the stage for the next step in the multi-cloud evolution, allowing customers to connect distributed infrastructure and orchestrate operations centrally.

This scalable, open and future-ready solution offers customers the simplicity of a cloud-delivered service with the power of software-defined networking and security.

Oracle boosts its ERP & EPM Cloud with AI capabilities Oracle has extended the AI capabilities within Oracle ERP Cloud and Oracle Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Cloud. The latest machine learning-based innovations include an expense reporting assistant, project management digital assistant, advanced financial controls and project-driven supply chain management.

Rondy Ng, senior vice president, Oracle Applications Development, says, “Oracle continues to deliver on the finance innovation promise expected by our customers. Our pervasive AI strategy delivered via continuous product updates ensures rapid adoption with immediate business results.” With Oracle ERP Cloud, organizations of all sizes can quickly and easily take advantage of the latest innovations in artificial intelligence, digital assistants, natural language processing, blockchain, and the Internet of Things to enable enhanced productivity, reduced costs and improved controls.

Cyber Security Conclave Friday, 7th June 2019 Hotel Shangrila, New Delhi

Topic: Growing concern on Cyber-Enabled Espionage With rapid globalisation and opening up of economies across the world, digital transformation is on the top-most agenda of Central and state governments across the country. VARINDIA Infotech Forum focuses on how the Government agencies accelerate the government’s agenda of digital transformation for larger benefits of citizens.

The world is becoming very small and technology is changing fast. To complement the growth, the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) have been contributing tremendously towards national growth. The Infotech Forum aims to have deliberations and showcase the best practices adopted by the Public Sector Undertakings (PSUs) in the country, while discussing the solutions for delivering best in class services to citizens and businesses by ensuring the availability of goods and service to the general public at much competitive prices. PM Narendra Modi’s flagship Skill India Mission is rapidly roping in its own public sector enterprises to take on targeted skilling in the country. A day-long conference (the 17th edition of Infotech Forum) will bring together key stakeholders from the Government, PSU, Policy makers, Senior judiciary officials and academia from India and abroad. This would provide a unique platform for the exchange of experiences and ideas, challenges and opportunities in making the country digitally empowered.

DIGITALLY EMPOWERED PSUs IN THE COUNTRY - Criteria for recognising the PSUs at the event: •

•

Digital Infrastructure Digital Empowerment Practices • Securing government’s digital transformation initiatives

Session - I Cyber Security - A Growing CSR Issue

•

•

Governance and Services reforms through digital interventions Developing an effective smart government system

Session - II Appreciation and Admissibility of Electronic Evidence

Registration Timing 09.30 AM

AN EVENT NOT TO BE MISSED …..

There is a lot that should be learned from the regular hacking and jacking, but how is what we learned stopping further attacks? When there are hackers across the globe and in India the BFSI and critical infrastructures are being attacked, the Chief Information Security Officers (CISO) are of deep concern on what can be done to prevent it? We have Top cyber security experts attending the event, who

# Judiciary Officials # Senior Police Officers # Chief Information Security Officers ( CISO) # Senior Officers from PSU/PSBs in India # Consultants in Cyber Security

DIGITALLY EMPOWERED PSUs IN INDIA

can speak on this and more about cybersecurity.

WHO CAN ATTEND !!!

CORPORATE OFFICE: VAR House, A-84A/3 Rose Apartment, Paryavaran complex, IGNOU Road, New Delhi - 110030 Tel: 011-41656383, 46061809 | Email: edit@varindia.com

www.varindia.com April 2019

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ON THE RAMP

Veeam launches Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365 Version 3

Vertiv adds ‘dynamic online’ mode to its Liebert EXL S1 UPS systems

Veeam Software has announced the new Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365 v3, offering organizations even faster backup, improved security, enhanced visibility and analytics. As enterprises are responsible for protecting their Office 365 data, Veeam’s solution delivers secure backup for Office 365 Exchange Online, SharePoint Online OneDrive for Business and Microsoft Teams, enabling quick recovery of individual items and efficient eDiscovery of backup data for Office 365 or hybrid environments.

The rapid market adoption and growth of Microsoft Office 365 has also created an opportunity for service providers to offer backup solutions to the more than 140 million Office 365 users in a $2.5 billion market. With Veeam Backup for Microsoft Office 365 v3, Veeam Cloud & Service Providers (VCSPs) assist with secure backup of Office 365 Exchange Online, SharePoint Online and OneDrive for Business data; quickly restoring individual items through a number of flexible receiver options and providing the capability to efficiently automate and scale an Office 365 backup revenue stream.

Vertiv has announced a new feature for the Liebert EXL S1 line of uninterruptible power supply (UPS) systems, adding Dynamic Online mode, which allows operating efficiency of up to 99 percent. In addition, Vertiv introduced 500 and 600 kVA 400V module ratings for the Liebert EXL S1. The UPS family is available now in India in seven capacity ratings from 300 kVA to 1200kVA, 400V. The UPS is also available in Asia Pacific, Europe and North America in a variety of input and output voltages.

Vertiv introduced Dynamic Online mode to the Liebert EXL S1 to meet the needs of cloud, colocation and enterprise data centers that cannot sacrifice any level of availability for incremental gains in efficiency. With efficiency up to 99 percent, the Liebert EXL S1 operating in Dynamic Online mode offers substantial energy savings over legacy UPS systems which average 94 percent efficiency, and even improves on modern UPS systems that approach 97 percent efficiency.

Dell EMC brings in VxRail to improve VMware systems

Fortinet has announced the release of the latest version of its flagship operating system, FortiOS 6.2, at its global customer and partner conference—Accelerate 19. This FortiOS 6.2 release continues the evolution of the Fortinet Security Fabric with over 300 new innovations that span Fortinet’s products and solutions portfolio, enabling organizations to achieve a security-driven network required for the edge and multi-cloud environments created by digital transformation.

Dell EMC has created VxRail, a next-gen technology that provides future proofing for infrastructure, over a period of 3 years, to improve and optimize VMware systems. Powered by VMware vSAN and Dell EMC PowerEdge servers, VxRail is the only fully integrated, pre-configured, and pre-tested VMware hyper-converged appliance in the market.

Dell EMC has recently announced the arrival of VMware Cloud Foundation on Dell EMC VxRail, a fast and easy path to deploy and operate hybrid cloud through a fully integrated platform. The Cloud Foundation on VxRailis engineered to act as an operative nexus for all activities pertaining to the user’s hybrid cloud. This highly integrated platform is built to offer a seamless experience with respect to delivery of infrastructure. It aims to provide an “on-premise infrastructure running” experience which is set to surpass the existing systems within the Cloud Foundation. Each lifecycle is automated and punctuated with a “turnkey on-premise” experience. The end-to-end lifecycle design is built to minimize the risk and maximize efficiency.

F5 Networks launches F5 Cloud Services

F5 Networks has extended its cloud-native application services portfolio with F5 Cloud Services, a new delivery model that leverages the AWS SaaS Enablement Framework for its market-leading application services. F5’s new offerings will provide high-availability, self-service, and fully managed SaaS solutions that are easily provisioned and configured within minutes on AWS. Adam Judd, SVP, Asia Pacific, China and Japan, says, “Multi-cloud has evolved from an experiment to a strategic concern, while enforcing consistent security and ensuring reliable performance are still challenging for most organizations. Customers are increasingly looking for easy-toconsume, advanced SaaS-based application services to help them navigate the digital transformation journey with confidence. As businesses change the way they operate in today’s everything-as-a-service (XaaS) economy, F5’s advanced application delivery and security capabilities will now be delivered as modern, DevOps-centric SaaS solutions aligned with AWS best practices.”

F5 Cloud Services also represent a new way of delivering capabilities to a wide range of companies that are looking to seamlessly layer application services as needed, while also delivering foundational security capabilities, offering additional protections through future services that allow companies to configure and automate defenses for multiple attack vectors.

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Fortinet introduces FortiOS 6.2 to expand its security fabric

Fortinet is broadening visibility and simplifying deployment and management across the expanded Fortinet Security Fabric with deeper integrations between Fortinet solutions and over 70+ Alliance Partners.

The FortiGate NGFW, best-of-breed FortiGate Secure SD-WAN solution and large portfolio of cloud-native platforms have all been enhanced with new functionality, including intent-based segmentation. Customers can maximize the new breadth of comprehensive visibility delivered in FortiOS 6.2 through Fortinet’s 360 Protection services bundles that include a wide array of professional services.

SenRa and myDevices present IoT in a Box

SenRa, a PAN India LoRaWAN network service provider, and myDevices, the Internet of Things solutions company have announced the launch of IoT in a Box for the Indian market with the initial roll-out focused on providing end-to-end commercial refrigeration monitoring solutions. With India's IoT market poised to touch $15 billion USD by 2020, new and cost-effective solutions are an integral part of driving the market growth and IoT adoption in India.

With over 90 million commercial refrigeration units in operation around the world, the global demand for commercial refrigeration equipment is expected to increase 4.5% each year through 2020. The collaboration between the two companies will help drive India's digital movement into industries yet to be penetrated in the Indian market. The IoT in a Box's commercial refrigeration temperature monitoring offering will now drive IoT adoption into industries such as retail, supply-chain management, logistics, healthcare, and even hospitality.

"We are excited to bring myDevices' IoT in a Box solution offerings to the Indian market," said Ali Hosseini, CEO of SenRa. "This collaboration will allow us to increase adoption of LoRaWAN in India and in its mainstream market. IoT in a Box is an off-the-shelf solution which will rapidly enable digitalization PAN India."

Predictive Intelligence

Big Data Analytics Multifactor Authentication

ArtiďŹ cial Intelligence

KYC & Fraud Detection Smart Surveillance

OSINT Monitoring

Facial Recognition

Information Security

Report Investigation

INNOVATING FOR THE FUTURE CYBER SECURITY & DATA ANALYTICS Top 3 start-ups in 2016 felicitated by Minister of Commerce

Top 5 companies for cyber excellence globally in 2016

Security Product Company of the year by DSCI, 2018

Learn more at: www.innefu.com www.varindia.com March 2019

19

VOICE-N-DATA

TP-Link unveils Deco M4 – the Whole Home Mesh wi-fi system

TP-Link has announced the launch of the Whole Home Mesh WiFi System with a new appearance—Deco M4, the newest addition to the brand’s line-up of mesh solutions. Unlike the previous disc-shaped products, Deco M4 is an affordable column-shaped product that provides the AC1200 whole home mesh Wi-Fi. Deco M4 is comprised of a system of 3 units that can be customized to fit Wi-Fi coverage needs to up to 4000 square feet, the Deco M4 system can be easily scaled up to accommodate even larger spaces. Deco uses a system of units to achieve seamless wholehome Wi-Fi coverage to eliminate weak signal areas, with advanced Deco Mesh Technology, wi-fi enabled devices automatically switch to the fastest Deco as users move through their home, creating a truly seamless online experience.

The dual-band AC1200 system is capable of throughput speeds of 300Mbps on the 2.4GHz band and 867Mbps on the 5GHz band—and it supports MU-MIMO data streaming.

China Telecom Global along with Tata Communications to bring in global IoT service

China Telecom Global and Tata Communications are working together to launch a global Internet of Things (IoT) service in the Chinese market.

The partnership will allow companies to deploy and manage IoT devices easily and cost-effectively within China and internationally across multiple industries, including consumer and industrial electronics manufacturing, automotive, transport and logistics.

China Telecom Global and Tata Communications will cooperate to support global IoT opportunities. The Tata Communications MOVE service leverages the company’s relationships with more than 600 mobile network operators worldwide, to ensure that a new IoT-enabled wearable device or automotive system, for example, can be instantly connected, anywhere in the world. With this platform and capabilities, China Telecom Global will be able to enhance the global reach of its IoT offering, and address the needs of both Chinese and overseas based corporations.

Through this partnership, China Telecom Global also provides Tata Communications with connectivity for Mainland China, Hong Kong and Macau.

Ericsson brings in Ericsson Industry Connect to accelerate industry 4.0 digital transformation

Ericsson has launched Ericsson Industry Connect, an easy-touse cellular connectivity solution to accelerate Industry 4.0 digital transformation.

Ericsson Industry Connect enables communication service providers to offer dedicated cellular networks at factories and warehouses starting with 4G/LTE, with a clear path to 5G. The offering strengthens Ericsson’s private networks and IoT portfolios by making 4G and 5G technologies accessible to new industrial markets.

With a network management experience designed to be easy to use and manage for information technology (IT) and operational technology (OT) professionals, the solution aims to make cellular technology rapidly deployable for factory and warehouse staff.

With industrial-grade wireless connectivity, Ericsson Industry Connect can enable innovative Industry 4.0 use cases such as: digital twin inspection (a real-time digital replica of a physical entity) with massive amounts of sensors; mobility for human machine interface (HMI) instructions for workers; collision avoidance and remote control for autonomous guided vehicles (AGVs); and collaborative robotics for automated operations.

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Hughes India to deploy satellite connectivity for BSNL in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep

Hughes Communications India is selected by BSNL, India’s state-owned telecom company, as the system integrator to enable satellite broadband connectivity in Andaman and Nicobar Islands and Lakshadweep. The project addresses growing bandwidth demand in these island regions located beyond the reach of terrestrial technology.

Installing fiber or cable is challenging in providing comprehensive coverage across islands, and conversely where high-speed satellite broadband technology is the most cost-effective option. With Hughes India, BSNL plans to expand satellite bandwidth in Andaman and Nicobar to 400 times the current capacity in two years and has already augmented available bandwidth in the island region from 240 Mbps to 1 Gbps.

As part of the solution, Hughes India supplied BSNL with satellite terminals and modems for voice, data, and video communications as well as high-speed satellite back-haul capacity to extend network coverage in the region.

Tourism forms the backbone of the economy on the islands, which are also strategic naval locations.

CCA along with Parallel Wireless delivers network solutions for mobile operators

Parallel Wireless has announced a strategic partnership to provide network infrastructure for CCA’s carrier members to cost-effectively accelerate and enable their 4G expansion and 5G network migration to better serve rural America, businesses and consumers. Parallel Wireless also is a CCA associate member.

Steven K. Berry, President & CEO of CCA says, “CCA is pleased to partner with Parallel Wireless to provide our members with a fullyvirtualized 4G and 5G Open RAN solution that is flexible and optimized for cost-effective rural coverage. The goal is to help smaller carriers reduce deployment cost,increase revenues, provide ubiquitous connectivity for their customers, whether businesses or individuals, and get their networks ready for 5G.” Steve Libbey, VP of Sales, Parallel Wireless says, “We are excited to support CCA members by offering our innovative and cost-effective 4G and 5G solutions.We are confident that deployment of Parallel Wireless’s unique architecture can help bridge the digital divide and enable business transformation.”

Airtel chooses Ericsson for its VoLTE deployment

Ericsson has been selected by Bharti Airtel (Airtel) to expand its VoLTE (voice over LTE) services in India.

This agreement will result in deployment of the Ericsson Cloud VoLTE solution, an industrialized solution to deliver VoLTE services onto a customer data center. The solution enables high-definition voice (HD voice) and provides modern communication services experiences across many types of devices, over LTE, Wi-Fi, and future 5G access.

As per Ericsson Mobility Report, June 2018 edition, India is expected to have more than 780 million VoLTE subscriptions by 2023. VoLTE technology will also be the foundation for enabling 5G voice calls on different types of 5G devices.

Ericsson Cloud VoLTE is an industrialized solution to deliver VoLTE services onto a customer datacenter cloud. The solution includes a complete virtual IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) and supporting nodes to add VoLTE service to an existing LTE data network, and serves as a foundation to evolve and expand voice and other communication services.

VAR ANALYSIS

Closing the

Cybersecurity vendors have a responsibility for closing the cybersecurity skills gap that goes well beyond providing training on products and solutions.

skill gap

As the cybersecurity skills gap continues to widen, it is creating what some now consider to be one of the top cybersecurity risks for many organizations. According to a recent workforce development survey, 59% of organizations have unfilled cybersecurity positions, with Frost & Sullivan forecasting a shortfall of 1.5 million by 2020.

CYBERSECURITY

This critical shortage in the cybersecurity workforce has resulted in security operations teams who are overworked and understaffed, which can often result in either neglecting to adhere to cybersecurity best practices, or careless errors in caring for network and security resources.

Although much of the energy in closing the cybersecurity skills gap is focused on technical skills to fill cybersecurity jobs, we need to be aware that the cybersecurity skills gap goes far beyond the job market for cybersecurity professionals. One of the biggest cyber risks in today’s workplace is a general lack of awareness of even the most basic attacks, such as phishing emails and other social engineering techniques at all levels of an organization. It’s therefore important to understand that cybersecurity is everyone’s job, and organizations need training and education programs that address many different audiences.

Cybersecurity vendors tend to do a great job at delivering training programs that equip customers and partners with the knowledge and skills required to deploy and operate their own products. This is certainly critical as cybersecurity solutions become more sophisticated; however cybersecurity vendors who truly want to become trusted advisors for their customers need to adopt a training and education strategy with a much wider focus than their own products and solutions.

A comprehensive strategy needs to include training and education programs designed for: • Teenagers and parents—both in school and at home • Technical colleges and universities implementing new cybersecurity programs or integrating cyber into more traditional IT and computer science courses • Security operations teams deploying company-wide awareness programs for employees • Customers implementing and managing cybersecurity products and solutions • Professional services organizations providing services to assist customers • Academic institutions conducting research on advanced topics such as AI and its applicability to cybersecurity • Governments and NGOs tasked with establishing cyber policies and global initiatives • Recruitment programs targeting women, minorities, and high-potential candidates such as veterans transitioning back to civilian careers

Creating and executing a strategy with such a wide scope can be a daunting task, but this is precisely the mandate and strategy of the Fortinet Network Security Expert (NSE) Institute. While the Institute’s flagship NSE Training and Certification program has issued over 200 thousand certifications for product training, it is equally focused on education programs such as the Fortinet Network Security Academy program for high schools, colleges and universities, the FortiVets program focused on retraining for military personnel transitioning into new careers, as well as free publicly available awareness training that can be accessed by any company wishing to deploy an internal cybersecurity awareness program for employees.

In addition to formal programs, a comprehensive training and education strategy must include strategic partnerships within government, academia, and NGOs. For cybersecurity vendors this provides a means for our subject matter experts to share their knowledge and vision with thought leaders and the next generation of cybersecurity experts. In summary the cybersecurity skills gap has become a much bigger issue than simply filling open job positions. It has become an enterprise risk and a top priority for security operations. Effective strategies for closing the skills gap must focus on a wide range of audience needs. As cybersecurity vendors, our role and responsibility in closing the cybersecurity skills gap goes well beyond providing training on products and solutions and entails becoming trusted advisors for our customers and for society as a whole.

Fortinet’s role and responsibility in closing the cybersecurity skills gap goes well beyond providing training on products and solutions and entails becoming trusted advisors for our customers and for society as a whole.

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CHANNEL BUZZ

ASIRT hosts a high octane Techday, celebrating its 7th Anniversary

ASIRT has organised a high octane Techday marking its 7th anniversary week. Amidst insightful business presentations from sponsors like Redington, Cadyce and Ant My ERP, the evening also witnessed an exhilarating presentation by Evolve Speaker Subhash Talekar, President, Mumbai Dabbawala Association. Apart from sharing insights into the globally recognized operational expertise, Talekar enthralled the audience with a brief history of Mumbai and how the Dabbawalas evolved with the metropolis, narrating anecdotes in his unique sense of humour and exciting tone.

The evening opened with the customary National Anthem, followed by an address by Founding Chairman, Chetan Shah, who congratulated the Members and the current Board on the successful completion of 7 years of ASIRT. Arvind Singh, immediate past President, reminisced about the journey and how they got together to starting ASIRT, which brought back memories for everyone. This was followed by a brief address by current Board Members, Chairman Jiten Mehta, President - Pankaj Shah and Secretary – Sujit Uchil, who congratulated the Members and also gave a brief insight into the plans and initiatives taken by the Board.

Post this short but nostalgic session, the event progressed to the first and the most exciting session by Evolve speaker and chief guest, Subhash Talekar of the Mumbai Dabbawala Association. His unique approach, opinions, and observations about the current socio-political environment and the insightful narrative of the history about the Dabbawalas, enthralled the audience and set the tone the evening.

Through his engaging and effervescent delivery, Talekar spoke about how the 3rd generation business has grown into an army of 5,000+ Dabbawalas fulfilling the hunger of almost 200,000 Mumbaikars daily with home-cooked food across the city.

The evening progressed to the second presentation of the day

by Arvind Didwania, Founder and Director, Ant My ERP. Speaking about the need for integrated software for managing the complete technology platform of business, Didwania presented his innovative offerings to the Members. Capturing, processing and consolidating vital information from across various verticals of a business through a single, integrated platform can help to not just reduce errors but to also increase productivity and thus, drive profits.

Finally, post the sessions, the final celebrations for the anniversary began. All the past and present Board Members, along with the Founding Members, gathered around a lovely cake and celebrated the fruits of their hard work. Needless to say, the event ended on a fruitful note.

IAMCP hosts workshop on security in Mumbai

The International Association for Microsoft Channel Partners (IAMCP) has conducted a workshop in Mumbai for its Members on “Building Your Digital Security Practice”. The workshop was conducted by Suresh Ramani,CEO -TechGyan, a worldwide award winning Microsoft Gold Certified Partner. TechGyan has built a Digital Security Practice over past 1 year primarily around Microsoft Technologies.

Suresh Ramani spoke on how partners can leverage various Microsoft Technologies to provide a Comprehensive Security Solution covering Identity Protection; Data Protection and Device Protection.

He then spoke on the new Service which TechGyan is offering to its Customers, labelled as “Security as a Service”.

The key benefit of this Service is that at a predictable, fixed cost per user per month, the Customer gets the licenses plus deployment plus ongoing Security monitoring and support. He also urged Partners that considering the Market Potential of Digital Security, they should make an effort to build their Security Practice either directly or by aligning with other Partners.

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R&M organizes a roadshow for experts

R&M is once again providing Europe's cabling experts with the opportunity to 'talk shop' directly in front of their own front door in 2019. On a roadshow through more than 20 countries, two R&M trucks are now visiting contacts on site. There is plenty of information on board for planners, installers and their customers, project managers, distributors, system integrators, users and other interested parties.

Over the years, the R&M truck has become a popular meeting place, which is why R&M is extending the offer and sending a further truck on tour from 2019.

The visitors meet up in the exhibition bus in a practiceoriented atmosphere. Here they swap stories and share experiences on the latest developments in network technology. The focus is on tips and tricks for installation, subjects such as bandwidth requirements, network management and cyber security.

Between racks, patch panels, copper and fiber optic cables, the visitors obtain exclusive information from R&M experts. They can test products as well as R&M's termination and cabling technologies.

One of the two trucks focuses on solutions for Fiber to the Home (FTTH). The other is equipped with systems for Power over Ethernet, data center and LAN cabling.

TAIT Seagate Holi Milan organized with fanfare

TAIT has organised its Annual Networking Meet on 23rd March – the TAIT Seagate Holi Milan at Acre’s Club. The event was sponsored by Seagate and was powered by HIKVISION. The associate sponsors were D-Link, Lenovo and Rapoo.

A very well attended Networking meet began with the Lighting of the lamp by Seagate Country Head, Samir Bhatia; TAIT President Samir Parekh; TAIT Secretary Viren Bavishi and other distinguished guests.

All the arrangements were made by TAIT Director Sunil Thariani, supported by other directors - Samir Mehta, Magan Gangani, Jitendra Bhuta, Nitin Phagwani as well as others.

It is said that Music gives Soul to the universe, Wings to the Mind, Flight to the Imaginations and Life to Everything. Music expresses Feelings and Thoughts without Language. True to that spirit, The Voice India Season 1 Winner, Pawandeep Rajan mesmerised TAIT members and the distinguished guests for the entire evening and made them dance to the tune of his troupe par excellence. Pawandeep Rajan, who is an Acoustic Guitarist and has performed in several countries and many states of India also lent his voice to many Bollywood films. He is also the youngest debut music director in Marathi Films.

In his message to all the TAIT Members on this occasion, TAIT President Samir Parekh expressed his gratitude towards all the past presidents and TAIT leaders who provided much needed direction to the IT Community, and made all TAIT Members work like a team, because of which TAIT is India’s leading association today. Samir Parekh also expressed his resolve for the personal and professional growth of all the TAIT Members, which is the ultimate goal of TAIT. Sameer Bhatia, Country Head- Seagate Operations in India and SAARC also addressed the gathering and congratulated TAIT for organising such a good evening and wished all TAIT members for the growth in years to come. The programme ended with a sumptuous dinner and not to forget gifts to the member’s families.

FACE TO FACE

LG strives to become the no. 1 in all the channels LG has emerged as the market leader and has a large geographical reach. As a brand it feels that it is important to remain the no. 1 in all the channels and to maintain that position, LG’s constant endeavour is to improve on ‘Moment of Truth’ among partners across the channels.

Kulbhushan Bhardwaj, Business Head, Room Air Conditioners - LG Electronics in a chat with VARINDIA shares the company’s channel strategy for 2019, while also discussing the latest technologies in which he feels the channel is going to play a big role -

How do you see the growth of Channel partners happening in 2019? How it is going to be different than the previous year?

The consumer has evolved a long way and so is its buying behaviour. He has endless options available to choose from and vast information across various platforms to learn about technology/products. In 2019, the game would revolve around providing best customer experience as product and other offerings are almost similar across. In my view Large Format Retail outlets have an edge as they have comparatively large product display and better trained staff.

What will be your channel strategy for 2019? What are the key strategies you have planned to empower the VARs / channel community for achieving the business objectives?

LG is the market leader and has a large geographical reach. As a brand it is very important for us to be no. 1 in all the channels. In

order to maintain our leadership, our continuous endeavour is to improve on Moment of Truth among partners across the channels.

We empower our channel partners with best of trainings, thus making them in sync with a technology brand. These trainings are not just restricted to products, but these training also upgrades our partners on consumer buying behaviour.

What are the newer What is the key message would technologies that are going to disrupt the industry? What role you like to give to your partners to gear up for the year ahead? will the channel play in it?

IoT is the technology that is expected to bring a tremendous change in the industry. It would not be limited to you interacting with an appliance via an app but would also go up to different appliances interacting and alter their mode of operation basis working of other appliance.

The Channel is the main point of contact between a brand and customer. It is very important that they are updated on the ever changing technology, which also includes a regular updation of store infrastructure as well.

The most important differentiating factor is the kind of experience being delivered to the customer. If it is good, it would really spread a positive WOM (word of mouth) and help them grow their business. But if a partner misses out here – this could be a big time issue. A customer experience can further be extended/improved by customer relationship management, eg. helping customers in getting installation done, assisting in case of repairs, periodic check on product performance, etc. All this only if we can safely assume that product display and knowledge are the basic hygiene.

FACE TO FACE

ACT Fibernet enters the consumer product category, launches ACT Stream TV 4K’ device ACT Fibernet has launched its first consumer product ‘ACT Stream TV 4K’ device powered by Android 9 Pie in India. As part of the new brand strategy towards offering innovative customer centric solutions to enhance user experience, the streaming device will provide a 360 spin to all entertainment needs of a consumer.

ACT Stream TV 4K is a one stop entertainment solution for customers where they can enjoy their favourite movies, TV shows, sports, music videos from existing on-demand streaming providers and TV channels. Powered with ACT Fibernet’s high speed fibernet connectivity ACT Stream TV 4K has the capacity to transform a living space into a full-fledged entertainment zone.

Combined with latest technology and design, the box has been customized to make it intuitive and user friendly. The device is supported with a remote-control unit which can be used to operate the box.

The remote has an ergonomic design with minimalistic keys making it extremely easy to use and helps users launch their favourite apps from any screen they are in.

Sunder Raju, MD - ACT Fibernet says, “Ten odd years ago we set out on a journey that has travelled through times when we were a cable company delivering analogue services to homes. It has been a eventful journey and as a company we have not lost focus of the fact that we had set out in many ways to disrupt the environment and how can we make life at home simpler in a digital world. It is a promise that each of us has delivered on and there have been many partners in making this happen. Today when you have multiple devices at home and data being growing at an exponential speed, we have focused on to converge all of them together.”

Bala Malladi, CEO - ACT Fibernet says, “We have come a long way in this company. We had set on our vision to deliver an exceptional experience to the customer. To recap our vision, we wanted to be the most admired entertainment, education and interactive company that makes radical social transformation possible.”

Left to right: Bala Malladi, CEO - ACT Fibernet & Sunder Raju, MD - ACT Fibernet

ACT Fibernet caters to 1.4 million subscribers in the country and is present in 8 cities in India. It is successfully adding 10,000 customers every month in the country.

The ACT Stream TV 4K box is priced at INR 4499. It will be available with select plans and for purchase post commercial launch in May 2019. The devices are currently imported from China.

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COVER STORY

We all know that organizations across India are undergoing a technological shift which is being triggered by the Digital India project initiated by the Government of India. To keep pace with it, both large enterprises and small business are enabling themselves with the latest technologies. These new age technologies are providing an edge to organizations to stay ahead in the competition. It is the responsibility of the technology companies and commitment towards its customers to empower them with the right technology that customers can leverage disruptive technologies.

“In this digital world where data volumes are growing exponentially, and companies are changing their business models, our ability to enable competitive advantage for our customers by managing, storing, protecting and analysing data is at the very heart of our company. As technology continues to evolve, businesses need to focus on building strong infrastructure for IT transformation, workforce transformation and security transformation to compete with their industry peers.

As of last year, there was an estimated 8 billion connected devices in the world. Analyst firm, Gartner, estimate that adoption of IoT devices will grow to 20 billion by 2020.

Businesses are going all out to embrace, leverage, and adopt the disruptive technologies like IOT, RPA in conjunction with already established technology tends of AI /ML and Data Analytics,” says Sheenam Ohrie, VP, Enterprise, Data, & Mobility Engineering, DELL Digital.

IHS Markit has highlighted eight trending technologies that are disrupting the security

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industry and at the same time helping the security solutions to be more robust.

“According to IHS Markit, eight transformative technologies are identified as most trending technologies including, Artificial Intelligence, IoT, Cloud, Connectivity, Blockchain, Machine Vision, Ubiquitous Video, Robots and Drones. These transformative technologies are disrupting the security industry and empowering security solutions to evolve to the next level.

AI, IoT, Machine Vision, Robotics, and the Cloud are not really new technologies; they are coming together in new and powerful ways and fundamentally changing businesses, fuelling innovation, disrupting industries, and creating both threats and opportunities for all.

An open, ecosystem-led approach to developing and implementing these technologies can help bridge the historical, structural silos between different vertical industries,” highlights Ashish P. Dhakan, MD & CEO, Prama Hikvision India.

Talking about the disrupting technologies , Larry Stone, Chairman, India, BT says, “The industry is going through a transformational phase of development to adapt itself as per the new technological trends. With trends like cloud computing, the “maker” community and open source will eventually propel AI into everyone’s hands. This trend is enabled by AI platform as a service (PaaS), artificial general intelligence, autonomous driving (Levels 4 and 5), autonomous mobile robots, conversational AI platforms, deep neural networks, flying autonomous vehicles, smart robots, and virtual assistants which is going to distrust the industry

ASHISH P. DHAKAN MD & CEO Prama Hikvision India going forward.”

After considering the views of some technology companies, we have tried to jot down below few of the trending and disrupting technologies in the IT industry.

AI & ML

Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning come under the major technologies which have affected the industries in a major way. AI is advancing rapidly and it has helped automate and digitize a lot of things. It will drive new technologies, businesses etc. A lot of companies are adopting it for organizational development.

“Clearly, one of the most impactful technologies reshaping the industry is artificial

LARRY STONE

NEVILLE VINCENT

NICK FITZGERALD

Chairman - India BT

VP, ASEAN, India, ANZ Nutanix

Senior Research Fellow ESET

intelligence (AI). AI is experiencing a period of rapid advancement, to the point where many tasks once considered impossible to automate, are now fully managed digitally. AI will soon become a global economic engine for new technologies, business models and jobs. Yet, for AI to be truly effective, it is imperative that everyone has access and the opportunity to learn skills needed to be successful in this new age of intelligence. AI will also augment and increase the productivity of employees, specifically in CRM-related fields. With emerging technologies like AI, businesses have the power to influence, invest in, and deploy more personalized and intelligent tech leveraging innovation to create trusted relationships that advance their brand’s mission,” explains Kalki V Yasas, Senior Director, Services, Salesforce.

“Artificial Intelligence (AI) & Machine Learning (ML) kind of intelligence is exhibited by computers and other machines. It’s a change that perceives the environment and takes the necessary actions required for the success of that phenomenon. At Commvault we use these technologies to ensure seamless operations and better security systems for our customers,” views Huzefa Motiwala, Senior Director, Systems Engineering APAC, Commvault.

critical for business success. It has changed the way businesses interact with people. These two technologies also keep an eye on the market mood and customer sentiments.

“Automation and BI will play a crucial role in business success. New technology is transforming the way people interact with businesses – particularly advances such as voice-activated personal assistants which can understand and learn from spoken instructions to complete everyday tasks. The real value from the technology is in enabling organisations to be smarter about how they use their people.

Banks are already experimenting with intelligent assistants. Virtual assistant in banks have been handling common customer issues such as mislaid credit cards or forgotten PINs. These virtual assistants quickly mine the bank’s customer service database for answers, learning more from each web chat. As these become faster and more accurate, the human agents guiding it can spend more time on the complex queries. Automation and business intelligence are also playing an increasing role behind the scenes, monitoring the market mood and customer sentiment online on web forums and public social networks,” opines Larry Stone of BT. “Automation will definitely have an impact on various industries and is attractive because of the increased efficiencies it offers. However, it also opens new risks as several large manufacturers and businesses discovered from the NotPetya ransomware attack in 2017, which resulted in billions of dollars in damages. Again, it is critical to have network design with segmentation isolating automation, Industrial IoT (IIoT) such as ICS, and any other critical production systems from possible sources of attack, including from machines inside your corporate network,” says, Nick FitzGerald, Senior Research Fellow, ESET. Automated technologies are helpful in process industries as it is removing human intervention especially in high-volume and repetitive tasks. It also helps in cost reduction and increase productivity.

“Today, software and process automation is becoming the change enabler in the way routine functions were ever thought of being performed. Automated technologies in the process industries are eliminating the need for human intervention especially in high-volume,

repetitive tasks including IT support, remote infrastructure, and business processes. While automation is promising to impact various sectors, industrial and process automation are seeing real implementation on a large scale in the current scenario. With the changing demographics, increasing connectivity and the need for real-time insights, the process industries are steadily adopting advanced automation systems. There is huge demand for industrial automation products as manufacturing sector in India is very vast,” feels Rahul Khare, Regional Business Leader (India & South Asia) Honeywell Connected Plant.

“Automation of business processes through technology will allow businesses to cut costs and increase productivity. Machines, that are capable of making decisions using data without any manual intervention - in much less time and without threats of sickness or even a break - will also help in seamless business operations. It can make the best decision for any company based on profit margins and algorithms, but there is much more to consider in any modern organization.

The more we manage our businesses through automation, the more our employees will be focused – this means, successful automation can lead to increased value of work, higher employee satisfaction and minimal human error,” says Saurabh Saxena, Country Director, Micro Focus India.

“Businesses across India are already

Automation & BI

Automation and Business Intelligence (BI) are like boon to organizations and will be

ANKUR GOEL Managing Director, Poly India & SAARC

ARINDAM SEN CIO, International Operations, Cloud and Connectivity, Schneider Electric

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COVER STORY

HUZEFA MOTIWALA

KALKI V YASAS

KAUSHAL VELURI

Senior Director, Systems Engineering APAC, Commvault

Senior Director - Services Salesforce

Director - Channels & Alliances NetApp India & SAARC

exploring and exploiting automation and Business Intelligence and are a fundamental driver of the new ways of doing business.

Simple and secure, enterprise operating systems not only maximise the value of the automation but provide an incubation environment for them to grow. Automation and business intelligence will ignite India’s digital economy,” feels Neville Vincent, Vice President, ASEAN, India, ANZ, Nutanix.

“IoT has dramatically changed our lives and making it easier. However, connecting the IoT devices could involve high security threats,” highlights Pankaj Harjai, Director- Tablets and Smart devices, Lenovo India.

IoT

IoT has transformed everyone’s life and made it easy. In layman’s language, IoT is an extension of internet connectivity into physical devices. It also comes with real time analytics and machine learning. But IoT based devices are also vulnerable to security threats.

“This is essentially the extension of internet connectivity into physical devices with the real time analytics and machine learning. By equipping devices with machine readable identifies can alter the lives of many. IOT devices can be used in health, mining, manufacturing and more. With the scale at which this innovation is growing, it presents many security threats. Across industries the upcoming solutions are moving into public spaces. Disaster management, improving traffic management software that continuously monitors the patient’s condition,” explains Huzefa Motiwala of Commvault.

AMIT MEHTA Director, Modern Data Centre Dell Technologies

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Cloud & Edge Computing

Hybrid and multi cloud will be adopted by all large organizations, who can easily shift their workloads.

“Hybrid, multi-cloud will be the default IT infrastructure for most of the larger organisations. They will be able to easily move workloads across environments by using technologies like containers and data fabric. On the other hand, some smaller organisations will choose the simplicity and consistency of a single cloud provider,” highlights Kaushal Veluri, Director - Channels & Alliances, NetApp India & SAARC. “Cloud is continuing to disrupt the IT industry, not only because the laggards are trying to catch up, but also because new technology is available to developers on public clouds much before they are available, on internal IT systems.

This includes better tooling for microservices, 'serverless' computing, accelerated computing including GPUs, TPUs, and even FPGAs. Powered by such accelerated computing technology, AI and ML are also being used in new and interesting says,” Prasanna Pendse, Head of Technology – India, ThoughtWorks.

“With the accelerated pace of innovation, emerging technologies continue to shape up business strategies and the way organisations adapt to a whole new surge of customer preferences. At Vertiv, we believe that Edge Computing is transforming the digital ecosystem, working in tandem with IoT, advanced AI and cloud-based analytics. This is paving the way for a robust and more efficient edge of the network with enhanced visibility and self-healing capabilities requiring limited active management.

Across the board, particularly at the local level, profound changes in the computing and storage infrastructure to support the smart and connected future will be necessary.

We foresee continued progress towards the integration of these emerging technologies in business applications to be essential competitive elements,” states Sanjay Zadoo, Country Head,

Channel Business, Vertiv India.

Blockchain

Explaining the Blockchain technology Huzefa Motiwala of Commvault says, “Blockchain is a new way of storing information.

One can think of it as a shared virtual ledger owned by users (called nodes) on the blockchain network. Any change to that ledger, once cryptographically verified will be reflected across the entire network, visible to everyone. Right now largely used synonymously for cryptocurrencies, it’ll be adopted by wider audiences as it is the ultimate enemy of bureaucracy.”

“For Blockchain, 2019 will be a formative year for practical application of this technology as organisations will continue to work to understand how this can benefit their businesses,” views Amit Mehta, Director – Modern Data Centre, Dell Technologies.

Zero Trust Cyber Security

Zero Trust brings a new approach towards cyber security. It enables an enterprise to secure mobile and cloud applications. It also helps companies to analyse encrypted data securely. It will take some time to pick up.

“Zero Trust is a new approach to cyber security that encompasses a wide range of data privacy practices, protocols, and technologies.

Zero Trust models independently approve

PANKAJ HARJAI Director- Tablets and Smart Devices Lenovo India

SUNDER MUTHEVI

TUSHAR RICHABADAS

VINOD PISHARODY

CTO Pi DATACENTERS

Product Manager, WAF & ADC Barracuda Networks

CTO and VP Engineering Array Networks

and constrain every user, connection, and data packet that moves through a network, enabling enterprises to better secure mobile and cloud applications and allowing multiple companies to collaboratively and securely analyze encrypted data,” explains Arindam Sen, CIO, International Operations, Cloud and Connectivity, Schneider Electric.

“Zero-trust architectures need to be pervasive for internal systems, but getting to this stage will take time. Meanwhile, companies need to better segment their networks and move to software-defined networking. As an industry, we need to 'shift-left' on security and build security into the applications earlier than later,” feels Prasanna Pendse of ThoughtWorks.

interconnected “things” in a way that would have been hard to imagine a few years ago. It will bring in new markets and opportunities as well as demand that existing infrastructure scale,” thinks Vinod Pisharody, CTO and VP Engineering, Array Networks.

redefining customer experiences.

As for customer-facing mobile technologies, businesses have finally begun to recognize that digital interactions are as vital as face-to-face meetings. Today customers are likely to switch brands when they encounter businesses that fail to provide an easy-to-use mobile experience. As such, high-performing IT teams are nearly 3x more likely than underperformers to identify transforming customer-facing technology as a critical priority,” describes Kalki V Yasas of Salesforce.

5G

5G is a revolutionary technology which will help the world to communicate in a better way.

It will boost the interconnected things space in a big way.

“5G is the network super highway and it will change the way world communicates. It’ll connect the entire world to faster and better internet. There will be data over load as data production & consumption will shoot up due to the increased speed,” highlights Huzefa Motiwala – Senior Director, Systems Engineering APAC at Commvault.

“5G is likely to change the landscape of

PRASANNA PENDSE Head of Technology – India ThoughtWorks

New age Communication

With the freedom of getting connected to the workspace from any device, the new generation of workforce are looking forward to organizations to provide them with collaboration tools at the workplace for innovation and flexibility.

“As new generations enter the workforce, expectations around being able to connect instantly, from any device or workspace are rising.

There is an increasing demand from employees on organisations to provide collaboration tools at the workplace to enable innovation and allow for greater flexibility. Imagine a world where you walk into a conference room, touch your badge to the table, and the system could automatically dial you into the prescheduled call. Or where sensors and AI combine to take roll at a board meeting, producing a real-time transcription and translation of the discussion This is the future of communication,” upholds Ankur Goel, Managing Director for Poly, India & SAARC. Another mode of communication which is coming up is Voice Assistants. It helps in delivering productivity for customers and organizations have realized that digital interactions are as critical as face-to-face.

“We are in the midst of unprecedented technological change, where the power of voice is fundamentally changing the way we work.

With voice, we are entering into a new era of how people are interacting delivering entirely new levels of productivity for customers. The use of Voice Assistants among businesses will be a growing trend to enhance customer engagement across sales, marketing and service teams. Voice assistant will allow users to update records, create tasks and notify team members, offer personalized daily briefings about schedules, company priorities, and metrics.

Einstein Voice Assistant enables conversational updates to Salesforce and puts them to work with AI ushering in a new era of conversational CRM, delivering new levels of productivity and

AR & VR

AR and VR have come up as important technologies across verticals. Organizations are adopting these technologies to engage customers and optimise sales and marketing efforts.

“Virtual Reality (VR) and Augmented Reality (AR) have touched every segment of the industry. It is completely going to affect the companies across the board as they adopt the technology in engaging the customers and optimizing their sales and marketing efforts.”

Pankaj Harjai of Lenovo India observes.

“We inhabit a world that is increasingly moving towards a connected ecosystem, a new age where machines intelligently 'sense', 'transceive' (transmit and receive) and 'function' independently. Many organizations are already looking into next generation business

RAHUL KHARE Regional Business Leader (India & South Asia) - Honeywell Connected Plant

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COVER STORY

SANJAY ZADOO

SAURABH SAXENA

SHEENAM OHRIE

Country Head, Channel Business Vertiv India

Country Director Micro Focus India

VP, Enterprise, Data, & Mobility Engineering, DELL Digital

intelligence and roles that AI and VR will play,” Saurabh Saxena of Micro Focus India says.

Technologies such as Autonomous Cloud, AI/ ML equipped data centers etc. could be used to prevent any kind of breach,” suggests Amit Mehta of Dell Technologies.

With similar views, Nick FitzGerald of ESET says, “The growth of technology means more connected devices, both in terms of total numbers and different models of devices and hence more exposed attack surface. More diverse kinds of connections, such as direct B2B connectivity with suppliers and partners, also mean that some of that attack surface that may seem “internal” to your business is actually exposed outside your direct control, even if it is not openly connected to the internet and hence not publicly exposed.

As you cannot assure the security and integrity of these partners, you have to secure these connections against your partners, while also securing the rest of your network infrastructure.

Therefore, with our increased dependency on technology, thorough risk analysis and careful network design and segmentation will be critical in ensuring a safe and secure network.”

“With the rise of any new technology blockchain, AI, AR, IoT etc – you will see a new class of attackers who are able to exploit vulnerabilities in these systems quite rapidly.

Attackers will always find ways to get into systems and compromise an organization for profit. The more technology is deployed, the more the number of people trying to hack into it. At Barracuda we have a very good track record of helping the defenders build multi-layered security systems that help them stop these attacks in their tracks,” says Tushar Richabadas, Product Manager, WAF & ADC Barracuda Networks.

To protect itself from potential threat, corporate should identify authentication risks, establish identity assurance requirements and employ metrics. Organizations should also need to maintain asset inventory details for records to identify insecure devices.

“The high adoption of IoT by corporates, forced enterprises to change existing IT architecture that in turn introduces new threats and enhances old ones. Organizations should identify authentication risks, establish identity assurance requirements and employ metrics.

Organizations should develop enterprise wide data security governance programs by identifying data security policy gaps and seeking cyber insurance when appropriate.

It is also critical for the enterprises to maintain the asset inventory details as the surveys conducted in the past proved that most of cyber-attacks are caused by insecure device available on their own network. Enterprises should define proactive approach to these vulnerabilities,” feels Sunder Muthevi – CTO, Pi DATACENTERS.

Robotics

Industrial robotics has already gained grounds and it is not far enough when consumers will start purchasing robots for their personal use.

“While industrial robotics has already picked up, personal robots aren’t distant future. Soon consumers will want to purchase robots that can run a virus check, schedule appointments, filter messages and help with personal chores,” views Huzefa Motiwala of Commvault.

Emerging Technologies & Security Landscape

With increasing number of devices connected to internet, the threat surface is also increasing gradually. New technologies will invite newer threats.

“As more types of devices come online, the “threat surface” increases in a nonlinear manner.

Security technologies will have to adapt to cover these in an effective way. 5G will bring in new requirements of security and AI will likely fulfill those needs. The amount of data that needs to be processed and an ever increasing threat surface will force technologies to use ML and AI to contain these problems. Many such technologies are already starting to take shape but it will take some time for these to be effective,” says Vinod Pisharody of Array Networks.

“With data becoming today’s new oil, the security landscape is facing a lot of disruptions, and businesses are continuously working towards their readiness to protect their data assets from internal and external threats. Today, transactions are taking place across multiple devices, making it more difficult for the security leaders to protect and encrypt the data from multiple threat sources.

In such complex scenarios, businesses need to bridge the security gap by installing advanced security infrastructure, and at the same time bringing simplicity to solutions provided, saving time and energy. Deployment of proper authentication measures to access data, encrypting devices where data is stored, are a few measures to be utilized in the near future to combat any kind of data breach and theft.

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Conclusion

Data has been the reason behind the technological transformation and its adoption, and it will continue in the coming years. Data will influence many emerging technologies to be used in daily life. This in turn will fasten the digital direction.

“According to Dell Technologies’ 2019 predictions, data will continue to drive a number of technology trends that will transform emerging technologies into more mainstream experiences for everyday life. AL and ML, for example, are becoming pervasive in virtually every major technology advancement. Emerging technology will only accelerate and augment the digital direction. From 5G changing the data game in terms of speed and access, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and machine learning fostering productivity increases, ever growing data requiring a multitiered cloud, and with Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR) bringing more creativity to the workplace, 2019 will be the year of the data-driven digital ecosystem.

Some of the technologies to keep focus on in the coming years would be 3D Printing, Blockchain, Autonomous vehicles and Renewable Energy,” predicts Sheenam Ohrie of DELL Digital.

“The future will see a shift from the vertical towards the horizontal. As organisations transform into technology companies, there will be a fundamental evolution. That is because no matter what business you are in, retail, manufacturing or healthcare to name a few, the problems you are trying to solve are all the same – and the value you seek comes from the same sources,” concludes Neville Vincent of Nutanix. n

DIGITAL INDIA - FOCUS PSU

Public Sector units (PSUs) or Public Sector Enterprises (PSEs) play an important role in the country’s economy. They promote rapid economic development with emphasis on creating and expanding infrastructure, generate financial resources for the development of the economy, create employment opportunities, promote balanced regional growth and encourage and develop small scale and ancillary industries in India.

PSUs provide a huge leverage to the government (their controlling shareholder) in achieving the desired socio-economic objectives.

Understanding the role that the PSUs play in the economic growth of the country and at the same time the power of digital in the current era, the Indian Government is playing a pivotal role in pushing forward an agenda of digital transformation in all public sector organizations. It is thereby catalysing several PSUs and government departments to look at leveraging digital technologies in a big way.

Four waves of Digital Government innovations have emerged in the contemporary times – s s s s

Digitization – improving internal government operations and delivering better public services Transformation – facilitating administrative and institutional reform in government Engagement – engaging citizens and non-state actors in policy and decision-making processes and Contextualization – supporting policy and development goals in specific sectors and localities.

SIGNIFICANCE OF IT IN PSUS Today leveraging ICT to improve business processes and to perform better in a competitive world has become a necessity for any company, be it a PSU or a private sector firm. Consequently, there has been a significant interest in planning and on developing digital transformation best practices and applying them to ensure that these programmes and initiatives are on the right track and are more aligned to outcomes. Today with the help of ICT, various projects can be monitored, capacity building of individuals can be enhanced and also efficiency and competitiveness of PSUs can get enhanced.

It is therefore important for the government to play a crucial role in harnessing the power of digital technologies and data to fundamentally re-imagine and transform the business models of not only the government but also in all the government agencies, institutions and organizations.

While much progress has been made by the government, the full potential of digital transformation remains largely untapped. For digital transformation to happen in the real sense, it’s important to implement the latest technologies and ensure that they contribute to specific business measures. A lot of gaps and loopholes need to be filled for the transformation and happen on a large scale and to be effective.

VARINDIA therefore presents before its readers a list of 40 agencies and organizations, comprising of PSUs and government nodal agencies that have realized the power of technology and have made inroads into adopting the latest technologies, thereby embracing the ongoing digital transformation.

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DIGITAL INDIA - FOCUS PSU Aadhaar identity platform is one of the key pillars of ‘Digital India’

BBNL to provide impetus to the digital economy of India

Unique Identification Authority of India HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

J. Satyanarayana (Chairman) Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey (CEO) WEBSITE

https://uidai.gov.in/ The Unique Identification Authority of India (UIDAI) is a statutory authority established under the provisions of the Aadhaar (Targeted Delivery of Financial and Other Subsidies, Benefits and Services) Act, 2016 (“Aadhaar Act 2016”) on 12 July 2016 by the Government of India, under the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY).

Aadhaar identity platform is one of the key pillars of ‘Digital India’, wherein every resident of the country is provided with a unique identity or Aadhaar number. The largest biometrics based identification system in the world, Aadhaar is a strategic policy tool for social and financial inclusion, public sector delivery reforms, managing fiscal budgets, increase convenience and promote hassle-free people-centric governance.

Bharat Broadband Network (BBNL) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Sarvesh Singh (Chairman & MD) WEBSITE

http://www.bbnl.nic.in Bharat Broadband Network Limited is a special purpose vehicle with an authorized capital of Rs. 1000 Cr, set up under Companies Act by the Government of India. It has been mandated to create the National Optical Fiber Network (NOFN) in India.

Under this program, a total of around 2, 50,000 Gram Panchayats spread over 6,600 Blocks and 641 Districts are to be covered by laying incremental fiber. The aim is to improve telecommunications in India and reach the campaign goal of Digital India.

It is unique and robust enough to eliminate duplicate or fake identities and may be used as a basis/primary identifier to roll out several Government welfare schemes and programmes for effective service delivery thereby promoting transparency and good governance.

The last mile connectivity with a total of 700,000 wi-fi hotspots to cover all 625,000 villages of India have been created by connecting high-speed 4G base tower stations of commercial telecom operators to BharatNet. BBNL will add 2 to 5 wi-fi hotspots per gram panchayat and minimum one wi-fi hotspot per village, whereby commercially nonviable wi-fi hotspots will be subsidized by the union government grant of ₹36,000 million to sustain the operation.

NPCI helping to transform India into a ‘less-cash’ society

STPI boosting and promoting software exports from the country

National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI)

Software Technology Parks of India (STPI)

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Dilip Asbe (MD & CEO)

Dr. Omkar Rai (Director General)

WEBSITE

https://www.npci.org.in/ National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) is an initiative of Reserve Bank of India (RBI) and Indian Banks’ Association (IBA) under the provisions of the Payment and Settlement Systems Act, 2007 to operate retail payments and settlement systems and create a robust infrastructure in India. During its journey in the last seven years, it has made a significant impact on the retail payment systems in the country.

National Financial Switch (NFS) and Cheque Truncation System (CTS) continue to be the flagship products of NPCI. Immediate Payment Service (IMPS) and Unified Payments Interface (UPI) have been termed as two most revolutionary products in the Indian payment system.

The other products include RuPay Credit Card, National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) and National Electronic Toll Collection (NETC).

Bharat Interface for Money (BHIM) is a mobile payment App developed

by NPCI that makes payment transactions simple, easy and quick using Unified Payments Interface (UPI).

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WEBSITE

https://ibps.stpi.in Software Technology Parks of India is set up by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (MeitY) in 1991, with the objective of encouraging, promoting and boosting the Software Exports from India.

Envisaged under the Digital India program, STPI launched the India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS). The India BPO Promotion Scheme (IBPS) seeks to incentivize the establishment of 48,300 seats in respect to BPO/ITES operations across the country. This is expected to help in capacity building in smaller cities in terms of infrastructure and manpower and would be the basis for the next wave of IT/ITES led growth.

This scheme has potential to create employment opportunities of around 1.5 lakh direct jobs, while also creating a good number of indirect jobs. It has also established a joint venture to set up an 'Electropreneur Park' with the India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA), to support 50 start-ups working on electronics product designing and development over the next five years.

CERT-IN safeguarding the country’s IT security fabric

Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-IN)

CSCs helping in the delivery of e-governance services across India

Common Service Centres (CSC) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Dr. Dinesh Tyagi (CEO)

WEBSITE

https://csc.gov.in/

Sanjay Bahl (Director General)

WEBSITE

https://www.cert-in.org.in/ CERT-In was formed with an aim to secure the Indian cyber space.

It has been designated under the Information Technology (Amendment) Act 2008 to serve in the area of cyber security as the national agency to perform - Collecting, analysing and disseminating information on cyber incidents; Forecasting and alerting of cyber security incidents; issuing emergency measures for handling cyber security incidents; Coordination of cyber incident response activities and Issuing guidelines, advisories, vulnerability notes and whitepapers relating to information security practices, procedures, prevention, response and reporting of cyber incidents.

CERT-In has also signed several MoUs with the ministries in about seven countries - Korea, Canada, Australia, Malaysia, Singapore, Japan and Uzbekistan, which encourages the participating companies to exchange technical information on cyber-attacks, response to cyber security incidents and find solutions to counter the cyber-attacks. The MoUs will also help to strengthen cyber space of signing countries, capacity building and improving relationship between them.

MyGov.in initializing policy change and its implementation through collective feedback

The Common Service Centres (CSCs), a mission mode project under the Digital India and the Programme of the National e-Governance Plan (NeGP), are the access points for delivery of essential public utility services, social welfare schemes, healthcare, financial, education and agriculture services, apart from host of B2C services to citizens in rural and remote areas of the country. It is a pan-India network enabling the Government’s mandate of a socially, financially and digitally inclusive society.

Based on the assessment of the CSC scheme, the Government launched the CSC 2.0 scheme in 2015. It aims to establish a self-sustaining network of 2.5 lakh CSC centres at Gram Panchayat (GP) level under Digital India and deliver various citizen centric services.

It is envisaged as a transaction-based and service delivery-based model, delivering a large bouquet of e-services through a single delivery platform, which would increase the sustainability of the CSCs across the Country.

The project proposes to strengthen the CSC network across the country.

PSP delivering passport services in a reliable, convenient and transparent manner

MyGov.in HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Passport Seva Project (PSP)

WEBSITE

Arun K. Chatterjee (Joint Secretary - PSP & CPO)

Arvind Gupta (CEO)

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

https://www.mygov.in/

WEBSITE

http://www.passportindia.gov.in/ MyGov platform is a unique initiative involving the common citizen at large. The idea of MyGov is to bring the government closer to the common man by the use of online platform, thus creating an interface for healthy exchange of ideas and views involving the common citizen and experts, in the country’s governance and development. The ultimate goal is to contribute to the social and economic transformation of India. The website is hosted and managed by the National Informatics Centre (NIC).

With the aim to provide best-in-class experience to Indian citizens, the Passport Seva Project is transforming passport and the related service delivery in India. PSP is enabling Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) to deliver passport services in a reliable, convenient and transparent manner.

Apart from creating a countrywide networked environment, it integrates with the State Police for physical verification of applicant's credentials and with India Post for delivery of passports.

The crowdsourcing platform launched its version 2.0, with newer features such as hashtags, polls, interactive discussion forums and social media account integration. The impact assessment of this citizen engagement platform was done by Indian Institute of Public Administration (IIPA), New Delhi.

PSP has built a network of 37 Passport offices across the country and 180 Indian Embassies and Consulates abroad for issuing passports to Indian Citizens. The project has been implemented in a Public Private Partnership (PPP) mode with Tata Consultancy Services. The sovereign and fiduciary functions like verification, granting and issuing of passport, while also the ownership and strategic control of the core assets including data/information have been retained by MEA.

Today MyGov has more than 1.78 Million users who contribute their ideas through discussions and also participate through the various earmarked tasks. In addition to this the platform gets more than 10,000 posts per weeks on various issues.

Passport Seva enables simple, efficient and transparent processes for delivery of passport and related services.

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DIGITAL INDIA - FOCUS PSU GSTN to enable an integrated tax ecosystem on a shared IT infrastructure

GSTN – Goods and Services Tax Network

GeM enhances transparency, speed in online procurement of goods & services

Government eMarketplace (GeM) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Dr. Ajay Bhushan Pandey (Chairman)

Radha S Chauhan (CEO) WEBSITE

https://gem.gov.in/

WEBSITE

https://www.gstn.org/ The GST System Project is a unique and complex IT initiative set up for the first time that seeks to establish a uniform interface for the tax payer and a common and shared IT infrastructure between the Centre and States. Hitherto, the Centre and State indirect tax administrations have worked under different laws, regulations, procedures and formats and the IT systems work as independent sites.

Integrating them for GST implementation would involve integrating the entire indirect tax ecosystem so as to bring all the tax administrations (Centre, State and Union Territories) to the same level of IT maturity with uniform formats and interfaces for taxpayers and other external stakeholders.

Government eMarketplace has been set up as a dedicated e-market for different goods & services procured by Government organisations/ departments/PSUs. The earlier 100 year old DGS&D has been shut down and was replaced with a digital ecommerce portal for procurement and selling of goods and services.

Government e Marketplace (GeM) facilitates online procurement of common use Goods & Services required by various Government Departments/Organisations/PSUs. Aimed at enhancing transparency, efficiency and speed in public procurement, the platform provides the tools of e-bidding, reverse e-auction and demand aggregation to facilitate the government users, achieve the best value for their money.

GSTN would also need a robust settlement mechanism amongst the States and the Centre. This is possible only when there is a strong IT Infrastructure and Service backbone which enables capture, processing and exchange of information amongst the stakeholders (including tax payers, States and Central Governments, Accounting Offices, Banks and RBI).

GeM has also initiated “SWAYATT” (Start-ups, Women And Youth Advantage Through eTransactions) to create an open and socially inclusive marketplace for all sellers and service providers. It seeks to bring together key stakeholders, within the Indian entrepreneurial ecosystem to the national procurement portal of Government [GeM].

NBCC contributing immensely to the Infrastructure development in the country

TCIL continues to provide infrastructure facilities in high tech areas

NBCC (India) Limited HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Dr. Anoop Kumar Mittal (CMD) WEBSITE

http://www.nbccindia.com/

NBCC is a Government of India Navratna enterprise and a Central Public Sector undertaking. The company has categorized its operations under three main segments - Project Management Consultancy (PMC), Real Estate Development and EPC Contracting. NBCC is also the implementing agency for executing projects under the Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT), the Pradhan Mantri Gram Sadak Yojna (PMGSY), Solid Waste Management (SWM) and developmental work in the north-eastern region.

NBCC (India) has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Raipur SMART City Limited (RSCL). RSCL has appointed NBCC (India) Limited as its Executing Agency for the various infrastructure works under Raipur SMART city Limited at Raipur, for which NBCC has charged project management consultancy (PMC) fees of 8% on the actual cost of work. Furthermore, in line with the Skill India Mission, NBCC equipped more than 200 construction workers with a new set of skills in tune with changing face of the country's construction sector.

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Telecommunications Consultants India Limited (TCIL) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

A. Seshagiri Rao (CMD) WEBSITE

https://www.tcil-india.com/ TCIL is a wholly owned Government of India Public Sector Enterprise under the administrative control of the Department of Telecommunications (DOT), Ministry of Communications, Government of India. It was set up for providing Indian telecom expertise in all fields of telecom, Civil and IT to developing countries around the world.

As a part of the larger IT modernization project, TCIL is executing a rural hardware project called DARPAN - "Digital Advancement of Rural Post Office for A New India" with Ricoh India Limited for Department of Posts, Government of India.

Again, TCIL was awarded a prestigious project for “Implementation of Computer aided education in 1500 schools of U.P under ICT scheme on BOOT basis” by Director of Secondary Education, UP. The project was on the BOOT Model for an agreement period of 5 years. TCIL is also executing a project for implementation of class room based video conferencing solution in 15 NIFT centers across India, including bandwidth provisioning & central site on cloud from Service provider.

ITI Limited to diversify its business into the IoT domain

AAI revolutionizing the civil aviation infrastructure in India

ITI Limited

Airports Authority of India

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

K. Alagesan (Director Production & Chairman and MD) WEBSITE

http://www.itiltd-india.com/ ITI Limited is the premier telecom company and multi-unit central public sector undertaking in the telecommunications segment. As part of its diversification plans, ITI Limited is foraying into IoT business and has empanelled IoT vendors in various domains.

To enter into this business vertical, ITI will leveraging its manufacturing infrastructure and expertise in implementing various smart solutions and will assemble and manufacture various IoT products. ITI will utilize this technology for developing various smart applications in verticals like Smart Metering, Smart Health, Smart Environment, Smart Surveillance, Smart Agriculture, Intelligent Transport & Smart Solutions etc.

Guruprasad Mohapatra (Chairman) WEBSITE

https://www.aai.aero/en Airports Authority of India (AAI) working under the Ministry of Civil Aviation, manages a total of 125 Airports, which include 11 International Airports, 08 Customs Airports, 81 Domestic Airports and 25 Civil Enclaves at Defence Airfields. It is responsible for creating, upgrading, maintaining and managing the civil aviation infrastructure in India.

AAI has successfully implemented the Automatic Dependence Surveillance System (ADSS), using indigenous technology, at Calcutta and Chennai Air Traffic Control Centres. This gave India the distinction of being the first country to use this advanced technology in the South East Asian region.

It has also announced the expansion of its datacenter facility by adding 1000 additional racks in its existing set up in Bengaluru and setting up of a new datacenter of 200 racks capacity in its Naini (Allahabad, UP) plant. The new infrastructure will enable PSU Banks, Central & State Government undertakings, MNCs, corporates and large enterprises to have their data located within the country.

AAI has implemented the GAGAN project in technological collaboration with the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), where the satellite based system will be used for navigation. AAI has also connected 22 airports under its regional connectivity (UDAN) scheme in the first phase. The scheme is aimed at making flying affordable for the masses.

ONGC continues to be at the forefront of technology innovation

IPA building an advanced port infrastructure through digital transformation

Oil and Natural Gas Corporation Limited (ONGC)

Indian Ports Association (IPA) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Sanjay Bhatia (Chairman)

WEBSITE

http://www.ipa.nic.in/

Shashi Shanker (CMD)

WEBSITE

https://www.ongcindia.com/ wps/wcm/connect/en/home/ Maharatna ONGC, the largest crude oil and natural gas company in India, contributes around 70 per cent to Indian domestic production. The Oil & Gas industry has been known to be at the forefront of technology innovation since the industrial revolution. ONGC, contributing 61% of the total crude oil production, is planning to tap into big data analysis to raise the output and increase efficiency. Big data, along with sensors would help analyze data in ways that have not been possible in the past.

ONGC has further set up 3D virtual reality centres known as ‘Third Eye’ for real-time supervision of the Oil & Gas fields, bridging the gap between centres with parallel computing technologies for all its major projects.

ONGC has also implemented an enterprise-wide paperless Office solution35. This Paperless Office Project aims to eliminate the age old process of paper bureaucracy within ONGC at all levels.

Indian Ports Association (IPA) was constituted in 1966 with the idea of fostering growth and development of all Major Ports which are under the supervisory control of Ministry of Shipping.

IPA has selected Tech Mahindra as a managed service provider for five major ports at Mumbai, Kolkata, Chennai, Deendayal Port and Paradip Port Trust. The initiative is expected to support smooth business operations through digital transformation and build an advanced port infrastructure in India. It also aims to integrate the country’s maritime sector, as well as further accelerate the growth and development of major public sector ports throughout the country.

IPA has also selected global consultancy services provider Ernst Young to assist in conceptualizing the Port-EBS and support the implementation of the system.

IPA has also launched the Port Community System ‘PCS1x’, a cloud based new generation technology, with user-friendly interface. The platform offers value added services such as notification engine, workflow, mobile application, better security features, and improved inclusion by offering dashboard for those with no IT capability.

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DIGITAL INDIA - FOCUS PSU BEML has emerged as one of the leading manufacturers of heavy equipments

Bharat Earth Movers Limited (BEML)

Indian Oil Corporation (IOCL)

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Deepak Kumar Hota (CMD) WEBSITE

https://www.bemlindia.in/ BEML Limited, a ‘Miniratna-Category-1’, serves India’s core sectors like Defence, Rail, Power, Mining and Infrastructure. On its journey to become a system integrator, BEML will outsource a substantial part of manufacturing activities from Indian vendors, enabling it to enhance the capacity, attain cost effectiveness and improve competitiveness in the global market. To facilitate outsourcing, the company has well established policies, procedures and guidelines.

BEML has forayed into the manufacture and supply of hi-tech Metro Cars in 2002. BEML bagged the order for supply of seven train sets of six cars each i.e, 42 metro coaches valued at around Rs 400 crore from Bangalore Metro Corporation Limited (BMRCL).

In line with digital transformation, BEML has selected SAP business suite to bring a more integrated and seamless approach to internal processes. The business applications will provide BEML better insights into the enterprise-wide analysis, based on real-time data and key performance indicators.

GAIL executing major projects with the help of technology

GAIL (India) Limited (formerly known as Gas Authority of India Limited) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

B. C. Tripathi (CMD) WEBSITE

http://gailonline. com/home.html GAIL is ranked amongst the Top 10 international LNG portfolio players and is the largest state-owned natural gas processing and distribution company in India.

GAIL is executing major capital projects through technology and innovation. For instance it has developed a mobile application that utilizes space technology for its pipeline safety application. A report system integrated with the Bhuvan-GAIL portal sends alerts to relevant executives via SMS and email, and notes the changes along the pipeline. GAIL has also implemented drones for tracking its vast network of pipelines. It did a pilot project on satellite, surveying its 610 km Dahej-Vijaipur pipeline and plans on extending it to 15000 km based on results.

GAIL Pankh is another initiative that identifies, invests and nurtures start-ups in its core and some non-core areas that can become successful ventures. Furthermore, GAIL has been a pioneer in introducing e-business systems to bring in transparency and accountability in its business processes and systems for the benefit of various stakeholders.

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IOCL continues to meet the growing demand for petroleum products

Sanjiv Singh (Chairman) WEBSITE

https://www.iocl.com/ Indian Oil Corporation Limited (lndianOil), the largest commercial oil company in the country, continues to set up state-of-the-art refineries across the country to meet the growing demand for petroleum products.

As on 31st March 2018, the company owns 11 (including two of its subsidiary) of India's 23 refineries with a combined refining capacity of 80.70 MMTPA. As an organization, IOCL has experimented with latest technologies like IoT, AI, and oil terminals for monitoring the health of fuel stations.

IOCL has also designed mobile apps for ease and convenience of the customers and dealers - FUEL@IOC is an app on which one can search about the nearest fuel stations, while XSPARSH is a mobile app for IndianOil Dealers.

As a commitment to the Startup India initiative, Indian Oil has started a start-up scheme, “an initiative to promote innovation and newer technology in the Oil & Gas sector”. Through this, it aims to provide a platform and market to commercialize its ideas.

SIDBI stands as the principal financial institution serving the MSME sector

Small Industries Development Bank of India (SIDBI) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Mohammad Mustafa (Chairman & MD) WEBSITE

https://sidbi.in/en SIDBI was established to facilitate and strengthen credit flow to MSMEs and address both financial and developmental gaps in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) eco-system. It thus serves as the principal financial institution in the MSME sector.

A web portal www.psbloansin59minutes.com, was launched as a transformative initiative in the MSME credit space. This will enable in principle approval for MSME loans up to Rs. 1 crore within 59 minutes from SIDBI and 5 Public Sector Banks (PSBs).

SIDBI Vision 2.0 is another strategic initiative by SIDBI that is aimed at further accelerating the effort of MSME credit by transforming its current role to that of an All India Financial Institution that can create an integrated credit and development support ecosystem for Indian MSEs, thus promoting their inclusive growth. SIDBI has also revamped its portal www.udyamimitra.in with enhanced features to provide easy access to credit and hand-holding services for micro small medium enterprises (MSME).

BEL continues to support Make in India & Digital India through its many initiatives

LIC contributes to a cash-less economy and the digital payment system

Bharat Electronics Limited (BEL)

Life Insurance Corporation (LIC)

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

WEBSITE

www.licindia.in

M V Gowtama (CMD)

M R Kumar (Chairman) WEBSITE

http://www.bel-india. in/Default.aspx Owned by the Indian Government, BEL primarily manufactures advanced electronic products for the Indian Armed Forces. BEL is one of nine PSUs under the Ministry of Defence and has been granted Navratna status by the Government of India.

In line with its technological transformation and keeping with the spirit of Make in India, Digital India and Skill India, BEL presented SWAGAT, the Automatic Fare Collection Gating System jointly developed by BEL & Centre for Development of Advanced Computing (CDAC), which is set to transform the lives of commuters. SWAGAT is compliant with the National Common Mobility Card (NCMC) ecosystem for hassle-free commute across India. It is in.

BEL strives to achieve its cherished goals of self-reliance by strongly supporting and implementing the Govt's initiative on 'Make In India' and thereby giving further boost to the Indian Industry. It recognizes outsourcing as one of the strategic tools to complement the strengths of the private sector to build a strong industrial base.

NHAI takes the technology route to keep the highways safe and secured

LIC continues to be the dominant life insurer even in the liberalized Indian insurance scenario and is moving fast on a new growth trajectory.

LIC has issued over one crore policies during the current year and has crossed the milestone of issuing 1, 01, 32,955 new policies in the year 2015.

In a big push to the digital payment drive, LIC is planning to provide Point of Sale (PoS) machines to its lakhs of agents who collect around Rs 1.5 lakh crore premium annually. As part of the strategy for the cash-less economy, LIC is gearing up for premium collection to be done in digitally.

The number would ramp up in future from the current 1.5 lakh agents.

The state-owned insurance behemoth is also looking at initiating Aadhaar-linked digital transactions that will help policy holders in the rural areas to avoid payment of premium in cash and cash handling burden of agents would come down significantly.

NABARD emerges as a pacesetter in technology adoption

National Highways Authority of India (NHAI)

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD)

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Nagendra Nath Sinha (Chairman) WEBSITE

www.nhai.org

Dr. Harsh Kumar Bhanwala (Chairman) WEBSITE

https://www.nabard.org/

National Highways Authority of India, set up by an act of the Parliament, has been entrusted with the National Highways Development Project, along with other minor projects.

National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) is an apex development financial institution in India, and is active in developing financial inclusion policy.

Taking its quest of transformation ahead, NHAI has planned to install the video surveillance system in selected toll plazas to control the traffic congestion and keep the highway commute hassle-free. Under this advanced video surveillance system, NHAI is deploying hi-end cameras at the toll plazas that will send the real-time feed to the concerned regional traffic control rooms and NHAI headquarters. There will be an imaginary IP line set which will be integrated with these cameras and once the traffic queue reached this IP line these cameras will switch to video mode and start sending the video feed to the regional traffic control room.

When it comes to technology adoption, NABARD rolled out an elaborate plan to implement Enterprise Content Management within the organization. Through an RFP- based process, EMC Documentum was selected as the preferred solution for which HCL is the system integrator.

Furthermore, India’s native ODR (Online Dispute Resolution) portal has been specially customized to deal with the disputes related to the National Highway Authority of India and its stakeholders.

NABARD has been instrumental in grounding rural, social innovations and social enterprises in the rural hinterlands. Keeping in view of creating a digital India, NABARD launched a project for digitization of all Self Help Groups (SHG) in the country. The project is being implemented in 100 districts across the country. EShakti or Digitization of SHGs is an initiative of Micro Credit and Innovations Department of NABARD. This initiative will also bring all SHG members under the fold of ‘Financial Inclusion’, thereby helping them access wider range of financial services.

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DIGITAL INDIA - FOCUS PSU NHPC integrating technology consecutively with the organization’s growth plans

NHPC Limited (formerly known as National Hydroelectric Power Corp.)

NIC ensuring a wider transparency of the government services

National Informatics Centre (NIC) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Dr. Neeta Verma (Director General)

WEBSITE

www.nic.in

Balraj Joshi (Chairman & MD)

WEBSITE

http://nhpcindia.com/ NHPC was incorporated as a Central Govt. enterprise for development of Hydro Power in the central sector and since then has become the largest central utility for hydro power development in India. The company is mandated to plan, promote and organize an integrated and efficient development of power in all aspects through Conventional and NonConventional Sources in India and abroad. NHPC, with over 13,000 employees, has drawn up a massive capacity addition plan to become a 20,000 MW company by the year 2017, with total investments of around Rs.1, 00,000 crores.

Keeping with the spirit of technology adoption, NHPC has selected IFS Solutions India for its Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) project titled “Project Kiran”, across all the project locations and NHPC Corporate Office. The company took the strategic business initiative of implementing ERP software system to better manage and coordinate the growth plans. The ERP implementation will be completed within a period of 2 years.

EESL providing an impetus to the e-mobility ecosystem in India

Energy Efficiency Services Limited (EESL) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Saurabh Kumar (Managing Director) WEBSITE

www.eeslindia.org EESL is a joint venture of four National PSEs – NTPC Limited, Power Finance Corporation, REC and POWERGRID, and was set up under the Ministry of Power. Over the past year, EESL has forayed into everything from smart electric meters to electric vehicles and solar power plants.

As a part of the digital transformation process, the Noidaheadquartered public sector company has recently launched the National E-Mobility Programme that aims to provide an impetus to the entire e-mobility ecosystem including vehicle manufacturers, charging infrastructure companies, fleet operators, service providers, etc.

The Programme will be implemented by EESL which will procure electric vehicles in bulk to get economies of scale. These electric vehicles will replace the existing fleet of petrol and diesel vehicles. EESL had procured 10,000 e-vehicles last year and will issue a new tender very soon for 10,000 more e-vehicles to cater to the growing demand.

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The National Informatics Centre is part of the Indian Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology's, Department of Electronics & Information Technology and is the premier science and technology organisation of the Government of India in informatics services and information & communication technology (ICT) applications.

Ever since its inception, NIC has played a pivotal role in steering e-governance applications in the government departments at the national, state and district levels. Almost all Indian-government websites are developed and managed by NIC. Besides NIC has been instrumental in steering applications of ICT at various levels in the Government, which in a way leverages Digital India.

In addition to setting up a National ICT Infrastructure for the Government, NIC has also designed and developed solutions/platforms for various sectors of the Government at the Centre and State. This facilitates wider transparency, data driven planning and management and enhancement in the quality of services.

NTPC uses the power of technology to improve its services

NTPC (formerly known as National Thermal Power Corporation) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Gurdeep Singh (Chairman & MD) WEBSITE

www.ntpc.co.in NTPC is widely responsible for generating and sale of electricity to state-owned power distribution companies and State Electricity Boards in India. The company also undertakes consultancy and turnkey project contracts that involve engineering, project management, construction management and operation & management of power plants.

NTPC understood the potential of cutting edge technology in improving its services and efficiency. The company is fully aligned to the needs of adapting to emerging technologies and upgrading the technologies through research and development. NETRA (NTPC Energy Technology Research Alliance) set up in 2009 is the outcome of this vision.

NTPC aims to achieve 10% of the estimated market share for supply of electricity in E-mobility business.

Some of its core areas of research are - climate change, waste management, carbon capture and Utilization, new & renewable energy, efficiency improvement and cost reduction besides providing scientific support to NTPC and external utilities for improving availability, reliability and efficiency.

RailTel paving the way towards digital transformation of Railways

CIL on the road to deploy state-of-theart information technology system

Coal India Ltd. (CIL) RAILTEL HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Puneet Chawla (Chairman & MD) WEBSITE

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Anil Kumar Jha (Chairman & MD) WEBSITE

www.coalindia.in

www.railtelindia.com RailTel Corporation is one of the largest telecom infrastructure providers in the country. Set up in 2000 as the ICT arm of Indian Railways, RailTel owns the pan-India optic fiber network. The optical fiber and communications (OFC) network covers 70% of India's population, touching all important towns and cities of the country.

RailTel has already covered 45,000 plus Rkms with fibre, which connects over 4,500 cities and towns across India. It is closely working with various central, stage and private entities helping them build the next generation digital infrastructure. It has worked with Rajasthan and Haryana governments, Pune Smart City as well as MHRD by providing Campus WiFi in 24 Central Universities.

RailTel has also implemented some Digital Transformation projects like e-office for paperless Indian Railways, Telepresence in operational meetings and inauguration ceremonies, Digital information walls and train announcements as well as surveillance of railway stations. Google is also working along with RailTel for offering free WiFi at railway stations.

REC playing a pivotal role in rural power distribution

REC Limited (Formerly Rural Electrification Corporation Limited) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Ajeet Agarwal (CMD & Director - Finance) WEBSITE

www.recindia.nic.in REC Limited is a Central Public Sector Enterprise and a premier institution supporting the power sector development across India. It is also the nodal agency for Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), which is an integrated scheme covering all aspects of rural power distribution. The scheme is aimed at transforming the lifestyle of villagers and bringing in overall socio-economic development in rural areas.

More than 350 Gram Vidyut Abhiyantas (GVA) have been deployed to monitor the progress of village electrification. The GVAs update field photographs, data and other information in the GARV Mobile App (garv.gov.in), which has been developed for ensuring transparency and accountability.

REC Foundation, the CSR arm of REC Limited, signed a memorandum to extend a support of Rs. 1 crore for the project ‘Development of model schools’. As part of the project, REC will identify 20 government schools in Ghaziabad and provide furniture, projector, smartboards, sound system, solar light panel and RO water purifier.

Coal India Limited is a state owned coal mining corporate. With a modest production of 79 Million Tonnes (MTs) at the year of its inception, CIL today is the single largest coal producer in the world. Operating through 82 mining areas, CIL is an apex body with 7 wholly owned coal producing subsidiaries and 1 mine planning and consultancy company spread over 8 provincial states of India.

Coal India Limited had signed an INR 270 Cr deal with Tech Mahindra.

The engagement, which will span over five years, is aimed at enterprise modernization and digital transformation. The primary objective of setting up an integrated ERP (Enterprise Resource Planning) system in Coal India and its subsidiaries is to deploy state-of-the-art information technology system, which can provide all necessary information based on real-time data and help the management in taking quick and timely decisions to achieve the desired results.

ALIMCO working in the interests of PwDs of the nation

Artificial Limbs Manufacturing Corporation of India (ALIMCO) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

D R Sarin (CMD) WEBSITE

http://www.alimco.in/ ALIMCO is functioning under the Administrative Control of Ministry of Social Justice & Empowerment, Department of Empowerment of Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). It is set up with the objective of benefiting the PwDs by manufacturing and by promoting, encouraging and developing the availability, use, supply and distribution of Artificial Limbs and other Rehabilitation Aids.

ALIMCO as an organization is committed to digital transformation and has launched an online beneficiary registration system, 'On-line OnSite' to ensure transparency in schemes implemented by the ministry to provide assistive aids PwDs. It replaces the old manual registration process and will bring absolute transparency in providing assistive aids and appliances to PwDs. Under the 'Make In India' initiative, ALIMCO has also inked the Transfer of Technology and Technical & Consultancy Services agreement with a multinational company Ottobock for mass manufacturing of lower limb prosthetic systems for PwDs in the country at affordable prices.

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DIGITAL INDIA - FOCUS PSU DBT realizes the dream of MAXIMUM GOVERNANCE MINIMUM GOVERNMENT

ECIL remains a leading name in the growth of Information Technology and Electronics

Electronics Corporation of India Limited (ECIL) Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT)

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Rear Admiral Sanjay Chaubey (Retd.) (CMD)

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Soumitra Mandal (Director) WEBSITE

WEBSITE

https://dbtbharat.gov.in

http://www.ecil.co.in/

Direct Benefit Transfer (DBT) was started on 1st January, 2013 with the aim of reforming the Government delivery system by re-engineering the existing process in welfare schemes for simpler and faster flow of information/funds and to ensure accurate targeting of the beneficiaries, de-duplication and reduction of fraud. It tries to realize the dream of MAXIMUM GOVERNANCE, MINIMUM GOVERNMENT.

ECIL was setup under the Department of Atomic Energy with a view to generate a strong indigenous capability in the field of professional grade electronics, with its focus on indigenous Nuclear energy, space and Defence sectors.

As on date, more than 22 crore Jan Dhan Accounts, more than 100 crore Aadhaar and about 100 crore Mobile connections provide a unique opportunity to implement DBT in all welfare schemes across the country including States & UTs.

ECIL also has a strong presence in indigenous Electronic Security, Communications, Networking and e-governance domains. The company played a very significant role in the training and growth of high caliber technical and managerial manpower especially in the fields of Computers and Information Technology. ECIL is credited with producing the first indigenous digital computers called the ‘TDC 12’, solid state Black and white TV called ‘Apsara’, and the first earth station antenna of India. In the area of e-Governance, ECIL provides information technology solutions such as sales tax automation, bus pass computerization, electronic land records automation, and road transport office automation. Under the National Population Register (NPR) project, ECIL has completed data digitization, biometric enrolment and card personalisation in various states.

NALCO emerges as a leading name in the industrial map of Eastern India

PGCIL transmitting about 50% of the total power generated in India

The first phase of DBT was initiated in 43 districts and later on 78 more districts were added in 27 schemes pertaining to scholarships, women, child and labour welfare. 7 new scholarship schemes and Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA) was brought under DBT in 300 identified districts with higher Aadhaar enrolment.

National Aluminium Company (NALCO) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Dr. T.K. Chand (CMD) WEBSITE

www.nalcoindia.com NALCO is one of the largest integrated Bauxite-Alumina-AluminiumPower Complex in the Country and is a public sector enterprise under the Ministry of Mines. NALCO’s presence encompasses the entire value chain from bauxite mining, alumina refining, aluminium smelting, power generation to downstream products. NALCO is the first Public Sector Company in the country to venture into international market in a big way with London Metal Exchange (LME) registration since May, 1989. The company is also exploring countries like Oman, Iran and Indonesia to set up the proposed smelter plant with an estimated investment of Rs 200 billion, according to CMD, Dr. T K Chand.

With the demand for skilled manpower growing multi fold in the Country, the company is setting up a centre of excellence for Mining sector at an investment of Rs 20 crore and also providing skill training to unemployed youths in association with training partners in various demand areas like retail, healthcare, beautician, sewing machine operator etc.

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Power Grid Corporation of India Limited (POWERGRID) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Ravi. P. Singh (Director - Personnel & Additional Charge of CMD) WEBSITE

http://www.powergridindia.com/ POWERGRID or PGCIL is an Indian state-owned electric utilities company that transmits about 50% of the total power generated in India on its transmission network. It is the third largest public sector enterprise in terms of gross block.

POWERGRID's telecom company, POWERTEL, operates a network of 47,735 Kilometers and points of presence in 688 locations across India. As part of its diversification plans, PGCIL plans to enter the power generation sector overseas.

Under the Deendayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana (DDUGJY), infrastructure was created for 4365 number of partially electrified/unelectrified villages in 2017. Cumulatively, till March, 2017, infrastructure has been created for electrification of about 79,000 villages and service connections were provided to about 37.5 lakh BPL households. It is also playing a crucial role in the integration of Renewable Energy Resources with the grid and is undertaking development of Green Energy Corridors as well as transmission schemes for Ultra Mega Solar Parks in a number of states.

SAIL looks to transforming its communication strategies through social media

Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Anil Kumar Chaudhary, Chairman WEBSITE

https://www.sail.co.in/ Steel Authority of India Limited (SAIL) is the largest steel-making company in India and one of the seven Maharatnas of the country’s Central Public Sector Enterprises. SAIL has maintained the record of being the largest steel producer in India and one of the largest steel producers in the world.

As a part of its global expansion plans, the company is undergoing a massive expansion and modernization programme involving upgrading and building new facilities with emphasis on state-of-the-art green technology. It has its R&D centre for Iron & Steel (RDCIS), centre for Engineering in Ranchi, Jharkand.

As an effort to digitally transform its communications, SAIL is continuously endeavouring to reach out to the stakeholders through various social media platforms. It wants to intensify its presence on social media and as on date it seeks to engage a suitable agency for managing all the social media accounts on a daily basis.

DPE coordinates with other Ministries, CPSEs to formulate policies & guidelines

Department of Public Enterprises (DPE)

PFC continues to be the lead financier in the Indian Power Sector

Power Finance Corporation Ltd. (PFC) HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Rajeev Sharma (Chairman & MD) WEBSITE

http://www.pfcindia.com PFC is the financial back bone of the Indian Power Sector and is under the administrative control of the Ministry of Power. PFC was conferred the title of a 'Navratna CPSE' in June, 2007.

PFC plays a crucial role in the rise of India as a global player. With a large fraction of India still without any access to electricity, PFC will become an increasingly important institution in the years to come. PFC has uniquely positioned itself to become a financing provider to implement many government policies.

The Union cabinet has recently approved the sale of government’s shareholding in REC Ltd to Power Finance Corporation (PFC) along with transfer of management control. Both the companies will continue to play their respective policy roles and will remain the nodal agencies for implementing the government's power sector policies. Further, they are expected to operate all functions independently as they do it currently.

HUDCO continues to develop sustainable habitat development

Housing and Urban Development Corporation (HUDCO)

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

Seema Bahuguna (Secretary)

HEAD OF THE ORGANIZATION

M. Ravi Kanth (Chairman & MD)

WEBSITE

dpe.gov.in The Department of Public Enterprises is the nodal department and a centralized coordinating unit for all the Central Public Sector Enterprises (CPSEs) and formulates policy pertaining to CPSEs. It lays down, in particular, policy guidelines on performance improvement and evaluation, autonomy and financial delegation and personnel management in CPSEs. It furthermore collects and maintains information in the form of a Public Enterprises Survey on several areas in respect of CPSEs. The Department has five constituent Divisions, viz; the Financial Policy Division, the Management Policy Division, the MOU Division, the Administration & Coordination Division and Permanent Machinery of Arbitration.

DPE also conducts several training programs under DPE's Research Development and Consultancy (RDC) Scheme for the executives of CPSEs and State Level Public Enterprises (SLPEs). The Online Training Nomination System (OTNS) is a web based system on the Nomination Process of various Training Programs conducted by DPE for the Beneficiaries from CPSEs/SLPEs.

WEBSITE

www.hudco.org HUDCO is one of the public sector undertakings (PSU) and is wholly owned by the Union Government. It functions under the administrative control of the Ministry of Housing and Urban Poverty Alleviation.

HUDCO started financing for development of infrastructures in 1989.

The priority was to provide for infrastructure facilities, including projects in the sectors of drainage, electricity, water supply, sewerage, solid waste management and roads in the urban areas.

HUDCO is poised to take a much more significant role in the housing sector by supporting the growing needs of housing and infrastructure in the coming years with the continued growth of economy. HUDCO is also committed to play its unique social role with a special focus on the needs for the economically weaker sections.

Keeping in line with the digitization spirit, HUDCO has selected Intellect Design Arena for integrated lending and ERP solutions. The partnership will include provision of digital lending, treasury, general ledger and integrated accounting, procurement management among others.

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LEAD STORY

Emerging Technologies – a boon or a bane?

ACCORDING TO A FORBES REPORT INTO EMERGING TECHNOLOGIES, CIOS SHOULD BE PAYING CLOSE ATTENTION TO BUSINESS AND ROBOTIC PROCESS AUTOMATION; ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI); BLOCKCHAIN; CRYPTOCURRENCY; INTERNET OF THINGS (IOT); VIRTUAL/ AUGMENTED REALITY (VR/AR); AUGMENTED ANALYSIS; MOBILE EVERYTHING; WEARABLES AND CYBERSECURITY AND PRIVACY 42

April 2019 www.varindia.com

2018 was a transformative year from a technological innovation perspective.

Development of new technologies and its advancement marked the year, which also saw many organizations adopting new and emerging technologies that possibly would not have been the case a few years ago. 2019 will continue on this path of transformation while expanding even more in regards to adoption of cutting edge immersive technologies.

The impact of emerging technologies has fallen upon every company today, whether small or big. With emerging technologies we refer to artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning (ML), human-computer interface, augmented reality and the Internet of Things (IoT) that are readable, recognizable, locatable, addressable, and/or controllable via the internet.

Leading global business services provider Aegis has directed most of its focus towards RPA and chat-bots and less on AI and machine learning, but the latter will shoot up in another one and a half years of time.

“Emerging technologies, especially chatbots, artificial intelligence and machine learning are creating a huge wave,” says Ajay

RASHMI R KUMAR VP Sales Strategy - Systech Services

"We are adopting AI and ML, because over a period of time if we learn that there is a problem that has tendency to vertically or horizontally scale up, then I do need artificial intelligence and machine learning to address that."

business problem on hand, companies will be looking for solutions or technologies to address it. But now the technology is available with unlimited potentials and people are forced to identify the business cases. So CIOs are today forced to find out what problems could be there and then for every problem think of a solution.

RAGHUNATH THIYAGARAJAN Director - Infrastructure & Cloud Service, Trigent Software Inc.

"Instead of relying on human intervention, we look forward to artificial intelligence for a particular industry that can be made automated. There are some levels of automation but probably it should have more intelligence into it."

Bakshi, Chief Digital Officer & SVP, AEGIS BPO & KPO. “In our industry chat-bot and Robotic Process Automation (RPA) are the flavour of the season and both are picking up really well. AI and machine learning might take another two years to mature,as for them to be successful, these technologies would require a huge amount of data point, mostly structured sets of big data. So, as an organization and as a part ofthis industry, both RPA and chatbot are the two hot things on which we are currently aligned and are working on the concept,” he reiterates.

"My take as a CIO is, I should position myself in the central of the company. The ‘I’ in CIO not only stands for information, but a CIO has to ideate, initiate, innovate and implement. He becomes the main person in the organization. This CIO position is so important that whenever somebody thinks of technology, he/she thinks of the CIO only.

If there is a business problem they think the CIO as a solution giver or a problem solver. So the CIO has to rise to a level and tackle every problem and support the business, instead of giving in to technologies. There would be days when he will be part of the board room,” observes Balsubramanian N, Enterprise IT Applications Governance Support Security & Digital Disruption Professional - Cloudnine Group of Hospitals.

Again, earlier people used to talk of IT as a cost centre but now it is seen as a profit centre.

The cost is saved and the additional margin is realized because of cost saving, efficiency in the processes, capturing newer markets and increasing the business top line.All these things contribute for the return of whatever meagre investment is made in the IT sector.

According to Raghunath Thiyagarajan,

UST Software (India) is presently adopting artificial intelligence, while simultaneously also working on aviation technology, using drones, etc. UST Software is also working with SAP partners on ERP. “Technology is growing so fast that without adopting emerging technologies there is no scope for organizations. There seems to be no life without technologies like robotics, aviation, artificial intelligence today. These technologies are what determine the growth of an organization,” says Ganesh Ramachandra, General Manager, UST Software (India).

However, what it brings in depends on ROI. “There should be return on investment and that is how we plan for execution,” asserts Ganesh.

Undoubtedly artificial intelligence, machine learning, natural language processing and natural language understanding are the technologies which find used cases in any business scenario. But there are challenges as well - earlier whenever there used to be any

AJAY BAKSHI Chief Digital Officer & SVP - AEGIS BPO & KPO

"Emerging technologies, especially chat-bots, artificial intelligence and machine learning are creating a huge wave, though they might take another two years to mature, as these technologies would require a huge amount of data point, mostly structured sets of big data."

BALSUBRAMANIAN N

Enterprise IT Applications Governance Support Security & Digital Disruption Professional -Cloudnine Group of Hospitals

"The CIO position is so important today that whenever somebody thinks of technology, he/she thinks of the CIO only. If there is a business problem they think the CIO as a solution giver or a problem solver."

Director - Infrastructure & Cloud Service, Trigent Software Inc., there is a requirement for more solution architect and cloud professionals, who are designing the whole infrastructure recommended for this huge datacenter. We would be looking for automation for the datacenter,designing in terms of what is recommended or what particular solution the datacenter needs to get the right infrastructure in place. “Instead of relying on human intervention, we look forward to artificial intelligence for a particular industry that can be made automated. There are some levels of automation but probably it should have more intelligence into it,” he says.

He further says that the new technologies would be more into cloud security in terms of artificial intelligence which he would implement in his organization, and is much required at this point of time, while also implementing voice based automation. “The Manufacturing industry is 70-80% automated; butone day all industries will be automated as AI and Machine Learning is growing up to the intelligence of the human nature.I would also like to concentrate into the SMB market which is struggling to bring in the right technologies into their business field. Customized AI is currently not affordable by SMB market sectors, so we are looking for developing it in terms of bringing AI and ML into the SMB segment,” he states.

“Emerging technologies do have opportunities for companies expanding their business whether it is in India or globally,” says Krishna M S, Head - IT, Toradex Systems (India). “But we need better connectivity. Also the earlier firewalls would not help, so we need

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LEAD STORY important for us. They bring in newer thoughts, newer ideas in terms of bringing in a very marked change in the way we have been delivering health care to operations,” says Girish.

RAMAN PILLAI D.G.M - IT, Ather Energy

“Going forward in 2025, things will be more connected and we have to be ready and prepare for the same. So this means that the platforms which are there have to be much more robust and scaled up to cater to the needs of our consumers." something more resilient and powerful with more features and also cost effective.”

He further continues, “Recently we had installed a cloud based spam filter called ProofPoint. Next year we will be going for UTMs.Our plan is to invest more on technologies which are future proof that would give us more value.Usually we talk about five years, as anything we invested in should get us our money back in five years.”

The market is very disruptive and things are changing at a very rapid pace; accordingly customers have to change themselves in the same manner. For instance Ather has a smart electric scooter - by smart,it means a lot of things which define that space. “Going forward in 2025, things will be more connected and we have to be ready and prepare for the same. So this means that the platforms which are there have to be much more robust and scaled up to cater to the needs of our consumers. In future we will find technology vehicles plying on the road, like electric and connected vehicles. So we should have infrastructure to support it. It is not just the IT infrastructure I am talking about here but a power infrastructure that will have enough power grids to support that kind of a growth,” says Raman Pillai, D.G.M - IT, Ather Energy.

The concept of both private and hybrid cloud will co-exist, as companies cannot survive just in a private cloud environment.

Customers need to have a mixture of public and private cloud and so they have to choose the hybrid cloud technology in order to have a stable infrastructure on premise and a scalable infrastructure on cloud.

“If we keep petabytes of data, it is not possible to do the BI or AI on top of the data on a large scale. So for instance if we use a big query to churn that petabyte of data that can give you results in a few minutes and not

GIRISH KULKARNI CIO - Cytech Care Hospital

"Emerging technologies from a digital transformation perspective plays a very important and significant role in the healthcare industry. To be on the next level we have to completely leverage all of the technologies as a propriety of online business." in few days. If you plan to do the same on a loop tester it might take 2/3 days’ time. And this is why we choose to go hybrid in nature,” explains Raman.

“Emerging technologies from a digital transformation perspective plays a very important and significant role in the healthcare industry. To be on the next level we have to completely leverage all of the technologies as a propriety of online business,” says Girish Kulkarni, CIO - Cytech Care Hospital.

There is no doubt that emerging technologies like AI, ML and geopositioning are a boon to the society. But at the same time we need to understand how much of it we can use or can be in our control as a user. An organization would want to utilize all of these technologies to improve customers’ satisfaction and delight, because at the end of the day if a customer is happy then the organization is also happy. But the right usage of that technology also needs to be checked so that it is not misused.

Cytech Care Hospital is working on newer technologies around AI and natural language processing. Lot of work is happening around NLP for the organization at this point of time, with AI to Robotics and non-invasive surgeries going into that space.“Some of these technologies we have demonstrated and are deploying it in a large scale in one of the largest government hospitals in the country.

In a situation where you have shortage of trained and skilled man power, these are the technologies which will make you deliver care, easily and seamlessly without too much dependency on human intervention,” says Girish.

“We are adopting AI and ML, because over a period of time if we learn that there is a problem that has tendency to vertically or horizontally scale up, then I do need artificial intelligence and machine learning to address that,” says Rashmi R Kumar, VP Sales Strategy, Systech Services.“So that the machines start understanding the pattern and at the same time starts the remediation. It is like if the technology can help me know what my health will be in next 10 years,I will work it out now.

I would like to use emerging technology to ensure customer delight and ensure that the technology I am offering will give peace of mind to the business owner,” he further says.

Cytech Care Hospital is working closely with newer providers. “The new age companies who are ranked the best in the newer technology spaces are also absolutely

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GANESH RAMACHANDRA General Manager, UST Software (India)

"Technology is growing so fast that without adopting emerging technologies there is no scope for organizations. There seems to be no life without technologies like robotics, aviation, artificial intelligence today."

Systech Servicesis also using new technologies like hyper convergence where it is converging complete network storage in order to deliver one stop solution to the customers.

From artificial intelligence to augmented reality, a number of disruptive technologies and trends will begin driving how business gets done at forward-thinking organizations this year. In 2019, disruptive technologies like artificial intelligence, natural language processing, and computer vision are going to mature, going from game-changing ideas to foundational tools for business KRISHNA M S Head - IT, Toradex Systems (India)

“Emerging technologies do have opportunities for companies expanding their business whether it is in India or globally. Also the earlier firewalls would not help, so we need something more resilient and powerful with more features and also cost effective."

“AI and IoT are the bedrock of Industry 4.0,” says Pravanjan Choudhury CTO, Capillary Technologies.“Emerging Technologies like AI, AR/VR, and IoT (Internet of Things) are opening up new product avenues for Capillary.

For instance, our InstoreVision product suite is used to gather offline store insight. The data is then used by brands to build an indulging customer experience. Technologies like deep learning and AI capable hardware platforms enable us to build and deploy AI at scale in stores, which are the key customer touch points. Building new solutions have become easier and less resource intensive with a lot of building blocks being readily available.”

AI and IoT based products are the latest additions to Capillary’s existing product portfolio. Deep Learning, Audio and Image processing, Big Data processing, DevOps and Systems are also some of the roles it has added in the last 2 years. There is a continuous adoption on emerging Tech in DevOps as well as big-data stack.It hires industry experts and also cross-train existing resources on emerging technologies.

The challenges it faces are whether the emerging tech will cater to all kind of use cases in future during the life cycle of the product and whether it will remain cost-effective. It is also difficult to find experts in these new areas.

“A typical approach would be, is to build PoC that will validate the use cases and at the same time, build capability/skill internally to sustain the productization,” he says.

And this is why most products are built on use case scenario for Capillary Technologies and are generally iterative in nature. Once it builds the concept of a product pipeline, it performs an Exploratory Research to get a Proof of Concept (PoC). Post which, it iterates and improvises on the same. “For example, in our AI products, there are some AI models which we custom build, some which we reuse and for a few, we use existing cloud APIs. This has led to faster development for our newer products which we try out with our customers. In fact, we have made a great inroad in deploying InstoreVision product with our existing CRM customers,” Pravanjan says.

To sum up There is no doubt that emerging technologies are bringing more and more opportunities, whether it is into business, technology or in security. Security as a concept have been talked about for last 20 years. All these things had been theoretically discussed but now with the evolution of advanced security technologies, CIOs are experiencing it in a practical sense. Similarly businesses can be done in an unimaginable level through technology today. n

PRAVANJAN CHOUDHURY CTO, Capillary Technologies

“Emerging Technologies like AI, AR/VR, and IoT (Internet of Things) are opening up new product avenues for Capillary.

For instance, our InstoreVision product suite is used to gather offline store insight."

Play Store bans TikTok for downloads As per the verdict of Madras High Court to ban TikTok in India, Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology (Meity) has ordered Google and Apple to take down its app from Android and iOS. Due to this, TikTok app has been brought down from Google Play Store, while it could be still downloaded on iOS. The pre-downloaded apps are however functioning without any glitch.

India has hundreds of millions of users of TikTok; the ban of the app from Android came as a surprise for its users.

While TikTok has to wait for the next hearing at Supreme Court and Madras High Court on April 22 and April 24 respectively, the high court has appointed an independent counsel.

With the High Court decision, TikTok has welcomed the appointment of senior advocate Arvind Datar as an independent counsel to examine its implications.

Recently TikTok claims to have removed 6 million videos violating the guidelines and introduction of an age-gate feature to keep away underage users from the platform. Last month, TikTok also started Safety Centre and resource pages to control bullying. Since the general election is around the corner, it is also acting as an advisor during the electoral process in 10 languages.

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“We have for years been delivering high quality solutions” In a chat with VARINDIA, Hatem Naguib, SVP& COO - Barracuda Networks discusses about the India market, its solutions, key verticals and how it creates value for its customers India has always been receptive when it comes to adoption of new technologies. The country may leave aside many countries when it comes to the number of technology users. Barracuda has already invested money in India and it sees the country as an opportunity.

“We have invested early in India andhave a strong engineering team in India. We have also built a global technology supportand contact centers here. We see that India is also at the forefront of many technology trends,be it the adoption of Office 365or any other technology.Public cloud adoption is very high, and a number of companies are actually cloud native in India which allows the country to be very attractive and a growing market for us in the future,” says Hatem Naguib.

SECURITY Barracuda covers different security segments like email, web, application etc. All its solutions are software based and can be deployed in multiple form factors.

“We look at the entire threat landscape like email, web, applications, network and infrastructure capability and how we put the security capabilities on top of that. All of our technologies are actually software,and we deploy it at multiple form factors. You can buy an appliance form; can deploy it in public cloud, or as a virtual machine. As we have invested as a software first capability, you get fullfeature capabilities whether as a hardware appliance or as a cloud delivered as a service,” discusses Hatem.

DATA PROTECTION For years Barracuda has been delivering high quality solutions that have cloud capability. Customers can backup both on premise and also on cloud. The company has also added facilities like archiving so that customers can maintain compliance and also protect information from cyber threat.

“We are one of the largest data protection providers in the world and have several thousand customers who use our backup solutions. Many companiesmake Barracuda as part of their solutions for backup, as part of adding any new site to their business. We have for years delivering high quality solutions that have cloud capability and those aredelivered globally for customers so that they can backup not just on premise but also have those services available oncloud, local to their environment. Then we have also included archiving capabilities for email to allow customers maintain compliance and to protect years of information from risk associated with cyber security attacks,” explains Hatem.

CREATE VALUE FOR CUSTOMERS Barracuda has interacted with a lot of customers and finds out the trends. Customers want to leverage cloud, different multiple environments and also want to digitize their interactions with customers. These trends have helped Barracuda drive their product strategy which inturn helped its customers protect themselves.

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HATEM NAGUIB

SVP & COO Barracuda Networks

“We spentan enormous amount of time talking to thousands of customers and look to the trends which those customers are dealing with.

Customers are looking at cloud, leveraging technologies acrossdifferent, multiple distributed environments and seeing how they can digitize their interactions with customers. All the three trends are driving our product strategies to help our customers protect themselves in the new digital transformation era. The two dominating areas that are affecting our customers are email collaboration; it is the lifeblood of how business is done worldwide and it has become a significant attack vector for many customers that need a specific set of tools and capabilities to protect.

Secondis the use of cloud technology, be that for infrastructure, SaaS, for platform as a service has driven a huge amount of interest in our network and application security capabilities for the customers who are hybrid, cloud native or thinking of using cloud services in the future. These converge for many customers whose first taste of cloud is through Office 365 and we see huge adoption of it throughout the world. For us we build several solutions to help protect customers as they migrate to that cloud based email solutions,” elaborates Hatem.

KEY VERTICALS Today security is a concern to every small and large company. In the beginning, only the regulatory industry used to care about it but now every company of any size is cautious about their security profile.

“It started off with mid market companies. Over the last several years we have seen large number of enterprises using Barracuda solutions. It crosses all vectors, from global fortune companies to small shops around the world. Initially, it used to be regulated industries that cared about security but now everybody cares about security. From pharmaceuticals, financial services to manufacturing companies, everybody now care about the security profile, so they can ensure that their technology is part of the overall security strategy,” concludes Hatem. n

VAR MOBILITY

XOLO unveils ERA 5X with AI Studio priced at Samsung unveils Galaxy A80 with a rotating Rs. 7,499 camera XOLO has launched ERA 5X with AI studio mode for the perfect photography that enables users to take pictures in six different camera modes giving a professional touch to their pictures, a feature that is unusual in the budget smartphone segment.

The ERA 5X has a 5.7" HD+ IPS In-Cell Full Screen display with 2.5D curved Corning Gorilla Glass, giving the handset a sturdy look with greater durability.

XOLO Era 5X, the new generation phone has 3GB RAM, designed for the needs of the tech-savvy consumers for fast and efficient usage. The device offers (4G + 4G) Dual VOLTE enabling users to widen their network. The phone comes with 32 GB internal memory and 128 GB expandable memory, providing users ample space to store data. The XOLO ERA 5X is priced at Rs. 7,499 and is available in black colour.

XOLO products are known for their long-lasting battery backup. The era 5x is powered with a 3000 mAh Li-Po non-removable battery that can last for 1.5 days on a single charge. The ERA 5X runs on Mediatek Helio A22 processor with 2.0GHz speed.

HUAWEI P30 Pro & P30 lite launched in India

Huawei Consumer Business group India has announced the launch of HUAWEI P30 Pro & Huawei P30 lite in India.

Building on the HUAWEI P Series’ DNA in design and technology, HUAWEI P30 pro is the company’s most technologically comprehensive smartphone. Achieving a record-high overall DxOMark score of 112, HUAWEI P30 Pro is bringing about a paradigm shift in camera technologies and is setting new standard for videography. The device is slated to disrupt the digital imaging technology space.

The flagship device boasts of a 4200 mAH battery with unique SuperCharge and Wireless Reverse Charging technology, stupendous performance driven by 7nm mobile process chipset, Kirin 980, guaranteeing stronger performance and lower power consumption and packs in a GPU Turbo 3, taking mobile gaming to the next level.

HUAWEI P30 Pro rewrites the rules of smartphone photography with numerous breakthrough innovations and ingenious design. The device features the path breaking HUAWEI SuperSpectrum Sensor, an optical SuperZoom Lens, a new HUAWEI Time of Flight (ToF) Camera, and enhanced optical and AI image stabilization technology. HUAWEI P30 Pro features a 40MP primary camera with HUAWEI SuperSpectrum Sensor, a 20MP ultra-wide angle camera, an 8MP telephoto camera fitted with SuperZoom Lens and HUAWEI TOF Camera and a 32MP front camera that takes selfies to a new level.

Samsung has unveiled the flagship A80 model in its A series mid-range mobile phones. The A80 features a 48-megapixel primary camera and also supports a full-HD+ Super AMOLED display and comes with Dolby Atmos audio integration. The Android Pie-based phone comes with an in-display fingerprint sensor.

Samsung Galaxy A80 has an innovative camera mechanism that delivers the same triple camera experience with the same high-resolution lens, for both front and rear. When users select the selfie mode in the camera app, the three cameras automatically pops up from the back of the phone and rotate.

While the main camera is 48MP, the ultra wide has 8MP and the 3D depth camera offers Live Focus videos by scanning objects for measurement and depth.

The price of Samsung Galaxy A80 has been set at EUR 649 (roughly Rs 50,500). The Samsung Galaxy A80 will go on sale from May 29 in markets across Asia, Australia, China, Europe, Russia and Middle East.

The price of Samsung Galaxy A80 in India is expected to be along the same lines as Europe pricing. However, an India release date has not been specified.

Motorola launches new moto g7 and motorola one

Motorola is introducing smartphones that cater to users specific needs with better cameras, faster charging, with improved processing speed and maximized displays. New moto g7 includes features that matter most to users at a remarkable price point of INR 16,999, the motorola one gives the Android experience at just INR 13,999.

50% faster than the previous generation, the moto g7 can tackle most intensive creative tasks thanks to a super responsive Snapdragon 632 Mobile Platform. Its 15W Turbo Power charger gives 9 hours of power in just 15 minutes and allday battery helps power through the day. And with an upgraded, contoured Gorilla Glass design, it looks as great as it performs.

The moto g7 comes equipped with exclusive Moto Experiences that make using smartphone easier and more enjoyable. Newly redesigned One Button Nav replaces navigation buttons with one simple on-screen bar. Combined with Android 9.0 Pie, every swipe, tap, and hold works even better than before. Combined with Moto Experiences like Quick Capture, Fast Flashlight and Attentive Display, using smartphone has never been easier.

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Mobiistar finds immense potential in small cities Though India is a highly competitive market , Mobiistar has found out the potential in the market. A large chunk of the population in India still uses feature phones, so it opens the path for Mobiistar to convert the feature phone users to smartphone. Moreover, India also provides the opportunity to replace the existing smartphone users.

A Vietnamese brand targeting the population in tier two and three cities, Mobiistar has always prioritised consumer demand.

It provides updated features at an affordable price. The brand followed three pillars to enter India market – it opened 1000 service centres, set up a plant in the country and finally decide the components that would be there in the next product.

In a chat with VARINDIA, Aniruddha Deb, CMO, Mobiistar India discusses about the potential of India market, go-to-market strategy, online and offline strategies, verticals, brand campaigns etc.

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“The brand decided to come to India, although it is and will be a cluttered market but Mobiistar caught two clear potential when they entered the country. First potential that more than 50% of the population uses a feature phone. So, the potential of the smartphone still can be doubled as we move forward. The simple maths here is if you convert every feature phone user into a smartphone user, half the country is still a potential market for the smartphone industry. No other country gives you this much market potential like India.

Second, in India, we have the potential to convert a feature phone user into a smartphone user and also replace the users current smartphone,” highlights Aniruddha Deb. Before entering the market, the company was all focused about its target audience.

Realizing the fact that the smaller cities in India use a smartphone ranging below Rs 10,000 with not so great features, the company aimed to provide great features at an affordable price.

“In India you have smartphones from Rs 5,000 to 1,00000. A clear decision was taken that the biggest gap from a consumer stand point is that smaller towns, the greater India as we call it, i.e. tier 1, 2, 3 cities are slowly getting into the smartphone and the internet world. The kind of smartphone they are able to use are very ordinary and are not able to provide great features; for great features you have to pay more. That is the basic market insight we at Mobiistar tapped into and came in with a clear indication and agenda that we will give those people who can’t afford the features that they are seeing everywhere. We are a new brand and it will take some time for people to get over other brands.

We at Mobiistar also call ourselves trend spotters and not trendsetters. Like notch display, water drop display, selfie AI etc., these are all new trends. We don’t want to come out as the first one to give any such trend. But we will spot the trend. So if the latest trend is water drop display which comes above Rs 15000, we will

give that same water drop display at Rs 7000 to our consumers,” states Aniruddha.

STRATEGY From the very beginning Mobiistar was clear about its strategy. Before offline launch the company fortified its position in the market with 1000 service centres and set up its manufacturing plant in Haryana.

“Our brand Mobiistar was launched in India in August 2018, that's when we did the offline and retail launch. We did a couple of things before offline launch; we got our plant in partnership with Vsun in India. So, we planned three things or pillars. First pillar- 1000 service centres before the launch, which are third party.

Second pillar is we setup our plant at Bawal, Haryana in partnership with Vsun, and we have an assembly here.

The other interesting thing is that with our parts we can decide what components will be there in the next product. Other advantage is, when we will launch our next phone our model will be to import parts and assemble the product here. So when we launch our next phone we will spot the new trend which is going on, at which price point are our competitors providing the device and what our customers actually want with those inputs and analysis we will manufacture and will import components and manufacture the smartphones,” reveals Aniruddha.

For Mobiistar distribution is an important part of its go-to-market strategy. To penetrate deep into the market the company has first introduced its products in small cities and later in metros.

“After the service centre and manufacturing plant, our full focus went to the distribution of the product. In fact, more than marketing, brand building and TV Ads, we first setup the distribution of the products. We wanted to spread our product Pan-India, in smaller towns and that became our focus. We have now reached approximately 640 distributors, 37000 multi-brand retail outlets. In fact, the market is 1,05,000, out of those we are already present in 37000 outlets. And in the next six months, our goal is to be present in more than 50000 multibrand outlets Pan- India. It’s a challenge but we will achieve it,” concludes Aniruddha. n

VAR ANALYSIS

CASHBACKS & OFFERS BY WALLET APPS - WHAT IS THE ARITHMETIC BEHIND IT? Rahul is a frequent user of mobile wallet apps and prefers to do most of his payment digitally through his phone. If we flip through his daily purchase routine – he gets up in the morning and the first thing he does is to buy a cigarette, then sips a cup of tea from the nearby stall, orders for his breakfast, refuels his bike while on his way to office, orders for lunch in the afternoon, then again gets a cigarette and tea and then finally orders for his dinner at night after he gets home.What is interesting to note here is that Rahul does not have to run to the ATM to dispense cash for whatever purchases he does from morning, but he makes all his payments through his mobile wallet app.That way he also keeps an easy track on the money he has spent the entire day.

Moreover, the need for full KYC (Know Your Customer) verification of customers by all e-wallet companies has become a mandate. Also the new verdict of the Supreme Court on Aadhaar Card prohibits private companies from using this unique number for KYC. Wallet companies those were depending on Aadhaar number for KYC are now looking out for new alternatives.

Welcome to the world of Mobile wallet apps/ Mobile payment app/ Money Transfer apps/e-Wallet or by whatever name it call it. Mobile wallet apps likePaytm, Freecharge, Mobikwik, PhonePe, Amazon Pay, Google Pay (Tez), Yono by SBI, BHIM are today taking a customer’s life by storm.

THE CASHBACK STRATEGY

But what has led to the boom in the e-wallet industry?

By 2017, the number of e-wallet services has been sky rocketing; as per Reserve Bank of India (RBI) it went up from a single company in 2006 to 60 in 2017. India’s first e-wallet, Wallet365.com was launched in 2006. It was introduced by Times Group in association with YES Bank. Since then the number has went up.

This number has been aggravated by the increase in the smartphone adoption across nation. Furthermore, demonetization which was introduced by the present government in the year 2016 added fuel to it.

The e-wallets were the only mode of transaction to deal with the cash crunch at that time.

TOUGH TIMES FOR WALLET COMPANIES

The going has not been very easy for the mobile wallet companies. The growth trajectory of these e-wallets has shrunk. If this continues, these payment companies will start to perish at the same speed that they had come into the payment picture, barring a few. Many small players have shut down their shops owing to the fact that mobile payment is a high volume and low value business. The profit of any e-wallet company depends on customer base, a good merchant network and some good offers like cashback.

Adding to this are some other factors as well. The strict rules introduced by the Reserve Bank of India like the net-worth requirement for digital wallet companies has been increased from rupees two crore to five crore with a minimum positive net worth of Rs 15 crore in three financial years.

On the contrary, we have also seen deep pocketed businesses acquiring small businesses like Axis Bank acquired FreeCharge, Amazon took over Emvantage, Flipkart picked up PhonePe, and Shopclues acquired Momoe.

Let us get back to Rahul again. Why is he encouraged to make his payments through mobile wallets; besides making his life easy and convenient, his mobile wallet company also gives a lot of cashbacks to Rahul, on specific number of transactions.

But why do wallet companies provide cashbacks? Is offering cashbacks and coupon codes simply a mind game with an ulterior motive attached to it? The answer to it can be debated in many ways.

Leading wallet companies like Paytm, PhonePe, Mobikwik use this strategy of giving promotional codes and large cashbacks to lure customers and increase its customer base. These frequent cashback offers encourage customers to use their e-wallets on every purchase, thus reducing their dependence on hard cash. So in one way, cashback and other such offers are promoting digital payment and the ‘cashless’ economy that PM Modi has envisioned for the country.

Cashbacks indeed has made these wallet companies popular, there is no doubt to it. However, giving such large offers also means that these e-wallet companies are not earning too much of profits. Because in the world of doing business, a company can never run profitably if it gives away freebies at no additional costs. This is done just to retain its customers, but once these monetary concessions stop, they might just stop using these apps. So this might become the biggest drawback for the wallet company.

But there can be another side to this story; there might also come a time, when these wallet companies stop giving very few or no offers at all, especially when they are certain that they have accumulated a large customer base and have access to all their contact information.

Only time will determine the exact calculation behind introducing such offers!

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Movers & Shakers

Tenable appoints new Regional Director West & SAARC

Rajan Bhandari appointed as CEO at Hitachi Systems Micro Clinic

Harshad Bhadra has joined Tenable as the Regional Director – West & SAARC. Harshad had proven his skills as an experienced Sales Director and has a demonstrated history of working in the information technology and services industry.

In his earlier role, Harshad had served for Savex Technologies as the General Manager – Business. Prior to this, he was the Sr Vice President at Iris Computers, besides working for companies like Tech Data and Avnet Technology Solutions.

Rajan Bhandari is now the CEO at Hitachi Systems Micro Clinic, while Anuj Gupta will continue to oversee corporate and enterprise.This upgradation is mainly to address Hitachi Systems Micro Clinic’s transitioning from a technology solutions provider to a business solutions provider using technology.

Previously, Rajan was operating as the Chief Operating Officer and regional director in Hitachi Micro Clinic.He will now be responsible for the revenue, profitability, and spreading of the positive impact of the company’s work across India. The vision of the company is to touch Rs. 2100 crores in 2019 – 20.

IESA names Jitendra Chaddah as its new Chairman

Sterlite Tech makes four new leadership appointments

India Electronics and Semiconductor Association (IESA) has announced its new Executive Council (EC) for the year 2019-20. Jitendra Chaddah (JC), Senior Director - Operations and Strategic Relations, Intel is taking over as the new Chairman. JC has over two decades of industry experience with excellent international exposure and experience of working in both emerging and mature markets – USA, Latin America, Asia Pacific. At Intel, he has played multiple leadership roles ranging from Program Management of large and complex programs to setting strategic direction for large R&D sites at different Intel locations.

Manisha Gupta to head marketing for Uber India

Manisha Lath Gupta has been appointed as the Head of Marketing for Uber India, whereas Sanjay Gupta, who heads the current position as the marketing head will move to Uber US and Canada in a new role. This announcement has come as Uber had completed over 1 billion trips in India and South Asia region in July 2018. The company plans to further continue driving growth by offering more modes and entering more cities this year under the strategic stewardship of a stronger and bigger India leadership team.

Manisha Lath Gupta will oversee marketing initiatives for Rides and Eats Business for India South Asia.

Sriram Padmanabhan joins Nissan India

Sriram Padmanabhan has joined as the Vice President Marketing in Nissan Motor India (NMIPL). Sriram brings over two decades of international marketing experience in launching new products, building digital go-to-market competencies, establishing customer engagement, preparing dealer network for expansion and P&L ownership.

“We are committed to focus on people development, product offensive and process excellence in India. Sriram brings in global marketing leadership and operational expertise and we are confident that he will drive a holistic marketing strategy to accelerate our business growth," said Thomas Kuehl, President - Nissan India Operations.

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Sterlite Tech has announced the joining of four new leaders.

Dr. Jitendra Balakrishnan, Chief Technology Officer - Optical Communications, will drive the technology growth engine for Sterlite Tech’s optical communications products business.

Literally a rocket scientist, Jitendra holds a Bachelor’s in Aerospace Engineering from IIT Madras and a Doctorate and Master’s in Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering from Cornell University.

He brings a wealth of experience from his multiple roles in R&D at Corning over the last 18 years.

Veeam names Belinda Jurisic as Channel Director for APJ

Veeam Software has announced the appointment of Belinda Jurisic for the newly created role of Asia Pacific and Japan (APJ) Channel Director. Promoted from her previous role as Veeam’s Head of Channel, Australia and New Zealand, Belinda will help drive growth across all segments and will continue to strengthen channel partnerships.

As APJ Channel Director, Belinda will be responsible for leading Veeam’s channel teams across the region, working with a network of more than 3000 resellers and distributors and driving the uptake of the company’s industry-leading CloudData Management solutions.

McAfee ropes in Sanjay Manohar as MD for India

McAfee has announced the appointment of Sanjay Manohar as managing director, India. He will be responsible for building and leading teams to drive product revenues, increase adoption of cloud-based products, strengthen customer relationships and execute on McAfee’s mission to keep the world safe from emerging cyber threats. He will report directly to Craig Nielsen, vice president, APAC, McAfee.

Sanjay brings over 25 years of proven industry experience spanning leadership roles across the APAC region. His career has been marked by continuous growth and recognition in marketing, sales and channel strategy.

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Based on an October 2017 IDC whitepaper sponsored by Dell EMC, “The Business Value of Modernizing Infrastructure with Hyper-Converged Systems,” wherein IDC interviewed organizations in the U.S., Germany and Australia. Average ROI assumes a discounted investment of $1.09 million over 5 years and will vary.

Based on an October 2017 IDC whitepaper sponsored by Dell EMC, “The Business Value of Modernizing Infrastructure with Hyper-Converged Systems,” wherein IDC interviewed organizations in the U.S., Germany and Australia. 5-year cost of operations assumes IT infrastructure-related costs, IT staff time costs and user productivity costs. Results are a comparison to legacy environments or alternative solutions. Actual cost of operations will vary.

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4 Source: Based on IDC Worldwide Converged Systems Tracker, Q4 2017 *Important Dell Details. Dell’s terms and conditions: All sales subject to Dell’s terms and conditions, see Dell.co.in/tnc. Goods by delivery only. Mistakes: While all efforts are made to check pricing and other errors, inadvertent errors do occur from time to time and Dell reserves the right to decline orders arising from such errors. More Information: Go to Dell.co.in/details. Copyright © 2018 Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. All Rights Reserved. Dell Technologies, Dell, EMC, Dell EMC and other trademarks are trademarks of Dell Inc. or its subsidiaries. Other trademarks may be trademarks of their respective owners.

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