E-Magazine, April 2015 Issue

Honeywell awards its APAC Channel Partners

Gigabyte introduces GeForce GTXTITAN X

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Ricoh launches MP C2011SP

Service Support – Key to a Vendor’s Success

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From Paper to Digitization

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HP announces Channel Program updates pre-split

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P has announced updates to its channel partner programs designed to help partners capture immediate opportunities and position them for future growth. The HP Partner Navigator Program is designed to help HP partners through HP’s upcoming separation into two companies, while additional programs, including the Partner One Alliance, is designed to help partners drive positive business outcomes for their customers.

“HP is committed to sustained growth for its partners, focussing on the three key pillars of simplicity, innovation and profitability,” said Rajiv Srivastava, VP & GM, PPS – HP India.

Microsoft to help customers adopt Cloud easily

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ith the aim to help Indian enterprises and government organizations so that they can harness the power of cloud, Microsoft India has launched a special Cloud Accelerator Program. Microsoft India’s Cloud Accelerator Program is specially designed to help Indian customers start and complete their cloud journey.

More than 15 Microsoft partners including HCL, Wipro and Tech Mahindra will be part of the rollout of the Cloud Accelerator Program in India.

More partners will come on board with new offerings over the coming months.

Microsoft has also launched cloud training programs – Azure Vidyapeeth and GuruVarta, for partners that will enable SMBs transition to the cloud.

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HELLO INDIA

Are we rightly value adding

………………. to transform India into a Manufacturing Hub

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echnology innovation is changing the game for businesses, industries and markets. Enterprises are increasingly growing interested in adopting the Cloud. With freedom of Internet, net neutrality would create a fair level-playing field for all companies – big and small – to produce the best services and offer these to consumers.

In view of some of the recent developments in the country, there is much to be written about. The Government is highly committed to empowering the nation digitally and is moving at a supersonic speed to implement many of the programmes such as e-governance, UID, mobile payment, etc. The government is also working in partnership with the ICT industry to implement the “Digital Presence”. With favourable government policies and the burgeoning market for local consumer electronics, telecom products and availability of skilled labour, there is also a renewed thrust to attract investments to boost the Indian EDMS (Electronic Document Management System) industry.

Additionally, for India to become a global manufacturing hub, there are many challenges that IT managers are faced with, like how to satisfy performance demands without new significant IT capital investments. Also, we have to create a world-class infrastructure in order to render the “Make in India” initiative a success. It is definitely a positive aspect to increase manufacturing in the country, but not before checking on the potential of good human resources and institutions of various kinds that will make the cost of capital reasonable.

With a positive note, digitization is growing and evolving. Consumer demand is rapidly changing the marketplace. Companies are finding new ways to innovate for business advantage and are capitalizing on new opportunities to achieve significant business improvement. It has also been noticed that certain corporates are moving towards a digital form of communication. It is good to move with the time, but it is also dangerous at some point. It will be wrong to believe that they will find all that they need in the Google. So to point out to some really interesting examples or anecdotes, many people want to know the source of information from where it is collected, and it invariably comes from a print brand – in digital form or otherwise.

Lastly, various opportunities for technology players with multibillion dollar opportunities are lined up in various sectors like Smart Governance, Smart Energy, Smart Environment, Smart Transportation, Smart Information Technology & Communications, Smart Buildings, Smart Health, Smart Education and Smart Power. It is up to them on how they prepare themselves for the transformation to a world-class digital infrastructure.

S. Mohini Ratna Editor, VARINDIA mohini@varindia.com

What is latest in the printing category at present?

We are leaders in the Laser-jet category and we will continue to lead this market. HP has been innovating in the laser-jet printing portfolio for last 30 years but this is the first time that we have introduced some very holistic features in our latest offering in this category, under what we call ‘Jet Intelligence’.

These series of printers are far more space saving than a previous generation printer, 50 % + energy efficient, 40 % faster in its first page print-out, thus ensuring that these organizations remain cost competitive. The new launch is also a Colour Laser-Jet printer.

We are foreseeing a higher traction and requirement for colour in today’s business environment. One of the requirements the new-age organizations are putting forward is that they want to use colour as part of their communication because they are much more powerful and gets much more response from their clients. All these products are designed for the new-age office environment; smaller in size and compact in design so that they can fit into the shrinking office size that we see today. These products will therefore set the norm for the future products that will come in. HP has been part of a lot of printer launch earlier but this is one umbrella we will

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put together on the Jet Intelligence piece. It is both for mid-market and enterprise class customers.

As for single function and multi-function printers, though single-function printers are in itself a huge market, the market is shifting towards multi-function printers and the trend shows that they are fast gaining momentum.

In the current scenario of stiff competition, what kind of innovative sales and marketing strategies is HP adopting?

HP has got 3 go-to-market strategies around Consumer, Enterprise and Commercial and each segment has its own specific initiatives to drive business in the market. For example if we talk about coverage, it is about going to more number of cities and towns which will help in growing the overall business.

HP will keep continuing its focus in each of these areas going forward. I do not see any major challenges though because of the competition though but yes, I find opportunities everywhere. So opportunities are immense for all of us.

How much innovation do you al low in your products while stil l keeping the

Parikshet Singh Tomar Country Category Leader, Printing Systems, PPS - HP India

price factor in mind?

We do whatever research is required on our part and ensure that the pricing is in line with what the customer wants. It should not be way off the mark and should be based on the customer’s needs and what they are ready to pay for that feature. So we do such kind of analysis and we keep on working with our worldwide teams as the final product is developed by them. But we price it in the way the local market research tells us. n

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“This will be a wonderful journey for both HP and their Partners” There has been much speculation around the separation of HP into two entities, of how partners would react to the confusion that it will give rise with regard to the go-to-market strategy. HP is, however, trying to simplify the matter for partners by introducing several programmes. Gurpreet Singh Brar, Director – Commercial Channel Sales, PPS, HP India, throws more light on this

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t is no longer news to anyone that HP is separating into two new Fortune 50 Public Companies. While HP Inc. will be the leading personal systems and printing company, Hewlett-Packard Enterprise will build upon HP’s leading position in servers, storage, networking, converged systems, services and software as well as its OpenStack Helion cloud platform.

In the runup to the separation that is going to be effective from November 2015, HP has announced updates to its channel partner programmes, designed to help partners capture immediate opportunities and position them for future growth. “As far as the partner programmes are concerned, there is going to be no change in the overall framework. The only change which will be there on the channel programme part is going to help them make sure that the transition from one company to two is seamless,” says Gurpreet Singh Brar, Director – Commercial Channel Sales, PPS, HP India.

HP Partner Navigator Programme and the HP Partner One Alliance are the two programmes introduced to the partners that will help them go through a smooth transition. “Post November, as we continue to operate as two separate companies we will have to make sure that there is enough focus from both us and partners on the market. Separation is an operational thing, which will happen simultaneously without disrupting our focus on the market,” he says.

HP is conducting partners round table and updating its partners on the new changes. Partners, on their part, are quite excited and have given a positive feedback. “As we go forward from 1st November, there are going to be two teams with two legal entities. Partners are very bullish about this new change and this separation. They understand that in order to grow the market and go beyond what they are doing now, these have to have a change,” reiterates Gurpreet.

Since both the businesses (PPS and enterprise business) will have different requirements in terms of speed, velocity, time-to-market from a product standpoint, R&D and investment, having just one company was making it look very cumbersome. The resources and requirement of one team may vary from the other team. So having two teams will ease the situation to a large extent. “When you hire two different entities, speed and agility will come automatically and the cost will be optimized in a much better way,” believes Gurpreet.

Going ahead…

As far as channel is concerned, HP has always believed that its pillars are simplicity, profitability and information. It keeps doling out specialization programmes for its partners in different areas like Mobility, value while giving extra rebates, thus making sure that the partners make money in its dealings with HP. From a partnership standpoint, there has to be a balanced portfolio of sales and this is where HP spends a lot of time with its partners. n samrita@varindia.com

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Gurpreet Singh Brar Director Commercial Channel Sales, PPS - HP India

HP Partner Navigator Programme

The HP Partner Navigator Programme will help distributors and the reseller network maintain business continuity through HP’s separation. With resources including dedicated HP Partner Support Centers, the HP Partner Navigator Programme will enable all HP-authorized partners to continue to deliver the operational excellence and high standards their customers have come to expect.

HP Partner One Alliance

The Partner One Alliance is designed to help top partners continue to offer cross-portfolio opportunities across companies after the separation. With the Partner One Alliance, both HewlettPackard Enterprise and HP Inc. will work together on partner activities and maximize participation in industry channel events.

Dedicated teams in both companies will collaborate to build joint business and marketing plans around specific solutions in the key areas of the portfolios. The Partner One Alliance will be available to all Platinum, Gold, Silver and distribution partners.

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CONTENTS Website: www.varindia.com

Publisher: Deepak Kumar Sahu Editor: S Mohini Ratna Executive Editor: Dr. Vijay Anand Assistant Editor: Samrita Baruah Sr. Correspondent: Satinder Kaur Copy Editor: C. M. Dutta Correspondent: Aparna Mullick Art Director: Rakesh Kumar Network Administrator: Ashok Kumar Singh Manager-IT: Subhash Mohanta Manager-SEO: Bidyadhar Behera BUSINESS: Commercial Manager: Amit Ku. Jha Circulation Executive: Manish Kumar Marketing Manager: Dipendra 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: Shubhendu Nanda Correspondent: L. G. Swami D-103 G.F., Ashish JK Apartments Thubarahalli Extended Road Bangaluru- 560066 Tel: 08049530399 Mobile:08904205750/9916134482 E-mail: shubhendu@varindia.com, swami@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: Parthiban K A2, R.C.Residency, Cholambedu Road, Thiruvenkada nagar, Ambathur, Chennai - 600 053 Mobile: 098400 55626 E-mail: parthiban@varindia.com Hyderabad: Bureau office Branch Manager: L.G. Swami Correspondent: S.M. Choudhury Plot No. 103, Sagacity Apartments, Street No. 10 Himayat Nagar, Hyderabad - 500029 Tel: 040-32989844/ Cell No. 08374935692 E-mail: swami@varindia.com Kolkata: Bureau office Marketing Officer: Sunil Kumar Correspondent: Kiran Kumar New Korola, Near Alampur, Land Mark Asian International School, Howrah - 711302 Mobile: 08100298033, E-mail: sunil@varindia.com Printed and Published by Deepak Kumar Sahu on behalf of M/s. Kalinga Digital Media Pvt. Ltd. and Printed at Pushpak Press Pvt. Ltd. 153, DSIDC Complex, Okhla Industrial Are ,Phase-I, New Delhi-110020 and Published at A-84A/3 Rose Apartment, Paryavaran complex, Ignou Road, New Delhi 110030, Editor - S Mohini Ratna.

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ROUND ABOUT

Tale of Two Brother Industries: IT and Electronics W

hether you believe it or not, India’s domestic electronics hardware demand is going to reach US$400 billion by 2020. However, our domestic production will be around US$100 billion, judging by the current levels of production. This means that, to meet the domestic demand, we will have to import electronics hardware worth US$300 billion annually. Policy watchers say that, at this rate, our electronic goods import will be higher than that of oil imports.

Have we been caught unaware of this looming threat? The answer is both yes and no. Yes, because such a precarious situation could have been anticipated at least two decades back and corrective steps could have been taken to ward off the occurrence of such an eventuality, which has great economic ramifications. No, because despite being aware of the rollout of the sinister economic happening, there is not much that could have been done to prevent it.

Let me go into the history to set the stage.

In the early 1980s, when we started looking at information technology, we had two fledgling sectors, connected to each other and had a lot in common: computer software and services and electronics hardware. Domestic production was limited for both these segments.

That time, we had almost a headstart in electronics. There were several companies manufacturing TV sets, radios, tape recorders and the like and there was only one channel, the state-owned Doordarshan which used to telecast for limited hours – in the wee hours of morning and in the evening.

In the meantime, computer software and services have been growing steadily. From a mere export of less than US$100 million in the late 1980s, it has peaked to US$100 billion, a big leap, forming a sizable chunk of India’s foreign exchange earnings. But the model of growth had its own flip sides. The growth was confined mostly to the external sector totally ignoring the domestic market. That trend even now continues. Of the total domestic production of computer software and services estimated at US$120 billion or so, 80 per cent is exported.

But electronics hardware depicts a different story. Not only has its production dipped, but also exports have stagnated at a low ebb of US$8 billion or so annually. With India signing International Telecom Agreement (ITA) in 1997, which envisaged bringing the import duty on electronics hardware goods to zero level by 2005, domestic production got crippled. Imports had become cheaper than domestic production. Major international brands imported heavily their gadgets instead of producing them domestically. That had a negative impact on the Indian industry.

Are things changing now? Happily, the perception is slowly gaining ground that the electronics sector can pick up riding on the back of two important programmes launched in the country – Make in India and Digital India, which are designed to give a leg-up to

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manufacturing and digital connectivity in the country. However, that alone will not bail out the electronics hardware in the country. There is heavy import of chips or semiconductors which are going into the manufacture of electronics goods in the country. These are costly inputs, making electronics production costly and exports uncompetitive. The chips or semiconductors are imported from countries like China, Taiwan, South Korea, etc.

There are two proposals with the government to manufacture chips in the country, one in Gujarat and the other in Yamuna Expressway in Greater Noida. There were proposals to manufacture chips in the country earlier also. One chip manufacturing facility was set up in Chandigarh, which was gutted and till date the exact reasons for the fire are not known. On the other hand, we do not have anything to showcase as chip manufacturing facility. Once these facilities come up, which some of the close industry watchers are skeptic on account of the high cost involved in the wafer chip manufacturing facility, things can look up. India will be in a position to push up the production of electronic goods and thus ward off the looming foreign exchange crisis on account of the heavy electronics goods import.

To become a world leader in electronics, we have to take on countries like China, Korea and Japan. Let us take China versus India in terms of the inherent strength for electronics goods manufacturing. There is no comparison at all. While India is toying with the idea of setting up two chip making plants, Chin has already over 100 units engaged in manufacturing. China has millions of electronic manufacturing units spread across the country. India has only 3,600 units in the organized sector found mostly in cities like Bengaluru, Hyderabad and Gurgaon.

While Chinese exports of electronics products are in several billions of dollars, it is miniscule from India.

Now the government is determined to create an ecosystem conducive for the manufacture of electronics goods. Many fiscal and financial incentives are framed to motivate major players to come to India.

Digital convergence refers to harmony of four industries, such as information technology, telecommunication, consumer electronics and entertainment. The latest is that these technologies are blended together for creating newer products.

But these things will not happen in a vacuum. We have to work towards making them happen.

The government should introspect why large companies are shying away from investing in the electronics sector. The second issue is why major companies both from India and abroad are shying away from investing in wafer chip technology, despite the 25-per cent capital subsidy and plethora of other incentives offered? Even if these two projects floated by two consortia fructify, does it compare well

with China, which has over 100 chip making facilities? It is important that these issues are sorted out at the earliest to pave the way for a vibrant electronics hardware sector.

A related issue is R&D. Most of the electronics companies invest heavily in research and development to continuously upgrade the technologies since the average life span of a brand is less than a year. Can India afford such heavy investment in R&D? Importantly, India has created a new fund, Electronics Development Fund, which is known as Fund of Funds. This facility, which operates through a string of venture capital funds, zeroes in on entrepreneurs, who have the caliber and professional outlook in setting up electronic units. The underlying premise is that the capital subsidy and other facilities are availed by only capable units which have the will to succeed.

The other way to promote electronics production in the country is by streamlining the functioning of electronics hardware parks (EHTPs), which are exclusively dedicated to augment the production of quality products in the country. There is no denial that our past experience with EHTP is not that encouraging. Some of the parks set up lack the basic facilities like uninterrupted power and water supply, facilities for treating e-wastes, lack of lodging and training facilities for their employees and so on.

At the end of the day, we cannot afford to incur huge import bill for electronics goods.

The challenges that are staring at us should be converted into opportunities to build capacities for production on a large scale not only for substituting imports but also catering to other markets. Once the expertise is built, innovations will follow. The most remarkable innovation can be the evolution of digital convergence, when software and hardware combine to craft newer products.

That will also be the stage when Indian IT and related industry will be entering a new trajectory. n

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HOT BYTES

Konica buys printing business of Monotech Systems

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onica Minolta has announced its acquisition of the Production Printing business of Monotech Systems Limited. The acquisition will come into effect from June 1, 2015. MSL is currently a distributor for Konica Minolta in India.

The other three distributors HCL Infosystems Ltd, KMI Business Technologies Pvt. Ltd. and TechNova Imaging Systems Ltd. will continue to be the valued business associates and operate, as earlier.

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Yuji Nakata, MD, Konica Minolta India, said, “The Production Printing market in India has been rapidly growing. We have now set ambitious targets for ourselves and the MSL acquisition will provide us a platform to directly create new value for our customers, and achieve higher levels of customer satisfaction.”

Snapdeal buys FreeCharge

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napdeal has a c q u i r e d FreeCharge.

This acquisition sets up Snapdeal to build the most impactful digital commerce ecosystem in India. With this acquisition, Snapdeal will be offering the widest range of products and services, including financial services, mobile recharge and utility payments with an exponentially growing user base of over 40 million.

Kunal Bahl, CoFounder & CEO, Snapdeal, said, “The age

of monolithic ecommerce platforms is over. It is now time to build an impactful digital commerce ecosystem in India that is multidimensional and inclusive, delivering welldefined experiences to consumers. With this gamechanging partnership with FreeCharge, we have significantly enhanced our user base and now offer all our customers access to the widest selection of products and services online, making digital commerce an even more intrinsic part of their lives.”

Zenith to enhance e-governance sector

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enith Software has plans to establish their presence in more than 25 cities for the growth of domestic IT market, especially in the Banking and Govt. (e-gov) sectors. Currently, Zenith has expanded its network in 10 cities and is planning to tap the IT market across 25 cities in the coming years.

Anoop Singh Sengar, President & Deputy CEO, ZSL said, “The Govt.’s Digital India Initiative, new technological shift (SMAC and Open Source ) in the Indian banking landscape and exponential growth in

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Oracle witnesses NASSCOM’s start-ups Programme demand in in the fourth phase Applications Cloud Solutions are currently being TheAssociationNationalof sessions.

the size of the domestic IT market has created a perfect ecosystem to further excel and increase our already wellestablished presence in the domestic market.ZSL is on the path of transformation through ‘innovation with excellence’ to meet the current needs of the industry."

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racle is witnessing unprecedented demand for its cloud solutions in the country. Oracle’s Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) business has seen the highest and fastest adoption rate till date, with Platform-as-a-Service (Paas) close behind.

Over the last few years, Oracle has acquired several hundred cloud customers in India, all using different Oracle Cloud solutions.

The Oracle Customer Experience Cloud (Oracle CX Cloud), which includes Oracle Sales Cloud, Oracle Service Cloud, Oracle Marketing Cloud, and Oracle Social Cloud, had the highest uptake in customer adoption and accounts for more than 50 percent of the company’s SaaS customer base.

HID Global buys Quantum Secure

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ID Global has acquired Quantum Secure. With this acquisition, HID Global will enhance its ability to deliver an end-toend identity management solution.

“With the acquisition of Quantum Secure, HID Global is taking a significant step in addressing customer needs in managing identity, risk and compliance. The company has been at the forefront in delivering a versatile management tool for all organizations, especially those in highlyregulated industries such as finance and healthcare with demanding compliance requirements.

Going forward, the combination of Quantum Secure’s SAFE software suite with HID’s product portfolio will deliver ever better and more comprehensive solutions for our customers,” said Denis Hébert, HID Global President & CEO.

Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) has marked the second anniversary of its 10,000 Startup Programme to create 10,000 domainspecific start-ups in the country by 2020.

As the 10,000 start-up programme keeps rolling to its fourth phase of shortlisting, Phase 3 had 500 start-up shortlists that went through pitch and mentoring Konnect

processed on FIFO basis till 22nd April for the next session of Start-up

Konnect which is a mini boot-camp programme for shortlisted start-ups who will be eligible for connect-2-pitch with all ecosystem partners, including leading accelerators, angel investor networks and venture capital firms.

Amazon announces investments in Telangana

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mazon Seller S e r v i c e s (ASSPL) has announced investments in the state of Telangana with the opening of a Fulfilment Centre (FC), spread over 280,000 square feet near Kottur, on the outskirts of Hyderabad. The FC will be operational from May 2015. The FC will allow Amazon.in to offer its Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) service to thousands of small and medium businesses in the state and empower them to gain access to and service customers across the country at significantly low operating costs. It will also enable faster

and quicker delivery of products to amazon.in customers in the region.

Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao said, "We are very excited that Amazon has decided to invest their biggest warehouse in Telangana.

We have passed the TS iPass bill in our Assembly that ensures selfcertification and deemed approval of all clearances within three weeks of application for any Mega Project. For Amazon, we have given all clearances in 11 days, well within the guaranteed time. We are making all efforts to make Telangana an investorfriendly state."

IBM enables Start-ups to harness the Cloud

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o run critical applications and grow businesses, several start-ups across India are tapping into IBM cloud.

Goldstar Healthcare, Vtiger, Clematix and Ecoziee Marketing have chosen SoftLayer, an IBM company, as their cloud infrastructure platform.

“IBM’s cloud services give start-ups the required edge to compete and thrive in a challenging marketplace.” said Vivek Malhotra, Cloud Leader,

IBM India/ South Asia.

IBM is powering cloud adoption among Indian start-ups by enabling them to do more with limited resources and budgets.

With SoftLayer, start-ups can begin on a small-scale and then expand rapidly to meet workload demands.

A IBM cloud solutions can help innovate at a faster pace, enrich user experience and build affordable business models.

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HOT BYTES

Xerox concludes XRCI Open 2015

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erox Research Centre India (XRCI) has conducted the 2nd edition of XRCI Open Innovation Symposium – 2015 in Bangalore.

increasing digitization of data, there are amazing opportunities to apply technology towards making a difference to the world at large,” said

“With the availability of abundant computing power, proliferation of data from sensors and

Dr Manish Gupta, VicePresident, Xerox Corp. and Director of Xerox Research Centre in India.

Barracuda enhances worldwide Partner Program

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o reinforce its position, Barracuda has enhanced its channel program to provide the necessary structure and tools to allow resellers to successfully sell and support Barracuda solutions for mutual customers. The new program is designed to accelerate profitability for loyal partners, and to attract new, motivated partners.

“Over the years, we have added a tremendous amount of innovative technologies to our

solution portfolio to provide our channel partners with the best possible options to solve security and storage challenges for customers.

We will continue to focus on ensuring our partners are equipped with the necessary tools and resources to solve these IT challenges, but also better aligning the program to meet the different needs of resellers at every partner level,” said Michael Hughes, SVP – Worldwide Sales, Barracuda.

MAIT and BIIPA to promote local manufacturing

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iming to promote local manufacturing, SME Chapter of MAIT has signed an MoU with the Busan IT Industry

of information on technology know-how, software development, talent exchange with a strong focus on industrial development in both the

Promotion Agency (BIIPA) in Bengaluru.

The MoU aims to bring together Indian and Korean SMEs to uphold local manufacturing by regular exchange

countries. This MoU has imparted further forward momentum to encourage local manufacturing of products in India and set agendas for regular engagement.

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Brocade plans $300 Million investment

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o support the company’s New IP innovations, Brocade has announced the opening of a new stateof-the-art Development Center in Bangalore, and stated that it will invest US$300 million in India over the next five years.

The new Center reaffirms Brocade’s commitment to accelerating growth in one of the world’s fastestgrowing economies, and will play an important role in the development of networking innovations based on the New IP architecture.

The Center will enable Brocade India to showcase proofs-ofconcept and pilot projects for customers and partners – while contributing to the development of nextgeneration, fabric-based and software networking solutions.

Lenovo introduces DRS 2.0

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enovo has announced Deal Registration System (DRS) – DRS 2.0, an easyto-use platform that builds a direct online connection between Lenovo and its commercial business partners. This initiative aims to equip the partners with updated information, provide exclusivity and reduce the turnaround time from client identification to the closure of business.

DSR 2.0 is a free platform and can be accessed on any web browser and mobile handsets. The platform builds on the first version of the platform DSR 1.0 that was launched last year and adds several features that increases functionality, speed and transparency.

D-Link spreads “D-Link Direct Service”

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-Link has made a major breakthrough in customer service support by introducing the revolutionary “D-Link Direct Service – DDS” during mid2013.

Following the overwhelming response to DDS, the company has now decided to extend this service to customers present in C & D Class cities as well. As a result, the new and enhanced service support system will make the turnaround time faster and increase the footprint for DDS pan

India.

The highly appreciated and admired D-Link Direct Service with its new Regional model will be backed by D-Link Service Centres (DSCs) along with D-Link Service Partners (DSP) and D-Link Authorized Collection centres (DAC). So with a presence in over 150 cities, DDS will now offer faster and reliable service to customers across India.

All regional DDS Centres are equipped with the state-of-the-art BGA (Ball Grid Array) facilities to support quick resolution.

PM boosts e-governance plans with “Twitter Samvad”

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o boost the e-governance plans, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (@narendramodi) took another step in his Digital India initiative by launching “Twitter Samvad”. It is aimed at helping government bodies and leaders to communicate directly with citizens on a daily basis via Tweets and SMS on their mobile devices.

Through Twitter Samvad, every day a set of curated Tweets will be delivered from the government and leaders’

accounts to mobile users across the country as SMS. Updates on government services, policies and activities can be delivered to any user with a mobile device signed up for the service with each of the 16 launch partners. Anyone with a mobile phone, with or without a data plan, can register for the service by giving a missed call to a unique number for each of the partners.

Twitter Samvad is based on the platform provided by ZipDial, an Indian company recently acquired by Twitter.

NTT to invest Rs 620-crore in new data centre

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TT Communications is planning to open a new data centre through its subsidiary Netmagic in Mumbai by the end of current calendar year with an investment of $100 million. NTT, which offers voice and video solutions and network services to customers, holds a 74% stake in Netmagic, which is currently growing at around 35% annually.

NTT has chosen India's financial capital Mumbai over other

locations and since the metropolitan hosts many corporate headquarters, the company expects it to be a big business driver.

"The new data centre coming up in Q3 2015 will be spread across 3-lakh square-feet and can host up to 3,000 server racs with 20MW-28MW energy capacity," Sharad Sanghi, MD and Chief Executive of Netmagic, said. "This new data centre will have carrierneutral business model," he added.

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ǁǁǁ͘ŝŶƐƉŝƌĂ͘ĐŽ͘ŝŶ www.varindia.com

April 2015

17

ON THE RAMP

Ricoh launches MP C2011SP

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icoh has unveiled the MP C2011SP Color Digital Imaging Systems for printing industry. MP C2011SP offers fast speed, greater paper capacity and worryfree security. Further, it allows customers to expand their digital imaging resources and capabilities without expending their budget.

Users can maximize production with faster output speed, conserve IT resources with advanced network, Color and Mono printing and monitoring capabilities, and save time and money with

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x

document sharing over the mail in a network.

Manoj Kumar, Executive VP & CEO, Ricoh India Ltd., said, “With the aim to offer best-in-class performance product, Ricoh has brought this compact device that offers advanced features for multifunctional operations.”

Dimension Data helps customers shift to Next-Gen Data Center

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o help organizations build next-generation Data Center, Dimension Data has launched a new maturity tool. The Data Center Development Model – the first assessment that covers such a broad spectrum of the data center – was created off the back of strong demand from clients seeking guidance and actionable plans to make their data centers more responsive and agile.

According to

Steve Joubert, Group Executive for Data Centers, Dimension Data, global competitive pressures brought on by social, mobile, analytics and cloud have had a tremendous impact on data centers to transform to remain relevant.

“Every client we speak to is looking for ways to transform their data centers to become more responsive to business needs. It is with this in mind that we developed the Data Center Development Model.”

Panasonic rolls out Duplex Multifunctional Printers

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anasonic India has introduced its multifunctional duplex printers with highspeed 24ppm. These new printers come with memory of 64MB, which boast a speed of 24ppm with doublesided printing along with an added advantage of 2-in-1 function which consumes ¼ part of an A4 size paper and reduces toner usage. These printers are also compatible to Google, Cloud print and Mobile print applications, making it accessible to any electronic gadget.

Manish Sharma,

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April 2015

Axis launches Q61-E Series of Camera

MD, Panasonic India, said, “Panasonic has successfully made inroads into the Indian business market and this segment holds immense growth opportunities for us to expand.With the launch of these products, we are looking at capturing 20% market share by 2016."

www.varindia.com

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Dell brings enhanced Networking Solutions for SMBs s

Communications has introduced new AXIS Q61-E Series.

The Sharpdome technology with its innovative mechanics and a unique dome geometry provides full scene fidelity and sharp images in all directions.

The technology enables cameras to offer the unique capability to identify objects as much as 20° above the camera horizon making these cameras also suitable for uneven terrain.

“By bringing the Sharpdome technology into the new AXIS Q61-E Series, we can offer a compact and robust PTZ camera for reliable identification in HDTV that fits in most environments.” said Erik Frännlid, Axis’ Director of Product Management.

Juniper unveils new application acceleration switch

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uniper Networks has unveiled the QFX5100-AA, a new application acceleration switch and the QFXPFA, a new packet flow accelerator module, together providing a ground-breaking data center switch that consolidates compute resources and customizable logic into the network.

Ideal for financial services institutions, the switch and module will vastly improve the performance of applications that handle market data feeds, social media feeds, order execution routing and big data analytics, allowing financial firms to make decisions faster and take advantage of real-time market opportunities.

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ell has announced an enhanced networking portfolio including the new X-series family of smart managed switches and an expanded N-series family with the addition of the Dell N1500 for smaller fully-managed environments.

“We observed that SMBs (just as larger enterprises) are being affected by the increased workload rising out of the high impact trends of social, mobility, cloud and analytics. To effectively work through these workloads, such businesses require enterprise-level

technology which is right sized, resource light and financially flexible. Our new N-Series and X-Series networking products work efficiently and seamlessly in mid-market companies by providing enterpriselevel technology optimized for their workloads,” said Manish Gupta, Director & GM, Enterprise Solutions Group, Dell India.

Ruckus redefines Wi-Fi ZoneFlex R710

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uckus Wireless has unveiled the Ruckus ZoneFlex R710, a Wi-Fi access point (AP) based on Wave 2 features of the 802.11ac standard that extends Wi-Fi to enable multi-gigabit Wi-Fi performance and unprecedented capacity.

ZoneFlex R710 is the first Wi-Fi access point to now support major technical advances in the 802.11ac standard that allow the simultaneous transmission of multiple client streams to different devices over the same frequency, a highly anticipated

new capability called multi-user multiple input/multiple output (MU-MIMO).

This enables over two times the density of mobile devices versus Wave 1, and aggregate data rates exceeding two gigabits per second.

With four discrete, dual-band smart antenna arrays, the ZoneFlex R710 is capable of dynamically creating over 4,000 unique directional antenna patterns per radio, mitigating up to 15dB of RF interference while also reducing cochannel interference.

Adobe introduces Adobe Document Cloud

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dobe has introduced its newest cloud offering, Adobe Document Cloud, a modern way to manage documents at home, in the office and across devices.

Adobe Document Cloud consists of a set of integrated services that use a consistent online profile and personal document hub. At the heart of Document Cloud is the all-new Adobe Acrobat DC, which will take e-signatures mainstream by delivering free e-signing

as part of the integrated solution.

“Clearly, we have struck a chord, as we set out to alleviate document distress for both enterprise workers and individual consumers.

With Document Cloud, we are revolutionizing how people get work done with documents, and our customers are applauding the move,” said Bryan Lamkin, Sr VP, Technology and Corporate Development, Adobe.

www.varindia.com

April 2015

19

ON THE RAMP

Kingston unveils HS4 AllIn-One Media Reader

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ingston has launched its fourth-generation HS4 AllIn-One Media Reader and has also announced a new 64GB capacity addition to its CompactFlash Ultimate 600x family which will soon be available in India.

The 32GB and 64GB CF Ultimate 600x cards offer premium results with speeds up to 90MB/s read and write to support burst mode photography or HD video. The addition of Media RECOVER software lets users recover deleted files and restore corrupt files, if needed.

“HS4 All-In-One Media Reader is a great device to quickly move data between multiple devices.

The highercapacity CF Ultimate 600x lets avid photographers and videographers capture more content and when used with the reader, data transfer is simple and fast,” said Nathan Su, Flash Memory Sales Director, APAC Region, Kingston.

SanDisk improves FlashSoft Caching Software Portfolio

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anDisk has introduced the newest version of its FlashSoft server-side, solidstate caching software, which provides several notable performance, usability and compatibility improvements for Windows, Linux and VMware environments.

Its FlashSoft caching software will be available in new bundled offerings that package the software with SanDisk’s array of enterprise flash hardware solutions, including the

Fusion ioMemory PCIe application accelerators, the Optimus Ascend SAS solid-state drive (SSD), and the CloudSpeed Ascend SATA SSD. “We are excited to be able to offer customers a complete solution that provides the performance and cost benefits of flash technology, while at the same time making it easier for our channel partners to support their customers,” said Ravi Swaminathan, VP & GM, Systems and Software Solutions, SanDisk.

Gigabyte introduces GeForce GTXTITAN X

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IGABYTE has launched the most advanced GPU – GV-NTITANXD512GD-B. It is based on the GeForce GTX TITN X Maxwell Architecture.

GIGABYTE GVNTITANXD5-12GD-B utilizes the 28nm fabrication process and features 12GB of 7Gbps GDDR5 memory and a massive 3072 CUDA cores. This card is a gaming beast armed with incredible graphics firepower ready to max out the latest games at extreme resolutions.

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April 2015

This card is loaded with the advanced technologies like NVIDIA ShadowPlay, groundbreaking G-SYNCdisplay technology and NVIDIA GameStream to stream games to the NVIDIA SHIELD portable. With the use of GIGABYTE OC GURU II utility software, the overclocking capacity can be further increased by unblocking the hardware limitation.

www.varindia.com

Palo Alto unveils EMC launches ViPR Controller 2.2 ViPR ‘AutoFocus’ Controller is EMC

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alo Alto Networks has also introduced a new cyberthreat intelligence service, called “AutoFocus”. This service gives prioritized, actionable intelligence design so that customers can take clear advantage in the battle against cyberthreats.

AutoFocus cyberthreat intelligence service is able to expose the latest threat tactics, techniques, and procedures used by attackers, Attribute attacks to specific adversaries, Identify how specific threats fit into a larger campaign and Distinguish between commodity malware versus highly customized or targeted malware.

These advanced capabilities enable customers to quickly prioritize highly targeted attacks, apply appropriate resources to address them, and take immediate action to protect critical assets.

Micron & Intel intro 3D NAND Flash Memory

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i c r o n Technology and Intel Corporation have jointly developed the new 3D NAND technology.

Flash is the storage technology used inside the lightest laptops, fastest data centers, and nearly every cellphone, tablet and mobile device.

This new 3D NAND technology stacks layers of data storage cells vertically with extraordinary precision to create storage devices with three times higher capacity than competing NAND technologies.

This enables more storage in a smaller space, bringing significant cost savings, low-power usage and high performance to a range of mobile consumer devices as well as the most demanding enterprise deployments.

storage automation software that centralizes and transforms storage into a simple, extensible and open platform. It abstracts and pools resources to deliver automated, policydriven storage services on demand via a self-service catalog.

The vendor neutral centralized storage management, helps in reducing costs, providing choice and delivering a path to the cloud. It also provides seamless integration with cloud stacks and supports an

open API. ViPR Controller automates repetitive storage provisioning and reclamation tasks in addition to providing selfservice access to storage for customers. Its selfservice catalog makes it as easy to consume enterprise storage as it is to consume a public cloud storage service – while maintaining all the best-of-breed features and capabilities of the underlying arrays.

Fujitsu M10 Servers accelerate Datacenter Transformation

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ujitsu M10 servers running Oracle Solaris 11.2, a fullyintegrated enterprise OpenStack distribution, are an ideal match for today’s IT requirements.

The combination of the mission-critical strength of Oracle Solaris and its integration of OpenStack open-source cloud software enables IT leaders to build efficient, compliant, secure, open and affordable clouds and allows cloud and legacy applications to coexist on a single system, to easily transition datacenter infrastructures to onpremise/hybrid cloud

models.

Fujitsu M10 servers are flexible and scalable systems that deliver high performance and missioncritical reliability for enterprise-class workloads.

These high-performance servers are based on Fujitsu SPARC64 X+/X processors, run Oracle Solaris and offer dynamic scaling in a pay-as-yougrow model supporting up to 1,024 cores and 32TB of memory in a single system image – among the industry’s largest capacity available on the market today, delivering extreme in-memory compute performance.

Blue Coat enhances its product portfolio

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lue Coat Systems has announced that its cloud-based Global Intelligence Network now integrates Blue Coat’s entire portfolio, including the Norman Shark sandboxing technology and Solera Networks forensics and incident response products recently acquired by Blue Coat.

All products now feed and receive threat information on a continuous basis, providing security professionals real-time intelligence that allows them to more effectively

blocks threats. This leads to reduced attacks and a more effective advanced threat defense.

“Blue Coat customers now have the most powerful solution for full network visibility and advanced threat defense in the industry. By helping them see clearly, and protecting them against unknown threats almost instantaneously, our customers gain a level of protection no other single vendor can deliver,” said Michael Fey, Blue Coat President & COO.

www.varindia.com

April 2015

21

VOICE-N-DATA

Huawei signs contract with Tata Teleservices

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uawei has entered into a three-year contract worth $15 million (Rs.93 crore) with Tata Teleservices to enhance Tata group’s telecom company's wireline network.

Huawei is upgrading Tata Teleservices' panIndia internet protocolbased core network with routers that support 100G and 400G technology.

Tata Teleservices recently won more CDMA airwaves in the just-concluded auction, which can be used to deploy 4G LTE technology that supports

high-speed broadband.

The telco operates in more than 450,000 towns and villages across the country. It had upgraded its 3G network to HSPA+ (High-Speed Packet Access) technology with the help of Nokia Networks in Karnataka, Haryana and Punjab circles.

Smartphone sales surge in the Indian telecom industry is seeing subscribers use more data services on 2G and increasingly on 3G.

Orange rolls out first SDN Pilot for SMBs

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range Business Services has launched its first pilot of a 100% digital and automated SDN solution for small and medium enterprises (SMBs). By April 2015, around ten SMBs (with up to ten sites) will test in real conditions for a year a 100% digital plug-and-play SDN offer, developed by Orange Business Services.

This SDN pilot will be used by these companies to create and manage in real time their Intranet and Internet networks via a web portal. With this

simple and secure interface, network managers can also order and customize new virtualized application services of their choice Internet content filtering, advanced security and antivirus.

This pilot project is part of a larger program named "SDN for Business" dedicated to formalizing and implementing Orange Business Services' SDN strategy. SDN is among the top priorities of the Orange Group in defining its network evolution strategy.

Uninor acquires Radio Waves

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ninor has announced to acquire Radio Waves through other options, including acquisition or spectrum sharing as per business requirement.

There are different options for getting spectrum –it can be through auction, M&A, spectrum sharing, spectrum trading or another auction. The company, owned by Norwegian firm Telenor, participated in the auction but did not buy any spectrum. It was permitted to operate in seven out of 22 telecom circles and had 4.4 crore subscribers at the end of January.

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April 2015

The company has plans to modernize all its 24,000 mobile towers so as to upgrade its network to cater to the rising demand. The company also invested in new technology not only future ready but is also much more efficient.

Existing BTS have also to be changed in the next 1-1.5 years.

Currently, Uninor operates in six areas – Andhra Pradesh, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh East and West. The company will start its operations in Assam by the end of this year.

www.varindia.com

RCom to launch 4G services

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Com has announced to provide 4G services across the country on the back of spectrum won by it in the recently spectrum auction.

RCom has become India’s first only operator to launch stateof-the-art LTE nationwide on vastly-superior 800/850 MHz band in India.

It made bids worth Rs.4, 299 crore and is required to make an upfront payment of Rs.1, 106 crore. RCom retained its 900 MHz holding in Himachal Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh, besides acquiring 800 MHz spectrum afresh in Assam, North-East, Odisha and West Bengal where it lost 900 MHz band spectrum holding.

RCom has also acquired new and top-up 800/850 MHz spectrum in 11 Circles to achieve contiguous 5 MHz spectrum holding nationwide.

Ericsson will partner for 5G Research

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ricsson has collaborated with King’s College London and Technische University at Dresden (TU Dresden) for 5G research. The collaboration will address the technical implications and social changes.

5G is expected to begin its commercial rollout in 2020, by which time Ericsson believes that there will be up to 50 billion connected devices in the world, mainly in machine-to-machine communication.5G networks will enable a wide variety of use cases such as evolved mobile broadband services, a range of machine-tomachine communication and media distribution.

These services will demand diverse requirements on the performance of the networks.

ZTE launches 3GPP MCLD Standard Project

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TE has launched a research project on Multicarrier Load Distribution (MCLD) of UEs in LTE. The research project, led by ZTE with the cooperation of China Telecom, Verizon and other operators, aims to enable idle user equipment (UE) to be distributed evenly among multiple LTE cells (including heterogeneous network cells) so as to improve the performance and operational efficiency of LTE networks.

The current and heterogeneous LTE network architecture leads

to overlapped coverage of multiple macro and micro cells and the existing cell reselection mechanism cannot solve the problem of how to distribute UEs evenly across these different cells.

ZTE was on the third position rank-wise in terms of the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications in 2014, as indicated by the latest data published by the World Intellectual Property Organization.

ZTE is one of three enterprises that have the most PCT applications.

"Idea" Top Bidder in Spectrum Auction

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dea Cellular has emerged as the highest bidder in the spectrum auction after attracting bids worth Rs.30, 306 crore. Bharti Airtel, the country’s largest telecom services provider, came second with bids worth Rs.29, 130 crore, while Vodafone India was third with bids worth Rs.25, 959 crore.

Marten Pieters, MD & CEO, Vodafone India, stated, “With the spectrum acquired in this auction, we have ensured the continuity of our business and increased our capability to provide

high-speed 3G coverage to more areas. We will continue to invest in building our network in the coming years to harness the potential of the Spectrum won.”

The victorious bidders will pay a quarter to a third of the winning price within 10 days, and the rest in 10 annual installments beginning 2017.

On offer this time were blocks for 69 service areas at a total reserve price of Rs.80,277 crore, and the provisional allocation was announced for 63 of them at a winning price of Rs.109,874.91 crore.

Airtel focuses on TD-LTE and FD-LTE

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irtel has decided to focus on both TD-LTE and FD-LTE after the purchase of 111.6 MHz of Spectrum across 900 MHz, 1800 MHz and 2100 MHz bands for Rs.29,130 crore during the March 2015 auction to spruce up 4G coverage.

It will chalk out a strategy to focus on data growth.

Airtel has also acquired 1800 MHz Spectrum across Punjab, Andhra Pradesh, Kolkata, Orissa, Haryana

and North East. The company plans to offer pan-India 4G services using combination of FD-LTE technology in 1800 MHz band and TD-LTE rollout in the 2300 MHz band. It will

also offer 3G across all markets with the exception of Kerala by using combination of 900 MHz and 2100 MHz.

www.varindia.com

April 2015

23

CHANNEL BUZZ

GFI and Satcom Infotech conduct Multi-City Partner Events

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FI Software and Satcom Infotech have conducted multi-city events for their partners in Bengaluru, Chennai, Hyderabad, Mumbai and Delhi.

The key objectives of these

strategies and explore new growth opportunities.

"These events help reiterate our continuous support to our channel partners in India. Our partnership with Satcom Infotech

events were to help partners gain insights about GFI's products and solutions, explore new business opportunities and address the challenges they face while selling GFI products.

GFI gave presentations on various products like LanGuard, Web Monitor and Events Manager updating partners on new features, upgrades and enhancement in their security solutions offering.

GFI also unveiled its channel strategies and future initiatives planned for channel partners in the Indian market. The events provided a platform for partners to share their ideas, discuss

in the security domain is delivering measurable business benefits for customers and we look forward to expanding this alliance to explore new growth opportunities," said Graham McIntyre, Regional Channel Manager Middle East Asia and India,GFI. Vinod Kumar, Managing Director, Satcom Infotech, says, "This will help us gain the mind share of the partners to get associated with Satcom. They are helping partners in stabilizing their business and at the same time capturing market share through a services-centric, outcomes-driven approach."

Toshiba partners rejoice in Goa

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o celebrate their consistent growth in Toshiba business, over forty

had this to add, “The trip was perfectly balanced, from the interaction with Polad to the stay

partners had a good treat in Goa. The main objective of the meet was to motivate the partners, increase their sales proficiency/ knowledge and their product aptitude. The highlight of the conference was the briefing session by the Country Manager of Toshiba himself, Polad Garda. It was his unfathomable confidence building words that motivated the partners to outperform their preset targets.

Vishal Aggarwal of Vishal Info Solution, Ahmedabad,

in Goa. The interaction allowed me to understand the company’s products, and its vision for the near future.” “Motivating words

by Garda have now made me want to break more targets in the future, and be a regular at such incentive trips.”

“Toshiba in a very short time has become the leader in Storage in India. I take this opportunity to thank all the partners for their confidence and support to Rashi,” added Kiran Deshmukh, Business Manager,Rashi Peripherals.

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Plantronics partners embark on USA exclusive trip

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lantronics partners and Rashi branch heads have embarked upon a ten-day trip to SFO, Vegas and New York, U.S. THE CHALO AMERICA WITH PLANTRONICS Programme was a super success with 100-percent achievement from each participant.

The first dawn of the trip saw a visit to the Plantronics headquarters in Santa Cruz, California. The partners got a chance to witness the Research and Development centre of Plantronics, the same place where the headset used by “Neil Armstrong – The first man to walk on the moon” was designed.

The partners also got a lifetime opportunity to experience the Infamous “Wall of Ears” – a wall that which has ears moulds of every possible size shape and form. Plantronics tests all-new headset designs rigorously in order to put on the market the most comfortable headset for all shape and sized ears. The partners got an opportunity to also experience their amazing

acoustic test centre which is a testimonial of Plantronics stringent quality parameters.

On the next day, the Partners and the Branch Heads got an exclusive opportunity to have an interaction session with the business heads at Plantronics.

They got an insight into the visions and the blueprint of the future roadmap of Plantronics in India. The Conference concluded with partners being facilitated with performancerelated awards. The partners also had a great experience visiting Manhattan, Central Park, The Empire State building and visited the lady herself, Statue of Liberty also.

“Plantronics acknowledges partners tireless efforts to promote premium Bluetooth headsets in the country and we take this opportunity to thank them for our buoyant growth. We hope the visit to our headquarters has strengthened the partners confidence in Plantronics,” added Bobby Joseph, Country Head, Plantronics, India.

Honeywell awards its APAC Channel Partners

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oneywell Process Solutions (HPS) has honoured its top regional distributors at the annual AsiaPacific (APAC) Channel Partner of the Year awards ceremony in Bali.

The APAC conference hosted Honeywell channel partners from 16 countries across

more than 190 companies supplying and integrating Honeywell solutions in AsiaPacific.

“Our channel partners are our true partners in helping Honeywell customers in the APAC region achieve their operational and business objectives. These automation

the region, including Australia, China, India, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Japan, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Brunei, Indonesia and Vietnam.

Honeywell acknowledged 12 channel partners for excellence, innovation and service among

professionals have proven domain expertise in the process industries, as well as in-depth knowledge of their local markets. We count on their ability to deliver exceptional service, support and training solutions,” said Lance Fuhr, Channel Excellence Leader, HPS.

EVENT SPECIAL

Rockefeller Foundation to light up 1,000 villages with an investment of US$75 Million T

he Rockefeller Foundation has pledged to commit $75 million (about Rs.468 crore) for the launch of “Smart Power for Rural Development”, an initiative that aims to provide electricity to 1,000 villages over the coming three years. To achieve this ambitious goal of providing power to 1 million Indians in the states of Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, the Rockefeller Foundation is funding the creation of a new organization –“Smart Power India” that will be responsible for expanding the Smart Power model.

The Smart Power model is an innovative way to deliver clean energy via decentralized mini-grids. The mini-grids provide market opportunities to investors and will be able to integrate into the national grid system which the government is extending. Under the Smart Power model, an anchor tenant, for example a telecom company operating local cell towers, would serve as the base demand for power and make it profitable for an Energy Service Company Operator (ESCO) to build a power plant which is large enough to serve both lighting and productive loads. With this structure in place, the ESCO is willing to go to rural communities and is able to sell power to local businesses and households – thus meeting the need for various uses of power – lighting, productive loads (such as carpenters, agricultural loads – irrigation, grinding mills) and other business needs benefiting new and future local businesses and homes.

The initiative aligns closely with the Indian Government’s vision of providing access to reliable power throughout the country. The initiative’s focus will be on India and it aims to promote sustainable business models that deliver renewable energy and spur economic development among an unreached rural population.

Smart Power India will be the Rockefeller Foundation’s key partner working with Energy Service Companies, private sector partners, investors, NGOs, and the Indian Government to reach the goal of bringing electricity to underserved villages in India. The organization will also provide support for the entire ecosystem needed for mini-grids to be successful, sustainable and scalable.

The launch was marked with a ceremonial event in New Delhi attended by distinguished dignitaries, including, Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy, senior officials from the Ministry of New and Renewable Energy, officials from Public Sector Utilities, senior officials from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar, Heads of telecom infrastructure companies, energy service companies, research organisations, think tanks and academia.

Judith Rodin, President, The Rockefeller Foundation, said, “The Rockefeller Foundation is thrilled to launch Smart Power for Rural Development in India, with the goal of providing access to electricity and

transforming the lives of one million people in 1,000 villages in rural India.

Every step towards increasing rural access to modern energy sources can help India reach its full economic potential. We believe the provision of power will open up greater opportunities for economic development in rural areas, paving the way for a more inclusive economy. The Smart Power model we are launching today is a unique market-based innovation that can support India as it achieves its ambitious electrification goals.”

Jaideep Mukherji, CEO, Smart Power India, said, “After the last few years spent in the renewable energy space, I am thrilled to take on the new role as CEO of Smart Power India. The Smart Power model is an innovative solution for what has been an intractable problem in India.

We have a unique opportunity at this time, given that the government is supporting investments in rural electrification to spur economic development. The telecom revolution and the proliferation of cell towers, and the private sector partners looking for new avenues for investment can also address social challenges. Now is the time for India to have an energy revolution, and I believe the Smart Power model stands at the forefront of supporting that vision.”

The provision of power to the selected villages is expected to open up significant opportunities for economic development and improving livelihoods. Those affected will see improved access to education, opportunities to trade and do business, access to key information services and improved healthcare services – all spurred on by access to reliable energy. n

Jaipdeep Mukherji, CEO, Smart Power India; Dr. Judith Rodin, Global President, The Rockefeller Foundation and Zia Khan, Vice President for Initiatives and Strategy at the Launch of Smart Power India

Jaipdeep Mukherji, CEO, Smart Power India; Jamshyd Godrej, Chairman and Managing Director - Godrej & Boyce Manufacturing Company; Ashok Khosla, Chairman - Development Alternatives and Rohit Chandra, Co Founder & Managing Director, OMC

Shri Piyush Goyal, Minister of State for Power, Coal and New & Renewable Energy, Govt. of India speaking at the launch of Smart Power

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VENDOR - PARTNER ALLIANCE

Continuing the Channel Legacy A channel-friendly company that it has always been, Lenovo has learnt the art of retaining partners’ loyalty towards its business over the years, benefitting both of their businesses at the same time. Nitin Garg, Head - Channels, Commercial Business - Lenovo India recounts how Lenovo has been successful in doing this by addressing key challenges of partners and by bringing out some wonderful partner programs which even the Channel becomes grateful to be a part of -

F

ollowing the acquisitions of the x86 server business from IBM and the Motorola Mobility unit from Google, Lenovo has registered its name in the list of the biggies in the IT industry. Among others, Its 'Protect & Attack' strategy has worked as a long term formula for success in the PC+ era. This will further accelerate the company’s strategy to become a global leader across its full spectrum of products, while focusing on its new growth engines - Mobility, Enterprise and Ecosystem/Cloud businesses.

However, the role the Channel has been very instrumental in bringing this transformation to Lenovo, which cannot be forgotten as they remain a part and parcel of Lenovo’s go-to-market strategy.

The Channel ‘Built-up’…

Lenovo has a 2 tier distribution system for the Commercial Business, which comprises of the National Distributor and the Corporate Reseller network. It also works on a combination of Named Accounts and Rest of Universe (named Commercial Channel) accounts, where the Rest of Universe is driven regionally through partner focused dedicated channel managers. Lenovo however sees the Commercial Channel as a significant growth engine for its future aspirations.

Further, Lenovo’s partner ecosystem is categorised in three segments - Platinum, Diamond and Gold). A partner stands to reap more benefits as they move up the categories.

When it comes to interacting with partners, Lenovo maintains an open communication with its channel partners and organise several engagement programs as well as track the CSAT. These initiatives help the partners to get better acquainted with Lenovo as well as get a platform for sharing valuable feedback. “To cite an example, our CSAT scores with our partners have been going up consistently over the past 3 cycles, as a result of these initiatives. We also have a structured process of reviewing the effectiveness of these programs through impact on business, direct feedback (QBRs, Round table and other face to face meetings) as well as CSAT conducted by 3rd party agencies,” explains Nitin.

Nitin Garg, Head - Channels, Commercial Business - Lenovo India

Jim Rakesh Owner, Rox Technology & Solutions Pvt Ltd Chennai “Lenovo with their PC PLUS strategy and channel partner friendly model is an awesome company to be associated with. We have been partnered with Lenovo for more than a decade now. ROX , as a premium partner enjoys exclusive first hand product trainings, Demo units, access to the Lenovo Leads (which only a Premium partner enjoys), Eligibility to premium support, Special Bid orders, Eligibility to co-marketing budget and availability of premium partner rebates.

Business partners form the crux of Lenovo’s go-to-market strategy and with their premium partners’ schemes, they incentivise the partners in every stage of the sales cycle. Lenovo by a policy, drive customers to the channel partners, ensuring the partner network is well supported and the customer is serviced on optimal time. To sum up, our unique techno commercial expertise creates a compelling value proposition to the customers to choose Lenovo.”

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Partner Programs also form a cornerstone of how Lenovo drives business and get subsequent results. The objective of its partner programs is to encourage high performance, to drive the right product mix and to help partners develop the market locally.

At the beginning of the year, Lenovo introduced ‘Lenovo Lakhpati,’ an exclusive rewards program for its commercial partner community in India on the sale of any commercial channel product (Desktops, Notebooks and Workstations). Furthermore, Lenovo has announces the Deal Registration System (DRS) - DRS 2.0, an easy-to-use platform that builds a direct online connection between Lenovo and its commercial business partners. This is a wonderful initiative that is aimed at equiping the partner with updated information, provide exclusivity and reduce the turn-around time from client identification to closure of business.

Sanjay Patodia CEO - Galaxy Office Automation Mumbai

Lenovo’s Channel propelling growth in a big way...

According to Lenovo, growth and opportunity need to be viewed from two angles – firstly whether the addressable market is growing for the channel partner and secondly are they reaping rewards consistent with the efforts they put. “Lenovo has been outperforming the market in most product categories and we are poised to sustain our growth momentum in the future,” observes Nitin.

Lenovo and its partners have traditionally been strong in the top 8 cities. Hence its expansion efforts are directed towards other cities, which provide significant growth opportunities. This is achieved through 3 strategic initiatives: A larger field force to cover these locations, special incentive programs for the partner organization as well as for their sales managers and enablement in the form of product training and demand generation programs.

“We have been associated with Lenovo products for last 15 years, since the time IBM owned the Think PC brand. In India we have been associated with Lenovo from the time it got incorporated in India.

Over the years we have acquired many customers in VLE and Global accounts which had helped us in increasing our Topline. Also being a trusted partner with Lenovo, we were given the opportunity to become the AWSP for Lenovo Services pan India post the disassociation of Lenovo services from IBM services. The biggest advantage and benefit we had reaped with Lenovo partnership is the sheer volume of business both in product sell as well as services.

Lenovo support had always been great as a principal. However, there had been change in Lenovo’s approach in the last 2 to 3 years on its GTM for Global as well as VLE customers.

Also the rebate programs have had an impact due to the change in this approach, which had resulted in compromise on profitability for partner community. But, the top Management of Lenovo has recently assured and reworked on its channel approach for these categories of customers and done some major changes in its rebate structure as well as SPC structure.

Furthermore we were also informed about the Core Channel strategy adopted by Lenovo in China and its plans to replicate the same structure in India. This would definitely lead to positive impact on channel business both in terms or revenue as well as bottomline.”

Mahesh Tomar Director, Team Computers Delhi

However, channel partners sometimes view themselves as product resellers. As a result, they miss the opportunity to become a strategic vendor to the customer organisation, thus limiting their scope to generate more revenue. “We have been training our partners to become a solution provider and to provide a viable solution to customers’ pain point.

This approach enables them to not only become a strategic partner to the customer, but also helps them make more margins and grow their business,” observes Nitin.

This is further complemented by the fact that with the acquisition of System X, Lenovo is now in a better position to offer a comprehensive portfolio to its channel partners. n samrita@varindia.com

“Our association with Lenovo is ever since they acquired IBM PC business in 2005. Prior to this we were associated with IBM as a partner in elite category in Royal Blue club since 1995. As a Lenovo premium partner, we have had the benefits of business sustenance, customer preference due to great brand, reliable & innovative products lines and reasonable profit.

Lenovo’s team attributes high value to business relationship with customers & partners. The Incentive programs introduced by Lenovo are above average and have the scope of being more attractive. Lenovo is open to the feedback, rather they invite feedback & inputs which is the most interesting thing about them.

I will like to pass on a simple message to every peers in this business that let’s promote our business with Lenovo & grow the market share together. Our core strength of nationwide customer coverage, providing priority response to customers through dedicated customer care & trained field support, and operational excellence in handling the complex project will help Lenovo in growing further.”

Prarthana Gupta Director Cache Technologies Delhi “We have been associated with IBM for more than one and a half decade now and when IBM’s PC division was acquired by Lenovo, we started working for Lenovo from day 1 i.e. since 2005. We have been associated with Lenovo and remained as loyal partner because of following things • Thinkpad and ThinkCentre products that have been the premium product • The service business happens through partners • Pleasant experience and a very personalized approach which makes us feel connected to the heart • A robust enterprise channel ecosystem which has always been there to benefit partners and to encourage them to work and invest in Lenovo Business • Lowest Channel Inventory as its sell out model never blocks our working capital • Channel hygiene that has been the top priority The team has been restructured by merging its SMB business and Lenovo has moved hundreds of enterprise accounts to partners and is also managing the relationship directly with some accounts, which indicates that we are the extended arms and lots of things have been demonstrated time to time in terms of schemes, Lead sharing activities and support extended and the service business that has been ensured to remain with partners. We, as system Integrators or solution providers must not ignore PC Business. In our growth, we all started our career through PC business and went deep in accounts to develop our enterprise portfolio. As we see PC market recovering in next few quarters, we foresee tremendous opportunities and growth with Lenovo that is the only player to have a clear focus in PCs, Tablets and smartphones.

We are geared up to do much more business for Lenovo and bring more customers to them. We www.varindia.com have been together in this journey April 2015 from 27 day one and we will keep on contributing and putting our best efforts to grow Lenovo business in coming years.”

Reaching out to customers in the effective way Lenovo India Services won the Golden Peacock (GP) Award for Services Innovation in the year 2014. The GP Award is regarded as a benchmark of Corporate Excellence worldwide. Lenovo won the first GP award for the successful transition of Services to Lenovo’s Inhouse model. While winning the award was one of the milestones for Lenovo, this prompted them to raise the benchmark in Services and go for a second nomination in 2015 for Business Excellence in Services and they won the award for a second consecutive year!

Winning this award two times in a row is an outstanding achievement and this prompted us to know more about what Lenovo India Services has done in the recent past. We took the opportunity to speak to some of the industry’s business partners through a survey across the country to gauge their feedback on how Lenovo India Services has transformed. This was an independent survey done by our VARINDIA editorial team and here is what the partners had to say about Lenovo India services.

"The service transformation is a great initiative and I'm confident this will go a long way in enhancing channel confidence. Really appreciate the effort.” Vikas Agarwal, Universal Computer

“Lots of appreciation to Lenovo Service Team for exemplary work. Keep the good work going on”. Chandresh Vithlani, Ilife, Pune

To understand more on this we reached out to Sudipto Gosh, Executive Director, Lenovo India Services to throw more light on the processes and changes that Lenovo has undertaken during the same period and also get to know their future plans.

“Serve, Solve, Satisfy” has been our motto in the recent past and we decided to transform ourselves by listening to our business partners and customers very frequently. We conducted various round table meetings with our business partners through which we were able to gather a lot of inputs to further improve our Services. This initiative along with various other platforms including a quarterly partner survey provided us with a lot of feedback on services provided by us.

We created a task force to ramp up our service footprint. Today, we are glad to say that, we have the largest number of dedicated service centers across the length and breadth of India with 180 + Cities covered.

We also did a relook at the first point

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of contact that our customers would face when they call our contact center. We identified processes that could be improved and also initiated new processes to ensure that our customers/ partners have a pleasant interaction with the technical support team.

Some of the key processes that we initiated and improved are: 1) Customer Advocacy Managers (CAM) Team: The Customer Advocacy team comprises of dedicated managers, who work independent of support functions and is responsible for end to end issue resolution.

• Pro-active Customer engagement • Drive the internal cross tower engagement for speedy resolution..

• End to end follow up with proactive issue status update to the customer 2) Call Me Back (CMB) Call Me Back, is a unique method where customers can opt for a call back or schedule a call back at a convenient time suitable to them.

• Reduce non-entitled calls as customer can enter serial number of the system manually in eSupport website for which they need support.

• Reduce handling time by gathering all necessary information regarding the system from the eSupport website • Eliminate call abandonment and improve utilization of call agents

3) Lencare (Lenovo Customer Care): Lencare team manages social media and any other tasks outside the purview of standard support functions.

• We Re-engineered the system DOA refund process to make it quicker keeping Customer Satisfaction in mind.

• We launched a fast track process for our Core Business Partners to prioritize their claims and improve their Customer satisfaction level.

4) Well planned and executed monsoon: Another key feedback was on the planning and execution of support services during the monsoon season, where the product failure rates go up due to seasonal impact. We planned ahead of the curve and focused on our execution to mitigate this impact.

“Good business planning is 9 parts execution for every 1 part strategy” – Tim

Berry.

We ramped up resources in our contact center, logistics and field services. We also enhanced the spare part planning and distribution across our 20 warehouses.

The execution of the plan was done perfectly which helped us in reducing the issues that normally delay us during the monsoon period.

Some of the steps taken during this period: • Command center with strong BMS to monitor and track progress • Accurate sizing of additional call volume to Contact center using historical data.

• Ensure engineer buffer across peak locations.

• Drive productivity based incentive plan for higher call closures • Shrink wrap was mandatory for all parts moving out during monsoon period.

• Volume forecast on both outbound and storage shared with logistics partner We implemented other innovative programs that would benefit the business partners which in turn would benefit the end customers. Some of the initiatives that we launched are: 1) Satellite Resident Engineers (RE) for Business Partners as a consultant Based on the success of deploying Resident engineers in large and global

A key finding that was brought up during these interactions was our service coverage and how we could expand our footprint.

accounts, we have now extended the RE program to cover our key business partners. The RE program is where a dedicated engineer is deployed at customer location based on the install base. Being at the location the RE is able to handle all customer problems locally and support hardware cases through a dedicated RE call logging channel. Having been successful in the commercial segment, we decided to the implement the same for our business partners.

• Trained and dedicated engineer will be deployed as a satellite engineer • He will work as a consultant for many business partners and will be able to diagnose and troubleshoot customer machine issues.

• Reduced time in call logging due to effective trouble shooting by the RE • Improved part ordering with better resolution times.

2) Execute service camps for large Regional Distributors and Lenovo Exclusive stores.

• Organize proactive service camps to help resolve customer issues • Push bios and firmware updates on customer’s machine • Train customers in proper usage of customers 3) Fast Access code for business partners to reach contact center directly • Business partners can reach the contact center agent directly with the unique fast access code • Bypass the IVR messaging including technical tips and product options • Reduced hold time against an average queue time of 90 seconds • Reach a dedicated agent designated to address service related escalations Service is not about reaching a destination but a journey of continual process development which will take our support to the next level. We have many more breakthrough innovations planned around service excellence in the time to come.

• Moving from a contact center to a command center for our business partners, where they will get all the support required in a priority basis.

• Business partners will also be able to

track progress of service orders • Dedicated support team to handle all escalations with speedy closure.

• Create an all in one portal where business partners can access all information pertaining to performance and updates with unique log in.

The impact of the all these initiatives and processes has shown a big impact on our customer satisfaction.

Customer satisfaction surveys are important vehicles for any services organization, as they give a right measurement of the satisfaction level of customers. This helps in determining customer loyalty and over the last year our customer satisfaction level has increased consistently to new heights. We are now achieving targets after improving 5.7 pts year to year, based on a transactional survey performed by Satmetrix on behalf of Lenovo.

“As we enter the next financial year we are happy to say that the feedback of our business partners and the corrective actions by our passionate team helped us in continual improvement. We are in the steady path in moving from enabling of business to being a key differentiator for business. We are on the right track and we are sure Lenovo India Services will scale new heights.”

Lenovo India services offers the below to enhance customer experience

• LPSS - Lenovo Premium Support Services • RE - Resident Engineers Support • ADP - Accidental Damage Protection • Warranty Extension • Lenovo Service Camps

The Golden Peacock award won by Lenovo consecutively for the last two years is a pat on their back for all the efforts they have undertaken during the transition of services to their in house model. Looking at their ambitious plans for the future, I am sure Lenovo will achieve greater customer satisfaction and loyalty in the coming years. n

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FACE TO FACE

For Schneider, Network Connectivity space is a big Opportunity GB Ravichandra, Director, Network Connectivity - Schneider Electric India speaks to VARINDIA about the company’s current roadmap in the Indian market and its plan on how to overcome the challenges in the network connectivity space….

I

ndia’s telecom sector has created a history with its phenomenal growth story over the years. The role of highspeed broadband has transformed the lives of millions and there is no reason why broadband growth would not follow a similar trend like that of telecom. Acording to GB Ravichandra, Director, Network Connectivity - Schneider Electric India, value of wireless connectivity across the enterprise is well recognized. However, establishing wireless connectivity in an industry environment presents a unique set of challenges which is not found in office environment. “The first of the major challenges is the cost involved. Network roll-out costs and the right of way of laying fibre in towns and cities is very high. Return of Investment on fibre is an equal challenge, with two of the major revenue streams of triple play—voice and video—only now gaining traction in India,” he says. Deployment challenges are the second major consideration, according to him, including efficient transportation of the tremendous bandwidth, FTTH access mode and design, quality of service, and quality of experience.

To overcome such challenges, Schneider has merged the Network Connectivity business with its eco building to equip the partners with a larger portfolio of products to approach the market. The company’s new state of the art, end to end structured cabling solution, ‘Actassi’ invites consumer to enter a "Blue Ocean" of ideas where connectivity becomes user-centric and truly delightful rather than merely easy to use. “The Actassi structured cabling solution is a seamless end-to-end copper and fibre solution that is dynamic enough to address the needs from the technical room, through the building all the way to the data centre. Actassi provides superior network performance with the security and reliability expected from a global Network Connectivity provider. The comprehensive set of products includes Connectors for Cat 5e, Cat 6 and Cat 6A performance, Crossconnect panels, Copper and fiber optic LAN cables, Patch cords and connecting hardware, Telecommunication enclosures,” says Ravichandra.

Opportunities in India…

With the concept of smart cities and smart building gaining momentum, a huge opportunity lies in front of Schneider in the market. As more and more people upgrade

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Schneider Electric's openended solutions make the grid more efficient, more flexible and more secure by their existing buildings and incorporate smart features in under construction buildings, the channel community gets to present the larger portfolio by associating with Schneider, with products right from smart lighting, electrical panels, cooling solutions, UPS, Datacenter, security systems and end to end networking solutions.

When it comes to Smart-grid solutions, the company is in all 5 main domains (Flexible Distribution, Renewable Integration, Efficient Enterprise, Efficient Home & Demand Side Management) to seamlessly integrate all stake holders in Smart Grid. Schneider have superior field tested & proven offerings (Products, Solution and Services) to cover the full

The company’s new state of the art, end to end structured cabling solution, ‘Actassi’ invites consumer to enter a "Blue Ocean" of ideas where connectivity becomes user-centric and truly delightful rather than merely easy to use.

• Improving service continuity while absorbing increasing demand and peak loads • Connecting and managing more green and volatile energy by up to 30% • Delivering better quality power while drastically reducing network losses • Operating the grid safely and securely • Delivering greater visibility and decision-making tools at enterprise level allowing to improve CAPEX and OPEX gamete of Smart Girds. It is fully committed to provide best-in class smart grid solutions to its customers. It also has vast experience in both Supply Side (Utility) and Demand Side (Industries, Buildings, Homes etc).

This brings in a unique capability to connect Supply side to Demand side, which is a major challenge in deploying Smart Grid Technologies.

Schneider is in a very unique position to take on the Datacenter segment and addresses most of the Datacenter requirements encompassing - Structured Cabling, Power backup/ conditioning (APC), Racks & enclosures (APW President), Cooling solutions (Uniflair), Remote management, SE Energy Efficiency Services etc. It aligns its needs with that of the customer and is sure to play a vital role in the growth of the overall network connectivity market. n

RailTel looks to double revenue by 2017 E

xpanding its presence in retail and telepresence services, state-run telecom infrastructure firm RailTel is aiming to double its turnover to Rs 1,000 crore in course of the coming two years. â&#x20AC;&#x153;We are targeting revenue Rs 1,000 crore over the next two years from around Rs 550 crore earned between April 2014 and March 2015. Retail broadband is going to ne another focus area,â&#x20AC;? said R.K. Bahuguna, Chairman and Managing Director - RailTel. According to him, enterprise business, projects and retail broadband verticals would be the future growth drivers for the company to achieve the revenue target.

Presently, 25 percent of its earnings account from the enterprise connectivity fees from telecom firms while another 25 percent comes in from the government including educational institutes.

Cable multi-system operators contribute 15 per cent to the revenue.

The share of Indian railways to the revenue is 10 percent.

The mini ratna company will also increase its optical fibre network by another 5,000 km to reach 50,000 km by March 2016.

The company, which has the exclusive right of way along the tracks on Indian Railways said to strengthen its retail presence. It will roll-out the Rail Wire branded broadband services in the east after it was introduced in south India.

RailTel is a Miniratna enterprise of Government of India focusing on providing broadband and VPN services. RailTel was formed in September 2000 with the objective of creating nationwide broadband, telecom and multimedia network, to modernize Train Control Operation and Safety System of Indian Railways.

RailTel's network passes through around 5,000 stations across the country, covering all central business districts, towns, cities, mini/ major-metros.

R.K. Bahuguna Chairman and Managing Director RailTel

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EVENT SPECIAL

Heading Towards a Resilient Society By now most of us are aware as we find frequent mention of the different government initiatives and projects initiated at a nation-wide level such as Smart City, Swachha Bharat etc. But for these initiatives to be successful and to transform India into a better country to live in, what we need is Resilience!

Resilience should be at the core of every society bound initiatives, for the simple reason that it is about creating an attitude towards life by learning from lessons of the past and anticipating and avoiding risks.

For instance, a city cannot be termed Resilient by simply getting an IT infrastructure implemented; but its infrastructure should be sturdy enough to face any kind of physical, social, economic or environmental challenges, in order to be called so. Water Management, Healthcare, Off-grid Energy, Sanitation are some of the key sectors for developing Resilience.

However, while discussing resilience in cities, we tend to pay little or no attention to the level of citizen engagement. It should be remembered that without the right behavior and an engaged population, even cities with the best infrastructure cities will not be resilient.

In a function held in New Delhi to discuss Resilience, Asian Cities Climate Change Resilience Network (ACCCRN), an initiative of The Rockefeller Foundation, has launched a book, “Road to Resilience” that offers a guide to creating resilient cities and addresses the issues related to the most urgent emergencies and stresses faced by cities which are caused by severe weather conditions, climatic changes and increasing population. The Book provides a way forward which can be implemented by urban local bodies and municipalities to respond to adverse events and at the same time deliver basic amenities and services even in challenging times to all citizens.

The book authored by Dr. G.K. Bhat, Director TARU Leading Edge Pvt. Ltd. and which can be a guiding force for government

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institutions, research organisations and social practitioners, was launched in the presence of Shri. Anand Singh Bhal, Economic Advisor, Ministry of Urban Development, Govt. of India.

Speaking at the launch, Dr. G. K. Bhat said, “I am very thankful to ACCCRN for supporting this book which I sincerely hope will act as a guide to all practitioners, Municipal and city managers in their journey towards making their cities “Resilient”. I hope this book will provide a road map and solutions to the government based on principles of conjunctive management of resources to make cities resilient to physical, social and economic challenges. Road to Resilience aims to strike a balance between urban development and environmental concerns.”

The book launch was followed by an interesting panel discussion moderated by Rameesh Kailasam, Senior Director – APCO Worldwide around ‘Building Resilient Cities’ – Challenges & Opportunities.

The session was attended by eminent practitioners, dignitaries and academia such as Prof. Jagan Shah, Director – National Institute of Urban Affairs; Dr. R. Gopichandran, Director – Vigyan Prasar; Dr. G.K. Bhat, Director – TARU Leading Edge Pvt. Ltd and Prof.

Amitabh Kundu, Centre for the Study of Regional Development – Jawaharlal Nehru University. The panel discussion deliberated on a range of subjects around Resilience that covered challenges and opportunities for urban micro-planning, decentralized management of services, reaching the unreached, climate change dimensions from the perspective of urbanization in Indian context and ideas about ruralurban connections and creating “urb-rural” environments that can create green jobs and better air and peace in our cities.

The launch was marked by attendance of representatives and practitioners from institutions, government, research organizations and think tanks that work around climate change, energy and urban planning.

Overview of the Book: Shri. Anand Singh Bhal Economic Advisor, Ministry of Urban Development

Prof. Jagan Shah, Director – National Institute of Urban Affairs

“There is a lot of free flow of ideas, thoughts and experiences in the Ministry. The Ministry has already launched Swach Bharat Mission and the Heritage City. Besides these, the government will also launch 100 Smart City scheme and new urban development mission. We all know there is not enough evidence based analysis in this country on issues related to urban development. We in the Ministry at times take decision on various issues based on intuition, ideology and this is when books like “Road to Resilience” with examples and analytical discussions will help to provide useful inputs into the urban landscape. Resilience however has to work at the city level.”

“The book, ‘Road to Resilience’ targets individual endeavour, the way in which individuals, families, communities can contribute to a much larger transformation or change. And that transformation is something that we revisit every few decades. This book upholds one globally emerging concern and that is participation. Unless we anchor our work in the family, community and with the individual, there is no hope. The book and its approach embody much of the wisdom that is now getting absorbed into development thinking.”

Prof. Amitabh Kundu, Centre for the Study of Regional Development – Jawaharlal Nehru University

Dr. R. Gopichandran Director – Vigyan Prasar

“This is a book which provides me not only the roadmap to resilient city but it discusses specific options available. It goes into the details of the options that are available and can be tried out at the community and household level. It is feasible and points to one of the key concerns - delivery of the services to the poor sections of the population. This is very much needed.

This volume does not talk only about the section which can afford the private sector based affordability. It does talk about poor sections of the population and some community based incentives. It also discusses how local problems can be solved locally.”

“A publication like this serves the extremely important aspect of communication in our country today and that will improve the preparedness of stakeholders to really engage in action. Unless we practice what we are saying, we have no rights to expect people to change. And when it comes to common property resources management and collective environmental management, unless people communicate and are credible enough, let us not expect any action.”

Dr. G.K. Bhat Director – TARU Leading Edge Pvt. Ltd

“By this book we explored the inside out options to address the energy, water and sanitation challenges, the demand and supply improvement options, the technological and process issues and also empowering communities to manage their own resources. In the household level we can do quite a lot of work on water and energy autonomy and we can build partnership to manage resources and how local resources can be used as a backup in case of grid failure.

Hence the primary aim of the book is to better quality of life by improving the comfort, convenience and resource security of a common man.”

The book at a glance Road to RESILIENCE is a guide on how to build resilient cities.

We face daily challenges of low quality lifeline services (e.g. water and electricity) as well as seasonal risks (e.g. floods, heat waves etc.).

These affect our quality of life today and our survival in the future.

We are forced to adopt various coping mechanisms such as water tanker supplies and electricity inverters. Such temporary solutions alleviate the problems to some extent, but are bound to fail when the challenge intensify.

This book has presented a set of reliable, easily adoptable and long term solutions to deal with the rising challenges. These solutions can provide a certain degree of autonomy and make less reliant on centralized services. To start with, one can make a significant difference by taking actions in our homes and communities. The different levels of the society and the issues that can be addressed as each level are presented. Together, we can adopt practices and change our behavior that can improve the quality of life, efficiency, www.varindia.com April 2015 33 and resilience.

INDUSTRY WATCH

From Paper to Digitization The DMS market is emerging as a huge market opportunity. A large number of offices are still paper based and this is what makes India a key market for DMS solutions. Yet, the growth of this solution is not how everybody had expected it to be –

T

he world around us is changing every minute. It is becoming hard to predict which new or disruptive innovations will emerge tomorrow. Until a few years ago, we had never heard of Cloud Computing, and, today, it seems like no enterprise architecture is complete without a Cloud strategy. With the Digital Transformation wave fast catching up with global enterprises, digitization and process automation have now become essential for productivity and work efficiency. The nexus of forces – SMAC (Social, Mobile, Analytics and Cloud) – is further fuelling this global phenomenon wherein almost all paper-based data is getting converted into digital information. They are proving to be the latest game-changers with regard to driving accessibility, flexibility, scalability and agility, reach and impact.

Document Management System is growing as one of the most sought-after technologies that is helping organizations to stay agile, reduce costs and boost productivity.

A peep into the DMS market…

The market for DMS is rapidly growing across sectors with over 13% CAGR and this trend is expected to continue for the next few years. The current size of the DMS market is pegged at $250 million and will grow by 30% every year. The key verticals adopting DMS in India are Financial Services, Banking, Insurance,

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Virender Jeet Sr VP Technology, Newgen Software Telecom, Retail, Consumer Goods, Manufacturing, Healthcare, Life Sciences and Utilities, among others. “Though BFSI sector is leading the demand for DMS, both in India and around the world, as they grapple with stringent policies and tightening regulatory mandates, the DMS market has also seen a lot of traction within the Government sector and Public Sector enterprises. With organizations keen on outsourcing most of their operational processes, there is heightened demand for Enterprise DMS solutions in the SSC and BPO domain as well,” observes Virender Jeet, Sr Vice-President – Technology, Newgen Software.

The Indian corporate sector is also keen on adopting DMS with a prime objective of

becoming customer-centric and matching up to the quality standards of their global counterparts. “As the Indian consumer gets exposed to world-class products and services, they expect nothing but the best. Organizations need to streamline their processes and provide business users the contextual knowledge they need for making smarter decisions. An effective DMS can help enterprises better manage information and enable role-based access to workers. Having seen the immense cost benefits of going digital, the CIOs and CXOs are all geared up to transform their operations through a robust DMS,” explains Virender.

Reiterates Lalit Chaturvedi, Marketing Head, Kyocera Document Solution India Pvt. Ltd, “As India is getting more globalized, it becomes imperative for the organizations to adopt the new technologies in order to streamline their business processes and become more effective and efficient. So, the adoption rate is quiet high now for DMS in India, if you’ll compare it for the past five years.” He further adds, “DMS is one area that has captured corporate environment into a different realm altogether, with strength of organization and common procedure being the most crucial factors for its success.”

“By the next five years, the DMS market will shape up in terms of technological advances, demographic shifts and the shifts in the global economic power. The key drivers and inhibitors of market growth

What is Document Management System?

Document Management Systems are electronic solutions that help organizations effectively manage and streamline their document management activities. From unstructured content to structured documentation, a document management system includes every action taken within an organization, with respect to the creation, distribution and deletion of documents.

Benefits of DMS…

• A DMS is used for storing as well as organization of documents, content creation and sharing of the content within an organization • This system helps organizations centralize unstructured documents and unmanaged documents in place and handle tedious tasks such as archiving, distribution as well as recovery of documents • The use of DMS also helps reduce time and cost associated with document management. By using DMS platforms, enterprises have been able to reduce Turnaround Times (TAT) drastically, adding to the operational efficiency and thereby enhancing customer experience by manifolds

will depend largely on new geographic markets. Organization would focus on mergers and acquisitions and look for new opportunities in joint ventures,” opine Fahmida Ozair, CEO, SoftAge. According to her, growth in data, regulatory issues, faster decision-making and requirement for backup plan for any disaster and security issues are the factors driving the adoption of DMS. “India is poised to be the world's third-fastest growing enterprise software market through 2016. Enterprise content management (of which DMS is an element) and team collaboration will be among the fastest-growing segments in the next five years. The demand for outsourcing document management needs will also grow at a rate of 50 per cent,” she continues.

From an HP perspective, the focus is on building strong partnerships and association with ISVs and System Integrators and designing its solutions packaged around the devices when it comes to DMS. “It is all about moving the physical world to the digital world. For example, the land records if it is digitized, on the click of a button, the data will be there on your screen and the same thing can be printed out. So it can go from physical to digital and from digital back to physical. That is what is driving the need for digitization, because the content available on paper is huge and the accessibility tough.

Combination of accessing that information

Parikshet Singh Tomar Country Category Leader, Printing Systems, PPS, HP India

and making it available faster is driving the change. And because the need is huge, HP is building its entire ecosystem in order to meet our customer’s requirements beyond the hardware. Since DMS is a solution, it requires specialized applications and we have to address that need by first creating

Vishal Awal Executive Director, Services, Xerox South Asia Services, Xerox South Asia.

However, according to Vishal, what most enterprises do not realize is the cost of having a fragmented, decentralized document strategy. It is more than simply paying too much to create, manage and produce documents. “By taking control of the end-to-end processes for each document, applying Six Sigma methodologies, processes and using market-leading solutions and services, we ensure that the entire lifecycle of documents is managed using appropriate technology in adherence to appropriate standards.”

Current trends in the DMS market

Fahmida Ozair CEO, SoftAge

a framework,” says Parikshet Singh Tomar, Country Category Leader, Printing Systems, PPS, HP India.

As per industry sources, the printing market in India is worth about US$12 billion. While this encompasses business opportunities in traditional offset, office printing, and digital printing, the biggest future opportunity is in document management services and managed print services. According to Gartner, 15% of all ECM being undertaken is Document Management, BFSI, IT/ITeS, retail and healthcare are the greatest adopters.

“In future, the industry witnesses more and more enterprises outsourcing their document management needs to leading global players like us for whom it is a core business. Therefore, the major growth driver for the printing and document industry is the increasing need for effective document management and outsourcing services that will manage end-to-end document workflows in an organization,” asserts Vishal Awal, Executive Director –

Enterprise IT consumption is evolving thick and fast with IT investments and strategic decisions being aligned to gain competitive advantage in today’s dynamic and demanding business environment.

Cost efficiency, operational excellence and compliance adherence are becoming the key drivers of all IT investments. Enterprises are looking for reliable, integrated and cost-effective technology platforms that can help them build flexible and scalable IT infrastructure. Expectedly, the market for DMS is experiencing an exponential surge in demand. Some of the trends that are driving the DMS market are – • Mobility – With the rise in penetration of mobile devices, adopting mobility has become inevitable for any business. Enterprises are adopting mobility in their business process management strategy to get closer to their customers and also enable key stakeholders to collaborate on processes 24×7. New-age DMS must enable a configurable mobile interface for business users to access information and take decisions “on the fly”.

• Social media – The pervasiveness of social media has made it an indispensable component of business strategy. Smart DMSs are facilitating collaborative work environment by leveraging social media platform to engage with the customers as well as internal stakeholders.

• Analytics – Expanding the scope of

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INDUSTRY WATCH process analytics to encompass predictive and on-demand analytics is resulting in enhanced operational intelligence, improved visibility and business responsiveness.

Content analytics is newly emerging area where modern DMS are focussing on form improved business results.

• Cloud – Collaboration amongst key stakeholders, business leaders, analysts, process owners, and business users is a key to continuous process improvement.

Cloud platform is enabling this real-time collaboration through a platform that gives anytime, anywhere access to enterprise information.

As is pertinent, Digitization and Document Management System are two sides of the same coin. Digitization is the process to convert physical document to digital formats. With Document Management System, such approach and conversion of document will go haywire, as there will be no other processes to manage digital documents. “DMS offers the concrete infrastructure for managing digital document and this makes it a crucial aspect for digitization. DMS streamlines the records and makes it easily accessible to the client as and when required,” explains Fahmida.

Digitalization brings about new opportunities but these are also accompanied by challenges that organizations are yet to overcome. The biggest challenge for digitization in India is the resistance to change. “In India, people still perceive new and innovative technologies as threats to their own jobs. Many organizations still have apprehensions in discontinuing their

Lalit Chaturvedi Marketing Head, Kyocera Document Solution India Pvt. Ltd

The current size of the DMS market is pegged at $250 million and will grow by 30% every year

Factors Driving the DMS Market Organizations are increasingly looking to procure DMS solutions and be part of this digital transformation revolution. Some of the key drivers for implementing DMS are:• Enhanced Collaboration - Importance of synchronized processes and the impact they have on services delivered to end-customers cannot be overlooked. No matter what business or service an enterprise deals in, DMS platforms and solutions create seamless processes and collaborative management of digital assets.

• Compliance - Compliance to regulatory mandates is imperative for every business.

Enabling clients to respond to existing and evolving compliance requirements has been a focus area for DMS providers like us. We are also one of the leading product companies to have developed solutions that help businesses respond to compliances such as FATCA, SOXA, CTS and NARA governed Records Management.

• Enhancing Customer Experiences - Irrespective of the business or service being delivered by enterprises, creating and sustaining customer satisfaction is always a key imperative. DMS solutions and platforms help businesses reduce cycle times and improve efficacy, leading to smarter and more comprehensive benefits, which can be directly transferred to end customers.

• Cost Control - Through end-to-end automation of business processes, advanced DMS technology platforms significantly reduce expenses, including operational costs, training costs, travel costs, stationary costs, etc.

• Quality Checks - DMS solutions enable adherence to regulatory compliances and quality standards. They facilitate exhaustive quality checks to reduce data redundancy, avoid rework costs or customer complaints, thus reducing the risk of losing key customers due to poor service.

DMS is being driven by a number of factors such as CRM, E-mail, Ecommerce, Marketing Automation, Web Analytics, Web Content Management & Social CRM.

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traditional ways of work as they look at technology with an alien eye,” ponders Virender.

Another hurdle for modern DMS is the “legacy systems” that have been deployed in organizations for decades. End-users of these legacy systems are highly skeptical of the advanced DMS platforms as they are not willing to change their age-old style of working. The cost implications of replacing these legacy systems also prove to be major hindrances.

Views Vishal, “With respect to document management, it is one of the most neglected parts in most organizations and hence there is a need to address the importance of the transition from CAPEX to OPEX business mode of printing that not only caters to “Print for Less” but also “Print less” via enhanced automation and digitization. In order to get a grip on the challenges, enterprises need to recognize the magnitude of the change that faces them and embrace digital assets, capabilities and channels within an evergrowing IT environment.”

Today, less thought is given to what happens to the document after the digitization is completed. In some cases, these are handed over on a DVD or Disk, which creates silos of information. These are critical company records and, from a long-term perspective, should be centrally archived in a secure and well-defined manner for subsequent reference.

DMS is a must for long-term archival, without which several important benefits of digitization will remain unachievable.

Hence, it becomes critical to maintain proper document management infrastructure/ program to ensure data privacy and security, regulatory, compliance, control and access to information and cost control associated with information processing.

“This trend has already begun and in future we see more and more enterprises and corporates outsourcing their document management needs leading global players like us for whom it is a core business,” says Vishal.

Going forward…

Document Management System is an inseparable component of digitization, without which its benefits cannot be completely realized. Going paperless has now become a business imperative for today's organizations as they look to create leaner and more efficient operations as well as crossfunctional resource optimization. In the light of this emerging trend, the future augurs well for the DMS market and the demand for reliable and cost-effective DMS platforms which can provide organizations with stable growth capabilities will continue to be on the rise in the coming years.

There is a huge scope for DMS to grow.

Efforts towards further educating the enterprises and making them truly realize the relevance of optimized document and workflow value chain and the consequent business benefits thereof, is a journey. n samrita@varindia.com

FACE TO FACE

Raritan sees Smart City Initiative as an opportunity Sanjay Motwani, Regional Director, India, SEA, Taiwan & Hong Kong, Raritan International, in a chat with VARIndia has discussed about the present market situation of Data Center Infrastructure Management in India and also spoken about the scope, role of channel and after-sales support system

How is Raritan focussed on the using these tools he can find out the spare space Indian market and when did it start and then can add on the extra that is needed. operations in the country?

What are the driving forces behind DCIM? Raritan first entered the Indian market

through Channel and was not directly present in the country. The company was operating through Channel. In early 2005, Raritan set up its operations directly in India obviously because the market was growing, IT infrastructure was growing, Data Centers were coming into play. Basically, the company wanted to build on the good work which the channel had already done.

Which all verticals are you focussed on?

Raritan is into the Data Center space and the solutions are mainly to cater to large enterprises. But the company also has different sets of solutions to cater to small Data Centers.

The traditional BFSI segment, telcos, and R&D Labs are the users of Raritan solutions.

E-commerce, healthcare and media sectors are the new growing verticals for us. We are also present in some State Data Centers, but the pace of growth is slow. We have been talking about it for four years and the expectation was we would have seen a lot of state Data Centers to come up. Still, quite a few have come up and are using our solutions as well. This is the focus area at the regional level because all the state data centers till date did not come up simultaneously. They have come up according to their own pace of development. Thereafter, it has slowed down. Now, with the change in government, we expect the momentum to pick up.

Is DCIM more of service-oriented or services-based offering?

DCIM is a solution-based concept and not service-based. In today’s industry, the IT managers are being given tight-up budgets year on year and they are supposed to deliver more with the same budget. So the challenge that the Data Center Manager or the CIO faces is that he has to deliver more with less which leaves him with no choice but to optimize his resources. So here we come into play. DCIM is particularly the tool which helps to optimize CIO’s resources in terms of space, power, energy to use them more efficiently. The fundamental process behind it is every Data Center has its capacity, but the challenge lies in identifying the spare capacity available. So our tools help them identify that spare capacity so that if in future the Data Center Manager wants to augment and increase it, he has two choices – one, he has to go for everything new or by

“Primarily, you have to manage your Data Centers with tight-up budgets and also you are looking for areas how to optimize. Another reason: what happens is that, in a growing industry, a lot of Cloud, Big Data have been talked about and Data Centers are coming up or expansions are taking place. So, there is a lot of people movement like people managing a Data Center has moved to a newer location or new people are coming in from outside.

Now when new people come and manage Data Center, everybody manages it from their own perspective. More often, due to lack of proper procedures or systems, there are interruptions in the Data Center management. So the tools which we deploy help to streamline the processes and manage the Data Center better.”

50% of DCIM is performance management and the other 50% is process management.

Where does the role of Channel come in here?

Channel whether it is India or globally is always comfortable in selling products and solutions which the market has accepted.

Therefore, the product category is matured and easy to sell. Channel finds it very difficult to sell new product categories. They do not help in building or developing or educating the market. Channel has an immense contribution in terms of providing the resources to execute large-scale projects. So the role of Raritan and Channel is all interworking. We help educate/ position the product and we take the channel community with us into the sales picture and once the order is picked up the execution and support is done through the channel. So the sales effort is joint and it is also a learning curve for the channel community.

Right now if you look at DCIM and Power Management category, they are now at a nascent stage. These will take three or more years to pick up. So the channel is also going through a learning curve.

We want to educate the channel because this is a new product category. So from this year onward we will take some special training programmes which will help them to deal with this new technology at a far better level.

Fundamentally, we will do a series of education programmes – onsite field trainings as well as webinar trainings.

What is your support system like?

Sanjay Motwani Regional Director, India, SEA, Taiwan & Hong Kong, Raritan International

India as an Opportunity "We are hopeful about the current government and its initiatives like 100 Digital cities. We expect these 100 cities to come up in another 3–5 years’ time. It does not happen overnight. A lot of groundwork and infrastructure have to go into the base before the city qualifies for Digital city. And,it is one of the growth areas we are looking forward.

Apart from six cities, there are few small cities, especially in the South, which are coming up in pockets in becoming small IT hubs. Kochin, Bhubaneswar and Amarawati will become other cities which will require IT infrastructure. South is showing a greater potential of developing smaller sub-cities of IT" The first level of support comes from channel. We assign a certain channel partner to every account. If there is an issue, the first level of call will always go to the channel. The partner will respond to it. Usually, they are able to respond to it but if they are unable to solve it, then it is escalated to Raritan.

This is a hardware-based technology.

All products come with a certain warranty.

Software comes with a software accounts or licence fees. As long as the customer is paying for extended warranty and licence fees and till the product or category is declared end of life we will continue to support. The agreement is there for the lifecycle of the product. Raritan is among few companies which provide free upgraded products. Specially during the warranty period and extended warranty period, the customer will get an upgrade version free of cost.

What are your growth plans?

For the last 25 years, the industry has not moved out of the six cities. 95% of the business is done in these six cities even now. So the focus of Raritan in the top six cities is there. Some of our customers have installations outside these cities and we will support them as well. n

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COVER STORY

Service Support – Key to a Vendor’s Success

It is a proven fact that customers repeatedly do business with companies that provide quality customer service. However there is very little that the vendor can do to set the image right if a vendor fails to comply with the service commitments it has made to the customer

S

ervice is the primary concern for a customer today while buying a product, and vendors need to ensure that customers get excellent support and services from their end. It becomes even more critical in some of the product segments where businesses ideally depend on technical and customer support, especially security, storage, server products and so on.

Nowadays, it is not just about designing the product, getting it manufactured and then selling it. For a rational customer of today, after-sales service becomes a strong

Sudipto Ghosh Executive Director – Services, Lenovo

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point in the decision- making process.

The end-result for every brand is to keep the customer happy. Backed by utility, convenience, aesthetics, and price, service acts as an extremely important aspect to ensure high customer’s satisfaction and thereby long-term association. Aesthetics and pricing do play an important role in making a product look more visually appealing to a customer, but this cannot be achieved at the cost of support service, which a customer understands it very well.

In spite of India being a price-sensitive market, consumers are generally open to

Rajesh Gupta Country Manager, SanDisk

India

&

SAARC,

pay a little more to purchase a quality product, if it is backed by quality postsales service support.

Vendors & Service....

For D-Link, it is its goal to nurture a truly customer-focussed culture by providing service with a personal touch.

“D-Link strives to serve customers with respect, knowledge, and personal attention regardless of whether the customer is an individual or a large corporation. As a result, over the years D-Link has invested in developing a robust support infrastructure

A.Balakrishnan Senior Director-EMC Global Services Lead EMC IT Solutions India Pvt Ltd​

Sunil Sharma Vice-President – Sales & Operations, India & SAARC, Cyberoam that aims to meet the customer’s demands in a hassle-free manner,” says Balgond Chougula, Vice-President – Customer Support Services, D-Link (India) Ltd. Barracuda considers every customer to be an investment. Customer relationships are built into its core identity. “We rely on our customers for their feedback, referrals, ideas, and their ongoing business.

We have a 30-day risk-free trial period on most products, real-time order fulfilment, affordable and easy-to-buy products, no per-user fees on most products, instant replacement option, data migration and recovery services, hardware refresh program and basic, enhanced and premium support options,” asserts Murali Urs, Country Manager, Barracuda Networks, India.

Fortinet, on its part, has expanded its India Technical Assistance Centre by adding support engineers, professional services consultants and Premium Account managers. Besides providing Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 phone support to Indian and SAARC customers, Fortinet's team oversees Professional Services and Technical Account Management, ensuring expert and timely deployment of local projects. “We have also invested in highly-skilled engineering resources to help customers solve difficult technical

Murali Urs Country Manager, Barracuda Networks India

issues and deploy complex architectural designs and implementations. These resident engineers will have direct access to Fortinet’s developers and support resources for onsite or offsite implementations, and will ensure a timely, precise and complete service experience for customers,” explains Rajesh Maurya, Country Manager, India & SAARC, Fortinet.

Partners are as important as the end customer to Lenovo and the company has close interactions with them. “We have realized that in pursuit of extending the best support to our customers, we have not been keeping touch with partners sometimes as much as we have to be. To understand them more clearly, we are doing different programs with partners. Firstly, we do calendric meets with the Business partners. Secondly, we have facilitated a fast track priority access for the Business partners. So whenever they have to interact with Lenovo, they will be given a line by which they can reach our contact center.

For dead-on-arrival products also, we are

Khwaja Saifuddin Sr Sales Director – South Asia, Middle East and Africa, WD

Nowadays, it is not just about designing the product, getting it manufactured and then selling it. For a rational customer of today, after-sales service becomes a strong point in the decision- making

Anil Zachariah Director, Customer Service EMC able to give a very fast response to the partner. We also do regular Round table meets with partners to understand their pain points,” explains Sudipto Ghosh, Executive Director – Services, Lenovo in detail.

Service forms an important component of Juniper’s overall product strategy.

“Talking about repair and replacement policy, we keep two product guidelines in mind – what is the SLA we have around the hardware and secondly what kind of a software support do we give. For tier 1 domain support, in which we cover all metros and large cities, we have these warehouses in these places from where we get the support. We have set up similar support for the other markets which are important and growing for us. Our intention is to keep looking at supporting the customers from these markets from time to time,” defines Mrityunjay Kumar, Country Director, Enterprise and Channel Business (India-SAARC) - Juniper

process. The endresult for every brand is to keep the customer happy.

Rajesh Maurya Country Manager, Fortinet

India

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SAARC,

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COVER STORY

Kapal S. Pansari Director – Marketing, Rashi Peripherals Networks about the company’s service strategy.

In the case of EMC, while the SLA and the ownership of any service deal lies with EMC, 95% of the support is provided by its partners alone. Anil Zachariah, Director, Customer Service – EMC says, “For a technology company, service plays an extremely crucial role. We always make sure that the partner feels comfortable working with us, whether it is in terms of service, business expansion or growing the market. It is because our partners help our customers implement the solution at the first place that they come to us again and again. We have offices in 7 locations but we serve customers across 120 locations in the country. ” Cyberoam provides unrivalled technical and product support and customer care with its Global Support Management Centre (GSMC). “To help our customers reach us with ease, we provide a range of 24x7 communication channels that include email, live chat, phone and support via customer portal. Our well-defined support tiers ensure faster and apt resolution of customer queries,” says Sunil Sharma, Vice-President – Sales & Operations, India & SAARC, Cyberoam.

With over 90 support engineers across the globe speaking more than 15

Anuj Jain Managing Director, Eurotech Technologies Private Ltd

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languages, Axis assures that its customers get assistance anytime and anywhere. “We ensure that customers get a peace of mind when working with Axis solutions. After the product sales, constant support is given to our customers. Some of these supports are Phone, FAQ, Chat, RMA, Extended Warranty, Helpdesk and Warranty,” opines Sudhindra Holla, Country Manager, Axis Communications India & SAARC. Providing world-class customer service is central to establishing and maintaining the trust with customers for SanDisk. To meet the needs of a rapidly-expanding global customer base, SanDisk integrated its existing customer service channels like Knowledge Base, Live Chat, and Social Media Monitoring within the company’s CRM. “SanDisk also expanded to new channels, such as chat and SMS, to improve visibility and enhance the overall customer experience. As a result, SanDisk increased average retail customer’s satisfaction scores from 89 per cent to 94.5 per cent and improved engagement by 17 per cent year over year. Our customer service

Sunil Grewal Director – Sales and MarCom, GIGABYTE Technology (India) Pvt. Ltd has also been widely recognized,” says Rajesh Gupta, Country Manager – India & SAARC, SanDisk.

Quantum Hi Tech Merchandising Private Limited (QHMPL) has set in its own touch points – 20 company-operated service centres along with several partnered ones too to keep its access to customers transparent. “Apart from the same, we also have set up the 50 Collection Centres and dedicated Call centres providing Telephonic assistance and remote troubleshooting which makes us a leader in Support. The extensive network and set-up surely builds the hassle-free support with the key motto of QHMPL being we are always happy to serve YOU,” says Ashish Mutneja, Director Quantum Hi Tech Merchandising Private Ltd. Furthermore, the company also endeavours to open more and more service centres to increase its reach and give last-mile service and the same process shall continue this year as well.

WD believes that its responsibility

Shammi Moza Director, F1 Info Solutions & Services Private Ltd towards its customers does not end with selling a product. It ensures that a user receives a replacement product within warranty with the same ease with which he purchased it. “WD Express, a free pickup-and-drop service by WD, allows users to send faulty drives from and receive replacement drives right at their doorstep.

Additionally, WD also has 74 drop points across India where customers can avail our replacement services. The information on these drop points is also available on our WD Facebook page,” explains Khwaja Saifuddin, Senior Sales Director – South Asia, Middle East and Africa, WD. “With the rapid growth of IT and mobility firms in smaller cities, there arose a need to outsource pre-sales and post-sales functions to third-party Neutral Service providers (NSPs). This has enabled these firms to bridge gaps in their post-sales delivery chain in the interior regions. They are now increasingly looking at NSPs as one-stop shop for pre-sales and post-sales services, within the expected budget, quality of service and reach. Being a Neutral Service Provider, we have a significant role to play. We help IT organizations to focus on their core business, while ensuring their customers’ loyalty to remain intact,” contends Shammi Moza, Director, F1 Info

Anil Chutani Vice-President, Technical, Su-Kam

Mrityunjay Kumar Country Director, Enterprise and Channel Business (India-SAARC), Juniper Networks Solutions & Services Private Ltd. Gigabyte believes that there can be no better brand ambassador for any vendor than a happy customer. “We have been continuously improving our post-sales service set-up. In spite of this, we recently started making a renewed, conscious effort of investing hugely into our service setup, because we feel there is always room for improvement,” says Sunil Grewal, Director – Sales and MarCom, GIGABYTE Technology (India) Private Ltd. The new investment is for setting up sophisticated, high-tech post-sales service centres across India. Though the new centres are only in metro cities, they operate as service hubs for their respective regional zones, which cover non-metro regions to a large extent.

Matrix feels that local empowerment is the only way forward. “We, at Matrix, put tremendous efforts to ensure that channel partners are professionally trained so that the requirements of customers are taken care at the local level rather than depending on us for support,” says Sagar Gosalia, Sr. Vice-President – Marketing & Sales, Matrix Comsec.

Eurotech has an excellent post-sales support system in place along with its qualified distributors/ resellers, since they are well equipped to meet any support challenges. “We continually enhance and

expand the scope of our services to meet customer’s goals ensuring zero downtime.

Our commitment to customers and superior service and technical support are the key factors of the support strategy,” asserts Anuj Jain, Managing Director, Eurotech Technologies Private Ltd. Rashi has a plethora of services – from Product Marketing to Service solutions.

Since the inception of Rashi, the company has given the same weightage to services as compared to its distribution strategy.

“Rashi is also the ASP (Authorized Service Provider) for most of the brands associated with us, for example Asus notebook, Toshiba hard drives, SanDisk flash products, ECS motherboards – the list goes on. We serve and distribute with much excellence. It has been one of our core strengths and has helped us to scale the business rapidly,” maintains Kapal S. Pansari, Director – Marketing, Rashi Peripherals.

Complexities of a vendor-channel relationship have led to companies taking

Balgond Chougula Vice-President – Customer Services, D-Link (India) Ltd

Support

multiple routes in the market today.

It is due to this reason that Panasonic continues to constantly evaluate the channel requirements, vendor offerings and business models to remain competitive in the industry. “Some of the practises that we have adopted include educating channel partners on a regular basis by taking workshops for channel partners, supporting channel partners through advertising and promotions at the shop front level, holding quarterly dealer meets, keeping in constant touch with channel partners and so on,” explains Toru Hasegawa, Divisional Managing Director, Solutions Division, Panasonic India.

Toru Hasegawa Divisional Managing Director, Solutions Division, Panasonic India

With the rapid growth of IT and mobility firms in smaller cities, there arose a need to outsource presales and post-sales functions to thirdparty Neutral Service providers (NSPs). This has enabled these firms to bridge gaps in their post-sales delivery chain in the interior regions

For Channel, it’s a Sales + Service Portfolio…

Sagar Gosalia Sr Vice-President – Marketing & Sales, Matrix Comsec

Just like a thriving partner community is essential to the company’s continued growth, vendor’s assistance becomes equally important for a partner to function and do not just sales but also servicing the customer in a way that he becomes content

Sudhindra Holla Country Manager, Axis Communications India & SAARC www.varindia.com

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COVER STORY to come back to the same vendor the next time. It then becomes important for a vendor to see that it supports its partners to get the best possible outcome from them.

Being a channel-centric company, for D-Link it has always been its endeavour to enable channel partners/ re-sellers to address customer concerns in a viable and effective manner. It organizes training/ educational seminars city-wise so as to ensure that the partners are updated on the latest developments in the networking domain, and are well versed to handle customer’s requirements. “We have also rolled out certification programs for partners/ resellers that will give them extra confidence in their business,” says Chougula.

To address service related issues, SuKam has 700 + engineers and has its own service centres pan India. “We call the engineers of our partners to the factory and they are then trained on our product range. We make sure that they understand the product and are competent enough to handle the situation at their end. Training is critical to addressing service issues of customers. If they are unable to do it, we have our own back-end engineers in our service centres to look into the problem.

If after the warranty period is over, we go back to them and remain in constant touch, because at the end of the day they are using our products and we are to ensure that they are in good working conditions,” says Anil Chutani, Vice President, Technical, Su-Kam. Barracuda is fully committed to helping its partner resellers succeed. The Barracuda Partner Program encompasses a number of rich benefits and services to help partners enhance their businesses. Depending on a partner’s needs, different levels of participation in the program are available.

Benefits of membership include marketing support, training, lead generation, joint marketing, product information,

Ashish Mutneja Director, Quantum Hi Tech Merchandising Private Ltd Interactive Webinars and Partner Seminars, onsite training and special incentives.

Fortinet is dedicated to providing the highest levels of training and enablement to help its partners achieve greater levels of growth and profitability. “The Fortinet Network Security Expertise (NSE) certification training, which is offered free of charge to all Fortinet partners, provides an important differentiator, allowing partners to demonstrate a diverse range of critical security skills to better service existing and new customers,” Rajesh explains.

Cyberoam is a channel-driven Network Security Company and has a focussed channel strategy and active channel partner ecosystem all over India. “We value the efforts of our channel partners, and constantly enable avenues to strengthen lead conversion and customer engagement, providing total support at every stage of sales cycle,” replies Sunil. In the last fiscal, Cyberoam has trained close-to 1,500 individuals in the partner fraternity.

Gigabyte regularly conducts over 20 reseller / System Integrator (SI) meets across India every quarter, with the

Akamai unveils Cloud Security Intelligence

R

objective of offering technology-based training and education to our channel partners. “Simplified training programs are the most fundamental feature of our channel partner engagement initiatives, essentially because such programs help in enhancing their product knowledge as well as confidence to better manage and support their customers. Service-related knowledge-sharing also forms an integral part of these training sessions,” believes Grewal.

Matrix provides complete training to partners at two levels – 1. Professional Level 2. Expert Level. Once a person is trained at both levels, he/she can manage all the needs of customer, except component level repairs.

“We invest in terms of manpower and resources to ensure that we follow a training calendar and in turn the partners pay for this training,” explains Sagar.

Rashi is rendering services as an authorized service provider (ASP). Hence, it gets per unit support from the vendors. “However, for Rashi providing services is not the only objective but considers it as a value addition to complement or rather complete the IT distribution ecosystem,” opines Kapal.

Moving on…

Service support becomes a very vital aspect, especially if the company happens to be a market leader and has the reputation of being a trustworthy brand. It is the key factor for technology products as it helps customers to overcome the challenges caused due to constant technical evolutions. It is a key differentiating factor that drives growth. As a result, service is more often seen as an assurance from the brand. So while aesthetics and pricing of a product do play a prominent role in making the purchase decision, it is the consistent and efficient service support offered that affirms the brand credibility in the consumer’s mind and goes a long way in influencing the buying decision. n samrita@varindia.com

ecognizing the crucial role data analytics play in more effectively fighting cloud security threats, Akamai Technologies has unveiled the foundation underpinning its Cloud Security Solutions. Known as Akamai Cloud Security Intelligence, a data processing engine within the Akamai Intelligent Platform, the engine is used to continuously analyze more than two Petabytes of data related to web security threats. Akamai uses the resulting intelligence to not only continuously update and improve the Kona Site Defender application security rule set, but also provides the framework around which innovative offerings, such as the newly available Kona Client Reputation solutions are built.

Akamai Cloud Security Intelligence is designed to provide more comprehensive insight into how malicious actors are attacking web properties, which in turn can be used to inform the direction of Akamai’s Cloud Security Solutions.

“The Akamai Cloud Security Intelligence data analysis engine provides a solid foundation from which we are able to make our existing Akamai Cloud Security Solutions even smarter and provide a framework upon which new cloud security solutions can be built. The ultimate goal is to continue delivering technology designed to keep our customers’ online businesses protected in the face of an ever-changing threat landscape,” explained John Summers, Vice-President, Cloud Security, Akamai.

Security professionals can benefit from the power of Akamai’s Cloud Security Intelligence through two newly-introduced offerings: Kona Client Reputation: Akamai’s unprecedented view of web traffic gives the company access to more web client data than any other security provider. That data, combined with a proprietary query language and advanced heuristics and algorithms creates a reputation “score” for every IP address that crosses the platform. As important, this score can adapt over time, based on the ongoing data analysis of IP address activity.

Improved Kona Rule Set: Responding to a consistently evolving threat landscape requires the agility to quickly block malicious activity without hampering legitimate traffic. Already proven to deliver industry-leading false positive and false negative rates, the improved Kona Rule Set has been developed based on the ongoing analysis of more than two Petabytes of security-related data.

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Movers & Shakers

Dell’s P. Krishnakumar promoted to VP, Consumer & Small Business India

Gavin Struthers at the helm of Intel Security Asia-Pacific

P. Krishnakumar (KK) has been recently promoted to Vice President, Consumer & Small Business India. As Vice President, KK will continue to focus on driving strong customer growth and revenue performance for Consumer & Small Business in India, with the core emphasis on enhancing consumer experience.

KK, as he is commonly known, joined Dell in 2007 and has over 20 years of experience in the consumer and IT industry in both Sales and Marketing roles. In his erstwhile position as Executive Director & General Manager, Consumer and Small Business India (2012 - 2015), he spearheaded the implementation of the company’s consumer strategy to expand its presence across Tier 3-5 cities and deepen PC awareness and penetration through online and offline consumer engagement.

Prior to that, he headed Marketing for Dell India, leading campaigns across both commercial and consumer business segments. The award winning Take Your Own Path (TYOP) Campaign by Dell SMB in 2010 was conceptualized and executed under his direction as SMB Marketing Head.

Gavin Struthers has been appointed as President, Asia-Pacific for Intel Security. He replaced Andrew Littleproud. Formerly Senior Vice-President of Worldwide Channel Operations, Intel Security, Struthers will now be responsible for business operations across Asia, India, Australia and New Zealand.

Struthers said, “I am thrilled to be returning to the APAC region where I have had significant experience. The region is rife with opportunities. Intel Security is well positioned to be the enterprise security company that helps customers implement an integrated architecture and offers end-to-end solutions to businesses and consumers. My goal is to help Intel Security become our customer’s #1 security partner.”

No stranger to Intel Security or the APAC region, Gavin has worked with McAfee, now part of Intel Security for over 12 years across several roles, including the global channels role, Vice-President of Channels, Alliances and Specialist Sales (APAC), Regional Director (ANZ) and Enterprise Sales Director for ANZ.

S. G. Murali named Group CFO of HCL Infosystems

Lava International appoints new VP of Marketing & Communication

HCL Infosystems has appointed S. G. Murali as the Group Chief Financial Officer, HCL Infosystems. The Board has approved the appointment of Murali as the Group CFO and also accepted the change in the role of Sandeep Kanwar to take charge as Chief Executive of HCL Infotech, a wholly-owned subsidiary and the SI (System Integration) business arm of HCL Infosystems Ltd. S. G. Murali will be responsible for developing, monitoring and evaluating overall corporate strategy of HCL Infosystems’ diverse business units with emphasis on bottom line performance and enhancing shareholder value. He has over 29 years of experience across diverse industries such as Telecommunications, Property Development & Property Management, Hospitality and Turnkey Contract Project Consulting.

LAVA International has announced appointment of Solomon Wheeler as its VicePresident and Head – Marketing & Communication. Solomon would be leading all marketing & communication efforts for the Lava brand across India and global markets.

In his last role, he was with Spice Jet as Head of Brand & Marketing across India, SAARC and UAE. Having worked in leading agencies such as Leo Burnett, Euro RSCG and Chiel Communications, he has spent initial years of his career as an advertising professional serving leading brands like Samsung, Coca Cola and Dabur, followed by stints at Airtel and Spice Jet. Prior to Spice Jet, Solomon worked in Airtel as part of the marketing team in Delhi.

Ashish Koul joins hands with Servion Global Solutions

Polaris ropes in Sanjay Vatsa as Chief Strategy Officer

Servion Global Solutions has appointed Ashish Koul as a Senior VP and GM for Product Engineering and Digital (PED) Services Business. Koul said, “I look forward to working with Servion and providing direction to the team for designing and implementing solutions that drive forward Servion’s demonstrated market momentum.”

Ashish will be responsible for driving PED business globally including sales, marketing, operations and overall market strategy. K. Balakrishnan, MD & CEO of Servion Global Solutions, will be the reporting person for Ashish.

Polaris has roped in Sanjay Vatsa as Executive VP & Chief Strategy Officer. Vatsa will be focussing on propelling Polaris’ industry role as a leader in digital 360 transformation.

In his role as Chief Strategy Officer, Vatsa will be collaborating with all areas of the organization to identify new ways in which Polaris can bring value to its client base. Through both strategy and execution, he will be focussing on identifying and solving major industry pain points, such as cybersecurity and digitization, while helping clients improve business processes and managing down costs.

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FACE TO FACE

Canon aims to grab a lion share in the Projector market Canon with its latest offering in the projector segment wants to grab a major share of the Indian Projector market.

K Bhaskhar, VP - Office Imaging Solutions Division in an exclusive chat with VARIndia discusses the channel strategy of the company as also the expectations from the India market

Does Canon have any plans of entering the Home Theater Projector space? In your views will large screen TVs drive the growth of Home Projectors in India?

Definitely Canon will be looking into entering into the home segment which is one of the important verticals. The reason is that a lot of people like to have small home theatre in their house and the new series that we have launched is going to answer those. One of the features that the new series of projectors have is short throw, which means that even in a small apartment one can have a very good projection. One do not have to go for a large screen which is definitely going to be very expensive.With a projector, one can have the size as bigger than a large screen. A large screen will cost about 5 lakhs and with projectors one can get very good quality of picture. So, we definitely like to target the home segment.

How much innovation do you encourage in your products?

Our products initially might be slightly expensive as compared to competition but when we see the life of a projector which is about 6000 hours, (the life of a projector is somewhere around 3 years) we find a lower total ownership cost, which means our projectors does have a very low maintenance cost. We also worked on a new feature called air filter which resist noise and also brought in it a new technology that gives a longer life to the projector. The second thing is that the lamp gives more life compared to other products in the market. It increases 40% of life which is a good saving. A customer can look at some of the elements like it is economic, increases the life by 20%. More or less these are some of the features that Canon has brought into the projectors. We feel that these are some of the things that are going to be a key differentiator between Canon and other products when looked from the price front. We like to position this product not just as a product for today at this price

K Bhaskhar

VP - Office Imaging Solutions Division Canon India Pvt. Ltd. the vertical base. So we like to look for our national distributers to address all our entry level products which are the LV series.

For LCOS series i.e., the value product, we like to look at it more with our vertical segment partners. For example, for health vertical, we would like to do more tie ups with the SI partners because this series have the DIACOM technology and plus it can also work on the LAN connectivity. So in this kind of situation, whether it is a hospital or a large institute, when they want to do any kind of installation it is important that they need an SI as a part of their solution offering. So we would like to see some and also want to tie up with the AV (Audio-visual) vertical. For AV we want a separate set of channel that has to be very strong in that domain. We would like to work on both the vertical base and also on the horizontal base to reach the customers.

What is the current market size of Canon projectors and what is the future roadmap of the company? but over the time as a hazard free product that comes with less maintenance cost.

What will be your channel strategy for the projector range? What are the opportunities and scope available for your partners with this new launch?

In channel we are looking at two things - one is how do we reach the market in terms of width and secondly our focus on

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We have recently launched the latest series of projectors and we would like to capture 10% of the market in 2 years. We are also focusing to earn Rs 100 crore revenue by 2017. The size of the market available in home segment is a very huge. If we look at the length and breadth of the home segment and the products, they are available at a different range, which starts from as low as Rs 40,000 to Rs 5 lakh. So customers have a big range before them. The size of the Indian market is also very big and I am very sure that 10 % is not a big aim for Canon. n aparna@varindia.com

FACE TO FACE

NetRack aspiring to Reach International shores in 2015 Ravi Raj, Brand Head, Director Sales & Support - NetRack shares with VARINDIA the company’s current roadmap in the Indian market and how is it planning to transform 2015 into a productive year for NetRack

What is NetRack's current focus your brand? in the India market?

To drive business, we are building a strong

We have always stood up to address the challenges faced by the Industry. Our major focus will be to cater the industries with new products and innovative solutions, with a capability of addressing the most prominent issues like power, cooling, rack space and energy efficiency.

This year, we aspire to increase our reach in the international market and to give customers the best possible service. At present, NetRack has a strong foothold in ME & EU markets.

Our primary focus will be on meeting the increasing demand of products like data center racks, networking racks, lab tables etc.

This will in turn increase our productivity as businesses are continuously placing greater demand for upgrading their infrastructure with innovative products and solutions.

How important are the upcountry markets for your brand? How are these markets driving business for

partner base and channel network in interior cities. Since upcountry markets are playing a big role in facilitating the growth, we will make sure to reach each and every corner of the upcountry market by doing road shows and other marketing activities. Last year, we had delivered services and captured a good market.

This is necessary for business continuity. We aim to grow by 100% in the forthcoming years by delivering services to upcountry markets.

What is your competitive strategy in the market?

Speaking about competitive strategy, we have products which are very unique from other OEMs as they are manufactured with great engineering design for IT Infra standard. Delivering strategic assets along with quality and post-sales support are our key strengths. NetRack would incorporate newer technologies in its product portfolio to

Ravi Raj Brand Head, Director Sales & Support - NetRack help the IT managers resolve the issues related to power efficiency, energy and cooling. We will not comprise on the quality as we follow and comply required standards like UL, ISO, WEE and ROHS standard.

Who are your main customer verticals?

Customers have helped us to grow business. Verticals like IT/ITeS, BFSI, government, hospitality and hospital sectors are our customers. n

“The digital space is here to grow with no looking back” In the present world of competition, a new product or service is surfacing every day and different strategies are used to promote them. Digital marketing has become one of the several tools to endorse a brand or a product or service. Talking about the company, Shrenik Gandhi, Co-Founder, White Rivers Digital, has also revealed about the digital media campaigns, opportunity in the India market and future roadmap of the company.

Please brief us about penny if what you get in return is not more than that, we apply White Rivers Digital?

White Rivers Digital is a full service new-age marketing company operating in verticals of e-commerce consultancy, F&B, fashion, retail, jewellery and B2B segments, and specializes in RoI-driven innovative approach to digital marketing and media promotions.

the same to our client – why should they pay us x if we can’t return x+1 back. We don't charge our clients on Cost+ Mark-up but rather on what Value We Added

Which are the trending digital media campaigns in India?

The best digital campaign, I How do you make sure that the brands believe, has been the Old Spice derive their RoI from Mantastic campaign, featuring MilindSoman. Real-time witty your services?

As a simple rule, we don't take projects where we do not believe that we can deliver back with RoI. Brought up in an entrepreneurial atmosphere, it doesn't make sense to spend a

response management, best use of native and innovative mediums supported with right budgets hit on the right nail.

What kind opportunity do

of you

foresee in India?

India is still on the tip of iceberg when it comes to digital. There is a lot to explore and there are a very few hands serving the same. In fact, I believe, there is still a huge gap which awaits to be fulfilled in the supply side. I always wanted to do something in digital as it is a very rare market combination wherein there is “huge demand of services, growing supply of resources and a passion to perform”.

So the digital space is here to grow with no looking back.

What are the future roadmaps of the company?

Shrenik Gandhi Co-Founder, White Rivers Digital While we started as a social media agency serving various social media requirements, currently we are and wish to grow as a full service digital marketing agency serving the needs of clients across domains – be it e-commerce, F&B, entertainment, real estate or events wherein we are not only involved as an agency working on a social/digital strategy, but also involved in solving macro marketing problems and helping the brands reach out to their TG in the most effective, creative and best manner possible. n

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MARKET WATCH

Defending Internet Freedom C

ome April 24 and Indian telecom stakeholders are preparing the ground to recommend certain changes in the current telecom regulatory framework. As a result of intense lobbying by telecom operators, the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India (TRAI) is planning to allow them to block apps and websites. This move is seen by many as an extreme violation of net neutrality and a means for telecom operators to fill their own pockets.

Telecom operators and ISVs are concerned primarily because of the excessive use of internet leading to congestion and bandwidth difficulties. It has surfaced that 10% of mobile users consume 90% of operators' bandwidth.

In India with over 15 ISPs, there are about 10 crore internet users. Despite a huge number of internet subscribers and mobile users, the ISPs, which are also telecom operators, are bleeding heavily. As per industry estimates, of the total revenue of the telecom companies, over 75% is contributed by voice and rest is by value added services including data. Due to high investments and competition, the margins in voice are heavily squeezed. As an impact, the telecom operators are finding one or the other way to increase revenue and profit.

Internet companies on their part are not in favour of such regulations that could tilt the balance in favour of telecom operators, but are advocating legislation to keep the internet open. The debate over net neutrality started when Airtel recently launched its Airtel Zero plan that it positioned as an open marketing platform for app makers to provide their apps to users for free. Critics pointed out that the companies would pay telcos for providing apps free to customers. This, in turn, put

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app makers who don't enter into tie-ups with telcos at a disadvantage as it discouraged customers from accessing these apps, hence violating the principle of net neutrality.

Media apps clearly seem to be one of the few services that are earning large revenues for the Internet companies, with revenues coming mainly from advertising. Allowing telecom operators to charge fees from content producers can result in operators "competing" for content, by charging different fees for different content providers. This could lead to a fragmentation where certain content would only be available on certain telecom operators and hence multiple "internets".

•

•

“Net neutrality as defined by

Wikipedia is the principle that Internet service providers and governments should

treat all data on the Internet equally, not discriminating

•

or charging differentially by

user, content, site, platform,

application, type of attached equipment, or mode of

communication. The term was coined by Columbia University media law professor Tim Wu in 2003, as an extension of the longstanding concept of a common carrier”

•

Key pointers The underlying idea of an open internet is that all internet resources and the means to operate on it are easily accessible to all The ability of smaller and start-up Apps to compete with established Apps may be affected if they are unable to secure access to specific telecom operators or afford accesstiering charges, particularly if a Telecom Operators with market power reaches an exclusive arrangement with an established App or where smaller Apps are unable to secure affordable access. This may deter start-ups from joining the market There are concerns that telecom operators will discriminate against certain types of content and political opinions. This will hurt consumers and diminish innovation in apps and content spaces Discriminatory pricing proposals can raise anti-competitive concerns.

Telecom players will favour their own services, applications and content and to kill competing services

MARKET WATCH What’s next?

Flipkart came out as the first e-commerce company to have called off negotiations with Airtel to join the Airtel Zero platform, citing its support for net neutrality. Through a press release, Infibeam has come out in support of Net Neutrality and has taken its stand against biased Internet Service Providers (ISPs) of the country.

To initiate a debate on this topic, TRAI has released a consultation paper of 118 complicated pages on the regulatory framework of overthe-top services (OTTS) like search engines, video platforms and social networks on March 27. The regulator has asked all stakeholders to send suggestions by April 24th and counter-arguments by May 8. TRAI will publish its recommendations on its subject later.

With US having won the battle against Net Neutrality, the country is hopeful that the telecom regulator comes up with some valid reasons on why to keep the Internet free and open and protect the rights of the consumer to have a free access to the Internet.

Popular FeedbackHarsh Tikku Global Head, Business Acquisition The debate on Net neutrality has been going on at the global level for a long time, but it reached India, officially, when TRAI released a draft consultation paper seeking views from the industry and the general public on the need for regulations for overthe-top (OTT) players. Zero rating seems harmless at first glance, as all things “free” often do, but will cause lasting damage to innovation, competition and freedom.

Internet giants like Facebook, Google, Twitter and Wikipedia exist today because an open and neutral Internet did too."

Manish Godha CEO & Founder - Advaiya “Internet is built on simple and open standards, and is founded on the notion of unfettered transmission of, essentially, equivalent packets. This has meant that internet has been open to innovative transformations, and we have seen major shifts happening every few years: rise of web, social, peerto-peer communication, rich media, and now streaming. The evolution would definitely be distorted if institutions with ownership of or power on internet’s building blocks actively control – by blocking, having different service levels or charging differentially based on the nature or content of the packets. It would certainly impede innovation and inculcate inefficiencies.”

Manav Sethi Group CMO - Askme "Internet is an essential service and should be provided without any discrimination. Zero rating platforms can seriously affect the freedom and growth of the billions of entrepreneurs, quite against the ‘Make in India’ and ‘Digital India’ vision of our government.

Any violation of internet neutrality can have a serious bearing on effective and fair competition in the market place. We feel it’s the government’s responsibility to ensure a level playing field for home grown entrepreneurs and at the same time protect the interests of netizens."

N. Chandramouli, CEO - TRA "More individuals, each day are becoming aware and more vocal about the net neutrality issue, the crux of the situation being simple. The idea that internet service providers give their customers equal access to all lawful websites and services on the internet, without giving priority to any website over another. At one level, it is being linked to the right to freedom of expression and the right to information and correctly so.”

Prakhar Khanduja Co-founder - InstaLively “I have been a supporter of net neutrality ever since I first heard of this word in 2012. The nation was hearing about the term for the first time. The first thought which came to my mind was ‘What next?

Will they charge us for using our WhatsApp and sending out a tweet next?’ Net neutrality is essential for budding startups like mine to prosper. I believe it is our fundamental right that we can access any part of the internet however we like once we have paid the carrier charge. As a young individual, Internet is a major source of freedom and equality, and if the bill is passed it will be a block to the freedom of expression of the young generation of India.”

Tito Vatapilly CEO & Co-Founder - Node Technologies “In the brouhaha around the introduction of the ‘Zero Plan’ by a Telecom major, there may be a need to step back and rationally assess the pros and cons of what was supposed to be a breakthrough move in encouraging data access & usage by consumers. While it seems to be at variance with the net neutrality concept, the fact that it ultimately benefits the consumers can also not be ignored. Free access to a particular service, doesn’t wholly limit the buying options available, more so when it is quite affordable otherwise. It is ultimately the want of a particular service which makes one avail it, thereby making buying more of a choice www.varindia.com April 2015 47 than chance.”

PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

Canon LV-WX300 3000 DLP Projector The Canon LV-WX300 3000 DLP Projector is designed to combine power and portability. It is a Bright and clear WXGA portable projector with digital input and easy operation.It delivers a notable 3000 lumens for viewing in a variety of lighting conditions. The LV-WX300 features a 2300:1 contrast ratio and a WXGA 1280 x 800 native resolution. It supports resolutions up to UXGA 1600 x 1200. This projector is powered by a DLP chip system, and the lamp features a long life of up to 6,000 hours in Eco mode. You can use the LV-WX300 to project up to a 150" screen size and it features a 1.50:1 to 1.65:1 throw ratio at 100'.

At just 5.5 lb and 11.1" wideness, the Canon LV-WX300 is compact and light enough for travel. HDMI, s-video, dual VGA, and a composite video input are onboard for connecting video source components. Other features include a 0.5W standby power consumption level, optional ceiling mount compatibility, rear screen projection capability, and the inclusion of an IR remote control and VGA cable. A 10W mono speaker is also built into the projector for audio playback. Enjoy bright, high quality widescreen images and exceptionally easy set-up with the Canon LV-WX300. HDMI input, quiet operation and compact size add to the projectorâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s flexibility

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PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

Ricoh MP C2011SP Color MFP MP C2011SP is best suitable for needs of Small and mid-sized market. Ricoh MP C2011SP offers fast speed, greater paper capacity and worry-free security. Further, it allows customers to expand their digital imaging resources and capabilities without expending their budget. Fast output at 20 ppm delivers high productivity for busy offices, advanced network, colour and Mono printing and monitoring capabilities by which users can maximize the production.

The

document sharing feature over the mail lets users save their time and money. It also offers effortless printing with Ricoh Smart Device Print & Scan mobile print app. MP C2011SP includes a full-color 9 inch Super Video Graphics Array (SVGA) and touch panel that offers animated guidance for easy usage. The paper trays have been expanded to hold up to 2,300 sheets and the paper weight has been increased 300gms, enabling more robust production to take place. Professional-grade documents can be produced in a snap with crisp 1200 dpi resolution further, allowing customers to make an excellent first impression with SRA3 capability.

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Cloud and Mobile Security Solutions to rule Surveillance Business Zicom has witnessed a growth in the electronic surveillance market and is expecting government, enterprise and home segment to be the catalyzing element to drive growth further. Besides discussing the present condition of the Indian surveillance market and the pull from tier-3 and -4 cities, Manoj Khadkikar, Head – Channels Group & Solutions, Zicom Electronic Security Systems Ltd, also dwells upon the challenges, trends and strengths of the company

T

he rise in terrorist activities, growing crime rates, data thefts, remote monitoring, growth of public infrastructure, increasing IT spending, government initiatives and increasing security spending are boosting the market for video surveillance systems in the Indian market.

Tier-1, -2, -3 and even -4 cities are showing pronounced growth in numbers. The ever-reducing gap in the acquisition cost of IP and Analog segments is also being seen as a great trigger point for the industry.

Trends Currently, though analog-based surveillance systems have accounted for majority of the share of nearly 68% in the overall market, yet IP-based surveillance systems are expected to grow with relatively higher CAGR of 41.78% in the coming years.

Closely integrated security solutions instead of standalone solutions in the IP CCTV segment will be the major trend in the coming years. Product-cum-service will become more and more relevant and popular as compared to product per se. Customers are looking for business value in surveillance security solutions. All pervasive, online and proactive solutions will be the force driving the technology roadmap. As IP cameras become less and less expensive, more people will incorporate them into varied applications. Integration of business intelligence software to the video surveillance system will be a major trend. By utilizing the system to capture marketing and point-of-sale data, one will be able to realize far more value from video surveillance.

Also, integrated, cloud-based and mobile-operated security solutions will be the major trend in the surveillance business.

Growing verticals and challenges The electronic security market in India has witnessed a handsome growth during the last few years. The Government has enhanced its investments in verticals such as city surveillance, smart cities, airports, seaports, and the infrastructure sector.

But cumbersome procedures, interdependability, poor network connectivity and bandwidth, bidding on price rather than quality, no standard agency to certify the products and poor infrastructure particularly in rural India and natural disasters and terrorism are the main challenges that are being faced in India, especially in the government-funded surveillance projects.

Other sectors that fuelled the security market are residential, commercial and industrial construction, increased activity by foreign and domestic companies and rapid expansion of distribution

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channels.

So, it is going to be Government, Enterprises and Home segments that will contribute to and propel the growth of the surveillance industry in India.

Strategy Services which entail 24x7 remote health monitoring of the security systems is the focus of Zicom. The country has moved towards outsourcing and same will hold true for Electronic Security, and Zicom is already a forerunner and has proven technology to provide remote managed services for CCTVs, Fire Alarm Systems, Access Control Systems, Energy Management and ATM Security, to name a few.

“Currently, we are present in 1,023 cities and towns across India and the number is steadily increasing. We are perhaps one of the very few security solutions providers with pan-India presence both for products and customer service. We spare no effort to reach out to millions of customers. These include dedicated channel partners, social media and customer outreach programmes like ‘MYCS’ (‘Make Your City Safe’) and a few others,” said Manoj Khadkikar, Head – Channels Group & Solutions, Zicom Electronic Security Systems Ltd. “Well, competition will be fierce in this growing market and we welcome it. It helps us to raise our bars.

We continue to invest in the latest technology and R&D to lead from the front. We are more innovative and customer service-centric. At the end of the day, products alone will not win customers.

Innovation, after-sales service and constant interaction with customers are going to retain existing customers and bring in new ones. We are strong in all these areas. Hence, we are confident of overcoming competition to remain as the leader in the Indian surveillance market,” he added.

In years to come…

Compared to other developed and developing countries, the penetration and usage of surveillance has been slow but steady mainly due to the vastness of the country and demographic trends.

Nevertheless, Zicom’s share in the Indian surveillance market is quite significant. The company is targeting more than double of the current market growth rate which is around 35% (CAGR) – coming in from the new products and technology introduction, new services and a higher level of services being adopted by the current channel partners. Zicom’s winning propositionis the service business and the hardware will only be a medium to enjoy the service. So, the company is expecting an impressive growth in the next two to three years. n aparna@varindia.com

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51

OPPO speeding penetration and service support in India C

ompeting in one of the fastestgrowing smartphone markets like India and successfully completing a year with the introduction of 13 innovative products is, indeed, a praiseworthy effort – and OPPO has done it. After a year-long journey in India, OPPO is now keen to penetrate deep into the Indian market by adding more partners. The company is also focussing on strengthening its after-sales support to grab a major market share.

According to one of the latest IDC reports, India is one of the fastest-growing smartphone markets in the Asia-Pacific region with retailers selling 23.3 million smartphone units during Q3 2014 – an 82per cent year-on-year growth. Mobile devices like smartphones and feature phones are the first screen for a majority of Indian internet users, i.e. roughly around 59 per cent. An IAMAI report says that, growing at 33 per cent, the digital commerce market is expected to cross Rs.1 lakh crore by December 2015 from Rs.81,525 crore in December 2014, with 53-per cent growth.

The journey in India…

“We have received a very positive feedback from customers here about both the product quality in terms of the design and innovation, and on the after-sales service. OPPO entered India in January 2014 and this year we are celebrating the first anniversary of our successful journey in India. Till date, we have launched 13 smartphones in the Indian market, bringing its total number of 4G phones to three in India. Our flagship models such as the N3, R5, Find 7 & N1 along with innovative technologies like VOOC Flash Charge have received rave reviews from the experts as well as the consumers across India,” said Tom Lu, CEO, OPPO Mobiles India.

Trends India is, no doubt, a price-sensitive market, but there is a certain section of consumers who are extremely technology-savvy and looking for innovative and power-packed devices. The way the consumers choose and buy smartphones is continuously evolving and that means one needs to have a diverse portfolio of products and price points to appeal to a wide range of consumers there.

Though feature phones are still popular,

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using smartphones for a number of functions like work, emails, entertainment, social media, etc. The OPPO VOOC Flash Charge is capable of charging the phone’s battery from zero to 75% in only 30 minutes. Useful accessories like VOOC car charger and VOOC power bank make the smartphone ready and charged at all times of the day.

Wearable devices are also picking up in India and finding favour like so many other technologies that are introduced in any region from time to time.

Strategy

Tom Lu CEO, OPPO Mobiles India but smartphones are fast catching up. This can be attributed to a number of factors like increasing affordable data usage rates, increasing network penetration across pan India, smartphones at affordable price range, etc.

The current trend indicates that smartphones are increasingly doubling up as cameras. OPPO N3 is the first smartphone with a motorized camera which can get 64MP Ultra-HD photography with a 16-megapixel camera. OPPO PI 2.0+, which was launched in Singapore last October, was developed by OPPO to provide innovative philosophy experience and is available on both N3 and R5. PI is short for Pure Image and it includes more than 15 features such as 8 beauty modes, GIF and double exposure. Mirror 3, the latest phone which was launched in March, is also equipped with Pure Image.

The other major feature that influences the buying decision of a customer is its battery life and strength. With users spending hours and hours on their smartphones, battery life is one area that is seeing and is likely to see more innovation. OPPO is at the forefront of rapid smartphone charging with its VOOC rapid charging technology.

It is designed specifically to meet the needs of customers of today who are increasingly

“We are looking at more nationwide channel partners so that we can satisfy the huge customer need at the earliest. The company also has plans to expand more service centres in the next one year. Right now, we are retailing in more than 20 major cities and regions across India, mainly through multi-brand stores. We have started to partner with nationwide retail chains like Flipkart and Amazon.in for online sales and are planning to build our showrooms and exclusive stores in a short time. We have achieved our expectations and are speeding up our service network and expect a fair growth and a bigger share of the market in the time to come. We are targeting over 4,000 sales points and more service centres in the next one year,” Lu added.

India is a very interesting market with significant growth still to be found in the sector. So, OPPO has chalked out an aggressive consumer connect and is launching promotion campaigns to reach out to the masses across India.

Also, the company has an ongoing engagement strategy with operators in India.

Coming up…

Customers are the very source of OPPO’s passion in the industry. The handset-maker co-developed products with customers based on their feedbacks in both hardware and software user experience. The company hopes to continue introducing more innovative smartphones for the Indian consumers and delighting them. OPPO has a lot of exciting things lined up for this year and are looking forward to it. n aparna@varindia.com

VAR MOBILITY

ZTE Blade S6 Plus The ZTE Blade S6 Plus comes with a 5.5-inch bright display.

It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 octa-core chipset and Adreno 405 image processor, and runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop with ZTE’s customizable MiFavor 3.0 user interface. The Blade S6 Plus boasts of a larger JDI Super Screen 5.5-inch HD display with In-Cell technology for better and more vibrant image quality, as well as higher-capacity 3000mAh battery. S6 Plus has a 13MP rear camera with Sony Exmor IMX214 CMOS sensor (1080p video @30fps) and 5MP front camera. S6 comes with 2GB RAM and has 16GB storage plus microSD support. Also unique about the Blade S6 Plus is an innovative function that allows the device to double as an infra-red remote control. Compatible with all major electronic and household appliance brands, the function allows Blade S6 Plus users to control television, set-top box, air conditioning units, DSLRs and more. It is simple and easy to use, and saves users the hassle of switching between several different remote controls. It has all connectivity option like 802.11b/g/n Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0 and 4G connectivity. S6 Plus also supports Dual-SIM (dual-standby).

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is designed to provide you innovative experience. This Samsung flagship mobile deserves credit for being a dualcurved glass smartphone. The Samsung Galaxy S6 represents a unique fusion of glass moulding and metal sculpturing techniques. S6 Edge’s super AMOLED 5.1” curved screen display is something to talk about; it allows a smooth, end-to-end display and has Gorilla Glass 4 on front.

Its rear panel provides the phone with total protection against accidental damages and scratches. The rear camera is 16MP with features like optical image stabilization, Auto HDR, 4K video capture and IR white balance detection. For selfielovers, the front camera is 5MP and comes with a 120 degree wide angled lens. The camera’s quick launch option also comes in handy when you have to simply click the home button to launch the camera. Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge is equipped with advanced sensors, including accelerometer, geomagnetic, gyroscope, RGB ambient light, proximity, barometer, hall sensor, finger scanner and heart rate monitor. The pack of sensors allows you to explore the use of smartphone beyond imagination.

Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge with 3GB RAM capacity and the fastest flash memory of 2.0 comes in various versions of 32GB / 64 GB / 128 GB. S6 Edge comes in colour options such as White Pearl, Black Sapphire, Gold Platinum and Green Emerald.

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VAR MOBILITY

Lenovo A7000 launched exclusively with Flipkart

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he muchanticipated Lenovo A7000 is finally here in India. Lenovo has launched the new smartphone exclusively with Flipkart. The 4G/ LTE smartphone sports a

64-Bit 1.5GHz Octa-Core processor and 2GB DDR3 RAM for smooth gaming, a great multimedia experience and lag-free multitasking. Featuring a brilliant 13.97(5.5) cms HD display with ultrawide viewing angles, the A7000 ensures clarity and accurate colour

reproduction. The A7000 also features the all-new Dolby Atmos technology providing moving audio technology for an unparalleled acoustic experience.

In addition to its

impressive audio and visual technologies, this multimedia smartphone provides an enhanced user experience with a powerful battery life required for all-day connectivity. The A7000 is powered by a 2900mAh battery along with enhanced battery optimization features.

Spice Mobile launches Octa-Core Stellar 526n

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pice Mobiles has announced the launch of new Octa-Core version of its bestselling Stellar 526 smartphone – 526n.

The new powerpacked Stellar 526n Octa

company’s strategy and we always strive to introduce products that delight our customers.

Following up on the excellent response to our Stellar 526 smartphone, we decided to introduce

smartphone is equipped with a lightning fast 1.4 GHz Octa-Core Processor and a stunning 5-inch HD IPS On-Cell display, enveloped in a stunning metallic finish, exclusively designed by a Londonbased design house.

Prashant Bindal, CEO, Spice Mobility Ltd, said, “Our customers are at the core of our

a faster Octa-Core version of the phone with excellent specifications for technology enthusiasts seeking a combination of cutting-edge technology and style.”

The stellar 526n is equipped with an 8-megapixel rear camera with auto-focus, frontfacing 3.2MP camera. It has 8GB inbuilt storage.

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LG Spirit now on Infibeam

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he first of LG's four mid-range smartphones, Spirit was launched and rolled out in the market. The device is being made available on Infibeam at a slashed price.

Earlier this year at the MWC, LG announced its four new mid-range smartphones, Magna, Spirit, Leon and Joy, out of which Spirit is the first to be launched. It was first made available in South Africa, followed

by Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa and North America. The price of LG Spirit on the company’s official website is Rs. 14250, while on Infibeam, it is 13,999.

With sleek dimensions of 133.3×66.1×9.9mm and a unique, comfortable curved design, LG Spirit is easy to hold. Another interesting thing about it is the fact that, like all LG smartphones since G3, there are keys on the rear side for convenient shortcuts and volume control. It is powered by a 1.3 quad core processor, 1 GB RAM and runs on Android 5.0 Lollipop.

With a 4.7 inch HD display and pixel density of 312 ppi, you get a beautiful visual experience.

The advanced 8 megapixel rear camera comes with LED Flash and also has a 1 mega-pixel front camera. The phone also sports features like Gesture shot, Touch & Shoot, Knock code and Front camera light. Over 86,000 knock codes are possible by forming a customized pattern anywhere in the display.

Apart from the mentioned, LG Spirit also offers 8 GB of onboard storage which can be expanded using a micro SD card of up to 32 GB. To complete the package, it comes with a 2,100 mAh battery which is far better than a decent battery capacity.

LAVA debuts its latest offering “Icon”

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A V A International has launched of its latest offering “Icon”. The new device redefines user’s experience with a magnificent camera and customized Star OS. Sporting a premium metallic look, the Icon is 7.7mm thick which makes it extremely comfortable to operate.

Icon boosts a 5-megapixel front camera with Omni Vision sensor, F2.4 aperture, 4P lens, BSI-II sensor with blue glass filter. The camera comes with face beauty mode which automatically adjusts the picture to create a visually more pleasing photo by making the faces in the picture look young and fresh. In addition to the face beauty mode, Icon comes with a range of other features such as Face Detection, HDR, Panorama Mode, Smile Shot & Multi view found in professional DSLRs. On the rear, Icon

features a 13-megapixel camera with dual-LED flash, SONY EXMOR sensor with 5P lens and a blue glass filter. The camera lets user record and view full HD videos on the expansive 5” HD screen. IPS display with full lamination further improves the viewing angles.

The handset is powered by 1.3 GHz Quad-Core ARM Mali 400 MP2 processor and 2GB RAM running on Android KitKat 4.4.

HTC India unveils HTC Desire 826

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TC has announced the HTC Desire 826 to help people create the best possible mobile experiences by capturing the best of “me” in photos, enjoying your best personal moments with stunning surround sound audio, and expressing the best of “me” with bold design, colours and materials.

Faisal Siddiqui, President, South Asia, HTC said, “Our consumer today represents an individuality that has quite a resolute fabric, each one being a strong and special personality in their own stride. We understand our consumer and design products to sit their being.

The phone is yet another effort of ours to combine superior quality features in a stunning smartphone at a smart price.”

HTC has combined dual front-facing stereo speakers, a finely tuned

sound profile and Dolby’s decoding technology to deliver an end-to-end multi-channel audio solution. Listeners can experience sonic depth and breadth unheard of, on a mobile device, giving every media experience an epic, true-to-life sound that flows out of the speakers and off the screen. The package also includes an audiophilegrade headset that is carefully tuned for HTC BoomSound with Dolby Audio, delivering the cinematic surround sound experience wherever you are.

Gorgeous, softtouch matte sides make the phone comfortable and easy to grip while giving peace of mind that memories are safe in hand. Subtle speaker grills disappear into the design to maintain the phone’s clean lines for an unrivalled audio experience.

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