E-Magazine, January 2015 Issue

WatchGuard helps secure Guest Wi-Fi Networks

NOFN commissioned by GoI in Kerala

30th January 2015, Hotel The Crown, Bhubaneswar VOLUME 5

ISSUE 16

JANUARY 2015

PRICE Rs. 50

www.varindia.com

January 2015

1

2

January 2015

www.varindia.com

Kingston introduces Cloud backup to Flash Drive

D-Link Unveils D-View 7

30pg VOLUME 5

ISSUE 16

JANUARY 2015

PRICE Rs. 50

SUBSCRIPTION COPY NOT FOR SALE

A Wake up Call!

44pg

HP reinforces offerings to help adopt New Style IT

H

P has expanded consulting and support services to help customers as they transition to the New Style of IT. Supporting cloud, mobility and big data solutions, HP experts in Technology Services now offer new consulting services for software-defined infrastructure and new support services that help customers realize more agility and reliability from their infrastructure.

“IT organizations are at a unique intersection whereby they must keep top of mind day-to-day IT needs, yet continue to innovate with software-defined, hybrid and converged approaches for tomorrow’s infrastructure,” said Rajesh Dhar, Senior Director, Technology Services, HP India.

Dell makes All-Flash Storage range affordable

R

einforcing its commitment to transform the storage industry with customer value and economics, Dell has announced global availability of new enterprise class Dell Storage all-flash array (AFA) configurations starting at only US$25,000. With this launch, Dell offers customers the lowest entry price for an all-flash midrange solution by any major vendor.

“For years, price has been the number one barrier to enterprise flash adoption, and we are knocking down these walls to make the high performance, reliability and smaller footprint of flash practical for almost any workload. As Dell continues to bring down the cost of enterprise class storage, we now offer customers the industry’s easiest to use and lowest cost entry point into mid-range, all-flash enterprise arrays,” said Alan Atkinson, General Manager, Dell Storage.

www.varindia.com

January 2015

3

Why You Can’t

Do Without Fortinet pioneered the concept of Unified Threat Management (UTM) – consolidating multiple network security functions into a single device. Fortinet is recognized by IDC as the worldwide #1 leader in the UTM and by Gartner as the leader in their UTM Magic Quadrant for the 5th consecutive year

Essential UTM Features: Firewall: The inspection of inbound and outbound traffic on a network, allowing safe traffic to pass while blocking unsafe traffic.

VPN: A Virtual Private Network extends a private network across a public network. VPNs allow employees, for example, to securely access their company's network while outside the office.

IPS: Intrusion Prevention Systems monitor, log, identify and stop malicious network activity.

Application Control: The ability to identify and control applications on networks and endpoints (PC, smartphones and tablets, etc.) regardless of the port, protocol, or IP address used.

Web/Content Filtering: Explicitly allowing or

AntiMalware/AntiVirus/AntiSpam:

Advanced Threat Protection: Identify and

Integrated Wireless LAN Controller:

blocking web site traffic, based on a number of configurable parameters such as reputation and/or category of the web site visited.

Typically provides real-time protection against malicious software being installed on a system.

Stop Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) that target specific people or functions within organizations, infiltrate from multiple vectors (fishing attacks, web drive-bys, etc.) and use extensive evasion techniques to remain stealthy for long time periods.

Enables and manages the transmission of wireless data across a network.

Other Features Include: ࠮ Feature Select with Presets ࠮ Data Loss Prevention (DLP) ࠮ Contextual Visibility Management ࠮ Vulnerability Management ࠮ Bandwidth Management ࠮ IPv6 Support ࠮ VoIP Support ࠮ Layer 2/3 Routing ࠮ WAN Optimization & Web Caching

FG-60D

FG-30D

Authorized Distributor :

4

January 2015

Fortinet India: Bangalore Rakesh Viswanathan Chennai Binu Ninan Delhi Sanjay Salman Mumbai Navin Mehra

www.varindia.com

FG-90D

rakesh@fortinet.com bninan@fortinet.com sanjay@fortinet.com nmehra@fortinet.com

FG-100D

96868 11345 98400 36767 99711 11865 98925 60700

H ig h P e r fo rm a n c e N e tw o rk S e c u rity

Fortinet: 9,Esquire Centre, Ground Floor, B-Wing, M.G.Road, Bangalore - 560 001 India. Tel: +91 80 4132 1699

www.varindia.com

January 2015

5

HELLO INDIA

India - hub of opportunities…

N

ew Year is about a fresh start. A start should be invigorating and inspiring and bring success and happiness with it. So it is time to approach what lies ahead in a better, smart way and to fill our lives with brand-new enthusiasm and passion with a firm belief that 2015 will be the year of Big Data and Analytics, and there will be increased adoption of smartphones leading to demand for internet connectivity and digital services. Businesses will start talking about data capital since having the right information about people, places and things will be critical for an enterprise to build the competitive edge and succeed.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that his government is trying to revive the economy, and told global investors that India today is a land of opportunities and businesses, and invited them to be part of India’s growth story and ensured that the government is committed to create a policy environment that is predictable, transparent and fair. Digital India vision will help in the speedy implementation of economic policies. Make in India not only offers tremendous opportunities for the innovation-driven technology industry, but its success also hinges on the sustainability and continued growth of the technology-driven sector to create jobs and boost economic growth.

India, the fourth-largest base for young businesses in the world and already home to 3,000 tech start-ups, will witness a phenomenal growth in the number of tech start-ups to 11,500 by 2020. The Indian ITeS industry has helped to create a niche for itself on the global landscape with a revenue contribution of US$118 billion. Opening of 100 million bank accounts in just four months, allowing 100-per cent foreign direct investment (FDI) in the railways, allowing 49-per cent FDI in the defence sector and 49-per cent FDI in the insurance sector are some of the commendable steps taken by the government. This also presents an economic opportunity to the investors as was showcased recently at the Vibrant Gujarat Summit.

U.S. President Barack Obama’s visit on the occasion of India’s Republic Day celebrations on 26th January, 2015 will give a fillip to the IndoUS ties. Several CEOs will be accompanying Mr Barack Obama and he is likely to push for some changes in India’s IPR regime. Well, that says a lot about how India-US relations have moved forward.

Lastly, the Ministry of Urban Development and the Ministry of Information Technology are working closely on the smart city initiative by reforming laws relating to urban development with a view to improving the quality of urban governance. This will lend greater strength to the overall governance process of the country. With all the sincere efforts being made by the Government, we can expect this year to be the best ever!

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

You have been in the industry for service we provide to customers. more than 30 years now. How,according You head the Technology & Channels to you, has the customer buying decisions business at Xerox. Could you throw some changed? light on its functions?

In the past, we have seen a lot of things getting printed and distributed, which we call it “print and distribute”. But now the trend is that of distributing electronically and distributing locally. The customer buying behaviour and the product lifetime are very short. It is important today for printing element to get associated with the changing trend in customer purchasing very smartly.

With it opens a whole lot of options of variability, creativity and customization.

How has the competitive landscape changed in al l these years?

The competitive landscape in one way actually builds in you a sense of competition, besides bringing in awareness in the marketplace which, I think, is a good thing as long as it is a healthy one. The competition will exist and everyone will aggressively look forward to getting their own share of the pie.

Even today, Xerox has got 30% market share when it comes to production space and almost 60% of our customers are repeat purchasers.

This is a clear indication of the quality of

6

January 2015

www.varindia.com

Xerox solutions are unparalleled in the industry and the broad array of document devices that combine printing, copying, faxing and scanning are for any workplace and for any office, large or small. The technology & channels business is all about innovation in document printing devices and is an exciting and critical part of the total Xerox business.

For production print environments, Xerox offers the industry’s widest portfolio of digital cut sheet & inkjet presses. There are solutions for short-run book publishing, on-demand documents, transactional applications, crossmedia customized campaigns and more.

How is Xerox gearing up for the digitalization campaign?

Xerox is present in the software, enterprise, Cloud and printing space and we are excited to see ourselves present in every aspect possible in different value chains. For instance, we play a big role in Aadhaar Card printing. We are looking forward to it and there are already discussions going on both from our end and from the partners. n

Balaji Rajagopalan Executive Director, Technology, Channels & International Distributor Operations, Xerox India

Balaji Rajagopalan joined Xerox India (earlier Modi Xerox) 32 years ago as an engineer and over time has fulfilled various roles and responsibilities in different departments, including technical support, manufacturing and field interface and product launches.

Balaji took over the technology and channels business at Xerox in September 2014. Previous to this, since 2008, Balaji was the head of Customer Service and Supply Chain operations for Xerox India. In addition, he had also been the in-charge of regional services in Southern India and headed the technical competence centre and led the Lean Six Sigma teams. Balaji was also involved in launching the first fax machine, the first laser printer and the first production colour printer in India.

!

"

&

''( )

# $

%

! "

#

www.varindia.com

January 2015

7

Paving the way for developing ‘Open –Source’ Arun Oberoi, Global Executive Vice President of Sales and Services, Red Hat speaks to VARINDIA on a multitude of topics ranging from the company’s big plans for 2015, the Channel eco-system and its various partnerships

R

ed Hat as a brand is synonymous with providing infrastructure software all the way from the platform layers through the development layers through the management & the orchestration layers. For 2015, Red Hat would like to continue building on all these 3 areas that will eventually open up the infrastructure allowing customers to build connected services on it. “We focus a lot on catalysing the ecosystem upstream as a leading contributor in the developer community like OpenStack, but we are also equally into catalysing the eco-system downstream,” asserts Arun Oberoi, Global Executive Vice President of Sales and Services, Red Hat. Red Hat being a partner-centric company helps the brand augment its agenda of helping its customer in product delivery and its excellence.

“So when we think about partnerships, it does not mean only market reach. Since we are a product company, it is all about how we get our customers consume what we produce,” asserts Arun.

A well-built Channel ecosystem...

When the company thinks about partners, there are 3 dimensions to it – expanding market reach by driving an agenda which is very popular centric, services delivery and solution availability. “So when we think about solution availability, we think of thousands of developers, ISVs, software suppliers both horizontal and vertical who operate across industries. We want to become the fabric of deployment when it comes to infrastructure. Microsoft has done really well but now the de-facto choice is to open up the world, whether it is telco, financial services, and retail. We augment partners and they scale up from there,” he explains.

Though it has a direct sales team, a major portion of its business is driven by its partners. Red Hat’s partner eco-system has 3 tiers to it – system integrators, Advanced and Ready partners. System Integrators are the ones who have the scale and undertake large complex projects (It works with the likes of the SWITCH partners - Satyam, Wipro Infosys, Tech Mahindra, HCL). Advanced partners come below System Integrators but have a wide scale presence in India and have a detailed level of certification on entire Red Hat stack. The Ready partners are those who work with the Advanced Partners through a distributor like Ingram and which gives the company geographical coverage and access to special key markets. Different geographies and locations will have a variation of these 3 categories.

At the very macro level, Red Hat works with 2 types of partners – Go-to-market and Eco-system partners, who complement the value that Red Hat brings to its customers, preferable software ISVs and solution providers. The company also runs a Global Enablement program that certifies and trains partners, which is a continuous process. Given the large scale changes happening in the industry, Red hat ensures that it spends a lot of its time and energy making its partners contemporary in terms of their knowledge. It also has a services team that helps customers and partners with deep product, architectural and methodology expertise that they bring to the market in their specialist areas.

8

January 2015

www.varindia.com

Arun Oberoi Global Executive Vice President of Sales and Services, Red Hat Red Hat Global Learning Services

Global Learning Services designs and delivers Red Hat’s award winning training courses and certification programs. It offers a rich array of hands on courses worldwide to meet the diverse training needs of Red Hat’s customers. Certifications include Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) and Red Hat Certified Technician (RHCT). Courses span topics such as system administration, advanced enterprise deployment, development, and security. For more than five years, Red Hat has set the standard for Linux training and certification programs. Red Hat’s programs have always been committed to hands-on skill development and performance based testing in a lab setting that simulates real-life. Red Hat Certified Engineer (RHCE) began in 1999 and has been earned by over 10,000 Linux experts. Red Hat Certified Technician (RHCT) began in January 2003 and has grown very quickly. RHCT is an ideal initial certification for those transitioning from non-UNIX/Linux environments.

Looking ahead...

For Red Hat, the government is believed to become a big growth driver besides the conventional ones like BFSI, telecom, IT-ITes. In India there are 3-4 things that Red Hat would like to achieve to significantly accelerate its business – to identify and deepen its relationships with global partnerships, to roll out geography extension plan for FY16 that includes identifying, recruiting, on-boarding a whole bunch of partners in these locations and work on getting feedbacks from partners of how they can engage with the company. It will constantly monitor the health of its partner eco system to grow as a Channelfriendly company. n samrita@varindia.com

www.varindia.com

January 2015

9

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.

For Subscription queries contact: info@varindia.com Subscription: Rs. 500(12 issues)Rs. 1000 (24 issues) All payments favouring:

KALINGA DIGITAL MEDIA PVT LTD

© All rights are reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means without the prior written permission of the publisher. (1999-2014) * All disputes are subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of competent courts and forums in Delhi only.

10

January 2015

www.varindia.com

www.varindia.com

January 2015

11

CHANNEL CHIEF

‘We want to be the Cloud vendor of Choice’ Jeff Abbott, Senior Vice President - Global Alliances and Channels and Demand Generation, Infor talks to VARINDIA about the company’s cloud strategy, the channel structuring and how Infor is positioned to become a key Cloud player

T

oday Cloud has moved on in a pace that people might never have suspected a few years back. The importance of Cloud has made necessary for any vendor to offer cloud-based solutions to address customer needs over the next couple of years. Infor was quick to understand this and has put on the garb of a Cloud-enabled solution provider in the market.

Explaining the new announcements that Infor has made that supports its Channel strategy, Jeff said that the company is transitioning all of its solutions to the cloud.

"While competitors are managing to take only single products to cloud, we are creating cloud suites by taking various applications and tuning them to specific industry needs by launching Infor CloudSuites. We have suites for Healthcare, Fashion, Automotive, Food & Beverages and so on. In total, we have chosen 12 verticlas across the world and designed specific products by introducing as many domain features in it, required of that vertical," he reiterates. For instance, if there is Infor CloudSuite Business, a Cloud-based ERP services for the services industry, for mid-market manufacturers Infor has Infor CloudSuite Industrial, specifically designed for them.

Besides, it also has its channel partner cloud initiative, Infor CloudSuite Academy that enable 750 partners globally to move their business to cloud and understand how they can align their business models to grow their businesses and stay ahead of the demands of the customers.

Infor also launched its global relationship with Amazon Web Services in line with its a strategic decision at the corporate level to focus on applications.

Infor & India market...

From an Indian perspective, Infor is almost like a start-up, started 4 years back.

It started building the channel over the next couple of years. Infor's primary focus was to have a sound model for the Channel in the metros. However, it soon realized that SMB is where the opportunity lies and that with their business size growing, there lies enormous scope in mid-town markets.

“With demand coming from the smaller cities, we have accordingly planned our action plans for the next 2 years and will roll out our partner recruitment programs in these tier 2 & 3 cities,” says Jeff.

Infor has so far engaged with 2 types of partners – top of the stack, in which it has large MNCs, called the Alliance partners, who look after the large accounts and another is the full-fledged channel partner business, which is called IPN (Infor

12

January 2015

www.varindia.com

Partner Network) launched in 2012. The Channel Partner business is structured into 3 layers of partnerships – Associate, Silver and then Gold. Besides Infor also have the services partners, who help the company build the capacity in the market and get their solutions implemented. “We are a performance driven channel organization.

We have 25 partners here in India today and will take the number to 40-50 in next 1and half years. Globally we plan to grow our channel business to 30-35 % in next 2 years,” he says.

Infor also invites its partner community to extend its Cloud solutions. “We have a development platform Infor Mongoose and we use this platform to allow our alliance partners to easily design and deploy applications that enhance and extend your core enterprise solution. By having a Cloud focus not only as a company, but throughout our partner eco-system, we extend better solutions to customers,” Jeff replies.

Looking forward…

As Jeff remarks, Infor wishes to go public very soon. With its long term focus on growth, solution innovation has been its integral part in the last 2-3 years, though it does continual acquisitions to fill up its industry footprint. Its stated bottomline is very much clear - it wants to be the Cloud vendor of Choice over the next couple of years, and given its huge product range, it will work with its partners to move all of them to the Cloud. n samrita@varindia.com

Jeff Abbott Senior Vice President - Global Alliances and Channels and Demand Generation, Infor

3-pronged Strategy of Infor For most part, Infor focuses on its core strategy, which comprises of the 3 elements – • Architecture of Unified Solutions - Infor’s solutions are open and do not use any proprietary technologies. They are tied up as one unified solution, resulting which customers do not get locked in • Micro-vertical focus – It builds suites that allow customers from across verticals to pursue them with confidence as they require no modifications or customizations • Friendlier user-interface - Hook & Loop is the internal creative agency of Infor, based at the company's headquarters in New York City. This energetic think tank is composed of more than 80 talented creative professionals who are working together to solve problems and make these solutions more user friendly

www.varindia.com

January 2015

13

ROUND ABOUT

The Suspended Coffee Model – Can It change the World Order?

H

ave you ever heard of the suspended coffee model? This interesting concept, originated in Naples, Italy, is believed to be at least two centuries old. The model works on a simple formula: when one orders a cup of coffee from the vendor, he or she will order an extra cup. The other cup of coffee then goes to a less fortunate person, who otherwise might not be able to afford it. This custom gained a lot of importance during the Second World War, and became a trend during the post-war era. Many leave suspended coffees to be availed by others.

When this is superimposed on an IT platform, the concept has a wider canvas. Originally, the concept worked on free vouchers and was locally implemented. With the advent of ICT, it has international appeal and application. For this scheme to be successful, we do not need high- profile benefactors or donors. Any person can be in the network, regardless of their income, age, nationality, or background.

What is required is a caring mind and benevolent attitude to give back to society, without expecting reciprocity for their good deeds.

Indeed, I am fascinated by the concept and sincerely feel that it is ideally suited for the modern times. I have attempted to develop a model that can work on an IT platform which, I sincerely feel, can be a powerful tool for making every entity responsive to his or her neighborhood. The canvas for such scheme can be broader cutting across geographies. More than that, this model can put scarce resources into the most optimal use. Let me explain this model more in detail and use the following scenario: I am a regular traveller in real life, frequently travelling to and from India. I reach the airport on time and have around ninety minutes before boarding commences. During that time, I go to a coffee vendor and order a coffee, but instead of one, I order two. I leave the other cup (the suspended coffee) in the form of a free voucher, which can be availed by another person. The vendor, who collects the money at the coffee shops, enters the online details of the extra coffee bought by me in a dedicated account that is operated by either an NGO or a social entrepreneur. The person operating the dedicated account has now one extra coffee which can either be cashed or distributed to another person, who can have the same beverage or any other item that is of the same amount from another outlet in the network.

After a satisfying cup of coffee, I find I have a few minutes left before boarding. I decide to go to the nearest bookstore and instead of picking up one book, I pick up two. I pay double the amount, where the excess amount I paid goes to a dedicated fund that is coordinating the network. The money in turn goes to a student, who might not be able to afford an expensive textbook or a reference book.

When I land at my destination, I go directly to the pre-paid taxi counter and take a taxi to the hotel. The person at the counter tells me the fare to the hotel is Rs.735, but I give him Rs.800. I tell him to donate the difference, or Rs.65, to a dedicated fund for a children’s welfare fund operated by an NGO. He credits that money to a dedicated amount with the advice that it should go to a specific NGO and the money gets transferred immediately.

This situation can be simulated in every facet of our lives. When we are buying toys for our children, think of the many other children who go without basic facilities. When we drink a beverage to quench our thirst on a sunny day, think of those who do not have access to drinking water. This thought process can motivate us to pay for one more beverage or toy, which can help the less fortunate.

The suspended coffee model has an international relevance. A person buying a coffee or a box of chocolate in the US or in France can contribute towards the welfare of children in, say, Africa or Asia.

It gives an opportunity for anyone, even those with limited means, to contribute towards society. A quick transfer of funds through the IT platform makes things easier and the impact more meaningful.

Contributions through aid agencies or intergovernmental agencies

14

January 2015

www.varindia.com

Asoke K. Laha

President & MD, Interra IT may help make things more complex and contribute to delays. But, here, the system works in a faster and more efficient way. In addition, the administrative expense of implementing the project is minimal, enabling maximum cash flow to the target people. There is also less scope for mismanagement, since the transactions and cash flows can be monitored by the empowered committees to have the desired impact.

This does not mean the system can work in a vacuum. It depends on strong networks and databases. Networks are created among donors or contributors. They have to be hooked to the network – it should be a network of vendors, who issues the vouchers and loads credit in the systems and sends them to the back office. The office, in turn, distributes the vouchers/credits to the less fortunate.

I believe the suspended coffee model has many advantages. One, the model can have a large canvas since anyone can participate regardless of their background. Secondly, the system is easy to implement and monitor as it can operate on vouchers and informal networks. Third, any donor can give their preference as to how the vouchers can be used. Finally, it becomes a symbol of a caring community not only for their civic amenities but also of others bonding with other people.

We have been hearing only world economy and growth. In a globalized economy, everything is interdependent. One region cannot grow at the expense of the other. Hunger, malnutrition, ill-health, deprivation, etc in one country will not augur well for the rest of the world. Global economic growth cannot be measured in vectors. It is a function of many attributes like the quality of life of people in every nook and corner of the world, their access to education, healthcare, the right to earn income through employment, etc. Let us look at the world differently. Let that be our new resolution for 2015. n

No is actually a 3-letter word.

Stop living in EMC’s land of no.

If you’re using EMC for your storage, you live in the land of “no.â€? As in no common operating system across midrange, high-end, and DOO ĆŻDVK 1R ; IDVWHU SURYLVLRQLQJ t DQG QR JXDUDQWHHV OLNH +3 /LNH WKH IDFW WKDW \RXoOO UHGXFH \RXU FDSDFLW\ UHTXLUHPHQWV E\ with HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage. 2U WKDW \RXoOO EH DEOH WR GRXEOH VM density on your servers.* /RRN EHORZ WR VHH ZKDW VZLWFKLQJ WR HP 3PAR StoreServ Storage FDQ GR IRU \RX t DQG ZH WKLQN \RXoOO VD\ \HV WR +3

%HQHĆ­W 7LHU FDSDELOLWLHV DW D midrange price 3URYLVLRQ ; IDVWHU Get Thin Guarantee: Reduce FDSDFLW\ UHTXLUHPHQWV E\

*HW 9LUWXDO *XDUDQWHH 'RXEOH VM density $OO ĆŻDVK DUUD\ ZLWK HQWHUSULVH data services

EMC no

HP yes

no

yes

no

yes

no

yes

no

yes

Contact Us Today: Balaji balaji.sethu@redington.co.in 9025164555

„ &RS\ULJKW +HZOHWW 3DFNDUG 'HYHORSPHQW &RPSDQ\ / 3 7KH LQIRUPDWLRQ FRQWDLQHG KHUHLQ LV VXEMHFW WR FKDQJH ZLWKRXW QRWLFH 7KH RQO\ ZDUUDQWLHV IRU +3 SURGXFWV DQG VHUYLFHV DUH VHW IRUWK LQ WKH H[SUHVV ZDUUDQW\ VWDWHPHQWV DFFRPSDQ\LQJ VXFK SURGXFWV DQG VHUYLFHV 1RWKLQJ KHUHLQ VKRXOG EH FRQVWUXHG DV www.varindia.com January 2015 15 FRQVWLWXWLQJ DQ DGGLWLRQDO ZDUUDQW\ +3 VKDOO QRW EH OLDEOH IRU WHFKQLFDO RU HGLWRULDO HUURUV RU RPLVVLRQV FRQWDLQHG KHUHLQ

HOT BYTES

NASSCOM interacts with DeitY

N

ASSCOM has organized an interaction between DeitY and the industry on various challenges ,

while participating in various e-governance projects. The meeting chaired by Shri R.S. Sharma, Secretary, DeitY was attended by senior government officials from DeitY, Department of Expenditure, Ministry of Finance, and the Department of Commerce, and R. Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, led a large team of CEOs

and e-governance business heads of the industry.

The half-day interaction provided a platform for industry members to raise their concerns on a multitude of issues.

All the suggestions provided were well received by DeitY. The DeitY Secretary assured the participants that all their concerns have been taken note of and shall soon announce the steps towards resolving the challenges, while also agreeing that tendering and contracting process needs to be fair and a winwin situation.

Inspira sets new benchmarks

I

nspira has come up with an ‘iprotect,’ a cloud security platform which helps comprehensive security for organizations. As cloud based solutions are in demand, iprotect gives companies an opportunity to improve user experience, reduce complexity and enhance security. Now a day’s cloud-based IT security solutions are in demand for SMBs because they’re easy to install, configure and manage. They also provide automatic and real-time protection from most threats.

Inspira is the value added distributor of globally renowned Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) in the IT Industry, catering to host of corporate like HP, DELL, McAfee, Bluecoat, Safenet, Cassidian (Airbus), Oracle, SAP, Array, Juniper, BMC Software, etc. it is making simple products that small businesses as the use is costly, this is the reason most vendors merely repackage their enterprise offering for the SMB market which results in complexities for management.

Ramco solution chosen

by Bureau Veritas

B

ureau Veritas SA has deployed Ramco Payroll & Workforce Administration software on Cloud for its India and Singapore operations.

With 8 Global Businesses (Marine & Offshore, Industry & Facilities, Government Services & International Trade, Consumer Products, Commodities), Bureau Veritas has been growing in scale and operations.

Virender Aggarwal, CEO, Ramco Systems, said, “We are excited to see global multinationals

16

January 2015

and multi-billion dollar business conglomerates leveraging Cloud-based HR software from Ramco. The maturity of cloud as a platform and HR technology as an offering is building market opportunity for nimblefooted players like Ramco.

Our early entry into Cloud, comprehensive offering, and thrust on mobility and usability is driving large companies like Bureau Veritas to choose us."

www.varindia.com

Infosys to Set up Model ‘Smart City’

DataWind expands its retail footprint

I

nfosys has announced its commitment to invest and develop its Mysore campus as a ‘Smart City’.

The company will also provide its expertise in the areas of smart infrastructure planning and sustainable building technology to the Ministry of Urban Development.

This announcement was made during a meeting between Dr. Vishal Sikka, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director and the Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi in New Delhi.

Under this initiative, Infosys will strive towards making its Mysore campus a ‘Smart City’ through effective planning to ensure efficient resource governance and utilization. The campus will be the first to achieve zero waste to landfill sustainability.

Nanded transformed into a smart city by Axis

A

x

i

s

Communications has helped Nanded to take its first step towards building a smart city by deploying its intelligent video surveillance systems, enabling the authorities to keep vigil on the city.

More than 100 cameras – 25 PTZ and 75 box type cameras – have been installed. These solutions will not just help Nanded authorities in securing the residents but go beyond surveillance and help them in intelligent disaster management, faster response systems and forensic analysis apart from other applications.

Axis has also implemented its solutions in Kolkata for city surveillance.

D

ataWind has announced expansion of its Indian retail footprint through a new partnership with HomeShop18.

HomeShop18 and DataWind as part of the agreement will jointly launch special sales programmes across broadcast, mobile and internet media to create greater access of UbiSlates, low-cost Android tablets and internet access devices.

Suneet Singh Tuli, President & CEO, DataWind, said, “We greatly value

our partnership with HomeShop18, given their experience and extensive reach across multimedia platforms of broadcast, internet and mobile shopping. The partnership augurs well for both the companies just as it increases access to our low-cost Android tablets.

The addition of our range to HomeShop18 platform enriches their overall offering.”

Polycom upgrades Havells Power’s Video Infrastructure

P

olycom has announced that Havells India has upgraded their existing Polycom video infrastructure.

Their deployment now covers 47 locations in India and 23 international locations, including Argentina, Ecuador, Germany and the United Kingdom.

Following 12 years of successful usage of Polycom video conferencing solutions within India, employees now have access to the latest HD collaboration technology.

Minhaj Zia, Managing Director, Polycom India & SAARC, said, “It is encouraging to see one of our oldest customers in India adopt Polycom’s new innovations in collaboration technology, to help them defy distance and continue to transform the way they do business.”

AMD announces expansion of FreeSync Ecosystem

A

MD has expanded the FreeSync ecosystem as technology partners, including BenQ, LG Electronics, Nixeus, Samsung, and Viewsonic showcased their upcoming commercially available FreeSync1enabled displays at the 2015 International CES. The unveiling of new FreeSync-enabled displays demonstrates the industry’s commitment to open standards-based technology that enables improved gaming by synchronizing dynamic refresh rates of the

displays to the frame rate of AMD Radeon R-Series graphics cards and current generation APUs. The result greatly reduces input latency and helps reduce or eliminate visual defects during gaming and video playback. The new displays range in size between 24” and 34”, supporting refresh rates of 30 to 144 Hz, and resolutions of 1080p up to Ultra HD, offering a variety of options for every gamer’s needs.

www.varindia.com

January 2015

17

HOT BYTES

WatchGuard helps secure Guest Wi-Fi Networks

W

atchGuard Technologies has announced that its Next-Generation Firewall (NGFW) and Unified Threat Management (UTM) appliances now offer enhanced guest network access features to allow hospitality organizations to quickly and easily provide temporary user passwords to better secure guest Internet and Wi-Fi networks.

With WatchGuard's new features, hospitality organizations can now tailor the user experience with custom hotspot splash pages branded with company logos.

Scott Robertson, Vice-President – APAC, WatchGuard Technologies, said, "WatchGuard provides peace of mind that hospitality organizations need to feel confident that their guest network users are protected and that network security and performance won't be compromised by uninvited guests. Our customers appreciate the increased visibility into and control over their guest wireless networks delivered by WatchGuard security appliances."

Tech Mahindra to acquire SOFGEN

T

ech Mahindra has signed a definitive agreement to acquire SOFGEN Holdings Limited (SOFGEN). The transaction is expected to close by March 2015, subject to regulatory approvals. SOFGEN has 450+ employees with 20+ Tier 1 client relationships.

Delivering solutions “in and around” core banking the company has the 2nd largest pool of Avaloq consultants in the world and is Temenos’ most prolific partner.

“This acquisition gives us an opportunity to enhance our expertise to implement modernized Core Banking & Transformation services capabilities.

This milestone in the growth journey of Tech Mahindra will establish us as a significant player in the specialized & rapidly growing Private Banking and Wealth Management segment globally,” said CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra.

Trend Micro and Asus join hands over mobile threats

T

rend Micro has signed an agreement with ASUS, under which ASUS will preload Trend Micro’s Dr Safety app on the latest ASUS ZenFone 2 smartphones to help protect users from account fraud, privacy risks, phishing, lost devices, and unwanted contact, plus a feature that recommends safe mobile games for users.

“The partnership with ASUS, is not only exciting news for both of us, but also marks an important milestone where the

18

January 2015

online security of smartphone users is taken to a new level through maximized hardwaresoftware integration,” said Eva Chen, CEO, Trend Micro.

www.varindia.com

Supertron NSDC introduces Cloudappointed as ND enabled Classrooms Skill and Country MD, HP

by Powercolor D e v e l o p m e n t India. NSDC and HP will National

T

UL Corporation has joined hands with Supertron Electronics for distribution of their brand ’’Powercolor.’’

Supertron is already the National Distributor for Seagate, Transcend, Acer, Dell (Desktop/AIO, Laptop, DLP Projector and TFTs) IBM, Buffalo, Samsung, Digilite to name with others.

Vibhor Agarwal, Director – Marketing, said, “With the nonmetros offering more growth but less competition, the principle focus of Supertron will be providing its partners varieties of product lines. We are certain that Graphics card users are growing in India. So we thrive to take the market share with our joint expertise and consumers across India will be able to benefit with high-quality Graphics card ranges."

CP PLUS to Implement H.265

CP PLUS is set to implement H.265/ HEVC standard in its upcoming range of video surveillance devices. An immediate successor standard to H.264, H.265 standard offers various improvements over H.264.

H.265 implementation has generated huge optimism given industry’s struggle with shortage of bandwidth, spectrum, storage, and imminent need to take growing HD content for multiplatform delivery.

The existing standard H.264 offers 40%-50% bitrate reduction over MPEG-2, yet it has limitation of delivering HD content for broadcast and online. With the 4K/ UltraHD cameras being introduced, the need for improved H.264 standard was overdue.

Corporation (NSDC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with HP. “HP Future Classrooms” is a solution developed to implement creative, sustainable and inclusive models of education using cloud technology to benefit students from underprivileged and economically weak segments of the society.

The MoU was signed

by Dilip Chenoy, MD & CEO, NSDC, and Neelam Dhawan, VP & GM, Enterprise Group

implement the rollout of the HP Future Classroom across India and this will include provisioning of technology and education to help bridge the gap in delivering digital education.

Through partners, NSDC will be responsible for equipment maintenance, hybrid learning technologies and monitoring and reporting results. Post course completion, each trainee will receive a joint certification from NSDC, HP and the implementing partner.

ManageEngine teams up with Samsung

M

anageEngine has announced that Desktop Central now supports Samsung KNOX, a multi-layered security technology that enables a secure and productive workspace for mobile professionals. By partnering with Samsung to support KNOX, ManageEngine bolsters its desktop and mobile device management (MDM) software with advanced mobile device management capabilities that let IT personnel secure Samsung devices

without invading user’s privacy.

Mobile device usage among employees continues to grow at a tremendous speed, driven by user-friendly trends like BYOD. Understanding this trend in enterprise mobility, Samsung Electronics, a global leader in digital media and digital convergence technologies, has developed the KNOX platform to provide a comprehensive security solution for enterprise Samsung mobile devices.

Sophos eyeing Indian Mid-Market

S

ophos has announced its strategy to strengthen its market presence in the Indian “Mid-Market & Pragmatic Enterprise” to over 40% in the next three to four years. Seeing an opportunity in the Indian mid-market which is a massive under-served market, Sophos will be adopting “Project Galileo Strategy”, whereby it will further consolidate its approach of shifting the security world from individual, standalone components to integrated end-user, server and

network protection that compare notes, correlate, and proactively respond to threats.

“We believe there is

a massive opportunity to use new technologies like Cloud, Big Data, and the ability to connect different ‘silos’ of IT security (like network, endpoint, and mobile) to deliver better security for Indian businesses,” said Kris Hagerman, Chief Executive Officer, Sophos.

www.varindia.com

January 2015

19

ON THE RAMP

Kingston introduces Cloud backup to Flash Drive

K

ingston has announced the additional feature of cloud backup to the

DataTraveler Locker+ G3 (DTLPG3) USB 3.0 Flash drive for personal security. DTLPG3 offers hardware encryption, password protection and fast USB 3.0 transfer speeds to keep one’s personal data safe.

Consumers now have the option of

automatically backing up a DataTraveler Locker+ G3 to their preferred cloud storage provider such as Google Drive, OneDrive (Microsoft), Amazon S3, Dropbox or Box via included ClevXUSB to CLOUD software.

Kingston and ClevX first worked together in 2012 on an encrypted USB drive with a built-in antimalware scan engine for enterprise customers.

With the DTLPG3, consumers can rest assured that, if the DTLPG3 is lost or misplaced, files are still safely stored and accessible in the cloud.

D-Link Unveils D-View 7

D

-Link has announced D-View 7, the latest version of its powerful network management software. D-View 7 is a web-based network management system designed to manage device configurations, performance, and troubleshooting. D-View 7 is a web-based, SNMP supported network management solution for D-Link business product lines. It can manage SNMP supported devices including switches, unified

switches, unified APs, standalone APs, and third party SNMP devices. It can provide a centralized management platform to control, monitor, and configure multiple devices in different product lines.

“The latest version of D-View brings D-View 6’s standalone software platform to the web, letting users access D-View 7 from anywhere with browsers without the need for installing software,” says Antony Lai, Vice President of Business Networking.

Fortinet introduces “Rugged” products

F

ortinet is continuing to blaze new trails with four new “Rugged” products –networking, security and wireless devices purposebuilt to meet the demanding standards of public utilities, oil & gas, mining, manufacturing and the transportation industries that operate in harsh physical environments.

The release of the FortiGate Rugged 60D, FortiGate Rugged 90D, FortiAP 222C and FortiSwitch

20

January 2015

112D-PoE, marks another important step in the company’s already-strong and growing critical infrastructure presence.

Fortinet’s rugged

and outdoor products are industriallyhardened appliances that deliver enterprise-class connectivity and security for critical control systems.

www.varindia.com

HyperX unveils PCIe SSD

H

yperX has announced the HyperX Predator PCIe SSD. Shipping in February, HyperX Predator PCIe SSD will be the highest-end SSD with the fastest speeds in the HyperX lineup.

“HyperX is happy to soon unleash its fastest HyperX SSD to date.

The PCIe form-factor showcases extreme speeds while processing both compressed and uncompressed data. We worked closely with Marvell to engineer this HyperX Predator PCIe SSD for higher performance and it more than delivers through its ultra-responsive multitasking and faster system performance,” said Nathan Su, Flash Memory Sales Director, APAC Region, Kingston.

Strontium introduces new products

S

t r o n t i u m Technology aims to take its product portfolio to the next level in 2015.

Strontium Technology is introducing a new line of innovative products.

These include Strontium 128GB NITRO UHS-1 (U1) microSDXC flash card, Strontium On-TheGo (OTG) USB flash drive 3.0 and exclusive Strontium iDrive 3.0 (external storage for iPhone 6 and 6+).

Consumers can store and transfer data between iPhone, iPad and Mac/PC without needing any cable.

Up to 960 minutes of HD video, 26,208 photos or 16,000 MP3 songs can be stored in 64GB iDrive and played directly on iPhone or iPad. It can also backup and restore contacts, calendar, videos and pictures. It is available in 16GB, 32GB and 64GB capacities and comes with 2 years Strontium Limited Warranty.

LG introduces Curved UltraWide Monitor in India

L

G Electronics has introduced its newest Curved UltraWide Monitor and other compelling monitor offerings to the Indian market. It incorporates a curved IPS screen with a 21:9 aspect ratio, the eye-catching 34-inch monitor provides remarkable picture quality and a range of convenient connectivity options. Apart from these, LG will also be introducing the stunning Digital Cinema 4K Monitor and the featurepacked Gaming Monitor, both combining

superior performance with modern style and versatile functionality.

LG’s flagship IPS 21:9 Curved UltraWide Monitor is a complete monitor solution, equally suited to the needs of professional users and home entertainment enthusiasts. By adding a gentle curve to a 21:9 aspect ratio monitor, LG has created a unique product that delivers a more immersive experience.

ESET Secure Authentication

E

SET has launched the newest version of ESET Secure Authentication. ESET's updated two-factor authentication (2FA) application continues to provide the potent combination of ultrasecure access to online applications, while introducing even greater ease of installation and support, for a super overall user experience.

The added integration flexibility provided by the Software Development Kit (SDK) and API extends protection to a wider range of applications and

data, making ESET Secure Authentication one of the most unique and compelling 2FA solutions on the market.

The first version of ESET Secure Authentication was released in 2013 and proved that strong multi-factor protection is a critical component when protecting today's companies from potential damage brought on by a successful cyber-attack.

The associated loss or theft of sensitive data, subsequent brand erosion and revenue impact can be quite devastating.

ViewSonic launches PJD7822HDL

V

iewSonic has introduced PJD7822HDL Full HD 3200-lumen home entertainment projector.

The new PJD7822HDL boasts 3,200 ANSI lumens of brightness that deliver a crisp1080p visual experience.

The PJD7822HDL is equipped with 5V USB charging port and dual HDMI video inputs for greater connectivity with HD devices, and also supports wireless HDMI dongle devices such as Google’s Chromecast device, so viewers can enjoy

Netflix, Hulu Plus, and other streaming apps on a giant 100+ inch screen for the ultimate viewing experience.

It also includes a

convenient “MyButton” feature that allows users to create customized shortcuts on the remote control, supporting quicker navigation to viewing options such as closed captioning, lamp mode, 3D sync and more.

www.varindia.com

January 2015

21

ON THE RAMP

Infor debuts tailor-made solutions Sony launches has announced MDR-EX31BN Infor SyteLine Infor

9, a major release of the enterprise resource planning (ERP) application for mid-market enterprises in India. With India Inc. embracing smarter technologies such as cloud computing, Infor has introduced a specialized solution Infor SyteLine 9 that brings simple, scalable, and feature-rich technology to mid-market enterprises in India.

Infor SyteLine addresses the information management needs of small- to mid-sized manufacturers who may not have the pocketbook

S

for ‘rip and replace’, but truly need new functions and a better, more supportable software foundation.

Infor SyteLine incorporates the latest Infor technology innovations of the Infor 10x platform and broad support for Infor Ming. le, Infor ION andInfor Business Intelligence (BI).

Zebronics launches five new headsets

T

op Notch Infotronix under the brand “ZEBRONICS,” has introduced five new headsets – the Zebronics Metal Head, Stunner, Fusion, Bolt and Colt-2.

Zebronics Metal Head, the all-new gamers’ delight with the look and feel of those used by professional gamers.

Zebronics Stunner and the Zebronics Fusion both features 40mm drivers, soft ear pads, Stunner is available in red+black combination.

Fusion

comes in 4 exciting colors . Zebronics Bolt and the Zebronics Colt-2 comes with 30mm drivers, ultralight weight, rich sound, comfortable headband, soft ear cups.

Rajesh Doshi, FounderDirector, Zebronics, said, "We've been continuously focussing on our headphones category, and have been introducing new models with superior comfort level and audio quality, making the range one of the largest in the industry."

Hikvision debuts Mini Fisheye Camera

H

ikvision is set to bring new levels of security to convenience stores, hotels, restaurants, offices and other smallto-medium enterprises with the introduction of the DS-2CD2942F Fisheye Network Camera. incorporates a high-quality lens and 4-megapixel detector in a discrete, ultra-compact design small enough to be inconspicuous on any ceiling yet provides complete situational awareness for entire rooms.

The DS-2CD2942F

22

January 2015

is the latest addition to Hikvision’s “Easy IP” range of cameras, NVRs and VMS software, which are specially designed to bring the benefits of simple installation and operation to small- to medium-sized business or home. The panoramic view with multi-view de-warping and digital PTZ means a single DS-2CD2942F can usually replace a plethora of traditional CCTV cameras installed in most public areas.

www.varindia.com

ony India has launched its new digital noise cancelling Bluetooth MDR-EX31BN earphones, perfect delight for the audio freaks to enjoy wireless music streaming and communication.

The MDR-EX31BN has a 13.5mm sound driver unit that delivers high quality, powerful sound by the integration of high quality digital noise cancellation capability for crystal clear output.

The earphones connect with a wireless Bluetooth receiver that works on one-touch connectivity with NFC letting the user a hands free experience.

These are capable of drastically reducing noise disturbances happening in the outside world such as airplane flight sound or traffic.

Taking forward Sony’s commitment to deliver quality audio experience, these earphones are first of a kind from Sony India at a competitive price offering.

RAPOO Presents 8200P

R

APOO has launched a trendy wireless multimedia combo 8200P. 8200P wireless multimedia combo acquires tiny and help clutter free functioning. This combo can be used without power interruption of up to 12 months on a single battery.

Saurabh Grover, Country Head - India, SAARC & MEA at RAPOO said, "We have products for everyone.

RAPOO 8200P is a specialized product for home or office usage, who insists stylish accessories.

We are glad to release this product to channel and customers and we are confident that 8200P will hit the market with its design, performance and price."

Epson Unveils new Projectors

E

pson has launched a new range of business projectors that are aimed at boosting efficiency and productivity in the office while providing true-tolife colour projection. At the same time, Epson has also launched a new largescale venue projector which is Epson’s brightest projector to date.The launch of these products strengthens Epson’s number one market share position, a position they have held in the projector market for the past 13 years. The products being launched include the EB-1400 series, the EB1970/80 series and the

large-scale venue projector, EB-Z9000/11000 Series.

The projectors are powered by 3LCD technology which produces images that are 3X brighter than comparable technologies.

The 3LCD technology achieves this by splitting white light into three primary colours (Red, Green and Blue), passing them through three LCD panels and them recombining the three colour images formed using a prism before projecting it out.

Konica Minolta expands its bizhub series

K

onica Minolta India has launched its new ‘bizhub’ series model C221, targeted at Corporate and SMEs verticals. With the launch of this new bh C221, Konica Minolta expands its offerings further, strengthening its A3 colour product portfolio.

It is developed to handle a wide range of jobs for the new Entry Colour Market. Speaking on the occasion, Y. Nakata Managing Director,

Konica Minolta India says “These products will cater to growing SME market in India and reasserts Konica Minolta’s commitment to make finest and affordable range of products. C221 will enlarge our footprint in SME and Enterprise segments.

With the introduction of this colour MFP, Konica Minolta will further strengthen its No. 1 position in colour market, which is more than 25% currently.”

Digisol delivers best-inclass POE solutions

D

igisol provides cutting edge PoE solutions for serving different PoE needs today in terms of power, distance and I/Os. For end-to-end experience, Digisol has PoE solutions which are not only PoE switches but also IP Cameras and Wireless Access Points which are 100% PoE standard compliant. The various products in Digisol’s PoE range support different PoE outputs of 70W, 75W, 130W, 190W, 220W and 370W with 4, 8, 24 and 28 ports. These PoE products have wide

application market like entry level surveillance, entry level wireless, IP surveillance for campuses and enterprises, PC connectivity and niche managed campus connectivity requirement.

“Power over Ethernet (PoE) is a rapidly evolving technology that requires every component in the PoE ecosystem to keep up if it’s to be more widely adopted,” said Jayesh Kotak, Vice President, Product Marketing, Smartlink Network Systems Ltd.

www.varindia.com

January 2015

23

VOICE-N-DATA

ZyXEL recognized as top Best Taiwan Global Brand for 2014

A

dding a feather to its cap again, ZyXEL communication has been recognized by the Government of Taiwan as the 2014 Best Taiwan Global Brands. For the 13th consecutive year ZyXEL has been receiving this prestigious state honor.

The Best Taiwan Global Brands competition was organized by the Industrial Development Bureau of the Ministry of Economic Affairs of Taiwan.

“This award also coincides with the completion of 25 years

of our establishment.

Taiwan-State recognition cements ZyXEL’s position further,” says Gary Chen, President of Indian operations, ZyXEL. Allowing users worldwide with optimal wired and wireless Internet connectivity, ZyXEL serves over 400,000 small and medium-sized businesses and has shipped more than 100 million modems/routers to end users across the globe.

NOFN commissioned

by GoI in Kerala

H

o n ’ b l e Minister for Communications & IT, Shri Ravi Shankar Prasad, has commissioned India's first Hi-Speed Rural Broadband Network (NOFN) in Idukki District, Kerala, under the Digital India Programme at an inaugural function held in Thiruvananthapuram.

The Minister said, “India witnesses a new era of digital empowerment.

The new government has firmly set its focus on the all round development and inclusive growth of

the country. The NOFN Project is a giant leap in order to bridge the digital divide in India by linking all Gram Panchayats through the common platform of Optical Fibre Cable."

NOFN is a landmark initiative in taking forward the vision of Digital India which aims to transform the country into a digitally-empowered society and knowledge economy. NOFN is set to link 600 million rural citizens of India across 2.5 lakh Gram Panchayats.

BT opens Customer Innovation Showcase

B

T has announced the opening of a new customer innovation showcase in Mumbai.

Together with the existing facility in New Delhi, the Indian showcases provide connection to an industry leading global network of 17 similar facilities where customers can interact with industry experts and test the latest networked IT innovations.

The Showcases provide an interactive experience which presents the latest innovations in networked IT services developed to improve

24

January 2015

the efficiency of large organizations, deliver the applications critical to their success and keep their systems secure. The Showcases enable visitors not only to hear about BT capabilities, but to see, touch and feel them through live personalized demonstrations. The new facility has remote access to BT’s global community of experts through high definition video links to BT’s R&D labs in Adastral Park and to its network of innovation showcases established in different cities worldwide.

www.varindia.com

UTStarcom announces its India Roadmap

U

TStarcom has announced its aggressive India plans for the year 2015. Riding on the success of its quality service deployments in 2014, the company has significantly achieved 35% share of the broadband infrastructure market in India. Building upon its previous success, the global telecom infrastructure giant now aims to achieve a market share of 50% in 2015.

With highly reliable products and world class services, the company is confident to provide pertinent infrastructure support to telecommunications carriers for efficiently servicing the rapidly growing demand of an advanced ‘Indian Digital Highway’.

eInfochips and Toshiba join hands

eInfochips and Toshiba America Electronic Components (TAEC) has unveiled the ARTOS12 Development Kit at the Project Ara Module Developers Conference 2015.

Devices on Google Project Ara specifications are expected to transform the smartphone experience. Ara modular smartphone users will be able to pick the camera they like, rather than picking a phone for its camera. They could have a battery that lasts for days, have a louder speaker, gaming console, or use the smartphone as their car key. The possibilities are endless. To enable modular smartphones, eInfochips and TAEC offer the ARTOS12 Google Ara Development Kit for the 1×2 Module that uses Toshiba bridge chip technology and eInfochips engineering services.

Videocon Telecom gets Unified License from DoT

T

he Department of

Telecommunications (DoT), on January 6, 2015, has granted a Unified Licence– ISP (Category-A) to Videocon Telecom, thereby permitting the company to provide Internet Services all over India.

Arvind Bali, Director & CEO, Videocon Telecom, said, “We are an integrated telecom player, and we are expanding our footprint. Internet is the next big thing in India, and the opportunity is immense. Our strategy

was to enter this marketing at the right time, and all indications suggest that there could have not been a better time than this to enter the market.”

Videocon Telecom plans to prioritize its ISP rollout starting with its existing GSM Mobility circles, including Haryana, Gujarat, MP,Chhattisgarh, and then move to metros.

MediaTek Reveals the Future of Wireless Connectivity

M

ediaTek has announced the release of MT7615, a 802.11ac System on Chip (SoC) for Wi-Fi connectivity. MediaTek once again demonstrates its commitment to leading Wi-Fi technology through the MU-MIMO and beam forming techniques deployed in MT7615.

MT7615 creates a competitive benchmark in

premium Wi-Fi for greater performance in home coverage and enterpriseclass security. Its Wi-Fi Quality of Service feature is designed to support low power consumption, giving end users the high throughput experience in both short and long ranges on 2.4GHz and 5GHz channels, whether in a single-user or crowded multi-user environment.

NETGEAR extends its ProSAFE Wireless Range

N

ETGEAR has extended its line of ProSAFE wireless products with ProSAFE WC7600 Premium Wireless Controller products, designed

best cost-performance solution on the market today. “ N E T G E A R ProSAFE WC7600 helps meet these needs, for high performance,

specifically to offer easyto-deploy access for mid-sized hospitality facilities, healthcare and educational institutes, etc. The products are designed for the special requirements of these markets: built with highperformance, flexibility and ease-of-use in mind, while offering the

flexibility and ease-of-use along with support for the complete range of NETGEAR PROSAFE Managed Access Points to better support the increasing BYOD trend and demand for wireless connectivity,” said Subhodeep Bhattacharya, Regional Director, India& SAARC.

www.adata.com XPG Z1 DDR4 DRAM Module

DDR in India

ADATA DDR4 are approved by all leading motherboard manufacturers

Why ADATA DDR4?

Amazing Performance with Great Power Efficiency

Excellent cooling

Top-Quality Chips For High Durability

Transfer bandwidth reaching up to 22GB/s

Speeds of up to 2800MHz

Consumes 40% less power compared to DDR3L

Also Available

Server DDR4 DRAM Modules

Consumer DDR4 DRAM Modules

www.varindia.com

Find us ADATA India January 2015 25

CHANNEL BUZZ

Oracle organizes India Partner Forum 2015

A

t the India Partner Forum (IPF 2015) being held in Bangkok, Oracle India has provided partners with the strategies, insights and resources they need to succeed and profit with Oracle.

“Channel partners are an important lifeline in our business

and we remain committed to invest in them, be it for skills building or for business growth.

They have been especially instrumental in expanding our engineered systems and cloud business in India,” said Shailender Kumar, Managing Director, Oracle India.

The event recognized partner organizations for innovative deployment of Oracle technology and also their contribution towards helping acquire and maintain market leadership in multiple product and solution categories.

Namit Sinha, Head, Alliances and Channels, Oracle India, said, “While our partner ecosystem helps increase Oracle’s reach,

more importantly they provide deep subject-matter expertise; skilled and certified resources; and trusted relationships with our customers to ensure Oracle solutions are sold and implemented for the best customer experience.

I want to thank them for their commitment and trust.”

The three-day summit attracted participation from over 100 channel partners, and the program entailed discussions on new Oracle PartnerNetwork programs, especially covering the new focus areas such as cloud, engineered systems, Oracle-onOracle and mobility.

Additionally, the event showcased a variety of panel discussions that covered “hot spots in the India market.” Leaders of new business divisions at Oracle India, from Public Sector Business and Geo-expansion business, also spoke of the avenues available to partner firms to expand their business models with Oracle’s diverse portfolio and business focus.

ISODA Tech Summit Season 5 to take place in Sri Lanka

I

nfotech Software Dealers’ Association (ISODA) has announced ISODA Tech Summit Season 5 which will take place at Colombo in Sri Lanka from 5th to 7th February, 2015.

ISODA Tech summit is a flagship technology event from ISODA and is a platform

where vendors and ISODA members pan India renew their relationships and forge new alliances and create an invaluable network of information sharing in the industry. An entertaining and interactive space to meet new people, learn new technologies and lay foundation for new business relationships and everlasting friendship.

26

January 2015

The theme for this year is TRANSFORM AND EVOLVE. Transformation is a change that needs to happen, and evolution is an eternal continuum of change and development. The entire IT industry is on the verge of transformation with disruptive technologies like cloud, mobility,

BYOD, virtualization, Big Data bringing along various challenges and opportunities for vendors and partners.

This exotic destination not only combines the business needs but is also very encouraging to take the step to transform and evolve and thus benefit customers with the united approach and, in turn, benefit the country.

www.varindia.com

ADCTA organizes public meeting with Arvind Kejriwal

T

he growing trend of online shopping has badly affected the traditional IT traders. IT associations across India are taking various steps to combat e-tailers. The All Delhi Computer Traders’ Association (ADCTA) has organized a public meeting today at Nehru Place to discuss issues relating to traders mainly on discounting sale of IT products at online portals by a few e-tailers and its impact on traditional IT traders.

Former Chief Minister of Delhi, Arvind Kejriwal of Aam Admi Party was also present at the meeting. Talking to a gathering of around 500 traders, he promised that he would bring to notice the plight of the IT traders of Nehru Place who have been long suffering because of nefarious schemes and business employed by online retailers once he comes to power. Also sharing the stage with him was Manish Sisodia, an MLA and a former Cabinet Minister in the Govt. of Delhi who recalled how the previous governments have overlooked the difficulties faced by the traders here with respect to constant raids done on their shops and the imposition of

VAT and that AAM Admi party will bring in the required change that the trader community is looking forward to.

ADCTA has also started a signature campaign to fight against predatory pricing adopted by online traders and to bring in level-playing field among online and traditional traders. The Association has issued a link to everyone seeking their signature so that a petition could be sent to Prime Minister Narendra Modi regarding predatory pricing.

Mahinder Aggarwal, President, ADCTA, said, “Whenever it (petition) reaches a decision-maker, our cause needs to reflect out of the document in a manner that it conveys the content and makes him understand its gravity and damage it may cause, if not addressed appropriately."

GIGABYTE along with ADATA and CoolerMaster organize Meet

G

IGABYTE, ADATA and CoolerMaster have organized “Power Users Meet” in Mumbai along with other Premium Brands. This was a big day for India's hardcore PC enthusiasts and power users who had gathered in Mumbai,

Overclocking Evangelist, GIGABYTE Motherboard Business Unit, said, "I was pleasantly surprised to see that Overclocking could generate so much interest in India. I am happy to get such an encouraging response from the invitees,

as they witnessed a new Indian record being made in CPU-Z Overclocking (OC), by none other than HiCookie, holder and breaker of multiple OC world records.

HiCookie demonstrating his fabled OC skills was the highlight of the PC enthusiasts' meet, organized jointly by GIGABYTE Technology (India) Pvt. Ltd (Motherboard Business Unit), CoolerMaster India and ADATA India.

HiCookie, Chief

especially on the basis of the inquisitive questions they were asking."

The meet also witnessed product / technology updates

by Ashu Mehrotra, Marketing Manager, ADATA India, and Supriya Mankame, Product Manager, GIGABYTE Technology (India), who were supported by Prathamesh Patil, GIGABYTE India's tech specialist, and Sanket Naik, Country Manager, CoolerMaster India.

www.varindia.com

January 2015

27

POWER OF BRANDS

Top 10 Brands in the Think of Apple and the names come gushing by – iPad, iPhone, iPod, iTunes, Mac, OS X – an unrivalled legacy of products that have caught the imagination of many a gizmo freak. Year after year, Apple has managed to grab the title of bestselling smartphone. However, they do not have a marketing budget and strangely never advertise their mobile phone products anywhere. It uses a retail strategy called “minimum advertised price” (or MAP) that prohibit resellers or dealers from advertising the manufacturer’s products below a certain minimum price. Apple's premium pricing strategy is what places this brand apart from the rest.

It attempts to increase market demand for its products through differentiation, which entails making its products unique and attractive to consumers. This is in tandem with Jobs’ vision who always wished to create a premier product and charge a premium price. Its latest phone to hit the market, iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus still continue to dominate customer psyche.

Products and Solutions: Mac, iPhone, iPad, iPod, Apple TV, iCloud, Apple store, iTunes Store, OS X and iOS operating systems.

Microsoft which has influenced the life of each and every computer literate is synonymous with OS. Even after 4 decades of its operations, it refuses to shed off its ‘iconic brand’ tag that it is associated with. The year 2014 has been quite significant for the Redmond giant; the beginning of the year saw the third CEO in Microsoft’s history, Satya Nadella taking the helm of the company. John W. Thompson took on the role of chairman, with Bill Gates becoming more active within the company as Technology Advisor. It also completed its acquisition of the Nokia Devices and Services business, forming a new subsidiary, Microsoft Mobile Oy. In September, the company acquired the video game development company Mojang for a sum of $2.5 billion.

Products and Solutions: Windows OS, MS Office suite, Office 365, Microsoft Dynamics, Mac OS, Azure Cloud Platform, Windows Live, Xbox game console, Bing, Skype, Microsoft Development Tools (Visual Studio, Silverlight), Windows Phone, Microsoft Mobile, Tablets.

Google has become a household name by now.

Google's innovative search technologies connect millions of people around the world with information every day. As of October 2014, Google has a valuation of $107.4 billion. It announced the selling of Motorola Mobility unit to China-based Lenovo in the beginning of 2014 for $2.91bn, keeping just the extensive patent used to develop Android products. Google owns and operates six Google Modular Data Centers across the U.S., Chile, Finland, Ireland, Belgium, Singapore and Taiwan. The company has also hinted at publicly launching its first Project Ara smartphones in Puerto Rico this year.

Products and Solutions: Google.com, Android, Gmail, Google Chrome, Google AdWords, Google Analytics, Chrome OS, Google Drive, Google Docs, Google +, Google Apps, Nexus Tablets, Google Maps, Chromebook.

More than a hundred year old company, IBM has been working towards building a Smarter Planet for the last 5 years, with business analytics, cloud computing, growth markets forming its other growth initiatives. After selling off its x86 business to Lenovo for a fee of $2.1 billion, the company now continues to invest in its core hardware systems business as part of its transformation. As a result of this, IBM in the beginning of 2015 has launched the z13, which it bills as the first mainframe specifically designed to accommodate the booming mobile app economy. In November 2014, IBM and Twitter announced a global landmark partnership to help enterprises make better, more informed decisions. IBM’s association with India is deep-rooted and long-term. That India stands high in IBM’s scheme of things has been a critical asset to Big Blue’s globally integrated enterprise model.

Products and Solutions: Software, Storage Networking & Virtualization, Systems and Servers, Application Lifecycle Management, Smarter Analytics.

28

January 2015

www.varindia.com

Till sometime ago, Samsung was struggling to catch up in the smartphone market; but now the landscape has changed in its favour, with the company becoming one of the largest technology companies globally by revenue. Every phone that it launches in the market creates the necessary hype for users to at least have a look of what the company has launched; such is the aura that Samsung phones carry. Lately Samsung launched Z1 powered by Tizen OS. Tizen, deployed in Samsung smart watches and cameras, is designed by Samsung along with other telecom developers by merging the former's homegrown Bada project. Samsung is also looking to give IoT a big boost in the next five years, for which it has made few acquisitions.

Products and Solutions: Mobile Phones (Smartphone and Feature Phones), Tablets, Wearable devices, Cameras/Camcorders, Mobile Accessories, Home Appliances, Audio Video equipments.

Indian ICT Industry

Here we are again, bringing to our readers the results of the annual VARINDIA Readership Survey conducted across the country among customers and partners.

The Top Leading Brands and the Most Admired Brands have been chosen on the basis of votes exercised by them, since most companies do agree that 80% of their products are being sold by their Partners and VARs and so it is very much significant that the partner community must have a giant say in this regard as they are the ones who sell the products to the customers. It is very apt to say then that a Brand is a seller's promise to deliver the same bundle of benefits/services consistently to buyers and thus helping that Brand to grow considerably. By featuring the Top Brands, we will also be paying tribute to these brands that have won the hearts of people across the country in their respective category.

The survey also found that the Information Communications and Telecommunications industry is the key input to productivity and growth performance in the business sector by having made good progress in modernizing country’s economy. Our strong belief is that a strong brand, regardless of the market in which it operates, drives improved business performance.

Cisco has built the brand in such a way that today it has become synonymous with networking solutions. While Cisco’s plummeting sales in the emerging markets has made its going tough, it is starting to regain its lost footing with the company catching on the trends of ‘Internet of Everything’ and Software Defined Networking. In India, it is looking forward to play an active role by enabling digitization of Indian economy and developing the country as a strategic business hub.

Products and Solutions: Borderless Networking products, Collaboration, Voice & Conferencing products, Security & Surveillance products, Wireless, Network Storage Systems, Data center products.

Intel is another company which needs no introduction. Intel's strategy for 2015 speaks of staking out a big chunk of market share in tablets by offering manufacturers subsidies to use its chips. In November 2014, the firm announced plans to merge its division that handles chips for personal computers with its group that handles chips for smartphones and tablets, fuelling huge internal changes at the organisation. In India, however Intel has crafted a different success story. Post the announcement of National Digital Literacy Mission with Intel and NASSCOM as partners, the chip vendor is really pushing hard to make Digital Literacy a reality. As part of the initiatives undertaken under the Digital Literacy Mission, Intel also announced the completion of its ‘Follow the Fiber’ program conducted in the first three villages to receive connectivity as part of NoFN roll out.

Products and Solutions: Bluetooth chipsets, flash memory, microprocessors, motherboard chipsets, network interface cards

SAP software has over the years come to be installed on the majority of the Fortune 500 company’s servers and data centers. In 2014, SAP changed from an AG to a European Company (Societas Europaea or SE). Together, they represent a $350 billion market opportunity by 2020, as projected by the top leadership at SAP. SAP HANA continues to remain an integral part of SAP's Cloud strategy. SAP India, which is rightly named the “Jewel in the Crown” of SAP globally has not only established a sound footprint in the Indian market, but has also become successful in building a robust partner network and a large customer base.

Products and Solutions: Business Applications (CRM, ERP, PLM, Supply Chain Management), Analytics, SAP HANA, Database & Technology.

One of the world's largest information technology companies HP operates in almost every country in the planet. HP’s commitment to global citizenship is based on a foundation of strong corporate accountability and governance, a commitment to environmental responsibility and active investment in local communities. In October, 2014, HP announced that it was planning to separate its personalcomputer and printer businesses from its technology services and forming two publicly traded companies - Hewlett-Packard Enterprise and HP, Inc. The Palo Alto headquartered HP provides a whole gamut of IT solutions that the resurgent India needs at present.

Dell’s transition from being an industry leader in the hardware business to an end-to-end IT Solutions player is really worth mentioning. The company has its most comprehensive presence outside the United States in India. With the aim to tap more enterprise customers with its solutions portfolio, it has made several adjustments to its Channel strategy in the last few quarters. The new GTM plan is linked with the transformation that Dell has under gone over last few years, right from the time when Michael Dell took the charge as CEO in 2007, acquiring software companies, building a solutions stake to being a private company now.

Products and Solutions: Printers, HP Software products, HP Converged Cloud products & Solutions, Scanners, Tablet Computers, Desktop computers, Notebooks, Thin Clients, Workstations, Servers, Enterprise storage, ProCurve Networking products.

Products and Solutions: Personal Computers, Workstations, Allin-Ones, Laptops, Servers, Peripherals, Tablets, Ultrabook, Storage, Networking, Converged Infrastructure Solutions, Smartphones, IT Services, Datacenter Virtualization.

www.varindia.com

January 2015

29

POWER OF BRANDS

India’s Most Admired Brands The Most Admired Brands in the Indian ICT industry reflect and articulate the contribution of those brands that have displayed strong leadership in their respective areas by having constantly delivering outstanding performance and excellent business results. It takes into consideration several key elements like Marketing, Brand Recognition, Competitive Analysis, Product Availability and Company’s Performance and brings them together onto a single framework within which a brand’s performance can be assessed. Additionally, we feel that customers should not recognize a brand outwardly just by seeing its logo, but there is also a need to have an in-depth knowledge and understanding of its distinctive qualities and characteristics.

The survey addresses this concern by reviewing the strengths of the brands, both inside the organization and externally, as it provides a more holistic assessment of the positioning of the brand in the mind of the consumer and the brand value.

As global competition becomes tougher and many competitive advantages such as technology become short-lived, the Most Admired Brands in the abstract form obtained from the valued customers of the corporate world are considered as business assets that can provide long-term competitive advantage.

Adobe has aggressively transitioned its business model to be more Cloud-based, and established leadership positions in the explosive Creative Cloud category, a Software-as-a-Service offering of high-quality content that is freely accessible to Creative Cloud members and retaining many of the features of its previous Adobe Creative Suite. In June 2014, the company announced 14 new versions of the CC essential desktop tools, four new mobile apps, and the availability of creative hardware for customers. For digital marketers, it has the Adobe Marketing Cloud suite that includes a complete set of analytics, social, advertising, targeting, experience management. It has lately introduced mobile features to its Marketing Cloud, thus making smartphones and other mobile devices new targets for analytics.

At the recent CES, AMD makes FreeSync a reality. FreeSync is an AMD technology designed with the promise to utilize already existing industry standards in order to bring dynamic display refresh capabilities at little to no cost to the OEMs and consumers. It announced expansion of the FreeSync ecosystem with technology partner, including BenQ, LG Electronics, Nixeus, Samsung, and Viewsonic showcasing their upcoming commercially available FreeSync1-enabled displays. As a part of its 2015 roadmap and its commitment to improving APU energy efficiency 25x by 2020, AMD has announced the addition of its first Mobile highperformance System-on-a-Chip (SoC), codenamed “Carrizo” and a mainstream SoC codenamed “Carrizo-L”.

APC sets the standard in its industry for quality, innovation and support. Its comprehensive solutions, which are designed for both home and corporate environments, improve manageability, availability and performance of sensitive electronic, network, communications and industrial equipment of all sizes. It has recently announced “InfraStruxure” (ISX) for SMBs in India, expanding on the unique architecture of APC's PowerStruXure that revolutionized data center power with the network-critical physical infrastructure (NCPI) architecture. InfraStruxure is a solution which allows SMBs to deploy their IT solutions in an adaptable, affordable and simple fashion and features a localized product mix that is pre-configured to suit their needs.

Avaya is known for spearheading several path-breaking technologies in the collaboration space.

Innovation is Avaya’s biggest strength and is constantly working towards meeting the collaboration and communication needs of its customers as they grow with solutions like video conferencing and managed services portfolio. It has lately started working with Google on innovative contact center solutions for businesses. The collaboration combines Avaya’s expertise in customer engagement technologies with Google’s expertise in Web applications and Chromebooks to enable greater simplicity, flexibility and cost efficiency in contact center operations.

Trusted for the high level of professional utilities, BlackBerry devices have a high quotient of intricacy, security and fidelity of sensitive user data. This is the USP of BlackBerry (both Mobile Phones and Enterprise Mobility solutions) and due to this it still has a user base which the company hopes, will continue to expand at a healthy growth rate. The latest product to have been launched by the handset major in India is the Passport, while the latest Classic Smartphone is all set to set foot in the domestic market in the New Year. In the Enterprise Mobility Management space which is deemed as the future of BlackBerry, it has secured a deal with Samsung to bring its new BES12 EMM platform to Android users, with the services to be made available to companies likely on Samsung’s line of Galaxy smartphones and tablets this year.

A leader in imaging technologies, Canon India has taken the Indian market by storm. The company, with its heritage in digital technology, is at the forefront of simplifying user experience with its new digital cameras launched for amateur photographers. Canon takes pride in not only bringing quality products to the market, but also serving customers. Reinforcing its commitment to customer service, Canon has launched the Asia Traveller Protection Programme (ATPP) recently, which provides customers access to professional Canon repair services for their cameras and lenses across 12 markets in Asia. It is also betting big on the commercial printing domain by expanding its colour production printer portfolio with new exciting models. It has also kicked off a repositioning campaign for its Inkjet consumer printers.

Security which is the DNA of Check Point and the endeavour with continuous innovation by virtue of extensive R&D initiatives helps the company lead the industry. With BYOD becoming a common feature,

30

January 2015

www.varindia.com

Check Point has come up with the Mobile Capsule integrated solution that can provide seamless security to protect business data from threats, establish a secure business environment on mobile devices, and secure business documents, devices and networks. Earlier this year, it came up with Software Defined Protection, a new pragmatic security architecture that provides flexibility to cope with new threats and also incorporate new technologies. It currently monitors the networks of 900 organizations, analyzing over 100 million events from about 1,000 security gateways, and 1,20,000 hours of data.

A security products manufacturer company, C P Plus brings together the passion for quality and security. The company produces CCTV cameras, digital video recorders, and special digital video recorders to network video recorders like mobile digital video recorders, compression cards and IP cameras. C P Plus has a portfolio of products and solutions that include CCTV cameras, digital video recorders, IP cameras and network video recorders. With focus on market expansion, evolving overseas customer base and improving brand credit and reputation, C P Plus constantly upgrades its products and services for customers so that they are always up-to-date with the latest technological advancements in the security and surveillance sector.

With deep commitment to ensure desired consistency, traceability and readiness to augment customer experience, Channel First strategy has been the reason Cyberoam cites as its success mantra in India. While it continues to be a leading vendor in the SMB and SME space, adding Next-Generation Firewalls to its security portfolio was a clear move on its part to make its presence felt in the enterprise security market. For working closely with IT Heads / CIOs and bringing together experienced and innovative security managers, Cyberoam’s Inner Circle initiative is envisaged as the right platform for promoting best practices in security which it had recently started.

There are several core values that form the foundation for D-Link’s success – Reliability, Trust, Service and nurturing a customer-focussed culture. To bolster its presence in the Smart home device space (in which it was already a leading player), D-Link has launched new home networking kits at the recent CES 2015 that are being offered in two versions, including PowerLine AV2 2000 Gigabit Starter Kit DHP-701AV and an updated PowerLine AV2 1000 Gigabit Starter Kit DHP-601AV. Many would have associated Emerson to a UPS company but over time it has expanded its leadership to other solutions, the most recent being data center infrastructure management (DCIM). With the appointment of Inflow Technologies as its distributor, the company plans to address the growing demand from enterprises for superior data center management solutions including its Trellis platform. It has also appointed neoteric infomatique as a national distributor for its range of UPS products in India. Through its combined efforts of engagement, Emerson makes sure that it is a symbiotic communication with both customers and partners. Coinciding with the festive season, Emerson announced the “Avocent ACS Advantage Ascent” payback scheme for its VARs and Network Solution Partners (NSPs) in India.

With the continued focus on Enterprise, Education and Home segments in 2014-15, Epson has made several path-breaking launches this year. It has strengthened its projector portfolio with several new products including a new large-scale venue projector which is Epson’s brightest projector to date and has been a key driver for its growth over competition. A 3LCD interactive projector that features finger-touch capabilities was also among its launched products. The company has witnessed success in the Indian market earlier by having introduced the revolutionary Ink Tank solutions. Otherwise best known for its office products, Epson created quite a ripple by entering the wearable tech market globally with a series of fitness products, which will be available later this year.

EMC has evolved as a company through multiple acquisitions and R&D from a pure play storage company to a technology major ever since its inception in 2000. Intending to increase its revenue from non-hardware business, the company will roll out the EMC Business Partner Programme in 2015 which will replace the existing Velocity Partner Programme and all other channel programmes across all EMC companies, including VMware. At its EMC World 2014, EMC announced the EMC ECS (Elastic Cloud Storage) Appliance, a hyperscale private cloud storage infrastructure that redefines the economic benefits of cloud storage for service providers and customers of any industry and size. Taking on Amazon's cloud storage service, the ECS comes on top of other EMC platforms, including the EMC Atmos public cloud storage platform. eScan is a comprehensive Antivirus Solution that provides Zero-Day protection to computers from objectionable content and cyber security threats. In line with the brand's ongoing growth in the enterprise security market, it has introduced three new lines of corporate products, all of which have cloud integration and support for hybrid networks – eScan Corporate 360, New eScan Corporate Edition (with Hybrid Network Support) and eScan Endpoint Security (with Hybrid Network Support). Having seen a huge growth in mobility adoption across enterprises, e-Scan has also introduced the Mobile Device Management module which is aimed at facilitating the administrator to remotely monitor. It has managed to enter into the SMB as well as government and education segments with prestigious clientele.

Unified Threat Management (UTM) has been a sweet favourite for Fortinet, with the company vying for becoming a larger player by becoming a dominant player in the mid-market and enterprise space. However, it has come a long way from UTM as its partners today have multiple entry points with next-gen firewall space, WAN optimization, secured wireless routers, WAF, DDOS, and APT (Advanced Persistent Threat). It has recently joined the Equinix Cloud Exchange to provide enterprises and service providers scalable and reliable security solutions across multiple cloud architectures. Fortinet has also expanded its India Technical Assistance Center in Bengaluru by adding support engineers, professional services consultants and Premium Account Managers who will oversee timely deployment of local projects. www.varindia.com January 2015 31

POWER OF BRANDS

Since launching the first Ultra Durable technology in 2006, GIGABYTE has made much significant advancement to the critical power delivery area of the motherboard by using low-temperature, highly efficient, long lifespan Graphics card. In its latest 9 Series motherboards that are based on the Intel Z97/H97 Chipset, Gigabyte has already launched over 10 Gaming Motherboard models. Very recently, it has launched its X99 motherboard series, based on the Intel X99 chipset and latest DDR4 memory support that also includes Gaming and Overclocking categories. The company has had a remarkable market share in the Indian Do-It-Yourself (DIY) PC motherboard last year. It has also unveiled the P37X notebook, a 17.3-inch gaming notebook at CES 2015 along with P37K and P37W. One of India’s original IT garage start-ups, HCL Technologies is among the five fastest companies to cross $1-billion net profit, $5-billion revenue and $15-billion market capitalization since incorporation. Over the past three years, its share price has risen by 249%. In fact, it was the only company among its peers to have recognized infrastructure management services (IMS) as a space ripe for large-scale outsourcing. Going ahead, healthcare and education are touted to be the two important verticals that HCL will focus on. The Shiv Nadar-founded company is, however, betting on engineering services outsourcing (ESO) R&D to create new revenue streams and for a broad-based growth and rely less on revenues from managing IT infrastructure.

A trusted brand in the Cloud space, HDS does business in more than 100 countries and regions today. To build out its cloud services provider partner network across the globe and deliver enterprise-grade cloud technology to partners, the company has launched the Hitachi Cloud Service Provider Programme, besides introducing two new cloud services – Hitachi Cloud – Compute-as-a-Service, a private cloud IaaS and Hitachi Unified Compute Platform. Focussed on converged solutions, HDS is working with SAP and VMware to identify partners to reach out to a larger customer base. For SMB customers in India, Hitachi has roped in Redington and iValue to offer Hitachi Cloud Services Connection program (HCSC). This program is a public cloud offering built on HDS cloud infrastructure and solutions and managed by HDS for partners to resell.

Taiwanese handset-maker HTC expects a sharp increase in revenue from India as it changes its strategy from being a mainly high-end player to one with a special focus on the affordable segment. The company formerly at the top of the Android space has been sliding for several years globally, though it has posted its first quarterly revenue growth in three years. Analysts believe that the higher level of sales were a result of HTC concentrating on the mid-range market in developing markets. The company's strategy of positioning its products towards the high-end failed miserably last year. Hence, a shift in focus is expected to work wonders for it. Its latest entrant in its mid-range Desire series is the Desire 826 which will be launched in India next month.

A private company fully owned by its employees, Huawei has presence today in over 140 countries and has partnered with the 45 out of top 50 telecom service providers of the world. Huawei has been in the news recently for having secured a three-year contract from Bharti Airtel for supply of base stations and other equipments for its 4G network in Karnataka and Tamil Nadu telecom circles. It has also partnered with Reliance Communications to offer 2GB of free 3G data on Huawei’s new 3G Wi-Fi dongles and 3G Mi-Fi devices. By the end of 2014, Huawei has targeted 6,000+ partners who are expected to contribute 70% of the total sales revenue. In India, Huawei has a network of 130+ partners – as of 2014.

Juniper Networks always had great technology and a very well-rounded product portfolio. The Network leader has started a joint Asia-Pacific (APAC) strategy aimed at accelerating the adoption of private cloud solutions by enterprises and alignment of sales team across APAC along with VMware. It has expanded its Junos software portfolio beyond the OS, adding new capabilities to link into the application space as well as client software for mobile and personal computing devices. Together, the Junos operating system, the Junos Space network application platform and the Junos Pulse client form the Junos Platform now.

Kaspersky that has been present in India for the last five years considers its channel partners as its main strength. Kaspersky always works towards a win-win situation for all three – Kaspersky Lab, Channel partners and end-users and this gets manifested in the offers and schemes it introduces for both partners and end-users.

It has recently appointed VR Infotech as its national distributor for all Kaspersky retail products in India, though it will part ways with Sakri IT Solutions with whom Kaspersky has been associated for quite some. It has steadily increased its market share in India and is growing at a healthy pace with solutions that include antivirus, Internet security, end-point security.

Kingston has come a long way in terms of offering thousands of memory products that support nearly every device that uses memory. In 2014, Kingston HyperX released the FURY memory line for entry-level overclocking and gaming enthusiasts. HyperX, a high-performance product division of Kingston, launched a Cloud gaming headset. Kingston also shipped M.2 SATA SSDs for new notebook platforms, small-form-factor devices and Z97 motherboards and released the MobileLite Wireless G2, the second-generation media streamer for smartphones and tablets, besides launching the Class 10 UHS-I microSD and Class 10 UHS-I SDHC/SDXC memory cards.

Lenovo entered the global PC market when Legend Holdings of China took over the personal computing division of IBM in 2005. Lenovo’s growth was phenomenal globally as well as in India, with the company’s global strategy “protect and attack”, helping it to consolidate its Enterprise business and venture strongly into the Consumer and SMB segments, where Lenovo traditionally had lower presence. In an era when the PC is fast dying out, Lenovo is gearing

32

January 2015

www.varindia.com

up for what it calls the “P C Plus” era. Rather than refocussing its attention on to new categories like smartphones and tablets, it is continuing to innovate the traditional line of PCs. It has, indeed, put up an incredible show at CES this year by launching its ThinkPad 2015 product portfolio, the Yoga range of tablets and A6000 smartphone.

Since its establishment in 1958, LG Electronics has led the way to an ever more advanced digital era. Its brand identity focusses on self-expression and a promise of satisfaction to its customers. LG is one of the first manufacturers to have started rolling out Android 5.0 Lollipop last year. The latest phone released in the Indian market is the L Fino. It has also launched the “Tone Infinim” headset that redefines the sound experience through Ergonomic Design. LG’s manufacturing unit at Greater Noida is one of the most eco-friendly units among all LG manufacturing plants in the world.

With a broad portfolio of interface devices, Logitech has continued to expand its range of products. Being consistent in their vision and excellent innovation in products, it is no surprise that Logitech today is synonymous with quality. It launched the gaming mouse, Logitech G402 Hyperion Fury this year, besides launching protective case for iPad Air and iPad mini along with ultra-thin folio for Samsung Galaxy Tab 4 10.1. and a comprehensive lineup of wireless products, comprising of wireless keyboards, mice, portable speakers, headsets and Bluetooth-enabled speakers.

Lava - “Create Possibilities”, is the guiding principle of Lava that has motivated Lava to create innovations.

Incepted in the year 2009, it is one of the top indigenous handset companies in the country. The company has extended its reach to Nepal and Middle East through leading distributors and retailers in these geographies.

The company has also hinted to be in talks with Nokia to buy its Chennai handset factory. Aiming to help consumer upgrade to smartphone and realize the power of internet, it has launched several budget smartphones in its Iris range last year in September. It also unveiled its first Windows powered smartphone, Iris Win1. The company realized revenues of INR 29,090 mn in FY13-14 and is expected to become a 1bn USD company by FY14-15 end.

A part of Intel Security, McAfee is focused on developing proactive, proven security solutions and services that protect systems, networks, and mobile devices for business and personal use around the world. The company which was bought

by Intel in 2010, has been securing consumers and businesses of all sizes from the latest malware and emerging online threats ever since its inception in 1987. It has signed a MoU with Europol's European Cybercrime Centre (EC3) that brings together Intel Security expertise with EC3’s law enforcement skills in the war against cybercrime.

It has also joined hands with Siemens to enhance the security offerings for industrial customers and protect them against rapidly evolving global cyber threats.

The indigenous handset maker, Micromax Informatics Limited has pioneered the democratization of technology for masses by offering affordable offerings and removing barriers for large scale adoption of advanced technologies.

With presence across India and global presence in Russia and SAARC markets, the Indian brand is reaching out to the global frontier with innovative products that challenge the status quo that Innovation comes with a price. Its latest Yu Yureka smartphone that went on sale right after its launch via Amazon India is said to have gone out of stock in just 3 seconds. Today Micromax is not just another smartphone brand but has become a household name sponsoring Cricket tournaments, movie titles, F1 racing and football, to name a few.

NETGEAR is known to convert ideas into innovative networking products that connect people, power businesses and advance the way we live. For consumers, the company makes high performance, dependable and easy to use home networking, storage and digital media products to connect people with the Internet and their content and devices. For businesses, NETGEAR provides networking, storage and security solutions without the cost and complexity of big IT. It has also launched its JR6150 dual-band gigabit Wi-Fi router that runs 2.4 and 5 GHz bands concurrently. For delivering innovative products, Netgear announced the new NETGEAR AC750 Wi-Fi Range Extender (EX6100) which supports older a/b/g/n Wi-Fi devices. Netgear is increasing its focus on solution-selling in the SMB space while focusing on mid- and high-end products in retail.

With more than 70,000 customers and 20 million daily users in 140 countries NComputing is a leading name in the world of virtualization. A leading player in thin-client and desktop virtualization, its vision is to make computing affordable and accessible to everyone. It is rapidly becoming the de-facto choice for governments, small and medium businesses, education and training institutions and many others for expanding their IT infrastructure and computing power in the most cost-effective, secure and energy-efficient manner. It has recently achieved a significant milestone of deploying over 1.3 million seats in India. NComputing is also noted for its successful evolution from “a device-centric company” to a “Software Company with a client virtualization platform purpose built for simplicity, low cost and minimal IT resources.

NetApp is an innovator in storage and data management solutions that deliver outstanding cost efficiency and accelerate business breakthroughs. It continues to work together with VMware to accelerate hybrid cloud deployment and enable customers to better manage data across any cloud. At NetApp Insight North America 2014, the company announced a powerful new version of the NetApp clustered Data ONTAP operating system, Cloud ONTAP, OnCommand Cloud Manager and NetApp Private Storage for Cloud that enable customers to embrace the hybrid cloud. It has also partnered with SAP, BMMsoft, HP and Red Hat to create the World’s Largest Data Warehouse with a size greater than 12PB based on NetApp E5460 storage systems.

www.varindia.com

January 2015

33

POWER OF BRANDS Novell has always been known for creating high value offerings at competitive price points with solutions ranging from open source Linux from SUSE to mailing solution from Novell like GroupWise and modular solutions from NetIQ, which clearly demonstrate the belief. It offers customers solutions that are easily scalable and also the best of product features that cater to the growing needs of enterprises. To serve its customers Novell has a dedicated team of consultants who have a specific charter of post sales and post product implementation after a customer comes on board. They work one on one with the customer and create a complete post sales strategy. It leverages its stakeholders (partners, customers, employees) to create brand awareness at various forums and programs.

From the time of its inception in the year 1993, NVIDIA has focused on innovations. The drive to innovate and reinvent itself is there at the core of each of NVIDIA’s product ranging from Tesla, Quadro, GeForce Graphics cards to Tegra mobile processors.

The main driving force of the company is however the GPU — the engine of modern visual computing. The company is also fast getting into the automotive field. The company otherwise best-known for its desktop computing power is now coming to be at the helm of transportation technologies. It has high hopes with its newly launched Tegra X1 mobile processor, which it claims will be as fast as the world's fastest supercomputer in 2000 with a teraflop of computing power.

Oracle is among the first few multinational software companies to set up operation in India.

Oracle’s extensive and sophisticated network of channel partners is integral to the company’s success globally and also in India. At the recently held India Partner Forum (IPF 2015) being held in Bangkok, Oracle India provided partners with the strategies, insights and resources they need to succeed and profit with Oracle. It has also signed an MoU with ICT Academy of Kerala (ICTAK) to implement Oracle Academy’s computer science programs across 60 institutes in the state of Kerala over the next two years.

Despite facing steep competition, the Japan based electronic company, Panasonic has managed to craft a market share in many product categories. Localization or Indovation (India + Innovation) has been the key driver for the company’s business growth in India. To strengthen its position in emerging markets like Asia, Middle Eastern and Western economies, Panasonic has recently designated India as a regional hub. India is the sixth strategic region which will take care of SAARC nations, Middle East Asia and Africa. The company is also aggressively trying to position itself as a Smartphone major brand in the country.

For over 20 years, Polycom has led the industry in setting the standard for enterprise class communications. From its immersive telepresence systems to its video desktops to its conference phones and accessories, Polycom technology is an integral part of the way businesses is done around the world. Recently Havells India has upgraded their existing Polycom video infrastructure with new video and content collaboration solutions that includes Polycom Real Presence Group 500. Most significantly, North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) has selected Polycom Open Telepresence Experience (OTX) for its Communications and Information Agency (NCI Agency).

Founded in 1993, Quick Heal Technologies has designed its products to simplify IT security management across the length and depth of devices and on multiple platforms. It has announced the opening of its two new branches in Africa (Kenya) and Middle East (Dubai). Besides its own offices, Quick Heal Technologies carries its global operations through registered distributors and channel partners across 60 countries and is keen to increase the number further in all parts of the world. It has a well-connected network of 15000 plus channel partners in more than 112 countries worldwide.

Ricoh caters to ever-evolving and diverse needs of customers under a holistic umbrella. From having diversified its business from its core businesses of printing and imaging to communication and IT services, Ricoh as a brand has come a long way. In the last three years, Ricoh has grown from Rs.300 crore to Rs.1, 042 crore. For 2015, Ricoh has taken a strategic decision to focus on certain key industry verticals such as education, manufacturing, healthcare and BFSI. Department of Posts has selected Ricoh as System Integrator for “Rural Information & Communication Technology (ICT) – Hardware (RH)” Solution which will enable the Department to modernize approximately 129,000 Post Offices through automation.

For the last 25 years, SanDisk has been a leader in the flash storage industry. With such a strong foundation offered to consumers, trust is what SanDisk tries to give to its customers through its products and flash technology. Over the past two decades, SanDisk has also increased the capacity of flash memory by 30,000 times while decreasing costs by 50,000 times, thus driving the wide adoption of flash memory. At this year’s CES, the company has introduced two new SSDs and a USB flash drive for Android products. SanDisk also celebrated the receipt of its 5,000th patent in 2014.

A known name in the storage industry, Seagate has developed amazing products that enable people and businesses around the world to create, share and preserve their most critical memories and business data. To strengthen its flash storage range, Seagate has recently acquired LSI’s Accelerated Solutions Division (“ASD”) and Flash Components Division (“FCD”). It has also unveiled a dramatic and contemporary rebranding of the company that underscores Seagate’s extensive data storage product portfolio. The “Living Logo” will showcase data as a living, vibrant thing that powers human invention and advances.

Pioneer in the field of Active networking, Smartlink offers an integrated value proposition from design and development to sales and marketing, and service and support. The company’s offering fulfill the needs of customers ranging from Enterprise to SME/SMB and SOHO to home users from across the verticals. Its major strength are its flagship brands Digilite, Digisol, Digicare. Sensing the popularity of PoE solutions in powering devices through an Ethernet cable/port rather than using a separate mains supply, Digisol has a wide range of PoE range that supports

34

January 2015

www.varindia.com

different PoE outputs. It has also announced a 3.75G modem broadband router COMFI - DG-HR1020S. The company that considers its partners as a major driving force and has recently introduced “Bangkok Calling” scheme for them.

The brand ‘Sparsh’ stands for Trust, Reliability and Innovativeness. Sparsh has always been focused on developing and manufacturing video surveillance products which have given it the first mover advantage and an opportunity to work with the technology leaders in this domain. Sparsh has revolutionized the security market in India by being India’s first firm to focus on indigenous design and manufacture of technologically advanced electronic security devices. It is a result of its focus on innovation and quality control that Sony Singapore picked Sparsh to design and manufacture CCD Board Cameras for first time in Indian market. The vision is to put India on the global map for designing and manufacturing high quality and technologically advanced electronic security equipments.

Symantec’s products and services protect people and information in any environment – from the smallest mobile device to the enterprise data center, to cloud-based products, end point protection. In a statement issued by the company a Symantec announced plans to separate into two publicly traded companies, one focused on security, the other on information management, as both these areas require distinct strategies, focused investments and goto market innovation. The company has also joined the OpenStack Foundation as a corporate-level sponsor that will allow it to leverage expertise in building and operating its own cloud infrastructure.

Tally has a power of simplicity is very much true in true sense amongst business houses in India that commands exceptional respect and loyalty. Tally has a channel partner base of more than 25,000 spread across the length and the breadth of the continent and beyond. With a 400+ strong R&D team, Tally strives to deliver unmatched innovations and continues unchallenged as the industry leader in enterprise resource planning software for medium and small businesses. Tally has the best interests of its customers and partners in mind when it creates products, service models or policies.

TE Connectivity is a $14 billion world leader in connectivity. TE has over 18,000 patents granted or pending, 7,500 engineers and invests nearly five percent of sales in research, development and engineering. ‘EVERY CONNECTION COUNTS’ is what the company believes in. Recently TE Connectivity and Alcatel-Lucent have together developed a solution allowing mobile operators to reduce time and power required to connect customers in high-capacity locations. It is also set to acquire the business of China’s Xiamen Delixing Electric Equipment (‘Delixing’) and Xiamen SIBAS Connectors (‘Sibas’).

Toshiba for the past several years has been one of the most consistent brands sharing the centre stage. Toshiba's excellence in technology, products, systems and services and the quality and reliability - all derive from the passion and determination that the people of Toshiba bring to the pursuit of innovation and progress. Toshiba hopes to capitalize on the trend of stylus/ digital pen with its latest portables that include the Portege Z20t Ultrabook and a pair of Encore 2 Write tablets. It has also unveiled the much awaited Windows 8.1 Tablet ‘WT-8’ and the world’s first Ultra HD 4K laptop – the Satellite L series laptops along with Satellite P and S range of laptops.

A leader in virtualization and cloud infrastructure solutions, VMware enables businesses to thrive in the Cloud Era. 2014 started off really well for the company with VMware having completed the acquisition of AirWatch, provider of enterprise mobile management and security solutions. With 2013 revenues of $5.21 billion, VMware has more than 500,000 customers and 75,000 partners. Recently, VMware and Brocade has joined hands to advance solutions that support the New IP by allowing enterprises to more easily transition to software-defined data centers (SDDCs) and adopt network virtualization. It also announced the general availability of new cloud management offerings including a significant update to VMware vRealize Suite 6 built for the hybrid cloud.

A prominent name in the storage space, WD works with the leading channel partners to ensure that products and solutions are available in metros and even smaller cities. The company organizes partner and customer meets in all these cities and educate them on products and solutions. It applies an integrated marketing, communications and social media approach to reach out to channel partners as well as prosumers and endconsumers. It also announced that its WD My Cloud mobile apps have been downloaded more than four million times.

Xerox, over the years has established itself as the world’s leading enterprise for business process and document management. Xerox’s technology expertise, solutions and services enable clients – from small businesses to large global enterprises – to operate more efficiently and effectively. Xerox effectively works with its network of partners to deliver this seamlessly across India, freeing their customers to focus on what matter most ‘their real business.’ Today, Xerox is well positioned to leverage the rapid growth in the Indian print industry and the graphic arts segment. It gained a lot of momentum in this business in the recent years and aims to carry this forward in the future with a range of newly launched products and further strengthen its leadership position in this segment.

One of the largest SIs of embedded electronic security in India, Zicom Electronic Security is on its way to become synonymous with electronic security, thanks to its focus on brand building and marketing through the years of its existence. “Feel Safe” drives Zicom’s ethos across all customer segments and that is exactly what the company provides the customer through the selling cycle. Zicom has introduced the HDTVI technology on an open platform in the surveillance space and offers customers different types of HDTVI Cameras. Zicom enjoys a healthy order book position for ‘e-surveillance’ of ATMs from both existing and prospective Banks and NBFCs in the country and has launched a unique service model to monitor ATMs 24x7 remotely.

www.varindia.com

January 2015

35

FACE TO FACE

Kingston eyes ‘Support Service’ with renewed interest Kingston has always been a strong contender on the service front, but it wanted to be even stronger by making a few modifications in the way it provides after-sales support, which it eventually did. The outcome has been quite interesting as this relatively reduced the total time taken with deliveries getting faster, extended to more locations and as a result customers experienced a much better response time. LC Chan, Customer Service Director, Kingston Technology – APAC Region, tells VARINDIA of how this has been made possible.

K

ingston is a recognized memory brand globally and even in India. The company has grown to be an independent manufacturer of memory products and is respected for its innovative products and expertise in the industry. “Our journey so far has seen many ups and downs but given our expertise, we have battled it out perfectly and positively. We are a proud brand that delivers the best products and solutions to enhance our customer’s sharing and computing experience,” says LC Chan, Customer Service Director, Kingston Technology - APAC Region.

Commitment Towards Service Support Talk about Service and it forms the lifeblood of any organization.

Kingston as a company is committed to keeping its strategies dynamic in order to provide better service in time. “For Kingston, Customer Service is as important as the Product Quality. We understand the effect that it can have on business and make sure to provide the best support service. Good service is all about enhancing customer’s experience and thus turning them into advocates. India is an important market to consider this aspect as a pain point. Customers can be confident when using highest quality Kingston’s products, and obtain efficient, responsive after-sales support, if needed,” opines Chan. She further continues, “We not only provide the best quality at the best price but also provide one of the best customer service support to customers and to the channel. In the times to come, we will focus our energies and investments to make a positive impact.”

Kingston has grown a lot in the last one year and has made quite a few modifications to reach more customers. With Accel Frontline as its national service partner, Kingston caters to more than 60 locations across the country today. This not only includes metro cities and major trade hubs but also the tier-II and even tier-III towns and cities. “It is not only about the growth in the number of service centres, but we are able to include courier services for those who are unable to visit the customer service centres. Customer service is our priority and we are in talks with our channel partners on more ways to improve in the coming months,” says Chan.

A Wide Service Coverage In terms of service coverage, Kingston caters to a broad geography. However, with the Kingston Technical Support, there is more value add that the customers get now. This is an extra support that the memory brand has included for customers, both existing and prospective where it engages and assists them with any presales or post-sales inquiries, ranging from where to buy, how to use, product specifications and more. It has also established a call centre to connect with consumers and respond quickly to their queries or any escalation, understanding customer’s needs and expectations, helping them in defining the direction and process mapping of customer service for local market and so on. “That is not all; we have put a practice of a fast over-the-counter services for all Kingston product lines, wherever possible,” reiterates Chan. The Customer Service toll number not only offers guidance on RMA-related queries but also provides free technical support related to all Kingston’s products. “Our well-trained technical support staff is able to give recommendations, troubleshooting or problem diagnostics over the phone. This support is also extended to Emails for customers who have more technical or elaborate queries,” she explains.

36

January 2015

www.varindia.com

LC Chan Customer Service Director Kingston Technology – APAC Region “Kingston is a respected lifestyle technology brand and has, undoubtedly, one the best customer service in the industry. And it is the market feedback that allows us to claim this.”

Kingston takes pride in offering the highest quality products to its customers. However, if warranty is ever required, as long as the Kingston’s product is not physically damaged and within warranty terms, replacements are provided by Kingston free of charge.

Moving on…

India is an important market for Kingston and a strong customer service further enhances its leadership and market position. It has invested and made modifications to its existing service- related strategies in the country in the last one year, followed by a series of initiatives. “The net result is a positive happy customer and we will continue to perform better than industry standards. We will continue to invest in enhancing the service network and revamping the service structure,” sums up Chan. n samrita@varindia.com

GREAT PERFORMANCE

&RPHV ZLWK $΍RUGDEOH 3ULFH WHY GIGABYTE?

UDIMM Support x2

LPT Port

IDE Support

USB 3.0 Ready

Why to buy a refurbished Motherboard when you can get a robust, combined solution!

GIGABYTE Ultra Durable™ 4

2Q 2΍ &KDUJH Technology

Lasting Quality from GIGABYTE

GIGABYTE Technology (India) Pvt. Ltd. Tel: 022-40633222; Website: www.gigabyte.in; Toll-Free: 1800-22-0966; www.facebook.com/GIGABYTEindia Gujarat: 97250 59195; Mumbai, Goa, Vidarbha: 99677 18653; Rest of Maharashtra: 99221 13396; New Delhi & Uttar Pradesh: 99583 72672; Chhattisgarh: 98269 92970; Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand: 99100 86976; Punjab, Chandigarh and Jammu & Kashmir: 97818 33433 Madhya Pradesh: 98269 92970; Rajasthan: 99100 86976; Bihar: 90075 45577; Jharkhand: 90405 06080; Orissa: 90405 06080; North East: 98642 30150; West Bengal: 97485 02710; Karnataka: 81236 86976; Andhra Pradesh: 90000 77671; Tamil Nadu: 74117 74666; Kerala: 98950 99231

www.varindia.com

January 2015

37

EVENT SPECIAL



  

Huawei Enterprise Business Group’s   1st Annual Partner Summit 

uawei,    global        for Huawei Enterprise.

Globally, Huawei a leading collaborated with 5400+ partners, information and communications               technology (ICT) solutions provider including 1100+ solution partners and                  commenced its first Annual Enterprise 1100+ service partners in 2013. Partners  Summit 2014 for the Huawei Enterprise were credited with contributing 68% Business Group in Bangalore, India on of the total sales revenue. By the end of 

H

18-20 Dec 2014. Huawei came together 2014, Huawei is targeting 6,000+ partners with over 300+ partners from all over who are expected to contribute 70% of the  the country, in order to reiterate its total sales revenue. commitment to the partner community,                  which has been spearheading the growth In India, Huawei has a network  of Huawei’s enterprise business in India. of 130+ partners as of 2014.

             The Objective The welcome address was delivered by  Mr. Ernest Zhang Lin, President, Huawei  Huawei Enterprise attributes a large Enterprise Business Group, Southern-East part of its growth and success to the Asia addressing partners in his inaugural  expertise of its widespread channel speech and stating that India is one of the most   in  market.  and        important fastest growing markets for partner network the Indian Huawei Enterprise, and that Huawei intends Having witnessed growth  between  100%             to continue large investments in the market 2013 and 2014 in India, Huawei Enterprise  recognizes the importance of partners, resellers, distributors and systems integrators in being crucial building blocks for the advancement of Huawei EBG in India. Proceeding from this, the company held its first Annual Enterprise Summit with the theme “Connecting Together, Creating Tomorrow” in order to engage, converse with, understand and expose partners to the role and growth of Huawei in the Indian ICT Ecosystem. The three day partner engagement saw Huawei bring in key executives from different parts of the world, in order to convey the objectives, roadmap and channel strategy for Huawei Enterprise in India.

Consistent Partner Focus

in the coming year. He also maintained that Mr. Ernest Zhang Lin, President, Huawei Enterprise hopes to continue its  Huawei Enterprise Business Group, growth and become an innovation partner Southern-East Asia addressing as an ICT solutions provider across segments partners in his inaugural speech         such as ITeS, Media, BFSI etc.

                  Key highlights of the Event:  Three Days  of Consistent Partner Engagement           Partners were welcomed on the first day, and given the opportunity to engage and network with their peers as well as with Huawei team members at the Welcome    group   Dinner.

An interactive activity based on the theme “Connecting Together,         Creating Tomorrow” called Drums Café was conducted with the audience, along  with the live band entertainment.                                

Huawei collaborates with partners to target sectors including finance, hospitality, education, retail and ecommerce, telecom, MSO, ISP, ITeS for achieving multi-win outcomes.

Combining Huawei’s technological expertise and customer centric innovation with partners’ professional capabilities and expertise in product and solution      development and marketing, Huawei     strives to create values for customers   and  help them to succeed.  In  addition, engaging and sustaining relationships with partners has always been a priority

   



          

38                       January 2015

www.varindia.com

The three day event saw a Key Note address by Mr Derek Hao, VP-Solution, Huawei Enterprise Business Group, Southern East Asia offering an overview of the Huawei Enterprise product and solution line, in order to keep the 300+ attendees keyed into the innovations offered by Huawei Enterprise Business Group in India. Mr William Chuck,VP-Channel, Huawei Enterprise Business Group, Southern East Asia offered a detailed insight into the channel strategy for EBG in India in his keynote address.  Huawei             The versatile agenda for the three day summit saw partners attending a thought leadership address from Mr. Vijay Ramachandran, Editor in-Chief, IDG Media on CIO Priorities for 2015. This was followed by a panel discussion for key partners, moderated by Mr. Ramachandran, which talked about how Huawei and its partners are Connecting        Together, Creating Tomorrow through successful collaboration and how they are helping translate Huawei’s credentials & innovative     R&D experience into business growth and profitability.

Mr Himanshu Mahajan, Director- Services, Huawei Enterprise Business Group, India delivered a key note address on partner service  and trainings enabled by Huawei for better equipping the channel with knowledge and capability to offer the right solutions for the right  customer needs.



        Sharing the Huawei Enterprise Experience           Huawei Enterprise also took this opportunity to bring enduring 

relationships with customers to a visible platform. Selected partners and customers with long standing relationships with Huawei EBG were invited to share testimonials via video, to explain what works for          them as Huawei partners, and their strong outlook towards Huawei  in the enterprise space.               Director,            Hitesh Thakkar, Smartnet said, “We were promoting Cisco as a networking solution, we did Cisco business for 10 years,               we did well. Then we thought that we were missing on some value  propositions to our customers. was having its own arrogance     end Cisco          because of its market share. So we introduced Huawei as a brand. It   has products equivalent to Cisco and available at a very good price proposition. So I think Huawei gives very good value to the end   customer.”   Partha Choudhury, Chief Financial Officer, You Broadband (a  Huawei customer) said, “Huawei has got a very high turn around capacity. They have given us access to ‘Biting Technology” if  I may   call it so. Huawei has fulfilled our requirement towards the delivery of  very high speed delivery switches on-ground in almost all the cities of          operations that we are in. it has enabled us to provide our customers   Product Marketing & on the IT Product portfolio by Mr. Ronald    with dream speeds of 50 MBPS and 100 MBPS in the residences.”

Raffensperger, CTO, Huawei Technologies, Data Center Solutions.   In addition to the partner engagement and channel conversation,  The evening was mesmerizing with the stunning live performance Huawei Enterprise Business Group engaged the audience in a successive  to Bollywood beats by Can Can dancers followed by a live performance   delivery of exhaustive sessions on the IP Product portfolio by Mr by talented singer Anusha Mani, who lit up the evening with her Ajay Gupta, Global Director, Huawei Enterprise Business Group,  versatile voice. n





                    

                    New R&D Campus Tour         

Partners also visited Huawei’s New R&D Campus during the course of their stay at the event and witnessed the newly built Huawei  R&D centre which is a state of the art product experience facility that Enterprise culture business objective           showcases   construction,     alignment and alliances which are conducive to building a growth environment in a mutual learning scenario.                The R&D Centre will be a key resource in gaining an understanding of the best practices of Indian software development and quality             processes, which have enabled the world class R&D and managerial talent in the ICT ecosystem



                         

                               www.varindia.com January 2015 39   

e-Commerce

E-Commerce is a sustainable business model I

ndia, as a growing nation, could be looking to invest continuously in newer technologies and capabilities, with people becoming busy with their work and commitments, the concept of e-commerce has given immense popularity to online shopping sites in India with their offerings best deals to lure buyers. There are many value added services from these e-commerce companies like cash on delivery, free shipping and also return policies if the customer is not happy with the product. With this the online retail sector has experienced incredible growth in India and the two big global behemoths eBay and Amazon are now vying to capture a larger share of India’s growing e-commerce market.

More e-commerce companies like Alibaba and Rakuten have already expressed their interest to step into the Indian market.

E-commerce has taken the world of retail by storm and captivated the imagination of an entire generation of entrepreneurs. The explosive growth of e-commerce ventures in the last few years has already catapulted the biggest firms among these ventures past the billion-dollar territory. It is also the most challenging in fulfilling its fundamental proposition of transcending physical boundaries to deliver a variety of products to the customer’s doorstep. A recent survey says, Indian netizens are the third biggest users of credit cards for making online purchases globally. This pushes the growth opportunity of e‐commerce in India, there is intense competition in the market because the increasing access to information allows consumers to find the most competitive price for a product/service, thereby increasing the satisfaction level. Of course there are certain challenges in the marketing front, you can say in other words like the game of valuation.

For example, the companies who are unable to invest in technology and infrastructure to maintain the loyalty of the ever‐demanding consumers would have to bow out by merging with another company, who has superior staying power.

The e-commerce market in India is set to grow the fastest within the AsiaPacific Region at a CAGR of over 57%

40

January 2015

www.varindia.com

between2012–16 and e-commerce is the future and this channel is only estimated to grow because there are constraints in terms of growth of organised retail in India. The strong emergence of e-commerce will place an enormous pressure on the supporting logistics functions. In coming days, with the growth of technology some solutions will be available, on how easily the products could reach to the extreme part of the country, may be through service delivery partners (taking help of the traditional resellers/retailers) then the concept of reaching products directly from warehouse to consumer will be of great success, which is cost effective.

Despite a huge potential, long term profitability of the e-retailing industry in the country is still under question. After so many years of operations, all the major e-retailers are yet to start making profits. In the wake of wafer-thin margins and sub-optimal infrastructure resulting in higher delivery cost, the long-term profitability still seems a distant possibility. After taking a holistic view of the industry trends, e-commerce is poised for an exciting period of exploding growth in a period of three to five years. There are more than 150 various e-commerce players in the country, offering various products and services to consumers. Here, we are focusing on how online stores turning Marketplaces is more like a virtual mall which provides an established platform for sellers and buyers to connect, share, sell, buy and build ongoing relationships.

Amazon.com, Inc. is a Fortune 500 company based in Seattle, Amazon is one of the most reputed name in the world of online shopping for products like ebooks, electronics and others items. The Amazon India website and its services are being tweaked for India and its hugely growing online shoppers is spear headed by Amit Agarwal as the Country Manager of Amazon's India operations. He is a computer engineer from the Indian Institute

of Technology, Kanpur, and is a master’s in computer science from Stanford University, US. Amazon India signed a strategic partnership agreement with one of India’s biggest offline retailers—the Future Group—to work together in the areas of product development, branding and marketing. The portal commits to ensure 100% Purchase Protection for your shopping done on Amazon.in so that one can benefit from a safe and secure online ordering experience, convenient electronic payments and cash on delivery, easy returns, Amazon’s customer service with 24×7 support. You can find this Fulfilled by Amazon badge on many product pages. This specifies that the Orders are eligible for FREE Delivery and can be placed using Cash on Delivery. It is being mentioned by Amazon India that the orders which contains products worth Rs 499 or more are only eligible for FREE delivery.

In the website there is an option of feedback on your purchase experience and you can also share your feedback on-line.

eBay is the world’s largest shopping mall an online marketplace, Latif Nathani is the Managing Director of eBay India and is responsible for leading the eBay business in the country. Latif is an active evangelist of eCommerce’s transformational potential for both Indian online shoppers & entrepreneurs where individuals and businesses come together to buy and sell almost anything. Latif is backed by Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from University of Arizona. ebay is India's leading online marketplace, where anyone can sell or buy almost anything. You can find everything on eBay from Mobile phones, digital cameras iPods, t-shirts, shoes, candles, furniture, jewellery, watches, handicrafts, kurtas, laptops, perfumes, computers, microwave ovens, toys, baby products, weighing scales, and much

more. There are many ways to buy, so you can choose the format that suits you. Make an instant purchase for products at a fixed price with Buy It Now button. Bid using the exciting auction-style format at the price you are willing to pay. If you are the highest bidder you get the item at your price.

With the introduction of 'eBay Guarantee', offering all eBay buyers a replacement or refund on all transactions in case they are not 100% satisfied with the product they purchased. The eBay Guarantee is aimed at instilling consumer confidence in online shopping promising a completely secure & satisfaction-guaranteed experience of getting the product they selected and paid for. They can help you resolve any issues with your trading partners.

Flipkart is an Indian e-commerce company headquartered in Bangalore, Karnataka. It was founded by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal in 2007. Bansals, took the mark of the company at an estimated $1 billion, did many things together.

They were classmates at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi and worked at Amazon at the same time before founding the online bookstore, now a diversified India’s largest e-commerce marketplace, has raised $700 million in fresh investment from existing as well as new investors Price Associates and Qatar Investment Authority.

The e-commerce powerhouse, which is on a fund-raising spree, has raised funding for the third time in 2014. In May, it had raised $210 million (about Rs 1,200 crore). It had raised funding worth $1 billion (about Rs 6,000) in July. The latest round of fundraising has seen investment from existing stakeholders DST Global, GIC, ICONIQ Capital and Tiger Global. According to reports, the latest fund-raising has pegged Flipkart’s valuation at $11 billion to industry estimates.

In its initial years, Flipkart concentrated on online sales of books, but it later on expanded to electronic goods and a diversity of other products. They have huge stock of innumerable products starting from clothes, music, electronics, books, health products, kid’s toys and accessories, perfumes, games, movies, home appliances, shoes, stationeries and many more things. It is the biggest online retailer by revenues, gets unusually forceful making the point that he is looking for global talent to scale up his dream. Flipkart is believed to be looking at an annual GMV (gross merchandise sale) of $4 billion by the end of March 2015.

As a value addition dedicated delivery partners of Flipkart take the responsibility for timely product delivery at mentioned addresses.

Jabong.com is certainly in the acclaimed list of online shopping websites in India founded by Arun Chandra Mohan, founder and CEO, which provides a unique platform where consumers are able to access products which they would not be able to otherwise.

Jabong has chosen its territory and has defined its goals to be the one-stop shop destination for all fashion needs. This focus brings with it a tremendous passion which differentiates us from many others who are mass merchandisers. The focus of the portal is to cater the fashion needs of men, women and kids across footwear, apparel, jewellery and accessories. The cutting-edge technology on their online shopping platform is to make it swift for surfing through various product pages. They are highly popular as an online shopping portal offering best prices with exclusive discount offers.

Junglee.com is one of the best e-commerce site is being promoted by Amazon. This Unique selling proposition (USP) is mainly focused on how to address the customers search and purchase products from both offline and online retailers who are operating in India and are connected to Amazon.Com as well. The core focus of Junglee is for organizing wide range of lifestyle products and accessories and for providing multiple buying options to customers. Amazon makes use of proven technologies to help customers purchase lots of products in hassle free manner.

In Junglee.com, customers can find the best online offers on virtually anything from mobile phones to magnets, fashion goods to furniture, books to baby products; even flowers, groceries and pet supplies. Customers can choose to buy products online by visiting a seller's site or can alternatively find a local seller close to their location. The unique feature is there is listing of the address and phone numbers of the locals seller(s) in the seller information section on each product page- you have the option to compare product prices with the seller, before you even visit the store. At present,3 crore products are featured by more than 14, 000 different brands from over 2500 shopping sites to sell through this website.

Myntra.com was established by Mukesh Bansal, Ashutosh Lawania, and Vineet Saxena in February 2007 with a vision of creating India's largest on-demand personalization portal. All three are IIT graduates, and have worked for several start-ups. Myntra

is headquartered in Bangalore and has been funded by Venture Capital funds like IndoUS, IDG & Accel Partners. Having grown consistently, the company expanded into fashion and lifestyle retailing in December 2010.The Company started off in the business of personalization of products, and soon expanded to set up regional offices in New Delhi, Mumbai and Chennai. The customer support service and process of home delivery are one of the swiftest in the business world.

They are also one of the leading Indian online shopping companies offering guaranteed 30day free return of goods from doorsteps of consumers in case of unsatisfactory service.

Ecommerce market in India is pegged at $2 billion and expected to grow to a whopping $20 billion market in next five years. To capitalize the opportunity Flipkart has acquired Myntra with100% company stake. Mukesh Bansal joined Flipkart board as a part of the deal and Myntra will continue operating as an independent entity. He is heading the fashion division at Flipkart.com A reputed online shopping retail website having headquarter in Gurgaon,Shopclues. com managed by Sanjay Sethi, CEO & CoFounder. An alumnus of IIT-BHU and IITDelhi, Sanjay Sethi has worked for companies like Tradebeam, HCL Perot Systems, IIS Infotech, Steel Authority of India and eBay, where he was the Global Product Head and is widely recognized as a marketplace ‘guru’ and a product visionary with expertise in building complex ecosystems for ecommerce .

Shopclues maintains more than 12,000 merchants who are registered with the company which deals in more than 2 million products. They are catering to more than 42 million online visitors with their wide range of offerings to consumers from every corner of the country initiated with free delivery services at the doorsteps to nearly 10,000 cities across the country with a 30-day return guarantee if unable to meet customer satisfaction.

Snapdeal.com is an online marketplace, headquartered in New Delhi and ventured

by Kunal Bahl, a Wharton graduate and Rohit Bansal, alumnus of IIT Delhi. Snapdeal has grown to become the largest online marketplace in India offering an assortment of 4 million+ products across diverse categories from over 50,000 sellers, shipping to 4,000 towns and cities in India.

Snapdeal.com placed at favorable positions on the list of online shopping with their widest range of products – lifestyle, fashion apparel, accessories, electronics, games, eateries, chocolates, grooming, books etc.

Snapdeal features products across categories like mobiles, electronics, fashion accessories, apparel, footwear, kids, home and kitchen, sports, books; and services like restaurants, spas & entertainment amongst others.

www.varindia.com

January 2015

41

e-Commerce Snapdeal also provides discounted deals connecting with local merchants. The website features more than 3000 brands. Snapdeal has close ties with reputed courier services that help in faster home delivery process.

from the country. Mobile users have fueled a significant portion of OLX's growth, particularly in major emerging markets like India. In India, the presence of consumerto-consumer (C2C) marketplace has worked well. OLX.in's traffic has grown 150 times in the last 3.5 years, with 80 per cent of the traffic now coming from mobile.

It has more than 1,200 committed employees worldwide located in Bangkok, Buenos Aires, Cape Town, New Delhi, Jakarta, Lagos, Lisbon, Manila, Nairobi, Poznan, Rio de Janeiro and Sao Paulo.

per month. It has now over 13 categories and 170 sub-categories, with the most popular being mobile phones and electronics, real estate, cars and bikes. Quikr was the only classifieds platform to be featured in the list of top ten ‘Best E-commerce Brands in India Amongst Youth’. Quikr is supported by some of the world’s best renowned investment partners like: Kinnevik, Matrix Partners India, Omidyar Network, Norwest Venture Partners, Nokia Growth Partners, Warburg Pincus and investments by eBay Inc.

To conclude...

Thanks to the media blitzkrieg by players such as Jabong, Myntra, Snapdeal, Flipkart, OLX was launched in India in 2006 and it was among the early breed of internet businesses in the country. OLX is now owned by global media and digital company and Amarjit Singh Batra, CEO of OLX India.

Core focus of the OLX is a free local classifieds site. Sell anything from used cars to mobiles, furniture, laptops, clothing and more. Submit ads for free and without creating an account.

OLX has a presence in over 106 countries in 40 languages and it connects local people to buy, sell or exchange used goods and services.

Online classifieds platform in OLX expects traffic grow at a strong pace, driven by increasing penetration of smartphones in the country. India, which already accounts for the highest number of listings, had about 1.5 billion monthly page views generated

42

January 2015

www.varindia.com

Amazon, OLX and Quikr, e-commerce as a category has seen an over three to fourfold Quikr is India's largest online and mobile classifieds portal. A place where people can connect with each other to buy or sell goods and services being promoted

by Pranay Chulet, is the co-founder and the CEO of Quikr, Alumini of IIT, Delhi and IIM, Calcutta. Launched in 2008 with the vision for buyers and sellers to “meet online, transact offline”, today it has over 4.2 million listings and have generated over 150 million replies.

Headquartered in Mumbai, Quikr operates from 940 cities across India and is accessed by more than 30 million unique users and 26 million brand new customers

jump in ad spends in a year. From Rs 200300 crore last year, spends by e-commerce players have now touched Rs 1,000 crores.

In many respects, it is e-commerce which is holding up (in terms of advertising) at a time when other categories, most notably fast-moving consumer goods, are actually cutting back on spends thanks to the consumer slowdown. This pace of growth clocked by e-commerce is only expected to grow for the next three to four years. n

PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

Brother's PT-P750W Wireless Label Printer Brother’s PT-P750W is a PC-connectable P-touch label maker that can be used with most computers and mobile devices to create labels over a wireless network. The PT-P750W is easy-to-use label maker that enables multiple users to connect via a wireless network and even print from compatible Apple iOS and Android mobile devices. It can also be connected via the included USB cable to nearly any computer in the office. It enables users on a wireless network to quickly create a wide variety of professional labels using a full-sized computer, monitor and keyboard. It is great for individual label printing, but particularly wellsuited for multi-label creation jobs, thanks to print speeds of up to 30mm per second, repeat printing capability, and an automatic half or full cutter to help save time. This unit can also be made portable since it runs on rechargeable Li-ion batteries. The device comes with special Brother P-touch labels that are laminated, consisting of seven layers of materials, resulting in a thin yet extremely strong label. The thermal transfer ink is placed between two protective layers of PET (polyester film), which protects the text against the effects of liquids, abrasion, temperature, chemicals and sunlight. With a wide variety of tape cassettes in various widths and colours, the PT 750W is all set to become a must – have device at offices. The PT-750W helps you organize your workplace with clear, high quality, durable labels. Whether you need one or a hundred labels at a time, a Brother PT-P750W will help ensure your day-to-day work runs as efficiently as you need it to.

www.varindia.com

January 2015

43

COVER STORY

Information security no longer remains a concern just for CIOs and technology practitioners as organizations slowly start to realize it's importance to the business itself. But can this be called growth or rather how significant is this growth when measured in terms of global standards?

IT security is no longer an issue related to only IT and security professionals. It has now become a persistent business risk. According to Gartner, Security spending will continue to grow in 2015 with revenue projected to reach $1.06 billion. As cyber-crime incidents continue to haunt businesses and government agencies, safeguarding data and networks has become a challenge to them. In addition to the traditional sectors like banking, telecom, Financial Services and ITeS, Healthcare, Pharmaceutical, Utilities, oil and gas and the manufacturing sectors are also deploying enough resources and investing on Information Security as per reports.

"The security spends of Service Providers according to a Frost forecast will increase by 25% this year and touch US$ 70 million.

While consulting, implementation, support and managed security services will comprise 55% of the market, Manufacturing, Education, Healthcare & Retail along with others will contribute to 30% of the market spend," says Rajesh Maurya, Country Manager India & SAARC, Fortinet.

Market on a Growth Trail….

Over the years the Information Security market in India has seen an eminent rise.

Scott Robertson Vice President-Asia Pacific at WatchGuard

44

January 2015

www.varindia.com

India is among the world's top-5 vulnerable country in terms of data breach threats from malicious cyber activities. With the rapid development of newer technologies relevant for corporate network expansion and data transfer, the information security landscape needs to transform itself in order to counter a new breed of online malicious entities being identified in India as well as globally.

Although it has been gradual, the pace of Information Security is picking up quite well.

Be it any business segment or vertical, looking at the current scenario of IT security landscape, it has become mandatory for all to ensure the security of information assets. "We observe growing awareness on security as businesses realize how it ties with IT and business goals.

There is a clear acknowledgement for the changing role of security and how it functions as a catalytic force to turn disruptive into productive, helping businesses and CXOs embrace IT without any issues," remarks Sunil Sharma, VP Sales & Operations, India & SAARC, Cyberoam.

IT is the backbone of every business today.

One has to make sure that their business is making the right use of IT to enable every business process to function optimally and

Pankaj Jain Director at ESET India

that everything works smoothly with no down time and no security breaches or delays. “Information is a crucial element as we deal with it on multiple platforms daily.

Our core focus is securing data available on multiple platforms. It implies to securing all those multiple platforms as well. The need for information security is increasing globally and it’s not just in pockets or in specific industries,” opine Kailash Katkar, CEO & Founder – Quick Heal.

“In the information age, the real assets of any business are its IP and business differentiators. For business to grow profitably, these business differentiators need to be managed from internal and external threats.

Compliance is another critical business need as India is a leading ITeS provider to the rest of the world. Hence effective management of "Business assets and differentiators" is critical to ensure profitable growth of companies across size and vertical,” informs S. Sriram, CEO at iValue InfoSolutions.

As is seen, the nature of attacks is swiftly becoming more targeted towards the individual, which eventually is becoming more personalised. Further, security today is not just about tackling a breach after it has already happened, but preventing an attack or breach

Govind Rammurthy MD & CEO at eScan

Rajesh Maurya Country Manager Fortinet

India

&

SAARC,

before it actually happens. “It is time that an organization treats information security as a business function and not just another IT practice. The prime focus of CIOs and CTOs has to now reach the purview of business leaders, including the C-suite executives such as the CEO and the MD. Such an attack can bring down the whole business unit thus causing huge losses to the companies,” warns Ambarish Deshpande, Managing DirectorIndia, Blue Coat Systems.

Dan Dinnar, Vice President, Asia Pacific, CyberArk Software, Ltd agrees that in recent years businesses have been facing more sophisticated, advanced targeted attacks, especially organizations in the critical infrastructure, or related, market.

“Even though investments have been made in information security, they have primarily been reflective of compliance mandates. In today’s market, there is a pressing need to have dynamic security practices in place which can help protect, detect, monitor and respond to potential threats,” he opines.

The Growth Propellants…

Just a few years ago, security had perhaps been a tiny spot on the overall agenda of CXOs or IT managers. But now it is not. “On one hand where technological advancements is leading to digitization, on the other hand technology is also being used as a lethal force, with hackers and cyber criminals finding the vulnerable areas, launching evolved targeted attacks and writing more skillful malware code, which is collectively propelling the growth of information security,” replies Sunil.

Sophisticated threats like Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) have grown in both severity and volume in the last few years and this is further driving the need for businesses to implement strong defense mechanism.

According to Pankaj Jain, Director at ESET

Ashesh Thanawala Sales Director – India & SAARC, SafeNet

Sunil Sharma VP Sales & Operations, India & SAARC, Cyberoam

Sudeep Charles Product Marketing Manager – Asia Pacific & Japan, Akamai Technologies

India, increased Internet penetration & digitalization are propelling the growth of Information security segment, though ‘Computing everywhere’ & ‘Internet of things’ with huge challenges of securing the network of devices that interconnects information, operations as well as technologies, also play a crucial role in its growth. “Social media promotions and interconnections with other sites provide new threat vectors for criminals to exploit. Adoption of Software as a Service (SaaS)-based security solutions, threats like Distributed Denial of Services (DDoS) and APTs also are the factors in driving the Information Security System,” he says.

The availability of affordable mobile devices like tablets and smartphones has further boosted the growth of the Information security segment. This, coupled with a large number of enterprises adopting an online business model has led to its growth in India.

“Delivery models are significantly impacting a number of markets in India. This is resulting in the growth of cloud-based security services, which are transforming the way security is provided and utilized by customers.

Organizations are making the change from deploying on-premises products to cloudbased services,” views Sudeep Charles, Product Marketing Manager – Asia Pacific & Japan, Akamai Technologies.

The last few years have witnessed a series of high-profile cyber attacks which has prompted many businesses around the world to beef up their protection, increasing their budgets and expediting deployment of security projects. Interestingly, Information security has taken center stage for many of the organisations in India and this focus will continue to grow. Organizations in India that traditionally did not have a focus on security technologies are now beginning to realize the implications that a weak information

security and risk posture can have on their businesses. “The good part is that until now, Indian organizations were having only limited focus on IT security. However now, as the awareness about IT security is increasing, we see them moving towards comprehensive cyber-risk management. In addition, there are many MNCs operating in India that are working towards aligning their IT security strategies along with the NIST Cyber Security Framework which has been advanced by the US government,” remarks Govind Rammurthy, MD & CEO at eScan.

Karthik Shahani, Regional Director, RSA - India and SAARC is of the same view. “This combined with regulations /guidelines laid by industry bodies in some verticals, businesses moving online for growth, mobile access to business applications, consumers adopting mobile platforms etc. are some other factors which has led to the growth in the Information Security market in India,” he said.

Although organizations have raised the bar in security, their adversaries have made sure they are a step ahead. A recent survey shows a 98 percent jump in the number of incidents reported this year and average financial losses have gone up by 26 percent in India compared to the global average of 18 percent. “Indian companies have been focusing on compliancebased and perimeter-oriented security strategies. While they have proved to be useful in the past, these traditional strategies alone will not be able to meet challenges posed by adversaries leveraging the threats and technologies of tomorrow,” Sonit Jain, CEO at GajShield.

Says Ambarish, “Advanced threats cannot be blocked by merely adding additional security protection. While most organisations have implemented many security applications that provide them with a sense of security, cyber criminals keep finding newer ways to get

Kailash Katkar CEO & Founder – Quick Heal

Dan Dinnar Vice President, Asia Pacific, CyberArk Software, Ltd. www.varindia.com

January 2015

45

COVER STORY

Karthik Shahani Regional Director, RSA - India And SAARC within a secured system. Existing technologies are equipped to block known threats; however it is impossible to block a threat that is targeted and persistent.”

Going ahead…

The 2014 SafeNet Data Security Confidence Index found that nearly threequarters (74 percent) of IT decision-makers believe that their organization’s firewall is effective at keeping out unauthorized users.

Altaf Halde Managing Director, Kaspersky Lab -South Asia Yet, nearly half (44 percent) admit that their organization’s firewall has been breached or do not know if it has been breached. “The survey results illustrate that despite the increasing number of network breaches and data record losses, businesses are continuing to invest more of their IT budgets in perimeter security and breach prevention technologies versus defense-in-depth strategies that include strong multi-factor authentication and data encryption,” says Ashesh Thanawala, Sales Director – India & SAARC, SafeNet.

Ambarish Deshpande Managing Director-India, Blue Coat Systems Although the growth in Information security has been significant, India lags behind. As compared to global standards,

46

January 2015

www.varindia.com

Sonit Jain CEO at GajShield

S. Sriram CEO at iValue InfoSolutions

How to Stay Digitally Safe?

Over the years the focus has largely been on preventing security threats rather than detecting one. But at the same time as the threats continue to increase; organizations today are embracing stronger security systems, as they have come to understand the need to better protect their networks and data. Some of them are – • Apart from deploying defense mechanisms organizations are slowly starting to proactively protect the sensitive data by applying uniform data protection policies across the networks and the servers throughout the organization. Various protective measures such as patch management, password settings, configuration of the firewall and the servers, are helping firms to protect sensitive information • Solutions such as data loss management and security event management help in preventing data breaches during outbound transmission. Organizations that have a dedicated security team are constantly reducing the risk of security breach by increasing their knowledge of threats making them less vulnerable to security breach • Some organizations also go to the extent of implementing detection / prevention systems which would detect and prevent attacks in real-time. However, they have to be proactively monitored and users too have to be proactive in their approach • Few of the customers are also rapidly incorporating Advanced Threat Protection technologies into their network security infrastructure • Midsized business segment are seen increasingly deploying defenses in the cloud. This approach provides scale against fairly large attacks and protects businesses from threats before they reach the datacenter Besides these security systems in place, there are also various safety measures that needs to be implemented at a personal level to keep the network and data safe from being getting compromised • Mobile should be a central part of an overall IT security policy. By being proactive, one can help prevent data loss from sophisticated threats such as malware, and simple mishaps like losing a device • Just as URLs, files and attachments can be used to transmit malware, so can physical devices.. Even if its company branded, that doesn’t necessarily mean its safe. Any device that’s been in contact with an unknown network could be infected • It’s important for employees to understand that, even if their browsing is personal, the risks can affect the entire company. By encouraging the right behaviours, IT manager can implement a policy that keeps the network and data safe without impinging on the quality of employees’ work life there are many Indian organizations that still continue to be unaware of cyber-attacks and not keen on reporting detected incidents.

Scott Robertson, Vice President-Asia Pacific at WatchGuard, cites, “According to the Ernst and Young Global Information Security Survey, organizations in India lack the agility and the budget to be able to detect possible security threats and prepare for the same. A lot of factors contribute to this like careless employees, out of date information security controls and unauthorized access, only to name a few. Moreover the Indian firms have reduced the assigned budget for Information Security by 17% in 2014, according to a survey done by PWC.” Frankly, there is no more time to wait on the issue of cybersecurity. Government agencies and corporations alike must become both educated and absolutely determined to stop cybercrime now. 2015 needs to be a

wakeup call for businesses and individuals alike. Neither can afford mediocre approaches to security and customers. Organizations must have the right plans and the right technologies in place to deal with the threats we’ve seen do so much damage in in 2014.

As put by Altaf Halde, Managing Director, Kaspersky Lab -South Asia, no matter what defense you have in place, prevention is always better than cure. “There’s a lot to think about, and for your security policies to be effective they need to bring every user’s devices, applications – and even their behaviors – under control. More than that, they must be realistic. And by making sure that all employees are taking basic steps to protect themselves, you can go a long way to reducing the risk of a security breach. Something as simple as strong, unique passwords can make a huge difference,” he says. n

INDUSTRY EVENTS

Photofair 2015 –

where Creativity meets Performance

Displaying the latest products and technologies were hundreds of brands that found the Fair a good platform to interact personally with customers

T

he CEIF Photofair 2015 was held in New Delhi from 8th to 11th January, 2015. Organized by the All India Photography Trade and Industry Association, the four-day Fair which is held every alternate year in Delhi and Mumbai attracted thousands of professional photographers, photography enthusiasts, filmmakers, students and educators from around the world. This year too saw a similar enthusiasm with over 200 exhibitors participating in the Fair, displaying close-to thousand new products and technologies. Many of the participating vendors used this platform to exhibit their products that were newly launched in the last quarter of 2014. Some of the known names in the Digital & Imaging area such as Xerox, Canon, Epson, HP, Ricoh, Fujifilm, Nikon, Sony and Tamron participated in the show. There were also stalls displaying allied accessories from camera lenses to photo albums and printing on mugs.

Attracting attention from visitors at the show was the MUSEO CAMERA, the Vintage Camera Museum in which over 800 vintage analogue cameras from around the world were on display, thus reliving the history of photography. Besides, there were many workshops held on each of these days, giving hands-on training to the participants.

Going with its tradition, the next Photofair is scheduled to take place in Mumbai next year. n samrita@varindia.com Balaji Rajagopalan Executive Director, Technology, Channels & International Distributor Operations, Xerox India “I see a real upbeat in terms of footfall, the interests and the kind of professional interactions happening.

From a focus perspective, Xerox has launched for the first time a 10bit digital printing product called Versant 2100 in the last quarter of 2014 which has given us a mileage in terms of how we can bring a new dimension to digital printing. So we are exhibiting this product along with another newly-launched printer Color C60, which is also one-of-its-kind product in the entry production colour printing. We have already received a great response for the Versant 2100 and done over 10 installations in the first three months of its launch and we are equally positive about replicating the same success for the Xerox Color C60. We also have our customers who have bought this product from us displaying their albums here and giving testimony to the visitors of the quality of printing that our products offer. At the same time, we are a company with an indirect business model which means that we do business through our partners. We have around 100 partners across India and we also invite them to be a part of this show and interact with the customers.”

Andrew Koh Senior Director, Image Communications Products, Canon India “As a Leader in the Digital Imaging space, we always look forward to how we can grow the market and promote photography which will, in turn, increase the demand for our video and digital products. Canon is the only camera manufacturer that produces the 3 critical components – the sensor, lens and the image processor. We combine all the 3 together to bring out the best possible quality camera. In the 2015 Photofair, the main products that we are exhibiting are the newly-launched professional video cameras. We have a whole range of these camera products that we are showcasing here. Besides, we are also displaying our DreamLabo series of large-format printers at our Canon booth. We are also trying to give to our customers a touch-&-feel experience of our products, especially our professional cameras. It is a good opportunity for us to reach out to our customers and create awareness about our range of products, with special focus on the XF & XA series of professional HD video cameras and the PRO DV range of cameras. In a nutshell, we are also largely emphasizing on the wide range of products available for use in wedding and events, TV shows, ENG (electronic news gathering), educational and documentary films this time.”

www.varindia.com

January 2015

47

COVER STORY

In recent months, digitalization has become a topic of debate.

For India to transform into a digital place, technology will play a major role in it. Herein comes the contribution of vendors who look at it as an opportunity to grow along with the country

P

rime Minister Narendra Modi’s dream of transforming the country into Digital India has created ripples throughout the nation. He envisions an India where digital highways will unite the nation, 1.2 billion connected Indians will drive innovation, get easy access to information, availability of government services via mobile, transparent

Virender Jeet Sr. VP Technology Newgen Software governance, government engagement with citizens through social media and much more.

This is a nationwide programme with an aim to penetrate every nook and corner of the country.

The initiatives taken by the Government towards digitization and smart cities are commendable. They are focussed on leveraging advanced technology and follow an innovative approach towards large- scale development of the nation. And to make it a success, government should ensure a robust digital infrastructure, provide services provided through digital means and the most important is dissemination of digital literacy

48

January 2015

www.varindia.com

across the country.

“Digital India” aims to promote nationwide digital inclusion making the remotest areas of the country a part of the mainstream development initiatives. This will enable improved access to various citizen- centric services and better resource optimization. The linking of Aadhaar cards with the SIM-card number of mobile users will help government track the delivery of various citizen benefits and at the same time put a check on unwanted immigration. In another big leap towards digitization, the decision of the Government to offer each citizen with a “digital cloud” will allow them to store all their original documents at one place. The initiative of developing 100 technology-driven smart cities in India will help in creation of Urban Centres which are environmentally friendly, preserve their heritage and at the same time run on cutting-edge technology. However, transforming India into a digital hub comes with some serious obstacles, the need for right infrastructure and scalable technology platform being the foremost, without which it will be just another ambitious programme,” said Virender Jeet, Sr Vice-President – Technology, Newgen Software.

Only transforming physical data into digital will not help the aim of digitization.

The data should be stored in a secured and safe place so that it can be accessed and analyzed, whenever needed. Moreover, huge amount of data generated need a huge space to be stored.

This calls for a robust digital infrastructure.

“In order to be fruitful, Digital India initiative needs to have three basic elements: robust digital infrastructure, services being smoothly delivered digitally and digital literacy of the people.The ground work for a better telecom infrastructure and enhanced

Khwaja Saifuddin Senior Sales Director - South Asia, Middle East and Africa, WD broadband connectivity is already visible. The digital infrastructure also includes massivescale data centers where gigantic volumes of digital information that gets created as part of digitization and smart cities’ efforts can be stored, accessed, as well as analyzed. We currently offer WD Re and WD Se and WD Ae range of data center hard drives that are fundamental storage building blocks for every data center,” says Khwaja Saifuddin, Senior Sales Director – South Asia, Middle East and Africa, WD. “For companies like us in the IT sector, systematic implementation of smart cities brings forth a huge business opportunity, especially in the non-metro regions. An increasing number of cities across India are making the most of the government’s focus on and support for digitization. They are implementing the concept in various spheres, like land record digitization or setting up of smart transport management systems. At the fundamental level, the smart city and digitization concept is bound to improve the spread of better healthcare, and standardized education delivery systems involving schools and colleges in class C and D cities. Also, it will prove to be a boon for small and medium enterprises (SMEs),” said Sunil Grewal, Director – Sales & MarCom, GIGABYTE

Sunil Grewal Director – Sales & MarCom, GIGABYTE Technology (India) Pvt. Ltd. Technology (India) Pvt. Ltd. According to a report by IDC, the digital universe in India is nearly doubling in size in every two years and will multiply nine-times between 2013 and 2020—from 326 exabytes to 2.8 zetabytes. IDC also forecasts that by 2020, Internet of Things (IoT) will represent almost 10 per cent of the data generated in India. The current government’s Digital India and smart cities’ initiatives could also lead to a massive and quick expansion of IoT in the country.

There is a vision to create an IoT industry in India of USD 15 billion by 2020.

Preparedness of companies for Digital Transformation The digital transformation has already started in India and it is the most exciting development taking place after a long time. It is an imperative to address multiple challenges that the nation is facing today: rapid tsunami

Ravikant Malhan Director-Smart Cities and Special projects - Schneider Electric India of urbanization, huge strain on the old existing infrastructure and compelling need to shift to a manufacturing economy. All this will ensure an inclusive growth. Here, technology will play a major role to meet those challenges.

“The Digital India initiative envisions a key role for technology to power country transformation and we believe Cisco can play a key role in working with an ecosystem to bring technology to the masses in areas including healthcare, education, physical security and smart cities. With the Internet of Everything, and our innovation across segments and architectures, we have deepened our ability to drive demand and create new markets,” says B. Raghavendran, Director, Partner Organization, Cisco India and

SAARC. Digitization is at the core of Schneider Electric’s business ethos. It is not merely a strategy but the very way of life at Schneider.

"It is how we serve our customers, build bonds with our partners and nurture our employees. We firmly believe in digitizing the complete value chain of our business.

Right from component and product level to the overarching software that integrates and digitizes the use of energy, we have been pioneers and we continue to innovate and deliver breakthrough technologies. We digitise the use of energy to make it safe, reliable, green, efficient and most importantly sustainable,” comments Ravikant Malhan, Director – Smart Cities and Special projects, Schneider Electric India.

Seagate on its part is developing and offering innovative products which allow users to access and interpret information quickly and securely, to analyze data and understand patterns and behaviour, and harness stored information for growth and innovation. We are also helping consumers store content so they can store, share and relive their precious experiences and memories.

The more people and businesses embrace the digital age, the more they will need secure, robust and intelligent storage solutions.

We are excited to be a part of the digital transformation in India and look forward to supporting this evolution in the future,” asserts Rajesh Khurana, Country Manager, India & SAARC, Seagate Technology.

aimed at achieving this. What is needed from the government now is a healthy business environment, clarity and smooth flow as far as procedural and regulatory processes are concerned, maintaining competitiveness of manufacturing in India, focus on R&D and high-tech imports, etc. Corporates are hopeful that this initiative will not just make India a better destination to manufacture in but it will also create millions of jobs to enhance prosperity in the country.

“The Make-in-India campaign clearly indicates India’s decisive urge to develop its secondary sector and expand its economy.

It has opened up the domestic market for FDIs which would lead to more investment and lay a direct impact on some sectors. The campaign has eased the market for consumer

Make in India - A Trendsetter The concept of Make in India is simple, yet revolutionary. It is all about ensuring that doing business in India is simpler, especially for companies (both Indian and global) in the manufacturing sector.The campaign is aimed at making India a global manufacturing hub.

And the Government is pulling out all the stops for ensuring a smooth sailing for investors, by setting up a dedicated cell to answer queries of business entities within 72 hours. It will also closely monitor all regulatory processes to make them simple and reduce the burden of compliance.

“We have great regard and respect for the Make-in-India vision of Mr Modi. This era of digitalization is truly the best time for Make in India. This initiative makes India an important market for several international organizations, including ZTE. India has a huge manufacturing capacity. Through this initiative, India will be able to utilize this capacity. In 2005, ZTE already sensed India’s manufacturing capabilities and potential and set up its manufacturing unit in Manesar which can be expanded as per requirements,” says Himanshu Gupta, Head, Corporate Affairs & Business Development.

The campaign has huge possibility to boost the Indian economy in future. India has to become a manufacturing powerhouse in order to drive the economy and generate many more employment opportunities for the large pool of skilled and unskilled labour available here. The Make-in-India campaign is

durable industry through a combination of liberalized policies and augmentation of innovative campaigns. A technology-based lifestyle would be a further boost along with relaxation on taxes cumulatively supporting the growth of consumer durable industry.

This campaign is not a onetime project but it marks an initiation of a complete transformation of Indian business market.

The effect will certainly fall on the social realm equally. With concepts like smart cities, an eco-friendly sustainable form of lifestyle can be installed. If the government works firmly and consistently on this campaign, it will surely change the face of India. Such initiatives have a socio-politico economic effect which brings integrated development across all the sectors of nation and certainly Make-in-India campaign is a potent step towards future

B Raghavendran Director, Partner Organization Cisco India and SAARC

Rajesh Khuranaa Country Manager, India & SAARC, Seagate Technology www.varindia.com

January 2015

49

COVER STORY

Himanshu Gupta Head Corporate Affairs Development, ZTE

&

Business

glory,” suggests Manish Sharma, Managing Director, Panasonic India.

Make in India for many is an ambitious vision and one that has great potential to boost the Indian economy in the future.

"LeveragingHigh-Performance Computing (HPC) will be one of the key factors in making manufacturing excellence and research and development a reality. The Government has been showing tremendous interest in leveraging HPC in various application

Manish Sharma Managing Director, Panasonic India areas like weather forecasting, industrial manufacturing, defence research and design, etc. and we believe the ‘Make-in-India’ vision will only increase the Government’s focus on investing in HPC for science and technology development,” sasserts Mehul Doshi, Country Head for Datacenter Products & Solution in India, Fujitsu.

Finally…

So far, we have discussed about the initiatives taken by the government and how

Mehul Doshi Country Head for Datacenter Products & Solution in India, Fujitsu the technology giants can help the Honorable Prime Minister to make it a reality. But only government initiatives and technology will not help India to take the campaign to the next level. It is we, the citizens of India, who have to equally realize our PM’s dream as it is for the betterment of the entire nation.

The citizens have to understand their duties and fulfil them to make it a better world for generations to come. n aparna@varindia.com

PM’s dream of a complete Digital India I dream of a Digital India where – High-speed Digital Highways unite the Nation I dream of a Digital India where – 1.2 billion Connected Indiansdrive Innovation I dream of a Digital India where – Knowledge is strength – and empowers the People I dream of a Digital India where – Access to Information knows no barriers I dream of a Digital India where – Government is Open – and Governance Transparent I dream of a Digital India where – Technology ensures the Citizen-Government Interface is Incorruptible I dream of a Digital India where – Government Services are easily and efficiently available to citizens on Mobile devices I dream of a Digital India where – Government proactively engages with the people through Social Media I dream of a Digital India where – Quality Education reaches the most inaccessible corners driven by Digital Learning I dream of a Digital India where – Quality Healthcare percolates right up to the remotest regions poweredby e-Healthcare I dream of a Digital India where – Farmers are empowered with Real-time Information to be connected with Global Markets I dream of a Digital India where – Mobile enabled Emergency Services ensure Personal Security I dream of a Digital India where – Cyber Security becomes an integral part of our National Security I dream of a Digital India where – Mobile and e-Banking ensures Financial Inclusion I dream of a Digital India where – e-Commerce drives Entrepreneurship I dream of a Digital India where – the World looks to India for the next Big Idea I dream of a Digital India where – the Netizen is an Empowered Citizen

Govt. of Telangana and NASSCOM to host WCIT 2018 at Hyderabad

G

overnment of Telangana and NASSCOM (National Association of Software and Services Companies) together have chosen Hyderabad to host the World Congress on Information Technology (WCIT) in the year 2018. This is the first time that the prestigious global event will be held in India.

The WCIT will bring together world’s leading thought leaders, including business delegations from amongst the 80 countries that WITSA represents globally. The representatives include companies keen to do business in India, along with government functionaries and innovation driven academia. WCIT will additionally provide the State an ideal audience including global decision makers who would be participating at the event and making relevant trade and investment decisions.

NASSCOM has sought support from the government of India for the event. Shri. KT Rama Rao, Minister for IT, Government of Telangana said, “India has made a mark globally and the Indian ITeS industry has helped it create a niche for itself on the global landscape. We are thankful to NASSCOM to bring WCIT to India and select Hyderabad to host this prestigious confluence of global technology leaders. We are sure that WCIT will help the world, view Telangana and Hyderabad from a new perspective."

50

January 2015

www.varindia.com

PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

D-Link DWL-8610AP Unified Wireless Access Point T

he DWL-8610AP is D-Link’s next generation Unified Wireless Access Point. Suitable for the small/medium enterprise market, the DWL-8610AP provides unparalleled bandwidth and flexibility for administrators looking to deploy a medium/large scale Wi-Fi network.

Featuring the latest 802.11ac technology on its 5GHz band, the DWL8610AP brings you to the forefront in cutting edge wireless technology. It combines the cutting-edge wireless speeds of 802.11ac with the unparalleled flexibility and scalability of D-Link’s Unified Wireless Solution. Its AC SmartBeam technology enables the DWL-8610AP to have even greater reach. Further its automatic RF management feature saves Power & Money.

DWL-8610AP also supports 802.1p Quality of Service (QoS) for enhanced and better performance of time-sensitive traffic like VoIP and streaming DSCP. For small businesses that need to deploy multiple APs but lack the resources to tackle the complicated task of network management, the DWL8610AP’s self-configuring cluster feature offers the ideal solution.

D-Link DWL-8610 is designed to support small to medium business or enterprise environments by providing network administrators with secured and manageable dual-band wireless network options.

www.varindia.com

January 2015

51

FACE TO FACE

Sophos & Cyberoam creating the Right Eco-system Together L

ast year in the beginning of 2014, Sophos acquired Cyberoam, thus expanding and deepening Sophos’ already significant product portfolio in network security, by combining Cyberoam’s Unified Threat Management (UTM), next-generation firewall and network security expertise.

Together Sophos and Cyberoam were believed to be creating a winning combination at the right time, in the right product markets and in all the right geographies.

Kris Hagerman CEO, Sophos Talking about the India market, Sophos and Cyberoam have jointly a team of about 500 people across India. It has its single largest office in Ahmedabad, from where it has its Engineering, Support and other operations of the company run. “I think India is the only market anywhere in the world for us where we have got a single large concentration of people in any office of Sophos. Secondly its is a huge market and a big opportunity for us. So I am here visiting the team members, meeting with the customers and partners and in general staying in touch with our team here,” says a jubilant CEO of Sophos – Kris Hagerman.

Core competency of Sophos...

Cyberoam has own a single order worth Rs. 2 cr. deal with NIC to secure various Government departments pan India.

Sophos and Cyberoam have been together for almost a year now. For both the companies, it was really a very exciting combination since they were bringing together two companies that have a long history in building great security products. “It was also an opportunity to combine best of both worlds so that we can build better products and can have more innovation and speed and expand our global reach on a global scale. During my career I have been involved in more than 30-40 different acquisitions but this is one single acquisition that has been the most successful integration I have been ever part of. The team here is terrific and they are working together really well. It feels like the combination is making us one big company,” shares Kris.

The first and foremost mission of Sophos is to become the best in the world and deliver complete IT security to small and mid-market enterprise. This is also the vision that it wants

52

January 2015

www.varindia.com

to accomplish. The principle that it follows is what it calls ‘Security made Simple’. “Today in our Sophos Labs, we are seeing 400,000 unique pieces of malware a day. Tomorrow we see again the same number of malwares, the number is going higher and higher. But we on behalf of our customers and partners deliver world class and enterprise-class security capabilities, end-user security, mobile security, server security, network security and do it in a way that a regular IT administrator can use,” explains Fris. There is probably somewhere between 30-50 million SMBs around the world. The vast majority of them don’t have dedicated IT security experts and they don’t have the time, resources to build the dedicated team. Sophos steps in to deliver the security that works for them.

There is a global network of hackers which is becoming a vast criminal undertaking. It is a very huge business and the scale of it is extraordinary.

“The fundamental question is how we can stay on top of that and keep our customers secured.

We hire great people around the world who are true security experts. We have a strong lab here in Ahmedabad, in our headquarter in UK, Budapest, Sydney, Vancouver; we have a global reach by covering the whole of the world 24x7.

In addition to that we give people in the lab our developed automated tools and techniques which render them even more powerful. The final thing that we do is to leverage Big Data; we leverage enormous amounts of data that flow in and compare them across all of our different labs. When we spot something bad, we ensure that we fix it right and protect our customer,” says Kris.

Talking of Smart City, Sophos sees it as an opportunity for taking its technology forward in both end user security and network security and provide a fundamental layer of protection. “Whether it is enterprise, or government, school or state departments etc., we give them security and protect the user data flowing through their systems. This way they can focus on the works that are most important to them,” Kris says.

Today Sophos has over 200,000 customers globally in both network and end-user security and has around 100 million endpoints covered by its products. Its end-user security products updated 6 times a day whenever it is needed.

Both Cyberoam and Sophos are growing at a faster rate than the market. Cyberoam is growing twice the rate of network security market globally and also growing faster than the competitors in India. “We expect to accelerate even further. We are making more investment in India and in our team across every functionengineers, finance, systems and sales engineers etc. We believe that we can and will become a dominant security player in India,” sums up Kris.

Sophos has a very strong marketing team here in India. Matt Fairbanks, Chief Marketing Officer, Sophos shares with VARINDIA the marketing strategy and the opportunities that it eyes here The first thing that Sophos does to position itself in the market is to look for best technology and educate the market on its values. One of the things that Sophos finds it so compelling about Cyberoam acquisition is very complementary - the marketing teams of both the companies are very similar. It also sees significantly more investment opportunities in India for marketing. “We think that the values we offer, the level of security, our support organisation are the reasons of our success. In India, especially the support is world class, its one of the key differentiating factors. We are very excited to bring the Sophos team together with the technological expertise of Cyberoam to build our brand and awareness in India,” asserts Matt.

Sophos works with its partners in a big way. It is completely committed to the Channel and serves as its go to market model. It is also doing a phenomenal job with whitepaper on educational seminars, webinars and as we look at next generation firewalls, UTMs and other security system, it is going to leverage India team to build those whitepapers, marketing and educational pieces and to customize them for India and other markets. “It’s a challenging thing to write about a solution for a particular vertical and region. There is a lot of talent in India that is going to be the marketing engine behind us addressing the verticals. Technological depth, skill in English can provide exciting opportunity for the people,” remarks Matt. A 100% of its revenue goes to the Channel. So when whitepapers are created, Sophos goes and work with its channel to educate them and they in turn go and educate their customer base globally.

Sophos is betting the future on Cloud and is investing heavily on it. The reason for leveraging the Cloud is that it is a better way to manage security products and people understand Cloud based management interfaces well. It fundamentally delivers better security as Sophos has started integrating the Cloud solutions & products. “We are the only security company to offer a single Cloud based management platform for the entire product portfolio. We are continuing to deliver one product after another that is managed within that portfolio of Sophos Cloud. We are also offering this product for about 15 months as this is the fastest growing product in the history of the company. We expect that progress and momentum to continue,” says Matt.

Leveraging Cloud, the company has got a very exciting range of offerings starting from Cloud Managed Security, Cloud delivered security and a hybrid security model.

"We observe growing awareness on security as businesses realize how it ties with IT and business goals.

There is a clear acknowledgement for the changing role of security and how it functions as a catalytic force to turn disruptive into productive, helping businesses and CXOs embrace IT without any issues," Sunil Sharma VP Sales & Operations, India & SAARC, Cyberoam.



www.varindia.com

January 2015

53

Government to boost electronics security market offers a vast number of great opportunities.

Geographically, India is one of the fastest-growing countries. The increased security breaches and terrorist activities have heightened the awareness around security and triggered enterprises to upgrade/ install access control systems.

There has been a lot of infrastructure investment taking place in India and the company can see tremendous growth in sectors such as government, defence and transportation, as well as power and energy sectors. Meanwhile, rapid urbanization in India has created the demand for security equipment and services in the tier-II cities such as Hyderabad, Pune and Kolkata and tier-III cities like Ahmedabad, Kochi, Coimbatore, Vizag, Jaipur and Lucknow.

Ranjit Nambiar Director, Identity & Access Management, India and SAARC, HID Global

D

riven by threat organizations across verticals like BFSI, IT and ITeS, transport, oil and energy, the government has increased their vigil towards security systems at their facilities. As a result, it has boosted the electronics security industry in India. While discussing the evolving threat scenario and growth of the security industry, Ranjit Nambiar, Director, Identity & Access Management, India and SAARC, HID Global, mentions the key verticals adopting these technologies.

Challenges and growth of Security market The challenges in a developing market like India are two-fold: the issue of evangelizing and promoting technology solutions in nascent marketplaces with channels which are not very well-developed but certainly desire to move forward quickly. Second, there are no standards to govern security which challenges the deployment of appropriate and relevant technology into the marketplace.

Despite these challenges, India continues to present tremendous growth opportunities. With HID’s proven expertise in delivering secure identity solutions, the company has been able to leverage this growth through various engagements in the developing countries over the last few years. There are a number of different areas of its business that have been very successful throughout Asia-Pacific and which

54

January 2015

www.varindia.com

“End-users in any industry sector who need to protect information, people and assets are HID’s target customers. In India, traditionally we have been very strong in the IT and BFSI segments since these were the early adopters of access control systems. Today, the Indian market landscape is changing ahead quickly and some new emerging segments include the government, defence, infrastructure, transport, and power and energy. Our biggest wins in the last two years came from these new verticals and we expect this trend to continue as we are confident that these segments will fuel the future growth,” said Ranjit Nambiar, Director, Identity & Access Management, India and SAARC, HID Global.

Brand positioning Branding and positioning are extremely important. When a customer purchases an HID solution, the company desires to have a “Genuine HID” experience for customers. This means that the customers can be sure their decision to invest with confidence in HID Global will bring to them the most innovative products in the industry. These solutions are backed with global certifications and the best warranties in the world.

Opportunity ahead With IP becoming a de facto standard in access and video security, IT integrators have great opportunity in this market due to their IP domain expertise. Over the past two to three years, HID Global has observed an increase in IT integrators entering the field of access control and building management solutions. Some of them are large companies like HCL, Wipro and AGC which are building security practices within their organization.

The adoption of high frequency smart cards is on the rise as they offer higher security and the capability to combine multiple applications on a single card for building access, vehicle tracking, energy management, time and attendance, cashless vending and other applications. Standards-based, open and interoperable IP-based access control solutions are also gaining popularity as companies are seeking solutions with low installation costs, increased functionality and easy integration into their existing access control system. n aparna@varindia.com

!"#$%

, -

. - !"#$%& ' ( )%*+ www.varindia.com

January 2015

55

Intex aims “to make sure products are available to consumers at all times” T

he indigenous handset-maker, Intex has come a long way in the mobility market. It has already strengthened its foothold in the feature phone market and is now planning to enter into the tablet segment. Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, Mobile Business Head, Intex Technologies, besides disclosing the future plans of the company reveals the current market situation, trends and strategies of the company.

India’s Smart device market In a thriving market, Intex is witnessing great demand from the masses. Since its inception, the company has registered a healthy growth rate. Currently, Intex has 5-per cent market share in the smartphone industry and around 8 per cent in the feature phone. It is selling around 15 lakh phones per month, out of which 10 lakh are feature phones and 5 lakh are smartphones.

By the end of March 2014, Intex had doubled its revenue to Rs.2,000 crore, backed by a 300-per cent jump in the handset business. Intex is aiming at hundred per cent growth this year and also expecting a revenue growth of Rs.2,800 crore in the mobile category.

Speaking on tablets, Sanjay Kumar Kalirona, Mobile Business Head, Intex Technologies, says, “The Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS) norms have impacted the tablet market. Due to the compulsory registration issue, many entry-level tabletmakers could not release their products in the market, which affected the sales initially. The market for low-cost tablets is growing fast where lower-priced Androidpowered tablets have been gaining traction.

Also, now the norms/regulations of BIS are same as that of smartphones. Hence, the tablet market is picking up again.”

He adds, “Intex is ready to foray into the tablet market by the end of the second quarter. The tablet market is stable. Hence, it is right time to capture the market.”

Trends in Mobility market Nowadays, the trend has shifted from small screen to large screen along with 64 bits chipset and big memory to satisfy the user’s demand. In other words, getting highend specification at an inexpensive price and unique multimedia experience is making phablets widely acceptable.

Another consideration, which is the key factor in the Indian market, is the pricing of these devices. There are already phablets selling for sub-Rs.10,000 and there are a great number of mid-range options for those who are planning to buy a smaller smartphone or a larger tablet.

Service Support Strategy In India, everybody wants everything at a very affordable price and has used its expertise to create a unique space having unmatched quality, distribution and panIndian service network in the Indian market.

The company has over 800 service centres across the nation. "If the present customer is satisfied, then only potential customers will believe as the word of mouth is very important. Our service network is present in almost every district and even at the tehsil level," he says.

Success pillars of Intex The

56

January 2015

www.varindia.com

Intex

feature

phones

Sanjay Kumar Kalirona Mobile Business Head Intex Technologies

are one of the strong pillars of Intex’s mobile business. The company has started manufacturing them in India as well. Making available the product to the consumer is the objective of the company and for that it needs a flawless distribution network. Its distribution strategy is simple: to make sure products are made available to the consumers at all times. Intex has been recording high growth over the years and its distribution network is spread all across India. Sales are routed through a distribution network comprising 1,100+ distributors and 50,000+ dealers spread across the country. Products are also available at more than 250 dedicated counters of reputed hypermarket chains and speciality stores across the country, on TV shopping channels and e-commerce sites.

Future Roadmap The company's short-term goal is to be among the top five brands in India and in the longer run it aims to become one of the top players in the Indian mobile market. While its vision is to make Intex a globally respected name, the approach is to work towards improving the quality of life of consumers by providing them superior quality handsets at unique price points. n aparna@varindia.com

VAR MOBILITY

ASUS ZenFone 2

The Asus Zenfone 2 has an ergonomically-curved design with ultraslim edges, 5.5 Full HD IPS display and 72% screen-to-body ratio with an aluminum back case. The volume buttons are located at the center of the back part and the power button is on the top part of the device.

It comes with 13MP/5MP PixelMaster cameras. Zenfone 2 is powered with 2.3GHz 64-bit Intel Atom processor with 4GB RAM and 4G/ LTE connectivity and delivers powerful all-round performance. It comes with Brand New ASUS ZenUI under Android 5.0 Lollipop.

The front part is colored black and the buyer may choose from gold, gray, red and white colors.

ZenFone 2 gives everyone the ability to completely customize it to match their personal style and usage preferences, including ZenUI's launcher, themes, fonts, icons and more. ZenUI has many great new features — including ZenMotion, SnapView, Trend Micro security and ZenUI Instant Updates that enhance its usability, ensure security and privacy and deliver a seamless user experience. ZenMotion is a collection of intuitive touch gestures, each providing a new way of interacting with ZenUI and allowing quick and easy access to frequently-used features such as One Hand mode or Do It Later.

SnapView is a security feature that ensures privacy for apps, photos, and files. SnapView lets users easily keep their personal and business information separate. Trend Micro security is integrated with the ZenUI browser for the total mobile web browsing security. ZenUI Instant Updates is a seamless new method of keeping ZenUI apps up to date. With this, ASUS app developers can make updates available immediately, avoiding delays between app releases and ensuring the best experience for ZenFone 2 users.

Jivi JSP Q56

Jivi JSP Q56 is a low priced quad-core smartphone. It has the latest

version of 4.4 KITKAT Android OS, big and bright 4.5” (11.43 cm) display that produces vivid colours to bring pictures and videos to life and a full touch capacitive screen that makes navigation smooth enough.

This 3G phone is available in Black and Blue colour. The dual front speakers are loud enough for an awesome video and gaming experience.

It is sleek measuring just 9.9 mm in thickness. Jivi is powered with a 1.2 GHz Quad-Core processor and complimented with 4GB ROM and 512 MB RAM making multitasking easy. In addition to all this, Jivi JSP Q56 supports Hindi, Bangla and Urdu languages along with English and Arabic. The phone has an expandable memory of up to 32 GB through a microSD card. It comes with support for two SIM cards (mini and micro). Users can access Internet through WiFi. They can even create a WiFi Hotspot using the phone as a mobile router such that devices around it can access the Internet. In terms of connectivity, besides 3G, it supports EDGE and GPRS. With JSP Q56, watching videos online at lightning speed is pure pleasure. Files can be exchanged through Bluetooth connectivity and comes equipped with GPS too.

Jivi JSP Q56 has dual camera – 2.0 MP front camera for selfies and video chats as well as an 8.0 MP rear camera with Flash for amazing images and video recording. The Panoramic view of the rear camera allows users to capture scenic landscapes effectively.

www.varindia.com

January 2015

57

VAR MOBILITY

Lenovo launches A6000 4G LTE smartphone in India

L

enovo has introduced an affordable 4G smartphone A6000 in India market.

This device will be available exclusively on Flipkart.

The A6000 supports both LTE bands in India FDD 1800MHz & TDD

and Dolby digital certified dual speakers. The A6000 is running on Android KitKat 4.4.4 version.

“Lenovo as a leader in smart connected devices is committed to staying ahead of the curve. The A6000 is the perfect choice for the youth/millennials

2300MHz. At the heart of the device is Qualcomm Snapdragon 410 processor with 64-bit, quad-core CPU each running at 1.2GHz. The device has a 12.7 cms HD IPS panel.

It is also thin & light at 8.2mm and 128gms respectively. This comes with 2300mAh battery

who want a trendy phone loaded with future proof features and yet not being heavy on the pocket,” said Sudhin Mathur, DirectorSmartphones, Lenovo India.

The Lenovo A6000 will be priced at Rs.6,999/and will be available exclusively on Flipkart.

Samsung brings its first Tizenbased Z1 Smartphone to India

S

amsung has announced the launch of the first Tizenpowered smartphone for India, the Samsung Z1.

Appealing to millions of potential users in India, the Samsung Z1 offers exclusive benefits for localized entertainment apps and a simple user interface that makes mobility easier and more enjoyable, even for the

times with decreased data usage. The Samsung Z1 is equipped with long-lasting battery performance and also features “Ultra Power Saving Mode” to ensure users can always stay connected, even at the minimal battery levels.

“The smartphone market in India is rapidly evolving, with many consumers using their device as their screen

first-time smartphone users.

Built on the lightweight Tizen platform, the Samsung Z1 delivers a faster boot time and quick access to apps, along with enhanced web performance to offer users faster page loading

of choice for content including videos, television programmes and video games, as well as a range of apps. We have customized the Samsung Z1 to meet these needs,” said Hyun Chil Hong, President & CEO, Samsung India Electronics.

58

January 2015

www.varindia.com

Wiio launches WI Star 3G

eBay India has announced the exclusive launch of Wiio Mobile’s latest offering, the WI Star 3G smartphone on its platform. The dual core 1.3 GHz processor boosted by a 512 MB RAM enables users to wrap up tasks faster and switch between apps swiftly, making it a perfect device for multi-tasking.

Furthermore, it provides a perfect mix for users to enjoy their personal life by supporting all the exciting apps along with their professional life by accessing work on the move through its Quick Office software.

Commenting on the association, Vidmay Naini, Director &Business Head, eBay India, said “eBay India is the country’s largest online shopping mall with a product base of over 3 crore from 2,000 categories across Electronics, Lifestyle, Media and Collectibles.

We always strive to ramp up our product base with new and unique offerings and the Wiio Star 3G is one such irresistible proposition for our customers. We are confident that the Wiio WI Star 3G will enthuse all gadget savvy customers on ebay.in logging on from over 4,500 cities, towns and villages in India and 206 countries across the globe.”

Expressing his views, Rohit Ghai, Director, Wiio Mobiles, said, “After the successful launch of our first handset, the Wiio WI5, we are excited to launch our second offering, the Wiio WI Star 3G, exclusively on ebay. in. The Wiio WI Star 3G boasts of interesting functions at a very competitive price point.

We are committed to offering consumers with value for money devices with state of the art features. We are bullish about the Indian mobile market.”

BlackBerry Classic launched in India

B

lackBerry has launched the BlackBerry Classic in India. The smartphone is specially built to meet the needs of productive people thriving on speed and

a users’ go-to productivity tool. It is designed to give users a distinct experience that every BlackBerry QWERTY loyalist and high-productivity business customer will love. This

accuracy that can be found with a physical QWERTY keyboard. Designed based on extensive customer feedback, the BlackBerry Classic offers customers the power and performance of BlackBerry 10.

“With the launch of BlackBerry Classic, we bring back the unique BlackBerry QWERTY experience that made the BlackBerry smartphones

device brings the best of BlackBerry features and the keyboard functionalities familiar to BlackBerry Bold and Curve users on a secure and productive platform, with the added performance and agility that power professionals need to be competitive in today’s busy world,” said Sunil Lalvani, Managing Director, BlackBerry India.

Videocon adds Infinium Z45 Smartphone to its Nova Series

V

ideocon group has added a new smartphone in Nova series –Infinium Z45 Nova. The device is in line with the emerging young generation’s smartphone demands for an amazing design and innovation at an affordable price.

The Infinium Z45 Nova is encased within a slim profile of just 8.5mm.

It is powered by 1.3 GHz Quad-Core processor, which along with a DualCore Mali 400 GPU. Setting it apart from the competition, the device is exclusively available on Flipkart.com at a highly competitive customer price of Rs.4,999/Infinium Z45 Nova comes equipped with a stunning 11.43 cm (4.5”) FWVGA IPS Capacitive Touch. It has 8GB of internal storage for apps along with up to 32GB

external memory support; and has 1GB DDRII RAM that handles multitasking with absolute ease. It runs on Android 4.4.2 KitKat OS and is also upgradable to the next Android release.

The device offers advanced levels of multitasking and device performance.

www.varindia.com

January 2015

59

60

January 2015

www.varindia.com

60 pages including cover