Avaya may support Telengana

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IBM ties up with Reliance Communications

Fortinet enters into strategic alliance with NATO

Enterprise Mobility
The Biggest Trendsetter for 2016
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Channel is our Mantra of Success

43pg

HPE announces beta

launch of its Machine
Learning API

elivered as a service on Microsoft

Azure, HPE Haven OnDemand
provides more than 60 APIs and services
that deliver deep learning analytics on a
wide range of data, including text, audio,
image, social, web and
video.
Kamal Dutta, MD
Software, Asia Growth
Countries, Hewlett Packard
Enterprise said, HPE Haven
OnDemand democratizes
big data by bringing the power of machine
learning, traditionally reserved for highend, highly-trained data scientists, to the
mainstream developer community. Now,
anyone can leverage our easy-to-use cloudbased service to harness the rich variety of
data available today to build applications
that produce new insights, differentiate
businesses, delight customers and deliver
a competitive advantage.

Is e-commerce predatory
pricing coming to an end?

n the FDI policy, while the

Department
of
Industrial
Promotion and Policy (DIPP) has
allowed 100% foreign direct investment
(FDI) in the B2B e-commerce model, it
has not permitted any FDI in Business to
Consumer (B2C) e-commerce model.
However the new regulation will
simply mean that e-commerce companies
that have been long enjoying the status of
a marketplace model while still working
under the quasi-inventory-led model
will need to stop. In a strikingly, antifree market approach, the new guidelines
state that online retailers cant directly
or indirectly influence the price of goods
and services. While this phrasing may
sound a little peculiar, its been laid out as
such in order to deal with the innumerable
ways that online retailers fund discounts
in the current industry.

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April 2016

Accelerating next

Accelerating
advantage.

When your all-flash solution has no limits, its almost unfair.

Give yourself the advantage of all-flash storage for less than $1.50 USD per GB usable.* All-Flash HPE 3PAR StoreServ Storage
gives you 10X greater speed,** with built-in data protection and continuous application availability. So youre ready to take your
business further, faster.

HPE 3PAR StoreServ Storage

powered by Intel Xeon
processors. Intel Inside.
Powerful Solution Outside.

Contact details
Balaji Sethu
balaji.sethu@redington.co.in
09025164555

*As of June 2015, 3.84TB cMLC SSDs, when used in conjunction with 3PAR compaction technologies, bring the cost of All-Flash HPE 3PAR StoreServ Storage to less than $1.50 USD per gigabyte of usable storage capacity based on a 4:1 compaction ratio.
**Based on comparison of the relative performance and footprint of the All-Flash HPE 3PAR StoreServ 7450 Storage array against an HPE 3PAR StoreServ Storage array of the same size and capacity configured with only HDDs.
Intel, the Intel logo, Xeon, and Xeon Inside are trademarks or registered trademarks of the Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries.
Copyright 2015 Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP.

April 2016

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April 2016

HELLO INDIA

Are you ready to be a part of

$1-trillion opportunity?
I

would like to start with complimenting the sincere efforts of the Government of India for introducing
various liberal and reformist measures in the Indian economy. Streamlining and modifying technology
issues have resulted in rapid growth of the Indian telecom sector and strong consumer demand. The private
sector has played an important role in the growth of this sector. Resultantly, India has now become the
second-largest telecommunication market and has the third-highest number of internet users in the world.
With 4G services about to hit the market, the growth in this sector is enormous with regular increase in
the subscriber base. With policy liberalization, there is now easy market access for global telecom equipment
vendors. This has ensured availability of telecom services to consumers at affordable prices. The Make-inIndia campaign appears to have had a positive impact on the manufacturing of mobile handsets in the
country, thereby generating more jobs. India will overtake US as the second-largest smartphone market
globally by 2017. The Indian digital ecosystem will be a $1-trillion economy in the next five years, with $400
billion contribution from smartphones and electronics manufacturing, $350 billion from IT & ITeS-enabled
services and $250 billion from communication services.
The question is if there is positive growth in the telecom sector, then why there are still call drops. Who
is responsible for this? A telecom company says, it is due to the lack of airwaves and their inability to erect
more towers amid concerns over radiation. The telecom department and the telecom regulator said the situation would improve if the operators
spent more money and optimized their networks. Anyway, the subscribers are suffering and getting frustrated at
times when there is disconnection during the call. However, we have to pay the raised invoice by the operators.
There is no doubt that the Aadhaar card has strengthened the Jan Dhan-Aadhaar-Mobile framework for developing
social security platforms. After a successful rollout of direct benefits transfer (DBT) for LPG, the Government feels
encouraged to introduce DBT on a pilot basis for fertilizers in a few districts across the country. Going forward, the
Government has to fix plumbing and reduce leakages from the expenditure charged on the Consolidated Fund of
India. It is true that IT consumption and buying pattern have changed drastically. Hence, a good business strategy
without a marketing strategy (combination of marketing mix) to support it won't be very successful.

TVS-E is today recognized for

the strong services support"
How is the service market growing in the
country?
There are two segments today Warranty
Services and Out-of-Warranty Services. Postsales-Service is greatly felt in product categories
like Consumer Electronics, Mobile Phones and
the IT product lines like PCs and laptops. All
brands are clearly focused on services today as
the key differentiator, because most of their
products are brought from outside are have
common features.
If you look at the mobile phones market
today there are approx..300 Million phones sold
in a year; out of which 20 million phones need
to be repaired, whereas brands offer warranty
services for twelve months. These brands tie
up with companies like TVS-e to offer services
to their consumers. There are three different
service delivery models the delivery format can
be (a) onsite where our engineers will go to the
consumer to repair the device, (b) walk-in centre
where a consumer walks in with his defective
product and (c) repair factory at a central place
where the products will be brought-in, repaired
and then sent back to the respective brand. The
fourth model which is emerging now is the
Remote Tech Support and this is considered
to be more effective when there are no parts

April 2016

www.varindia.com

to be replaced and the problem can be solved

remotely.
Customers now are becoming conscious
about the well-being of their products and
even after the warranty period they will land
in an exclusive branded repair centre instead of
visiting a local service dealer. Trust is the single
biggest factor when it comes to choosing a
service outlet for repair. I estimate the warranty
services market to be around Rs.2,000Rs.2,500
crores while the Post-warranty services (repairs)
market is expected to be around Rs. 5000
Crores

What is TVS-Es service presence in the

country?
TVS-E has 70+ exclusive branded service
centres in India today and is present across all
the delivery models. We are the chosen partner
for leading brands like Dell, Lenovo, hTC,
Samsung, Xioami, NCR, Diebold, Micromax
and Lava in managing their warranty services
to customers . The people, process, parts are
managed by us and we deliver a unique seamless
experience to the customers. Brands trust us
for providing high quality service to their
customers.

How is TVS-E positioned in the market

K E Ranganathan
MD, TVS Electronics Ltd

with its range ofproducts?

Besides services, TVS-E is also very strong
in the product segment. We now have the
dot-matrix printers, Point-of-Sale products
(POS) like scanners, thermal printers and label
printers. We are seeing a huge opportunity for
POS products in the retail segment where just
half a million shops claim to have some category
of POS products deployed whereas the estimates
show over 10 million retail shops in India. With
the likelihood of GST coming into force very
soon, the demand for POS products for the
retail segment will scale up sharply. Beyond
the retail sector, POS products find numerable
applications in other sectors like Manufacturing,
Hotel, Hospitals, Logistics, Transport etc. We
keep launching several exciting POS products
and offer the same with total solutions
including installation, commissioning, warranty
services and post warranty services. n

www.varindia.com

April 2016

Channel Chief

Redington transforming from a

VAD to a Solution Distributor
In an interview with P. S. Neogi, Joint Chief Operating Officer, Redington, he discusses on
various growth areas for the distribution company that he thinks are viable enough for doing
business and about the transformation it is going through to suit the demands in the market
Redington did not want to be just a distributor and value-added
distributor (VAD) and wanted to upgrade its status from being a
VAD to a solution distributor and focus on other key growth areas
like consultancy and implementation of projects. We are a solution
distributor for Juniper, Polycom, EMC and this is going to continue.
We just want to add another feather to our cap by expanding our role
in the market, opines P. S. Neogi, Joint Chief Operating Officer,
Redington.
Except for its consumer group, all the groups focus on selling
solutions. Whichever vendor wants us to sell solutions, we will be
looking to investing in those offerings. But we do not directly bill with
customers as that has been our policy always. We are instead here to
help partners get potential leads and convert them into business. We
will be solution partners to our partners and help them approach the
end-customer, explains Neogi.
There are many SMBs and commercial partners who do not have
the skill set, talent or the capacity to invest. Redington steps in with
the necessary assistance to help those partners bag orders and upgrade
themselves with the required skill set. We will charge the partners
something nominal for the skill training and assistance offered and
partners, in turn, will charge it from the customers. So they do not
have to go to the vendor, he states.

Redington is positioned as the brand

behind the brands. We have seen much
struggle to sell a Rs 25,000 laptop, but
people will buy Rs 25,000 smartphones
without even thinking twice.
He further continues, That is the kind of thrust or change in
direction that we are trying to drive in Redington in the last one and
a half years. It takes time because hitting the talent (partners) and
retaining them is not easy as they happen to command a very high
premium in the market. But then this is an ongoing process.
With regard to the Smart City project, Redington wants to be
a game-changer. According to Neogi, IT infrastructure will form a
very small part of the Smart City project. The backbone will be IT
undoubtedly, but the actual IT spend will only be a fraction of the
whole project.
Looking ahead...
Neogi wishes to serve its partners better. We will also be able to
give technical support to the partners and are ready to go the extra
mile on demand basis. But at the same time we will also have to be the
certified or authorized partners for our vendors otherwise customers
are not going to ask us, laughs Neogi.
In its IT products category, Redington
runs the following four groups
Consumer Business Group that deals with consumer laptop,
PC, PC accessories
Commercial & Enterprise Group where it deals with commercial
PC, laptop, workstation, servers, Thin Client, storage,
networking products, power products
Software & Security Group where all kinds of software like
licensing software, enterprise software, security products &
software are dealt with
Cloud Solutions Group started last year and through this
Redington started foraying into the cloud space. Today, it
2016
www.varindia.com
8 is aApril
Cloud
solution
provider to Microsoft (CSP) that started
sometime in October or November.

P. S. Neogi
Joint Chief Operating Officer,
Redington
Neogi also points out that the incremental change in technology
is going to be very low now. The industry has come to a stage where
very high technology products are in demand. The differentiation
among different brands is slowly fading away today. Though we
have been present in this market for so many years, we still do not
know how customer preferences or demand level are going to change.
It is the mindset of the people. Today, I will have to struggle to sell a
Rs.25,000 laptop, but people will buy Rs.25,000 smartphones without
even thinking twice. However, one thing is sure that India is going to
play a big role in the Rs.10,000Rs.30,000 price bracket smartphone
segment. Most of the 90% of the buying is going to take place in this
segment, he points out.
When asked about the current e-commerce segment in the country,
Neogi states that with the new policy having announced, it needs to
be seen whether the e-commerce segment would be a viable business
or not. Now that they are not allowed to support the discounting
for its sellers, we would like to see whether these same sellers are still
interested in selling on these e-commerce sites or not, he says.
Nevertheless, the market is going to be a big potential for Redington
this year. With all big projects coming up and interest rates coming
down, we are hopeful of seeing a significant opportunity. Redington
is targeting a strong double-digit growth and we will continue to grow
both in the IT and non-IT segments, put together, sums up Neogi.n

www.varindia.com

April 2016

CONTENTS
Website: www.varindia.com

Publisher: Deepak Kumar Sahu

Editor: S Mohini Ratna
Executive Editor: Dr. Vijay Anand
Assistant Editor: Samrita Baruah
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Network Administrator: Ashok Kumar Singh
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Manager-SEO: Bidyadhar Behera
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Commercial Manager: Amit Kumar Jha
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10

April 2016

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April 2016

11

www.varindia.com

April 2016

13

ROUND ABOUT

Biographies Vs Novels
I

recently read Sam Pitrodas autobiography, Dreaming Big:

My Journey to Connect India. Sams name is synonymous
with the telecom revolution in the country. While going through
his autobiography, I realized that his contributions are grossly
understated in the Indian context. Sams contributions, if I may
be allowed to interpret, is across the spectrum of technology and
to limit that canvas to telecom is a gross disservice to this man who
courted controversies, often politically motivated and still kept his
spirits high to work for the country in the 1980s.
Sam, as he admits in the book, is the son of a blacksmith born and
brought up in measly conditions and had education at most trying
circumstances, whereas Rajiv Gandhi was a manor born, who could
have everything at his command, being a part of the illustrious and
well known family. Their journey together to give India a technical
face was more on an account of their shared vision. I reckon that
it was a sheer luck that Sam broke the ground to become the most
sought out advisor of Rajiv Gandhi.
There are many such autobiographies and biographies that have
evinced my keen reading. They included that of President Obama,
Mahatma Gandhi, Abdul Kalam and the list goes on. I find it is more
stimulating and absorbing than a thriller since you know very well
such fictionalized things create an ambience of make believe and the
characters are germinated by the author according to his imagination
and more accurately by his predilections and conjurors. Whereas
biographies take you to the real world and you will not get trespassed
into an imaginary world. Here the feelings are real and human and the
author will not concoct things. If one does so, he or she is insensitive
and the work gets easily discounted.
Coming back to Sams autobiography, there are many things that
take you to the contemporary Indian context. When he explains about
the state of telecom sector in India in the 80s, when the industry
was a state monopoly, the present generation who plays with gizmos
of different hues and configurations would think whether such age
existed in India. Once a central telecom minister famously said in
reply to a question raised in Parliament by members who were
dissatisfied with the working of the telecom network plagued by
line disruptions and non - responsiveness of the telecom operators
that they could surrender their connections if they found telephones
were not useful. Could the new generation believe that the waiting
period for a new connection ranged from one year to five years or
even more? To top it, for almost half of the year, the telephone lines
remained dead.
Sams determined effort to transform the Indian telephone
network attracted ridicule, cynicism and disdain. Many thought,
as he explains in the book, he was an agent of the multinationals
and out to make quick bucks by investing his time in revamping
Indian telephone system. Otherwise, what is the interest for a man,
who claims to be raking millions of dollars in the US through his
patents and discoveries to come to India to work for very little pay.
There was media barrage against him doubting his integrity. But
the protective shield thrown by Rajiv Gandhi insulated him from
the machination of his detractors. In the process, he created many
edifices that are changing the landscape of India, such as C-DOT,
C-DAC, Technology Missions and the like.
When things had started looking up and taking concrete shape,
many adverse things had driven the good efforts he had done out of
context. Following the Bofors scandal, Rajiv Gandhi had to demit
the office. Before the next elections, when Rajiv Gandhi was widely
expected to make a comeback, he was assassinated. Notwithstanding
his close proximity with Rajiv Gandhi, Sam preferred not to
demit his office, despite him being rebuked by the then minister of
telecommunications, who leveled corruption charges against him and
washed the dirty linen in public. Sam says that the target of attack
was not himself but his benefactor Rajiv Gandhi and thought any
attempt to resign would send wrong signal of the allegations leveled

14

April 2016

www.varindia.com

were true. He continued to stomach the abuses and humiliations and

continued with his works
When the Congress party came to power under the leadership of
Mr. Narasimha Rao, he had his role cut out as the chairman of the
technology commissions. But the spate of health issues that followed
shook him physically but did not dwindle his spirit to survive
and continue with his development works. Once he recuperated
and attained a degree of financial stability, he started refocusing
on India and that determination continues despite the change of
governments.
Once you read through his memoirs, one can easily latch on to
the different phases of development that India had undergone in the
post - independence times. He explains how India could make the
head start in the software development and how the legendary GE
chairman Jack Welsh was compelled to place a US$ 10 million order
for Indian software, perhaps, the first order of that magnitude and
a trailblazer to the things that would follow in the later years. He
explains how the Technology Mission on Education was conceived
and how that is incrementally reshaping the education sector in
India. The digital advantage of India is not a stand- alone achievement
but a grand design to give the country a new development matrix inclusive growth. Democracy, he is convinced, can grow only in a
dispensation which ensures development of all and not a few.
What the nation is thinking now, such as innovation, technology,
knowledge driven economy, inclusive growth, digital divide and
what have you, I get the impression, that the Sam and his benefactors
talked about, discussed and debated way back in the 80s, when
liberalization was a taboo and privatization was almost close to
blasphemy. That is the foresight of the people whom he is talking
about. The pertinent question now is despite that lofty thinking
and high values that we had seized up long back, why we are still
struggling to make development a central theme of our governance?
Is it too much of politicization, too much of talk with little action
on the ground, adversarial political propaganda, not walking the talk
or simple inertia? I do not have an answer for that except a sweeping
generalization that it could be a combination of all.
I still have to convince the readers why I like such biographies
over novels. My simple answer is that the former has realism, real
character, events, real happenings and everything that is to do with
real life but a novel to me appears to depict a reel life. I prefer the
former over the latter. That may not be the case with you. n

www.varindia.com

April 2016

15

HOT BYTES

Citrix brings updated partner

Rashi explores
programme and incentive portfolio new medium
has updated
of Marketing
its
partner
Citrix

programme and incentive

portfolio.
Specifically,
Citrix is introducing a
new suggested upfront
discount for partneridentified and qualified
opportunities, clarifying
existing
incentives
to focus rewards on
objective activities, and
expanding its marketing
development funds to fuel
partner growth.
Kimberly
Martin,
VP, Worldwide Partner
Sales and Strategy, Citrix,
said, We are focussed on
helping our partners bring

our solutions to the midmarket and making Citrix

the most profitable vendor
on which our partners
can build a business. The
changes we are announcing
represent a second wave of
improvements in 2016 and
are designed to promote
growth, drive profit and
give our partners greater
predictability, especially
for those partners that
invest in their relationship
with us and look to target
the mid-market.

Oracle strengthens its

expansion plan in India

racle
has
announced
that its first incubation
centre will be launched
in India. The centre
named as Oracle Startup
Cloud Accelerator, will
open in Bangalore and
will be inaugurated by
Oracles President of
Product
Development
Thomas Kurian. Several
more centres are slated
to be launched later
in Chennai, Gurgaon,
Hyderabad,
Mumbai,
Noida, Pune, Trivandrum
and Vijayawada. Oracles
SanketAtal, Group VP

of Development, will be
leading the initiative.
Thomas Kurian said,
Through the Oracle
Startup Cloud Accelerator
and the growing popularity
of cloud as an alternate
computing model, we
want to be the catalyst for
new business ideas. We are
committed to furthering
the government of Indias
Startup India initiative.
It matches our agenda of
fostering entrepreneurship
and promoting innovation
by creating the right
ecosystem for growth and
development.

NETSCOUTs VSS Monitoring appoints

RAH Infotech as National VAD

AH
Infotech
has announced
its appointment as the
National
Value-Added
Distributor (VAD) for

RAH Infotech, said,

NETSCOUTs
VSS
Monitoring
gives
organizations a complete
and centrally controllable

VSS Monitoring. RAH

Infotech will be able to
further strengthen its
network security portfolio
by adding the complete
suite of solutions from
VSS Monitoring.
Ashok
Kumar,
Chief Executive Officer,

view of their global

network,
enabling
decision-makers in the
operations centre and
boardroom to protect
the organization and
its customers, improve
efficiency, drive growth
and reduce TCO.

16

April 2016

www.varindia.com

ashi Peripherals
has forayed into a
new medium of marketing,
this time going the digital
way. As a distributor
distributing
SanDisk
storage devices, Rashi has
taken the task of creating
a level of inquisition about
SanDisk products among
the end-customers and
popularizing the many
advantages of owning
a
SanDisk
product.
Through the Digital
medium Rashi would
engage the end- users in a
quiz educating them about
the many advantages of
owning a SanDisk storage
product. A microsite has
been created and would
be promoted through
social media and Google
adverts. The activity will
also provide an extra
cover to the channel
partners through driving
a sense of interest among
the end-user.

DIGISOL brings
new offering
for SOHO

IGISOL
has
come up with
10/100 Mbps Ethernet
Desktop
unmanaged
switch DG-FS1016D-A.
The
new
solution
accelerates
bandwidth
needs of small Ethernet
workgroups. Ideal for
the SOHO environment,
the switch uses store and
forward packet-switching
technology which offers
reliable data transfer.
The DG-FS1016D-A
Switch
offers
16x10/100Mbps Ethernet
ports which gives small
workgroups a flexibility
to integrate Ethernet and
Fast Ethernet in a single
network.
With its backplane
capacity of 3.2 Gbps, data
transfer is at an average
of 200 Mbps per port at
full duplex mode allowing
every node to perform
at
their
maximum
performance.

Avaya may support Telengana

vaya met with

Telangana
IT
Minister
KalvakuntlaTaraka Rama
Rao, where a number of
initiatives were discussed
to support the states plan
to become Indias leading
state
for
technology
innovation. IT Minister
Rama Rao presented
to Avayas CEO Kevin
Kennedy a grand plan
to build and deliver
connectivity to more than
8.5 million households
with more than 32 million
people living in rural areas
and other parts across
the Telangana state. IT
Minister Rama Rao said,
Our
self-certification
system
enables any
investor to self-certify

quickly and easily, recent

legislation that makes our
bureaucrats accountable,
the
abundant,
and
strategically located land
and our human resources
that are being trained to
offer investors skilled
resources from Telangana
are unique to India and
the world. Avaya global
leadership met with KT
Rama Rao, IT Minister,
State of Telangana, to discuss
ways of collaboration on
digitization projects led by
the state.

DSCI and Google bring

Internet Safety Program

ata
Security
Council of India
(DSCI), in partnership
with Google, has launched
Internet Safety Program.
Under the program, DSCI
and Google will organize
a series of workshops
in various cities, to
help inculcate safe and
responsible behaviour in
cyber space by sharing
best practices and guidance
with the audience.
Vinayak
Godse,
Senior Director, Data
Security Council of India,
said, There has been

an accelerating increase
in the adoption of IT in
the MSME segment. It
is currently estimated at
as little as five per cent.
However,
a
massive
segment is in the process
of going online either
benefiting
from
the
e-commerce wave, cloud
services adoption, machine
automation, and social
commerce or by simply
having an online presence
of their business. Internet
safety becomes imperative
in all these situations and
many more in the future.

GIGABYTEs Friendly Policies make

it a favourite among Partners

I G A B Y T E
has
emerged
as the channel partner
favourite
among
IT
hardware vendors within
India.
According
to
GIGABYTE
Indias

timely
provision
of
marketing support.
The one thing that all
partners of GIGABYTE
would readily vouch
for is the fact that the
company offers the widest

longstanding partners, the

company has struck the
right chord with them in
all channel-related matters
be it incentives, loyalty
programmes, enhanced
profitability,
improved
post-sales support or

variety of motherboards
in the market that cater
to different categories
of
end-users.
These
motherboards are backed
by the most innovative
technologies and features
in the industry.

Z170X-GAMING 7

GIGABYTE Technology (India) Pvt. Ltd.

Website:www.gigabyte.in;
www.gigabyte.in;
Toll-Free:
1800-22-0966;
www.facebook.com/GIGABYTEindia
Website:
Toll-Free:
1800-22-0966;
www.facebook.com/GIGABYTEindia

GUJARAT: 98642 30150; MUMBAI: 99677 18653; REST OF MAHARASHTRA: 99677 18653; GOA: 99677 18653; CHHATTISGARH 99677 18653; MADHYA PRADESH: 99100 86976;
GUJARAT:
9864299583
30150;
MUMBAI:
99677
18653; UTTARAKHAND:
REST OF MAHARASHTRA:
99677 CHANDIGARH
18653; GOA:AND
99677
18653;
CHHATTISGARH
99677
18653; MADHYA
PRADESH:
UTTAR PRADESH:
72672;
NEW DELHI,
HARYANA,
99100 86976; PUNJAB,
JAMMU
& KASHMIR:
99100 86976;
RAJASTHAN:
99100 86976;
99100
86976;
UTTAR
PRADESH:
99583
72672;
NEW
DELHI,
HARYANA,
UTTARAKHAND:
99100
86976;
PUNJAB,
CHANDIGARH
AND
JAMMU
&
KASHMIR:
BIHAR, JHARKHAND: 90075 45577; ORISSA: 99030 52251; NORTH EAST: 97076 42785; WEST BENGAL: 97485 02710; KARNATAKA: 94482 93439; ANDHRA PRADESH,
99100
86976;90405
RAJASTHAN:
99100
86976;
JHARKHAND:
90075 45577; ORISSA: 99030 52251; NORTH EAST: 97076 42785; WEST BENGAL: 97485 02710;
TELANGANA:
06080; TAMIL
NADU:
74117BIHAR,
74666; KERALA:
98950 99231

KARNATAKA: 94482 93439; ANDHRA PRADESH, TELANGANA: 90405 06080; TAMIL NADU: 74117 74666; KERALA: 98950 99231

www.varindia.com

April 2016

17

VAR CORPORATE

Hyper convergence and Hyperscale

driving growth in 2016 for Lenovo
The acquisition of IBMs x86 server business has resulted in Lenovo
accomplishing a strong footing in the large enterprise space and also
gaining strong customer confidence and considerable growth. The aim now
before Lenovo is to become the #1 leader in the enterprise market In January 2014, Lenovo and IBM entered
into a definitive agreement to acquire its
x86 server business. The product range
encompasses System x, BladeCenter and
Flex System blade servers and switches, x86based Flex integrated systems, NeXtScale
and iDataPlex servers and associated
software, blade networking and maintenance
operations.
Our Enterprise Business is now firmly in
the growth phase despite a few initial teething
concerns and integration challenges. The
server business is core to Lenovos strategy
and we are working towards our aim to
become #1 in the enterprise market in the
following five years.
Over the last year, we accomplished
building a strong footing in the large enterprise
space and achieve considerable growth. What
is more important is that we have been able to
build a strong customer confidence. We have
specifically seen some great wins around SAP
HANA, HPC etc. in verticals such as telecom
and manufacturing, automotive, FMCG,
retail etc.
IBMs x86 business not only gave us access
to the best technology and product roadmap,
but we have also been able to realize several
efficiencies around scale, both on the price

18

April 2016

www.varindia.com

and supply chain fronts. We expect to see a

lot more synergy as the businesses get better
integrated going forward.

Looking back at 2015

One of the biggest challenges in the last

one year has been the increase in enterprises
demand from IT- both from a budget and
performance point of view. Doing more
with less is driving the industry towards
consolidation. With more powerful servers
that have smaller footprints, there has been
an emphasis on reducing server sprawl. One
of the reasons for this is that as the demand
for processing power goes up, CIOs have
very limited bandwidth to physically grow
their servers. Therefore, they expect existing
servers to do more.

Siddhesh Naik
Security has also emerged as a No. 1
concern for enterprises. Perhaps due to this,
we have seen the hype around cloud tapering
down, especially when it comes to public
cloud. Many large enterprises are still taking
baby steps on the cloud. Core applications
and data are still in-house although there has
been an emphasis on reducing server sprawl.
Instead, we have seen greater demand for
Hybrid clouds, with single window between
public and private cloud for a seamless user
experience.
With core decision making becoming
real-time, the other big trend of 2015 was the
coming of age of business analytics in India.
For example, using an SAP HANA based
solution, one of our FMCG clients now has the
capability to actually plan its manufacturing
right down to details like which soap of which
colour needs to be manufactured at which
location. This is a massive improvement
over the earlier process where manufacturing
plans were done in a week or fortnight. Now
the entire manufacturing cycle is planned in
real time, based on data from the previous
evening.
There are several other great examples a
research institute that uses HPC to forecast
weather flash floods, rains etc. based on real
time data or using cameras to capture number

Director, Enterprise Business Group

Lenovo India

plates of cars jumping the signals, to name a

few.

Lenovos vision for 2016

and focus areas

As always, our strategy, will be a

combination of protect and attack.;
meaning we will protect existing strengths
such as our strong solution capabilities and
high end products. We plan to invest in new
products and alliances, on the attack front.
Storage is one area to look out for since we
only have entry-level offerings in storage as
of now.
Two big, emerging trends that we are
investing in are hyper-convergence and hyperscale. Our recent partnership with Nutanix is
a step in this direction. As the market moves
from server sprawl to a converged network;
customers prefer the convenience of a single
management console for several infrastructure
layers, be it the compute layer, hypervisor,
networking, fabric or storage.
By partnering with Nutanix, a marketleader in hyper-convergence, we will enable
our customers to simplify IT Infrastructure
by adding a software defined layer on top of
their existing infrastructure to drive greater
efficiency and agility to their data centers. The
biggest advantage of hyper-convergence is that

allows businesses to grow their infrastructure

in the form of building blocks, instead of the
current paradigm of large upfront investments
and provisioning for growth two years in
advance.
Hyperscale will be the other big trend
in 2016. Hyper scale refers to investments
in 1000s of servers by companies.We also
expect to see good traction on HPC and SAP
HANA-based solutions in 2016. 2015 was a
good growth year for us in India. We expect
to see good overall market growth in 2016
driven by trends such as consolidation and
virtualization, HPC and analytics.
Channels will continue to remain core to
our business. Through this period of transition,
our channel partners have been steadfast and
we see them getting even stronger. We have
launched a number of unique initiatives such
as an incentive program for lead generation
(Lenovo ka Sikandar) and health insurance
coverage (Lenovo Cares) for partner team
members. We will also invest in skills
development for key partners, especially in
areas such as HPC and SAP HANA.

The other big trend of 2015 was the coming of age

of business analytics in India. For example, using an SAP
HANA based solution, one of our FMCG clients now has
the capability to actually plan its manufacturing right
down to details like which soap of which colour needs
to be manufactured at which location. This is a massive
improvement over the earlier process where manufacturing
plans were done in a week or fortnight. Now the entire
manufacturing cycle is planned in real time, based on data
from the previous evening.

Predictability and Commitment

help Lenovo business to grow

n a chat with VARINDIA, Vasudevan

Subramaniam, Managing Director,
NewWave Computing reveals his journey with
Lenovo, the factors which have helped both
Lenovo and his business to grow, the Partner
enablement programs and the expected growth
that he is foreseeing

How long has been

association with Lenovo?

predictable vendor. As a partner also if you do

not have strong engagement vendors we will
not be able to deliver predictable experience.
We have been able to deliver that due to our
strong engagement and at the same time we
have our approach towards food system of
escalation. Third, our job is to deliver right
value for our client, not about being cheap
in price but to deliver right benefits. Creating
that value for client is also a hallmark of new
age value creation capability. Lastly, we are
authorised service provider for Lenovo as well.
We are in a position to service, support our
clients.

your

We have been with Lenovo ever since

the days when the PC business of IBM was
taken over by it. We have been an erstwhile
partner of IBM and after the transition, we got
associated with Lenovo.

How often Lenovo organise

channel enablement product?

How has been the journey so far

with Lenovo?
What is important and what we look for in
a partnership is predictability and consistency.
In PC or end user computing business, how
predictable or consistent a vendor can be from
a strategy, channel or pricing perspective, all
these have a very strong impact either on the
partner or the customer. Fortunately, Lenovo
has been a very predictable and consistent
partner; not to forget that they are one of the
pioneers in product innovation. They have
launched so many products in these years
and they happened to have been the leaders
in almost every category. Product innovation
has been always the highlight for what Lenovo
stands for. And also its predictability on
programs, pricing strategy, product supply
and services what makes Lenovo stands apart
in the competition.
We have grown with Lenovo tremendously.
The significant growth of our business have
come from Lenovo business. It is because of the

product proliferation, secondly the strategy of

attacking and go after new markets which was
Lenovos five years of strategy and we are also
convinced about the strategy. Internally also
the company was also organised in a similar
manner. Our goal was to maintain the existing
customers at the same time go after new
customers and acquire them.

What have been your core

strength in helping Lenovo growing
in the market?
Our core strength is around four key
areas, one is understanding the client needs
and fulfilling the requirements. We train our
field force very well and most of our people are
Lenovo certified. So because of that we are able
to bring value and we help customers to choose
the right Lenovo product. Secondly its to be
predictable in your commitments. Lenovo is a

Lenovo has programs broadly around face

to face training, weekly webinar and also have
online certification program. The combination
of these three Lenovo is currently delivering
and there is always scope for improvement.

What kind of a business growth

do you foresee?
While there is a large portfolio, the drive
is to have granular focus account by account
and then to see whether we are delivering
value and converting the customers into
revenue. So a lot of marketing effort which
is require and we are planning that this year
to increase growth.
We are also partner for Lenovo Enterprise
products and all of these are apt to increase
our revenue. Certainly, there is now doubt
in our minds that we will grow but the
question is can you grow faster than your
current growth. n

www.varindia.com

April 2016

19

HOT BYTES

IBM ties up with Reliance

Communications

BM has entered
into
strategic
partnership with Reliance
Communications
to
provide its customers with
a complete portfolio of
highly secure and scalable
Infrastructure-as-a-Service
(IaaS) offerings running
on the IBM Cloud.
Indian enterprises are
increasingly
leveraging
cloud
for
business
transformation
and
require
sophisticated
new levels of support to
expand their e-commerce

operations. Through our

partnership with IBM,
customers will instantly
benefit from the added
flexibility and global reach
to be more competitive,
especially as we look
at new opportunities
from the Digital India
program, said Braham
Singh, SVP of Global
Product
Management,
Reliance Communications
(Enterprise) & Global
Cloud Xchange.

Hitachi and Virtusa ink

global partnership

itachi
and
Virtusa
have
inked a global strategic
partnership. Both the
companies will leverage
their core competencies,
industry IT solutions and
thought leadership to
provide joint services to
their global clients and
broader market. They
will jointly provide value
to clients by helping to
increase operational and
technology
efficiency,
implementing
new
functionalities
and
optimizing
complex
operational processes.
I believe that Virtusa
provides a great fit for
Hitachi. It is a strong
technology
partner
with
deep
domain
knowledge and industry-

based solutions which

complement and extend
upon our own. By
combining
Hitachi's
strong
programme
management,
Japanese
market
understanding,
diverse
capabilities
in
technologies
and
knowledge in Financial
Services
and
other
industries, I believe that our
combined potential will be
significant and continue
to drive tremendous
value for our clients,
said Masayoshi Ogawa,
President of Financial
Information
Systems
Division,
Information
&
Telecommunication
Systems
Company,
Hitachi.

Fortinet enters into strategic

alliance with NATO

ithin
the
framework of
the NATO Industry Cyber
Partnership
(NICP),
Fortinet has signed an
industry
partnership
agreement with NATO

Communications
and
Information
(NCI)
Agency.
Michael
Xie,
Founder,
President

20

April 2016

&
CTO,
Fortinet,
said,
Organizations,
both public or private,
and everyday people
are constantly under
cyber attack. If more
organizations proactively
share actionable
intelligence,
together
we
can
better
combat advanced threats
and counteract the latest
risks to deliver security
without
compromise
today and in the future."

www.varindia.com

CRPF to strengthen its IT Security

Dell brings
is a unique and patented
Back-to-School TheReserve Central
Police Multifactor authentication
(CRPF) has chosen technology that works
offer at just Re.1 Force
AuthShield, a unique and at the protocol layer

Dell has announced

the new Back-to-School
season for 2016. This
year, the Dell Back-toSchool campaign aims at
showcasing the power
of personal computing
to both students and
their parents through the
concept of interactive
learning.
Ritu Gupta, Director
Marketing, Consumer
and Small Business, Dell
India, said, I think this
initiative will drive away
the fear of adoption of
computers. Being able to
buy a Dell computer at
just Re.1, with the rest
in interest-free EMIs,
is a bold initiative we
have taken, something
that is more prevalent in
consumer durable product
promotions.

Adobe Summit
2016 outlines its
growth Vision

dobe
has
conducted
its
annual digital marketing
conference in the U.S.,
Adobe Summit 2016. It
focussed on the future of
marketing and business
transformation.
At
the
Summit,
the company unveiled
Adobe Cloud Platform
enhancements, including
advancements
to
its
partner and developer
program. A new Adobe
Marketing Cloud Device
Co-op is expected to
link up to 1.2 billion
devices. Brad Rencher,
Executive Vice-President
& General Manager,
Digital
Marketing
Business, Adobe, stated,
"Every company should
be obsessed with the
quality of the experiences
they are delivering to
their customers. Adobe is
laser-focussed on enabling
our customers to create
consistent, personalized
stand-out experiences for
their customers."

patented Make in India

solution developed by
the Indian Information
Security Group Innefu
Labs to protect CRPF
from data stealing, identity
theft and online security
threats such as phishing,
ransomeware and system
hacking.
CRPF has requested
1,500 AuthShield Tokens
in the first phase and is
expected to deploy it
in different parts of the
country.
AuthShield
Authentication security

and combines device

mapping with multiple
authentication
form
factors including Facial
Biometrics. Working at
the protocol layer offers
AuthShield the advantages
of integrating Multifactor
Authentication with mails
clients on smartphones and
desktops, SAP, Transaction
Authentication
and
Internet of Things (IoT).
These unique features
were not available with
any existing authentication
solution.

Persistent announces
Growth strategies

ersistent Systems
has
announced
plans to organize its
business around four
key growth strategies.
Unique to Persistent,
the companys product
development
and
technology DNA drive
all four growth strategies.
The new structure along
with new leadership
responsibilities will be
effective April 1, 2016.
The four growth

strategies and related

business lines are going
Digital, IBM alliance,
Services and its Accelerite
product suite.
The company also
plans to strengthen its
corporate
functions
as part of Corporate
Operations that will
enable and accelerate the
four growth strategies.
Atul Khadilkar will
be the President for
Corporate Operations.

SAP to strengthen entrepreneurship

ecosystem in India

AP has announced
an initiative to
support start-ups in India
and train teachers in
collaboration with the
IIT-Bombay. SAP
will take part
in two different
programmes: the
Entrepreneurship
Development
Initiative
and
the
Train
10,000 Teachers
Programme
(T10KT)

a
STEM education
initiative.
In conjunction with
the incubator centre
at IIT-Bombay, SAP
aims
to
strengthen
the
entrepreneurship
ecosystem and foster

scalable high growth

social enterprises. This
collaboration
will
augment a knowledge
and
innovation-driven

culture across India, while

further
strengthening
the
entrepreneurship
ecosystem and facilitating
networking
with
professional
resources,
mentors and funders.

www.varindia.com

March 2016

25

ON THE RAMP

Intel makes Cloud adoption easy

ntel
has
come
up with a new
range of technologies,
investments and industry
collaborations. This will
help in easy
deployment
of agile and
scalable clouds.
Intel
is
easing the path
with new processors, solidstate drives and a range of
industry collaborations
to help businesses deliver
new services at the scale
and speed of advanced
public clouds.
Enterprises
want
to benefit from the

efficiency and agility of

cloud architecture and on
their own terms using
the public cloud offerings,
deploying their own
private cloud,
or both. The
result is pentup
demand
for
softwared e f i n e d
infrastructure. Intel is
investing to mature SDI
solutions and provide a
faster path for businesses
of all sizes to reap the
benefits of the cloud, said
Diane Bryant, Sr VP &
GM, Intels Data Center
Group.

Edimax launches WAP2600X

10GbE Access Point

dimax Technology
has
introduced
the WAP2600X 10GbE
access point for large-sized
Intranet data transfers
at incredible speed. The
WAP2600X is a dual-band
wall-mounted access point
supporting 802.11ac Wave
2 and with a 10GbE LAN
port.
The latest 802.11ac
Wave 2 revision delivers
faster Wi-Fi speeds with
more channel width (80
+ 80MHz or 160MHz)
and spatial streams (4
x 4 : 4), making it even
more capable of high-

performance connectivity.
One
of
the
key
technology advancements
MU-MIMO (MultiUser MIMO) improves
data transmit times, helps
Wi-Fi networks to scale,
and increases capacity
by allowing APs to
utilize multiple streams
that supports very high
density (VHD) up to 100
client devices per radio
simultaneously. Offering
up to 10GbE Ethernet,
the WAP2600X removes
speed bottlenecks at wired
switches and Network
Attached Storage (NAS).

Verizon launches Unified

Customer Experience Solution

usinesses serving
all industries will
soon be able to connect
seamlessly with their
customers through Web
chat, social media, email
or mobile via Verizon
Enterprise
Solutions
new Unified Customer
Experience
solution.
The
latest
addition
to
the
companys
continually-evolving
Customer
Contact
Solutions portfolio will
enable enterprises and
government agencies to
deliver a personalized and
superior
omni-channel
experience to clients.
This
platform-

22

April 2016

based holistic solution

provides
seamless
customer conversations,
including assessment and
analysis of the customers
journey throughout their
experience, said Prashant
Gupta, Head of Solutions,
Verizon
Enterprise
Solutions India.

www.varindia.com

Tableau 9.3
launched

ableau Software
has
launched
Tableau 9.3 with new
ways to analyze data
and share findings faster.
Enhanced features like
always
connected
Tableau
Desktop,
improved global map
coverage, faster ways to
prepare data for analysis,
more governance features
and easier administration
and direct connectivity to
the Snowflake Elastic Data
Warehouse has been added.
We have prioritized
sharing and collaboration
in Tableau 9.3, and it
will
be
immediately
noticeable once people
open Tableau Desktop.
The always-connected
feature means its easier
to share while staying in
the flow of your analysis.
Weve also addressed
customer requests to
advance our global map
coverage and to make
data prep easier, as well
as made improvements
across
Tableau
that
create a more delightful
experience for everyone,
said Chris Stolte, Chief
Development Officer &
Co-Founder,
Tableau
Software.

Axis introduces
Mini Dome
Cameras

x
i
s
Communications
has introduced three
new mini dome network
cameras to the AXIS M30
Series. The new models
offer HDTV image quality
to capture all details, Wide
Dynamic Range (WDR)
technology to adapt to
variable lighting conditions
and
Axis
Zipstream
technology to reduce
storage and bandwidth
requirements
without
sacrificing
important
image details. The factoryfocused cameras can be
mounted on walls or
ceilings and easily be
levelled and directed in
any direction using a 3-axis
camera angle adjustment.

Panasonic extends its MultiChannel Speaker System portfolio

anasonic has added

two new multichannel speaker systems
to its existing lineup.
Along with a powerful
compact subwoofer and
easy connections for all
media devices, the SCHT18GW-K houses an FM
tuner and SC-HT21GW-K
has an in-built Bluetooth
function for AnywhereEntertainment.
Ashish
Sasidharan,
Product Head, Consumer
Electronics,
Panasonic
India, said, We have
received positive feedback
from the customers for
our recently launched
products, the 2.1Ch HT20

and 4.1Ch HT40. We have

focused a lot on the design
and sound of 2.1 Mini.
The 2.1 BT is a product
extension of our hero
model launched last year,
the HT20 2.1Channel
speaker
System,
and
delivers an enhanced
sound performance. The
Bluetooth connectivity of
2.1 BT is simple and hassle
free. We are confident of
the success of both the
products.

Emerson launches new

Liebert GXT MT+ CX

merson Network
Power
has
introduced
the
new
Liebert GXT MT+ CX
uninterruptible
power
supply (UPS) with 1/2/3
kVA capacity in India.
The availability of the
true double conversion
online backup power
feature on this new UPS
system makes it a reliable
and
uninterruptible
power supply source
for optimal running of
small data centers, data
networks, voice networks
and process automation
equipment, even in harsh
power environments.

The Liebert GXT

MT+ CX model will
be sold through various
channels
including
VARs (Value Added
Resellers), IT Resellers,
Distributors and Business
Partners in India. A major
feature of this product
is its adjustable battery
charging current of up to
16 Amps.
Additionally,
this
UPS also has a high
output power factor of
up to 0.8 which allows for
more efficient utilization
for business continuity as
well as mission-critical IT
equipment.

SanDisk unveils Connect

Wireless Stick

anDisk
has
expanded
its
mobile storage portfolio
by upgrading its mobile
flash drive. The SanDisk
Connect Wireless Stick
is now available in
200GB capacity, with
faster transfer speeds,
giving users even more
options when it comes to
expanding the capabilities
of their mobile devices.
With the explosion
of content, people need
more advanced storage
solutions to keep up with
the volume and quality of

the photos, videos and files

theyre creating on their
mobile devices. Our goal
is to deliver innovative,
intuitive offerings that
help them capture lifes
great moments without
worrying about storage
limitations, said Rajesh
Gupta, Country Manager
India & SAARC,
SanDisk.

FACE TO FACE

ESET eyes on tapping

En ter prise M arket
In a chat with VARINDIA, Parvinder Walia, Sales and Marketing Director, ESET, APAC, discussed about the
changing nature of cyber threats, strategies, its channel ecosystem and also the recent focus areas of the company

he threat landscape of Asia-Pacific is

evolving continuously. The methods
and strategies used by the cyber attackers
have become extremely sophisticated. In the
age of the Internet of Things (IoT), where
more devices than ever before are becoming
connected to the network, there are more
potential points of attack for cybercriminals
always on the lookout to make a fast buck.
This makes it more important than ever before
for consumers and businesses to be aware of the
risks, and take the best preventative measures
to protect themselves against attacks.
One of the trends we are seeing includes the
increase in more innovative and sophisticated
attacks targeting enterprises and government
networks. By hacking into these systems,
attackers are able to gain access to valuable
data and intellectual property that can be used
against the victims or sold to competitors. We
have also seen cases which involve cyber spying,
where attackers launch malicious attacks in
order to spy on government or high-profile
individuals, said Parvinder Walia, Sales and
Marketing Director, ESET, APAC.
Given Indias incredibly high mobile

Report 2015, which highlighted that India

has one of the lowest awareness rates when it
comes to cybersecurity, compared with other
countries in the region. This, in itself, could
make internet users in India more vulnerable to
online threats, added Walia.

Strategy and Channels

Parvinder Walia
Sales and Marketing Director,
ESET, APAC
adoption rate, it is unsurprising that many of
the attacks surfacing in the country are targeting
mobile devices, including various kinds of
malware. This is dangerous, considering the
results of our Asia-Pacific Cyber-Savviness

Though the business comes from tier-I

cities, tier-II and tier-III cities are also showing
signs of growth. So, to provide a better
coverage to the users and increase brand
awareness, ESET works through two channel
partners. Understanding the mindset of its
customers, ESET has brought simple and easyto-use security solutions with an inclusive
approach. The products are aimed to meet the
requirements of the users.
Already, a pioneer in the SMB market,
ESET is now focussing to reinforce its position
in the Enterprise and corporate market across
globe. For that, the company is focussing
to understand consumers needs along with
simplifying things for its customers. n
aparna@varindia.com

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www.varindia.com

April 2016

23

ON THE RAMP

Microsoft Launches SQL Server 2016 DataWind

icrosoft
has
unveils Tablet
unveiled SQL
M
Server 2016. It is a data
platform
built
with processing
capabilities PC i3G7
advanced
predictive
analytics
capabilities.
It
helps
businesses
with
intelligence-based
decision making, giving
them a strong competitive
advantage.
Data is the new
electricity for businesses
today. I. Microsofts SQL
Server 2016 is built for
this data driven world
customer tested and
battle ready. SQL 2016
supports encrypted query

for advanced analytics,

machine learning, mobile
business
intelligence,
and data integration that
addresses the security
concerns of customers. It
is today the worlds only
relational database to be
born cloud-first with the
majority of features first
deployed and tested on
Azure, said Karan Bajwa,
Managing
Director,
Microsoft Corporation
India.

Lenovo launches Ideapad 100s

enovo
has
launched its thin
and light laptop Ideapad
100s.
Lenovo Ideapad
100s is available in silver
at INR14, 990/- and will
be exclusively available
on Snapdeal. Speaking
on specifications, Ideapad
100s is backed by a QuadCore Intel Atom processor
and provides a powerpacked
performance
that runs up to 8 hours
without plugging in. It
has 1366x768 HD display
and the Dolby Advanced
Audio. The device also
offers connectivity with
USB 2.0 and HDMI ports,
Wi-Fi and Bluetooth
options.

Ashok
Nair,
Director, Home and
Small Business, Lenovo
India, said, Lightweight
notebooks that offer
superior functionality at
affordable price points
are a compelling choice in
an era where consumers
are always on the go and
want to stay connected.
Another feature that is
every consumer asks is a
long battery life which
we are offering with this
really cool product. With
its attractive design and
specifications,
Ideapad
100s offers unmatched
end-user
experience
for both families and
professionals.

NetApp enhances its EF-Series

and E-Series Storage Arrays

etApp
has
introduced
a new software for its
NetApp EF-Series allflash and E-Series storage
arrays. It has dramatically
boosted the performance

high-bandwidth analytics
when delivered on disk
arrays and low-latency
response times when
matched with all-flash
media. By combining
this performance with

and value of data analytics

applications.
Lee Caswell, VP,
Products, Solutions and
Services
Marketing,
NetApp,
said,
Our
SANtricity
software
meets the challenge with

enterprise reliability and

unmatched density, the
E-Series and EF-Series
arrays make enterprise
storage
economically
superior to even whitebox servers for real-time
analytics applications.

24

April 2016

www.varindia.com

ataWind
has
launched Tablet
PC i3G7 priced at
INR5, 999. In addition
to regular voice calling
functionality, this 1.2
GHz Intel Quad-Core
X3 64-bit processor tablet
incorporates DataWinds
Internet-delivery platform
covered by 18 U.S. and
international
patents
allowing the devices to
deliver the fastest mobile
web experience on regular
GSM-EDGE-based
(or
2G)
networks.
This
unique technology reduces
bandwidth consumption
by up to 97%.
Suneet Singh Tuli,
CEO DataWind, said,
With this new product,
we are offering Indian
consumers
a
unique
combination of superior
technology and unmatched
style. Like its predecessors,
the tablet offers the right
mix of features and on-thego connectivity.

WinMagic intros
SecureDoc

inMagic
has
introduced
security
software
that encrypts virtual
machines running on
Infrastructure-as-aService (IaaS) platforms
in India. Addressing the
growing concerns of
protecting critical assets
stored within virtual
environments, SecureDoc
CloudVM is an enterprise
encryption
solution
that
offers
support
for
Windows-based
platforms running in
public, private and hybrid
cloud
environments
through
application
aware intelligent key
management.
The solution increases
visibility and strengthens
data security within
virtual
environments
by
controlling
the
encryption
key
management
system
across a vast array of
layers.

Dell brings new Inspiron

15 7000 Series

ell India has

launched
Dell
Inspiron 15 7000 Series
Notebook, using the
latest
6th-Gen
Intel
Quad-Core
Processors
and Performance class
NVIDIA GeForce GTX
960M Graphics card.
With the new Inspiron
15 7000 notebooks, users
will be able to experience
the fun in everyday
computing, with the
pleasure of extended
performance. We pushed
the limits on this device,
so that our consumers
can push theirs, using

powerful
technology
that keeps up with their
pace of entertainment
consumption. These highperformance devices are
also equipped with the
latest and best graphics
capabilities that allow
users to do much more,
said Alen Jose, Product
Marketing
Director,
Consumer and Small
Business, Dell India.

Sony launches new Projector Series

ony has launched

its combination of
three new laser and lamp
projectors. Sonys new
projectors include three
3LCD laser models (VPLFHZ65, VPL-FHZ60 and
VPL-FHZ57) to expand
Sonys growing line of
Z-Phosphor laser light
source projectors.
The new WUXGA
(1920 x 1200) laser models
deliver brightness of 6,000
lumens
(VPL-FHZ65),
5,000
lumens
(VPLFHZ60) and 4,100 lumens
(VPL-FHZ57).
For
applications better-suited
to lamp-based projection,

Sonys new VPL-FH65

(6,000 lumens) and VPLFH60 (5,000 lumens) offer
cost-effective
options
that still deliver highquality
performance.
Each uses BrightEra panel
technology to reproduce
natural and vivid colour.
The new laser models
are designed to deliver
enhanced picture quality
with new features such
as Reality Creation and
Contrast
Enhancer,
both technologies already
in use by Sonys home
theatre projection systems
for high-end consumer
entertainment.

Seagate brings enhanced

storage solution

eagate has launched

its 10TB enterprise
capacity hard disk drive.
The new, robust 10TB
Enterprise Capacity 3.5
HDD provides maximum
storage
capacity
for
easy system integration
by using the standard
3.5-inch CMR design.
Incorporating
seven
platters and 14 heads,
the drive seals in helium
to create a turbulencefree, quiet environment,
decreasing both friction
and resistance on the
platters and delivering the
industrys lowest power/
TB ratio and weight
specifications for a 10TB
HDD.

Cloud-based
data
center
storage
needs
are expanding
faster
than
many
current
infrastructures
can
sustain, rendering the
capacity demands of users
a herculean task for cloud
managers.
Our new
helium-based enterprise
drive is designed precisely
to
help
data-centric
organizations worldwide
solve the needs of their
growing storage business,
said Mark Re, Sr VP &
CTO, Seagate.

www.varindia.com

April 2016

25

VOICE-N-DATA

Nokia to help Idea Cellular

in 4G LTE rollout

n three key regional

circles Kerala,
Andhra Pradesh and
Haryana, Nokia will
provide technology to
help Idea Cellular to roll
out 4G LTE. Under the
agreement, Idea Cellular
will
deploy
Nokias
unique
Single
RAN
technology, which enables
simultaneous 2G/3G/4G
operation
on
one
platform. Nokia will also
support modernization
and expansion of Idea
Cellulars core network
and operational support

systems to support the

4G LTE rollout, along
with professional services
for network deployment,
network
planning
and
optimization,
system integration and
supervisory
managed
services support.
Himanshu Kapania,
Managing Director, Idea
Cellular,
said,
Our
excellent partnership with
Nokia now enters a new
phase as we launch 4G
LTE services to bring a
superior experience to our
customers.

CEAMA forms Mobiles and

Communications Council

o n s u m e r
Electronics
and
Appliances
Manufacturers
Association
has
announced its extension
by forming a Mobiles
and
Communications
Council to advocate for
the mobility industry.
Manish
Sharma,
President, CEAMA, and
MD, Panasonic India &
South Asia said, The local
component
ecosystem
is still not fully in place,
resulting in dependency on
international machineries
and
mechanisms.
Therefore, the industry

should be given an
opportunity to build the
ecosystem and encourage
the initiatives being taken
in this area. We believe
the new Mobile and
Communication Council
will appropriately connect
and be able to propagate
the
recommendations
of industry players to
government and policymakers.
CEAMA
is
working to ensure that
majority of components
be made domestically,
which will need time and
further encouragement by
the government to make
this happen.

Tata Communications
and Anam tie up

a
t
a
Communications
has
partnered
with
Anam to create an endto-end
solution
that
helps mobile network
operators globally to
tackle revenue loss caused
by A2P SMS spam,
fraud and grey route
messaging traffic. The
combination of Mobile
Messaging Exchange and
Anams SMS firewall
protects mobile networks
against grey routing and
spam traffic, ensuring
secure and reliable SMS
delivery, and enabling
mobile network operators

26

April 2016

to recoup revenues owed

to them by unauthorized
message senders.
Anthony
Bartolo,
President of Mobility and
Collaboration Services,
Tata
Communications
says, A2P SMS can be a
hugely effective customer
engagement tool for
businesses no OTT
service can today match
the ubiquity of SMS.
But in order for mobile
network
operators,
messaging aggregators and
enterprises to reap the
benefits of SMS, secure
message delivery and
reliability are the key.

www.varindia.com

DIGISOL brings
new offering
to target the
SOHO segment

IGISOL
has
come up with
10/100 Mbps Ethernet
Desktop
unmanaged
switch DG-FS1016D-A.
The
new
solution
accelerates
bandwidth
needs of small Ethernet
workgroups.
The DG-FS1016D-A
Switch
offers
16x10/100Mbps Ethernet
ports which gives small
workgroups a flexibility
to integrate Ethernet and
Fast Ethernet in a single
network. This Switch also
allows for auto-sensing
and auto negotiation
of
highest
available
speed (10/100Mbps) and
duplex mode, providing
an
automatic
and
flexible solution for the
network.
With its backplane
capacity of 3.2 Gbps,
data transfer is at an
average of 200 Mbps
per port at full duplex
mode allowing every
node to perform at their
maximum performance.

LAVA plans
to invest
Rs.2,615 Crore

ava has associated

with the national
cricket team captain M.
S. Dhoni, as its brand
ambassador.
Solomon
Wheeler, Vice-President
& Head Marketing &
Communication, Lava
International Limited,
said, We are very proud
and privileged to be
associated with M. S.
Dhoni."
Aligning itself with
the
Government
of
Indias Make-in-India
initiative,
Lava
has
already set up its first
manufacturing
plant
in Noida and plans to
invest Rs.2,615 crore in
a phased manner to scale
it up to have an annual
production capacity of
216 million phones.

Ericsson signs BSS transformation

contract with Bhutan Telecom

ricsson has signed

a Business Support
Systems transformation
contract with Bhutan
Telecom.
Under
the
agreement,
Ericsson
will transform Bhutan

Telecoms billing systems

into
a
convergent
environment supporting
mobile, fixed line and
broadband subscribers.
This partnership will
enable Bhutan Telecom
to launch promotions and
notifications, product and
service
cross-bundling,
cost-control for postpaid
subscriptions and service

personalization.
The
operator will be able to
designandofferpromotions
and campaigns in real time
and in accordance with
subscribers
interests,
while monetizing ongoing
growth in data traffic.
Ericsson
will
be
responsible for design,
deployment and systems
integration
of
the
solution. The convergent
charging solution, based
on Ericssons BSCS iXR4
offering together with data
monetization features such
as PCRF, will be integrated
with Bhutan Telecoms
existing
infrastructure.
Bhutan Telecom will
migrate its subscribers
onto the new platform by
the third quarter of 2016.

Aircel and BSNL sign

2G ICR agreement

ircel and BSNL

have signed 2G
ICR agreement on a panIndia basis. This is a first
agreement between a stateowned operator and a
private telecom player that
will see the culmination
of an intra-circle roaming
(ICR) agreement with the
private operator for all
circles.
With this strategic tieup, both organizations
will be able to enhance
customers
experience,
besides utilizing each
others assets and network

strength. Besides reducing

call drops, this deal is
expected to improve the
quality of services to
mobile subscribers along
with better connectivity.
Starting this financial
year, BSNL expects to earn
Rs.300Rs.400 crore a year
through signing various
ICR arrangements. In
ICR agreements, passive
infrastructure such as
base transceiver stations
will be shared among
the operators when a
subscriber of an operator
roams in that circle.

LeEco to invest US$10 million

y the end of
2016, LeEco will
set up in-house Content
Delivery
Networks
(CDNs) in ten cities
across India. The in-house
CDNs across 10 locations
in India (including key
cities like New Delhi,
Mumbai, Bangalore) will
be connected to LeEcos
global 650 CDNs through
cloud, allowing LeEco
smartphone or television
users to stream audio,
video or internet television
content
on-demand
seamlessly and reliably,
wherever they are.

LeEco is also planning

to
investment
over
US$10 million to set
up
this
CDN/cloud
infrastructure which will
provide content delivery
capabilities
in
linear
channel, live events, and
video on demand serving
both mobile and TV
segment, giving consumers
a better user experience on
LeEco products. Through
this service, the company
is aiming to reach out to
close-to 10 million user
base in smart devices in
these 10 locations across
India.

PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

Canon
Pixma
G2000
Canon Pixma G2000 is a refillable ink tank All-In-One printer which is designed for high volume printing at low running cost.
According to the company, it is capable to yield as high as 6,000 pages mono prints and 7,000 pages colour prints. The printers have
individual ink tanks for Cyan, Magenta, Yellow and Black. PIXMA G2000 printer use Full-photolithography Inkjet Nozzle Engineering
(FINE) to create high-density print heads with microscopic ink droplet sizes. FINE enables the printers to achieve high resolution images.
This printer can also print borderless photographs up to A4 size. With Built-in integrated ink tanks create a compact printer body. Users
can also view remaining ink levels easily at a glance. The sleek and compact Canon Pixma G2000 Multifunction Printer measures 445
330 163 (W D H) mm and weighs only 5.8 kg. The matte black finish makes it look very eye catching. It is equipped with four
individual ink bottles with 2pl min ink droplet size and total 1472 nozzles. You can easily fit this small sized printer in a limited space of
your office. Its portable design and light weight enables you to shift it conveniently from one place to another. The Canon Pixma G2000
Multifunction Printer produces crisp and clear prints with a maximum resolution of 4800 1200 dpi. It has a high document printing
speed with approx. 5 ipm for color and approx. 8.8 ipm for Black & White. For connectivity it has Hi-speed USB 2.0 interface which
allows you to directly print all your important documents and images from your USB flash drive with ease.

Lenovo PHAB
Lenovo PHAB is a blend of Smartphone and a Tablet.
The device merges all the functionality of a tablet with the
true portability of a smartphone. Stretching the versatility of
a Smartphone, PHAB is optimized for single-hand use with
a large 6.98-inch screen; offering best-in-class entertainment,
speedy Internet, and all-day battery life. The slim design and UI
with several shortcut features aid in single-handed operation,
making it more comfortable to hold and use the PHAB.
Additionally, it is loaded with Android 5.1, which provides
a clean and efficient operating interface for the end-use. The
device comes with 360 Voice feature and its three-microphone
solution and dedicated voice processor ensure clean voice input
and flawless on-speaker sound. The PHAB also addresses the
consumers 24/7 connectivity needs with its Dual SIM fast
connectivity, ensuring a reliable and fast connection. Adding to
its slew of features is 2GB of RAM and an expandable memory
of 64GB. The quad-core Qualcomm processor, ensures a
responsive and smooth-running device. Lenovo PHAB has
13MP rear auto-focus camera and five advanced lenses that help
it produce sharp images even in low light conditions. For more
realistic colour tones, it comes with a DUAL LED flash. In
the front, the PHAB houses a 5MP camera with a wide angle
lens and a pano selfie mode. The PHAB comes with a built-in
Dolby ATMOS 3D Audio soundbox at the back of the device,
which helps to project and enhance the sound experience.
The ATMOS processor on the device produces a sensation of
movement and overhead sound that brings the story alive all
around you.

www.varindia.com

April 2016

27

28

April 2016

www.varindia.com

www.varindia.com

April 2016

29

CHANNEL BUZZ

Gemalto honours partners at

Annual APAC Partner Summit

emalto has announced

the winners of its 2015
APAC Annual Cipher Partner
Awards. Each of the awards
recognizes
the
individual
achievements of Gemaltos
indirect channel partners and
their contributions to help
protect customers from data
security threats. This years
awards ceremony was held on
March 16 in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Rana Gupta, Vice-President
of the APAC region, Identity
and Data Protection, Gemalto
said, We are very proud to
acknowledge their efforts in
supporting Gemalto and helping
organizations evolve their data
security strategies to protect
the ever-changing data threat
landscape with our industryleading encryption and identity
protection solutions.
TIS Inc. of Japan and
Telecommunications
&
Security Systems Ltd of Hong
Kong were recognized with
the Rising Star of the Year
award.
PT. Transition

Systems Indonesia received the

Marketing Excellence Award
for generating the most sales
opportunities from Gemaltos
partner marketing campaigns
in 2015.
Adost of South Korea was
recognized for the Solution
Partner of the Year award .
The Cipher Partner of
the Year was awarded to Nera
Telecommunications Ltd of
Singapore.
The Top Contributor
of the Year award was given to
Transition Systems of India.

Kaspersky Lab Concludes Partner

Meet in New Delhi

aspersky Lab India has

conducted its partner
meet with SEA Infonet,
its national distributor for
enterprise products. The meet
discussed about their future
business strategies with a focus
to develop market in emerging
geographies, for its rich and
wide suit of offerings for the
new financial year.
The partner meet brought
together 35 partners and 80
participants, covering the most
vital links of the Kasperksy Lab
network in India. Ajay Kumar
Joshi Director, Channel Sales
introduced with a review of
2015 and charted out the plans
for the 2016. Partners were made
aware of the latest developments
and new opportunities that
could be explored together.
Also discussed in the space
of
Government
business,
the DGS&D rate contract
awarded to Kaspersky where
the partners can make the most
of the opportunity. Another
concern that was discussed in
the event was Targeted security
solutions for Virtualizations,
Storage and Mobile.

30

April 2016

Huawei concludes Cloud Congress India 2016

uawei has successfully

concluded
Huawei
Cloud Congress 2016 in
Mumbai this year. It focussed
on Transforming with Cloud
while being aptly themed Make
IT Simple, Make Business Agile.
The event saw a gathering of
over 200+ attendees, including
industry experts and opinion
leaders from key organizations
like Relaince, TATA, Vodafone,

and issues in their road to digital

transformation. As the strategic
partner for a lot of global carriers,
Huawei will together BUILD
A BETTER CONNECTED
WORLD with operators as they
transform digitally.
David Li, Head of India Sales
for Huawei, commented on the
Open ROADS strategy, With
consumers demanding more
personalized and innovative

Idea who gathered to discuss

the latest trends in the Cloud
technology.
Huawei demonstrated its
latest offerings in cloud solutions
and showcased its products.
TRANSFORMATION
towards
a
DIGITAL
EXPERIENCE and how to make
businesses agile truly reflects the
main idea of this year's Huawei
Cloud Congress, India 2016
Huawei
has
been
communicating with more than
400 carriers worldwide, and is
well aware of the pain points

digital services, a superior user

experience is becoming critical to
global carrier success.
Encompassing
five
fundamental
characteristics

Real-time,
On-demand,
All-online, DIY, and Social

"ROADS"
encapsulates
Huaweis definition and vision
for the ultimate user experience.
IT is the foundation for digital
businesses. From a landing point
of view, cloud data centers are the
core support and foundation for
digital transformation.

TAIT Paathshaala Programme

launched for Partners

Sharing insights, Altaf Halde,

Managing Director - South Asia,
Kaspersky Lab, said, Regular
partner meets are crucial to
keep the communication clear
and effective, and also to
help understand how things
are getting executed at the
ground level. This 2-way
communication is beneficial to
everyone. The meet was very
insightful and productive, as,
we all got to share notes and
carefully study the road ahead
for 2016.

www.varindia.com

he Trade Association of
Information Technology
(TAIT) has launched its TAIT
Paathshaala
programme
in
Mumbai for TAIT members and
their staff with the tag line "Kuch
Naya Sikhte Hain". The TAIT
directors and other members
actively participated in the
workshop.
Rushabh Shah, CEO, Graham
Information Systems and TAIT
President, took the initiative in
conducting the first edition of
this project titled Office Suites
and Spreadsheet productivity.
He covered the different types
of Office suites (collection of
programmes
comprising
of
word processor, spreadsheet and
presentation software). He also
explained the merits, demerits
of these packages and educated
members the licensing needs of
these programmes.
The second workshop was
conducted with a focus on
Tally ERP by Ketan Gandhi of
V-Intech which demonstrated
the new Tally capabilities. The

workshop covered Post-dated

Cheque Management in Tally.
ERP9 Release 5.x a feature
which is very useful to the IT
community.
New Statutory Features in
Tally. ERP9 Release 5.x was
another topic discussed during
the session that explained Tally
has simplified Statutory Taxes
management and feature related
to VAT was specifically dwelt
upon.
In the open house session,
queries related to handling
e-commerce sales transactions
and generating related reports,
multi tax in single invoice, usage
of delivery challans salesman wise
outstanding, etc were answered.

BREAK THE STATUS QUO:

THINK BIG. START NOW.

Brocade Network Subscription empowers you to leverage the latest
networking technology without sacrificing your budgetor your flexibility.
It's time to subscribe to a future with unlimited scalability and total
freedom from term commitments and depreciation cycles.
Start your journey to the New IP today.

www.brocade.com
#NewIP

2015 Brocade Communications Systems, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

www.varindia.com

April 2016

31

FACE TO FACE

Intel Innovating to support

Smart City in India
Fostering innovations worldwide, Intel is now stepping and
working aggressively towards the Make In India Project. From
powering the latest devices, technologies, cloud, to driving policy,
diversity, sustainability, and education, Intel has been creating value
for their stakeholders, customers and society. Kavitha Mohammad
- Director, IoT & Smart Cities at Intel (Asia Pacific Japan) shares
Intels vision towards Indian IT space in an exclusive interview with
SPO India The internet of things is now growing exponentially and is
reaching different verticals and industries. It is all about developing
the infrastructure and connecting different devices.India is one of the
countries where a lot of innovation is happening around IoT across
different verticals and technologies. Intel is one of the leaders in the
production of low-powered chips to connect IoT devices.
According to Kavitha Mohammad - Director, IoT & Smart Cities
at Intel (Asia Pacific Japan), there is a huge potential in the IOT space,
especially in the Asian Pacific Japan (APJ) and in India markets. India
is one of the booming industries in IOT space, where lot of investments
are seen happening in the domain of manufacturing, automotive,
mining, healthcare, banking and education, she says.
However, all these verticals require lot of investments into
infrastructure as well as technology. Technology becomes the catalyst
and thats the crux of IOT scope for us. Technology is being used
highly, due to which lot of data is coming out and when there is data,
you need mechanism as well as high end technology to analyse that
data in the backend. That perhaps is the scope in the IOT space at
present in the country, states Kavitha.
Intel has entered into a strategic investment in the IOT space in
India. As an opportunity, be it in the manufacturing or smart city area,
there is need for local solutions to be built up. Intels investment is
basically bringing the thought leadership in, upon which the company
has worked aggressively and will continue to do that.

Opportunity in IOT space

Opportunities in IOT is based on the different needs of verticals

as well as countries. In India, security and surveillance segments are
the first opportunities. It is one of the important and sensitive subjects
which are not just about physical security and surveillance like cameras.
etc., but its about data security. As per current scenario, more devices
are being connected which creates the need to keep date safe and
secured. Also, transportation, manufacturing and waste management
will increase the need for more IOT devices in the country. Also
technology will help these verticals in lot many ways like improving
productivity, quality, etc.
The Smart city project is also about optimization of transportation,
energy and all other different verticals that run in the city. Surveillance
as a solution is an integral part of smart city and Intel has done several
projects in the country for the same. As an integral part of smart city,
at this point of time we are actually enabling Wi-Fi, surveillance, smart
lighting which will result in saving of energy and smart metering,
adds Kavitha.
Intel is also running several programs to trigger the innovation part
in support of the Make In India project. As in Make in India program,
where one designs, concepts and also manufactures, Intel runs a similar
concept that calls for collaborations with industry bodies to create
innovation labs to provide components to entrepreneurs.
For this, Intel conducts 2 to 3 days workshop where it invites
entrepreneurs, startups and let them meet together and work which
generates several new ideas. Recently, we have announced and
identified 10 start-ups that came up with ten different innovative
ideas, says Kavitha.
Further, moving from the designing stage, Intel takes these start-

32

April 2016

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Kavitha Mohammad
Director, IoT & Smart Cities at Intel (Asia Pacific Japan)
Opportunities in IOT is based on the different needs
of verticals as well as countries. In India, security and
surveillance segments are the first opportunities. It
is one of the important and sensitive subjects which
are not just about physical security and surveillance
like cameras. etc., but its about data security. As per
current scenario, more devices are being connected which
creates the need to keep date safe and secured. Also,
transportation, manufacturing and waste management
will increase the need for more IOT devices in the
country. Also technology will help these verticals in lot
many ways like improving productivity, quality, etc.

ups to the scaling stage which is the manufacturing phase. She adds,
In manufacturing if these guys are given the right opportunity as
well as exposure, they can meet the needs of Indian markets. Also,
identified entrepreneurs in our workshops get the opportunity to
collaborate and work with other ecosystem partners of Intel which
helps them scale up to make manufacturing more productive.
Intel is not only supporting these startups make products, localized
designs and concepts in India, but also helping manufacturing units to
improve their productivity. The chip maker is also looking forward
to providing solutions which are customized as per Indian needs,
while providing intelligent technology that supports the Make in
India project. n

FACE TO FACE

Netgear tapping SMB market

with smart solutions
N

ETGEAR has been innovating

networking products that connect
people, power businesses, and advance the
way people live. Providing a range of products
for the home segment, SMB Networking and
Storage, NETGEAR, has been continuously
expanding its business in India and SAARC
geography.
Subhodeep
Bhattacharya
Regional Director, India & SAARC of
NETGEAR, shares insights and plans of the
company for ongoing year with the VARIndia
team
As a part of their expansion plan, Netgear
proposes to address Eastern India in a better
way with their whole range of products
encompassing end-to-end retail, networking,
storage, wireless, security and telecom access
products. With a three-dimensional approach
in expanding their business, the company is
focussed on expanding their product line
to be able to address more categories and
segments. Secondly, they wish to expand
geographically to reach out to more and
more customers in many more locations.
And last but not the least, the company eyes
a channel expansion strategy wherein they
can add more channel partners.
India offers many opportunities to an IT

product manufacturer and the low penetration

of IT would ensure that many of these sectors
would be growing fast. Commenting on the
same, Subhodeep Bhattacharya stated, We
believe in the current scenario, surveillance,
campus wireless, 10G, gigabit switching,
mid-market storage solutions and security
solutions would continue to show strong
growth. Government, SMBs, education,
healthcare and retail should continue to
grow as segments.

NETGEAR has a huge focus on

SMB and smart home automation. The
company has been designing products
to get configured in simple or complex
solution environments in SMB and SME
organization. We have many proven
solutions designed and deployed across the
country. These solutions range from storage
solutions like virtualization and backup
to network solutions like 10G network
and campus wired and wireless solutions.
These solutions have been deployed in
media, hospitality, healthcare, education,
government, and manufacturing sectors.
We are focussed on the SMB market in
India, he added.
For 2016, Netgear will continue to
introduce new switches in the 10G, gigabit,
smart and chasis switches categories.
Wireless and storage are, thus, going to be
the focus area in 2016. Also, it has plans
to introduce new automation solutions
for home and small offices. Additionally,
BYOD has been a trend for quite some
time now. As the company is focussed on
connecting people to networks and the
internet, BYOD is also going to be central
to Netgears plans. n

www.varindia.com

April 2016

33

FACE TO FACE

Why companies need to harness

the power of real-time data?
Companies are always trying to
find the best way to store data in a
meaningful format so that they can
make better business decisions. Since
the birth of data warehousing almost
30 years ago, numerous innovations in
data management have been made,
such as Hadoop and NoSQL. According to
experts, SAP HANA has established itself
as a baseline for further innovation by
having introduced its High-Performance
Analytic Appliance (HANA), a platform for
processing high volumes of operational
and transactional data in real time. Arun
Kumar VC, Senior General Manager
Enterprise Solutions, HTC Global Services,
shares the insights on developments and
challenges faced by companies while
adopting SAP HANA
Real-time data offers several benefits to
businesses of all sizes. It delivers the first
level of interaction with business data for any
application, analytics, or transaction. With
real-time data, organizations can access data
quickly, enable collaboration among teams
and partners, and deliver new business insights
and scalable transactions. It can also lower IT
costs through automation and simplification,
reduce hardware requirements, optimize data
caching and eliminate data duplication. The
major benefits of real-time data management
enables real-time data sharing and quality,
enables much richer data sharing and improved
data quality and allows any application to
access any business data in real time.
There are certain challenges that one
comes across while migrating to SAP
HANA, for instance identifying challenges,
assessing requirements and resources, creating
plan, preparing infrastructure, performing
migration and validating migration. At an
initial stage, businesses see different challenges
like budget, dependency on factors like sizing,

The Latest Trends and

Challenges in SAP HANA

Arun Kumar VC
Senior GM Enterprise Solutions, HTC
Global Services
infrastructure, resources, migration strategy,
getting the right partner, deciding on onpremise, cloud or hybrid strategy while in the
execution phase, unicode and dual stack split,
code optimization, cutover, downtime issues
are generally faced by the companies.
A real-time example can be given of that
of SAP ERP that is powered by SAP HANA.
It brings in speed to ERP system processing
utilizing in-memory computing capability and
real-time data processing capability utilizing
the best in software and hardware innovations.
SAP HANA also brings in the ability to
process structured as well as unstructured data,
to provide predictive and complex analytics
and drastically simplifies the customers SAP
ERP landscape. With the inclusion of various
innovations and simplifications based on SAP
HANAs capabilities, SAP ERP has evolved
into a one-stop solution for an ERP solution
which includes ERP applications / solutions,
innovative user experience, inclusive analytics,
real-time data processing, big data and more,
says Arun Kumar. n

Landscape Simplification by utilizing

SAP HANA as an Appliance
SAP Business Suite on HANA
implementations / migrations
SAP Business Warehouse on HANA
implementations / migrations
S-innovations inclusion in Suite on
HANA
S/4HANA enterprise management:
Next-generation business suite and
the foundation, covering the digitized
mission-critical business processes of an
enterprise
On-Premise and Cloud deployment of
Suite on HANA
Big data analytics utilizing SAP HANA
E-Commerce (SAP Hybris) powered by
SAP HANA

The main reasons why

companies choose SAP HANA
Speed ability to manage massive data
volumes at high speed
Agility permits real-time interactions
across the entire value chain
Insights from structured and unstructured
data, predictive and complex analysis
Supports
running
next-generation
applications
Advanced cloud platform supports
business innovation
Simplicity fewer layers and a simpler
landscape for lower costs
Value innovate without disruption and
add value to legacy investments
Choice of working with your preferred
partners at every layer

Qualcomm encourages Make in India vision with Design in India Challenge

ith a view to catalyzing the creation of a product and hardware design ecosystem in India, Qualcomm, in association with the
National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM), has announced the ten finalists of the first edition of the
Qualcomm Design in India Challenge which was launched in December 2015.
Inspired by Prime Minister Narendra Modis Make in India vision, Qualcomm is excited to support the possibility of making India a hub
for design capabilities that would drive the value chain from a service focussed to product capable industry. We are thrilled at the overwhelming
response to the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge and look forward to incubating the top ten finalists in the Qualcomm Innovation Lab to
transform their ideas from concept to product stage, said Sunil Lalvani, Vice-President & President, Qualcomm India & South Asia.
We are happy to be associated with Qualcomm in this progressive effort, to actualize the Make in India vision, said R. Chandrashekhar,
President, NASSCOM. This initiative, closely aligned with NASSCOMs own vision to Connect, Collaborate and Co-create, is a great
platform to drive innovation.
The ten shortlisted companies for the first edition of the Qualcomm Design in India Challenge are:
Aarav Unmanned Systems, Artificial Machines, Carnot Technologies, Green Robot Machinery, iFuture Robotics, Lensbricks Technology,
Myelin, Treepie Computing, Uncanny Vision, Watchy Technology.
These ten companies will now be incubated in the Qualcomm Innovation Lab and the top three winners will each receive a funding of
$100,000 at the end of the incubation period expected around November 2016.

34

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Movers & Shakers

Rajiv Gauba appointed as

Secretary, Urban Development

Amitabh Kant appointed

CEO of NITI Aayog

Mr Gauba, a 1982 batch Jharkhand cadre

IAS now posted in his cadre has been appointed
as Urban Development secretary. He has been
appointed in place of Mr Madhusudan Prasad, a
1981 batch IAS officer of Haryana cadre, on his
retirement on March 31, 2016.
In a meeting with senior officials of the Ministry of Urban
Development soon after assuming charge this morning, Mr Rajiv
Gauba said, With the launch of new urban development initiatives
like the Smart City Mission, Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban
Transformation, Heritage City Development Mission and Swachh
Bharat Mission, the focus of the Ministry now shifts to effective and
timely implementation of the schemes by the States and Urban Local
Bodies through effective coordination with them.
MrGauba has wide-ranging experience in senior positions at
policy making and programme implementation in the Central and
State Governments and in international organisations. Hailing from
Punjab, the 1959 born Shri Gauba is a physics graduate from Patna
University.

Mr Amitabh Kant has been appointed as

the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the NITI
Aayog and has taken over the office from April
1st. He is a 1980 batch Kerala cadre IAS officer.
Mr Kant has been appointed in place
of former IAS officer SindhushreeKhullar,
who was appointed as the first CEO of the National Institution for
Transforming India (Niti) Aayog, a body that has replaced Planning
Commission, for a fixed one-year term beginning January 1, last year.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi is Chairman of Niti Aayog.
Hitachi Data System appoints Raghuram Krishnan as DirectorChannel and Alliances
Raghuram Krishnan to spear head the channel and Alliance business
in Hitachi Data Systems. With over 16 years of experience Raghu will
be driving the channel eco-system with its partner,technologyand
application vendors of HDS.

Kaspersky Lab names its

new MD, Asia Pacific

C Sukumaran appointed
as Assistant Director of
CSP Division, Canon

Kaspersky Lab has appointed Maxim

Mitrokhinas Managing Director of Kaspersky
Lab Asia Pacific. Based in Singapore, Maxim
will spearhead the companys dynamic growth
strategy in the region.
Maxim Mitrokhin, Managing Director,
Kaspersky Lab Asia Pcific, said, "I am excited to lead and grow an
already highly successful business in the Asia Pacific region. Our
evolving portfolio of B2B products and business solutions combined
with the strength of our channel network puts us in a great position
to explore and exploit the full potential of the Asia Pacific market.
I look forward to working with the team and our business partners
to give the best to our users." Having joined the company in 2008
as the Director of Operations in APAC, Maxim is now responsible
for continuing Kaspersky Labs business growth in the region with
a focus on reinforcing B2C market share, as well as driving channel
engagements and development in the B2B sector. With strong
leadership skills and vast experience in the region, Maxim is ideally
placed to take the Kaspersky Lab business to the next level.

After 98 years Panasonic gets a

young Indian Executive Officer

Manish Sharma has been appointed as

Executive Officer of Panasonic Corporation
and President & CEO of Panasonic India
& South Asia, from his most recent role as
Managing Director, India. He is the first Indian
ever to be appointed as Executive Officer of the
Corporation.
Manish Sharma as the President & CEO of Panasonic India & South
Asia, will preside over operations of Panasonic in India, including the
group and sister companies and the group support operations. The
group companies include Panasonic Appliances, Panasonic AVC India,
Panasonic Energy India, Panasonic Carbon India, Anchor Electricals,
Firepro Systems Pvt. Ltd.
He will be responsible for driving profitable growth along with
strategy planning and sustainable business development across
businesses.
Sharma joined Panasonic in 2008 and has been instrumental in
spearheading the growth and transformation of Panasonic India from
a consumer-electronics company to a technology solutions company.

Canon has announced the appointment of

C Sukumaran to the designation of Assistant
Director of Consumer Systems Products (CSP)
division at Canon India.
C Sukumaran will be leading CSP divisions Laser and Inkjet
printer business in India and will be accountable to take the marketing
and sales of the products to the next level. He will be reporting to
Andrew Koh, Vice-President, CII Group, Canon India.
Under his leadership, the CSP division will continue to focus
on government and enterprise business, making Canon the industry
leader in the printing domain.
Sukumaran has been associated with Canon for over 15 years.
Prior to this, he was working as the Assistant Director of the Business
Imaging Solutions (BIS) division.

AT Rajan elevated
as CEO at Ricoh
AT Rajan has been appointed as the CEO
of Ricoh, following the resignation of its
former MD & CEO, Manoj Kumar from the
Board of Directors effective from April 2nd.
AT Rajan has earlier served in different capacities at Ricoh. He
was previously the Sr Vice President and Chief Strategy Officer and
before that the Chief Marketing Officer. He has also worked with
CEAT and Taj Services before joining Ricoh.

www.varindia.com

April 2016

35

FACE TO FACE

Lenovo relies on a 4-pillared Service Model

VARINDIA has had the opportunity to speak to Sudipto Ghosh, Executive Director Services, Lenovo India, to
know about the various services initiatives that Lenovo has started, of late. He also talks about how being a
differentiator helps the company to stay ahead of the curve
Service has become very important
for Lenovo as they see themselves as a
differentiator in this business. This is also
in line with Lenovos strategy to provide a
highly differentiated and interactive customer
experience that the brand has always been
doing all these years.
Sudipto Ghosh, Executive Director
Services, Lenovo India, is of the opinion that,
while offering services, one should provide
the base level of services. According to him,
they comprise the 4 pillars of service. If I am
providing services, I should have a contact
centre, field service executives, spare parts and
transportation, he quotes.
Lenovo set up its first in-house contact
centre in Bangalore in the year 2013, on 2nd
of April. This state-of-the-art in-house centre
is the first to have come up outside China. It
has employed around 500 people there and
carries out service-related activities for both
commercial and consumer level of products.
Customers can reach out to us in various
ways Interactive Voice Response (IVR) is
one such way. Our engineers take complaints
from the customer and try to resolve these cases
over phone. Around 42% of the consumer
product cases and 20% of the commercial
products are resolved over call. To make
this smooth, we have developed a problem
diagnostic tree (PDT), a methodological way
to look at the problems. We also put a check
on whether they are consulting this particular
PDT or not. We also have an option of asking
customers for a remote access of their device,
(Remote Takeover, RTO) because if it is a
user-related problem, we can sometimes solve
that problem only when he gives the access to
his device. There are certain customers who
do not like going through the IVR process. In
such cases, we have the Call me back facility
where Lenovo people would instead call them
back. Customers just need to mention the
preferred time in the form online, explains
Sudipto.
This is all happening in voice. But the
trend today is transitioning from voice to
non-voice. In the non-voice category, Lenovo
has introduced a lot of e-services, which allows
customers to have personalized self-service by
logging on to the dedicated services website.
This service is 24x7, while call centre is only
from 10 to 7. For commercial segment, it is 5
days a week, while for consumer products it is
6 days a week. In the commercial space, 50%
of the customers have availed the e-services
and in the consumer space around 35%.
Beyond this, Lenovo also has a spare part
despatch arm. Today, it has achieved 93%
of spare part despatch just with the help of
voice. For the transportation of these parts,
Lenovo has partnered with DHL. We have

36

April 2016

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20 locations where we have our own support

warehouses. Most of the state capitals have
these kinds of warehouses which we call it
sub-warehouse. In our terminology, we call it
Forward stocking location (FSL). Bangalore is
the central warehouse that houses the spare
parts in a 1-lakh sq. ft. area. For out locations,
we will send it through a courier, says
Sudipto.
Lenovo has two types of service centres
one is carry-in, where any customer can
walk in to its centre and another is the
onsite. Today, Lenovo has 318 such carry-in
service centres across India which are thirdparty owned. We train the service personnel
on the technical aspect, soft skills and on
CRM, because they should know how to
use the customer relationship module, he
comments.
Besides, Lenovo also has its own service
centres. It has got two exclusive service
centres Delhi (Nehru Place) and another
in Bangalore. We want to ensure the best
customer experience to our customers. As
soon as you enter the service centre, you find
a kiosk where you give your mobile number
and immediately after that you will receive
a ticket number and counter number. And

Lenovo set up its first in-house

contact centre in Bangalore
in the year 2013, on 2nd of
April. This state-of-the-art
in-house centre is the first to
have come up outside China.
It has employed around 500
people there and carries out
service-related activities
for both commercial and
consumer level of products.

Different Service initiatives

by Lenovo

E Services This allows customers
to have personalized self service by logging on
to the dedicated services website

Call me Back Facility - This facility
allows customers to schedule a call back based
on their convenience

Len Care App - a one of a kind
android app that will help customers register
complaints on their mobile phones and help
them track the progress

Lenovo exclusive Service Centres
(Delhi & Bangalore) - Lenovo has launched
wholly owned and operated service centers in
New Delhi and Bangalore

Zip code mapping - Lenovo services
has increased accessibility as the company
reaches out to 29,000 pin codes across 180 +
locations
then from a centralized monitoring system, I
can monitor whether the customer has been
attended or not and also about his waiting
time. Customers can also rate our services on
their part, Sudipto assures.
Lastly, Lenovo has also developed an
in-house app, Len Care. It had initially
developed the app only for its channel earlier
but soon realized that it can be used for
customers of both commercial and consumer
products. It is a one-of-its-kind Android app
that will help customers to register complaints
on their mobile phones and can also track the
progress. There are plans to expand it to iOS
and Windows platforms in the next phase.
We started with India first on 4th November,
2015 and are now doing it for the rest of AsiaPacific also. This app will soon get embedded
in our notebooks and desktops, too. The idea
is to decongest our contact centres, sums up
Sudipto. n

FACE TO FACE

Tape Storage for Quantum

is still doing wonders
Sanjay Hasija, Country Manager India, Quantum, opens up with VARINDIA as to what Quantum seeks from the Indian market
and why does he still consider tapes as the best form of storage in spite of the coming of other improvised storage technologies

lobally, Quantum enjoys around 30-per cent market share,

but business in India has also been excellent. During the last
one-and-a-half years, it has grown by almost 200per cent. And this
year again, it is targeting a 100-per cent growth. We are on track,
says contented Sanjay Hasija, Country Manager India, Quantum.
We have gone deeper into areas like solution verticals where we
are targeting the government business, followed by surveillance.
We have very smart solutions around surveillance, in which we try
to reduce the storage cost by 30 to 50 per cent. We smartly capture
the data from NVR (Network Video Recorder), integrate with the
popular VMS (Video Management Software) and then take it to the
storage (Storage Area Network, SAN) and then to the tape. Even
when the data is moved to the tape, it still remains visible to the
person accessing the application, he explains.
The tape cost is basically one-tenth of the total storage cost,
ensuring that there is maximum cost saving. Also, the operator
can keep a track of where the data is, which is another advantage
of saving the data on tape. It also gives the flexibility in terms of
scaling up the solution, in case more number of cameras need to be
added or change the resolution of the camera from normal to HD
to 4K.
We have these smart solutions for other verticals too, like
Geospatial is one area where we are doing really well. Similarly,
oil & gas is another focus area. Media and entertainment is our
another forte worldwide. We have around 150 customers in which
we have top TV channels as our clients today. We are now trying to
position the same solutions into corporate training and marketing
videos. Network forensic is another area we are trying to focus,
says Hasija.
For data centers again, Quantum has very smart solutions in
general for archiving and backup. Any organizations looking at
storing long-time data, we can help them reduce their costs. We
The customer today has understood Quantums value
proposition, and when it says that it can look at longtime retention of data at a lesser cost of 30 to 50 per
cent, it is more than enough to convince its customer.
have different storage options depending on the criticality of the
data, he supports.
Quantum also sees Smart City as a big opportunity. If not for
making a city smart, Quantum definitely has a few announcements
coming wherein it is participating in the city surveillance project.
We have got multiple of them. We are pitching a complete end-toend solution, right from capturing the data in the NVR to storing it
on the SAN and then moving to the tape. The tape library alone can
store up to 72 petabytes of data and if clubbed with SAN, it goes up
to 7475 petabytes. Other competitors do not have an integrated
solution like this and we have an edge on this, Hasija quotes.
The good thing is that Quantums technology is an open one
and supports any kind of storage or networking platform, operating
system or bandwidth network. Though experts are of the view that
tape has gone obsolete, Quantum still believes in having customers
45 years from now using tapes. We still see customers using
LTO-3 technology, though LTO-7 is the norm now in tapes. The
tape has also the benefit of using less cooling power, as it stops once
the data is written on it, but a disc happens to rotate continuously
for which it needs excessive power for cooling.
The customer today has understood Quantums value

Sanjay Hasija
Country Manager India, Quantum
Top Business Verticals for Quantum

Government
Surveillance projects in Smart Cities
Geo-spatial
Oil & Gas
Media and Entertainment
Corporate Training and marketing videos
Network Forensic

proposition, and when it says that it can look at long-time retention

of data at a lesser cost of 30 to 50 per cent, it is more than enough
to convince its customer. You ask us to do a POC, we can turn
it around in 48 hours. That is our strength today. We also have a
Centre of Excellence (COE) in Bangalore. However, for a customer
in Delhi or Mumbai, we can make the POC available here in 48
hours or maximum 72 hours. Quantum has its R&D in the USA,
but because it has its COE in India, it is able to test and integrate
its solutions in India also.
Quantum also has a strong distribution channel. It works with
two distributors Ingram Micro and iValue Infosolutions. Ingram
is responsible for getting major projects, while iValue has been
more of a value-added distributor, focussed on getting government
and BFSI customers. It has also tied up with all the top 15 system
integrators of the country.
And hence...
There is, undoubtedly, a huge opportunity for both the company
and its partners. It is just that Quantum needs to shift gear from its
traditional data to other data like video, voice and images because
these data are growing by zetabytes. Major 90-per cent growth
is expected to come from these structured data and that is where
Quantum expects to play a very strong role. n

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FACE TO FACE

Power of PRYSM is all about

Technology collaboration lifecycle
Prysm is
changing the way people
work by delivering seamless
experience that is collaborative,
powerful, easy, streamline
communications,
increase productivity and
accelerate the time to decision

Amit Jain
President & CEO - Prysm

igitization of content is proliferating

in the company environment. It
comes from automation, whether you are
buying different cloud-based tools, ERP
systems, CRM systems, data storage systems,
etc which help access of any content from
anywhere. These days, there are two other
trends that need to be watched out Mobility
and Millennials, says Amit Jain, President
& CEO - Prysm
Mobility is a huge trend which helps
one stay connected digitally and visually. It
also enables one to work from anywhere.
Workplace is no longer a boundary of
four walls. Now whether you are travelling
or are at home, you can deliver the work.
What is even more important is the delivery
of work on time and hence mobility is very
important these days, observes Amit.
The second is Millennials who are
fostering consumerization of the corporate
world. In this, they are given easy access
to storage, can put files and pictures on the
cloud which are accessible from anywhere.
They are using very easy-to-use devices,
whether it is iOS, Android, Touch Pads,
iPads, laptops which have become cheaper
and accessible to everyone. Millennials carry
their content, which includes workplace and
even their personal place. So one can access
their important files in seconds, without the
need to rummage through heaps of files and
documents, he explains.
The power of both mobility and Millennial
consumerization are forcing the corporate
world to completely change. Millennials are
the largest force though, especially in India
that has one of the youngest populations

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in the world and has also one of the highest

concentrations of Millennials in the world.
And this force is going to take us to the next
level. Digitization of content, accessibility
of content, ease-of-use from any device
has, thus, become the need of the day. And
that is why we call it the Digital or a visual
workplace, he further adds.

Evolution of the Modern Day

workplace

Prysm is defining a new way of work

one where applications, content, video
conferencing and the web can all be easily
combined into a visual workspace. These
interactive workspaces are stored in the cloud
and available on any screen irrespective of its
size. Prysms Visual Workplace solutions
span from conference room to home office,
executive visit centre to data lab, huddle
room to custom walls and most importantly
workplaces of every size.

Prysm has also recently announced

the Prysm Enterprise, a first-of-its-kind
combined hardware and Software-as-a-Service
(SaaS) solution which enables businesses and
their employees to easily collaborate in real
time across every size screen. With Prysm
Enterprise, the newest offering in Prysm's
Visual Workplace portfolio, applications,
content, video conferencing and the web
are all combined into cloud-based visual
workspaces where anyone can create, edit,
share and store work, and then go back and
re-access the saved workspaces later from
any location via the cloud.
Through this significant step in the
enterprise collaboration space, Prysm
has been able to expand the reach of its
technology to mobile devices and the cloud.
Prysm Enterprise lets users collaborate from
anywhere and on any device through cloudbased visual workspaces, where they can
create, edit and share work. The work also
can be stored on the cloud and is available to
users who want to reaccess it.
The new offering, which is part of Prysm's
Visual Workplace portfolio, is designed to
address the ongoing transition in the video
collaboration space. Businesses are trying to
manage a number of trends that are playing
into the evolution, including the increase in
the number of mobile devices being used, an
increasingly mobile workforce, bring-yourown-device (BYOD) and security.
Talking about the Indian market,
Prysm is currently focussed on global
enterprise, IT services, BFSI, Telecom and
Public Sector verticals. We cater to our
customers requirements of collaboration
video walls for customer briefing centres,
Command and Control Centres, data labs,
huddle rooms to digital briefcase solutions.
Hence, our customers can deploy Prysm in
conjunction with their existing investments
in collaboration with technologies, Amit
sums up.

Millennials
are the largest
force though,
especially in India
that has one of
the youngest
populations in the
world and has also
one of the highest
concentrations of Millennials in the world.

ISODA CORNER
Subscription model fails
to impress Indian
customers

Paresh Shah, Director,

PH Teknow highlights
why software subscription
model has failed to take-off
in India
There is a heated debate
over pros and cons of the
subscription and perpetual
licensing models. While
many customers and partners
are not pleased with the
move toward subscription
licensing, I have mixed views
about the change.
In my view, subscription
licensing is not a winwin proposition for the
Indian customers, at least,
presently. Indian customers
are largely conservative
when it comes to IT upgrades. Nobody upgrades IT, specifically
the software, as fast as the vendors want them to do. Even large
Indian customers have an
upgrade cycle of 5-7 years
and SMBs have an even
longer one.
While on the positive
side, the subscription
model offers the ability to
tone down the capex and
ensures always-upgraded
infrastructure, the flip
side is that customer
end up paying significantly more over 5-7 years. Perpetual
license on the other hand remains active for life time, even
if the customer doesnt upgrade. For example, the perpetual
license for Microsoft Office sells for Rs 20,000, but the annual
subscription is Rs 5,000, which well exceeds the cost in over a
4-year period.
For partners, perpetual license deal is a one-time business
and for the next 5-7 years there might be no business from the
customer, unless the company goes into an expansion phase. On
the other hand, subscription model offers constant revenues.
Vendors need to work out subscription fees in a way that
customers see the RoI in opting for it, over the 5-7 year period.
They also need to do something innovative to convince more
customers to move to subscription considering the low adoption
rate so far.

Best practices for payment

collection

Rajeev
Mamidanna,
Director - Eden Infosol
talks about simple business
practices that have helped
his company reduce payment
delays The continuing economic
slowdown has led to increase
in payment delays and the
risk of defaults have increased
manifold.
In order to streamline
the
payment
collection
mechanism,
we
began
involving
our
Finance
department as well as that of
the customer to finalize on
payment terms. Involving
the finance team from both
sides helps arrive at realistic
payment term. This is
essential in large deals where managing the finances become
crucial.
In case the customers
payment terms arent
agreeable to us, we dont
hesitate to walk away
from the project. For
instance, for a deal with
payment term of 30-45
days, we expect at least
10 percent margins. On
large deals with similar
payment period we keep
a 15 percent margin. Today the cost of capital is high and hence
one needs to factor in the interest on the payment in every
deal.
In many deals, we insist on customer paying 25-50 percent
advance. While many existing customers pay in advance, it is
still a challenge with customers where we have stiff competition
from other partners. Still, this practice is minimizing payment
risks to a significant level and helping us manage our cash
flows.
We have also appointed a person in our finance team
dedicated for payment collections. Her job is to send payment
alerts and reminders 10 days in advance of the due date.
We have realized that by bringing discipline in the payment
collection process, one can get at least 75-80 percent payment
within the agreed time.

ISODA Expands With Pune Chapter

ISODA has inaugurated its Pune Chapter in a bid to increase its membership across the country and to have increased representation from
smaller cities.
Pune is an important market with a strong IT partner ecosystem. Hence, we decided to open a local chapter. Our aim is to have a larger
representation of partners from across the country in addressing the challenges and issues, and foster collaboration among our members, said
Rajeev Mamidanna, Regional Secretary, West - ISODA.
ISODA held the inaugural event on March 9, 2016, which was attended by ISODA Western region committee members and leading partners
from Pune, including Askari Infotech, GTS Technologies, C-DOT Systems, Supreme Computer and Software, Vintech Electronic Systems and
Sujata Computers.
The event witnessed a discussion about smooth on-boarding of new partners and how ISODA can add value to Pune partners. ISODA
committee also noted some of the critical issues faced by Pune partners and promised to represent it at the right forum.
Under its ISODA 2.0 vision, the industry body has ambitious plans to open more chapters in smaller cities in coming months. Each of
these chapters will have full autonomy and will conduct their regional meets independently. Members from these chapters will have access to
all the initiatives and activities conducted by ISODA including our annual TechSummit forum. We want partners across the country to partake
in various programs being undertaken by ISODA for the benefit of the community, added Rajeev.

www.varindia.com

April 2016

39

COVER STORY

Enterprise Mobility

The Biggest Trendsetter for 2016

Enterprise Mobility has emerged as the need of the hour with organizations that are looking to
increasing businesses productivity, forging better customer relationship and making decisions faster. But
the question is how much time before India picks this trend

nterprise Mobility has emerged as a

big business booster for enterprises of
different sizes. It gives the workforce liberty
to operate freely from anywhere and also from
any device. Now it is no more a compulsion
to go to office and use a particular desktop
to access data. Not only has the liberty of
working triggered the growth of Enterprise
Mobility, but easy access to data from any
devices, improving business productivity
and availability, and enhanced customer
relationships with quicker response time,
improved sales-cycle, and faster decisionmaking have made it an integral part of any
business.
Customers are experiencing all the
enhanced facilities due to the growing
penetration of mobile devices. Mobility has

Parag Arora
Area VP & Country
Subcontinent, Citrix

40

April 2016

Head,

India

www.varindia.com

predicts that Enterprise Mobility market in

India will touch $2.3 billion in 2017. Indian
enterprises are experiencing considerable
technology
transformation
across
infrastructure, applications and end-to-end
user computing.

Enterprise Mobility: A
fundamental of all businesses

Mitesh Agarwal
Vice-President
Oracle India

Sales

Consulting,

seeped into all walks of our daily life. It is

becoming the necessity for all businesses
today.
According to a survey by BlackBerry,
India Enterprise Mobility is a top priority for
most organizations with 71 per cent saying
they either have a mobility policy or are, at
present, in the process of drafting one. About
66 per cent respondents said mobility solutions
helped firms in real-time data collection and
reporting from mobile workers, while 56 per
cent said it helped in reducing paper work,
administration time and expenses. The top
three investment areas for enterprise mobility
include business consulting services, telecom
expense management solutions and mobile
device management solution.
Furthermore, a report by Infographic

While it is true that Enterprise Mobility

gives employees freedom to work from
their preferred devices, it also gives the
organizations an opportunity to save various
operations and maintenance cost without loss
of productivity.
Enterprise Mobility has become a
business reality. It is no longer a luxury it is

Rajesh Shetty
Director, Enterprise Networking Sales, Cisco
India & SAARC

fundamental to support a happy and productive

workforce. Organizations adopting mobility
are leveraging its multiple benefits. Enterprise
Mobility has not only enabled employees to
operate freely from their preferred devices
but has also given enterprises the opportunity
to save on various operating and maintaining
costs without any loss of work productivity,
says Parag Arora, Area Vice-President &
Country Head, India Subcontinent, Citrix.
Reiterating the same, Mitesh Agarwal,
Vice-President Sales Consulting, Oracle
India, says, Mobility has transformed the
way we live, work and play. With the advent
of mobile computing, applications are no
longer tied to the desktop and end-users
expect to be able to switch between desktop,
tablet and smartphone anytime, anywhere.
This multi-channel environment has become
the new norm.
He further continues, Mobility in India is
mostly driven from within the organization.
Organizations want to be able to extend their
enterprise applications to mobile devices
because keeping the workforce connected
empowers everyone to make decisions, take

Narendra Nayak
Managing Director,
BlackBerry India
action, and stay informed. What we are seeing
is that Mobility is taking the same trajectory
as that taken by the Web when it came into
being. Today, nobody questions the need for a
web presence. Similarly, time has come when
it is imperative to have a mobile presence for
all applications and services.

The Setbacks.
No technology can be adopted without
facing challenges. Organizations face various
technological as well as other challenges
while implementing any new technology
into their IT ecosystem. Shifting of existing
infrastructure into new model, management
of multiple applications etc are some of the
challenges seen while adopting Enterprise
Mobility.
However, the biggest challenges being faced
are in terms of data privacy and security.
Organizations face several barriers
to adoption like shifting their existing
infrastructure into a new model, integration
with the existing and legacy systems,
and new investments involved. Other
challenges include data privacy and security,

Sajan Paul
Director, Systems Engineering India &
SAARC, Juniper Networks
management of multiple platforms and
devices, providing secure access to enterprise
resources, management of several applications,
malware attacks, and more. Keeping sensitive
data and information secure is very crucial
for businesses today, so they must evaluate
their environment, create a robust strategy
and roadmap before taking a step towards
mobility, states Manish Godha, Chief
Executive Officer, Advaiya.
Secured access of real-time data and securing
mobile applications are equally important for
organizations embracing Enterprise Mobility.
For this, a strong network infrastructure with
dynamic technologies is needed to secure the
risks involved in it.
Enterprise Mobility is not limited to
merely providing a smartphone to your
workforce. Real-time data access and secure
access is what we are aiming at. It is highly
important to have a strong Enterprise
Mobility Management System in order to
keep the IT department up-to-date with the
usage of sensitive professional data, at all
times. Securing the mobile apps is equally
important for the safety of confidential data.
Since the mobile employees working on
BYOD policies operate on different devices, it
is not only important to keep the confidential
data safe but also differentiate the professional
data from the personal records, on any device
in use. A robust network infrastructure
strongly aligned with advanced changing
technologies is the need of the hour. While
rigorous efforts are being made to keep data
safe, as CIOs show added leadership in order

Syed Wasim Jafar

Vice-President (Service Delivery),
Xavient Information Systems

to keep sensitive information away from any

threat, there is still a long way to go before
mobility runs with no risk at all, suggests
Syed Wasim Jafar, Vice-President (Service
Delivery), Xavient Information Systems.
Enterprise Mobility does not only mean
access to corporate data. With the trend of
BYOD, employees can access their personal
data along with corporate. But at the same
time the employees personal data may be at
stake and also exposed to employers.
Many companies today are offering
BYOD programs to employees, giving them
access to corporate applications and data on
their personal devices while still maintaining a
level of security on the device. As a result, endusers are becoming increasingly concerned
with their own privacy and how their personal
information and actions may be exposed to
their employer. The employee and employer
disconnect grows as it is unclear to end-users
as to what information is accessible by their
employer and what is not, opines Sundar
Balasubramanian, Senior Director, General
Business, VMware.
BYOD which is one of the fuelling

Manish Godha
Chief Executive Officer,
Advaiya
elements behind the growth of Enterprise
Mobility has further increased the woes of
CIOs. Security of data poses as the biggest
challenge in Enterprise Mobility. Selection
of right security solution and preventing the
secured environment from encroachment are
the biggest challenges for the organizations.
In the wake of frequent security breaches
and data thefts, enterprises globally are
under tremendous pressure to provide an
end-to-end secure framework. The Bring
Your Own Device (BYOD) trend is adding
to the woes of modern-day CIOs. Devices
nowadays are extremely powerful and a
small instance like misplacing or losing a
mobile device can translate into a major
security breach. For optimal security,
organizations should seek out solutions that
are capable of meeting corporate network
requirements while concurrently providing
three layers of security at the device, server
and network level. With the right Enterprise
Mobility solution, organizations dont have
to compromise their security requirements
to allow employees to carry the devices they
choose. But the challenge becomes preventing

www.varindia.com

April 2016

41

COVER STORY

Amulya Kapoor
Head, Digital Research,
Infosys
the secure mobile computing environment
from encroaching on the users experience,
says Narendra Nayak, Managing Director,
BlackBerry India.
Moreover, SMBs, which generally are the
early adopters of technology, are reluctant to
bank on Enterprise Mobility owing to the
security reasons, costly solutions and complex
mobile environment.
A number of enterprises and SMBs are
hesitant today to embrace mobility owing to
data security and overall security concerns,
high perceived costs (most organizations
consider the current breed of solutions as
expensive) and the heterogeneous nature of
mobility initiatives (Indian organizations
are not prepared to manage a complex
enterprise strategy that extends across devices,
applications and software). Low network
speeds, lack of customized applications,
complex device management, high TCO
and complex software are also deterring
organizations from implementing enterprise
mobility, points out Amulya Kapoor, Head,
Digital Research, Infosys.

Growth drivers
Adoption of mobility in business is not
the only reason for fuelling the growth of
Enterprise Mobility. There are other factors
like BYOD, innovative mobile applications,
affordable smart devices, network expansion
and introduction of 4G services that have
worked as a catalyst in driving growth of
Enterprise Mobility.
Over the last few years, India has seen a
tremendous upsurge in the number of smart
devices. The convergence of mobile devices,
internet, smartphone prices, the extensive
2G/3G network expansion and the growing
adoption of 4G services have been the largest
factors driving this trend. This increased
adoption of smart devices has resulted in Indian
companies implementing BYOD policies to
enhance employees productivity. Hence, it
is no surprise that business productivity has
now become largely dependent on enterprise
mobility.
Right
from
entry-level
mobility
applications such as email to advanced
mobility-enabled enterprise applications such
as salesforce automation, ERP, SCM, CRM,
unified communication and billing, every

42

April 2016

www.varindia.com

aspect of business is going mobile. The BYOD

market is growing rapidly. Big Data and
Cloud Computing paradigms are providing
valuable insights by processing, managing and
analyzing data from mobility applications,
states Rajesh Shetty, Director, Enterprise
Networking Sales, Cisco India & SAARC.
Organizations are also investing heavily in
networking models in order to improve daily
business services. Enhancement in network
model is taking place as the organizations are
looking for agile, secure and scalable networks.
Moreover, this will lead to improved
business services and higher rate of customer
satisfaction.
Apart from rapid smartphone adoption,
the Internet of Things and SMAC are also
aiding the growth of Enterprise Mobility
in India. Cloud and virtualization-based
networking models have also proved to be
go-to-solutions for organizations opting to
expand, integrate and better optimize their
network infrastructures. One of the key trends
we have seen over the year is that organizations
are now investing large sums of money into
networking models based on virtualized hybrid

Virender Jeet
Sr Vice-President,
Newgen Software
clouds. This, in turn, allows them to move
a lot of daily business services to the cloud,
thereby providing for and enabling a high
level of Enterprise Mobility. Transition from
private clouds to hybrid clouds is happening
as organizations start looking for agile, secure
and scalable networks that can cater to larger
amounts of network traffic, opines Sajan
Paul, Director Systems Engineering India &
SAARC, Juniper Networks

Start-ups and Enterprise Mobility

The new-age start-ups that embrace newer
technologies to provide mileage to their
business have shown a positive approach
towards Enterprise Mobility. To achieve
their business goals, real-time information
along with pace and agility are required. And,
these start-ups are using this technology in an
effective way to widen their services and gain
customers satisfaction.
As businesses experience the next level of
transformation, they are looking to do more
with less. Customers in the digital age expect
faster responses while employees on the move

Sundar Balasubramanian
Senior Director, General Business, VMware

demand advanced tools to meet their goals.

Real-time information capture along with
processing speed and agility is determining
future market leaders across industries.
Thus, Enterprise Mobility is being adopted
at a rapid pace by both the start-ups as well
as the established enterprises. In India, banks
are leading this adoption with an objective
to delight their customers by serving them
at their doorstep. Government agencies with
their endeavour to foster innovation in citizencentric processes, are also aggressively rolling
out mobile governance initiatives. SMEs,
right from BFSI and telecom to logistics &
transportation and healthcare, are increasingly
relying on robust Mobility Platforms to
widen their service offerings and increase
operational effectiveness beyond boundaries,
states Virender Jeet Sr Vice-President, Newgen
Software.
Voicing a similar opinion, Syed says,
Start-ups will definitely take the BYOD
trend forward and since mobility is penetrated
deeply within the IT enterprise, the young
start-ups have an edge to initiate their mobility
initiatives towards their target audience. Startups are now better aligned to strategize and
prioritize their mobility solutions. Among
the early adopters of technology, policies like
BYOD and CYOD are being highly promoted
and demanded, thus leading the transformation
in technology trends.

Lastly
Though Enterprise Mobility comes with
issues regarding security, it has nonetheless
proved to be a business stimulator for
organizations of all sizes. It has helped
organizations to increase efficiency, improve
productivity and increased customers
satisfaction. Taking forward this concept of
mobile computing forward, Mitesh concludes,
The next frontier for enterprise computing
will see the convergence of the Internet of
Things with mobile computing to create a
Connected Enterprise. Being able to leverage
mobile technology and make it meaningful
by finding significant links to multiple, varied
sources of data (for example linking biometric
values with environmental factors, or calendar
data with home control and monitoring) is
what will lead to promising developments for
enterprise mobility in 2016. n

FACE TO FACE

Channel is our
Mantra of Success

In a chat with VARINDIA, the newly-appointed Vishwanath Kulkarni, Director Sales South Asia, HID Global, discusses the
latest launch, business model of the company, channel empowerment programs and the opportunities in the market

ith its latest global launch of Mobile

Access solution that delivers a more
secure and convenient way to open doors
and gates while introducing a simple secure
identity management process and which is not
only operable from mobiles, but now it is also
accessible on wearable watches. HID Global
claims itself to be a channel-centric company.
The company operates in the market through
three of its strong distributors ADI,
AutoCop and Inflow Technologies.
HID Global is a channel-centric
company. Our business model is purely based
on channel partners. We look at it in three
ways. We have national distributors in the
market, OEM partners because some of our
products are hardware and for that we need
an OEM to help us with the software and
lastly we also have the key accounts which
are directly handled by HID. We have more
than 2,000 channel partners across India and
have three distributors ADI which is a
Honeywell group company, AutoCop which
in the recent past has been a very strong
security distributor and Inflow Technologies.
The advantage that we get from all of them
is that they not only cater to the channel
partners of security business but as India is
growing, we get the IT partners also to start
working with us, says Vishwanath Kulkarni,
Director Sales South Asia, HID Global.
Keeping in mind the latest trends, Digital
India and Internet of Things (IoT), HID
Global has launched its IoT-based flagship
product Mobile Access. Through a secure
identity management process, users can open
doors and gates in a secure and convenient
way.
HID is into Access Control System and
it is one of the foundations of IoT. We have
launched our flagship product, Mobile Access,
which means access credentials on mobile so
you can use your mobile phone to enter into
a premise. It is a foolproof secure solution.
With the PMs focus on Digital India and IoT
which is a mantra today, it all fits the build
perfectly. Globally, Mobile Access has been
launched and its getting upgraded, which
means it was accessible only on mobiles but
now it can also be operable on wearable
watches, states Kulkarni.
Opportunities & Market size
For HID Global, the opportunities in
the Indian market are huge. The company

Vishwanath Kulkarni
Director Sales South
Asia, HID Global

We have launched our

flagship product, Mobile
Access, which means access
credentials on mobile so you
can use your mobile phone
to enter into a premise. It is
a foolproof secure solution.
With the PMs focus on
Digital India and IoT which
is a mantra today, it all
fits the build perfectly

runs various channel programs like training

sessions, certification programs, roadshows,
product expos, etc.

considers a small office with less number of

employees irrespective of verticals as their
potential customer. The market is huge.
Even if there is an office of four people,
they also need an Access Control System.
Every vertical, every person who works in a
company needs a card. Every company in any
vertical needs a reader to access themselves.
It is not only for security or it could be for
attendance.

Furthermore, while explaining the

different channel programs, Kulkarni says,
We have different channel programs that
are run throughout the year for direct as
well as indirect partners. Direct partners are
distributors, OEMs and the key accounts,
while indirect partners are the channel
partners of distributors. Programs that are
run throughout the year are training sessions,
certification, etc to facilitate them. We also
have some online programs called Advantage
Partner Programs where partners get training
materials and videos which are focussed on the
technology part starting from understanding
the product till commissioning.

It is very much aligned to the Indias

growth. We have been growing as per the top
100 companies of India. The GDP of India is
growing, adds Kulkarni.
Channel Empowerment
Channel empowerment programs are very
important for a channel-focussed company.
Like other companies, HID Global also

Empowerment, to put it both technically

as well as marketing of brand, we have different
programs. We do city-wise technical trainings
in the tier-I, -II and -III cities. It is a year-onyear exercise that we do. The brand building
we do with our distributors. There are expos,
roadshows, multiple activities which they
do. Also, there are a lot of webinars that
are conducted and EDMs are floated in the
market, explains Kulkarni.

While conveying a message to Channel

Partners, he says, India is growing and we are
all part of the growth. HID wants everyone in
the ecosystem to grow. n

www.varindia.com

April 2016

43

FACE TO FACE

With double-digit growth Zebras

momentum continues

Deep Agarwal, Regional Sales Director, Zebra Technologies Asia-Pacific, tells VARINDIA more about
the company and its positioning strategy, post acquisition of Motorolas enterprise business

he acquisition of enterprise business

of Motorola Solutions by Zebra
Technologies has spawned the creation of
a new business category for the company
Enterprise Asset Intelligence. We do
various solutions for different verticals
retail, manufacturing, transportation and
logistics, from which we derive close-to
8090% of our revenue. Healthcare and
government are emerging verticals for us.
Government is a focussed vertical for India
but not necessarily across the globe. We
have seen implementations happening in
the Excise Department, Forest Department
in some of the states. We also have use cases
in government hospitals, with AIIMS and a
few government hospitals in Kerala having
deployed our products, explains Deep
Agarwal, Regional Sales Director, India Zebra
Technologies Asia- Pacific.
Zebras products are designed for tracking
and getting visibility for any kind of physical
assets (like people) that would, in turn,
generate information and eventually faster
decisions could be taken. It provides realtime visibility into organizations assets,
people and transactions. Globally, Zebra is
a US$3.65-billion company and is publicly
listed. Our revenues in India are in line with
most of the companies in this line of business;
approximately 13% of the total revenue
which is US$463 million comes from APAC
market, Deep states.

Post acquisition of Motorolas enterprise

business, Zebra is seeing a positive sentiment
both in the partner community and with its
customers. When we both were operating
independently, we virtually used to target the
same set of market segment. With us coming
together, we have a much larger product
portfolio that we can offer as one company,
and a seamless integration could be established
between our set of products, he says.
Zebra is largely a partner-driven
organization. It meets with customers directly,
but business execution is done by partners. On
paper, it today has close-to 300 partners, but
only 20% of them are active with remaining
of them coming on a need basis. We have our
own offices in five locations Delhi, Mumbai,

Chennai, Bangalore and Kolkata and have

our partners all spread over. We also have our
global development centre in Bangalore that
caters to the entire globe, Deep asserts.
There are three broad categories of partners
that Zebra deals with system integrators like
HCL, Wipro, TCS where its products go as
one small component of their entire solution.
Secondly, Zebra has specialized partners who
are from the identification and data capturing
industry and they would specifically focus
on bar coding and RFID solutions. Third
are the independent software vendors (ISVs)
who create their own specific solutions and
would recommend Zebras hardware. We
keep adding new partners in new domain
and geographies. If you look at our Top 10
partners, some of them have been with us on
an average for 7-8 years, says Deep.
Zebra has a two-tier model distributors
and then the three sets of partners. Zebra works
with three National distributors Ingram
Micro, Inflow Technologies and Neoteric.
Zebra is also seeing a lot of penetration in the
tier-II and -III markets. Around 20% of its
revenue comes from these markets and the new
partners that it brings in are essentially from
these markets. Zebra Technologies believes in
long-term growth and APAC including India
is very important for the global business. We
have grown by double digits during the last few
years and this momentum is going to continue
in the coming years too, Deep concludes. n

Foxconn is optimistic for

Make in India

Josh Foulger
M.D, Foxconn India

s India is at the cusp of digitisation

mainly driven by the mobile devices,
adoption of smartphone is increasing day

44

April 2016

www.varindia.com

by day. There is another key factor for

growth that could be witnessed in growing
competition over the pricing , the ease of
access of content and language localization.
Government Incentives through Make in India
and prevalence of internet-enabled services on
smartphones are some of the reasons for this
propelling growth . Smartphones are already
outpacing the growth of feature phones and
are expected to show a massive 36% CAGR
over the next 5 years.
Foxconn's upcoming plant in Maharashtra,
is getting to be operational with an
investment of Rs 35,000 crores and to employ
around 50,000 people in the next 5 years.
Foxconn has made the blue print ready for
creating a supplier eco-system (Component
manufacturers would have to build a global
supply chain in India, which can then be
used for products across multiple categories
starting from mobile phones to tablets, laptop
and TVs),similar to the model in China and

Taiwan by bringing component suppliers so

that it can reduce its manufacturing cost for
both domestic consumption as well as for
exports.
Josh Foulger, M.D, Foxconn India, said
"Manufacturing mobile phones presents a
fantastic opportunity in India and India is the
most suitable pick for all manufacturers after
china."
Currently, Foxconn manufactures mobile
phones for Asus, Gionee, Oppo, Microsoft,
In-Focus, Xiaomi and Microsoft feature
phone (NOKIA) from India and according
to sources very soon Huawei and Iphone are
also going to get manufactured in its India
plant. Foxconn is producing about 1 million
phones in a month and also manufacturing
Televisions for certain brands in India.
Speaking on Make in India, Foulger said,
"Ecosystem players must have a long term
vision and should come with open mindset to
localise." n

FACE TO FACE

Big Data to streamline business

offerings for IT industry
Being a processor to lead business model transformation, Big Data is a true differentiator having limitless possibilities and has taken
the corporate sector by storm. According to a joint study conducted by NASSCOM and CRISIL Global Research & Analytics, the Indian
Big Data industry is set to cross US$1 billion in 2016. Ram Prasad Mamidi, CIO, Tata Teleservices Ltd, shared his views on the adoption
of Big Data.
Big Data adoption rates have been steadily growing over the last couple of years with Telecom, Retail and Pharma leading the way.

How far has Big Data

Cloud computing is also an important
evolved currently? What is the
arena which from experimentation has become
adoption rate of Big Data by the a critical enabler for the transformation
Enterprises?
of next-gen telecom companies. As a vital
Big Data as a true differentiator of endless
possibilities has been taking the corporate
sector by storm being a processor to lead
business model transformation. As per a joint
study conducted by NASSCOM and CRISIL
Global Research & Analytics the Indian Big
Data industry is set to cross USD 1 billion in
2016. One of the recent IDC data surveys also
showed that nearly 36 percent of information
available will be useful only if analyzed. The
surge of information consumption will lead to
the quick adoption of big data analytics which
is inevitable. Advanced analytics is the key to
solving complex data, thereby, providing an
ability to conduct analysis and simulations of
every single business related matter wherein
the results achieved are completely accurate,
concise and relevant.
Big Data adoption rates have started
steadily growing over the last couple of years
with Telecom, Retail and Pharma leading
the way. According to a study done by IBM
adoption rate has increased by over 40% YoY
and some of the factors driving the interest
in Big Data are Finding correlation across
multiple and disparate data sources (eg.,
Clickstream, Geospatial and transaction),
Predicting Customer Behavior, Predicting
product/service sales and Fraud and Financial
risk.

How is Tata Teleservices

tapping on Big Data & Cloud as
an opportunity?
Tata Teleservices has been using big data
for a while now, emphasis while using it has
been on the end to end customer experience
management strongly. It has been helping
us to define systems to measure stage-wise
experience parameters for a given customer
and correlate them for personalized delivery,
not to forget the predictive tools and robust
data warehousing which are in place. While
these solutions enable us to leverage structured
data, we are also looking at available options
for effective mining of unstructured data.
Using the Hadoop framework we have
leveraged Big Data for more effective Vigilance
Tracking and Monitoring.

strategy provider it enables service providers

to provide a collaborative platform for
internetworking with over-the-top-players.
Adoption of cloud technology provides CIOs
with ample time to focus on other myriad
business related issues rather than being in
a reactive mode to hold all the information
together at one place.

How do telecom companies look

at the role of Data Analytics?
Data analytics has been taking a
major foothold in corporate sector, its
institutionalization will provide boost to
firms to reach the bottom of the pyramid
and help in aiding personalized support. It
is equally important for firms to seamlessly
ingrain any successful data analytics concepts
in the IT infrastructure to deliver excellent
customer experience. As an upcoming tool of
innovation, differentiation through innovative
offers, social media and enterprise mobility
must be used to provide new offerings to
customers.
As a concept, even smaller firms today
inspired from industry leaders are ensuring to
seep big data analytics into their respective IT
infrastructures as it tends to be a cost-effective
tool which in turn helps their business
function efficiently due to critical deep
insights. Firms following the lead of industry
leaders use the large chunk of data through
big data analytics, thereby, gaining insights
on customer behavior to purchasing trends.
They use it intelligently to equip themselves
with opportunities to streamline processes
and customize product and service offerings.

What future do Big Data and

Cloud hold for the Enterprises?
The big data industry is expected to reach
$ 41.5 billion by end of 2018 and analytics
will be the key growth drivers by 2020 as
per a report by IDC. Given the immense
potential of the technology in terms of driving
business impact and efficiency, the need of
the hour is to encourage talent that is able to

Ram Prasad Mamidi

CIO
Tata Teleservices Ltd
effectively plan and manage the mining of big
data elements and drive awareness amongst
stakeholders to utilize the insights derived
from these analytics.
Cloud, as a strong communication
backbone is a key success factor which has
immense potential for adding greater value to
other companies. Through the help of cloud
and software-defined datacenters, corporates
will create new opportunities into the
enterprise world by unlocking evolutionary
levels of insight, flexibility and scale. Such
insights will help them take right decisions
for their business and help them move ahead
in the right direction, thereby, utilizing their
time on making business more effective.

Which are the segments

Tata Teleservices is eyeing the
maximum growth in 2016?
The most growth is expected in the
booming arena of mobile internet, if estimates
are correct, then more than 45 percent of the
worlds population in Asia are the biggest
users. With more and more upcoming
brands, manufacturing will see a new high
in terms of internet and smartphone. As a
trend, this segment will be likely benefitting
exponentially in the coming times. n

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April 2016

45

INDUSTRY WATCH

Incentive and Channel Programs

Pillars of IT industry
The excitement and challenge of all business activities centre on motivation. With
properly run incentive programs, one can motivate their channel partners to outperform
expectations. But that is also where the challenge is: to run a measurable, effective
motivation program specifically designed to achieve the stated business goals.

ver the years, the IT sector has evolved

rapidly. In todays fast-changing and
increasingly specialized technology space,
businesses want to work with partners with indepth technical expertise, and those are leaders
in the delivery of secure apps and data.
In the present-day scenario in the IT
industry, not only is an organization careful
while choosing a partner, but a partner
also places faith when he/she chooses to
associate with a product company. Hence,
the channel incentive programs combined
with the available training and other skillbased resources, are the ways of rewarding

Khwaja Saifuddin
Senior Sales Director, South Asia, Middle
East, and Africa, Western Digital
and motivating partners who show confidence
in the brand. A well-motivated and skilled
partner not only helps in taking the product to
the market but also helps the customer derive
value from those solutions. Partners also
ensure that their customers are using solutions
that best match the needs and business model.
This way, the customers, product companies
and partners all receive benefit.
To ensure that the program is structured
for success, segmenting the target audience,
grouping channel partners are required
according to their levels and interests. Defining
the participants makes it easier to develop
an awards program that is appropriate, with
rewards that are suitable for each group.
The actual segments used for any incentive
program are based on the character of each
corporation. But, in general, it is helpful
to organize channel partner into several
categories, determine what appeals most
to each group and then tailor the incentive
rewards according to structure and take IT
industry to next level. In order to establish

46

April 2016

www.varindia.com

and build relationships with the channel

and partner community, vendors organize a
variety of programs and offers. Throwing light
on the same, some of the IT veterans from the
IT industry shared their insights about the
benefits of channel partner programs.
WD offers a gamut of programs designed
specifically for channel partners such as
myWD, WD Ki Paathshaala, WD University,
WD Eureka, etc. Khwaja Saifuddin, Senior
Sales Director, South Asia, Middle East and
Africa, Western Digital, stated, myWD
Partner Program aims to offer training, sales
support, value-added benefits and incentives to
security and surveillance system integrators,
installers, solution and service providers to
help them enhance their business opportunities
and profitability. WD Ki Paathshaala consists
of regular training sessions with our channel
partners to apprise them of our offerings.
WDpedia is an initiative for the relatively
new channel partners. Thus, such initiatives
help WD build and grow relationships with
them in the upcountry markets and provide
them with direct access to our company.
Channel partners can provide a fast and
effective way to penetrate new markets and
expand existing customer relationships,
allowing high-tech companies to focus on other
strategic imperatives and core competencies.
Channel partners bring established local-level
networks and are closer to customers. The
channel partner engagement strategies help
to increase IT opportunities. The incentive
programs and Channel schemes create stronger
and more strategic relationships with the
customers which directly increases business of
the IT industry.
Effectively selling todays networking
solution requires a partner that understands

Shrikanth Natarajan
Director, Channels & Alliances, India and
SAARC, Brocade

Eklavya Bhave
Head Partner Strategy & Sales (India &
SAARC), Citrix
what it takes to succeed. That is why Brocade
is committed to helping our partners grow
their businesses, leveraging our innovative,
highly-differentiated technologies. We work
closely and collaboratively with our partners
to develop their solutions expertise, sales
skills, and profitability. The Brocade Partner
Network (BPN) supports our partners by
making a shared investment in developing
knowledge-rich practices that address evolving
technology trends and changing customers
needs. It offers a complete set of enablement
programs and resources that help our
partners grow their businesses and improve
their bottom line. Our focus to reward the
Partner Sales team is also paying off rich
dividends. We reward individuals who bring
in an opportunity and drive the sales cycle,
elaborated Shrikanth Natarajan, Director,
Channels & Alliances, India and SAARC,
Brocade.
The partner's role today has elevated from
only connecting the vendors to the customers
but also involves a consultative approach.
Hence, it is very important that partners are
well rewarded for all the efforts that they put.
All in all, the IT industry has witnessed a surge
in specialist partners who possess technical
expertise and position the products effectively
in the market.
On the same, Eklavya Bhave, Head
Partner Strategy & Sales (India & SAARC),
Citrix, keenly observed, At Citrix, our
partner network is a significant contributor to
our growth story globally and in India. Citrix
believes in regular enablement of our partner
network across the solution and technology
landscape. For this, we drive regular channelenablement programs which provide onthe-job training to support the partners, so

Vishwanath Kulkarni
Director of Sales, Physical Access Control,
India and SAARC, HID Global

Vishal Parekh
Marketing Director, Kingston Technology
India

Rajesh Gupta
Country Manager, India & SAARC,
SanDisk Corporation

that they are well prepared to leverage every

business opportunity from existing and new
customers. Citrix thrives on a strong channel
ecosystem to leverage its solutions in the
market. The channel network adds value to
our offering, as they help their own customers
implement products that are best suited to
the business. Channel partners help us serve
and understand our customer base better by
sharing valuable insights.
HID also runs various incentive programs
to support their partner ecosystem for
example, the HID APP (HID Advantage
Partner Program), various rebate programs
like CO-OP fund and MDF. The incentive
programs are an integral part of the channel
growth. These programs help in building
trust and loyalty with the partner ecosystem.
In a saturated market, the biggest concern is
profitability of a company, Such incentive
programs help the partners increase their
profitability hence bringing loyalty, said
Vishwanath Kulkarni, Director of Sales,
Physical Access Control, India and SAARC,
HID Global.
For lifestyle technology brands like
Kingston, HyperX and others, channel
partners contribute to the companys brand
image and sales. Over and above the sales aspect
and market share, vendors incentives are
focussed on creating a sense of belongingness,
encouraging a competitive sales environment.
Channel schemes, thus, help in maintaining
the business momentum and it also boosts
channel partners margin and profitability.
Vishal Parekh, Marketing Director,

Kingston Technology India, mentioned,

Channel network is our first priority. We
work closely with partners and believe in
formulating schemes that create a win-win
situation for all parties involved, including
the end-users. There is a need to be effective
value addition to and from the entire supply
chain. With such programs, we encourage our
channel partners to grow their reach and try
new avenues. That is not all. We give them
an edge with two very important elements
topnotch quality products and best after-sales
service to supersede the realistic goals.
The objective behind launching incentive
programs and channel schemes is to cement the
companys terms with channel partners and
build a stronger bond with them. Companies
rely on channel partners to increase their
brand visibility and attain top-of-the-mind

brand recall at pan-India level. These channel

partners play a crucial role when it comes to
building wider outreach for brands, especially
in geo-expansion markets. For this reason, it is
essential to stay connected and appreciate them
regularly for their efforts in supporting the
companys growth. Promotional schemes and
programs provide partners the much-needed
motivation so that they go the extra mile in
maintaining the companys brand name in the
market and increase awareness among people
about its products and services.
Rajesh Gupta, Country Manager, India
& SAARC, SanDisk Corporation, stated,
At SanDisk, we believe in keeping our
channel partners motivated and as a way of
strengthening our engagement with them,
we regularly introduce incentive schemes and
training programs for them. This year, we
have launched SanDisk HC League, a oneof-its-kind invitation only privileged club for
the preferred channel partners. Through this
special program, SanDisk aims to reward,
recognize and motivate our elite partners with
exclusive rewards and privileges."
Companies strive to launch innovative
programs, schemes and training programs
for partners on a regular basis and recognize
their contribution in the companys growth
and development by offering them various
rewards.
Dells rebate and incentive plans are
designed to acknowledge and incentivize our
Channel partners for their contribution to
our business. Dell Storm, our flagship rebate
program for our quota partners is designed in a

Kartik Sachdev
Marketing Head, Solar,
Su-Kam

Channel schemes also have an added

effect of increasing loyalty of the
channel partners towards the brand.
Usually, the scheme involves a mix
of volume and value product, thereby
ensuring the channel familiarity
in selling value product. Schemes
designed for a longer term with key
filters like certifications, product
mix, healthy payment schedule and
lead to solve tracking can help the
partners increase their profitability
as well as gradually evolve from
traders to solution providers.

Sharad Gupta
Channel Director, India,
Veritas

Rajeev Singh
MD,
BenQ India
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April 2016

47

INDUSTRY WATCH

Ajay Sehgal
National Head Small and Medium
Enterprises, Vodafone Business Services
way that it not only ensures the profitability of
our partners for the business that they bring in
for Dell, but also provides higher rewards for
the key solution areas that bring more values
for our customers. Through higher incentives,
we ensure that our partners are focusing on
the key technology areas that are shaping the
dynamics of the IT landscape in India, stated
to Anil Sethi, Director & General Manager,
Channels, Dell India.

Anil Sethi
Director & General Manager, Channels,
Dell India
Companies like Dell encourage their
partners to train and certify themselves on
these technology areas through certification
programs. There are attractive incentives
for the partner sales and pre sales teams as
well for these certification. This ensures that
company has parallel focus on enhancing the
capabilities of its partners which is essential
for their growth as well and they are ready to
address the fast changing requirements in the
IT industry.
Kartik Sachdev, Marketing Head, Solar,
Su-Kam, explained, We feel it is very
important to make our channel partners
feel important and appreciate their efforts.
Incentive programs and channel schemes are a
great way to show that the company cares and
recognizes their dedication. Reward schemes
are created in such a way that the incentives
push our channel partners to perform even
better. We often launch incentive programs
during our dealer and distributer meets that we
organize quite frequently throughout India.
A good mix of incentive programs and
channel schemes is certainly beneficial to the

48

April 2016

www.varindia.com

Manoj Khadkikar
Head Channel Solutions Group
Zicom
IT industry as it drives the right behaviours in
the channel community by helping partners
to win and coordinate in the industry.
Working with the right partners in
a dynamic market like India is vital for
accelerating the positive growth of our business
and market presence. Sharad Gupta, Channel
Director, India, Veritas, said, In India, Veritas
is gaining strong traction with the right set of
partners, and we will continue to invest in
our partner program by introducing courses
and certifications on strategic technologies
for our channel partners to help us build
the skill base and strengthen the foundation
of competencies to support Veritas strategic
growth and expansion plans in India as the
leader in information management.
Incentive and channel programs are very
strong pillars of the IT industry. These become
the reason for an extra push due to which
channel partners achieve great numbers. Also,
most of the time due to excessive competition,
the channel partners surpass their margins to
sell more. Hence, the incentive is the only
profit they keep for themselves, thus bringing
sustainability in the business.
BenQ strongly believes in strong familial
values and always cherish them. Adding to
this, Rajeev Singh, Managing Director, BenQ
India, elaborated, BenQ is consistent on
monthly and quarterly incentive plans for
our channel partner. These channel R&R
programs are not limited to just increase our
partners profitability but also to give them
unique experiences which our partners cherish.
Our programs give our channel partners a
unique identity in the industry. We motivate
them with the help of such channel programs,
and this is not restricted to the brand but it
becomes a benchmark and motivation for the
industry to strive hard and become better.
Programs like outbound tours give them a
refreshing break from their tight working
schedules. We also encourage spouse programs
and give them the added incentive of bringing
their families along.
Sundar Balasubramanian, Senior Director,
General Business, VMware, said, We shared
with the partner community our companys
new vision for IT based on One Cloud,
Any Application, Any Device. In it are the
following top priorities or best bets, designed
to help partners develop and cultivate a
rewarding and sustainable business practice

Sagar Gosalia
Sr. Vice President Marketing & Sales,
Matrix Comsec
with support from our organization for
Predictable Profitability, Creating Value in
Our Partners Businesses and Rewarding
Healthy Growth.
Ajay Sehgal, National Head Small and
Medium Enterprises, Vodafone Business
Services, mentioned, Vodafone runs a
quarterly program to evaluate the allround performance of a Channel Partner
and continuous evaluation to motivate the

Sundar Balasubramanian
Senior Director, General Business,
VMware
channels to improve Q-o-Q.
Manoj Khadkikar, Head, Channel
Solutions Group, Zicom, believes that, while
one scheme focusses on volume-driven business
and the product mix, whereas the other scheme
incentivizes partners to increase the share of
services in their business. We feel that an ideal
incentive scheme should be designed in such
a way that it cannot be discounted by the
channel partner, but should have the bottom
line of the deserving partners to maintain a
healthy competition in the industry.
Sagar Gosalia, Sr VP Marketing & Sales,
Matrix Comsec, believes in Keep it Simple
approach when it comes to channel incentives.
No long term, no accumulation. Benefit on the
spot is what we feel works better. We do have
monthly incentive schemes based on targets
as well as loyalty benefits based on regular
achievements. Apart from monetary benefits,
we feel that Things which money cant buy
also has a separate importance and an effect of
its own. n
rajbala@varindia.com

FACE TO FACE

The evolution of institutional selling

We are living in a competitive business
environment where the sales force is engaging
with an evolved version of the buyers a totally
empowered set. Buyers today are far more
informed and easily disengage with sellers who
provide no value and relevant information,
in the given time. A study quoted by Qvidian
states that 58 percent of buyers disconnect
with sales teams because sales representatives
are not aligned to the buyers specific business
challenges. In addition, a survey of B2B buyers
by Forrester, states that 61 percent of sales
people add no value to the purchase process.

owever, in the technologically empowered age that we are

living in, it is often debated that the requirement of the
sales person will eventually fade away. While it is a given that the
environment has changed, we are of the opinion that the requirement
of a salesperson in institutionalized selling, especially in the B2B
scenario, will never go away. In fact, the advancement in technology
has indeed helped in streamlining and automating few processes that
has led to increased sales effectiveness.
Institutional selling like any other sales strategy has evolved and
needs to focus on certain key elements including maximising ROI on
all sales and marketing investments, anticipating and capitalising on
rapid changes in uniform buying behavior, finding ways to leverage
interactive database and network technologies to grow sales and
keeping track of customer behavior and leverage collaborative CRM
system that enhance collaboration and build customer loyalty.
Technology evolution has reduced the leg work/ face to face
interaction of sales reps by increasing access to relevant information
and taking charge of the back-end tasks. However, the orientation,
skill and intelligence on how to leverage and apply this in the best
possible manner, is still required to be acquired by them.Here are
some ways in which sales representatives can leverage the technology
advancement to their benefit in order to gain a competitive edge:

Sales repsneed to leverage new age technology tools in order
to keep abreast of the developments. Eg., use smart database access
platforms to create pre-profiled organizational map by leveraging
automated information access through social media, association
websites, events, blogs etc.

Use technology platforms that provide effective Account
Management solutions by keeping trackof influencers/ decision
makers in target organizations and connecting with them with desired
information/ solution more effectively.

Leverage technology enabled sourcing tools to keep track of
customer requirements.

Leveraging GPS/GPRS enabled Sales force automation tools
to have real-time access to information and submission of information
to enable quicker turnaround time on field actionable.

Leverage Marketing automation platformsto help create
relevant leads and lead nurturing services to effectively convert a
suspect into a qualified prospect

Leveraging tele-based CRM platforms such as DenCRMto
covert marketing generated opportunities (MGOs) into sales wins
In order to address the needs of savvy customers, enterprises and
sales representatives must transform the way they sell and the way they
look at sales.Evolving the methodologies and the manner in which
sales representatives carry out their operations to cater is important to
succeed and meet the sales objectives.

Snehashish Bhattacharjee
Global Ceo & Co-Founder, Denave

Trends that are driving the growth

There are various technology-driven industry trends that
are driving the growth of institutional selling, including:
Technology enabled whitespace database generationto reduce
the gap between the addressed customer base versus what really
is the addressable segment
Smart database access platforms for a more effective targeted
prospect database
Social media/ web advertising for targeting customers realtime with increased relevance
Tele-CRM collaborative solutions for imbibing a consultative
approach
Marketing automation for strengthening the process right from
identifying the suspect to finally move them to the nurturing
phase
Technology enabled Account Management tools/platforms
reducing the need to map organizations manually
The above arealso fuelled by developments such as mobility
adoption, cloud penetration and analytics.

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April 2016

49

FACE TO FACE

HP sees a big opportunity in

Composable Infrastructure
Vikram K, Director, Servers, Hewlett Packard Enterprise India, in a chat with VARINDIA, retells HPs
growth story, this time from the perspective of Composable Infrastructure and how it tries to synchronize
the strategies of its server division with that of the various growth initiatives of the country

or years, innovations have continued to thrive for HP and

it has become even more prominent after HP Enterprise
has come into existence. Accelerating new innovations, ideas
and new beginnings are now a part and parcel of what HP does.
In the last two quarters alone, we have had at least three major
releases. It is not from a converged system or a hyperconverged
perspective, but we have done it in the composable infrastructure
category.
Compose, in English dictionary, means to create, write or put
together something in an artistic manner. So this infrastructure
that we are talking about brings together everything from the
traditional IT perspective, like relative database, IDBMS, OLTP,
VMs, under one roof, explains Vikram K, Director, Servers,
Hewlett Packard Enterprise India.
In a composable infrastructure, resources are logically
pooled so that administrators don't have to physically configure
hardware to support a specific software application. Instead, the
softwares developer defines the applications requirements for
physical infrastructure using policies and service profiles and
then the software uses application programming interface (API)
calls to create (compose) the infrastructure it needs to run on
bare metal, as a virtual machine (VM) or as a container.
This is encompassing of everything that HP had in its
history of compute. This also brings together a whole lot of
service capabilities with software defining intelligence. It claims
to cut data center costs and slash the time it takes to spin up new
applications, says Vikram.
For almost close-to a year now, HP has been staying focussed
on four transmit areas
Transmission to Hybrid IT Infrastructure
Things around Big Data
Things around Digitization
Security and End-User Workplace
From a server standpoint, Vikram points out that the way
HP has been aggregating on its market share has really been
excellent. I find big changes happening since the time I took
over this role 1415 quarters back. There has been a consistency
in our growth pattern. We have had a growth of 39.14% in Q4
2014, 38.62% in Q1 2015, 41.52% in Q2 2015, 43.77% in Q3
2015 and 47.05% in Q4 2015. That is the strength of product
innovation of HP, of its labs and the product suite, he says.
The server market, if seen from the size and the number of
units sold, is not growing that significantly. Because of the
coming of virtualization, you also get cases of servers getting
abstracted. But, unexpectedly, the revenue size is definitely
growing, Vikram says.
HP is also doing extremely well in each of the verticals
service provider (Telecom), Manufacturing, Government, BFSI
and Public Sector. It finds each of these verticals moving to the
next level with HPs products and solutions. You will also
find our partners mentioning about the SMB segment which is
another growing segment for HP. Especially in the last threefour quarters, the story has been of tremendous growth,
supports Vikram.
HP also has a very defined go-to-market mechanism. It has
appointed a separate vertical Head with a full-fledged vertical
team for each of the verticals. Due to the fact that the market is

50

April 2016

www.varindia.com

Vikram K
Director, Servers, Hewlett
Packard Enterprise India
more of compute oriented and not server oriented, there are lots
of service opportunities as well.
The talk of digitization and HP could not have lagged behind.
We see a lot of our customers digitizing their supply chain or
bringing digital into a variety of business functions that they
were traditionally been into. The government is also doing a lot
of work in the same space. For instance, every citizen is going
to get a Digital Locker which will be of 1GB. So it is, indeed, a
big market that HP is going to cater to in terms of server and
compute space, he observes.
According to Vikram, Smart City is a localized project as
it is starting to get implemented in the top 20 cities, but HP
is surely looking forward to being a part of it. It also cannot
be looked at from the perspective of just one vendor, but it is
a combination of many vendors coming together and offering
to build the infrastructure. HP also has been a part of building
many smart cities worldwide and is definitely looking forward
to this opportunity with unabated breath, he sums up. n

FACE TO FACE

F-Secure focusses
on B2B space
With evolving threat landscape, the Indian
security market is observing a steady growth.
It also has challenges like price difference and
piracy. Discussing about the security market,
Amit Nath, Head of Asia-Pacific (Corporate
Business), F-Secure, also mentions about
channel strategy, roadmap and its contribution
in Digital India initiative.
How is the India security market doing? What
kind of competition are you facing in the market
and what measures you have taken?
With a growing economy and a fast rising Internet population,
the security market in India is witnessing a steady growth. At
present, the Indian security market is estimated to be around
Rs. 1000 crore and is expected to grow at a CAGR (Compound
Annual Growth Rate) of 10%. There is an apparent growth in the
market because of the constant use of internet enabled systems
and handheld devices. Every organization and individual using
computer and internet needs a comprehensive virus protection
policy in order to combat growing threats. Hence, the security
market is only growing.
Price difference and piracy are the biggest challenges in this
industry. The Indian market is not only price-sensitive but also
quite uncontrollable. In the SMB segment, where there is a moneycrunch and no dedicated staff, under-licensing is a big issue. If
there are 100 users, they will often buy 50 licenses and use it for
100 users.
We are planning to do a series of seven-city road shows in major
cities across the country. This would allow the users to get handson experience with connectivity and integrated security. Along
with it, we have tied up with four ISP partners to provide security
as a service to the users. In addition to this, we are conducting
various training programs for partners to enhance their knowledge
on products and their positioning in the market along with our
distributors.

Being a channel driven company, what strategy

are you following?
With 27 years of experience, we are now focusing on higher
security techniques. We sold our storage business last year and are
continuing to expand corporate and bigger enterprises vertical like
finance sector, aviation, online gaming sector.
Moving from an antivirus and PC consumer security market,
we have established strongly in cyber security space. We have
introduced F-secure Sense which is a hardware device which
secures your smart home with one device, now and in the future.
We are also building advanced threat protection solutions like
cyber security alarm with sensors signs like motion sensors in
enterprises. These sensors basically raise the flag of alarm when
somebody is trying to intrude into the network.

Amit Nath
Head of Asia-Pacific (Corporate Business)
F-Secure

In an earlier announcement you said F-Secure

will appoint 6,000 resellers globally. How many of
them are appointed in India?
We have 120 resellers across India.

How do you contribute to PM's Digital India

initiative?
With PMs digital initiative, the SMBS (Small and medium sized
businesses) and startups are rapidly growing and expanding. All
these segments require strong security solutions and consultations.
Our security solutions and consultations are very much strong and
the masses are familiar and savvy with these services being offered
to them.

What is the road map of the company in 2016?

In 2016, our focus in India would continue to be on the
corporate B2B segment. We will be launching new products in B2B
segment where we forecast a big growth and most of our activities
in terms of expansion will be around this. Expanding the channel
partners in the country will also be the key in meeting growth
targets. n

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April 2016

51

India market is poised for

growth in next 5 8 years
Atulya Chandra , General Manager-South Asia, Honeywell Security and Fire India, Automation and Control Solutions has
discussed with VARINDIA the current scenario of video surveillance market, companys strategy and the scope in India market
sustainability, and communication. Honeywell
Security& Fire has an extraordinary range of
solutions across intrusion detection, Video
surveillance, access control technologies &
Home systems. Caters to all electronic security
needs for Industrial, Government, Defense,
Transportation, Commercial, Retail, Hotel,
Hospital, Corporate Buildings, IT, ITES,
Banking and also the Residential market,
claimedAtulya.

Factors like increasing criminal activity,

terrorist attacks, Smart City initiative, growing
awareness etc have triggered the growth of
surveillance market in India. Customers are
looking for a holistic surveillance solution
rather than only IP CCTV solution.

India Market
IP cameras have gained momentum due to
its advanced features and also it is used because
of its large coverage areas which helps reduce
the number of cameras to cover a particular
area.
With increase in criminal activities,
IP security solutions have become more
sophisticated, complicated and increasingly
being customized. IP megapixel cameras are
now used to reduce the number of cameras
required for covering the same areas. IP
technology has advanced features relevant for
todays scenarios like video analytics, megapixel
IP cameras and the ease of integration with
other security systems and platforms which is
catching the trend. Common network usage
for data, voice, video telephony and CCTV
reduces the overall infrastructure cost as well.
Also to add on, PoE reduces lots of cabling and
overall costs. said Atulya Chandra , General
Manager-South Asia, Honeywell Security and
Fire India, Automation and Control Solutions.
Not only advanced features but other
factors like declining price, terrorist attacks,
growing awareness, increase in government
spending etc. have added to the rise in adoption
of IP cameras in India
Declining prices, terrorist strikes,
government
initiatives,
rising
public
infrastructure, increasing government security
spending and growing awareness have fuelled
the adoption of IP Surveillance systems in
India. Further, surging need for video analytics
and remote monitoring has also led to rising
penetration of IP surveillance systems in the
country, added Atulya.

Scope
Previously, it was only the large projects like

52

April 2016

www.varindia.com

Strategy

Atulya Chandra
GM-South Asia, Honeywell Security and Fire
India, Automation and Control Solutions
critical infrastructure and transport application
and government projects that generate the
demand for IP video surveillance solutions. But
now the growing awareness about it has seen
demands coming from the SME segment also.
There is a gradual increase in the general
level of awareness about the importance of IP
video surveillance solutions and it is poised
for a steady growth for the next 5-8 years.
In India, while the IP video surveillance
market was largely being driven by large
government projects, critical infrastructure
and transportation application, we witness a
growing demand from the SME applications as
well. Other key growing applications includebanking & financial, retail, and commercial
offices, stated Atulya.
Moreover, with the launch of Smart
City initiative by Government of India has
further unlocked a wider market scope for the
surveillance segment.
The government of India has launched
an ambitious and transformational scheme to
develop 100 Smart Cities. These smart cities
will be enabled by a number of smart solutions
including those targeted to infrastructure,
energy, transport, utilities, environmental

Today customers do not only look for IP

CCTV solution but at the same time they seek
for integrated security solutions as it will add
value to their businesses.
Customers are looking for business
value in surveillance security solutions. All
pervasive, online and proactive solutions will
be to the fore, driving the technology roadmap.
Integration of business intelligence software to
the video surveillance system will be a major
trend. Closely integrated security solutions
instead of standalone solutions in IP CCTV
segment will be the major trends in the coming
years, explained Atulya.
Honeywell has the best suited product
portfolio which fulfill the demands of the new
age customers. Also, it offers low total cost of
ownership.
Honeywells new Performance Series
fully-featured IR True Day/Night IP cameras
are the perfect complement to customers
need. Together, they are an excellent costeffective option for both indoor and outdoor
surveillance applications, including retail
stores, schools, colleges, hospitals, commercial
sites, industrial parks, airports, gated entrances,
loading docks, and driveways.The range is best
suiting customers looking for professional IP
video surveillance solutions and systems with
low total cost of ownership but same time do
not want to compromise on key features like
Auto focus, low light performance, codec
efficiency and clear & crisp resolution, said
Atulya. n
aparna@varindia.com

VAR MOBILITY

LG K10
LG K10 smartphone comes with 5.3-inch HD screen
with 1280*720 pixels resolution. This smartphone
will be the first to offer LGs glossy pebble design, a
contemporary, stylish look with a curved, modern finish
aimed at younger audience. The glossy pebble design is
complemented by LGs new 2.5D Arc Glass for a smooth
and seamless style that could only be made possible due to
the sides of K10 smartphones being free of button clutter.
With design cues borrowed from nature, the K10 look far
more expensive and exclusive than they really are. K10
has 13MP camera on the rear and 8MP on the front. LG
K10 featuring LGs popular Gesture Shot and Gesture
Interval Shot, taking selfies is easy and hassle-free. Gesture
Shot enables users to take photos simply by raising an
open hand in front of the lens and then clenching it into
a fist. Closing ones hand twice automatically leads to the
Gesture Interval Shot and will produce four consecutive
photos. K10 are equipped with Flash for Selfie in the
front to help users capture priceless moments whenever
and wherever the need might arise, even in the dark. K10
is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 1.2Ghz Quad
Core Processor paired with 2GB of RAM. Also on offer is
16GB internal storage that can be further expanded using
a microSD card. Connectivity options include dual-SIM
card slots (nano SIMs), 4G LTE support (on SIM Card 1),
VoLTE and VoWiFi support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, and GPS.
The smartphone will be available in White, Indigo and
Gold colour options.

Micromax Canvas Spark 3

Micromax Canvas Spark 3 Q385 Smart Phone is powered
by Android 5.1 Lollipop and 8 MP rear camera with LED
flash and for perfect selfies it comes with 5MP front camera. It
comes with a 5.5 inch HD IPS capacitive touchscreen display
that has 1280 x 720 pixels of the screen resolutions which
delivering stunning colour consistency and vivid display.
The smartphone brings you an impressive audio experience
of 2509 speaker with 1.5 CC box. Micromax Canvas Spark
3 Q385 runs on 1.3 GHz Quad Core processor with 1 GB
of RAM on slot. It has an in built memory of 8 GB which
is expandable upto 32 GB through micoSD card slot. This
new smartphone has two carrier facility working on GSM
(2G) and HSPA (3G). It is packed with 2500mAh battery and
running Indus language solution. There are also necessary
features available in this new smartphone like EDGE, GPRS,
WiFi, GPS, Radio, Bluetooth and USB. The smartphone is
also provided with the G sensor, light sensor and proximity
sensor. It is available in two different colours - white and
black. It come with dual SIM support similar to most other
Micromax smartphones and has powerful loudspeaker at the
back.

www.varindia.com

April 2016

53

VAR MOBILITY

Huawei rolls out P9 and

P9 Plus Smartphone

uawei Consumer
B u s i n e s s
Group
has
unveiled
Huawei P9 and P9 Plus.
photography.
The P9 brings together
hardware and software,

from
optical
lenses,
to sensors, to image
processing
algorithms,
empowering users to
capture the highest-quality
images.
With a 5.2-inch 1080p
display, the P9 is powered
by the new Kirin 955
2.5GHz 64-bit ARM-based
processor for leading-class
mobile performance. The
3,000mAh high-density
battery offers P9 users
outstanding mobility and
battery life.Huawei is also
unveiling the P9 Plus,

featuring a 5.5-inch Press

Touch display and a larger
3,400mAh battery. The
P9 Plus also offers dualIC Rapid Charge, giving
users six hours of talktime after a 10-minute

charge.
The P9 and P9 Plus
also protect users privacy
and information security
with Huaweis biometric
fingerprint
recognition
technology. The enhanced
fingerprint sensor allows
users to personalize and
safeguard their devices by
significantly lowering the
possibility of fraudulent
or accidental device access,
while also ensuring users
can quickly and securely
access their smartphone.

Lava rolls out V2s and V2 3GB

4G-enabled Smartphones

ava International
has launched V2
3GB and V2s. These are
Cat4 4G LTE (VoLTE
Upgradable)
devices
powered by MediaTeks
64-bit quad-core processor
with a 5-inch HD IPS FL
display.
Lava V2s runs on Star
OS based on Android
Lollipop 5.1 and V2
3GB runs on Android
Marshmallow 6.0. Both
the devices support dual
4G SIM slots and dual
standby.
The V2 3GB has a 3GB
RAM with 16GB internal
storage that is expandable
up to 32 GB. The V2s has
a 2GB RAM with 8GB
of internal storage that is
expandable up to 32GB.
Lava V2 3GB and V2s
sport a 13MP and 8MP
rear camera, respectively
and an 8MP selfie
camera with Front Flash.
Gaurav
Nigam,

54

April 2016

Head Product, Lava

International Ltd, said,
We are delighted to
launch V2 3GB and V2s
with the best combination
of camera hardware and
software features. Through
these devices, we aim to
build a wide portfolio of
high- performance and
great camera experience
smartphones to enhance
our consumers overall
smartphone experience,
thereby
empowering
them to do more and be
more.
Apart from 4G, other
connectivity options on
the devices include Wi-Fi,
Bluetooth, USB and OTG
capability. Battery backup
on both is 2,500 mAh.
V2s is available across
all national retail stores,
multi-brand outlets and
online platforms and V2
3GB will be available in
the coming week across
all the channels.

www.varindia.com

Samsung
launches Made
for India S
bike mode

amsung
has
launched Galaxy
J3, featuring the S bike
mode, a dedicated feature
for two-wheeler riders
that is designed to enable
responsible and tension
free riding.
Once activated at the
beginning of a ride, any
caller trying to reach the
Samsung Galaxy J3 user
will be notified through
an automated answering
machine that the user is
riding and cannot take
calls so that the ride
remains uninterrupted.
Samsung
is
constantly in the pursuit
of meaningful innovations
that make peoples lives
better. S bike mode is
a result of that vision.
We are very happy that
we have come up with
something
that
will
benefit millions of twowheeler users and promote
responsible riding, said
Asim Warsi, Senior Vice
President - Samsung India
Electronics.
The J Series was
launched with the Ultra
Data Saving (UDS) mode
in September 2015, a
feature that has helped
consumers save up to
50% of mobile data usage.
Samsung has further
enhanced this feature to
include data savings on
popular music streaming
apps and over Wi-Fi after
witnessing an adoption
rate of over 50% among
consumers. In order to
carry the local innovation
forward, Samsung is keen
to establish the S bike mode
as a responsible riding ritual
where Samsung Galaxy
J3 users will activate the
mode before commencing
their ride. Both UDS and
the newly launched S bike
mode have been developed
in Samsungs Indian R&D
centres. S bike mode will
be available across all 4Genabled Galaxy J series
devices over a period of
time.

Panasonic ELUGA Arc

launched in India

anasonic
India
has launched the
Eluga Arc phone today at
a price of Rs.12,490. With
its latest 2.5D curved HD
IPS, the device also features
additional security with a
fingerpoint sensor.
In
terms
of
specifications,
the
Panasonic Eluga Arc
comes with a 4.7-inch
HD IPS display and is
powered by a 1.2 GHz
quad-core
Qualcomm
Snapdragon 410 processor
coupled with Adreno 306
GPU and 2GB RAM. The
phone comes with 16GB
of internal memory which
is further expandable by
up to 32GB via microSD
card. The dual-SIM phone
runs Android 5.1 Lollipop
and supports 4G VoLTE
connectivity option.
On the camera front,
the Eluga Arc has an
8-megapixel camera on the
rear with LED flash along
with a 5-megapixel camera
on the front. The Arc is

backed by an 1,800mAh
battery and supports
Qualcomm Quick Charge
1.0.
"For
smartphone
users, a major concern is
the confidentiality and
security of the highly
volatile data, with cloud
storage usage growing
rapidly across segments.
This
control-sensitive
device, which achieves
complex
tasks
with
a single fingerprint is
personalised
for
the
user and protects the
smartphone investment,"
said PankajRana, Business
Head, Mobility Division,
Panasonic India.

Vivo Launches V3 and V3 Max

ivo has launched

its
V
series
smartphones-V3
and
V3Max and also roped in
actor Ranveer Singh as its
brand ambassador.
Alex Feng, CEO of

The phone is equipped

with a powerful Octa-core
Qualcomm Snapdragon
652 processor and paired
with 4GB RAM and 32GB
ROM which is expandable
up to 128 GB. The device

Vivo India said, India

remains our prime focus
and the launch of these
models is a testimony
of our commitment to
cater to the ever growing
demand of customers in
India and worldwide.
The
fingerprint
unlocking allows the user
to unlock the phone as
fast as 0.2 seconds.

runs on Funtouch OS 2.5

based on Android 5.1.
V3 is powered by
Octa-core Snapdragon 616
processor. The Vivo V3 is
coupled with 3GB RAM
and 16GB ROM.
Both V3 and V3 Max
house the same camera
hardware. They feature
a 13MP primary camera
and 8MP front camera.

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56 pages including cover