Toshiba appoints RPTech Care Center as its NSP

Epson continues fight against counterfeit

Tuesday, 24th January 2017

Hotel Mayfair Lagoon & Convention
Bhubaneswar, Odisha
VOLUME XVIII

ISSUE 04

DECEMBER 2016

PRICE Rs. 50

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December 2016

Chief Guests

NATIONAL CONFERENCE

DEFENCE

PRODUCTION
SELF RELIANCE AND BEYOND

Rajnath Singh

Manohar Parrikar

Union Minister for Home Affairs

Government of India

Union Minister for

Defence Government of India

14 December 2016, Hotel Taj Palace, Chankyapuri, New Delhi

As a focus area of Prime Ministers ambitious Make in India vision, there is an urgent need to reduce
our dependence on foreign equipment with respect to Defence Production .With the third largest armed
forces in the world the reliance to the tune of 60% of its arms and ammunitions procurements through
imports does not augur well. Almost 31.1% of its military budget is spent on capital acquisitions alone.


  

 

 



 


    


 

 





!

"

December 2016

www.varindia.com

Brocade expands SLX Family

Canon India expands its projector portfolio

Will demonetization help

India to become $10tn economy by 2030?
VOLUME XVIII

ISSUE 04

DECEMBER 2016

PRICE Rs. 50

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NovemberLtd
2016 www.varindia.com
CtrlS 4Datacenters

www.ctrls.in

Western Digital releases NAS series

DIGISOL brings DG-BR5400QAC

40pg

VOLUME XVIII

ISSUE 04

DECEMBER 2016

PRICE Rs. 50

SUBSCRIPTION COPY NOT FOR SALE

Open Source: An Enabler of Digital Transformation in India

46pg

HMD Global to bring Nokia

smartphones in H1, 2017

innish company HMD Global will

bring a new generation of Nokia
Smartphones in the first half of 2017,
alongside the existing Nokia branded feature
phone business.
The
launch
of HMD
comes just
six months
after the
company
signed a strategic licensing agreement with
Nokia, giving HMD exclusive use of the
Nokia brand on mobile phones and tablets
worldwide for the next 10 years.
With a leading position in the feature
phone market already, HMD has a significant
global foothold including Americas,
Europe, Asia, Middle East, Africa, India
and China from day one. This scale, coupled
with a world-class and highly experienced
leadership team positions HMD for a truly
accelerated start.

Emerson rebrands as Vertiv

merson Network Power has

announced
the
appointment
of Rob Johnson as CEO and officially
commenced a campaign to rebrand the
standalone company as Vertiv.
Vertiv is a global provider of missionc r i t i c a l
infrastr ucture
technologies for
vital applications
in data centers,
communication
networks, and commercial and industrial
environments. The company, which is
headquartered in Columbus, Ohio has
more than 20,000 employees and more than
25 manufacturing and assembly facilities
worldwide.
Platinum Equity acquired the business
today from Emerson in a transaction valued
in excess of $4 billion and Emerson has also
retained a minority interest in the company.

www.varindia.com

December 2016

Lenovo, No. 1 in TBR

customer satisfaction index.*
Lenovo System x servers come with incredible
power, maximum expandability and unmatched
reliability. That's right, a server range that assures
less hassles and more smiles.

Call 1800 3000 9990 to discover how

our servers can help grow your business.
Mail to: corpsales@lenovo.com
Or visit: Lenovo.com/server

Powered by Intel Xeon processor E3 series.

Intel Inside. Powerful Data Center Outside.
*TBR Corporate IT Buying Behavior and Customer Satisfaction Study x86-based Servers, Fourth Quarter 2015.
The following are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lenovo: Lenovo, the Lenovo logo, ThinkServer and System x. Intel, the Intel logo, Xeon and Xeon Inside are

Terms and Conditions apply.

trademarks or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. 2016 Lenovo. All rights reserved.
August 2016 www.varindia.com
58

A price tag that will get

you new customers.
Introducing the ThinkServer TS140
for small businesses with big demands.
At Lenovo we develop technology to meet
the ever-growing demands of small businesses.
With that in mind, we have launched the
ThinkServer TS140 in India. It is powered to
take on tough challenges, yet priced attractively.
Supports enterprise-grade HDDs
(Built-in RAID 5)
Whisper-quiet at 26 decibels
Intel Xeon E3 series processor
Windows Server 2012 R2 platform
So go on, add this server to your portfolio
and keep adding to your customer base.

Call 1800 3000 9990 to discover how

our servers can help grow your business.
Mail to: corpsales@lenovo.com
Or visit: Lenovo.com/server
Powered by Intel Xeon processor E3 series.
Intel Inside. Powerful Data Center Outside.
The following are trademarks or registered trademarks of Lenovo: Lenovo, the Lenovo logo and ThinkServer. Intel, the Intel logo, Xeon and Xeon Inside are trademarks
or registered trademarks of Intel Corporation in the U.S. and/or other countries. Microsoft and Windows are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation. 2016
Lenovo. All rights reserved. Terms and Conditions apply. The test(s) above are performed on statistical samples.

www.varindia.com

August 2016

59

HELLO INDIA

The Age of Analytics

.. seen to be driving the Data World

Data is now a critical corporate asset. It comes from web, billions of phones, sensors, payment systems,
cameras and a huge array of other sources and its value is tied to its ultimate use. Data analytics and
algorithms capability has grown in more sophisticated ways. At the same time, the computational power and
storage business have grown multifold and not to forget the key component, that is security best practices
which are vital for the development of five areas e-commerce, IoT, corporate WANs, public cloud services
and business process outsourcing. Recent advances in machine learning can be used to solve a tremendous
variety of problems. Deep learning is also pushing the boundaries even further.
Data and analytics are changing the basics of competition. The greatest progress has occurred in the
location-based services and retail. In both areas with native competitors, digital platforms are helping
marketplaces to connect sellers and buyers for many products and services. Leading companies are using
the capabilities of digital platforms not only to improve their core operations but to launch entirely new
business models. With the pronouncement of demonetization, it also justified the measure as a way to curb
terrorism financing that relies on fake rupee notes, as well as to dampen inflation. Growth and innovation
in IT organizations are not possible without the emergence of new roles to help drive a transformational IT
business today. In the coming days, chances are that everything will be going digital and hence updation of
the IT Act becomes the need of the hour.
Going forward, 2016 will also be remembered as the year when hacking has acquired menacing proportions. The need for cybersecurity has
reached a new height and the year 2017 is predicted to be that of Artificial Intelligence (AI), deep learning and machine learning redefining the
way humans communicate with devices to not only improve daily life but also boost businesses. The legal framework
for privacy and security of data in digital format provides for compensation to the victim in case of unauthorized
access and leakage of sensitive personal information.
The technology sector is not just limited to IT anymore, but has to be aligned with the business, since newer roles
are emerging and are rather undergoing a transitional phase. Businesses in India while embracing digital transformation,
would need to protect their data across all applications and services. It is absolutely true that a cyber-attack takes place
when someone develops a flaw in the system. The challenge is how the companies are using cognitive capabilities to
improve existing cyber systems. The evolving threat landscape reveals a growing need for security intelligence.
Lastly, technology is enabling digital transformation and co-creation of new knowledge. It can eliminate the
overheads and minimize delays in delivering last-mile services. We have to welcome 2017 with the adoption of data
consumption on handheld devices.
Good news is that the total mobile services market revenue in India is expected to touch US$37 billion in 2017!

December 2016

www.varindia.com

www.varindia.com

November 2016

CONTENTS
Website: www.varindia.com

Publisher: Deepak Kumar Sahu

Editor: S Mohini Ratna
Executive Editor: Dr. Vijay Anand
Consulting Editor: Pravin Prashant
Assistant Editor: Samrita Baruah
Copy Editor: C. M. Dutta
Sr. Correspondent: Aparna Mullick
Art Director: Rakesh Kumar
Network Administrator: Ashok Kumar Singh
Manager-IT: Subhash Mohanta
Manager-SEO: Bidyadhar Behera
BUSINESS:
Commercial Manager: Amit Kumar Jha
Sr. Marketing Manager: Ashok Ranjan Dash
Circulation Executive: Manish Kumar
Marketing Manager: Dipendra Kumar

46pg

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

FACE TO FACE

Bangalore: Bureau office

Marketing Manager: S. Kamala kar
Correspondent: L. G. Swami
D-103 G.F., Ashish JK Apartments
Thubarahalli Extended Road
Bangaluru- 560066
Tel: 080-49530399 | Mobile:09886280836
E-mail: kamlakar@varindia.com

29|

Mumbai: Bureau office

Regional Manager (West): Anil Kumar
Sr. Correspondent: Mamta S.
Anurag Residency, 203 - B Wing, Plot No-5,
Sector-9, Kamothe, Navi Mumbai-410 209
Tel: 022-65561292, Mobile: 08108017479
E-mail: anil@varindia.com, mamta@varindia.com
Chennai: Bureau office
Branch Manager: M.S. Barani
Door. No.8, Plot No.-837,89th Street,
13th Sector, K.K.Nagar, Chennai - 600 078
Mobile: 09444077065
E-mail: barani@varindia.com
Hyderabad: Bureau office
Branch Manager: Sunil Kumar
B 383 HAL Colony, Balanagar
HYDERBAD, Telengana - 500042
Tel: 040-32989844/ Cell No. 08100298033
E-mail: sunil@varindia.com
Kolkata: Bureau office
Marketing Officer: Sunil Kumar
Correspondent: Kiran Kumar
67 Sarada Park, Garia, Kolkata - 700084
Mobile: 08100298033, E-mail: sunil@varindia.com
Mobile: 09903088480, E-mail: kiran@varindia.com
Printed and Published by Deepak Kumar Sahu on behalf of
M/s. Kalinga Digital Media Pvt. Ltd. and Printed at Pushpak
Press Pvt. Ltd. Shed No. 203 - 204, DSIDC Complex, Okhla
Industrial Area, Phase-I, New Delhi-110020 and Published at
A-84A/3 Rose Apartment, Paryavaran complex, Ignou Road,
New Delhi - 110030, Editor - S Mohini Ratna.

For Subscription queries contact: info@varindia.com

Subscription: Rs. 500(12 issues)Rs. 1000 (24 issues)

All payments favouring:

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

10

December 2016

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27|

50|
52|
54|

Opportunities galore for Siemon

in India
A Holistic, well-rounded Security
Approach is the need of the
hour
Avayas Transition to a SoftwareandServices Model is Customer
Driven
Canon is the Growth Partner
for
the
Emerging
Indian
Entrepreneurs
Cloudera Leverages the Power of
Big Data to serve Customers

EVENT
55|

Making data work

Presented by

VAR MOBILITY
56|

Aircel leverages technology to offer

better customer experience

COVER STORY
30|

Will demonetization help India

to become $10-tn economy by
2030?

CHANNEL EVENT
38|

Ingram Tech Forum 2016

Introduces its Partners & EndCustomers to THE NEW FUTURE

LEAD STORY
40|
46|

Is Endpoint Security the answer

to Advanced Persistent Threat?
Open Source: An Enabler of
Digital Transformation in India

VAR CORPORATE
44|

Triggering transformation with

new-age marketing

TECHNOMANIA
51|

Hyperconverged is the new

engine for future data centre

REGULARS
Round About

16

Hot Bytes

18, 20

On the Ramp

22, 24

Voice N Data

26

Channel Buzz

28

Produt of the Month

45

Movers & Shakers

49

RIGHT NOW,
YOUR BUSINESS
CAN GO
IN A MILLION
DIFFERENT
DIRECTIONS.
AND ONE OF
THEM IS RIGHT.

)'(-J8GJ<fiXeJ8GX]c`Xk\ZfdgXep%
8cci`^_kji\j\im\[%

GROWTH IS LIVE.
SAPs suite of affordable solutions
for small and midsize companies
gives you constant control over
your business. Live and in the
moment. On premise or in the
cloud. So you can make the right
decision right now.
sap.com/India/live

www.varindia.com

November 2016

SD-WAN fast catching up with

WAN virtualization
In an exclusive interview
with VARINDIA, Eklavya
Bhave, Head Partner Strategy
& Sales India & SAARC
Region - Citrix Systems
India spoke about how SDN
is fast catching up and how
SD-WAN technology with
integrated WAN virtualization
and optimization capabilities
can help increase the
performance and reliability
of mission critical apps
for the remote users.
Software-defined networking
(SDN) has been the buzzword
within enterprise IT. One of the Eklavya Bhave
first places that SDN is proving Head Partner Strategy & Sales India &
valuable is with the enterprise-wide SAARC Region - Citrix Systems India
area network (WAN); so much so
that the term SD-WAN has been experience at the branch and mobile SMB, Banks and enterprises with focused company. It has a strong
coined to refer to this important level are just as rich and seamless as multiple branches. The distributed ecosystem of partners who engage
segment of
software-defined at headquarters. This is catching up enterprise requires a solution that with it for successful execution
really fast among the customers.
ensure users remain connected at and implementation of products
networking.
Talking about the companys all times. They look for a solution and solutions. Looking at the pace
SD-WAN is more than just
a new acronym, rather it is a expansion plans, Eklavya Bhave, that strengthens security which of growth and momentum in new
recent networking concept full of Head Partner Strategy & Sales provides end-to-end visibility technologies, Citrix is planning to
innovation and investment. The India & SAARC Region - Citrix without adding complexity. For add more partners.
workplace of today has evolved Systems India said that with a them, Netscaler SD-WAN is that
Globally, we have benchmarked
such that enterprises are relying strong global leadership, Citrix is solution, he said.
ourselves against other companies
Talking about Citrix Cloud, in the tech industry, to make sure
upon a wide array of mission- getting more aligned towards the
critical applications, delivered from product lines it is focused on and (formerly Citrix Workspace Cloud) that our Channel programs and
the data center or Internet, that then expand accordingly. We do it is a control plane to manage all incentives are very attractive for
help them run their businesses virtualization at all levels- server, Citrix technologies. This cloud- Partners. Our constant endeavor
desktop and application and we
more efficiently, while
is to make our channel
also maintaining tight
Globally, we have benchmarked ourselves against other companies
incentives and programs
control over data
in the tech industr y, to make sure that our Channel programs and
partner
friendly,
he
security. SD-WAN as a
incentives are ver y attractive for Partners. Our constant endeavor
explained.
new approach provides
is to make our channel incentives and programs partner friendly
Citrix is working
cost-efficient, reliable,
with various government
secure, and effective
and PSU agencies in the
application delivery by means of have been the leaders for years based approach means reduced sectors of mobility, virtualization,
its wide area network design and and now there is increased focus infrastructure, centralized control networking
and
security
on networking. With our flagship and SaaS-style updates, contributing requirements. Frankly speaking,
operation.
While offering a comprehensive, product Netscaler, a product to lower administration cost we are very focused on government
end-to-end solution, Citrix also family for networking which and complexity. Citrix Cloud is sector now because of the various
supports enterprise customers includes capabilities of application helping our customers and partners opportunities that are coming
who wish to maintain a multi- delivery controller, unified gateway, find the best way to deliver a Citrix up like Smart City, Make in India
vendor environment and actively Application Firewall and SDWAN, environment using any cloud or and Digital India initiatives. Our
collaborates with partners to we are addressing large market infrastructure, Eklavya added.
participation into latest projects in
provide added support. True need, he said.
India enforces our belief that its
Citrix is targeting the larger
Market strategy
enough, Citrixs NetScaler SDthe way to go, Eklavya concludes.
Citrix is a full-fledged channel
WAN ensuring better user section in the industry including

12

December 2016

www.varindia.com

Everything you need to know to stop ransomware.

Know Your Enemy

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Ransomware is a $1 billion dollar

business that often evades traditional
anti-malware.

Sophos InterceptX is proven to stop

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www.varindia.com

December 2016

13

CHANNEL CHIEF

John Byrne
President, global channels
Dell EMC

Tian Beng Ng
Sr. Vice President & General Manager-Channels
Asia Pacific Japan- Dell EMC

DELL EMC channel is a $35

billion powerhouse
The new Dell Technologies comprises four different business divisions namely the Dell Client Solutions Group, Dell EMC Infrastructure
Solutions Group (ISG),Dell EMC Services and the strategically aligned businesses Pivotal, SecureWorks and VMware. Under the Dell EMC
ISG business, there are three sales motions- Enterprise Sales Team, Commercial Sales Team and CSB (Consumer Small Business). Dell has a
centralized global channel organization.
Dell EMC has also recently named Tian Beng Ng as senior vice president and general manager for its Channel business in the Asia Pacific
and Japan (APJ) region, except Greater China. In this role, he will report to John Byrne, president, global channels at Dell EMC.
In an exclusive interview with VARINDIA, Byrne and Ng discusses the highlights of the new Dell EMC Channel business and program Benefits to channel post-merger:
Globally, we have formed platforms such as the Partner Advisory
Boards and Partner Advisory Councils. Our partners believe that the
channel is an important growth engine and the community wants to
grow the top as well as the bottom line. Globally, our Channel business is
growing 3-4 times the market rate and in APJ, its growing at the rate of 6
times. - faster than the global channels.
We can truly offer the end-to-end solution, from the PC all the way to
the Cloud - what we call edge to core to cloud. Dell EMC has the widest
portfolio of products in the industry, and invests more than $ 4.5 billion
(USD) annually on research and development, which is double from our
competition. We are the market leaders in PCs, virtualization, All-flash
storage, hence the partner community is confident about selling all our
portfolios. We are the company that is #1 in everything, all in one place.
At present Dell and EMC will maintain separate deal registration and
partner programs through 2016. We are working hard towards combining
the two programs that will go live next in February 2017.
Role of Partner Advisory Council:
Historically Dell and EMC have had separate Partner Advisory Boards
and Partner Advisory Councils, but starting February there will be one
Dell EMC Partner Advisory Councilper region. We present all the data,
ask our partners on their performance and suggestions for our program
in these meetings. We will be listening and working to build a program
that reflects partners needs and wishes. We also talk about partners roles
of engagement, deal registration. We made sure they know there will be
zero tolerance on any violation of deal registration. If you look at EMCs
model, which is front end, and the Dells model which is back end, and
how we are coming together, well need to assess which business model

14

December 2016

www.varindia.com

will be effective for the partners business.

Investment Plans:
Other feedback that we have received is that we have to improve
our tool and processes. So we are making a significant IT investment of
$26mn. In February, there will be one portal where partners of Dell or
EMC can sign in, one deal registration. We will also hire people at the
back end.
Channel Strategy:
We are building one channel. During Dell EMC World in October,
weve announced the new Dell EMC Partner Program, a new partner
program that combines the best of the legacy Dell and EMC partner
programs into one for the benefit and profitability of our partners.
Currently, of the top 400 partners from the legacy EMC, 60% are
already selling Dell solutions. In the past when the partnership between
Dell and EMC was not officially formalized, the competition had tried to
lure them but our partners did not budge from their position as they were
waiting for the compelling value proposition from the new entity. Today,
we are able to deliver this value proposition to our channel ecosystem
through our new program that will be launched in February.
Roadmap for IoT:
IoT is obviously a big market opportunity. In Asia, we have participated
in a number of key IoT projects. We did a project with Fujian University
in China, where we did the Smart City project. We equipped 120,000
government vehicles with GPS devices to track the movement of the
cars using Dell solutions, analyzing the traffic patterns of the cars in the
Fujian province of China. n

www.varindia.com

November 2016

13

ROUND ABOUT

Digitally Demonetized

y the time I finish penning this column,

demonetization, which is orchestrated as
the first serious effort to purge the economy from
the pangs of black money, would have completed
one month. I am not giving any value judgment
about the efficacy or otherwise of the move. I take
demonetization as a fait accompli, which, I am
sure, the matured political administration should
have deliberated upon thoroughly before harping
on the measure. I am more concerned about what
steps should be taken to get us back into the rail.
Undoubtedly, there was pain and there is no clear
indication that it can be resolved shortly, going by
the long-snaking queues in front of ATMs and
banks across the country.
I am an incorrigible optimist and believe that
every step or policy measure taken with right
intentions will rebound with good results not
necessarily immediately but in the long run. That
way, no one can deny the tolerance level of the
Indian citizens who brave the serpentine lines every
day and frustrations when told there is no cash for
disbursement, after waiting for long hours together
in the queue. If someone loses his/her cool, it
is incidental and the general mood of the people
seems to be let us sacrifice today for the sake of
a good tomorrow. If tomorrow also eludes that
promised bonanza, let us be realistic. We Indians
have a philosophical bent of mind. I sincerely pray
the good intentions of the government will prevail
and we will be able to breathe free air bereft of
black money, corruption and free ourselves from
the clutches of wily people who manipulate the
system.
Necessity is the mother of invention. The
prime necessity now is to come out of the dilemma
that we have been caught up with. Many alternative
solutions are floating around. Some say that we
should move towards a cashless society; another
set of people claim that a cashless society should
replace all taxes with a minimal tax on all bank
transactions. The third set of people opine that
direct taxes income and corporate tax should
be consigned to the sacred fire and the evolving
GST could be applicable widely. There is no dearth
of suggestions and opinions as to how to tackle
the menace of black money differently estimated
by different people and organizations. The Prime
Minister did what many advocated and not only
bitten the bullet, but also swallowed it. It is a
different story what might come out of it. Good
or bad, he dared where others feared to tread.
Even if I support demonetization in principle,
a different view can emerge as to the methodology
of implementation. The decision, I believe, now is
irreversible since any attempt to roll back will have
pernicious effect on the economy.
The limited scope of this column is to engage
in an analytics to find out how best the plastic
(digital) money can replace the paper money. The
government is hopeful of making a dent on the
transactional behaviour of the common man. It
will plod the vast majority of the people living
in rural areas and those who belonged to the
disadvantaged class of the society to gradually
move to the digital platform for cash transactions.
In other words, a cashless society is the rule rather

16

December 2016

www.varindia.com

than an exception. Smart or digital money seems to

be alright since they convey broadly the paradigms
that we are seeking to achieve.
To have a clearer view of things, let us analyze
the extent of the cash economy in the country.
On a thumb rule, of the 1,300 million people in
the country, only 25 million use smart money or
transact digitally either through debit or credit
cards or instruments like mobile wallets which are
increasingly becoming popular in the aftermath
of demonetization. More than 22% of our
transactions are based on cash. That is true all over
the world. The proportion of cash economy may
vary from country to country. For instance, in the
US it is 8%, China and Japan it is believed to be
very high though the exact percentage is unknown.
But with 8% cash economy, the US will have
higher absolute figures since that economys GDP
is close-to US$35 trillion, whereas Indias GDP is
only US$2 trillion. China also may have a higher
quantum of cash economy because its GDP is
several times higher than that of India.
What I am trying to drive home is that a
cashless society is a utopian concept and it will
exist along with the smart or digital money
since it caters to certain set of transactions and
people. Let us look at a scenario where there is
no cash money in circulation. Assuming that the
government is insisting on debit cards or any other
instrument, how can we ensure a person working
in the informal sector as a wage earner can refill his
account on a regular basis to enable him to use that
card? We should be guided by real-life situations
and not imaginary or make believe prototypes.
For instance, how can a rickshaw puller or a
daily wager in the suburbs of Delhi or Kolkata
receive his fare/wage through Paytm or any other
modicum. Liquid cash is a major portfolio in the
budget of any person, be they rich or poor, since
it is needed for transactions of certain nature or
meeting unforeseen expenses like hospitalization
or any other eventualities of that nature. Let me
focus now on black money. To put it simplistically,
it is the money that evades the tax and parked not
in the confines of banks or institutions. It is also
true that black money constitutes only 6% to 9%
of the black economy.
What is more important to chart a roadmap
to decipher from here where we will go? Can it
be done all of a sudden? Gradualism, I believe,
is the best step forward. One cannot bring all

1,300 million people into the digital economy at a

stroke. We have to have a roadmap for that. First,
let us keep all transactions above certain threshold
mandatorily through cheque or through digital
money. While doing so, we have to introspect
whether we have the infrastructure for that.
How many bank account holders have opted for
cheque or ATM facilities? Even if they exist, how
many villages do have the facilities of ATM at the
doorstep of the bank account holders?
Happily, the recent drive of the government
to motivate the marginalized people to open a
bank account has been a success. About 350
million new accounts have opened in the recent
months, thanks to the efforts of the government.
Available data shows that most of these accounts
are dormant for quite some time. Visiting banks
or an ATM not only involves time but also some
knowledge and literacy to fill the form, write the
cheque, basic knowledge of the operation of the
ATM machine, etc. There are still a vast number
of people who cannot operate these systems. How
many persons are capable of doing that? Do we
have any arrangements to help them learn these
basic things not to speak about withdrawing
money from ATMs? In many places, particularly
in tea plantations and rubber estates, it is a tradition
that the salaries are disbursed weekly or bi-weekly
in cash since the bank branches are situated far
from the places where the workers stay. How soon
such salary cycles can be aligned with regular ones
and the workers become savvy to use the credit,
debit or another instrument.
We have to introspect whether our digital
backbone is capable of coping with the pressure
being exerted by banking transactions, once people
switch over to the digital domain. The Internet
bandwidth as it exists today is hardly adequate.
Any disruption or hacking or other types of
intrusions would affect their faith in the system
as also in technology. I understand that the Niti
Ayog is coming out with a scheme to incentivize
switching over to the smart money. Payments made
digitally for settling the utility payments will attract
certain incentives. It is a good step to motivate
people to switch over to the smart money. Equally
significant is strengthening the infrastructure to
help traders, tiny and small enterprises to install
machines in their shops and establishments to help
the customers, vendors and employees to use the
digital money.
Last but not the least, a realistic target should
be set for covering the entire nation to empower
people to use digital money, including far-flung
and tribal areas, and the government and bank
officials should be made accountable to teach the
customers as to how to use smart cards and transact
digitally. Let me conclude by narrating a story. A
farmer irked by the croaking of frogs huddled in a
well in his farm drained the water from the pond
to get rid of the frogs. While draining the water,
frogs escaped and flocked into the courtyard since
they being amphibious could survive both in water
and on land. But the small fish, which lived freely
in the pond perished en masse since they could live
only in water. Let us be more concerned about
that small fish.

www.varindia.com

December 2016

17

HOT BYTES

Toshiba appoints RPTech

Care Center as its NSP

oshiba Electronics
Asia (Singapore)
has
announced
the
appointment
of
the
RPTech Care Center, a
service division of Rashi
Peripherals Pvt. Ltd as its
only service partner for
India. Toshiba India will be
managing the partnership
with RPTech Care Center
and this alliance is aligned
with Toshibas commitment
in thriving to serve the
needs of all the people by
offering superior after-sales
service.
Commenting on the
association, Polad Garda,
Country Head, Toshiba
India, speaks, Being an

international
legendary
brand that is committed
to people, we believe in
offering world-class quality
and inventive products to

our customers. Further,

with our alliance with the
RPTechCare Center, we are
keen to offer our customers
an excellent after-sales
service experience and
satisfaction. It is a driving
step to allow our customers
with numerous alternatives
and reduced turnaround
time.

HSMC aims Rs.1, 000 Crore

revenues by FY18

itachi
Systems
Micro
Clinic
(HSMC) is expecting its
revenues to grow from
Rs.350 crore in FY 2015 to
Rs.1, 000 crore by 2018. The
company has registered a
CAGR of 58% in revenues
over the last three years.
HSMC also said it expects
revenues in the current
financial year to exceed
Rs.600 crore, buoyed by
strong growth in cloud and
cybersecurity businesses.
Tarun Seth, MD, HSMC
said, A rapidly-growing
enterprise adoption of

cloud computing and

cybersecurity
has
put
us in a great position to
continue our above-average
growth. We are also looking
to launch new strategic
initiatives and target new
customer segments as we
work towards making our
Mission 1,000 crore a
reality.
HSMC has created a
separate wing that works
closely with Amazon,
Oracle and Microsoft to
help the customers optimize
cloud apps based on their
requirement.

*astTECS appoints Distributors

for Telecom Accessories
*astTECS
has
announced
that
the
company plans to appoint
distributors in the Tier-I
and Tier-II cities and
extend the availability of
*astTECS range of telecom
accessories, mainly PRI
Cards, IP Phones and PRI
Gateway to existing and
future customers. As part
of the companys growth
strategy, more cities and
customers will be covered
through strategic tie-ups
and new partnerships.
Today,
partners
require the most relevant
technology solutions to
meet the business needs

18

December 2016

of their customers and

this initiative ensures that
they have access to best-inclass telecom products and
solutions, said Dr Devasia
Kurian, CEO, *astTECS.
We are very keen to expand
our SMB offerings and
form win-win partnerships,
while ensuring to deliver
the unique *astTECS
experience, he added.

www.varindia.com

SAP initiates
transitioning
into a Cloud
Economy

AP has taken a
step forward to
drive Indias shift to the
Cloud Economy at the
recently- concluded 2016
SAP Spotlight Tour. Indias
move to a Cloud Economy
is inevitable and SAP will
play an important role in
transitioning the country
to a digitally-empowered
powerhouse.
Developing a cloud
economy needs a truly
transformational
effort
along with a robust digital
foundation. We understand
the importance and the
scalability challenge in this
journey India has embarked.
SAP is committed to swiftly
make India the worlds
fastest-growing
Cloud
Economy, said Deb Deep
Sengupta, President & MD,
SAP Indian Subcontinent.

L&T Infotech
now a part of
Nutanix Partner
Network

&T Infotech (LTI)

has announced its
partnership with Nutanix,
a leader in enterprise cloud
computing, headquartered
in San Jose, CA. Enterprises
looking to simplify and fast
track cloud adoption will
now be able to leverage LTIs
ecosystem of solutions and
Nutanix Enterprise Cloud
Platform with simplicity
and lower Total Cost of
Ownership (TCO).
Speaking
on
the
partnership, Aftab Ullah,
COO, LTI, said, While
cloud-based solutions have
been around for a while,
this partnership promises
to be a game-changer for
our mutual clients. LTI
and Nutanix will provide a
ready-to-use cloud solution
for companies that want
to fast-track their cloud
adoption strategy and
achieve the benefits of
consumption economics.

Digi Dhan Abhiyan to empower

people on digital payments

o promote the
Digital Payment
transaction in both public
and private space, the
Ministry of Electronics and

make digital transactions.

Ministry of Electronics
and IT under the leadership
of Shri Ravi Shankar
Prasad has conceptualized

IT is taking a number of
initiatives not only to offer
better products in terms
of technology but also to
inform, educate and enable
citizens in the country to

a campaign, Digi Dhan

Abhiyan to enable every
citizen, small trader and
merchant to adopt digital
payments in their everyday
financial transactions.

Logitech India signs Supertron

Electronic as ND

ogitech
India
has
announced
its
strategic
national
distribution
partnership
with Supertron Electronic.
Under the partnership,
Supertron
will
be
responsible for retailing
Logitech products across
its 53 outlets in India.
Logitech will leverage the
Supertron outlets across
India as a touch point for
consumers.
Moninder Jain, MD,
ASEAN & India Region &
Vice-President, Logitech,
said, This partnership is

an extension to Logitechs
commitment to give a great
buying experience to its
customers. With its strong
retail presence in India,
Supertron will be able to
offer the wide range of
Logitech products to more
consumers. He further
added, Supertron is one
of the fastest-growing IT
distributors in India known
not only for its distribution
strength but also for its
efficiency in acting as an
extended arm of vendor,
thus adding value to the
chain."

Epson continues fight

against counterfeit

pson has continued

its fight against the
non-genuine ink business
and the multiple measures
taken recently to curb the
sale of counterfeit bottles.
To protect the rights of its
customers, police authorities
conducted a series of raids
in Mumbai, Tirupati and
Chennai recently, where
operatives had generated
information about fixers
involved in filling, bottling,
packaging and distributing
counterfeit Epson ink. To
send a strong message of
zero tolerance towards the
sale of fake cartridges, the
police in different parts of

the country have stepped

up
their
cooperation
and efforts to arrest and
terminate such practices.
Similar raids were carried
out by the Chennai Police.
Police conducted raids in
T.Nagar and Saidapet areas
and successfully seized
counterfeit products of
Epson in large quantities.
Yashwant Kumar Chowdhry
and Baskar Patel were
arrested for manufacturing
and supplying counterfeit
Epson ink bottles.

www.varindia.com

December 2016

19

HOT BYTES

Avaya Japan partners with LINE

on Contact Center Solution

vaya Japan has

partnered
with
LINE Corporation on
Avayas contact center
solution that will integrate
with LINEs corporate
customer service support
service LINE Customer
Connect. Businesses that
operate a contact center will
be able to add the LINE
chat capability as a channel
for customer inquiries
and to centrally manage
communications. Line is
the most popular messaging
app in Japan, Thailand and
Taiwan. LINE has about
218 million monthly active
users.
With
the
wide
penetration of smartphones,

web and Internet in recent

years,
inquiries
from
customers to businesses
use multiple channels
including email, chat, and
website interaction, as well
as voice. While businesses
pursue an omnichannel
contact center strategy
that provides a seamless
experience regardless of
the channels used, from
a system perspective the
reality is that real-time
coordination is difficult
because customer histories
and agents are still typically
separated by channel.

SUSE acquires Talent and

Technology Assets from HPE

USE has entered

into an agreement
with Hewlett Packard
Enterprise (HPE) to acquire
technology and talent
that will expand SUSE's
OpenStack Infrastructureas-a-Service (IaaS) solution
and accelerate SUSE's entry
into the growing Cloud
Foundry
Platform-as-aService (PaaS) market. The
acquired OpenStack assets
will be integrated into SUSE
OpenStack Cloud, and the
acquired Cloud Foundry
and PaaS assets will enable
SUSE to bring to market a

certified, enterprise-ready
SUSE Cloud Foundry PaaS
solution for all customers
and partners in the SUSE
ecosystem.
The
agreement
includes HPE naming
SUSE as its preferred
open-source partner for
Linux, OpenStack and
Cloud Foundry solutions.
In addition, SUSE has
increased
engagement
with the Cloud Foundry
Foundation,
becoming
a platinum member and
taking a seat on the Cloud
Foundry Foundation board.

LG Electronics India introduces

No-Cash No-Worry Campaign

G Electronics India
has
announced
No-cash
No-worry
campaign
to
enable
customers hassle- free

purchases of consumer
durables. This attractive
consumer-centric campaign,
60 days EMI holiday
offer, will take away the
worries of cash payments
at the time of purchase.
On the occasion, Niladri

20

December 2016

Datta, Corporate Marketing

Head, LG Electronics India,
said, LG has constantly
worked towards creating a
good life for its consumers
by providing the best
of products that are
high on innovation,
technology, usability
and
style.
We
have designed this
campaign to help
customers
purchase
consumer durables without
paying cash. Under this
attractive finance offer, the
first EMI will start post
60 days of purchase date.
We have tied up with Bajaj
Finance for this.

www.varindia.com

TechnoBind inks QNAP joins hand with AMD

NAP
Systems encryption engine, two M.2
deal with AMI
Qhas partnered SATA 6Gb/s SSD slots,

echnoBind
has
partnered
with
American
Megatrends
India (AMI) to distribute
its StorTrends line ofdata
storage offerings.
"With this exclusive
tie-up, we will be able to
leverage the strong brand
equity that AMI enjoys in
the market along with their
strong product offering.
Now, we will be able to
help our partners address
opportunities which they
were getting stuck because
of their positioning of the
traditional storage players,"
said Prashanth G J, CEO
-TechnoBind.
AMI's
StorTrends
brand
comprises
the
entire range of storage
offerings, starting from the
affordable all-flash, hybrid
and spinning disk storage
arrays. The companies
are tapping into the vast
low-end storage market by
offering feature-rich and
cost-effective solutions.

IBM unveils
security
command
center in India

BM has inaugurated
its state-of-the-art
security command center
in Bangalore to service the
security needs of Indian
clients.
The local center will
provide more value to
clients through customized
SLA-based security services
uniquely designed for
their requirements while
simultaneously
ensuring
that the data resides
within the country. The
security command centre
is equipped to provide
the best in class security
solutions to both enterprise
and SME clients across the
industry spectrum.
The command center
will leverage the existing
managed security services
offered within the country
and offer clients managed
security services expertise
and monitoring to anticipate
and mitigate threats.

with Advanced Micro

Devices, Inc. (AMD), and

USB 3.1 (10Gbps), 10GbE

expandability, dual HDMI

announced the release of

the high-performance TVSx73 NAS series.
With
an
AMD
Embedded R-Series quadcore APU, up to 64GB
RAM, AES-NI hardware

output, and hardwareassisted 4K video decoding

and encoding acceleration,
the TVS-x73 series provides
SMBs with a perfect NAS
solution to build a private
cloud for applications,.

ASSOCHAM collaborates with

Tally Solutions to simplify GST

he
Associated
Chambers
of
Commerce and Industry
of India (ASSOCHAM)
and Tally Solutions have
signed a Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) to
demystify, educate and train
the retail community for
the rollout of the Goods
and Services Tax (GST)
law in India. The MoU was
signed between D.S. Rawat,
Secretary
General
of
ASSOCHAM, and Sathya
Pramod, Chief Financial
Officer of Tally Solutions.
ASSOCHAM and Tally

Solutions plan to conduct

a series of conferences for
the retail community across
the nation, over the next
few months. Tax experts
from government bodies
will be participating in
these conferences to help
clear the air about GST, by
discussing the law and its
implementation in these
events. The conferences
are designed to help the
businesses to shift from the
existing taxation method
and adapt to the new
technology-led law with
ease.

Dell boosts PC business with new

zero-cash financing options

ell has announced

a range of zerocash financing options
for consumers, making it
easier to purchase a PC.
The financing options will
be available for customers
to avail through Dells
association with Bajaj
Finance Limited, and credit
cards from the leading
partner banks between
17th November and 31st
December, 2016.
Ritu Gupta, Director
Marketing, Consumer
& Small Business, Dell
India, said, It is our goal
to ensure that in addition
to offering innovative

technology solutions for

multiple user needs, we
are able to empower our
customers to purchase a
PC with ease. Purchasing a
personal computer for the
home or for an individual
is regarded as an important
buying decision and we
want to make the process as
simple and hassle-free for
our customers as possible."

www.varindia.com

December 2016

21

ON THE RAMP

Eurotech Technologies brings

BestNet HDMI Switches

urotech
has
announced
the
launch of BestNet HDMI
Switches. Available in 3 and
5 ports, the Bestnet HDMI
Switches are a perfect
solution to send one source
of digital high-definition
video to 3/5 displays at
the same time. It supports
all HDMI sources, such as
DVD, Blu-ray or HD-DVD
players, cable or satellite
receivers
and
gaming
consoles.
The 3/5-Port BestNet
HDMI Switches provide
seamless
transition

between multiple HDMIenabled devices and an

ideal solution, when you
need to transmit one
signal to multiple displays.
It is extremely versatile,
capable of supporting
numerous audio & video
formats and available in
a very compelling priceto-performance
ratio,
said Anuj Jain, Managing
Director,
Eurotech
Technologies Pvt. Ltd.

Red Hat announces OpenShift

Google Cloud Platform

ed
Hat
has
announced
the
general availability of
OpenShift Dedicated on
Google Cloud Platform.
With the availability of
OpenShift
Dedicated
on
Google
Cloud
Platform, users can speed
adoption of containers,
Kubernetes, and cloudnative
application
patterns, benefiting from
Red Hats deep enterprise
experience.
Red Hat also offers
professional services to
help customers migrate
container
workloads,
adopt continuous delivery

and DevOps processes,

and build micro servicesbased apps with OpenShift
Dedicated on Google Cloud
Platform. And, via Red Hat
Open Innovation Labs
and Red Hat Consulting
workshops, Red Hat can
help customers build a
blueprint for their digital
transformation initiatives,
alongside a specialized
team of Red Hat technical
consultants.
OpenShift Dedicated
on
Google
Cloud
Platform is now available
for users with a valid Red
Hat OpenShift Container
Platform subscription.

HP enhances security features

in Managed Print Services

P has redesigned
its
Managed
Print Services (MPS) to
help protect corporate
print environments against
cyberattacks with worldclass secure printing.

New HP Secure MPS

capabilities include advanced
security
professional
services, software solutions
and expanded core delivery
capabilities for customers

22

December 2016

multi-vendor print fleets. In

addition, HP has announced
the pre-configuring of HP
print devices for security.
Networked printers
can no longer be overlooked
in the wake of weakening
firewalls to the growing
sophistication and volume
of cyberattacks. That is
why HP has established a
new benchmark in managed
print services, infusing
security best practices into
everything that we do to
enable our customers to stay
on top of growing endpoint
security challenges, said
Ed Wingate VP & GM,
JetAdvantage Solutions at
HP, Inc.

www.varindia.com

BlackBerry
ESET launches its new line
launches
of security products
SET has launched
E
version10 of its
Mobile-Security
premium line-of-security
solutions for home users.
Platform

lackBerry
has
launched
its
mobile-native approach to
security with the launch
of
a
comprehensive
platform designed for
the Enterprise of Things.
The new platform has
been designed to be the
foundation that drives the
companys ongoing move to
software, is cloud enabled
and addresses the entire
enterprise from endpoint
to endpoint. This platform
completes the integration
of the companys prior
acquisitions
of
key
technologies.
Businesses must be
able to confidentially and
reliably transmit sensitive
data between endpoints to
keep people, information
and goods safe, said John
Chen, Executive Chairman
& CEO, BlackBerry.

Veritas brings
NetBackup 8.0

eritas Technologies
has
launched
NetBackup 8.0 and an
integrated Enterprise Data
Management solution to
help organizations manage
data in the cloud.
Nearly
every
organization in todays datadriven and cloud-based
world is undergoing digital
transformation, whether
mobilizing the workforce,
creating online customer
experiences,
enabling
electronic supply chains,
or providing real-time
access to medical records
and financial statements.
Using NetBackup 8.0 as the
foundation of our vision
for a sweeping range of
solutions to help enterprises
manage their growing
data demands, Veritas is
delivering a 360 enterprise
data management solution
that solves customers
challenges, said Scott
Anderson, Senior VP
&
GM,
Information
Protection
Solutions,
Veritas.

ESET Smart Security

Premium offers the optimal
mix of detection, speed
and usability. In addition,
the new product provides
features including ESET
Password Manager for easier
and safer authentication, as
well as ESET Secure Data
for convenient and strong
encryption.
More than ever users
need different layers of
protection to safeguard
themselves in the cyber
world. Our new consumer
product portfolio not

only provides topnotch

protection against malware
threats, ESET customers
can now protect their
files, passwords, webcams
and even their entire
home network, explains
Parvinder Walia, Director
of Sales and Marketing
for Asia-Pacific and Japan,
ESET.

Microsoft launches Cloud

Solutions for SMB sector

icrosoft
has
launched business
solutions from its partner
ecosystem to meet crucial
business needs of Small and
Medium Businesses (SMBs)
across Maharashtra. Built
by Microsofts ISV partners
Smarter SMB and IDOS,
these solutions address the
key areas like Customer
Relationship Management
(CRM) and Finance &
Accounting and enhancing
organizational efficiency.
These solutions will run on
Microsoft cloud and will be
available at a very low cost.

The SMB sector in

Maharashtra has strong
potential
for
driving
growth through technology
adoption and Microsoft is
committed to providing
them with the right set of
solutions to achieve it. SMBs
in the state understand
the business dynamics and
realize the need for a robust
IT infrastructure to grow
and scale up their business.
This sector has witnessed
tremendous growth in the
recent years, said Sudhir
Nayar, Director Partner
Sales, Microsoft India.

Brocade expands SLX Family

rocade
has
expanded
its
SLX Family with new
innovative switches that
feature
unparalleled
network visibility and the
addition of BROCADE
W O R K F L O W
C O M P O S E R
AUTOMATION
SUITES for turnkey
automation.
The new Brocade SLX
9140, SLX 9240 and SLX
9540 data center switches
deliver flexible leaf, spine
and edge connectivity while
leveraging the Brocade
SLX Insight Architecture.
By embedding network
visibility on every router and
switch, organizations can
achieve pervasive visibility

throughout the network to

quickly identify problems,
accelerate mean-time-toremediation and improve
overall service levels. New

automation suites, including

Network Essentials, Data
Center Fabrics and Internet
Exchange Points for the
BROCADE WORKFLOW
COMPOSER
platform,
powered by StackStorm,
provide automated network
provisioning,
validation,
troubleshooting
and
remediation workflows.

www.varindia.com

December 2016

23

ON THE RAMP

Kingston launches
DT50 USB in India

ingston
has
announced
the
launch of DT50 USB in
India. DataTraveler 50 is
a lightweight USB Flash
drive that is available
in capacities
from

8GB to
128GB.
The drives
compact, capless
design features a metal
casing that complements
any compatible device and
colourful accents that range
by drive capacity. The pen
drive is ideal for all those

who are mostly on the move

and want to carry their data
safely. With its sleek and
lightweight body, it provides
backward compatible with
existing USB 2.0 ports
for convenience to users
as they carry their music,
photos, videos and other
data around with ease.
DT50, featuring USB
3.1 Gen 1, delivers decent
transfer
speeds
with
convenience, making it an
essential tool for video and
audio content professionals
working with multiple bare
drives. You can customize
Kingston DT50 by adding
your logo and/or digital
files.

Hitachi introduces New

VVMP Models

itachi
Insight
Group,
which
is responsible for driving
Hitachis global unified
Internet of Things (IoT)
business
and
go-tomarket (GTM) strategy,
has introduced three new
Hitachi Video Management
Platform (VMP) models
designed to aggressively
move the company into
the video security and
monitoring market amore
than $6-billion total available
market opportunity based
on recent estimates from an
independent research firm.
The new Hitachi VMP
configurations
combine
virtualized compute and

storage and are delivered

as fully integrated, turnkey
appliances. These new
models are optimized for
enterprise video security and
monitoring environments
and support video analytics.
Hitachi has also announced
that it is growing its partner
ecosystem and expanding
its strategic alliances with
digital video management
system (DVMS) industry
leaders Milestone Systems
and OnSSI to develop
and deliver joint solutions
that offer increased levels
of
enterprise security,
workplace safety, and
industrial and operational
efficiencies.

Tyco brings Illustra IP cameras

yco has introduces

video intelligence
analytics at the edge for
Illustra IP cameras to
improve security operations
and reduce response time.

Illustra now offers its IP

camera customers powerful
video intelligence analytics
to automatically analyze
captured video and alert
users of specific motion
detected activities. The new
intelligence analytics alert
operators of key events that

24

December 2016

need immediate attention

for perimeter detection
in airports and critical
infrastructure and give
additional insight to daily
operations such as crowd
monitoring for retail
applications.
Available on the
Illustra Pro 2, 3 and
5 megapixel minidome IP camera series,
Illustra video intelligence
analytics
automatically
detect alarms for key
suspicious events. Illustra
creates a cost-effective
solution without the need
for a dedicated analytics
server.

www.varindia.com

Unistal
introduces
Advanced
Version of
Locate Laptop

nistal
Systems
has come up with
an advanced version of
software product Locate
Laptop.
We are offering the
users an advanced version
of Locate Laptop with
amazing new features like
selective decryption, image
capturing, pinpoint location
tracking, retrieving user id
& password, etc which is
going to be very helpful for
Laptop users and employers
as well, said Alok Gupta,
MD, Unistal Systems.
Locate Laptop keeps
track of laptop's location
whenever laptop gets
connected to internet.
What matters is not just the
laptop but also the valuable,
sensitive and confidential
data in it.

TP-Link
introduces
Outdoor Wireless
Broadband
Solution

P-Link
has
introduced Pharos
series a high-performance
enterprise-class
outdoor
wireless solution, designed
for long-distance wireless
backhaul,
point-tomultipoint connections and
outdoor Wi-Fi coverage
solutions.
As connectivity to
the internet grows, so
do the challenges to
reach more customers.
Wherever the environment
cannot
accommodate
traditional wired network
infrastructure, broadband
providers must turn to
wireless delivery. Luckily,
advancements in wireless
broadband solutions have
made WISP connectivity
stronger and accessible
than ever, and TP-Link
Pharos series leads in every
aspect.

Canon India expands its

projector portfolio

anon India has

rolled out two
new models under their
Projector
series.
The
new
launch
includes
LX-MU800Z,
XEED
WUX6010 and XEED
WUX 450ST, loaded with
world-class technology and
user-friendly features.
K. Bhaskhar, VicePresident
Business
Imaging Solutions Division,
Canon India, said, We
have witnessed a shift
in the usage pattern of
projectors among Indian
consumers. This has led to
the diversification of the
projection requirements,
which is extending beyond

conference rooms now.

In accordance with our
constant
pursuit
of
developing innovation-led
products, we are excited to
introduce our new range of
projectors. The new models
offer unmatched image
quality and brightness along
with lower operating costs
enabling both businesses
and end-users to deliver
optimum results at a
minimum cost.

Emerson presents
Industrial IoT Offerings

merson
has
launched
its
Operational
Certainty
program in India to help
industrial
companies
achieve top performance in
safety, reliability, production
and energy management.
This initiative is supported
by Emersons Plantweb
digital ecosystem designed
to deliver Industrial IoT
applications that offer
measureable
business
performance improvement.
Emersons Operational
Certainty is a technology and
engineering-based program
designed to help industrial
companies achieve top

performance and recover

more than US$1 trillion in
operational losses globally.
With its industry expertise,
consulting
services,
comprehensive automation
technologies and Industrial
IoT solutions, Emerson has
been able to help customers
extract greater value.
Emerson
is
also
expanding
its
highly
acclaimed Plantweb digital
ecosystem,
a
scalable
portfolio of standardsbased hardware, software,
intelligent devices and
services
for
securely
implementing the Industrial
IoT.

Western Digital releases NAS series

estern
Digital
has
launched
its latest WD-brand NAS
offerings in India. The
new NAS series has been
specifically designed for the
creative community that
offers network
storage to edit,
save and share
production files
from anywhere
with an internet connection.
With space to store a
massive amount of files, it
is compatible with both PC
and Mac computers enabling
consumers to preserve their
data and keep it organized,
thereby streamlining their
workflow.

Khalid Wani, Director,

Content Solutions Business,
India, ME and Africa, WD,
said,"The Indian market
has recently seen a boom in
creative community, SMEs
and DIY enthusiasts, which
has created a
prominent need
for portability,
r e l i a b i l i t y,
capacity, speed
and interoperability. We
believe our new offering
in the NAS segment
My Cloud Pro Series
efficiently caters to these
requirements, giving our
consumers the belief to
rely on the strength of the
technology.

www.varindia.com

December 2016

25

VOICE-N-DATA

Ruckus Wireless Expands

its ZoneFlex Family

uckus Wireless has

announced
the
addition of two new access
points (APs) the ZoneFlex
R610 indoor AP and the
ZoneFlex T610 outdoor AP.
Both products are based on
the IEEE 802.11ac Wave
2 standard featuring multiuser MIMO technology,
which optimizes airtime
efficiency to client devices
and increases aggregate
network throughput in
dense indoor or outdoor
deployments.
The R610 is an indoor
Wave 2 11ac 3x3:3 AP
with USB interface capable
of supporting future IoT
applications that fills the

gap between the ZoneFlex

R510 Wave 2 2x2:2 AP and
the R710 Wave 2 4x4:4 AP,
delivering data rates up to
1,900 Mbps.
The T610 is an outdoor
Wave 2 11ac 4x4:4 AP
with field accessible USB
interface
capable
of
supporting future IoT
applications. The T610 is
positioned between the
ZoneFlex T300 Wave 1
2x2:2 outdoor AP and
T710 Wave 2 4x4:4 AP and
supports data rates up to
2.5 Gbps.

TDBS to foster Digital

Transformation for SMEs

ata
DoCoMo
Business Services
(TDBS) has highlighted
its focus on the small and
medium enterprises (SMEs)
and start-up segments in
India. TDBS is a market
leader in the enterprise
space, registering a 15%
year-on-year growth vis-vis 8% industry growth in
the SME segment for the
year 2015-16. The company
has expanded its product
portfolio with a recent
launch of mobile device
management
(MDM)
services.

Prateek
Pashine,
President,
Enterprise
Business, Tata Teleservices,
said, Digital transformation
will bring about a paradigm
shift in the way companies
do business and we, with
our portfolio of product
and solutions, are at the
heart of this evolution.
While
the
traditional
companies are picking up
entrepreneurial zeal, it is the
smaller companies that are
at the forefront of digital
adoption and creating
businesses which are asset
light and internet-enabled.

Zyxel announces Wi-Fi extenders

y
x
e
l
Communications
has announced that their
latest and the best Wi-Fi
networking ally solutions
are
coming
to
Wi-Fi
user's home.
Two
new
Wi-Fi range
extenders, the
WRE6606
and WRE6505
v2, are now
available
to
extend speedy 802.11ac
Wi-Fi in places you couldn't
reach before.
The WRE6606 and
WRE6505 v2 come with a
smart and intuitive design
to make setup and connect

26

December 2016

easy breezy.
With the LED ring on
the WRE6505 v2, users
can easily detect the signal
strengths of both bands
(2.4 GHz and
5GHz)
at
various places
at
home,
providing the
easiest search
navigation.
However,
in the event
where
wall
outlets are absent, the
WRE6606 comes with a
micro USB port to connect
to portable power banks,
allowing users to extend
Wi-Fi around the house.

www.varindia.com

Juniper
Jio Welcome Offer extended
Networks
up to March 31, 2017
io welcome offers All the Jio subscribers
launches carrier- J(JWO) users will will be entitled to certain
get free voice, data, video special benefits under the
and full bouquet of Jio JNO, which shall comprise
grade routing
applications and content of Jios data, voice, video
absolutely free up to March and the full bouquet of Jio
and security

uniper
Networks
announced the latest
versions of its industry
leading virtual routing and
security platforms, Juniper
Networks vMX and vSRX
Virtual Firewall for AWS
Marketplace.
Operating similar to
their physical counterparts,
the vMX and vSRX
platforms
will
enable
enterprises to flexibly
deploy carrier-grade routing
and firewall functions
at the click of a button.
Customers will have the
option to purchase services
on-demand via an annual or
hourly subscription directly
from the AWS Marketplace
or from Juniper Networks,
through a Bring Your Own
License (BYOL) model.

Over 10,000
savings accounts
opened with
Airtel Payments
Bank

irtel Bank offers

basic
banking
services to customers by
leveraging Airtels vast
retail network and taking
basic banking services to
the doorstep of customers
via neighbourhood Airtel
retailers. In Rajasthan,
Airtel Bank has rolled
out pilot services across
10,000 Airtel retail outlets,
which also act as banking
points. Two-thirds of these
banking points across
Rajasthan are in rural
areas. Airtel Bank plans to
have a network of 100,000
merchants (shops) across
Rajasthan by the end of the
year. All these merchants
will accept digital payments
via Airtel Bank using a
mobile phone. Airtel will
not charge any processing
fee from merchants for this
facility.

31, 2017.
The
existing
Jio
Welcome Offer (JWO)
users will continue to enjoy
the unlimited benefits under
JWO up to 31 December
2016, following which they
would be automatically
signed-up for the JNO as
well.
Jio has also announced
the launch of Jio Happy
New Year Offer (JNO),
which will be effective
from 4 December 2016.

applications and content,

absolutely free up to 31
March 2017. During this
offer period, Jio and Jio
customers will be able to
continue the journey of cocreating and building the
best network experience
together.
The benefits will be
available to all subscribers
signing up for Jio services
up to March 3, 2017.

Mahindra Comviva aims for a

two-fold business growth

ahindra Comviva
is aiming at
achieving two-fold business
growth over the next three
years. At present, India
contributes 20 per cent
to the companys overall
revenue.
To achieve the next
growth phase, the company
has invested in a mobile
first, data enabled and
contextually relevant, endto-end solutions strategy.
Towards this end, it aims
to strengthen its research
and development and
operational support of

technologies in mobile
financial services, big-data
analytics,
omni-channel
experience,
enterprise
messaging and digital
services. It has also
identified growth through
the strategic partnerships
and acquisitions route as
key to its strategy in India
and abroad.
Mahindra
Comviva
has integrated mobile
innovations at the heart of
its business strategy and
repositioned itself with a
powerful vision of The
Business of Tomorrows.

DIGISOL brings DG-BR5400QAC

IGISOL
has
launched
AC
1200 Dual Band Wireless
Broadband Router DGBR5400QAC. The DGBR5400QAC is IEEE
802.11ac next-generation
wireless router which
provides a better wireless
performance.
DG-BR5400QAC
use intelligent antenna
technology to transmit
multiple streams of data
which enables users to
receive wireless signals
faster at your home. Not
only the IEEE802.11ac
technology extends the
wireless range, it also works
with previous-generation
IEEE802.11b/g/n wireless

devices. The wireless router

also includes QoS (Quality
of Service) prioritization
technology that analyzes
and separates multiple data
streams based on sensitivity
to delay, enabling multiple
applications to stream
smoothly across your
network.

FACE TO FACE

Opportunities galore for Siemon in India

Prem Rodrigues, Director of Sales & Marketing Middle East, India & SAARC Siemon
tells VARINDIA of the companys positioning in the country with respect to the Data Center
industry and about its partnerships to work together in the Smart City projects -

How is Siemon positioned in

the Data Center industry in the
country?

which aims to extend the benefits of the

Internet of Things (IoT) and PoE LED
lighting. Siemon also has a selective channel
partner strategy. We work with some leading
partners globally and regionally in India. We
work with partners who share a common goal
and are able to work with us on a long-term
basis to deliver a unique value proposition to
our customers.

Siemon leads the market in technology

and innovation, ensuring the widest choice of
forward-thinking solutions available for Indian
customers. Siemon's current focus is providing
high quality, high performance IT copper and
fiber cabling, cable management systems and
services to Enterprise, Colocation and Cloud
Data Centers, Internet Service Providers. Our
interest also lies in Local Area Networks and
Intelligent Buildings.
Siemon's elaborate solution portfolio
consists of its WheelHouse Advanced Data
Center solutions including category 6A
and higher shielded and unshielded copper
cabling systems, end-to-end single-mode
and multi-mode fiber cabling solutions. We
offer a complete range of innovative data
center cabinets and power distribution units,
independently tested high speed interconnect
cable assemblies, V-Built preterminated and
pre-kitted data center solutions, EagleEye
Automated
Infrastructure
Management
solution as well as comprehensive data center
design services.
As far the opportunities for Data Centers
are concerned, we feel that growing adoption
of cloud services is one of the major reasons
for growth of Data Center in India. Apart
from this, the increased focus on mobility,
big data activities, and analytics will also fuel
the growth. BFSI, Telecom, IT & ITeS are
the major sectors driving the growth. The
rising IT penetration and demand for social
media consumption in the country will also
help. On the Government front, initiatives
like Digital India and Start-up India will also
be the major growth driver for Data Center
infrastructure and network cabling market in
India. Green technology will grow in demand
as need for more efficient and environment
friendly components will be the trend for
future. However, companies need to look at
long term value & future readiness when they
choose products.
Adoption of premium products and
global standards maybe a challenge for some
companies as they would need to invest.

Siemon has also partnered with a wide

variety of complementary manufacturers
involved in LED lighting, security, audiovisual
and building automation control. Recently
Siemon also held two Roadshows in India
in association with Cisco on Data Centers &
Intelligent Building solutions which resulted in
overwhelming participation.
Siemon has long been an advocate of
smarter, greener more efficient buildings by
converging critical low-voltage building systems
onto one integrated physical infrastructure,
providing significant cost savings and
sustainability over the life of a facility.
LANs and Intelligent Buildings in India.
We offer Copper and Optical fiber cabling
systems, Data Center cabinets, racks, cable
management, Data Center power and cooling
systems and Automated Infrastructure
Management solutions. Our Hyderabad center
acts as the Centre of Competency (CoC)
handling projects on Data Center design and
IT programming for the global operations of
Siemon. Over the years Siemon has introduced
market leading products that lead the global
industry in innovation.
Siemon also provides many value-added
services that include Data Center design
services, Education & Technical Services,
Global project management services, logistics
management and many more.

What are your growth plans

with respect to the India market?
Any significant partnerships you
have signed for working together
for the Smart City project/s?
Siemon looks at India as a highly strategic
market and we are very optimistic about it.
Siemon has renewed its focus on this important
market and aims to achieve around 15% market
share in next 2-3 years.

What kind of Data Center

Siemon has partnerships with eminent
products & Solutions do you have companies like Cisco, CBRE on a global level
in your offerings?
and is working on expanding these relationships

We provide superior quality, high

performance low voltage infrastructure
solutions and services for Data Centers,

in India. As a matter of fact, Siemon is the

only end-to-end cabling infrastructure partner
within the Cisco Digital Ceiling Ecosystem

Through our intelligent building solutions,

expertise and partnerships, Siemon is confident
that it can take a significant position in Indias
intelligent building and Smart City growth.

What is your GTM strategy?

Siemon has been selling products in India
for more than 20 years. In 2011, Siemon
decided to significantly expand its presence
in India by opening the Siemon India
headquarters in Hyderabad. Throughout
India, Siemon has long had a base of channel
partners, including value added resellers and
Siemon Certified Installers. These support
Siemon's multinational clients in India with
high quality design, installation and world
class service levels associated with the Siemon
brand. From India, Siemon also provides
back-office support for IT programming, Data
Center design services, project management
services, warranty processing and logistics
management.
Siemon sees India as a source of valuable
skills. Resources from India are not only
serving our Indian clients but they are also
serving our Global clients. Apart from that,
Siemon has more than 40 channel partners
and certified installers who are also part of the
extended Siemon family. Siemon is extending
its reach by associating with new channel
partners and gaining more certified installers
through our world class ISO 9001:2015
(Quality Management System) Certified
training program. n

www.varindia.com

December 2016

27

CHANNEL BUZZ

Ricoh India Conducts "SammelanRicoh Partner Connect Programs"

D-Link distributors celebrate their

triumph at Hong Kong-Macau

icoh India kick-started the

Sammelan A Partner
Connect Initiative in the southern
region in the strategic cities of
Coimbatore and Chennai in the
state of Tamil Nadu, Hyderabad,

s part of its sales incentive

program, D-Link India
Limited rewarded its Business
distributors with an exclusive luxury
trip to Hong Kong and Macau on
accomplishment of their business
targets for H1, 2016-17.

support & contribution to D-Links

growth.
Organized between 12th
to 16th November 2016, this
incentive trip was a welcome
break for partner/ distributors
from their routine business. The

The exclusive trip to Hong

Kong and Macau had over 60
participants,
which
included
business distributors and key
members of D-Link management
team. D-Link management team
also felicitated its distributors at
the awards night for their incessant

tour encompassed of Hong

Kong-Macau sightseeing, a brief
conference with D-Link Senior
Management sharing companys
strategy & growth plans for 201617. The trip concluded with a Gala
night at Hard Rock Caf with live
performance.

Vijayawada and Kakinada in the

states of AP and Telangana and
Mysore and Bangalore in the state
of Karnataka. These Sammelans
were held at popular upscale hotels
in these respective cities.
Few meets were organized
in conjunction with the regional
local IT associations like Tirupur
IT Association (Tamil Nadu),
CONFED (IT Association in
Tamil Nadu) and AKITDA
(Kerala). Ricoh intends to conduct
such partner meets Sammelan at
various strategic locations across the
length and breadth of the country.
These meets were attended by
prominent partners of the region.
The Sammelan began with

an introduction to Ricoh by the

Regional Sales Team, the Global
Company with Global Products
and Solutions to cater to the
Indian market. The meet further
went on to emphasize RICOHs
commitment to the Indian channel
fraternity and our customer, the
robust and workaholic products
that Ricoh offers to the customers
for their Printing and Imaging
Solutions. These meets showcased
a wide range of products that cater
to personal and business needs.
These meets have been able to reestablish and empower the faith of
the Ricoh Product and Solution
Offerings and Ricoh as a Brand, to
cater to requirements of the Indian
market.
The sessions were followed
by sharing of the Synergies that
Partners and Ricoh can achieve by
partnering together, the rich benefits
that partner can gain through the
margin earned by selling Ricoh
products, the technical and support
programme from Ricoh for the
partners and users, the Promotion
Support given by Ricoh through
multiple channels.

Newgen successfully concludes

Mumbai Annual Customer Meet

Inaugural GTCx India Mumbai

sees big Success

ewgen Software has

successfully hosted its
Annual Customer Meet 2016 in
Mumbai.
The Theme of the event was
Yesterday is History, Today is
Gone, Be faster than the Fastest
Reinvent Your Workplace. The
conclave discussed the need for
Digital Age decision-makers to
respond to change faster than ever
due to evolving customer needs
and changing business dynamics.
At the meet, Newgens leaders
conducted a journey walkthrough
highlighting the present position of
Newgens implementations, product
roadmaps and future product
offerings. They discussed Newgens
growth and market foothold in
Mumbai and India accentuating
strong channel partnerships.
Diwakar Nigam, MD & CEO,
Newgen Software, stated, In
this journey of over 24 years, our
customers have been the biggest
strength for us. Their indomitable
trust in our capabilities has driven
us to develop innovative technology
solutions that are adaptable and
future-ready. The Annual Customer

TCx India on December

5-6 ran to a sellout
audience of more than 1400
attendees. NVIDIAs Dr. Steven
Parker, eminent scientist and
Padma Bhushan awardee Dr. Vijay
Bhatkar delivered Keynotes on the
revolution in AI and Integrative
Computing respectively, to a
standing room only crowd. This

28

December 2016

Meet gives us an opportunity to

reconnect with our diverse clientele
and deliberate upon the business
needs and market drivers of
tomorrow. Some of the eminent
speakers, Sanjay Narkar, Chief
Technology Officer, IDFC Bank
Ltd, and Milind Varerkar, General
Manager, Saraswat Bank, discussed
their journey with Newgen and
successful implementations of
Newgen Solutions at their facilities.
Other participants included leaders
from IndusInd Bank, Axis Bank,
Aditya Birla Finance Limited, Bajaj
Electricals, Fullerton India and
others.
Newgen will hold its Delhi
edition Annual Customer Meet in
December 2016. The meet expects
a greater success and participation
of our esteemed clients.

www.varindia.com

was followed by tracks on Deep

Learning, HPC and Professional
Visualisation, NVIDIA VR Village
experiences, sponsor booths, the
evening GTCx mixer and much
more, with the buzz running to well
over 8pm.
NVIDIAs Deep Learning

Institute (DLI) Training ran to

a full house for all three classes
(introduction to deep learning,
object detection & network
deployment. The very interactive
audience had NVIDIA expert
Abel Brown teaching and fielding
questions from 9:00 a.m. to almost
7:00 p.m., well over the original
schedule.
Emerging Companies
Summit
(ECS)
showcased 12 start-ups
with exciting solutions
ranging from an app
which recognizes food
ingredients and suggests
recipes to another which
observes inventory in
brand coolers at retail
outlets and automatically
reorders supplies. The
audience was a mixture
of start-ups, investors, companies
and media.
The Keynote live feed was
viewed extensively online and GTCx
India was successful in bringing
the Indian GPU community
together on one platform to share
knowledge, learn and network.

FACE TO FACE

A Holistic, well-rounded Security

Approach is the need of the hour
Rohit Oberoi, Director Channel - India & Middle East, Seclore Technology in an open discourse
on End point security explains how 2017 will be a revolutionary year in terms of coming out with
stricter regulations and policies by organizations to secure their networks and data -

016 has been an epic year for cyber security threats. The positive
side is that awareness is also increasing. With data leakage stories
making headlines every day, the topic has entered mainstream discourse.
The day is not far when companies are sued by customers for not keeping
their private data safe.
The growing awareness, coupled with the governments willingness
to acknowledge the national security risks posed by cyberattacks, makes
us hopeful we will see meaningful progress made in the fight to create
effective cyber-legislation by the end of 2017. 2017 will (hopefully) be
the year global leaders finally recognize the need for an InfoSec Geneva
Convention, setting standards for what cyber-activities are and arent
acceptable. Holding highly confidential information hostage and using it
as black mail or manipulate elections is a whole new level of warfare,
opines Rohit Oberoi, Director Channel - India & Middle East, Seclore
Technology.
He continues, Furthermore, in 2017, we can expect to see
organizations placing stricter compliance regulations on their third-party
outsource vendors and other external collaboration partners. Third-parties
such as advisors, vendors, sub-contractors and business partners pose a
huge risk to organizations because they require access to systems and data
to conduct business, yet there is no accountability in the way they handle
a companys data.

Drivers of the Endpoint Security Market

The value offered by firewalls and anti-virus solutions has been on the
decline. Seclore predicts that 2017 will be the year when organizations will direction.
acknowledge the need to secure the data itself, and not just infrastructure
It is however difficult to characterize the nature of data breaches today
and devices. The shift to persistent data-centric has already begun with in relation to company size. The reality is that most leaks are largely equal
Enterprise Digital Rights Management (EDRM) capabilities as a key opportunity thefts i.e. they do not discriminate based on the size of the
requirement in their Enterprise File Synch and Share (EFSS). In fact several company. We feel that every organizations security strategy should be
vendors have already jumped on the data-centric security trend in 2016, driven by its individual needs and requirements, rather than size or market
with Citrix and IBM adding Rights Management features to their EFSS capitalization, he says.
and Enterprise Content Management (ECM) offerings, says Rohit.
So does it suffice then to just resorting to endpoint security to avert
Another primary reason for the increased interest in data centric advanced threats?
security is that the business itself (which after all is the ultimate owner
Security today is fragmented and not centralized; data security has
of the data) is becoming more aware. For example, when a bank sends traditionally focused only on securing information that stays within a
confidential customer data to its credit card embossing vendors, the
boundary. A piece of data might
Operations Head is as concerned
be governed by one policy inside
Every hacking group will try to achieve the optimum
about data security as the CISO or
an application, by another policy
balance between the organizations cybersecurity
CRO. For IT, this makes it easier to
on the endpoint, by yet another
obtain buy-ins and budgets - not to
versus the quality of the potential data stash. Larger
policy on a file server, yet another
mention making solution adoption
on the vendors inbox, yet another
companies would have larger security programs but
much easier too. After all, employees
also a larger amount of data available to steal. Smaller on the vendors file server, and so
are more likely to follow instructions
on. In fact, the very concept of
organizations, on the other hand, may not have the
if they come from their bosses rather
endpoint security is boundarybest people or the best security strategies and would
than from IT.
centric and not data-centric and

Large organizations vs
Smaller Organizations -

thus be low hanging fruit. But they would also have less
data to steal both in terms of quality and quantity.

The days when Information

Security was nice-to-have are long gone. Now it is considered a key part
of overall Information strategy. That is one reason we are finding that
more and more organizations are opting for the integration route for
data-centric security products i.e. integrating them with existing enterprise
applications such as ECM and ERP products, he says.
Awareness is increasing even among the verticals not traditionally
associated with strong Data-centric Information Security programs,
such as the Indian Manufacturing and Knowledge Process Outsourcing.
Even government agencies have now started focusing their efforts in this

endpoint security is the most

potent symptom of this traditional
approach, explains Rohit.
And this approach, like he
says while necessary has been proven insufficient in todays flat world.
Enterprises need a holistic, well-rounded approach to data security and
governance. As hackers are taking a more targeted approach by exploiting
higher value breaches beyond credit cards and social security numbers, no
longer can we rely on just securing the infrastructure or devices. And with
new collaboration technologies and the use of outsourcing continuing to
grow at a breakneck speed, it will be virtually impossible to keep up with
hackers unless organizations evolve their infrastructures to support a datacentric security, concludes Rohit. n

www.varindia.com

December 2016

29

COVER STORY

Will demonetization help India to

become $10-tn economy by 2030?
Demonetization is a big opportunity for India to reach $10-trillion economy by
2030, thanks to sustained double-digit growth for the next 14 years as presently a
large percentage of money will transact to the banking and digital system

ddressing the India-China Investment

Conclave in October 2016, NITI
Aayog Vice-Chairman Arvind Panagariya said
that the size of the Indian economy could
increase five-fold to $10 trillion in the next 15
years, replicating a feat achieved by the Chinese
economy in 2015.
India started off to rapid growth a little
later than China, but now it has the potential
to accomplish in the next 15 years what China
did in the last 15 years. Indias GDP stands at
$2 trillion and it has good prospects of rising
to $10 trillion in the next 15 years," commented
Panagariya.
With $10.86 trillion (14.7 per cent share in
the world GDP), the Chinese economy stood
second in the world after the US in 2015 at








 


 
 
 


30

December 2016

$17.95 trillion, while India, at $2.07 trillion (2.8

per cent), was ranked seventh. Analysts reckon
that to reach $10 trillion, the Indian economy
needs to grow at over 11 per cent for the next
one-and-a-half decades, which is a daunting
challenge but not impossible as Chinas economy
was $1.2 trillion in 2000.
Prime
ministers
Narendra
Modis
November 8 announcement of discontinuing
Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 notes has given a big fillip
to India achieving $10-trillion economy as
diemonetization of Rs.500 and Rs.1,000 bank
notes will definitely help India with a faster
GDP growth, help in bringing down inflation
and products becoming more affordable which
will fuel the demand and further growth of the
industries.

www.varindia.com



 



Demonetization is not the final destination.

It is just a beginning, said Prime Minister
Narendra, while addressing the BJP parliamentary
meeting on the last day of the winter session of
Parliament.
Addressing law-makers, Shri Narendra Modi
said that a digital economy should be a way
of life and that such an economy would be
transparent and effective. The centre has been
pushing hard for a cashless economy exhorting
people to engage in digital transactions.
This one announcement has given a big
jump to the Digital Payment industry in India.
The BCG-Google Digital Payment Report 2020
forecasts total payments conducted via digital
payment instruments in India will be in the range
of $500 billion by 2020, which is approximately
10x of the current levels.
According to the report, Person to
Merchant (P2M) transactions driven by digital
payments at physical point of sale, followed
by business to business (B2B) and peer to peer
(P2P) transactions are expected to be major
contributors of growth. Digitization of cash will
accelerate over the next five years with non-cash
transactions overtaking cash by 2023.
Mobile-based payment solutions and
proprietary payment networks will drive
merchant acquisition by offering low-investment
solutions that will make economics more
attractive for merchants and acquirers, resulting
in over 10 million merchant establishments that
will accept digital/mobile payments.
Modified Unified Payments Interface (UPI)
will be a game-changer as it provides a great
platform for seamless interoperability of PSPs.
Modified to overcome the present challenges,
it can drive large-scale adoption of digital
payments.
Non-cash payment transactions which, today,

 



 


 
























































 !" 

constitute 22 per cent of all consumer payments

will overtake cash transactions by 2023. Digital
payments instruments will drive the growth in
non-cash payments.
Not only the BCG-Google report, even the
GSMA report talks about the increased role of
mobile in digital payments. The GSMA report
The Mobile Economy: India 2016 noted at the
end of June 2016, 616 million unique users had
subscribed to mobile services in India, making it
the second-largest mobile market globally, with
almost one billion unique mobile subscribers
expected by 2020. India also overtook the United
States in 2016 to become the worlds secondlargest smartphone market with an installed base
of 275 million mobile devices.
The report forecasts 4G subscribers to
reach 280 million by 2020 and operators capex
investment growing to $34 billion over 20162020 period. As per GSMA, the India mobile
economy is more than $140 billion (Rs.9 lakh
crore) and it is expected to grow to $210 billion
(Rs.14 lakh crore) by 2020.
Talking about the mobile economy, Mats
Granryd, Director General, GSMA, said, With
The Mobile Economy: India 2016 report, all
signs lead to a period of tremendous growth
for Indias mobile economy, which will strongly
support and enable the governments Digital
India initiative aimed at providing broadband
connectivity to all.
Speaking on digital payments, Pradeep
Sampath, COO, mRUPEE (a subsidiary of
Tata Teleservices), said, The digital payments
industry today is worth a staggering $9-trillion
figure. With home to 1.25 billion people, India
will still take time to go completely digital. As
on date, payment revenues in India account for
nearly $14 billion. However, the recent wave of
demonetization is changing the shape of the
digital payment industry.
Commenting on UPI apps, Chinmay
Agarwal, CTO & Co-Founder, Jugnoo, said,
On the mobile phone front, common minimum
guidelines for UPI apps need to be defined so that
user interface has a minimum common workflow.
UPI distinctions for Peer to Merchant (P2M)
and Peer to Peer (P2P) payments are confusing.
P2P is simpler and should be promoted more.
Further, we need to quickly release UPI SDKs
for iOS and web platforms.
One of the key obstacles is trust and
availability of mobile payment models be it UPI
or wallets to be available widely for transactions.

The penetration is still too low for the

population size of India, which transacts using
cash. Even credit card or debit card penetration
has not been very successful in doing cashless
transaction for lack of basic infrastructure, says
Govind Ramamurthy, CEO & MD, eScan.
Even demand for Point of Sale (PoS)
devices is huge for cashless transactions, both
for making payments or disbursing cash. So the
Government has exempted it from excise duty,
and consequently from CVD and SAD and it is
valid till March 31, 2017.
Digital Payment Options
As on November 30, 2016, RBI gave approval
to 195 banks for providing mobile banking
services to their customers. Further, to facilitate
mobile banking, the process of registration has
been made convenient by enabling such feature
on ATMs.

National Payments Corporation of India

(NPCI) has offered the facility of mobile banking
using Unstructured Supplementary Service Data
(USSD) based mobile banking. USSD-based
mobile banking offers basic banking facilities like
money transfer, bill payments, balance enquiries,
merchant payments, etc on a simple GSM
mobile phone, without the need to download
application on a phone, as required at present
in the IMPS (Immediate Payment Service) based
mobile banking.
Transactions can be performed on basic
feature phone handsets. The user needs to
approach his bank and get his mobile number
registered. The bank will issue an MPIN (Mobile
PIN) to the user. The user thereafter needs to
dial *99# and the menu for using USSD opens.
Thereafter customer has to follow selections on
the menu to complete the transaction.

"Digital economy should

be a way of life and
that such an economy
would be transparent
and effective. The centre
has been pushing hard
for a cashless economy
exhorting people to engage
in digital transactions"

Narendra Modi
Prime Minister of India

"The Indian economy

could increase fivefold to $10 trillion

in the next 15 years,
replicating a feat
achieved by the Chinese
economy in 2015"
Arvind Panagariya
Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog

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December 2016

31

COVER STORY

"Reliance Jio Money is also planning an

aggressive pitch and is planning to sign
over 10 million small merchants retailers
in the coming weeks across 17,000 towns
and 4 lakh villages"
Mukesh Ambani
Chairman, Reliance Jio

Speaking on USSD, Aruna Sundarajan,

Secretary, MeitY, said, Banks should work
towards making USSD a preferable and
convenient mode of digital payments in the light
of the fact that majority of Jan Dhan account
holders would directly benefit from it.
NPCI will soon launch a redesigned USSD
platform and a common app for UPI for
enabling digital transactions, as well as addressing
interoperability issues.
Mobile Wallet business is picking up with
demonetization announcement be it Paytm,
MobiKwik, Oxigen, Freecharge and others.
Recently, the Paytm Android app crossed the 50
million installs landmark on Google Play Store.
With this, the Paytm's Android base has now
grown to over 75 million.
L. V. Sastry, Vice-President Mobile Banking
& Commerce, Aircel, said, Indian wallet
transactions over the last three years by value
and volume have grown by over 500 per cent to
reach $551 million and 2.6 billion, respectively
in 2015. In India, nearly 95 per cent of all the
transactions are cash based, signalling a huge
opportunity and upside to this growing usage of
mobile phones for financial transactions.
Currently, there are over 200+ million active
mobile wallets with over 75 million transactions
every month and payment throughput of over
Rs.2,000+ crore of payments is being processed
across the country.
Paytm has set a target of 200 million accounts
which will include current and savings accounts
as well as mobile wallets within 12 months. The
company also aims to reach a base of half a
billion accounts by the year 2020. The company
has also announced that it would transfer its
wallet business to the newly incorporated
Paytm Payments Bank after receiving necessary
approvals. Paytm claims to have close-to 155
million e-wallet users, which include users on the
web and smartphone apps.
On the merchant front, Paytm expects to
onboard 500,000 merchants on its platform to
accept offline payments as the country grapples
with a shortage of cash due to the Narendra

32

December 2016

www.varindia.com

"DigiShala will enable and empower every

citizen of the country, especially, farmers,
students, dalits and women in rural areas
to learn the usefulness and benefits of
digital payment in everyday life"
Ravi Shankar Prasad
Minister of Electronics and
IT and Law & Justice

Modi demonetization move.

To enable millions of feature phone users
to go digital, Paytm has launched a service with
which consumers and merchants can pay and
receive money without internet connection. The
company has announced a toll-free number 1800
1800 1234 to enable consumers and merchants
without an internet connection to pay and
receive money instantly and also recharge their
mobile phones.
MobiKwik is another Indian wallet major
with a network of over 250,000 direct merchants
and 40 million-plus users. Founded in 2009
by Bipin Preet Singh and Upasana Taku, the
company has raised three rounds of funding
from Sequoia Capital, American Express, Tree
Line Asia, MediaTek, GMO Payment Gateway,

Currently, there are over

200+ million mobile
wallets with over 75
million transactions
every month and
payment throughput of
over Rs. 2,000+ crore
Cisco Investments and Net1.
Indian mobile wallet major, MobiKwik
recently announced the launch of MobiKwik
Lite, Indias lightest mobile wallet, to cash
on demonetization bandwagon and help
unorganized retailers and shopkeepers across
India in receiving payments seamlessly.
MobiKwik Lite is an under 1 MB app that
works smoothly on EDGE connections and
slow data connectivity. Users can download this
app with just one missed call at 8097180971 and
sign up with their mobile number only,
Speaking on the launch, Bipin Preet Singh,
Co-Founder, MobiKwik, said, MobiKwik Lite
will be available in all the major Indian languages

"With the launch of Vodafone M-Pesa

PAY, we are accelerating this journey
by creating a platform for merchants
and retailers to easily embrace digital
payments and also encourage their
millions of customers to pay via digital
currency"
Sunil Sood
MD & CEO, Vodafone India
soon. MobiKwik Lite will work without any net
connectivity too, therefore addressing all the
challenges being faced by the masses in accessing
wallet payments be it language, connectivity or
quality of smartphones.
Oxigen has a retail footprint of 200,000
outlets and has processed over 2 billion
transactions till date with a current transaction
volume rate of 600 million transactions per
annum. It has a large customer base of over 150
million.
Oxigen Wallet is Indias first non-bank mobile
wallet app approved by RBI, which allows users
to send and receive money through popular social
channels like Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter,
SMS and e-mail. A customer can instantly send
money to any mobile number or bank account
in India, even if the recipient is not a registered
Oxigen Wallet user.
Oxigen Wallet claims to have 30 million users
and is accepted at over 9,000 merchant locations
and 10,000 online sites like Bookmyshow, ebay,
PVR, OYO Rooms, Jabong, and more. Oxigen
Wallet offers a safe, secure and convenient
payment solution via the mobile.
Loading money into Oxigen wallet app is
easy. One can use credit card, debit card or pay
cash over the counter through any of Oxigens
200,000 retailer/ partners across the country.
In 2016, Oxigen Services introduced its Micro
ATM. Oxigen MicroATM provides Aadhaar
biometric-based transactions for financial
services.
Ankur Saxena, CEO, Oxigen Wallet, said,
In terms of transaction value, the company is
planning to reach Rs.14,500 crore in FY 2016-17
in comparison to Rs.10,500 crore in FY 201516.
Speaking about security, Ankur said, Oxigen
application is pretty secure. Once you log onto
it is bound into one device. The transaction is
all encrypted so security is no concern at the
application end. Even when the phone is stolen,
it does not make much of a difference as money
is in cloud.
In the age of demonetization, mobile

"Banks should work towards making USSD

a preferable and convenient mode of
digital payments, in light of the fact that
majority of Jan Dhan account holders
would directly benefit from it"
Aruna Sundarajan
Secretary, MeitY

With The Mobile Economy: India

2016 report, all signs to a period of
tremendous growth for Indias mobile
economy, which will strongly support and
enable the governments Digital India
initiative aimed at providing broadband
connectivity to all
Mats Granryd
Director General, GSMA

The MobiKwik Lite will be available in

all major Indian languages soon. It will
work without any net connectivity too,
therefore addressing all the challenges
being faced by masses in accessing wallet
payments, be it language, connectivity or
quality of smartphones
Bipin Preet Singh
Co-founder, MobiKwik

operators like Bharti Airtel, Idea Cellular,

Reliance Jio, Tata Teleservices and Vodafone are
all banking a lot on mobile payments in a big
way. All these operators are targeting consumers
as well as merchants in an aggressive way to
increase their share from mobile payment.
Bharti Airtel through Airtel Payments Bank
has rolled out its pilot services in Rajasthan,
Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Karnataka.
Airtel has done a pilot rollout in Rajasthan, where
over 100,000 customers opened savings accounts
in less than two weeks of the commencement
of services. In Andhra Pradesh and Telangana,
Airtel Payments Bank is rolling out pilot services
across 8,000 Airtel retail outlets in Andhra
Pradesh and 7,000 outlets in Telangana, which
also act as banking points. In Karnataka, Airtel
Payments Bank is rolling out pilot services across
12,000 Airtel retail outlets. Airtel is planning 70
per cent of these banking points in rural areas,
thereby driving financial inclusion and reaching
unbanked/underbanked areas.
Customers will now be able to open bank
accounts at any of the designated Airtel retail
outlets and enjoy a host of convenient banking
services. As a special offer, customers opening a
savings account with Airtel Payments Bank will
also get one minute of Airtel mobile talk-time
for every Rupee deposited. For example, if a
customer opens an account with a deposit of
Rs.500, then he/she will get 500 minutes of free
talk-time for calls to anywhere in India on his/
her Airtel mobile number.
Shashi Arora, MD & CEO, Airtel Payments
Bank, said, We are pleased to roll out our pilot
services in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana
and look forward to serving customers and
contributing the financial inclusion vision of
the two states. We have received an extremely
positive response from customers in Rajasthan
and would like to replicate the same in Andhra
Pradesh and Telangana before we rollout our
services nationally.
Airtel Payments Bank is a fully digital and
paperless bank and customers can access services
over their mobile phones, including all feature/

basic mobile phones. Airtel will leverage its vast

customer base of over 260 million customers
and educate them on the benefits of digital
payments.
Airtel Payments Bank plans to develop
a nationwide merchant ecosystem of over 3
million partners that will include small kirana
stores, small shops and restaurants, etc.
Reliance Jio Money is also planning an
aggressive pitch and is planning to sign over 10
million small merchant retailers in the coming
weeks across 17,000 towns and 4 lakh villages.
To enable digital transactions, Reliance Jio
is working to empower Indian merchants by
building a digital retail ecosystem, called Jio
Money Merchant Solutions. This will enable

digital transactions of all types be it at mandis,

small shops, restaurants, railway ticket counters
for bus and mass transit and even for person-toperson money transfers.
Starting December 5, every merchant can
download Jio Money Merchant Solutions,
whereas customers can use their Jio Money
wallets to pay merchants from their bank
accounts, and merchants can use the Jio Money
Merchant app to accept these payments directly
into their bank accounts.
Using Jio Money Merchant App, merchants
can also make supplier payments, transfer money
between his bank account and use digital petty
cash.
The Jio Money ecosystem will be a


    

  


 

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www.varindia.com

December 2016

33

COVER STORY

Oxigen application is pretty secure.

Once you log onto it is bound into one
device. The transaction is all encrypted so
security is no concern at the application
end. Even when the phone is stolen it
does not make much of a difference as
money is in cloud
Ankur Saxena
CEO, Oxigen Wallet
committed and enthusiastic partner for the
smooth implementation of Prime Minister
Narendra Modi's game-changing vision of
creating a digitally- enabled and a strong Indian
economy.
Jio is committed to support the growth of
a digitally-enabled, optimal-cash economy in
India. In order to make this possible, JioMoney
is rapidly expanding its reach to millions of
touch points where Aadhaar-based micro-ATMs
will be deployed.
mRUPEE, a subsidiary of Tata Teleservices,
is a semi-closed wallet that is licensed by the RBI
for offering customized solutions to corporates
for simplifying employee payments and other
processes. mRUPEE will be available as a

The digital payments industry today is

worth a staggering $9 trillion. With home
to 1.25 billion people, India will still take
time to go completely digital. As on date,
payment revenues in India account for
nearly $14 billion. However, the recent
wave of demonetization is changing the
shape of the digital payment industry"
Pradeep Sampath
COO, mRUPEE

34

December 2016

www.varindia.com

payment option across all HPCL outlets, whereby

the customers can make payments through
mRUPEE. The company is also partnering with
Intex, a leading mobile phone vendor, to launch
Intex MyWallet app for its customers. Earlier
this year, the company had tied up with IRCTC
to provide a payment gateway, allowing users
one-tap payments for rail ticket bookings.
The company has also tied up with ICICI
Bank to launch a recharge facility for Delhi
Metro cards. MMPL also launched the open
loop prepaid, VISA-powered card in partnership
with RBL Bank (Ratnakar Bank). By obtaining
a PaySmart card, mRUPEE customers can
withdraw money from VISA licensed ATMs and
pay for goods and services at all merchants that
accept VISA debit/credit cards nationally.
According to Vishal Gupta, Co-founder
and CEO, Seclore Demonetisation will increase
digitization; making information fluid and easily
shareable with the right parties. Free movement
of data oils the wheels of the modern enterprise
as well as the modern government. Improved
productivity and better delivery of services are
quick and provide immediate benefits however,
the other key aspect of demonetisation is keeping
track of all digital data across organisations,
offices, networks, servers, devices and all other
things impossible with traditional security
solutions. Traditional security solutions cannot
deliver data-centric security and auditing of the
entire digital cash trail. This is only possible with
the data-centric security solutions like EDRM
offered by Seclore.
Vodafone India has announced the launch
of Vodafone M-Pesa PAY, an easy and ready-touse digital payment solution to enable merchants
and retailers to receive payments from their
customers without any exchange of cash.
To start using this digital payment solution,
retailers and merchants simply have to download
Vodafone M-Pesa app and register for Vodafone
M-Pesa PAY as a merchant. Once registered,
they can notify an individual customer to make
the payment due. Customers just need to click
on the notification and make payment digitally
using their M-Pesa wallet, bank account and
debit or credit card.
Launching Vodafone M-Pesa PAY, Sunil
Sood, MD & CEO, Vodafone India, said,
We started our journey towards enabling
financial and digital inclusion in 2013 with the
launch of Vodafone M-Pesa and have since
made considerable progress by successfully
establishing a franchise of over 8.4 million
customers and nearly 130,000 outlets across the
country. With the launch of Vodafone M-Pesa
PAY, we are accelerating this journey by creating
a platform for merchants and retailers to easily
embrace digital payments and also encourage
their millions of customers to pay via digital
currency.
All the mobile operators need to undertake
a cross-country drive to educate and onboard
retailers, merchants and consumers to start
using mobile wallets as the preferred solution
for receiving and making payments.
Digital Payment Promotions
The government petroleum PSUs/oil
marketing government companies were asked

Traditional security solutions cannot

deliver data-centric security and auditing
of the entire digital cash trail. This is only
possible with the data-centric security
solutions like EDRM offered by Seclore
Vishal Gupta
Co-founder and CEO
Seclore
by the Government to give incentive by offering
a discount at the rate of 0.75 per cent of the sale
price to consumers on the purchase of petrol/
diesel if payment is made through a digital
mode.
The government and RBI have taken
various steps to bring down the cost of digital
transactions. The MDR charges have been
brought down significantly in the case of
transactions up to Rs.2,000 made through debit
cards, i.e. 0.25 per cent in the case of transactions
below Rs.1,000 and 0.50 per cent in the case of
transactions between Rs.1,000 to Rs.2,000.
With a view to promoting digital transactions
and encouraging merchant establishments to

Indian wallet transactions over the

last 3 years by value and volume have
grown by over 500 per cent to reach $551
million and 2.6 billion respectively in
2015. In India nearly 95 per cent of all
transactions are cash based, signalling
huge opportunity and upside to this
growing usage of mobile phones for
financial transactions
LV Sastry, vice president Mobile
Banking & Commerce, Aircel

accept such card payments, the Government

has waived service tax on such amount charged
while making payments though credit card, debit
card, charge card or any other payment card.
However, this waiver is limited to payments up
to Rs.2,000 in a single transaction.
To expand digital payment infrastructure in
rural areas, the Central Government, through
NABARD, will extend financial support to
eligible banks for deployment of 2 PoS devices
each in 1 lakh villages with a population of less
than 10,000. These PoS machines are intended
to be deployed at primary cooperative societies/
milk societies/agricultural input dealers to
facilitate agri-related transactions through digital
means. This will benefit farmers of one lakh
villages, covering a total population of nearly 75
crore who will have the facility to do cashless
transaction in their villages for their agri needs.
Railways, through their suburban railway
network, will provide incentives by way of
discount up to 0.5 per cent to customers for
monthly or seasonal tickets from January 1,
2017, if payment is made through digital means.
All railway passengers buying online ticket shall
be given free accidental insurance cover of up
to Rs.10 lakh.
Public sector insurance companies will
provide incentive by way of discount or credit,
up to 10 per cent of the premium in general
insurance policies and 8% in new life policies of
Life Insurance Corporation (LIC) sold through
the customer portals, in case the payment is
made through digital means.
Public sector banks are advised that
merchants should not be required to pay more
than Rs.100 per month as monthly rental for
PoS terminals/Micro ATMs/mobile PoS from
the merchants to bring small merchants on
board the digital payment ecosystem.

Singapore, Sweden and Hong Kong are

seen as the biggest 'stand out countries.
India has a populace of more than 1.2
billion, however there's still a considerable
measure of potential for development
in broadband use. There is immense
capacity for innovation which needs to
be worked upon for better performance.
India needs to develop a world-class
digital infrastructure, through publicprivate partnerships
Suneet Singh Tuli
president & CEO, Data Wind

If security is not addressed early, the

cost and complexity of Digital India could
make it difficult to address problems
Altaf Halde
Managing Director
Kaspersky Lab South Asia
For the payment of toll at toll plazas on
National Highways using RFID cards/Fast Tags,
a discount of 10 per cent will be made available
to users in the year 2016-17.
To promote digital payment transaction in
rural and urban areas, the Ministry of Electronics
and IT (MeitY) has launched DigiShala to
inform, educate and enable 2 crore citizens in
the country to make digital transactions.
MeitY has launched DigiShala, a free to
air channel which will impart information and
education, especially in rural and semi-urban
areas relating to Digital Payment ecosystem, its
tools, benefit and processes. The channel will be
available without any subscription fee and hence
will be affordable to poor people.
To realize this objective, the Government
has also conceptualized a campaign, Digi
Dhan Abhiyan to enable every citizen, small
trader and merchant to adopt digital payments
in their everyday financial transactions. During
the campaign, citizens as well as small merchants
will be informed about various modes of digital
payments by educating them to download,
install and transact for various modes of digital
payments.
On Digishala, citizens will be informed and
educated about various digital payment options
through step-by-step demos of making digital
payments using UPI, USSD, Aadhaar-enabled
payment systems, e-Wallets, Cards, etc, along
with talk shows and panel discussions with
experts.
Speaking about free DTH channel, Shri Ravi
Shankar Prasad, Minister of Electronics and IT
and Law & Justice, said, "DigiShala will enable
and empower every citizen of the country,
especially farmers, students, Dalits and women
in rural areas to learn the usefulness and benefits
of digital payment in our everyday life and to
adopt the same on a mass scale.
Apart from electronic channel, MeitY is
also organizing DigiDhan Mela at the Major
Dhyanchand National Stadium, Delhi. The
event aims to handhold users in downloading,
installing and using various digital payment

systems for carrying out digital transactions.

MeitY is also working with the MInistry of Urban
Development and CSCs to organize DigiDhan
Mela at smaller towns, cities and villages.
DigiDhan Mela will witness participation
from banks, telecom companies, mobile wallet
operators, transportation network companies,
Aadhaar-enabled payment system (AEPS)
vendors, Department of Post, merchants
(through marketing associations), cooperatives
like Kendriya Bhandars and organized retail
fruits and vegetable chains like Safal, milk booths,
Agricultural Produce Marketing Committees,
etc.
Even NITI Aayog has launched incentive
schemes Lucky Grahak Yojana and the DigiDhan Vyapar Yojana to give cash awards to
consumers and merchants who utilize digital
payment instruments for personal consumption
expenditures. The scheme specially focusses
on bringing the poor, lower middle class and
small businesses into the digital payment fold.
The scheme will become operational with the
first draw on December 25, 2016 leading up to
a mega draw on Babasaheb Ambedkar Jayanti
on April 14, 2017. The scheme consists of two
major components one for consumers and the
other for merchants.
In Lucky Grahak Yojana for consumers,
there is a daily reward of Rs.1,000 to be given to
15,000 lucky consumers for a period of 100 days
and weekly prizes worth Rs.1 lakh, Rs.10,000 and
Rs.5,000 for consumers who use the alternate
modes of digital payments. This will include
all forms of transactions for example UPI,
USSD, AEPS and RuPay Cards, but will exclude
transactions through private credit cards and
digital wallets.
In Digi-Dhan Vyapari Yojana for merchants
weekly prizes worth Rs.50,000, Rs.5,000 and
Rs.2,500. Mega draw on April 14 will have 3
mega prizes for consumers worth Rs.1 crore,
Rs.50 lakh and Rs.25 lakh for digital transactions
between November 8, 2016 and April 13,
2017. Three mega prizes for merchants worth

Digital payment can bring down

corruption, improve traceability of funds,
reduce frauds/theft and also get rid of
fake currency
Abhishek Rungta
CEO
Indus Net Technologies

www.varindia.com

December 2016

35

COVER STORY

High MDR which are as high as 0.65

- 2% of transaction costs are one of the
biggest bottlenecks
Chinmay Agarwal
CTO & co-founder
Jugnoo
Rs.50 lakh, Rs.25 lakh and Rs.12 lakh for digital
transactions between November 8, 2016 and
April 13, 2017 will be announced on April 14,
2017.
To ensure that the focus of the scheme
is on small transactions (entered into by
common people), incentives shall be restricted
to transactions within the range of Rs.50 and
Rs.3,000. All transactions between consumers
and merchants; consumers and government
agencies and all AEPS transactions will be
considered for the incentive scheme.
The estimated expenditure on the first phase
of the scheme (up to 14th April, 2017) is likely
to be Rs.340 crore.
Digital Payment Challenges
The possibility of cybercrime, low-digital
literacy and lack of infrastructure in the remote
areas is the biggest challenge for digital payments
in India.
Commenting about the challenges, Abhishek
Rungta, CEO, Indus Net Technologies, said,
Improved infrastructure in terms of bandwidth
quality and quantity, digital literacy, financial
literacy, availability of payments software in
vernacular and simple interface and security.
Promoting digital literacy at the grassroots
level, the Government is extensively using
business correspondents and Gramin Dak
Sevaks in the rural areas both to deliver and
create an awareness.
The Government is asking telecom service
providers to provide infrastructure for having
internet facility on a continuous/permanent
basis, without any disruption for making digital
payments successful, especially in the suburban
and rural areas. Besides it, there is a need to
create good IT infrastructure for high-speed
internet and fibre-based technology needs to be
expedited.
Banks, mobile operators and mobile wallet
companies should have a strong cybersecurity
framework and should organize workshops etc
to sensitize their customers about the digital
transactions as well as the safety precautions to

36

December 2016

www.varindia.com

"We have received an extremely positive

response from customers in Rajasthan
and would like to replicate the same in
Andhra Pradesh and Telangana before we
rollout our services nationally"
Shashi Arora, MD & CEO
Airtel Payments Bank
be followed in the case of digital transactions.
Speaking about PPP, Suneet Singh Tuli,
President & CEO, DataWind, said, Singapore,
Sweden and Hong Kong are seen as the biggest
'standout countries. India has a populace
of more than 1.2 billion. However, there is
still a considerable measure of potential for
development in broadband use. There is immense
capacity for innovation which needs to be worked
upon for better performance. India needs to
develop a world-class digital infrastructure
through public-private partnership.
Commenting on cybersecurity, Altaf Halde,
Managing Director, Kaspersky Lab South
Asia, said, As part of Digital India, the Indian
Government has already planned to launch
Botnet cleaning centres. This proposal is part

Banks, mobile operators and

mobile wallet companies should
have a strong cybersecurity
framework and should organize
workshops etc to sensitize their
customers about the digital
transactions as well as the safety
precautions to be followed in
the case of digital transactions
of the national cybersecurity policy to cleanup
Botnet infections in Internet-enabled devices.
Botnet is a network of malicious software that
can remotely gain control of devices, steal
information and carry out cyber-attacks like
Distributed Denial-of-Service (DDoS) that
prevent access of websites. This facility will be
under the guidance of the national cybersecurity
watchdog Indian Computer Emergency
Response Team (CERT-IN).
Speaking on cybersecurity, Shri Ravi
Shankar Prasad, Minister of Electronics and
IT and Law & Justice, Government of India,
said, "To address concerns of cybersecurity,

Sweden and Denmark are some of the

countries who have adopted mobile
payment methods most successfully
Govind Ramamurthy
CEO & MD
eScan
the Department will soon conduct a security
drill both for the banks and NPCI. He urged
the banks to adopt villages and promote digital
inclusion and awareness about digital payments
with them. He also requested that villages with
majority tribal population be prioritized by
banks for creating awareness on digital payments
and transactions. This would be an opportunity
for banks to become change agents to spread
awareness about Digital India.
In order to ease the digital payment operations
at the level of merchants, UIDAI would shortly
roll out the common Android-based AadhaarEnabled Payment System (AEPS) application
developed in collaboration with TCS. In order
to use this application for carrying out cashless
transactions, merchants will need a smartphone
and a fingerprint scanner. Transactions on this
application can be done without any card or PIN.
The application would be made available to all
banks and the banks would encourage merchants
in their vicinity to adopt this application.
Ratan P. Watal Committee on Digital
Payment has suggested interoperability of the
payments system between banks and non-banks,
upgradation of the digital payment infrastructure
and institutions and a framework to reward
innovations and for leading efforts in enabling
digital payments.
In its report, the committee has
recommended that a medium-term strategy for
accelerating growth of Digital Payment in India
with a regulatory regime which is conducive
to bridging the Digital divide by promoting
competition, open access and interoperability
in payments. The report recommends inclusion
of financially and socially excluded groups and
assimilation of emerging technologies in the
market, while safeguarding security of digital
transactions and providing a level-playing field
to all stakeholders and new players who will
enter this new transaction space.
All these initiatives will definitely help India
in achieving $10 trillion by 2030. n
Pravin Prashant
pravin@varindia.com

Channel event

Ingram Tech Forum 2016

Introduces its Partners & End-Customers to

THE NEW FUTURE

Ingram Tech Forum 2016 organized in the cities of Delhi, Mumbai

and Bengaluru was an eye-opener for customers and enterprises and
attempted to answer relevant questions on technology disruption -

Ingram Micro would also like to take this opportunity in thanking their Participating Vendors
viz HP, VMWARE, EMERSON, IBM, AXIS , CISCO AND DELL EMC, in its first year

he wholesale provider of supply chain

services and technology products,
Ingram Micro has recently organized the Ingram
Tech Forum 2016, a series of sessions in three
major cities of India- Delhi, Bangalore and
Mumbai. Aimed at establishing a strong connect
with CIOs and its partners, the Forum covered
the day in 2 sessions the morning session and
the evening session.
While the morning session was designed
for the end customers, the evening session
was kept entirely for connecting with its
channel partners. Both the morning and

the evening sessions in all the cities tried to

update and take its customers and partners
through the bouquet of its enterprise-grade
solutions.
By organizing a Forum of such grandeur,
Ingram Micro also became the first national
distributor in the country to be conducting
an event where it brought together all the top
OEMs in the country, and which no other
distributor has attempted earlier. Ingram
plans to make it an annual practice and
is contemplating of coming up with such
events every year.

The top OEMs of the country such as

HPE, VMware, IBM, Axis Communications,
VMware, Emerson and Dell EMC participated
in the forum, promising high level of
premiumness to all the guests attending the
event. Some of the notable industry leaders
who attended these sessions include names
like Santosh Shriyan, Channel Business Leader
West, IBM India; Prasun Talukdar, Country
Manager-Channel, HPE; Rohan Bhasin from
IBM, Sanjay Achawal, Executive Director,
Ingram Micro India, Kannan Rangamani,
Director Sales, Ingram Micro.

The Morning Session

The Tech Forum 2016
envisioned focusing on areas
of development, challenges and
notions that surround the IT
industry. The Forum brought to
light and discussed several industry
norms and notions pertaining to
digital transformation, ongoing
trends in the IT distribution space,
besides discussing the entire IT
eco-system at large comprising of
latest trends in Big Data, Power
Management, data security, the

printing industry and so on.

Industry leaders like Santosh
Shriyan, Channel Business Leader
West, IBM India; Prasun Talukdar,
Country Manager-Channel, HPE
spoke about the challenges that
customers face in the new digital
disruption era and about the Cloud
Security landscape that needs to
be a high area of concern for end
customer visibility.
In the Bangalore session, The
changing face of distribution and

38

December 2016

SI biz in India, Sanjay Achawal,

Executive Director, Ingram Micro
India put forward his views on the
cloud competencies of Ingram and
also discussed how partners can
reap benefit from these offerings.
He also highlighted the fact of
how Ingrams transformation has
taken place from a conventional
distributor to an end-to-end player
in IT distribution space over the
years.
In Delhi, the session was
initiated by Manoj Pandey, GM,
North, Ingram Micro India.
Continuing on the theme of the
session and keeping the agenda of
Secure, Analyze and Prosper intake,
he addressed various accounts
on how to power the Next Gen
Enterprise. He also affirmed the
position of Ingram Micro as the
Giant Distribution Network and
defined the companys pan India
coverage that will be of outmost
help for the partner community.
In
the
Ingram
Micro
TechForum 2016 organized in
Mumbai, the forum focused on the
future roadmap and strategic vision
to improve industry portfolio.
Atul Gaur, Executive Director
Mobility, Ingram Micro India who
opened the session mentioned that
Ingram Micro has continuously
increased the product offerings
and also enhanced its services.
He further highlighted that the
company at present has more than

www.varindia.com

20,000 channel partners and over

100 vendors and that it acts as a
link between technology provider,
OEMs to fulfill customer needs via
its capabilities.
In all the cities, different formats
of interactions were designed which

aimed at a 2-way communication

with the audience. So while there
was an interactive Coffee session
organized in Mumbai, there were
respectively an open discussion and
a panel discussion designed for the
cities of Delhi and Bengaluru.

The Evening Session

Transformation to Digital is not easy. Vendors always need the support of its partner eco-system to serve its clients in order to bring bigger dividends
for their work. The evening session of the Ingram Tech Forum 2016 put forth several opportunities harping at the greater good for the partner
community and on how they can leverage these opportunities.
Senior Ingram Micro executives set the agenda and roadmaps for the future association between the leading technology OEMs and the channel
fraternity. Since the companys business model was entirely partner driven, Ingram Micro emphasized that the thrust of the sessions with partners was
to decide what the business solutions that they develop should look like.

Vendor Presentation & Solution Displays

Prasun Talukdar, Country Manager-Channel, HPE dealt with the

challenges faced by companies in his interaction. He stressed upon the
buzzword of a phenomena that disruption of technology is becoming
the new norm and showed several statistics as to how 70% of the Tech
landscape is wireless in support of his statements on current trends
hovering over the technology circuit. India ranks 77th in the league of
Digitized nations. Going by the inroads made in the nations tech circuit,
by 2020 we might be in a position to witness the value creation of Indias
landscape to peak billions. He was also quick to opine that 2020 will be
the eventful year in which we will see the Nation adding another feather
to its cap, by earning the sobriquet of ranking in the order of countries
that will be having the highest GDP growth by making inroads in verticals
ranging from Social Mobility to IOT.
Milind Sonawane, Sr Sales Engineer, Nimble Storage on his part
elucidated Nimbles school of thought and relationship with buyers and
partners.
Discussing about security, Santosh Shriyan, Channel Business Leader
West, IBM India said that as 55% of the attacks are from insider threats,
only the perimeter security is not enough. Cloud security is the first step towards end user visibility. He also mentioned that IBM has a diverse and wide
security portfolio. There is a need for a holistic and integrated approach towards cybersecurity that takes all factors into consideration. IBM has the
most diverse and deepest security portfolio, he said.
IBM also provided a demonstration of its security systems for servers since on-premise security was a crucial area of concern.
Santosh Kulkarni, Country Manager, Business development- Smart Solutions, Emerson Network Power touched upon the points that stand
advantageous for partners, whosoever will avail Data Center Solutions from Emerson. He quipped that in the case of Data Centers, there are some pre
determiners which are there by default such as metrics ranging from monitoring to smoke detection, water leak detection, temperature measurement,
fire suppression and cooling features in-built within the rack of Data Centers that are critical for the health and congenial functioning of the Data
Center Installation deployment itself. He informed that Emerson in the Data Center segment has a large product offering in store. Emerson India is
becoming Vertiv in 2017 and is currently undergoing a transition. Our transition shall not impact any areas of our business, he announced. Kulkarni
also expressed a great degree of knowledge with regard to Big Data.
Vincy Kwatra, Distribution Account Manager, Axis Communications held a session on surveillance and physical security. He shared some of the
latest surveillance technology by Axis Communications. Some of these were being used in border control applications and other areas demanding the
highest degree of security. He also shed some light on the work that Axis was doing towards the Internet of Things (IoT) since it was a strong emerging
field. Kwatra said, Zatar is an IoT enabled platform that makes it easy to build IoT enabled devices and apps.
There were also sessions that focused on the role of the Internet of Things, the opportunities in analytics and cognitive computing, disruptive
technologies such as 3D printing.

To conclude
Amidst all the powerful
presentations, what became
clear is the fact that Information
Technology as a standalone
entity has come of age and it
stands tall. It is no longer a part
of the business, like it used to be
a few years back. The audience
also agreed that cloud security is

a crucial aspect for quality end

user visibility as hackers generally
attack devices rather than
security systems. At a time when
the world is witnessing paradigm
shifts in the global technological
circuit, Data is the new buzzword
and Digital Disruption is
the new phenomena. Also, in

the wake of digital technology

and start-up ecosystem gaining
pace, the industry is leveraging
technologies such as analytics,
datacenters, cloud computing,
networking etc.
The Ingram TechForum in the
coming years aims to reinforce
the relation with its CIOs further

to help them easily undergo the

transformation. The Forum
also served as a realization that
the leading Distributor tried to
wake up its partners to, before
it became too late for them to
catch up with the new business
developments discussed during
the course of the event. n

www.varindia.com

December 2016

39

lead STORY

Is Endpoint Security the answer to

Advanced Persistent Threat?

With India going through a major digitization drive and with the current security landscape under constant threat, the
rise in the demand for integrated endpoint security solutions has gone up. The endpoint security market finds huge

opportunity to proliferate in the next five years. But are these solutions sufficient to avert advanced threats?

he threat landscape in the country, and

the world, is changing by the minute.
According to a report by Data Security Council
of India (DSCI), India's cybersecurity market
size is about $4 billion, which is expected to
grow to $35 billion by 2025. According to
Gartner, the overall IT spend on security in
India in 2016 is expected to reach $1.12 billion,
10 percent up from $1.01 billion in 2015.
Putting forth his views on the same, Altaf
Halde, Managing Director Kaspersky Lab
South Asia says, It is important to understand

the gigantic growth we are expecting within

the next 2 years, to understand the impact area
of all potential threats
By 2018, we are expecting that one in
five people in the world, thats in excess of 1.5
billion people, will be shopping online.

By 2017, 60% of e-commerce
business will come through smart phones.

More and more attacks are being
discovered every month, that can go very long,
undetected
In light of all these facts, the threat

landscape in India is not just very complicated,

it offers unique challenges.

There are significant cyber security
threats to buyers, sellers and payment system
providers alike. Not to mention businesses,
especially the solely online ones, who have
everything at stake

Very intelligent, smart attacks such
as ProjectSauron will target highly sensitive
businesses

During high activity seasons, such as
sales during festivals, criminals try to connect

Jitendra Ghughal
National Channel Manager, India & SAARC,
Fortinet

Shibu Paul
Regional Director (IN, GCC & SEA) - Array
Networks

Sunil Kripalani
Senior Vice President - Global Sales &
Marketing eScan

40

December 2016

www.varindia.com

Sudeep Das
Manager Presales
RSA
their malicious campaigns such as phishing.
According to Sunil Kripalani, Senior Vice
President - Global Sales & Marketing eScan,
endpoint security has now extended beyond
the fixed desktops to laptops and BYOD
devices that are also used in other unsecured
Wi-Fi environments. This invariably puts
the risk of being compromised by a cyberattack or malware, which might use the host
endpoint as bots to enter into a network later.
Apart from this the usage of storage devices
which are not authorized or compromised
could also be carrier of the malware to bring
down a network when used in a network which
is not using endpoint security to protect its
network.
Data is the single most vital asset that
corporations own today; a security breach
results in financial losses and causes a bigger
dent on reputation. Supporting his views with
his own observations,
Murali Ramalingam, Country ManagerSales, Ixia says that Indian enterprises have
started to realize that cyberattacks affect their
business continuity, agility, and brand image
equally. We have noticed that companies
across verticals are now investing significantly
in network security solutions to fend off future
attacks. Growth in online and digital data has
played a significant role in driving the security
market in India. Indian enterprises are more
vulnerable to security attacks as they have not
adopted and implemented the best of security
solutions available. He further continues, We
recommend organizations to look at security as
a continuous practice than just an IT function.
Test before you deploy, monitor when you go
live and secure continuously, do not wait for an
attack to occur.
Ajay Dubey, Senior Channel Manager,
Forcepoint opines that the enterprise and
consumer threat landscape is in for a tectonic
shift in the coming times. There would be the
need of a blend of technology and strategy
to combat security threats as cyber threats
today are more complex and targeted and
customized to attack a particular networks
vulnerabilities. A most visible change in the
landscape now is the fact that customers are
investing in Forensics and are interested in the
Post Facto. They are looking at solutions that
leverage data modelling, big data, analytics to
identify anomalies in user behaviour to protect
networks, he says.
It is indeed becoming important for

organisations to reshape their cybersecurity

approach in order to survive the digital cyber
attack. IT Security needs to evolve from a
support conversation to become a boardroom
agenda. CTOs as well as CSOs should now
play a bigger role for IT to demonstrate that
technology can deliver what the business wants
in a secure fashion, he further says.
In the last few years, there have been
numerous systematized security breaches
in India that have caused data losses worth
millions of dollars. The recent ATM security
breach in the country should be an eye opener
for the enterprises and government to take
network security seriously. There is immense
need for developing strong security practices
within banks and have separate IT/IS and
cyber security budget.
The cyber security landscape and climate
feels like theres storm after storm happening
almost on a daily basis, and reminds us that
when it rains it pours. Data breaches are not
stopping, and emerging cyber threats are leaving
bigger business impact than ever. For many
individuals and organizations, information
technology (IT) is no longer an ancillary part of
the business but a key ingredient for success,

Ajay Dubey
Senior Channel Manager,
Forcepoint
observes Jitendra Ghughal, National Channel
Manager, India & SAARC, Fortinet.
According to him, innovation is a good
thing because it makes our lives better. But
it can also represent another entry point for
threat actors and hackers. For example,
LinkedIn made it easier for professionals to
stay connected but also introduced additional
risks. Clearly, there werent data breach reports
about 100 million LinkedIn accounts being
compromised 15 years ago because there
was no LinkedIn at that time. Why does this
matter? Each new innovation is yet another
opportunity or entry point for the bad guys to
launch an attack against a potential victim, he
says.
The move to ramp up local cybersecurity
expertise is well timed to augment the
countrys focus on Digital India, a campaign
mooted by Prime Minister Narendra Modi,
to use technology in government and offer
government-to-citizen services. The Indian
government has been bullish in its digitization
efforts. Digital India, the Aadhaar movement,
and becoming a cashless economy are just a
few examples. Its important to realize that as

we digitize and rely more on technology, we

become more vulnerable to cyber attacks. India
is an attractive target for cyber attacks, thanks
in part to geopolitical tensions and relatively
weak defences due to an underinvestment in
cyber security, says Vishak Raman, Senior
Regional Director for India and SAARC
FireEye.
He further points out that advanced attacks
arent the only concern. Cyber criminals are
also growing more sophisticated and more
successful. Over the past year, FireEye has
observed a sharp rise a cyber threat called
ransomware. FireEye found ransomware
detections increased 292 times from November
2015 to February 2016, says Vishak.
At the same time it is also true that today
organizations are spending millions of dollars
on traditional endpoint security and losing the
battle against advanced threat groups. This
is because most existing endpoint security
solutions use conventional antivirus and antispam software and host intrusion prevention
services that are useful against commodity
malware but ineffective against advanced
attacks, he adds.
Factors driving endpoint
Security market...
Verticals that can be seen to actively adopt
end point security solutions are e-commerce,
finance, banking, telecom, healthcare, IT &
Telecom, energy, online payment systems and
many more. However, in keeping with the
Indian governments very aggressive stance on
going digital, the government leads the race in
adopting endpoint solutions.
The endpoint security market in India as
well as the globe are primarily driven by factors
such as need to address IT risks, growing
trend of Bring Your Own Device (BYOD)
in organisations and increasing number of
internal threats. Moreover, the growing demand
for mobile and tablet security solutions is also
driving the demand for endpoint security. The
verticals that are increasingly adopting endpoint
security solutions include BFSI, healthcare, and
IT and Telecom verticals, Government and
defense verticals, asserts Nilesh Jain, Country
Manager, (India and SAARC) - Trend Micro.
Ajay concedes that endpoint security is the
first step to fight against cyber attack. The
endpoint security market is specifically driven by
factors, such as the need to mitigate IT security
risks and increase in the frequency of internal

Murali Ramalingam
Country Manager-Sales,
Ixia

www.varindia.com

December 2016

41

lead STORY
infrastructure level, till the last point, are the
driving factors. The more we move to remote
working, the more the importance for endpoint
visibility and compliance to policies, he says.

Manoj Taskar
Country Manager
Tenable
threats. In a tossup between the conventional
method of having core investments in central
location and pushing updates to end point
versus a modern approach of equipping the
end points with analytics and other tools,
the modern approach is gaining traction, he
adds.
Increased penetration of mobile devices
is further fuelling the market growth. People
are nowadays increasingly using their mobiles
to shop online, pay bills and access social
networking sites. Jitendra states that while a
majority of businesses are already leveraging the
advantages of connected IoT devices, 92% of
security professionals are concerned about the
security challenges posed by these billions of
devices. Many of these devices are headless
offering few or no security or management
controls. This has exponentially increased the
attack surface and left IT struggling to manage
IoT devices using complex architectures
consisting of numerous point solutions. So IoT
is a security problem for all verticals BFSI,
Government, Healthcare, Retail, Education,
Manufacturing or even home networks, he
says.
The primary driving force behind the
endpoint security market is the sheer numbers,
points out Altaf. Billions of people are
expected to come into the net of active online
services. As more and more people get online
to buy, sell, watch movies, shop and game, the
need for endpoint security is growing rapidly
by the minute.
The incidents that are being reported
internally within organisations and the
inability to investigate these incidents using
the existing tools is driving security managers
to look further. Organisations are spending
significant amounts to engage consultants to
help with their incident investigations; security
teams are realising that they need to realign
their investments to ensure effective protection
against these threats. While we are seeing
accelerated adoption within the Banking and
Financial Services industries we are also seeing
quick adoption by the IT/ITES companies as
well for their internal security, says Sudeep
Das Manager Presales RSA.
Manoj Taskar, Country Manager - Tenable
feels that factors like remote working,
BYOD and cloud have changed the endpoint environment in a significant way. The
need for visibility of endpoint vulnerabilities
coupled with compliance requirements at the

42

December 2016

www.varindia.com

Large organizations vs
smaller organizations Which
is more vulnerable?
India has a thriving Micro, Small, Medium
Enterprises (MSMEs) ecosystem of over 40
million business firms. They are also a ripe
target for cyber attackers as they are more
connected to the Internet than ever before,
yet their cyber security capabilities are more
limited than businesses elsewhere. Many Indian
MSMEs lack the technology, intelligence and
expertise required to deal with even relatively
modest cyber security threats.
It must not be forgotten that attackers
today target 'low-hanging fruit' in order to
gain dominance over an organization. It can be
through the companys vendors, phishing of

Vishak Raman
Senior Regional Director for India and SAARC
FireEye
employees and staff to get unauthorized access
to business sensitive data, etc. SMBs need to be
as cautious as large businesses.
Most importantly, Mid-level organisations
do not have the budgets that larger
organizations do. This definitely exposes them
to greater security threats, because hackers have
understood this and have been attacking smalland-mid-sized organisations more and more in
the past decade. The main threats that these
organizations face are in the form of physical
attacks on systems, authentication attacks, and
malicious internet content. As per a report
released by PwC, small firms are cutting down
their investment on security, which is a huge
mistake.
SMEs are preferred targets for
cybercriminals as automation makes it easy
to attack them by the thousands, and far
too many of them are easy targets. It is the
data that makes a business tempting, not the
size especially if it is relevant data, such as
customer contact info, credit card data, health
data, or valuable intellectual property, points
out Nilesh.
SMB and mid-level organization are often
seen to be struggling, more so because of the
mindset of being a small organization and
not a matter of interest for cybercriminals. In
the absence of appropriate security controls,
organizations mostly tend to delay in incident

detection and response and may sometimes

even fail to detect incidents. However, some
of the SMBs are relying on cost effective cloud
security solution or moving their business
applications in cloud to address application
availability and security concerns along with the
cost, observes Shibu Paul, Regional Director
(IN, GCC & SEA) - Array Networks.
It is important to note here that smaller
organizations increasingly serve as vendors,
contractors, and business partners of bigger
firms, and as such they may have trusted access
to the networks and data of these partners.
SMEs indeed need to improve their security
within their budget by going for cloud based
solutions.
Large organisations on the other hand
are relatively better prepared to battle the
online threats. They have sufficient budgets
and manpower allocated to manage their
digital security. This makes it much easier
to understand the security threats for the
organization and hence, look for the best
integrated security suites.
However, despite an experienced CISO
leading a competent team, there have been
some common challenges that even the larger
organisations face
Under-estimating potential threats:
Even if they do not seem very threatening
currently, some threats can quickly spiral out
of control.

Distribution of the budget: Often,
more budgets are routed to some areas, while
other areas suffer from being short-funded.
This leaves some very crucial endpoints open
to large threats.

Understanding which suite works best
for the company: Very often, companies go for
the most popular integrate security suite that
is prevalent in their industry. Sometimes, that
may not be the best suite for that particular
company. Each organization, due to its unique
structure, needs a customized security solution.
What works for most companies, may not work
for you. So, theres a need to understand what
are the best suite options for a company.

Keeping the security budget constant
through the years: As security threats increase,
the solutions need to fast adapt. Newer, better
technology sometimes costs more than older
one. This means that the security budgets
need to grow, with the times. A budget that
worked last year, may not work this year. And
in the compulsion to maintain it, companies

Sunil Sharma
VP- Sales (India & SAARC)
Sophos

Altaf Halde
Managing Director - Kaspersky Lab South
Asia
sometimes keep a large part of the business
either unsecured or under-covered.
There is however no difference between
the security required by an enterprise and that
required by a small business other than in
the scale and resources to manage it. Small
businesses face a significant competitive
disadvantage if they cannot respond effectively
to incidents, and face the same penalties as
the enterprise. The vanishing perimeter due
to cloud-based services, social media, remote
offices, Internet of Things, roaming workers
and BYOD brings new security challenges,
opines Sunil Sharma, VP- Sales (India &
SAARC), Sophos.
The truth is that everyone with a
computer on the Internet is vulnerable, and
disruptive attacks have become a legitimate
issue. Businesses must plan and prepare
accordingly. The best way is to detect threats
before it disrupts the system of the victim,
suggests Vishak.
India is still in a stage where the ability to
understand whats going on in the network is
still in an early stage when compared to other
countries. This is something that has to be
addressed because todays networks have no
boundaries. Cyber attacks can happen in India
as it can happen in Australia or in any other part
of the world. We have to make our customers
understand its no longer a question of if I will
be breached its a question of when I will be
breached, Jitendra clarifies his point.
Regardless of size of the company, security
would depend upon scale of network and tools
implemented. It is often observed that nature
of business would determine the amount of
risk a business is exposed to. For instance, an
SMB bank would be more vulnerable to cyberattack than a SMB IT services company. Budget
for security or for any investment comes from
companys topline. Having a huge security
budget and spending a lot on security doesnt
still guarantee being safe. The recipe here is to
employ right tools. There have been instances
of biggest corporations from fortune 500
companies employing huge amount of security
budgets but still got breached.
Sudeep however observes a steady rise in
the level of awareness and purpose in large
organisations to work on integrated security
suites the need to share information across
tools to provide richer context to every incident
investigations is a basic requirement for effective
and complete response procedures. RSAs view

is that realignment and reprioritisation of existing

investments should allow any organisation to
build capabilities around modern threats. The
new generation security tools are not necessarily

Nilesh Jain
Country Manager- (India and SAARC), Trend
Micro
more capital intensive than existing security
products; what is needed for organisations is to
assess the efficacy of existing investments and
plan the most appropriate plan to upgrade the
approach towards security, he says.
Is endpoint security sufficient
to thwart threats?
So now the question is, with so many threats
emerging every day, is having merely an endpoint
security enough to avert them. The answer
is no. While these are great for preventing a
lot of attacks, many advanced threats will slip
through.
Apart from endpoint security, businesses
must try to also cover:

Virtualisation Security

Mobile Security

Anti-Targeted Attacks

DDoS Protection

Security Intelligence Services

Security for Data Centers

Fraud Prevention

Industrial Cyber Security

Targeted Security for Business

Jitendra puts across several pointers

on how a business can be far from getting
breached or compromised. The response
to increasingly complicated networked
environments needs to be simplicity. Securing
these evolving environments requires three
things:

Collaborative intelligence Local
and global threat intelligence needs to be
shared between security devices, and a
coordinated response between devices needs
to be orchestrated centrally.

Segmentation - Networks need to
be intelligently segmented into functional
security zones.

Universal policy - A centralized
security policy engine that determines trust
levels between network segments, collects real
time threat information, establishes a unified
security policy, and distributes appropriate
orchestrated policy enforcement
Sunil too vouches for an integrated
approach to IT Security deployment that he
feels is essential to stay safe from advance
cyber threats. Few of the important steps to
be followed is to implement a robust advance
level security solution across gateway and
endpoints, train & educate the employees on
security policies and on the use of Handheld
or laptop devices with utmost care while
using in unsecured wi-fi networks and thirdly
to create a strong IT security policy across
organization.
And so...
Low awareness of the risks posed by cyber
attacks is a big challenge to an organization in
India, irrespective of its size, because today, it
is far too easy to disrupt the operations of an
Indian company with easily available tools. A
sound security strategy that recognizes shifts
in the threat landscape is thus the need of the
hour that can help mitigate these risks. n
Samrita Baruah
samrita@varindia.com

www.varindia.com

December 2016

43

VAR CORPORATE

Triggering transformation
with new-age marketing
Deliver on Brand Promise
Sify, believes in selling experiences, not just products. The team took
complete ownership of delivering a holistic experience to our customers,
which is aligned to our brand promise. A handshake between Sales, Marketing
& Customer Support department was crucial to ensure consistency in
messaging, approach and adherence to corporate values across all customer
touchpoints. The teams worked together closely and also captured, shared
and interpreted customer insights methodically. The end result was customers
became brand ambassadors. Customers have spoken candidly about their
delightful journey with Sify at various industry forums. Some of those videos
can be found on Sifys Youtube channel (hyper link)

Sifys recognitions:
DQ LIVE National Award for Best Technology for Social
Cause - Department of Posts
Best Enterprise Data Center, 2015 The Economic Times
CIO Choice Award, 2016 (Managed Network Solutions, Data
Center Transformation Services and Integrated Data Center
Solutions)
One of Indias Top 100 IT Giants, 2016
Microsoft Hosting Partner of the Year, 2016
Business Superbrand for the Year, 2016-2017

Marketing today is not just the brand custodian but also holds complete
responsibility for product innovation, customer experience and organizational
alignment with new-age technology to impact business outcomes.
The dynamic team at Sify Technologies Ltd., led by the passionate, nextgen, digitally-savvy, data-driven marketer Arvind Saxena Group Marketing
Head, is ushering in a transformation. Arvind has expertly orchestrated a
higher brand recall in less than a year leveraging digital disruption supported
ably by a young, dynamic and energetic marketing team.
The team at Sify had a unique challenge on hand; the challenge was that
Sify enjoyed a stronger recall as of its initial positioning as a retail Internet
services but a very feeble communication of its existing capabilities in the
market today. A complete re-positioning of the brand as a ICT Powerhouse
was required.
The team introduced new-age disruptive marketing techniques and
aligned them seamlessly with the existing business plan. A deep focus on
performance marketing from Day One to ensure bottom-line growth was
identified as the single-point agenda for all marketing efforts. Data-driven
insights shaped all omni-channel marketing campaigns and decisions at all
times.
Deliver CAPTIVATING Customer Experiences:
The team invested significantly in delivering deeper, more engaging
customer experiences this year. The team used event and experiential
marketing techniques to connect with customers, learn about their challenges
and experiences and gather feedback and inputs for product innovation. They
established marketing synergies with Global & Local players to build a deeper
connect with customers that further helped in mapping customer journey
with technology, people and processes that form part of the journey. Analysis
of mountains of our internal data with valuable customer insights revealed
trends and opportunities that had potential for significant bottom-line
growth.

44

December 2016

www.varindia.com

Digital Literacy
In order to fill critical skill gaps and better prepare the entire team
to leverage digital and communicate effectively, the team conducted
comprehensive workshops and boot camps keeping in mind the complexity
of the new-age marketing responsibilities. Use of new technology and tools
has made it simpler for the teams to crunch mountains of data and extract
meaningful, actionable insights for personalized, targeted and impactful
marketing.
The team proactively interacted with functional teams across the
organization to embrace digital technologies, so as to simplify the way they
work and interpret data. This organization-wide digital transformation helped
Sify become further aligned, effective and agile as a company. In this new
age of Digital Disruption, companies that will not reinvent themselves and
innovate across teams and borders, will struggle with customer delight and
loyalty issues in the long run.
The new value proposition in the new world
From a business perspective, Sify wants to build pay-as-you-go revenue
models for most of the solutions, to make it far more convenient and costeffective for the customers. With the ever-increasing industry convergence,
customers today have no dearth of options. A genuine attempt at improving
their overall product experience and cost-effectiveness will go a long way in
enriching these relationships.
Sify leverages its healthy ecosystem of partnerships to deliver value to
these enterprises. The more the participants in the ecosystem, the more
comprehensive the offering and greater the reach. Today Sify is a trusted
technology partner for Enterprises across industries. A recently concluded
Brand Recall survey commissioned by Sify in partnership with a leading media
house suggests an increase by 60% over the last 6 months period in Sifys Top
of Mind Brand recall. Nearly 72% of the target audience base has experienced
a favorable change in perception of Sify. Service Reliability accounted for the
most prominent brand attribute followed by Domain Expertise, Customer
Experience and Innovation. Our converged ICT ecosystem and 'bring it on'
attitude gives a competitive advantage to our customers.
Arvind Saxena
Group Marketing Head, Sify Technologies Ltd.

PRODUCT OF THE MONTH

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December 2016

45

lead STORY

Open Source: An Enabler of Digital

Transformation in India
Digital Transformation is gaining momentum in India. Cloud, mobility, big data, IoT and
security are among the few technologies that are helping India to take this major leap. But
along with it, open source is playing an important role in this big transformation. Vendors from
the industry speak out of how open source is facilitating this digital transformation -

pen Source is the new paradigm change

that is sweeping the industry away
from the traditional proprietary software model.
The major feature of Open Source platform
is flexibility and above all the freedom of
innovation. The platform offers liberty to create
or build, modify and use as per the requirement.
So the more is your freedom the more it becomes
accessible to the masses, the more is the area of
data, because data transformation is always about
transcending the barriers or allowing people to
balance work life and personal life and give the
maximum output.
The open source platform has underwent a lot
of innovation in the past which has empowered
organizations to experience new and advanced

technologies at a reasonable price. Open

Source has witnessed rapid innovation over the
past few years. It has enabled organisations to
explore newer technologies at competitive prices
without having to invest in proprietary software
thus allowing them to focus on other facets of
the Digital Transformation process. Apart from
scalability and cost, Open Source is addressing
the needs terms of choices of innovation, cost,
security and flexibility. It allows organizations
to gain benefits not only from their own
employees but also from the entire open source
community, opines Neeraj Bhatia, Director
- Partner, Alliances & Commercial Sales, Red
Hat.
Organizations are seeing Open Source as

a flexible and innovationenabling alternative

to various non-Open Source Options. Since
innovations budgets are also limited within
organizations, Open Source is playing an
important role and as such has become very
popular over the last five years. Open Source
is expected to provide flexible & customizable
platforms that can be readily be deployed. For
e.g. Several Global 2000 companies already use
Drupal as a platform for their websites, offering
benefits such as rapid development, extensive
API support and being SEO & mobile friendly.
So, in the digital age where customers are looking
for an omnichannel customer experience,
Open Source helps in adopting strategies
that fulfil the requirements of customers by

Kalyan Kumar
Executive Vice President & Chief Technology
Officer IT Services, HCL Technologies

Neeraj Bhatia
Director - Partner, Alliances & Commercial
Sales, Red Hat

George Chacko
Principal Systems Engineer & Lead Technical
Consultant, Brocade

46

December 2016

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Girish Gupta
Girish Gupta, Technical Services Director Citrix Systems

Rajarshi Bhattacharyya
Country Head,
SUSE

Dr. Devasia Kurian

Founder & CEO
*astTECS

delivering innovative products & services, said

Kalyan Kumar, Executive Vice President &
Chief Technology Officer IT Services, HCL
Technologies.
The industry is increasingly embracing
open source telephony, since it offers a service
delivery platform that is interoperable with the
existing infrastructure, offers a wide variety of
intelligent applications that can be customized
to suit the organizations requirement and
simplifies communications management along
with extensive flexibility and scalability to launch
and sustain all mission critical requirements.
I would like to make a strong statement here
that By 2018, 99% of the Companies will
embrace Open Source in one form or other,
observed Dr. Devasia Kurian, Founder & CEO,
*astTECS.
Open Source platform has strengthened its
position because it is such kind of a platform
that can be modified by anyone and everyone
in the vendor community. This leads to a faster
innovation process.
The
modern
enterprise
embraces
open source capabilities to accelerate its
digital transformation efforts. Open source
components increasingly underpin today's major
technology markets. It has reduced the cost of
creating and developing new digital platforms
that drive transformation. Open source has
solidified its position as the platform best able
to deliver these types of solutions as a result of
the fact that an entire community can innovate
faster than any one vendor. There is a significant
shift in networking as well around open source
with software-based networking solutions.
Increased traction is seen in OpenDaylight,
a Linux Foundation Project which is a multicompany open source software project building
a platform to further adoption and innovation
in Software-Defined Networking (SDN). This
platform unites industry leaders in developing
an open SDN platform in a vendor-neutral
environment and is significant example on
open source in the networking domain, stated
George Chacko, Principal Systems Engineer &
Lead Technical Consultant, Brocade.

in areas like Operating Systems, Databases

Software etc. and with the growing popularity it
will also be embraced in other areas.
We are seeing a significant increase in
Open Source adoption by both small and big
enterprises. Over last five years, amount of
investments in open source has increased many
folds. The rate of adoption of Open source is
highest among areas/technologies like Operating
Systems, Databases Software/Dev Tools etc.
Going forward we expect this focus to grow and
cover other areas like Service/Support etc, said
Kalyan Kumar.
Enterprises are witnessing great value in
adoption of Open Source technology. It is
offering innovation, architectural control and
thus attracting investments.The open source
technology is also creating an impression on
Software Defined Network (SDN). In SDN,
Openstack is gaining momentum and is adopted
widely by small and large enterprises.
Software defined is also getting impacted

Technical Services Director - Citrix Systems

said, From an open source perspective, we
have regular investments in these areas. It
started when we acquired XenSource based
on open source hypervisor of Xen platform.
One of the recent investment is in Software
Defined Networks (SDN) technology in a
project called OpenDaylight. Apart from
us there are investments from Cisco, IBM
etc. It is an industry movement for building
programmable networks that are flexible and
responsive to organizations' and users' needs.
OpenDaylight, the largest open source SDN
controller, is helping lead this transition.
He further added that Citrix is enabling lot
of organizations that want to use open source
as a medium to deliver applications or desktops.
A lot of times the secure and performance
aspects of it are not met and then at that
point our technology comes into play. A lot
of government agencies use our technology
to deliver a Linux desktop or a Linux hosted
application to remote branch offices.
Talking from an architecture perspective,
Traditional Rights Management vendors had
kept a closed and limited usage architecture.
However now the market is changing and
players like Seclore is on the forefront of the
new paradigm. Robust and easy-to-use APIs are
the key concepts used by Seclore for its Open
Rights Management Architecture, this helps
to seamlessly integrate with any Enterprises
IT infrastructure. According to Abhijit Tannu,
Founder & CTO, Seclore, APIs are available
for File Protect and Unprotect functions
that are typically used when automatically
protecting files are being downloaded from
or uploaded to enterprise systems. Whats
more Seclore APIs and SDKs are optimized
for high-volume usage and are designed for
scalability which is a key ask of many industry
leading CIOs and CISOs.
The biggest example is however Microsoft
that is bringing a big revolution into the
Open Source field. The tech giant now has
its own BSD Unix operating system, supports
Ubuntu as a subsystem on Windows 10, and
recently open-sourced the Xamarin software
development kit. Earlier this year, Microsoft
and Canonical partnered up to bring Ubuntu
to Windows 10 to make it easier for developers
to write programs for Ubuntu on the Azure
cloud. Its liking towards open source just
deepens.

Investments in Open Source

Regular investments are needed to improve
and develop a technology and a good traction
for Open Source technology is being observed.
Both small and big enterprises are moving
towards Open Source. It is now widely accepted

Rahul Chopra
Open Source
India
big time due to Open Source technologies. The
major impact is led by OpenStack. OpenStack
is seeing good adoption by various small and
big enterprises. The enterprises are making
investments into implementation, design and
support for OpenStack and its related versions.
Key businesses that are adopting OpenStack
include CSPs, telecommunications companies
etc. Businesses are able to see value in using
Open Source as being enabler of innovation and
architectural control with unlimited opportunities
to experiment, added Kalyan Kumar.
Reiterating similar views, Girish Gupta,

www.varindia.com

December 2016

47

lead STORY
Digital India & Open Source
Like said, the market is evolving from
proprietary solution to Open Source
solutions, designed to support next-generation
communications. In fact, talking of India, a
significant amount of work in the field of
Open Source has happened in the government
of India earlier as well, but nothing much
concrete had come out so far. However of late,
the momentum is seen to have risen with the
government's new Open Source policy coming
in place, and this is making things hopeful for
different agencies of the Government of India
to be implementing open source very soon.
There is a myth around Open Source that
security is the biggest concern. But it is a fact
that this technology is more secured because the
techniques deployed has to be more robust so
that no one can breach the security. Moreover,
the major differentiator with the proprietary
systems is that it is reviewed by many people
which helps in faster innovation.
When it comes to the security aspect of
Open Source, the entire community has a vigil
that the right code gets it as the source code
is available to all. Now government is also
opening itself for Open Source technology and
it is also very clear about the secured usage of
this technology.
Enterprises and Government initiatives
& programmes are giving a strong push to the
development, support and promotion of Open
Source Software and make telecom solutions
accessible and affordable to all industry verticals
and businesses. The biggest fallacy in Open
Source movement is the perception that Open
Source has a security problem. Open Source
is in fact more secured because the security
techniques deployed has to be so strong that
even a person who knows the technique cannot
break it, opined Dr. Devasia.
As the source code is available you know
what is there and what is not. So no longer
we need to worry about back doors because
there is the whole community that acts as a
gatekeeper to ensure that the right piece of
code gets in. Then you also have the freedom
to customize and restrict as you fit. Apart from
that citizens and organizations have a lot of
play. Our government has also been open to
open source technology for a long time and
essentially they are pro open source for the
longest period of time. They have started to see
a bit of investment in OEMs like Microsoft and
Cisco. They have got a rule book where it is
mentioned how and where the technology can
be used and how to secure it. It defines how the
government can use the technology, explained
Girish Gupta.
Open Source is now used in various
government projects under Digital India
programme. The government has also
announced the policies regarding this technology
and there are a lot of plans that are ongoing for
a national repository of this technology.
There is a lot of Open Source adoption
in the GoIfor the Digital India programme.
Indias first Open Source policy has been
announced by the current government. A
lot of IT implementations are being done by
NIC across the nation, powered by Open

48

December 2016

www.varindia.com

Abhijit Tannu
Founder & CTO,
Seclore
Source technologies. Plans are underway to
develop a national repository of Open Source
software (like Github) for all government
applicationsso that these can be reused by
other government agencies across the centre
and states, commented Rahul Chopra, Open
Source India.
Bridging the Digital Divide
India has the largest mobile population in
the world and the penetration of mobile devices
has made it easy to touch every life digitally
which has in turn helped to bridge the digital
divide to some extent.
Open Source is based on collaboration and
sharing which has acted as a vital component to
bring down the digital gap. The availability of
innovations strengthened and helped people to
grow. These factors has helped open source to
grow and also goes to the last mile to connect
people.
Open Source has been a major contributor
in bridging the Digital Divide across the globe.
The underlying principle of collaboration and
sharing on which Open Source is established is
the perfect catalyst to help reduce this divide
at a greater pace. Readily and freely available
innovation via software such as Linux, DevOps,
Containers etc. help empower communities
& people to learn and grow without any
restrictions. Digital empowerment should
not be the privilege of a select few and Open
Source ensures that Digital Innovation reaches
the lowest of strata of society. In areas where
setting up the infrastructure is a hassle and
affordability is an issue, Open Source becomes
the perfect medium to connect people, said
Neeraj.
Today, if you look at the Indian Mobile
population, it is currently the largest in the
world. So the only way we can make them touch
the digital living world is through mobile. Also,
if you look at the mobility state today, not only
the mobile phones should be affordable, I feel
the mobility services which we get, should also
be readily available. The cost of ownership of
the service providers like Airtel, Reliance, BSNL
etc. if they invest, the actual cost of delivery to
the masses will decrease which will effectively
spread digitalization process inside the market,
explained Rajarshi Bhattacharyya, Country
Head, SUSE.
He puts forth a small example that today the
government of India has got a lot of initiatives

to MHRD through programs like RSM (Rajeev

Gandhi Shiksha Mission) the difference MHRD
covers to land up with every student should have
a tablet or a laptop. So if we look at that space
also, to make those technologies or devices
available to the common masses i.e. the people
below the BPL line, we need to have an industry
which is very cost effective and efficient. We
cannot expect them to put the high technology
operating system which can be anytime infected
by a virus and the mission goes crashing and
then no use for that mission. And so we need
to have strategies around open source which
will allow you to give the software delivery and
the hardware to all this masses to the different
school education initiative so that the generation
which is coming up will slowly take a pace and
actually match with the digitalization. We can
make it available and very much cost effective,
said Rajarshi.
Dr. Devasia on his part feels that open
source is changing the way enterprise
telecommunication works and has begun to grow
in popularity, as it offers greater functionality
and control. Open Source tools are bringing
costs down to the bare minimum, making it
highly affordable. The affordability of Open
Source solutions by companies in different
strata helps in bridging the digital divide. SAP
solutions can be deployed only by companies
with large revenues, whereas open ERP can be
deployed by small and medium sized enterprises
also, he stated.
Another point of view is that this technology
can be customized as per user needs without
paying any royalties to foreign companies. This
empowers techies to work on major projects and
offer solutions to customers globally. To top it
up, it also offers lower cost of adoption of IT.
Open Source is a great ally to bridge the
Digital Divide in India. Why? Because it allows
us to customize software as per our needs,
without us having to pay any royalties to any
foreign firms. Thus, our entire investment
remains in India, with Indians. Such projects give
our entrepreneurs and techies an opportunity
to work on major projects, build expertise, and
then offer similar solutions to customers across
the globe. Last but not the least, Open Source
allows us to lower the cost of adoption of IT
as what we have to pay foris the customization
and supportand not any royalties, opined
Rahul Chopra, Open Source India.
And so
Though there are myths about the platform,
but it cannot be denied that open source is
accepted by everyone due to its flexibility and
customizable feature. Innovation happens at
a faster pace than the proprietary platform.
All these factors play a major role in stating
open source to be a big enabler in the digital
transformation of India.
Having said that, Open Source can be a big
game changer in the Digital Transformation
strategy. Its importance can be felt from
the simple fact that both large and small
organizations considering Open Source as a
potential area of investment.n
Aparna Mullick
aparna@varindia.com

Movers & Shakers

Raghunath Mandava appointed as MD

and CEO of Airtel Africa

GoDaddy's India MD Rajiv Sodhi quits,

joins Microsoft

Bharti Airtel has appointed Raghunath

Mandava who is currently the chief operating
officer - Airtel Africa, will take over as
managing director and chief executive officer
Airtel Africa with effect from January 1,
2017.
Raghunath Mandava, Raghu joined Airtel
Africa as chief operating officer in July,
2016 and having well settled in his role will
take full leadership control. Raghu will be
a permanent invitee to the board of Bharti
Airtel, representing Airtel Africa.

GoDaddy's India & Australia MD &

Vice President, Rajiv Sodhi has tendered
his resignation and would be heading to
Microsoft starting December where he would
be leading the Cloud and Server business.
Sodhi joined GoDaddy in 2012 and is
credited with setting up GoDaddy's India
business with a strong focus on small
businesses. Sodhi is an old timer at Microsoft
where he was earlier the Director - India
SMB, Cloud and Software Sales. He had been
at Microsoft between 2002 and 2012, when he quit to join GoDaddy.

Intex appoints Sumit Sehgal as CMO

BMC Software appoints Peter Leav as

President and CEO

Intex Technologies has appointed

Sumit Sehgal as its Chief Marketing
Officer to strengthen and professionalize
its management for achieving accelerated
growth and business excellence.
In his new role at Intex, Sehgal will lead
the brand transformation and conceptualize
all marketing initiatives across the various
business lines of the company.
Sehgal is a tenured marketer with over two
decades of experience in sales & marketing
with companies such as JWT, Bharti Teletech
and ITC Ltd. He is an MBA from IMT,
Ghaziabad with specialization in marketing. During his tenure, he has built
many brands, including his last assignment at Max Life Insurance Ltd,
where he was instrumental in strengthening the franchise.

Forcepoint appoints Meerah Rajavel as CIO

Global cybersecurity leader Forcepoint

has appointed Meerah Rajavel as its new
chief information officer (CIO).
A member of the executive leadership
team, Rajavel will lead the global information
technology organization and play a central
role in extending Forcepoints delivery of
cloud-based cybersecurity capabilities to
customers worldwide.
Rajavel brings more than 25 years of
experience in information technology to
Forcepoint. Most recently, she was the CIO
at Qlik, a visual analytics company, where she
led efforts to build an IT and operational excellence strategy to support
rapid growth on a global scale.

Joergen Jakobsen Joins Sophos as VP APJ

Sophos, a global leader in network and

endpoint security, today announced the
appointment of Joergen Jakobsen as regional
vice president for Asia-Pacific and Japan
(APJ).
Jakobsen brings more than 25 years of
experience as a senior executive for global
technology brands and has a successful track
record for driving business growth through
the channel. Jakobsen will be based in the
Sophos Singapore office and will report
directly to senior vice president of global
sales, Michael Valentine.

BMC Software today announced Peter

Leav as president and chief executive officer.
Peter Leav succeeds Bob Beauchamp,
who continues to serve as chairman of the
board of directors and will play a key role
going forward.
Leav joins BMC from Polycom, a $1.2
billion global collaboration business serving
the enterprise market, where he served as
president and CEO for the last three years.
He brings to BMC 20-plus years of strong
leadership in operations, general management and sales across technology
and services.

Justin Harvey Joins Accenture Security

Accenture has announced that veteran

cybersecurity expert Justin Harvey has joined
the company as managing director and global
lead for the Incident Response Practice.
Harvey brings more than 20 years of
experience to Accenture and specializes in
endpoint detection and response, defense
against cyber espionage, security operations,
incident response and threat intelligence.
In his new role, Harvey will focus on
expanding Accentures incident response
and breach readiness solutions that address
preparedness through threat identification
and eradication for Accentures global client base.

FreeCharge appoints Anand Sinha as Director

FreeCharge
has
announced
the
appointment of Anand Sinha as director
Partnerships & Strategic Initiatives.
Anand has previously co-founded
PressPlay Indias first omni channel
entertainment platform and headed sales
for Tomato. Anand brings to the table
deep passion and experience of working in
a start-up landscape along with an intricate
understanding of partnerships and consumer
products.
In his new role, Anand will be leveraging
his experience in leading both the online and
offline partnerships to help FreeCharge scale up its merchant operations.

www.varindia.com

December 2016

49

FACE TO FACE

Avayas Transition to a Software-andServices Model is Customer Driven

Avaya has recognized that one-size-NEVER fits all and hence made the strategic decision to transition to a softwareand-services led company by bringing a change in its product mix. Chiradeep Rao, Head- Channels and Alliances,
India and SAARC, Avaya shares more on this aspect and how it is going to be impacted by the transition -

vayas move to a software-and-services

model is being driven by customer
demand. Today there is significant interest
among businesses in the software-as-a-service
(SaaS) model, in preparation for the challenges
of tomorrow and enabling improved operational
efficiency, employee productivity and enhanced
end user and customer experiences. To meet
this shift in demand, Avaya has innovated to
transition itself from being a hardware supplier
to a software-and-services provider, with
software and services now accounting for about
three quarters of our revenue.
A one-size-fits-all approach with a few
customizable pieces and parts is no longer
acceptable. Customers are the users of the
solution. They know better than anyone what
problems the solution needs to solve. So this has
what necessitated our transition to that of the
software-and-services model, says Chiradeep
Rao, Head- Channels and Alliances, India and
SAARC, Avaya.
Avaya understands that going digital
requires not only a commitment to user-defined
engagement but also a commitment to an
all-software development platform. Digital
transformation requires us to continue to evolve
and simplify our portfolio of solutions and
services to prioritize the quality, speed, accuracy
and security of every experience when engaging
with or within an enterprise. In fact, our
expanded portfolio addresses customers
growing demand for digital
transformation, software-based
solutions and smart analytics,
while offering compelling
migration paths for both
partners and customers,
Chiradeep points out.
Avayas go-to-market
strategy provides customers
the choice to work either
directly with Avaya or through
its indirect sales channel, which
consists of a global network of
alliance partners, distributors, dealers or
value-added resellers. Its enterprise go-to-market
approach focuses on a services-led strategy,
acquiring new customers and increasing wallet
share.
India a potential market for Avaya
India is a major piece of Avayas corporate
infrastructure and it sees immense opportunity
of growth in the Indian market. India is at the
heart of Avayas innovation focus and represents
the companys largest R&D center globally,
spread across Pune, Bangalore and Hyderabad,
providing more than 30% of product & solution

50

December 2016

www.varindia.com

Chiradeep Rao
Head- Channels and Alliances, India and SAARC
Avaya
development globally. Also, as Indian economy
is heading towards digital transformation, with
initiatives like Digital India and Smart city, it
strongly believes that the mid-market and SME
sector in India will form the backbone of this
transformation and will be the key driver for its
growth.
Avaya also sees Government
projects as major growth drivers.
We are working closely with
State governments on providing
emergency response systems
and digitization of education
initiatives as major target
areas. Our 15-20 per cent of
the India revenues are from
Government projects, we
expect this number to go up to
the late 20 to 30 per cent in the
next 18 to 24 months, Chiradeep
explains.
Avaya Edge A new dimension
to Avayas Channel
Partners are a very crucial part of Avayas
business and they have a significant contribution
in its enterprise business and are also supporting
its enterprise customers. They have been
associated with Avaya for the last five to ten
years. The business they do is service oriented
and customers have high dependency on them,
so it becomes imperative for Avaya and partners
to keep the customer engagement platform at a
high level wherein customer needs are addressed

at the right time.

Avaya Edge is a new streamlined channel
program that gives partners the flexibility to
meet their customers needs in todays fastpaced digital marketplace, while providing
greater rewards for those partners that deliver
exceptional value. This new program will help
drive mutual profitability and better equip
partners with the skills needed to help customers
achieve their Digital Transformation objectives.
This program has enhanced partner benefits
tied with five new tracks tailor-made for specific
markets (enterprise, midmarket and SMB) and
individual solution providers. It addresses some
of the biggest needs for technology partnerships
a simpler structure, greater benefits, and
flexibility. The key elements of the program
include Simplified Structure, Greater Benefits
and Flexibility.
2017 New business opportunities
The past few years have been quite successful
for Avaya as it observed 13-19 percent of growth
in the last three years. India is amongst its top
ten markets in terms of turnover.
In 201, Avaya is executing on strategic
transformation to a software and services led
platform and are focused on expanding its
innovative product portfolio while driving sales
and services growth in both the enterprise and
mid-market segments. Avaya is seeing a melding
of customer and team engagement solutions, and
also see acceptance of collaboration solutions.
Samrita Baruah
samrita@varindia.com

TECHNOMANIA

Hyperconverged is the new

engine for future data centre
D

isruption is unavoidable in this day and age of digitisation.

Today, it is no longer a matter of if , but rather when
yourorganisation will be disrupted.The cloud is now revolutionising how
businesses operate and workers collaborate. There is alsoa tidal wave
of data, with billions of devices and people interconnected via Internet
of Things (IoT). Coupled with cognitive computing and analytics,these
developments can be used to unearth new insights for business leaders.
The myriad of changes have given rise to companies such as Uber and
AirBnb,which have successfully disrupted their respective industries.
To prepare for this eventuality, organisations need to rethink their IT
strategy.Only so can they truly harness the full potential of digitisation. To
keep up with an increasingly digital world, IT systems will also need to be
smarter, more agile and reliable.
Hyperconvergedfor true one-box solution
The intelligence of asystem has alwaysbeen determined by the software
that runs it,which can be lacking for existing offerings based on a three-tier
architecture.The systems were static in their behavior, as their firmware
was fixed and difficult to upgrade and manage.
Hyperconvergedtechnology changes this entirely, byintegrating storage,
compute, and hypervisor together intoasingle system.All these sub-systems
can be easily managed leveraginga singlesoftware,whichdelivers everything
that you would need froman IT system.
Besides integration, hyperconverged systems provide a higher degree
of flexibility whichseamlessly link businesseswithIT like never before. This
significantly enhances organisationsagility and resilience while reducing
operating costs.Major benefits include:

A pay-as-you-grow (linear scaling) model for all your IT needs

Per virtual machine pricing model for public and private
clouds

Ability to address ever-changing business needs and environment
with elastic application performance

Self-healing capabilitythat automatically look after unplanned
failures without affecting users

Easy integration with open standard-based IT systems for a
single pane of glass management
The above benefits may have triggered great demand for hyperconverged
systems.According to Gartner[1], this market is expected to grow as much
as 13 times by 2019.To capitalise on this opportunity, we have developed
the Lenovo Hyperconverged Infrastructure (HCI) a turnkey, one-box
solution that incorporates compute, storage and networking.
Pushing the boundaries of hyperconverged
The Lenovo Converged HX Series has also seen an explosive growth
in demand thanks to its high level of differentiation. This is due to
tighter software integration and better performance than the competition,
as illustrated by the following accolades from independent research and
consulting firms:
Leadingvirtualisation performance
Lenovo HX is the fastest two-socket, x86-based virtualisation
system,validated by the industry-recognised SPECvirt_sc2013 benchmark.
It has garnered world records forServer Performance PerWatt, and Total
System (including storage) Performance Per Watt.
Leadingreliability
Lenovo HX offers the highest overall uptime and availability among
all x86-based systems on the market, with themajority (61%) achieving
99.9%, 37% at 99.99% and 2% at 99.999% availability. These were the
findings ofa 2016 report released by Information Technology Intelligence
Consulting.
Leadingcustomer satisfaction
Lenovo finished ahead of all its competitors for every attribute, from
planning to evaluation and implementation.This is the key takeaway from

the Technology Business Researchs Corporate IT Buying Behaviour and

Customer Satisfaction for x86-based servers.
At Lenovo, we never stand still and are constantly innovating to give
our customers the best-in-class solutions, co-developed with the leading
technology providers and extensively tested by our experts:

Lenovo is the only original equipment manufacturer(OEM) to
offer management of hardware tasks for PRISM, VMware vCenter, and
Microsoft System Centre

Our alliance withNutanix ensures industry-leading professional
service and support

We are the only OEMvendor with a complete SAP-certified
HANA solutionwhich is SAN-less, eliminating the need for costly
enterprise shared storage.
Making the switch to hyperconverged
Digitisationis rapidly reshaping ourworld and the business landscape.
Its impact is evidenteverywhere we go just think about devices like
connected cars and collaborative robots (cobots) in smart factories.
Organisations cannot afford to be laggards, while their competitors
embrace new technologies like hyperconverged.
Hyperconverged systems are going to be the growth driver for
businesses, and an important engine for future data centres (DCs). Lenovo
with our end-to-end portfolio of services and solutions, as well as a rich
heritage in the DC space, is well poised to help organisations accelerate
theirdigitisation journey. Time is of the essence, and the earlier you embark
on this journey, the better.

By Sumir Bhatia - VP of DataCentre

Group for Asia-Pacific

www.varindia.com

December 2016

51

FACE TO FACE

Canon is the Growth Partner for the

Emerging Indian Entrepreneurs
C Sukumaran, Assistant Director- Consumer Systems Products
(CSP) division Canon in an exclusive interview with VARINDIA
shares the growth story of CSP in the country and the factors that has
helped the company remain on top in the printing industry, in both
Laser and Inkjet printer space -

he CSP division of Canon has been one of the leaders of the

industry specializing in crafting technological innovations in the
consumer printer segment in India. Canon India has been performing quite
well as compared to the other players. In line with its new Laser printer
portfolio, Canon would extensively focus on strengthening its reach to the
B2B and B2G segment.
C Sukumaran, Assistant Director- Consumer Systems Products
(CSP) division Canon, who as part of his current role looks after
the marketing and sales wing of both Laser and Inkjet printer
business in India intends to take the marketing and sales of the
products of the company to the next level, making Canon the
industry leader in the printing domain.
At Canon, we are looking at boosting our services and
strengthen our association with our existing and potential customers
for both Inkjet and Laser segment. We have undertaken a robust
plan to address the various needs and requirements of customers
with our comprehensive range of products and services. With our
introduction of PIXMA G-series printers in the ink tank segment,
we aim to increase our market share in the CISS segment, he
explains.
Talking from a growth point of view, both consumer and
enterprise segments hold equal importance for Canon and the
company has continuously strived to innovate itself and cater to the
varied requirements of its target customers. Since, consumers are
rapidly increasing their dependence on printing technology; Canon
has witnessed considerable growth coming from the home segments
as well as the enterprise segment.
As Canon has a wide array of products catering to consumers
as well as enterprises we evaluate growth overall across verticals.
We would continue to thrust its growth upon the
innovative products and services that we would
bring to the market. Our range of printers lead
in innovations like integrated ink-tank, cloud
connectivity and attractive designs, Sukumaran
points out.
And perhaps this is why, despite the dwindling
market demand, Canon India has witnessed
growth in the consumer printer segment in India.
The market for both Inkjet and Laser products
is growing at a good pace, owing to the changing
customer needs and technological advancements.
The highly competitive Printing market
With major vendors launching Ink Tank
printers, the competition is going to get tougher
and better in the inkjet category in coming quarters.
The inkjet market is expected to grow at a higher
pace than the laser market due to high-capacity
ink-tank printers. The commercial segment that
was earlier completely dominated by laser printers
is now being penetrated by the Ink Tank printers. The increased
demand for printing from the home, SOHO and SMB segments is
expected to provide an impetus to the market.
The growth of inkjet printing technology is attributed to the

52

December 2016

www.varindia.com

C Sukumaran
Assistant Director- Consumer Systems
Products (CSP) division Canon
introduction of high-speed, commercial color printing inkjet
technology. The laser printers on the other hand are extensively
used by SMBs, Government, SOHOs and large enterprises. Laser
printers are for bulk printing and with new innovations and
technology, Canon is witnessing color laser printers being
used by organizations.
We have observed a huge interest among
Indian consumers for our Canon PIXMA range
of printers which has unique propositions to
offer in terms of looks and design and excellent
print quality that are attuned to the lifestyle of
todays consumers. We will be extensively focusing
on SMBs and SOHOs with our varied product
portfolio of both inkjet and laser printers, states
Sukumaran.
Going forward
Canon looks forward to working closely with
its Channel partners and Value Added Resellers
(VARs) in tier-2 and tier-3 cities to further enhance
its market share, build a stronger customer base
and to bring its printers and related services
to SOHO consumers. Canon CSP division
would continue to become the enabler of ideas
and transformation by providing products that
meets customer requirements and enhance their
experience. We also plan to reach out to Tier I & Tier II markets
through sustained marketing campaign, easy upgrade offers and
add-on solutions, he says.
In its effort to reach out to its end customers, Canon will also be
focusing on online channels and Large Format Retails. n

VAR MOBILITY

LG V20

The swappable battery is its great feature, as is its ability to add storage via microSD.
The V20 is its ability to record high-quality audio. The V20 comes with metal body
with a thin bezel design that delivers good looks and a convenient grip. The sleek metal
body is equipped with aircraft grade aluminum. Si-PC, a great shock-absorbing material,
protects the top and bottom edges of V20, while the flat display and rear PET cover
protect the front and back. In fact, the phone is complaint with the U.S. military standard
test.
V20 has 5.7-inch QHD IPS Quantum display. The LG V20 is powered by Snapdragon
820 quad-core processor paired with 4GB of RAM on the 64GB internal storage. The
smartphone also features a 16 MP + 8 MP dual-camera on the back and a 5-megapixel
selfie camera. On the software front, it runs on Android v7.0 (Nougat) based on LG
5.0 UI. Other connectivity options include fingerprint sensor, 4G LTE with VoLTE
support, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, GPS, and USB. The LG V20 will be available in Titan, Pink
and Silver color options.
The LG V20 is also the worlds first smartphone to come with wide-angle cameras
on both the front and back of the phone. The V20 can take wide-angle photographs
with rear-facing 135-degree and front-facing 120-degree lenses. Even more interesting
is the Hybrid Auto Focus feature which delivers optimal picture sharpness while Auto
Shot simplifies selfies with a face detection feature that triggers the shutter automatically. This is the first smartphone to feature 32-bit Hi-Fi Quad DAC
(digital to analog converter) capabilities, bringing a superior audio experience to mobile phones.

Cisco Accelerates Digital Transformation of Gujarat

Cisco has announced a series of strategic
initiatives to help accelerate the digital
transformation of Gujarat. Cisco signed two
Memoranda of Understanding (MoU), which
include establishing an Internet of Things (IoT)
Innovation hub to develop and customize digital
technologies and solutions with International
Centre for Entrepreneurship and Technology
(iCreate) and a Smart City project in Gujarat
International Finance Tec-City (GIFT).
iCreate is an autonomous institute and a
centre of excellence of the Government of
Gujarat that has been set up under the visionary
leadership of the Honorable Prime Minister
Shri. Narendra Modi. iCreates mission is to
catalyze new age entrepreneurial pursuits of the
youth and focuses on innovative applications
for wealth generation, employment creation and
global competition.
The MoUs were signed in the presence of
the Honorable Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri
Vijay Rupani; Deputy Chief Minister of Gujarat,
Shri Nitin Bhai Patel; Dr. J.N Singh, Chief
Secretary, Govt of Gujarat; Shri P. K. Taneja,
Additional Chief Secretary Industries and Mines
Department; Additional Chief Secretary Urban
Development, Shri Poonamchand Parmar; Shri
Ajay Pandey, MD and Group CEO of GIFT
City; Shri AnupamJalote, CEO, iCreate and Shri
Dinesh Malkani, President, Cisco India and
SAARC.
Honble Chief Minister of Gujarat, Shri
Vijay Rupani said, This technology will lay the
foundation to transform India into a developed
nation and create an enabling environment
for entrepreneurship, foster innovation and
accelerate economic competitiveness. My vision

for the State is to digitally empower every

citizen, enhance the quality of life, enable ease
of doing business and become an innovation
and knowledge hub for the Country. We are
happy to have Cisco partner with us to help
build Gujarats economy of the future."
Dinesh Malkani, President, Cisco India and
SAARC said, Digitization and Innovation are
the key drivers of the Indian economy, leading
to jobs, growth and long-term prosperity.
The announcement today underlines Ciscos
commitment to enable Gujarat to capitalize
on digital opportunities, strengthen the vibrant
innovation ecosystem in the state, enhance
quality of life of citizens and accelerate the
digital transformation of the state.
Cisco in collaboration with iCreate will
explore the setting up of an Internet of Things
(IoT) Innovation Hub at iCreates new campus at

Dev Dholera near Bavla, Ahmedabad, to foster

local innovation. The innovation centre will
enable startups and entrepreneurs to build smart
city and IoT-based solutions. Cisco experts,
together with industry partners and start-ups,
will develop proof of concepts; identify features
and functionalities required for digital solutions,
and engage in rapid prototyping. Long known
for its expertise in manufacturing, this IoT lab
will help Gujarat leapfrog ahead of other states
in the use of innovative technology solutions to
increase the competitiveness and efficiency of
its industries.
The Center will include a dedicated space to
demonstrate IoT in action, and creates a place in
which customers, startups, open communities,
researchers, entrepreneurs and technology
enthusiasts are invited to work and brainstorm
on new ideas and technologies.

www.varindia.com

December 2016

53

FACE TO FACE

Cloudera Leverages the Power of

Big Data to serve Customers
Cloudera delivers a modern platform for data management and analytics. As the first commercial provider of
Apache Hadoop-related software and services, Cloudera provides the worlds fastest, easiest, and most secure
Hadoop platform to help businesses across the globe solve the most challenging problems with data.
In an exclusive interaction with VARINDIA, Amr Awadllah, Founder, CTO - Cloudera speaks about how the company
has gained momentum in the India market and about its customers to which it is a dedicated vendor Cloudera is revolutionizing enterprise data management by offering
the first unified platform for big data: The Enterprise Data Hub. Cloudera
offers enterprises one place to store, process, and analyze all their data,
empowering them to extend the value of existing investments, all while
enabling fundamental new ways to derive value from their data.

The Customer eco-system of Cloudera

Cloudera has started serving the Indian market from approximately
a year ago, as organizations continue to look to technology and data to
solve real business problems. NxtGen and Airtel are some examples of its
valued customers and partners in the India market. Organizations such as
Airtel are continuing to develop a 360 view of customers to build revenue
streams, drive efficiency in product and service delivery, as well as manage
risk, compliance and cyber security. Having this 360 programme helps
customers such as Airtel interpret customer data at a more accurate level
deriving data insights used to churn a prediction of customer retention. It
helps to understand the customer much better.
Airtel can be an end user or enterprise customer, depending on which
perspective you come from. A lot of companies make a mistake of signing
up more customers than the infrastructure they have to support these
customers. The solution for them is to then move to micro cell towers
that are covering much smaller region, with people in a particular region
connected to the respective cell tower. There are many companies that are
doing that right now. But in our case, our way of solving this situation is
to collect data, whether from social media or from apps the customer is
using, and if the customer needs help, appropriate actions to retain him or
her as a customer can then be taken, explains Amr Awadllah, Founder,
CTO Cloudera.
Legacy databases allow customers to ask only certain types of questions
which are not very important. Clouderas technology on the other hand is
useful for any datacenter customer and allows them to ask bigger questions.
The technology is unique from three dimensions 1. It can take any type of data
2. It is scalable to
as much data the customer
likes
3. It can analyze
this Data in newer ways
There is a mountain of
unstructured (images) and
semi structured data (data
from cell phones) today
for
telecommunication
companies, government,
pharmaceutical companies and lot many other verticals. They need to
analyze this entire data set to make better decisions. For instance, 20 years
back, automated teller machines (ATMs) only took structured data. Todays
ATMs are providing both structured and unstructured data. Like you can
see there is a camera inside the ATM machine that is taking the picture
of your face in the form of unstructured data. We have to analyze that
picture and recognize that yes it is you. Cloudera is about how we allow our
customers to consume all types of data and make better decisions using
that data. We serve different industries and verticals with these solutions.
We also have several of these customised solutions for the insurance
industry in the United States and a few of the European markets, but we

54

December 2016

www.varindia.com

have not brought it to India market yet, he says.

One of the key uses of Clouderas technology is cyber security. Intel
is Clouderas largest investor and also a customer. Intel (not Intel Security)
builds its own cyber security solutions to prevent hackers from hacking
their systems and their solution runs on top of Clouderas platform called
SPOT.
Our system picks up abnormal, weird behaviours to detect cyber
threats. A system that can
learn dynamically and can
adapt is very important
and that is what is special
about Apache SPOT
technology. In summary,
Clouderas capabilities of
the Hadoop platform to
handle large volumes of
data and Intels investment
in the internet of things
fuel the growth in data
collection and analytics, Awadllah observes.

To conclude...
Cloudera sees a massive opportunity in the Asia Pacific region, as
they hold immense business potential. It is equally committed to the
India market. Its strategy right now is to continue to focus on building
customer relationships and expanding the current team. We can do this
as Clouderas technology is poised to help transform how organizations
maximize the value of one of their most important resources today their
data, concludes Awadllah. n

EVENT

Presented by

Making data work

Singapore: Strata + Hadoop World
is the worlds leading conference
on Big Data that took place from
6th to 8th December 2016 at
Suntec Singapore Convention &
Exhibition Centre, Singapore. It
was presented by OReilly and
Cloudera. It is the event where
big data's most influential business
decision
makers,
strategists,
architects, developers and analysts
gathered to shape the future of
their businesses and technologies.
The event was clearly focused on
big data, cutting-edge data science
and new business fundamentals to
work. The event was well attended
by thousands of data scientists
and business managers who gather
every year to learn how the latest
developments in data can transform
their business.

In an exclusive interaction with

VARINDIA and Ben Lorica, Chief
Data Scientist, O' Reilly Media
spokes on, data scientists build
information platforms to provide
deep insight and answer previously
unimaginable questions. Spark and
Hadoop are transforming how
data scientists work by allowing
interactive and iterative data analysis
at scale. There are deliberations
on topics like advanced analytics,
data strategy, enterprise adoption,
business case studies, and real-time
applications.

Elite Sponsors

The event was focused on some of the most forward-looking

leaders in the industry, and explored on topics such as:

Big data in telecommunications and finance

Becoming a data-centric company
Data science and advanced analytics
Design, visualization, and VR
Hadoop use cases
Hadoop internals & development
IoT and intelligent real-time applications
Chat, machine learning, and AI
Smart cities and urban automation
Production-ready Hadoop
Security, governance& ethics
Spark & beyond

of tools to manage it remains quite

low. Taking center stage amid these
digital challenges is the business
data lake, a unified data landscape in
which organizations can efficiently
evolve and gain value. A business
data lake provides managed
access to all the information
and concentrates on all business
information
requirementsnot
simply those that fit within the
enterprises data model. For end
users, this means that desired data is
integrated and analyzed on demand;
they no longer must always engage
with IT to leverage the data. For
IT, it offers the ability to achieve
speed, cost reduction and increased
security while providing a new,
more business-centric approach to
data governance.

With the rise of deep learning,

natural language understanding
techniques are becoming more
effective and are not as reliant on
costly annotated data. This leads to
an explosion of possibilities of what
businesses can do with language.
Secondly, deep learning has made a
huge impact on predictive analytics
and is here to stay.
The event was really worth
travelling to understand on how
Big data and data science have
great potential for accelerating
business, but how do you reconcile
the business opportunity with the
possible technical solutions and
with a scientific and mathematical
approach and understand the
emerging technologies that are going
to influence our business process.

Innovators

Cloudera Partner Pavilion

Cloudera Partner Pavilion

Exabyte Sponsors

Contributing Sponsors

Key highlights - Turning Big

Data into Big Opportunities
As the value of information
skyrockets, so too does the
businesss thirst for more. Despite
the growth of big data, the adoption

Strategic Sponsor

Impact Sponsors

www.varindia.com

December 2016

55

Aircel leverages technology to offer

better customer experience
In a talk with VARINDIA, Alok
Kumar, Chief Service Delivery Officer,
Aircel, spoke about how technology is
enabling the company to understand
customers behaviour and offer better
customer experience

In
a
competitive
industry
like
telecommunications where the market dynamics
change often, customers are of utmost
importance to the service providers. This industry
is based upon unique services and customers
experiences. In order to understand the business
dynamics, Aircel has concentrated on one of
their foundational values, which is customer
first philosophy that has helped the company to
grow.

Leveraging technology for

customers behaviour
To understand the customer in a better
way, the company has leveraged the latest
technologies like Big Data and Data Analytics.
These technologies have helped the company
to understand various customers behaviour, the
usage of products and customers pain points to
offer practical offerings.
Technology is an enabler for business growth,
innovation and operational effectiveness. The use
of data analytics plays a big role in understanding
diverse and complex customers behaviour and
product usage patterns. The customer services
practice at Aircel has a special cell that looks into
collection and analysis of the Big Data, said Alok
Kumar, Chief Service Delivery Officer, Aircel.
Elaborating, Alok Kumar further said,
Customer metrics and smart algorithms help us
predict what our customers want before they even
enquire about it. All our product innovations and
retention strategies are a result of churning and a
comprehensive analysis of the Big Data. Another
competitive advantage, the use of Data Analytics
provides us with is in identifying customer pain
points and offering practical solutions to the
customers.
The telecom service provider, Aircel, sees
a huge scope to grow and offer exceptional
service quality with these technologies which will
further help them to retain customers. It is one
such company which has realized the power of
technology and adopted and integrated in the
everyday operations.
There is an immense scope for a telecom
service provider to grow and deliver excellent

56

December 2016

model for cost optimization, wherein we have

created multiple easy-to-navigate self-service
options on the IVRS/ SMS/USSD and Digital
channels. This enables our retailers to become
service nodes for walk-in customers around their
neighbourhood. The adoption of a domestic
BPO partnership like this works brilliantly in
regional markets where local talents are well
equipped to address customers queries due to
linguistic commonality and connect, explained
Alok Kumar.

An App to serve better

Alok Kumar
Chief Service Delivery Officer, Aircel
service quality with the use of Big Data. Aircel
is extremely proud to be one of the early birds
within the industry to have realized its potential
and integrated it into its day-to-day business
operations, remarked Alok Kumar.

Cost optimization in
service centres
To optimize the cost in service delivery, Aircel
has adopted a few steps like the B2B2C service
model. Through this, the company has created
easy-to-navigate self-service options and digital
channels.
At Aircel, we continuously explore cost
optimization techniques that are not only strategic
in nature but also practical in their approach.
Currently, Aircel is working on a B2B2C service

Committed to
Customer Service

Aircel has a committed customer service

team backed by strong technical infrastructure
that addresses and provides solutions to
customers queries and issues in real time.
Emergency response tree in the IVRS
for company to quickly reach to its retail
partner or customer service partner in
case a customer loses SIM/handset in
order to quickly block the SIM. We have
a special team assigned at the backend
to effectively handle such emergency led
issues
In case a customer is unable to find solution
to an issue, we also have a centralized help
desk mechanism that directs the issue to
the right personnel
We have a 24X7 retail support helpline on
the Call Center /WhatsApp number for
www.varindia.com
retailer to reach out to the company to
seek assistance on behalf of a customer

To provide a better customers experience,

Aircel has an integrated app which serves as a
service solution to customers. The company
is focussed on communication and customer
engagement to improve the brand.
What distinguishes digital from other media
is the ability to have a two-way conversation. Aircel
has an integrated Aircel app that provides endto-end service solutions to our customers. This
app serves as an interactive platform allowing our
customers and retailers to enquire about products,
schemes, commissions, etc. The Aircel app works
even in a low bandwidth area.
The focus is clearly to have communication
and customer engagement that enhances brand
resonance, stated Alok Kumar.

Roadmap
The company has already chalked out its future
plans to position the brand differently. Aircel
always focusses on adopting groundbreaking
technologies to satisfy customers. Furthermore,
Aircel will be upgrading its network quality, robotbased backend support system and Customer
Listening platform.
The principal focus for Aircel is to always
be future-ready and constantly adapt to new
and innovative customer services techniques
in the market. Empowering our customers by
providing self-services such voice assistance
IVRS or service through App in regional
languages is certainly how we would like to create
a differentiated positioning in the minds of the
customer. Additionally, we will also be looking
at scaling up our geo-centric alerts on network
quality, developing robot-based backend support
system and an automated Customer Listening
platform using Data Analytics. All our efforts
in the coming time will be centred on creating
an experience-driven customer service system,
revealed Alok Kumar. n

www.varindia.com

December 2016

57

VAR MOBILITY

Alcatel Unveils IDOL 4

lcatel has launched

IDOL 4 in India.
The uniquely designed
IDOL 4 smartphone take
everything up a notch with
the new Boom Key and
an augmented multimedia
e x p e r i e n c e.
IDOL
4
also
marks
Alcatels entry
into the

expansive VR space and it

will be available exclusively
on Flipkart.com.
The IDOL 4s
innovative packaging design
transforms into a pair of
virtual reality goggles which,
when combined with the
smartphone, becomes the
portal for users to enter the
world of immersive 360degree viewing and gaming.
Virtual reality content such

as videos and games can

be downloaded onto the
device from the Onetouch
VR Store, a built-in app to
easily access saved virtual
reality content or streamed
in realtime via LittlStar.
Alcatel's VR set is available
in the box along with JBL
in-ear headphones.
The IDOL 4, featuring
the Qualcomm Snapdragon
617 processor, deliver
advanced features and
capabilities that allow
consumers to experience
console-quality 3D
gaming, enhanced
photography
and
videography, as well
as home theater-quality
audio.
Additionally
users will be able to enjoy
all-day battery life. The
smartphones sport displays
that
provide
superb
readability even in bright
sunlight and clear viewing
from any angle using
Qualcomm Technologies
Assertive
Display
technology.
IDOL
4
Series
smartphone will be available
priced at Rs. 16,999.

Meizu launches M5 Note

eizu has unveiled

M5 Note in the
Chinese market. The new
offering from Meizus
M-series, M5 Note comes
with full metal unibody

design and a 5.5-inch Full

HD display. The new
device M5 Note is designed
for consumers who seek
affordable
smartphones
with excellent industrial
design and smooth user
experience.
The new M5 Note
has the classic full metal
unibody that has gone
through 12 steps of 3D
sandblasting for smoother
touch, and comes in four
colors champagne gold,

58

December 2016

silver, grey and blue. The

speaker hole located at
the bottom of the phone
is carved in a rectangle
shape and made by CNC
equipment for more natural
and even sounds.
The 5.5-inch Full
HD display with 2.5D
glass features the latest
smart eye-protective
mode to ensure a
more
comfortable
viewing experience.
The display produces
vivid colors and lively
visuals.
The powerful new
generation 8-core 64-bit
Cortex-A53 processor has a
peak frequency of 1.8GHz.
The M5 Note is equipped
with either 3GB or 4GB
RAM and users can choose
between 16GB, 32GB, and
64GB of internal storage to
satisfy every kind of user.
Although the M5 Note
is only 8.1mm thick, it is
powered by a 4000mAh
battery.

www.varindia.com

Micromax
launches Vdeo
range 4G
smartphone

i c r o m a x
Informatics has
partnered with Google to
announce the launch of
its Vdeo range entry level
smartphone.
Aimed at reviving the
affordable
smartphone
segment and popularising
the video calling experience,
the Micromax Vdeo range
is countrys one of the
most affordable 4G VoLTE
smartphone with pre-loaded
Google Duo app.
The company launched
two smartphones under the
Vdeo range - Vdeo 1 and
Vdeo 2, which is a complete
package with 4G VoLTE,
latest Android Marshmallow,
spectacular metal body, to
kick-start the smartphone
adoption in every corner of
the country.
The smartphones also
come with a pre bundled
Reliance Jio SIM, which
offers three months of
unlimited free data and
voice calling option to
all the Vdeo users. The
smartphone will power the
next phase of smartphone
adoption in the country by
hand-holding consumers to
upgrade to smartphones.
In the coming months, the
company will be extending
the Vdeo range with the
introduction of Vdeo 3 and
Vdeo 4.
The two variants in
Micromaxs Vdeo range
feature a 4-inch and 4.5inch WVGA and FWVGA
display, respectively, offering
excellent graphics quality
enabling users to enjoy
video calls and multimedia
content.
Both smartphones offer
an efficient performance
with the on-board 1.3 GHz
Quad Core processor and
a 1 GB RAM which enable
users to juggle between apps
seamlessly. With the 8 GB
ROM, both smartphones
ensure that users can
download and store enough
applications, documents and
multimedia content right on
their smartphone.

Lava unveils Metal 24 feature phone

ava International
has
announced
the launch of Lava Metal
24 under its new Metal
Series of Dual-SIM feature
phones.
The Dual-SIM phone
comes with a premium
looking Metal back finish
and offers a combination
of features, including a
6.1cm (2.4) screen, 1.3MP
rear camera with flash and
a long-lasting 1,000mAh
Li-ion battery.
With this, Lava strives
to
digitally
empower
consumers
lives
by
providing affordable and
reliable devices. Priced at
Rs.2,000/-, Lava Metal 24
is available in black and gun
metal colour variants across
national retail stores and
multi-brand outlets.
The device is equipped
with FM with recording and
a 3.5mm audio jack port,
delivering truly remarkable
headphone sound quality.
Other key features include
Bluetooth 3.0, internet
browsing (EDGE) and
USB-PC connectivity.
Lava Metal 24 sports

a 6.1cm (2.4-inch) QVGA

screen for better viewing
experience
and
1.3megapixel camera with flash,
which is capable of video
recording and allows digital
zoom as well. The device is
powered by a MTK6261D
processor, and supports
memory expansion up to
32 GB through a micro SD.
Along with all these striking
features and stylish looks,
the device comes with a
manufacturer warranty for
1 year along with 6 months
warranty for the in-box
accessories which include
battery, headset, charger
and a USB cable.

Lenovo launches K6 Power 4G

Smartphone for Rs.9,999

enovo India has

announced the next
generation of its popular K
series, Lenovo K6 Power
4G smartphone for young
millennials looking for
nonstop entertainment at
Rs.9,999.
K6 Power smartphone
provides
blazing
fast
speeds made possible by
Qualcomm
Snapdragon
Octa-core processor, 4G
LTE connectivity and the
Android
Marshmallow
operating system.
"With the launch of
the next kickass phone in
this series K6 Power,
we hope to build on this
successful association and
our commitment to make
the most differentiated
smartphone
technology
accessible to our 100
million+ customers, said
Ajay Yadav, Vice-President
Mobiles, Flipkart.
The 13MP rear camera

powered by Sony IMX258

with Exmor RS technology
lets you capture full HD
videos to capture your
important moments and
gives a complete control
of how you want to click
pictures with the help of
pro-mode settings.
Powered by a 4,000mAh
battery, the Lenovo K6
Power gives the power you
need to last all day, while you
play games, browse the web
or stay in touch with friends
on social networking sites.

www.varindia.com

December 2016

59

RNI - NO 72399/1999

Reg. No: DL-SW-1/4030/15-17

Printing Date 18 & 19

Date of Posting 20 & 21

every month

By considering our values our mission is to provide necessary long term growth with customer satisfaction.
We provide enough opportunities for growth and enrichment to our employees. Overall the company
continuously grows in an atmosphere where new innovative ideas take place and we are stick on our
chosen strategic direction.

Cloud
Networking
&
Security

Digital
Marketing
IT Solution

Smart Cities
Education
&
HealthCare

60

December 2016

www.varindia.com

Broadband

Project Management

60 pages including cover