Digital Transformation and IoT Will Drive Investment in IT Operations Management Tools Through 2020

The growth of digital business and the Internet of Things (IoT) is expected to drive large investment in IT operations management (ITOM) through 2020, according to Gartner, Inc. A primary driver for organizations moving to ITOM open-source software (OSS) is lower cost of ownership.

 "While acceptance of OSS ITOM is increasing, traditional closed-source ITOM software still has the biggest budget allocation today. Moreover, complexity and governance issues that face users of OSS ITOM tools cannot be ignored. In fact, these issues open up opportunities for ITOM vendors. Even vendors that are late to market with ITOM functionality can compete in this area," said Laurie Wurster, research director at Gartner.

 Gartner believes many enterprises will turn to managed ITOM or ITOM as a service (ITOMaaS) enabled by open-source technologies and provided by a third party. With OSS, vendors can provide more cost-effective and readily available ITOM functions in a scaled manner through the cloud.

Through 2020, public cloud and managed services are expected to be leveraged more often for ITOM tools, which will drive growth of the subscription business model for both cloud and on-premises ITOM. However, on-premises deployments will still be the most common delivery method. This imposes multiple challenges to incumbent ITOM vendors. First, those vendors that do not offer a cloud delivery model will face continuous cannibalization from ITOM vendors that can deliver ITOM through both cloud and on-premises.

 Second, platform vendors, such as Microsoft Azure and Amazon Web Services (AWS), are providing some native ITOM functionalities on their public clouds. Customers that are running workloads solely on these platforms may prefer these native features. There are also "hybrid" requirements for ITOM tools that can seamlessly manage both cloud and on-premises environments.

 Future of Cloud Services and OSS for ITOM

 "Customer demand has driven traditional software vendors to transform and adapt to the changing technology and competitive landscapes. Competitive pressure from cloud (SaaS offerings) and commercial OSS (offerings with a free license plus paid support) is forcing ITOM providers to move toward subscription-based business models for both cloud and on-premises deployments," said Matthew Cheung, research director at Gartner. "This shift will eliminate revenue growth spikes as the large upfront investment seen in traditional models is spread out over time in a repeatable revenue stream."

The influx of new, smaller ITOM vendors focused on one or two major tool categories will continue to cause disruption for large traditional suite vendors. Given this situation, traditional vendors will need to react by changing how their products fit together. More importantly, traditional vendors need to change how their solutions are sold as customers exert significant pressure to shift to offering cloud-based services.

Schneider Electric Appoints Meenu Singhal as Head of Industry Business in India

Schneider Electric, the global specialist in energy management and automation, announced the appointment of Meenu Singhal as the Vice President of its Industry business. In his new role, Meenu will be responsible for accelerating Schneider Electric’s growth of the business with a focus on automation of industries and will drive the push for Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) platform across businesses for building greater efficiencies.

Meenu’s joining comes at an exciting time in industrial automation, with the IIoT offering unprecedented possibilities of building efficiencies across an entire system of an industrial operation. Schneider Electric is at the forefront of this technology wave with its cutting-edge solutions and Innovation at Every Level— which is being delivered through EcoStruxure™, an IoT-enabled, open and interoperable system architecture and platform for plants and machines.

Speaking on the appointment, Anil Chaudhry, Managing Director and Country President, Schneider Electric India, said, “Meenu joins us at a time when businesses are looking at leveraging the Make in India campaign to develop India as a hub of global manufacturing-Meenu’s immense experience will facilitate and front end delivery from our businesses to this critical requirement in the market.”

Meenu Singhal brings with him a rich experience of over 26 years in the field of automation. Following his graduation as an Electrical Engineer he took a post graduate degree in in Marketing Management from IMT, Ghaziabad

Sharing his views on joining the Industry business at Schneider Electric, Meenu said, “I am excited to take over as a leader of Industry and Automation at a time when businesses are looking at leveraging technology to automate and drive serious efficiencies in business. Schneider Electric is uniquely positioned as a global leader in automation industry and our focus as a team is to ensure business continuity and value creation through innovative offerings. I look forward to bringing in my experience on board at Schneider Electric to take the business forward.”

VoxWeb Brings New Visual Designs and Innovative Features on its App

VoxWeb, the social networking app developed around “speaking-pics” or voice-augmented photos, today unveiled new designs and features on its Android and IOS Apps. The most significant of the new features – introduced after heavy user demand – is the “Embed Voxie” option which allows users to embed a voice-augmented photo to their blogs and other websites/webpages.  In addition to this, users can now store the newly created voice-augmented pic to their device without the compulsion of sharing or sending. Users can also create a private Voxie collection by leveraging this feature.

Also, in a major policy shift, VoxWeb disabled the likes and comments count on other users’ content (content creator will continue to have the like and comment counts along with the like list) to remove the ‘performance anxieity’ friction and thus encouraging users to post frequent updates without worrying about the number of likes they get on the post publicly. 

Other new features introduced in the VoxWeb app include doodle drawings and sticker pasting options on pics, pin post to the top of profile page, and two simple and effective privacy settings options. These features will provide users with an elevated photo sharing and social media experience while using the platform.

Speaking about the new app versions the Company said, “These new features in VoxWeb social media platform adds another dimension to a user’s social media experience. We are continuously working to provide our users a unique and rich experience while revolutionizing the digital image-sharing and social media space. VoxWeb is excited to present these refreshing visual designs and new features to internet users.”

The latest features and designs available are:

1.     Embed voxie option: Now users can embed a voice-augmented photo to their blogs or websites

2.     Private voxie collection: Users can transform their album or other photos to voice-augmented photos and  save them on the device, without the need to  post or send those photos. This creates a private rich collection of voice-augmented photos

3.     Doodle: Users can also add stickers and draw doodles on the “speaking-pic” or a voxie created

4.     Pin-to-top: There is an option to pin a social media post at the top of their social media page

5.     Innovative approach to privacy settings: With a combination of merely 2 options, users can effectively enable the desired level of privacy and everything remains in sync with the fundamental nature of a “follower-following” network

6.     “Following” list: VoxWeb has disabled the option to see a user’s “Following” list to encourage following within the network

7.     Changes to update  likes and comments on the app: The platform will not display the number of likes and comments anymore (though comments to any post will always remain visible). This ensures that sure users don’t have any ‘performance anxiety’ while creating a post that is a big friction on various one-to-many communication platforms.

Conference on Integrative Ayurveda and Allopathy to Begin in Kochi, India on August 6

India’s biggest conference on integrative Ayurveda and modern medicine, with 60 experts and 1,000 delegates from around the world participating, is set to begin at Kochi’s Amrita Institute of Medical Sciences on August 6, 2017. The two-day event, titled Amrita Samyogam 2017, is being held in collaboration with Amrita University’s School of Ayurveda. It will be inaugurated by the Union Minister of State for AYUSH, Shripad Yasso Naik.

The Conference will bring together allopathic doctors, Ayurveda practitioners and modern scientists on a common platform. It will identify strategies for integrating Ayurveda with Allopathy in the management of cancer, auto-immune diseases like arthritis, diabetes, neuro-degenerative diseases, and mental health. The event will demonstrate how integrative medicine can be made a reality through examples of clinical integration, basic science studies, and application of new technologies.

Said Prof. Shantikumar Nair, Director, Centre for Nanosciences & Molecular Medicine, Amrita University: “Integrating India’s ancient tradition of Ayurveda with evidence-based modern medicine has the potential to revolutionize world healthcare. Integrative medicine is becoming a popular specialty among physicians in Western countries because of the myriad ways in which it can benefit patients. It focuses on healing the person in entirety rather than merely treating the symptoms by investigating the root cause of illness. It is much more patient-centric and can positively impact chronic and lifestyle diseases for which modern medicine has no answer. Western medicine and Indian ancient healing sciences can be a win-win combination to effectively tackle the enormous healthcare challenges facing humanity.”

The Conference will focus on evidence-based practice guidelines for cross-referrals and combination therapy, understanding the biological mechanisms underlying integrative care, and integration of modern technological tools in Ayurvedic diagnostics, treatment procedures and drug delivery.

Amrita Samyogam 2017 is expected to trigger important collaborations across the world in the field of integrative medicine, especially academic collaborations and funding opportunities. An International Journal of Integrative Health will be launched at the event and a Society for Integrative Health will be established to promote the development of Integrative Medicine in India.

Eminent medical experts attending the Conference include: Dr. Jeffrey White, Director of National Cancer Institute, USA; Dr. Daniel Furst, Rheumatologist at University of California; Dr. Nereo Bresolin, Neurologist, University of Milan; Dr. Christian Kessler, Internal Medicine Specialist, Charite Medical University, Germany; Dr. Valdis Pirags, Diabetologist, University of Latvia; Dr. Maryam Matar, Genetics Specialist, UAE; Dr. Ravi Mehrotra, Director, National Institute for Cancer Prevention and Research, Noida, Dr. B.N. Gangadhar, Director, NIMHANS, Bengaluru; Dr. Rama Jayasundar, Professor, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi,Dr. Ketaki Bapat, Scientific Advisor to the Government of India, and many others.

Bollywood Actress Neha Sharma Inaugurates New Branch of the Advanced Beauty & Cosmetic Clinic in RR Nagar, Bangalore

ABC Clinic, the fastest growing cosmetic clinic chain and a premium destination for advanced beauty and cosmetic treatments for both men and women, today launched its new outlet in Rajarajeshwari Nagar, Bangalore, inaugurated by Bollywood Actress Neha Sharma.

Committed to providing an aesthetic makeover, the opening of the new outlet marks the launch of the 14^th outlet in the country, and is in line with ABC Clinic’s overall target of unveiling 25 clinics in the next 15-18 months with further expansion plans in India and Middle East, making it one of the fastest growing cosmetic clinic chains in the country.

Spread across 2000 sq.ft., the new clinic offers an entire gamut of advanced services in hair, skin and cosmetic treatments using latest technologies and innovations, under the three service brands- Advanced Grohair, Maya Skin and Minus Cosmetic and within the expertise of trained surgeons and the state-of-the-art infrastructure.

Looking radiant and beautiful as always, Actress Neha Sharma inaugurated the new clinic and also present at the event was Thirumal Raj, Founder & CEO, Advance Beauty & Cosmetic Clinic.

Advance Beauty & Cosmetic Clinic is located at (Bangalore Address)

RR Nagar - #149, 9^th Main Road, BEML, 3^rd stage, RR Nagar, Bengaluru 560098.

HSR Layout – 2607, 2^nd floor 27^th main, Sector 1HSR Layout Bangalore Landmark – Opposite to NIFT

Indira Nagar – 3R Plaza, 2^nd floor, No4, 100 feet road, HAL 2^nd Stage Indira Nagar – Opposite Airtel office

Jaya Nagar – Krishna Buildin, 664, 11^th C Main, Ground Floor, 5^th Block Jaya nagar

SIS India IPO Opens from July 31 to Aug 2, Price Band Fixed at Rs 815

The Security and Intelligence Services (India) Limited (SIS) is estimated to raise  Rs 778 crore through its initial public offer or IPO.

The company's IPO will open for subscription on July 31, 2017 and close on August 2, 2017. The price band for the IPO is set at Rs 805 to Rs 815 and the market lot is of 18 shares and in multiples of 18 thereafter.

The initial offer would comprise fresh issue of Rs 362.25 crore and an offer for sale of Rs 415 crore.

The net proceeds from fresh issue will be utilized for repayment and pre-payment of a portion of certain outstanding indebtedness, funding working capital requirements and for general corporate purposes.

Axis Capital, ICICI Securities , IIFL Holdings and Kotak Mahindra Capital Company are the global coordinators and book running lead managers.

SBI Capital Markets, Yes Securities (India) and IDBI Capital Markets & Securities are the book-running lead managers.

South Africa to Target Bangaloreans with Tailor-Made Holiday Packages

South African Tourism concluded the 7th edition of its annual travel trade training sessions in Bangalore today. Aimed at equipping travel agents with the best tips to sell the destination, ‘Learn South Africa’ (Learn SA) is a 17-city training programme which covered urban metros and tier II & III markets.

The sessions were structured to ensure that travelers enjoy many new, exciting, tailor-made itinerary options as a direct result. “Learn SA helps ensure that Indian travel agents know how to choose the best quality hotels for their customer’s budget and needs. It also teaches them how to choose the best in-destination partners to escort the traveler while on holiday. It also gives them updates about new things to see and do in South Africa and basics like visa and logistical know-how to ensure that travelers are catered to efficiently,” said Hanneli Slabber, Country Manager India, South African Tourism.

"TAAI's endeavor through training programs is to educate travel agents so that it is easy for the staff of travel companies to effectively sell the product. With South African Tourism this is the second time that we have undertaken this training. We are happy that the trade is getting exclusive marketing tips from the SAT team and stakeholders from SA who have come to India," declared Bettaiah Lokesh, Hon. Secretary General, TAAI.

The preference for holidays in South Africa has been on a rise amongst Indian travelers over the past few years and is expected to continue in 2017. “2016 was a milestone year for us at South African Tourism in India and we are determined to set new benchmarks for the industry as well as ourselves by making 2017 bigger and better. Our internal target is to welcome more than 100,000 Indian visitors in 2017 and we couldn’t be more thrilled to work towards and achieve this target,” added Hanneli Slabber.

Indian leisure visitor numbers to South Africa surged 21.7% during 2016 to close at an arrivals figure of 95,377 and 8^th position among South Africa’s international source markets. This is vis-à-vis 78,385 arrivals in 2015. 2016 also saw the overall spends from India (only in-country on-tour spends excluding flights and attractions, hotels booked in advance) crossed an astounding 1.2 billion ZAR by the year end. All these statistics indicate that Indian travelers are already showing excitement about destination South Africa.

Bangalore has been one of the most rapidly growing source markets driving tourist traffic to South Africa. South Africa is keen to keep attracting Bangalore’s travel enthusiasts and potential is brimming. The city boasts of 7700 millionaires, 8 billionaires and holds a total wealth of $320 billion according to the 2017

New World Wealth Report. South Africa is the perfect destination for the well-travelled Bangalorean with its variety of distinctive attractions, unforgettable experiences, world-class facilities and excellent infrastructure. It attracts both luxury as well as budget travelers. One of Learn SA 2017’s focus areas was to train travel agents about new destinations such Oudtshoorn, Knysna, Plettenberg Bay, Port Elizabeth and the Drakensberg region beyond the immensely popular Cape Town, Durban, Johannesburg & surrounds and Kruger National Park. These are picturesque areas where travelers can pack in a lot of action into shorter time-spans.

The demand for experiential travel from the Bangalore market has been steadily increasing i.e. there is a shift from ‘seeing’ to ‘experiencing’. South Africa is a perfect destination for such an audience as it has a wide range of activities to offer in close proximity. It is here that travelers can enjoy an action-packed itinerary without having to look too far. There are a range of experiences for every category of traveller to indulge in.

Learn SA 2017 had numerous participating South African product suppliers resulting in more choices for the end consumer / traveler. These included inbound tour operators and destination management companies like Africa Incoming, Trav Care, Tourvest Destination Management, Centurion Travel and Tours and Southern Africa 360; hotel chains such as Tsogo Sun, Extraordinary and Sun International and African air carrier RwandAir which is introducing exciting fares and deals to India.

Over 70 international airlines now fly into South Africa. Efforts are on to increase seat capacity on relevant flight routes ex-Bangalore. Presently, Bangalore is connected to South African cities by Emirates, Ethiopian Airlines and Etihad Airways which fly via their respective hubs and domestic India connections. Travelers have a variety of airlines, connections and consequently, multiple fare options to choose from. The Rand (ZAR)-Rupee exchange rate has been relatively favorable for the India market. Since the South Africa product quote comes in ZAR and not US dollars, Indian travelers are able to buy more experiences and activities for less money thus, making South Africa a value-for-money destination.

Gionee’s Big Daddy of Smartphones - A1 Plus with Dual Rear Camera, Fast Charging and 2 Yrs Extended Warranty

Riding on the record breaking success of its flagship model A1, Gionee India today announced the launch of A1 Plus, furthering its commitment to provide an unmatched photography and battery experience. Equipped with best in class features , A1 Plus  has professional quality 13MP+5MP rear dual camera and 20 MP front camera. Powerful in performance, A1 Plus has a 4550mAh battery and Helio P25 Octa-core processor with 4GB RAM, 64 GB ROM and 256 GB expandable memory. A1 Plus will be available across India in retail stores at an attractive price of Rs 26,999.

The new model demonstrates superior features like great dual rear camera for premium quality photography experience alongside long-lasting battery life with ultrafast charge and cutting edge MediaTek Helio P25 processor. Dual rear camera allows one to capture the details and collect the depth of field information, enabling users to take vibrant and lively pictures even in low-light conditions. From wide-angle shots to artsy bokeh effects, Gionee A1 plus is all geared to raise the standard of smartphone photography to the next level with its dual rear camera.

A1 Plus also comes with a premium performing chip from the MediaTek Helio family, Helio P25, which combines the power of 16nm Octa-core processing with a superior ISP which is ideal for dual camera devices. Designed for Android smartphones that aim to differentiate through exceptional camera features and overall advanced image quality. By adopting a 16nm FinFET+ process node, MediaTek Helio P25 offers an Octa-core Cortex-A53 processor clocked at up to 2.6GHz that delivers more power while using less energy than competing solutions.

The MediaTek platform, coupled with 4 GB RAM + 64GB ROM, provides an enhanced user experience at a lower power consumption rate.

Commenting on the launch, Alok Shrivastava, Director – Business Intelligence and Planning, Gionee India said, “The A Series is rooted to the growing demand of high quality smartphone photography experience. Keeping up with the rising trend the A1 Plus exhibits excellent camera quality with flawless dual rear camera and exquisite design tradition that will earn accolades for Gionee flagship series. We are confident that our attention to detail with impressive specs, powerful battery and advanced features will deliver the best user experience possible.”

Kuldeep Malik (Country Head, Corporate Sales International), MediaTek while talking about the collaboration said, “We are extremely proud to associate with Gionee smartphones for their A series. The A1 Plus is driven by Helio P25 processor combined with the power of 16nm Octa-core processing having a superior ISP built with special focus on dual camera devices. The aim is to differentiate the product through its exceptional camera features providing premium image quality.

The cutting-edge technology will offer improved performance with longer battery life and we look forward to strengthen our relationship with the fastest growing smartphone manufacturer with the upcoming launches.”

Super Selfie

A1 Plus continues to focus on exceptional selfie performance, featuring a 20MP front camera along with a customized selfie flash to spread light onto faces more evenly and softly. The soft lighting effect is able to enhance facial complexions, giving users a natural glow and rosiness. Gionee’s independent facial enhancement algorithm automatically detects a user’s face and applies custom beauty settings. Powered by 4-cell technology, the front camera captures more light than before resulting clearer and more beautiful selfies

The other key features which have been developed to guarantee a high-quality selfie, for example, Gionee’s facial recognition system and advanced algorithms have gone into the bokeh-selfie mode, which allows users to blur backgrounds with an artistic bokeh while still allowing their faces to stand out. Users can enjoy studio-quality depth and background bokeh effects.

Super Battery

The A1 Plus offers longer battery life and seamless user experience thanks to an integrated software and hardware solution. Powered by a 4550 mAh battery, users can enjoy uninterrupted usage for up to two days regardless of web browsing, reading or even consuming video content. In addition to longer battery life, GioneeA1 Plus also features Ultrafast charging capability which gives users 2-hour talk time in just 300 seconds of faster, safer and worry-free charging.

Super Experience

The seamless interplay between hardware and software allows GioneeA1 Plus to offer an optimized smartphone experience. The A1 Plus runs on a MTK Helio P25 process or that gives better performance and less power consumption. Powered by a 4GB RAM, The A1 enables smooth multitasking and easy operation, while 64GB internal storage (Expandable up to 256GB) provide ample storage space.

Like the A1, the A1 Plus is also equipped with the fastest fingerprint sensor, unlocking the phone in just 0.2 seconds, for top-notch safety. For the humid Indian conditions, the sensor unlocks the device even with moist fingers. The finger print sensor also activates ‘Edgebar’ allowing users a hub for quicker access to their favorite apps.

A1 Plus offers a full HD display that measures a fantastic six inches across, diagonally—allowing users to see much more of what they want, delivering a truly immersive super experience. It boasts of a host of amazing features such as Split Screen, 2.5D +Gorilla Glass 3, Maxx Audio VOLTE and Virus detection enabled amongst other key features.

Price & Availability

The phone will be available for sale across India retail stores from July 26 at a price of Rs 26,999.

CSS Corp Wins NASSCOM’s Digital Skills Award for 2017

CSS Corp, a global leader in providing IT Services and Technology Support solutions, has won NASSCOM’s prestigious Digital Skills Award for 2017. CSS Corp’s Digital Career Progression Framework, “Reimagine”, was chosen for its unique and innovative approach to employee up-skilling and cross-skilling in new age digital technologies. The award was presented at NASSCOM’s flagship HR Summit, which was held in Chennai last week.

The “Reimagine” framework has been specifically built to fast-track employee re-skilling initiatives within the organization, in niche digital technologies including Robotic Process Automation (RPA), AI, Analytics, Cloud, DevOps and IoT. Additionally, the framework enables collaborative learning and greater personalization through Virtual University, MOOCs, online portals and learning communities. Reimagine promotes democratization of learning and fosters a culture of innovation within the organization. 

The results of Reimagine have been encouraging so far. It and has brought in significant increases in critical business aspects, including resource utilization, team productivity, employee learning and development, and increase in revenue per employee. The framework has also created more career and growth opportunities, while resulting in an overall drop in attrition.

CSS Corp’s Reimagine framework is synchronized with Digital Innovation Labs that provide employees access and ample opportunities to build customer engagement solutions like Yodaa, CSS Corp’s recent AI platform. The various training programs and certifications that are offered on the latest technologies enable employees to enhance their digital dexterity, to thrive in today’s disruptive marketplace.

Speaking on the occasion, R. Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, said, “Workforce landscape in India has evolved significantly over the last decade and the key to success lies in identifying the right talent and then train them to enhance their skills and employability and therefore enhance industry’s competitiveness. I congratulate CSS Corp for their excellent work in this area. We are sure that the entire industry will devise ways and means to scale up the reskilling efforts.”

Commenting on the recognition, Manish Tandon, CEO of CSS Corp said, “We are delighted to be recognized by NASSCOM for our digital up-skilling initiatives. This will enable us to offer the best of career and growth opportunities to our employees, while building a nimble and agile organization. We are reorienting our service lines with new and disruptive offerings, and the Reimagine framework is one such step toward this process of change, adoption and growth. We are confident that our employees will tap into these opportunities to learn and adapt, and be the change agents who will deliver transformational business results in today’s rapidly evolving technology environment.”

Speaking on the occasion, David Raj, EVP & Chief HR Officer, CSS Corp said, “We are honored by this recognition by NASSCOM. It is a strong testimony to the underlying philosophy of CSS Corp’s adaptability, and our commitment towards building a close-knit, vibrant, and technologically advanced organization. The Reimagine career progression framework has been designed to provide the right guidance, opportunities and encouragement to our employees to advance their careers.”

Air India SATS Unveils ‘AISATS Cargo’ App for Real-Time Cargo Tracking at KIA, Bengaluru

Air India SATS Airport Services Pvt. Ltd. (AISATS), India’s premier airport services company has launched a mobile app ‘AISATS Cargo’ to facilitate the cargo tracking process at AISATS Air Freight Terminal and at AISATS COOLPORT, located at Kempegowda International Airport (KIA), Bengaluru.

P. Anjani Kumar - IRS, Commissioner of Customs-Airport & ACC, Bengaluru along with M R Reddy & Bipin Kumar Upadhyaya, Joint Commissioners of Customs and Harshvardhan Umre, Additional Commissioner of Customs launched the app at AISATS Airfreight Terminal at BLR. Stakeholders from Bengaluru International Airport Limited (BIAL), Cargo Trade Associations (CTA) and partner airlines were also present at the occasion. AISATS is the first and the only air cargo operator at Bengaluru to develop this free on-the-go app to provide its customers with comprehensive cargo-tracking solutions.

This user-friendly app, picks up cargo movement data from COSYS and provides real-time information on flight schedules, Air Way Bill (AWB) shipment tracking and e-Delivery Order (e-DO) status. The user can input the AWB number and obtain the current status of a shipment such as date of uplift/arrival, number of pieces, weight as well as approval status of the delivery order through its e-DO feature. The ‘AISATS Cargo’ app will increase efficiency of the supply chain by relaying relevant information of the cargo to key stakeholders.

Speaking on the launch of the app, Mike Chew, CEO, AISATS said, “AISATS has always been at the forefront of digitization and is quick to adopt information technology to introduce innovative solutions in the air cargo industry. The AISATS Cargo app will aid in the ease of doing business by enabling seamless availability of data at any given time. This will ensure maximum benefit and convenience to our stakeholders.”

AISATS handled a total of 1, 42, 033 tons of cargo in the FY 16-17 at Kempegowda International Airport.

LIC Mutual Fund Mandates Trend Micro to Secure its Endpoints, Network and Data Centres

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, provided a complete suite of solutions securing endpoints, network and data centres for LIC Mutual Fund, one of India’s prominent asset management and financial product advisor. This comes at the back of the recent announcement of Trend Micro securing SBI’s 2.75 Lakh endpoints across 26,000 branches. Trend Micro implemented a ‘Connected Threat Defense and Response Strategy’, that was efficient enough to detect and block threats across all channels.

LIC Mutual Fund deployed Trend Micro solutions which provided visibility into potential security threats and increased protection against zero-day vulnerabilities. It also improved operational efficiency by reducing unscheduled patching events, customer code fixes, and enhanced productivity due to reduced unscheduled downtime. Deployed as a single, multifunction agent across all environments in the data centres, Trend Micro solutions addressed resource contention issues and helped to simplify security operations. LIC Mutual Fund also benefits from a centralized management solution that provides a single, integrated interface to manage, monitor, and report across multiple layers of security.

Over the past few years, cyber criminals are employing more sophisticated technology, which has led to a drastic change in the global cybercrime landscape. With demonetization, cashless economy and smart city campaigns, India has emerged as a focus market for cyber criminals across the globe. In line with this, despite having a sound IT infrastructure, LIC Mutual Fund decided to take preventive measures and approached Trend Micro. Subsequently, Trend Micro has offered powerful solutions to LIC Mutual Fund, which enables threat protection and data security for users.

“For LIC Mutual Fund, we ensured that servers and endpoints were not vulnerable and defended against zero-day threats, breaches, and business disruptions by adapting a virtual patching mechanism. We also deployed a strong network defense strategy that gave 360-degree visibility and counter measure in place to supplement the traditional security they used. The solutions offered by us resulted in improved operational security, operational efficiency, ease of security management and integration and automation,” said Nilesh Jain, Country Manager - (India and SAARC), Trend Micro.

“It is important that the security solution integrate seamlessly with the existing established IT infrastructure. Therefore, we essentially made sure to integrate company’s IT ecosystem to deliver cutting-edge protection without impacting on system performance,” he added.

“With ever-growing security risks and a complex IT environment, it was very important to find a flexible, customizable, easy-to-manage solution suitable for our business. Partnering with Trend Micro led to a harmonious collaboration that helped us combat the challenges of securing and protecting our data and network from potential security risks and cyber threats,” said Prashant Thakkar, Chief Technology Officer and Head of Strategy, LIC Mutual Fund Asset Management Limited.

Genpact Social Impact Fellowship 1.0 Impacts Lives of 70,000 Indian Students

Genpact, a global professional services firm focused on delivering digital transformation for clients, today announced the graduation of the first batch of the Genpact Social Impact Fellowship (GSIF) program. The year-long fellowship program in partnership with EdelGive Foundation, the philanthropic division of Edelweiss Group, deploys process excellence experts to generate social impact. In the first year, six fellows chosen among hundreds of applicants have been engaged in high-impact projects to create systemic change in the social sector.

Leveraging EdelGive Foundation’s experience in the social sector, the six GSIF fellows have collaborated with three leading non-profit organizations working in the area of education in India. Using Genpact’s core Lean Six Sigma expertise for designing and transforming processes, they significantly improved and eliminated redundant processes. Leading to better collaboration and compliance, the enhanced processes will transform the lives of more than 70,000 students in India.

“There has always been a need for additional capability building in the non-profit sector. Companies must focus on leveraging their skillsets to develop sustainable and scalable social impact. The Genpact Social Impact Fellowship is a unique bridge between the social and corporate sectors that allows our fellows to use Genpact’s deep process expertise to drive impact in the social sector. It’s heartening to see that the Fellows were able to leverage best practices from the social sector and Genpact to focus on the end goal – generating impact for the children,” said Sasha Sanyal, SVP and Business Leader, Insurance, Diversity and CSR.

Partnering with Teach For India (TFI), Anuj Chopra and Shreya Khedia have created a playbook of Common Minimum Practices (CMPs) for TFI program managers that will help 10,000 students get 100 more learning hours in a year. In a unique project with Kaivalya Education Foundation (KEF), Genpact employees Tulsi Sahu and Seban Babu reengineered processes for the delivery of scholarships, mid-day meals, and textbooks to help 55,000 students receive their books and scholarships on time. Standardizing Udayan Care’s existing process framework allowed Pankaj Bhatia and Samarendra Patra to create a playbook for their employees so that the non-profit can double its impact by 2020 and touch the lives of 9,000 underprivileged girls.

“Combining the philanthropic expertise of EdelGive with Genpact’s Lean Six Sigma proficiency, the Genpact Social Impact Fellowship goes beyond traditional funding. The first edition of GSIF has yielded wonderful results and we hope to continue this journey well into the second year,” said Naghma Mulla, COO, EdelGive Foundation.

The second batch of the fellowship is being launched with twice as many of fellows as well as non-profits. The open fellowship program invites applications from interested people from all backgrounds with a demonstrated passion for social impact. Genpact aims to develop GSIF into a successful, scalable program that can serve as a model for many other organizations wanting to make a lasting difference in the social sector.

TiE Mumbai’s SmashUp 7.0 Brings Together Successful Entrepreneurs

SmashUp, one of the flagship events of TiE Mumbai was held at ISDI ACE, Lower Parel over the weekend. In the last 7 years, SmashUp has brought together new and aspiring entrepreneurs to exchange ideas and boost peer learning from successful entrepreneurs. SmashUp is a platform where ideas mature into action plans inspired by stories of successful as well as not so successful strategies.

The main highlight of the conference was Smasher Award – a Spot funding platform created by TiE Charter Members, wherein six shortlisted startups pitched for a grand prize of $40K (~ Rs 25 Lakhs). Each StartUp was given 15 mins with the investors (5 mins to pitch, 5 mins Q&A and 5 mins to discuss the details of funding). This year, the Smasher Award was bagged by a startup called IPHawk. It was funded by Sanjay Mehta, Dewang Nerella and other TiE Angels. The group of angel investors will become mentors and open doors for the StartUp rather than just passive investors.

Founders of Purple Squirrel, TinyOwl – Saurabh Goyal, Taskbob – Assem Khare, Zimmber – Anubhav Goel participated in a session called ‘StartUp Tales: Starting the 2nd Innings’ where they narrated their struggles, challenges in starting a venture, guide to raising the first million, surviving the first year after fund raising and finally the process of shutting down. Situations related to investors, staff relations and reasons for calling it quits which have never been spoken in open forums were discussed by these daredevil founders.

Commenting on the grand success of SmashUp 7.0, Anand Desai, President, TiE Mumbai said “Over the years SmashUp has established itself as a platform where entrepreneurs get access to and direction from those who have walked the path. This year too, SmashUp is successful in meeting expectations of the startup ecosystem. TiE Mumbai’s mission is to foster entrepreneurship and we will continue to give new entrepreneurs access to the startup ecosystem.”