QuEST Global Enhances Deep Learning Solutions with Intel’s Industrial Edge Insights Software

QuEST Global, a global product engineering and lifecycle services company, announced today that it has enhanced its vision analytics and predictive maintenance solutions with Intel® Edge Insights for Industrial. QuEST developed these deep learning solutions to help OEMs and Tier 1 suppliers in the industrial and semiconductor sectors to automate security and monitoring systems and manufacturing tools used for making semiconductor chips.

The vision analytics solution developed by QuEST uses the Intel distribution of the OpenVINO toolkit to provide manufacturers with actionable insights based on specific patterns captured by machine vision systems. The solution uses Artificial Intelligence (AI) to develop insights based on video feeds. In addition to OpenVINO toolkit, the solution incorporates Intel Edge Insights for Industrial framework to facilitate deployment by end-users.

The predictive maintenance solution developed by QuEST is designed to help semiconductor OEMs maintain manufacturing tools. In this application, Intel Edge Insights for Industrial framework provides times series analytic capability as part of a predictive maintenance solution. This analysis help OEMs determine the remaining useful life of an asset and help to optimize maintenance time.

Commenting on the two solutions Krish Kupathil, Head – Hi-Tech and Digital, QuEST Global said, “As a trusted thinking partner to our customers, we aim to develop and implement innovative solutions in the areas of manufacturing, security and monitoring, and automotive. Intel’s Edge Insights for Industrial framework and related technologies have been enhancing our vision analytics and predictive maintenance solutions and AI capabilities, helping us create the frontier for our customers. We look forward to continued collaboration with Intel to drive tech-driven business growth for customers across industries.”

Intel Edge Insights for Industrial enables near real-time analysis at the edge by making it easy to integrate data, devices, and processes in manufacturing applications and easy to utilize Intel processors and accelerators. “The industrial sector is using Intel Edge Insights for Industrial-based solutions and tools to help improve operational efficiency and to help tighten factory security and monitoring. This enabling software makes it easy to deploy AI solution and optimizes the hardware performance across Intel-based platforms,” said Jonathan Luse, General Manager, Intel Industrial Solutions.

QuEST Global works with leading global companies across diverse verticals, helping them to address the growing demand for providing connected engineering experience to the end customers. Over the past two decades, the company has been helping its customers take the next step in their digital transformation journey by automating the process of identifying production problems, proactively implementing innovative solutions, and making products safer and more reliable.

Lucknow-Boy Himanshu Singh Beats 2.52 Lakh+ Coders Worldwide to Become Code Gladiators 2020 Champion

Himanshu Singh is an Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi graduate, he passed out college just one month ago and is working with an IT firm in Bengaluru.

* Of the total 2.52lakh+ participants, only 38% were students and rest 62% were professionals  

* Developers from Italy, US, Singapore, Ireland, Germany, Norway and Bangladesh also participated 

* TechGig Code Gladiators 2020 edition ran for 165 days and concluded with a mega virtual finale event – a first such conclusion for this Guinness World record holder event 

* More than 29 winners were felicitated in a grand virtual finale ceremony 

* Winners from 4 theme hackathons - namely UiPath RPA hackathon, Times Internet Multi-Label Classification, Microsoft Hack on Azure and IBM Call for Climate Change – were also crowned 

“Everybody has that one significant achievement in life which he cites as his ‘biggest win’; for me winning Code Gladiators 2020 will be ‘that biggest win’”, said Himanshu Singh - the newly crowned coding champion of the world’s biggest coding competition - TechGig Code Gladiators 2020. Himanshu Singh, who passed his college – the Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi - just a month ago took over 2.52lakh+ coders and won the much-coveted champion’s crown!

Code Gladiators is the annual coding extravaganza hosted by TechGig and felicitated with Guinness World record and Limca Book record for its massive participation. Code Gladiators celebrated its seventh edition this year, and the first one to have a virtual grand finale. TechGig Code Gladiators 2020 edition was announced in March and saw swarming participation by developers – both Indian and international - despite the COVID-19 situation.  

Himanshu Singh won the 165-day long competition in a nail-biting coding finale. The finale rounds for coding and theme hackathons were held on August 8 and 9, respectively. From August 9 - 13, leaders from the participating companies evaluated and judged the finalists to select the winners.

TechGig Code Gladiators 2020 had four theme hackathons – namely, UiPath RPA hackathon, Times Internet Multi-Label Classification, Microsoft Hack on Azure and IBM Call for Climate Change. Theme hackathons are usually centred on finding business solutions to real-world problems. This year the last two hackathons were specifically focussed at finding tech solutions to combat COVID-19.

Explaining more details about the competition, Sanjay Goyal, Business Head, TimesJobs and TechGig said, “In March 2020, we sensed that the COVID-19 situation could slip out of hands, and very quickly we decided to have a grand virtual conclusion to our mega coding competition. We were staring at a mammoth challenge to bring the grandeur of a worldwide recognised event to the virtual format and ensure that all our 2.52lakh+ participants get a slice of this event. I’m happy to share that we’ve been able to live up to all our expectations. We had a few international participants as well, which makes me think that maybe the virtual mode is better than the offline mode”.

International participants Ahmed Makki and Yurasik Ol participated at Code Gladiators for the first time. Ahmed Makki was jubilant about making it to the finals in his maiden attempt. “I feel the virtual mode is better because had that event been held in its usual offline format then I would not have been able to participate owing to visa and COVID-19 restrictions”. 

Talking about the virtual aspect of grand finale event Pourab Karchaudhuri – runners up at theme hackathon Multi-Label Classification, and a theme winner at Code Gladiators 2019 said, “The mood and tone of Code Gladiators don’t flicker’. “The experience is cool considering everything is online and extremely well managed,” he added. As for Lucknow boy Himanshu Singh, the journey has just started. He has recently joined an IT firm and hopes to do his best at his new job. 

The coding champion took home Rs 3 Lakhs and the theme champions won Rs 1,50,000. Collectively, all winners took home prizes worth Rs 50 Lakhs. The complete winners’ list of Code Gladiators 2020 is:

Coding Champions: 

Winner: Himanshu Singh

 1st Runner up: Chaitanya A

 2nd Runner up: Kalash Gupta

 3rd Runner up: Jyothi Bugatha

 4th Runner up: Rahul Dugar

Code Diva Award Winner: Kruti Dharaiya

 Coding Powerhouse:

 Winner: Colruyt IT Consultancy 

 1st Runner up: CDK Global 

 2nd Runner up: IG Infotech

Accenture Announces the Winners of Third Annual Accenture Ventures Challenge for Indian Developers

 Accenture has announced four innovative startups as the winners of the third edition of Accenture Ventures Challenge in India for developing unique, scalable solutions to help businesses accelerate the business transformations prompted by the Covid-19 crisis.

This year more than 550 startups were evaluated across four categories -- ‘supply chain resilience’, ‘digital commerce’ and ‘systems resilience,’ and ‘responsible technology.’ The final category is at identifying solutions that help organizations create positive social and environmental impact in these times.

The judges selected the following winners based on unique, scalable solutions to help businesses accelerate the business transformations prompted by the Covid-19 crisis.

Atlan, in the Systems Resilience category, for its modern data workspace that enables diverse data teams to collaborate harmoniously.

Charmboard, in the Digital Commerce category, for its AI based application that provides interactive experience at scale for users from videos.

Increff, in the Supply Chain Resilience category, for its algorithm driven merchandising platform that increases inventory turns and warehouse management system that exposes 100% inventory simultaneously to all sales channels.

Wysa, in the Responsible Technology category, for its global platform for early-stage mental health support at scale, with a unique (digital + AI + human) model that is anonymous and clinically assured. 

 This year, the Accenture Ventures Challenge was hosted in collaboration with Microsoft’s 100X100X100 program. The winner in each category will be given an opportunity to join the Accenture Ventures Open Innovation partner program and co-create solutions for Accenture clients around the world. Winners will also get access to benefits from the Microsoft ScaleUp program, which supports Seed or Series A B2B startups to scale and co-sell with Microsoft sales teams.

GitHub Archive Program: The Journey of the World’s Open Source Code to the Arctic

At GitHub Universe 2019, we introduced the GitHub Archive Program along with the GitHub Arctic Code Vault. Our mission is to preserve open source software for future generations by storing your code in an archive built to last a thousand years.

On February 2, 2020, we took a snapshot of all active public repositories on GitHub to archive in the vault. Over the last several months, our archive partners Piql, wrote 21TB of repository data to 186 reels of piqlFilm (digital photosensitive archival film). Our original plan was for our team to fly to Norway and personally escort the world’s open source code to the Arctic, but as the world continues to endure a global pandemic, we had to adjust our plans. We stayed in close contact with our partners, waiting for the time when it was safe for them to travel to Svalbard. We’re happy to report that the code was successfully deposited in the Arctic Code Vault on July 8, 2020. 

Join us as we follow the code in its journey to the Arctic, and take a look at a few other things we’ve been up to here at the GitHub Archive Program. 

The journey of the world’s open source code to the Arctic Circle  

Your code’s journey begins in Piql’s facility in Drammen, Norway where the boxes with 186 film reels were shipped to Oslo Airport and then loaded into the belly of the plane which provides passenger service to Svalbard. Svalbard, roughly 600 miles (1000 km) north of the European mainland, just recently opened up to visitors from countries within the Schengen Area and the European Economic Area.

The code landed in Longyearbyen, a town of a few thousand people on Svalbard, where our boxes were met by a local logistics company and taken into intermediate secure storage overnight. The next morning, it traveled to the decommissioned coal mine set in the mountain, and then to a chamber deep inside hundreds of meters of permafrost, where the code now resides fulfilling their mission of preserving the world’s open source code for over 1,000 years.

Introducing the Arctic Code Vault Badge   

Millions of developers around the world contributed to the open source software now stored in the Arctic Code Vault. To recognize and celebrate these contributions, we designed the Arctic Code Vault Badge, which is shown in the highlights section of a developer’s profile on GitHub. Hover and you can discover some of the repositories an individual contributed to.

An update from our Archive Program partners 

The Internet Archive is a well-known, widely beloved non-profit digital library which provides free public access to collections of digitized materials. In partnership with the GitHub Archive Program, the Internet Archive (IA) commenced its ongoing archive of GitHub public repositories on April 13 of this year. At present, IA is using a two-pronged approach. First, their well-known Wayback Machine is accessing and archiving raw GitHub data as WARCs, or Web ARChive files. As of this writing they have archived some 55TB of data. Second, they have the goal of making entire archived GitHub repositories available via “git clone,” while also keeping repo comments, issues, and other metadata easily accessible on the web. This second initiative is well underway and initial archiving is expected to commence this month.

Software Heritage is a non profit, multi-stakeholder initiative launched by Inria in collaboration with UNESCO with the goal to collect, preserve and share the source code of our software commons. They already archive more than 130 million projects, with their full development history, and we are delighted to announce that 100 million of these are from GitHub. Thanks to the collaboration announced at GitHub Universe 2019, the archival engine is being improved with the goal to keep it up to speed with GitHub‘s growth, but if the project you are interested in, or its latest version, is not archived yet, you do not need to wait, it’s easy to trigger its archival right now in a few clicks on https://save.softwareheritage.org. 

Project Silica is developing the first storage technology designed and built from the media up for cloud-scale storage of long-lived data. By leveraging recent discoveries in ultrafast laser optics, data is stored in quartz glass, through a process that permanently changes the physical structure of the glass material. Quartz glass is a durable storage media that offers unparalleled data lifetimes of upwards of tens of thousands of years. It is resilient to electromagnetic interference, water, and heat, making it the ideal storage medium for ensuring the world’s open source software is forever preserved for future generations. As a partner in the GitHub Archive Program, Project Silica is committed to driving storage innovation, and developing a storage technology that addresses the need for a sustainable and reliable storage technology for the world’s long-lived data. We’ve archived 6,000 of the world’s most popular repositories as a proof of concept for future archives.  

What’s next? 

Code, culture, history, and technology: The Tech Tree

Every reel of the archive includes a copy of the “Guide to the GitHub Code Vault” in five languages, written with input from GitHub’s community and available at the Archive Program’s own GitHub repository. In addition, the archive will include a separate human-readable reel which documents the technical history and cultural context of the archive’s contents. We call this the Tech Tree. Inspired by the Long Now’s Manual for Civilization, the Tech Tree will consist primarily of existing works, selected to provide a detailed understanding of modern computing, open source and its applications, modern software development, popular programming languages, etc. It will also include works which explain the many layers of technical foundations that make software possible: microprocessors, networking, electronics, semiconductors, and even pre-industrial technologies. This will allow the archive’s inheritors to better understand today’s world and its technologies, and may even help them recreate computers to use the archived software. Encapsulating the world’s cultural context and technical history is a challenging prospect, and we expect the Tech Tree to evolve and iterate over time. We will soon publish to the Archive Program’s GitHub repository a very initial draft list of works selected for the Tech Tree, along with, importantly, a request for community input. We look forward to incorporating ideas and suggestions from the GitHub community before the Tech Tree is added to the Arctic Code Vault.

Infogain Achieves Google Cloud Partner Specialization in Application Development

Infogain, ​a leading provider of technology solutions, today announced that it has achieved the “Application Development Partner Specialization” in the Google Cloud Partner Specialization Program. The program provides Google Cloud customers with qualified partners that have demonstrated their expertise and success in advanced application development using Google Cloud technology. Infogain’s​proven success in building and managing applications using the best of Google Cloud in both web, and mobile environments led to this specialization. 

Infogain helps enterprises, ISVs, and innovative start-ups build modern software products and applications on Google Cloud. Infogain was one of the first to deploy and integrate Automation Anywhere RPA platform to Google Cloud Platform (​Press Release​).​Infogain’s experience spans modern application development and deployment architectures, Google Cloud IaaS, and PaaS platform development and DevSecOps driven application delivery. 

Nishith Mathur, Chief Technology and Strategy Officer, ​Infogain, said, “We are pleased that Infogain achieved the Google Cloud ​Application Development Partner Specialization​. The specialization from Google Cloud is a validation of our commitment to provide the most innovative and best solutions for our clients by leveraging Google Cloud environment​. This accreditation enables us to help our clients achieve agility and security, leading to better business outcomes, using advanced Google Cloud solutions.”

About Infogain

Infogain is a Silicon Valley headquartered company with digital platform and software engineering expertise in the travel, retail, insurance, healthcare, and high technology industries. We accelerate design-led transformation and delivery of digital customer engagement systems and platforms. Infogain engineers business outcomes for Fortune 500 companies and digital natives using technologies such as cloud, microservices, robotic process automation, IoT, and artificial intelligence.   A ChrysCapital portfolio company, Infogain has offices in California, Washington, Texas, London, Dubai, India, and Singapore, with delivery centers in Austin, Kraków, New Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, and Mumbai.

Microsoft Introduces the Power Platform Return to the Workplace solution in India

Microsoft has announced the general availability of its Power Platform Return to the Workplace solution across India.  Introduced at its flagship partner summit Microsoft Inspire 2020, this pre-built solution will help organizations plan, coordinate and manage the return to physical workplaces with confidence. Designed for fast deployment and customization, the Power Platform Return to the Workplace solution is a comprehensive, end-to-end set of modules built on a secure and compliant platform. Together, the modules provide an end-to-end experience for executive leaders, facility managers, employees, managers, as well as health and safety leaders. The solution will be free to download and use for businesses of all sizes as an integral part of all existing and new paid Power Apps licenses.

Underlining its commitment to enable small and medium businesses (SMBs) in the country to bounce back, Microsoft is also offering the Power Platform Return to the Workplace solution with its Back2Business Solution Boxes for business continuity.  Including offers on Microsoft Teams and Windows Virtual Desktop, these boxed packages are focused on providing immediate, secure and easy-to-deploy remote working solutions.

Reopening, or returning to the workplace, will be a phased process and it will be vital for organizations to be equipped to give their leaders and employees timely and accurate information. According to Rajiv Sodhi, COO – Microsoft India, “As the economic recovery begins, organizations are returning to their workplaces with stringent new guidelines for health and safety; stewardship of employees and customers; and rebuilding the business. The ability to be agile, react swiftly to changing conditions, and adapt will be core to the success of companies. Fast feedback loops and acting on data available within the organization will matter most for accurate and informed decision making. We believe the new Return to Workplace solution will help our customers reopen responsibly, monitor intelligently, and protect continuously with solutions for the rapidly evolving needs of the workplace.”

The Power Platform Return to the Workplace solution comprises

Location Readiness: allows facility managers and task force leaders to determine the readiness of their facilities and efficiently manage their safe reopening.  Facility managers and task force leaders can use the Location Readiness dashboard to quickly make informed decisions by using critical factors like COVID-19 infection rates and the availability of supplies.

Employee Health and Safety Management:  empowers employees with self-service tools that help them work safely, confidently and productively. They can check into work remotely, self-screen before entering the building, reserve a meeting room virtually and more – including from a mobile app.

Workplace Care Management: gives health and safety leaders the tools to actively manage COVID-19 cases, identify hotspots for safety improvement, and import data from third party systems to determine possible exposure. Executive dashboards enable monitoring of all Workplace Care Management data for a consolidated view.

Location Management:  gives facility managers the tools they need to keep their locations open safely. Location Management helps maintain a safe environment with tools for monitoring occupancy, health supplies, safety procedures and other facility-related best practices.

 

The Power Platform Return to the Workplace solution provides an opportunity for Microsoft partners to help and support customers with customizations and deployment. It offers a foundation that partners can integrate and extend to meet unique customer requirements, with the solution available at no additional cost. Designed to accelerate workplace readiness for stores, factories, offices or even schools, this pre-built solution can help organizations save time and money by reducing risk and streamlining their workplace reopening process.

About Microsoft Power Platform and Power Apps

Microsoft Power Platform is a low code platform that allows organizations to analyze data, build solutions, automate processes, and create virtual agents, to meet business challenges effectively.

Power Apps is Microsoft’s low code application development platform that spans Azure, M365 and D365 as well as stand-alone applications, empowering everyone, whether a citizen developer, an IT admin or a Pro Dev to collaborate and solve business problems and innovate faster. 

Low-code platforms enable a visual approach to building apps and workflows. They reduce the time and effort to build apps, automate workflows and derive value from data. They also bridge the gap between IT, professional developers and the business, driving a collaborative approach to problem solving, lowering the technical barrier to solving business challenges with technology.

ServiceNow Named a Leader in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Software Asset Management Tools

ServiceNow, the company that makes work, work better for people, has been named a Leader in the 2020 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Software Asset Management Tools. ServiceNow was recognized for its Software Asset Management (SAM) solution. This recognition comes just two and a half years after ServiceNow first launched its SAM product.

ServiceNow’s SAM solution provides customers with the ability to help reduce software spend and license compliance risk, allowing companies to gain a more complete picture of their software assets deployed in their datacenter, on end user computers and in the cloud. With ServiceNow, customers can optimize IT productivity, cost, and resilience. This is crucial for companies, especially during times of economic uncertainty, where companies are looking to drive even greater efficiencies with their capital.

At ServiceNow’s recent Knowledge 2020 Digital Experience, customers such as Accenture, Exelon, and Microsoft presented on their successful journeys with ServiceNow SAM to achieve high value.  Many customers are finding opportunities to save millions of dollars very quickly by eliminating unused software.

“Now more than ever, companies around the world are looking to drive efficiencies and reduce costs,” said Manish Srivastava, VP and GM of IT Asset Management at ServiceNow. “We feel Gartner’s recognition of ServiceNow as a Leader for Software Asset Management tools is a reflection of our solution’s unique ability to not only provide insights, but automate taking action on these insights using the ServiceNow workflow platform, accelerating savings realization, and compliance remediation.”

ServiceNow’s SAM product runs on a single architecture, natively interacting with other critical functions such as Hardware Asset Management, IT Service Management (ITSM), IT Operations Management (ITOM), and IT Business Management (ITBM). The single data model provides workflows to connect the enterprise throughout the full IT life cycle.  ServiceNow’s single system approach modernizes and simplifies how SAM gets done.

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Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.

upGrad Filling Up Senior Leadership Roles Amid COVID-19, Plans to Double Employee Base

While most companies have gone on a hiring freeze or rationalizing their human resources, growing sectors like edtech are on a hiring spree.  upGrad, India’s largest online higher education company in its most recent development onboarded Rohit Dhar as the new President - Products, this July. Rohit, who had co-founded Brainybatch Internet, India’s first lending platform focused on making education affordable by providing short-term, has over 13 years of experience in managing products for leading companies like OLX, Flipkart, e-Bay, PayPal, and StubHub. He will be leading the entire Product, Data Science, Analytics, and Design teams at upGrad.

Prior to him, the company onboarded Puneet Tanwar as President - Technology who will be leading the Technology vertical at upGrad. Puneet has accumulated over 20 years of experience in software development and joins upGrad from 1E, a UK-based software product company where he was Head of Engineering, India. Prior to this, he has held leadership positions in Engineering in firms such as Diebold Nixdorf, Microsoft and Electronic Arts.

In June upGrad also appointed Deepak H. Singhka, who started his career at Mahindra & Mahindra and went on to work at BYJU’S. There, he was responsible for initiating the ‘Field Sales’ across multiple cities in India, along with ‘Inside Sales’ in the Bengaluru office. His notable contribution includes helping the edtech set up their e-commerce channel with Amazon and Flipkart. As the Vice President - Business, Deepak will help steer the entire business towards growth and manage as well as improve upon success rate for working professionals, the college, and the academy business.

Talking about the recent hiring’s, Mayank Kumar, Co-Founder & MD, upGrad said “COVID-19 is an opportune time for the edtech sector and our strategy is to make the most of the opportunity and double-up our workforce. Leadership hiring plays an integral role in this, it is the right time to invest in senior talent which will help us to get ready for the new normal of workplace and learner dynamics. With our newly assembled team, we look forward to creating an impactful talent pool within the organisation that will help us drive new businesses and provide learners with the best edtech products.”

On April 1st, upGrad had onboarded their CEO – India, Arjun Mohan, who was erstwhile serving as the Chief Business Officer (CBO) at BYJU’S. The company is geared towards doubling up its workforce to 2000 by the end of this fiscal. The hiring will happen across all spectrum between fresher’s as well as lateral hiring. On the employee front, upGrad has announced salary reversal on the first day of this quarter owing to the positive business growth in past months and have declared work from home until the end of this year, in order to end the growing apprehensions amidst its workforce.

About upGrad:

upGrad is India’s largest online higher education company. Founded in early 2015, upGrad has onboarded over 30K paid learners and impacted more than half a million individuals globally, within a short span of 5 years.

upGrad provides online programs in the areas of Data Science, Technology, Management and Law to college students, working professionals and enterprises. These programs are designed and delivered in collaboration with top-notch universities like IIT Madras, IIIT Bangalore, MICA, NMIMS Global Access, Jindal Global Law School, Duke CE, Deakin University, Liverpool John Moores University and others.

With an 80% program completion rate, robust tech platform, outcome-based learning approach, industry-relevant curriculum, finest university credentials, strong mentorship, and steadfast placement support, upGrad has established its position as the leader in the Indian education system.

IIIT Bangalore and upGrad's PG Diploma in Data Science is India’s first-ever PG Diploma to be recommended and validated by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM). The program is India's largest Data Science program with over 10,000 alumni & learner-base, which now provides learners with certification from NASSCOM FutureSkills, thereby making the program aligned to Government approved National Occupational Standards (NOS) to facilitate the upskilling of India’s IT workforce and make them abreast of the new-age skills. Through this first-of-its-kind collaboration, upGrad joins NASSCOM’s mission to make India a hub for innovation and a global hotspot for a skilled talent pool.

upGrad has been awarded the title of ‘Best Tech for Education’ by IAMAI in 2019. upGrad received the ‘Best Education Brands’ award by Economic Times in 2018, Most Innovative Companies in India' by Fast Company in 2017 and has made it to LinkedIn’s ‘Top 25 Startups’ two years in a row in 2018 and 2019.

Siemens and SAP Join Forces to Accelerate Industrial Transformation

End-to-End Software  

* Together, industry leaders Siemens and SAP will deliver integrated end-to-end software solutions across product lifecycle, supply chain and asset management.

* Partnership leverages expertise and technology of both companies to provide a true digital thread that helps enterprises eliminate process and information siloes, drives digitalization and delivers a comprehensive solution for the 4th industrial revolution (Industry 4.0).

* SAP will offer Siemens’ Teamcenter software as the core foundation for product lifecycle collaboration and product data management. Siemens will offer SAP® Intelligent Asset Management solutions and SAP Portfolio and Project Management applications to maximize business value for customers over the entire product and service lifecycle and enable new collaborative processes between manufacturers and operators.

Siemens and SAP SE has announced a new partnership that will leverage their industry expertise and bring together their complementary software solutions for product lifecycle, supply chain and asset management so their customers can deliver new innovation and collaborative business models that will accelerate industry transformation globally. Through this agreement, both SAP and Siemens will be able to complement and integrate their respective offerings in order to offer customers the first truly integrated and enhanced solutions for product lifecycle management (PLM), supply chain, service and asset management. This will enable customers to form a true digital thread integrating all virtual models and simulations of a product or asset with real-time business information, feedback and performance data over the entire lifecycle.

"Digital transformation will be critical for the manufacturing industries to increase productivity, flexibility and accelerate innovation, so companies must come together in new ways to enable the digital enterprise,” said Klaus Helmrich, Member of the Managing Board of Siemens AG and CEO of Siemens Digital Industries. “This exciting collaboration between two industry leaders is about more than just interoperability and interfaces; it is about creating a truly integrated digital thread that unites product and asset lifecycle management with the business that enables customers to optimize production of products.”

Silos between engineering and business have existed in enterprises for decades. This new partnership will help customers to break down these siloes so manufacturers, product design teams and service managers have the information needed to quickly create and manage customer-centric product and service offerings.

“As manufacturers design and deliver smarter products and assets, access to real-time business information across networks is critical to bring new and improved innovations to market faster,” said Thomas Saueressig, member of the Executive Board of SAP SE and responsible for SAP Product Engineering. “Bringing together expertise from SAP and Siemens to offer Industry 4.0-enabled business processes allows enterprises to create a digital thread for the entire product and asset lifecycle. With this end-to-end solution, teams across the business network can efficiently work together to design and deliver innovative products productively, profitably and sustainably.”

Going forward, both SAP and Siemens will be able to offer new solutions that combine their technologies in order to help companies shorten time to market by leveraging Industry 4.0-enabled data using intelligent assets and products. This will also give organizations the benefit of incorporating customer insights into product development through a comprehensive solution, from product design to service and asset management. As a first step in the partnership, SAP will offer Siemens’ Teamcenter®  software as the core foundation for product lifecycle collaboration and data management and Siemens will offer SAP® Intelligent Asset Management and SAP Portfolio and Project Management software to maximize the business value for manufacturers and operators across networks. Both companies will collaborate to develop applications from an end-to-end lifecycle perspective to help customers achieve a seamless digital thread that improves overall business performance.

“Combining Siemens’ Teamcenter and SAP S/4HANA® software provides companies an end-to-end process capability from product design to decommission,” said Bob Parker, Senior VP of Industry Research at IDC. “The IT benefits of pre-integration of PLM, ERP, asset management and supply chain applications and the business benefits from having a more resilient response to changing market demand make this a compelling consideration for companies seeking a competitive advantage in the digital economy.”

Infogain Recognized as 3rd Fastest Growing Company in Everest Group’s Engineering Services Top 50™ 2020

Infogain, a Silicon Valley based digital platform and software engineering company­, is pleased to announce that it ranked 3rd in revenue growth and 32nd overall in Everest Group’s Engineering Services Top 50™ 2020, a global list of the 50 largest providers of outsourced engineering services. In addition, ChrysCapital-backed Infogain’s buys of Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) Azure Expert MSP Silicus Technologies and strategy and design firm Revel Consulting featured in the report’s list of key acquisitions made by engineering companies in 2019.

Third-party providers were evaluated and ranked based on their CY 2019 engineering services revenue and year-on-year growth. This is the second year Everest Group has released an Engineering Services Top 50™ list, with this year’s Top 50™ accounting for $45.9 billion in revenue as compared to $40.5 billion in CY 2018.

Infogain was credited for offering key engineering services across select verticals, including Software Products, Computing Systems, Consumer Electronics, Healthcare & Medical Devices, Industrial & Energy, and Automotive.

Ayan Mukerji, President and Chief Operating Officer at Infogain, said, “We are pleased to make Everest Group’s Engineering Services Top 50™ 2020 list and to be recognized as 3rd for revenue growth. 2019 was a great year for us: we closed several large deals and joined hands with two outstanding companies offering niche, high-value-add services. This ranking is a great testament to Infogain’s software engineering expertise and relentless commitment to delivering value to our customers.”

The Top 50™ list helps enterprises get a better sense of the global third-party engineering services landscape, make more informed sourcing decisions, and identify new ways to leverage third-party engineering services providers. This list also helps service providers make better assessments of their competitive positions compared to their peers.

The Everest Group Engineering Services Top 50™ 2020 report can be viewed here.

About Infogain

Infogain is a Silicon Valley headquartered company with digital platform and software engineering expertise in the travel, retail, insurance, healthcare, and high technology industries. We accelerate design-led transformation and delivery of digital customer engagement systems and platforms. Infogain engineers business outcomes for Fortune 500 companies and digital natives using technologies such as cloud, microservices, robotic process automation, IoT, and artificial intelligence.

A ChrysCapital portfolio company, Infogain has offices in California, Washington, Texas, London, Dubai, India, and Singapore, with delivery centers in Austin, Kraków, New Delhi, Bangalore, Pune, and Mumbai.

SunnyBee Unveils India’s First Self-Checkout Grocery Store in Chennai

SunnyBee Market, a chain of food stores in Chennai has introduced India’s first-of-its-kind self-checkout store in Besant Nagar, Chennai, considering the need for a safe shopping experience by limiting contact and to improve overall speed of checkouts.

WayCool Labs – the technology arm of WayCool Foods & Products, a leading agritech firm based in Chennai has developed this custom solution for SunnyBee.

An integrated hardware and software solution, the self-checkout counter occupies a minimal 4 sq.ft. floor space with a built-in high-speed scanner, touchscreen panel, and a billing printer. The counter eliminates the need to interact with the store staff altogether. Shoppers scan their purchases on their own and place the scanned products in the conveniently hanging bags or use their own bags. With a single click on the touch screen to pay, a QR code will pop up on the screen. Customers scan this QR code on their mobile using any one of the numerous UPI payment methods such as GPay, PhonePe, Paytm, etc.

This solution frees up the store billing staff to manage the store operations and improve customer service. The only place where there is an interaction with store staff is when staff will assist the customer for F&V produce to weigh, pack, and print/paste a barcode. The F&V bags with barcode can be scanned at the Selfie counter as well.

Sriram Sridharan, Business Head, SunnyBee Market said, “There has been a steady flow of shoppers as they look to stock up during these uncertain times. Though several retailers are open through the lock down with strict enforcement of safety measures, there is a sense of uncertainty among shoppers due to multiple interactions within the store. Hence, the self-checkout solution was designed, developed, and implemented in 15 days despite the lockdown. The initial response from customers is very positive and this is evident from their excitement to use the self-checkout counter every time they walk into the store.”

SunnyBee Market, founded in July 2015, is a one-stop premium food store that offers a wide assortment of more than 5,000 SKUs across multiple categories like regular & exotic F&V, Dairy, Staples, Indian and International foods. Operating 6 stores in Chennai, SunnyBee Market also conducts SunnyBee Santhai, a farmer and consumer connect platform where farmers sell their produce directly to consumers.

JFrog Launches First Security-Focused, Immutable Chart Repository for Helm, the Package Manager for Kubernetes

JFrog, the Universal DevOps technology leader known for enabling liquid software via continuous update flows, announced the launch of ChartCenter, the first free, security-focused central repository of Helm charts for the community. The ChartCenter repository ensures that developers can easily access consistent versions of any publicly available Helm charts, which are currently stored in various locations across the web and can be changed or removed at any time.

“Helm plays a critical role in the fast-growing Kubernetes ecosystem, and it’s important for developers to be able to access and share consistent and secure versions of Helm charts for their applications,” said JFrog CTO and co-founder Yoav Landman. “We are creating a true unified and open repository that allows developers to set up a single, trusted location to consume immutable charts from every chart creator, together with important security information and metadata attached to these charts.”

Helm is an application package manager running atop Kubernetes that simplifies the process of defining, storing, and managing applications through convenient Helm charts. With different Helm charts and versions traditionally stored on various sites across the internet, it has been hard for developers to trust, locate, and learn about them all. Developers also risk losing access to a specific chart if the host removes it. ChartCenter joins the JFrog “centers” family, already encompassing GoCenter, ConanCenter and JCenter as hubs for immutable artifacts. JFrog’s centers are provided as free services, which already support millions of developers globally.

“While security and immutability are very important, another critical concern is observability of transitive dependencies,” said JFrog VP of Community Engineering, Jagan Subramanian. “Installing Helm charts results in pulling in container images and other sub charts that may contain security and license issues, deprecated artifacts, or outdated library dependencies. Making this information readily available promotes higher quality in managing open source dependencies by making the community aware and enables consumers to take proactive measures to safeguard their production deployments”.

JFrog’s ChartCenter addresses this issue by offering a one-stop shop that includes all major Helm charts currently available across the web today, along with important security information and metadata around dependencies and application versions. Organizations can use ChartCenter to find immutable and highly available versions of Helm charts and can even add their own.

ChartCenter was built with the help of Rimas Mocevicius, the co-creator of Helm, to address the needs of the Kubernetes developer community. Along with serving as the first immutable repository for Helm charts, ChartCenter offers super search and other important features and functionality, including:

* Robust metadata about each chart version including downloads, license information, apiVersion, application version, and more!

* Superior search by name, description, and keyword

* Free security scanning that shows vulnerabilities in dependencies

* Ability for developers to add their own charts to the UI

* Dependency tree showing all dependencies of each chart and version

 * ChartCenter is available to the general public immediately.

ITC Facilitates Creation of Livelihood Opportunities in Rural Sector During the Pandemic

Opportunities

* Leverages the MGNREGS scheme of the Government of India

* Adopts a 4 pronged approach –Mobilisation of people, Facilitation by engaging with local authorities, Technical Support during execution, Focus on Asset Building

In line with its commitment to put Nation First and responding to the needs arising out of the unprecedented lockdown implemented to contain the COVID-19 pandemic, ITC has spearheaded a unique initiative to enable the creation of an eco-system that would lead to signification livelihood generation for farmers and daily wage earners under the ambit of the Government’s MGNREG Scheme.  

While ITC had already put in place a comprehensive plan to provide relief to the needy as well as the frontline warriors in 25 states within days of the lockdown, the Company also recognized that economic rehabilitation of its rural stakeholders was the crying need of the hour, given that there was significant loss of livelihood among marginal farmers and landless labourers. The situation was compounded further by challenges arising out of reverse migration.

As soon as restrictions on agricultural activities were eased, ITC swung into action. Initiating discussions with the government and people on the ground, ITC galvanized its NGO partners to mobilise farmers and wage earners in the catchment areas of its operations to enable them access work opportunities under MGNREGS. Extensive dialogues were carried out with authorities at the Taluk and block levels to identify families in distress and help them apply for job cards if they don’t have one already. A holistic plan was put in place covering the safety of the workers and ensuring the creation of long-term assets for the people, including structures for water conservation like irrigation tanks, farm ponds and field bunds that would also enhance crop productivity.

Commenting on this pioneering initiative, Mr S Sivakumar, Group Head of ITC’s Agri Business said “Inspired by its credo of Nation First: Sab Saath Badhein, ITC, in collaboration with district administrations and NGO partners, is enabling the rural workforce in the catchment of its operations to access income generating opportunities under the MGNREG Scheme.The objective is to scale up this programme by extending it to more regions in these unprecedented and challenging times”.

ITC also provided technical support for planning and execution of work in different areas. To demonstrate outcome, impact data was shared with the Government. Emphasis was laid on adoption of requisite precautions, quality of work and output, large-scale employment generation and asset creation as well as helping in timely muster submission and payments.

The scale and impact of the programme was significant. Within just 45 days, 7.6 lakh person days of work, valued at Rs 17 crores, was created. This was heartening, given that initially there was lack of clarity on protocols for initiating work under MGNREGS. In the short span of time, the programme has been scaled up to cover 1,467 villages in 63 districts across 14 states.  

LTI Launches Canvas, a Modern Software Engineering Platform for Remote & Hybrid Workforce of Future

Larsen & Toubro Infotech (BSE code: 540005, NSE: LTI), a global technology consulting and digital solutions company has launched LTI Canvas, a modern software engineering platform that addresses critical need of enabling work from anywhere. LTI Canvas is an integrated platform that brings together various processes, tools and methodologies to drive technology and business outcomes in an environment where teams are operating in a distributed environment.

A resilient digital platform, LTI Canvas can help organizations improve their effectiveness and ability to innovate in a remote or hybrid environment. LTI Canvas is a bundle of Microsoft technologies and LTI solutions to help IT professionals across industries collaborate easily and stay productive. It is based on microservices architecture and leverages Microsoft platforms like Azure and Microsoft 365 including Teams, among others along with LTI’s Ways of Working solution stack. LTI Canvas streamlines processes like software development, support, transition, knowledge management, infrastructure management, and information security. It consolidates capabilities across Cloud, Agile, DevOps and Design Thinking leveraging AI/ML and analytics.

Nachiket Deshpande, COO & Executive Board Member, LTI said: “The pandemic has forced enterprises to rethink their approach to business continuity and employee productivity. With hybrid work environment gaining quick traction, we designed LTI Canvas as an integrated platform that allows software engineering to be delivered remotely. LTI Canvas drives impactful interventions and also enables upstream processes like solutioning, requirement workshops and transitions to be carried out remotely. LTI Canvas is our design for the future of software engineering.”

Meetul Patel, Executive Director, Strategic Growth, Microsoft India, said, “We are inspired by our customers and partners who are harnessing digital tools to navigate the emerging environment across industries and geographies. Microsoft Azure and advanced technologies will help securely accelerate tech intensity across organizations and enable the innovations that can reimagine the workplace. We’re pleased to partner with LTI on LTI Canvas, which has a unique layered approach to achieve the best outcomes for organizations developing work-from-anywhere capabilities.”

Going beyond Work from Home (WFH), LTI Canvas approaches Everything from Home (xFH) in five layers, each with a specific set of tools, governance and outcomes. The first layer addresses the core requirement to be ‘Operational from Home’ and enables swift and efficient remote working for employees. The next layer offers secure connectivity options to be ‘Secured from Home’. The third layer helps to stay ‘Engaged from Home’ and enables active collaboration with remote workforce. The fourth layer helps attain higher output levels and be ‘Productive from Home’. The final layer enables ‘Growth from Home’ at both, personal and organizational level to be able to scale appropriately.

To know more about the platform, visit https://canvas.lntinfotech.com/

JFrog Unveils New Software Distribution Capabilities to Handle Rising Volume and Frequency of Edge Updates

JFrog, the Universal DevOps technology leader known for enabling liquid software via continuous update flows, has unveiled new capabilities to address the growing problem of software distribution bottlenecks. The newly introduced CDN-based and Peer-to-Peer software package distribution mechanisms empower companies to overcome the challenge of frequently delivering large volumes of artifacts to internal teams and external clients. The announcements took place at JFrog’s annual swampUP user conference.

The explosion of both hybrid and edge infrastructure, and the increased adoption of cloud-native apps that rely on compounded artifacts can create a “firehose” distribution problem, increasingly clogging networks with a stream of software updates. Distribution challenges will continue to grow, with IDC predicting there will be more than 520 million brand new digital apps and services added by 2024.[1]

Peer-to-Peer and Cloud-Based Distribution Enable Digital-First Economy

Unveiling the new Peer-to-Peer artifact download capability, JFrog is serving companies that need to distribute coordinated software updates for hundreds and thousands of connected machines that are updated in parallel but cannot sacrifice speed and security. By breaking the artifact down into smaller pieces and allowing those pieces to be shared between peers on the same network, JFrog can accelerate download speeds by orders of magnitude and increase resilience by expanding beyond a single point of failure.

JFrog has also delivered a new CDN-based package distribution function that solves the challenge of distributing software to large communities of external users or partners. This mechanism works in cases where companies need a simple, SaaS-managed solution to enable external downloads, such as distributing software that can be downloaded by anyone including drivers, plugins, and commercial software products, or updates for partners and users.

“DevOps in a digital-first economy demands the need for speed and security throughout the entire software release cycle all the way to the edge. We provided our community with the first purely hybrid, end-to-end DevOps and DevSecOps platform, and now we’re extending all the way to EdgeOps,” said Shlomi Ben Haim, co-founder and CEO of JFrog. 

Kavita Viswanath, General Manager JFrog India said “Major enterprises are facing a clear challenge in distributing packages quickly and fearlessly across their organizations, as well as to clients and partners. The DevOps revolution will not be completed without providing a comprehensive, powerful binary distribution mechanism; this is our commitment to developers, and it is developers’ responsibility to their organizations.”

New Upgrades Streamline Pipeline Assembly and Build Testing

In a massive upgrade to their Binary Operations (or “BinOps”) toolset, JFrog has also announced new features for its JFrog Pipelines solution that encompasses continuous integration (CI) and continuous delivery (CD). JFrog has expanded on its existing selection of pre-built common functions, known as “Native Steps,” by allowing users to build their own library of reusable pipeline steps via an Extensions Development Kit (EDK). Now DevOps teams can encapsulate frequent and common actions in their pipelines, offering a much simpler solution than traditional approaches which often involve plugins that conflict with each other, creating a “plugin hell” for users. Extensions can be run in parallel, allowing pipelines to run with multiple extension versions simultaneously.

“As the world continues to move towards massive delivery of software, the ‘BinOps’ path of managing your software releases becomes more critical than ever,” said Yoav Landman, CTO and co-founder of JFrog. “Shifting binaries to the left and using immutable release binaries as early as possible in the software delivery pipeline is the only way to achieve robust, trusted and secure releases and maintain stable metadata that relates to these releases. We are proud to lead the way of BinOps with the JFrog Platform.”

The First Free, Security-Focused Central Repository of Helm Charts Is Now Available for the Community

Lastly, JFrog has added to their portfolio of public artifact centers with a fresh offering focused on managing the increasing volume of microservices-based and containerized applications. Dubbed “ChartCenter,” the free service from JFrog will provide immutable Helm Chart management for developers, who face increasing complexity in managing Helm, Docker and Kubernetes deployments as they grow in the enterprise. The all-new, free ChartCenter is available at https://chartcenter.io/.

 

OMRON India Enters Telemedicine Segment via Partnership with PhableCare

Healthcare monitoring equipment maker OMRON Healthcare India on Tuesday announced its foray into the telemedicine segment through a partnership with PhableCare to provide remote hypertension management services at home.

PhableCare is an artificial intelligence (AI) enabled healthcare management player.

Through the partnership, the company will provide a digital platform that enables hypertensive patients to avail all kinds of services right from diagnosis to monitoring to treatment under one roof, OMRON Healthcare India said in a statement.

With autonomous and AI-based healthcare becoming a reality in the new normal, the association will usher in remote hypertension management service, OMRON Healthcare India Managing Director Masanori Matsubara said.

"So far, OMRON has been contributing towards empowering people to keep track of their heart health by providing quality digital blood pressure (BP) home monitoring solutions. However, with the merging of our synergies with PhableCare, we will be able to make millions of patients utilise the monitoring services efficiently under the supervision of doctors from the comfort of their homes," he added.

The patients will get access to an accurate monitoring device, proper diagnosis, prescription, real-time tracking and monitoring, and even efficient drug delivery and risk analysis under this solution, Matsubara said.

Commenting on the partnership, PhableCare CEO and Co-Founder Sumit Sinha said, "The effort is to bring about a fundamental change in how healthcare is accessed and outcomes are driven for hypertensive patients."

The last few months have brought a major shift in consumer behaviour where a large population is accessing their basic needs through smartphones, he added.

In order to avail of the services, users would have to download the app 'PHABLE' on their mobile devices and choose the right subscription packages, the company said.

Land Rover Defender Means Business as Hard Top Name Returns for New Commercial Mode

The launch of the tough new commercial Defender 90 and 110 later this year will restore the Hard Top name to the line-up

* Back to business: Practical commercial versions of New Defender 90 and 110 will restore the Hard Top name to the iconic 4x4 family

* Unstoppable capability: New Defender Hard Top body designs will bring unrivalled breadth of on and off-road capability to the commercial vehicle sector

* Professional versatility: Land Rover’s most capable and durable commercial vehicle ever will provide a unique combination of cargo space, practicality and comfort

* Clever and connected: Central front-row jump seat option to provide space for three, while Software-Over-The-Air will deliver updates without visiting a retailer

* Pulling power: Hard Top model will blend 3 500kg towing capacity with optional Advanced Tow Assist technology to effortlessly pull and manoeuvre trailers

Land Rover has confirmed the new commercial Defender 90 and 110 models will restore the Hard Top name to its rugged 4x4 family.

The versatile and durable Defender Hard Top will be launched later this year, combining unstoppable all-terrain capability with 21st-century connectivity to give professionals a unique combination of cargo space, practicality and premium comfort.

The Hard Top name dates back to 1950, when the introduction of demountable Hard Tops gave early Series Land Rovers added security and protection from the elements. New Defender Hard Top continues this ethos, sharing its fixed metal roof and silhouette with the iconic original.

Land Rover has experienced unprecedented global demand for New Defender 90 and 110 since its successful world premiere last September and the new Hard Top models will be the next additions to the legendary bloodline.

Defender’s aluminium-intensive D7x body architecture is three times stiffer than the best body-on-frame designs. Sharing its strong body structure and next-generation Electrical Vehicle Architecture (EVA 2.0) with passenger models, the Defender Hard Top is being developed by Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations to deliver unrivalled durability, practicality and toughness.  

Michael van der Sande, Managing Director, Land Rover Special Vehicle Operations, said: “We will maximise the functionality and usability of New Defender’s cargo area, with tough materials and clever storage solutions to ensure it surpasses the capability of any previous Defender Hard Top.”

The 90 and 110 Hard Tops will both feature independent coil-sprung suspension, with advanced electronic air suspension also available on the 110. Both set-ups will provide outstanding off-road geometry, with ground clearance of 291mm, while the 110 Hard Top will have approach, breakover and departure angles of up to 38, 28 and 40 degrees respectively (in Off-Road height). Full technical details will be confirmed later this year.

Nick Collins, Land Rover Vehicle Line Director, said: “New Defender 90 and 110 Hard Top will be the toughest, most capable and most connected commercial 4x4s we have ever produced. They have been engineered to meet global safety standards and deliver impressive long-haul comfort, giving businesses and professionals the best of all worlds.”

An impressive payload and towing capacity of up 3 500kg* will combine to make New Defender the ultimate commercial 4x4. The flexible cabin has no second or third-row seats, but the optional front-row jump seat means it will still accommodate up to three people. Land Rover’s clever ClearSight Rear View mirror system preserves rearward visibility when the jump seat is occupied, or when the load space is full. It uses a live video feed from a rear-facing camera to give drivers an unobstructed view at all times.

New Defender Hard Top will be a world-class tow vehicle, with a raft of technologies to help hitch, drive and reverse safely while pulling a trailer. Land Rover’s intelligent Advanced Tow Assist system takes the stress out of difficult reversing manoeuvres by letting drivers steer trailers with their fingertips using a rotary controller on the centre console.

The maximum wading depth of 900mm is also supported by a new Wade programme in the Terrain Response 2 system, which ensures drivers can ford deep water with complete confidence – so important supplies will always get through.

Land Rover’s state-of-the-art Pivi Pro touchscreen infotainment will provide immediate and intuitive control of all the major vehicle functions, including seamless smartphone integration using Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Twin eSIM technology underpins Pivi Pro and supports Software-Over-The-Air (SOTA) capability, allowing customers to download updates for a variety of vehicle systems. For professionals using the Defender Hard Top for business, this will minimise time spent off the road as SOTA updates can be completed without the need to visit a Land Rover retailer.

In addition, the New Defender Hard Top models will feature a comprehensive suite of Advanced Driver Assistance Systems. Land Rover’s 3D Surround Camera system provides an all-round visualisation of the vehicle on the central touchscreen, helping drivers manoeuvre safely in tight spaces or position the vehicle close to items ready for loading.

Convenience will be enhanced with the Remote smartphone app, which will allow businesses to keep track of the location, fuel level and journey history of their vehicle remotely, for ultimate peace of mind and security.

Gen X and Boomers More Willing to Return to Work, While Gen Z and Millennials Prefer to Wait: LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index

LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional network, today announced the findings of the sixth edition of the LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index, a fortnightly pulse on the confidence of the Indian workforce. Based on survey responses of 1,351 professionals in India, findings from the fortnight of June 1-14 reveal how India’s workforce feels about returning to work, and how professionals from different generations exhibit varied confidence levels towards returning to the physical workplace.

This fortnight’s LinkedIn Workforce Confidence Index shows that India’s overall confidence remains steady with a composite score of +48, as India gets ready to return work. The cautious optimism also reflects in the strong short-term and long-term employer confidence levels of professionals from sectors such as Corporate Services and Manufacturing. India’s workforce is also beginning to feel more confident about their personal finances as 1 in 4 professionals in India expect their earned incomes (25%) and personal spending (26%) to increase in the next 6 months. In fact, about 1 in 3 professionals also expect their personal savings (31%) and personal recurring debt payments (29%) to increase in the next 6 months. This financial confidence comes at a time when India’s economy is gradually restarting.

Commenting on this rise in financial confidence, Leadership Coach Harsh Johari says, “Professionals will continue to be prudent about money management, given the prevailing uncertainties. While some businesses in the digital space are seeing growth, the actual financial impact on India Inc will only become clear when listed companies unveil their results for the quarter ending June 30.”

Working remotely for the past three months has encouraged businesses to adapt innovative and digital measures for business continuity. However, as India ‘unlocks’ and workplaces reboot, findings of the sixth Workforce Confidence Index underscore a pronounced difference in how the older and younger professionals feel about returning to the physical workplace.

About 1 in 3 Gen Z and Millennials will continue working remotely until safer

As the business landscape resumes, older professionals appear keen on stepping out into the post-Covid-19 world while younger professionals are not rushing to embrace it. Findings reaffirm this difference in perception as 38% of Gen X and 29% of Baby Boomers said they will willingly return to the workplace as soon as they are allowed, whereas 1 in 3 Gen Z (29%) and Millennials (32%) said they will continue working remotely until they feel safer about being around others. One reason for this, as HR expert Abhijit Bhaduri states, “Younger workers are adept in using digital means of communication. Senior professionals may find it challenging to hire and manage performance of remote teams.” Hence, varied levels of digital prowess could be one of the reasons behind such contrasting outlooks from different generations.

Risk of exposure, commute to work, and close proximity worry Indian professionals

While the nationwide lockdown is gradually being lifted, the stigma around COVID-19 prevails due to uncertainty around safety measures. Findings reveal that more than half (55%) of Indian professionals think being exposed to people neglecting safety precautions is a key concern. 58% of Millennials and 56% of Gen X professionals are shown being concerned about the same problem. Probing further, findings highlight that 42% Millennials are concerned about commuting to work while nearly half (46%) are worried about eating and sharing resting/collaborative spaces. The report also shows that inadequate space between workstations is cited as another primary concern with returning to work, as it could make it tough for professionals to practice healthy measures of social distancing.

Corporate Services and Manufacturing professionals most confident about the future of their companies

This fortnight’s findings also gauge how Indian professionals feel about the short-term (6 months) and long-term (1 year) future of their companies. With regards to short-term employer confidence, survey findings show that 50% of Corporate Services professionals, 46% of Manufacturing professionals, and 41% of Education professionals think their companies will be better off six months from now. When it comes to long-term employer confidence, findings reveal that 64% of Manufacturing, 60% of Corporate Services, and 59% of Software & IT professionals believe their companies will be better off one year from now. Based on these findings, it is observed that professionals from Corporate Services and the Manufacturing sectors have the strongest short-term and long-term company outlook, respectively.

IT spending likely to fall 5.2% worldwide, says Gartner

The worldwide IT spending is on pace to decline 5.2 percent this year. However, the IT industry will return to growth in 2010, with IT spending forecast to total $3.3 trillion, a 3.3 percent increase from 2009, according to research firm Gartner. In Asia Pacific, IT spending is expected to grow by five percent to reach $515.6 billion in 2010.

Peter Sondergaard, Senior Vice President at Gartner and Global Head of Research, said that this represented a fast V-shaped recovery for IT spending in the region. Emerging regions will resume strong growth, he said. By 2012, the accelerated IT spending and culturally different approach to IT in Asia will directly influence product features, service structures and the overall IT industry.

However, growth varies considerably by country, vertical market and IT sector. Sondergaard said that while software would post the strongest growth in Asia Pacific, telecommunications still represented the largest area of IT investment.

In Australia, the five-year outlook for enterprise IT spending is a compound annual growth rate of 1.3 percent, with total IT spending by Australian businesses to reach Australian dollar 56.4 billion by 2013. The vertical sectors with the highest IT spending growth would be communications (3.2 percent), healthcare (2.6 percent) and utilities (2.3 percent). While IT spending will increase next year, Gartner cautioned IT leaders not to be overly optimistic.

"While the IT industry will return to growth in 2010, the market will not recover to 2008 revenue levels before 2012," said Sondergaard. 2010 is about balancing the focus on cost, risk, and growth. For more than 50 percent of Chief Information Officers the IT budget will be zero percent or less in growth terms. It will only slowly improve in 2011, he added.

Sondergaard said that the three most-searched terms by Gartner clients on gartner.com provide some clues as to the priorities of IT leaders around the world. Cost remained the most-searched term during 2009, although it peaked in May, followed by cloud computing. "Next year will be the year when cloud computing moves from the discovery phase to small pilots, as part of organizations' desire to move from owned to shared IT," he said.

The third most-searched terms on gartner.com were business applications such as enterprise resource planning (ERP) and customer relationship management (CRM). "We believe that 2010 will see increased focus on optimization of business processes linked to software applications, what we call application overhaul. That is what will drive growth in the software segment," Sondergaard said.

Agencies

Retail sector to grow at 28% during 2008-12 in India

During 2008-2012, the IT market in the Indian retail sector is likely to grow at an estimated compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 23 percent; reaching $1.4 billion by 2012, says a report. According to the report titled as 'IT in the Indian Retail Industry: Emerging Trends and Market Opportunities' brought out by Springboard Research; software is estimated to grow at a CAGR of 28 percent for the period under review, while hardware will grow at 19 percent.

Springboard Research is an IT market research and advisory firm. The firm has brought out this report after interviewing leading IT vendors operating in the retail sector and 152 Chief Information Officers from both large and mid-sized retail companies across India. According to Nilotpal Chakravarti, Senior Research Analyst, Springboard Research, although the recession has affected retailers' profitability, it opens a window of opportunity for IT vendors as retailers turn to technology to address the challenging economic scenario. "Many retailers are eschewing curtailing their long-term IT projects, while they remain cautious with short-term IT spending and new investments," he added.

Nearly half of the CIOs in the retail sector interviewed, indicated large format stores/hypermarkets as the top business opportunity in the sector, while competition is named as the biggest business challenge by a majority of the CIOs. Inventory management has emerged as the top strategic IT focus areas for the CIOs, followed by supply chain management (SCM). Enterprise resource planning (ERP) topped the list of business applications in terms of actual deployments in the last 24 months.

According to Springboard's data, POS (Point of sales) is the top preferred store solution that Indian retailers have deployed in their stores. CIOs revealed that a large number of retailers mentioned price as a key determinant in external IT vendor selection, while strong service and support came in the second place on the list of priorities. Other influencers like vendor reputation and existing relationship rank much lower in the priority hierarchy. Springboard also found that local IT vendors have a sizeable foothold in the retail space because they provide low-cost, industry-specific solutions.

According to Springboard's data, SAP, Microsoft and Oracle hold the largest market share in the Indian retail sector, while HCL is the leading local vendor in the retail space. IBM is also named as among the leading vendors in this space.

"Best-of-class retail solutions like RFID, intelligent shelves, and kiosks still remain out of reach for the Indian market because of their high cost. IT vendors should look to address this gap by rationalizing costs, along with clearly defining ROI benefits for clients," said Chakravarti.

Agencies

Is Peanuts what you will be paid for IT job?

One may boast of being employed in IT in the current scene, however they have to work twice as much for getting an interview and the annual salary is peanuts compared to earlier days. A worsening economic crisis, increased availability of skilled workers and lower demand for software services have brought down the entry-level salaries for IT professionals in the country by up to 20 percent, according to experts tracking the sector.

Every year, around 3,00,000 computer science and engineering graduates seek employment with hundreds of tech firms, including big names such as Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro. This year, more than half of them were left unemployed because tech firms were already finding it tough to manage resources sitting on the bench, according to Economic Times.

"The entry-level salaries are down by at least 10-16 percent. Last year, a number of companies gave away offer letters but did not recruit. On top of that, there is a new pool of qualified professionals being churned out this year - all this has created an oversupply in the entry-level IT job market where salaries typically sway between Rs. 3 lakh per annum and Rs. 5 lakh on the higher side," said GC Jayaprakash, Principal Consultant of Stanton Chase International.

Until two years ago, almost all computer and engineering graduates were absorbed by India's outsourcing industry, comprising top tech firms such as TCS, Infosys, Wipro and many others. However, as customers delayed and shelved outsourcing projects, these tech firms also postponed campus hirings. Many students had to approach potential employers directly, since companies did not visit their campuses for placements. "We formed groups and toured companies, and agreed to settle at lower salaries because it's better to be employed at lower salary than having no job at all," said Srilekha Varma, who recently accepted a job offer from a Chennai-based IT firm specializing in banking software.

In a normal year, computer science graduates were offered entry-level salaries of Rs. 3.5-5 lakh. However, companies are now hiring freshers at Rs 1.7-3.5 lakh. However, human resources heads at tech firms, including Wipro, India's third-largest software exporter, say professionals have become more realistic about what they want from their employers. "I don't think salaries have come down, but the environment has indeed helped us in containing salary hikes," Pratik Kumar, Head of Human Resources at Wipro said.

But few companies have not forgotten the offers made. TCS said it would do new campus hiring in January 2010 and will honor all 24,000 offers made for financial year (FY09). "Around 1,800 graduates have joined us in second quarter (Q2) and another 8,000 will join in Q3, rest of the graduates will join based on the demand," a TCS spokeswoman said. Infosys said for FY10, it has made 20,000 campus offers and expects an 80 percent conversion rate i.e. 16,000 of these offers to join the company. "We are honoring all our hiring commitments," an Infosys spokeswoman said.

Agencies