US-India Strategic Partnership Forum to Honor Mahindra Group Chairman Anand Mahindra & Adobe Chairman Shantanu Narayen

The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) announced their third Annual Leadership Summit, titled “US-India Week: Navigating New Challenges”, which will convene virtually this year from August 31- September 3. The week-long program will include a range of strategic discussions between USISPF’s board members that includes which include 21 Fortune 500 CEOsand senior government officials from both countries.

At the summit, USISPF will honour Chairman of Mahindra group, Anand Mahindra and Shantanu Narayen, Chairman & CEO of Adobewith the 2020 Leadership Awards, awarded each year for exemplary vision towards promoting U.S.-India bilateral ties.

Congratulating the awardees, John Chambers, Chairman of the USISPF Board, said, “We are delighted to confer the 2020 Leadership Awards to two business leaders who have displayed tremendous leadership and ambition in strengthening the U.S.-India bilateral economic partnership, especially at a time when the global economy is faced with uncertainties and businesses are forced to pivot from their core capabilities. As a global centre of manufacturing excellence with presence in the United States, the Mahindra Group is a shining example of a true win-win opportunity for our bilateral ties with positive impact in the lives of the American people and across the American economic engine. Chambers further added, “Shantanu’s pioneering work in digital technologies, leveraging support to communities, and deep impact on start-ups have been of tremendous value to governments, civil society, and the overall bilateral relationship. I cannot think of a more consummate candidate for this award.”

Mr. Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group said, “I accept this award on behalf of the entire Mahindra Group. At this challenging & transformational time for the world, such a recognition only reminds us that companies must contribute much more towards building a better world.  Mahindra remains deeply committed to the US market which is integral to its future growth and prosperity. Overall, I expect the relationship between India and the US to get even stronger over time with both countries being natural allies given our shared values and mutual economic interests.”

Mr. Shantanu Narayen, Chairman, President,and CEO of Adobe said, “I am honoured to accept the Leadership Award from the USISPF. USISPF’s mission to accelerate the strategic partnership between the US and India brings together two global leaders with the power to create compounding benefits for the global economy. Now more than ever, uniting the strengths, innovations and talents of the world is critical to building bridges and driving economic prosperity.”

Alongside US Vice President Mike Pence, high-ranking U.S. and Indian government officials participating at the leadership summit include: Dr. S. Jaishankar, India’s Minister of External Affairs; Piyush Goyal, India’s Minister of Commerce & Industry; Kenneth I. Juster, U.S. Ambassador to India to the United States, Taranjit Singh Sandhu, Ambassador of India to the United States; Amitabh Kant, CEO, Niti Aayog; Adam Boehler, CEO, U.S. International Development Finance Corporation; Dr. Indu Bhushan, CEO, Ayushman Bharat; Neil Chatterjee, Chairman, Federal Energy Regulatory Commission; Dr. R.A. Mashelkar, Chairman, National Innovation Foundation, and former senior officials from both countries. The summit will highlight areas of bilateral cooperation: trade and investment relations; strategic energy ties; India’s position in global supply chains, collaboration in fintech, healthcare, and technology; building a fair tax regime to attract FDIs, among others.

About the U.S.-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF):

The US-India Strategic Partnership Forum (USISPF) is committed to creating the most powerful partnership between the United States and India. As the only independent not-for-profit institution dedicated to strengthening the U.S.-India partnership in Washington, D.C. and in New Delhi, USISPF is the trusted partner for businesses, non-profit organizations, the diaspora, and the governments of India and the United States.

Acuver Expands SAP C/4HANA Capabilities with Veteran Leadership Hires in Indian Market

Acuver Consulting, an emerging leader in supply chain & customer experience IT solutions, has announced appointment of new senior leadership for its SAP solutions – Tirupati Rao as SAP Practice Head and Amit Valsangkar as SAP Sales Head. 

To advance on delivering unified Customer eXperience through SAP C/4HANA, Acuver Consulting has onboarded exemplary SAP experts: Tirupati Rao as SAP Practise Head and Amit Valsangkar as SAP Sales Head. Tirupati Rao has devoted most of his career to the CX portfolio, setting up business from scratch as Regional Sales Director at Callidus Cloud and Sales Director CX post the takeover by SAP. Amit Valsangkar has been leading Sales & Service for pioneer CRM & ERP solutions like Microsoft, SAP, Oracle and Salesforce throughout his professional life. In his previous role, he was the Head of Sales and Business Development at Knack Systems. With the very best talent and experience the domain has to offer on-boarded, Acuver is building traction to redefine excellence in the CX sphere.

“We are delighted to have such cardinal, unmatched SAP CX veterans to lead our SAP delivery through these challenging times. They will be instrumental in enabling sustained success for Acuver’s clients by engineering unique customer journeys that address heightened consumer expectations.”, said Rajiv Upadhyay, Managing Partner, Acuver.

Customer expectations are seeing a drastic shift in the wake of COVID-19, and organizations that respond to changing demands will find an edge over competition. SAP C 4/HANA offers the right toolkit to address current market complexities and Acuver’s appointment of seasoned experts comes at an opportune moment. In the new role, Tirupati will be the chief custodian of Acuver’s SAP practise, identifying and nurturing new growth avenues be it in novel geographies, domains or new product launches stemming from the SAP suite. Amit will be the principal sales evangelist, scouting and converting new opportunities for Acuver to build and deliver Acuver’s CX expertise.

“From the dot come bubble to AI powered internet-of-things, I have witnessed the landscape evolve in pursuit of value-adding experiences. Customer-Focus is deep within Acuver’s DNA and I am thrilled to be building the customer success engagement portfolio to establish Acuver as the go-to authority on CX focused digitization”, said Tirupati. 

“Forging connections and learning via empathy is my life-long passion which can continue to flourish at Acuver. I am keen to build up synergies within the organization and aggressively drive up sales, expanding our customer base across geographies”, Amit stated.

To know more about the scope of supply chain and retail tech solutions from Acuver, please visit www.acuverconsulting.com. 

Acuver Consulting helps companies optimize their supply-chain for enhanced efficiency, profitability and customer experience. Acuver combines the right tools, methodologies and expertise in IT, business and technology to deliver solutions customized to the client’s unique operational landscape. 

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.

Gartner Disclaimer

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.

Mahindra University Outlines a New Paradigm for Higher Education

Higher Education 

* To develop multi-skilled Leaders capable of Reflection, Innovation, and a commitment to Inclusive and Sustainable progress.

* Focus on both IQ and EQ, combined with the power of Emerging Technologies to educate Future Citizens for and of a Better World.

The Mahindra Group today launched Mahindra University (MU), which is focussed on offering a world-class, futuristic education in India. Its mission is to develop multi-skilled leaders, capable of reflection as well as innovation, and ones who are ethical and empathetic. To drive a meaningful shift in the way that higher education is imparted in the country, MU will drive interdisciplinary academic excellence, integrating the study of science and technology with the Humanities, Ethics & Philosophy, and Design.

It will operate as an autonomous University, with its contemporary, new-age curricula being curated to fully leverage emerging technologies like Data Science, Blockchain and Data Analytics. MU will uniquely enable the holistic development of its students, combining the Emotional Intelligence (Right Brain) and Artificial Intelligence (Left Brain) paradigms.

Mahindra University is part of the Mahindra Educational Institutions (MEI), a not-for-profit subsidiary of Tech Mahindra. It reflects the standards and reputation of the entire Mahindra Group, mirroring its core purpose of Driving Positive Change in the lives of both peoples and communities, enabling them to Rise.

The university will also be a platform to balance education with real world experience through entrepreneurial projects to solve complex challenges facing society. This, combined with the provision of extra-curricular activities like sports and music, will help revolutionize higher education for millennials and help build a hyper-skilled, future-ready talent pool.

Anand Mahindra, Chairman, Mahindra Group and Chancellor, Mahindra University, said, “High quality education has transformative powers for individuals and nations, alike. Mahindra University will strive to deliver a more balanced education, combining the latest technology with Liberal Arts, to create next generation leaders that have a holistic world view.”

The sprawling 130-acre, multi-disciplinary campus in Hyderabad will offer undergraduate, post graduate and PhD courses. MU includes the Ecole Centrale School of Engineering that was set up in 2014.

Vineet Nayyar, Board of Management, Mahindra University, said, “With the education landscape continuously evolving, there is a need for a dynamic and empowering approach to education that goes beyond business and is at par with the technological demands of the industry globally. In line with this, the Mahindra University will be a key enabler in providing a holistic educational and learning experience that involves analytical and design-led thinking, quantitative and creative problem-solving skills and a passion for innovation and entrepreneurship.”

CP Gurnani, MD & CEO, Tech Mahindra and Board of Management, Mahindra University, said, “The Mahindra University is a testimony of our commitment towards bridging the skill gap and creating global leaders that are willing to change, adapt and transform according to dynamic market needs and business environment. The university will also provide access to multi-disciplinary learning focused on leveraging the power of Artificial Intelligence and Emotional Intelligence. This will help the students to develop new-age competencies and inculcate entrepreneurial thinking to enable them solve complex challenges faced by the society.”

As a part of the immediate roadmap, the University will launch the School of Management (2021-22), School of Law (2021-22), Indira Mahindra School of Education (2021-22), School of Media & Liberal Arts (2022-23) and School of Design (2023-24).

An estimated 4,000 Students and over 300+ Faculty members will be in place across the various Schools at Mahindra University over the next five years.

The Minerva Fund - Mahindra University Scholarship Program is available to ensure that deserving students have access to a quality education. Efforts are also being made to drive inclusion in awarding scholarships across geographies, gender, and academic excellence, among others, to create a stronger society and a wider talent pool for industry and academia, alike.

Prof Yajulu Medury, Vice-Chancellor, Mahindra University, said, “Mahindra University aims to revolutionise the educating environment for the future workforce of our country through necessary industry-academia collaborations to prepare the students for present challenges and future industry needs. The university will bring together expertise of international faculty and will provide access to innovation and research hubs with top academic partners. We plan to be a holistic learning platform for the students, providing access to studies related to Engineering, Law, Management, Education, Media & Liberal Arts, Design and others.”

MU will also to bring the Corporate and Industrial ecosystems together through its Centres of Excellence. Students will have access to the Mahindra Group’s expertise through a Centre of Excellence, visiting faculty and other strategic engagements. Students will be provided opportunities to interact with CEOs, CXOs of organizations across the country.

MU already has a Supercomputer Lab with an advanced NVidia GPU-based supercomputer, the DGX-1. It also has a Centre for Artificial Intelligence (CAI), a Centre for Innovation & Entrepreneurship (CIE) and a Centre for Sustainable Infrastructure and Systems (CSIS).

Additional CoEs being considered include, the Centre for Computational and Experimental Mechanics (CCEM), the Centre for Research in Optics and Photonics (CROP) and a Centre for Executive Education (CEE).

About Mahindra University:

Mahindra University marks a significant milestone in the Mahindra Group’s journey in the higher education sector since its entry in 2014, with the Mahindra Ecole Centrale (MEC) College of Engineering. Aimed at educating and developing ‘Global Thinkers and Engaged Leaders,’ the Mahindra University is headquartered in Hyderabad, India. It is supported by the Mahindra Educational Institutions (MEI), a subsidiary of Tech Mahindra, the flagship IT company of the US$ 19.4 billion Mahindra Group. The. Mahindra University was notified by the Government of Telangana vide Ordinance No.1 dated 20th May 2020. Mahindra University has already received 100+ admissions till date.

Indian CEOs better than their western counterparts

Despite the grappling impact of the global meltdown, Indian firms are in a more favorable position as against other countries like the U.S. Over last few years, Indian business houses have come into focus for their international competitiveness that sets them apart from their western counterparts, as per a survey.

Professor Harbir Singh said, "Our very unique difference is that Indian leaders think in English, thanks to the Western education. But, act in an Indian context. They internalize Western best practices and adapt them to India." The findings are based on a study titled 'The DNA of Indian Leadership: The Governance, Management and Leadership of Leading Indian Firms'. It was conducted by Singh along with his three other Management Professors from the University of Pennsylvania, named Peter Cappelli, Jitendra Singh and Michael Useem. In the study, each India CEO was asked asset of questions about the leadership skills, competitive advantage and corporate governance.

According to R.Gopalakrishnan, the Executive Director at Tata Sons, the Indian executives' strategic thinking, risk taking abilities, flexibility as well as the setting of the shared architecture of the firm were some of the important leadership capacities. They are occupied with long-term strategic vision, talent nurturing and maintaining the organizational culture.

Also, the Indian leaders perceive the role of their firms in the society, rather than prioritizing the investors in the company. But, for the Western CEOs, the shareholders emerge at the top of the priority list.

However, as per the report, some of the Indians CEOs carry a unique management trait- the "jugaad" factor, which is the tendency to resort to an unplanned makeshift in the company. "While this can be perceived negatively, it can also be a positive trait because of its inherent inventiveness and survival instinct," concluded Singh.

Agencies

India remains the kings of outsourcing business

Though the world is witnessing a severe meltdown, IT firms in India found it an opportunity to step up their outsourcing activities as global companies are resorting to several cost cutting initiatives. It is despite the fact that the country is facing serious threats to its outsourcing leadership from a few internal elements like vulnerabilities to terror attacks and erosion of the confidence in corporate governance.

However India will remain a major outsourcing destination. "Even though other markets will be redoubling efforts to seize opportunities from India, no other country yet presents a serious threat as a key outsourcing destination", said Arno Franz, Partner and Asia-Pacific President at TPI, while speaking to BusinessWeek. "China is still very much an emerging destination, while it is debatable whether any other single country has the breadth and depth of skills, experience and infrastructure to seriously challenge India's position," he added.

Franz pointed out that India-based providers made significant market share increases last year. In terms of total contract value (TCV), Indian outsourcers contributed 16 percent of the global market, up from 11 percent in 2007. They also accounted for over half of the Asia-Pacific outsourcing TCV. Moreover, two out of the three mega-deals in the second half of 2008 went to India-based providers. Mega deals, defined by TPI as contracts worth over $1 billion, numbered 12 between January and June last year.

Over the year, there was a record of 88 contracts in the region with a total contract value of over US$25 million, 50 of which were awarded in the second half. Despite the high number, the 2008 TCV of Asia-Pacific outsourcing deals was $12.3 billion, lower than 2007's $12.7 billion. Annualized contract value (ACV), which is the contract value divided by its duration, also fell from $2.7 billion in 2007, to $2.4 billion last year.

Agencies