US$40 million to Fund Early-Stage Firms in India

Cisco Investments, the venture capital arm of Cisco, today announced an additional allocation of USD $40 million to fund early-stage firms in India under the ‘India Innovation theme’. The new funding allocation builds on Cisco Investments’ momentum in India and is focused on product and technologies that are unique and relevant to India and other emerging markets, including cost optimized designs, industry vertical solutions and application of cloud. As part of the India Innovation theme, Cisco also announced its first investment under this theme in Covacsis - a Mumbai-based real-time analytics platform software provider catering to manufacturing production floors.

Today’s investment theme announcement underscores Cisco’s commitment to India and marks a new phase of support for innovation in India, aligned to the country’s national transformation agenda. The venture investment in India is consistent with Cisco’s long track record of driving IT market growth through investment in the innovation economies. Over the years Cisco has been an active equity investor in India, and has made significant strategic investments in growth stage companies such as Netmagic, Apalya and social innovation funds like Aavishkaar.

Cisco Investments’ existing portfolio is over US$2 billion worldwide and the $40 million early stage allocation under the India Innovation theme is a part of the $250 Million that was announced earlier in the year focused on next generation technologies globally, including big data & analytics; the Internet of Things (IoT); connected mobility; storage; silicon; and content technology ecosystem. Cisco invested in MobStac, a Bangalore based start-up company, as part of its global connected mobility theme.

The strategic investment philosophy of Cisco Investments has evolved over the years. While the company will continue its nearly 20-year history of strategic investing focused on Cisco’s existing core businesses, the launch of the thematic investing approach extends this perspective to support companies who have innovative ideas that will shape the overall global networking ecosystem in the future.

Besides contributing capital to early-stage companies, Cisco Investments helps accelerate the development of these companies by connecting them to expertise and resources such as Cisco IT, Cisco’s business leaders and Cisco’s network of partners and customers through major industry events, such as the annual Cisco Live.

Dinesh Malkani, President, Sales, Cisco India and SAARC remarks: “Cisco’s belief is that the innovative application of technology can have a positive impact on India’s competitiveness, diversification of its industry base, its ability to create jobs and improve quality of life for its citizens. Today's announcement underscores Cisco's recognition of the tremendous innovation and potential that the India technology market offers. Our objective is to help catalyze and accelerate that potential into action that will have a positive impact in India and globally."

Joydeep Bose, Managing Director, Corporate Development, Cisco Asia Pacific & Japan says, “India is committed to rapidly building out its communications infrastructure, which presents a unique opportunity for local entrepreneurs to develop new technologies and applications. As a leading strategic investor, Cisco Investments is committed to support the building of entrepreneurial capacity and nurture the local early stage startup eco-system in India. By spurring and accelerating technology innovation, we want to help India evolve as a global hub for innovation and help Cisco become a defining player in taking technology investment in the region to the next level.”

B2B Companies Spend More On Customers’ Experience

The overwhelming majority of business-to-business (B2B) organizations are spending more on initiatives to improve their customers’ experience but many are not getting the most return on those investments, according to new research from Accenture. In fact, the study, based on a survey of 1,458 sales, service and customer executives of B2B companies in 13 countries, suggests most (76 percent) may be wasting up to half of their investment on ineffective customer experience initiatives.

Accenture’s research indicates that executives believe their business customers increasingly are exhibiting consumer-like behavior in terms of how they view, interact with and buy from their suppliers; including their knowledge of the market, higher expectations and greater price sensitivity. As a result, 43 percent of B2B supplier executives say they intend to increase spending on improving customer experience programs by 6 percent or more over the next fiscal year. However, more than half the respondents admit that their customer experience programs had achieved little, flat or negative return in terms of retaining customers (55 percent) and building global revenues (52 percent).

“B2B Customer Experience: Start Playing to Win and Stop Playing Not to Lose” explores the significance, scale and success of B2B companies’ initiatives to provide their business customers with a positive customer experience across all sales, marketing and service touch points. Eighty-five percent of B2B supplier executives consider the overall customer experience they provide in sales and service to be ‘very important’ to their strategic priorities, and 70 percent recognize that, over the next two years, customer-experience related considerations will play an even larger role in the overall corporate strategy.

“The relationship between company and supplier has changed,” said Robert Wollan, global managing director of Accenture’s Sales and Customer Services practice. “Business customers are acting more like consumers. They know more about the services on offer, expect more customized solutions, and are more price sensitive. “Companies say they recognize this but the majority are not designing and executing the necessary changes effectively.  This creates a drain on profitability and missed opportunities. Getting B2B customer experience right increasingly determines market success, but too many companies are ‘playing not to lose’ rather than ‘playing to win’.”

Accenture’s study shows that B2B companies can typically be grouped into three broad segments according to their ability to plan and execute customer experience programs that deliver annual revenue growth:

Masters: This group prioritizes customer experience and excels at both defining and executing a customer service strategy, which helps them generate an average 13 percent annual revenue growth.  Only about a quarter of the companies represented by the survey – 24 percent – would qualify as Masters, according to Accenture’s analysis.

Strivers:  Characterized by moderate customer experience performance, across either strategy, execution or both dimensions, Strivers are represented by nearly half the companies represented by the survey – 48 percent.  According to Accenture, the results achieved by these companies in customer experience help to deliver an average of 6 percent annual revenue growth.

Laggards: According to Accenture, companies in this group, which represents 28 percent of the survey sample, produces a negative average annual revenue growth figure of -1 percent, partly due to large performance gaps in their customer experience strategy and execution capabilities.

The study found that Masters are more aggressively investing time and money in improving their customers’ experience than Laggards, and outperforming Laggards in several ways:

* More than 9 out of 10 Masters companies (92 percent) have embedded customer experience delivery as a formal end-to-end business process that connects how customers interact and engage across sales, marketing and service functions, compared to just under half (46 percent) of Laggards.

* Masters are more likely to make the customer experience a central element of their strategy and day-to-day operations. 91 percent of Masters link performance reviews, compensation and bonuses to customer experience outcomes for their sales and service workforces, compared to less than half (42 percent) of Laggards.

* Masters are also more likely to place responsibility for delivery of the customer experience in a centralized function that directly manages several other functions – 64 percent vs. 36 percent.

* Executives in the companies categorized as Masters were nearly four times more likely than Laggards to say that they will increase their customer experience budget by more than 6 percent in the next fiscal year – 78 percent vs. 20 percent.

“The performance gap between the Masters and Laggards is more dramatic than you would expect, given both groups cite customer service as a strategic priority,” Wollan said. “Most are not willing to ‘walk the talk’ and make major changes. One place to get back on track is giving customer experience leaders control over, or close proximity to, the P&L; as well as fostering true collaboration across internal and external sales, marketing and service stakeholders, and external partners. Our analysis indicates that proximity to the P&L is one of the predictors of customer experience performance.”

Please visit: http://www.accenture.com/B2BCX to read the report; join the conversation @E2ECustExp.

Methodology:  Accenture conducted an online survey of more than 1,458 chief sales, service and customer officers, vice presidents, directors and managers from the sales and service functions across 20 industry subgroups and 13 countries. The Accenture study was fielded September 23^rd to October 15^th, 2013.

Ensure Secure Banking Using MahaSecure App

State-owned Bank of Maharashtra launched MahaSecure, a digital banking app, to enable secure access to Internet banking facilities for both retail and corporate customers of the bank.

MahaSecure will protect Internet banking users from sophisticated online attacks, the bank said in a statement.

Bank of Maharashtra’s initiative to launch the MahaSecure banking app is aimed at ensuring complete safety and trust in Internet banking for all users as there is no dependency on any hardware tokens or SMS. The launch of MahaSecure also underlines the fact that the bank intends to offer greater customer convenience through alternative delivery channels such as Internet banking, while ensuring comprehensive security, it further said.

Narender Kabra, General Manager, Bank of Maharashtra said, “As we focus on growth and start reaching out to more customers, we realise that our customer profile is changing. Traditional customer relationships are getting converted into digital relationships as more and more customers are switching to Internet banking. In this scenario, it was important for us to assure our customers of complete safety as they access banking services online. We are confident that the MahaSecure App, based on the REL-ID digital security platform with inbuilt 2 Factor Authentication solution from Uniken, will largely help us achieve this objective."

Indian Projects Can Directly Register With LEED Online

The Green Building Certification Institute (GBCI), the exclusive certification body for administering the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) process worldwide, announces that beginning July 1, 2014, LEED project teams in India can now directly register and certify with GBCI by taking advantage of the state-of-the-art technology platform LEED Online.

"LEED is a global rating system," said Mahesh Ramanujam, president, GBCI, and chief operating officer, U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). "Twenty-two thousand projects in 150 countries recognize LEED as the premier green building rating system. GBCI manages LEED certification worldwide to deliver superior technical support and customer experience to ensure maximum quality for project teams. The Indian Green Building Council (IGBC) will provide LEED certification in collaboration with GBCI to avoid any inconvenience to LEED projects already registered with IGBC."

Announced earlier this month by USGBC, the news coincides with last week's announcement in India that all state governments must comply with minimum requirements for energy efficient design and construction set by the central government by 2017. 

"India is playing a leadership role in the efforts to transform the built environment into one that enhances the quality of life for all its citizens," continued Ramanujam. "High performing buildings should be a mark of pride for India. The new code for minimum energy standards for new commercial buildings is a big step in the right direction. LEED is used by leaders across the globe and features several opportunities to reduce energy consumption through strategies such as natural ventilation, passive cooling, high efficiency systems and smart building controls." 

According to a USGBC report, India ranks third globally for countries outside of the U.S. with the most LEED-certified space, with nearly 12 million square meters. There are more than 66 million square meters of building space undergoing the LEED process in India, comprising 1,657 building projects.

USGBC has established a LEED "hub" in India, with the primary goal of accelerating the adoption of LEED. The LEED hub acts as a local technical, market, certification and customer support center for LEED project teams.

"We are excited about our LEED hub in India and are aggressively building capacity in collaboration with our key partners in the region to support future growth of LEED in India," said Ramanujam. "Stay tuned for some exciting partnership announcements."

Unique Managed Memory Computing Technology Unveiled

A leading company in the field of Business Intelligence software with customers in national and international markets, Ahmedabad-based Elegant MicroWeb has announced the launch of a globally unique technology "Managed Memory Computing" in the Business Intelligence space.

The path breaking Managed Memory Computing is expected to transform the Business Intelligence space by changing the way Business Intelligence is used and makes it cost-effective to roll out BI to all employees across the organisation.

The technology powering Business Intelligence Solutions is usually classified into two core architectures - the traditional disk-based architecture and the more recent in-memory processing. The disk-based system usually aggregates and makes the data ready for analysis, while in-memory systems push the data into the memory and process based on requests from users. In-memory processing needs more memory and processing power with increased usage, while the disk-based system needs more disk I/O operations.

The breakthrough technology developed by ElegantJ BI takes the best of both technologies and delivers a unique product that will dramatically change the way Business Intelligence Solutions will be viewed. Managed Memory Computing puts the power of selecting which data will be in memory in the hands of the technology managers.

Kartik Patel, CEO of Elegant MicroWeb, said, "Managed Memory Computing will redefine applications and levels of usage of Business Intelligence in all organisations. It will eliminate most of the restrictions imposed by need of hardware resources. Due to this, one can use ElegantJ BI for organisation-wide applications and in interactive meetings like the board meeting. Since the user has the choice to determine which data is going to be used in the memory, users can choose to allocate it as per the need. Furthermore, data put in memory is aggregated, and that ensures superior performance for BI analytics."

The key advantages of Managed Memory Computing in ElegantJ BI are:

1. Power of Managing Memory Allocation - Optimize memory utilization with the application and priority of BI analytics rather than the number of users

2. Power of Choice - Choose which data should be used in memory, based on priority and application of BI analytics

3. Power of Having More - Expand BI usage without increasing the cost of hardware and without changing the hardware

4. Power of Speed - Aggregated data in memory for amazing performance

ElegantJ BI is an independent product that is capable of using data from any transaction system for analytics. It has unique features, such as multidimensional KPI and deep dive analysis, that makes taking data-driven decisions simple.

ElegantJ BI Business Intelligence Suite has been used in many large corporations across India and around the globe, but it is one of the few solution tools available in the market that can also be used effectively in small and medium-sized businesses.

Model Lisa Haydon To Promote Myntra's Campaigns

Myntra.com, the ultimate online fashion destination, has signed the gorgeous Lisa Haydon as their Brand Ambassador. A diva in her own right, style and panache comes effortlessly to the actress who will be endorsing Myntra’s attractive range of apparel and accessories.

As the brand ambassador for Myntra.com, Lisa Haydon will be part of Myntra’s largest marketing campaign, ‘Live for Likes’, an initiative to engage with today’s social media savvy generation and encourage them to shop on Myntra.com. To begin with, the model turned actress will be the face of a dedicated microsite launched to pique the interest of online shoppers, and bring alive the brand’s philosophy of ‘Live for Likes’. The microsite (which will go live later this week) will host a series of initiatives including a virtual game which will feature Lisa Haydon as the main character; and will also showcase some stylish looks and selections.

Speaking of her association with Myntra.com, Lisa Haydon said, “I am extremely excited to be associated with Myntra.com - a brand that is vibrant and provides the latest and most sophisticated fashion trends for shoppers online. It has truly been a pleasure to work intimately with the Myntra team in the past, and I am looking forward to endorsing the brand now, starting with their latest ‘Live For Likes’ campaign, that aims at bringing alive the first ever virtual engagement game for shoppers. It is a highly enthralling game and I am sure people will get addicted to it over the next couple of weeks.”

"It’s great to have the lovely, talented diva, Lisa Haydon, as part of the Myntra family," stated Vikas Ahuja, Chief Marketing Officer, Myntra. “The Myntra brand is very fashionable and relates to the youth of today; this resonates very well with Lisa Haydon who is an ideal blend of simplicity, style and sophistication, making her the perfect choice. She truly embodies our brand values and we are delighted to have her on board."

Lisa Haydon had earlier been a part of Myntra’s ‘Hottest December Ever’ campaign, which comprised of a very peppy, youthful and vivacious TV commercial featuring the beautiful actress.

Myntra.com has previously collaborated with popular celebrities like Ranveer Singh for their private label - Roadster, Hrithik Roshan for the exclusive HRX collection and Chitrangada Singh to represent the company’s engaging initiative, Fashion Icon of the Month.

New Form Factors Devices From Lenovo

Lenovo, a leading PC player in India, today took the era of ‘thin and light’ computing to the next level of transformation with its brand new portfolio of sleek PCs. The high-performance range includes multi-mode laptops - Yoga 2 and Flex 2, everyday and mainstream laptops- G40/G50 and Z50, and an entry level All-In-One (AIO) with space saving design – C260. This one-stop range strikes the perfect balance between performance, colorful design, and affordability; and is sure to keep users entertained and make impressions wherever they go. 

Speaking at the launch, Shailendra Katyal, Director- HSB (Home and Small Business), Lenovo India said, “Lenovo has always been ahead of the technology curve and captivated users with products that truly stand apart. We are pioneering entirely new categories with Table PCs and AIOs, continuing our leadership in multi-modes and also making great inroads this year in the Tablet and Smartphone category. Winning global accolades in some of the world’s largest innovation platforms is a proof point of our technology prowess. The journey so far has been incredible. We are confident of achieving our goal to become a PC Plus leader as well as one of the most respected technology companies in the world.”

Lenovo’s product line-up this year is exceptionally strong aimed at breaking clutter in the crowded PC market. The key multi-modes include Yoga 2, from the award winning Yoga series; and Flex 2 offering budget-friendly computing with longer battery life for the user who is on the go. Lenovo Flex 2 had been designed with the belief that a notebook can’t just be a mere notebook, it has to be more. Owing to its ability to flip around 300 degrees this notebook is also a very handy tablet. It’s not just a gadget you work on but a gadget you can play with too. Both Yoga 2 and Flex 2 are multi-mode, highly flexible, superbly-designed machines that are the perfect collaboration of exquisite design and great functionality.

Other devices in the new portfolio include G40/G50, Z50 and C260 that are both versatile and affordable.

Key product features:

* Lenovo Yoga 2 convertible ultrabook:  Yoga 2 brings affordable multimode computing into reach. The budget-friendly Yoga 2's 10-point  multi-touch display flips back 360 degrees to offer four different usage modes  — Laptop, Tablet, Stand, and Tent. EUP: Rs 59990 (all inclusive)

* Lenovo Flex 2 (14 inch): Budget-friendly multimode computing is here at last in the Lenovo Flex 2 (14 inch), a 14” dual-mode laptop with a touchscreen that flips 300 degrees from laptop to stand mode.  The laptop has backlit keyboard and comes in graphite grey colour. EUP: Starting from Rs 41,990 (all inclusive)

*  Lenovo G40/G50: A thin and light laptop with GIGALAN support, Lenovo G50 laptop PC combines a slim design with a comprehensive set of features, including a DVD drive and great performance from its AMD processor. It has integrated Dolby advanced audio and comes in Ebony black and silver options. EUP: Starts from Rs 22990 (all inclusive)

* Lenovo Z50: A multimedia notebook offering a good balance between features & performance. The 15.6" HD display notebook features an AccuType keyboard that boasts a modern look and feel with flatter, slightly curved keys that enhance comfort while increasing typing accuracy. Equipped with Dolby advanced audio, the notebook comes in silver and white options. EUP: Starts from Rs 39990 (all inclusive)

* Lenovo C260: The 19.5” all-in-one C360 is ideal for the whole family. Sleek and responsive, it’s great for home entertainment and is very affordable. With Lenovo Assistant managing files is easy, while upgrading storage or memory is tool-free. Available with touchscreen. EUP: Rs 28,490 (all inclusive).