Keysight Technology Signs MoU with IEEE India

Keysight Technologies, Inc. has announced that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed with IEEE India to develop tools, programs and activities to help increase technical engineering capabilities In India. Their mutual interest is focused on workforce development, technical advocacy, and creating technical communities to assist the industry at-large.

The work will include private and government sector involvement to setup technical labs with state-of-the-art equipment, hosting seminars and creating certification programs to benefit engineering students across India.  Among the various programs offered will be the IEEE Labs Initiative and Wireless Certification and Electronic Test Program.

“We understand that knowledge, skills and resources are critical to advance economic and industrial development in India,” said Sudhir Tangri, country general manager, Keysight India. “As the need for knowledge workers with high levels of technical and soft skills increases, we will require intensive focus on advancing the technical know-how and growth of individuals in test and measurement.”

“IEEE carries lot of respect and brand value in the engineering community, especially among our academic customers. We are pleased to work with IEEE India in activities that benefit this community,” added Tangri.

“Keysight’s technical competence and their wide portfolio of solutions for academia in the field of basic electronics, RF/microwave, communications, nanotechnology and optics complements IEEEs core objectives of enabling standards and education in engineering,” said Harish Mysore, director of IEEE India.

“This work further enhances Keysight’s engagement with academia. Our academic customers stand to gain with these activities between Keysight and IEEE,” said V.V. Pathy, head of business development, Keysight Technologies India. “In addition, Keysight intends to be an active part of the IEEE Bangalore chapter driving other valuable engineering community activities.”

Ezetap & Microsoft Partner For POS Payment Solution

Ezetap has launched Point of Sale (POS) payment solution on Windows devices.  Ezetap’s solution integrates with Windows mobile devices to give the full functionality and security of a POS system with more flexibility and significantly lower cost than normal POS devices provided to retailers by banks. This will allow more retailers and users of POS devices to use Ezetap across 20 different verticals including PSU, insurance and banking.  The Ezetap solution turns a merchant’s mobile device into an intelligent point of sale that is able to complete any type of financial transaction from a credit card sale to a real-time bill payment, to an ATM cash withdrawal or deposit.

“Ezetap on Windows allows us to address increasing demand from our existing and prospective customers for Windows-based POS,” said Abhijit Bose, CEO & Co-Founder of Ezetap.  “Intelligent and mobile POS solutions will not only redefine how businesses work, but they will also have a huge impact on consumers and society in general.  We expect our solution to be deployed on 100,000 Windows devices over the next 12 months. By leveraging the power of cloud and mobility, we are simplifying transactions and this partnership brings us closer to achieving our vision.”

Vineet Durani, Director – Windows, Microsoft India said, “The deployment by Ezetap on Windows devices addresses a key market demand for integrated and intelligent mobile POS system. Payments are a high-risk operation and partners like Ezetap building POS solutions need a stringent level of authentication, security and manageability. Windows devices now start at Rs. 8,000 and therefore organizations can deploy large number of fully-featured and highly-secure mobile POS on these devices at significantly lower capital outlay.”

Windows supports industry standards in high security areas and continues to work with security groups to further strengthen the platform. With 1.5 billion users across the world, Windows is a familiar global platform for most organizations.

The Ezetap solution is comprised of a secure and lightweight card reader, a configurable mobile application, and a flexible platform that allows Ezetap to provide customized value-added services and integrate to a merchant’s existing systems.   The solution is compliant with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCIDSS) and the Payment Application Data Security Standard (PADSS) global security standards.

Fashion Brand Esprit Opts for Mindtree as IT Partner

 Mindtree, a global technology services company, today announced that it is working with international fashion brand Esprit to deliver IT solutions that will make Esprit more competitive. In the first phase of this relationship, Mindtree will monitor and support Esprit’s SAP applications suite for more than 300 directly managed retail stores and over 7,500 wholesale points of sale in Europe.

As part of this multi-year contract, Mindtree will ensure the stability of Esprit’s SAP systems through early detection and resolution of system, functional and process issues. In addition, Mindtree will maintain on-time availability of Esprit’s data and provide flexibility to IT management to meet their business needs.  Most importantly, Mindtree will improve the processes service quality, allowing Esprit’s IT team to focus on their strategic business needs without having to worry about the reliability of their SAP systems. 

Dr. Thomas Pirlein, Group CIO, Esprit said, “We sought a long-term managed services partner to bring efficiencies and technology leadership. Mindtree’s SAP managed services expertise, agility, collaborative culture and team leadership made them the ideal choice. Mindtree will play a key role in our efforts to gain long-term competitiveness with its technology leadership and deep understanding of trends shaping the future of retail.” 

Radha R, Executive Vice President - Retail, CPG, MFG and Travel, Transportation & Hospitality, Mindtree said, “We took a business process view rather than a system centric view to provide Esprit the flexibility to achieve their goals in the highly competitive fashion retail space. We see this program as an important first step among many to come as part of Esprit's commitment to drive sustainable growth using technology.”

SRL Diagnostics Tranforms Customer Experience With Oracle Service Cloud

Wipro, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company today announced that it has assisted SRL Diagnostics transform its customer care operations by providing  successful customer experiences across multiple communication channels leveraging Oracle Service Cloud.

SRL Diagnostics, one of India's largest pathology lab networks with 12 reference labs, 4 Centers of Excellence and 281 network laboratories, explored several solutions to improve their existing customer service experience and eventually decided to implement a Customer Relationship Management (CRM) application for its customer care department. SRL partnered with Wipro considering Wipro’s ability to provide full spectrum of services around Oracle Service Cloud which include system integration, change management, and application support. Wipro successfully deployed the Oracle Service Cloud , delivering an enhanced and virtually seamless experience across various touch-points for SRL’s customers.

Wipro’s CRM team aided SRL in streamlining their call center operations by leveraging the core benefits of the Oracle Service Cloud and providing an incident tracking mechanism. Wipro also created a unique experience for all call center agents by developing a custom built toolbar for call management, integrated to SRL’s existing customer care infrastructure.

Oracle Service Cloud combines Web, Social and Contact Center experiences for a unified, cross-channel service solution in the Cloud, enabling organizations to increase sales and adoption, build trust and strengthen relationships, and reduce costs and effort. The enterprise platform provides transparent reliability, unmatched security, and total Cloud freedom for mission critical customer experience delivery.

G Radhakrishna Pillai, CIO, SRL said, "At SRL, customers form the heart of the organization. We use our proprietary Lab Information System CLIMS for Lab process from sample registration till delivering the report to patient. In our bid to provide a better and well-rounded customer experience, we needed a scalable future proof customer experience solution which could help us keep track of the customer service history and make the information accessible to our call center staff. Wipro’s ability in standardizing processes as well as their expertise in implementing Cloud technology and adding new dimensions to reach our customers has helped us move beyond the status quo. We have now gone live with Oracle Service Cloud.”

“We are living in an era, where aligning customer experience with brands has become a prerequisite. Consumers expect a virtually seamless experience when they interact with brands; be it on social media, mobile, website, in-store, through the call center and even while making a purchase online,” said Niraj Kaushik, Vice President, Applications Business, Oracle India. “Oracle’s comprehensive and integrated CX Portfolio  will enable SRL Diagnostics to deliver a coherent customer experience Wipro’s CRM team is proficient in implementing Cloud technology and will add further value to our products,” he added.

Biplab Adhya, vice president, oracle applications, Wipro Ltd. said, “We partnered with SRL to help them scale up their customer service management operations, and enable an improved user experience for its staff and customers. We used Oracle Service Cloud to help automate the daily tasks of SRL customer care users and provided them with a tool that helped them realize better call handling times, thereby delivering a consistent service across different channels like voice, email, web, chat and social media.” 

India's 3rd Largest Start-Up Ecosystem Globally

The National Association of Software and Services Companies (NASSCOM) today kick-started its three-day annual flagship NASSCOM Product Conclave 2014 in Bangalore. The conclave builds on the fast growing product and startup ecosystem in the country and  provides a platform to engage with thought leaders in the product space, discuss issues of common interest and network with startups and partners to create a common framework for the future of the product startup ecosystem in India. The event will feature 225+ international and national speakers, showcase of 120+ product companies and curated 250+ meetings.

The NASSCOM top Emerge 10 companies will also be showcased on the sidelines of the conclave. These success stories are a mixture of burgeoning product innovations and exciting new solutions.

The growth of the software product industry in recent years has signaled a transformation - in India and across the globe. With increasing numbers of online active users becoming consumers of e-commerce solutions and the related marketplaces, Indian startups today are building global digital solutions to capitalize on this rapid growth. Hyper-growth, capital availability and acquisitions are the leading drivers of the growing startup ecosystem in India. Indian start-ups today are well positioned to address the entire Asian market opportunity and also expand beyond the US and European region.

Expressing his views, R Chandrashekhar, President, NASSCOM, said, “The Indian startup ecosystem is rapidly evolving driven by an extremely young, diverse and inclusive entrepreneurial landscape. This is leading to emergence of focused domain solutions for verticals like healthcare, agriculture, and education etc. An additional driving force is a four-fold increase in access to capital through VCs, angel investment and seed funding is allowing Indian entrepreneurs to work on building tailor-made products for their customers. Simultaneously, we need to also work addressing challenges on creating supportive government policies in terms of ease of doing business, tax incentives, participation in government contracts, availability of risk capital etc. NASSCOM will continue to actively engage with stakeholders across to address these challenges.”

Speaking on the sidelines of the conclave,Ravi Gururaj, Chairman, NASSCOM Product Council, said “Scaling up, Design and Growth Hacking are the key priority for startups today. On the innovation front, it is imperative to increase collaboration and partnerships for product companies with platform players, IT Services, Global MNCs and CIOs. The conclave this year will showcase interesting technologies that are evangelizing the product space and that are poised to become ubiquitous across both the consumer and industrial fabric of our society.” 

Panasonic India Expands Mobile Business; Enters Srilankan Market

Panasonic India launched its mobile phone series in Sri Lanka by extending its innovative product portfolio and services to the users in the country. The company will cater to different consumer segments through products in multi-priced segments. The Sri Lankan market has massive potential for growth in the mobile phone industry and there is a huge untapped telecom consumer segment offering a favorable opportunity for Panasonic to establish itself as a credible force in this market.

Speaking on the occasion of the launch, Manish Sharma, Managing Director- Panasonic India and South Asia, said, “At Panasonic, we strive to bring together innovation with style and affordability, offering users a seamless experience on our devices. Having built an exhaustive and robust range of smartphones and feature phones in India, starting April 2013, our idea is to empower our customers across the spectrum by providing them with the right value options. With the entry into this market, our ultimate aim will be cater to all customer segments in the country and build a strong and robust distribution network in the country. He further added, Panasonic has recently designated India as the sixth strategic region which will take care of SAARC nations, Middle East Asia and Africa. It is in line with this aim that we are today marking our entry in this region, given the huge market potential that exists in the country. We have also ventured into the Nepal smartphone market and Panasonic is looking forward towards building a stronger brand presence across regions.

Over the last five years, Sri Lanka has witnessed a surge in subscriber base driven by a combination of factors like increasing household incomes, expanding mobile network coverage and increasing competition between the mobile operators. With localization being a vital growth strategy, combined with strong core values, business philosophy and leadership principles, Panasonic aims to reach out to maximum consumers with its wide range mobile phones offerings.

SAP Turns 25 Years in APAC with Focus on Innovation and Skills Development

SAP SE has announced its plans to expand innovation capabilities in Singapore with an SAP Innovation Center by the end of 2014, focusing on delivering breakthrough innovations around Smart Cities, Industry 4.0, Healthcare and Digital Consumers. 

In an increasingly networked economy powered by smart devices, the SAP Innovation Center aims to foster local economic opportunities by identifying untapped market and customer needs and creating new innovative, user-centric products. This involves co-innovation with SAP customers and partners as well as research collaboration with local universities. Further fuelling the startup ecosystem, the center will provide local startups with the latest technologies and offer market access to expand their reach.

“While our technology is very sophisticated, it actually delivers a dramatically simplified IT landscape that benefits our customers,” said Rob Enslin, Executive Board Member and President of Global Customer Operations at SAP. “It ties in with our “run simple” philosophy, which includes simplifying our products and by extension, makes it easier for customers to take advantage of SAP technologies. In line with our vision to improve lives, this SAP Innovation Center will deliver a constant stream of innovative software solutions to tackle the great challenges of our time.”

“Asia Pacific is a fast-growing region. We are now entering the era of Internet of Things with the rapid growth of smart, connected devices and systems to meet the changing demands of today’s consumers.  As we embrace a networked, technology-driven innovative economy, we will focus on accelerating industry growth in public services, healthcare, financial services and retail,” said Adaire Fox-Martin, President of SAP Asia Pacific Japan. “Building on our 25-year presence in the region, we look forward to continued commitment and close collaboration with customers, partners, governments and universities throughout Asia Pacific, to drive innovation and skills development.”

SAP is also tapping on the increasingly vibrant IT ecosystem across the region to identify ideas at an early stage and leverage access to a large pool of the brightest young talent. Under the SAP University Alliances Student Entrepreneurship program, students can develop new solutions across SAP’s technologies leveraging in-memory platform SAP HANA, the SAP Mobile Platform and analytics capabilities. The students will gain access to these technologies, SAP experts, mentors and an entrepreneurship curriculum. Launched globally in March, the Student Entrepreneurship program was recently announced in Australia, Singapore and India and will be introduced in Japan and Korea later this year.

The SAP University Alliances program opens up the world of SAP to more than 1,800 universities in more than 80 countries worldwide, and aims to develop highly qualified graduates with critical skills for the 21^st century workforce. Annually, over two thousand tertiary students in Singapore benefit from this program.

Through a robust Young Thinkers program, SAP is also expanding its university partnerships to stimulate interest in STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) in youths, address the gap in skills shortage and encourage entrepreneurial thinking. Across the region, this experiential learning program involves secondary/K-12 schools, government agencies and NGOs in Singapore, India and Australia to help youths understand the benefits brought about by Big Data today and its impact on societies, businesses and everyday life.

The Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) welcomed SAP’s expanded presence in Singapore which helps to reinforce the country’s position as a digital innovation capital for companies and industries. Quek Swee Kuan, Deputy Managing Director at EDB said: “For 25 years, SAP has been a key partner to Singapore in its contribution to the ICT industry. By providing co-innovation opportunities, the new Innovation Centre will enable companies to pursue their desired digital transformation strategies from Singapore. This builds on SAP’s active talent development efforts to leverage the capabilities of Singaporean students and researchers, and marks a deepening of our partnership.”