Arvind Ltd Appointment New Distributor to Polycom SMB Segment

Polycom, Inc. has announced the appointment of Arvind Ltd as a distributor, to expand market presence across more cities in India and boost adoption of collaboration solutions among smaller businesses. The appointment will leverage Polycom’s extensive video, audio and content collaboration solutions and services to address the growing mid-market and SMB segments in India.

“Polycom is a market leader in collaboration solutions and this engagement is an extremely significant milestone for us,” said Vipen Malhotra, President and CEO of Arvind Ltd. “Our appointment as a Polycom distributor will enable Arvind Ltd to offer a comprehensive and sharply focused portfolio of audio, video and content collaboration solutions in the SMB space, which is a dominant market segment for us. We are proud to partner with Polycom in expanding our SMB offerings and look forward to building a winning position for all stakeholders.”

With an increased focus on the digitisation of the Indian economy, through government initiatives such as Digital India and Make in India, Polycom will look to target new opportunities in SMBs. As network infrastructure continues to expand in Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities, collaboration through technology among businesses of all sizes will be crucial to increasing efficiency among teams for faster project delivery and improved bottom line revenues.

In India, Polycom is now represented in over 70 cities in India with a goal to reach 100 cities in 2016. As part of the company’s growth strategy, more Tier 2 cities and customers will be covered through strategic tie-ups and new partnerships.

“Similar to larger organisations, SMBs are turning to innovation to maximise business. However, the needs of a smaller organisation can be vastly different due to budget, workspace and workforce requirements and it is important that the right collaboration solutions are available to help achieve their objectives,” said Minhaj Zia, Managing Director, Polycom India and SAARC. “We constantly look to ways at making it easier for our customers to do business with Polycom by expanding our reach. Our partnership with Arvind Ltd is an important step in helping us jointly penetrate the key SMB market more strongly, and expand the implementation of collaboration tools in new customer spaces.” 

All-New Range of Desert and Personal Air Coolers from Maharaja Whiteline in India

Maharaja Whiteline became Groupe SEB India (P) Ltd in 2014 and is the country’s leading consumer durable brand in the air coolers, mixer grinders, juicer mixer grinders and room heaters category enjoying immense brand equity within the space. With summers just round the corner, the brand has unveiled its new range of Desert and Personal Air coolers. The range comprises of 3 desert and 6 personal coolers. All the models are aesthetically superior, performance driven and energy efficient models which are certain to be a great addition for your home this summer season. These new variants are amongst the best offerings within the category. All of them have been developed after gaining years of experience in the category and are a resultant of thrust on RandD with European quality consciousness. These air coolers boasts of high in-class air delivery and air throw distance in addition to energy efficiency, thus a perfect companion for the sweltering heat.

The series comprises of three hi-comfort Desert coolers and seven well-designed Personal coolers, namely, Blizzard 60, Atlanto+ and Atlanto in Desert Air Cooler category and Frostair10 and 22, Torrent 30 and 18, Blizzard 50 and 20 in Personal Air Cooler category.All the models comprise of castor wheels for easy movement around the house. A 3 speed blower control is accompanied by 4-way air deflection which ensures even cooling in through the room.

Commenting on the launch,  Shirish Khedkar, Senior Vice President – Sales, Groupe SEB India (P) Ltd. said “Groupe SEB India saw a great season in 2014 as well as 2015 despite a muted industry performance and now we are determined to replicate this performance and consolidate our position as a leading player in the Air Cooler category. We did tremendously well last year on the back of a refreshed product line-up, which will remain to be our focus area along with an aesthetically superior range in season 2016”

He added, “Being a leading home appliances brand, our objective has always been to create thought through solutions for the existing and new segment of buyers. Both our desert and personal air cooler range launch is in line with the same vision. With all the new features, this range is an ideal fit for the tropical Indian summers which are known to be extremely hot and humid, especially in the northern region of the country.”

Key features of the new introductions within the Personal Range of Air Cooler:

                Blizzard 50 and Blizzard 20:

·         With double blowers for heavy air throw and high air delivery capacity, the blizzard series comes with water tank capacity of 50 and 20 litres and is a must-have for any home which desires cooling with style. These sleek and stylish air coolers come with Honey Comb Pads which retain water for longer and hence give a long lasting cooling.Blizzard 50 and Blizzard 20 are priced at Rs.11349 and Rs. 9999 respectively.

 Torrent 30and Torrent 18:

·         With a water tank capacity of 30 L and 18 L, Torrent range with Honey comb pads is certain to provide long lasting cooling.These air coolers come with heavy air throw and high air delivery capacity, which makes it more proficient.Its rust proof ABS body is an add-on to its attractive exteriors. Torrent 30 and Torrent 18 are priced at Rs. 11,899 and Rs.10,399 respectively.

            Frostair22 and Frostair 10:

·     High on aesthetic quotient, Frostair series comes in water tank capacities of 22L and 10 L. With heavy air throw capability, high air delivery and specialpadding(Honey comb in 22 and 20 L model while wood wool pads in 10 L model), each one is a value add for any home for the scorching summers. Honey comb pads ensure long lasting cooling. Both the models have a compact design with best in class performance. Frostair 10 and Frostair 22 are priced at Rs. 7699 and Rs. 9999 respectively.

Fifth-Gen Array ADCs Deliver Upto 300% Greater Performance for Entry-Level & Mid-Range Customers

Array Networks Inc., a global leader in application delivery networking, announced today the immediate availability of three new fifth-generation application delivery controller (ADC) appliances. Running Array's recently released Version 8.6 software, the entry-level APV1600 and APV2600 and the mid-range APV3600 achieve industry-leading Layer-4, Layer-7 and SSL benchmarks for throughput and connections per second - delivering up to 300% better performance without increasing prices for Array customers.

·  APV1600 Layer-4 and Layer-7 throughput increased by 50% to 3.7Gbps and 3Gbps respectively. Layer-4 connections per second increased by 300% to 280K, while Layer-7 requests per second increase by 100% to 200K. Full-featured list price beginning at $8,495.

·  APV2600 Layer-4 and Layer-7 throughput increased by 100% to 18Gbps and 13Gbps respectively. Layer-4 connections per second increased by 50% to 360K, while Layer-7 requests per second increased by 100% to 200K. Full-featured list price starting at $13,995.

·  APV3600 Layer-4 throughput increased by 100% to 37Gbps. Layer-4 connections per second increased by 33% to 1M, while Layer-7 requests per second increased by 20% to 635K. 2048-bit SSL TPS increased by 40% to 35K. Full-featured list price from $28,995.

Industry-Leading Software SSL

With the introduction of elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) support in Array's recently released Version 8.6 software, the APV1600, 2600 and 3600 appliances now support industry-leading performance for software-based SSL offload. The APV1600, 2600 and 3600 support up to 2100, 5500 and 35,000 SSL TPS respectively  without the need for additional-cost hardware acceleration modules - performance that is between 4-to-6 times better than similarly priced alternative ADC solutions. 

"As a pioneer in integrated traffic management and application delivery, we are pleased to launch the fifth generation of our APV Series products," said Paul Andersen, Senior Director of Marketing at Array Networks. "While recent efforts have seen Array expand its portfolio of cloud and security-focused solutions, we remain committed to leading the way for both physical and virtual load balancing and application delivery solutions. With the new APV1600, 2600 and 3600 appliances, Array continues to raise the bar for entry-level and mid-range solutions, providing our customers with a superior combination of features, reliability and price-performance."

BroadGrain Opts for Eka CTRM Software & Advanced Analytics

Eka Software Solutions, the leading global provider of Smart Commodity Management software solutions, announced today that BroadGrain has selected Eka’s agricultural CTRM software platform with advanced analytics to manage global commodity trading and risk for its operations both domestically and internationally.

BroadGrain is a leading global marketer and handler of grains, oilseeds, by-products, and specialty crops for both feed and food markets. Operating on nearly every continent, BroadGrain is committed to connecting producers, processors, and consumers of food and agricultural commodities around the world.

“We needed the most functionally advanced end-to-end agriculture trading, risk, and supply chain solution to support our growing business both domestically and internationally,” said Zaid Qadoumi, CEO, BroadGrain. “Through our evaluations, Eka’s platform proved to be the most modern and complete multi-commodity software solution on the market today, making our decision easy.”

BroadGrain licensed InSight CM, a next-generation CTRM software solution for managing commodity transactions end-to-end throughout the value chain, and Commodity Analytics Cloud, an advanced analytics solution that brings commodity specific analytics to all business users. These two solutions provide the operational and analytical solutions that commodities companies need to manage in today’s complex and volatile markets. InSight CM is an advanced transaction management platform, suitable for a wide range of commodities in the agriculture, manufacturing, metals, and energy industries. Commodity Analytics Cloud harnesses data from both internal and external sources to answer the most important questions for commodities companies in the areas of PandL, procurement, risk, and supply chain.

“Eka’s agricultural solution captures, analyzes, and manages physical trading, procurement, logistics, bulk handling, processing, risk, and compliance across all agri-commodities including dairy, grains, oilseeds, livestock, feed ingredients, biofuels, and fertilizers,” said Sanjay Singla, GM of CTRM, Eka. “The fully integrated platform provides straight-through processing of agri-commodities for the front, middle, and back office and is the most functional end-to-end solution on the market. In addition, our advanced analytics solution addresses the high value business issues agriculture companies face today. By leveraging analytics, commodities companies can make faster, better informed decisions when managing trading, positions, risk, PandL, inventory, costs, and logistics.”

Top Honours at Barclays Supplier Awards 2015-16 for Intelenet Global Services

Intelenet Global Services, a leading Indian exporter of BPM services is recognized as the ‘Supplier of the Year’ for year 2015-16 by Barclays, a transatlantic consumer, corporate and investment bank offering products and services across personal, corporate and investment banking, credit cards and wealth management. Intelenet has been acknowledged for its outstanding contribution in delivering service excellence and coming up with innovative solutions that provide sustainable benefits to Barclays.

Barclays organized the third edition of its annual ‘Go-To’ Supplier Awards to celebrate the contributions of those suppliers that have exceeded expectations. Intelenet was chosen and felicitated the award by Ashok Vaswani, Chief Executive Officer – Barclays UK.

From a global supply base of many thousands, Intelenet was announced as the winner of the Supplier of the Year award in recognition for implementing colleague development programmes, tools and processes, reducing takeover fraud, increasing customer advocacy and also providing incredible support during the Chennai flood disaster.

Intelenet has been investing in newer technologies as well as tapping in-house tools with an agenda to enhance customer experiences in an era that is seeing disruption and design thinking across sectors. Always keeping its clients first, Intelenet presents its clients with solutions that meet basic goals from cost savings to business transformation. Clients also derive tremendous value from Intelenet’s ability to consistently provide operational excellence, significant cost reduction and energized partnerships. The entire Intelenet team, from executives to front-line agents, puts the customer first.

Microsoft & 100 NGOs Partner Globally to Close Computer Science Education Skills Gap

Today, Microsoft Philanthropies announced grants for over 100 nonprofit organizations in 55 countries, including NASSCOM Foundation and QUEST Alliance in India. The grants are a component of the $75M commitment Microsoft made to increase access to computer science education around the world through Microsoft YouthSpark, as announced by Satya Nadella last year. 

Microsoft is partnering with these nonprofits by providing cash grants, content and other resources they need to bring computational thinking and problem-solving skills to young people in local communities, important building blocks to help them succeed in today’s tech-fueled economy.

“Computational thinking and problem-solving skills will be relevant to every job in the future,” said Satya Nadella, CEO, Microsoft. “Through our partnerships with nonprofit organizations around the world, we aim to empower all youth to prepare for this future with the foundational knowledge of computer science to dream and create the innovations of tomorrow.”

Here in India, the grant that Microsoft Philanthropies made to NASSCOM Foundation and QUEST Alliance will enable under-served youth to embrace computer science through developingcomputer programming curriculum and integrating IT and computer science training into current employability & entrepreneurship curriculum respectively.

NASSCOM Foundation:  Through the Code A Future project, NASSCOM Foundation will introduce and promote Computer Science to under-served youth and encourage them to pursue higher courses in advanced computing and leverage these skills for future employment. Nasscom will develop basic and advanced computer programming curriculum and partner with local organizations to deliver the training to 12,000 youth.

QUEST Alliance: With support from Microsoft YouthSpark, Quest Alliance will develop a toolkit focused on integrating IT and computer science training into current employability and entrepreneurship curriculum. The computer science modules will be customized for the Indian context and will include easy to understand classroom activities, work sheets, interactive peer engagements and video case studies. Instructor training and orientation materials will be included to ensure trainers are able to easily adopt methodologies and content, with continuous virtual support provided by QUEST through its online trainer support platform. The program aims to reach 20,000 youth with a special focus on reaching young women. All materials, approach and tools developed under this initiative will be scaled across QUEST and Microsoft India partners in order to build capacity of youth serving organizations to integrate computer science in existing employability & entrepreneurship programs for under-served youth.

Manju Dhasmana, Lead – Community Affairs at Microsoft India, said, “Microsoft is deeply invested in the success of India’s youth by empowering them in three core areas - education, employment, and entrepreneurship. We see our work with nonprofits as a partnership where we can bring to the table our resources and tech expertise to some of the organizations that are already making impact with young people in our community.”

Closing the computer science skills gap and reaching young people on a global scale is a multi-faceted challenge that cannot be solved by one organization or solution alone. Microsoft’s partnerships with nonprofit organizations mean that more young people around the world—particularly underserved communities, girls and ethnic and racially diverse populations-will have access to computer science education, helping build skills critical for future success.

Design Conclave 2016 Aspiring Designers in Bengaluru on April 23

Aiming at inspiring creative minds, ‘Design Conclave 2016’ is here to create a breakthrough in the Indian Education System by playing an important catalyst in the field of design. To be held on April 23 in Bengaluru, the Design Conclave aims at comforting aspiring designers with vast opportunities that design has to offer and how students can make the best out of a career in Design.

The premier design conclave to witness design stalwarts, students, creative evangelists, design and engineering professionals and educators from the field of architecture, engineering and construction and media. The conclave aims at disseminating actionable knowledge that people can use and apply immediately in their creations for conceiving new products and improving the existing ones. This conclave is all about experiencing how design can create a competitive advantage for aspiring designers and help them to discover new opportunities for further growth.

To be held at The Lalit Ashok, Bengaluru, this conclave is one such unique initiative that brings together industry experts to share their views and experiences related to design. This year, the conclave will provide an opportunity to come face to face with illustrious speakers from design industry, such as Biren Ghoshe, leader in animation and visual effects and country head of Technicolor, India, Manoviraj Khosla, leading fashion designer of international repute, Sanju Mathew, Manager Digital Sculpting at General Motors, India, and Ninad Panse, CEO of DSK International Campus in Pune.

Through panel discussions, these industry experts will share their experiences about the trends, technology developments, case studies, design processes and the role of design and other forms of media in building and sustaining a brand’s value. “Design has played a crucial role in bringing a change in the industry. The future is completely based on innovation as India is becoming a trendsetter with respect to the contribution made in the field of industrial designing that has been well accepted globally. The get inspired sessions at the conclave will definitely leverage one’s experience and expertise to create unique learning opportunities,” said Ninad Panse, CEO of DSK International Campus.