US$50 Billion Revenues for Indian BPM Industry by 2020: Nasscom

The Indian Business Process Management (BPM) industry is forecast to touch $50 billion by 2020, according to the software lobby group Nasscom. The BPM industry present revenues amounts to $28 billion in both domestic as well as in exports.

Nasscom has kick-started the two-day Nasscom-BPM Strategy Summit 2016 in Bangalore. Growing at a CAGR of over 8%, the BPM industry clocked a total revenue of US$28 billion during FY2016. With a share of over 25% of the total IT-BPM exports, the industry added 49,000 employees to its workforce, at a rate of 4.7%, taking the total no. of employees to 1,086,000.

The top management attributes analytics and process innovation evolve as key driving factors of Indian BPM that are likely to trigger off the growth. Over the last five years the industry grew about 1.7 times and has about 2,500 companies.

Keshav Murugesh, appointed as the new chairman of Nasscom’s BPM Council said, “The industry that has demonstrated resilience in the face of economic uncertainty by constantly re-inventing itself to meet market needs, is forecast to touch $50 billion by 2020 from the present $21 billion.

“While BPM 1.0 in the late nineties was centered on cost efficiencies and productivity, BPM 3.0 in late 2000 focused on specialisation, process re-engineering, technology-enabled platforms and taking BPM to the rural areas. I believe that the era ahead is that of clients and providers working together even more closely on disruptive innovations.”

“We have a rather audacious goal ahead of us as a Council. We are looking to rebrand the image of the industry from BPO to BPM to signify the evolution and the value that it creates for client companies globally.”

Speaking about the wave of change, R Chandrashekhar, President, Nasscom said, “Automation, digitalized processes and new business models are enabling the BPM sector to take a step forward in adopting a more strategic role as compared to being just another outsourcing platform. The next wave of growth for the industry will come from increasing demand of technologies like advanced analytics, social media, mobility and other new technologies, driving demand for specialised services.”

Nasscom also discussed the preliminary recommendations of its Consumer Interest Protection Task Force (CIPTF) in dealing with reputational risk. These recommendations will be shared with the Government and other relevant agencies in greater detail. The recommendations identify the following intervention points to address cases of tech fraud, and enhance consumer interest protection.  

i.        Prevention via development of a common code of practice featuring standards security, privacy and ethical practices

ii.      Detection and Reporting by setting up an accessible whistleblowing mechanism for registering complaints
iii.    Investigation through an independent govt. investigation agency with the jurisdiction and power to co-ordinate between governmental agencies and departments

Oracle Beats Amazon Web Services; Claims its Database-as-a-Service is 20 Yrs Ahead of AWS

Oracle Executive Chairman and Chief Technology Officer, Larry Ellison has demonstrated that Amazon databases are 20 years behind the latest release of the Oracle Database in the Cloud. In his keynote presentation at Oracle OpenWorld 2016 in San Francisco’s Moscone Center, Ellison shared detailed analysis that showed that Oracle Database-as-a-Service (DBaaS) is up to 105X faster for Analytics workloads, 35X faster for OLTP, and 1000+X faster for mixed workloads than Amazon DBaaS. 

Ellison also showed that the Oracle Cloud is optimized for running Oracle Database while Amazon Web Services (AWS) is not. An Oracle Database running on the Oracle Cloud is up to 24X faster than an Oracle Database running on AWS.

“Oracle’s new technologies will drive the Cloud databases and infrastructure of the future,” said Ellison.“Amazon are decades behind in every database area that matters, and their systems are more closed than mainframe computers.”

Ellison also announced the availability of Oracle Database 12c Release 2 in the Oracle Cloud with the launch of the new Oracle Exadata Express Cloud Service. This service provides the full enterprise edition of the Oracle Database running on the database-optimized Exadata infrastructure. Starting at just $175 per month, Ellison showed this Cloud service is lower cost than similar offerings from Amazon.

With the launch of Oracle Database 12c Release 2 in the Cloud first, Oracle has demonstrated that the Oracle Cloud is the most optimized, complete and integrated Cloud for Oracle Database. The latest release provides organizations of all sizes with access to the world’s fastest, most scalable and reliable database technology in a cost-effective and open Cloud environment. In addition, the world’s #1 database includes a series of innovations that add state-of-the-art technology while preserving customer investments and supporting their transition to the Cloud.

Ellison shared detailed analysis during his keynote that showed how the new Oracle DBaaS delivers unparalleled performance for analytics, online transaction processing (OLTP) and mixed database workloads. In a direct comparison between Oracle DBaaS and Amazon databases, Ellison shared the following analysis:

·         Oracle Cloud Database is dramatically faster than Amazon Cloud Databases:

o   Oracle Cloud is up to 105X faster for analytics than Amazon Redshift

o   Oracle Cloud is up to 35X faster for OLTP than Amazon Aurora

·         Amazon is 20 years behind Oracle in database technology

o   Amazon Aurora is missing critical OLTP features that Oracle shipped 20 years ago, including scalable read-write clusters, parallel SQL and the ability to replicate encrypted databases

o   Amazon Redshift is missing critical analytics features that Oracle shipped 20 years ago, including table partitioning, materialized views, support for rich data types and sophisticated query optimization

·         Amazon databases do not support mixed workloads

o   Oracle runs analytics workloads 1000+ times faster than Amazon Aurora

o   Oracle runs OLTP workloads 1000+ times faster than Amazon Redshift

·         Amazon databases are more closed than IBM Mainframe databases, and are not compatible with on-premise enterprise database applications

o   Amazon Aurora, Amazon Redshift and Amazon DynamoDB only run on AWS

o   With AWS, organizations can’t use dev/test for on-premises, can’t use disaster protection for on-premises, management is incompatible with on-premises

o   Amazon databases are not compatible with existing enterprise database applications such as Oracle, DB2, SQL Server and Teradata and force organizations to throw away decades of on-premises investments

·         Ellison also demonstrated that AWS is not optimized for the Oracle Database:

o   Oracle Database is up to 24X faster for analytics on the Oracle Cloud Platform than on Amazon Web Services

o   Oracle Database is up to 8X faster for OLTP on the Oracle Cloud Platform than on Amazon Web Services

o   AWS has limited storage performance: Amazon Elastic Block Storage limited to 48,000 IOPs/nodes, which is 8X slower than Oracle Cloud; Amazon Elastic Block Storage limited to 800 MB/sec/node, which is 19X slower than Oracle Cloud

o   AWS cannot scale-out Oracle across nodes: AWS provides no support for Oracle Real Application Clusters

Oracle is the only vendor with true workload portability across on-premises and Cloud deployments. This helps ensure customers can continue to leverage their existing investment, keep costs down and easily benefit from the efficiency of Cloud. With proven continuous innovations and industry-leading performance across the entire platform from infrastructure to database, including support for mixed workloads, Oracle Data Management Cloud is the leader today and in the future.

Now 100G Open Ethernet Switch Spectrum in India from Mellanox Technologies

Mellanox Technologies, a world leader for data center Ethernet interconnect solutions, for the first time presented in the Indian market 10/25/40/50 and 100GbE solutions. Mellanox introduced the Open Ethernet switch ‘Spectrum’ with a switching capacity of 6.4 Tbits that can transfer 4.77 billion packets per second. The company also revealed to the Indian audience, its ConnectX-4 Lx Ethernet adapter and the LinkX family of Ethernet cables and transceivers.

‘Spectrum’ switch based on the 100GbE Ethernet switch ASIC of Mellanox Technologies, is recognized as the world’s leading Ethernet switch. It provides a flexible choice of ports at 10, 25, 40, 50 and 100Gb/s and ensures zero packet loss. This will help users to fully utilize their network resources and maximize the efficiency of the applications in their data center. Compatible with a range of network operating systems, this switch provides customers with the freedom to choose the preferred network operating system. Spectrum is the most efficient solution for cloud-based applications, web 2.0, storage, database and machine learning.

Speaking on the occasion,  Eyal Waldman, President and CEO, Mellanox Technologies said, "In today's world, the speed of access to information resources is the competitive advantage. Mellanox’ Spectrum based Ethernet switch enables datacentres to deliver the highest performance and lowest TCO. Implementing Mellanox’ solutions in data centers, we help create a solid foundation for improving the competitiveness of businesses in the fast-paced modern world of digital services.”

The products unveiled by Mellanox, are expected to trigger adoption of high speed networking in the Indian data center industry.  Spectrum based Ethernet switches, will ensure maximum performance, efficiency and throughput with lowest latency and the lowest power consumption; thereby reducing costs significantly. This will maximize ROI and ensure highest application performance, in datacenters powering the telecom, manufacturing and the cloud services market in India.

Mphasis & UiPath Partner for Next in Robotic Process Automation

Mphasis, a leading IT services and solutions provider, has entered into a strategic alliance globally with UiPath, one of the top process automation software companies, to grow its Robotics Process Automation (RPA) capabilities. This partnership will allow Mphasis to deliver and implement UiPath’s full spectrum of RPA software, aiming to provide best-in-market automation services to Mphasis’ banking & financial services customers. It will also help UiPath expand its industry-specific customer base through Mphasis.

The partnership is core to Mphasis’ drive to deliver powerful, technology-enabled business solutions. Mphasis aims to leverage its domain expertise in banking, capital markets, insurance and beyond as well as UiPath’s expertise in RPA to strengthen Mphasis’ RPA service capabilities. This will allow its customers to streamline processes, enhance productivity and efficiency thereby dramatically improving on services delivered to the end customer. Mphasis is focused on enabling organizations transform by adopting state-of-the-art technologies & Cognitive computing solutions.

“Automation is transforming the way business processes are delivered, and we are pleased to partner with UiPath in order to offer their powerful technology to our customers,” said Gopinathan Padmanabhan, Chief Innovation Officer and President Global Delivery at Mphasis. “As automation drives the next wave of growth for our industry, our goal of the partnership is to take the automation services, including the Business Process Services, to Mphasis’ focused verticals. By coupling the technological advances of RPA with our deep vertical domain knowledge, we will enable transformation and optimization of our customers’ businesses.”

“I’m excited to partner with Mphasis – we are highly impressed by their extensive expertise in deep client verticals and partnering with a company, like Mphasis, allows us to continue to deliver top notch service to our clients. As we’ve watched the demand for automation grow, we believe that our relationship will make an impact on the market,” said Daniel Dines, Founder and Chief Executive Officer, UiPath. “We look forward to working with Mphasis to continually build and grow our capabilities,” he added.

“Through this partnership, Mphasis would leverage UiPath’s best-in-class Enterprise RPA Platform as part of their automation offerings and deliver superior business value to customers. With UiPath, partners and customers will be able to Automate More and Quickly and generate faster ROI for their investments.” said Raghunath Subramanian, President and Chief Executive Officer, India and APAC at UIPath. “we are very excited to partner with Mphasis at a time where we are seeing very fast adoption of RPA  Technology across the globe.” he added.

Paytm-Enabled FASTag for Highways Tolls across the Country

India’s largest payment and commerce platform, Paytm has partnered with the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to enable cashless transaction on highway tolls across the country. 

The Paytm FASTag will allow commuters to pass through 350 toll plazas covering 55,000 kms, without having to stop. The vehicle tag employs RFID technology to allow cashless toll fee payment with the Paytm Wallet. Going forward, Paytm aims to collect over Rs 1,800 Cr in toll charges in the coming months.

Kiran Vasireddy, Sr. Vice President – Paytm said, “Cash slows down traffic at important toll plazas as attendants and motorists are left grappling with the hassles of dealing in loose change. The roll-out of Paytm-enabled FASTag will come as a relief to both commuters and toll plaza attendants and help towards the national cause of saving fuel.”

With this move, Paytm is inching closer to its vision of making cashless transactions a way of life across India. This will propel India towards becoming a cashless economy in the truest sense of the word.

Paytm is currently aiming to get a larger market share in O2O categories by reaching every nook and corner of the country. Paytm customers can now pay at petrol pumps, grocery outlets, restaurants and coffee shops, multiplexes, local tea or vegetable vendors and even the newspaper vendor who will prefer Paytm because of its seamless payment solutions.

First Whole Time Woman Director Takes Charge at Bharat Electronics

Navratna Defence PSU Bharat Electronics Ltd (BEL) has got its first woman whole time Director. Anandi Ramalingam, who has taken charge as Director (Marketing), BEL, was General Manager heading the Military Communication Strategic Business Unit (SBU) at BEL’s Bangalore Complex prior to her elevation.

Anandi Ramalingam joined BEL-Bangalore in March 1985 after completing her BE in Electronics and Communication engineering from the PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore. For the next 20 years, she gained diverse experience in equipment testing working across various domains of military communication including heading testing for ‘Shakti”, the flagship Artillery Combat Command and Control System, developed by BEL and DRDO for the Indian Army and AREN (Army Radio Engineered Network) winning the Raksha Mantri’s Award. During this period, she was also awarded the Executive Excellence Award, in the very first year of its inception.

In 2004, she was roped in as part of the team formed to set up the Marketing Division for the Military Communication & Electronic Warfare SBU at Bangalore Complex. The team pioneered proactive business development practices in BEL and gradually assisted other SBUs in establishing effective marketing systems. In 2007, she was elevated as the Marketing Head of the Military Communication SBU where her team could achieve record growth in order book and turnover.

With over three decades experience in the city-based public sector enterprise, Ramalingam has expertise in equipment testing gained by working across domains of military communication.

“She headed testing for ‘Shakti’, the flagship artillery combat command and control system, developed indigenously with DRDO for the Indian army and its radio engineered network,” the statement said.

In 2004, Ramalingam was part of the team, which had set up marketing division for the military communication & electronic warfare unit here, it said, adding that in 2010, she was moved to international marketing division to head defence offsets, establishing the company as a reliance global supply chain partner for original equipment manufacturers.

Junaid Ahmad Take Over as World Bank’s Country Director India

Junaid Ahmad has taken over as the World Bank’s new Country Director for India, replacing Onno Ruhl, who completed his four-year term, an official statement said here on Tuesday.

Ahmad, a Bangladeshi national, was formerly the Chief of Staff to World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim.

“India’s recent growth and development has been one of the most significant achievements of our time. With historic changes unfolding and new opportunities emerging, Junaid will bring to this key position strategic leadership along with considerable experience of working in both India and South Asia to support this transformation,” Kim said.

Ahmad joined the World Bank in 1991 as a young professional. Later he worked in the World Bank on infrastructure development in Africa and Eastern Europe.

He has since held several management positions, leading the bank’s programme in diverse regions, including Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, as well as in India and South Asia.