Cisco Survey Reveals Close to Three-Fourths of IoT Projects Are Failing

IDC predicts that the worldwide installed base of Internet of Things (IoT) endpoints will grow from 14.9 billion at the end of 2016 to more than 82 billion in 2025. At this rate, the Internet of Things may soon be as indispensable as the Internet itself.

Despite the forward momentum, a new study conducted by Cisco shows that 60 percent of IoT initiatives stall at the Proof of Concept (PoC) stage and only 26 percent of companies have had an IoT initiative that they considered a complete success. Even worse: a third of all completed projects were not considered a success.

“It’s not for lack of trying,” said Rowan Trollope, Senior Vice President and General Manager, IoT and Applications, Cisco. “But there are plenty of things we can do to get more projects out of pilot and to complete success, and that’s what we’re here in London to do.”

Cisco released the findings at IoT World Forum (IoTWF), an event where Cisco convenes the industry’s best, brightest and most passionate leaders with the goal of accelerating IoT. We surveyed 1,845 IT and business decision-makers in the United States, UK, and India across a range of industries — manufacturing, local government, retail/hospitality/sports, energy (utilities/oil & gas/mining), transportation, and health care. All respondents worked for organizations that are implementing and/or have completed IoT initiatives. All were involved in the overall strategy or direction of at least one of their organization’s IoT initiatives. The goal was to gain insight into both the successes as well as the challenges that are impacting progress.

Key Findings:

1 - The “human factor” matters. IoT may sound like it is all about technology, but human factors like culture, organization, and leadership  are critical. In fact, three of the four top factors behind successful IoT projects had to do with people and relationships:
              - Collaboration between IT and the business side was the #1 factor, cited by 54 percent.
              - A technology-focused culture, stemming from top-down leadership and executive sponsorship, was called key by 49 percent.
              - IoT expertise, whether internal or through external partnership, was selected by 48 percent.

In addition, organizations with the most successful IoT initiatives leveraged ecosystem partnerships most widely. They used partners at every phase, from strategic planning to data analytics after rollout.
Despite the strong agreement on the importance of collaboration among IT and business decision-makers, some interesting differences emerged:

- IT decision-makers place more importance on technologies, organizational culture, expertise, and vendors.
- Business decision-makers place greatest emphasis on strategy, business cases, processes, and milestones.
- IT decision-makers are more likely to think of IoT initiatives as successful. While 35 percent of IT decision-makers called their IoT initiatives a complete success, only 15 percent of business decision-makers did.

2. Don’t Go It Alone. Sixty percent of respondents stressed that IoT initiatives often look good on paper but prove much more difficult than anyone expected. Top five challenges across all stages of implementation: time to completion, limited internal expertise, quality of data, integration across teams, and budget overruns. Our study found that the most successful organizations engage the IoT partner ecosystem at every stage, implying that strong partnerships throughout the process can smooth out the learning curve.

“We are seeing new IoT innovations almost every day,” said Inbar Lasser-Raab, VP of Cisco Enterprise Solutions Marketing. “We are connecting things that we never thought would be connected, creating incredible new value to industries.  But where we see most of the opportunity, is where we partner with other vendors and create solutions that are not only connected but also share data. That shared data is the basis of a network of industries – sharing of insights to make tremendous gains for business and society, because no one company can solve this alone.”

3. Reap the Benefits.  When critical success factors come together, organizations are in position to reap a windfall in smart-data insights.

Seventy-three percent of all participants are using data from IoT completed projects to improve their business. Globally the top 3 benefits of IoT include improved customer satisfaction (70%), operational efficiencies (67%) and improved product / service quality (66%). In addition, improved profitability was the top unexpected benefit (39%)

4. Learn from the failures. Taking on these IoT projects has led to another unexpected benefit: 64 percent agreed that learnings from stalled or failed IoT initiatives have helped accelerate their organization’s investment in IoT.

Despite the challenges, many in our survey are optimistic for the future of IoT — a trend that, for all its forward momentum, is still in its nascent stages of evolution. Sixty-one percent believe that we have barely begun to scratch the surface of what IoT technologies can do for their businesses.

VLCC and CMFRI Wins Exclusive License for CMFRI-Developed Cadalmin ACe Extract

VLCC, a leader in beauty and wellness industry in India, today announced that it has signed a license agreement with theCentral Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI), the premier Kochi-based marine research establishment of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), Government of India, for exclusive rights to manufacture, market and use Cadalmin Antihypercholesterolemic (Cadalmin ACe) extract. This marine algae based nutraceutical product has been developed after years of intensive research by CMFRI and has been found to be effective in combating dyslipidemia and obesity.

As per CMFRI’s research, Cadalmin Ace provides a unique blend of 100 per cent natural marine bioactive ingredients from selected seaweeds known for their extraordinary medicinal properties, with an eco-friendly ‘green’ technology.VLCC will have the exclusive rights to manufacture and market Cadalmin Ace nutraceutical. VLCC has GMP certified manufacturing facilities in India and Singapore.

This nutraceuticalthat has been developed by CMFRI after years of intensive research and testing.The pre-clinical trial showed no test substance-related general organ or systemic toxicity following long term oral administration of Cadalmin^T ACe. VLCC will be working closely with the CMFRI to source relevant seaweed and manufacture the product as per CMFRI developed technology.

Speaking on the signing of the agreement, Vandana Luthra, Founder, VLCC said, “We are excited that we have received the CMFRI license for Cadalmin ACe. High cholesterol and obesity are lifestyle related diseases that are becoming increasingly common across age groups and lead to many other health problems, including blood pressure, diabetes, and cardiovascular ailments. VLCC has been committed to fighting obesity for decades and Cadalmin ACe, with its high level of efficacy and no side effects, will be instrumental in our next stage of fight against obesity. We are confident that it will be well received by consumers in India and across other countries in the world. ”

Dr.A Gopalakrishnan, Director, CMFRI, said “Cadalmin Antihypercholesterolemic extract is the fourth in the series of the nutraceutical products developed by the CMFRI. Bioactive pharmacophore leads from seaweeds were used to prepare the Cadalmin ^TMAce nutraceutical.  It does not have any side effects as established by detailed preclinical trials and is a natural remedy of obesity and dyslipidemia.”

Dyslipidemia is an abnormal amount of lipids (e.g.,triglycerides, cholesterol and/or fat phospholipids) in the blood.

VLCC has been spreading awareness on anti-obesity and healthy living across the world, for decades. Through its extensive of products and services, it has been transforming lives and helping its customers to get fit and feel more confident. VLCC’s Anti-Obesity campaign has evolved into a larger movement, which has gained momentum as a public health campaign. The brand had also established Orange Pledge,where people could enroll for their commitment to the cause. In November 2016, VLCC celebrated 15 years of Anti-Obesity Day with the ‘Standup India’ campaign – a public awareness initiative that encourages people to be more active in their daily lives through the simple act of standing up.

Schneider Electric Appoints Venkatraman Swaminathan to Lead the IT Division for India Zone

Schneider Electric the global specialist in energy management and automation, today announced that it has appointed Venkatraman Swaminathan as the Vice-President, IT Division – India Zone. He takes over from Nikhil Pathak, who has moved to a new role as the Vice President – Strategy Deployment and Operations, ROW - IT Business at Schneider Electric.  In his new role, Venkatraman will be responsible for driving the growth of the overall IT Business in India.

“Venkatraman has been a vital part of our team where his sales leadership expertise, unique Customer relationship, ability to collaborate with service delivery teams, and most importantly his commitment to client satisfaction has enabled the entire Schneider Electric team to consistently perform above plan, as well as secure many of the largest and most strategic deals", said Anil Chaudhry, Managing Director and Country President, Schneider Electric - India.

On his appointment, Venkataraman Swaminathan, said, “I am excited to take over the new role here at a time when Indian IT sector is going through a transformation. Schneider Electric is uniquely positioned in the Data Centre and IT infrastructure market and our focus as a team is to leverage our strengths, innovative products and growth in the market.”

With over 26 years of experience in the field of sales, service and marketing, Venkatraman brings a wealth of experience in the field, having evolved business critical solutions for spaces like data centers switch rooms, test laboratories etc. The future of datacenter is going to be different in terms of managing power and energy and big data. Venkataraman will be responsible to lead the business towards the New World of Energy, which is safer, more efficient and sustainable with the support of innovative, connected technologies.

IIM B & TCS iON to Facilitate Proctored Exams for Learning Courses on IIMBx

TCS iON and IIM Bangalore also form strategic alliance to create ‘Management Educators Hub’, a unique knowledge sharing platform for management education professionals

TCS iON, a strategic unit of Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), a leading global IT services, consulting and business solutions organization, today announced that Indian Institute of Management Bangalore (IIMB) will partner with TCS iON to facilitate proctored exams for IIMBx MOOC courses. IIMB will leverage TCS iON’s extensive proctored assessment capability to conduct exams across the country. Initially, the exams will be conducted at TCS iON's state-of-the art digital zones in Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata with three examination cycles planned during the year.

TCS iON and IIMB also announced the ‘Management Educators Hub’, a unique initiative that will host specialized collaboration communities in the discipline of management for educators who have a shared passion for continuous innovation in learning and teaching. 

The ‘Management Educators Hub’ will be hosted on TCS iON Digital HUB (www.tcsionhub.in), an online Content Market Place that aims to connect professional institutions and publishers offering rich content with other institutions and individuals who want to learn and upgrade their skills to grow. To start with, IIMB will launch and moderate seven communities on the ‘Management Educators Hub’ focusing on Marketing, Human Resources (HR), Managerial Economics and other key disciplines of management. The ‘Management Educators Hub’ will help foster conversations on innovative teaching methods and collaborate on ideas addressing its challenges and solutions. With an aim to seek participation from all management educations, the Hub will invite educators from business schools across India to be part of this unique community.

Commenting on the partnership,  V. Ramaswamy, Global Head, TCS iON said, “TCS iON is extremely delighted to partner with IIM Bangalore, one of India’s premier institutes for management education and research. In the era of flipped-classrooms, we believe that this collaboration will create a distinctive virtual space with specific focus on adoption of technology to enhance blended classroom learning and other EduTech trends such as outcome-led learning and adaptive assessments. Our effort will be to value add and explore other such avenues to expand our relationship with IIM Bangalore.”

Professor P D Jose, Chairperson MOOCs, IIMBx said, “The entire education system is going through a radical change and is adapting to newer means and methods with the help of technology. As we see growing number of students opting for e-learning, through this partnership we aim at integrating the strengths that both the parties have to serve for the betterment of the students as well as the teaching fraternity. ”

Notion Press’s Scholarink.com Opens New Academic Publishing Platform

Notion Press launches Scholarink.com, India’s first open access academic publishing platform for academic authors to publish their work and make it available in over 100 countries. It is a launch pad for scholars, universities, researchers and research groups to publish their work, thereby providing them with an opportunity to reach wider audiences.

 “Being pioneers in the academic publishing field for over 40 years, we have been instrumental in presenting over 3000 authors to international markets. We realised the importance of publishing for people from the academic and scientific community. Apart from disseminating their findings and learning, publishing their work too plays a significant role in their careers,” says Jana Pillay, Co-Founder and Director of Scholarink.

Scholarink serves as a one-stop solution for all publishing needs. From running plagiarism checks and copy-editing and the overall creation of the book to worldwide distribution, Scholarink’s 150-member team ensures that authors receive the best academic publishing services under one roof.

“Publishing adds credibility to an academician’s profile, but authors are very sceptical about approaching traditional publishers. The reasons are many – exorbitant publishing charges, forgoing of their copyrights, nil or negligent royalty etc. At Scholarink, academicians collaborate with industry experts to bring out academic content of the highest standards. With our wide distribution network, publications are made available in more than 100 countries in both print and eBook formats. The best part is that our authors enjoy the highest royalty rates of 100% of the profits from the sale of their work and all this without letting go off their copyrights,” says Naveen Valsakumar, CEO and Co-Founder, Notion Press.

Scholarink does not stop with just publishing content. We also facilitate the creation of an author brand. “Our goal is to disseminate valuable scholarly works to academicians and laymen alike and at the same time, act as the linchpin that will propel the author’s career. We know what kind of career growth publishing offers to academicians. To address both our goals, we enable Open Access Publishing wherein research findings attain a wider reach, guaranteeing better citations, as well as indexing the content on platforms of repute such as CiteSeerX, Google Scholar and OpenAIRE.” says Gautham Gopakumar, Business Manager, Scholarink.

Notion Press believes in enhancing and making the knowledge available to all, without limitations on using this knowledge to make an impact within their community by providing free access to their published work. 

Global Smartphones Grew 9 Percent in First Quarter of 2017

Global sales of smartphones to end users totaled 380 million units in the first quarter of 2017, a 9.1 percent increase over the first quarter of 2016, according to Gartner, Inc. Mobile phone buyers are spending more to get a better phone, resulting in the rise in average selling prices of types of phone.

The shift in buyer preference is positively affecting Chinese manufacturers such as Huawei, Oppo and Vivo in their strategy to build desirable features at affordable prices. Their combined market share in the first quarter of 2017 accounted for 24 percent, up 7 percentage points year on year.

"The top three Chinese smartphone manufacturers are driving sales with their competitively priced, high quality smartphones equipped with innovative features," said Anshul Gupta, research director at Gartner. "Furthermore, aggressive marketing and sales promotion have further helped these brands to take share from other brands in markets such as India, Indonesia and Thailand."

Samsung's smartphone sales declined 3.1 percent in the first quarter of 2017. "Although Samsung announced that preorders for the Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus are up 30 percent year over year, the absence of an alternative to Note 7 and the fierce competition in the basic smartphone segment are leading Samsung to continuously lose market share," said Gupta. "Sales of iPhones were flat, which led to a drop in market share year over year. Similar to Samsung, Apple is increasingly facing fierce competition from Chinese brands Oppo and Vivo, among others, and its performance in China is under attack."

Huawei edged closer to Apple with smartphone sales amounting to 34 million units in the first quarter of 2017. Despite its P9 and P9 Plus being available for more than a year now, both smartphones continued to sell well, positioning Huawei as a dominant brand in the consumer market. "Huawei has now steadily held the third spot in the worldwide ranking of smartphone vendors," said Gupta. "However, pressure is mounting as its counterparts in China are catching up."

Oppo is continuing to catch up with Huawei. With a 94.6 percent increase in worldwide smartphone sales in the first quarter of 2017, Oppo achieved the best performance of the quarter and retained the No. 1 position in China. "Oppo continued to rally sales through a large network of brick-and-mortar retailers, beating market incumbents such as Samsung and Huawei," said Gupta. Oppo's strategy — centered on the camera, fast charging and offline retail — has helped it grow smartphone sales in the international market.

Meanwhile, Vivo sold almost 26 million smartphones and achieved a market share of 6.8 percent, which helped it achieve growth of 84.6 percent in the first quarter of 2017. "Vivo saw growing demand of its smartphones from the emerging markets in Asia/Pacific, including India, where sales grew over 220 percent thanks to its increased brand appeal and high-quality smartphones," said Gupta.

In the smartphone operating system (OS) market, the battle is now clearly between Android and iOS. With other OSs struggling for momentum, Android grew its share by 2 percent. Growing acceptance of Chinese brands in the global markets, led by high-quality smartphones, is driving Android OS dominance. Moreover, with Google's announcement of Android Go — targeted at the entry-level smartphone market — the OS is heading for continued growth.

OYO to Unveil 250 Townhouses Cross India By End of 2017

OYO, a leading hospitality technology major in India has expressed plans to open 250 properties — under its mid-market hotel brand OYO Townhouse — across the country, by the end of 2017.

The company opened its first OYO Townhouse in Bengaluru (at Indiranagar) on Monday, which boasts of 22 rooms. With this launch, OYO Townhouse operates seven hotels across Gurugram, Delhi, Hyderabad, and now, Bengaluru, and plans to expand to 12 major cities in India, including Chennai, Kochi, and leisure destinations like Mysuru, among others.

Priced from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,500 a night, Townhouse provides hospitality experience in the heart of popular neighbourhoods. By the end of this year, in Bengaluru alone, OYO aims to establish 25 Townhouse properties, in areas such as Koramangala, MG Road, Trinity Circle, and Marathahalli.

According to OYO Chief Operating Officer Abhinav Sinha, the unique Townhouse concept is a combination of hotel, store, home, and workplace.

“OYO Townhouse utilises our technology and patented processes to deliver a unique hospitality experience. Townhouse’s ‘neighbourhood’ connect is a result of understanding that millennials like to switch seamlessly from work to play,” he said. 

As part of this venture, the company has invested in staff training and transformation of the infrastructure to suit OYO’s core quality values. All properties under the OYO Townhouse chain, which are brownfield buildings, will be leased. Also, the hotel concept offers smarter rooms and spaces, a 24X7 kitchen, and so on.

He added, “It gives me great pride to share today that we are also entering into a partnership with KTDC to operate a few of the Jungle Lodge Resort (JLR) properties. Now a reliable OYO experience awaits you at JLR!”