Atos, a global leader in digital transformation has been awarded two major outsourcing contracts by Siemens, a global engineering leader, to drive Siemens’ digital transformation program. The first contract will cover multiple activities spanning Application Management services and Technical Production Support in SAP, Microsoft and Business Intelligence for multiple divisions of Siemens, while the second contract will cover Application Management services for Siemens regions in Europe, APAC and Latin America. Both contracts, with a total value above €200 million, will run for a duration of 5 years commencing Q4 2018. Most of those contracts represent new business for Atos.
Driving an ambitious IT transformation program, Siemens launched a tender to identify and select providers which offer cutting-edge technologies, digital expertise and industry knowledge, while meeting Siemens’ important selection criteria. In this context, Atos has been selected as provider for:
Technical Production Support: Onsite technical production support services for 30,000 users across multiple divisions of Siemens mainly in Germany and USA.
SAP in Siemens Divisions: Application Management and Project Services for Siemens enterprise divisions in Germany.
Microsoft / Enterprise Content Management: Application Management Services for Enterprise content management and Business applications in Non-SAP technologies globally.
HR systems: Application management for SAP and Non-SAP based HR systems in Germany.
Business Intelligence: Application management for regional BI systems globally, in liaison with another supplier.
The global agreement stipulates specific business volumes for each activity over a five-year term. As part of this contract and subject to receiving the respective approvals for the antitrust filing in Germany, Atos will take over Siemens employees along with the services.
In addition to this contract, Atos has been selected as a partner for Application Management services in Siemens Regions in Europe, APAC and Latin America, with the task of transforming these into an industrialized best in class global delivery model with end-to-end and business KPIs.
Atos will Drive the Application Management Transformation in the Regions
“Following an intensive competitive review we have decided in favor of Atos, therefore expanding our thriving existing partnership,” said Dr. Helmuth Ludwig, Siemens Global Head of Information Technology. “Atos has been convincing, particularly with regard to our important selection criteria, including statements on employment conditions and locations, cost efficiency and prospects based on its market positioning. We look forward to working together with Atos on building a Collaborative Global IT business. ”
“We are glad to have been awarded these major outsourcing contracts and to have been selected by Siemens as their trusted partner to drive their Application Management Services transformation program. As always, we are 100% committed to delivering excellent user satisfaction. With this contract, we are strengthening our unique partnership, through which we support the end-to-end digital transformation of Siemens itself, as well as Siemens’ and Atos’ customers.” said Eric Grall, Atos Senior Executive Vice President, Head of Global Operations.
Commemorating 150 years of the Tata Group, the Tata Motors passenger vehicles business is extending a special, limited period offer, till June 25. Reflecting on this group-wide celebration, this attractive offer will include benefits that are worth up to Rs 1 Lakh provision of insurance at Re 1, and a special exchange bonus* amongst many other exciting deals, thus making it an exciting proposition for the first-time-car buyers, this monsoon.
Commenting on the occasion, S.N Barman, Vice President – Sales, Marketing & Customer Support, PVBU, Tata Motors said, “Throughout the years, Tata Motors has continuously striven to meet the customers’ expectations and offer them with a joyous experience while purchasing a car. On the blissful occasion of the 150th anniversary of our Group, we wish to strengthen the bond of happiness amongst our customers through many beneficial offers this month.”
The Company is offering these benefits on the entire range of passenger vehicles, including the blockbuster TIAGO and its LEVEL NEX compact SUV – the NEXON. Tata Motors Passenger Vehicle Business in the domestic market ended FY18 with a growth of 22%, compared to industry growth of 7%. The growth momentum continues in FY19 with a strong sales performance with an increase of 61% is sales, recorded in May 2018. With Turnaround 2.0, the Company strives towards a Sustainable Win in PVs by driving volumes and increasing market share.
Pernod Ricard India introduces Martell VS Single Distillery to the Indian marketing replacing Martell VS. In comparison to Martell VS, it is more smooth & fruity, and less spicy. The innovative Martell VS Distillery design reinvents the traditional cognac ‘montre’ in a bold new contemporary look. The new launch
Martell VS Single Distillery is crafted from spirits drawn from a single distillation source for a richer, more intense expression of the Martell distillation style. Its taste delivers an easy, smooth and fruity blend, with plum, apricot & candied lemon aromas which is luscious, round & sweet on the palate. Martell VS Single Distillery is also the perfect cognac for cocktails.
Martell VS Single Distillery is available across 5 Star Hotels, premium restaurants & liquor stores across cities.
The Telecom Ministry is likely to allocate 2,100 MHz spectrum to public sector undertaking Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) shortly.
“We are looking at it very positively. We can expect the decision on the issue very soon,” Aruna Sundararajan, Telecom Secretary and Chairman of the Telecom Commission told the media. As per the sources in the ministry, the application is in the final stages and the decision is expected to be out in a couple of months.
Last year, BSNL had sought spectrum in the 2,100 MHz band for all circles, except Rajasthan, where the company is looking for spectrum in the 800 MHz band.
The total tab, BSNL reckoned, would be about Rs 9,600 crore. BSNL expects to pay half of this amount through equity route (by issuing additional shares to the government) if allowed, and the rest through revenue generated from business, she added.
Many BSNL senior officials, on condition of anonymity, have expressed unhappiness over the delay of allocation of spectrum.
The secretary, however declined of upping the talent pool at the state-run telecom services provider. “I personally believe that BSNL has outstanding human resources. The main thing is that they need to continue to invest in the new technologies,” she said on hiring plans for BSNL.
The United Nations (UN) India, in partnership with Niti Aayog on Thursday launched an investor consortium that aims to strengthen women’s entrepreneurship.
The consortium is expected to bring together key ecosystem stakeholders, including venture capitalists and impact investors, international donors and funding agencies, private sector partners, various state governments of India and UN agencies, to work with women entrepreneurs on funding of startups, job creation and financial inclusion. Women entrepreneurs are identified through key partners including Women Entrepreneurship Platform (WEP), UN Women and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).
“It has been led by Niti Aayog which invited a consortium of interested parties to come in and suggest the viable models to bring investors and women entrepreneurs who may already have a successful business or want to start a business and upscale it to a mid-size business,” said Yuri Afanasiev, UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative in India.
The platform is designed to assist women entrepreneurs in the various issues they face while building an enterprise.
“Niti Aayog gives this platform that UN had been planning to launch, an outreach on a pan-India basis,” said Anna Roy, Joint Secretary of Financial Services, Niti Aayog. Afanasiev also said that the global agency is keen to tie up with the state governments to bring more expertise to the platform.
The Karnataka government in 2017 launched Elevate 100 programme, in which state provided grants to the entrepreneurs, with special focus on women entrepreneurs.
Wooplr Technologies Pvt. Ltd. has unveiled their social commerce platform to the media for the first time. The eco-system brings together social sellers, brands, and consumers through a proprietary, cutting-edge technology platform. Wooplr is the first Indian start-up to disrupt the country’s e-commerce space by pioneering the social commerce revolution. The platform envisions to be India’s first social commerce unicorn business empowering 1 Million social sellers by 2022. As a result, building the World’s largest social distribution network for retail.
Wooplr has already created a pan-India network of 30,000 social sellers who speak over 20 languages and reach out to over 10 million customers spread across 250 towns and cities primarily from the Tier-II/III regions. Wooplr allows anyone to open up their online store in under a minute, add products from their catalog and start selling on social platforms like Whatsapp, Instagram, Facebook, and Youtube. The social sellers earn a profit on every sale made on their store, while Wooplr takes care of all the background work like shipping, payments, returns and customer service.
Wooplr’s social sellers get to choose from 1 lakh products from over 300 brands. The platform claims to have a staggering growth rate of 20% month on month owing to the diverse range of social sellers that find the platform quite useful and easy to use & scale. Wooplr expects the network to drive sales worth $50Mn by the end of the current financial year.
The hinterlands of India are joining the Internet Party. As India forges ahead to be the world’s fastest-growing economy, there is a new emerging class of cities/towns with millions of aspirational consumers and an increasing purchasing power vying for attention on the national stage. This paradigm shift will mean that e-commerce companies will increasingly aim to provide personalized experiences based on customer specific needs - something that the social sellers already do by themselves.
Arjun Zacharia, Co-founder & CEO, Wooplr said, “Wooplr pioneered the concept of social selling being able to spot this market shift early on. The platform brings social sellers and brands together to provide customized shopping experiences to consumers. We have created a scalable model to reach out to the new high potential hotspots at a time when most e-commerce companies have focussed primarily on the SEC-A cities. Our fast-growing distribution network is immediately valuable to Indian or International brands looking for a compelling launchpad, and an alternative to marketing dollar spends. Wooplr makes the process of driving sales for brands as easy as plug and play and at zero cost. Rising consumerism, smartphone adoption and vernacular content consumption in Tier II & III cities allow Wooplr’s social sellers to reach consumers where traditional media and other digital marketing channels can’t.”
According to Rahul Chandra, Managing Director, Helion Ventures, “Wooplr’s business model ensures scale and sustainability without Burning throughs hundreds of millions of dollars. The brands that sell on Wooplr are sold with a personalized touch with respect for their creativity and quality. We are amazed at how social networks based sales have led us to discovering customers from even Tier 2/3 cities in India for these brands. Wooplr’s influencers provide the bridge between these brands and millions of customers.”
Industry reports indicate that the future of e-commerce will be powered by the confluence of the following factors - easy access to high-speed internet, smartphone adoption in non-metros and rise of the vernacular shopper.
“Fundamentally we believe that social selling will be the big growth wave in India. The last ten years of e-commerce has brought in 100Mn shoppers online; social commerce will bring in another 200Mn shoppers for whom the shopping behavior will be discovery-driven rather than being led solely on search. Unique distribution models to reach out to the first-time internet/smartphone users in India will be the key. Wooplr has already secured a headstart, and we are confident that the platform will continue gaining excellent market traction in the following months” said Dhruv Kapoor, Managing Director, Sistema Asia Capital Advisory.
“In a country like India, our greatest asset is the human capital. There also lies the biggest challenge - creation of jobs! There are millions of youth and home makers who have passion and the means to become entrepreneurs, and Wooplr as a platform empowers them to do it. Even in an established ecommerce market like China where Taobao and Alibaba exist, social commerce platforms like Yunjiweidian and pinduoduo have disrupted e-commerce by giving a platform to social sellers. Wooplr will create such 1 million Entrepreneurs by 2022 and that is exactly what an economy like India needs.” says Ankit Nagori, co-founder CureFit
“Trust is the currency social sellers have from their network. Through online and offline conversations, they reach out to new customers organically. We have managed to build an ecosystem that challenges existing industry standards concerning the cost of customer acquisition. In fact, Wooplr is the first and only e-commerce platform that offers zero cost of customer acquisition” says Ankit Sabharwal, Co-founder & CPO, Wooplr.
Wooplr, with their platform, has genuinely re-ignited the next e-commerce revolution in India.
The Cross-Tab Group which includes the companies Blueocean Market Intelligence, Cross-Tab, and Borderless Access, had a major restructuring with two of its three companies, Blueocean Market Intelligence and Cross-Tab, merged to form a powerful new entity, Course5.
The new company combines the deep expertise and resources of both companies across data analytics, artificial intelligence, and market research domains, to create huge synergies for innovation, business-focused solutions, and operations. The third company of the Cross-Tab Group, Borderless Access, is demerged and will operate as an independent entity.
Course5 will drive digital transformation for business organizations through Analytics, Insights, and Artificial Intelligence. The company will unveil its advanced new suite of solutions and services that can empower companies with future ready analytics, AI driven solutions, and faster insights for decision making. Across market intelligence, digital analytics, market research transformation, and Artificial Intelligence, Course5 is building solutions that are taking organizations to a smarter future. The company serves leading global clients including Microsoft, Lenovo, Colgate Palmolive, WPP Group, and Adelphi.
Ashwin Mittal, CEO, Cross-Tab group said on this occasion, “The opportunities ahead of us are massive – the business world is drowning in oceans of data, information, and technology. Through smart solutions and our proprietary AI technology, we are bringing in a new paradigm of decision making to assist our clients in preparing for a new digital future. Our name reflects our mission – we are going to enable our customers to chart a course beyond the four points of the compass, North, South, East, and West to the fifth direction which is the future. The industries of data, analytics, and market research are going to be completely disrupted through the AI wave and will emerge as more powerful partners to businesses worldwide.”
One of the exciting new products deployed for clients is called Course5 Discovery. Course5 Discovery empowers decision makers to get answers and insights near instantly with great ease through a personalized Voice & Chat Assistant available on their smartphones and tablets. These interactive assistants, powered by advanced Natural Language Processing (NLP) and deep learning capabilities would smartly discover the insights by identifying relevant data and performing analytics modelling in a matter of seconds and communicate them in a natural conversational manner to the business user.
