Accenture is making its interactive learning platform, the Accenture Future Talent Platform, available for easy integration to SAP SuccessFactors solutions. This will help Accenture’s SAP SuccessFactors clients offer curated bite-sized video content on emerging topics to enable their workforces to stay up-to-date in critical areas such as artificial intelligence, digital, cloud, IoT, design thinking and security.
The Accenture Future Talent Platform helps companies address today’s talent challenge in a rapidly evolving technology environment and close the skills gap by empowering employees to reskill, upskill and continuously learn. It can now be integrated into the SAP SuccessFactors Learning solution, creating customized learning modules that provide unique and interactive learning experiences. Subject matter experts can access Accenture’s pre-curated library of content or create new learning boards sourced from an ecosystem of private and public thought leadership for a better, faster learning experience. Users can access all features of the Accenture Future Talent Platform, interact with each other through comments and track their learning progress from the SAP SuccessFactors solution.
“Research from Accenture shows that while 78 percent of business leaders expect their organizations to be digital by 2020, half of these leaders don’t believe they have a digitally skilled workforce.” said Sanjeev Vohra, group technology officer, Accenture Technology. “The Accenture Future Talent Platform helps create a culture of learning and integrates with SAP SuccessFactors so that employees can access trainings through a familiar interface and acquire the digital and intelligent skills necessary to succeed in the age of the New.”
Accenture will be showcasing the Accenture Future Talent Platform at SuccessConnect, held on September 11-13 in Las Vegas.
Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, shields Policybazaar from vulnerabilities and strengthens their security posture by addressing their security needs. Policybazaar, India’s largest and leading insurance aggregator website, specializing in providing comparative analysis of various insurance, chose Trend Micro Deep Security and Trend Micro Deep Discovery Inspector to identify evasive threats and to provide virtual patching against exploits in real-time.
Policybazaar required a high-level security solution for the applications that they migrated to the Amazon Web Services (AWS) Cloud. Trend Micro Deep Security, a robust cloud security solution with anti-malware, web reputation, firewall, and intrusion prevention modules, provided the company an in-depth analysis to remediate and defend against targeted attacks and protected cloud workloads from data breaches and business disruptions. This solution enabled stress-free integration with a hybrid cloud environment, and was able to meet compliance requirements. Deep Security enables the management of multiple security controls from a single dashboard, simplifying and centralizing security operations.
Policybazaar also wanted better visibility across the organization’s threat landscape, including the ability to identify and stop malicious activity at the endpoints. Trend Micro Deep Discovery Inspector, enabled the company to detect, analyze, adapt and respond to targeted attacks with network-wide visibility, insight, and control. Also, it continues detecting and protecting against zero-day malware, document exploits, attacker network activity, web threats, email threats such as phishing and spear phishing, and more.
“Implementation of Trend Micro’s solutions resulted in Policybazaar gaining a complete and proactive security solution. Deep Security improved protection and enhanced visibility for applications in AWS, strengthening our security posture. Deep Discovery provided network-wide visibility, and rapid containment and response of malware. The easy integration of the solutions and quick implementation time was an additional benefit,” said Mr. Bibhu Krishna, VP IT Infrastructure and Security, Policybazaar.
“Policybazaar was seeking a comprehensive security solution that would equip their servers, network, and email with advanced protection, and that could detect and block security exploits, while also being equipped with cloud capabilities to protect AWS environment. At Trend Micro, they found the perfect partner who could provide exactly that and more. Policybazaar’s application and data security needs were met through automated instance security provisioning and workload-aware security policy,” said Nilesh Jain, Vice President – South East Asia and India, Trend Micro.
Trend Micro’s position as a leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant for Endpoint Protection Platforms since 2002, along with Deep Discovery’s rank as the “most effective recommended breach detection system” for two years running by NSS Labs, further encouraged Policybazaar’s decision to choose Trend Micro.
Vijendra Katiyar, National Sales Manager, Trend Micro said, “Both Trend Micro’s Deep Security and Deep Discovery Inspector are powered by XGen, a smart, optimized, and connected security approach. As per Policybazaar’s requirements, these solutions collectively provide comprehensive protection, greater operational efficiency, superior platform support, and tighter integration with existing investments.”
With its AWS environment protected by Trend Micro solutions, Policybazaar now has a solid security foundation. With this foundation in place, Policybazaar plans to gain a deeper understanding of new attack vectors and continue to take steps to defend against the next generation of cyberthreats.
Bengaluru's iconic Opera House on Brigade Road was given a facelift, and now it is called 'Samsung Opera House'.
After a two years for Samsung to renovate and restore this place, the Opera House will bring together technology, lifestyle and innovation to offer people unique experiences.
Mohandeep Singh, Senior Vice President, Mobile Business, Samsung India, said the company will showcase all its products- right from smartphones, Smart TVs to Family Hub Refrigerators, among others.
Singh added that they are also looking to come up with such experience centres in other cities as well.
"Samsung Opera House will have a fully functional customer service centre, and it is also equipped with high-speed public Wi-Fi," Singh said.
In India, Samsung has two manufacturing facilities, five R&D centres and one design centre. Samsung's first R&D centre was set up in 1996 in Bengaluru. Today Samsung R&D Institute, Bengaluru (SRI-B) is the Company's biggest R&D centre in the world, outside Korea. It has the largest retail and distribution network in the country with over 1,80,000 retail partners and 2,100 Samsung brand stores spread across the country.
In July this year, Samsung opened the largest phone factory in Noida. It had said that it would spend Rs 4,920 crore over three years to expand capacity at its Noida plant.
Looking to further cement its position in India, South Korean tech major Samsung set up what is arguably the world's largest mobile experience centre in Bengaluru, barely two months after it opened its biggest mobile factory in Noida.
"We are looking at more number of such experience centres in the country. We are looking at covering all the big cities in India over a period of time with such centres," Singh told the media.
However, he did not mention a timeline for the launch of other such centres in India.
The centre would offer Virtual Reality (VR), Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Internet of Things (IoT) experiences and for the first time in India, enthusiasts would be able to enjoy VR experiences such as the "4D Sway Chair" or the "Whiplash Pulsar 4D chair" that makes 360-degrees three-dimensional movements.
The tech giant would also showcase its full line-up of smartphones and wearable devices at the experience centre along with flagship consumer electronics products such as the QLED TV, Smart TVs, "The Frame", and "Family Hub" refrigerators.
The centre would also house a home appliance zone which would have a kitchen set-up where a chef would give live cooking demonstrations using Samsung smart ovens.
Also, this would be the biggest-ever display of Samsung accessories such as cases, covers and power banks at the "Samsung Opera House" wherein prospective buyers would be offered customization options for accessories.
"They would be given choices such as the installation of military strength skins for screen protection and 360-degree body protection (for phones). They can also get laser engraving done of any design or content on the mobile covers they choose," the company added.
"Samsung Opera House" would also house a range of Harman Kardon, JBL and Samsung audio products.
In June last year, the South Korean tech major announced a Rs 4,915 crore investment to expand its Noida plant and, after a year, the new facility is ready to double production.
The company is currently making 67 million smartphones in the country and with the new plant being functional, it is expected to manufacture nearly 120 million mobile phones.
Samsung dominated the premium smartphone segment in India in the first half of 2018 with 48 per cent market share, according to a report from from(CMR).
Elevate 2018, the comprehensive one year government-sponsored startup pitch event, came to conclusion on Tuesday with 77 startups selected for funding and mentorship.
The programme, organised under the Startup Karnataka initiative of the Karnataka Ministry of IT-BT and S&T, received over 600 applications from across the State and startups in various verticals.
Interacting with DH, Department of IT-BT Principal Secretary Gaurav Gupta said the programme is running for the second year with grant success with the selection of 500 startups in a multi-city pitching.
“The selected people will be taken to the startup hubs in Silicon Valley, Sweden, London and Switzerland, and will get access to Rs 2 crore funding,” he said.
Gupta said many entrepreneurs have great ideas. “What can help them really shine is the right guidance from the right people, and we are providing them,” he said.
The 77 startups that are selected include verticals like agri-tech, audio visual and graphic, biotech, ESDM, IT/ITES, KCT and med tech/clean tech.
Even though 63 startups are selected from Bengaluru, Elevate 2018 has representation from Dharwad, Mysuru, Udupi and Uttara Kannada.
The government has earmarked a sum of Rs 24 crore towards funding of these innovative startups, of which a special Rs 2 crores has been set aside for startups from the Hyderabad and Karnataka region.
After a very successful launch, Ather Energy begins deliveries of their scooters today in Bengaluru. Select few customers were invited to the company’s Final Assembly Unit today to take their Ather 450’s home. Prior to delivering the intelligent, electric scooters, the company set up private charging stations at their residences. With the multiple fast public chargers set up by Ather, the owners will have free charging available both at home and across the city.
Quote from Tarun Mehta, Co-founder & CEO: “The past few weeks have been incredible for everyone at Ather Energy. Today, marks the real launch of the company as consumers take their first scooters home and begin to ride them. We will continue to deliver more Ather 450s in batches to the rest of our pre-orders in the coming months. We still have a lot to learn about the final ownership and day to day usage of our vehicles and are looking forward to the next phase of our growth.”
Taking an innovative go-to-market route, customers had the option of placing orders through the company website along with booking their test ride slots; nearly 60% of consumers choosing to place orders online. Ather is also offering a first of its kind, subscription plan, Ather One. The comprehensive plan, makes owning and riding the Ather scooters a hassle-free experience. The plan covers data costs, charging costs both at home and in public and it includes periodic doorstep service of the vehicles and cost of common spare parts.
The automotive startup announced its expansion plans starting with Chennai and rolling on to more markets in the new year. Ather has already started working on the charging network, AtherGrid in Chennai and expect to set up their experience centre, AtherSpace by Q2 2019 which will be followed by other cities.
Ather Energy opened pre-orders in early June, 2018, and has sold out its inventory for the rest of the year. The company has completed nearly 3500 test rides at its experience centre, AtherSpace in Indiranagar, Bengaluru and has been consistently adding more charging locations to AtherGrid, its electric vehicle charging network. Electric vehicle owners can now find 22 charging Points across the city on their AtherGrid app.
About Ather 450: The Ather 450 is designed for city riding conditions, it comes with a top speed of 80 km/hr, a range of 75 km and one of the quickest accelerations of 3.9 seconds from 0-40 km/hr in the scooter category. Also for the first time in the category, Ather 450 comes with parking assist, which allows riders to reverse into tight parking spots.
The key differentiator of the Ather 450 are its intelligent features, seamless charging and ownership experience. The Ather 450 has a 7” touchscreen dashboard that allows onboard navigation with options of alternative routes and saved locations. It comes with the Ather app that enables push navigation from the phone to the vehicle dashboard, remote monitoring of the vehicle’s health and charge status. Finally, with the over-the-air (OTA) updates functionality, the vehicle is capable of improving over time with continuous upgrades and addition of new features and functionalities.
Zendesk, Inc. has announced it has acquired FutureSimple Inc., the company behind Base. Base is known for building modern, easy-to-use sales force automation software designed to help salespeople do their jobs more effectively. Zendesk will invest in Base’s ongoing market growth and product development, focusing on existing customers and delivering products for smaller, fast-growing sales teams, expanding to larger organizations over time.
“Base is a natural fit with Zendesk because we both share a passion for designing beautiful products built for the people who actually use them,” said Mikkel Svane, founder and CEO, Zendesk. “We want to do for sales what Zendesk has already done for customer service: give salespeople tools built around them and the customers they serve.”
Founded in 2009, Base is a modern sales solution that provides integrated tools for communication, lead scoring, reporting and more. The company is widely recognized by customers and industry analysts for its leading mobile app and a user-friendly experience. Gartner has positioned Base as a Visionary in the July 2018 Magic Quadrant for Sales Force Automation.
Base and Zendesk last year launched an integration between their products, bringing together support and sales information about customers. Among the companies using it is home loan education platform Mortgage Coach. Its director of IT and QA support services called the integration seamless and said it ultimately saved the team countless hours of data duplication.
While legacy sales force automation tools are designed around rigid management processes that discourage salespeople from using them, Base gives sales teams the information and context they need to be effective and successful with prospects and customers. The result is a tool that helps salespeople work and sell more easily.
“Legacy sales tools were never built for the people actually using them. Our core philosophy in building Base, was to create a world-class experience for sales professionals to help them close more deals,” said Uzi Shmilovici, founder and CEO, Base. “Just like Zendesk set out to improve the customer experience, we set out to dramatically improve the sales experience for 30 million sales professionals worldwide. We are thrilled to be joining Zendesk in building the future of customer experience software.”
Currently serving over 5,000 customers globally across industries, Base has offices in San Francisco and Krakow, Poland. All of Base’s customers will continue to receive support and services, and the Base team will all be offered roles at Zendesk. Matt Price, formerly Zendesk’s senior vice president, product portfolio, will lead a team dedicated to growing Base across product and go-to-market.
“The Base team is perfectly suited to join Zendesk in our mission to deliver helpful, easy to use, flexible and scalable products focused on the customer,” said Matt Price, senior vice president and general manager, Base. “Together we will build deeper integrations with our products so sales and service can more easily collaborate.”
Terms of the transaction were not disclosed. For the year ending December 31, 2018, the acquisition is not estimated to have a significant impact on Zendesk’s revenue and is expected to be dilutive to GAAP and Non-GAAP operating margin and earnings per share. These estimates reflect a reduction relating to fair value adjustments to acquired deferred revenue. Zendesk will provide further detail on the actual and expected impact of the acquisition on its results of operations for the year ending December 31, 2018 when it releases financial results for the quarter ending September 30, 2018.
Quantta Analytics, a leading player in the Big Data and Analytics space in India, has collaborated with the NITI Aayog to develop an algorithm to predict the GDP of India.
Traditionally released by the Central Statistical Office (CSO) of the Government of India, Quantta has used its extensive database on the Indian Economy to provide an advance signal to senior leaders in Government about the state of the economy.
Using data from several sectors, that drive growth, it predicted a First Quarter growth rate of 7.83% indicating that the Indian Economy is firing on all cylinders. The actual numbers released this evening by the Central Statistical Office showed a GVA growth of 8.00% very close to the prediction made by the collaborative effort between NITI Aayog and Quantta.
The Indian Economy has shrugged off the effects of macro-economic factors such as the implementation of GST on the road to growth to zoom ahead with GDP predicted to grow 7.85% in FY 18-19 by economists in Quantta & Niti-Aayog. The Services and Construction sectors have shown strong growth and growth in the energy demand indicates a robust commercial and industrial sector.
Dr. Rajiv Kumar, Vice Chairman, NITI Aayog said “The Leading Economic Indicator Index being developed by Quantta Index in collaboration with NITI Aayog was put up on the website of Quantta at www.quantta.com/quantta-index on the 29th of August 2018. Their analytically designed and empirically validated estimate of 7.83% Q1 GDP growth are a shade below the GVA of 8.00%. Congratulations to the entire team for being proven right”
Ritesh Bawri, founder Quantta Analytics said “it is a proud moment for Quantta to work with the highest echelons of Government to provide an advance warning system so that the Government can take proactive action to drive growth in the Indian Economy”
The GDP growth comes on the back of several headwinds, including a hardening of oil prices. India imports approximately 220 million tons of crude oil each year pegged at approximately US $87.725 billion according to the Ministry of Petroleum Planning and Analysis Cell. Also, in the past year the Indian Rupee has depreciated from ~ Rs. 64 to the US Dollar to over Rs. 71 to the US Dollar. Despite this, “we expect the Indian economy to do well in the first half of Financial Year 2018-19”
The proprietary algorithm uses machine learning, that uses data from several sectors such as aviation, railways and cement to predict the state of the Indian economy. The algorithm was tested using ten-year historical data. The model showed over 80% confidence level in predicting the historical GDP figures.
Also, the model was able to accurately predict the directionality of the economy. The outcome would be the ability to provide early warning signals to the Government of India for course corrections if any. Quantta worked with a small team at NITI Aayog which provided help and support to develop the algorithm. Quantta is a full stack technology platform focused on the Indian Economy. We have built cutting edge tools to collate, aggregate, and organize behavioural insights into customer behaviour.
