Heightened Need For Travels & Expense Technology Adoption Amongst Indian Business Travellers

As India continues to take rapid steps towards digitalization, India’s business travelers demonstrate a strong preference for tech-forward travel solutions as well as a clear need for safety tools. SAP SE has announced the launch of a new SAP® Concur® survey that highlighted the preference for an integrated travel solution that could help ensure the safety of Indian business travelers.

Emerging as one of the world’s fastest growing business travel markets, corporate travel in India is propelled by end-to-end technology centric solutions, preferences and mindset. Aimed at understanding the impact of business travel on individuals – how they prioritize safety, comfort and convenience on every trip. The online survey that was conducted amongst 500 Indian business travelers, sheds light on the top concerns among modern business travelers in India. Notable highlights from the survey include:

Opportunities for employers to adopt travel technologies –
* 77% of Indian business travelers agree their employers are behind when it comes to adopting latest technologies to manage business travel
* 67% of Indian business travelers believe in experiencing gap in technology adoption for booking and expense reporting tools
* 66% of Indian business travelers rated that there is a gap in adoption of travel safety tools such as automated safety alerts about their destination

Opportunity to improve productivity, compliance and control over business expenses -
* 32% Indian business travelers rated that their company took 3-5 days to reimburse for a business trip expense
* 56% Indian business travelers believe it’s more likely to have their expenses reimbursed on time than having their plane leave on time.
* 55% Indian business travelers said that they forfeited or lost money on a travel-related business expense because either they didn’t think it was worth reporting or because their company failed to reimburse them.

Travelers do not put safety as a priority despite their experiences with risk, while traveling, scope to adopt travel safety tools -
While 28% say, they prioritize safety first, 29% say, they put business first.
88% have experienced safety concerns while on a business trip in the last 12 months.


* Business travel isn’t getting easier or less stressful
* 36% say that the most stressful part of a business trip is during the trip itself
* 68% say they have changed their travel accommodations owing to safety concerns
* Nearly all Indian business travelers (98%) have shared their location while travelling for business, the most of all markets surveyed (global average: 91%). This includes nearly 3 in 4 (73%) who did so for safety specifically, second only to Mexico (76%) as the most likely to do so (global average: 58%).

Millennial business travelers are more sensitive to current events

In the last 12 months, 52% have reduced travel to a location because of political unrest or health hazards, compared to 43% of Gen Xers and 50% of Boomers
50% millennial business travelers have also selected a flight based on aircraft type, compared to 48% of Gen Xers and 29% of Boomers.

73% Indian business travelers book using online travel agencies or sites and over 45% Indian business travelers rated the ability to book a hotel via a mobile app as the most desired service, closely followed by 41% who rated booking air travel as the most desired.

Female travelers report high levels of harassment - 87% of female Indian business travelers have been harassed on a business trip, especially 62% say they have suffered the indignity of being asked if they were traveling with their husband

Mankiran Chowhan, Managing Director, SAP Concur India said, “I believe there is great potential in the Indian market for the adoption of latest automated travel technologies. Since India is an evolving and fast-growing business travel market, it’s imperative for us to ensure a safe and secure environment for all business travelers. Therefore, at SAP Concur, we are constantly innovating to help organizations streamline and integrate their travel, expense and invoice solutions enabling them to prioritize duty of care.”

“Societal issues and employee experiences are increasingly impacting the way we travel. With these shifts come new expectations from traveling employees that shouldn’t go unnoticed,” said Christopher A. Juneau, Senior Vice President, Global Cloud Strategic Programs, SAP Concur. “While companies continue to try and maximize traveler satisfaction, the reality is that employees are hungry for more empathy, guidance and better technology as they run into both common frustrations and unique individual concerns, leaving room for improvement among organizations of all sizes.”

Attached is the full SAP Concur White Paper Addendum for India report for your reference.

The survey was conducted by Wakefield Research (www.wakefieldresearch.com), a leading independent provider of quantitative, qualitative and hybrid market research, among 7,850 business travelers, defined as those who travel for business three or more times annually from the following markets: Australia, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, China, Hong Kong, Taiwan, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, India, Japan, Luxembourg, Mexico, Netherlands, Norway, Singapore, Malaysia, Sweden, United Kingdom and the United States. The survey took place July–August 2019.

NetApp, Google Cloud Advance Strategic Partnership to Drive Innovation in the Cloud

NetApp, the data authority for hybrid cloud, and Google Cloud has announced the general availability of NetApp Cloud Volumes Service, NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP for Google Cloud, and support for Anthos on NetApp HCI to help organizations focus on innovation across any hybrid environments.

As enterprises seek to take advantage of the agility and efficiency benefits of the cloud, they need to know that their data is secure and in the right place, for the right cost, at scale. To achieve these goals, they are building data fabrics that provide maximum flexibility as they move to hybrid multicloud environments. With NetApp and Google Cloud, customers can unlock the power of their data with tightly integrated, enterprise-class data solutions that are optimized and validated for Google Cloud.

“IDC research shows that a growing percentage of enterprise workloads being deployed to cloud environments share a dependence on storage performance, and increasingly prioritize tools that enable governance, automation, and data mobility,” said Deepak Mohan, research director, Cloud Infrastructure Services, IDC. “With NetApp’s enterprise data services running on Google Cloud, organizations can achieve the performance and functionality needed to support the most intensive workloads, and immediately drive innovation across on premises and public cloud environments.”

“We’re delighted to expand our partnership with NetApp to enable hybrid and multicloud deployments for customers and to make NetApp’s solutions generally available now on Google Cloud,” said Kevin Ichhpurani, corporate vice president, Global Ecosystem at Google Cloud. “In addition, customers now have the option to deploy Anthos on NetApp’s validated HCI, providing customers more choice in the on-premises hardware solutions on which they can run Anthos.”

NetApp’s data services and solutions help customers effectively manage their transition from on-premises to hybrid and multicloud environments

“Our mission to help our customers realize the promise of the public cloud and enable them to drive innovation and business outcomes with cloud aligns with the approach Google Cloud is pursuing on premises and off,” said Anthony Lye, senior vice president and general manager, Cloud Data Services, NetApp. “With powerful NetApp enterprise data services and solutions tightly integrated into Google Cloud environments, organizations can achieve advanced data management and unprecedented performance to truly take advantage of Google Cloud’s innovative leadership in application development, analytics, and machine learning.”

Today’s announcements include the following new services and solutions.

NetApp Cloud Volumes Service and Cloud Volumes ONTAP for Google Cloud are now generally available

NetApp Cloud Volumes Service for Google Cloud is a cloud-native, Google Cloud integrated file service with the performance, availability, and security required to efficiently run business-critical applications. Additionally, customers can now confidently run production workloads in Google Cloud. Cloud Volumes Service for Google Cloud is also now available in the United Kingdom region.
Also, now globally generally available, NetApp Cloud Volumes ONTAP for Google Cloud is the leading data management solution that accelerates the enterprise cloud journey by bringing enhanced data protection, storage efficiencies, and mobility to Google Cloud and hybrid multicloud environments.
“Impact's Partnership Cloud, the leading partnership automation SaaS solution, accelerates enterprise growth by bringing automation to enterprise partnership management," said Roger Kjensurd, chief technical officer, Impact. "Cloud Volumes Service for Google Cloud Platform has enabled us to develop an agile and flexible enterprise-grade platform for our customers with ease and simplicity. In turn, this has allowed us to enable customers to improve the full partnership lifecycle and optimize revenue.”

"We've been searching for a suitable replacement for CephFS and to do away with the headaches of maintaining our own internal Ceph stack,” said Aleem Shah, senior operations engineer, Prowler.io. “We tried many alternatives, with NetApp Cloud Volumes Service coming out on top in terms of its ever-expanding feature set, reliability, and pricing. The service support provided by NetApp was unmatched in all categories."

Introducing NetApp HCI for Google Cloud Anthos

NetApp HCI is a scalable, on-premises hybrid cloud infrastructure that transforms private clouds into a deployable region of a multicloud. NetApp HCI is now validated to work with Google Cloud’s Anthos, giving customers the peace of mind of a true enterprise-class platform validated with Anthos to reliably deploy and run their applications.

Key Capabilities

Unprecedented ability to build a hybrid cloud. With NetApp Trident, a fully supported open source project, organizations can orchestrate a complex hybrid cloud environment that ties together Google Cloud, Anthos, and NetApp HCI on the premises.
Increased flexibility. Enterprises can scale on demand  and add compute or capacity as needed to meet business requirements.
Increased choice. Choose from a wider range of leading application platforms, including Anthos, Kubernetes, VMware, and NetApp Kubernetes Service.

India Skills 2020 Opens for Registration, Competition to be Conducted Across 50 Skills

Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Hon’ble Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship announces the opening of online registrations for IndiaSkills 2020, a biennial competition to scout talent from the country, offering them a platform to showcase their skills at national and international competitions. 

IndiaSkills 2020 provides a platform for skilled and talented Indian youngsters to showcase their abilities at regional and national level competitions in over 50 skills. Regional legs of the competitions are organized across four zones, culminating at the national competition in Delhi. Winners of IndiaSkills will then get a chance to represent the country at the WorldSkills International Competition to be held in China in 2021.

Dr. Mahendra Nath Pandey, Minister of Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, said, “In line with our commitment to make India the Skill Capital of the World, IndiaSkills aims at helping youth in India leverage the immense opportunities that this platform offers to showcase their talent in the best possible way. IndiaSkills 2018 witnessed incredible success and I am positive, we will witness more participation in IndiaSkills 2020 and will have a power packed team. I wish the candidates all the luck and hope we create more leaders in vocational training.”

Interested candidates can register online- www.worldskillsindia.co.in. The age limit for the competition is for youth born on or after 1 January 1999. The youth can choose participation in over 50 skill trades such as mechatronics, manufacturing team challenge, aeronautical engineering, cloud computing, cyber security, baking, beauty therapy, hairdressing, carpentry, water technology and IT network cabling among others. Post the skill competitions held at district, state and regional level, IndiaSkills National Competition will be organized in 2020. The competitions will be organized by states and will be supported by National Skill Development Corporation, in partnership Sector Skill Councils, Industry Partners, Corporates and Academic Organizations. Alongside IndiaSkills Competitions, Abilympics, Olympics of Abilities will also be organized, specifically designed for specially-abled individuals to express their unique talents.

The 22 winners of Indiaskills 2018 and their experts had represented the country with their outstanding performance at the WorldSkills International 2019 (WSK), held in Kazan, Russia. India won one gold, one silver, two bronze and 15 Medallions of Excellence at the biggest competition for skills. India ranked 13th among 63 countries that participated at WorldSkills International 2019, marking it to be the best finish for the country in the coveted skill championship. They were felicitated by the honorable minister with certificates and cash prizes for their remarkable performance. 

The last IndiaSkills competition was organized in 2018, wherein 22 states and more than 100 corporates participated, that gave 355 competitors a chance to display their skills across various skill competitions.

Who can apply for IndiaSkills 2020?
1. Interested and eligible candidates must be born on or after 1 January 1999 for all skills apart from mechatronics, manufacturing team challenge, aeronautical engineering, cloud computing, cyber security and water technology, IT network cabling where competitors must be born on or after 1 January 1996.
2. Mobile robotics, cyber security, landscape gardening, concrete construction work, and mechatronics are team skill competitions where a team of 2 individuals is required for the competition.

For more details, visit https://worldskillsindia.co.in/worldskill/world/

Fossil Unveils New Range of Gen5 Smartwatches in Indian Market

Fossil is proud to announce the latest addition to its impressive range of fashion forward wearables: the Gen 5 Fossil Touchscreen Smartwatch.

Featuring the latest designs, new speaker functionality, smart battery modes, and double the storage of the previous generation, Gen 5 strikes the right balance between fashion and technology. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 platform, this smartwatch offers its users the latest software – Wear OS by Google. The newly redesigned and revolutionized Gen 5 Smartwatch features tech that is audible and lasts longer while optimizing performance. Owing to its sleek design and updated technology, Fossil’s next generation smartwatch is built to be a best-in-class technology experience for new as well as experienced tech enthusiasts alike.

"There has been focus on the integration of health and wellness with wearable technology for some time now and at Fossil, we see a great opportunity to provide a smartwatch for the design conscious consumer looking for a perfect blend of style and utility. Like the consumer, we are also constantly evolving and as a direct outcome, we bring to you the Gen5, which offers an added speaker functionality along with our first-ever proprietary apps that extend battery life and greater iPhone compatibility. With the resultant improved performance, Gen5 brings forth a user experience like never before,” said Mr Johnson Verghese, Vice President and Managing Director Fossil, India.

The new smartwatch launches with six colorways in stunning combinations of black, smoke, and rose gold. With a 44 mm case size, and endless strap options, Gen 5 provides consumers with additional technology in designs and styles they have come to expect from Fossil. Personalization has never been more accessible – from customizable pushers to watch faces to notifications, allowing users to make the connected experience their own.

This watch retails for INR 22,995 and new features include:

Extended Battery Mode

Fossil Group has developed a proprietary smartwatch experience that offers four battery life pre-sets, putting the user in control and allowing for extended battery life.

This new experience offers an ‘Extended Battery Mode’ where users can extend to multiple days on a single charge while still enjoying essential features like notifications and heart rate. ‘Daily Mode’ allows users to experience most features enabled, such as always-on screen. ‘Custom Mode’ allows users to easily manage battery optimization settings themselves, all in one place, where ‘Time-Only Mode’ gives users additional hours when the watch has a low battery or if they choose to use the smartwatch to only tell time. From the home screen on your watch, swipe down from the top and tap the battery icon to choose the mode that’s right for you.

Swimproof Speaker

Thanks to the inclusion of a swimproof speaker, in addition to the existing microphone, users can enjoy audible functionality, and hear responses from the Google Assistant--when you ask a question or tell it to perform an action, you can hear your Google Assistant speak back to you.

With the addition of Speaker, users have the ability to take calls on their smartwatch. In the past, this is a capability that only Android phone users have enjoyed--until now. At launch, Android users will be able to answer tethered calls, and later this fall, Fossil Group has developed a proprietary app allowing iPhone users to answer tethered calls- making this a first on a Wear OS by Google device.

Functions include:

·       Sound alerts for notifications, alarms, timers, etc.
·       Hear responses from the Google Assistant
·       Google Translate speak out translation
·       Play third party music direct from watch
·       Answer tethered calls directly from watch

Tiles

Tiles, a new update from Wear OS by Google, provide a quick way to view information at a glance and perform actions. With a swipe left, Tiles adds easy access to quick actions and information that previously were hidden in the app menu. You can check your progress towards your fitness goals, start a workout, know where you need to be next, plan ahead with the latest forecast, check your heart rate, follow the latest breaking headlines, and even quickly set a timer.

Additionally, by doubling the total storage to 8GB, including 1GB RAM, users will have even more space to download apps and media, as well as see an overall performance boost. The integrated sensors have also been given an upgrade to help improve fidelity and optimize power consumption. Features familiar from previous generations include heart rate tracking, untethered GPS, NFC for Google Pay, and Rapid Charging. As with our existing lineup, Gen 5 will come with a series of auto-installed apps: the leading music streaming service, Spotify, peace of mind and safety app, Noonlight, and Nike Run Club.

Cardiogram, a digital companion for your heart health, is the latest app that Fossil will auto-install. Cardiogram visualizes heart rate data into interactive charts that can be tagged with activities from your day, helping you identify what could contribute to spikes and dips in your heart rate. For example, users can monitor how your heart rate changes during a stressful meeting, exercise, or during sleep. Users can also track how health metrics compared to millions of other Cardiogram users for signs of undiagnosed diabetes, sleep apnea, hypertension, and atrial fibrillation.

With this new generation of watch, Fossil showcases a unique take on technology and redefining what it means to bring activity and balance to your lifestyle. The added functions will give users a 360-holistic way to track all parts of their lives, while keeping true to the authentic creative spirit of innovative watch design that Fossil was founded on more than 30 years ago.

Features include:

·       Stainless steel case, topring, and pushers
·       44 mm case size
·       Stunning 1.3’’ touchscreen digital display
·       Swimproof (up to 3 ATM)
·       24+ hours battery life (based on usage) + multiple days in extended battery mode
·       Interchangeable straps and bracelets
·       Qualcomm Snapdragon Wear 3100 Platform
·       Sensors: Heart Rate, NFC, GPS, Altimeter, Accelerometer, Gyroscope, Ambient  Light, Microphone
·       Powered with Wear OS by Google and compatible with iOS 10+ or Android™ 4.4+ (excluding Go edition)
·       Connect via Bluetooth technology
·       Wireless syncing + magnetic charging

Gen5 smartwatches are available for purchase on www.fossil.in, Fossil retail stores & Other Partner Channels across India.

Cyber Risk Increases at All Layers of the Corporate Network as we Enter a New Decade

Trend Micro Incorporated, a global leader in cybersecurity solutions, today announced its 2020 predictions report, which states that organizations will face a growing risk from their cloud and the supply chain. The growing popularity of cloud and DevOps environments will continue to drive business agility while exposing organizations, from enterprises to manufacturers, to third-party risk.

“As we enter a new decade, organizations of all industries and sizes will increasingly rely on third party software, open-source, and modern working practices to drive the digital innovation and growth they crave,” said Nilesh Jain, Vice President, Southeast Asia and India, Trend Micro. “Our threat experts predict that this fast growth and change will bring new risks of supply chain attacks. From the cloud layer all the way down to the home network, IT security leaders will need to reassess their cyber risk and protection strategy in 2020.”

Attackers will increasingly go after corporate data stored in the cloud via code injection attacks such as deserialization bugs, cross-site scripting and SQL injection. They will either target cloud providers directly or compromise third-party libraries to do this.

In fact, the increasing use of third-party code by organizations employing a DevOps culture will increase business risk in 2020 and beyond. Compromised container components and libraries used in serverless and microservices architectures will further broaden the enterprise attack surface, as traditional security practices struggle to keep up.

Managed service providers (MSPs) will be targeted in 2020 as an avenue for compromising multiple organizations via a single target. They will not only be looking to steal valuable corporate and customer data, but also install malware to sabotage smart factories and extort money via ransomware.

The new year will also see a relatively new kind of supply chain risk, as remote workers introduce threats to the corporate network via weak Wi-Fi security. Additionally, vulnerabilities in connected home devices can serve as a point of entry into the corporate network.

Amidst this ever-volatile threat landscape, Trend Micro recommends organizations:

Improve due diligence of cloud providers and MSPs
Conduct regular vulnerability and risk assessments on third parties
Invest in security tools to scan for vulnerabilities and malware in third-party components
Consider Cloud Security Posture Management (CSPM) tools to help minimize the risk of misconfigurations
Revisit security policies regarding home and remote workers

Stratasys to Add 50 More Customers in Tier 2 Cities in India by 2020

India is a great market for the company and has a formidable market in the areas of automobile, healthcare, education and to maintain leadership position, the company has plans to invest further in the country, said Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director, India and SEA of Stratasys.

Addressing the media at the 3rd edition of the Stratasys India User Forum in Bengaluru recently Mr Bajaj said that the company plans to add 50 more customers in 2020 and are also seeing an increasing demand for 3D printers and related technologies in Tier 2 cities such as Trivandrum, Trichy and Sonipat. We believe this is a great time to be in the 3D printing industry and look forward to capitalizing these opportunities.

Stratasys, a global leader in 3D printing and additive manufacturing, hosted the 3rd edition of the Stratasys India User Forum in Bengaluru recently. The forum which witnessed participation from over 620 industry leaders and end-users, served as a great platform for professionals to exchange insights on the latest 3D printing trends, applications, and best practices across key sectors in India.

Speaking at the Forum, Michael Agam, President South Asia, Stratasys said, "We, at Stratasys, have been leading the 3D printing industry for over three decades. The User Forum brought together several leading brands such as Maruti
Suzuki, Ashok Leyland and Honda in the Indian ecosystem, who have used our products to innovate, take their businesses to new heights and improve the overall customer experience. This reiterates why India is a key market for Stratasys and what are the kind of opportunities we look forward to in 2020."

Eminent customers from the automotive, healthcare and education sectors attended the event and delivered keynotes. Key excerpts from their keynotes below:

  * Padma Shri Ganpat I. Patel, President and Patron-in-Chief - Ganpat University emphasized the need to constantly innovate and announced plans to set up a new '3D Printing Centre of Excellence' at the university in partnership with Stratasys India this year.
  * Mr. Saurabh Singh, Head of Design Studio at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd highlighted how the brand has been able to leverage 3D printing to provide high quality, ergonomically suited and distinctly personalized offerings, thereby enhancing the overall customer experience.
  * Mr. Sundaresan, Vice-President, Electric Vehicles and eMobility Solutions, Ashok Leyland shared his insights on how Stratasys has helped the company save about 14,138 days of hour-utilization and nearly Rs. 74 lakh in manufacturing costs.
  * Mr. Bhushan Chandna, Manager - Business Excellence, Honda Cars spoke about how the brand has spearheaded the use of additive manufacturing in the auto sector, especially with the use of 3D printed jigs and fixtures.
  * Dr. Rahul Jain, Associate Consultant Dept. of Plastic, Aesthetic and Reconstructive Surgery, Medanta - The Medicity shed light on the impact of 3D printing on facial reconstruction and how the quality of healthcare services offered in India can be enhanced with this technology.

Commenting on the success of the Forum, Mr. Guy Yair, EVP, EMEA & APJ, Stratasys said, "The 3D printing industry is on a growth trajectory and we expect high double-digit growth in India during the next five years, despite the economic slowdown. This will be driven by strong engagements across key industry verticals such as automotive, healthcare, education and aerospace. The Stratasys User Forum offers a great opportunity for innovators and decision makers to put their minds together and I am happy to note that we continue to witness higher participation with each passing year."

Addressing the media during roundtable on the sidelines of the event, Rajiv Bajaj, Managing Director Stratasys India & SEA said, "According to sources, the Indian 3D Printer Market is projected to record $79 Million by 2021. This growth is anticipated to be driven primarily by the adoption of industrial 3D Printing in Prototyping, Manufacturing (Jigs & Fixtures) and End Use Parts."

Other senior leaders including Mr. Fred Fischer, Director of Products, Applications and Technology, Stratasys and Mr. Ben Klein, Medical Models Product Manager, Stratasys also delivered keynotes at the event. During the discussions at the Forum, the Stratasys leaders shared insights on the company's strategy for 2020 and mentioned how the company sees a $12 billion opportunity in the metal 3D printing industry. It was also mentioned how the company invested about $90 million in research and development in 2018, one of the biggest budgets as per industry norms.

'Juice Jacking' Cybercriminals Use Public USB Ports to Steal Personal Data Globally

Travellers have been advised by the Los Angeles District Attorney's Office to avoid free USB charging stations in public areas because of a hacking technique called "juice jacking". This technique allows criminals to load charging areas with malware which can be transferred to mobile devices even after the user disconnects from the charging station. The malware can then be used to access personal and corporate information stored on devices of unassuming users.

"Something as innocuous as a public mobile charging station can become a risk to mobile device users. Juice jacking is a method to transfer malware planted in public USB ports at charging stations onto devices, which can linger even after the device is no longer in contact with the charging station. This is because the cable used to charge mobile devices is also a driver that can be used to transfer and sync data. The malware can then be used to access personal and corporate information stored on devices of unassuming users. A simple solution to this problem is to refrain from charging mobile devices in public areas. Only charge your mobile devices using cables and chargers that belong to you," said Satnam Narang, Senior Research Engineer, Tenable.