Avaali Helps Enterprises to Increase Process Agility, Drive Governance and Compliance with IMS

Avaali is a consulting and technology services company specializing in Information Management. We work with large enterprises to help them increase process agility, drive governance and compliance with Information Management solutions

Over the past 18 months, Avaali has heavily invested in its own framework branded ‘Velocious. The concept to Velocious is that a confluence of various technologies is what will drive process automation for enterprises going forward. And that enterprises do not heavily leverage what they have already invested in terms of OEM solutions. Velocious is a set of ready to deploy solutions that leverages various technologies such as AI Chatbot, OCR, Workflow, RPA and content management solutions talking to transactional applications at the back-end.  Avaali has launched the Velocious Supplier Portal, Solutions for logistics such as the Shipment tracking solution, e-docket solution as well as AI Chatbot, Migration tool etc. as a part of Velocious.

Avaali is growing rapidly across its focus geographies and additionally is also entering into Europe market this year. Over the next years, the company plans to rapidly scale right from new customers they serve to increasing share of wallet from existing customers. They also plan to launch additional solutions under Velocious.

The company is headquartered in India ( Bangalore ) with subsidiaries in Singapore and UAE. A significant number of projects they have done is in the shared services space, wherein they’ve consulted companies to set up a shared service center, supported in taking important decisions with respect to captive, hybrid or outsourced models and done technology evaluations. Avaali walks the talk by ensuring successful implementations of solutions such as Information Management, Robotic Process Automation, Shared services automation solutions etc.

Green Shoots of Bounce-Back Showing in Q3 Retail Spends, Steady Climb in Digital Payments Usage

The Retailers Association of India and Innoviti Payment Solutions unveiled the first volume of their quarterly publication on Retail Payments Insights. The report presents an overview of quarter-wise trends in store sales during the fiscal year 2019-20, in comparison corresponding period of fiscal year 2018-19 from the same cohort of stores.

Based on the report data, overall same store sales growth trends across multiple sectors, including Food & Grocery, Fashion & Apparel, Consumer Durables & IT, Jewelry, Personal Accessories, Healthcare & Wellness and Entertainment indicate that growth in Q1(AMJ) FY19-20 was strong across retail sectors, with an overall blended growth of 11%.  Q2(JAS) FY19-20 showed clear signs of slowdown across sectors with growth dropping to 3.6%.  However, the latest available Q3(OND) FY19-20 data shows an emerging reversal of this slowdown with early signs of growth recovery, possibly fueled by the festival season discounts. Across regions, South and East zone growth has been relatively stronger across quarters, showing greater resilience to the slowdown.

Mr. Rajeev Agrawal, CEO, Innoviti said “With nearly 5% of all India offline digital spends being processed through our pan-India spread of retail POS terminals, we at Innoviti have a unique bird’s eye view into emerging trends across retail categories. We are excited to partner with a renowned industry body like RAI to package this insight into regular volumes of the RAI-Innoviti Payments Insight Reports. We expect these ongoing quarterly trend reports to provide useful data insights to not just the Indian retail industry, but also broader economy watchers.”

Mr. Kumar Rajagopalan, CEO, Retailers Association of India said, “RAI - Innoviti Payment Insights aims to fill a critical gap about percentage growth in sales at category and zonal level. It gives an overview of the growth at grass roots as it is based on data collected from retail stores in 697 cities across 36 states. It gives a balanced view of how economic and macro-trends are impacting the sector based on customer payments data. The initiative is in line with RAI's mandate of developing, facilitating and propagating practices that will help grow retail in India.”     

Across retail categories, spending on staples has shown much stronger reliance to the Q2 slowdown as compared to discretionary spend categories. Over the YTD period April 2019 to December 2019, Food & Grocery spends showed a growth of ~13% which is more than double the overall blended retail growth of ~6.5%. Comparatively, discretionary categories like Fashion/Apparels showed the effects of slowdown with growth averaging 2.8%.

During the YTD period of April 2019 to December 2019, retail spends have also witnessed a steadily growing contribution of from digital payment modes as a percentage of overall store sales. In particular, digital payments contribution climbed between 4 -6% in South and East Zone, over and above a base volume growth of ~ 7.5%.

The report incorporates samples from 36 states and union territories, 697 cities and sales by value of $10 B from a diverse collection of 20,230 modern and general trade stores. While computing growth trends, the same cohort of stores is considered between the same quarter of consecutive years. Sales trends considered include estimates of cash and all forms of digital transactions.  The report will be published as a quarterly report with this first volume covering the period from April 2019 to December 2019.

New McAfee Report Hackers Using Hidden Mobile Apps and Unique Distribution Methods to Target Consumers

 News Highlights:

* McAfee releases new Mobile Threat Report that predicts 2020 to be year of mobile sneak attacks
* Hidden mobile apps result in approximately 50% of all malicious threats in 2019
* LeifAccess tricks victims into enabling risky settings using fake security warnings to perform unwanted automated actions

Today McAfee released its Mobile Threat Report 2020, which found that hackers are using hidden mobile apps, third-party login and counterfeit gaming videos to target consumers. Last year, hackers targeted consumers with a wide variety of methods, from backdoors to mining cryptocurrencies. Based on new research, McAfee has uncovered that hackers have expanded the ways of hiding their attacks, making them increasingly difficult to identify and remove, which makes it seem like 2020 will be the year of mobile sneak attacks.

McAfee found that hidden apps are the most active mobile threat facing consumers, generating nearly 50% of all malicious activities in 2019- a 30% increase from 2018. Hackers continue to target consumers through channels that they spend the most time on- their devices, as the average person globally is expected to own 15 connected devices by 2030. Hidden apps take advantage of unsuspecting consumers in multiple ways, including taking advantage of consumers using third-party login services or serving unwanted ads.

“Mobile devices hold the key to our lives – both corporate and personal. Unfortunately, they are also amongst the easiest attack vectors for cybercriminals because, consumer awareness levels towards security of their devices and apps is low. Hidden apps have emerged as the most active mobile threat category and it’s highly advisable that consumers stay vigilant with regards to where they download applications from, what they click and also ensure they use the right security software on their devices, to enable detection and protection of their digital lives.” said Venkat Krishnapur, Vice-President of Engineering and Managing Director, McAfee India.

The McAfee Mobile Threat Report 2020 highlights the following mobile trends:

Hackers use gaming popularity to spoof consumers –Hackers are taking advantage of the popularity of gaming by distributing their malicious apps via links in popular gamer chat apps and cheat videos by creating their own content containing links to fake apps. These apps masquerade as genuine with icons that closely mimic those of the real apps but serve unwanted ads and collect user data. McAfee researchers uncovered that popular apps like FaceApp, Spotify, and Call of Duty all have fake versions trying to prey on unsuspecting consumers, especially younger users.

New mobile malware uses third-party sign-on to cheat app ranking systems – McAfee researchers have uncovered new information on mobile malware dubbed LeifAccess, also known as Shopper. This malware takes advantage of the accessibility features in Android to create accounts, download apps, and post reviews using names and emails configured on the victim’s device. McAfee researchers observed apps based on LeifAccess being distributed via social media, gaming platforms, malvertising, and gamer chat apps. Fake warnings are used to get the user to activate accessibility services, enabling the full range of the malware’s capabilities.

Unique approach to steal sensitive data through legitimate transit app. McAfee researchers found that a series of South Korean transit apps, were compromised with a fake library and plugin that could exfiltrate confidential files, called MalBus. The attack was hidden in a legitimate South Korean transit app by hacking the original developer’s Google Play account. The series provides a range of information for each region of South Korea, such as bus stop locations, route maps, and schedule times for more than 5 years. MalBus represents a different attack method as hackers went after the account of a legitimate developer of a popular app with a solid reputation.

“There exists a growing trend for many apps to remain hidden, stealing precious resources and important data from the device that acts as the remote control to consumers digital world,” said Raj Samani, McAfee Fellow and Chief Scientist. “Now, more than ever, it is critical consumers make themselves aware of modern threats and the steps they can take to defend themselves against them, such as staying on legitimate app stores and reading reviews carefully.”  

Indo-German JV Powercon Awarded at Renewal Energy Summit

Highlights

* India's 1st renewable energy asset management company Powercon honoured as the 'Independent Service Provider of the Demi-Decade: 2016-2020' during the event "RE Assets 2020"
* Under 'Make in India' drive, Powercon is raising the energy generation levels by 10%+
* Powercon shared the idea of saving up to Rs 36,000 crores by merely managing renewable energy assets differently

Powercon, India's first renewable energy asset management company, today announced that it was recognized for its domain expertise, proven results of distinct rise in renewable energy generation and an extensive drive down of per unit generation cost; sustainably over a period of 5 years. The RE Assets 2020 Forum honoured Powercon as 'Independent Service Provider of the Demi- Decade : 2016-2020' at New Delhi.

RE Assets 2020 is one of the largest events focused on detailed technical and business aspects of Solar and Wind energy Operations & Maintenance and Asset Management.

Praveen Kakulte, CEO at the Power Group said, "Our final delivery will always be 'Electricity at an affordable rate'. We are structured to optimize energy production, to enhance asset life and to lower the cost of generation. 'More MWh of Energy per MW of installed Power, over entire lifetime of the assets' is our mission."

Powercon has been the leader in the renewable energy sector developing intelligent solutions for modern India. Year after year, they have scaled new heights bringing in greater transparency, faster response rates and delivering higher output. Asset Owners and IPPs have witnessed a rise in generation and hence the revenue by as much as 12 to 15 percent compared to their yesteryears performance, as a result of their partnership with Powercon.

Complementing Powercon's scientifically oriented optimisation solutions, Praveen Kakulte further added, "If policy directions were to be re-oriented towards targetting MWh instead of MW, it would result in an overall productivity gain of at least 10% from the same assets. India would hence prevent the otherwise needed 10% additional investment in new installations. It would mean preventing an avoidable expenditure of Rs 36,000 Crores."

Innovative IoT solutions derived from wind domain knowledge, data driven approach, deep-diving into functionalities, the minute detailing and technology enabled resolution from a value stand-point has helped Powercon in contributing significantly across the renewable energy production industry in India.

With physical presence across 7 states in the country and remote governance across 21 countries, Powercon supports 40 GW from their state-of-the-art Asset Management Studio in Pune. Recognised as Asia's only & 1st ISP operated Studio, asset class covering Wind, Solar PV, Hydro, Hybrids, etc. of many legendary IPPs are managed integrally, on their Energy Studio Pro® IT enabled asset management platform of partner BaxEnergy. Use of drone technologies with thermal imaging to capture data beyond the in-built sensory of the turbines has provided a greater see through capability to the wind asset management industry making operations simple & yield efficient.

Powercon has revealed insights on yield optimization, reliability enhancement, longevity and technical valuation enabling compensation, recoveries, improvisation and M&As, for 5.5+ GW across 60+ Indian wind parks with 17 turbine variants.

Lowe’s Innovation Labs Receives 300+ Applications from Start-Ups Across 5 Cities

Technology is changing the way every industry does business by helping to create efficiencies, save money, and provide better products and services. Retail businesses have adopted technology at a faster pace to keep accelerating the rate of innovation, investing in, developing partnerships with, and collaboration with startups.

Lowe’s Innovation Labs (LIL),  a hub of Lowe’s Companies Inc, is focusing on building emerging technologies such as virtual, augmented and mixed reality, robotics, AI and additive manufacturing. The Lab accelerates experiences that Lowe’s customers and associates expect today and develops new capabilities and offerings that will power tomorrow. Taking this further, LIL announced a four month accelerator program – Bangalore Cohort 2020 in search of talented Indian technology startup companies by visiting five cities: Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Chennai, and Hyderabad.

This initiative gave start-ups a platform to showcase their exemplary ideas and helped Lowe’s to recognize organizations that are doing breakthrough work in technology, together they plan to combine efforts and ideas to devise cutting edge strategies. It is designed to foster partnerships and sponsor projects with Indian startups eager to transform home improvement retail, whether that’s creating groundbreaking experiences for home dwellers, generating new services for trade professionals or applying emerging tech to the retail associate experience.

LIL received over 300+ startup applications out of which over 60 startups were selected for the first round. These startups were selected basis their phenomenal work in deep technologies such as  AR/VR, ML&AI, NLP, Big Data, Nanotech, Haptics, Blockchain, Image recognition, Computer vision and many more. Right now, LIL is in the process of shortlisting a few startups that will be a part of the launch program towards the end of March 2020.

1.1 Million Bangaloreans Play Games on Gamezop on Smartphones

Gamezop, India’s leading gaming platform, is witnessing rapid adoption in the Silicon Valley of India. The gaming platform has registered a whopping 375% growth YoY in Bengaluru, with 1.1 Mn users from the city in February 2020. Overall, Gamezop saw over 27 Mn users in February.

The company offers over 250 popular games to its users in two formats: casual gaming and real money gaming. In the second format, Gamezop allows users to win money for playing games. Users can visit www.gamezop.com and compete with other users to bag attractive cash prizes.

Gamezop’s remarkable traction comes from its unconventional distribution model: unlike other players in smartphone gaming, Gamezop doesn’t push installs of an app. Instead, Gamezop embeds games inside other apps where they can be played instantly; just like videos can be played on a social media page.

Each partner app that integrates Gamezop serves as an entry point, and with more than 1,000 partner apps, Gamezop has that many entry points. The approach has reaped rollicking results. Their network is so massive now that 97% of the smartphones in India have at least two such Gamezop entry points. And each month, 70-80 new apps integrate Gamezop, further adding to their penetration.

Closer inspection shows how the B2B2C model was made to scale: for partner apps, adding Gamezop takes 30 minutes and increases the time spend on them by up to 40%. Gamezop makes the deal more lucrative by paying a monthly fee to these partner apps. As a result, apps from across categories – social, travel, news, e-commerce, utility, and even astrology – have adopted Gamezop.

“Before YouTube was launched in 2005, each video was downloaded as a file and played on VLC or some other media player. That is exactly where smartphone gaming is today: each game needs to be installed as an app, which is extremely frictional and unwarranted. Gamezop makes games instant, like YouTube does with videos,” says Yashash Agarwal, Gamezop’s 24-year old CEO.

Gamezop is the brainchild of Yashash and Gaurav Agarwal, both of who were enlisted on the coveted Forbes ‘30 Under 30’. With their 35-member team, they have built a profitable business that closed the last financial year with 45% EBITDA. In spite of their success, Gamezop is currently present only on 1% of the apps published by Indian developers. Their userbase and profitability are expected to surge exponentially as more app developers continue to join their network, both from India and overseas.

Celebrate the Spirit of Holi with Lava A1 Colors Across Indian Market

Indian mobile handset brand, Lava International Limited announced the launch of its special collection for Holi- LAVA A1 Colors. The feature phone comes with a sturdy polycarbonate body, contact photos and icon support, one year replacement guarantee, three day battery support, instant torch and auto call recording. Priced at INR 999, the phone supports 7 languages – English, Hindi, Tamil, Telugu, Kannada, Punjabi and Gujarati. This special Holi collection from Lava comes in three vibrant candy colors- Light Blue, Green and Magenta Red.

Lava A1 Colors has 1.8" display, 0.3 MP camera and 800 mAh battery. The additional features of the phone include Calculator, Stopwatch, Calendar and Alarm. It has a TFT Screen with a resolution of 128 x 160 pixels.

About LAVA International Limited

Lava International is a leading Mobile Handset Company in India and has expanded its operations to 26 other countries in rest of the world as well.  Right from its inception, Lava has been at the forefront of building a strong ecosystem of design and manufacturing of mobile handsets. With the ‘Design in India’ initiative Lava is now the only mobile handset company that makes truly Make In India phones with complete control on design and manufacturing within India. Lava products are available through a nationwide retail network of 1.65Lakh retailers who in turn are directly served by over 1000 distributors. Lava’s after sales service network is one of the largest in the country with over 800+ professionally managed service centres focused on speed and quality of service.