Our Global Partner Pro gram ‘Kaspersky United’ is One of the Finest Part ner Profit Programs

Cybersecurity is one of the prime challenges faced by people nowadays and it has become major concern for all set of customers. The awareness about deployment of right security solutions among such consumers is very less. This sometimes results in a huge threat for their digital life as they fall pray of cyber frauds or data theft. Kaspersky, as a leading cybersecurity player in the Indian market, is doing extremely well in the direction of keeping everyone safe digitally. To get more information about company’s vision, Rajeev Ranjan, Editor & Publisher of Digital Terminal interacted with Dipesh Kaura, General Manager, Kaspersky (South Asia) recently which highlighted their channel strength and product strategies to reach large customer base across all market.

RAJEEV: WHAT IS ONE OF THE MAJOR CURRENT CYBER SECURITY THREATS FOR B2C CUSTOMERS?

DIPESH: For the B2C consumers there has been an increasing risk of smartphone security threats that can be observed. People have moved from using PCs and laptops to using their smartphones for most of their online activities. In addition to that the security threats for smartphones are getting more and more sophisticated with every passing day, iPhones too are vulnerable to cyberthreats and there are specific threats being targeted at iOS. Factors like a major push to digitisation, affordable & attractive internet packages provided by telecom companies, etc have given a boost to the smartphone market, which means people in the remotest areas in India are now connected online through their mobile phones.

RAJEEV: HOW DO YOU PLAN TO ADDRESS THESE SECURITY THREATS?

DIPESH: We plan to address these threats with the help of our very strong B2C national distributor Supertron Electronics. They have a strong network of regional distributors pan India and through them we plan to reach out to the consumers in the remotest areas of India, offering them our range of B2C products like Kaspersky Internet Security, Kaspersky Total Security, Password Manager, Safe Kids, Kaspersky Cloud Security, etc according to the consumers’ needs.

RAJEEV: PLEASE BRIEF ABOUT YOUR CHANNEL STRENGTH ACROSS ALL INDIAN MARKET. HOW DO YOU ASSURE THAT YOUR PARTNERS ARE GROWING WELL AND MAKING DECENT PROFITABILITY IN SELLING YOUR SECURITY SOLUTIONS?

DIPESH: Kaspersky being a 100% channel partner company, it is very important for us to keep growing and strengthening our partner network. Our partners help us connect with their regional distributors' network that is spread across India to penetrate the market for the various range of security solutions that we have to offer to end consumers, SMBs, etc. Our global partner program ‘Kaspersky United’ is one of the finest partner profit programs, it provides the partners with extra support in terms of regular trainings, skills development, opportunities to specialise in a particular sector and of course excellent margins. The program is very well appreciated by all our channel partners globally. In addition to the United Partner Program, we also focus on coming up with other partner incentive programs locally every quarter in association with our national distributors for both B2B and B2C sectors.

RAJEEV: WHAT ACCORDING TO YOU IS THE MAJOR CHALLENGE FOR ALL PLAYERS IN SECURITY DOMAIN?

DIPESH: One major challenge that the cybersecurity industry faces is the lack of awareness amongst the audience. Many consumers are still not well aware of the evolving cyberthreat landscape and the sophistication of these threats. In many cases consumers may require customised solutions for their security needs but they have no proper guidance. Small and large enterprises are also trying hard to cope up with the evolving threat landscape, now more and more companies are also allocating budgets for cybersecurity but face challenges not understanding completely optimum utilization of these budgets.

To fight against this problem, we closely work with our partners whom we provide with advanced trainings and keep them up to date on the threat landscape so that they can in turn help the end consumers and enterprises choose the right solutions.

HUAWEI LAUNCHES NEW MATE XS FOLDABLE SMARTPHONE During a virtual press conference themed “TOGETHER, Connecting Possibilities,” Huawei Consumer Business Group (BG) launched the HUAWEI Mate Xs, the next evolution of the revolutionary HUAWEI Mate X foldable handset. Packed full of Huawei’s newest technology, the HUAWEI Mate Xs is considered Huawei’s most high-end device featuring the Kirin 990 5G SoC and an improved Falcon Wing Design, delivering powerful performance and a seamless user experience across smartphone and tablet modes. Folded, the HUAWEI Mate Xs is a powerful dual-screen smartphone featuring a 6.6- inch main screen and a 6.38-inch secondary screen. Unfolded, the smartphone becomes an 8-inch tablet that delivers a viewing experience across a myriad of work and play scenarios unrivalled by that of any other smartphone. Powered by the Kirin 990 5G, the HUAWEI Mate Xs benefits from the full force of Huawei’s most advanced chipset. HUAWEI Mate Xs is bestowed with a true flagship camera system. Arranged into a vertical array along the sidebar, the SuperSensing Leica Quad Camera system features a 40MP main camera, 16MP ultra-wide angle camera, 8MP telephoto camera and 3D Depth Sensing Camera. The camera system supports a combination of OIS and AI Image Stabilisation for super steady shots and up to 30X hybrid zoom.

Xiaomi announced the ninth generation of their Redmi Note series smartphones first in India.

Aura Design, which was introduced with the Redmi Note 7 series sees a paradigm shift with the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max. It features the improved ‘Aura Balance’ design. The 16.9cm (6.67) FHD+ Dot Display with a 20:9 Cinematic Screen brings an immersive experience and the in-display camera on the front eliminates the notch making it Redmi’s largest ever display on a smartphone.

Powering the new Redmi Note 9 Pro Max is the performance focussed Qualcomm® Snapdragon™ 720G which supports NavIC navigation system developed by ISRO, an 8nm chipset featuring a custom Kryo architecture. It is powered by 8 Kryo™ 465 cores (2 x Gold – Cortex A76 clocked at 2.3 GHz + 6 x Silver – Cortex A55 clocked at 1.8 GHz), coupled with the Adreno 618 GPU clocked at 750MHz along with Snapdragon™ Elite Gaming. Redmi Note 9 Pro Max features a massive 5020mAh battery while maintaining a slim profile.

Redmi Note 9 Pro’s 48MP Samsung ISOCELL Bright GM2 sensor builds upon its predecessor to bring true 48MP photography offering. The 48MP sensor is coupled with an 8MP ultra-wide angle lens, a 2MP depth sensor and a 5MP macro sensor that lets you go as close as 2cm to the subject and support for 1080p macro video. For selfie lovers, there’s a 16MP sensor in the front.

It features the Aura Balance Design which brings Immersive Experience, Impeccable Craftsmanship and Functional Design to Redmi Note 9 Pro. With the side-mounted fingerprint scanner that sits flush on the matt-finish midframe, Redmi Note 9 Pro facilitates a natural approach to unlocking.

With the highest focus on quality, Redmi Note 9 Pro series feature triple Corning® Gorilla® Glass 5, on the front, rear and on the rear camera lenses. It is protected by P2i, splash proof nano-coating technology which protects them from accidental spills, while the reinforced corners provide better resilience to accidental falls.

Redmi Note 9 Pro Max will be available in three colour variants, Interstellar Black, Aurora Blue and Glacier White in 6GB + 64GB, 6GB + 128GB and 8GB + 128GB storage variants for INR 14,999, INR 16,999 and INR 18,999 respectively.

Redmi Note 9 Pro will be available in three colour variants, Interstellar Black, Aurora Blue and Glacier White 4GB + 64GB and 6GB + 128GB storage variants for INR 12,999 and INR 15,999 respectively.

OPPO expanded its popular Reno series with the launch of Reno3 Pro in India. Reno3 Pro sports a 64MP Zoom Quad-cam which includes 13MP Telephoto Lens, 64MP Ultra-clear Main Camera, 2MP Mono Lens and 8MP Ultra Wide-angle Lens. Reno3 Pro caters to ultra-wide angle, normal, and telephoto photography, even up to 20x Digital zoom requirements. Additionally, Reno3 Pro produces images of up to 108-megapixels.

In the front, 44MP Ultra-clear Main Camera delivers high-definition selfies with authentic details of people’s facial texture and ornaments. Furthermore, to ensure a natural and beautiful look when taking selfies, OPPO has added the first Dual Lens Bokeh on the front cameras on Reno3 Pro, enabling better image matting and background gradient for selfies taken alone and in a group. Reno3 Pro comes with the OPPO’s first Dual Punch-hole design, with a 6.4" Super AMOLED Display. It also uses E3 sunlight display material to enhance sunlight readability.

Empowered by the world’s first MTK latest chips P95, along with 8GB RAM + 256GB ROM, Reno3 Pro, which is also supported with three independent card slots, enjoys a superperformance setup. The smartphone also has a 30W VOOC Flash Charge 4.0, the fastest and safest charging solution at its price, enabling the 4025mAh battery to charge up to 50 percent within 20 minutes.

The device will be available in 8+128GB variant at a price of INR 29,990 and 8+256GB variant at a price of INR 32,990.

itel has launched a category disruptor - Vision 1, under its newly introduced Vision series in India. Vision1 is set to push the boundaries of a smartphone experience with India’s most affordable offering: HD+ IPS Waterdrop Display and Big Battery only at Rs 5499. The Vision 1 comes packed with free itel Bluetooth wireless headset worth Rs 799, from its recently launched accessories portfolio and also an instant cashback offers of 2200 INR+25GB additional data from Reliance Jio, all together at an unbelievable price of INR 5,499.

Launch of itel Vision 1 reinstates itel’s 2020 vision to lead the change and power consumers’ ambitions. It comes loaded with superior features like 15.46cm (6.088”) HD+ IPS Waterdrop with incell technology and 2.5D curved fully laminated display, 4000mAh high capacity battery, enhanced AI dual camera, dual security features – multifunctional fingerprint sensor and face unlock, 1.6 GHz octa-core processor, Dual Active 4G VoLTE and VoWifi support, and 32GB ROM with a dedicated expandable memory slot of up to 128GB.

core processor for seamless multitasking functionality. In terms of memory configurations, the phone comes with 2GB RAM and 32GB of internal storage expandable up to 128GB.

Infinix Introduces Latest S5 Pro Smartphone with Pop-up Selfie Camera

Infinix from TRANSSION Holdings has launched its latest categoryleading device, the Infinix S5 Pro. The new Infinix S5 Pro will be available on Flipkart at INR. 9,999.

S5 Pro comes with an immersive 6.53” FHD+ FULL VIEW display that provides zero distraction in the viewing experience. Powered by a 16MP AI Pop-up selfie camera, f/2.0 aperture & screen flash, S5 Pro is the phone that every selfie-lover would want to own. S5 Pro also offers a 48MP AI Triple Rear Camera with Dual LED Flash. Its Pro Photography Modes can detect 9 types of scenes-Portrait, Night, HDR, Portrait night, Portrait HDR, PetFood, Flowers and Street- making it the device that every photography enthusiast will love to have.

To give the best performance to its users, Infinix S5 Pro offers 4GB DDR4 RAM and a 64 GB storage capacity. It’s backed by Helio P35 64 bit Octa-Core processor with 12nm FinFET, 2.3GHz CPU frequency. The smartphone runs on a massive 4000 mAh battery that provides a remarkable 11-hour video playback, 28 hours of music playback, 8-hours gaming time, 13- Hour- web surfing and 14 hours of 4G talk-time, along with a 15-day stand-by time.

The device comes with 3D Glass finish on back and 2.5D glass on front, giving its body a premium feel. The phone comes in two vibrant colours- Forest Green & Violet. To make your device safe, S5 Pro comes with Multifunctional fingerprint sensor and Face Unlock features. S5 Pro’s Face Unlock recognizes multiple facial point information & unlocks the phone in just 0.3 sec.

Canon India Expands its Footprint in West Bengal with Installation of imagePRESS C8000VP Canon India announced the first installation of its flagship imagePRESS C8000VP in West Bengal at Mantra Designers & Printers, Kolkata. Acclaimed for its unique value proposition, the machine was inaugurated in the distinguished presence of Mr. Puneet Datta, Senior Director of Professional Printing Products (PPP), Canon India and Mr. Amit Roy Proprietor at Mantra Designers and Printers. Enticing the attention of the professional printing industry, the imagePRESS C8000VP has yielded over 100+ installations across India. The flagship printer is built to efficiently cater to the latest production demands and easily handle quality jobs on a wide range of substrates, enabling unprecedented image production quality and capability to print on a host of media. Its unique value proposition allows imagePRESS C8000VP to cater to the specific requirements of multiple commercial print and packaging applications. Canon imagePRESS C8000VP has been perceived as a distinguished machine in the digital press segment, meeting the evolving needs of the professional printing space.

As a part of its expansion strategy in north India region, AVITA recently established its exclusive brand store at Asia’s biggest IT Market Nehru Place, Delhi. Nehru Place is considered as one of the critical markets for all IT brands. This store is AVITA’s 5th store in Delhi and 7th in the Indian subcontinent. AVITA has been working

so aggressively and expanding its footprints in India as the company sees good potential in the Indian market. AVITA is emphasizing on to catch the growth opportunities and increase its customer base by consistently boosting its presence. This new store will be catering to the customers with a wide range of innovative and custom-designed laptops, IoT devices and PC accessories. Also, the ADMIROR laptop range which was recently awarded at CES 2020 is also available at this store. Customers will be able to experience AVITA’s portfolio of performanceoriented laptops and smart IoT devices. AVITA has promised to open more such brand stores in the coming months in Delhi.

As competition intensifies, Kaspersky remains at the top of the TOP3 metric for consumer and corporate cybersecurity. In 2019, Kaspersky products helped the company to achieve podium places (first, second or third) in 70 of 86 different independent tests in which it took part. The TOP3 metric represents the aggregate scores achieved by more than 80 well-known vendors in the most respected, independent tests and reviews in the cybersecurity industry.

Each vendor receives a score based on the number of top three places its products achieved in independent testing, relative to the number of tests the products were examined in. Sustained performance across multiple tests and products provides customers, industry analysts and experts with a more comprehensive overview of the vendors’ capabilities than a one-off result in a single test. As of 2019, Kaspersky gained a podium place in 70 of the tests that it entered, with first place finishes in 64 of them.

Tally Solutions Rolls Out New 6.6 Release of Tally.ERP 9 with Browser Access Tally Solutions announced the global launch of its latest release Tally.ERP 9 Release 6.6 bringing the Tally experience on web browsers. With the launch of this release, Tally aims to assist businesses access critical business data anywhere through any device, securely and privately, while keeping the data on customer’s machines itself. The release empowers entrepreneurs with business information like business reports and invoices. This will be accessible to them on web browsers, removing the dependency of having a particular type of computer or device, or installing Tally for the access. Even on the web browser, users of Release 6.6 will experience the simplicity and drill-down capability of Tally, which have become its hallmark over the years. So, not only will they get the toplevel reports like Balance Sheet, Profit & Loss, Stock Summary, Bills Payable/Receivable, etc. but also be able to drill down to the actual transactions. Every report, including the transactions, can be converted into a PDF and further forwarded to relevant people.

ASUS Opens its Exclusive Store in Navi Mumbai ASUS India announced the launch of its state-of-the-art new store in Navi Mumbai. Mr. Leon Yu, Regional Head, India & South Asia, Asus and Mr. Pankaj Goenka, Owner of the store inaugurated the ASUS Exclusive Store today. The store is set to host an extensive range of electronics and computer hardware, including the brand’s flagship products such as Zenbook Pro Duo, Zenbook, Zenbook-Flip, Vivobook and Republic of Gamers (ROG) laptops. The brand’s new ASUS Exclusive Store is located at Icons, Shop.No.-4, Manas Cooperative Hsg. Society, Sector-6, Airoli, Navi Mumbai-400708. The new store launch is part of ASUS’ vision to expand its market presence across different market tiers, by opening 200 stores by 2020. The store will give users easy access to brand’s latest and flagship products. Interested customers can simply walk in and experience the innovation-led all new products of ASUS, including Zenbook Pro Duo, Vivobook, Zenbook, Zenbook-Flip, and Republic of Gamers (ROG) laptops.

To strengthen the engagement with gamers and partners in India, GALAX appointed Mr. Dinesh Kumar as the new Country Manager for India region. His job duty includes the focus on driving business with the channels across India and increase engagement with gamers in market to drive GALAX unique offerings alongside partner Technology & Gadget (TAG). Dinesh Kumar is a dynamic professional with over 12 years of Experience Product Management, Technology Enablement, and Channel Sales and marketing. His recent past experience includes working with ASRock Rack and ASRock Incorporations, where he demonstrated channel management skills and established ASRock among top gaming brands with good business growth. “We are very excited to have Dinesh onboard to join us in the global team to strengthen GALAX business in India, especially focusing in driving the engagement with partners and gamers in the country, about the uniqueness of GALAX products and quality in the Gaming scene from around the globe. We are very eager the upcoming interaction to come.” Jack Lee, Sales Vice President at Galaxy HQ.

Unistal Systems Pvt. Ltd. has announced the appointment of Rajesh Koul as National Sales Manager, India. He will be based in Delhi. In his new role, Rajesh will be responsible for driving Unistal’s business operations across the country.

Rajesh is a seasoned industry veteran with experience of more than 20 years in the IT industry and has a strong track record in strategic planning, profit center management, business development, sales & marketing and channel management. Rajesh joins the company from a senior management position at Supertron Electronics Pvt Ltd. Prior to that, he was employed as Product Development Manager at Zen Exim Pvt Ltd, and Regional Head for North India at K7 Computing Pvt Ltd.

DIGISOL CONDUCTED TRAINING PROGRAM IN NAGPUR TO EDUCATE SIs DIGISOL Systems Ltd. recently conducted a training program for System Integrators- STEP UP in Nagpur. The agenda of this program was to give firsthand knowledge to the System Integrator Engineers in the region on the latest products and technology provided by DIGISOL. The event held at Tuli Imperial, Nagpur was attended by 45+ System Integrators. Post the training System Integrator Engineers were awarded with certifications. STEP UP is a training program under DITT- Digisol Institution of Technical Training. It is designed to empower & educate SI Engineers across India. This program will help SI’s stay ahead in understanding and catering the future technologies. Commenting on the occasion, Mr. Prashant Shanbhag, Head of Distribution- North, East, West, Digisol Systems said, “SI partners are very crucial for our business and we believe in growing with our partners and continue to support them in taking the latest innovation to the customers. We are thrilled to see an overwhelming response for our training programs across the country. Going forward, we will be hosting many more training programs for our Partners, SI’s, ISPs partners in various cities.”

Creative Peripherals and Distribution Limited (CDPL) participated in Computers & Media Dealers Association (CMDA) IT Expo 2020 at Pune. The company showcased a host of products from brands such as Honeywell – Active & Passive, Cooler Master, Thermaltake, PNY, InVue, Samsung and Panasonic. Commenting on the event, Mr. Ketan Patel, Chairman & Managing Director of CPDL Said: “We feel extremely delighted to be part of CMDA IT Expo 2020. It is such a big, interactive and relevant platform for us to showcase products. There were many knowledgeable walk-ins and enquiries about our products”. Computers and Media Dealers Association (CMDA) is the premier association of IT dealers and resellers in Pune, they are active in this field for the last two decades. It strives to achieve common goals and build values for its members. While working for the betterment of IT trading community, CMDA has also contributed towards creating IT awareness within consumers. Today with more than 300 members, the association is doing considerable business in the computer hardware and consumables sector in Pune region. CREATIVE PERIPHERALS SHOWCASED INNOVATIVE PRODUCTS FROM LEADING BRANDS AT CMDA IT EXPO ASTRUM STRENGTHENS ITS DISTRIBUTION NETWORK TO COVER RURAL AREAS IN INDIA

Astrum is focusing to scale up their direct reach in rural area to revitalize its distribution strategy in India with a greater focus on supplying products directly to retailers. The plan includes an ambitious target of directly reaching out to number of villages which contributes 80% of India’s rural consumer goods consumption. Mr. Manoj Kumar Pansari, Chairman & Managing Director, Astrum says, “To further strengthen the channel network, we have tied up with regional distributors who work towards developing distribution channel network covering the entire region. We have now associated with North, and East regional distributor of India who coordinated with the area distributors. We are now targeting to tie up with west and south regional distributor this year, with a keen to develop the sales strategies in market with 360-degree exposure and to mark presence in General Trade, OT/ LFR, e-Commerce & Corporate. Soon intend to take Width of Distribution growth to 10,000+ numbers by March 2020. Our target is to make 400% growth in India in 2 years and to measure its strong sales achievements.” With the increase number of production facility in India, Astrum aims to actively increase direct reach in rural India by adding more than 25 per cent new markets to the existing large serviced base.

ACER ACHIEVERS EMERGED AS WINNER OF SOUND PREMIER LEAGUE 2020 CRICKET CUP Sound Solutions, the leading IT distribution company successfully organized the 2nd edition of its IT cricket cup “Sound Premier League 2020” for channel partner community in Mumbai. This cricket cup was played on 9th March 2020 with six vendors including Acer, Dell, Lenovo, Samsung, Epson, and Philips. This cricket tournament was organized exclusively for the channel community in order to further strengthen the mutual bond among all the channel partners. The tournament was played at Urban Sports Park, Sree Narayana Mandira Samiti, Sree Narayana Nagar, P.L. ACC Nagar West, PL Lokhande Mark, Kurla (E), Mumbai400089. This cricket tournament gained an exceptional support from entire IT fraternity. This was a very great platform for channel partners as they got a good opportunity to interact with each other keeping aside the work-related talks. It was apparently a fruitful initiative and will definitely bring a positive change in the performance of participating channel partners in their professional life. Speaking with Digital Terminal about this cricket cup, Mr. Sunil Thairani from Sound Solutions said, “We as a part of channel partner community feel very honored when we organize such activities for the wellbeing of the community. This year, we got a very good response from all the channel partners and we witnessed an active participation of partners in the Sound Premier League 2020. The successful conclusion of this cricket tournament reflects our passion for cricket and we enjoyed the game throughout this tournament. The determination of all the players was exceptional. We are very thankful to all the leading tech brands including Acer, Dell, Lenovo, Samsung, Epson and Philips as they extended their support for us. Also, we congratulate Acer Achievers for their victory in the finals.”

International Data Corporation (IDC) predicts that half of the enterprises in India will be operating in a hybrid multicloud environment by 2021, as part of its India contextualized Worldwide Cloud Predictions for 2020 and beyond.

With organizations progressing on their digital journey, cloud has become the backbone for all new-age technologies. With 95% of the organizations planning to increase their cloud spend in the coming 12 months, the adoption of cloud technologies is pertinent for enterprises of all sizes.

According to Rishu

Sharma, Principal Analyst, Cloud and Artificial Intelligence, IDC India, "Enterprises in India are looking at cloud as a key enabler to meet their business priorities. As per IDC's Cloud Pulse 2Q19, 75% of

organizations in India have plans to invest in the cloud-based infrastructure and applications to meet their business goals. Cloud will become the enabler for all things digital but will bring in challenges associated with the management of multiple clouds and traditional systems."

While organizations are looking at multiple clouds, they are also simultaneously dealing with the challenges of managing a hybrid multicloud environment. For organizations to establish a winning cloud strategy, the operational and management challenges cannot be ignored and require a strict discipline when it comes to visualize resources and manage overall performance.

Some of the key predictions that would impact the technology buyers and suppliers in cloud technologies and services in India in next three years are:

• Distributed Clouds: By 2021, 50% of the enterprises in India will rely on a mix of onpremises/dedicated private clouds, several public clouds, and legacy platforms to meet their infrastructure needs. • Multicloud Management: By 2022, 30% of enterprises in India will deploy unified VMs, Kubernetes, and multicloud management processes and tools to support robust multicloud management and governance across on-premises and public clouds.

• Hyperagile Apps: By 2023, a third of India enterprise applications will be deployed in a containerized hybrid cloud/multicloud environment to provide agility, delivering a frictionless deployment and management experience.

"Cloud management is a challenge. Organizations are looking for partners that can help them bridge the talent gap, reskill existing staff, and develop access to new resources. India market demands consistent and standardized automated cloud installations which enable technicians and decision-makers to execute timely assessments cost-effectively," says Swapnil Shende, Senior Market Analyst for AI at IDC India.