Express Computer July, 2014

COVER STORY e-Governance goes social

FEATURE Taming the mobile

CASE STUDY Taking e-Gov to next level

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SOCIAL MEDIA FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD he recent elections in India have put a laser focus on one of the hottest phenomena to hit the Internet since email: social media.

There are multiple reports that tell us about the millions of tweets, likes and comments on different sites. I will not go into statistics here but try and relate what I thought as I navigated a fraction of the voter groundswell.

It would be wrong to say that social media is representative of the second most populous nation in the world (one that figures near the top of most “global bad lists”— the most number of illiterates, malnourished children, and people with diseases from diarrhoea to diabetes, etc).

But it would be even more wrong to discount the aspirations and enthusiasm of the millions, mostly young, who participated in severely contested debates on whether Kejri or Modi is more suited to be their future leader (RaGa had some mentions, too).

Why more wrong? Because if you do not give a direction and impetus to what is positive and harp too much on the negative, you will end up wasting the little advantage you have.

As I read the comments, points and counterpoints of these digital enthusiasts, I wondered whether they were as passionate, as involved and as concerned about the political situation as before—when they were not on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other social media. (I knew that some who posted the most scathing remarks wouldn't even be voting, but that's another matter.)

In my view, social media proved to be an easily accessible and prevalent tool through which they could express their hithertosuppressed feelings and opinions. Earlier, such discussions would happen face-to-face in smaller groups—but not as frequently, not in such large numbers and certainly not written down for others to see!

There is no reason, however, for this power of social media to be confined to expressing angst or elation. Or, for that matter, for a few big names to hog the limelight.

If the government wants, and I do hope it does, it can use the underlying technology tools such as social media monitoring and big data analytics to devise policies and programmes in tune with the needs of a majority of citizens. Further, it can create more social media hooks into its e-governance portals and systems to inform the public as well as to redress complaints and improve services.

Thankfully, some of this has started to happen (External Affairs Ministry, Traffic Police in Delhi and Pune, Kerala Tourism and Indore Police are cited in a study as notable examples). But much more remains to be done.

Taken to a bigger scale in an integrated manner, social media, I believe, can be a significant force for the public good.

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TAKEN TO A BIGGER SCALE IN AN INTEGRATED MANNER, SOCIAL MEDIA CAN BE A SIGNIFICANT FORCE IN GOOD GOVERNANCE

sanjay.g@expressindia.com

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JULY, 2014

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contents

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COVER STORY

e-GOVERNANCE

GOES SOCIAL

When people everywhere are embracing social media by the millions, no reason why e-governance should be left behind.

Here are 16 successful uses of social media for e-governance from around the world

feature

Case Study TAKING E-GOV TO THE NEXT LEVEL

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In a bid to lower the procurement costs and bring more transparency in tenders, the Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM) leverages its existing IT infrastructure and integrates e-Procurement with e-Payments

TOWARDS SIMPLER COMMUNICATION

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TAMING THE MOBILE

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After facing problems in connectivity and huge operational expenditure, Tata Technologies decided to use Avaya's PBX system to optimise communications

As more and more employees bring their own devices to work, enterprises are turning to mobile device management solutions. But is MDM enough to deal with all the issues of security and complexity? Read on 4

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JULY, 2014

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column 30

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VDI OR SESSION VIRTUALISATION?

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ITIS NOTABOUT SMAC!

There is no one-type-fitsall: an organisation needs to look at specific needs before deciding on the kind of virtualisation that suits it best

This article is not about SMAC.It is about the ABCD of computing as you might already know it

BYOD: NO LONGER AN ISSUE?

BIG DATA: STARTSMALL

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» Mahesh Bank picks Fortinet to secure its network » MAIT’s reform agenda for

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Modi government » NComputing introduces DaaS solution aimed at service providers

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If Bring Your Own Device is a growing reality of modern life,it makes sense to manage it well

How does an enterprise leverage big data technologies? One strategy that might work is to think small

event 38

in the news

» Flipkart acquires Myntra,

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deal valued at about Rs 2,000 cr » Facebook, Trend Micro partner

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to offer secure online experience » Snapdeal on a roll, raises $100 million

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» Schneider Electric unveils prefabricated data centres

AN INCREASINGLY DIGITALWORLD The third Gartner IODC Summit held in Mumbai had a smorgasbord of offerings for data centres and technology enthusiasts

interviews 21 JAN VALCKE COO & President Vasco Data Securities

“Near field communication gives new possibilities to hackers” EXPRESS COMPUTER

29 S SRIDHAR Director & General Manager Enterprise Solutions Group, Dell India

“Enterprises are realising the importance of data centre efficiency”

40 MATT KOLON CTO, APAC, Brocade

“Organisations are unclear about what it means to virtualise the network” JULY, 2014

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MUMBAI Shankar Adaviyar The Indian Express Ltd Business Publication Division 2nd Floor, Express Tower, Nariman Point Mumbai- 400 021 Board line: 022- 67440000 Ext. 527 Mobile: +91 9323998881 Email Id: shankar.adaviyar@expressindia.com Vol 25. No. 7. July 2014 Chairman of the Board Viveck Goenka Editor Sanjay Gupta* Chief of Product Dr. Raghu Pillai Delhi Heena Jhingan, Pupul Dutta Copy Desk Aditi Gautam Mumbai Jasmine Desai, Harshal Kallyanpur Bengaluru Pankaj Maru DESIGN National Art Director Bivash Barua Deputy Art Director Surajit Patro Chief Designer Pravin Temble Senior Graphic Designer Rushikesh Konka Layout Vinayak Mestry, Rajesh Jadhav Photo Editor Sandeep Patil MARKETING Regional Heads Harit Mohanty - West Prabhas Jha - North Sanghamitra Kumar - East Dr. Raghu Pillai - South Marketing Team

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EXPRESS COMPUTER

JULY, 2014

COVER STORY

e-GOVERNANCE

GOES SOCIAL

When people everywhere are embracing social media by the millions, no reason why e-governance should be left behind. Here are 16 successful uses of social media for e-governance from around the world

MONITORING POWER OUTAGES

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orth America’s energy grid is ageing, and marred with frequent outages. The average outage time for the grid in a year is as high as 214 minutes in the North east (the comparable figure in Japan is only 4 minutes). Overhauling the grid would, of course, require a lot of money. So, what the power

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companies there are doing is taking recourse to the social media.

To get a better handle on the real-time source information on outages, they are using geotagged posts (social media posts with location information included). It is no secret that customers flooded in darkness in turn tend to flood sites such as Twitter and Facebook with complaints. Most of these

complaints are sent from their mobiles, including smart phones. Municipalities and power companies can use the social edia monitoring and analytical tools to find out the origin of posts as well as the quantum of complaints. This helps them make the right assessment as to how serious the outage is and allocate appropriate resources to address the same.

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A TALE OF THREE CITIES

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n a survey of their websites and usage of social media, three US cities came out tops: Seattle, Louisville, and Chicago. The trio was ranked relatively high on the interactivity index and noted for their initiatives. Seattle is applauded for its neighbourhood planning and citizen participation, and Chicago for EXPRESS COMPUTER

participatory policies such as community policing and using Twitter to solicit budget ideas. In the same vein, the mayor of Louisville is said to have held regular Q&A sessions online. All the three cities are relatively more active in their use of social networks for reaching out to citizens. Each mayor is said to be active on Twitter, for instance.

JULY, 2014

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COVER STORY

MACAU WANTS TO KNOW HOW

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n a global ranking, Macau was among the top 50 in the world in e-government. To make further inroads with optimum use of the Internet and social media, the University of Macau published research about the situation of Internet and social media usage in

DETECTING EARTHQUAKES JUST IN TIME

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he U.S. Geological Survey is aggressively working on TED (Twitter Earthquake Dispatch). It uses specialised software to gather real-time messages from Twitter, applying place, time and keyword filters to create real-time accounts of shaking.

The inspiration came from an event in 2011, when a 5.9magnitude earthquake shook the North east. It was then that many New Yorkers learned about it on Twitter — seconds before the tremors actually occurred.

Typically, such alerts can take two to 20 minutes to be issued. Tweets from people at the epicentre near Washington, D.C., outpaced the quake itself, providing a unique early warning system.

The department is now building on such crowdsourced warnings.

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Macau. At 70% penetration, the Internet is in a mature stage, and web forums and social sites are assuming more importance and influence over the people.

As per the survey, while 34.65% of users are satisfied with the layout of portals, content and services provided by Macau e-Government, as many as 45.21% of users expressed no opinion. However, a

CHEROKEE DRAWS MORE LIKES

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ne of the fastest growth segments of Cherokee County’s population is a millennial generation that is buying homes and building families. Interestingly, most of them are turning to the Internet and social media as a primary resource for local news. This drew attention of the county leaders, who decided to rev up the county’s digital and social media presence and leverage it to compete with other local communities across the country in economic development and attracting new

TWEET FOR A CLEAN STREET

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urning to Twitter for garbage collection may sound weird, but the social media platform worked wonders for the residents of Vancouver. Due to erratic pick-up

very high percentage of users (77.19%) said they would rather use social media than browse a website for government information.

The survey clearly indicated that the features of ease of use directly affect the usefulness of Macau e-Government. The government is using the survey results to further improve its services and enhance social media interactions.

employers. The Cherokee County Board of Commissioners developed a plan for creating content for their website and social media networks to educate and inform stakeholders, constituents, businesses and C-level executives. The new content marketing and social media programme has resulted in about 53% increase in fans on Facebook; 241% increase in followers on Twitter; and 40% follower growth on LinkedIn. The County has also established a strong presence on Instagram. In fact, its Klout Score, a measure of social media influence, has increased by 300%.

Not just the number of likes and followers, what is impressive here is that the County has seen an increase in citizen engagement and civic reporting, greater citizen awareness about their local government, and more economic development leads.

schedules, there were greater chances of collections beings missed, resulting in overflowing bins on streets and in homes.

To streamline processes, the city took to Twitter. It set up a website where residents could sign up the night before garbage and recycling collection. With specialised bulk tweeting and scheduling tools, it got smoother. The city now boasts of cleaner streets and excellent customer service at a much lower cost compared to traditional phone centres or email.

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USING FACEBOOK FOR DISASTER WARNING

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he Philippines is one of the countries with a very large number of Facebook users.

This, perhaps, is one reason that the Filipino Government intends to encourage the use of social media as a disaster warning tool.

According to the National Disaster

MONEY VIA FACEBOOK? WHY NOT!

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or customers tired of signing in tokens to make bank transactions, Singapore headquartered OverseaChinese Banking Corporation (OCBC) has launched an innovative micropayment service that enables customers to transfer funds using Facebook, mobile and email.

The smartphone-based service, OCBC Pay Anyone, supports

WHITE HOUSE SAVE AWARD

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he SAVE Award, an annual crowdsourcing competition organised by the White House, is an opportunity for federal employees to float ideas that will help the government save money.

The winning idea in 2013 suggested a

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Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC), they have tested the application of these tools during recent events of flooding and storm.

The government’s Weather Watch Facebook site issues hourly updates on road, sea and town situations, warning people about collapsed roads, incoming monsoons, cold fronts, and

payments of up to S$100 to any bank account in Singapore. By simply selecting a payee from the contact list on mobile phone, email or Facebook and keying in the password, a sender can make payments. The recipient, however, will need to key in his bank account details and enter the same pass-code to complete the transaction.

A move that is being viewed as a way of enhancing customer stickiness and keeping a competitive edge, it will also resolve the users’ challenge of remembering the account numbers.

According to the bank, the system adheres to security standards for the online banking and fund transfers, and they expect 15% of all funds transfers on mobile to be using this service over a period of one year.

change in the way the Department of Veterans Affairs operates. The department used to send the majority of outpatient prescriptions to patients via mail. So to track the delivery of the mailed prescription, the patients needed to call their local Veteran Affairs Medical Center, which was not very convenient for them. At the same time, it was a time consuming affair for the pharmacy staff.

To make it simpler, it has been recommended that the package tracking information be made available to veterans online through the existing web portal of the Veteran Health Administration.

dangerous sea conditions for fishermen.

During the recent floods, about 131,580 people were reported to have used the Philippines Information Agency Weather Watch website to receive updates. However, the use of social media as an effective disaster warning system is still restricted as a majority of Internet users in the country are based in Manila.

POLICING WITH A BLOG

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he Queensland Police Service has set up the myPolice blog, which endeavours to keep a digital eye on the Gold Coast area.

The blog allows officers to interact with members of the community that may not be able to get to the station or to a Neighbourhood Watch meeting.

Developing social media channels has provided police services units a 24-hour two-way communication system. In a recent incident of late night assault that occurred at 11 pm, within hours, several eye witnesses had contacted the police via social media, helping it track down the assailants.

The department is now working on developing processes to allow the information provided through social media to be incorporated in the formal information flow.

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COVER STORY

Number of used social media platforms for all (general government, institutions, departments and political persons)

SOCIAL MANIA IN KENYA

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he Presidential Strategic Communications Unit in Kenya has launched an interactive platform on social media where the public can field questions to senior officials across ministries and get real time answers. The platform will help ministries bridge the communication gap and understand what the people expect of them.

The questions posed by the people are sent to the database where they are recorded for response. The ministries not only answer the queries, but also seek feedback. The Ministry of Labour was the first in the league to use social media to connect with the public.

The State House Digital Team will soon also deliver a website and Android app for public use.

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SAN FRANCISCO

SEOUL

STOCKHOLM

Number of social media platforms for general government purpose

CHINA’S MODERN ‘MARCO POLO’

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ven though the Chinese government has banned social media platforms like Twitter and Facebook in the country post 2009 riots, it definitely believes in the communication effectiveness of these tools. The government has set up a Facebook page to pull visitors to the

WHEN OBAMA GOT REDDIT TO TALK TO THE WORLD

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MILAN

VANCOUVER

NEW YORK

FRANKFURT

MONTREAL

AMSTERDAM

TORONTO

MUNICH

SYDNEY

MELBOURNE

BARCELONA

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KUALA LUMPUR

REPORT: GOVERNMENTAND SOCIAL MEDIA: A CASE STUDY OF 31 INFORMATIONAL WORLD CITIES

t’s not everyday that you get to question the President, but when you do you don’t let the opportunity pass. Precisely, this is what happened when the US President Barack Obama participated in the AMA (ask me anything) session on the social

country and even hired a Briton to run the page.

The page has been set up to promote the country’s fast-growing city of Hangzhou to overseas businesses and tourists.

Hangzhou is looking to attract both businesses and tourists and is pushing its links to Marco Polo — the explorer who was one of the first Westerners to visit the area.

Through the page, the government intends to tell the world about the city.

Hangzhou is famous for its tea, silk and traditional medicine and does not have the smog and other problems associated with the more industrialised cities in the country.

news site Reddit. About 200,000 people tuned in and submitted over 6,000 comments in barely 34 minutes of the session.

Obama responded to a variety of unfiltered questions put up by Reddit users, on everything ranging from tax cuts to Internet freedom and even the White House beer recipe.

Interestingly, governments of all levels have also used similar Q&A sessions on Twitter to interact with the high and mighty. HootSuite and other social media management tools can help monitor keywords and hashtags during these events, allowing conversation of thousands unfold in real time.

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HELSINKI

SAO PAULO

BEIJING

SANGHAI

LONDON

SINGAPORE

SHENZHEN

LOS ANGELES

PARIS

CHICAGO

HONG KONG

BERLIN

DUBAI

TOKYO

VIENNA

BOSTON

Source: 47th Hawaii International Conference on System Science

OF ZOMBIES AND DISEASE CONTROL

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ear appeal succeeds in most social marketing cases and it worked here too. The Centres for Disease Control in the US published a scary blog post titled Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse.

The write-up started on a gripping

$1 MILLION IN DONATIONS IN A WEEK? NO PROBLEM!

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hen the Australian Environment Minister scrapped the Climate Commission last year, donations through social media helped resurrect it.

The social media campaign was a runaway hit and raised $900,000 in less than a week.

The commission originally was set up EXPRESS COMPUTER

note asking readers: “Where do zombies come from and why do they love eating brains so much?” The post was actually meant to explain how to get ready for real emergencies.

This was an innovative attempt by the CDC to attract readers and it in fact pulled over 1,200 comments, debating intricacies of zombie culture and emergency preparedness. More recent posts on the blog focused on what the popular board game Pandemic can teach about how disease spreads.

Using compelling to read posts, the CDC blog has illustrated how governments can use online channels to engage and educate.

to provide public information on global warming, but was axed by the new government, citing that the move will save the government $1.6 million a year and also streamline processes, while the climate change analysis would be provided by the Environment department.

Dubbed as “Obama style” of fundraising method, the campaign received donations from about 2,000 individuals and most of those were small donors, with an average donation of about $50. To begin with, the councillors aimed to raise $500,000 in a week; however, collections far exceeded the original targets. Once donations reached close to $800,000, they upped the target to $1 million on Facebook.

TWITTER IN THE TIME OF CHOLERA

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t was a double whammy of sorts for Haiti back in 2010 when cholera spread in the wake of an earthquake. Cholera spread throughout the neighbourhoods faster than health care workers could respond, claiming over 6,500 lives.

The authorities resorted to Twitter to take control of the situation. Aided by specialised software, they were able to track the number and location of cholera-related tweets, pinpointing outbreaks well in advance of official warnings.

The sheer quantity of public data shared on Twitter, Facebook and other networks makes social media an invaluable reporting and tracking tool. With the right software to filter and analyse keyword streams, authorities can identify trends from outbreaks to traffic problems, in almost real time.

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FEATURE

ENTERPRISE MOBILITY

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TAMING THE

MOBILE As more and more employees bring their own devices to work, enterprises are turning to mobile device management solutions.

But is MDM enough to deal with all the issues of security and complexity? Read on

BY PUPUL DUTTA

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he world is being re-shaped by the convergence of social, mobile, cloud, big data, community and other powerful forces. The combination of these technologies unlocks an incredible opportunity to connect everything together in a new way and is dramatically transforming the way we live and work,” a famous quote by Marc Benioff, founder and chairman of Salesforce.com sums up the current day scenario in enterprises.

Though the widespread adoption of mobile devices in enterprises has 14

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unleashed gains in terms of productivity and at some point windfall cost savings too, at the same time it has posed numerous challenges as well.

According to a study done by Citrix in association with Zinnov, though enterprise mobility use cases are fast emerging, still less than 50% of the enterprises today have defined enterprise mobility strategy of any form.

Security and data breach, integration issues with existing business solutions and higher perceived costs remain the key inhibitors for rapid enterprise

mobility adoption. However, it is increasingly being realised by the enterprises that defining a well-planned approach towards enterprise mobility deployments can gain maximum user acceptance, reduce timeto RoI as well as mitigate security concerns.

In any case, there has been an unprecedented growth in mobile devices over the last year and today, smart phones outsell PCs and mobile computers are spreading faster than any other consumer technology in history.

In fact, industry research suggests that JULY, 2014

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50% of organisations in India will adopt BYOD strategies by 2017.

According to a recent Forbes study, 90% of CIOs expect to deploy more than 25 mobile apps in 2014 and mobile application development projects will outnumber native PC projects by a ratio of 4-to-1 by 2015. Vendors are queuing up to tap into the business opportunity.

Current enterprise mobility scenario Borderless and 24x7 communications are pivotal for businesses today. A dynamic enterprise needs cost-effective, userEXPRESS COMPUTER

friendly solutions that keep employees and partners connected at all times while balancing its total cost of ownership (TCO). However, for many enterprises, the increase in mobile working has been almost entirely spontaneous and unsystematic and in addition, the fast growing Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) trend is setting a powerful idea.

“In the coming years, we speculate a big adoption level of BYOD by organisations. There is a rise in need to connect with inter-departments and to offices located in different cities. For

instance, an automobile company would take up the mobility solution to get connected with their several dealers or their partner offices. So we see, tremendous or exponential growth of the enterprise mobility market in India,” says Naveen Chopra, Director, Vodafone Business Services.

According to a report titled 'Enterprise Mobility: Building Tomorrow’s Enterprise', released by the National Association of Software and Services Companies (Nasscom), in association with Deloitte, the global JULY, 2014

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FEATURE

ENTERPRISE MOBILITY

Companies are now increasingly adopting a solution that not only does mobile management, but also manages content as well as apps for them.

Seemant Chaudhry, Director - Enterprise Mobility & Transformation,Citrix

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enterprise mobility (EM) market opportunity is expected to be $140 billion by the year 2020, growing at a compounded annual growth rate of 15% and the key factor driving this increased adoption of enterprise mobility across organisations is consumerisation of IT— led by the abundance of smart devices at affordable prices, among others.

In the current scenario, enterprise mobility has become a key focus area for companies of all sizes. Businesses are facing aggressive competition, volatile customer loyalty, and rapid market changes in India and all over the world.

More and more businesses are opting for mobile solutions to enjoy benefits like better efficiency and customer experience (as well as to improve their RoI). “Business is being done in a different way today, more through social media instead of email. Basically, demand was always there but has just got some momentum now,” says Vic Mankotia, VP, Solution Strategy, Asia Pacific & Japan, CA Technologies.

It is because of this demand that with a diverse device ecosystem and growth in mobilisation, security issues with regards to corporate data will also rise up, so this is where the role of mobile device management solution comes in, which helps the decision makers manage the fleet of devices and make the data residing on these handsets secure.

Why MDM

Arecommended approach is to adopt solutions that help manage the heterogeneity of devices,OSs and applications.

Naveen Chopra, Director,Vodafone Business Services 16

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If we notice the demand for mobility has gone up in past couple of years owing to the cheap availability of Android-based devices, besides other factors. Also, this sudden surge in demand for enterprise mobility stems from the fact that businesses need to make decisions 24x7 and mobility enables availability of data on real-time basis.

One of the best reasons so far for this sudden hype around mobility is that it reduces the time for the information availability, provides users with up-todate reference material and automates processes, which enables customers to perform activities efficiently. Also, enterprise mobility takes advantage of highly interactive content to engage

customers better through assisted selling.

No matter how many benefits are listed in favour of mobility, it still throws up a number of issues in front of the IT department to handle. To begin with, security is the biggest challenge that most organisations are still coping to deal with. For the IT staff, they have to not just ensure that there is no theft of data, but also no spilling over of personal data into official data and vice-verse. Also, solving the mobile security problem with the same processes they used for laptops and PCs, tactics such as endpoint protection software, policy enforcement, password complexity and even data leak prevention software don't work when your company doesn't own the device (BYOD) or has to deal with hundreds of versions of mobile operating systems.

This is where a mobile device management (MDM) solution comes handy. MDM software vendors promise to enforce security policies, block employees from installing malicious apps and even encrypt data. But MDM is still a young technology and there is no one single vendor, who has a dominance in the market. Most of the vendors offering MDM solution are either legacy security vendors or start-ups focused entirely on mobile.

Popular MDM tools and apps Enterprise mobility is a wide canvas, where MDM plays a crucial role. Though there is less than 15% adoption in India, according to some experts, yet MDM is gaining some strong ground. “Basically, now the focus of companies is shifting to the app management. Given the fact, employees don't want their employers to snoop around their phones, companies are now increasingly adopting a solution that not only does mobile management but also manages content as well as apps for them,” explains Seemant Chaudhry, Director - Enterprise Mobility & Transformation, Citrix.

New solutions offer richer features to store/encrypt data on the device.

“Technologies such as Mobile Enterprise Application Platform (MEAP) offer secure communication between devices JULY, 2014

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and are very popular. Mobile analytics suite is another tool that CIOs use to have an in-depth analysis on the usage pattern,” says Girish Dhanakshirur, STSM, IBM Master Inventor - IBM Mobile Platform Development.

When we talk about applications, CIOs are generally looking for apps that can drive their business. That means applications that are focused on enhancing the productivity of all the people in the business. It also means apps that enhance the customer experience and deliver increased lifetime value and ones that can be easily deployed, securely and with minimal disruption. Some of the popular app deployments are around Sales Force Automation, CRM, ERP, Collection Management Applications and Inventory Management Applications.

The mobilisation of such applications have become the need of the hour for the CIO and are essential to any organisation which has large field force.

“Most CIOs prefer CRM, Workforce Management, Warehousing, Distribution, executive dashboard and Service Automation on their mobiles. One has to understand that enterprise mobility is all about exposing data on personal devices.

They are looking for solutions that would maintain security and at the same time fall within the gambit of the centralised policy,” asserts Venkatesan Janakiraman, Head of Mobility - Solutions, R&D and Architecture, Virtusa.

What CIOs want A majority CIOs prefer to use one of the following MDM solutions: AirWatch, BoxTone, Citrix, Fiberlink, Good Technology, MobileIron, SAP or Sybase and Zenprise. Questions that most CIOs ask the vendors are around how best can they secure the device, manage the upgrade, enforce policies, remote wipe sensitive data and lock the device in case of theft etc.

Basically, CIOs are looking for an MDM solution that would not only address the most common worries, but also do much more like in BYOD environments — how isolated the enterprise app and its contents are.

Can MDM address data leak, i.e. if a EXPRESS COMPUTER

employee-owned device is jail broken or rooted, can a malicious app access enterprise data stored in the enterprise app? Can the company implement copy protect so that data cannot be copied to clipboard? VPN is another concern that CIOs would like MDM to address. CIOs are looking for app-level VPN so that only the enterprise app has access to company data. Finally, is it future proof as the MDM capability within the OS are being upgraded rapidly. For example, iOS 7 introduced a whole slew of new capabilities for MDM, will a vendor adapt quickly and release an upgrade soon? These are some of the concerns voiced by CIOs. As mobile devices become a preferred channel to share information and access corporate applications, CIOs are looking for a mobile platform that seamlessly integrates with their current enterprise IT infrastructure, and enables them to expose their enterprise data and applications both on-premise and on cloud in a secure and standard way, regardless of the user interface that people choose to surf those applications.

“They also want a truly multichannel development platform. Rather than continuing to develop applications first for the desktop and then making tactical mobile development choices, IT leaders are on the lookout for a consistent architecture that considers all channels - web, mobile, etc,” says Andy Chow, Senior Director, Solution and Technology Architects, Oracle Asia Pacific.

“Mobility platforms such as iOS, Android, Windows and various handsets present a fragmented technology place.

A good example is Android with multiple devices from multiple OEMs running heterogeneous OS versions. Lack of standardisation and emergence of new possibilities is a continuous challenge to enterprises. For example, choosing the right mobile OS to build the mobile application on, choosing the right MDM platform to ensure security etc.

A recommended approach is to adopt solutions that help manage the heterogeneity of devices, OSs and applications,” says Chopra of Vodafone,

ITleaders are on the lookout for a consistent architecture that considers all channels - web, mobile,etc.

Andy Chow, Senior Director,Solution and TechnologyArchitects, Oracle Asia Pacific

Mobile analytics suite is another tool that CIOs use to have an in-depth analysis on the usage pattern.

Girish Dhanakshirur, STSM,IBM Master Inventor IBM Mobile Platform Development JULY, 2014

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who looks after the company's IT needs besides heading the business services division.

Implementation challenges

Because of VDI,we can ensure that even if the mobile devices are lost or stolen, the data remains unaffected and securely guarded behind corporate firewalls.

Ashish Kumar Pradhan, Subject Matter Expert, Mobility,Mindtree

Tactics such as endpoint protection software,policy enforcement, password complexity and even data leak prevention software don't work when your company doesn't own the device (BYOD) or has to deal with hundreds of versions of mobile operating systems 18

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In a recent survey, 41% CIOs cited that securing corporate information on mobile devices is their biggest concern. The challenge revolves around how to ensure data privacy, authorised use of corporate applications and approved storage of corporate data on a personal device. IT also needs to ensure that critical information is wiped clean — remotely in case the device is stolen or the employee leaves the organisation.

Jagran Prakashan's, Sarbani Bhatia who is Vice President - IT, says that they were looking for a solution that would provide the company with a dynamic, secure, and intuitive self-service enterprise portal to improve staff productivity and ensure business continuity. “We wanted this solution to offer seamless integration with multiple enterprise applications, including mobile applications to improve work-flow efficiency and increase business agility.

Since we were already using Oracle Database, Enterprise Edition with Real Application Clusters and had a positive experience with Oracle, we chose Oracle WebCenter Portal to ensure no compatibility issues for integration with our existing Oracle products and to take advantage of the experience and support of a reputable vendor to ensure business continuity,” she says.

Oracle's mobile platform helped address the challenge of the newspaper organisation by enabling IT department to easily connect mobile applications to existing access-management services, using a single-sign-on. “They can set policies governing how to access enterprise services from mobile devices and system administrators can trace each device and examine usage patterns to detect suspicious behaviour,” explains Chow of Oracle.

The second challenge facing

enterprises is how to integrate mobile applications with enterprise data and services — both on premise and on cloud.

About 31% CIOs in a survey cite this as a concern. Mobile applications communicate with back-end applications through standard web services.

The third biggest challenge facing CIOs is how to support multiple personal devices in an enterprise. Almost 28% CIOs in the survey are looking for solutions to address this concern. Chow claims that the mobile application framework of Oracle helps address this challenge because it is based on the popular Java and HTML 5 based environments. The architecture’s design enables developers to easily build and deploy apps on multiple operating systems with support for various form factors such as smartphones and tablets.

Interoperability is yet another issue which CIOs are faced with. There are two issues when we talk about interoperability — interoperability JULY, 2014

www.expresscomputeronline.com

CASE STUDY: JAGRAN PRAKASHAN

J

agran Prakashan Limited (JPL), India's premier media and communications group, that publishes the Hindi daily Dainik Jagran, wanted to provide its employees dynamic, secure and intuitive self-service enterprise portal to improve staff productivity and ensure business continuity.JPL was using multiple systems to manage its business processes. Users were resistant to use multiple passwords for various applications; preferring to continue their less efficient, legacy work practices.

In addition, there was no single repository for sharing documents across the organisation, such as company announcements or project documents.

The company relied on e-mail to disseminate up-to-date company information, often missing employees. It was also time-consuming and difficult for managers to track the status of ongoing assignments or projects, because collaboration and document sharing were

between different mobile device OSs (iOS, Android, WP, BB, etc.) and interoperablity between phones and desktops. The first one is achieved by what is known as cross platform mobile platforms. In this, we have vendors such as IBM Worklight that offer such a capability. Then there's an open source community, called, Apache Cordova.

Basically, these technologies abstract device-specific APIs and offer uniform APIs for web developers.

In any case, integrating mobile applications with enterprise data and services — both on premise and on cloud, is a major challenge faced by organisations. It is important that mobile applications communicate with back-end applications through standard web services. For example, Oracle SOA and Oracle Service Bus allow enterprises to easily expose enterprise applications and data as virtual services and enable web services and RESTful API connections with them. This allows developers to leverage their existing application and EXPRESS COMPUTER

inefficient and ineffective.

With diverse businesses and many geographic locations,JPL needed to implement a centralised and user-friendly enterprise portal to improve the document sharing and collaboration, and increase business agility.

The company implemented the Oracle WebCenter Portal to create a dynamic, secure, and intuitive self-service enterprise portal to improve the user experience and increase the operating efficiency. It improved staff productivity by 40%, accelerated new IT projects by up to four times, boosted staff morale, and increased business agility.

By integrating WebCenter Portal seamlessly with its enterprise resource planning (ERP) system and other applications, such as the organisational mass mailing system, business intelligence, and management information system,JPL embedded its approval work-flow processes into the

integration infrastructure as part of a highly reusable and scalable development and integration platform.

Security issues As we talk about enterprise mobility, the first thing that pops into any CIO's mind is breach of security in the enterprise network. “One has to understand that the challenge lies at how we implement BYOD while maintaining control of the network security. As more personal devices connect to corporate network, securing corporate data becomes critical,” says Sreedhar Venkatraman Director, Sales Engineering, India & SAARC, Avaya.

But since organisations do not own the device, they need to have security solutions that safeguards access to enterprise applications without interfering with how people use their devices for personal use such as playing games or sharing photos. “We at Oracle propose Mobile Application Management (MAM) instead of Mobile

enterprise portal and provided users with an integrated and intuitive interface.

About 30% of JPL’s sales staff members now have tablets and receive advertising discount approval from managers while on the field.This has significantly improved efficiency and increased business agility.

The portal allowed users to navigate, discover, and access information, such as advertising rates, requisition approvals, ad-hoc queries, and employee surveys from a single entry point with a single password. Managers can also upload important documents, such as new pricing for advertisers or newspaper distributors, and share them through the information and instruction section in the portal. In addition, managers can now easily track and review timelines for projects online rather than gathering information from meetings and e-mails.With the deployment, the company gained the ability to centrally manage the

Device Management (MDM). Using a technique called containerisation, the Oracle Mobile Security Suite creates a secure workspace in which corporate applications, email, and data are stored,” asserts Chow.

Organisations need to support BYOD with a combination of BYOD security, authentication, networking, and policies.

For effective BYOD and data protection, some of the key elements required are admission control, access control, highly secure DC, DB security, Network DLP, virtualisation etc. “There is no denying that the pre-existing security policies and processes would need to undergo an overhaul in a consumerised IT environment. Apart from this, there are different implementation level challenges that need to be addressed to ensure successful deployment of BYOD in an enterprise,” says Srinivasa Boggaram, Team Lead Pre Sales - India and SAARC, McAfee.

Boggaram further adds that organisations should not expect one JULY, 2014

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single solution to help secure BYOD on an end to end basis. “BYOD needs to be looked at from different dimensions like data loss prevention, authentication system, internal intrusion prevention systems, internal firewalls, securing wifi, network admission control etc. On top of all, it is the internal IT policy which should be detailed and fool-proof to drive the initiative and guide effectively and prevent failure of specific tools,” he explains.

VDI as an option?

Virtual desktop interface or VDI is fast emerging as the second best option to tackle enterprise mobility and the issues related to it. With VDI, users can access and edit data remotely, over a network, from a hand-held device, with the security and usage comfort levels optimised. VDI can help in mitigating the challenges related to enterprise mobility in numerous ways. From being more secure — as flow of content can be managed, to being more cost effective, VDI is fast catching up with enterprises as an alternative choice.

“No data used in a VDI session persists on the concerned mobile device.

Because of VDI, we can ensure that even if the mobile devices are lost or stolen, the data remains unaffected and securely guarded behind corporate firewalls.

Also, the management can become more efficient and costs can be reduced.

This is because on one hand, desktops are consolidated and centralised at one location, while on the other, end users can enjoy mobility and freedom in terms of usage (anywhere, anytime and from any device),” says Ashish Kumar Pradhan – Subject Matter Expert, Mobility, Mindtree.

Basically, VDI ensures a smooth usability experience across devices belonging to different computing platforms. It facilitates the entire data to be stored in one central repository, so that the users do not have to synchronise or replicate it on individual devices.

Way forward Enterprise mobility is here to stay and will go over a number of makeovers.

Security in mobile apps will continue to 20

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CASE STUDY: THERMAX

T

hermax, a Pune-based engineering solutions company, was saddled with legacy infrastructure in the form of traditional desktops.While the company was growing steadily, the IT infrastructure was lagging behind.“Some of our traditional desktops had been in use for more than five-six years, and could not cope with new operating systems.This would have prevented Thermax from leveraging new technology,” says a spokesperson from Thermax Ltd. The other challenge faced by the company was that of security and control.

As per the company spokesperson, being an engineering company,Thermax’s core intellectual property is engineering drawings.“These drawings have to be stored, protected and managed centrally.

Similarly, as we bid for projects, we can’t afford leaks. Securing such data was a big challenge we faced,” he says.

The company debated whether to replace 1,000-1,500 PCs in one go — five years down the line, or explore a rather new phenomena called desktop virtualisation as a credible option.

Thermax deployed IBM servers with 10 eight-core CPUs, and two six-core CPUs.The company has 30 Terabytes of

NAS storage and 6 Terabytes of SAN storage. For its storage infrastructure, Thermax went for the latest Storwize v7000, which is known in the industry for its technology on realtime compression and storage virtualisation.

After deciding to deploy Citrix XenDesktop,the company had 750 people live on the Citrix's solution.The biggest advantage that the company had due to this shift was that it became BYOD ready.

Explains the Thermax spokesperson, “The biggest advantage of the deployment has been that my organisation has now become BYOD (bring your own device) ready.Today, we have about 20 tablet users who log in from anywhere.Such anytime- anywhere access has enormously improved the company’s decision-making.With the success of this project,we are seriously contemplating not to give desktops or laptops to our employees from now on.

They can bring their own computers and tablets to work.I am less worried about the security issues now.”

The solution also gave Thermax the advantage of managing data centrally, thereby giving it the power of enhanced security and control.

Virtual desktop interface or VDI is fast emerging as the second best option to tackle enterprise mobility and the issues related to it play a key role. Another issue would be around reducing the TCO while supporting the plethora of devices.

Finally, the BYOD adoption will increase only if the apps offer a compelling reason to use - i.e. new innovative ways using all the capabilities in the app.

Device vendors, such as, Apple, Samsung, Microsoft, Nokia will continue to innovate and add rich hardware capabilities in the phone (biometric, finger print, NFC, etc.).

Enterprises will have to be agile to adopt

these and release innovative applications to their users. As the line between personal and business use of devices gets blurred, Mobile Application Management (MAM) and Mobile Content Management (MCM) will gain popularity alongside MDM solutions.

Goal of MDM, BYOD and other enterprise mobility solutions will shift from functional implementation to generating ROI. pupul.dutta@expressindia.com

JULY, 2014

INTERVIEW JAN VALCKE VASCO DATA SECURITIES

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Vasco Data Securities sees a great opportunity in the government sector in India. The company's COO & President Jan Valcke tells Heena Jhingan about the security threat milieu in the era of Internet of Things. Excerpts:

“Near field communication gives new possibilities to hackers” Can you tell us about Vasco’s business in India and your customer base here?

So far, in India we have registered 21 customers in the banking and 51 in the non-banking sector, among these many are SMBs. Our customers span across verticals, such as IT, financial services and pharmaceuticals.

Every customer has his own preferences and approach. The larger banks usually deploy Vacman Controller, the authentication platform, that is capable of processing heavy volumes of authentication requests and can support mass deployments. Smaller banks and companies, on the other hand, prefer an off-theshelf centralised authentication server, which is the perfect choice to secure remote access to the corporate resources and various types of (web-based) applications.

We have about 20 active channel partners that are serviced via our distributors Redington and Adweb Techno Trade. We work with a limited number of channel partners to avoid any channel conflict.

What are the key trends in the data security space and what do you think are the driving factors?

One of the main problems today is the use of fake identities and identity theft. For some applications, it is not necessary to know a user’s real identity, for instance, for simple online games. On the other hand, some applications require the user’s identity to be verified before a service can be provided.

Also, the so-called Internet of Things, the universe of objects that are connected to the Internet, calls for a secure way to control these objects. More and more smart card and mobile phone devices are used to perform contact-less payments. However, there are some security risks involved as the new technology based on NFC (Near Field Communication) gives hackers new possibilities to intercept, modify or replay transactions. Moreover, it is also possible to copy the data that is not properly protected from a NFC device.

Last, but not the least, strong authentication and fraud risk management (FRM) solutions have become very popular with banks, due to EXPRESS COMPUTER

the increase in popularity of both online and mobile banking.

The Government in India is investing heavily in security.

How do you plan to tap this opportunity?

Due to the sensitive nature of the data in the Government sector, confidentiality is of the utmost importance.

Therefore more and more government agencies and departments opt for a multi-factor authentication solution.

Vasco has had an opportunity of working with multiple government agencies in India recently,and has also picked up a large order from one of India’s large states.

How big do you think is the data security market in India and what is your strategy to tap it?

With India being in the world’s top five for the highest number of incidences in cyber crime, there is still a lot of work to be done. Moreover, the recent hacking incidents across the globe have proven the inefficiency of the static passwords.

Unfortunately, too often, implementing security is seen as buying insurance. SMEs pay for it because it is cheaper than the possible disaster. Nevertheless, an SME ought to see these problems as a challenge to position security — and more in particular strong authentication, as a competitive advantage tool and business enabler. The most destructive outcome of a security breach is the reputation damage, leading to customers staying away.

Vasco believes two-factor authentication solutions can definitely contribute to boosting one’s business. Security, convenience and scalability are picked at random from the various possibilities. This contributes to a pleasant online experience for the customer, thus strengthening customer relationships.

What are some of the key trends in the application security space and how are CIOs trying to manage security of applications, especially in times of consolidation?

The market evolution of mobile apps in the tablet and smartphone world opens new business opportunities. Organisations worldwide can make their applications, data and corporate information accessible from any portable device for customers, suppliers and employees. However, more the apps, more is the potential for fraud and the more specific regulations will be needed to be put in place.

The security of online accounts is and will remain one of the major challenges. With explosion of social media as communication and business channels, the need for the adequate online security has become all the more crucial. heena.jhingan@expressindia.com

JULY, 2014

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CASE STUDY

e-GOVERNANCE

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TAKING e-GOV TO THE NEXTLEVEL In a bid to lower the procurement costs and bring more transparency in tenders, the Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM) leverages its existing IT infrastructure and integrates e-Procurement with e-Payments

BY PANKAJ MARU

plus e-tenders had been processed by March 2014 end. This represents value close to Rs 10,000 crore just for the published tenders

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JULY, 2014

www.expresscomputeronline.com

O

ver the past decade or more, e-Governance initiatives and projects in India have certainly gained momentum across central and state governments.

IT has penetrated in the government sector across all levels, be it the centre, state, district or taluka (block), and has even reached the last level of governance — that is the municipalities or gram panchayats.

Despite the fact that there's low availability of good telecommunication infrastructure, networks, internet connectivity and power supply in semi-urban areas – there's been a lot of progress made so far.

Interestingly, today e-Governance in India has reached a stage from where it could be easily taken to the next level, so all the efforts and hard work made in the past can actually be translated into huge benefits for both – the citizens and various stake holders in government departments and authorities.

One such example, where the existing e-Governance projects have been wellenhanced and smartly integrated to scale up for the benefit of public and businesses through a 'single window' model is the Kerala State IT Mission (KSITM) – an autonomous nodal IT implementation agency for the Department of Information Technology, Government of Kerala established in 1999.

Kerala has been very active in the area of e-Governance and the use of IT for transparent functioning and administration. Given the tech-savvy vision, the state government has extensively carried out numerous IT based administrative programmes such as e-Government Procurement (e-GP), e-Tenders, e-District, e-Payment and others.

Given the fair number of successful e-Governance projects running across the state and its departments, the authorities were keen to look at new ways to leverage its existing IT infrastructure and initiatives.

And one of the ways they found was integrating some of the existing e-Governance initiatives and coupling them on a single web based platform.

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e-GOVERNANCE

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Integration of e-Payment and e-Procurement systems e-Procurement and e-Payment were among the set of successful e-Governance projects which KSITM had implemented in recent years. In April 2013, both of these key initiatives were integrated into a single portal with the aim of easy accessibility and functioning in the areas of tender biddings, online payments and refund mechanism.

While the e-Procurement initiative brought in transparency, it also offered bidders 24x7 access to tender documents and bidding processes through anytime-anywhere bid submission facility. But without the e-Payment facility, the e-Procurement system was unable to meet its sole objective in the true sense.

Purpose of integration The e-Payment program was integrated with e-Procurement last year largely to ensure full confidentiality and anonymity in the tender processing, which is a very crucial aspect of any bidding. It was also done to reduce the human interference to avoid any kind of discrimination against the vendors and businesses.

“Broadly, the integration is aimed at bringing in transparency in the process and also to increase the competitiveness.

In traditional paper system, there's always a doubt in the mind of the vendor regarding the process integrity itself and also there are allegations around prices, which lowers the competition,” says K Mohammed Y Safirulla, Director – Kerala State IT Mission, Government of Kerala.

“As a result, the competition goes down and the process price goes up, leading to loss to the government. But with the robust e-Procurement platform, there’s increase in transparency, which creates a level platform for all the players resulting in a win-win situation, where those respective departments will have to spend less due increase in the competition as it lowers the prices,” adds Safirulla.

“Till March 2014 end, more than 11,000 e-tenders have been processed 24

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Integration of e-Payment and e-Procurement systems is vital in driving businesses and increasing healthy competition in the market and this is close to Rs 10,000 crore only for the tenders published and so bids have been increasing now. This is a major advantage that the state government has realised,” says Safirulla.

departments, stating that for any procurements above Rs 25 lakh, the e-tender route will be taken. And gradually, all departments came forth and followed it,” adds Safirulla.

Challenges during integration

Reaping the benefits

Given the fact that Kerala government had already invested in building IT infrastructure and e-Governance projects, KSITM had to deal with fewer challenges for the new initiatives. According to Safirulla, there were broadly two kinds of challenges – technical and those related to the human element.“On the technical side, initially for two-three months there were lot of complaints about refunds for L1 (low end) bidders, but now we have resolved them,” says Safirulla.

“Secondly on the human element side, departments were initially not forthcoming for the e-Procurement projects. However, with Kerala government's vision on transparency, a government order was issued for all

It's been a year since KSITM carried out the integration, and following that over 11,000 tenders have been processed across various departments.

“However, since we don't have a previous years' benchmark or reference point, we are unable to estimate the cost savings; but we can definitely say that the competition has increased in terms of number of bidders coming forward for e-tenders across n-number of departments,” points out Safirulla.

Future road map While KSITM has successfully integrated the e-Procurement and e-Payment systems, it is all set to explore new possibilities and opportunities to JULY, 2014

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Broadly the integration is aimed at bringing in transparency in the process and also to increase the competitiveness.

K Mohammed Y Safirulla, Director – Kerala State ITMission, Government of Kerala.

further enhance e-Governance objectives of the state.

To keep pace with technology initiatives in e-Governance, KSITM is also giving high importance to staff training and upgrading their skill sets.

There's a vast requirement of localised training and hence we are planning to have two training centres – one in Ernakulam and the other in Kannur, to be operationalised later this year,” adds Safirulla.

Besides the technology initiatives and training for staff, KSITM is continuously looking to improve its IT infrastructure and platforms, to make it more robust and effective in a broader way. In fact, for the e-Payment initiative, initially the State Bank of Travancore was selected for payment gateway; however, now the state authorities are looking at bringing in more banks to expand the e-Payment platform.

“We are looking at fine tuning our existing requirements. We have listed close to some 10-15 requirements which we have given to the NIC team — EXPRESS COMPUTER

like bringing in more banks into the picture to increase the competition; close to 25-30 banks would be integrated with this system before this year ends,” explains Safirulla.

“Also, we are creating an MIS module to build a vendor database, so any department that wants to go with the tender can directly contact the respective vendors and, automatically, the information is disseminated and the publicity cost is reduced,” adds Safirulla.

Moreover, for FY 2014-15, KSITM is looking to add more services online and is implementing office automation across government departments.

“Here, we have two key targets—first is to bring at least 100 services online, and second is to go for office automation using e-Office software developed by NIC — ideally looking at some sort of paperless transactions. At present we are implementing it at the secretariat and will also deploy the software at districts,” concludes Safirulla. pankaj.maru@expressindia.com

Kerala has been very active in the area of e-Governance and use of ITfor transparent functioning and administration.The state government has extensively carried out numerous ITbased administrative programmes such as e-Government Procurement (e-GP), e-Tenders,e-District and others.

JULY, 2014

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CASE STUDY

TATA TECHNOLOGIES

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Towards Simpler COMMUNICATION After facing problems in connectivity and huge operational expenditure, Tata Technologies decided to use Avaya's PBX system to optimise communications

BY PUPUL DUTTA

T

ata Technologies, an engineering and design (E&D) company, provides product lifecycle management (PLM), enterprise solutions, and manufacturing and product development IT services to Tier 1 automotive and aerospace OEMs and their suppliers. The company’s productivity was being hampered and the operational cost was spiralling every month, due to its complex calling

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procedures across multiple platforms.

The different platforms/systems used in different territories, were unable to communicate with each other, and the lack of a conferencing facility on a single PBX system led to the use of multiple different systems. What’s more, employees calling from home had to go through tedious reimbursement procedures.

The existing situation posed a

number of problems for the organisation, including high telecommunications cost that was significantly increasing the opex of the company.

So, in order to overcome this problem, Tata Technologies wanted a solution to connect its global employees using simple four digit extensions, and enriched communication features for more effective collaboration between offices and with customers. This was JULY, 2014

www.expresscomputeronline.com

achieved by upgrading the central analogue system in India to the latest IP platform, which formed the central server connecting integrated territory PBX systems and branch gateways using SIP/H.323 technology.

Deployment Tata Technologies had been experiencing exponential growth over the past many years. However, it was operating via a EXPRESS COMPUTER

diverse range of PBXs with little or no integration, no effective audio conferencing facility and no standard reporting tools for analysing the cost of communication. Hence, the company decided to deploy Avaya’s solution from India for connecting all the offices across the nation.

Today, this has been extended to the USA, Europe, Singapore and Thailand. “As a result of this deployment, the

organisation has benefited from enhanced productivity using four-digit interoffice dial plan and seamless communication with customers and employees, regardless of worldwide location. Secondly, there is significant increase in CSAT since the deployment, and 38% reduction in communications cost in India in the first year itself. Lastly, the travel cost has come down drastically for in-person meetings that are now conducted through Avaya JULY, 2014

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TATA TECHNOLOGIES

» www.expresscomputeronline.com

There is significant increase in customer satisfaction since the deployment and 38% reduction in communications cost in India in the first year itself.

Umesh Bhapkar, Head (ITOps and Infra) and CISO, Tata Technologies

Tata Technologies wanted a solution to connect its global employees using simple four digit extensions,and enriched features for more effective collaboration 28

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Meet-Me Conferencing,” explains Umesh Bhapkar, Head (IT Ops and Infra) and CISO, Tata Technologies.

He further adds that while the company made some significant progress using the Avaya VoIP solution, a lot more is being planned for the future.

The deployment of Avaya Enterprise VoIP solution was part of the long-term IT strategy of Tata Technologies, to strengthen the foundational IT infrastructure — connecting the organisation’s global workforce of approximately 7,000 people.

The solution included the Central Avaya Aura Communication Manager, Avaya Aura Session Manager, and media gateways in the branch offices.

Way forward Tata Technologies is now a happy customer, given the fact that its employees can now quickly connect with their peers in other offices, reducing the human latency in communicating. It has also enabled seamless communication between employees and geographically spread customers and partners worldwide. Furthermore, the solution has helped reduce monthly recurring

costs spent on telecommunications in India by 38% in the very first year as well as providing clear accountability of system usage to accurately capture costs against the appropriate cost centres.

Further, expansion is now planned for the company’s European locations.

Employees now have an option to connect from home or cell phones to the office PBX system and dial out to reach any overseas customer or attend any business teleconferences from their home or cell phones. Calls are charged to the employee cost centres, based on the authorisation codes used. This facility has eliminated the complex and expensive practice of employees making international calls from their personal devices and seeking reimbursement later.

“The project deployment using Avaya solution was really very exciting. The system includes many advanced technical features. It was very easy to configure, and there was always support on hand from the Avaya team. The proof of a successful deployment is to hear compliments from end-users on how it has made their life easier,” says Bhapkar. pupul.dutta@expressindia.com

JULY, 2014

INTERVIEW S SRIDHAR DELL INDIA

www.expresscomputeronline.com

In a conversation with Heena Jhingan, S Sridhar, Director & General Manager - Enterprise Solutions Group, Dell India, explains how the company’s new integrated IT solution smoothens convergence in data centres. Excerpts

“Enterprises are realising the importance of data centre efficiency” Convergence has been on top of CIOs’minds for a while now.What does PowerEdge VRTX 1.3 bring to the users?

PowerEdge VRTX 1.3 is an integrated IT solution born out of efforts by the research and development team at Dell, to meet the requirements of customers who wish for a scalable, flexible and customisable product for varying workloads. We believe, VRTX 1.3 is the first of its kind converged infrastructure solution, which integrates servers, storage, networking and the management within a compact single chassis for streamlined deployment to remote, branch, and any environment where the requirement is for a scalable all-in-one enterprise solution.

Building on the performance and ease-ofuse features from the VRTX hardware platform, which was released last year, we have developed VRTX further and now offer an optional fully redundant storage controller for a highly available solution. In addition, VRTX server node choices now include the enterprise class 4-socket PowerEdge M820. VRTX management systems share a common design with the Dell’s Chassis Management Controller (CMC), providing VRTX users with a familiar management experience across local and remote VRTX deployments alongside CMC data centre systems. VRTX now also supports graphical processing units (GPUs) to accelerate the virtual desktop performance. These new enhancements make convergence simpler, resulting in lesser headaches for the CIOs. Lastly, but most important of all, the VRTX is designed with the environment in mind, to work within the office acoustics and environmental conditions, without the need for data centre class cooling and power. VRTX brings a converged data centre to the customer at a fraction of the ‘net impact’, both on infrastructure cost and operational efficiency.

What are some of the trends that we can see in the new-age data centres in terms of infrastructure and architecture?

The amount of data generated in India is enormous, owing to the large population and EXPRESS COMPUTER

How have customers responded to PowerEdge VRTX in India?

It has been wellreceived by our customers across the verticals.They have used the VRTX offering for a variety of ways — from SMBs using it as an alternative for building an expensive data centre, to a large corporation using it as a compute and storage building block for a comprehensive surveillance solution.The new enhancements are designed to further simplify and increase the efficiency of VRTX .

Hence, we are positive about the value of the offering.

the move towards digitisation of most of the operations in India. Businesses are realising that their operational efficiency is dependent on the effectiveness of their data centres. Hence, the demand for data centres in India is high.

According to a study by Nasscom, India’s data centre market was at about US $2.2 billion in 2012. It is estimated to grow by more than 8% over the next three to four years. Enterprises are realising the importance of data centre efficiency over capacity. Companies understand that more than having data centres with large capacity, it is important to have data centres that are efficient, optimise costs, save power and enable automation of processes.

With remote monitoring and management of data centres, IT administrators are able to address problems very quickly. To reduce operational costs and increase IT efficiency in the long term, organisations are implementing many technology approaches such as virtualisation, storage management, etc., which require a different approach to data centre operations.

In terms of infrastructure and architecture of data centre, consolidation has become very important. For most enterprises, their business depends upon a well-functioning data centre and they prefer to reduce the complexity that comes with fragmented facilities in a data centre. Data consolidation helps overcome these complexities and improves operations. A trend around increasing powerful and scalable compute is also visible. The scale of data centre deployments is increasing with the adoption of powerful multi-core processor servers, blade servers and interfaces with higher bandwidth.

These large scale solutions lead to increase in network performance.

Today, the data centres are being reshaped by the new application architectures and service delivery models. This enables new bandwidth traffic flow within the data centre and demands high performance from servers. Also, enterprises are increasingly turning to the cloud to improve business agility, reduce expenses, and accelerate business innovation. heena.jhingan@expressindia.com

JULY, 2014

29

COLUMN DAVID BURTON

VDI OR SESSION VIRTUALISATION? M There is no one-type-fits-all: an organisation needs to look at specific needs before deciding on the kind of virtualisation that suits it best

VDI requires constant bandwidth and strong network connectivity between the endpoint devices and the back-end servers 30

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anaging employee desktops and laptops is a costly and timeconsuming operational reality for IT. Just look at what has to go into today’s modern desktops for simple day-to-day maintenance tasks – applying patches, upgrading applications, onboarding new users, maintaining security, etc. These tasks are all an IT headache both through their necessity and because of the amount of time and effort it takes to properly manage them.

IT departments from organisations of all sizes around the world are rapidly turning to desktop virtualisation and reaping its benefits as a low cost, powerful alternate technology to traditional PCs. Once a company has decided to move forward with desktop virtualisation, the next thing to consider is the type of desktop virtualisation to best meet IT objectives. There are two main types of virtual desktop computing: one-to-one desktop virtualisation, commonly known as VDI, or one-to-many, known as session-based desktop virtualisation. ● Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) is an individual virtual machine running a desktop Operating System (OS). Although there can be multiple virtual machines per a given underlying physical server, there is only one user at a time on a given virtual machine. Each user is generally assigned their own virtual machine. ● Session-Based Desktop is an individual session running inside a server OS on either a virtual machine or a physical server. There can be multiple user sessions per virtual/physical machine, and each virtual/physical machine is shared by multiple users.

VDI vs session-based desktop virtualisation In the past five years, the number of VDI users has nearly doubled, according to a recent Tech Republic survey data. VDI uses a hypervisor to run a user’s OS in a

virtual machine (VM), decoupling it from the PC host hardware. Typically, multiple VMs run on servers in a central data centre, isolating the user desktop environment from the physical device and enabling the user to access their virtual desktop from any PC or laptop computer or other access device, from any location.

Since the computing resources are centralised, management and maintenance is streamlined and easier for IT to deal with. This flexibility allows for much more mobility among employees.

VDI also requires constant bandwidth and strong network connectivity between the endpoint devices and the back-end servers, so it is not necessarily a good fit if offline mobility is required or if branch offices have slow WAN links to the data centre. And if a company plans to implement pooled VDI (the most common approach), then two systems management infrastructures are needed: one for the pooled VDI environment and one for everything else (desktop PCs and notebooks).

Session-based desktop virtualisation on the other hand, allows users to share one virtualised server desktop environment in the form of individual sessions instead of separate operating environments per user. This shared virtual desktop environment can run on servers in a central data centre or on a physical PC in a workgroup, call centre or classroom, for instance. A hypervisor is not required for small user environments (less than 100) making it extremely simple to set up and deploy compared to that of a VDI. In case of larger deployments, the shared desktop environment can run inside a virtual machine on a server. Multiple VMs on multiple servers can scale a deployment to thousands of users.

A possible disadvantage of the session virtualisation approach is that sessions are not completely isolated from one another on the server the way virtual desktops are. With session virtualisation, JULY, 2014

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and requires less computing power in the data centre.

At the same time there are some users (such as business analysts, graphic designers, doctors, software developers, etc.) with specialised requirements for high level computing, user personalisation and data storage (personal hard-disks). In this case, VDI in conjunction with a multimedia capable thin client is an excellent solution, as VDI can deliver a powerful virtual machine along with storage and software resources to meet these user’s specific needs.

In some situations, mobile users (such as sales or remote workers) often do not have a constant connection to the data centre, so offline computing is a major requirement. In this situation a mobile device (such as a laptop or tablet) and an application for synchronising user data between their device and the data centre is sufficient. the users share the OS and applications installed on the server; with VDI, each user has his or her own separate OS instance with its installed applications.

One size does not fit all The critical difference between sessionbased and virtual desktop architectures is how the OS is used with the virtual desktops. With VDI, each virtual desktop requires a complete, independent instance of the host OS (typically Windows 7) and a separate set of applications. This provides one-to-one interaction between the virtualised OS and user.

With session-based virtualisation, a single instance of the OS (Windows server or Linux OS) is utilised by multiple users, all of whom essentially have their own personalised accounts within that instance, providing a one-to-many interaction of one OS and multiple users.

While the performance and experience for the user is very similar, the administration experience is vastly different and it is worthwhile to understand how the differences between the two architectures affect them.

There are several desktop virtualisation alternatives in the market; EXPRESS COMPUTER

some virtualisation solutions were designed for large enterprises, while others are specifically designed for small to medium-sized businesses (SMBs).

Large enterprises, for example often have large IT organisations with a variety of specialised skills, and are prepared to take on more complex solutions, while many SMBs have very small IT departments (often 1 or 2 IT generalists) that must support multiple locations on a tight budget. One size does not fit all, and an SMB customer attempting to fit a solution designed for a large enterprise organisation is like fitting a square peg in a round hole. In my experience, IT Pros and business decision makers in the SMB and enterprise markets have fundamentally different requirements and profiles when deciding which IT solutions to purchase.

In addition, the type of users and use cases are also significantly different for every organisation. For example, some users (such as tech support or data entry) will have low computing and user personalisation requirements. In this situation where centralised applications are accessed by end users, session virtualisation is an optimal solution because it is low cost, energy efficient

Conclusion IT departments are turning to desktop virtualisation in record numbers to reduce the cost and resources required today, to effectively manage employees’ desktops and laptops. Among the alternative methods for desktop virtualisation, the architecture for session-based virtualisation in most cases drives higher efficiency than the VDI architecture because of its use of a single OS and set of applications for multiple users. That said, using VDI can help save time and money, provide greater defence against catastrophic failure, improve update speeds, and also provide an easy way to customise desktops for certain users or groups of users. You should consider deploying VDI when desktop flexibility is more important than immediate cost savings.

IT managers must consider their user requirements and their use cases in order to decide which solution fits best for their environment.

David Burton is Vice President of Global Marketing, NComputing.

JULY, 2014

31

COLUMN SM NAFAY KUMAIL

ITIS NOTABOUTSMAC! This article is not about SMAC. It is about the ABCD of computing as you might already know it

A. Whether you are an SME or a big one, you must have some in-house private social network. If not, it must be on the horizon as you don’t want to stop your people and other stakeholders from collaborating. You know from the pink papers and business magazines, the speed at which businesses are going social and IT companies acquiring or building the tools in-house (to further sell).

If you are not yet there and are thinking of going social ONLY NOW, here is a suggestion. Don’t just try to have a glorified intranet or hurriedly conjured up social solution. Figure out what you need, get what is best. If you want to build it, do it with the seriousness it needs.

Also, don’t pay through the roof; it is an inexpensive solution (net net). Social Computing, they say, is the S of SMAC. B. I don’t want to toss data about how enormously mobile computing is catching up. I am not even telling you how much Zuckerburg paid for WhatsApp without asking, ‘Kitna deti hai?’ So if you are not mobile-enabled, you are not just not competitive, you are also missing out on customers and suppliers, and blunting problem-solving edge of your employees.

And it is not rocket science or a costly affair to get there. That is M (Mobile Computing) of SMAC for you, if you will.

So don’t get bogged down by the hoax (also means SCAM) of SMAC.It is not an out-of-theworld technology or a novel combination of technologies; you may already be doing it in some combination or form.

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C. The other day, I bought a book on Flipkart. Now the thumbnail of a similar book follows me everywhere on the web. I am tempted to buy it. I am neither boasting how much I love to read nor claim it is something novel. All I want to highlight is that someone is analysing my forays over the web and using it to predict and pitch more similar stuff to me.

Even this reference here in the Express Computer article, which will soon be on the web (if it passes through the editorial that is), will forever remain useful information for Flipkart, the publisher of the book I bought, as well as for Amazon

and other booksellers, and publishers who have or are planning a similar book.

[Editor's note: since people are reading this article, it means it has passed the checkpost, all right] We create data points at every step of the way. None useless. Who can deny we learn from institutional memory? That we have ignored it for so long is utterly imprudent, especially in the wake of attrition rates and other major changes in people, businesses and markets. You have to first look at your own big data (I am only talking about the large data that we produce but don’t effectively collect and use. I am not throwing a jargon in here). You should learn from it and supplement it with external data analytics to make informed, timely and relevant decisions. There are enough inexpensive tools in the market to do it faster and better now. The A of SMAC is analytics for them.

D. Don’t get bogged down. If you are using Gmail as your company mail system like many are already doing, you are cloud computing. Cloud computing is nothing but computing over the web where all you data resides with an agency you hire. You have no servers, nothing. Why does a manufacturer of steel need to carry the cost of computer department, network administrators and a huge server room with better amenities than other company spaces, in perpetuity? Go cloud, cut cost, cut the flab, and focus only on what you do best. Obviously, the C in SMAC is cloud computing.

The questions answered Along the way, you will face many questions: Is it secure? It is as secure as it gets. I recall the story when the email first came to the (IT) company I then worked with. Initially, only a select few seniors got it. There were unsubstantiated fears of misuse, security, and critical data flying out. Now, no one even remembers it was once so.

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Do we need huge investments in infra, people and technology? You only spend on the solutions you buy which, I repeat, are quite inexpensive or you are not buying it right. You rather cut cost that you have been incurring—no server rooms, no network administrators. You can cut as much cost as you get savvy along the way.

Can we do without it? No, if you want to grow with the times and save a lot of money. Yes, if you don’t want to grow with the times and don’t want to leverage technology to save on cost and other hassles.

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Will our folks be able to grasp it?

Well, there is no training on how to use Twitter, Facebook, etc. Even the illiterate carpenters don’t go through any training on how to use the smartphone. So you also need no training. In fact, if a solution provider offers to charge you anything for training, you should stop the deal right there.

Cut the crap, get up and run So don’t get bogged down by the hoax (also means SCAM) of SMAC. It is not an out-of-the-world technology or a novel

combination of technologies; you may already be doing it in some combination or form. You can start using all these technologies together, use a combination of it or do it one by one. Get into consultative mode with your provider: draw up a plan together as to how best you can get there. You must, however, begin the journey now!

SM Nafay Kumail is Co-founder, Kreeo (i-nable Solutions Pvt Ltd) and co-author of e-Learning: An Expression of the Knowledge Economy (Tata McGraw-Hill, 2002).

JULY, 2014

33

COLUMN RAJESH MAURYA

BYOD: NO LONGER AN ISSUE? O If Bring Your Own Device is a growing reality of modern life, it makes sense to manage it well

The ideal scenario would be one where BYOD is accommodated and well managed,and where users do not feel a need to act in a waythat is contraryto the company’s wishes or security 34

EXPRESS COMPUTER

ne of the defining traits of globalisation is that it drives ubiquity—not just ubiquity of products, but also ubiquity of habits and attitudes. Nowhere is this more obvious than with the consumer electronics, applications and use.

Technology manufacturers view the world as a single global market split into individual sales territories, while consumers are increasingly using the same social applications, regardless of which society or country they originate from. For example, the iPad user in Japan will be using their device in the same way as their contemporaries in the UK, Argentina, Sweden. So it is hardly surprising that users’ habits, attitudes and expectations are falling in line across the world, regardless of international boundaries, local culture, or regional legislation.

Yet it would appear that the world of enterprise lags some way behind the user and is all-too-often inadequately prepared for BYOD. And with a whole raft of new connected devices emerging, this situation is set to only become more serious.

A recent Fortinet survey of Generation Y users has revealed the extent to which international attitude to own-device use in the workplace is levelling out between users, while corporate approaches to management and security are out-of-step. Conducted across 20 countries, the survey of 3,200 employees aged 21-32 showed that over the last year there has been a strong upward trend in the overall number, who view BYOD as something that empowers them in the workplace, i.e, from 26% in 2012 to 45% in 2013.

Clearly, BYOD has become a common practice around the world, with adoption assisted either through a complete lack of policy from employers (51%), or, to a lesser extent, company policy that authorises and adequately manages own-device use (32%). The latter is of

course the most desirable. If BYOD is a growing reality of modern life, it makes sense to manage it well.

Globally, just 19% of companies have policies in place that prevent own-device use in the workplace. Apart from being commercially disadvantageous in many cases, this negative response is also undermined by a strong tendency for users to contravene the company policy.

Over half (51%) of users surveyed admitted they would contravene policy banning the use of personal devices at work or for work purposes.

This last statistic is worrying, and highlights the degree to which user attitudes and corporate attitudes are misaligned. The ideal scenario would be one, where BYOD is accommodated and well managed, and where users do not feel a need to act in a way that is contrary to the company’s wishes or security.

Only then would the attitudes and expectations of users and business be in harmony, and for the benefit of both.

On closer analysis, the survey also reveals the degree to which disparity of attitudes differs around the world, with some countries, and indeed industry sectors having a more mature approach to BYOD than others.

India leads the way with 76% of users stating that their employers had BYOD policies in place. However, India also has a higher-than-average number (34%) for which the policy prohibits own-device use.

But while not perfect, at least the Indian market has recognised the scale and potential impact of BYOD and has been conscientious in its approach. This contrasts dramatically with South Korea where 61% of organisations do not have a BYOD policy and where just 10% prohibit BYOD use. The country’s own government has in the past highlighted the problem it has with cyber crime, but with such a lax approach to BYOD use, it is hardly surprising that the problem exists.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, banking and finance, IT and telecom and JULY, 2014

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manufacturing are the sectors that lead the way with regards to having a mature and conscientious approach to BYOD. These are the only sectors where having a policy allowing the use of personal devices is more commonplace than having no policy at all or having a strict prevention policy. But considering the extremely sensitive nature of the data these industries deal in, it is to be expected that they would have a more mature approach to BYOD. By contrast, agriculture/fisheries/forestry and media/publishing/broadcasting have the most lax approach, with no policy in place being common.

The emerging challenge facing the world of enterprise is not just to their approach to bringing BYOD up to speed, so it more closely matches the attitudes of users, but also of thinking about the future evolution of BYOD and new EXPRESS COMPUTER

Increasingly,BYOD needs to be approached from a network perspective if the organisation is to effectively and safely integrate it into the daily work processes connected devices and user habits. With 50% of users surveyed agreeing that new devices such as Google Glass, smartwatches and even connected cars will find a place in the work environment, the threats to the corporate network will only become more complex. The BYOD headache will not go away soon.

The Fortinet Survey is a stark reminder to organisations that own-device use is a tsunami that cannot be stopped, and subsequent potentially devastating waves created by new devices will follow. Increasingly, BYOD needs to be approached from a network perspective if the organisation is to effectively and safely integrate it into the daily work processes. This can be achieved by implementing policies, authentication and control at the user level.

By accepting the inevitability of BYOD and recognising its evolving nature, and by putting policies in place to manage it, this policy can be a far less problematic factor of the modern working environment.

Rajesh Maurya is Country Manager, India & SAARC, Fortinet.

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35

COLUMN AMIT CHATURVEDI

BIG DATA: STARTSMALL D How does an enterprise leverage big data technologies?

One strategy that might work is to think small

Contrary to general belief, enterprises or lines of businesses within large enterprises have been taking a plunge into big data by starting small 36

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espite the current buzz around the benefits of big data, the CXO community is still learning how to strategically use it. Based on my discussions with more than 25 leaders across large and medium enterprises, there is an inhibition not only due to initial investment and ROI but also a misconception that big data requires a large amount of investment, transformation and change. The essence of any good cloud strategy is that it highlights key initiatives and prioritises them based on value, cost and trade-offs.

The dilemma starts from relevance of big data usage in the organisation: does it fit into the marketing, product or brand team analytics needs or technology team’s operational data processing requirements? Would the starting point be structured internal data or unstructured data from social media?

To add to these woes, leaders must evaluate the current technology to see if the current set of technologies can support business needs and the initial investment required for transformation initiatives. There is a misconception in some sectors that big data is relevant only if the enterprise is already leveraging analytics in a traditional manner or using data from social media. This could be attributed to examples from companies like Amazon, Facebook and Google, however there are numerous scenarios where big data can do things faster and cheaper when compared to the current technologies that allow enterprises to service more customers with lesser staff.

Start small Contrary to general belief, I have seen enterprises or lines of businesses within large enterprises taking plunge into big data by starting small. While it is not surprising that the business impact of this would not be huge, this approach has given these enterprises the confidence to embrace big data.

For example, a telecom giant had all

the necessary data in disparate systems but was not using the data efficiently because of a long processing time (3-4 days). With relatively small investments in big data technologies, the data is now readily available within a few minutes.

The data is not only more useful for planned use cases but has also created huge business opportunities from the near real-time data insights.

How small can I start?

The return on investment can be calculated by considering the time, people and material required to execute the project. The general rule for IT systems investment is to get return of investment within three to four years.

Since the technology transformations have been more frequent in recent times, I have taken two years into consideration to demonstrate return on investment.

As an example, we can look at a theoretical existing IT system that is storing and processing large volume of data from disparate sources with data having potential of giving business insights. To look at the ROI, I look at an existing IT project with standard investments around software, hardware and operations. Since it difficult to measure business benefits coming out of data processing using big data technologies, I will focus on the tangible benefits from investments in cloud, required to execute medium IT system using open source technologies like Hadoop, Mahout, etc. over two years.

1) HW and software costs: IT systems play a significant part to keep things in context, I will be considering the popular big data Technology Hadoop ecosystem which runs on commodity hardware and low cost software. I have taken the cost of existing hardware and software in table 1 and replaced the same with new technologies in table 2.

2) The other significant contributor would be the implementation cost and developing employee’s new skills over JULY, 2014

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Quarters

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Capital Investments to maintain existing system Hardware

500.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

250.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Software License

250.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

250.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

50.00

50.00

50.00

50.00

50.00

50.00

50.00

50.00

100.00

100.00

100.00

100.00

100.00

100.00

100.00

100.00

Enhancements Operations / Support

Table 1: Existing Software and Hardware. All numbers in thousands USD

Quarters

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

Capital Investments to maintain existing system and new developemnt Current Hardware

500.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Current Software License

250.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

50.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

Operations

100.00

100.00

100.00

50.00

50.00

50.00

0.00

0.00

New Hardware

50.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

50.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

New Software license & Support

20.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

20.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

250.00

250.00

200.00

200.00

100.00

50.00

50.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

0.00

50.00

50.00

50.00

50.00

Implemention New Operations

Table 2: New Software and Hardware replacing existing technologies. All numbers in thousands USD

a period of time. I have added implementation costs of the new project in table 2.

3) Operations cost include ongoing operation and support for the system along with any annual software support contracts.

Assuming the cost of capital is 3% per year, the net present value of the investment is around US $2.2 million.

Now consider the same system to be replaced by big data technologies in table 2. Taking implementation cost of the new project to be US $1.1 million with minimal software license investment (only open source support considered) and commodity hardware, the first big data implementation would be coming to around US $2.5 million.

Benefits The operational efficiency would not only have an impact on productivity and labour savings but also allow enterprises to avoid expensive software and hardware costs. The direct benefits include improvement in operational EXPRESS COMPUTER

efficiency and reduction in hardware costs due to usage of commodity class hardware. The intangible benefits, apart from enterprise getting competitive advantage due to adoption of big data technologies, could be in the form of enterprises getting an opportunity to do

near real-time data analytics using historical data for business insights, launch new products, accelerate time to market and agile customer responsiveness.

Amit Chaturvedi is Director - Technology, Virtusa.

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EVENT GARTNER

Naveen Mishra, Research Director, Gartner, talking about virtualisation of mission-critical workloads at the summit

AN INCREASINGLYDIGITALWORLD D The third Gartner IODC Summit held in Mumbai had a smorgasbord of offerings for data centres and technology enthusiasts

BY JASMINE DESAI

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ata centres of today represent the changing times extremely well—something that was quite apparent at Gartner's third IT Infrastructure and Data Centre Summit held recently in Mumbai.

Addressing the keynote 'The Intelligent Data Centre - What Will Unfold Over the Next Five Years', Naveen Mishra, Research Director, Gartner said, "No longer just the guardian of legacy applications, future data centres will be the lynch-pin for enterprise agility and the benchmark of IT efficiency. This will not be done by repeating the past mistakes, but by taking advantage of new opportunities in mobile, massive data, cloud services and innovative

technologies, designs and operational models."

“The global IT infrastructure investment is expected to be almost flat in 2014 and will be primarily driven by the hyper scale and data centre modernisation initiatives,” said Mike Harris, Research Group Vice President at Gartner.

Indian IT infrastructure is poised to be a US $2.35 billion market by 2017. The keynote looked at the data centre of the future, and outlined the steps to get there.

It is no surprise that I/O is being pulled in many different directions. By 2016, 60% of the new data centres will be 40% smaller, while supporting 300% more workload. By 2020, enterprises and JULY, 2014

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government will fail to protect 75% of the sensitive data and will declassify and grant public access to it. Traditional boundaries are blurring and in the context of digital era, CIOs should take the charge.

Elaborating on the intelligent data centres, Milind Govekar, Managing VP, Gartner said, "Intelligent data centre is based on good data and the right source of data. How to turn good source of data into information, and that into knowledge and how can it be used across an organisation is the journey that an intelligent data centre will take. “Future data centres will focus on work-flow and specifically on what the work is actually doing and not where it is located. In a data centre, there are thousands of workloads and it is important to standardise those into dozens or tens from thousands. It could be compliance driven, batch driven or latency driven.

Tagging becomes important here. Over the next five years, the workload is not going to be static, as it will move across the globe, country and region. Thus, data centres will be built not to last, but for change.

Top investment areas Gartner IODC threw light on the top technology investments in 2014 that will be made by organisations. Topping the chart were IT operations management tools like DCIM and network virtualisation. This in turn, will also have a big impact on the computing power and will need the floor space.

As per the keynote, enterprise networking will be the biggest segment, with revenue expected to touch US $887 million in 2014. Data centre consolidation and virtualisation, along with cloud and mobility will be the key trends influencing network purchases.

CIOs had a lot of queries around the futuristic data centres. One of the very common ones was — wondering about whether the DC needs to be tier 3 or 4 and which is the best architecture to have?

“One standard is not fit for all. CIOs should focus on applications instead.

They should start with what sort of applications they want to put in a certain data centre,” Govekar said.

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Over the next five years,the workload is not going to be static, as it will move across the globe,country and region.Thus,data centres will be built not to last,but for change Designing the data centre Another question that they had was: How to design facilities in the data centre?

Should it be a stack or rack approach and does it have impact on energy consumption? According to Govekar, "Data centres need to be agile. But agility is not only the ability to change quickly but also safely." There needs to be the clear categorisation of applications.

There are systems of record, which is legacy where investment has been for better control and there are systems of differentiation like mobile apps.

Organisations need to see what is their data centre best suited for. A lot of organisations are adopting the cloud for fast changing applications.

Big data is still very much on minds of organisations. The Summit alluded to new designations of CDOs (Chief Data Officers) and how their role will be very critical. On the topic of big data, it was mentioned that not all information requires big data approach. Big data cannot be mined in an organisation, with the current set of infrastructure. Policies

need to be taken care of before initiating big data projects, so as not to cross the so-called 'creepy' line when it comes customer information, which might lead to serious repercussions for organisations.

Another interesting topic in connection with the demanding trend was on digital business. “Digital business has become the lingua franca of modern business, a common and unifying language around the globe,” said Partha Iyengar, Vice President and Distinguished Analyst at Gartner.

“As enterprises prepare for an increasingly digital world, CIOs must learn to tap into technology expertise across organisations and business domains. In order to jump-start the digital business activity, CIOs must identify key strategy players and possessors of the technology, business expertise both inside and outside of the enterprise and launch a digital business community of practice to enrich crossbusiness understanding,” he added. jasmine.desai@expressindia.com

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39

INTERVIEW MATT KOLON APAC, BROCADE

www.expresscomputeronline.com

Matt Kolon, CTO for APAC, Brocade, gives insights into Brocade's SDN journey, OpenFlow strategy and customer expectations in an interview to Jasmine Desai

“Organisations are unclear about what it means to virtualise the network” Do you think organisations lack the maturity to handle the SDN environment,as it is not enterprise-ready?

From the network perspective, SDN is just the initiation of virtualisation. SDN is one part of the situation. Organisations and, to a lesser degree, service providers are wary of moving the network into that space. They are unclear about what it means to virtualise the network. Network virtualisation will probably happen with network services first. Often there is talk of NFV and SDN together. NFV is likely where organisations and service providers concentrate first, because it is easier to do. They already know how to virtualise servers; therefore, they may as well virtualise some of the servers that provide network services.

Now, using network protocols and network capabilities to control the flow of information through those virtualised services, and even to control the physical infrastructure is SDN. Its quite a cutting exercise to be able to say that ‘everything is SDN inside my network right now’.

Vendor support and patchwork state of OpenFlow APIs is not considered ready for enterprise- wide implementation,but only for private cloud environments.Would you agree with that?

The progress of OpenFlow is not the same as the progress of SDN. OpenFlow is the first-born child of the SDN, and will always have a special place in the SDN story. Organisations have to ask what are they trying to do with their SDN control before they worry about the protocol. There are other protocols that are possible to have.

Depending on what organisation wants to do, they may choose a different version of OpenFlow like NETCONF. There are also some vendor proprietary ones.

Brocade’s SDN strategy is based on OpenFlow and is very different from that of Cisco’s Application Centric Infrastructure.

Can you please elaborate on this?

For us OpenFlow is a significant part of things, and even Cisco will talk about their OpenFlow support.

At Brocade, we want to make sure that the services side of it is correct. Virtualisation of 40

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network services is a more important story right now. The Vyatta software has a role to play in the SDN controller, but right now it is more valuable to customers providing VPN, firewall, application delivery. We are waiting for customers to know what they want, rather than imposing an architecture on them. We fully support OpenFlow, but that is not our primary emphasis.

SDN in a data centre should be able to do what it is supposed to,which is connecting anyto-any connectivity between two services in the same box,two VMs or two PCs.If the physical architecture of a data centre is not capable of making a good path,that communication will be sub-optimal from reliability, latency perspective

What direction do customers want to take in SDN? Customers are really interested in knowing how can they use virtualisation to buy less hardware like router, firewall, VPN box. We provide SDN capabilities in terms of services for multitenanted customers— that the service provider, a different department or an organisation has. For example, if a service provider wants to slice up a data centre and give different pieces to different customers, we have the ability to do that for them, with a network that automatically configures itself — based on services that customers are running, through signals that come from their services. That is SDN, but OpenFlow is not used to do that right now. We have a controller project under way and we are involved in the development of OpenDaylight and SDN control.

And, being able to do that, one does not require to be using OpenDaylight based controller all the time, there are lot of ways to do that.

The networking industry is becoming increasingly competitive? What direction is Brocade taking here?

We are a data centre company and it is our primary emphasis. The world is collapsing into smaller sets of larger data centres, and that is where we are focusing on. We are focused on succeeding on the software side and it presents no conflict for us. SDN in a data centre should be able to do what it is supposed to, which is connecting any-to-any connectivity between two services in the same box, two VMs or two PCs. If the physical architecture of a data centre is not capable of making a good path, that communication will be sub-optimal from reliability, latency perspective. jasmine.desai@expressindia.com

JULY, 2014

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Mahesh Bank picks Fortinet to secure its network

FORTINET HAS ANNOUNCED that Mahesh Co-operative Urban Bank has deployed its FortiGate network security platform and FortiAnalyzer-centralised reporting appliances for securing the bank’s data centre and network across 39 branches.

Mahesh Bank is said to have chosen Fortinet over competing vendors like Cisco, Check Point and Juniper.

The bank was the first co-operative urban bank in Andhra Pradesh to introduce computerisation across all its branches and remains one of the few cooperative banks that have automated its operations. Also, it was the first cooperative bank to be accorded Scheduled Status by the Reserve Bank of India (RBI).

Today, Mahesh Bank has presence in three states across India, with 39 branches nation-wide, and a turnover of over Rs 2,200 crore for its financial year ending March 31, 2014.

To comply with RBI mandates, the bank needed to deploy a resilient security EXPRESS COMPUTER

architecture to protect its network and implement centralised control over its branches’ Internet and application usage.

“The FortiGate platform carried all the security functionality we needed, while the highly qualified support team assured us that they could be the single, reliable go-to party for all our servicing needs,” said Milind Rajhans, Assistant General Manager - IT & CISO, Mahesh Bank.

Fortinet partner Digital Track provided pre-deployment support to Mahesh Bank by providing standby appliances and conducted hands-on training programs for the bank staff.

“We regularly sent them technology and solution updates and actively supported the customer even before we signed the deal. Working closely with the Fortinet team, we have clinched many big deals but the Mahesh Bank one is special because Fortinet is the only vendor securing their entire infrastructure,” said Muneer Ahmed, Managing Director, DigitalTrack.

Each of the 39 branches have deployed a FortiGate-40C appliance to extend edge security, providing secure network access via VPN. They also serve as routers to connect the branches to the Internet via MPLS. Using a centralised network security policy, the head office now has complete control of the Internet and application usage as well as transactions conducted at every branch.

The FortiGate-40C appliances at the branches are equipped with 3G connectivity in failover mode — in case the main internet connectivity fails, there will be an automatic dial-up using the 3G connection. This 3G connectivity feature according to the news release, was not available in competitive products.

The two FortiGate-300C appliances implemented at Mahesh Bank’s data centre have a virtualised framework with different security policies for Internet and Intranet users. The FortiGate solutions work together with these appliances to define common policies for users to access applications by enabling a broad range of security features including anti-virus, anti-spam, Web filtering, VPN, intrusion prevention and application control.

A FortiAnalyzer-200D centralised reporting appliance provides visibility to IT administrators by analysing the network and reporting anomalies.

“The Mahesh Bank implementation highlights that with the right architecture and solutions, smaller cooperative banks — not just big banks — can benefit from advanced security technologies. Financial services is a vital vertical for Fortinet and we are committed to investing in the skills of our staff and partners, as well as the performance of our appliances, to be up to the requirements of this demanding sector,” said Rajesh Maurya, Country Manager - India & SAARC, Fortinet.

JULY, 2014

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NComputing introduces DaaS solution aimed at service providers

MAIT’s reform agenda for Modi government MANUFACTURERS’ ASSOCIATION FOR Information Technology (MAIT) has recommended some key action areas for the BJP Government to take ICT on a global footprint, saying that although the new government will be faced with new demands and expectations, it has to look for resources and expertise to revive economic growth as also renew investments, particularly in the technology space.

While India has experienced significant growth in PC sales in the past few years, it still has IT penetration below 10%. MAIT expects the BJP to stimulate growth in the ICT segment, which would engage 4,23,500 people, contribute 2,91,700 crore to the GDP and 1,10,600 crore in taxes during the next five years.

Amar Babu, President, MAIT said, “Although Mr. Narendra Modi has actively spoken on manufacturing, we suggest his government put in place a manufacturing ecosystem immediately by ushering in policy reforms, regulatory frameworks and removing inverted duty structure to facilitate investments in the country”.

He added, “India is a difficult place to start any business, especially when it comes to enforcing contracts and obtaining building permits. India should restore confidence by addressing these issues and checking India’s miserable rank of 134 in World Bank’s ‘ease of doing business’. The government should consider lowering interest rates on corporate borrowing and 42

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a steady transformation of India’s complex tax structure.”

Debjani Ghosh, Vice President, MAIT remarked that, “Since Mr. Modi has actively advocated technology penetration and digital literacy, we wish the government build an intelligent and confident India by fostering technology adoption, sprucing up infrastructure, ensuring last mile connectivity, reduce VAT and provide access to easy bank loans in the context of ICT.” “Technology should not be treated in a silo, but should be made an integral part of all national agendas, be it education, healthcare, infrastructure, financial inclusion or even governance because only such measures will truly bolster national growth,” Ghosh added.

Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director, MAIT said, “As a first measure, BJP government should provide a climate that can enable investment promotion and build on policy measures that would accelerate the growth of domestic manufacturing. Positive sentiments will also build if hurdles are removed in implementation of many existing policies.”

He also said, “Considering the economic strength, India has experienced a significant growth in IT penetration, however, it is still very low compared to various emerging economies. We would want the Modi-led government to work on enabling policies for increasing IT penetration.”

NCOMPUTING RECENTLY ANNOUNCED a Desktop-as-a-Service (DaaS) solution designed for service providers. As per the release making the announcement, the solution will enable service providers to quickly rollout hosted desktops as a service to small and medium businesses (SMBs), with lower cost and complexity than other approaches to DaaS.

DaaS takes this to desktop virtualisation to the next level by simplifying the delivery of desktops as a service, eliminating the need for IT to build and manage a desktop virtualisation infrastructure, while enabling rapid provisioning, simple scaling and easy management of end user desktops.

Furthermore, a Server Based Computing (SBC) model is increasingly becoming the ideal DaaS approach for SMBs, where simplicity and affordability are imperative. By enabling service providers to build DaaS solutions based on a SBC model such as the NComputing vSpace platform, SMBs can now more easily realise the benefits of desktop virtualisation with a simple, powerful and affordable solution, delivered as a cloud service.

JULY, 2014

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Flipkart acquires Myntra, deal valued at about Rs 2,000 cr

MARKING THE BIGGEST consolidation in the e-commerce space in India, homegrown e-retailer Flipkart has acquired online fashion retailer Myntra in an estimated Rs 2,000 crore deal.

While the companies did not disclose the deal size, sources suggest the deal could be worth about Rs 2,000 crore.

“It is a 100 per cent acquisition and going forward, we have big plans in this segment. Flipkart and Myntra are getting together to create one of the largest ecommerce stories and together we will dominate the market,” Flipkart co-founder and CEO Sachin Bansal told reporters during an interaction with the media.

Asked about valuation, the companies declined to comment.

“We, at Flipkart, believe that we want to be leaders in every segment and 44

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fashion is a category of the future, this acquisition will help us become leaders in this category,” he said.

Sachin said Flipkart will invest US$ 100 million (around Rs 600 crore) in its fashion business in the near-term.

Flipkart, which started in 2007 as an online bookstore, sells products across categories, including fashion and electronics. It also sells white goods and furniture.

The move is expected to help Flipkart strengthen its apparel portfolio and compete more aggressively with peers like Amazon and Snapdeal.

Myntra will continue to operate as a separate entity with its co-founder and CEO Mukesh Bansal joining Flipkart board and heading the fashion business.

“It was very essential to keep Myntra

a separate entity and preserve its culture.

I’m here for the long haul and we will continue to grow in the market,” Mukesh Bansal said.

India’s e-commerce market has seen huge growth in the past few years as more people log on to the Internet to shop. While apparel and electronics are bestsellers for most e-commerce firms, categories such as home decor and household items are also popular.

The industry, estimated to be worth about US$ 3 billion currently, has firms such as Snapdeal, eBay and Amazon, which follow the marketplace model.

Led by increasing internet penetration and youngsters shopping online, Flipkart’s annualised sales crossed US$ 1 billion (over Rs 6,100 crore) a year ahead of target. It had estimated to reach the billion dollar mark for gross merchandise value by 2015.

Flipkart, which also operates under the marketplace model allowing retailers to offer products on its platform, has since its inception raised over US$ 500 million from investors.

The Bangalore-based firm, founded by Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, counts Naspers, Tiger Global, Accel Partners, Dragoneer, Morgan Stanley, Sofina and Vulcan Capital among its investors.

Last year, Flipkart raised US$ 360 million from private equity firms, one of the largest funding deals in the Indian ecommerce space.

Myntra sells products from over 650 brands like Nike, HRX by Hrithik Roshan, Biba and Steve Madden and clocked revenue of about Rs 1,000 crore in the previous financial year.

It aims to double its revenue in this financial year as it expands its seller base and adds products.

Myntra has about 100 sellers on board and plans to increase this number to 1,000 by fiscal end.

JULY, 2014

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Snapdeal on a roll, raises $100 million SNAPDEAL HAS ANNOUNCED that it has completed a new round of equity financing of US$ 100 million.

The investors in this financing include funds managed by Temasek, BlackRock Inc, Myriad, Premji Invest and Tybourne.

“We see this financing round as another endorsement of Snapdeal’s differentiated strategy and progress as India’s largest online marketplace. We are pleased to welcome several marquee global investors as our partners and believe their association will contribute to Snapdeal’s long-term success.

Facebook, Trend Micro partner to offer secure online experience IN AN EFFORT TO provide Facebook users with a more secure online experience Trend Micro has expanded its partnership with Facebook to incorporate Trend Micro HouseCall, a royalty-free security solution which will help detect malware and keep devices secure for Facebook’s more than 1 billion users.

With trillions of clicks occurring every day on Facebook, the social platform is a tempting target for spammers and criminals. HouseCall will complement Facebook’s existing systems to mitigate these threats by detecting and alerting users to malicious activity that could compromise user security and privacy.

“HouseCall will give Facebook users an additional safeguard against the malicious attacks that interacting online can bring,” said Dhanya Thakkar, Managing Director, India & SEA, Trend Micro. “We are pleased to partner with EXPRESS COMPUTER

one of the world’s leading social media networks to provide a free solution that will help protect the online security and privacy of billions of users.”

Potentially infected users are identified and notified by Facebook with the option to download the free version of HouseCall, which will check for and remove malware. HouseCall will begin its scan on affected accounts of users who choose to download the scanner, and users will be able to continue using Facebook while the scan takes place.

Once the scan is complete, a message will alert users if the cleanup was successful or unsuccessful.

“The scanning process enables users to continue to work online in a more secure environment without unintentionally sharing malicious content or being infected from unsuspecting accounts,” said Thakkar.

“HouseCall helps make social networking safer on Facebook.”

“Our mobile and internet commerce marketplace is now connecting millions of buyers to a very large base of sellers that offer products and services of national and international brands. We will continue to focus on creating life changing experiences for the buyers as well as sellers in the Snapdeal ecosystem.” said Kunal Bahl, Snapdeal’s Cofounder and CEO. This financing follows Snapdeal’s previous round of equity financing of US$ 133.77 million that was completed in February 2014 with participation from Snapdeal’s existing investors including eBay Inc., Kalaari Capital, Nexus Venture Partners, Bessemer Venture Partners, Intel Capital and Saama Capital.

Credit Suisse acted as Snapdeal’s exclusive financial advisor and Indus Law acted as Snapdeal’s legal advisor for the financing.

JULY, 2014

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Schneider Electric unveils prefabricated data centres

SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC, a global specialist in energy management, recently introduced 15 prefabricated data centre modules and 14 new prefabricated Data Center Reference Designs. The reference designs detail complete data centres scalable in 250kW to 2MW increments and meet Uptime Tier II and Tier III standards.

The new prefabricated modules are designed to deliver IT, power, and/or cooling integrated with best-in-class data centre infrastructure components and StruxureWare Data Center Infrastructure Management (DCIM) software for an easy-to-deploy, predictable data centre. The 46

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Prefabricated modules range in capacities from 90kW to 1.2MW and are customisable to meet end user requirements.

“Today’s business environment demands data centres that are increasingly more flexible and scalable with an emphasis on deployment speed,” said Kevin Brown, Vice President, Data Center Global Offer and Strategy, Schneider Electric. “Prefabricated data centres enable data centre managers to maximise the speed of business through rapid installation, easy expansion and improved cash management. This prefabricated approach inherently

increases the predictability of the build process, since most of the construction occurs in a factory instead of in the field.”

According to the company’s press release, as flexible capacity becomes critical to data centre operations, modular expansion is becoming a compelling option for data centre and facilities managers. With Schneider Electric’s announcement of a complete library of prefabricated data centre reference designs, the company believes that data centre managers looking to optimise deployment speed, performance, reliability and cost have a pre-engineered starting point to realise significant improvements in: ● Speed of Deployment – Prefabricated modules are delivered on-site preconfigured and pretested for an easy installation with a lead time of 12-16 weeks, depending on the level of project complexity. Site preparation and module production can be completed concurrently, resulting in minimised onsite construction and deployment time. ● Flexibility and Scalability – Various module options and configurations can enable the infrastructure to be deployed and scaled as needed to meet demand.

Capital spending reductions result from eliminating complicated new construction or expensive building retrofits. ● Predictability – Prefabrication and factory testing can reduce human error and on-site construction risks while improving compliance, safety, and efficiency. Design and manufacturing are closely coupled to greatly minimise uncertainty, which will result in more predictable performance of the data centre infrastructure.

The prefabricated data centre products are available for immediate ordering in India and prices will vary based on specific design and customisation.

JULY, 2014

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