The 10 Most Innovative IT Infrastructure Solution Providers 2018

www.insightssuccess.com May 2018

The

10

Most Innovative

IT INFRASTRUCTURE Solution Providers

2018

Trend Reviews Key Trends that are Driving Transformation in SaaS

Security Suggestions Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP): Proactive Backup for IT Solutions

Marc Beaulieu Founder & President

Present: A Holistic Vision of a Beautiful Era

Editor’s Note

IT Infrastructure: The Steady Backbone of an Increasingly Disruptive World

T

echnology has gripped human life similar to how the invention of fire changed our worldview thousands of years ago but only in a more chaotic fashion. After the digital disruption started in 2000, over 52% in the Fortune 500 list merged, was acquired, dropped off the list or simply went out business. The world of business is not the same anymore and in this increasingly disruptive world, businesses need to stand their ground with a steady and innovative support of IT infrastructure.

On the other hand, IT infrastructure solution providers also have a task cut out for them. Staying on top of innovation and delivering value in real time are no longer up for negotiations. This is anything but the ground reality. Hence, it is important for IT infrastructure providers to brace themselves with expert design, installation, maintenance, and personnel solutions.

The concrete part of the infrastructure solution often has some fascinating answers. During our research, Insight Success various innovative IT infrastructure solutions including ways to give voice to every employee to turn an organization into the blossoming organic entity, it is meant to be in spirit. However, often during the discussion of IT infrastructure solutions, the employee training part is not discussed in depth. This is perhaps most organizations foresee limitations to their ability to train employees. But, during our research, we were left to wonder, with the increasing technology at our disposal, can we not find more ways to explore and discover every corner of human potential.

Hopefully someday, in this increasingly disruptive world, technology will help us discover the fire inside and make an integral part of our work lives.

After witnessing the rising innovation and scalability of IT infrastructure solutions across numerous continents, Insights Success has shortlisted “The 10 Most Innovative IT Infrastructure Solution Providers, 2018,” which are using their extensive business knowledge to provide a steady backbone to support the ever growing needs of businesses in the increasingly disruptive world.

Featuring as our Cover Story is Present, which envisions a future where IT infrastructure supports organizations and employees get the much required support to balance their priorities.

The company approaches the IT infrastructure from the point of view supporting increasing growth for organizations by providing comfortable and relaxing means for employees to dedicate themselves to their work. Their vision for the future is in line with our own and we salute their journey and experiences as one of our very own.

Alongside this the magazine also includes, Scalr, which believes in providing autonomy and operational flexibility to employees to boost growth while maintaining a firm grip on compliance.

These companies are redefining the term partner firm in the context of IT infrastructure solutions. A company that has taken this newly discover imagination to a whole new level is Cyclos IT. The company provides a Mobile and online payment software platform for various financial institutes, commercial entities and organizations. If you would like to witness more innovation in this industry, you would also love to read about People Power. A company as its name suggests offers specialized in unique home offerings and helping its service provider clients to deliver them using their brand name. We have also featured a stand out company, INSTANDA which has built unique and Leading-edge cloud based insurance solutions for thousands of clients.

Also, make sure to flip through our articles, written by our in-house editorial team; as well as CXO Standpoints of notable industry personalities.

Let’s start shall we?

Ajit Balkawade

Cover Story

Present: A Holistic Vision of a Beautiful Era

08

Expert s Talk

Leader s POV

Hunting New Opportunities

RedeďŹ ning the Institutional

Taking the Business to

Desktop within

the Next Level

Capital Markets

26

16 36

46 IT Insights Top Queries to Ask Your IT Provider — Before You Do Business with Them

Tech Report The ABC in e-Commerce Communication

Contents 20

28

Cyclos:

INSTANDA:

A Transparent and State of the Art Innovation Gripping Europe

A Company Born Out of Hands-on Experience

44

34 People Power:

Scalr:

Simplifying IoT Deployment

A Unique Blend of Speed, Autonomy and Control in Hybrid Cloud Management

Articles Trend Reviews

22

Key Trends that are Driving Transformation in SaaS

Security Suggestions

30

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP): Proactive Backup for IT Solutions

Tech Outreach IT Infrastructure and the Rage

40

Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor Executive Editors Assistant Editors Contributing Editors Visualiser Art & Design Director Associate Designer Co-designer

Pooja M. Bansal Anish Miller Ajit Balkawade Jenny Fernandes Sourav Mukherjee Bhushan Kadam Kedar Kulkarni David King Amol Kamble Shubham Mahadik Shweta Ambilwade

Art & Picture Editor Paul Belin Jayant Khanna Senior Sales Manager Passi D. Business Development Manager Peter Collins Marketing Manager John Matthew Business Development Executives Steve, Joe, Alan, Rohit Sales Executives David, Kevin, Mark, Jagdish Technical Head Jacob Smile Technical Specialist Amar, Pratiksha Digital Marketing Manager Marry D’Souza Online Marketing Strategist Alina Sege, Shubham, Vaibhav K SME-SMO Executives Prashant Chevale, Uma Dhenge, Gemson, Irfan Research Analyst Chidiebere Moses Circulation Manager Robert, Tanaji Database Management Stella Andrew Technology Consultant David Stokes sales@insightssuccess.com

May, 2018 Corporate Ofces: Insights Success Media Tech LLC 555 Metro Place North, Suite 100, Dublin, OH 43017, United States Phone - (614)-602-1754 Email: info@insightssuccess.com For Subscription: www.insightssuccess.com

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Present

In the new world, the ‘postmodern’ world, we want to be happy, enjoy life, have fun at work and we want more time for our passions. It is more radical with the millenniums, but it can be observed at all ages now.

But never before have we had so many demands on us. We need to be fast and we need to do more with less, as global competitiveness increases every day, and most predictions indicate that it’s only going to get worse.

These two situations are conflicting.

How is one supposed to deliver more and more without spending their life working in an increasingly demanding environment?

Present has adapted its offer to meet today’s challenging IT demands in business and as importantly, work with individuals to deliver more and save time and stress for a more balanced life.

Present achieves this by uncovering and focusing on the dream results for its clients’ company, the department and the individuals. Then, it pulls all resources together, both internal and external, with their network of partners, distributors and manufacturers, to work towards the dream situation.

This is the holistic vision of the company for its clients and it strives every day to work with them to achieve this.

A Proven Leadership On its Way to the Next Horizon Present distinguishes itself with a unique vision and an iconic leadership.

The company is led by Marc Beaulieu, the Founder and President of the company.

over and over, englobing the saying “the one that survives is not the strongest but the one that adapts”.

Also, he knows how to make life fun to work as a team and choses people that will work well together and that create outstanding value for the client.

Thanks to a New Approach of The IT Industry

“

We set up IT infrastructures with greater agility, and much shorter response times, with the ultimate goal being to rethink the customer experience and operations as well as reinvent business models.

“

W

e have entered a renaissance era; exiting the ‘modern’ world and entering the ‘postmodern’ world. In the modern world, it was acceptable, even admired to work long hours, to sacrifice today for a better tomorrow, to be tired, to be under stress even.

Marc started out his professional career as an IT developer, where he began to see the need for IT companies to better serve their clients. His colleagues describe him as someone who never runs out of ideas and opportunities to better serve his clients. His vision constantly drives the company to reinvent business practices and stay ahead of the race to meet the requirements of its clients.

In the 27 years since the inception of Present, Marc has experienced his share of turbulent times but took the difficult times in stride and viewed them as opportunities. His track record is proof he has reinvented the offerings

In the past, IT was worshipped within the business. IT earned respect because it helped companies by saving costs, providing speed and automation to the business. But in the new millennium, IT gradually became a commodity, a service to the business and a cost center, even referred to as “the frustration center” at times.

According to Marc, “People now realise that it was a mistake and are working to put IT back as a strategic ally and a true contributor to the business”. But there are challenges: the speed of business today is so fast, and IT needs to be deployed so carefully, that there is a clash between business needs and what traditional IT can deliver.

Present works with IT in regaining speed and leadership in the business and to provide proactive ideas and solutions to grow the business and contribute to profits.

The company works on what it sees as core IT challenges such as meeting the needs of all business applications, deploying new applications faster, upscaling applications to deliver better performance, reducing IT costs and ultimately freeing up resources to help IT companies focus on innovating core products and services.

Keeping in mind that technology is both the driver and the enabler for rethinking the efficiency and even the

With such daily challenges, it’s easy to forget that applications, not infrastructure, should be their primary focus.

“

We are a team of passionate IT experts who are driven by helping our clients succeed in their projects with cutting edge technological solutions and our unparalleled experience in the implementation.

Today, it is imperative for IT to reverse the trend to truly be able to: Ÿ Ÿ Ÿ

Ÿ Ÿ

Meet the needs of all the business’ applications Deploy new applications faster Manage application requirements in terms of performance, availability and placement on site and in the cloud Reduce IT costs Free up resources and time for innovation

For IT, this means adopting, in stages, an architectural flexibility in order to dynamically place business workloads where they make the most sense.

“

The cornerstone of this strategy is the establishment of a software-defined survival of enterprises, Present works with companies of various sizes in gaining leadership by providing innovative technological approaches and solutions that deliver real value.

They provide agile IT solutions that respond to fast and evolving business demands and free up employees so they can work on projects that matters to the business.

The postmodern era now requires IT to have greater agility, and much shorter response times to their demands, with the ultimate goal being to rethink the customer experience and operations as well as reinvent business models.

But IT is still largely monopolized by the tasks associated with the maintenance and availability of infrastructures inherited from the past.

data center using hyper-converged technologies.

With their centers of expertise covering infrastructure, cloud and managed services, Present supports companies in their modernization efforts to make infrastructure as unobtrusive as possible, allowing IT to focus on what really matters: their applications.

A Difference that has a Big Impact One of the main differentiator of Present is the understanding of the visible and hidden needs and problems.

The company comes in with a different set of glasses, where it is not only responding to needs and certainly not pushing its products but laying out a plan for the bigger picture.

The company prides itself by being client centric and will do everything possible to give a world class client experience. Since it approaches things

“

The end result of our work is not only an innovative infrastructure solution but a better value and perception of IT in the business and more pride, freedom and pleasure at work.

“

problems can often become accepted as a ‘necessary evil’ but they cost a fortune in terms money and stress.

Present is stirring the pot by raising the bar with new standards and aiming to deliver everything its clients want and need. The company often goes beyond the call of duty to recognise deeper problems and possible opportunities with an objective and balanced perspective. from a totally different angle, the end result is not only an innovative infrastructure solution but a better value and perception of IT in the business and more pride, freedom and pleasure at work.

An All-Encompassing Beneficiary to Clients Present is a true contributor that has a methodology and invests the time to immerse itself in the client’s business and becomes an extended team towards their success.

The leadership at the company believes, in the end, it is a better life for everyone; for the IT team, for the rest of the people in the business that

are impacted, for the end clients that will be better served and the stakeholders because they will have better results and less problems to solve. Marc often says, “When you make a 360 analysis of the impacts of doing things differently, you actually see those elements that are so profitable, both financially and emotionally”.

Making the Industry better one Step at a Time With a combined approach based on vision, values and methodology, Present is a true partner in providing value to client’s businesses. It helps its clients by solving recurrent problems that have been around too long. Such

The company envisions a brighter future on the horizon for the industry where there is an opportunity to recreate the IT ecosystem where the client always comes first.

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Company Name

Management

Brief

Cyclos demo.cyclos.org

Henk van Arkel CEO

Cyclos is a mobile and online payment software. For banks, micro finance institutions, barters and complementary currency systems.

eleven-x eleven-x.com

Dan Mathers President & CEO

Eleven-x is a Canada based low power network enabling IoT & smart Cities.

INSTANDA instanda.com

Tim Hardcastle Co-founder & CEO

INSTANDA offers SaaS insurance software that allows clients to build, configure and launch products online within short timelines, and amend them.

Network-Value network-value.com

Chris Sargent Co-founder & CEO

Network-Value offers IT Asset Procurement, IT Asset Maintenance andIT Asset Disposition services to its clients.

Now IT Matters nowitmatters.com

Tim Lockie Founder & President

Now IT Matters specializes in Salesforce implementations for nonprofits of all sizes. It also provides the information management, tech, and strategy consulting solutions.

People Power peoplepowerco.com

Gene Wang CEO & Co-founder

People Power is a smart home services enablement company for energy, security, and care, headquartered in Palo Alto, California with offices worldwide.

Present present.ca

Marc Beaulieu Founder & President

Present offers a comprehensive package of IT services including data protection, network management, workstation perfomance, etc as an IT partner.

Signaturit signaturit.com

Juan Zamora CEO & Founder

Signaturit’s electronic signature solution allows client businesses to send and sign documents digitally and make secure transactions.

Scalr scalr.com

Sebastian Stadil Founder & CEO

Scalr provides a hybrid cloud management platform which promises security, cost-savings and efficiency for enterprises.

Works Computing workscomputing.com

Mitch Brown CEO

Works Computing helps businesses meet their enterprise IT goals through personalized services, hardware, software solutions.

About the Author Fatima Al Shirawi, Founder of The Gracious F is the leading Color Consultant in the Middle East who has been collaborating with International luxury brands through the years.

As an educator, she works with Government and Corporate Entities and Educational Institutes on delivering the Science of Colour to learners in their elds of expertise.

Fatima Al Shirawi Founder

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May 2018

New

Expert’s Talk

Hunting

Business

OPPORTUNITIES Taking The

To The Next

LEVEL

L

aunching a niche business concept in a competitive environment requires a mindset that constantly looks for new challenges to explore new ventures and set precedents. I launched a fully-fledged color consultancy business in the Middle East a decade ago at a time when the region was just establishing itself as an international hub for arts and creativity.

Many perceive color consultancy as a business that assesses individuals’ color profiles hence its association with fashion and styling. In an age where knowledge is the core driver of creativity and versatility, I have transformed the perception of this individual-centric business to a business that services key sectors that involve human interaction.

The science of color psychology is accurate to the extent that it can be used to achieve sales targets for any business. International brands have always been ahead of the game in using innovative methods to

May 2018

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drive their sales. With the Middle East being a key market for growth, I worked with these brands by utilizing the science and psychology of color to enhance the shopping experience for their target clients. From engineering the store interiors and visual merchandise to the actual selection of goods that appeal to the sophisticated buyer meanwhile standing out in a competitive landscape. Time after time the science of color did not fail our expectations.

Another important element of success is collaborating with businesses operating in different sectors. Social Media channels have made it simpler to keep up with trends which paves the way for successful collaborations to tap into new markets and challenge business’s creativity. The collaboration of businesses from different sectors has become increasingly common in this day and age, as they all aim to innovate a new experience for their customers.

Local and regional businesses are challenged to outperform as they are constantly compared to their international counterparts on social media channels and online media platforms.

The key benefit of research and keeping up with trends is understanding the challenges that businesses face, which creates the opportunity to collaborate successfully. A good example of a cross-sector collaboration would be aligning my color consultancy business with the F&B sector, which has witnessed growth in recent years, where customers are always on the lookout for the next new dining experience.

Utilizing color psychology of human behavior and people’s perception of colors was the core success factor behind such collaboration. Where the fine dining restaurant set a precedent in designing a customized menu incorporating the flavors and colors that best suit Middle Eastern diners meanwhile maintaining its French cuisine offering. Diners enjoyed the experiences that activated their senses whilst they were briefed on the psychology of color and flavors behind every course of their dinner. Thanks to the Color Affects theory, they left with satisfied taste buds and inquisitive thoughts of the color groups they belonged to.

landscape in the Middle East and having worked alongside regional and international entities, it was time to share the know-how with young minds. The Academic sector is one of the key sectors that interacts with young minds and exports knowledge. It is therefore extremely important to me to work with academic institutions by training young students from both arts and business realms on understanding the impact of color psychology and the importance of implementing it in their areas of specialization, with the aim of growing their skill sets and improving their career prospects.

Taking the business to the next level means exploring new sectors that you can work alongside with and understanding the challenges of the ever-evolving business landscape.

Confidence in your business and its offering makes that possible. It is important to highlight that deep knowledge of the new sector you plan on working with, creates a better opportunity and transforms collaborations to partnerships.

Creativity remains the core challenge to businesses across sectors. It is important to understand the psychology of the consumer and color psychology is one of the methods used to decipher consumer behavior. Commitment to your business and business counterparts is the key to sustainable success. It is important to bear in mind that along with the high risk comes rewards which is what sets your business apart from its competitors, by emerging as a key player in the market.

Color consultancy remains a niche business, yet it was eminent to hunt for opportunities that capitalize on such a science in an age where our eyes are busy with our portable devices and our minds are constantly distracted. Versatility, adaptability and venturing into new business areas has transformed the perception of my business from one that is associated with fashion and arts to a business consultancy that comprehends customer psychology, visual merchandize, and engineers interior designs of homes and stores.

Sharing knowledge is the key to growth. With over a decade of know-how and expertise in the evolving

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May 2018

10

The

Most Innovative

IT Infrastructure

Solution Providers 2018

Cyclos: A Transparent and State of the Art Innovation Gripping Europe

M

obile wallets are taking the world by storm. Whether it is for shopping, businesses purchases or paying government dues, mobile wallet offers a glimpse into the bright future of finance. It provides customers with a thorough record of transactions, unparalleled level of convenience. However, there still remains some legitimate concern in the market about digital wallets.

There exists a lot of competition among various private players, and there is also a grim possibility of a possible conflict of interest between a mobile wallet platform and a business that is potentially at its mercy.

Unlike others, Cyclos has moved past these major concerns to deliver a groundbreaking non-profit digital wallet venture. Being a non-profit business, it allows the organization to deliver a competitive low cost product and spread across multiple countries without a delay. Cyclos has its offices in The Netherlands, Brazil and Uruguay.

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An Achievement Wrapped in Numerous Hallmarks Cyclos’s journey so far is a testimony to pure dedication and consistency towards its objectives. The company has won numerous recognitions from prestigious entities, who further verify the success of the company and its numerous hallmarks. An ideal example would be when the company won ETA’s E-pay Innovation award back in 2014 to establish itself as a leading market player.

The company went onto add nearly 10 million end-users in 2016.

Additionally, it also won a prestigious prize from the Gates Foundation and the European Union.

The company received a special mention in the EU vision 2020 for aiding several key programs, like spreading social benefits.

Additionally, in the high end European market, the organization provides a new approach to enable access to credit for companies that up till now are not served. In the approach clients for credit are linked to their supply chain are smartly

connected to increase their sales.

Cyclos also provides a marketplace for businesses to reach customers.

Over the years, Cyclos has empowered several key shareholders in the market including small banks, barter trade clients and MFI’s to build a stronger economy for the future.

Distinguished Features and a Unique Approach Cyclos has launched various products in a market which continues to redefine mobile banking. Its premier product is the Cyclos 4 PRO, which payment platform can serve groups and sub-groups of businesses.

It is based on JAVA enterprise and can be installed on a private server.

Both the application servers as well as the database server are fully clusterable. It offers mobile banking which embeds the latest banking solutions including mobile app, SMS, USSD, IVR, online banking and many more. The product also contains special features and technology to increase the impact of expenditures in regions where the economy underperforms, in line with

May 2018

“

Cyclos will keep on

creating the most up

to date, highest quality affordable software.

the larger vision of its parent organization, Social Trade Organization (STRO) The aim of STRO is to make money more effective, just and sustainable, and available where needed. Based on that vision Cyclos appeals to various stakeholders in the marketplace. For example, Cyclos enables small banks to deliver poor clients high level services by providing them with cost-effective state of the art on-line banking, SMS banking, POS and mobile banking services. This contributes towards building a strong banking sector, and in return Cyclos continues to experience incredible growth from serving their users including small banks, large organizations, businesses, micro finance institutions, government agencies and educational institutions as well.

A Leadership that Turns Challenges into Opportunities During the 1980s, the leadership at Cyclos anticipated that IT

May 2018

”

applications would change the very nature of money. Hence, in order to be a part of this innovation, an intensive R&D program was started, which resulted in Cyclos software.

Henk van Arkel, the CEO of the organization led it with his courageous beliefs. His slogan for diving into the unknown territory of innovation was that – “a problem is merely a not yet found solution.” The organization applied the theory in practice for twenty years and created a wide-variety of innovative monetary solutions.

Cyclos leadership continues to this day, to respond to growing and emerging trends in the financial market. One such growing trend is Blockchain technology. While currently, the connection between the assumed worth of BlockChain and its productive capacities is debated, Cyclos mixes technologies new and proven, centralized and decentralized based on proven performance.

Hence, Cyclos leadership continues to emphasize on creating payment

Henk van Arkel CEO systems which reinforce regional economies and decreases speculation.

Cyclos continues to emerge as a key and unique player in the global financial market. The management at Cyclos also has its sights set on a bright future ahead. The organization expects to reach hundreds of millions of users based on its recent success and advancements. This user base will gradually be offered options yet not available in the market, such as counter-cyclical credit technology and technology that increases the impact of money. Cyclos ultimately aims to help circulate the large proportion of the 500 billion dollar remittances market more effectively in order to allow the creation of hundreds of millions jobs as a real possibility with the the increase of the recirculation.

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S a a S

May 2018

Trend Reviews

S

aaS or Software as a Service is a current phenomenon in the world of technology nowadays. It is an on demand, cloud-based delivery model for software applications. Over the years, SaaS has grown quite steadily.

However, these solutions are becoming more and more popular nowadays, thanks to the advantages of cloud computing and rage of benefits it offers. When it comes to SaaS, a service provider hosts the application at a remote location, and the user can access that by using a webbrowser. With the years to come, usage of SaaS is only expected to grow even further. So, here we are listing out few trends that can eventually shape the industry later on.

Considering the effectiveness of SaaS, it has grown ahead itself to something new termed as XaaS model (Everything as a service). Nowadays the majority of manufacturers and channel partners are using pay-as-you-go models to compute their organizations as they welcome the latest technology through cloud based services. It is believed that XaaS will bring more innovations to cloud-based businesses.

According to the latest industry trends, few organizations are trying to migrate their data to cloud software and platform services. However, few of the companies are seeking for service resolutions in order to merge within the current infrastructure to make it better. With the presence of legacy systems and concerns related to data security, the responsibility completely lies on SaaS MSP, when it comes to full integration without leaking any critical data.

With the constantly evolving technology market, soon DaaS (Data as a Service) will have a significant presence.

The main idea of DaaS is to help organizations with the wide variety of cloud based data at very minimal cost so that organizations can become smarter when it comes to decisions related to strategy planning.

systems in 2017, among all the respondent’s 10 percent are currently beta-testing apps and 21 percent are looking to add team members with mobile application and device management skills. With the growing usage of mobility, organizations are saving costs, and now they can work remotely and can increase customer response time.

Artificial Intelligence will play a big part soon. Last year, Google Home, Amazon Alexa, and Siri’s Macbook debut brought AI personal experience within reach of people. The same trend can be anticipated this year when home enhancement and simplification is the key trend. For example, there will be developments in everyday activities such as switching on lights, opening, and closing of garage doors, switching sir conditioning on and off, etc. All these will be possible with the help of a smartphone.

According to a recent study, till date, more than 75 percent enterprise don’t possess a complete organization cohesive cloud strategy. Without the clarity into what software employees are using for their day to day processes, CIOs are failing to regulate processes, create plans, and preserve a critical business data. So, to discover various shadow IT departments, soon SaaS discovery tools will function to alert organizations and to find solutions.

Within a very short period, an increasing number of financially powerful cloud application MSP’s are advancing above the mark of $50 million mark. Which is eventually helping them to produce a surplus of venture capital firms who are on the lookout of making new investments. The result is an explosion in the sector of SaaS, however, soon the funding will become increasingly controversial.

SaaS applications are easy fit for small businesses and startups, where deploying and managing on-premise infrastructure is not a great idea. According to recent research, more than 6,000 European organizations, which range from pre-startups to established small businesses found many growth options. Whereas more than 64 percent of the survey respondents were already using the cloudbased software. By 2017, the percentage is expected to grow up to 78 percent. As per the research, financial management, project management, customer management, and marketing are the key areas where the organizations are seeking support from SaaS vendors.

Security will play a very important role in the upcoming days. With the rise of smartphone users, now cyber offenders have multiple entry points for security breaches, exposing personal and enterprise networks. As mentioned, remote working exposes employees to public open spaces with unencrypted networks making them more vulnerable to various threats. Nowadays malware can be injected in all kind of devices, which can eventually intercept the transferred data leaving more to be protected. So, with more and more innovations one can easily expect increased So, here are some of the key trends of SaaS, that can security solutions in the upcoming years. eventually change the market. However, we still expect more and more SaaS companies to expand their limits and Soon smartphone-friendly apps are going to be norm in move into different segments while evolving from single the industry. Thanks to the growing usage of smartphones product services to platforms. and tablets amongst the employees and customers.

According to recent survey, 35 percent of respondents said that they are planning to increase spending on mobile

May 2018

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Omnichannel Agent and Customer Engagement Solutions Simplify and personalize the customer experience, empower agents and achieve business success with one workspace for all channel interactions, application integrations, and CX reporting.

Redefining the Institutional Desktop within Capital Markets

Dan Schleifer Co-founder ChartIQ

E

ntire organizations are driven on technology that no longer meets the expectations of end users.

Particularly in the financial space. Financial institutions have notoriously struggled to keep pace with technology. Many, if not all, desktops that power Wall Street are programmed in what are now referred to as “legacy” languages: Java, .NET, and C++. This becomes increasingly problematic the longer they sit there. The degradation of user experience and functionality creates serious consequences for a product (and the bottom line), especially when compared to their modern counterparts.

The rise of modern UX and UI has fundamentally changed the way business leaders and organizations think about product development. As technology evolved over the years, so did consumer expectations. Engineers improved their methods and craft, better products were delivered, and consumers reaped the benefits of an interactive, intuitive UI that delivered a great UX. However, that same deliverable quickly conditioned and influenced users’ expectations, making it even harder for engineers to keep pace. Users want and expect a beautifully designed, modern, interactive experience on any device, anywhere.

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In today’s world of hyper expectations, user experience must be the leading driver in determining product strategy.

Web technologies—HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript to name a few—are what deliver the modern UX that users have come to expect. These technologies came and conquered.

They’re responsible for the “mobile first” and cloud movements that transformed businesses around the world.

Web technologies have had such a big impact on the bottom line that they are now a cornerstone of any great company or product strategy.

But the financial space is always a little tough. Developing tools for financial professionals isn’t the same as building a taxi service app, a chat platform, or a food delivery app.

The needs of financial professionals—analysts and traders in particular—are far more complex and require technical sophistication and industry-specific intel.

With help from experts in the field, institutions began to deliver the experience modern users demanded. Web technologies played a huge role as devices proliferated and May 2018

Leader's POV cross-platform technology became essential. But through all of this, there was one device and tool that was overlooked: the desktop trading terminal. The last mile of web technologies is bringing their inherent advantages to the institutional desktop trading station.

The desktop is king in the financial industry thanks to its sheer power, performance, and efficiency. Right now a proprietary terminal sits on the desk of 325K of the most influential decision-makers in finance. Close your eyes and imagine the trading floor full of paper tickets and runners.

One of the first industry revolutions moved Wall Street from print to computers. And now, we’re in the midst of another great revolution as HTML5, CSS, and JavaScript are being applied to financial technology.

Power users in finance need access to a lot of data—and quickly. This explains the large investment in the desktop computer and 12+ monitor setup. But what if you could take all the data within those monitors and have each monitor’s contents talk to each other, fit on one screen, or stretch out across many screens depending on your preference? What if you could fill multiple areas on your screen with the data that mattered most to your own organization? And what would happen to your business if you could integrate your legacy and native applications into the same platform as your modern web technologies? AND they could all interoperate? This is the future of the desktop: one experience powered by many apps. Its smarter, better-looking, and more powerful. And it’s finally here.

Financial firms employ thousands of desktop apps for trading, market research, and collaboration. They can be modern or legacy apps. They can be licensed from thirdparty vendors or built in-house.They can be built with different technologies such as Java, .Net, Angular, or Flash.

But no matter the situation, financial institutions are faced with a hodgepodge of disparate, splintered applications across the entire organization, and definitely on the user’s desktop. These apps might provide insight and power and individually be great, but they’re just a single app on a page, unaware of its surroundings.

Within the last five years, software frameworks called containers have given us the ability to have multiple types of applications work together on the desktop, regardless of language. The latest tech development is building advanced functionality on top of the container, because the container isn’t enough. When HTML5 and JavaScript are used on top of a container, they can leverage APIs, a microservice architecture, and modern functionality to bring users a new platform experience—an open terminal experience.

steeped in legacy architecture, a chance to preserve the current apps that power their business while simultaneously building forward in HTML5. The open terminal accomplishes this by making it possible for organizations to embed their own native applications into a modern, interoperating platform that connects and syncs data. The final product is the functionality that end users want. And that’s been a long time coming for Wall Street’s darling: the desktop. Your choice of data and components. All working seamlessly together.

“The move to bring powerful web functionality and integrate disparate systems into a unified user experience is redefining the institutional trading terminal as we know it.”

Individual windows can be easily connected with the touch of a button so that they communicate with one another and synchronize data. This allows for a federated approach, where components are loosely coupled, but integrated into a unified whole. With these new developments, organizations can, for the first time ever, reduce their dependence on the proprietary terminal and choose the data that is relevant to their organization. When data sources are interconnected, synchronized, and organized to best meet the end users’ needs... the entire workflow is made efficient.

At ChartIQ, we’ve been working with HTML5 for years to guide large financial institutions through the inevitable upgrade process. We built our open terminal platform, Finsemble, to help these same institutions deliver a compelling and efficient user experience on the desktop.

Finsemble is a middle road between the powerful-but-rigid legacy environment and the dynamic-but-constrained browser environment. APIs allow window communication and syncing, and client-side integration is fast and easy. You can learn how to start revolutionizing your desktop trading terminal at chartiq.com With Finsemble, customized workspaces and workflows are quick to assemble for developers. And they are flexible, so the unique requirements of each and every organization are individually met. Embedding native applications into an HTML5 environment allows these large, legacy-driven orgs to finally deliver the best possible user experience.

About Dan Schleifer Dan Schleifer is a Co-founder of ChartIQ, a front-end software company that specializes in HTML5 functionality and APIs for capital markets clients. ChartIQ provides tools that make migrating and updating to modern interfaces easy for large financial institutions. Learn more at chartiq.com

An open terminal experience is exactly what financial institutions need to solve the headaches associated with their outdated technology. It allows large organizations, May 2018

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10

The

Most Innovative

IT Infrastructure

Solution Providers 2018

INSTANDA: A Company Born Out of Hands-on Experience

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ou can be forgiven for believing that the world of insurance is staid and boring; the industry is generally regarded as one of the most passive of all.

However, you would be wrong, and the reason would be INSTANDA.

commercial scenario with sophisticated ratings and extensive documentation to simple gadget options. The distribution phase is as user-friendly and compatible with any distribution channel(s) across multiple brands, currencies, languages, and tax regimes.

Who are INSTANDA? INSTANDA is an insurance software provider challenging the status quo. It has created a state of the art SaaS (Software as a Service) insurance software platform that allows you to build your products from scratch, configure them to suit you and your clients, and then launch them online at drastically-shortened timescales.

Amendments no longer require weeks or days – they go live within minutes.

No templates mean no limitations.

INSTANDA is bringing the age of the off-the-shelf, one-size-fits-all model to a close.

This leading-edge cloud software has completely revolutionized how the insurance industry operates. Fifteen of the world’s largest carriers in the U.S., Canada, Latin America, U.K. and Europe are already using INSTANDA software, and the company is fielding widespread interest from many others.

INSTANDA’s appeal lies in its unrivaled versatility, a characteristic that is literally unheard of in insurance.

The platform’s users have the power to configure any product in any way they want, from the most complex

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Leadership Matters The man behind this extraordinary rethink is INSTANDA’s Co-founder and CEO, Tim Hardcastle.

Tim has a long and distinguished career in the insurance and underwriting industry. He has held positions of leadership at FTSE 10 and FTSE 250 corporations, where his commitment to fusing technology with insurance has earned him widespread recognition and regard.

Prior to founding INSTANDA, Tim was the CIO at Hiscox and has worked on strategic consulting programs for major insurers like Chubb, Arthur J. Gallagher, and JLT. This accomplished background and the lessons learned at these prestigious institutions form the foundation on which Tim has built INSTANDA’s stunning success.

Identifying Challenges Two major limitations contribute to the bulk of the challenges faced by the insurance industry.

The first of these is that the arena is dominated by legacy systems that are typically three to four decades old. In almost any other industry, they would be relics from a bygone era; they are incapable of meeting the needs of consumers in today’s digital world.

It takes them an enormous investment of time, manpower, and money to get a product live.

The other significant factor is the difficulty in replacing these legacy systems. A typical implementation takes between two and four years, and costs tens of millions of dollars.

Complicating matters further is the reality of the ‘change freeze’ that necessarily occurs during such implementations.

As a result, insurance providers are acutely averse to change.

INSTANDA gives every insurance company the ability to conquer both these obstacles with a single low-cost, easily-applied option. The product development and release lifecycle is shortened to days while there is no

May 2018

“

Today we are a dynamic team of

diverse, experienced practitioners and subject matter experts.

Our developers and designers work alongside senior consultants to deliver large-scale technical projects for major insurance providers.

change freeze to limit flexibility and innovation.

The savings of time and other resources are phenomenal.

Overcoming Challenges INSTANDA’s innovative design philosophy helps it address challenges that have plagued the insurance industry for a generation. Using a combination of cutting-edge technology and inventive problemsolving, it is helping insurers reimagine what is possible.

Here are four key factors that drive its success.

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innovative design teams in the industry. They have created a platform that addresses the inherent complexity of varying regulatory and compliance guidelines, fluctuating appetites for risk, and inconsistent information presentation formats.

Customer Experience The modern consumer is choosy and willing to take their business elsewhere if they believe their needs are not being adequately met. By giving them unprecedented flexibility to choose exactly what they want, INSTANDA helps insurers retain their old customers and attract new ones.

Straight Through Processing (STP) Given that the world is increasingly relying on instant connectivity to make purchases, INSTANDA was designed with a focus on online/self-service interaction. Its end-to-end STP model provides limitless scale, reach, and delivery at marginal cost.

Flexible Product Distribution The INSTANDA platform can handle any number of products over any number of channels or market segments, and each is under the direct and instantaneous control of the business user. This flexibility can be delivered directly to the consumer or via an intermediary.

Self-Service and Control INSTANDA has gathered what is arguably the most experienced and

An Upward Trajectory When INSTANDA began work on their proprietary platform, they had

May 2018

Tim Hardcastle Co-founder & CEO only a few dedicated developers. That, it has today transformed into a team of 60 full-time employees.

Very early in their journey, the company was accorded lifetime membership of the Microsoft Accelerator’s global Alumni Program.

Another resounding success came when the company was one of just 175 from a pool of 8,500 start-ups selected by the world’s biggest start-up accelerator, Plug and Play Tech Center, for their InsurTech program in early 2017.

Over the last year, INSTANDA saw a fivefold increase in the number of live clients on its platform. The rise in the number of products those clients offer was even more significant – a 5,000% increase from 8 to 400.

With such major achievements marking its still-young journey, INSTANDA is perfectly poised to be one of the key players that will shape the insurance sector for a long time to come.

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Proactiv Backup for

A

Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is a business process that describes how work can be resumed quickly and effectively after a disaster. Disaster recovery planning is just a part of business continuity planning and applied to the aspects of an organization that rely on IT functions. It is a quick and informative solution used as a proactive backup for IT Infrastructure.

The creation of a DRP begins with a DRP proposal for upper-level management support. An Information Technology DRP is developed through the combination of a business continuity plan. The strategies covered under technology recovery process are developed to restore hardware and application solutions with the business data recovery process.

However, in companies, employees use electronic mail and Voice over Internet Protocol (VOIP) telephone systems to communicate. Also, Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) is used for transmitting data which include orders and payments information generated from one company to another.

Foremost Objectives of DRP The objective of a Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is used to minimize the downtime and data loss. The primary objective is to protect the organization in all events where all of its operations and computer services are rendered unfeasible. The plan minimizes the disruption of operations and ensures the level of organizational stability & order to

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May 2018

Security Suggestions

recover after disaster immediately.

The two major concepts that measure minimizing downtime and data loss are Recovery Time Objective (RTO) and the Recovery Point Objective (RPO).

The RTO is based on time component of the business process.

Business must be restored after a major incident has occurred in order to avoid unacceptable failure. The process is associated with a break of time continuity under business process. And the RPO is the age of ďŹ les which is recovered from backup storage for normal operations to resume if a computer, system, or network goes down. The process is thus the maximum acceptable amount of data loss measured in time.

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The standard form of Disaster Recovery Plans The Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is distributed in three basic strategies where features are covered in all these plans: 1. Preventive Measures 2. Detective Measures, and 3. Corrective Measures.

The Preventive Measures is featured process which prevents its functionality before disaster take place. This process measures risk factors and reduces risks. The Detective Measures is the process used for identifying the presence of any unwanted events within the IT infrastructure. Its main aim is to uncover new potential threats and detect or uncover unwanted events.

And Corrective Measures includes

protecting critical documents used under DRP or securing proper insurance policies.

Devising Techniques with Expertise Geoffrey H. Wold, a well-known author describes disaster recovery in his journal in a signiďŹ cant manner.

He describes the complete process through distinctive techniques. These techniques are derived from a various combination of information and procedure used in a recovery system.

Obtaining Top Management Commitment A successful DRP is the foremost responsibility for the plan lay on top management. Organization management ensures its functionality within the organization and also

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consider as its recovery plan. The process is also responsible for allocating adequate time and resources required for the development of an effective plan. Also, management used these considerations with both financial and personal involvement.

Enforcing Planning Committee A planning committee is basically appointed to manage development and implementation of the recovery plan. It includes representatives from all functional areas of the organization. The key committee members customarily include the operation’s manager and the data processing manager.

Performing a Risk Valuation The risk assessment process evaluates the safety of critical documents and vital records. Usually, the fire is the greatest threat to an organization. It is an important aspect to assess the impacts and consequences resulting from loss of information and services. The organization analyzes the costs related to minimize the potential exposures.

Enlarging Priorities for Processing and Operations In organizations, each department is concerned with critical stages. Enlarging priorities is an important factor because no organization possesses infinite resources and criteria for safety. It must be set to allocate resources first for safe recovery. Some of the areas often review during the prioritization process through functional operations, key personnel, and their functions along with existing

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documentation, historical records, and the departmental policies and procedures.

Assertive Recovery Strategies During this stage, DRP is a most practical way for processing information about disaster generated through research and evaluation. All aspects of the organization strategies includes, physical facilities, computer hardware and software, communications links, data files and any other processing operations.

Gathering Business Database Information In this phase, a collection of data is an important aspect of the whole process which is carried out through a recovery system. Data gathering materials and documentation often includes various lists, inventories, and documentation. After Data gathering process, organizing its functionality is a better data recovery plan.

Reaching Out to the Goals The DRP gets approved by the organization’s management when a plan is in the form of written and tested. Management is responsible for enhancing the policies, procedures, and responsibilities of planning, reviewing and documenting such reviews in writing.

However, Disaster Recovery Plan (DRP) is safe, quick and easy accessible solutions for all IT Infrastructure and Business solutions which protect enterprise’s data, employees and business with an effective medium of solution globally.

May 2018

10

The

Most Innovative

IT Infrastructure

Solution Providers 2018

People Power: Simplifying IoT Deployment umanizing the Internet of Things (IoT) isn’t easy but one company has placed that goal at the center of everything it does.

H

opportunities, and is leading the next wave of AI and IoT developments by revamping the technology behind smart home solutions.

People Power is an award-winning IoT software company that specializes in helping service providers deliver differentiated connected home offerings through their brands. They enable digital service providers, retail energy providers, telecoms companies, and manufacturers to rapidly connect, engage, deliver, and manage IoT devices and programs.

Gene was previously the Chairman and CEO of Bitfone, an industry leader in mobile phone device management which was sold to Hewlett-Packard. He also served as CEO and Chairman at Photo Access, which was bought by Agilent in 2000. Gene led Computer Motion, a leading medical robotics firm, through a successful IPO in 1997 as its CEO.

Its solutions are built with the future proofing and flexibility that IoT demands. By bringing Artificial Intelligence (AI) to IoT for recurring revenue in security, energy, and home care services, People Power solves real challenges for people every day.

As an Executive Vice President at Symantec, Gene managed four divisions and helped more than double annual sales. As VP and General Manager at Borland, he drove development and sales of C++ to more than a million users. Gene is also the co-founder of Gold Hill Computers, an Artificial Intelligence company.

A Committed Leader Gene Wang is the CEO and Cofounder of People Power. He is committed to the development of meaningful, differentiated IoT solutions that address high-growth

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Entering the Segment Despite People Power’s current domination of the segment, it was not initially a part of their business plan.

The company just happened to recognize an untapped niche - helping service providers create recurring revenue streams by offering new valueadded services to their existing customers.

This new B2B2C game plan has allowed People Power to diversify and expand through service providers rather than build a consumer brand from the ground up. The company now leverages the respected brand power of its customers to deliver white-label energy, security, and care to consumers.

Meeting Challenges Head-On People Power started out trying to help solve consumer energy efficiency challenges through mobile solutions.

They quickly realized that businesses and building managers also wanted to control energy costs and reduce their own carbon footprints. Meanwhile, utilities providers had to meet government mandates to include renewable energy sources and reduce demand through energy efficiency.

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Our AI-based IoT services incorporate machine

learning algorithms while operating in the background of your life.

With its global workforce, the company was able to create value and deliver award-winning user experiences to people around the world. It designed and delivered breakthrough energy efficiency projects for clients from Cape Cod to Hawaii, while helping consumers better understand how to save energy at home.

People Power’s next venture was smart home security with its free Presence app. Such innovative products and services resonated with both consumers and service providers but it was too early for widespread adoption as IoT was still a nascent technology.

Today, the Presence app has been downloaded over 1.5 million times and sent more than 190 million video alerts.

People Power is also serving some of the world’s largest service providers, including Origin Energy (Australia), Innogy (Germany), China Mobile (China) and tier-1 US-based retail

May 2018

”

energy providers with white-label connected home solutions.

They continue to innovate and help service providers quickly add energy, security, and care services to their product portfolios.

An Exciting Future People Power’s IoT system introduces machine learning and true intelligence into the connected home, something that no other company has yet been able to do. It enables service providers to offer unique microservices to consumers while shifting revenue models from hardware device sales to recurring service revenues, the Holy Grail business model for IoT initiatives.

People Power has recently entered into a commercial partnership with one of the largest utility providers in the United States to launch a total home and lifestyle security solution. Smart homes and security will meet to create smart security.

Gene Wang CEO & Co-founder Another partnership and a U.S. government grant are allowing the company to delve deeper into utility and program management. It is also working with Stanford ChangeLabs to better understand consumer behavior and then design and deliver services that they truly need and want.

There are countless opportunities for IoT to completely revamp the smart home, energy, security, and care industries. The organization is completely focused on delivering highly-personalized, AI-powered solutions to automate desired outcomes.

People Power is working with service providers to help consumers monitor and reduce their energy consumption in ways they couldn’t before. It is simplifying how people safeguard their homes with smart home security and helping the elderly live more independently.

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Top Queries to Ask Your

Before You Do

Provider —

Business with Them

A

nyone can say that they offer IT services. But are they providing the right kind of service for your business? It’s important to ask the right questions when making your decision. We have compiled a list of queries for you to ensure you have the tools to identify if the IT provider of your choice can truly fulfill your needs.

You need to make sure that the IT provider is competent and experienced in serving your organization, puts your needs above all else, and has the tools and resources to get the job done securely and efficiently.

How Long They Have Been in the Business According to the US Small Business Administration, roughly 50% of small businesses fail within the first 5 years. It’s important to be able to trust and rely on the company of your choice. It’s important to know how long they’ve been in business as well as how successful they have been over that time as it will give you a better assessment of their ability to fulfill your needs.

The Type of Insurance They Have If the company doesn’t have insurance and something goes wrong or someone gets hurt, they may not have the finances on their own to salvage everything.

Prior Experience in the Vertical If they’ve only focused on companies entirely unrelated to how you handle your business, they may not have as much expertise or insight as an IT provider that has had many different clients in a variety of industries.

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IT

If They Provide Onsite Support or Outsourced Support The best IT providers staff their own helpdesk support onsite, at their office, so they can train them, keep their certifications updated, and make sure they have good people working for them. It should be important to them that their staff has intimate knowledge of what your business does and their client base in order to provide the best assistance and customer service possible.

What Their Support Hours Are You want to make sure there is always someone there to help if something goes wrong, no matter when.

Emergencies don’t wait until the weekend or holiday is over. The best IT providers have ability to help you 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Measure Customer Satisfaction A quality IT provider should be calling clients and performing surveys. The clients chosen should be random (not just their happy clients.), and should rate their customer service experience on: reliability, performance, security, problem resolution, friendliness, professionalism, and timeliness.

If They Have an Out Clause After signing the contract with an IT provider, you may find after some time that they are not a good fit for you. What happens then? Are you stuck in a long-term contract with them anyway? Or do they have any sort of Out Clause in their contract that will allow termination if your needs are left unfulfilled.

May 2018

IT Insights

Usage of Up to Date Technology If your IT provider uses outdated technology and aren’t always keeping their eyes open for new technologies, they may not have the capability to do the job right. And don’t just take their word for it – make sure they can prove it.

Guaranteed Response Time It’s important to have a good idea of how long it takes the provider to tackle whatever issues your technology may come across and make sure it’s within a reasonable time frame. The right IT provider should offer you a Service Level Agreement (SLA). The SLA indicates the response time that their team guarantees.

Use Two-Factor Authentication You want to ensure your IT provider is using the most advanced methods possible to keep your data secure. TwoFactor Authentication is an extra layer of security that requires not only a password and username but also something the user has on them, such as a pin, fingerprint, ID card, etc.

Secure Storage of Important Data and Passwords A capable IT provider has the latest security features to ensure your personal information is kept safe. If you can’t trust an IT provider to keep their systems secure, can you trust them to protect yours? The right IT provider will store all passwords in a password repository system which requires 2-factor authentication. They should also have procedures in place in case of an employee termination to ensure there is no risk of unauthorized access.

3rd Party Penetration Testing of Their Business Many IT providers may offer business penetration and security tests, but have they been tested themselves? Many IT providers have not had their own systems tested by a 3rd party. Others who have been tested have found that they are not as secure as they advertise themselves to be.

Choosing the right IT provider is not an easy decision.

There are numerous factors that need to be considered that should not be taken lightly. Using the questions above will be very helpful in the vetting process to separate the strong contenders from the rest and assist you in making a final decision with confidence.

May 2018

Christopher Coluccio CEO & Co-founder

About the Author Christopher Coluccio is the CEO & Co-founder of Techworks Consulting, Inc. From his early years, Chris had a love of computers, coding his first program at the age of 8. He went on to study Computer Science at Dowling College.

During that time, he worked on projects such as the “Big Dig” in Boston and large construction projects in Manhattan. He went on to become the IT Administrator of one of the largest print manufacturers on Long Island. It was around that time that he met his business partner, Keith, and the building blocks of Techworks began. Incepting in 2002, he was able to make their dream a reality.

Chris is widely-recognized for his vigorous advocacy of technological innovations and high standards for quality support and services.

Having over 20 years of experience in the IT industry, Chris has worked with numerous companies spanning various industries providing services to keep their organizations running smoothly and securely. Chris is also the co-chair of the HIA-LI Technology for Business Committee.

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IT Infrastructure and the Rage

I

nnovation is taking two things that already exist and putting them together in a new way, and when we talk about innovations in the IT infrastructure, it is going leaps and bounds. This industry has been booming ever since the advent of technology and the widespread acceptance it has received. Basically, IT infrastructure is mixture of the ďŹ rm’s hardware, software, networks, data centers and related equipment to develop, test, operate, monitor, manage and/or support information technology services.

Components of IT Infrastructure Information and Communication technology (ICT) is accelerating ever since personal computers came into the picture. IT infrastructure is a set of components required to run a tech enterprise. The main components include Network Switches which provides connectivity between

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network devices, Routers which help devices connected on different LANs to communicate, Firewalls are the protectors at the edge of network, Servers allow multiple users to store share and view their resources, Physical Plants are all the network cabling, Software Infrastructure and Data Center are the location where all the servers are situated.

Types of IT Infrastructures The most commonly used and widely acknowledged discipline is the converged infrastructure (CI). It operates by grouping multiple information technology components into a single, optimized computing package. CI comprises of various information technology components into one complete package. Parts of CI include hardware, software, servers, data centers, IT infrastructure and networking equipment.

May 2018

Tech Outreach

Converged Infrastructure primarily focuses on reducing the costs that are associated with cabling, cooling, floor space and power. CI combines storage and computation into a single physical appliance that is small, dynamic and powerful.

allotting these resources on-demand via programmed tools.

This allows for freight balancing and is a more proficient approach than keeping enormous computing resources in backup to run chores that take place, for instance, once a month, but are otherwise under-utilized.

Another type of IT Infrastructure is the dynamic infrastructure. It is an IT paradigm concerning the design of data centers so that the underlying hardware and software can respond dynamically to changing levels of demand in a more efficient manner. The basic premise of ‘Next generation data center’ is to leverage pooled IT resources to provide flexible IT capacity, enabling the allocation of resources in line with demand from business processes.

Taking IT infrastructure up a notch is the hyper-converged infrastructure. HCI is a software-defined IT infrastructure that virtualizes all of the essentials of orthodox “hardwaredefined” systems. It runs on COTS servers. HCI contains the ability to plug and play into a data center pool of like structures. The most significant benefit of hyper-converged infrastructure is that enterprises do not have to depend on different commute and storage systems.

This is accomplished by using server virtualization tools to pool computing properties wherever applicable, and

A cloud computing Software Company which is making a mark in this industry is Nutanix; founded in 2009 by

May 2018

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Dheeraj Pandey, Mohit Aron and Ajeet Singh. The enterprise believes various components of converged infrastructure can be replaced with a solo hyper-converged solution to create an agile data center that easily scales with your trade. The firm which is known for its innovation has joined hands with IBM, one of the biggest companies in the US. Both the companies have collaborated to deliver the industry’s first hyper-converged platform on the POWER architecture.

The latest type of IT Infrastructure is the software-defined infrastructure (SDI). It is a technical computing infrastructure completely under the roof of software with no machinist or human intervention. It operates free of any hardware-specific dependencies and is programmatically extensible.

Infrastructure as a service Infrastructure as a service (IaaS) denotes to online services that deal with high-level APIs to dereference several lowlevel details of essential network infrastructures. It is one of the three divisions of cloud computing services. Computing resources, scaling, backup, location, data partitioning, safety are a few important network infrastructures. IaaScloud providers offer these resources (IT Infrastructure) ondemand from their enormous ponds of equipment installed in data centers. For far-ranging connectivity, consumers can use either the Internet or carrier clouds (devoted virtual private networks). The consumer binds and maintains the operating schemes and the application software. Cloud

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suppliers sends bills based on the sum of resources allocated and consumed.

Software as a service Software as a service (SaaS), also known as on-demand software is a new and alternative way of accessing software. The software is licensed on a subscription basis to the consumers. SaaS is a centrally hosted service. The software is used via thin client and then via web browser.

SaaS doesn’t require physical distribution which eradicates middle man thus saving on the costing. This service is commonly used in office software, gaming, virtualization, content management and human resource management.

Platform as a service PaaS, also known as platform base service is a category of cloud computing services. Businesses rely on PaaS for a specific set of services such as Java Development. PaaS services are accommodated in the cloud and are accessed by the users via their web browser. Vital benefits of PaaS include convenience and simplicity.

To sum it up, IT Infrastructure is one of the biggest industries in the market which is set to boom drastically in all the sectors with software as its forte.

May 2018

10

The

Most Innovative

IT Infrastructure

Solution Providers 2018

Scalr: A Unique Blend of Speed, Autonomy and Control in Hybrid Cloud Management

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loud can be a double-edged sword for enterprises. On one hand, it promises incredible speed, flexibility and the ability to capitalize on new business opportunities. On the other, if not managed properly, cloud can introduce security exposures and runaway costs, and actually slow operations. With growing adoption of large-scale, multicloud environments, there’s a real need for fresh innovations that boost cloud’s benefits and hold the risks at bay. One of the top companies challenging the status quo and ushering in a new era of agile, safe, cloud-savvy enterprises is Scalr.

Scalr helps enterprises make the promise of multi-cloud a reality by empowering groups with the flexibility and autonomy they need to move fast, while ensuring central IT doesn’t have to compromise on cost, security or compliance. The Scalr Hybrid Cloud Management Platform (CMP) makes it easy to automate and standardize application deployments across multicloud environments. Using its unique Scalr Organizational Model, which combines proactive and reactive policies with a hierarchy that maps to each organization’s structure, Scalr enables administrators to finally

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balance the needs of finance, security, IT and development teams.

Scalr’s novel approach to cloud management has made it the provider of choice for some of the world’s most prestigious organizations. The company counts Samsung, NASA JPL, Gannett and the U.S. Food & Drug Administration among its clients.

Delivering Speed and Control Enterprise IT organizations, particularly those in heavily regulated sectors, face a tough challenge.

They’re under tremendous pressure to deliver agile platforms so users can work at maximum productivity. At the same time, they’re expected to maintain strict compliance, cost and security standards. Their users, however, are coming from a completely different mindset.

Users are focused on getting their jobs done, not on costs and rules. They expect a quick and convenient selfservice experience and want to use the latest cloud technologies to complete their tasks. So what happens? They end up bypassing traditional ITSM (IT Service Management) processes and, as a result, budgets are blown and compliance audits fail.

Scalr enables IT organizations to eliminate this fallout and provide the best of all worlds to all stakeholders.

Its CMP gives enterprises a single pane of glass for managing, monitoring and provisioning resources while enabling self-service and enforcing cost, security and compliance policies.

Eliminating Bottlenecks Scalr has achieved many milestones in its journey. However, one that stands out above all is its uniquely balanced approach to cloud management. Scalr provides the only CMP that gives developers secure access to cloud native APIs and differentiated selfservice within an organizational model that delegates IT autonomy to different groups while ensuring they comply to corporate policies. Contrast this with other Cloud Management Platforms, which follow the old model of IT where developers have to make requests and gain approval from central IT before they can access the resources they need. When IT is continually overwhelmed with requests by various departments to access resources, individuals take a costly, risky Do-It-Yourself approach.

Dominating the Competition Scalr modernizes the management

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We modernize the

processes for managing multi-cloud environments so businesses can move fast, safely.

process for multi-cloud and enables a whole new level of agility and control.

It differentiates from competitors in three major ways.

First, Scalr’s architecture allows it to map to a company’s organizational hierarchy. This means policies, catalog items, reports, or anything else will adhere to the structure that makes sense to that business. This Organizational Model creates a “Federation of IT,” where central IT can delegate cloud environments to different business units, departments, or teams. At each management level, policies can be configured and then inherited by lower levels of management, who can also set their own policies. This slashes administrative overhead, supports autonomy and ensures business units comply with required, higher-level policies.

Second, Scalr is the only CMP that offers customized self-service portals to all user types, from those with basic needs who value ease of use, to

May 2018

”

DevOps engineers who value operational flexibility and require API access. IT admins can deliver service catalogs, power consoles, and API keys that are designed for each user, while all provisioning methods are subject to policies.

Third is Scalr’s robust policy engine that enforces policies around access, automation, cost, security, workload placement and more. The policies are conditional and can adapt to workload type, user identity, cloud environment, OS, etc. For example, admins can set a baseline security policy that says that all Linux workloads in the “STAGING” environment must use the “ALLOW_SSH” security group, while Windows workloads must use the “ALLOW_RDP” security group. This and other policies, such as instance size limitations, network, storage, and tagging policies, can be set in a single, conditional policy profile.

An Intuition Born from Experience Scalr’s successful approach to hybrid cloud management was envisioned by

Sebastian Stadil Founder & CEO its Founder and CEO, Sebastian Stadil years before he started the company.

In a previous job, when Sebastian was managing an AWS account for a client, he saw that migrating to the cloud was challenging even with a small number of users. As the company and its AWS footprint grew, people were interfering with each others’ work, using the wrong resources and creating security risks. Sebastian realized this problem would be even more monumental for large enterprises.

He originally created Scalr to manage and scale web apps. However, over time it was naturally adopted more and more by enterprises because of the complexity of their organizations and hybrid cloud environments and Scalr’s unique ability to manage them.

Sebastian is on the Cloud Advisory Boards for both Google and Microsoft.

He is also the founder of the Silicon Valley Cloud Computing Group, which comprises thousands of members.

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THE

A B C

IN

e-Commerce Communication

L

ong ago, when the Internet was young, and the term “smartphone” did not exist, online e-Commerce seemed like rocket science. Few people managed to add a product to the online cart, and even fewer were brave enough to punch in their credit card number.

Today, everyone I know shops online from time to time. Some communication patterns - or stereotypes - have emerged. If you run a digital e-Commerce website, you have to know this language.

Here are the first pages of e-Commerce phrasebook.

1. Big Images and White Space That could be translated as:“This product is expensive, and you will pay for the luxury.” Visit apple.com for instance. Right now, there is a single image of iPhone X above the fold (and a lot of white space).

2. Small Images, Lots of Text and Buttons Everything clumped tightly means: “We offer you the lowest prices in the market.” It’s like a food market in a crowded place. Probably, the website owner has simply abandoned it and does not care about the updates.

5. 24/7 Live Chat Live chat with a consultant online translates to: “We are mature enough to have someone on staff to answer your questions.”

true message is - we all know this anyway. Every time we open the new e-Commerce website, we quickly scan it, and in under 7 seconds translate the visuals into our own language.

Live chat that pops up immediately asking: “How can I help you?” actually means: “We really, really want to make a sale, and we are not afraid to be annoying.” Most likely, this popup will haunt you on every page of this website.

If the shop owner speaks our language - great. If we see something strange, we do not trust this website - we go away. Bye-bye, store owner. The experienced store owners know that they should study their customers’ language, or they risk losing revenue.

6. Strange Product Names Weird product names and descriptions are literally translated from the foreign language. In most cases, it’s because the seller has poor knowledge of English, or does not have the resources to invest into a proper product presentation. It is also an indicator of the product quality.

A month ago I was approached by the client who said: “Look, all of my customers are artists.

They don’t want to be distracted by colors or graphics on the website. I want my new website to be purely black and white, with a minimum of graphical elements.”

7. Best Seller’s Title Calling yourself the Best Ultimate Absolute Super Top Seller whatever means: “I want to sell it so hard.” No matter what it is and how good it is.

Experienced shoppers intuitively avoid such titles.

3. Total Sale Sales on all items are like saying: “This place is a tourist attraction.”

Unless it’s a holiday season when all stores are desperate for customers.

8. Annoying Ads Ads all over the store mean: “We can’t make a profit out of our own goods and are looking for other ways to make money.” The sad part is, if your products are not good enough, you do not get good traffic. Therefore, the ads will bring you no money.

4. Exclusive Discounts Several time-limited promotions on a couple of products mean: “We want to keep you interested, check back often.”

When the discount is only 5-10%, nobody takes it seriously. If it is 25%+, customers really stop and think.

9. Advanced Options Multiple currencies/languages to choose from is a strong positive message: “We have clients all over the world, and we want to make sure using the website is convenient for them.”

This list could go on and on, but the

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At first, I didn’t want to comply with these requests. However, I gave it some thought and realized that this person knows her customers perfectly, and she is really on the same wavelength with them. Speaking your customers’ language matters more than offering low prices and discounts. Do you want more sales? Talk to your clients in their language, first of all.

I could also talk about public relations on Twitter, the importance of prompt response on Facebook, or Live Chat’s best practices. All of these communication areas are important, but not as much as the first impression.

The first messages you exchange with your potential customers define whether they will make a purchase in your online store or move on to your competitor.

May 2018

Tech Report

About the Author Roman Korzh is a Chief Partnership Ofď€ cer at Zfort Group, a full-service IT provider. With more than 10 years of experience in the software development industry, Roman is a senior level results-driven leader with exceptional knowledge of establishing long-term cooperation and generating revenue.

Roman Korzh Chief Partnership Ofď€ cer

May 2018

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