The 10 Most Recommended Managed Print Service Providers-2019

Vollume 12 | Issue 02 | 2019

Most Recommended Managed

T H E

Leader’s Thought Successful Personality Traits to Learn from Elon Musk

Service Providers-2019

Editorial Talk Devops: Bridging the Gap between Dev and ops

Editor’s Desk Embracing Managed Print Services

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ven few days earlier the most unused and lonely piece of office equipment was office printers, which usually used to sit in a corner while waiting for commands and gathering dust. Other than the occasional maintenance, printers mostly gather dust. However, since past few decades, printers have changed a lot, not only they have features like copying and faxing, they have also grown up to a fully-fledged wireless network devices. Thanks to these additions, now employees can access and print from almost any devices that is connected to the network, also companies can now deploy printers that are capable of doing any large or small scale batch jobs, earlier for which organizations required the services of professional print shop.

According to various studies, the Managed Print Services industry is expected to reach $50.78 billion by the end of 2023. So, you might ask what are the factors driving such a high growth of the industry? Below are few pointers which can help you understanding the reason of such a high growth;

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Better Security: With the wide use of smart printers, now cyber criminals often target these printers in order to get access to valuable data. You know about the worst part? As much as 43 percent of IT professionals completely ignore printers in their security practice. However, Managed Print Service providers can help organizations to minimize the chances of hacking printers by providing security assessments and installing equipment with the necessary security measures built-in.

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Reduced Costs: According to various analysts, companies can save a lot of their expenses while operating printers with MSPs. This is largely due to the features provided by MPS that eventually helps to save money. Also you know the best part? MPS eventually relieves various IT managers from the responsibilities of maintaining printers. So, organizations don’t have to pay them to keep the systems up and running.

Other than these two points MPS also help to achieve better efficiency. So, with great enthusiasm Insights Success has shortlisted “The 10 Most Recommended Managed Print Service Providers-2019,” who are working round the clock to ensure optimum usage of resource and equipment.

Also while flipping the pages of the issue, don’t forget to go through the articles and CXOs written by our in house editorial team and industry experts respectively.

Let’s start reading!

Kaustav Roy

CONTENTS

12 Art fresh Optimizing Brand EfďŹ ciency

18 Break Design Offering Exemplary Branding and Packaging solutions

26 Caava Design Bringing Brand, Interactive, and Packaging Experiences to Life

32 MyQ Making Organizations Smarter

10 Mentor’s Standpoint 4 Trends that will make Language Solutions a big part of Biotech and Globalization

22 Expert’s Outlook The Revolution of our Roads Driving the UK to zero carbon transportation

36 Maestro’s Insights How Smart are Blockchain Smart Contracts?

ARTICLES

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20

28

Leader’s Thought

Editorial Talk

Entrepreneur speak

Successful Personality Traits to Learn from Elon Musk

Devops: Bridging the Gap between Dev and ops

Sustaining Entrepreneurial Spirit in the Modern Era

Editor-in-Chief Pooja M. Bansal Managing Editor Anish Miller

Executive Editor

Assistant Editors

Kaustav Roy

Jenny Fernandes Hitesh Dhamni

Visualizer

Art & Design Director

Associate Designer

David King

Amol Kamble

Sanket Zirpe

Senior Sales Manager Co-designer

Co-designer Deepanjali Jena

Business Development Manager

Kshitij S

Andy Mitter

Marketing Manager

Sales Executives

John Matthew

David, Kevin, Mark, Vishnu

Technical Head

Business Development Executives

Jacob Smile

Steve, Joe, Alan, Anup

Technical Specialist Aditya

Digital Marketing Manager Marry D’Souza

SME-SMO Executive Prashant Chevale

Research Analyst Frank Adams

Database Management Stella Andrew

Circulation Manager Robert Brown

Technology Consultant David Stokes

sales@insightssuccess.com December, 2019

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4 Trends that will make Language Solutions a big part of Biotech and Globalization

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he growth of China and Japan as leading markets for the Pharma and Biotech industry has made language an important factor for companies looking to be successful in global markets. Moreover, emerging markets in non-English speaking countries such as Brazil, Russia and Turkey has only increased the need for “Strategic Language Partnerships”. Navigating through regulatory requirements and Clinical Trial documentation in foreign languages seem like a daunting task just from the sound of it. An increasing number of companies prefer to outsource the language requirements in order to speed up approvals and decrease rejections.

With the current trends in the Pharma and Biotech Markets, we suspect the need to only increase. There are four definite areas that point towards the prominent role of language in the coming years.

Emerging Markets have More Promise Since established markets in US and Europe have very little room for smaller players, SMEs are growing more confident that growing markets are a better investment.

Pricing pressures and slower growth means that Big Pharma companies are also evaluating untapped markets. Among the top emerging markets, BRIC economies stand out the most with the probable addition of Mexico and Turkey.

While China is already competitive, the others in the list are viewed as geographies with tremendous opportunity.

However, growing economies have their own challenges.

Underdeveloped infrastructure and unique regulations mean that entry and success in these markets are more complex than they may seem. Seeking drug approvals in different

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geographies also means that Pharma companies will have to process multiple sets of clinical trials in each country. With the probable exception of India, other regions won’t have English as their language of choice which makes language intervention an absolute necessity.

The Increasing Involvement of China The recent regulatory change in China has paved the way for more globally accepted drugs to be launched in China.

However, they will still need to undergo the regulatory process as usual. We expect an increased effort from Pharma companies to launch more drugs in China which is the second largest Pharmaceutical market in the world.

Biotech is also booming in China with the help of conscious Government support. There seems to be no shortage of investment either in this regard. Hence, you can expect BioTech companies to have a keen interest in expanding their focus to China in the coming years. Based on this, we foresee the demand for translation between English and Simplified Chinese to rise in the near future. Also, it will be wiser for companies to outsource their documentation requirements since adhering to the stringent protocols in Chinese will not be easy.

The Rising Influence of the Patients As patients become more aware and educated about the drugs they take, Pharma companies are forced to consider a patient-first business model to cope with their dynamic expectations and demands. Companies are considering smartphone apps and online portals to stay connected with patients. With more sophisticated technological options being made available with every passing day, a range of

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Mentor's Standpoint health services can be offered to patients at their convenience. These tools also serve as a great way to acquire patient data, maintain them and gain useful insight.

However, replicating this approach in other geographies will need language support. App and Software localization requires deep understanding of cultural nuances in order to be executed successfully. Apart from this, promotional and informational collateral also need to be tailored and edited in order to appeal to consumers in various geographies.

This not only includes physical collateral but also digital materials. Hence, as the focus shifts to the patient, there is certainly a rise in demand for language solutions expected from Pharma and Biotech companies.

among others. In recent times, we’ve received an increased demand for translation of marketing materials from companies like Abbott Healthcare and other Fortune 500 companies.

As pharma and biotech companies look to build their presence across different geographies, they will need to think about how they can take their digital assets along.

Maintaining brand positioning and brand image across multiple regions is always going to be a challenge.

Moreover, failure to understand cultural nuances and demand can be a cause for stunted growth. Companies that have the foresight to see the importance of a language solutions partner at this stage will have greater chances to succeed in new geographies.

Managing the Digital Baggage While e-pharmacies are still in their infancy, there is enough reason to believe in their success in the near future.

Globalization plans for e-pharmacies, is a long way away from being a topic of discussion. In the meanwhile, Pharma and Biotech companies still need to maintain their digital presence whose importance continues to grow in the grand scheme of things. This includes websites, social media positioning and online reputation management (ORM)

About the Author Shilpa Mittal, CEO of Ulatus, Ulatus is one of the world's foremost language solutions providers.Shilpa is honoured with the prestigious “Best Woman Entrepreneur 2017" award by Golden Bridge in San Francisco.

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Optimizing Brand Efficiency

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n an interview with Insights Success, Elena Herweyer, the Founder, CEO and Creative Director of Art Fresh, broadly discusses on the company’s core competencies and the services it offers.

Below are the highlights of the interview conducted between Elena and Insights Success: Give a brief overview of Art Fresh, its uniqueness, and its vision.

Art Fresh Inc. is a leading innovator in branding, marketing and in the graphic design field. We create and develop brands. We are a multi award-winning team of exceptionally creative professionals specializing in graphic design, web, marketing and copywriting.

Through effective marketing strategies and outstanding designs based on our team’s 100+ years of experience working with large international corporations that include Kimberly Clark Worldwide, L’Oreal, Kraft Foods, Procter & Gamble, Giorgio Armani, Gillette, Mercedes Benz, Samsung and small to medium sized businesses, government institutions, and non-profit organizations in the

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American and European markets, we provide custom made comprehensive marketing solutions and premium quality graphic design services for brand development and website design consistent with our clients’ visions and goals.

Describe Art Fresh’s cutting-edge packaging design services which address all the needs of your customers?

We provide award-winning creative design services with a focus on packaging and label design to help businesses capture a strong position in the market. Our approach includes the development of comprehensive visual systems of brand communication.

Uniqueness, symbolism, functionality, simplicity and integrity are keys of great packaging design nowadays. To improve the consumer’s relationship with packaging, our strategy is to create packaging design that will meet the needs of each individual consumer in every way possible.

Here, personalization is key. We create a complete recognizable and modern visual style to represent the client’s product as a special gift and help it stand out among the competitors.

Presentation of a brand, its marketing positioning and the idea are carried out in one, easy-to-remember, up-to-date visual concept for optimal identification of the product. We strive to develop a graphic design solution that will help easily recognize a brand, whether looking at the packaging design of the product or any other advertising materials.

We aim at simplicity of graphic language and original communication of the brand by visual means in order to achieve instant brand recognition in a highly competitive marketplace.

Functionality combined with an outstanding creative visual idea forms the basis for effective packaging design. Packaging is the “sales person” for the product and is most often the first touch point with the consumer. We focus on developing a unique and modern graphic design concept that allows the product to stand out in the market.

What are the challenges faced while providing packaging design services and how is Art Fresh serving to tackle them?

On a crowded retail shelf, it is challenging to have an own “voice” for the product. The product has a better chance of being noticed if there is something unique, fresh and attractive about its packaging — a brand identity design will talk about the quality of the product. When it comes to a choice between two similar products from different companies, the customer will choose the product which appeals aesthetically and emotionally to him/her. Most purchasing decisions are made at the point of sale especially when it is an impulse buy. Knowing this, we focus on creating a unique positioning of the product that will result from an innovative package with professional brand identity design that gives the product an edge.

When we work on packaging we want to create an emotional impact on the

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As our graphic design portfolio demonstrates, we believe that great ideas cannot happen without passion, intelligence, and personal commitment.

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Elena Herweyer Founder, CEO & Creative Director

end consumer and represent the benefits of the client’s product in the most convenient way as the functionality of packaging is a priority. A professionally packaged product is like a gift: it conveys that the customer is purchasing a top-quality product that has been carefully crafted from start to finish and provides value.

What according to you could be the potential future of packaging design industry and how does Art Fresh envision sustaining its competency?

We live in a new economic era and high-speed changes in the market from new technologies bring new ideas and opportunities which open new fantastic horizons and affect all businesses. The industrial design quickly assimilates new trends and technologies to transform packaging design.

In the future, we may see new materials and completely new product packaging solutions that we have never seen before, including sustainable packaging, active and intelligent packaging, nanotechnology, and 3D-printed packaging that will require fresh creative ideas and new visions of communication from designers.

I foresee that the future packaging design will be developed intensively to inspire and complement new Internet technologies. The focus will move to eco-packaging solutions and the traditional packaging such as plastic will give up their leading position to new “eco-friendly

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solutions.” I see a real future in second life packaging. With innovative packaging design becoming so fast paced today, we enjoy keeping up to date with the latest packaging design trends and innovations.

About the Leader The versatile experience Elena received during her work with international and local clients, along with her longtime focus on brand development services, led Elena to found Art Fresh Creative Studio in 2011, soon after she moved to Canada from Kyiv, Ukraine.

Elena is a professional artist with a Master’s Degree in Fine Arts and Graphic Design. Her paintings are held in the private art collections of Ukraine, Canada, Poland and Germany. Since 1999, Elena has been a member of the National Artists’ Union of Ukraine. Several of Elena’s graphic design and advertising works have earned awards at the Annual International Festival of Advertising in Europe and USA. Recent awards include a Best of Show and Silver at the Summit Creative Awards, 2018 (SIA, USA). In 2018, Elena was invited to be a member of the A’ Award jury at A’ Design Award & Competition. A’ Design Award is a prestigious design competition that takes place annually in Italy to recognize a quality and perfection in design and innovations.

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Successful Personality Traits to Learn from Elon Musk

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Leader’s Thought

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egends never need an introduction. They tend to be victorious despite of their uneventful histories. They stick to captivating traits such as Discipline, determination and self-belief which help them accomplish wonders in the long run. One such example of an extra-ordinary person is Elon Musk, a South African Business Magnate, Investor and an engineer.

Musk is the founder, CEO, and chief architect of SpaceX; co-founder, CEO, and product designer of Tesla Inc.; and co-founder and CEO of Neuralink. As of February 2018, he is the 53rd-richest person in the world and has a net worth of $20.8 billion, which is far more than the net GDP of Greece taken into consideration.

While each entrepreneur possesses a unique set of traits that makes him/her successful, this Tech founder has a few traits much different from any other ordinary CEO, which has allowed him to build some of the world’s most respected and innovative organizations. Musk once

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quoted, “When something is important enough, you do it even if the odds are not in your favor.”

Let’s have a look on these personality attributes and characteristics that make him a contender for the most innovative intellectual entrepreneur of the century alive.

Hard-work and Characteristic Work Ethics Elon Musk is a hard-working innovator, working for about 100 hours a week, and has been productive since many years. He may even be considered as the hardest working employee of the company, setting standards for his colleagues to follow and implement. Since the field of work lies inside his radius of interests, he enjoys it to every moment and bit when it comes to learning and execution.

Strong Risk Tolerance Founding a start-up involves a great deal of uncertainty and risk. A study found that after 10 years of being in business, 96 percent of the start-ups fail. Going by the

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statistics, Musk must have faced the same odds against him, when he had decided to leave an otherwise comfortable life to start a risky and uncertain business venture.

For instance, Musk left his PhD program at Stanford University to find a company called Zip2 with his brother in the year 1995. Later, the company was sold to Compaq computers, profiting Musk a bit over $20 million. Following this, Musk once again took a great risk by investing millions of dollars to found a company called X.com, one of the world’s first online banks.

‘Always Be Learning’ Attitude An astounding and less-known fact about Elon Musk is that he is self-taught in programming and in many advanced level subjects. He read and understood a variety of books, which helped him gain endless and persistent knowledge and understand diverse concepts.

The best piece of advice on learning and implementation is to constantly think about how things could be done in a better manner and question self to seek the answers.

SpaceX does not only have the primary goal of rocket propulsions; they develop their own rocket architecture as well.

Faith in Self and the Founding Team Musk undoubtedly possesses a profound belief in his own capabilities as well as the potential-seeking factor of its founding team. He does not hesitate to gamble on large scale unless he is genuinely aware of the expected end-results.

It is equally essential to maintain clarity of doubt in any large scale organization. Under his supervision, Musk encourages in creating a positive and comprehensive environment across his firms.

Preferring to Stand Out From the Crowd Musk elects to bring up innovation at every level of his understanding. He tends to impart theoretical knowledge at the base level, applying changes and executing the same on the practical level. He relies more on transitional aspects such as research and development, thereby increasing the probability of ground-breaking inventions.

Feedback Loop It is of prime importance to recognize the present symbol or otherwise ‘status quo’ in the market as an organization and re-position accordingly. Musk solicits constant feedback of the companies and executes ‘self-analysis.’

He induces efforts and divergent strategies to improve customer feedbacks and strives towards perfectionism.

Tesla Motors, a far headed firm headed by Elon Musk, is anti-ordinary. Its compelling marketplace has become a one-stop destination for potential buyers where they can interact about product specifications. They also have video testimonials that far outperform in the salesdominated industry.

For example, he seeks out his critics and tries to converse with them. This habit of self-reflection at regular and considerable periods is pivotal for any entrepreneur or organization to succeed in the long run.

There is no ambiguity that Musk, by far, has been a pillar of inspiration for budding entrepreneurs and investors because of his prolific and optimistic approach towards life

Tendency for Vertical Integration Vertical integration is a strategy where an organization or a firm acquires business operations within the same product vertical. Both Tesla and SpaceX embrace this concept. For example, Tesla not only produces electric cars; they also generate public awareness about their cars via Tesla showrooms across various countries. And

All these traits possessed by Musk, in some manner or the other, coincide with most of your habits. The only thing that stands as a potential barrier between these two is identifying your strengths and working on them on a continual basis. Go on, apply these traits into your daily life, and you may become the next big CEO the world is in need of today!

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Offering Exemplary Branding and Packaging solutions

Giorgio Garvaglia Brand Consultant Break Design

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Break Design is the historic Italian agency designing great brands all over the world, since 1978.

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ounded in 1978, Break Design is a family-run agency that specializes in various sevices including brand strategy, brand identity, packaging design, shape design, digital design and others. The company is headquarterd in Milan and believes that it was a small revolution because for the first time in Italy, an agency was entirely dedicated to Branding and packaging. This pioneeristic and innovative spirit still represents the agency’s soul for creating original design able to add strong competitive advantages to the brands it works with. This is well expressed in the agency statement as well which is “Break the rules, create the difference”.

The Italian Touch Break Design asserts that being an italian enterprise, it positions all the positive attributes of italianity including original creativity, passion for beauty and craftmanship. At present the company works for clients all over the world and is known for its italian branding and international love. As mentioned above, Break Design’s expertise includes Brand Positioning strategy, Corporate and Brand Identity, Packaging design, Retail Design and it works across a wide range categories, from food and beverages to cosmetics and pharmaceutical.

Branding Across the Globe Giorgio Garvaglia is the owner of the Break Design and currently working as the Brand Consultant in the company.

He has been studying branding strategies around the world but with strong relations to his Italian Roots and Heritage. As a young adult, Giorgio wanted to make his own way into the branding world, so he studied abroad and then started working in London Spirit Advertising, managing brands such as Nissan, Fiat, London City and Tudor.

Coming back to Italy, Giorgio began working in his agency at every level, to

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have 360 knowledge of his job. He believes that the most challenging aspects of his journey were, on one hand, to develop the required knowhow and communicate it to the clients, on the other hand, to develop the organisational and management skills to successfully take over the role of his father. Amid the same, he received the valuable help of her sister, Paola Garvaglia.

In the last 15 years, Giorgio has been creating and managing brands at national and international level, for clients such as SanPellegrino, Lavazza, Ferrero, Nestlè, Pepsi and many others.

Another great passion of Giorgio is Basketball, which he played at semiprofessional levels.

Conquering Adversities Break Design believes, the challenge for a Design Agency, in such a dynamic and complex landscape, is not only to be a great designer but also to support the clients in the steps before the design. Understanding clients’ business, their Brand DNA and consumers behaviour are fundamental to create the right insights when developing a unique, impactful and differentiated Brand Visual Identity.

Putting Passion into Relationship Break Design puts great importance in people and has a creative team and clients who have been with it for a very long time. The company works with its clients and not for them, putting passion into its relationship.

This passion for designing winning differences for a brand is what drives its thinking on every project.

Break Design consists of a very dynamic team, with International Background, seniority and freshness.

30 of them love to design creatively, 8 of them manage accounts while 9 of them indulge into pre-press operation.

Break Design always provides the most multifunctional team on a project by project basis.

The Future of Packaging According to Break Design, the potential future of packaging design industry will be ever strategic for the Brands’ success, and packaging will be one of the main touchpoints to comunicate the Brand’s Identity. In particular consumers start understanding the role of packaging as a primary mean to reduce waste and increase recycling, also online shopping packaging will play a pivotal role in supporting Brands’ and Consumers’ e-commerce experiences.

In this context it’ll be winning Break Design’s original thinking and its capacity to create unique storytellings that start from the Design and connect Brands with People.

Clientele Assessments “KDV group started to work with Break Design agency 3 years ago for a global restyling of the entire company portfolio (27 federal brands and around 350 SKU). Since that initial day, KDV company significantly grew up – the brand portfolio doubled in numbers, the products increased to 1300 SKU ! Break rationalised our product offer, bringing added value to the existing brands and developed stronger brand identities for new categories. KDV group is now one of the biggest confectionary&snack companies of the Russian Federation and CIS countries offering to consumer Russian products with an Italian touch.” – Team of brand managers department KDV group “Break is one of our Key Partner in Branding and Packaging design since 30 years, as we appreciate and trust their way of working driven by passion, creativity and result oriented.” – Ferrero Marketing team “Just great Italian signature designs and passion applied to packaging !”

– Nestle Marketing Team

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Bridging between F

or centuries, humans have had a propensity to pit two or more teams with distinctive functionalities against each other – even when they are on the same team. This dynamic can be witnessed even in traditional business enterprises, between software developers and operational staffers.

The rivalry between Dev and Ops has been prevalent for decades causing one of the most prominent challenges for organizations to manage their IT capabilities. Overcoming from this rift and identifying each other as partners rather than rivals, can be crucial for a business to attain success.

But due to opposing priorities, a friction gets created when they are combined, making it even harder for dev and ops to communicate in an efficient manner.

Conflict between Development and Operations Although there isn’t any doubt concerning the various technical as well as business advantages that an organization can reap upon combining Dev and Ops, but they comprise of entirely unique goals, metrics, and approaches.

Development primarily lays focus on producing new systems and applications and ensures that customers get to use the same as fast as possible. On the contrary, operations look from a different aspect altogether; wherein they primarily focus on ensuring a speedy and bug-free stable system.

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the

Gap

&

Additionally, both dev and ops strive towards achieving a similar goal of making their customers feel happy and satisfied, yet they utilize completely contradicting approaches to reach that purpose. On one hand, development aspires to impress its customers with their new enhancements. Whereas on the other hand, the operational team wants its customer base to use a stable and tested system – free from bugs and operability inconveniences.

The Battle Scenario – Before and After the Advent of DevOps Before DevOps came onto the scene, both Development and Operations worked in an isolated manner. The only time they crossed-paths were during the release phase. The development team, already notified about the release date, intended to interject some new and additional features before the time of release. Whereas the operational team knew from beforehand whether the current release version had any new or additional features interjected. This way, before deploying the release to the customer’s site, the Ops team performed rigorous testing to be satisfied with its stability and operability and only then permitted its deployment.

The arrival of DevOps and its rise in adoption led to a paradigm shift from this culture. Developers now no longer need to wait for a release date to bring-forward new and enhanced features. Instead, they have the capability to release new features on a regular basis by using the concept

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Editorial Talk

of Continuous Integration and Delivery. This has prompted developers to emphasize that the operation team must manage this regular flow of new features imperatively before it gets deployed to the customer’s site. But this approach gave rise to a new problem, as Ops have to deal with a pipeline of releases at a regular interval due to this.

They now need to be extremely attentive and careful about the quality testing of the systems as the deployed builds on the customer site may or may not be entirely free from bugs.

The Resolution The most feasible and obvious solution to this opposing friction is the synchronization between Dev and Ops, popularly termed as DevOps. Coined by Patrick Debois, known as “the father of DevOps,” DevOps is an operational philosophy that helps to bridge the gap between Development and Operations by emphasizing upon integration, collaboration, and communication.

It is the most salient methodology through which an organization can check and assure a balance between development and quality. In order to reach an equilibrium point in this resolution, both Dev and Ops need to embrace the DevOps methodologies by modifying their outlook and their way of working, as follows: From the Operations Perspective Extensive monitoring of all running environments such as

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staging or production, so as to react and prevent any issues from cropping up and spreading, respectively. Ÿ Operations need to be much more flexible in their approach in accepting regular or frequent changes. Ÿ Operations should facilitate an effective and healthy collaboration with the Development team.

From the Development Perspective Ÿ Sound engagement needs to be performed to assess the quality metrics that Ops emphasizes on, to track customer production systems and quality. Ÿ Dev need to be more involved with the testing of their own code in the production phase instead of leaving out from the field after writing the system or application code. Ÿ Developers should facilitate an effective and healthy collaboration with the Operations team.

Hence, it can be safely exclaimed that both Dev and Ops team need to change substantially in their functioning and outlook to successfully adopt the DevOps methodology.

Adapting to DevOps culture is by no means a silver bullet, as it brings with itself a considerable amount of changes.

But upon successful communication between developers and operators, an organization will be able to reap significant advantages through the same. The battle between Dev and Ops may continue for years, but DevOps has the distinct capability to bridge the gap between the two.

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Expert’s Outlook

The Revolution of our Roads Driving the UK to zero carbon transportation

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reen number plates for electric vehicles. Zero Emissions Zone trials. Grants for any employer installing EV charge points. Ideas and initiatives for boosting the adoption of electric vehicles (EVs) have accelerated recently, in an effort to make electric vehicles the norm rather than the exception on UK roads.

In September, Theresa May announced further support for the industry at the very first Zero Emission Vehicle Summit, outlining a plan to ensure Britain “leads from the front” in the widespread adoption of electric vehicles, committing £106m in funding for research and development into EV technology. She also elaborated on the 2040 target to make all manufactured cars emission-free, saying that this should be reflected in all cars on the road just ten years later.

Government backing This government’s commitment to electric vehicles is being matched by an increase in interest from drivers, as the perceived hurdles - including the initial cost of switching to an electric car, and the mile range compared to traditional petrol and diesel cars - are being cleared. Last month EVs accounted for one in every 12 new cars purchased in the UK. That’s been attributed to a number of factors, including the availability of a range of cars that do at least 150 miles on a single charge, EV drivers are reducing their fuel spend by 90%, and

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About the Author Fiona Howarth is the CEO of Octopus Electric Vehicles, a start-up from Octopus Energy. With a passion for renewable energy, fantastic cars and using tech to create great customer experiences, this is absolutely Fiona’s dream job!

Having studied Engineering at Oxford University, she spent her early career at Dyson and BMW - developing efficient motors and hydrogen powered cars. She then went on to work with major energy companies and government while at Bain & Company, before joining British Connected Homes start up AlertMe. A move to British Gas, saw her take Hive, by British Gas, from a tech pilot to a household name that today has more than one million customers.

“Octopus EV is offering the electric vehicle equivalent of Sweden’s famous baby box,” says Octopus Electric Vehicles CEO Fiona Howarth

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with an increase in the number and visibility of charge points and a decrease in the cost of the electric vehicles themselves.

There’s also been better proof of the environmental impact of EVs, such as a recent European Climate Foundationcommissioned report which found that EVs emit half the CO2 emissions of a petrol or diesel car through the course of their lifetime, and the overall effect has now been shown to be positive.

A new breed of EV One company is on a mission to help drive the adoption of electric vehicles.

Octopus Electric Vehicles is pioneering an ‘EV bundle’ which will give drivers everything they need to make the switch, for one monthly price. The innovation has come from energy supplier Octopus Energy, which is driven by a mission ‘to make buying energy as easy as buying cornflakes’.

Similarly, the team at Octopus EV wants to help to make the switch to EV as easy as possible, for as many people as possible.

CEO of Octopus Electric Vehicles, Fiona Howarth says: “For us, the EV journey begins long before we start talking about leasing options and charge point installation. There’s a big education job to do - many people still believe that they’ll need to stop every few miles to recharge and that the range of models is limited. Our Drive Day roadshow has proved enormously popular, touring the country and letting people come and see the cars for themselves, as well as question EV experts about exactly how it all works” These events have not only demonstrated the massive leap forward that the industry has taken in the past few years, but also provided people with a chance to test drive the latest models. From the sporty BMW i3 to the family friendly Nissan LEAF, the cars have been carefully selected as the best EVs on the market, with each

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Fiona Howarth CEO

Octopus Electric Vehicles

offering at least 150 miles of driving per charge.

electric vehicles at a fraction of the cost.”

Continues Howarth: “We’ve found that people are often surprised at what an electric car can do. I think there’s a general misconception that the technology and the pricing has stayed largely the same since EVs came to market a few years ago, whereas in fact today’s electric car is almost unrecognisable from its older incarnation, and a hell of a lot cheaper.

Battery costs came down 80% in six years – unlocking a better range of

All-in-one EV solution After education, the challenge has been how to best help customers with the changes needed to go electric. Here, Octopus Electric Vehicles is pioneering adoption with their ‘EV bundle’.

“We’re offering the electric vehicle equivalent of Sweden’s famous baby box, giving the driver everything they need to make the switch” says Howarth “and unlike babies, our vehicles come with instructions!”

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About Powerloop How Vehicle-to-Grid is changing the game Electric vehicles have been criticised for placing more demand on an already overloaded grid. But a consortium of industry experts is hoping that electric vehicles could be the solution to the grid’s capacity issues, rather than a problem. Led by Octopus EV and Octopus Energy, the consortium has won over £3m of funding from Innovate UK (backed by government departments DfT and BEIS) to test the viability of vehicle-to-grid charging on UK roads.

The Powerloop project offers EV drivers the chance to help balance demand by supplying the grid with power from their car batteries during the peak hours of 4-7pm, before recharging in the early hours of the morning while demand is lowest. In return for plugging in their cars 12 times a month to supply charge during the evening, Powerloop drivers will get money off their monthly leasing cost.

As well as the monthly lease of an electric vehicle, Octopus EV organises the installation of a home charge point and smart meter. The monthly lease cost can also include insurance, service and maintenance, as well as help and support for the duration of the contract.

There’s even a bespoke electricity tariff, designed specifically with EV drivers in mind. Dubbed Octopus Go, it offers renewable electricity at just 5p/kWh between the hours of 12.30 am and 4.30 am, allowing people to charge their cars for just a fraction of the daytime cost for 70% less than a standard variable tariff from a Big 6 supplier.

Octopus EV has also partnered with myenergi, to offer the innovative Zappi charge point, which automates charging to take advantage of these prices.

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Octopus can arrange the installation of the Zappi via trusted installers that can help unlock the £500 home charge point grant from the government.

This world-first tariff is possible thanks to Octopus EV’s relationship with Octopus Energy. The supplier is already taking advantage of the potential of smart meters with the Agile Octopus tariff, which lets customers see the fluctuations in wholesale energy prices and adjust their usage accordingly. It’s just the beginning of how the company intends to use smart meter technology, which allows them to measure and record electricity usage in real-time and offer cheaper electricity when demand on the grid is low.

Fiona Howarth believes this will be a landmark year for electric vehicle adoption in the UK. “Tesla has revolutionised the market and now all other vehicle manufacturers are rapidly bringing their EVs to the market. Think of the switch from analogue phones to smart phones - we’re in a similar transitory phase. If the Government can deliver on their EV plans, and we think they can, the carpark of tomorrow is going to look very different to the gas-guzzling lot of today.”

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Cody Small Creative Director Caava Design

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Most Recommended Managed

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Service Providers-2019

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hen it comes to communicating any brand message, design becomes the most valuable medium for businesses to reach out to their target audience. Design is the fundamental tool for helping people connect and communicate effectively, believes Caava Design, a multi-disciplinary graphic design company based out of San Diego. Caava Design enables their clients to communicate their unique vision through art and form. The company believes that a combination of asking the right questions, strategic thinking, and simple, functional design enables brands to effectively tell their visual story.

For Caava, design is more than just making things look great. The team at Caava Design is passionate about taking concepts, ideas, and emotion and translating them into memorable and captivating visual experiences that deliver a return on investment.

The company’s name is derived from the Finnish word, kaava, sole meaning: formula or pattern. Their formula for compelling design is rooted in what they believe, enjoying the journey and always seeking to cultivate and grow.

Bespoke and Holistic Solutions Caava approaches every client as if they know nothing about them, and they never make assumptions about what they think they need. Through a series of hands-on workshops, asking lot of questions, and analyzing marketplace competitors, the company develops a bespoke, holistic solution for their customers that blends logic, art, and purpose that will differentiate and sustain them. Their wide range of services includes brand development, building complex backend systems, and package designing.

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Exemplifying Creative Leadership Caava Design is led by their Creative Director, Cody Small. When it comes to design, Cody believes that form follows function. Every element used to compose a final product must have a purpose. If one can’t argue the reason for any particular piece of a design, then it needs to be removed. He has built a small, talented, agile, and powerful team that allows Caava Design to be incredibly efficient and effective in their work. He believes in hiring people that are driven, and not only talented, but are experienced in running their own freelance businesses so that they are able to understand the components of running a business and the value of wearing multiple hats.

As for the work and the industry, Cody believes that creating great work and things of value begets more work.

People and businesses are attracted to passion. By looking at Caava’s work, anyone can see that the company loves what they do and take great pride and painstaking detail in creating beautiful, functional things. These things lead to allowing new opportunity and prosperity in people’s lives - be it the client or consumer. Caava’s competition isn’t with others in the industry; it is with yesterday Caava’s achievements. It is always a goal for the company to be better than their former selves on each project.

A Team of Tinkerers and Inventors Caava’s solutions are never “one size fits all”. The company finds the greatest need and greatest weakness and turns that into opportunity. They are not a high-volume production house. Every project receives a massive amount of attention, care, and obsession. They don’t stop thinking about a project as soon as 5 o’clock

rolls around. People at Caava are tinkerers and inventors and each challenge or puzzle that presents itself becomes a fun game to solve for them.

This yields measurable results for their clients, which is the bottom line goal for every project.

Creativity Can Solve Anything According to Caava Design, typically, budget or material limitations are the growing challenges a company would face while providing packaging design services. A client always needs to be practical and smart when it comes to cost-per-unit. Anyone can create a beautiful package that is expensive to produce. The magic happens when one is able to create a package that is cheap to produce, but looks expensive and high-end. That’s the challenge Caava loves and have become quite seasoned in executing. They work hand-in-hand with the right production vendors, being present through the entire process from concept to physical completion. By using creativity and experience, they are able to work within their client’s production budgets to achieve the greatest return on investment possible. In addition, through market testing and feedback, they continually analyze how to make a product better and cheaper to produce.

In the opinion of Caava, the future of design industry is full of opportunities, as it will enable the company to invent new things, solve complex problems, and live out their belief, “creativity can solve anything”.

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Sustaining Entrepreneurial Spirit in the

Modern E a

B

usinesses operate, survive and progress in a highly dynamic economy, where change is the rule, not the exception. The change may be slow, sudden or almost extensive. One of the important forces of change is the change in technology. Most of these changes are used to enhance human capabilities to accomplish meaningful work. These changes are sometimes thriving on the entrepreneur. A successful entrepreneur works to visualize these future changes rather than waiting for it and create a more desirable environment in the organization.

Technological breakthroughs do occur and it takes courage for an entrepreneur to accept the change and its implication. Technology breakthroughs like computers, color television sets, electronic sets, fuel-efficient vehicles, etc. have encouraged entrepreneurs to manufacture these products. Thus changes in technology from time to time pose several alternatives before the entrepreneur. This is an ongoing process in which the entrepreneur sets goals and strategies to meet changes in technology. But for strategies like marketing, human resource, supply chain, financial and legal strategies, etc. connection with people is important. Entrepreneurs define the formal relationships among people and specify both their roles and responsibilities. Because the end product is an integrated system of people & technology and to administer these systems, entrepreneur is required.

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Technology is helping us solve problems where human power alone is not enough. Different types of businesses require different technologies, but again, it is impossible to solve all integration needs with a single technology. This article will help you understand, that technology is only the part of the original solution and how in different sectors the entrepreneur's surrounding really matters.

Accounting Technology allows us to complete tasks faster. It replaces the tiresome tasks of manually storing, compiling, sorting, etc. and the ability to use data with a simple digital solution. For example, Sales ledger in the early days was time-consuming, expensive and all paper-based process.

Technology helped increase productivity with the development of spreadsheet software like Microsoft Excel. Employees today are far better at finding what they need when they need it. Though only this will not achieve the outcome. Here, let’s take a clear look at how the entrepreneur’s spirit is really helping to achieve the desired goal. Ÿ

Technology is good for bringing the change not forcing it.

It cannot make employees more efficient. Yes, the right technology can help to make the work easier, but if an employee is truly falling behind or is just inefficient, all the technology in the world will not solve this situation. The

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Entrepreneur speak truth is such employees can be sometimes inefficient due to either inexperience or laziness. An entrepreneur can identify this problem by improving communication in such departments. This explains why human interference is important to address this situation, where technology is just a bandage, fix the problem for a short time. Adding new and faster technology will not fix the problem. While a better solution is sitting the departments down together and talking about the problem with the entrepreneur will be a real solution.

Retail Technology allows retailers to be available day and night interacting with customers how, when and where they are ready to shop. Retailers depend on technology to manage inventory, track customer-purchasing habits, predict trends and deliver goods and services. Wireless communication, QR codes and Augmented Reality are some of the changes in technology to the retail industry.

Ultimately, the entrepreneurship element remains central even if it is embedded within AI, advanced analytics, etc. Ÿ

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Because a customer’s shopping experience is more important than price and product quality. Entrepreneur encourages employees to use their creativity to ensure every customer experience is memorable. Entrepreneur's human interaction adds the value to the company and maintains loyal customers.

Communication In virtual workplaces, employees can interact and develop ideas by connecting through the use of video conferencing.

This may include training and important meetings from far places to the employees. Technology can also be used as real-time feedback from the employees which allows the entrepreneur to improve the needs of the employees.

Entrepreneur’s good communication is necessary to allow efficient flow both internally (among employees) and externally (using technology). Ÿ

Automation The robots are coming and can actually help us, to be more productive, freeing us from most of the time-consuming Ÿ

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and repetitive tasks. One of the most important areas of a p p l i c a t i o n o f a u t o m a t i o n i s c o m p u t e r- a i d e d manufacturing. Today CAD/CAM technology has been applied in many industries including machine components, electronics products, and equipment design.

Even banking and financial institutions have embraced automation technology in financial transactions. But just because technology is advancing it does not mean it will replace human. Technology can do an adequate job, but we still need humans. It is certain that people to people communication remains fundamental where the entrepreneur’s contact in the various stages is required.

Security Technology becomes even more critical when operating the business online. It is important to protect the businesses from cybercriminals who could steal data or lead to website downtime. Encryption and decryption protect information from being accessed by a third party or cybercriminals. It takes only about a minute without slowing down any file or document. Ÿ

Storage Technology has led to the development of cloud computing to store business information and has been accepted by many in the world of business. Cloud Computing is cost Ÿ

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effective and convenient to the company management and employees can access data from anywhere by just using a device that can access the internet. It helps entrepreneurs to trust these technologies and build a strong trust among internal management of the company.

Overall Artificial Intelligence, Blockchain technology, Cloud Computing, Internet of Things, 3D printing, etc. today are helping entrepreneurs to use this technology in every field to grow their businesses. But technology alone cannot create a company culture, where human interactions are valued. Because it is people who are assigned to work on this technology and to encourage them the entrepreneurs keeps their spirit alive. By creating an interested working environment, interactive dialogues among employees, support and motivation to the employees, reward system, etc. reflects the culture of the company. It is an entrepreneur who understands what the needs of the company are, by creating a connection with all the stages of management that brings the desired output.

Hence, entrepreneurial spirit and technology should go hand in hand. Therefore we need evolving technology as well as intelligent humans. We need guided missiles as well as guided men to create the better world.

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Most Recommended Managed

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MAKING ORGANIZATIONS SMARTER

S

ince the advent of automation, our world has seen multiple changes in various sectors. However, till the last decade, automation was more or less limited towards the industrial usage. Recently, with the growing usage of IoT devices and internet, automation is slowly making its stride towards the common man’s daily usage. Hence, with the intention of making our life easier, born MyQ.

customize an MFP interface is similar to customizing your Smartphone. We are trying to customize the features you really need; this is our main advantage. We also have the other things that relate to MPS—reporting, controlling,

In an interview with Insights Success, Martin Janus, the Founder & CEO of MyQ shares the journey of MyQ and its valuable contribution towards the industry.

Below are the highlights of the interview between Martin and Insights Success: Q.What led to the inception of MyQ? As an MFP distributor at that time, we were searching for the right product to enhance the standard functionalities of MFPs and all the existing products were too expensive and inflexible. There were no solutions for smaller companies because of the cost. We decided to start with something simple, affordable and, later, scalable. Finally, we ended up with a product which could cover SMBs to large enterprises.

Q.Can you describe MyQ’s cutting edge Managed Print Services which address all the needs of your customers?

Our strongest aspect is personalization. The way we can

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Martin Janus, MYQ Founder & CEO www.insightssuccess.com

security, time efficiency—but personalization is taking our product to the next level compared to the competition.

Another strength of MyQ is scan and workflow, along with multiple cloud integrations, which makes the product a true business solution.

improve their winning ratio. They can diversify their offer against others and can attract customers with a new approach. We were even able to triple the revenue of some partners.

Q.What are the challenges faced while providing Managed Print Services and how is MyQ serving to tackle them?

When we launched the product, many industries had usually marked those systems as a controlling system.

Everybody expected if you installed something like this you would receive better printing reports, monitor users, and restrict users from printing unnecessary documents or color documents. Now it’s completely different. The cost of such a printout is not big. I strongly believe, especially for Western European and North American countries, the main benefit of MyQ is not only savings or control, but how we can increase the efficiency of users.

The customizable MyQ Embedded Terminal Q.Can you give a detailed description of your influence over the company and the industry?

Regarding the company, I created the first development team, product management, and sales. I was the trigger and had the vision of what we needed to implement to be different, cover the needs, and how to bridge the gap in the market. Later, I created the management, grew the teams, and we started to get bigger.

Regarding the industry, we always came up with something that was different. At first, it was easy implementation and use. Later, we added more modules into one suite which meant with just one training and installation you could cover more needs. Nowadays our product is highlighted by personalization and other options like scanning to cloud and storages. In many aspects, we are always trying to be ahead of others and our vision is to have the most in-demand functions in one suite.

Q.With the escalating number of service providers, how is MyQ driving to create an impact on its customers?

We have proven that we help our partners dramatically, year after year, to increase their revenue, especially with MFPs. When they combine our potential, flexibility, and uniqueness with selling MFPs, they can win more deals and

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Our software isn’t about restrictions but, if used properly, they can increase the efficiency of their staff and the savings are always bigger than some unnecessary printouts. Firstly, this efficiency saves a lot of time and costs and secondly, we can simplify their daily life, so they are not bothered by complicated MFP interfaces. We can serve them functions they only need, so they can focus on work and not waste time looking for the right function.

Q.Can you describe the experiences, achievements or lessons that have shaped the journey of MyQ? We are in close touch with our partners and customers and we can react to their demands. We are going from restriction to time efficiency, automation, and everything that generates savings bigger than restricting paper or toner use. We are not doing something that will limit you but something that is enhancing your potential or possibilities.

“

For others, a nightmare, for us, an everyday inspiration.

Q.Could you throw some light on your mission and vision statement?

My mission was always connected with automation. As a programmer, and typical lazy IT guy, I was always motivated because I didn’t want to do administrative or boring tasks. We are trying to focus on things which can be automated and can bring your more time and a simpler life.

The mission has been stable over the years.

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An important thing has been to focus on creating a product for our usage. Since we were responsible for MFP distribution, we needed a software to help win our deals.

We started with functions that were in demand. We grew rapidly, sometimes at a rate of 50 % and higher. For me it was the fact that the product was able to create the demand and deliver the proof. It’s not only about the product but the support, too. Some alternative solutions had more functions but poorer support. We wanted to be friendlier and listen to our partners and customers.

Q.Can you give us a few testimonials of your clients that accurately highlight MyQ’s position in the market?

“We have tested other solutions, but nothing is more stable than MyQ.” – Dan Henning Larsen, Prodok AS (Norway) “Really impressed with the MyQ software and support I have received, it’s been fantastic.”

– Ryan Chapman, Senior Infrastructure Engineer, Help for Heroes (UK)

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About the Author Khai Lin is the Co-founder and CFO of Fundnel, a private investment platform that offers unlisted securities in growth and pre-IPO stage companies across industries to a qualified network of investors. She co-founded Fundnel to make a difference to small and medium-sized enterprises that experience insufficient access to growth and expansion funding.

At Fundnel, she is primarily responsible for the company’s financial and operational strategies, whilst providing foundation to a strong team of visionaries with her execution-driven work ethos. More than just a gatekeeper, she fulfils the role of ‘leader-byexample’ with aplomb.

Khai Lin has significant expertise in banking and private investments, having had more than five years of experience working at JP Morgan, Citibank and CIMB-GK Securities. She graduated with top honours from University College London (UCL) with a Bachelor of Science (BSc) in Economics degree.

Out of the office, she is a passionate supporter of animal rights, clocking in hundreds of hours to marine mammal conservation and research projects.

Khai Lin Chua Co-founder 36 | December 2019

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Maestro’s Insights

How Smart are Blockchain

Smart

T

Contracts?

he dizzying rise in the valuation of bitcoin has created significant buzz in the finance sector. While much focus has centred around the viability of bitcoin in financial systems, the technology that undergirds the cryptocurrency is steadily gaining mainstream acceptance.

Finance professionals were quick to recognise the potential of blockchain technology in making up the various shortfalls of the status quo. Today, we’ve witnessed the emergence of countless fintech start-ups providing services that leverage on blockchain, while banks are quickly working to integrate the technology into various aspects of its operations.

Current financial systems around the world handle throughputs amounting to trillions of dollars on a daily basis, serving billions of consumers worldwide. Despite its importance, our global financial system is surprisingly antiquated.

Many processes rely on legacy systems characterised by high volumes of paperwork and human involvement. This leads to additional costs, time delays, and increased risk in the form of human error and fraud. A PWC study found a boggling 45% of financial intermediaries to have been a victim of economic crime during the survey period.

A key example would be the convoluted IPO process, where the involvement of many third parties raises costs in terms of both money and time. This presents barriers to entry for much needed growth capital as the resource cost is not something every SME can afford.

Spearheading the Blockchain Revolution Blockchain technology provides a way to structure data and information securely with a digital ledger. Unlike conventional records, blockchain ledgers are not stored with any central authority, but across a network of computers viewable by the public, ensuring transparency and making it impossible for a single person to amend information.

Amongst the most promising and novel uses of blockchain is smart contracts, a use case that stands out as one of the most innovative solutions built on blockchain technology which I foresee to feature strongly in the industry in the years ahead.

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Setting a New Standard for Financial Agreements In a nutshell, smart contracts are programmed contracts that automatically execute a set of pre-defined actions when a set of pre-determined conditions are fulfilled.

Being self-validated, self-monitored, and self-enforced, automation enabled by smart contracts has several immediate benefits, some of which are as follows: 1)Risk Management With smart contracting, the execution of an agreement is taken out of the hands of a single party, relying instead on digital verification within a blockchain before an action is triggered. Any funds involved could be locked in escrow, and only released if pre-determined conditions are met. This helps to facilitate trust between the involved parties by removing any concerns about enforceability.

2)Shorter settlement cycles, at lower costs In traditional contracts, many financial intermediaries can be involved in the settlement process once a contract is concluded. Necessary liaison between the numerous intermediaries serves to lengthen the settlement cycle, and adds on to the total cost.

The decentralised nature of a smart contract reduces the number of intermediaries from the equation, vastly reducing monetary costs and time involved.

3)Fraud Prevention Fraud is a common problem in the financial sector. Smart contracts can reduce the potential for fraud by virtue of having all financial movement and transactions digitally recorded on an immutable blockchain, bringing transparency to the table.

Digital records also facilitate easier auditing and detection of suspicious behaviours that could indicate fraud.

A tangible example of how contracts could benefit from the use of smart contracting would be that of companies raising funds on the secondary market. In this instance, the use of smart contracts lowers the risk involved for both parties by shortening the settlement cycle. This reduces the chances of any party experiencing financial distress, leaving them unable to uphold their contractual obligations. Another upside is that the business and investor both get their funds and shares in a shorter period of time, all at a lower cost.

The Future of Smart Contracts in Finance However, it is important to note that smart contracts are by no means a magic bullet. The digital nature of these contracts mean that any oversight in the text of may have detrimental outcomes, as the terms cannot be freely interpreted unlike in traditional contracts, but only according to literal meaning. A cautionary example would be the Decentralised Autonomous Organization (DAO) case which saw a hacker making off with US$50m by exploiting a loophole in the terms of the smart contract.

While the technology has admittedly yet to reach levels involving contracts of high complexity, its various benefits have the potential to revolutionise the way business is conducted. Smart contracts could definitely be used in instances where the scope or complexity is limited enough, such as sale of securities or insurance where conditions can be clearly defined.

The large-scale adoption of smart contracts across the financial sector would likely require a need for regulatory oversight, which can jeopardise one of blockchain’s major selling points – autonomy from governments. It remains to be seen whether a compromise can be reached.

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