Feb 2021

PLUS

Essar Selects Yotta Infrastructure as their Digital Transformation Partner /06 www.smechannels.com

India’s leading IT magazine for channel business VOLUME 11 | ISSUE 11 | PAGES 32 | FEBRUARY 2021 | RS. 20/-

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS / 20

Top 5 technology infrastructure that every company needs to invest, in the new financial year

SECURITY / 27

Anticipating cyberattacks and going ahead of prediction

GUEST ARTICLE / 28

Harnessing the Power of Artificial Intelligence with High-Performance Computing: Dell Technologies

HOW UPCOUNTRY

IS DRIVING GROWTH OF IT

HARDWARE P/16

BUSINESS

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Tenable Announces Intent to Acquire Alsid Pg: 15 www.smechannels.com

India’s leading IT magazine for channel business TECHNOLOGY TRENDS / 20

Top 5 technology infrastructure that every company needs to invest, in the new financial year

SECURITY / 27

Anticipating cyberattacks and going ahead of prediction

GUEST ARTICLE / 28

Harnessing the Power of Artificial Intelligence with High-Performance Computing: Dell Technologies

MY EXPERIENCE EDITORIAL

BOUNCE BACK WITH TECHNOLOGY ADVANTAGE SANJAY MOHAPATRA

sanjay@smechannels.com

Dear Friends The headline is perfect looking at the context. Bounce Back with Technology Advantage. We are living in the ecosystem of global information technology, although India takes the things a little differently.

The consumption of the domestic market is different now but the sentiment is same all across the world that the customers need a lot of technology to bounce back. On the other side the budget is limited though the companies have spillover budget from last year as they could not exhaust their allotted budget towards technology procurement.

Now it looks that there is a newly found passion among the board members to go digital and be secure and automated. CIOs – by and large – have been given the choice to perform and bringing in innovation. It means either they would do the R&D and develop solutions or be reliant upon the third party – principally on the OEMs and their ecosystem partners to procure right size products or solutions.

Zero trust security is one of the technologies which have been talked about by of the CIOs and CISOs. Even global technology leaders are of opinion that Zero trust is one of the in things for the enterprises from access point of view – whether it is from the internal sources or external sources.

There are too many pickers of SIEM now, which otherwise are considered after thought by the CIOs or CISOs in the large organization. Today, mid- size companies are also picking up SIEM. At the same time people have completely moving to chat bot or mobile apps, etc.

There are a lot of technology refresh happening at the same time also – either companies are upgrading to a different architecture or looking at how their future requirements can be accommodated going forward.

Let me reiterate that Covid-19 is not yet over. There are many cities in the western region of India where a renewed lockdown has been imposed as the cases are rising. The other parts of the country appearing to be normal. But you never know and you are not in any position to gauge the impact as whenever we have created our opinion about the nature of the pandemic it has turned out to be a different one. Therefore, my sincere suggestion is not to be foolhardy but maintain the social norms prescribed the authority and look out of the opportunity, which may be around you soon.

EZVIZ C3N Smart Wi-Fi Camera It’s difficult to find an outdoor wireless security camera, which works well in outdoor conditions. Due to poor Wi-Fi connectivity most wireless cameras are meant to be installed in the close proximity of the Wi-Fi internet router.

To overcome the above mentioned challenges EZVIZ has come up with C3N smart wireless camera. The C3N is your ideal choice to secure your outdoor premises – parking areas, gardens, lawns, lobby, entry/exit points, pathways, etc.

C3N is a 1080p Full HD resolution wireless camera. This helps to provide a super sharp, high quality video during the day and as well during the night.

C3N is equipped with two built-in spotlights and two infrared (IR) lights which helps to provide sharp color images even in pitch-black darkness and more than just helping produce color night

KEY FEATURES: IT COMES WITH AI POWERED PERSON DETECTION AND WEIGHS ONLY 422GMS. FINAL WORDING: IN A NUTSHELL, C3N IS THE IDEAL CHOICE TO SECURE ALL YOUR OUTDOOR PREMISES.

SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2021

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Trusted Advisor of Channel Business

VOLUME 11 ISSUE 11

2021

FEB R VE CO RY STO

Publisher: Sanjib Mohapatra Editor: Sanjay Mohapatra Sub Editor: Nidhi Shail, Pooja Jain Designer: Shadab Khan Web Designer: Vijay Bakshi Technical Writer: Manas Ranjan Lead Visualizer: DPR Choudhary MARKETING Marketing Manager: Vaishali Shukla Circulation and Printing: Rajkumar Hansa SALES CONTACTS Delhi 6/102, Kaushalya Park, Hauz Khas New Delhi-110016 Phone: 91-11-41055458 / 8587835685 sanjeev@smechannels.com Bangalore #28/1, 3rd Floor, Sri Lakshmi Krupa, Near Shamanna Park, Model House Street, Basavanagudi, Bangalore - 560004 Ph. No. +91 88618 21044 Mumbai Tahmeed Ansari 2, Ground Floor, Park Paradise, Kay-Bees CHS. Ltd.,Opp. Green Park, Oshiwara, Andheri (west), Mumbai - 400 053.

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Essar Selects Yotta Infrastructure as their Digital Transformation Partner Essar Capital has undertaken a large-scale digital transformation initiative by consolidating their various on-premise datacenters into Yotta’s state-of-the-art Yotta NM1 datacenter at Panvel, Navi Mumbai. This move was prompted by growing demand of IT enabled services and new technologies by various Essar companies. To remain focused on supporting business innovation instead of managing datacenters, the Essar IT team awarded a contract for end-to-end managed co-location services to Yotta Infrastructure.

“Business objectives are like moving targets. To align with them we set a very aggressive roadmap for our digital transformation journey. But the growing complexity of managing our on-

premise datacenters was creating a bottleneck. Not only was it expensive and CAPEX intensive, but it was also putting strain on our internal IT resources.

We decided to co-locate to a multi-tenant datacenter service provider that could not only modernise our IT infrastructure but also assure us of uninterrupted services, 100% uptime, iron-clad security, scalability, and came with a customer-focused mind-set. After evaluating multiple options available in the market, we decided to migrate to Yotta NM1. What moved the deal in their favour was the Uptime Institute Tier IV certification”, said N Jayantha Prabhu, CIO, Essar Global and Business Head, India & SAARC, AGC Networks.

DigitalOcean Survey Explores the Impact of 2020 on Open Source DigitalOcean announced the results of its latest Currents report, which surveys developers and entrepreneurs on the latest trends in technology. Of the more than 9,500 developers surveyed, the report focused on the 4,440 responses of those who actively participated in open source throughout 2020. The survey revealed the role that open source played in the lives of its members

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SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2021

in what was a year unlike any other and explored whether the core tenets of open source – “free” and “open” – still hold today.

“There’s no denying that technology played a major role in 2020.

However, what we found most inspiring was how the individuals and community behind the code rose to the occasion,” said Raman Sharma VP Product and Programs Marketing, DigitalOcean. “Our

survey showed that developers dug deeper into the open source community, participating more actively and contributing to the causes that mattered to them most. Many also questioned the traditions of the past in favor of a more ethically accountable and economically sound ecosystem.

We look forward to seeing what the future holds for the community and its participants.”

PMP

TM

Peak Throughput up to

1.2Gbps

SNIPPETS

Keysight Technologies Wins Mahatma Award 2020 for CSR Excellence Keysight has been presented with the prestigious ‘Mahatma Award 2020 for its efforts towards building a better planet by employing a global business framework of ethical, environmentally sustainable and socially responsible operations.

The Mahatma Award was established by social entrepreneur and social activist Amit Sachdev, director of New York-based Liveweek Foundation, known as ‘The CSR Man of India’, for his advocacy of the Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Bill in India. Mr. Sudhir Tangri, vice president and general manager, Keysight Technologies India, accompanied by Naresh N Asnani, Keysight’s Country Manager, Communications and CSR, accepted the award from Amit Sachdev in Delhi, considering the intent, commitment, project impact, sustainability and scalability of the CSR programs undertaken by the company.

On receiving the award, Mr. Tangri said, “At Keysight, our corporate social efforts are continuous and ongoing throughout the year, with the purpose of strengthening local communities in different ways. On one front, we are working with our non-governmental organization (NGO) partners and local civic bodies to combat Covid.

Fortinet Delivers SASE and Zero Trust Network Access Capabilities with Major Updates to its FortiOS Operating System Fortinet announced version 7.0 of FortiOS, Fortinet’s flagship operating system.

With over 300 new features, FortiOS 7.0 enhances the Fortinet Security Fabric and Fortinet’s ability to deliver consistent security for all networks, endpoints, and clouds.

FortiOS Powers the Industry’s Highest-Performing Cybersecurity Platform The explosion of network edges – across data center, WAN, LAN, LTE, off-net, compute, operational technology, CASB, SASE, internet, and most recently the home edge – has expanded and splintered the perimeter across the entire infrastructure. Security that can keep pace with changes to the network and today’s performance requirements while delivering holistic visibility, data, analysis, detection, and timely coordinated response against cyberattacks requires an integrated platform approach.

The Fortinet Security Fabric is the industry’s highest-performing cybersecurity platform, powered by FortiOS to enable consistent and flexible security across the entire attack surface.

Gartner Forecasts Global Government IT Spending to Grow 5% in 2021 Government IT Spending Forecast by Segment, 2020-2021, Worldwide (Millions of U.S. Dollars) 2020 Spending

2020 Growth (%)

2021 Spending

2021 Growth (%)

160,043

4.8

168,639

5.4

Software

108,212

8.9

118,149

9.2

Telecom Services

63,935

-0.5

67,200

5.1

Internal Services

63,927

1.0

62,423

-2.4

Devices

33,029

1.6

34,875

5.6

Data Center

30,279

5.7

31,514

4.1

459,425

4.2

482,800

5.1

Segment

IT Services

Total

Source: Gartner (February 2021)

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EXECUTIVE MOVEMENT

TAPAN RAYAGURU APPOINTED CEO OF KSUM

BEST POWER APPOINTS VIVEK PARASHER AS VPSALES FOR SINGAPORE OPERATION

DRUVA APPOINTS SCOTT MORRIS AS VICE PRESIDENT OF APJ SALES ORGANIZATION VEEAM PROMOTES SHIVA PILLAY TO SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT FOR ASIA PACIFIC AND JAPAN

Powering a work-from-anywhere world.

At LogMeIn, we’re proud to help our partners support tens of millions of people in businesses around the world as they connect and collaborate, support employees and customers, and secure their workforces – from anywhere.

Learn more about the LogMeIn Partner Network and our portfolio of remote work products at LogMeInInc.com/Partners

SNIPPETS

U&i reveals its new logo reflecting the company’s business mantra The new logo reflects a more modern look and captures the company’s mission to deliver excellent quality, performance, and service support across the products they have.The new logo is more refined and modern as compared to the old one. The new logo uses the tagline “Born to Win” and the new slogan also epitomizes the mantra of “India Ki Brand, India Ke Liye”.

Unveiling the new logo, Paresh Vij, Founder and Director, U&i said, “We are proud to announce the launch of the new Brand Logo as part of the ongoing evolution of our Brand. Our business has grown and evolved over the years, and we felt it is time for a change. We have refreshed our logo to reflect who we are today and to symbolise our future.”

“After careful consideration, we chose a new logo that reflects a more modern look and captures our mission to deliver excellent quality, performance, and service support across the products we provide. With a clear strategic approach, we are also glad to proclaim the business mantra “Born to win”, in order to create a distinct picture of our vision and mission”, added Vij.

R3 launches confidential computing platform ‘Conclave’ Global enterprise software firm R3 has launched Conclave, a confidential computing platform that secures sensitive business data while it’s being used.

Conclave allows firms to securely aggregate their datasets to solve shared business problems for their customers and across markets, without revealing the actual data to anyone. It paves the way for a new generation of trusted services that can detect fraud, reduce cost, build high-value multi-party analytics and more—where the owners of the data control how it is processed.

Conclave solves critical business challenges where data needs to be shared, but without any one person or firm seeing another’s information.

For example, a bank that operates an electronic market, but wants to assure its customers that it does not see their data; or an insurer that needs to share information about fraudulent claims without breaching confidentiality rules. Traditionally, data is only encrypted at rest and in transit, but Conclave also protects it while it is being processed.

The Conclave platform, which harnesses the combined power of confidential computing with Intel? Software Guard Extensions (Intel? SGX), was built to be developer and business friendly. It has high-level, intuitive API allowing users to easily write applications on any operating system, as well as code in their language of choice.

Global PayEX automates Account Receivables worth Rs.1000cr for Goldmedal Electricals Addressing delays in invoice collections and in offering real time discounts to its 6,000 strong dealer network across India, home grown brand Goldmedal Electricals has automated more than 70 per cent of its Account Receivables (AR) through B2B Fintech Global PayEX’s FreePay – an Electronic Invoice Presentment and Payment (EIPP) solution. This translates into unlocking the potential of working capital worth INR 1000cr 9 days earlier.

Locked up working capital has been a pressing concern for B2B players, especially during COVID-19 pandemic. Add to it, ballooning AR numbers owing to traditional methods of invoice collection via Post Dated Cheques (PDCs) and manual reconciliation of each payment on company’s enterprise resource planning (ERP) software.

Global PayEX Chief Revenue Officer Narayan ‘Naru’ Ramamoorthy said, “Traditional methods and manual processes of AR continues to lock up billions of dollars of working capital across the globe.

5G Activities Accelerates as Operators Look to Differentiate Spirent Communications, released its 5G outlook report, based on analysis from over 600 global 5G engagements. The “5G 2021: Market Drivers, Insights & Consideration” report provides insights from across the 5G eco-system on the current status of 5G, illustrating the accelerated timetables from service providers in upgrading to 5G standalone (SA) with the new 5G Core and revealing how 5G is driving new initiatives and sector engagements.

“2020 was certainly a year to remember, not just because of the unprecedented challenges presented by COVID-19, but also because of the rapid development for the telecom industry,” said Spirent Head of 5G Strategy, Steve Douglas. “Telecom is keeping its sights firmly focused on 5G’s future, not in spite of the challenges of the pandemic, but because of them, and our latest report gives an unparalleled view of the current status of 5G and the trends we’re seeing for the year ahead, based on the investments, research, testing and innovation by the leading 5G players.”

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JSW Cement offers its customers ease of doing business through AI-based digital interventions JSW Cement part of US$ 12 billion JSW Group is digitizing its Sales & Marketing operations to provide channel partners ease of doing business by leveraging AI-based digital interventions.

It has partnered with Yalochat, world’s leading conversational commerce service provider, to introduce AI-based Anytime Anywhere Business transactions for its trade customers. The Yalochat partnership enables JSW Cement to upsell, transact and provide better service to its customers over messaging apps like WhatsApp. This will differentiate JSW Cement as it traverses from current 14 MTPA to 25 MTPA capacity by FY2023.

According to Mr Parth Jindal, Managing Director of JSW Cement, “Digital Technology is shaping the long-term sustainable growth strategy of all JSW Group businesses. We are in a unique position to deliver integrated home-building solutions to Indian consumers. Our digital transformation will ensure the ease of doing business to our customers through continued improvements in the overall Brand experience combined with efficient operations for well-synchronized & timely deliveries.

SNIPPETS

VIAVI Releases 2021 Updates to the Test Suite for O-RAN Specifications Viavi Solutions released updates to its industry-first Test Suite for O-RAN Specifications. The O-RAN ALLIANCE’s specifications for open radio access networks are being adopted by operators and equipment manufacturers worldwide, to reduce infrastructure costs and lower the barrier to entry for new product innovation. The test suite has been augmented to include use cases of critical importance as O-RAN becomes adopted at scale, as well as learning’s from customer engagements around the globe.

In a multi-vendor based O-RAN environment, operators will bear the burden of ensuring conformance, interoperability, and performance. Based on its leading position validating network products for operators and manufacturers worldwide – including all Tier-1 network equipment manufacturers – VIAVI has the most comprehensive O-RAN test platform on the market, with CUSM-plane parameters used by more vendors than any other solution.

HyLyt has tied up with MSME Business Forum for enabling ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’

Citrix Tops Among Cyber security Solutions Citrix has been named as one of Expert Insights’ 2021 Cybersecurity “Best-Of ” award winners in the categories of Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) and Enterprise VPNs. “2020 was an unprecedented year of cybersecurity challenges, with a rapid rise in remote working causing a massive acceleration in cybercrime,” says Craig MacAlpine, Expert Insights CEO and Founder. “Expert Insights’ Best-Of awards are designed to recognize innovative cybersecurity providers like Citrix that have developed powerful solutions to keep businesses safe against increasingly sophisticated cybercrime.” Expert Insights awards are chosen through an evaluation process involving Expert Insights’ editorial content team, and technical experts with decades of experience in the cybersecurity industry.

Citrix Endpoint Management™ was recognized in the Best-Of Unified Endpoint Management (UEM) category, which includes the top vendors that enable organizations to centrally monitor and manage all of the endpoints connected to their network, including client and mobile devices. And Citrix Gateway™ was named among the Best-Of Enterprise VPNs category, which includes the top vendors that offer a business-grade virtual private network.

HyLyt has tied up with MSME Business Forum to empower the medium, small and micro businesses through tech empowerment and help them maintain data security and full privacy in their small businesses. HyLyt, the fully home grown ‘Made in India’ app aims to provide an affordable solution to the small businesses so that they can stay in control of data and build up the narrative towards ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’.

Commenting on this launch, Ravi Nandan Sinha, Director - MSME Business Forum India said, “In most organizations today, data and other information are managed in isolated silos by independent teams using various data management tools. Tools like Hylyt bring all under one umbrella and pave the way to managing data as an organizational asset.”

He added that today, innovative technologies are a vital tool for MSMEs to bring efficiencies and a higher degree of standardization. We feel this collaboration will help Indian MSMEs to a large extent.

DeVX enters Hyderabad with 700 seater Center DeVX announced its entry in Hyderabad with a 700 seater Center. Located in the Hi-Tech city, among the prominent commercial spaces in India, hosting global tech giants like Oracle, Google, Facebook, Amazon and many more. The Center is spread across 50,000 sq. feet and DevX will further augment this with additional 3 lakh sq feet in next 1 year. The company is planning a panIndia presence by December 2021 with 15 centers.

Having recently emerged as Gujarat’s top and largest provider in the Managed office space segment, DevX is a co-working cum accelerator founded in September 2017 by 3 entrepreneurs Rushit, Umesh Parth (the RUPaiyya trio as they are known in the ecosystem) and one listed entity: Dev Information Technology Ltd. The company was envisioned as A Startup Accelerator focussed on nurturing innovative startups by providing them with the all requirements. Positioning DevX as an equal partner in growth, the company supports through their allied strategic partnerships and services.

The different initiatives of DevX are thus structured to build synergies, encouraging brainstorming and cross-pollination of ideas as a means of collaborative growth and development. The company’s initiatives address requirements across the value chain.

GoDaddy concludes Web Build-A-Thon program, aimed at enhancing digital literacy in India As digital literacy becomes one of the biggest priorities in India, GoDaddy, the company that empowers everyday entrepreneurs, came up with a unique tech building program, Web Build-AThon, created exclusively for students and faculty members across the country to help them learn how to build successful websites. This program, created

by GoDaddy in association with SmartBridge, an Indian edTech platform providing e-learning on emerging technologies, was aimed to create an opportunity to develop enhanced digital and web development skills.

SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2021

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SNIPPETS

Sri Lanka Telecom Launches Cisco SD-WAN Services to Enterprise Customers Sri Lanka Telecom in collaboration with Cisco and Millennium I.T. E.S.P. (Pvt) Ltd (MillenniumIT ESP), announced the launch of its new managed SD-WAN services to accelerate the digitization of enterprise and government customers in Sri Lanka.

Sri Lanka Telecom will offer Cisco SD-WAN’s full functionality, including intelligent dynamic routing, optimized cloud connectivity, and visibility into applications and performance to its enterprise customers in Sri Lanka.

This collaboration brings together Cisco’s intent-based networking solutions, SLT’s connectivity solutions, and MillenniumIT ESP’s systems integration capabilities to quickly develop and deploy multiple managed services efficiently and cost-effectively across Sri Lanka.

Trend Micro launches Vision One threat defense platform Trend Micro combats security alert overload and resource constraints with an extensible platform that provides visibility and response from a single console. The new platform, Trend Micro Vision OneTM, has extended detection and response (XDR) at its core and raises the bar with new capabilities to help security teams to see more and respond faster.

“Our team had previously been simply overwhelmed with threat alerts they couldn’t prioritize, hitting productivity and exposing our organization to extra cyber risk,” said Aaron Cunningham, Vice President of IT, Glazer’s Beer and Beverage. “We can count on Trend Micro to provide more context and less noise so they can react faster to the threats that matter. Their integration with our third-party SIEM provider means we can also drive value from existing investments.”

With Trend Micro Vision One, organizations can maximize efficiency by making less sophisticated security resources operate at a more expert level.

HPE Accelerates Space Exploration with First Ever In-Space Commercial Edge Computing HPE is accelerating space exploration and increasing self-sufficiency for astronauts by enabling real-time data processing with advanced commercial edge computing in space for the first time.

Astronauts and space explorers aboard the International Space Station (ISS) will speed time-to-insight from months to minutes on various experiments in space, from processing medical imaging and DNA sequencing to unlocking key insights from volumes of remote sensors and satellites, using HPE’s Spaceborne Computer-2 (SBC-2), an edge computing system.

Spaceborne Computer-2 is scheduled to launch into orbit on the 15th Northrop Grumman Resupply Mission to Space Station (NG-15) on February 20 and will be available for use on the International Space Station for the next 2-3 years. The NG-15 spacecraft has been named “SS. Katherine Johnson” in honor of Katherine Johnson, a famed Black, female NASA mathematician who was critical to the early success of the space program.

Rackspace Technology Study Uncovers Widespread Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning Knowledge Gap Rackspace announced the results of a global survey that reveals that the majority of organizations globally lack the internal resources to support critical artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) initiatives.

The survey, “Are Organizations Succeeding at AI and Machine Learning?” was conducted in the Americas, APJ and EMEA regions of the world, and indicates that while many organizations are eager to incorporate AI and ML tactics into operations, they typically lack the expertise and existing infrastructure needed to implement mature and successful AI/ML programs.

This study shines a light on the struggle to balance the potential benefits of AI and ML against the ongoing challenges of getting AI/ML initiatives off the ground.

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DIGEST FLYBIG, INDIA’S REGIONAL AIRLINE ADOPTS ARMS® SOFTWARE SUITE FOR DIGITALIZED OPERATIONS FLYBIG, INDIA’S NEWEST AIRLINE HAS SELECTED LAMINAAR AVIATION INFOTECH’S ARMS® APPLICATION SOFTWARE TO KICKSTART THEIR OPERATIONS. THE ATR OPERATOR CHOSE THE ARMS® V2.5 UNIFIED PLATFORM FOR NETWORK PLANNING, CREW MANAGEMENT, FLIGHT OPERATIONS, FLIGHT DISPATCH, MAINTENANCE AND ENGINEERING (M&E) AND SAFETY MANAGEMENT. IN ADDITION, FLYBIG HAS ALSO OPTED FOR THE ARMS® MOBILITY SUITE TO ENABLE DIGITALIZATION AND PROMOTE PAPERLESS OPERATIONS. CAPT. SRINIVAS RAO, FRAES, CEO OF FLYBIG, SAYS, “WE CHOSE ARMS® AFTER THEIR CONVINCING DEMONSTRATION OF A NEW-AGE SOLUTION THAT WE WERE LOOKING FOR, AND HOPING IT WILL KEEP OUR HANDS FREE FROM IT OPERATIONS. ADDED TO THAT, WERE THE TESTIMONIALS WE RECEIVED FROM THEIR EXISTING CLIENTS, AND THE FACT THAT THEY HAVE SUCH A STRONG PRESENCE IN INDIA.”

NTT ENABLES THE LATEST TECHNOLOGY TRENDS FOR THE LEADER IN INDIA’S BANKING AND MONEY MARKET SYSTEM NTT IS STRENGTHENING THE IT INFRASTRUCTURE ECOSYSTEM AT ONE OF INDIA’S PREMIER BANKING INSTITUTION, THROUGH THE DEPLOYMENT OF ITS SOFTWARE-DEFINED INFRASTRUCTURE SOLUTIONS. NTT HAS ENHANCED EFFICIENCIES WITHIN THE CLIENT’S VIRTUALIZED ENVIRONMENT, BY INTEGRATING A SOFTWARE-DEFINED STORAGE SOLUTION WITH THEIR EXISTING PRIVATE CLOUD TO ENABLE BUSINESS AGILITY AND OPTIMIZED RESOURCE ALLOCATION. GIVEN THE HIGHLY REGULATED ENVIRONMENT WITHIN WHICH THE CLIENT OPERATES, AND THE EXPONENTIAL GROWTH OF DATA AND WORKLOADS, IT IS IMPERATIVE TO INTEGRATE AND MANAGE DATA THAT IS TYPICALLY STORED IN SILOS, ACROSS THE ENTERPRISE. THE SOLUTION DEPLOYED ALLOWS FOR POOLED RESOURCES TO BE MANAGED CENTRALLY AND INTELLIGENTLY. A UNIFIED MANAGEMENT PLATFORM OFFERS FULL VISIBILITY AND EASY ACCESS TO DATA, THEREBY ENHANCING BUSINESS EFFICIENCY AND PROVISIONING QUICKER TROUBLESHOOTING THROUGH A MANAGED SERVICES MODEL. RAHUL AMBEGAOKER, SENIOR DIRECTOR & REGION HEAD, WEST, NTT LTD. IN INDIA SAYS, “ORGANIZATIONS ARE LOOKING TO FUTURE-PROOF THEIR IT INFRASTRUCTURE AND IMPROVE EFFICIENCIES ACROSS THE BOARD. WHILE ASSESSING A SOLUTION, DECISION-MAKERS MUST FACTOR IN ALL COSTS, CAPACITY REQUIREMENTS AND LIMITATIONS. BY ACCOUNTING FOR PRESENT AND FUTURE APPLICATION USAGE, SECURITY, DATA RETENTION, AND ANALYTICS NEEDS, NTT DESIGNED AND DEPLOYED A SOLUTION THAT TRANSFORMED THE STORAGE ENVIRONMENT TO BE MORE EFFICIENT, FLEXIBLE, AGILE, AND SCALABLE.

SNIPPETS

Almond VIRTEX creates virtual event history with India International Science Festival Almond executed the prestigious 6th edition of India International Science Fair (IISF) from 22nd-25th December 2020, for the Ministry of Science & Technology. Happening virtually for the first time, the event was executed in partnership with Graphisads.

The event engaged more than one lakh people from over 82 countries and went on to win five Guinness World Records, one being the largest attendance of 100k people for a virtual science conference in one week.

Conceptualized by teams at Almond Virtex & Graphisads, the whole event was planned and executed in just two weeks with a 40 member core team and 50+ freelancers comprising of coders, web-developers, designers, show-runners and client liaison team – all stationed in a war-room setup within the ministry office.

Iris Global, helps Partner stitch an 18 Crore deal, Supplies Lenovo Tabs for the G2G program to Mauritius Iris Global has executed an impressive export order towards meeting Mauritius Government’s program of empowering its Nation’s Education System with Tablets, in a bid to further improve upon their present educational system.The program was under a bilateral agreement between India and Mauritius Government with funding from the Government of India. As per the agreement the recipient country will have to import the tablets from India and as per that the tenders were floated for the import of Tablets from India.

Talking to newsmen, Iris Global, Chairman, Mr Sanjiv Krishen said though the tender was a huge one but they were able to secure an order for the execution of tablets to Mauritius worth Rs 18 Crore. This order came through their partner Akshara.He said from the Indian side all arrangements were made by the Noida based Public Sector Undertaking – EdCIL, Educational Consultant India Limited and executed by Akshara, one of Iris Global’s Hyderabad based partner.

Security Analysts are Becoming Less Productive due to Widespread “Alert Fatigue” IDC InfoBrief “The Voice of the Analysts: Improving Security Operations Center Processes Through Adapted Technologies”. The security analysts are becoming less productive due to widespread “alert fatigue” resulting in ignored alerts, increased stress, and fear of missing incidents. To improve job satisfaction and effectiveness, the report also uncovered the top activities analysts felt would be best to automate to better secure their Security Operations Centers (SOCs).

“Security analysts are being overwhelmed by a flood of false positive alerts from disparate solutions while growing increasingly concerned they may miss a true threat,” said Chris Triolo, Vice President of Customer Success at FireEye. “To solve these challenges, analysts are asking for advanced automation tools, like Extended Detection and Response, which can help reduce the fear of missing incidents while strengthening their SOC’s cybersecurity posture.”

Sophos Shows how a Five-day Conti Ransomware Attack Unfolds day-by-day In a new three-part series of articles, Sophos (global leader in next-generation cybersecurity) researchers and incident responders unveil what really happens when attackers break into an organization’s network with the intention of stealing data and launching a Conti ransomware attack.

Conti is a human-operated “double extortion” ransomware. The attackers steal data from their targets before encrypting it, and then threaten to expose the stolen information on the “Conti News” site if the organization doesn’t pay the ransom.

Sophos’ 24/7 incident response team, Sophos Rapid Response, was called in to contain, neutralize and investigate the incident, which unfolded over five days from the initial compromise to the recovery of work operations. The series of articles from Sophos reconstructs the attack as it happened day-by-day and provides technical information on Conti’s attack behavior as well as advice for defenders.

Synechron and RavenPack partner to give buy-side firms access to advanced analytics within ESG Booster Synechron and RavenPack have partnered to provide augmented data analytics capabilities that are built into two of the new InvestTech Accelerator solutions that Synechron launched this past October to address the needs of buy-side asset management and wealth management firms. These Accelerator solutions include: ESG Booster which performs ESG analysis, and 360+ which provides an individualized 360degree view of each customer. This new, enhanced data analytics capability will enable investment professionals to make more informed decisions by incorporating the effects of public information into their models and workflows.

Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) is increasingly subject to investor scrutiny.

However, the absence of well-defined norms and the slow pace of updates to company ratings make it difficult for the buy-side to make informed and timely decisions. Synechron’s ESG Booster was launched to evaluate and normalize current ESG performance through portfolio-level analysis against custom ESG metrics. This expanded offering will provide ESGfocused discretionary investors with ‘nowcasting’ for a clearer, more continuous, and more encompassing vantage point.

SME CHANNELS 13 FEBRUARY 2021

SNIPPETS

Atlassian launches Cloud Enterprise to meet large customer neede Atlassian Corporation launched its most advanced cloud offering to date – Atlassian Cloud Enterprise for Jira Software, Confluence, and Jira Service Management.

Specifically designed to meet the needs of Atlassian’s largest customers now and in the future, Cloud Enterprise was created to provide improved scalability, security, and governance controls to help standardise Jira Software, Confluence, and Jira Service Management deployments on a purpose-built cloud platform.

In the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, enterprises were forced to rethink how their businesses operated. More than 95 percent of new Atlassian customers start with its cloud products. The company has invested in cloud services as the future, to power teams of all sizes now and moving forward.

Atlassian Cloud Enterprise offers five new capabilities to address the ‘core needs’ of enterprise customers. These include – global scale, with unlimited instances to allow teams to customize instances based on their needs; the highest standards of reliability with a guaranteed 99.95 percent uptime SLA and dedicated enterprise support; enterprise-grade security and compliance to ensure safe, convenient access to Atlassian cloud products on any device while meeting data privacy requirements across the globe; powerful governance controls for user and change management at scale; marketplace apps that meet enterprise needs for extensibility in the cloud.

Jaguar racing welcomes micro focus as official technical partner Jaguar Racing today announced that it has partnered with one of the world’s largest enterprise software providers, Micro Focus, ahead of the lights going green on season seven of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship.Joining as the team’s official digital transformation, business resiliency and analytics partner, Micro Focus will provide support to Jaguar Racing’s push for more points, podiums and wins on the racetrack.

The UK-based software company helps more than 40,000 customers around the world achieve critical outcomes – accelerating delivery, simplifying transformation, strengthening resilience and analyzing in time to act – which are key elements of winning both in the boardroom and on the track.Initially, Micro Focus will provide technology from its product group, Vertica, which will deliver highperformance advanced analytics and machine learning to ensure the Jaguar team performs at top speed for winning results.

Pega touches $1 Billion Mark in 2020 2021 Revenue Guidance of $1.25 billion Pegasystems, the software company that crushes business complexity, released its financial results for the fourth quarter and full-year 2020.

“The last year has made it abundantly clear that organizations need to accelerate their digital transformation to compete and thrive in a world that is constantly changing,” said Alan Trefler, founder and CEO, Pegasystems. “We have never been better positioned to support this need with our scalable low code.

“Pega Cloud ACV grew more than 50 percent year over year, increasing to $267 million,” said Ken Stillwell, CFO, Pegasystems. “And, at the same time, Pega Cloud gross margins expanded from 51 percent to 63 percent. We expect Pega Cloud revenue growth acceleration and gross margin expansion will be key contributors to drive future Pega profitability and growth.”

Discussion of Non-GAAP financial measures We believe that supplementary non-GAAP financial measures provide useful information to allow investors to understand our core operating results and future prospects, without the effect of often-one-time charges.

Pure Extends Market Leadership with new Purity Software Pure Storage announced enhancements to its unified storage portfolio, extending its enterprise storage market leadership by expanding into new markets and verticals. The updates to the flagship Purity software for FlashBlade and FlashArray accelerate Windows applications, deliver ransomware protection across file, block and native cloud-based apps, and make hybrid storage for both departmental and data center workloads obsolete with a third generation FlashArray//C all-QLC platform.

The latest updates, delivered through Pure’s Evergreen subscription model, further the company’s vision for a Modern Data Experience™.

“Pure is named a leader in the recent Gartner Magic Quadrant for Primary Storage Arrays and positioned highest and farthest in both vectors because we are chipping away at the complexity baked into legacy storage that is simply not designed for the digital age. Our vision for a Modern Data Experience empowers organizations to innovate by providing a dynamic, cloud-based storage experience that is flexible, ondemand, and delivered as code,” said Ajay Singh, Chief Product Officer, Pure Storage.

14 SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2021

OutSystems Raises $150 Million Investment at $9.5 Billion Valuation OutSystems raises $150 million capital.

The round, co-led by Abdiel Capital and Tiger Global, values OutSystems at $9.5 billion. The funding will be used to expand investments in its R&D and GTM strategy.

Recognizing the challenges of building scalable, adaptable software, OutSystems was founded to give every organization the power to innovate through software.

The latest funding is a recognition of the success of that singular focus and the transformative impact on its rapidly expanding global customer base. Using the OutSystems platform, businesses of all sizes can develop, deploy and manage critical apps at speed—enabling them to respond to market opportunities and continuously deliver value through software-driven innovation.

“Developers are a scarce resource in business today, and the complexities of traditional software development exacerbate the challenges most organizations face when tackling their digital transformation agenda,” said Paulo Rosado, CEO and Founder of OutSystems.

SNIPPETS

H.265+ Takes Video Security to the 4K & Ultra HD Recently, ultra-high-definition surveillance cameras introduced 4K resolution to the security industry. However, 4K resolution has yet to achieve wide application, mainly because of the tremendous bandwidth and data storage requirements.

Limiting the bitrate of an ultra-HD video feed while retaining a high-quality, 4K-image remains the biggest problem—a problem whose solution will decide the fate of ultra-HD surveillance video. Video transmission balances image quality, transmission capabilities, and data requirements—i.e., how much information and how it’s handled. Therefore, image transmission optimization lies in advancements in video compression technology.

Until now, H.264 compression has been the industrystandard codec. When the H.264 codec found wide use, Hikvision developed its own compatible algorithm to go the next step, calling it “H.264+”. The next iteration in this codec lineage—H.265—presently stands at the cusp of widespread adoption. And once again, Hikvision has already pushed this compression technology to a new level. H.265+ employs an intelligent algorithm whose encoding technology stems from the H.265/High Efficiency Video Coding (HEVC) standard.

Introducing the next feature update to Windows 10, version 21H1 We are introducing the next feature update to Windows 10, version 21H1. As people continue to rely on Windows more than ever to work, learn and have fun, we understand the importance of providing the best possible update experience to help people and organizations stay protected and productive. It is a responsibility we do not take lightly and why for the first time an H1 (first half of the calendar year) feature update release will be delivered in an optimized way using servicing technology, while continuing our semi-annual feature update cadence. In today’s blog I will cover details on how we plan to service the release, its scope, and next steps.

Fast and focused Based on feedback and learnings during the past year of extensive remote work, learning and play, version 21H1 will be delivered with servicing technology (like that used for the monthly update process and how 20H2 was delivered). Windows 10, version 21H1 will have a scoped set of features improving security, remote access and quality.

Airtel and Qualcomm to Accelerate 5G in India Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”) and Qualcomm Technologies announced collaboration for accelerating 5G in India. Recently, Airtel became India’s first telco to demonstrate 5G over a LIVE commercial network in the city of Hyderabad.

Through Airtel’s network vendors and device partners, Airtel will utilize the Qualcomm® 5G RAN Platforms to roll-out virtualized and Open RAN-based 5G networks. Airtel, as a board member of the O-RAN Alliance, is committed to driving the success of O-RAN and is working with Qualcomm Technologies to explore and implement the O-RAN approach for India. The flexible and scalable architecture of O-RAN will create new opportunities for small and mediumsized businesses to become viable players in the deployment of 5G networks.

In addition, Airtel and Qualcomm Technologies will collaborate to enable a wide array of use cases, including 5G Fixed Wireless Access (FWA) that is designed to deliver broadband connectivity at Gigabit speeds to homes and businesses.

This collaboration also aims to allow a faster rollout of broadband services in a cost effective and expeditious manner across India for “last mile” connectivity challenges that are becoming increasingly important in today’s remote, mobile-first society.

Accenture Launches New Business Group with VMware to Help Organizations Move to the Cloud Faster Accenture and VMware announced an expanded partnership and the launch of a dedicated business group that will help organizations adopt a ‘cloud first’ strategy – accelerating migration to the cloud, building modern apps more rapidly, and using the cloud as a foundation for innovation and new business models, ultimately realizing greater value.

The Accenture VMware Business Group represents a new multi-year, multi-million-dollar investment from the two companies, which have a relationship spanning more than two decades. The new business group brings together dedicated professionals with deep expertise in hybrid cloud and cloud migrations, cloud native and application modernization and security across key industries.

Tenable Announces Intent to Acquire Alsid Tenable Holdings, the Cyber Exposure company, announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Alsid SAS (“Alsid”), a leader in Active Directory security. Alsid for Active Directory is a Software as a Service (SaaS) solution with an on-premises deployment option that monitors the security of Active Directory in real time. The solution enables users to find and fix existing weaknesses with dynamic threat scoring, complexity ratings and recommended actions. Alsid continuously and non-disruptively discovers new attack pathways and detects ongoing attacks in real time, recommending remediations without the need to deploy agents or leverage privileged accounts.

Exploiting user privileges via Active Directory is a favorite and predictable tactic in many sophisticated compromises and common hacks. This risk has never been more acute than it is today, with so many people working remotely and often using personal devices to connect to corporate systems, with Active Directory playing a critical role in managed single sign on. For this reason, organizations are increasingly focusing on securing accounts — employees, service contractors, temporary workers, systems accounts and others — and their access to and permissions across systems as strategic to their cybersecurity posture.

SME CHANNELS 15 FEBRUARY 2021

COVER STORY

A

s the demand for Computer and IT hardware business in Metros is shrinking, the upcountry region is rapidly emerging as the new growth destination for IT hardware business in India. With Remote working and Distance learning gaining widespread adoption, the demand for computer hardware in C and D class cities is growing steadily.

The conventional channel business, which has been very strong in the upcountry region aims to ride on this growth wave. However, the roadblocks of E-Commerce and product availability etc. is slowing down their pace.

RP tech India reached out to prominent partners across the country to understand the current business sentiments and future of the channel business in the upcountry market.

Growth from Budget Laptops/Printers The demand for laptops and networking solutions witnessed an exponential rise in 2020 due to virtual engagements. The trend is set to continue in 2021 onwards as WFH and LFH become a mainstream practice. Budget laptops and printers witnessed huge demand from End-users and SOHO segment in C and D class cities. Similarly, printers and storage solutions were sold in large numbers in the education verticals.

Though schools turned virtual, the demand for printed notes continued to rise during the lockdown. This triggered the demand for low and mid-range printers. Similarly, the requirement for steady broadband for WFH and LFH pushed the networking and access points business.

The entry-level peripheral segment saw surge due to demand for refurbished compute systems.

“As laptop price increased exponentially due to sudden surge in demand, consumers turned to second hand, refurbished and entry-level laptops.

This triggered the demand for entry-level peripheral products”, said Mr. Vivek Khanna, proprietor of Bhopal based Blue Ocean Solutions.

The E-Commerce Challenge Offline channel and E-Commerce giants are seen locking horns over price in metros. However, the scenario is different in the upcountry market.

Though E-Commerce is expanding its presence in the upcountry region, consumers prefer to purchase from local retail shops. Installation and service support are the most important aspect of channel business in C & D class cities.

“The beauty of the channel business in the upcountry market is that it is driven by relationship. But at the same time, we cannot underestimate the challenge of E-Commerce. We are very

16 SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2021

proactive and raise our concerns related to fair business practices in various forums. We take all the necessary measures to protect our business interest”, said Mr. Dixit Gupta of Source Peripherals.

Mr. Vivek Khanna pointed out that the practice of stiff discounting by E-Commerce has made it difficult for retailers to do business as consumers argue on price. “Consumers come with specific product and its price listed on online portals. They demand us to sell at the same price and on top of that ask for installation and service. It becomes very difficult for us to justify our price to them.

This has led us to shrink our margins to retain

customers.”

Product Availability & Pricing Product availability has been a critical issue in the upcountry market. Partners lose potential business due to a shortage of products. Hence, there is a rising demand to have a fair and uniform system of stock allocation in small cities/towns. “Considering the demand for IT products in A-class city, the upcountry market will also have demands of IT goods and as the market is less occupied it will create a huge demand”, said Mr. Vikash Jain of Jain Computer.

Sharing similar experience, Mr. Amit Kotak of

COVER STORY

HOW UPCOUNTRY MARKET IS DRIVING GROWTH OF IT HARDWARE CHANNEL BUSINESS The C and D class cities have emerged as the growth driver of the IT hardware business in India post Covid-19 crisis.

BY SANJAY MOHAPATRA sanjay@smechannels.com

Concorde Peripherals said, “We were out of stock of laptops when the demand was huge and this led us to lose potential business. Saurashtra and Kutch is the largest region in Gujarat and contributes to almost 30-30 per cent total IT hardware business in the entire State. Hence, we demand seamless availability of products and fair price policy from brands and NDs.” Support from Brands/ NDs Being a budding market, the C & D class cities seek additional support from brands and NDs in terms of price, products allocation, credit and training. During COVID-19 crisis, many brands opted for virtual training and channel meets.

However, partners say one-on-one training programs are necessary to strengthen the connections in the upcountry market.

“We understand that brands prefer E-meet due

to COVID guidelines but now they should restart dealer meets in small cities to provide training on the latest products. Also, incentive/rebate programs are essential to pump up the energy in the channel business. We also expect sale out support to penetrate in the market”, said Mr. Amit Kotak of Concorde Peripherals.

Endorsing similar view, Mr. Vikash Jain of Jain Computer said, “In the process of exposure of new products, the upcountry partner will surely need support from Distributors & Brands. Most importantly they will need support on after-sale service at the nearest point. Also, extension in credit days can help them in keeping stock with them.”

Needless to say that the upcountry channel market has huge growth potentials. However, brands must emphasize channel support and marketing activities to tap potential business in developing cities/towns.

DIXIT GUPTA, PROPRIETOR OF JAMMU BASED SOURCE PERIPHERALS.

“LAPTOPS AND PRINTERS ARE HUGE IN DEMAND IN JAMMU SINCE SCHOOLS HAVE STARTED DIGITAL CLASSROOMS. THE DEMAND FOR BUDGET LAPTOPS BELOW RS 35,000 IS IN HIGH DEMAND FROM HOME AND SOHO SEGMENT. WE HAVE SEEN ALMOST 40 PER CENT GROWTH IN THE LAPTOP SALE ON THE CHANNEL IN THE LAST 10 MONTHS.” SME CHANNELS 17 FEBRUARY 2021

COVER STORY

AMIT KOTAK, PROPRIETOR OF CONCORDE PERIPHERALS IN RAJKOT.

SUSHIL AGARWAL, CAFE DE NET, SILCHAR, ASSAM.

“HOWEVER, MANY PARTNERS BELIEVE E-COMMERCE IS A MAJOR THREAT TO THEIR BUSINESS. “E-COMMERCE COMPANIES BACKED BY FOREIGN INVESTORS ARE BURNING MILLIONS OF RUPEES IN MARKET DEVELOPMENT, LOGISTICS AND ADVERTISING. THEY CAN AFFORD TO OFFER HEFTY DISCOUNTS AND STILL EARN MARGINS. WE ARE SMALL RETAILERS WITH LIMITED RESOURCES AND WE ARE UNABLE TO COMPETE WITH THE E-COMMERCE.”

18 SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2021

“THE PENETRATION OF LAPTOPS/TABLETS HAS INCREASED IN SAURASHTRA AND KUTCH REGION POSTCOVID-19 PANDEMIC. APART FROM THAT COMPONENTS, SERVERS AND STORAGE DEMAND HAVE INCREASED IN CORPORATES AND EDUCATION VERTICAL FOR ONLINE COMMUNICATION.”

VIKASH JAIN, PROPRIETOR OF JAIN COMPUTER.

“THERE ARE SOME AREAS OF CONCERN FOR RETAILERS, MOST IMPORTANTLY THE E-COMMERCE, WHICH DIRECTLY SELLS VIA E-MEDIA. IT GETS DIFFICULT FOR RETAILERS TO COMPETE WITH THEM. A RETAILER INVESTS A LOT IN STARTING UP A BUSINESS, IN THAT SITUATION HE CAN’T SELL THE PRODUCT IN A LOWER MARGIN FOR COMPETING WITH THE E-COMMERCE SECTOR.”

CASE STUDY

LA MAISON ROYALE CHOOSES MATRIX SECURITY SOLUTIONS FOR EFFICIENT PEOPLE MANAGEMENT

Industry: Hospitality Customer Name: La Maison Royale Location: 2 locations (West Land and South C Mombasa Road) Devices: COSEC DOOR FOT

Introduction La Maison Royale, Nairobi, is a 4-star superior boutique business hotel with a “French taste”, State-of-the-art facility and close to the entertainment in the Westland neighbourhood, La Maison Royale is a unique experience.

La Maison Royale prides itself with friendly staff and the practical touches that make being away from home easier, whether a person books their rooms by the day, week or longer. Travelling for business, looking for temporary or corporate housing, needing short-term housing during relocation, or planning a weekend getaway? La Maison Royale has a solution that fits everyone’s budget.

Challenges La Maison Royale has a prominent presence across several locations in Nairobi. Considering this, they required seamless connectivity within sites. The asset and infrastructure security was of utmost importance with central control and command. Furthermore, they required a comprehensive solution that would not need an upgrade in the imminent future. Besides, the staff of the hotel required a mobility management

solution for attendance, leave shift management.

Solution Matrix addressed these challenges by proposing a comprehensive solution to fit their requirements.

The solution consisted of COSEC DOOR FOT, for maintaining the Time-Attendance of the employees, efficiently. Furthermore, a web-portal was proposed for maintaining a consolidated log of the attendance and allocation of shifts to the employees. The employees had access to their specific profiles to monitor and manage their leaves by using the Employee Self Service (ESS) portal. Wherein, they would also receive email and SMS notifications on exceptions.

Results Secured People Management Centralized Management

Scalable Process

Products and Solutions Offered • COSEC DOOR FOT Optical Fingerprint and RFID Card based Door Controller for Time-Attendance • COSEC CENTRA TAM Time-Attendance and Leave Management Module for COSEC Software Platform • COSEC CENTRA ESS Employee Self Service Portal for Attendance Management.

For further information, please contact: 394-GIDC, Makarpura, Vadodara-390010, India Toll Free -1800-258-7747 E-Mail: inquiry@matrixcomsec.com https://www.matrixaccesscontrol.com

SME CHANNELS 19 FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

TOP 5 TECHNOLOGY INFRASTRUCTURE THAT EVERY COMPANY NEEDS TO INVEST, IN THE NEW FINANCIAL YEAR

BY SANJAY MOHAPATRA sanjay@smechannels.com

2

020 has been the year driven by accelerated tech adoption across public and private sectors, and the only enabler that helped combat the economic and business inertia, otherwise inflicted upon by the restrictions on physical movement. Some key technology innovations that helped change the business scenario for key sectors, including healthcare, education, and BFSI, were a mix of emerging smart tech and essential SAAS components vital to ensure smooth functioning. While AI, ML, AR, and VR found multiple innovative applications, services like cloud computing, cybersecurity, and data analytics witnessed sophisticated upgrades.

As e-commerce boomed, digital payments and last-mile deliveries enabled by smart logistics became the norm. In 2021, technology adoption is no longer just about survival and competition but more about staying relevant and managing to tide over the impact of the past year. Further, among a lot of other factors that are now part of the new normal, work from home remains one of the more lucrative and thus a motivator for technology innovations in the coming years, for businesses across sectors.

Encapsulated below are the top five technology adoptions that every firm needs to adopt, in

20 SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2021

the new financial year, so as to stay relevant and survive: 1. Cloud Computing: Cloud computing has become an integral part of the digital transformation of any business, especially after the global pandemic made work from home the new normal. Cloud computing, along with mobile technology, provides the ability to work from any location that has internet access, via a virtual desktop or remote infrastructure. Apart from creating a seamless and flexible working experience for employees to work out of remote locations, cloud computing also ensures data protection, secure and selective access to information, and smoother engagement among employees. If remote working has to be a norm, it has to be with a secure cloud infrastructure!

2. Cyber Security: Data security goes hand in hand with cloud computing. With the increased digitization and cyber activities, security on the internet and cloud have also become increasingly vulnerable. Instances like ransomware, data theft, identity theft, etc., have become rampant.

As remote working shifts from a temporary solution to common practice, enterprises need to reconsider and revisit their cybersecurity risk. As many people are still working from home, a large

SUMANA IYENGAR, CEO & CO-FOUNDER GOAVEGA SOFTWARE INDIA PVT LTD

Sumana is an experienced IT professional, having spent over 23 years in the industry. This includes global experience across the domain, which includes Delivery management, Risk management, operations management to strategic planning and consulting. She has successfully executed several business plans and has a strong business acumen for handling channel management activities.

Prior to starting Goavega, she worked in several large MNC’s and product companies. Some of her past stints include Symphony Services Corp India Pvt Ltd, where she served as a director for 6 years. Additionally she was at AIG (American International Assurance), Singapore as Assistant Manager from Jun’01 – Apr’04.

Sumana is also the Cofounder of Krimzen, which she manages at a part time basis. Sumana has received the prestigious ‘Women Entrepreneur of the year 2018-19’. Award from WeLeed and Women Empowerment Summit and GIWL Awards 2019 from UBS Forums. At Goavega, she provides leadership to drive growth and customer delight.

Sumana has assisted several start-ups to build products from ground zero and launch products to the market.

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

number of devices are being used from homemainly desktops, laptops, and smartphones, thus giving hackers opportunities to target these vulnerable points. This is why organizations should take cybersecurity seriously and make employees aware of the security protocols they need to adhere to. For instance, enterprises should encourage professionals to use encrypted, enterprise-driven services like VPN (Virtual Private Network) to avoid becoming prey to cybercriminals.

3. Business Automation: Even as the world wakes up to the many possibilities of leveraging AI and smart technology, business process automation remains one of the core applications that are transforming modern economies. From capturing and assessing data, storage, and analytics, AI-enabled automation is driving both core operational areas like manufacturing and packaging as well as strategic aspects like sales and marketing, customer service, accounting, and human resources.

4. Training and Skill Up-Gradation: As tech adoption grows dramatically, the need to fill the digital literacy and skill gap becomes increasingly important. From training workforce to efficiently leverage the tech applications and driving performance, tech tools are also increasingly coming in handy to deliver online training sessions, workshops, and classroom lectures on both, core competency and tech adoption, both of which, when combined perfectly, can help turn around an organization drastically, putting it firmly on its path to success.

5. Data Analytics: Last but not the least, data, which is already touted as the new ‘oil’, is becoming an increasingly valuable business currency and leveraging effective means to collect, store and analyze this data could mean the difference between success and failure, for businesses. From creating impactful consumer engagement, designing marketing campaigns, product development, and design to enhancing employee performance indicators, better customer experience, predictive analysis and problem solving, Data analytics, and AI is the future of the global economy and this is the time to jump the bandwagon if one wants to keep up.

Technology has significant effects on business operations. No matter the size of the enterprise, technology has both tangible and intangible benefits that will help businesses make profits and enable efficient operation. Technological infrastructure affects the culture, efficiency, and relationships of a business. This is the reason why businesses irrespective of their size should invest in technology to operate in a smart and more innovative way.

SME CHANNELS 21 FEBRUARY 2021

BUDGET OUT COME

BUDGET 2021-2022

AIMS TO TACKLE THE CONSEQUENCES OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC, TO BECOME ‘ATMANIRBHAR BHARAT’, AND THE UNION FINANCE MINISTER PRESENTED THE UNION BUDGET WITH AN EMPHASIS ON SIX PILLARS

(A) HEALTH AND WELL-BEING; (B) PHYSICAL AND FINANCIAL CAPITAL, AND INFRASTRUCTURE; (C) INCLUSIVE DEVELOPMENT FOR ASPIRATIONAL INDIA; (D) REINVIGORATING HUMAN CAPITAL; (E) INNOVATION AND R&D; AND (F) MINIMUM GOVERNMENT AND MAXIMUM GOVERNANCE.

LET’S HAVE A LOOK ON WHAT THE IT INDUSTRY HAS TO SAY ABOUT IT:

SRIPAD NANDIRAJ FOUNDER, HOCOMOCO

VIMESH AVLANI MANAGING DIRECTOR AT GRAFTRONICS

SUNNY NANDWANI FOUNDER AND MANAGING PARTNER, ACUVER CONSULTING

22 SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2021

“The government’s intent of pushing Housing for All and affordable housing in Budget 2021, is going to be a welcome move after the slump in the construction industry due to the pandemic. The proposition of extending exemption available for the purchase of affordable housing and tax holiday for affordable housing projects for more than one year till March 2022 will give a fillip to the buyers. We also hope that the measures of tax incentives around affordable housing will help in the formidable growth of the housing market.

The measures taken by the government for startups in

the Budget are very encouraging, as the emerging startups will continue their operation without worrying about the compliance of taxes. Extension of tax holiday and formation of separate administrative structure for promoting and monitoring the startups are laudable moves by the Finance Minister. The Government’s support to the startup ecosystem in India continues this year and the industry is poised to be back on the growth trajectory after an unprecedented last financial year.”

“Overall Budget seems to be very positive and strong.

“This Budget Definitely Favours New Age Digital Economy” “The Union Budget 2021, is encouraging , forward looking and would ensure the necessary boost to the Digital India Vision. The Budget duly recognises the transformational impact of emerging technologies such as AI, IOT, Big data, Cybersecurity, ML and Robotics on the economy.

MSME redefinition and incorporation of start-ups made it easier. Enabling one-person companies is a huge step forward for encouraging start-ups in India as it provides more

flexibility for entrepreneurs.

Businesses not taxed and for SI doing business up to turnover 10 Cr get relief from IT Audit Overall Growth Oriented Budget , need patients to see India’s Growth.

Government Need to also focus on IT Equipment manufacturing in India.

Very much required to loosen dependency for import sp. from China.

Inflation increase is worrisome.

“This year’s union budget announced an increase in the MSME budget of Rs 15,700 crore, double the previous year’s allocation, which will initiate technological interventions in the start-up and MSME space. We welcome this budget as a progressive step to promote entrepreneurship and encourage start-ups in India.

The budget also emphasized on innovation and research development. Besides, a host of substantial announcements were made on the divestment front, including the introduc-

tion of IPO of Life Insurance Corporation in 2022. The Government’s support to the Start-up Ecosystem in India continues even this year as the FM proposed One-Person Company without any restriction on paid up limits, which will benefit the start-ups and innovators.

The Minister of Finance also reiterated the Government’s focus to further simplify the GST structure. We are hopeful that this will remove the anomalies and smoothen the process for businesses.”

BUDGET OUT COME

“We are glad to see the government pushing the economy towards digital inclusion – India’s first paperless budget is a testimony of this. Government proposed OPC and tax holiday scheme is a welcome measure which helps startups and MSMEs to grow without any restriction on paid up capital and give a boost to the startup ecosystem. As

a data security company we appreciate the government’s gig economy, digital payments and R&D (Research and Development) initiative which plays an important role in Indian IT sector. We hope that this budget sets the base for a robust cybersecurity posture in the future”

“The first “paperless” union budget underlines our government’s focus on three key areas, including innovation, skill development, and digital governance. The budget has come with encouraging announcements for the healthcare, infrastructure, and innovation ecosystem. The move to provide a greater impetus to R&D with an outlay of Rs 50,000 crore in the next five years will foster a culture of innovation, growth, and research. Furthermore, the focus on digital education, re-aligning the existing scheme of training programs, and partnering with UAE and Japan for skill development will help India in producing highquality digital talent. The proposal to build a world-class

fintech hub, digitization of railways, and first-ever digital census, reconfirms the government’s emphasis on creating a digital economy. Furthermore, the emphasis on technology, such as data analytics, artificial intelligence, and machine learning-driven platform to enable e-courts and compliance management will go a long way in accelerating the nation’s digital initiatives.

Moving ahead, we look forward to the expansion of the scope of corporate tax across the board, simplification of GST, and special monetary incentives for product software companies.”

“The heightened expectations from the Budget 2021 has been met with a matching delivery by the honorable FM. This is a Liberal and growth oriented budget, with no adverse tax rollouts. The budget has been well received by the Market participants as is also being demonstrated with the immediate positive response from the stock markets.

However, There is a need for both short-term and longterm enablers for growth for businesses, as well as for the economy as a whole. India is a growing economy and our per capita energy consumption is expected to continue to rise at a rapid rate. Our 2020 oil import bill alone was about $ 100 billion, which is more than 4% of the annual GDP or seemingly almost equal to the annual fiscal deficit!

While the Government continues to focus on promoting

renewable sources of energy on the supply side, we still have a tremendous untapped opportunity for wide scale adoption of technology driven energy efficiency interventions, which can play an important role in managing the demand side. Reduction of energy consumption can directly contribute to the fiscal deficit targets in a meaningful way, while at the same time contributing to the long term social and environmental goals. We would like to see some more announcements in the future like incentives, promotions and awareness programs for the Corporate sector promoting direct adoption of energy efficiency investments, which may help unlock the Nation’s energy efficiency potentials.”

“The outlook for innovation from the 2021 budget remains strong, with a lot more focus on making an ‘Atmanirbhar’ ecosystem. Today tech startup companies have become the backbone for the growth of the country, we are optimistic about the initiatives taken to strengthen India’s digital drive and to further amplify the digital economy.

The impact of the pandemic has forced sectors that oper-

ate traditionally to change their models rapidly to support modern trends. Two-thirds (70%) of the public sector are of the opinion that COVID-19 has caused IT to be viewed more strategically in their organisations, and hence the budgets intention to push for innovation and R&D is one step in the right direction for the tech sector, in establishing a Digital First mindset throughout India.”

SANDIP KUMAR PANDA CEO, INSTASAFE

DIWAKAR NIGAM MANAGING DIRECTOR, NEWGEN SOFTWARE

KRISHAN AGARWAL FINANCE CONTROLLER, 75F APAC

BALAKRISHNAN ANANTHARAMAN VICE PRESIDENT AND MANAGING DIRECTOR, SALES, NUTANIX INDIA

SME CHANNELS 23 FEBRUARY 2021

TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

TOP 5

DISPLAY WITH CUTTING-EDGE

TECHNOLOGY

BY SANJAY MOHAPATRA sanjay@smechannels.com

T

oday, more and more people are working from home, staying indoors and the comfortness of relaxing at our own homes is increasing. The face of entertainment has changed and is evolving with demand of immersive experience to escape the reality and enter a different world altogether.

Being a content creator, photographer or a gamer, people have been searching for more convenient and smart ways to attain their everyday activities through technology. Smart displays are great devices that bring entertainment, manages your smart home and displays useful bits of information throughout the day. The combination of these

technologies make the entertainment series the finest platform for enjoying movies, games, music videos and any content in which impactful sound and picture quality are essential. Here is a list of 5 display you can buy to elevate your experience.

Nowadays, people are relaxing their restrictions in the case of eye protection as there is no further way to seat in front of a smartphone or a computer for a long time regularly to attend online classes.

Office persons are facing the same. So, the demand for a monitor that is friendly to our eyes or in one

word, eye-care monitors increases. The Taiwanese giant BenQ started contributing with it’s two new eye-care entertainment monitors. Be it a movie marathon, binge-watching sessions or a full-day of gaming, BenQ’s monitors provide extraordinary audio-visual immersion keeping in mind eye-

health via eye-care features. The model numbers of the monitors are EW2780Q, a 27-inch screen monitor, and EW3280U which is a 32-inch monitor. Both the screens have the support of enhanced HDRi Technology and customized speakers from the “treVolo” team of audiophile experts.

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TECHNOLOGY TRENDS

ASUS ROG SWIFT PG35VQ – THE POWER YOU NEED Asus ROG Swift PG35VQ is one of the most feature-rich gaming monitors you’ll find. This 35-inch display with a 200Hz refresh rate is the most “ultra” that the ultra-wide segment has to offer, and with strong colour numbers to back up its fast

performance, it’s one of the best choices for content creators and gamers as well.

With a spiral-theme design stand and small touches like integrated headphone DAC, Asus ROG Swift PG35VQ is definitely redefining the fashion statement.

BENQ PD3220U-MAC BOOK PRO COMPANION FOR DESIGNERS AND CONTENT CREATORS

If you are a designer, videographer, photographer or a content creator, you would agree that it is difficult for a display device to match the display standards of Mac Book on mirroring.

Well, it changes with BenQ PD3220U. Right from its stunning looks to image

quality to decent pricing (MRP Rs. 1,34,990) this 4K monitor will look perfect next to your Mac Book Pro. The space grey body matches the Mac Book Pro color while the bezel-less design and small base turns out to be a great option for minimalist-fans.

DELL ULTRASHARP UP3218K – FOR PROFESSIONALS EYEING FOR ACCURACY Dell UltraSharp UP3218K is a perfect pick for professional designers, engineers, photographers and software developers. The monitor can display incredibly high-resolution images with bright, vibrant and, above all, accurate colors. Dell UltraSharp

UP3218K is a 8K-resolution monitor, that’s 7,680x4,320-pixel resolution, or 33.2 million pixels. At 280 pixels per inch, the display is even crisper than Apple’s stunning 5K iMac with Retina Display. It’s like having four 4K screens in a single panel.

BENQ EX2510 – ENHANCE THE GAMING EXPERIENCE EX2510 monitor is a 24.5 inch 3-sideborderless IPS FHD monitor and it is the first entrant of BenQ’s new gaming monitor sub-brand Mobiuz that caters to PC and console games. Mobiuz aims to enrich emphatic gameplay with image, audio, and control enhancements

as well as proprietary BenQ Eye-Care (Brightness Intelligence – Auto Brightness Adjustment). Zowie XL2546K (24.5-inch) and XL2411K (24-inch) gaming monitors are enhanced versions of XL2546S and XL2411P respectively from Zowie Portfolio.

SME CHANNELS 25 FEBRUARY 2021

SECURITY

SEXTORTION SCAMS SURGING

DURING PANDEMIC: AVAST Avast threat researchers blocked over 500,000 attacks by scammers, taking advantage of increased Zoom use and people’s fear of intimate moments being exposed

A

vast ,blocked over half a million sextortion attack attempts in January. Most of these attacks targeted English-speaking users including 3,980 in India, but Avast threat labs researchers have also seen campaigns in other countries in local languages. All of the sextortion campaigns seen by Avast use the same modus operandi, with scammers sending emails to users claiming they recorded the user during private, intimate moments, and threatening to expose them to the public unless the victim pays money to the attacker. Avast threat labs researcher’s advice people to stay calm and ignore sextortion emails instead of reacting to them, as they usually are fake claims.

“Sextortion scams are dangerous and unsettling, and can even have tragic consequences

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resulting in the suicide of affected users. During the Covid-19 pandemic, cybercriminals likely see a strong opportunity for success as people spend more time on Zoom and in front of their computer overall,” said Marek Beno, malware analyst at Avast. “As scary as such emails may sound, we urge people to stay calm if they receive such a message in their inbox and ignore it, as it is just a dirty trick that cybercriminals use to try to get your money.”

The most prevalent sextortion campaign takes advantage of the increased use of video conferencing services during the Covid-19 pandemic, falsely claiming to have accessed a user’s device and camera. Avast saw an uptick of these campaigns during the holiday season in December 2020. The threat actors claim in an email they took advantage of critical vulnerabilities in the

Zoom application, allowing them access to the user’s device and camera. Avast has not found any actual vulnerability in the Zoom application.

The email also mentions a “recorded sexual act”, that the attacker got “access to sensitive information”, and that this can lead to “terrible reputation damage” unless a payment of $2,000 in Bitcoin is made. A distinctive feature of this campaign is that emails look like they are sent from the user’s email address to themselves, however, only the sender name displayed has been modified and clicking on it reveals the real email address of the sender.

Click the link to read more: https://www.smechannels.com/

SECURITY

ANTICIPATING CYBERATTACKS AND GOING AHEAD OF PREDICTION VIJENDRA KATIYAR, DIRECTOR – ENTERPRISE BUSINESS, INDIA & SAARC TREND MICRO

I

magine a scenario where we can anticipate crimes and stop it before it happens, ensuring a crime-free city. That’s the power of anticipation and prediction. In a popular American sci-fi movie ‘Minority Report’, there is a pre-crime unit – a specialized police department who apprehend criminals based on foreknowledge that they have acquired from the psychics called precogs.

What’s interesting is that these precogs have visions that gets displayed on the screen and they come to know – where, when and how a crime is going to get committed.

This is exactly what we need in the cybersecurity space – we need a precog. One that can help us anticipate cyberattacks. Talking about recent cyberattacks and major breaches there was one common thread, that of, missing information – either system error, misconfiguration, insider threat, vulnerability, or lack of visibility. To further validate this, the recent Data Breach Investigation Report of 2020 from Verizon confirms that in the last four to five years nothing has drastically changed when it comes to tactics and common methods adopted by hackers for data breaches.

According to a research report by Ponemon Institute, the dwell time i.e. mean time to identify and contain the threat is still around 300 days.

If you look from a CISO’s perspective, their onus is to protect data in the present and future times, irrespective of where, who or how it’s accessed. On one side they have the challenge of protecting the data, on the other side, they are haunted by the Cassandra syndrome, where the users are less aware of cybersecurity. There is also an executive board whose beliefs are closely tied to facts and figures, demanding evidence and ROI related to cybersecurity. Gartner talks about

five board questions which the CISOs should be prepared to answer: · Are we secure and compliant? · Why is security so expensive? · Why can’t security move faster? · Why can’t we be a digital company? · Why can’t we have competitive edge from security?

If we can anticipate infrastructure or business technology change, we can tell the board that these are the areas of investment whether its people, process or technology that can help us mitigate the risk. Hence, security can become a part of this business technology fabric which can help us move faster.

In order to achieve this, we have to look at building a framework which can help us anticipate better. Two key aspects should be considered while building this framework – strategy and corresponding execution. · Building anticipation using global cybersecurity trends and intelligence, for instance, with the help of leading industry cybersecurity analyst reports, looking at past & present cybersecurity incidents or breaches with relevance to the respective industry and using threat prediction report by cybersecurity experts. · Anticipate technological change adopted by organizations to stay ahead of the curve considering business demands (cloud adoption, IT-OT integration, Work from Anywhere which is the new norm). · Organizations have started implementing tools and have adopted a framework which can provide more visibility across all the different security layers – endpoint, email, cloud, network or IIOT. Adopting XDR helps to anticipate and

respond better across all security layers, which in turn improves the MTTD and MTTR. PYRAMID OF ANTICIPATION We have heard about Gartner’s Adaptive Security Architecture based on risk and trust. Apart from prevention, we also need to pay attention to other aspects – prediction, detection and response. We need to anticipate in order to respond effectively.

The epitome of cybersecurity maturity comes with anticipation.

In this context, let’s understand how XDR can help anticipate better, providing: 1) Realtime contextual visibility across multiple security layers: Endpoint, email, network, cloud, mobile and IIOT. 2) Timeline and attack visualization: To know what, when and how.

3) Correlation: Events, alerts across multiple technologies (for e.g. email and endpoint and network), also low and high severity events.

4) Threat modelling framework: Mapping with MITRE framework for Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) to learn more about adversaries/threat actors.

5) Automation and integration: Automation (prioritization of triggers or workbench) in the environment and integration with security exchange and threat intelligence platforms, to complement SIEM/SOAR and send high fidelity alerts and eliminate the noise.

6) Threat intelligence: Proactive sweeping of IOC discovered in global cyber-attacks.

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SME CHANNELS 27 FEBRUARY 2021

GUEST ARTICLE

HARNESSING THE POWER OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WITH HIGH-PERFORMANCE COMPUTING: DELL TECHNOLOGIES Artificial intelligence (AI) is poised to change lives.

From fuelling medical discoveries to smart collars that can decipher and display the emotions of our household pets, this emerging technology is enabling organisations to innovate. According to IDC1, by 2025, AI-powered enterprises will see a 100% increase in productivity and new product introduction success rates, higher than those of their non-intelligent peers. By being able to anticipate the market and operational changes with AI, organisations will respond much faster than their competitors. They will be agile enough to adapt to changes in the market and innovate.

Hence, accelerating AI solutions for businesses should be the focus for organizations in India. For example, HPC workloads are becoming more data centric and adding AI technologies to advance the capabilities of traditional HPC modelling and simulation. In the next few years, HPC technologies, such as HPC-enabled machine learning training, will go from experimentation models to production models. As CTOs and CIOs in India look to create an enterprise infrastructure that provides robust performance and scalability for large and highly complex AI models while keeping deployment costs low, the answer may lie in HPC for three key reasons: · Data analytics: Businesses relying heavily on data analytics generate new insights which improve efficiencies and give them a competitive edge. However, when it comes to analysing large sets of unstructured data that are exponentially increasing in volume and velocity, traditional IT infrastructure is often hamstrung due to slow storage speeds. To adapt to significantly larger data sets and compute-intensive analytics processes, researchers are looking to exascale computing systems, capable of performing one quintillion calculations per second. Powered with HPC, these advanced performance systems are expected to have a profound impact in the faster identification of pandemics, discovery of effective medication and indication of hazardous weather conditions before they happen. · Acceleration of AI deployments: According to

28 SME CHANNELS FEBRUARY 2021

a study2, in India, almost 70% of organisations are currently investing in Artificial Intelligence to deliver better business results. As HPC and AI continue to converge and evolve to involve more use cases across industries, the possibilities are nearly endless. Organisations are increasingly looking for pre-designed and pre-validated solutions to generate value instead of constructing IT infrastructure. To help companies with roadblocks involved in setting up an AI system, large vendors are also beginning to introduce reference architectures together with HPC infrastructure for data scientists and researchers working. With HPC and software combined, launching new AI applications is becoming easier and faster. Technology vendors are helping data scientists focus less on maintaining AI systems but more on experimenting, exploring and uncovering insights. Organizations do not need to walk their AI journey alone. By collaborating and working with end-to-end technology infrastructure providers, organisations can co-design and customise unique HPC infrastructures to meet AI research, development and AI model deployment needs. · Growing support for HPC globally and in India: The business benefits of AI are being increasingly recognised, with infrastructure providers now helping the research community and customers capitalise on HPC, expanding it from a niche market to a broader audience. More than ever, customers and partners have access to guidance from technology vendors on how to kick-start their AI initiatives including design, installation, maintenance and most importantly, delivering tangible business outcomes for their organisations. Organisations are focused on promoting open collaboration, bringing together the wide-ranging experience and knowledge of technology developers, service providers and end-users in a worldwide forum that promotes the advancement of innovative, powerful HPC and AI solutions.

REVIEW

ZEBRA L10 ANDROID TABLETS

BY MANAS RANJAN info@smechannels.com

IN TODAY’S COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE, every organization are embracing the digital revolution to be more mobile and relevant.

Traditionally, only organizations in the oil & gas, telco, mining, excavation, roads & building construction, defense and warehouse, etc. tend to use mobile computing. In recent years, even the retail, BFSI, command and control centers, police and other sectors are utilising mobile computing to increase their productivity.

Zebra has launched a L10 series tablet with 3 different form factors, XSLATE, XPAD and XBOOK. The XSLATE looks like a tablet, the XPAD comes with an additional handle at the top, while the XBOOK looks similar to a tablet and has an additional detachable keyboard that further protects the tablet. Recently, we assessed two form factors of Zebra’s L10 Android Tables - XPAD L10 and XBOOK L10. These tablets are exceptionally rugged and resistant to most adverse weather. Both products come with an in-built sturdy casing that protects it from all angles. Unlike consumer grade devices, these ruggedized tablets need no further protection and are equipped with the right tools to assist different businesses across varying sectors.

Obviously, these ruggedized tablets are custom-

THE ADVANTAGE The fastest, lightweight, and ergonomic rugged design XPAD L10 tablet is handy for the warehouse workers who are taking stock of the items, while the XBOOK L10 tablet provides the best mobility solution for field workers who are often on-the-go. Relating to use cases, the warehouse workers using a XPAD L10 do not need a separate scanner and can use the device to scan, store and analyse their data.

The field workers on-the-go can utilise a XBOOK L10 out in the field to execute their duties without any worries. Equipped with Android operating system, users will not encounter a steep learning curve as it is already a familiar platform, and companies will be able to utilise a wide range of applications needed based on their respective industries. All L10 models come with a 3-years warranty.

built for all situations – including outdoor and indoor usage. Before I describe its ruggedness and how tough they are, let me take you through the inbuilt features of these devices.

First of all, these devices come with Android OS and tools that provide a sense of familiarity for its users. Do not be mistaken by the ease of usage and think that they are similar to any consumer grade devices. These devices are pre-loaded with critical tools like DataWedge and Device Diagnostics that will be able to help the business. Datawedge can automatically integrate the data captured via the XPAD built-in scanner into your applications, whereas Device Diagnostic allow users to test the tablet’s main systems by a simple touch of a button to identify issues and determine its serviceability on the spot.

For the XPAD L10, it comes equipped with a built-in scanner for quick scanning and tracking of items in the warehouse. The XBOOK L10 comes with a kickstrap at the back of the devices to offer much required grip of the product while on the go. Both devices are equipped with a stylus that is attached to the casing. The stylus enables

PRODUCT

users with greater convenience especially for those who may need to draw on the move. Swapping the battery can be easily done through the back via switching a toggle to open the battery from the back and inserting a new one, which is a plus. Did I mention that the batteries are hotswappable? This means that the batteries can be changed without powering down the device.

As an all-weather product, it is resistant and operable under extreme temperatures ranging from minus 20°C to 60°C. For the front line workers who are required to brave the weather during rainy seasons, these devices are rated IP65, with protection against low pressure jets of water from all directions, even when the ports are open. To test the water resistance in case of accidental water spill, we poured water on it and there was no change to its functionality. These products are built with a stronger than steel frame and are equipped with Corning Gorilla Glass screen to withstand drops in accordance with military standards, which means they are tested to operate even when dropped. To prove this, we conducted a drop-test from a 4-feet height to concrete flooring and it not only survived but continued to work perfectly fine afterwards! Now that’s something you’ll definitely not try with a consumer grade tablet even if it was equipped with some level of protection.

If you talk about its functionality, it is quick to boot and quiet when shutting down. As the device comes NFC, Bluetooth v5.0, 802.11ac Wi-Fi, GPS and 4G LTE mobile broadband technologies, you do not need to worry about any lag or challenge from a connectivity standpoint. These devices are equipped with a wide range of connectivity ports, such as the RJ-45 Ethernet port, multiple USB port (including a Type-C port). Users even have the option of getting it with an optional RS232 Serial or HDMI-in or even a RFID UHF reader.

The front facing and 13 MP rear facing cameras can capture images and video to offer users with VoIP collaboration.

The detachable battery is quite lasting and can run up to 9.8 hours in a single charge. For heavy users who are out in the field, one can choose to upgrade it to an extended battery that lasts for up to 26 hours of usage.

VERDICT MOST RUGGED, STYLISH AND LIGHT WEIGHT IN THE COMPETITION.

SME CHANNELS 29 FEBRUARY 2021

PRODUCT PRODUCT

NETGEAR

NETGEAR ORBI TRI-BAND RBK853

MATRIX

MATRIX COSEC VEGA CAX Matrix COSEC VEGA CAX range of door controllers are engineered with a careful blend of aesthetic, size, connectivity, reliability and ease of use. Its IP65, PoE, Wi-Fi, touchscreen, Fingerprint and RFID Card offers foolproof access control and time-attendance solution for modern enterprises.

Powered to offer a range of contactless credentials, it is a perfect fit for multiple applications. It is designed to cater to the demanding needs of modern organizations, irrespective of their segment, size and operations.

KEY FEATURES: • Contactless Credentials - Bluetooth (BLE), RFID Card, PIN, Face (with Compatible Hardware) • Higher Capacity for Managing Multiple Users and Events • Excellent Design with Advanced Technology • Different Applications with Multiple Interfaces • Powerful Device APIs to Perform Applications n For further information, please contact: 394-GIDC, Makarpura, Vadodara-390010, India Toll Free -1800-258-7747 E-Mail: inquiry@matrixcomsec.com https://www.matrixaccesscontrol.com/

NETGEAR Orbi Wi-Fi 6 is a combination of NETGEAR’s award-winning Mesh technology and the power of Wi-Fi 6 combined gives you the capacity to stream, surf, work and learn from home, and do more on your devices than ever before, all at once. One such product from NETGEAR’s Orbi Mesh Wi-Fi 6 range is AX6000 Tri-band Mesh System (RBK853) which is designed to make a robust whole home Wi-Fi 6 mesh that will be accessible to more households in India.

The award-winning Orbi mesh system RBK853 is NETGEAR’s industryleading portfolio of Wi-Fi 6 network product offerings. The new mesh system makes the ideal upgrade for the customer who wishes to get the benefits of both the Wi-Fi performance and coverage of a tri-band mesh and the capacity to handle multiple devices with Wi-Fi 6 for their home but at a more attractive price point. Tri-band mesh Wi-Fi provides a network of wireless router and satellites with a dedicated data connection from the router to satellite to ensure the best performance and reach through the entire home.

Salient Features: • Faster than Ever- Patented tri-band Wi-Fi with total wireless speeds of up to 6Gbps ensures you’re enjoying the quickest speeds possible across all your devices.

• Room for All Your Smart Devices– Wi-Fi 6 offers 4X more device capacity than Wi-Fi 5. Connect more than 100 devices, from your laptop and TV to your thermostat and baby monitor.

• Powerful, Seamless Mesh Coverage– Mesh Wi-Fi delivers a strong connection for up to 7,500 sq. ft., from the front door to the backyard and everywhere in between.

VIEWSONIC

VIEWSONIC PX701-4K HOME ENTERTAINMENT PROJECTOR Expanding its 4K Projector portfolio, ViewSonic PX701-4K Home Entertainment projector offers impressive visuals, refining true 4K clarity. This power packed product is also equipped with 4.2ms Ultra-Fast Input and 240Hz refresh rate upgrading gaming experience to the next level.

The audio-visual devices have seen technological evolution and the key features include theatre experience at one’s own comfort and convenience.

ViewSonic’s PX701-4K projector not only brings theatre experience at home but also streamline a smooth gaming experience for today’s young and

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passionate gamers.

The ergonomically designed projector PX701-4K, boost 3200 ANSI Lumens high brightness giving bright and clear images. The projector provides perfectly shaped images with comprehensive H/V keystone and 4 corner adjustment capabilities. The auto V keystone further frees you from manual adjustments. Equipped with SuperEco+ mode technology, it extends the lamp life of the projector from 15,000 hours to 20,000 hours i.e. four hours a day for more than 13 years saving maintenance cost and manual effort. Also, the projector

is embedded with advanced Projector Warping Tool which offers a perfect projection even on curvy surface.

The user-friendly projector offers an ultimate gaming experience with Ultra-Fast Input with low delay and seamless viewing of fast-moving objects that would enhance gaming experience to the next level. Additionally, its stunning picture and visual quality gives a theatre like experience. n Price: INR 1,99,000

RNI NO: DEL ENG/ 2010/ 31962 Postal Reg. No.: DL-SW-1/4145/16-18 Licensed to Post without pre-payment U(SW)/19/2017-18

Date of Publication: 13 of Every Month Date of Posting: 15 & 16 of Every Month