The Best Performing Microsoft Solution Providers to watch in 2021

WWW.THEENTERPRISEWORLD.COM | AMERICA EDITION | FEBRUARY 2021

Cynthia Farren | President

Cynthia Farren Consulting Designed to Meet Your Business Needs Today and Into the Future

The Best Performing

Microsoft Solution Providers

to watch in 2021

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“That’s 200 terabytes in a single relational database back to hyperscale in Azure.” -Rohan Kumar, Corporate Vice President, Azure Data, Microsoft Microsoft Solutions has revolutionized the functioning of many industries, mostly the software realm with its unique platform and to top it off, the venture of companies in the domain, using the platform to provide their products and services, changing the functioning and process of many tech companies. Microsoft solutions have not only provided a way for companies and businesses to deploy and manage their applications but also has paved the way for companies to step in and take the platform into their expert hands, and project the future as they innovate the global business world with their breakthrough products and services.

The Enterprise World special issue, The Best Performing Microsoft Solution Providers To Watch in 2021, features the stories and journey of the companies that have used this platform to provide products and services, reigning the software industry, providing unmatched solutions, and leading the innovation curve and providing solutions to complex and trivial problems with such finesse that not only makes them a leader in the domain but also one of the best Microsoft solution providers.

Cynthia Farren Consulting is a national independent Software Asset Management and software license procurement firm. With over 20 years of experience guiding customers in optimizing their software and subscription environments, they know how to save you money while avoiding risk through properly managing software licenses, subscriptions, and software publishers. Their deepest expertise is in Microsoft licensing where they regularly help Fortune 500 companies negotiate effective Microsoft agreements and provide guidance to avoid the risk of non-compliance with licensing terms. Being in business for over 21 years it is easy to see how cyclical the world of software licensing and compliance is. In 1999 the industry was in mid-cycle of no software audits and relaxed controls, within 5 years that cycle changed.

Eight years later they saw themselves exiting the recession and the focus had once again shifted away from controls and audits towards enablement. With another 8 years down the road and with a fresh recession looming, the demands for audits are rising slowly again.

Business Automation Experts (BAE) focuses on the strategic use of technology to improve operational efficiencies so their clients reach their goals. They specialize in finding ways to leverage robust solutions to create new revenue streams or enhance existing streams. As SharePoint and better experiences were delivered over web browsers, they were able to see more rapid development. They are starting to see the next wave as cloud-delivered options are replacing on-premise systems. They are combining security event and remediation systems (aiSEIM) with content management services to deliver a more automated compliance framework for clients.

There is a lot more to read inside!

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For Editorial Concerns: editor@theentetpriseworld.com For Sales & Branding Enquiries: sales@theenterpriseworld.com For Subscription: info@theenterpriseworld.com Publisher The Enterprise World Creative Content Editor Susanne J. Asst. Editor Rushikesh, Adeeb Marketing Coordinator(USA) Peter J. PR & Marketing Coordinator James H. Business Development Executive Ben Clarke Creative Design Head: V. Mittal Social Media Manager Avinash G. Digital Circulation Manager Amanda V. This list is NOT a ranking. The companies on listed in magazine serve different aspects of the market, making ranking them in any order except revenue impossible and unfair.

We try to bring a perfect platform for business organization to showcase their valued products/ services.

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Leaders in Spotlight This issue of The Enterprise World, The Best Performing Microsoft Solution Providers to Watch in 2021 features,

specialize in finding ways to leverage robust solutions to create new revenue streams or enhance existing streams.

Cynthia Farren Consulting is a national independent Software Asset Management and software license procurement firm. With over 20 years of experience guiding customers in optimizing their software and subscription environments, they know how to save you money while avoiding risk through properly managing software licenses, subscriptions, and software publishers. Their deepest expertise is in Microsoft licensing where they regularly help Fortune 500 companies negotiate effective Microsoft agreements and provide guidance to avoid the risk of non-compliance with licensing terms.

TimeXtender is a leading and world-class solution provider offering best-in-class technology to companies and their business with its automated software platform, helping to make sure that its customers run their business more efficiently and smoothly without wasting quality work time.

TimeXtender provides an automated way to build a modern data estate for analytics and AI at incredible speeds for automating data modelling, integration, extraction, cleansing, loading, and documentation.

Business Automation Experts (BAE) focuses on the strategic use of technology to improve operational efficiencies so their clients reach their goals. They

Storage Made Easy is a software company providing an enterprise software solution for files and objects called The Enterprise File Fabric. It solves the enterprise data sprawl problem in which company data is located on-premises, a data center, and increasingly, the Cloud.

The File Fabric provides a ‘single pane of glass’ that presents and secures data from over 60 files and object storage solutions, including CIFS/NAS/SAN, Amazon S3, Google Storage, and Microsoft Azure.

BeCloud LLC. is an IT Consultancy founded in 2011 as their cooperate name implies they had their heads in the clouds from the start. In the beginning, cloud meant hosting services in BeCloud’s collocated and private data centers. Around 2017 they started to shift, it became evident that they could not compete with Amazon and\or Microsoft Public Cloud Solutions, so they started to shut down their servers and move to public cloud options. They have progressed into a leading next-gen Managed Service Provider. They are focused on strategic consulting to help their customers become more agile with a better return on business technology investments.

CO NT EN TS

08

Cynthia Farren Consulting

12

BeCloud

Designed to Meet Your Business Needs Today and Into the Future

Reshaping Cloud Computing

22

Business Automation Experts

28 36

Heine Krog Iversen

Improving People and Process through Technology

A leader in the automated data world

Storage Made Easy Data Solutions Made Easy!

From The Editor Rio de Janeiro - The Marvellous City!

Why digital transformation is necessary for your company in 2021

16 26

5 steps to save your business from a cyber security attack

32

Are Business Magazines Still Relevant?

40

| Business Story

CYNTHIA FARREN CONSULTING Designed to Meet Your Business Needs Today and Into the Future

CYNTHIA FARREN PRESIDENT

08 Feb 2021

S

oftware Asset Management (SAM), brings about the effective management and optimization of software applications. The software systems are a necessity to all the organizations to run the daily operations. As the organization grows, the systems become complex, overlapping and being highly dependent on each other. It thus becomes increasingly important to have an effective plan to gain control over the IT inventory.

The CompanyCynthia Farren Consulting is a national independent Software Asset Management and software license procurement firm. With over 20 years of experience guiding customers in optimizing their software and subscription environments they know how to save you money while avoiding risk through properly managing software licenses, subscriptions and software publishers.

Their deepest expertise is in Microsoft licensing where they regularly help Fortune 500 companies negotiate effective Microsoft agreements and provide guidance to avoid risk of noncompliance with licensing terms.

Cutting through the ComplexitiesIn 1999, when Cynthia Farren started the business, software audits were not commonplace, and CIO's were not focused on the risk they were running by not having access to experts in licensing. Most licensing advisors worked for the reseller’s, so their focus was on the shiny new toys – not alerting CIO’s

geared towards managing risks of noncompliance.

to their potential copyright infringement. Getting the conversation started in this environment was an uphill battle.

Having gone through various cycles of business, one thing that was, is and will remain true for Cynthia Farren Consulting is their customer centric service model.

What triggered the growth of the company was the focus shift in business to governance and controls through Sarbanes-Oxley combined with a resurgence of software audits by the popular software publishers (Adobe, Microsoft, Oracle, etc).

“Whatever solution we are providing our focus is always on what is in the best interest of our customer.”

The next point that triggered significant revenue growth was the recession. During the recession more Fortune 100 and 500 started looking outside the big consulting firms for expertise – in niche industries such as this, they started finding that smaller speciality firms could produce outstanding results for a considerably lower price tag.

The Growth QuotientBeing in business for over 21 years it is easy to see how cyclical the world of software licensing and compliance are. In 1999 the industry was in mid-cycle of no software audits and relaxed controls, within 5 years that cycle changed. Eight years later they saw themselves exiting the recession and the focus had once again shifted away from controls and audits towards enablement. With another 8 years down the road and with a fresh recession looming, the demands for audits are rising slowly again.

Each business cycle tends to retain some of the controls from the prior cycle but the licensing rules and mechanisms also get trickier so without an expert in your back pocket it’s hard to get a cost optimized agreement that is also

The company believes in truly building a relationship with their customers, where they don’t simply educate them but contribute to the solution and often become the “go to” resource whether it is a referral to an expert in another field or a donation for the annual charity auction. Additionally, their relationship does not end just because a contract ends – their customers know they can always reach out to them and have a conversation.

“If that’s all it takes to give them a path forward or answer to their needs, then we were happy to catch up with them as a relationship is about people not money.”

The Products and Servicesa. Software Asset Management (ad hoc or managed service) b. Software Audit Response Management c. Merger, Acquisition and Divestiture License Allocation d. Cloud and Subscription Spend Optimization e. Software Procurement Negotiations (ad hoc or managed service) ♦ Microsoft Agreements ♦ Adobe Agreements ♦ Autodesk Agreements

www.theenterpriseworld.com 09

| Business Story

“

We believe that independence is critical to providing you with the unbiased expertise you deserve.

“

f. Microsoft licensing assessments (ad hoc or managed service) Cynthia Farren Consulting does not resell software and does not have partnering relationships with tool publishers eliminating any potential conflict of interest in meeting your business needs.

Cynthia Farren- Leading the Way “I often credit the longevity and success of my business to my start as a bank teller, customer service phone representative and a secretary – three roles completely unrelated to Software Asset Management but they taught me critical business skills.”

Through these roles, she learned about dual entry accounting, how to work with any software tool, how 10 Feb 2021

to listen and that someone has to sweep the floors, lock the doors and occasionally tell the boss that she’s wrong – in a way in which the message will get heard.

In the early 90’s she transitioned into IT and had the opportunity to implement and run multiple Software Asset Management programs within multi-national firms. Working with her first Microsoft agreements back during the Microsoft Select 2.0 program – Cynthia soon realized that she had found the type of work she would love to do.

In the 21 years since founding Cynthia Farren Consulting she has had the joy of working with over a hundred different companies mostly large international firms but a few very small entities as well. It’s impossible to calculate the savings

generated through cost avoidance but negotiated savings on agreements is now over well over $500 million! That’s a fun ROI! The Enterprise World is always been keen on finding that one thing that pushes the entrepreneurs to their limits, some quote they might have heard or read somewhere which keeps them motivated! Not just the budding entrepreneurs, but something like this gives everyone a fresh perspective at what they are doing. Because a little motivation sure does go a long way!

“All my challenges are opportunities to be creative, and I am infinitely creative!” – was given to me as an affirmation by a former boss and it has become one of the most impactful affirmations in my life.”

| Interview with The Enterprise World

Reshaping Cloud Computing

T

he IT sector has been developing at a rapid pace, and the possibilities and innovations that have lately been introduced has completely changed and revolutionized the face and functioning of the IT industry as a whole. The changes in functioning and new ventures that are being pooled into other sectors with the use of IT services is expanding the horizon and applications of the IT sector and its products/services. As the IT sector and its functioning is everything but easy, full of complex mechanisms and other complex work that needs to be put in the products/services and the most important of all being the training of personnel and using their skills and expertise to achieve maximum performance and development for the company and the IT sector as a whole.

BeCloud is one of the most trusted and sought-after IT consultant companies with effective, scalable and efficient strategic IT solutions that cater to the problems and 12 Feb 2021

issues faced by businesses at any stage. Their services are unique, custom-made to the client’s needs and demands, made by one of the best team of skilled and expert personnel with thorough industry knowledge and decades of experience combined. BeCloud not only takes on the competition in the market by a mile but also outshines as the leaders in providing IT consulting solutions. Their respect and customer satisfaction ratings are always through the roof establishing their name as the unmatched leaders of their domain.

In conversation with the President of BeCloud, James Phipps. Let’s hear more about BeCloud, its service offerings and James’s entrepreneurial journey.

Please tell us about the services BeCloud offers and any new additions to the arsenal.

BeCloud LLC. is an IT Consultancy founded in 2011 as our cooperate name implies we had

our heads in the clouds from the start. In the beginning, cloud meant hosting services in BeCloud’s collocated and private datacentres.

Around 2017 we started to shift, it became evident that we could not compete with Amazon and\or Microsoft Public Cloud Solutions so we started to shut down our servers and move to public cloud options. We have progressed into a leading next-gen Managed Service Provider. We are focused on strategic consulting to help our customers become more agile with a better return on business technology investments.

Our consultancy continues down a digital transformation path. The challenges and lessons learned are applied to the solutions we implement for our customers. The most challenging and rewarding aspect of Technology consulting is how it moves at such a rapid pace.

Technology more time than ever to study, testing and proving solutions to our customers.

James Phipps | President | BeCloud

www.theenterpriseworld.com 13

| Interview with The Enterprise World

The factors pushing BeCloud through the clouds COVID-19 has awakened our customers on how important technology is to the survival of a business. Microsoft Teams and Amazon Workspaces are two solutions we provide that has an immediate and positive impact on a business ability to carry out remote work during the pandemic. Also, most businesses are aware that they need to setup up security. We have seen a steady stream of customers adding on more security.

- Our Customer Driven approach to IT management is most responsible for our success. We keep staff size down and utilize automation as much as possible. This allows us to keep the cost down for our customers while at the same time offering higher quality services.

Automation allows us to spend more time proactivity solving customers issues with innovative and thorough solutions instead of constantly reacting to emergencies.

- Some of our competitors in this industry pride themselves on having higher headcounts touting company size. We pride ourselves on doing a great job as efficiently as possible. We will bring on additional staff, but usually, it is aimed at bringing more expertise to the table instead of available hands.

A bigger payroll does not always translate into a better prod Tell Their services and new offerings We focus on strategic IT solutions that solve business problems. We are the next-gen Managed Services 14 Feb 2021

Provider. Many times, this means cloud but not in every case. We have customers with on-premise and/or hybrid environments. Even in those types of legacy environments, we seek to add a DevOps environment or at least automation. Our customer-driven approach makes sure that the solutions we recommend are in alignment with business objectives.

We are constantly adding, testing and proving new solutions. We challenge every member of our staff to constantly grow his or her skill set so that we can provide better service for our customers.

The continued expansion of cloud services into the mainstream has exposed new security and compliance requirements. BeCloud with our cloud security specialization and training positions us to take advantage of this trend by offering much-needed security services to cloud-enabled customers.

We have brought on additional expertise in Software Programming, Data Science and Artificial Intelligence through staff expansion. Also, we have had success internally with RPA and we look forward to providing Robotic Process Automation Consulting to our customers.

Tell us about your entrepreneurial journey and your take on employee relations.

Strategically, I decided to not fight the cloud trend. Some MSP’s are holding out and fighting the cloud by sticking with on-premise server rooms solutions only. We instead look at the workload, customer

budget and business goals. Our customers trust us for strategic advice because they know our recommendations are aimed at solving customer need rather than padding consultant profits.

I realize that I cannot work this alone. I have been blessed with employees who agree with my vision. They go out every day and put our customers first and for that I applaud them. Our team commits untold hours of study and practice to implement technical solutions for our customers that are truly impactful to client business goals and objectives. The love for technology, impactful solutions and excellent customer service keeps us all motivated and driven.

Your take on the competition in the market I like the competition in the market.

I believe that there is enough work to go around but we are stepping into that Next Generation MSP world. It requires more research and study than the legacy break-fix MSP. That will continue to be challenging for us, but we have the right work culture to be successful.

We have seen some solutions from competing firms in AI, IoT and ML that show the value that IT brings to the table. It constantly makes us step up our game so that we can compete and provide similar or better solutions to our customers.

I’m sure that our solution set has also inspired firms to approach some situations differently.

AsiaPay enables merchants to securely accept most popular digital payment methods from credit cards, internet banking and more on a single platform.

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Local account and risk operation support as well as 24x7 technical support in 15+ countries and regions.

www.asiapay.com

| Upshot Metros

The

Marveous City!

| Upshot Metros

18 Feb 2021

R

io de Janeiro is the second-largest city in Brazil, also known as Rio. The city was founded by the Portuguese on 1 March 1565. Earlier there used to be groups of 7 tribes that spoke 20 different types of languages. When the Portuguese were ruled over the whole of Brazil, they made Rio de Janeiro their capital from 1763 to 1822. After this, when Brazil became independent, this city remained the capital of Brazil until 1960.

Even though Rio is no longer the capital of Brazil, it still has a lot of importance from the business and historical point of view. Rio de Janeiro hosted the 2016 Summer Olympics and Summer Paralympics. This made it the first South American city to have hosted these events.

A Music Festival celebrated in the city called Rock in Rio, is the world’s largest music festival.

Oil and natural gas from farms along the northern coast of the state of Rio de Janeiro is a major asset used to develop manufacturing enterprises in the metropolitan area of Rio, making it possible to compete with other major cities for new investments in the industry.

In Greater Rio, which has the highest per capita income in Brazil, retail is important. Many important retail stores are located in the center, but some are scattered in commercial areas of the district, where shopping malls, supermarkets, and other retail businesses account for a large share of consumer trade.

Brazil produces corn, sugar, various potatoes, some machinery. Sugar production was very high during the Portuguese period. Sugar was stored at conical angles for storage and export.

The Economy Rio de Janeiro has a strong and highly diverse economy, with a large number of jobs in heavy and light industries, manufacturing, commerce, finance, trade, and other services.

A new electronics and computer field has been added to the old industries of metallurgy, engineering and printing and publishing. Other manufacturing sectors focus on shipyard-related materials, textiles and footwear, textiles, nonmetallic mineral products, food and beverages, chemicals, and pharmaceutical products.

In order to attract industries, the state government has designated some of the outlying areas of the city as districts where infrastructure has been provided and the land is sold under special circumstances.

Every year, products made of iron and steel other than crude oil are exported in large quantities from Rio. Located on the seaside, this city is also a major port and this city plays an important role in the economy of the country.

Rio is one of the major tourist destinations in the world. The vibrant culture of the city and the many museums, historical sites, and physical features attract tourists around the globe.

Millions of people from all over the world come to see the Carnival Festival in Rio in February. In the past, carnival processions were used to create traffic jams so a wide stadium-like permanent arrangement has been made by Oscar Niemeyer in 1982.

www.theenterpriseworld.com 19

| Upshot Metros

Interesting Facts

Must Visit

This city is very famous for picnics. Every year around 2.5 million people come here to visit. It has been awarded the Best Places for Tourism by World Travel Awards. The southern part of the city is more developed and wealthy while the western part covers 50% of the city area; the city has a population of about 6.5 million. And it is the second-most populous city in Brazil after São Paulo.

São Paulo’s population is almost double that of Rio, more than 12 million.

Tijuca National Park is the second-largest urban forest in the world, located in Rio. An urban forest is a forest that is located in a city or town. The Tijuca forest is spread over an area of about 32 sq km Rio de Janeiro’s Copa Cabana Beach, the Amazon River area, the vast Amazon rainforest, the famous jungle, Pantanal and Tayama, are full of different birds and animals.

You will be surprised to know that there is a large population of women in this city.

Yes, women constitute 53.2% of the population while males are only 46.8%. It is the largest city outside Portugal, where the Portuguese language is spoken.

Hotels in Rio have higher fares than hotels in other cities in the country. Rio’s 5 Stars Hotels have the second-highest number of fares after New York. Rio de Janeiro’s Maracanã Stadium is one of the largest Football Stadiums in the world. The capacity of this stadium is to seat 78,838 people, but on July 16, 1950, nearly two lakh people watched the football World Cup final over there.

In the eighteenth century, the clergyman Maria Boss expressed her desire to erect a magnificent religious monument to Queen Isabella. But she did not pay any attention.

Later, the Catholics decided to raise funds, organized various programs, and raised funds for it. But there was not much space in the city, so instead of the city, Kakarevado became a place at an altitude of 7210 feet above sea level. This statue of Jesus Christ has a spread arm, weighing 650 tons. It is not homogeneous; it is made by joining pieces.

Rio’s ‘National Library of Brazil’ is the 7th largest library in the world. There are more than 90 lakh items here.

There were red trees on the coast of Brazil which were used to make a red dye. It was in great demand in Europe. The people of the tribe at that time planted it vigorously. In Portuguese, red was called Brazil. So when the Portuguese came to power, they named the area as Brazil.

20 Feb 2021

www.theenterpriseworld.com 21

| Interview with The Enterprise World

Ma Lepkowski PRESIDENT

22 Feb 2021

Business Automation Experts Improving People and Process through Technology

B

usiness Automation Experts is a company that focuses on the strategic use of technology to improve operational efficiencies and ROI. In addition, they look for ways to leverage robust solutions to create new revenue streams or enhance existing ones.

In this Interview with Matt Lepkowski, let us find out how they do it!

The Company Tell us about the company.

Business Automation Experts (BAE) focuses on the strategic use of technology to improve operational efficiencies so our clients reach their goals. We specialize in finding ways to leverage robust solutions to create new revenue streams or enhance existing streams.

What were the initial challenges you faced?

Many of our clients are in the healthcare vertical and operational efficiency wasn’t as large a focus in the technology departments in the early 2000’s. Sharepoint deployments didn’t accelerate in healthcare until the 2010’s.

Sometimes having the right vision

but being too early impedes the potential for your firm.

Which was that point that triggered the growth of the company?

As Sharepoint and better experiences were delivered over web browsers we were able to see more rapid development. We are starting to see the next wave as cloud delivered options are replacing on-premise systems.

What is the reason behind your company’s long-standing success?

We are proud of the successes we have accomplished that are driven by a passion to meet client needs.

Clients trust us to improve processes, increase security, and eliminate System Debt.

The Products/Services What are the products/services the company focuses on? How are your services different from those in the market?

We can show you how an Enterprise Content Management Plus System can bring your organization to the next level. This is a combination of Document Management Software (DMS) and Enterprise Content Management www.theenterpriseworld.com 23

| Interview with The Enterprise World

(ECM).We are working on combining various web delivered solutions to further improve operations for our clients.

How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your products/services?

Our clients find value in both DMS and ECM solutions separately and the combination of the two is very synergistic. There are various right sizing and system implementation steps we go through to make sure everything is done as efficiently as possible.

Is there any new addition to the list of products/services?

Anything exciting you would like to share?

We are combining security event and remediation systems (aiSEIM) with content management services to deliver a more automated compliance framework for clients.

As clients try to optimize their security posture they still need to maintain the reporting for incidents and simplify the tracking of a resolution to a system breach.

Leadership What do you think are the responsibilities of an entrepreneur?

An entrepreneur is someone who remains motivated and passionate about delivering value to clients. To do that, they launch an organization with formularized policies and procedures to drive innovation and meet client needs. Ideally, they are subject matter experts and help a client more quickly realize their own objectives.

Can you please brief us about your professional experience?

24 Feb 2021

An Information Technology expert with over 25 years of experience in project management and aligning information systems with corporate strategy. A detailed and highly capable IT professional specializing in analyzing data for cost savings and ROI as well as custom development plans. Founder of Business Automation Experts (BAE), a leading consulting firm with unmatched expertise to focus on the strategic use of technology to improve the operational efficiency of clients.

What are the key achievements of your entrepreneurial journey?

Aside from being the owner of Business Automation Experts (BAE), I played an instrumental role in supporting the growth of a previous firm from $2M to $25M in 6 years.

What does your work culture look like? How do you keep your employees motivated and driven?

Business Automation Experts (BAE) revolves around client satisfaction and continuous improvement. We review technology trends and compare those to the vision our clients bring.

Our staff enjoys assisting clients take the next step to expand and better serve their constituents.

There is a virtuous feedback loop that helps us find new clients and solve interesting challenges.

Personal Questions Can you tell us which your favourite book is? And your favourite part of the book (if any)?

I enjoy books written by Jim Collins like “Good to Great” where there are case studies of situations

and how companies remain resilient during market swings.

Whose business story do you find the most inspiring?

I admire Ken Langone’s story and how he is translating his experiences to improving medical education and care.

What is your take on the competition in the market? How do you cope with it?

Competition is always dynamic in the IT environment. I like to say that we live in dog years in IT with all of the changes coming at us. In healthcare there are a number of challenges which also keep us on our toes with changing regulation.

Several years ago we didn’t spend much time thinking about professional hacking groups impacting our operations and testing system resiliency. Today you have to consider more risks for a client and if you are helping them adapt to their own challenges you don’t need to be as concerned with who says they can handle your job at a lower price point.

Is competition a motivating factor? Does it help to bring out the best?

I would say competition helps with motivation, but it is more motivating to see a client succeed at their mission. When a physician office handles more patients because of system improvements or a veterinary clinic has more unique offerings for their clients there is a sense of accomplishment that encourages us to take on the next challenge.

INNOVATION, BEYOND IMAGINATION

We focus to provide solutions that offer a unique user experience and a unique way of using the different videoconferencing and meeting applications while maximizing interaction and collaboration.

www.silexpro.com

| Technology

Why

DIGITAL Transformation is necessary for your Company in 2021?

T

he onset of 2021, brought with it many realizations, solutions, stirred up creativity and innovation which not only aided to tackle the alterations left for us to bear after the pandemic but also a scope of revitalization. Alterations and transformations with the changing times are necessary ideals to maintain, reinforce, reinterpret, modulate, and get through the rotating currents of demands, preferences, obsoletion, and rapid change.

Digital transformation is a method of implementing computerized or digital advances to adjust, increase value association, meet the changing requirements of the market and stay in front of the opposition to advance and grow one’s business.

The implementation of Digital transformation encompasses and exhibits the features: Market and self-assessment: To tackle and defeat any competitor, knowledge of the environment is 26 Feb 2021

necessary to conduct any business more feasibly and viably. Selfassessment is also important to marginalize weakness and amplify the strengths.

Plan layout: Aftermarket research and self-analysis comes the part where a suitable plan of action needs to be prepared for a more systematic approach towards streamlining the process of any business for profit maximization, easier management, and utilizing all the resources most efficiently.

Execution: After the preparation of the methodology of the business comes the execution part where ideas and plotting are brought into reality by its implementation.

Here are some key factors which will be achieved through digital transformation: Maximizes efficiency: Digital transformation helps to smoothen the interrelated cycles within the business by providing a quick fix to all the problems, eliminating any kind of bottlenecks, cutting down

any additional operational costs, expands the spectrum of the business to a more objective forum by accommodating and adapting along with the changes, this makes the whole process time-efficient, cost-efficient, efficient customer relationship management, labor efficient and in turn aids the business towards its growth.

Simplifies the Management process: From the process of idea germination to its implementation and revenue collection managing a business that too successfully is a tedious job with multivarious uncertainties. Digital transformation not only streamlines the process of business management reducing investment on repetitive cycles but also copes up with technological trends and customer preferences by making the whole operation more versatile by expanding results.

Easier Growth and reach: Public relations can be improved and more people can be reached out through the website, businesses will have more liberty to advance their items,

produce more deals, better customer relationships, and thus, harvest benefits. Further, by following the standards of conduct and input of their current clients, a business can make increase the array of their production which appeals to their customers and scale their business appropriately.

Workforce efficiency: Investments in digitalization and Artificial Intelligence upgrade the working style of the employees as it helps them to be one step ahead with their knowledge-based

understanding along with better equipment and technology makes the results better and achievable.

To transform or not to?

In the era of advancements and rapid growth of every probable aspect of life, the key to survive is to adapt. Hence, the basic ground for the step of success of any business is to alter its setup and methodology with time and in the times of digitalization, digital transformation should be the priority of any entrepreneur.

“When digital transformation is done right, it’s like a caterpillar turning into a buttery, but when done wrong, all you have is a really fast caterpillar.”

- George Westerman www.theenterpriseworld.com 27

| Interview with The Enterprise World

Heine Krog Iversen A leader in the automated data world

T

he year 2020 has brought about many changes in the working and functioning of individuals and companies alike. The fact that this has caused a heavy burden on companies cannot be neglected and this problem needs to be dealt with without affecting the performance, efficiency and profitability to a company. These problems can be dealt without any additional changes or additions but they require a tedious amount of time, depleting the overall working hours of an employee and impacting the performance and output of a company.

As it is said in the world of business that time is money, thus one belonging to the business world needs to make sure that they have the best solutions to save every minute of precious work hours they can.

In comes TimeXtender, a leading and world-class solution provider offering its best-in-class technology to companies and their business with its automated software platform, helping to make sure that its customers run their business more efficiently and smoothly without wasting quality work time. TimeXtender provides an automated way to build a modern data estate for analytics and AI at incredible speeds for automating data modelling, integration, extraction, Heine Krog Iversen | Founder and CEO | TimeXtender cleansing, loading and documentation.

TimeXtender has revolutionized the working of a company’s business data with its software and has become one of the leading and most respected companies providing an automated way to build a modern data estate.

In conversation with Founder and CEO, Heine Krog Iversen. We learned from him about his company, TimeXtender’s service offering and much more.

28 Feb 2021

Please tell us about the company and the reasons you feel led to its growth.

TimeXtender enables businesses to make quality business decisions faster and inspires those business decisions with data, mind and heart. We do this for one simple reason: because time matters.

TimeXtender technology is a single, integrated, metadata-driven, agile and automated software platform that easily merges data from a wide variety of data sources and uses agile data modelling to effortlessly build a modern data warehouse and semantic model.

By combining this agile platform with a user’s choice of visualization tools, users have the full power of business intelligence in a structured, governed and secured environment – all within a self-service analytics framework that helps meet compliance needs.

With TimeXtender, users get actionable insights, simplify their compliance journey and make better decisions in less time.

TimeXtender was founded in 2006 and is privately owned, with employees and partners located around the world. TimeXtender serves its customers, including Fortune 500, large-sized enterprises and mid-sized companies, through a global network of partners.

It was a combination of factors that helped TimeXtender become one of the industry’s fastest-growing private technology companies. To be sure, organizations got tired of paying extensive fees for coding, consultants and technology that led to delays for getting their corporate data. The more organizations looked for a better way to get a

handle on all their data, and the more they heard about what TimeXtender had to offer, the more customers we acquired. Since 2006, we have built a global partner network with close to 200 companies and more than 3,000 customers around the world.

Please tell us about TimeXtender’s technology solution and what differentiates it from the competition in the market.

TimeXtender is an integrated data management platform that enables building data lakes, warehouses and marts 10x faster by providing a no-code environment for automating data modelling, integration, extraction, cleansing, loading, and documentation.

We offer one of the most comprehensive technology offerings on the market for helping companies build cloud-scale analytics on Azure Synapse Analytics by providing an integrated data management platform that produces an intelligent, accelerated and documented modern data estate for analytics and artificial intelligence.

Because TimeXtender remembers a company's business logic, not only can it intelligently deploy the right code to the right platform, it orchestrates the entire process, learning from experience and improving load times with each successive execution.

TimeXtender also helps companies looking to build a modern data estate on Microsoft data platforms by accelerating and automating the construction and maintenance of data stores for analytics and AI. It connects to almost any data source,

allowing organizations to catalogue, model, move, transform and document their analytics data.

This enables them to move from a patchwork of tools to a complete data management platform and accelerate time to insight.

TimeXtender also enables an organization to document their analytics data for compliance.

TimeXtender differs in many ways.

While some companies focus on data warehouse automation, our focus is on a more complete data management solution for the corporate enterprise. We’re privately held and not part of a larger organization and this translates into speed, agility and market closeness. With close to 15 years in business and hundreds of partners located around the world, we’re able to maintain close contact with our customer base and provide support, training and assistance in person and online.

How do you decide to take the company a step further in terms of your solution?

TimeXtender has a flexible way of thinking to maintain its roots of being a fast-moving, innovative start-up and our culture is designed with modernization and innovation in mind. To stay current with changing times, our company is devoted to developing ongoing technology advancements to our technology solution for the Microsoft community. We have a constant eye on emerging trends to deliver future-proof solutions for our customers. TimeXtender leads the way in ongoing technology development to ensure that we maintain our market leadership as new advancements are made by the data community within Microsoft.

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| Interview with The Enterprise World

As an example of our steadfast commitment to being ready for changing times, when Microsoft announced Azure Synapse Analytics and SQL Server 2019, our technical staff made immediate development advancements to our technology to ensure that it was compatible with these Microsoft offerings once they were ready for general availability.

Please tell us about your professional experience and key achievements of your entrepreneurial journey.

Before forming TimeXtender, I co-founded another IT consultancy that provided business process optimization, workflow, ERP systems, and business intelligence services. At that time, while helping companies implement business intelligence capabilities on top of their existing ERP systems, I realized that manual coding was being done for all projects. Manual coding was very time consuming and expensive and I came to realize that there was a better way by leveraging the power of automation. This led us to start TimeXtender.

I'm fortunate to have the opportunity to meet people around the world and to be an ambassador for business users to be empowered by data to enable every person in every organization with instant access to relevant data, at any time from any location. This is so essential as it assists them to achieve greater business success by making strategic business decisions for their company. Data is one of the most valuable assets a company possesses, but only when appropriate stakeholders have access to it as needed and only if 30 Feb 2021

it’s truly accurate.

Please tell us about your work culture and your take on employee relations.

Our company is purpose-driven with an organizational structure based on organizational purpose circles (OPCs) which run alongside our long-standing corporate mindfulness program and our following of Stephen Covey’s “The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People” program. Purpose-driven leadership has become the central theme for our company, as OPCs enable TimeXtender staff to be mostly self-managed, translating into an organization that has become more innovative, creative, and sustainable. This has also led to an environment that is adaptable and suitable for current times.

OPCs have propelled TimeXtender to improve processes by leveraging freedom, strengthening trust among employees and achieving greater success with a structured framework. Purpose circles inspire individuals to get more involved across different areas of interest.

This modern-day organizational framework is helping the company advance to new levels of agility, productivity, sustainability, and innovation; inspiring employees towards greater personal and organizational growth. With OPCs, group synergy has come alive with extensive idea sharing, mentoring and learning. Blending individual purpose with an organizational purpose encourages each person to strive for a higher purpose in life and at work.

Team members have responded favourably to working in a culture that enables sharing of the

responsibilities of technical leadership, management, planning, implementation and delivery assurance of final solutions. They cherish the opportunity to strive for a bigger purpose while working with colleagues to try and reach new heights, greater success, and ambitious goals and objectives.

What are your views on competition?

Competition is coming from everywhere and at much greater speed. Or you can rephrase the term ‘competition’ to development in the market because that way you see it as though we are changing the world and growing the market together. This way competitive forces are easier to cope with.

More specifically, our market is in an interesting convergence from tools used by developers to integrated platforms and driven by no-code and automation. As we are at the forefront of this movement the key is to stay in front. Lots of new players are coming in, but so far most are focusing in on solving a single part of the 10+ areas that are covered by our Data Management Platform.

It is essential to move fast and to be driven by our innovation while having an eye on the competition is important, it’s key that this doesn’t side-track you.

Competition helps bring out our best, but I will argue that being driven by our purpose is a 100x bigger motivating factor.

I believe self-motivation and selfleadership are some of the most important skills you can have.

C O N T A I NER F R EI GH T ST A T I O NS C W C I M P E X P A R K N A V A SH EV A D R O N A GI R I N A V I M U M B A I & S U P PL Y C H AI N L O G I S T I C S CH EN N A I V A L L U R P O N NE RI

For Any Inquiry Please Call / Mail Hrishikesh: Antima : Shilpa :

csu@msaglobal.in

(7506166968)

antima@msaglobal.in (8850594261) cre@msaglobal.in (9987775330)

MSA Global Logistics Pvt Ltd Unit 205, Kanakia Atrium-2, Behind Courtyard Marriot, Andheri Kurla Road, Andheri East, Mumbai 400093.

Contact - +91 22 6687 3535, info@msaglobal.in, www.msalogistics.in

| CyberBuzz

32 Feb 2021

5 steps to save your business from a cybersecurity attack

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echnological advancements have many far-reaching effects from aiding our lives for the betterment of advancing towards modernity but among many of its aspects, is cyber-attack which not only is a malicious act but also a hindrance towards a business’ holistic development. A Cyberattack is an illegal act of ill-well and deception launched by an individual, group of individuals, or organization. An intentional attempt is made to steal sensitive information, unsettle the business with viruses, spyware, ransomware, etc. Cybersecurity attacks mainly earmark and exploit the business activities

www.theenterpriseworld.com 33

| CyberBuzz

“Security used to be an inconvenience sometimes, but now it’s a necessity all the time.”

-Martina Navratilova related to IT by interfering and tampering with crucial data for monetary gains. Many businesses have been victims of Cyber Attacks and the issue is getting worse in recent years. The company’s capacity to deal with the grievance of such consequences has left them in a state of loss, depravity, and the total dilemma of how to tackle the situation in an efficient manner.

Here are five steps to save your business from a Cyber Attack: Cyber Security Awareness: To solve any issue, one must be acquainted with the problem firsthand for a put-together mindset to tackle and plan accordingly for a structured counter plan and implementation of a better plan of action. General awareness and solution-oriented education should be imparted to employees for better network utilization, to create the expected comprehension, businesses can encompass; a procedural framework issued concerning the susceptible threats like emails, social media posts, viruses, etc and arrangements must be made accordingly to combat the

34 Feb 2021

issue then and there which not only make the business more ethically responsible but also help in the smooth functioning of the business.

be restricted to a selected few within a business or organization to reduce the scope of any irrelevant interruption.

Security and Backup: Irrespective of cyber-attacks, all businesses must invest in having a security system like firewalls, antivirus software, encryption, and endpoint detection response solutions along with options and resorts of backing up sensitive data regularly to cancel any kind of security breach and still have data reserved.

Dangers posed by unsecured websites: Unsecured websites can be a major arbitrator of paving direct ways for cyber-attackers and hackers to enter into the domain and squeeze out sensitive information from the databases of any business. Hence, unchartered and unsecured websites should not be accessed.

Stronger passwords: The length and complexity of passwords should be taken into account while setting up passwords of important information that is central to the business as one word or simple passwords are easier to crack and hence, the chances of cyber-attacks and hacking increase.

Is the cyber world safe or unsafe?

Access Restriction: One of the unlooked factors of cyber-attacks and hacking is the knowledge of credentials of various data basses and allowance of access to individuals, groups of individuals, or ex-employees. The access should

Cybersecurity breaches and hacking is the downside of technological advancements and digitalization which needs to be blocked by every business for smooth functioning and regulation of its procedures. The aforementioned points should be kept in mind and executed well to safeguard and shield one’s business from outside access, tampering, and misuse which can compromise the potential growth and success of any business.

| Interview with The Enterprise World

Storage Made Easy

Data Solutions Made Easy!

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n the business world, one of the most important function is to maintain and regulate files and database, as it not only helps evaluate the company’s performance and growth but also helps in understanding the sales base, marketing efficiency, specific age or population that uses the products, etc. which helps in a great deal to the future planning and implementation of marketing and growth plans. Thus, data and files are of very high value to any company and the tricky part is with the world shifting online, so are the data and files. A business or a company has to make sure a smooth transition of data and files to the web as it not only saves the tedious manhours of maintaining the data but also saves the space, but the security, accuracy, and maintenance of the data and files on the online servers is of paramount concern to many companies. This issue can easily be taken over by specific and specialized services by companies leading in providing efficient, accurate, and unmatched 36 Feb 2021

data handling and maintaining services.

unmatched services, and the CEO’s professional journey.

Storage Made Easy is a leading software company, specializing in the domain of handling any issue, need, or requirement of data handling, managing, etc. on the cloud. They are a leading company in the domain, with unmatched and unparalleled services and quality, assurance standards that not only take out the competition in the market but also slingshot them straight into the hearts of their long list of satisfied and loyal customer base. Storage Made Easy comprises a highly skilled team of experts, who are up to date with all the latest industry trends and practices, dedicated to providing the best possible, tailor-made solution to the client’s needs and demands, making them one of the most sought-after and respectable companies in the domain.

Please tell us about Storage Made Easy and the initial challenges the company faced.

In conversation with the CEO of Storage Made Easy, Jim Liddle.

Let’s hear about the company, its

Storage Made Easy is a software company providing an enterprise software solution for files and objects called The Enterprise File Fabric. It solves the enterprise data sprawl problem in which company data is located on-premises, a data center, and increasingly, the Cloud.

The File Fabric provides a ‘single pane of glass’ that presents and secures data from over 60 files and object storage solutions, including CIFS/NAS/SAN, Amazon S3, Google Storage, and Microsoft Azure.

No data is replicated or proprieties.

Its metadata is smart-indexed and this forms the basis of the File Fabric being able to provide secure sharing and collaboration, content search and PHI/PII discovery, and

Jim Liddle | CEO | Storage Made Easy intelligent policy-based enforcement of data for compliance legislature such as GDPR / CCPA / HIPAA.

previously who were just a little ‘too early’ and the challenge is being able to stay the course until the market matures.

M-Stream, a feature of the File Fabric, also accelerates data to/from destinations up to 10x.

FIPS-certified encryption ensures corporate file/object assets are protected in-flight and at rest. The File Fabric enables a company to make an ROI return on its most important asset, its data.

Tell us about the services that Storage Made easy offers, any new additions, and the factors that take these services ahead of the competition in the market.

The initial challenge was that the vision was too early. When we first started no one was talking about multi-cloud and data federation.

This is not unusual for start-ups. I have worked with start-ups

We have essentially three variants of our product: - The Enterprise File Fabric for Compliance/Cybersecurity.

- The Enterprise File Fabric for Media.

- The Enterprise File Fabric for Secure File Sharing The Enterprise File Fabric for

Secure File Sharing is our entrylevel product. It is what the other two variants are based upon and it focuses on ultra-secure file/folder sharing for file storage and object storage. The Enterprise File Fabric for Compliance builds on this with content search and content discovery modules. The content search indexes the contents of files and objects to essentially provide a company with a private search engine for corporate data. The Content Discovery module provides continuous real-time discovery of PHI/PII data and Ransomware protection.

The Enterprise File Fabric for Media provides a unified view of media assets that can be dispersed www.theenterpriseworld.com 37

| Interview with The Enterprise World

on-cloud and on-premises. Also, to file transfer acceleration of media assets, it provides smart indexing and data classifications, with Cloud AI integrations, that ensures media assets can be easily cataloged and found.

Major data breaches in other companies have been commonplace these past months, so we’ve enforced features in our Cybersecurity product variant.

Apart from updates in our product, we’ve also recently launched our podcast “The Enterprise Storage Podcast” where we feature great chats with “storage masters” across the industry.

We are focusing on technology partnerships, channel partnerships, and country distributors to help strengthen and broaden our sales capabilities.

Tell us about your professional experience and the highlights of your professional journey.

Coming out of University I worked on several technical projects, both software and hardware, and then 38 Feb 2021

formed a couple of start-ups in the late ‘90s, where looking back, I learned quite a lot of what worked (and what did not). After this, I worked for several start-ups in various technical, sales, product management, and managerial roles before forming Storage Made Easy.

Being an entrepreneur, you have to be a bit of a chameleon, especially in the early days of forming a company. You have to be pretty good at a lot of different things and become very broad in your skillsets. I am not a lawyer but I am now very proficient in software contacts; I am not a DevOps guy but I can hold my own; I am not a software coder but I contribute to our code, etc. These are key achievements along the journey.

They are a double edge sword because at some point as the team grows you have to ‘let go’ of some of the things you have become good at to make the business run because you become the bottleneck. This can be hard to let go but it’s necessary if the business is going to scale.

Tell us about the work culture

and the team at Storage Made Easy.

I think my team would argue that they look after me. I see my job as essentially three things for my team. The first is to use my experience to provide guidance and help; the second is to try and help them grow in what they do; the third is to try and handle what gets in the way of making them productive in their role – the ‘noise’. On a day-to-day basis I achieve this with varying degrees of success and of course like everyone else sometimes I fail but the next day you brush yourself down and try harder.

Your take on the competition in the market.

Sometimes it’s tough, the same for me as with everyone else. A lot is going on in the world at the moment that, if you let it, could drag you down, but there are shining pockets of humanity that restore your faith and perspective.

The sheer goodness of people during the current pandemic is a good example of that.

| Fact check

Are Business Magazines Still Relevant?

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o matter where you go, if you are asked to wait, the first response is to find something to read while one passes the time, and the lookout for an attractive magazine begins, but the question arises if a magazine is still relevant or the days of good old smooth and shiny magazines are on the brink of extinction. Magazines are not only a source of entertainment but also a source of knowledge and mostly informing about the latest trends and changes in the market along with eye catching stories, interviews, etc.

Business magazines are a very good source of information about the changing methods and industry trends, along with new innovations, stories of effervescent businessmen/entrepreneurs and much more, which not only justifies the need but also brings the existence of business magazine a need for almost every business oriented individual.

Business magazines, good old read or buzzkill?

Business magazines not only provide some interesting reads but also brings the reader plethora of information regarding the subject of niche of the edition. One can find many relevant regarding a particular industry or domain as business magazines are made to deliver information about all the industries, which are released 40 Feb 2021

edition or niche wise, giving one the freedom to pick any one and have an edge when it comes to collecting information and being up to date with the ever-changing industry trends and practices.

Business magazines are published either weekly, monthly or yearly, providing the reader the choice to select the editions based on their time and at the comfort of their choice. Business magazines not only pack important information about an industry, the leading companies of the sector or domain, leadership, success stories and also articles such as this that not only lighten up your learning mood but also provide little trivial facts and details, that can be used or just shown off among those conversations with friends, colleagues and family.

Since the digital era has dawned upon us, the availability of magazines has spread exponentially more, as everyone can access these magazines right at the luxury of their homes, offices, etc. making the need for business magazines even more relevant. Although, it has been questioned that magazines write stories, articles, features on companies, people, etc. who have paid for such but that’s how a business works, even business magazines are a business, giving a business individual a much compelling reason to read one.

Business magazines provide and feed information in a much different way than google answers or other search pages, etc. they are crisp, clear and precise as they value and understand their reader’s time and appreciate their loyalty to the magazine and strive to provide the best and holistic information about the topic, etc. making business magazines a unique, entertaining yet good source of information regarding the business world.

To read or to skip a beat?

Business magazines do have their relevance in today’s mobile era but nothing can beat the feel and the reading pleasure of a physical for of book or magazine. If you are one of the digital readers, you can find an e-book for the same magazine.

Thus, giving all the more reasons to go and read one, as business magazines not only provide news and information on emerging trends, companies, products, and services but also gives one a reading habit which is a crucial and important habit of all the successful people in the world not only pertained to businessmen or entrepreneurs. Whether business magazines are still relevant or not is more a question of personal opinion and so like a magazine it is to the reader’s discretion to best judge the relevance of entertainment or information.

“

We need to have a beginner’s mind to think about what is happening.

– Marc Benioff, Founder, Salesforce

www.atempo.com

preserving data ecosystems