VARINDIA - E Magazine, March 2014 Issue

SAP sets new record with Technology partners

Adobe joins hands with Razorfish

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made in INDIA CCTV Products

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Customized Solutions

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Local Service and Support

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Made for India

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Designs suitable for India needs

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No Security Concern, Source in India

Sparsh has given a new dimension to the Indian Security Industry by being the first Indian company to manufacture CCTV cameras in India and retaining its leadership position. much Acclaimed Awards & Recognitions: - Best Security Solution Provider (NCN 2012) - Technology Evangelist of the Year (VAR India 2012) - One of the Top 100 Brands of India (VAR India 2013, 2012) - EFY “Best Security System” Award (2009, 2010, 2011) - ET Now-Indiamart “Leaders of Tomorrow” Award (2010) - Elcina - Dun & Bradstreet Award (2009) - Frost & Sullivan Award (2007)

Corporate Office

F 365, Sector 63 Noida 201 307 Uttar Pradesh (India) phone +91 120 4518 900 (20 lines)

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Mgf. Unit

Plot No. 75, Sector 7 IIE, SIDCUL, Haridwar 249 403 Uttarakhand (India) phone +91 9555 997 755

Branch Office DELHI: A 1/15

MUMBAI: Prajapati Gaurav New Kondli Shop No: 15, Plot No. 3, Sector 2, Delhi 110 096 (India) Khargarh, Navi Mumbai 410 210 (India) phone +91 11 2262 3325 phone +91 22 6522 7222

www.varindia.com info@sparshsecuritech.com

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COIMBATORE: A 11, Hudco Colony Near PSG Hospital, Peelamedu (P.O.) Coimbatore 641 004, Tamil Nadu (India) phone +91 97909 02967

www.sparshsecuritech.com

AMD and BlueStacks to offer Android Solution

Check Point introduces SDP Security Architecture

4th WIITF 2014 –

A Platform heralding a new business ideas VOLUME 15

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Birth of “New-Age” VARs

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HP continued to lead the Printer Market in 2013

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DC has revealed a new report on India’s hard copy peripherals market. As per the report, the hard copy Peripherals market in India declined by 0.1% year-on-year in CY2013 and stood at 3.2 million units.

HP continued to lead the Printer market in India with 48.9-per cent shipment share in CY 2013, followed by Canon with 19.1-per cent share. Epson and Ricoh continued to be at third and fourth position, respectively, but Ricoh entered at fifth position in CY 2013. Ricoh was able to bag few key Government special projects which fuelled its growth in the India Printer market in CY 2013.

Microsoft displays Windows-based Tablets

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indows tablets offer consumers the power of a PC in a tablet.

They are also the only tablets which allow multiple user accounts, multitasking and come pre-installed with Microsoft Windows Home and Office 2013. Best of

all, all Windows tablets are equipped with all-purpose ports that can connect to the TV via HDMI, the Internet via a dongle or a keyboard/printer/mouse/headphone via a USB port.

20 different Windows-based tablets which are on offer from eight of Microsoft’s original equipment manufacturing partners, namely Acer, Asus, Dell, HP, Lenovo, Panasonic and Lava were on display recently at a hotel in Delhi.

Since its introduction in mid-2010, the tablet category has witnessed huge growth in demand and shipments.

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AMD and BlueStacks to offer Android Solution

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Check Point introduces SDP Security Architecture

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Birth of “New-Age” VARs

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AMD and BlueStacks to offer Android Solution

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Check Point introduces SDP Security Architecture

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Birth of “New-Age” VARs

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HELLO INDIA

Knowledge of IT is utmost important T

….. e-commerce a threat to retailers

here is no denying the fact that SMEs are the lifeblood of an economy – be it the developed or developing ones. According to one estimate, some 36 million enterprises, which contribute 65 per cent of manufacturing output in India, have been in a constant growing mode at a rate far above the rest all large enterprise segments . Since, it makes a cheaper, efficient proposition for the larger enterprises to outsource their activities to SMEs, the latter are finding themselves on a good wicket. And, anyone who takes a lackadaisical attitude to this sector of the economy does so at their own disadvantage.

As usual, the cybercriminals are making merry. Corporations – large and small companies – and individuals continue to bear the brunt of cyber break-ins. The rapid adoption of cloud, mobility, video, collaboration and big data has resulted in an unprecedented network growth and complexity within the data center. Security is becoming more and more complex with each passing day. Cyber-villains see their greatest opportunities in the cloud. The hackers are looking for greener pastures including the cloud for making money as hacking yields greater fortunes. As a matter of fact, it is difficult to pinpoint which one of the two, viz. movement to the cloud or cybercrime, is growing at a faster pace. One estimate has it that more than 80 per cent of business users resort to cloud applications without the knowledge or support of corporate IT. Explaining at the WIITF event in Mumbai, leading experts view was, the e-commerce industry is transforming traditional retail and its impact on the retail shops and shopping hubs in the country. Though at a nascent stage, e-commerce, which is gradually growing as a B2B sales channel, is showing all signs of rapid growth. With the dramatic changes in the shopping trends being witnessed in recent times, it is to be hoped that, with estimated revenues of around US$16 billion in 2013, the Indian e-commerce industry is all set to become the next big revolution. As is obvious, the shoppers in the urbanized areas of India are the key drivers of the e-commerce model. Efforts are being made to invest heavily in the infrastructure so that non-metropolitan areas can be supported and it would be easy to capture the market.

One acronym that is gaining currency these days in the storage landscape is the CDM which stands for “Copy Data Management”. Today, a $34-billion opportunity, CDM is all set to attract large vendors in due course of time.

With all the above growth and opportunity that accompany India’s growth story in the IT sector, the million dollar question is how secure we are in the present economic conditions. With this backdrop, let us wait and watch for the forthcoming General Elections in our country, which, I do hope, will elect a stable and secure Government. mohini@varindia.com

In what capacity have you been serving the IT industry?

Its been 3 years I have been associated with Hitachi now. Before this I have worked with HP, Sun Microsystems, Digital Equipment, to name a few. I have worked both in a Channel environment as well with Direct Sales, responsible for revenue generation and marketing activities. I have also engaged myself with the Retail vertical that has been quite a budding industry.

While IT happens to be my Bread and butter, I have developed some interests in other areas as well. When not working, I enjoy watching a movie, going on long drives and listening to classical music. I have also taken to playing golf very often nowadays and this has grown out of my passion for this game which I had it for a very long time. I wish to continue with this passion in my free time, as long as IT does not keep me busy.

Any message you would like to give While you have been working to today’s budding entrepreneurs. with the Channel al l these years, what kind of a relationshi p do you I would take mention of a beautiful share with them?

It is kind of a symbiotic relationship – a relationship of mutual benefit and dependence. We both have acknowledged the years that we have together worked with by having created new opportunities and new areas of growth, which have been beneficial to both of us. My engagement with the Channel has been from a mere 30 -40 % to a complete 100 % channel oriented business.

Besides IT, what are your other areas of interests?

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quote from Mahatma Gandhi here that sums up of what should be the top priority for an entrepreneur today - “A customer is the most important visitor on our premises.

He is not dependent on us but we are dependent on him. He is doing us a favor by giving us an opportunity to do so.”

Likely said, a customer forms the basis of your business and it is he who should be most important. Rest depends on whether you like to see your Customer as a partner or just as an end-user. n

Yogesh Sawant

Director, Partner Sales and Field Alliance Organization, India, Hitachi Data Systems.

With over 20 years of experience in the industry, Sawant is responsible for driving the Hitachi Partner program and enabling the partner eco-system in India.Sawant has been with Hitachi Data Systems since September 2011, prior to which he worked for organizations such as Oracle India, Sun Microsystems, Dell Computer India, Hewlett Packard, Compaq and Digital Equipment India where his contribution has been highly respected. Yogesh Sawant is an engineering graduate from the University of Pune, specializing in industrial electronics.

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CONTENTS Website: www.varindia.com

Publisher: Deepak Kumar Sahu Editor: S Mohini Ratna Executive Editor: Dr. Vijay Anand Associate Editor: Deepak Singh Assistant Editor: Samrita Baruah Sr. Correspondent: Satinder Kaur Copy Editor: C. M. Dutta Correspondent: Aparna Mullick Art Director: Rakesh Kumar Network Administrator: Ashok Kumar Singh Manager-IT: Subhash Mohanta Manager-SEO: Bidyadhar Behera BUSINESS: Commercial Manager: Amit Ku. Jha Circulation Manager: L G Swami Regional Manager (North): Ashok Ranjan Dash Marketing Manager: Dipendra Kumar CORPORATE OFFICE: VAR House, A-84A/3 Rose Apartment, Paryavaran complex, Ignou Road, New Delhi - 110030 Tel: 011-41656383, 46061809 Email: edit@varindia.com Bangalore: Bureau office Branch Manager: L. G. Swami Marketing Manager: Shubhendu Nanda Correspondent: Aswini Kumar Panda #97,IInd Floor,16th Main, 4th ‘T’ Block, Jayanagar, Bangalore- 560041, Tel: 91-80-40939454 Mobile:09916242600/9916134482 E-mail: aswini@varindia.com, swami@varindia.com Mumbai: Bureau office Regional Manager (West): Anil Kumar Sr. Correspondent: Mamta S. Anurag Residency, 204 - “B” Wing, Plot No-5, Sector-9, Kamothe, Navi Mumbai-410 209 Tel: 022-65561292, Mobile: 08108017479 E-mail: anil@varindia.com, mamta@varindia.com Chennai: Bureau office Branch Manager: Parthiban K A2, R.C.Residency, Cholambedu Road, Thiruvenkada nagar, Ambathur, Chennai - 600 053 Mobile: 098400 55626 E-mail: parthiban@varindia.com Hyderabad: Bureau office Branch Manager: L.G. Swami Correspondent: S.M. Choudhury Plot No. 103, Sagacity Apartments, Street No. 10 Himayat Nagar, Hyderabad - 500029 Tel: 040-32989844/ Cell No. 08374935692 E-mail: swami@varindia.com Kolkata: Bureau office Marketing Officer: Sunil Kumar Correspondent: Kiran Kumar New Korola, Near Alampur, Land Mark Asian International School, Howrah - 711302 Mobile: 08100298033, E-mail: sunil@varindia.com Printed and Published by Deepak Kumar Sahu on behalf of M/s. Kalinga Digital Media Pvt. Ltd. and Printed at Pushpak Press Pvt. Ltd. 153, DSIDC Complex, Okhla Industrial Are ,Phase-I, New Delhi-110020 and Published at A-84A/3 Rose Apartment, Paryavaran complex, Ignou Road, New Delhi 110030, Editor - S Mohini Ratna.

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Channel Enablement is Key to Kaspersky’s Strategy F

rom home computer users and Small- Medium enterprises to large corporations and governments, all has the right to be immune to the cybersecurity fears. Keeping this in mind, since its inception the security vendor Kaspersky Lab has been continuously working hard to protect the different stakeholders from all cyberthreats in the form of malware, spams, hackers, DDoS attacks and different cyber-espionage tools, giving users the peace of mind to focus on their work, without worrying about data security.

Recently, Altaf Halde, Managing Director, South Asia - Kaspersky Lab, spoke to VARINDIA about the company’s market position, its channel & retail strategy and road map ahead.

A channel-centric company, Kaspersky Lab is enjoying high growth that can be mainly attributed to its channel strategy. Working closely with the channel partners, this fast growing security vendor has been extending its channel base with the passage of time. “We have developed a focused and dedicated partner base, which enable them to acquire new customers while ensuring existing customers’ loyalty is maintained,” says Altaf Halde, Managing Director, Kaspersky Lab, South Asia.

It can be said without a shadow of doubt that when it comes to channel, Kaspersky makes a distinct proposition. Its Channel business is important and integral part of its business.

Working towards a win-win situation for its partners in today’s competitive business situation where the line of difference between product features of one product to another is getting blurred and offerings have become similar, the company well understands the importance of the channel. Altaf Halde says, “We have designed our partner program with your profitability as priority one. We offer everything our partners need to successfully sell with Kaspersky Lab solutions.”

Channel Empowerment

The partners of Kaspersky will have the advantages of the company’s award-winning anti-malware technology and training, plus, complete access to its industry-leading sales and marketing resources. All of this adds up to a huge competitive edge.

Kaspersky program has four levels: Registered; Silver; Gold and Platinum. Keeping in mind the necessity for building skills for its partners the company invests on education, training, and strengthening its technical support to them, besides imparting incentives. “In India, the company has already kick started partner training programs to create a community of channel partners that complement “our tech support and provide on the ground support to our customers, furthering our reach and exposures,” Altaf.

Kaspersky is of the firm belief that the role of the channel is central to its success. Since channel partners are closest to the end customer, their stakes are high in the company’s scheme of things. “Resellers are on the front lines of selling our company’s products and services,” affirms Altaf. He believes that along with having industry leading products and solutions, it is incumbent on the vendor to empower its channel so that they are competent enough to survey the market and decide how to put across the products in the right direction.

The reason for Kaspersky’s doing well in India is driven by two factors: product’s industry-best technology as well as their strong brand awareness. India has played an important role in the company’s

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Altaf Halde Managing Director, South Asia - Kaspersky Lab Kaspersky Lab,

According to Kaspersky, the first steps in developing an incentive program targeting resellers involve: • Identifying channel-wide trends • Understanding individual partner requirements • Assessing the current level of partner commitment and loyalty to the brand • Identifying specifically who within partner organizations can influence the sale of solution. global strategies. Brand recall is of paramount importance to Kaspersky and it is natural enough that the company has taken recourse to unconventional and conventional media to gain brand advantage.

Finally…

The most unusual feature with Kaspersky Lab is in the realm of decision making. Rather than implementing a decision that impacts the channel from top down, Kaspersky Lab holds regular meetings with its distributors and top-performing partners to deliberate over our marketing, sales and channel strategy. Review of the existing policies is also done at this stage.

In this manner, the company not only gives its partners a strong dais to voice their opinion when making the sales strategy, but also makes them equally responsible for the success or failure of a given and approved strategy. n edit@varindia.com

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CHANNEL CHIEF

Fortinet is a 100% channel company Fortinet’s India team is easily accessible to address partners' needs like customer account mapping, resource connection for large deals and marketing support.

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he industry has a witness to the fact that when it comes to channel model, since its foray into the security space, Fortinet makes a different proposition. The company’s success in India, which is one of the most happening places for this security firm, is attributed to a great measure to its channel partners.

“Fortinet is a 100 percent channel company” says Rajesh Maurya, Country Manager, India & SAARC, Fortinet. Never in favour of overloading the channel, Fortinet believes in having selective channels.

“Currently we are consolidating our strong channel base of 400+ registered partners and at the same time we are open to new partner engagements,” says Rajesh.

Elaborating on the channel model, Rajesh says, “We have formed a Partner Advisory Council consisting 13 key partners who have indepth understanding of security business and our aim is to consistently take their views and implement their feedbacks on GTM strategy, channel policies and program.”

Fortinet’s India team is easily accessible to address partners' needs like customer account mapping, resource connection for large deals and marketing support. “We also have dedicated channel account managers in all regions to support partners,” Rajesh firms up.

Training and Support Proper training of the channel partners receives high priority in the Fortinet’s scheme of things. “The contribution from the channel in supporting our growth is paramount and we have ensured that our partners get the required support in terms of technical expertise along with sales and marketing benefits to grow their business,” says Rajesh.

Extending all required support to partners to expand its business to new regions, new markets and adding new customers is the company’s priority to help the company maintain its growth momentum.

“We will continue to support our channel partners, stay invested in research and development, and devise better strategies to add value to our partners and provide competitive security solutions to increase our market share.”

Customer retention with timely renewals and solution upgrades is another key area where Fortinet will be closely working with its partners.

Meeting the Customers’ demand Fortinet is working on getting more certified partners to help them provide better support to customers and also learn about its new technology product offering. Certification will also help them come out of being box pushers or competing on price to start a value chain with technology specialization. Being a solution specialist in the long

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Rajesh Maurya Country manager India & SAARC, Fortinet run will help them sustain and grow their business to more regions and technologies.

“We have implemented a comprehensive deal registration program which is integrated with our Salesforce.com platform. This has made the entire process from deal identification, to approval or rejection, to price clearances very transparent.”

Fortinet will also be organizing quarterly sales session to provide partners updates on markets, business opportunities, products, incentive programs and will help us improve relationships with partners.

The Fortinet offers an array a product lines that are designed to offer network protection services across the board. “One of the interesting trends we have seen is a demand from enterprises to opt for a single vendor to manage the firewall environments, rather than multiple vendors. Globally and in India, we are seeing several enterprises overhauling their perimeter and WAN security systems to move towards a single vendor. The main reason for this is that customers expect cost and operational efficiency in managing their security infrastructure,” elaborates Rajesh.

Security buyers are also seeking products that can provide a combination of firewall options such as NGFW (Next Generation Firewall), UTM, virtual and statefull firewalls to meet a wide range of enterprise needs from data centers to branch offices.

These solutions protect enterprises against multi-vector attacks, which are becoming more sophisticated and plentiful. In particular, there is a need for specialized web application firewalls with the growth of web applications. .

This is the year partners can look forward to grow their Fortinet business in the face of new opportunities in Wireless, NGFW, Web Application Security, DDoS prevention and Sandboxing. “More importantly partners can look forward to earn better profit margins,” says Rajesh.

As more enterprises embrace BYOD (Bring-your-own-Device), a clear opportunity has emerged for an end-to-end security provider like Fortinet to take a larger slice of the wireless pie. Fortinet offers strong value proposition in wireless LAN security through its range of FortiGate, FortiWifi and FortiAP product lines. “We are currently expanding our wireless partner base as a part of our strategy to increase our share in the Wireless Appliance market in India.” n edit@varindia.com

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ROUND ABOUT

Next Contours of IT Growth – Imagination meets Reality I

s IT bouncing back to its past glory? Many are betting on it, others are in a “wait-and-watch” mode and still others scotch that emergence. Where do the facts lie? I am aware that the topic does not exactly match with the contemporary issues that people in India and abroad are talking about. The Indian scene is dominated by elections, gas price, slow pickup of the manufacturing sector and many more.

The world economic debate centres around Russian intervention in Ukraine and its aftermath mayhem in the stock market, including India, US stand on weak intellectual property laws in the developing world, especially FIFA World Football Cup and, of late, Oscar Awards.

Buffeted in the skirmish of these burning issues, what is the relevance of resurgence of information technology? Some of you may differ with me. But I firmly believe that a return of glory and hallow around IT can spell many good things.

The central plot of this column is return of the pristine days of information technology. I believe that it is going to take place sooner or later. But my conviction has a different rationale. I do not believe that the mergers and acquisitions that are happening in the IT space is an indicator of that. The social networking giant Facebook has acquired the mobile messaging giant WhatsApp for an astronomical sum of US$19 billion. Equally important is the Google’s efforts to consolidate the mobile telephony space through recent takeovers.

There are also important takeovers happening on a day-to-day basis in the US, including the US$3-billion Convergys’s takeover of Stream Global Services. My take is that such developments will keep on happening as a part of corporate consolidation. But terming such developments as a harbinger for sustained growth and resurgence of information technology, according to me, is misplaced.

Then, what are the sustained trends? I would like to go beyond time to explain what I conceive are the future growth trends of information technology. If you feel that the ideas that I am espousing are Utopian and farfetched, I would only say that I have the right to hold that opinion like you have the ultimate right to rubbish them as mere fantasies.

I am basing my observations on three things. Let me warn my readers that two of them are imaginative and fictional. Let me explain the first incident. By now, most of you must have heard about the scientific thriller, which has bagged the seven Oscars for 2014 – Gravity. It is the story of a spacecraft orbiting the universe, experiences and encounters voyagers recounted with breathtaking visual effects. The film directed

by Alonso Cuaron has grossed US$700 million so far – and is still ticking. Why it was a great box-office hit? The reasons are not far to seek. Mankind is always fascinated by space and extraterrestrial life. I read somewhere that 7,000 Canadians have already applied for their trip to Mars, which is estimated to take about 220 days from earth.

Alas, a trip to moon will take only four days and I fail to understand why people are not showing that much interest in landing there. Is it because of the perception that it is too near to earth or its surface is uninhabitable?

Those who are interested in surfing the net to find out popular imaginations on the extraterrestrial habitation may come across with several sites and blogs, which pour out glorious imaginations.

Does it mean that mankind is closer to conquering Mars? I know people who have a scientific temper will gauge such assertions with scepticism. They always look for scientific explanations and rational theories to explain the veracity of such assertions. Hardly such things come out from hallowed scientific institutions. On the contrary, there will be often denials, sometimes on abstract terms or ignoring them, alluding that such assertions do not merit denials. I am not bothered about such happenings. What worries me is the sorry state of affairs in the NASA. All important projects on the outer space and

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Asoke K. Laha

President & MD, Interra IT extraterrestrial beings are put on hold presumably on account of the budget constraints. That had its negative impact. Curiosity is still continuing with its exploration and for the third time, it had upgraded its software system as latest as December 2013. Why such a huge time lag in exploration?

I will end up this column by invoking two real-life situations. One is a case study from the US and that too is relating to the auto sector.

Henry Ford is known for revolutionizing the car manufacturing in the world and making it affordable to all classes of people. He is the person who introduced the conveyor belt system in auto manufacturing. That enabled the workers to remain stationary, while assembling a car with various parts. When the cars move through the conveyor belt, the assigned workers are asked to assemble the spare parts, which they are trained to put into the slot. That way, Ford managed to enhance production several times, reduce the cost of each car, making it affordable to the common man and increase the salaries of the workers handsomely. But it had a flip side, which was vehemently opposed by his arch rival and trade union leader, Walter Ruther. His argument was that such specializations will adversely affect the creativity of the workers, who will be trained only for a fraction of a work in the entire manufacturing chain. When bad times visited the automobile sector, predictions of Walter Ruther proved right since the redundant labour realized that their expertise did not go beyond a mechanical process of logging a part to the automobile.

What I am alluding is that to take advantage of the emerging opportunities, we have to specialize in all aspects of the information technology – software, hardware, innovation, messaging, adaptation, broadbanding – and what have you. n

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HOT BYTES

Kaspersky Lab and Sakri complete 4 years of association

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aspersky Lab c o n s u m e r products and Sakri IT Solutions has announced the completion of 4 successful years of association with Kaspersky lab.

Ravi Lakshman, CEO of Sakri IT Solutions, said, “We are proud to be associated with Kaspersky Lab, and we are looking at deepening our association further. We have invested in a complete CD manufacturing facility, with strong distribution logistics, local offices and billing points, plus a 40seater customer care centre providing technical support

in all the major Indian languages.”

Maxim Mitrokhin, Director of Operations, Kaspersky Lab – AsiaPacific, said, "We congratulate Sakri on completing 4 successful years of association with Kaspersky Lab as our ND for consumer products.

With the help of Sakri and support of our channel partners, Kaspersky Lab India has attained and maintained its leadership position as one of the top three antivirus companies."

LG to invest Rs.800 Crore in India in 2014

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G Electronics has showcased over 230 revolutionary products in the second edition of its annual LG Tech Show 2014. Smart technology and energy efficiency remained the core theme of the show, with LG displaying some of its popular flagship devices across verticals, along with its 2014 India lineup. The world’s largest ULTRA HD CURVED OLED TV, the Web OS TV, G Pro 2 phablet, the 4G

LTE smartphone range, India’s first 5-star-rated refrigerator with smart inverter, Mosquito away AC, India’s first Stainless Steel RO Water Purifier and the LG Lifeband Touch – its debutant in the wearable technology domain, have caught imagination of everyone present. Soon Kwon, MD, LG Electronics India, said, “Award-winning products and unique technologies are the proof-points of our brand promise to consumers."

Adobe joins hands with Razorfish

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dobe and Razorfish have outlined a joint initiative for the Indian market.

Leveraging their global partnership, the two companies will develop solutions focussed on digital personalization for marketers in India.

“India is seeing a massive change in terms of digitization that is sweeping across the country, creating new opportunities and challenges for marketers.

Today, customers demand products customized to their needs and marketers need to rise to this challenge. Adobe’s leadership in digital

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marketing and Razorfish’s expertise in creating groundbreaking digital strategy and innovation, together promises to digitally transform brands by making each experience relevant for different customer segments and personas across spectrum,” said UmangBedi, MD, South Asia, Adobe.

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Brocade teams up with Avnet

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rocade has appointed Avnet Technology Solutions as a Brocade IP and SAN Distributor for SouthEast Asia (SEA), spanning Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, Indonesia and Vietnam. A member of the Brocade Alliance Partner Network (APN) programme, Avnet now has an extended distributorship agreement with Brocade from the Americas, Europe and Australia to South-East Asia.

Under the agreement, Avnet will distribute Brocade IP, SAN and software networking products to its network of channel partners and resellers across the region, including Ethernet fabric solutions for data center networking and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) solutions for Software-Defined Networking (SDN).

Marlabs strengthens its operations

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arlabs Software has announced the opening of their new facility in the city as part of the organization’s expansion plans. The new facility will help meet increasing customer demand from North America, will be a base for IP asset creation and provide better service delivery and support to the rapidly-evolving market in the AsiaPacific region. Marlabs has had a strong foothold in the North American IT services market and it is rapidly expanding its presence across the globe.

Currently, Marlabs has workforce of over 2,000 and a network of delivery centres in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Malaysia and India (Bangalore, Mysore, Pune and Kochi).

AMD and BlueStacks to offer Android Solution

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MD has announced retail availability of a new BlueStacks dualOS Android solution, optimized for AMD APUs, with expected consumer availability in the second half of 2014.

The AMD and BlueStacks joint solution brings the complete Google Android OS experience to select Microsoft Windowsbased AMD-based tablets, 2-in-1s, notebooks and desktops in select retail stores.

The retail solution won’t require the user to disengage from one OS before using

another; the AMD and BlueStacks solution runs Android virtually within Windows. The customization, settings and personalization capabilities expected from an Android device are made available in a Windows environment.

The retail solution also supports easy synchronization of the two environments through BlueStack’sFoneLink service that enables AMD Windows-based PCs to become an extension of Android mobile devices.

WinMagic's BitLocker Management Simplified

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inMagic has introduced BitLocker management for the company’s popular SecureDoc data security software, which manages encrypted data at rest. Along with enhanced support for Trusted Computer Group (TCG) Enterprise drives, WinMagic is enabling customers to secure data in ways that are compatible with the most advanced storage approaches and common operating systems without experiencing any of the hassles

typically associated with encryption management.

With availability scheduled for April 2014, these enhancements to SecureDoc provide customers with the most robust data encryption and security support in the industry. For those attending RSA Conference 2014, WinMagic and Seagate are demonstrating SecureDoc-managed TCG Enterprise drives during the TCG seminar held Monday, February 24 in room 2018, Moscone West.

Citrix reveals its GTM Strategy for 2014

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itrix has reportedly announced a revamp of its Go-To-Market strategy in India in line with the realignment of its India sales team. The India business is now divided into two divisions with separate focus areas namely Enterprise business and Emerging Business-Partner Led. Sanjay Deshmukh, Area Vice-President, India Subcontinent, Citrix, said, “The realignment of our sales team represents

a significant step in intensifying our focus on developing business through partners and extending the Citrix value proposition to customers in new territories. Many Indian companies across big and small cities today are looking at adopting mobile work styles to enable their employees to work from anywhere using any device to improve efficiency and optimize cost of IT operations."

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HOT BYTES

Ramco Systems inks IT deal with Malaysia Airlines

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alaysia Airlines has partnered with Ramco Systems for a suite of critical enterprise-

wide engineering solutions that include aircraft maintenance, maintenance service sales, operational, human resources and financial functions.

The deal includes a 5-year managed services

component in which Ramco will undertake a portion of engineeringrelated IT functions.

Ramco’s aviation domain knowledge and R&D strength has helped launch new features that address unique pain points facing the industry.

Infor focuses on Public Sector

I

nfor has announced a comprehensive model of enterprise applications and technology solutions.

To lead this initiative, Infor has hired industry veteran, Wayne Bobby, as vice-president for Infor’s Federal government solutions.

Infor offers a diverse solutions suite that includes both large-scale and right-sized solutions that are designed to be compliant with the Federal Information Security Management Act (FISMA). The wide array of solutions includes large-scale deployments

such as Infor Enterprise AssetManagement (EAM), which monitors federal facilities to ensure optimal performance.

Infor Public Sector delivers a complete suite of solutions specifically designed for all levels of government and public organizations. Currently used by more than 3,600 public organizations globally, including 16 of the 20 largest US cities and 19 of the 20 largest states, Infor Public Sector helps optimize capital investments, maximize revenue, improve cross agency collaboration, and better serve the growing expectations of citizens.

ComGuard Infosol signs GFI Software

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o m G u a r d Infosol and GFI Software have signed a distribution agreement to distribute GFI’s IT security solutions for small medium businesses (SMBs) across the region.

This agreement will enable GFI to grow its business and strengthen its position in the Indian IT market, whereas ComGuard Infosol will be able to provide new services and support to channel partners and

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March 2014

customers by adding GFI’s technologies to its portfolio.

Ajay Singh Chauhan, CEO, Spectrum Group, said, “We are delighted to partner with GFI as their authorized distributor for India. GFI is a preeminent brand in IT security solutions. This agreement will assist in addressing IT security challenges faced

by SME businesses."

www.varindia.com

SUSE Linux Enterprise 12 beta is now available

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USE has begun the beta testing phase of SUSE Linux Enterprise 12. Products based on SUSE Linux Enterprise 12, including SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12, SUSE Linux Enterprise High Availability Extension 12 and SUSE Linux Enterprise Desktop 12 – are scheduled for release later this year.

The newest SUSE Linux Enterprise is based on Linux Kernel 3.12.

SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 12 will feature enhancements related to business continuity, local systems management, interoperability and cloud. For example, it will include snapshot and rollback for the full system including the Linux kernel to reduce system downtime. It will also have a new installer to make deployment faster and easier.

“Retail Revolution”

by Tally and MartJack

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ally Solutions along with MartJack has announced the launch of “Retail Revolution”, a pan- India education initiative aimed at highlighting the relevance of multichannel retailing.

The first such conclave in the series was held at Hyderabad, with around 100 retailers attending the session.

Speaking on the initiative, Shoaib Ahmed, President, Tally Solutions, said, “The retail industry in India is facing new challenges with the advent of multichannel retail. We continue to be the provider of relevant biz solutions to our customers."

SAP sets new record with Technology partners

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AP AG with a team of technology partners, including BMMsoft, HP, Intel, NetApp and Red Hat, has generated a new world record for the world’s largest data warehouse using the SAP HANA platform and SAP IQ software. This independently audited 12.1PB data warehouse has been recognized by Guinness World Records, and is four times larger than the prior record.

“Setting a new world record with the combination of SAP HANA and SAP IQ was a ‘moonshot’ challenge I had laid out for our

engineering team,” said Dr. Vishal Sikka, member of the Executive Board of SAP AG, Products & Innovation. “Our goal was to set new limits in bringing Big Data together with fast, ad hoc and scalable analytics.

SAP has shown the ability of our platform to achieve such an incredible result, demonstrating a cost-effective and highperformance approach toward solving extreme problems in Big Data and analytics.”

Rittal awarded as the Centre of recognition & Excellence

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entre Of Recognition & Excellence has received the recognition honour title CIO CHOICE 2014 at the Red Carpet Night Event. This second annual list mentions the recognized brands of ICT vendors that are determined through an independent CIO voting survey from across the country on product performance, customer satisfaction and continued

customer service. I “CIO Choice trust seal is validation from CIO community trust in the recognized brand.

By being voted by CIOs, Rittal has proven their expertise in specific technology areas, places them among the top percentile of enterprise ICT vendors in India. ” said Anoop Mathur President at Centre Of Recognition & Excellence.

Aditya Infotech Ltd. initiates Alert India

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ditya Infotech Ltd (AIL) initiated Alert India, a

initiative by Civil Lines residents located in Delhi, announced its

CSR campaign, to secure sensitive locations and community. Under the leadership of Aditya Khemka, AIL has sponsored and supported various social projects as part of its Campaign.

Project Nirbhay, an

key association with the Campaign, committed to secure sensitive locations as well as community residing in the area, by providing advanced surveillance solutions at different junctions of the civil lines area.

www.varindia.com

March 2014

23

ON THE RAMP

850TVL Camera Range by vPinnacle in India vPinnacle has unveiled its high resolution 850TVL range cameras in India. Under this new addition, vPinnacle brings wide range of cameras to meet the surveillance requirements of indoor and outdoor environment.

The new High Resolution 850TVL camera series include PCD-C32-G (Dome Camera), PCD-C32N2-G (IR Dome Camera), PCD-C32V1N3-G (VF IR Dome Camera), PCDC32V1-G (VF Dome Camera), PCB-C32-G (Box Camera), PCT-C32N2-G

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(IR Bullet Camera), PCTC32N3-G (IR Bullet Camera), PCT-C32N4- G (Bullet Camera) and PCTC32V1N5-G (VF Array Bullet Camera).

Featuring Digital Image Sensor in vPinnacle 850TVL cameras, it allows achieving higher resolution.

Cisco introduces OpenAppID

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isco has announced that the company is delivering the ability to create and integrate new open-source application identification capabilities into its Snort engine through the release of OpenAppID. Open-source application detection and control allows users to create, share and implement custom application detection so that they can address new app-based threats as quickly as possible.

OpenAppID provides

application visibility, accelerates development of application detectors, and controls and empowers the community to share detectors for greater protection.

As new applications are developed and introduced into corporate environments at an unprecedented rate, this new language provides users with increased flexibility to control new or custom apps on the network.

Socomec rolls out First India-made UPS

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hennai-based S o c o m e c Innovative Power Solutions has rolled out its first UPS product Delphys MP Elite from the Gurgaon plant.

Socomec invested €3.75 million in India so far and has set ambitious growth plans for upcoming years.

It has a strategy to target markets such as industry, building, critical building, infrastructure, renewable energy and OEM, through which it plans to generate Rs.400-crore revenue by Y2016.

O l i v i e r TREMOUILLE, MD, Socomec Innovative

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March 2014

Amdocs announces Big Data Solution

Power Solutions Pvt. Ltd., said, "We believe India is a very important and strategic market with growing trends for the future and we count on it to increase our market share in the next coming years."

www.varindia.com

mdocs has announced availability of Amdocs TeraScale, a carrier-grade, big data solution designed to cost-efficiently store, manage and extract realtime charging usage data for analytical use cases. The new solution leverages big data storage technologies based on the Hadoop ecosystem, and enables deeper, more rapid real-time analytics through innovative usage data modelling and embedded ETL (extract, transform and load) processes.

“With Amdocs TeraScale, we are leveraging this knowledge to introduce a solution that not only generates considerable costefficiencies for our customers in a core operational area such as data storage, but also allows them to unlock the full potential of usage data in order to improve customer’s experience,” said Rebecca Prudhomme, VP - Product and Solutions Marketing, Amdocs.

MAXIMUS unveils 1100TVL Cameras

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AXIMUS has unveiled high resolution 1100TVL cameras in India, aiming to provide sharpest, smartest and clearest surveillance for indoor and outdoor applications.

The High Resolution 1100TVL camera series include MC21SK-G (Dome Camera), MC22SK2R-G and MC22SK3R-G (IR Dome Camera), MC22SKF3R-G (VF IR Dome Camera), MC23SK-G (Box Camera), MC24SK2R-G, M C 2 4 S K 3 R - G , M C 2 4 S K 4 R - G (Bullet Camera) and MC24SKF5R-G (VF Bullet Camera).

Zebronics launches speakers for party lovers

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EBRONICS has come up with four new highend speakers under the 5.1 Sound Monsters category. These have been designed to deliver high-quality sound at a cost-effective price. They come with down firing sub-woofers to deliver the party effects required in the entertainment zone.

Zebronics has added ZEB-SW8590RUCF, ZEB-SW8580RUCF, ZEB-SW8570RUCF and ZEB-SW8530RUCF speakers to the Sound Monster range.

Pradeep Doshi, Director – Sales, Zebronics, said, "Our Sound Monsters will definitely

grab your attention with its royal appearance and great surround sound.

These speakers are sure to enhance the beauty of customer's party zone.

The aggressive pricing of these speakers makes them affordable to masses.

Zebronics believes in designing quality-rich products at challenging prices and Sound Monster range has always been one of our best to show case."

Check Point introduces SDP Security Architecture

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heck Point S o f t w a r e Technologies has introduced Softwaredefined Protection (SDP), a revolutionary security architecture that can protect organizations in today’s fast-evolving IT and threat landscape.

“The threat landscape has become far more sophisticated, while, at the same time, enterprise IT environments have grown in complexity.

Enterprises are looking for advice on how they

can become more secure, but in a way that is manageable and simple to use. SDP is today’s security architecture for tomorrow’s threats; it is simple, flexible and can robustly convert threat intelligence into real-time protections,” said Amnon Bar-Lev, President, Check Point Software Technologies.

SDP is a three-layer security architecture comprised of enforcement, control and management layers.

ASUS launches 3D Graphics Cards

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SUS has launched two highvalue 3D-graphics cards powered by GeForce GTX 750 Ti and GTX 750 and overclocked for performance that’s up to 52MHz faster than reference.

The new GTX 750 Ti and GTX 750 cards benefit from many exclusive ASUS technologies and tools including dust-proof fans for improved card lifespan and Super Alloy Power components for superior stability. GTX 750 has a

1059MHz overclocked base clock that runs as fast as 1137MHz when boosted, while the GTX 750 Ti flies along with a 1072MHz overclocked base clock that ratchets all the way up to 1150 MHz when boosted.

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NGFW ad 21 cm (w) x 28.5 cm (h).pdf 2 04-11-2013 18:02:37

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Network Security Vendor of the Year

Authorized Distributor

Bangalore Chennai Delhi Mumbai

Rakesh Viswanathan Binu Ninan Sanjay Salman Navin Mehra

rakesh@fortinet.com bninan@fortinet.com sanjay@fortinet.com nmehra@fortinet.com

+91 96868 12345 +91 98400 36767 +91 99711 12865 +91 98925 60700

Telecom Wireless

Saurabh Chopra Jason Nadar

schopra@fortinet.com jasonc@fortinet.com

+91 98200 98248 -91 98846 20747

High Performance Network Security Fortinet: 18/10 Cunningham Road, 302 SALEH CENTER , Bangalore 560052. T

el: +91-80-4132-1699 Fax: +91-80-4132-1689

2014 wwwwww.varindia.com .varindia.com NoveMarch mber 2 013

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ON THE RAMP

Panasonic India launches new Refill Toners

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anasonic India has introduced its refill toners for its entire range of Multifunction printers.

With its new offerings, the company is focusing on office automation channels which will enable customers to refill depleted toner cartridges.

Ajay Madan, General Manager, Digital Imaging System, Panasonic India said “Our strategy in India gyrates around endowing our customers through product innovations.

With this launch, we want to benefit our customers with a great

printer performance and low running cost.

These offerings are a demonstrative of our policy of giving back to the environment through products with a reduced environmental impact and yet add value to the customer.”

Panasonic India will continue to launch such offerings for its customers and the roadmap is to further innovate with the changing needs and requirements.

NVIDIA unveils “Maxwell” Graphics Architecture NVIDIA has introduced the first GPUs based on its new Maxwell graphics architecture, which will deliver gaming performance in powerefficient designs. The new NVIDIA GeForce GTX 750 Ti and GTX 750 GPUs showcase the ability of this first-generation Maxwell architecture to do more with less.

The GTX 750 Ti and 750 GPUs also include support for NVIDIA’s breakthrough GameWorks program

and unique gaming technologies.

“NVIDIA understands that delivering a next-gen gaming experience means a lot more than cranking up the clocks, heat and noise just to eke out a few extra frames per second,” said Tony Tamasi, SVP of Content and Technology, NVIDIA.

GPO 110 Offers UTM Security for Small Company Networks gateprotect is enhancing its product family by an innovative security solution with entry-level UTM

protection. With the GPO 110, a new, easy-touse firewall for up to 15 users will be presented.

Innovative security features assure state-ofthe-art protection for the network, emails and

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March 2014

secure interconnection via VPN for price-sensitive customers. Optionally, the UTM firewall together with all firewalls belonging to the GPO series can be from now on extended to a W-LAN-Acess-Point as well as fixed with features to include endpoint protection.

With the GPO 110, small companies receive a firewall developed in Germany with all functions for effective protection against cyber-attacks and with best performance that safeguards smooth business procedures.

www.varindia.com

Jabra launches BIZ 2300

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abra has launched Jabra BIZ 2300.

Completely rethinking the role of the headset, the Jabra BIZ 2300 is a direct response to the changes in contact centres.With up to 50-per cent better noise cancellation and 20per cent lighter compared to competition, and mass-deployment ready, the Jabra BIZ2300 beats competition on all key parameters.

Thomas Petersen, Managing Director, Jabra India, said, "Jabra has been a frontrunner when it comes to extensive range of headsets for contact centres. It is this very leadership and expertise that has been leveraged to come up with the new offering that is sure to outsmart the competition.

With BIZ 2300, we set ourselves the challenge of developing the audio device with best-in-class sound performance and exceptional comfort."

BlackBerry introduces new solutions

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lackBerry has come up with new enterprise solutions and partnerships to enable enterprises and individuals to maximize their productivity, communication and collaboration.

The next generation of BlackBerry Enterprise Service (BES), BES12, will enable organizations to develop enterprisegrade applications that are quickly deployed to BlackBerry smartphones and other mobile devices. The BES12 platform will offer backward and future compatibility, unifying BES10 and BES5 on to one platform. The flexibility of the new BES12 architecture will also provide customers to move securely from on-premise to the cloud.

BSNL and Champion launch Phablet DM6513

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SNL in partnership with Champion Computers, have launched its revolutionary nextgen Phablet BSNL Champion DM6513.

The Phablets encompass all the quintessential features and ascertains the availability of the best of both the worlds to its users, i.e. Mobile and Tablets. The Phablet supports a Charming and remarkably user-friendly Touch Screen, incredible battery backup and comes in a spectacular colour.

Kapil Wadhwa, MD, Champion Computers Pvt. Ltd., said, “Our BSNL DM6513 is a 6.5”

phablet which is suitable for both work and play.

After introducing Feature Phones and Smartphones, we were certain to penetrate in the Phablet market. We have devised our product with all the necessary features at a very competitive pricing."

GIGABYTE offers Economic Motherboards in India

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I G A B Y T E Technology is offering a range of its 8 Series motherboards at an attractive price range.

These select motherboards offer significant improvements in performance and power consumption with the latest fourth-generation Intel Core processors and Intel B85, H87 and Z87 chipsets.

These motherboards, namely GA-B85M-D3H, GA-H87M-D3H and GA-Z87M-D3H, come with a wide range of new

technologies.

GA-B85M-D3H has notable features like 4th Generation Intel Core processors, Ultra Durable 4 Plus Technology, Hybrid digital power engine, UEFI DualBIOS, Multi-GPU Support, GIGABYTE 333 Onboard Acceleration (USB 3.0, SATA 3.0 & 3x USB Power), GIGABYTE On/Off Charge for USB devices, LAN with high ESD Protection, HDMI 1.4, DVI, D-SUB, Intel Small Business Advantage.

CP PLUS introduces QUADRA Technology

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P PLUS TeknoLogix Labs launches QUADRA, a path-breaking technology that commits to advance the performance of analog cameras, hence breaking the barriers of analog solutions to deliver robust and quality performance in any environment and lighting conditions. The QUADRA technology is now in-built in the entire range of CP PLUS analog cameras, the technology comprises features such as Extra Wide Voltage

Range, powerful surge protection, BrightView Image, Heatless Design and Anti IR reflect front glass.

Each camera offers a functional voltage range, for example, from 6 to 24 V. The Shorter cable length installations allow the lowest voltage draw.

This wide voltage range ensures the cameras stay active through power fluctuations.

EVENT

L to R: Mr. Bimal Raj, CEO- Smartlink Network Systems,Mr. Mohammed Sadiq Pasha- SMB LEAD-WEST- Microsoft Corporation, Dr. Harold D'Costa, CEO-Intelligent Quotient Security System, Mr. Sanjay Mehta, M.D.- MAIA Intelligence, Mr. Nityanand Shetty - Chairman, ISODA, Mr. Pramoud Rao, M.D.- Zicom Electronics Security, Mr. Chetan Shah, Chairman –ASIRT,Mr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Chief editor,VARINDIA, Mr. Chander Purswami,M.D.- Connect Star Networks, Shri. Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director, MAIT,Ms. S Mohini Ratna, Editor-VARINDIA

4th WIITF 2014 – A Platform heralding new business ideas The 4th Western India Information Technology Fair (WIITF), 2014 has set a new benchmark by successfully concluding an event dedicated to VARs recently. The event that managed to rope in some of the known and revered names in the ICT industry reiterated its commitment towards the VAR community in the country by conceptualizing a theme that best describes the current business model the VARs stick to ‘VARS ADDING VALUE TO THE IT PROCUREMENT PROCESS’. The invitees to the event included various IT honchos, industry leaders, VARs and senior officials from the Government.

Shri Rajesh Aggarwal, IAS, Principal Secretary-IT, Govt. of Maharashtra graced the occasion as the Chief Guest for the evening. The Lamp lighting ceremony took place in the presence of the Chief Guest besides other esteemed guests -Mr. Bimal Raj, CEO- Smartlink Network Systems;Mr. Vishal Dhupar ,M.D.-NVIDIA Graphics, Mr. Mohammed Sadiq Pasha- SMB LEAD-WEST- Microsoft Corporation; Dr. Harold D'Costa, CEO-Intelligent Quotient Security System; Mr. Sanjay Mehta, M.D.- MAIA Intelligence; Mr. Nityanand Shetty - Chairman, ISODA; Mr. Pramoud Rao, M.D.- Zicom Electronics Security; Mr. Chetan Shah, Chairman –ASIRT; Mr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Chief Editor, VARINDIA; Mr. Chander Purswami, M.D.- Connect Star Networks; Shri. Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director, MAIT; Ms. S Mohini Ratna, Editor-VARINDIA;Mr. Pravin Rege, Vice President-ICMAP India ; Mr. Rajesh Goenka, Vice-president- Rashi Peripherals and Mr. Sanjay Sehgal, VP- D-link India Ltd.

Mr. Vishal Dhupar, M.D.-NVIDIA

Dr.Harold D’costa,Advisor Law enforcement agencies - Cyber Crime

Mr. Mohammed Sadiq Pasha- SMB LEAD-WEST- Microsoft Corporation

Mr. Navin Mehra, Regional ManagerWest, Central & East India , Fortinet Inc.

Shri. Rajesh Aggarwal,IAS,Principal Secretary-IT, Govt. of Maharastra

Presentaion By Shri. Anwar Shirpurwala, Executive Director, MAIT www.varindia.com March 2014 27

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March 2014

www.varindia.com

EVENT AWARDS Ceremony

Best Reseller, Western India Maxtone Electronics Pvt. Ltd. Best VAR, Western India Xpress Computers Ltd. Best Network Integrator, Western India Sigma Byte Computers Best System Integrator, Western India Pentagon System and Services Pvt. Ltd Best Service Support, Western India Digicare Best VAD, Western India Comguard Networks Pvt. Ltd. Best ITBrand, Western India Gigabyte Technology India Ltd. Best Software Services, Western India Orient Technologies Pvt. Ltd. While addressing the audience, Deepak Kumar Sahu, Chief Editor, VARINDIA stressed on the growing menace of Cyber-Attacks and how Cyber Security has become a necessity to contain such threats. “Security researchers at McAfee Labs identified 200 new malware samples or more than three new threats every second during 2013, with a marked upswing in point-of-sale attack vectors in the final quarter.”Sticking to the theme of the evening, ‘VARs Adding Value to the IT Procurement Process’, he further spoke on how VARs can add real value to every organization and make the whole procurement process much simpler and more cost effective.

Giving a perspective on what and how MAIT has contributed to the Reseller community, Anwar Shipurwala, Executive Director, MAIT pointed out two basic things important to operate in market - Market Acceleration and the ease of doing things. “We as an association have evolved with time and have become what is relevant today. We not only want to represent Manufacturers in the country but a Guardian representing the entire Hardware Syntel.

Here, different IT Associations play a very important role.

The 2 basic agenda I have mentioned can go a long way in getting together the fragmented IT industry together.”

Vishal Dhupar, Managing Director - NVIDIA in his speech shared his thoughts on the e-commerce business in the country and the challenges it throws up for the traditional resellers.

“Today e-commerce presents business marketers with profound opportunities, including most importantly, reduced costs, access to new market segments and the ability to provide information on a continuous basis. However, e-commerce also introduces potentially significant challenges. Channel conflict is perhaps the most serious concern… and the advent of the Internet throughout B2B marketing has made managing channel conflict more important and complex than ever before.”

Dr. Harold D’Costa, CEO – Intelligent Quotient Security emphasized on the need to envisage a robust and agile Cyber Security Policy Guidelines“I am here to discuss a burning topic of 21st Century – Cyber crimes. In 2012, the total number of cyber crimes reported was 2900. If you look at the cyber crimes registered in Maharashtra, most of them were related to Social Networking frauds. Part of it was financial frauds. But this is just the tip of the iceberg. I have worked closely with Maharashtra Police and have experienced around 500 – 1000 cyber crimes myself.

Last year there has been a steep rise in

corporate frauds.”

In his speech, Shri Rajesh Aggarwal,IAS, Principal Secretary-IT, Govt. of Maharashtra spoke about the negligence on the part of the Authority to contain Cyber security, “Whether it is in private corporates or government offices, people do not pay much attention to keeping a strong password. And when some confidential data gets hacked, the whole blame comes on the security system. ‘Jugaad’ which is an important concept among Indians comes to play here and it kills both quality and security.”

There were also presentations by Microsoft and Fortinet, where Mr. Mohammed Sadiq Pasha- SMB Lead -West – Microsoft corporation spoke on how ICT act as an enabler for SMB that has long been devoid of technological advancements for fear of incurring technology costs in their organizations. Mr. Navin Mehra, Regional manager-West, Central & East India, Fortinet spoke on how to make Fortune with Fortinet and the both can be combined to avail the most out of it. They also spoke about their contribution in ICT and about the various solutions available which can be a big enabler in making IT accessible to everyone in the country.

WIITF 2014 also took the opportunity to award and recognize VARs and VADs from the western region in different categories in the presence of the Chief Guest, Shri Rajesh Aggarwal,IAS, Principal Secretary-IT, Govt. of Maharashtra. n

www.varindia.com

March 2014

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EVENT

EVENT

4th ICT in Education Summit 2014....

Helps to evolve as out of the box thinkers

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earning has hugely shifted online and is no more restricted to schools and colleges. Modern ways of learning have evolved with technology with a variety of tools and resources available online to facilitate this learning. It is to understand and deliberate on thisthat the 4th ICT in Education Summit was conceptualized and organized, which was attended by around 200 guests comprising of academicians, thinktanks from the corporate world and government representatives.

took to the stage to discuss about their initiatives on the education front and how their various Innovative Business models have helped taking ICT to the educational institutions in India. While Mr. Ravi Sethi, Sr. Manager Marketing (OIS) – Canon shared his perspective on The Value Builders in Educational Eco system, Mr. Suneet Singh Tuli, President & CEO – Datawind presented his views on why the adoption of ICT has been so slow in the educational institutes in India. Ankita Saikia, India Business Development Consultant – HP (Education) gave her company’s outlook and spoke on Winning solutions for the Education Sector. Mr. Deepak Jain, Sr. Regional Manager, North India – WD and Mr. Kinney Nair, Marketing Manager, Branded Products, WD walked the audience throughwhat is new at WD and gave a glimpse of the latest internal and external HDD options available with the company.

The morning session started with the ceremonial lamp lightingin the presence of the Honourable Chief Guest Prof. Marmar Mukhopadhyay, Chairman (ETMA) and other distinguished guests that included Ms. Sara H. Basson, Ph.D., Worldwide Program Director, IBM- TJ Watson Research Center; Mr. Shantanu Dash from MGurujee; Mr. Sujit Panigrahi, CTO, Convergent Technologiesbesides Mr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Publisher & Chief Editor – Kalinga Digital Media and Ms S Mohini Ratna, Editor – VARINDIA.

The afternoon session started with Prof. Rajaram S Sharma, JointDirector, CIET, NCERTaddressing the audience on development of an ICT Curriculum.

While addressing the audience, Mr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Publisher & Chief Editor – Kalinga Digital Media stressed on how education can be used as a powerful tool to change the world, “Despite the most prolonged economic downturn, depreciation in currency and policy paralysis, the global investor interest in India remains healthy. Investing in education is also the smart thing to do. Why? Because education imparts people the skills they require to help themselves out of poverty and into prosperity. Education is the bedrock of social and economic development, too. It is only through education that we can hope to eradicate social evils.”

At the beginning of the event, Shantanu Dash from MGurujee spoke at length about his initiative of how it facilitates Mobile Collaborative Learning and of its different Apps and Mobile learning Solutions that empower teachers, students and parents tomake use of the Mobile platform.Ms. Sara H. Basson, Ph.D., Worldwide Program Director, IBM- TJ Watson Research Center also spoke on her take on ICT in Indian educational institutions and its many advantages to the students and teachers.

In his presentation, Mr. J R Kaim, Director – Education, North Delhi Municipal Corporation gave a snapshot of the MCD schools across Delhi and highlighted the current state of education in these schools and the adoption of e-governance projects that hasbrought these institutions closer to ICT.

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Audience at the www.varindia.com event Lucky Draw by Canon March 2014 Digital Camera

The enlightening speech given by the Chief Guest, Prof. Marmar Mukhopadhyay, Chairman (ETMA) left the audience enthralled. He spoke in details about the current education system in India, on the strides it has taken so far to transform the system and how it can be further improved, besides laying emphasis on educating the girl child.

Ms Manju Rajput, Headmistress – Modern School (Junior) who could not join the Summit sent a message in which she shared her thoughts and addressed some vital issues around ICT in education. In her message

Stall put up by WD

Education Solutions on display

she had stated, “While the value of ICT in today’s wired world needs no testimonials, we, in our context of ascertaining its role and place in education, need to understand that ICT is only an enabler and that we need “it” to supplement the mainstream teaching and learning processes.

As such, school education system must adopt and adapt to this new and ever changing reality.The new technologies and corresponding new gadgets and instruments have introduced us to new ways to talk and new ways to listen, new ways to teach and new ways to learn.”

In the corporate presentations, Canon, HP, Datawind and WD

Stall put up by Datawind

Stall put up by Telexcell

The panel discussion this time was themed around “Education in India Merits Change” and was moderated jointly by Mr. Vijay Shukla, Managing Director, Eduvisors and Mr. Sujit Panigrahi, CTO, Convergent Technologies.

The Panelists who participated in the discussion were Mr. Adil Usman, Business Head – iProf Learning Solutions; Mr. R Sreenivasan, Co-FounderIndus World School of Business; Ms. Vineeta Mittal, Principal-The Millennium School, Gurgaon; Mr. Gaurav Tomar, Director, Rabindranath World School, Gurgaon; Mr. Varadarajan Sridharan, Fellow-Ed Tech and Ms.Sara H. Basson, Ph.D., Worldwide Program Director, IBM- TJ Watson Research Center. Topics for the discussion were revolved around the present Education system in India,spanning from how to make Schools ICT Investment Count andTechnology-led disruption for Indian education eco-system to upgrading ICT Infrastructure to make learning environmentfit for the future and safeguarding devices and prioritizing cyber safety and Security.

The Lucky Draw contest by VARINDIA, amuch-awaited part of the event in the middle and towards the end of it generated most interests from the audience, with the winners winning exciting gifts from Datawind and Canon. Also for the first time,guestswho could not be present at the event could enjoy a live webcast of the programme of both the sessions. The webcast was powered by WizIQ. n

Lucky Draw by Datawind Tablets

Audience at the event www.varindia.com March 2014

31

EVENT

EVENT

4th ICT in Education Summit 2014....

Helps to evolve as out of the box thinkers

L

earning has hugely shifted online and is no more restricted to schools and colleges. Modern ways of learning have evolved with technology with a variety of tools and resources available online to facilitate this learning. It is to understand and deliberate on thisthat the 4th ICT in Education Summit was conceptualized and organized, which was attended by around 200 guests comprising of academicians, thinktanks from the corporate world and government representatives.

took to the stage to discuss about their initiatives on the education front and how their various Innovative Business models have helped taking ICT to the educational institutions in India. While Mr. Ravi Sethi, Sr. Manager Marketing (OIS) – Canon shared his perspective on The Value Builders in Educational Eco system, Mr. Suneet Singh Tuli, President & CEO – Datawind presented his views on why the adoption of ICT has been so slow in the educational institutes in India. Ankita Saikia, India Business Development Consultant – HP (Education) gave her company’s outlook and spoke on Winning solutions for the Education Sector. Mr. Deepak Jain, Sr. Regional Manager, North India – WD and Mr. Kinney Nair, Marketing Manager, Branded Products, WD walked the audience throughwhat is new at WD and gave a glimpse of the latest internal and external HDD options available with the company.

The morning session started with the ceremonial lamp lightingin the presence of the Honourable Chief Guest Prof. Marmar Mukhopadhyay, Chairman (ETMA) and other distinguished guests that included Ms. Sara H. Basson, Ph.D., Worldwide Program Director, IBM- TJ Watson Research Center; Mr. Shantanu Dash from MGurujee; Mr. Sujit Panigrahi, CTO, Convergent Technologiesbesides Mr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Publisher & Chief Editor – Kalinga Digital Media and Ms S Mohini Ratna, Editor – VARINDIA.

The afternoon session started with Prof. Rajaram S Sharma, JointDirector, CIET, NCERTaddressing the audience on development of an ICT Curriculum.

While addressing the audience, Mr. Deepak Kumar Sahu, Publisher & Chief Editor – Kalinga Digital Media stressed on how education can be used as a powerful tool to change the world, “Despite the most prolonged economic downturn, depreciation in currency and policy paralysis, the global investor interest in India remains healthy. Investing in education is also the smart thing to do. Why? Because education imparts people the skills they require to help themselves out of poverty and into prosperity. Education is the bedrock of social and economic development, too. It is only through education that we can hope to eradicate social evils.”

At the beginning of the event, Shantanu Dash from MGurujee spoke at length about his initiative of how it facilitates Mobile Collaborative Learning and of its different Apps and Mobile learning Solutions that empower teachers, students and parents tomake use of the Mobile platform.Ms. Sara H. Basson, Ph.D., Worldwide Program Director, IBM- TJ Watson Research Center also spoke on her take on ICT in Indian educational institutions and its many advantages to the students and teachers.

In his presentation, Mr. J R Kaim, Director – Education, North Delhi Municipal Corporation gave a snapshot of the MCD schools across Delhi and highlighted the current state of education in these schools and the adoption of e-governance projects that hasbrought these institutions closer to ICT.

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Audience at the www.varindia.com event Lucky Draw by Canon March 2014 Digital Camera

The enlightening speech given by the Chief Guest, Prof. Marmar Mukhopadhyay, Chairman (ETMA) left the audience enthralled. He spoke in details about the current education system in India, on the strides it has taken so far to transform the system and how it can be further improved, besides laying emphasis on educating the girl child.

Ms Manju Rajput, Headmistress – Modern School (Junior) who could not join the Summit sent a message in which she shared her thoughts and addressed some vital issues around ICT in education. In her message

Stall put up by WD

Education Solutions on display

she had stated, “While the value of ICT in today’s wired world needs no testimonials, we, in our context of ascertaining its role and place in education, need to understand that ICT is only an enabler and that we need “it” to supplement the mainstream teaching and learning processes.

As such, school education system must adopt and adapt to this new and ever changing reality.The new technologies and corresponding new gadgets and instruments have introduced us to new ways to talk and new ways to listen, new ways to teach and new ways to learn.”

In the corporate presentations, Canon, HP, Datawind and WD

Stall put up by Datawind

Stall put up by Telexcell

The panel discussion this time was themed around “Education in India Merits Change” and was moderated jointly by Mr. Vijay Shukla, Managing Director, Eduvisors and Mr. Sujit Panigrahi, CTO, Convergent Technologies.

The Panelists who participated in the discussion were Mr. Adil Usman, Business Head – iProf Learning Solutions; Mr. R Sreenivasan, Co-FounderIndus World School of Business; Ms. Vineeta Mittal, Principal-The Millennium School, Gurgaon; Mr. Gaurav Tomar, Director, Rabindranath World School, Gurgaon; Mr. Varadarajan Sridharan, Fellow-Ed Tech and Ms.Sara H. Basson, Ph.D., Worldwide Program Director, IBM- TJ Watson Research Center. Topics for the discussion were revolved around the present Education system in India,spanning from how to make Schools ICT Investment Count andTechnology-led disruption for Indian education eco-system to upgrading ICT Infrastructure to make learning environmentfit for the future and safeguarding devices and prioritizing cyber safety and Security.

The Lucky Draw contest by VARINDIA, amuch-awaited part of the event in the middle and towards the end of it generated most interests from the audience, with the winners winning exciting gifts from Datawind and Canon. Also for the first time,guestswho could not be present at the event could enjoy a live webcast of the programme of both the sessions. The webcast was powered by WizIQ. n

Lucky Draw by Datawind Tablets

Audience at the event www.varindia.com March 2014

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VAR PANCHAYAT

CONFED-ITA addresses e-commerce woes in its Vendor Meet CONFED-ITA has met up for a Vendor Meet in Chennai recently to discuss the menace of e-commerce trading. The Meet was attended by Office Bearers and the Task Force Committee of CONFED-ITA, Satya Prasad, President – AIT and AnandRao Balluru, President – FITDAK (Federation of IT Dealers of Karnataka). The vendors present at the Meet were Samsung, Acer, K7 Computing, Lenovo, Canon, Dell, Toshiba, Asus, Epson and HP. The President welcomed the gathering after briefing about the outcome of the 4th Confed EC Meeting & MAIT Strategy Meeting. He also gave a presentation on Online Portal trading and the consequences faced by channel with screen shot evidences.

Nalin Patel from AIT-Bengaluru though not present at the Meet has sent an email in consultation with the Kerala State office bearers which was shared in the meeting. The President informed the vendor Companies to share their views on the current scenario of e-commerce trading and they took turn to place before the gathering their individual initiatives they are taking to tackle the issue ACER - It is stated that Acer issued warnings and strict measures against those who indulge in unfair pricepractices to control online sales and confirmed that it doesn’t have any direct engagement with online portals.

The company brought a practice of a day to day vigil on the online portals andreacted to those who are selling below MOP. CANON: Canon stated thattheCamera and Printer segments have been deeply affected by online portals. There is a need of some regulation from the Govt side also.

Canon does have direct engagement with online portal Flipkart with a clear price policy but not with Snapdeal that is under cutting the price of Canon products.

Notably by the next few days,Canon will come up with a clear online policy. Also there will be a policy on usage of Canon brands for online portals and pointed out in some foreign countries there is some 20% TAX for online sales.

LENOVO - Livelihood of vendor employees are dependent on channel business and Lenovoassured to support the channels always. In the interests of Channel, Lenovo is the first to say that online stores are not authorized to sell. Communication has already been sent strictly to Tier 2 & Tier 3 level of partners not to do business withOnline.

Lenovo does not give any special pricing for online portals and has issued legal notices to erring partners. Traffic is important for online portals and thereby they are offeringat cheapest and subsidized pricesto increase consumer traffic. A request has also been placed byLenovo to have an Ombudsman within the association for vendors to come

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back with the specific names of partner who indulge in this.

DELL - As far as Dell is concerned, they have not engaged with any of the online store since they have their own stores. Considering the market scenario in the last few months, vendors are forced to go to online stores and engage with them particularly with Flipkart and Snapdeal. Dell billing price to any online store will be higher that the price billed to channel partners.

At this the President pointed out that there is a price difference of 5-10% from channel price comparing to Dell-owned online store.

He asked whether a declaration can be given that online price will not be cheaper than the T3 price.Dell said it will revert on the declaration part.

TOSHIBA - There is no engagement with online portals and pointed out that a statement is alreadysentto consumers that the company is not authorizing any of the online portals.

Customersalso called up Toshiba’s authorized centre and complained that they received product which is not the same as ordered one.

As a policy, Toshiba will support Channels only and improve their business.

ASUS - Channels being the bridge to ASUS, it will support only them and monitor the pricing of online portals. If it is below MOP, they are issuing notices to the dealer.

Also they are interested to take up the outcome of this meeting and its decision to the top level management of Asus for better transparency.

EPSON - Epson doesn’t authorize any of the online portals and 90% of business happens through Channels, remaining 10% happen through OEMS and other corporate

business. Any issues in terms of online market place if brought to Epson will be sorted out.

SAMSUNG - Samsung pointed out that it does business through Channel partners only and not with any of theonline portals. It is the market place giving some discounts on products after sourcing from other vendors that disturbs the MOPof the Product.

K7 - K7 had informed online portals to stick to MOP. It is also concerned about the unethical practicesof channel partners that impact the sales of the channel eco-system.

Warningletters are already prepared by the company.

The President noted that price disparity will be addresses and though online sales cannot be stopped immediately, he insistedvendors to authorize online seller so an erring partner canbe penalized.

In the end…

After every vendor has placed their individual thoughts, Confed-ITA concluded that a clear online policy should come upwithin 15 days from the vendors. A Draft on formation of an Ombudsman will be given

by CONFED-ITA which will be a feasible solution with do’s and don’ts and a single point contact from vendors. If vendors are not ready for that, the association will not support them.

Adraft of the same will be sent within a week.

Vendors pointed out that it is its own channel that is playing a role in cutting the price by selling through online portals. It has been decided that a declaration should be made by vendors stating that Vendor owned / Vendorrepresented Online portal price must not be lesser than T3 price. n samrita@varindia.com

North: Sachin- 9811887759 | South: Santhosh JJ- 9952962784 East: Anirban- 9830881616 | West: Umesh- 9004315007 Email: sales_in@adata-group.com | Phone: 022-42868888

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VOICE-N-DATA

Vodafone launches "Be Smart" Campaign

W

ith the increasing advent of data, the customer has become far more sophisticated and is evolving at a fast

adoption of 3G on these smartphones. Taking the lead to reach out to the smartphone users in New Delhi and National Capital Region, Vodafone India,

pace. The recent market trends indicate a huge spurt in smartphone sales.

However, there is still a tremendous scope for

one of India’s leading telecommunications service providers, has launched "BE SMART" Mobile Internet initiative.

Opera Software launches Mini 8 Browser

O

pera Software has launched a new browser Mini 8 for better mobile web experience on basic phone or BlackBerry device.

The fresh, new look includes an improved Speed Dial start page with redesigned tiles. Speed Dial provides easy, quick navigation to sites from hybrid mobile phones. A flat, minimalistic design throughout the browser brings a hot, new look to one of the most essential programs on your phone,

letting you browse in style.

“Roughly half of our 250 million Opera Mini users are on basic phones, also called feature phones, and, today, their browser got even better,” says Christian Uribe, Product Manager for Opera Mini, Opera Software. “Opera Mini 8 has a lot of new stuff to try out, including night mode and private mode, but, for us, it is also important that Opera Mini is a pleasure to look at."

Mitsuba doubles Bandwidth Capacity with Verizon’s WAN

M

itsuba turned to Verizon for help when it needed to ensure that its global communications infrastructure would support the company’s ongoing expansion, it turned to Verizon for help.. With Verizon’s global Wide Area Network Acceleration solution, Mitsuba was able to reduce its network traffic by more than 49 per cent, resulting in significant cost savings and a near doubling of bandwidth capacity over the company’s existing

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networks.

Mitsuba needed to find a technology partner with the global reach to support its operations not only in existing markets, but also in those emerging economies it had targeted for growth.

In particular, the everincreasing volume of data flowing among Mitsuba’s subsidiaries meant that the company needed a technology partner with wide-area-network optimization capabilities that could integrate with Cisco’s Wide Area Application Services.

www.varindia.com

Arbor unveils NETGEAR launches WiMobile Network Fi Travel Router Trek E A R NEhasT Glaunched Analysis

A

rbor Networks has unveiled Peakflow Mobile Network Analysis. This new solution is designed for Mobile Network Operators (MNOs) challenged with managing a steady rise in the mobile data traffic and evolving threats. According to Heavy Reading’s 2013 Mobile Network Security Survey, 60 per cent of mobile operators have experienced a network outage or service degradation lasting at least an hour due to malicious attacks.

Until now, MNOs haven’t had the proper level of visibility into the traffic traversing their mobile packet core, making it nearly impossible to detect malicious or non-malicious traffic that threatens service availability and performance, ultimately leading to negative customer experiences and churn.

Saavn launches carrier billing

S

aavn has declared that carrier billing is now available to mobile subscribers of its participating partners, including some of India’s Airtel and Vodafone.

Subscribers on these networks can now pay for access to Saavn Pro without a credit card, and without committing to a subscription. The launch of carrier billing allows Indians to make quick and easy payments for ad-free, offline access to Saavn’s vast music library.

The carrier billing initiative is a strategic move for Saavn in India, where carrier billing on prepaid and postpaid phones is the dominant mobile payment method.

With carrier billing, Saavn is providing a way for Indians to access its premium music product.

NETGEAR Trek N300 Travel Router and Range Extender (PR2000), which enables instant access to any public Internet connection while providing security with firewall protection for public hotspots.

With Trek, user need not to pay multiple access fees for each device at hotels and cafes, just turn a wired Internet connection into a secure Wi-Fi hotspot. This compact, palm-sized device can be used as a router, range extender,

access point or bridge.

With a powerful foldout external antenna, users can enjoy increased range.

Qualcomm announces 4G LTE Advanced Category Platform

Q

u a l c o m m Incorporated has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Qualcomm Technologies has introduced the world’s first commercial 4G LTE Advanced embedded data connectivity platform with Category 6 download speeds of up to 300 Mbps for mobile computing devices, including thin form-factor laptops, tablets and convertibles.

“The depth and breadth of our Gobi embedded computing modem portfolio allows

PC OEMs and module vendors to pick the best solution for virtually any of today’s most popular mobile computing products – from highend enterprise laptops to volume consumer tablets,” said FramAkiki, senior director of product management for Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. “Qualcomm’s technologies also are making it easier than ever for users to do more of what they want while on the go."

GigeNET selects ADVA to meet bandwidth growth challenge

G

igeNET has selected ADVA Optical Networking to deploy ADVA FSP 3000 to answer dramatic bandwidth growth.

Connecting three locations within the Chicago area, the ADVA FSP 3000 enables GigeNET to rapidly respond to customer demand in the most efficient and scalable way possible.

Moving from a managed service model to a privately-owned infrastructure ensures GigeNET can scale its network and its business

in a cost-efficient and customer-driven manner.

Deployed in a redundant ring topology, the ADVA FSP 3000 will play a vital role in helping GigeNET to maintain its 100-per cent uptime guarantee and rapid service provisioning.

"Our customers are the driving force behind every decision we make.

Every day, we are listening to what they need, what they want," said AmeenPishdadi, President & CTO, GigeNET.

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Tel: 022-40633222; Website: www.gigabyte.in; Toll-Free: 1800-22-0966; www.facebook.com/GIGABYTEindia Mumbai, Chhattisgarh, Vidharbha, Maharashtra, Goa: 99677 18653; Gujarat: 97250 59195; Delhi, Uttar Pradesh: 99583 72672; Punjab, Chandigarh, Jammu & Kashmir: 97818 33433; Himachal Pradesh, Haryana, Uttarakhand 99100 86976; Madhya Pradesh 96695 45600; Rajasthan 99100 86976; Bihar 90075 45577; Jharkhand 90405 06080; West Bengal 90075 45577, 9748502710; North East 98642 30150; Orissa 90405 06080; Andhra Pradesh 99675 15866; Karnataka 99675 15866; Tamil Nadu 99675 15866; Kerala 98950 99231 www.varindia.com March 2014 37

CHANNEL BUZZ

TDAI launched to cater to Technology distributors

W

ith an aim to bring change into Indian technology distribution industry, top 10 distributors with a turnover of more than Rs. 50,000 crore have formed a forum - The Technology Distribution Association of India’ (TDAI) . It has been formed with a motto ’we can only build when we know how to sustain’’.

The Distributors who have joined this forum include Ingram Micro, Redington, Supertron, Savex, Neoteric, Compuage, Iris, Rashi, Avnet and Inflow.

Like industry bodies MAIT and Nasscom, it is also a nonprofit organization with an objective to to build a transparent and organized distribution services sector in India through risk mitigated best practices.

While maintaining a strategic and healthy channel through good governance and appropriate compliance standards, from the manufacturer to the end-user, TDAI will support the industry’s development and expansion while

ensuring business hygiene.

The combined annual revenue of all the distributors exceeds Rs 50,000 crore and has 10,000 employees working under them.

Moreover, they also pay Rs 2,000 crore in excess as indirect taxes to state and central government.

TDAI will provide all industry stakeholders a common ground for deliberating on regulatory

issues that impact them, with a view to take those up with relevant authorities for resolution. It will act as a platform through which they could contribute inputs and information that would help shape the industry. TDAI will facilitate interaction with various Dealer Associations on common issues faced by the distribution ecosystem as also a forum for discussion with vendors on taking the channel business to its next stage of development.

COSWAD-Dindigul wins CONFED-ITA Pool A, B, C & D. The League Cup 2014 Matches were conducted and eight

T

he Confederation of Associations of South India organized CONFED-ITA Cricket Cup 2014 on 22nd & 23rd February, 2014 at Shankar Polytechnic College Grouds,

teams were qualified for the next round.

Thequalifiedteamswere:TITATirupur, CDAT-Tirunelveli, COSWAD-Dindigul, ITATTheni, CITA-Coimbatore, ACT-

ISODA conducts West Regional Meet ISODA has organized a Regional Meet on 28th February, 2014 to meet up with partners hailing from the West. The meeting was attended by around 34 members.

Regional Secretary Jiten Mehta

appointing a panel of consultants for various domains like Tax Consultation, HR and Finance.

The Regional Secretary invited Rajesh Kothari and Paresh Shah (Tax Team) to give insights on the tax committee

welcomed everyone and thanked them for coming in such large numbers in spite of it being the month end. He praised the Tech Summit Team for their Agenda, hospitality and the venue. For the benefit of Members who had not attended the Tech Summit which was held at Pattaya (Thailand), he requested Chairman Nityanand Shetty to brief them on the Vision of ISODA 2.0.

The Chairman, on his part, spoke about the vision he had presented at the Tech Summit.

He elaborated on the concepts of ISODA 2.0 and how it would help in networking and collaboration.

He also mentioned that a template would be circulated among the members, which they would be required to fill and submit within the required time frame. The members were delighted to hear about the vision.

General Secretary Manish Tandon emphasized the need to contemplate upon the idea of

activities at the Shome Panel and the BJP meet with senior BJP leaders. The Team updated the members on the progress of the same besides throwing some light on Captain Ashok Shiroor’s report on ISODA representation in the MAIT meeting held at Delhi. They requested everyone to be more forthright in sharing information which the Tax Committee had asked for in their earlier communications to the member community. They put across the point that lack of response would be a barrier in taking their work forward and more participation from the members would help the members cause in tax-related issues with the Government.

Guest Speaker Monisha Basakhatre was invited to talk on Talent Management/ Acquisition/retention for any organization. She gave the members a lot of insight into the topic.

OpenScape Business for SMB businesses

U

Tirunelveli. It was hosted by CDAT-Tirunelveli.

CONFED Cricket Cup 2014 was inaugurated by the President, R. Muthiah Pillai.

This year, 16 District Associations participated in the cricket tournament and were divided in to four Groups vide

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T-Trichy, NDITA-Namakkal and VAIT-Vellore. TITA-Tirupur and COSWAD-Dindigul made up to the finals. Dindigul managed to score 103 runs in 19.4 overs with the loss of all wickets. Tirupur, on the other hand, chased the target in 16 overs for the loss of three wickets.

www.varindia.com

nify Enterprise Communications has launched its offering of OpenScape Business for small and mediumsized enterprises. It is an all-inone solution for single and multisite businesses that simplifies the deployment and delivery of costsaving enterprise voice and UC across your business.

OpenScape Business offers small and medium-sized enterprises everything they need for their individual and diverse communication requirements, unified in a single flexible and scalable solution. The OpenScape Business architecture allows

use of the existing telephony infrastructure –regardless of whether this is classic telephony, IP or DECT. From powerful telephony to a feature-rich set Unified Communication (UC) solution, OpenScape Business always provides enterprises with up to 500 subscribers, or 1000 subscribers in one network, with the right solution.

It seamlessly integrates cost saving Voice over IP on top of your existing network to reduce your total communications bill.

It Integrates into your office applications so there’s no learning curve for your people.

CIO SPECIAL

P

ersonal branding is not a new term.

In fact, it came into existence around 1997 when Tom Peters coined the phrase.

With economic volatility, the emergence

understanding of the company’s processes to be able to make them efficient. This helps build trust and a reputation as a “goto” person for developing solutions that

"Having an effective

personal brand is critical in today’s society" Tony Velleca CIO UST Global of new technologies and an increase in IT consulting, personal branding is becoming more and more prevalent. Self-branding in such a scenario is important for CIOs to stand out. They have to demonstrate a deep understanding of business and come across as thought leaders than support heads.

Technology is the key in most organizations to attain efficiency. If the CIO can contribute to the business vision of the company, it can greatly enhance the role of IT and make it far more strategic.

The biggest value that a strong CIO brand can bring within an enterprise is trust.

Being trusted by business stakeholders will ensure that the CIO and their organization are automatically involved in strategic initiatives and that their counsel and expertise is sought after to deliver solutions that create IT as a differentiator and drive business success.

Internally, CIOs have to look at them as a business leader rather than functional experts. S/he has to provide thought leadership on how technology can attain business roles. S/he has to develop deep

can leverage IT as a tool. On the other hand, externally the CIO should position

business with the technology solutions offered by technology products and service providers. Emphasizing this, Tony Velleca, CIO, UST Global, exerts, “Having an effective personal brand is critical in today’s society. It is important for a leader to stand for something and make this public. In my case, my brand is ‘Endless Possibilities’. I believe that technology is creating endless possibilities to create an impact on business, people and society, in general. All my points of view (published materials and speaking engagements) align to this brand.”

Businesses today leverage technology to conduct most business processes. So the CIO does have a unique opportunity to gain profound insights into the entire organization’s processes which can enable them to provide valuable inputs to the organization and enhance their ability to move into higher roles. It goes without saying that, at a baseline level, he or she needs to consistently meet and surpass the expectations set for them as a CIO. Agreeing to this, Muralidharan Ramachandran,

"The ability of the CIO to transition to new and higher roles within the organization is dependent on the individual’s ability to contribute beyond the call of his or her duty as CIO" Muralidharan Ramachandran CIO Syntel

them as a technology thought leader by participating in events and writing blogs different magazines. Industry recognition also demonstrates a CIO’s ability to align

CIO, Syntel, adds, “In my view, the ability of the CIO to transition to new and higher roles within the organization is dependent on the individual’s ability to contribute,

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CIO SPECIAL

"A CIO who can be a complete leader, think strategically, has a good understanding of the business" Shrikant Kulkarni, Sr. VP & CIO, KPIT Technologies Ltd

demonstrate expertise and deliver value to the business beyond the call of his or her duty as CIO.

CIOs have to manage their brands

It is important to have a distinct personal brand as a CIO, so that you can stand out from the crowd. It involves articulating a simple, clear statement of who you are, what you are doing consistently, so that when people think of, say, business turnarounds, they think of you. A CIO’s role not only helps his team internally, but also requires him to be on good terms with the top management.

Externally, the acceptance of a CIO within the organization and the industry, with various stakeholders such as software vendors and partners is also very important.

CIO manages his/her brand by constantly evaluating employee’s functions and to constantly adjust internal IT systems to deliver higher value. Fifteen years back, browser-based email access from home was considered a hot and exciting tool. Today, inventory updates can come in from a delivery person's mobile app and change the inventory numbers in a backend ERP application. K. C. Ramakrishnan, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Vantage Circle, says, “CIOs need to keep up with the latest IT products, latest trends in Enterprise architectures, understand open architectures and protocols, deploying Open Source for agility and driving down costs. CIOs also need to understand software project management to be able to initiate and execute custom solutions for organizations.” Anil Kumar Nirmal, CTO, RealtoExpress, opines, “CIO needs to manage his/her brand through work.

The CIO needs to interact more with other departments, understand their issues and roadblocks and then deliver IT solution for them. There is no way to create a better

cultural and behavioural changes within the organization to contribute to business results.

CIO’s unique value proposition

CIO and IT are the drivers of innovation in any organization (innovation in IT and enabling innovation in business).

More importantly, as information is a critical part of any business, having the right information architecture and IT infrastructure in place is the key to a business’s success. CIOs that understand this and implement this can really create a good brand for themselves. CIOs are tasked with leveraging technology to enhance operational efficiency. This especially involves keeping up to date with the latest brand by being proactive in providing developments in IT and adapting them for solutions to the organization. Also, all the organization. public platforms, blogs, conferences in For a “CIO Brand” to be created, it the organization must be used to present requires time and also depends on the the vision of the CIO. CIO’s vision must individual as well. Shrikant Kulkarni, Sr. VP reach to all stakeholders to make the brand & CIO, KPIT Technologies Ltd., expresses a success.” himself, “A CIO who can be a complete However, the core expertise of a CIO leader, think strategically, has a good understanding of the business and sees how IT can help drive the business will be able to build a strong brand for himself.”

1. Think like a generalist It is absolutely true to say that CIO and IT are the 2. Plan Differently drivers of innovation in any organization (innovation in 3. Integrate executive IT and enabling innovation in business). More importantly, as 4. Insists on facilitation information is a critical part of any business, having the right 5. Speak 'Business' English information architecture and IT infrastructure in place is the key to a business’s success.

Agreeing this, Dharmesh Godha, President & CTO, Advaiya Solutions, explains, “CIOs who understand this and implement this can really create a good should lie in their innate ability to bring brand for themselves.” technology and business together. The

Golden Rules for CIOs

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"CIO needs to manage his/ her brand through work. The CIO need to interact more with other departments, understand their issues and roadbloc" Anil Kumar Nirmal CTO RealtoExpress most important attribute of a successful CIO is the ability to understand business processes, leverage technology and drive

A strong CIO brand can make the CIO very influential in setting up business directions. Transitioning IT into a value

CIO SPECIAL provider for end customer and making IT a profit center are good bets for this.

Aligning various functions of IT with business goals and drivers will definitely help in making IT a strategic part of the business.

"CIO and IT are the drivers of innovation in any organization"

Finally

…

A strong CIO with strategic vision can contribute to the success of business. In the age of digital communications, apart from the product, it is how you are using the IT-based systems and communicating with your internal and external consumers decides the success of business. The motto of a CIO should be – “Accelerate the business”. Apart from this, the CIO should also enable functions like HR and

"CIOs need to keep up with the

latest IT products, latest trends in Enterprise architectures, deploying Open Source for agility and driving down costs."

K C Ramakrishnan Chief Operating Officer (COO) Vantage Circle --

Dharmesh Godha, President and CTO, Advaiya Solutions

Marketing. A CIO is constantly looking for new revenue growth centres and being focussed and the ability to take risks would be the USP. The success of a CIO lies in the various implementations that he does. A CIO is always thinking of new initiatives, constantly proposing something new, becoming the driver for business growth.

Only a strong CIO brand can help achieve the above. And to be able to do so, a CIO requires a good relationship with all the stakeholders involved in the process. n satinder@varindia.com

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COVER STORY

Birth of “New-Age” VARs T

he role of a VAR cannot be undermined – neither in their contribution to the development of the economy nor in the process of sourcing and staging products for customers. A solution provider's business has always been stigmatized as "box pushing" and relegated to some shadowy corner of an organization. But with the passage of time that has changed. A change in the business models of channel finds them moving up the value chain, adding value to the traditional IT procurement process of the reseller business instead of “pushing” just a boxed product to the customer.

Resellers shedding “Box-Pusher” tag...

“We are definitely not cocooned as Box-Pushers with the emergence of our business. Amtrak has always dealt in providing a solution to its customers. Our recent emergence in the Device market can be rightly quoted here," says Sandeep Arya, Managing Director, Amtrak. Product like a tablet PC can be easily “box-pushed”, but Amtrak chose the path to integrate the device with some unique features which are hand-designed. Not just with its tablet PC business, but in all its lines of working, the target customers are rightly understood of their requirements and a customized product is created. "So here, Box-Pushing is generally not followed,”

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Gone are the days when Box Pushing used to be a lucrative business as compared to the current scenario when clients have become more smart and informed. Customer preferences and predictions have changed and so is the role of the VAR, who has come to realize the big important part it can play in the IT procurement system. And this transformation – from a Box-Pusher to an endto-end Solution Provider – has already started with every small and big reseller catching on to it fast

Sandeep Arya Managing Director, Amtrak

COVER STORY

Manish Kamdar, Director Rincon India Solutions Pvt. Ltd.

Shiv Sharma, Director – Strategy & Alliance, Go IP Global Services

Bhavyan Kothari, Founder, Infinity Systems

reiterates Sandeep.

"In the era of wafer-thin margins and absurd pricings by Online Retailers, a Reseller has to really work hard to survive in this business. Maxnet Computers as Value Added Reseller bundles customized service support along with the box," says Arvind Singh, Founder - Maxnet Computers.

In today’s marketplace, customers expect the resellers to understand their requirements at a deeper level and to offer cost-effective solutions to suit their needs.

With a team of specialized professionals in each area of IT solutions, Go IP provides its associate channel the best comprehensive portfolio of products and business support, from business and technical training to organization and sponsoring of demand promoting activities. “At Go IP, we believe in a value- added distribution model. Instead of box pushing, we work on a solution-centric approach,” explains Shiv Sharma, Director – Strategy & Alliance, Go IP Global Services.

Box-pushing is slowly becoming history with most of the partners today, with the concept getting diluted and VARs starting to look at it from a different perspective.

“We don't sell box at all. We sell the entire solution or else we do not do the sales at all. We do not want to tag ourselves as a box seller,” opines Bhavyan Kothari,

Founder - Infinity Systems.

“Once simple software is integrated with Line of Business (LoB) applications through customization, the reseller becomes a value adding partner for the customer and not just a box- pusher,” says Manish Kamdar, Director - Rincon India Solutions.

"As clients are well aware of what Box they need to buy, or in better words they have already made up their mind before coming to us of their priorities on Box. The only way to enter or push in the business is to show them the solution instead of Box and pick up the deal," observes Sunil Doultani, Founder - Classic Systems & Services.

"Trident has never limited itself to being a box-pusher. Rather, they have been the value-added reseller where each and every software product addressed and solved some of the customer business problem.

Our solutions around ERP/ CRM/ BI/ IBM software always had a licence and services and without Trident Services, the licence would have limited value," informs Anita Jain, Director - Trident Information Systems.

"We do not identify ourselves as a Reseller, but we project ourselves as the client’s solution partner. It is not difficult once you have identified yourselves as a solution provider to impress the same

upon a prospect," replies Manish Kapasi, Director, Avion Electronics. He further adds, “Pushing a box will soon be passé as the new-age customer is quite tech-savvy and understands his requirements better than the legacy customer who relied on VAR’s biasness to finalize his purchases.”

While the focus is on solution selling, one cannot deny the existence of opportunities where the role is just to be a facilitator by giving better credit terms or logistics support. These opportunities are managed by an inside sales team in most of the companies so as to service the customer requirements better and at the same time keep the cost per transaction low.

Having said this, the role of a VAR is transforming from that of box-selling to solution designing to system integration and to Managed Services. "While the price of the product can be determined from other sources, the price of a solution is to be valued by the customer. And that is where the VAR now steps in," observes Manish Kamdar.

"I have seen big transformations happening in the last 18 years of my business. I am sure today my client listens to me or believes me more in selecting the vendor as compared to earlier where BRAND name use to play bigger role in procurement of IT," muses Sunil Doultani.

Sunil Doultani Founder, Classic Systems & Services

Anita Jain, Director - Trident Information Systems Pvt. Ltd.

Keyur Jathal Executive Director, Ishan Infotech

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COVER STORY The role has, indeed, become more refined. He has come to don the role of a consultant, guiding its customers in choosing best technology available from various platforms and the right vendor.

Customers too expect a frank opinion to suit his requirements, given his budget constraints and expect the partners to negotiate on their behalf with vendors to get the best price or performance equipment.

"In recent times, small customers have grown to the level of an SME, but they still cannot afford or do not want to keep an in-house IT Manager. So they totally rely on your suggestion and solution offering for small to big purchases. In that case, you have evolved yourself with new technologies and cost-effective solutions which can enhance customer's business and help them beat competition," says Bhavyan Kothari.

Purely from a procurement process, there is a clear shift that has been observed in the past couple of years. "Initially, the customer was expecting the VAR to help in price discovery, product availability, product explanation, installation and support. This has undergone a change.

The customer now expects VAR to focus more on design, cost optimization and integration of the new set-up to the

Prashanth GJ CEO, Technobind existing environment. Implementation and support continue to gain prominence.

Since customers now have access to a vast amount of information through social media, etc, the role of the VAR now is to provide a neutral view to the customer in the context of customer’s business scenario. The VAR is now expected to know more about the business processes of the customer and provide relevant IT solutions around the same," explains Keyur Jathal, Executive Director, Ishan Infotech.

From a “Box-Pusher” to a “Value Added” Reseller – Not-so-smooth transition…

Value addition is what defines the

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Revenue Model in Value Addition – Dealbased Model vs Annuity-based Model A large chunk of the revenue comes from a Deal-based model, whereas in the last couple of years the Annuity-based model has also increased its share.

• Deal-based Revenue Model – The way to add value to the products being sold through Deal-based revenue model is to stay away from a transactional sale and provide the product as a part of a larger solution. "For example, a customer may be looking at a storage box. Here, rather than catering to a simple storage box requirement, we would focus on what type of storage consolidation is the customer looking at – Will he need data tiering? Would it be only file data or a block data as well? Once the storage is done, has the backup been also thought about? If the customer requires a backup solution… does he also have the media in place? etc. This way, apart from the plain vanilla storage requirement, we can give storage software, mission-critical support levels configured with the box along with backup solutions and backup hardware in the form of tapes/disks etc. This will result in better solution design for the customer and better revenue for the VAR/SI," explains Keyur Jathal, Executive Director, Ishan Infotech.

• Annuity-based Revenue Model – Converting a product into a service and generating monthly revenue from customers will be a case of an Annuitybased revenue model. For example, a mailing service where the VAR hosts the server, application and storage at its DC and the customer is given an option to pay on a monthly or quarterly basis. In this way, CAPEX is converted to OPEX. In this way, a box business is converted into service revenue. new-age reseller today. This comes over and above selling just products and services and extends to areas like customer satisfaction, solving service-related queries, understanding and taking customers’ feedback and suggestions for creating new lines of products. Value addition is, however, achieved after having some personal levels of interaction with the users and the markets.

“Definitely, we do believe in value addition because we understand that the relationship does not just end at selling, but it begins there and it must be rightly taken ahead at all levels. For example, there are after-sales services to our customers.

Our customer support centre is in great connection with all our users, our strong sales force is highly knowledgeable of the markets, and our business-to-business interactions help us to understand the new requirements in the markets. We think that giving a product to the virtual imaginations of users is the best value addition to offer, again differentiating us from the box-pushers," says Sandeep.

At Maxnet Computers, it all starts with Pre-sale support of the product.

“We provide free technical consultancy to choose right product and right technology.

We bundle customized solutions along with Service Support Guarantee and promise of a standby support thus offering zero downtime. Our major chunk of revenue comes from the service we provide for our products," says Arvind Singh.

When it comes to value addition, Ishan has a three-pronged approach towards it – a focussed GTM, Investments in Certified resources and building technology showcase facilities – I. The GTM (go-to-market) at Ishan is focussed on addressing the IT infrastructure and services requirements at

a holistic level as opposed to a transactional engagement. It takes ownership of the project by engaging in solution design, deployment and support. This way, the focus stays more on solution selling where one has the scope to add value and differentiate.

II. Since customers engage with Ishan at the solution design stage, Ishan has invested significantly in certifications related to Compute, Storage, Virtualization and ITIL-related processes. As of now, Ishan has certified resources on HP, IBM, Cisco, EMC and VMware.

III. In order to give a first-hand view of how newer technologies are deployed, Ishan also has a Development Centre set up at Rajkot where customers do visit for a POC/Demo. Having seen positive results, Ishan has invested in building one more technology showcase at Ahmedabad in a prominent area.

For Rincon however, integration with the LoB applications of customers is the best way to get in. "Once the customer

Arvind Singh Founder, Maxnet Computers

COVER STORY

Jiten Mehta Director, Magnamious Systems announces his pain areas, we need to be willing to develop customized applications so as to address the pains. The revenues then are steady as we are no longer offering box solutions but customized solutions to address their process needs," says Manish Kamdar.

Go IP, along with its partners pan-India plan and implement activities focussed on market development in the region. "We provide presales and post-sale support and offering Implementation and professional onsite/Remote support services and AMC services to our valued customer. Apart from hardware selling, our other revenue stream is Implementation services and Managed and AMC services," explains Shiv Sharma.

"Value additions depend on the project, like we value add security/backup solutions/ connectivity/training /domain hosting/server hosting, we have expertise in each field with us. Revenue generation depends on the time spent or how complex is the solution for client. We charge accordingly,” opine Sunil Doultani.

Anita Jain says, "Our value addition is in terms of providing solutions which will solve some of the customer challenges.

This is possible by selling software by the leading organizations such as Microsoft, IBM, SAP and services which not only implement the software but also provide support and enhancements."

TechnoBind is a Specialist Distributor – focussing on DATA. As one would realize, Data Treatment and Data Handling challenges are something which customers are still grappling with. "TechnoBind’s charter is to provide the reseller and the SI community and hence its customers with cutting-edge and emerging/niche technologies which will solve customer’s challenges around Data. And this, we believe, is here to stay as these challenges related to Data is real and is growing, thereby providing Specialist Distributors like us who focus in this area a huge upside in terms of the revenue model," explains Prashanth GJ, CEO, TechnoBind.

"We propose a whole solution around the customers' pain point and

architect for them. Then, we bundle all the products around this design and add to it with the service charges. We go one mile ahead by taking a contract to even run that infrastructure deployed by us by deputing the person at their premises. So our revenue becomes recurring in nature," says Jiten Mehta, Director - Magnamious Systems.

"Transparency – that’s the best policy we feel that works. Buy from wherever you like including me. And for shortlisting the product, either you do the legwork or I do it for you. If I do the same for you, you need to pay me for that – is our mantra," says Manish Kapasi.

A reseller should, however, attempt to scale up in terms of his value addition to his customer. Box-pusher is a stereotype or rather a “misnomer” that restricts a reseller to easily brush the tag off. However, with the changing dynamics in the market – Cloud, Mobility, Big Data, Constricted Budgets, Customers pushing to get more out of existing budgets – it provides the resellers an opportunity to really scale up in the eyes of the customer as someone who is providing true value.

But there are challenges involved in the VAR business – the most prominent being the lack of Training and Post-implementation support from Principal Companies. The support system though seems good on paper, the ambiguity surrounding DOA and warranty replacement system still continues to confuse the Reseller. If a VAR is supporting a product, he expects the principal to support the warranties and provide replacements/backups within reasonable time to enable the former to service his customer better.

"Stocking and selling is the biggest challenge we face in the procurement of IT goods as it holds up a good amount of capital. There is also risk involved as models and technologies keep changing fast," says Sunil Doultani.

"The biggest challenge is the procurement team who believes in getting multiple vendors and negotiating against each other. Especially at this time if we want to involve a vendor, we really need to work with them from the beginning or else they might position someone or you need to have a customer control who will tell vendor to work with their preferred SI. So sometimes working closely with a vendor is an advantage while sometimes it is not," recalls Jiten.

In an ever-changing and dynamic industry, there is always a fear of technology becoming obsolete. Constantly growing and adapting to meet the market demands have, thus, become a critical factor for the VAR to succeed in the business.

Future of VAR business With the penetration of IT in different market spaces, VAR has definitely transformed by trying hands at experimenting on bringing out various solutions into the market – new

Manish Kapasi Director, Avion Electronics advancements, better technologies, new techniques of production of products. It will, no doubt, act as differentiators in automating businesses.

"It is just that the customer needs to have faith that the VAR will be able to deliver, as promised. Also, the principals have to be willing to listen to ideas and not slam the door on partners. Only then can we arrive at solutions. Sometimes, principals throw in the towel too easily,” advises Manish Rincon.

VAR business will sooner or later move from licence selling to pure services where most of the principal companies would provide licences on SAAS model. Resellers will be the trusted advisors and business partners to end-customers, enabling them to be more agile, competitive and cost-efficient using technology and services. They will be the first point of contact in case something goes wrong.

However, what India needs at this moment is a Good IT Policy reform system and good measures for economic revival. “Hopefully, this will start happening after the general elections. I am very positive and confident on VAR business in India which is going to stay and will thrive and be successful. The key to survival in the current business scenario is to keep oneself upgraded all the time with the new technology. I personally believe that personal ethics and professional ethics play a big role in a successful business and so do hard work and perseverance,” opines Arvind Singh.

At a higher level, owing to the vast expanse of the country and the growing urbanization as a result of industrialization, the significance of a VAR to address the geography would continue to remain important. The VAR would do well to be cognizant about the changes in the buying behaviour of the customer and tune its offerings accordingly.

The VAR would be required to have a relook at newer brand alignments in the nascent technology areas such as SaaS, Mobility-related offerings and security. They will continue to play an important role in the years to come.

However, customer expectations from the VAR will keep on changing and so would the revenue models. n samrita@varindia.com

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FACE TO FACE

We provide better control of networks T

variety of protection/ restoration options.

Also intelligent network MEF-compliant Network Interface Devices (NIDs) are installed on your sites as standard enabling end-to-end support, diagnostics and performance reporting.

With EPL, customers have confidence that the bandwidth they need is reserved specifically for their own use. Over time, as their needs change, it is easy for them to expand their capacity, in small and affordable increments, and build their total capacity to as much as 10 Gbps.

The scalability offered by this service enables growing organisations to expand their network gradually and only pay for the capacity they need. What is more, bandwidth increases can be achieved through simple ‘soft upgrades’ with minimal service disruption.

elstra recently announced that it now has the ability to provide end-to end network solutions to Indian customers, bolstering its network coverage and investment in India. The new network would enable Telstra to offer what it believed was one of the most reliable services in the country, as well as providing businesses in India with broader access to Telstra’s suite of advanced telecommunications solutions.

In an interaction with VARINDIA, Nathan Bell, Marketing, Products and Pricing Director, Telstra Global, shares his views on advanced telecom solutions.

You have recently started your operations directly in India? How do you view the telecom market in the country?

Following the Department of Telecommunications– Government of India’s approval of Telstra’s international gateways installed at Mumbai and Chennai, Telstra will now offer International Private Line (IPL), Ethernet Private Line (EPL) and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) services from India. With customers increasingly seeking to manage businesscritical aspects of their business from India, the network has never been more important.

Telstra’s network is built on state-of-the-art platforms offering high resilience, meaning we are able to offer one of the most reliable services in the country. The launch of our transmission services in India will ensure our current and potential customers have better control of the network, access to more cost–effective services and have less lead time.

The network services will feature mesh network architecture, with Pointsof-Presence (PoPs) in Mumbai, Delhi, Chennai, Bangalore, Hyderabad and virtual PoPs in Pune and Kolkata. Both Mumbai and Chennai will act as dual international gateways out of India. This investment into India is part of Telstra’s commitment to offering our customers more diverse international network connectivity to meet their evolving business requirements.

Telstra was granted ILD (International Long Distance), NLD (National Long Distance) and ISP (Internet Service Provider) licenses in October 2011 and successfully launched Global IPVPN Services in India in March 2012.

The two key new product lines available to customers in India are IPL and EPL services. The IPL service provides dedicated point-to-point links between two key business locations, ensuring security and reliability of voice, video and data

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Nathan Bell Marketing, Products and Pricing Director Telstra Global

communications. Telstra Global’s IPL offering enables customers to control and manage their own networking routing, protocols and security. There is a wide range of bandwidth options available for this service. Whereas, This Metro Ethernet Forum (MEF) certified global EPL service enables customers to expand their networks in small and cost-effective increments. Delivered over Telstra’s cable infrastructure using SDH technology, the global EPL service operates at the OSI model layer 2, enabling customers to retain control of their own networking routing and to manage their own security.

Can you throw some more light on your other product offerings?

A dedicated and secure service Telstra Global’s Ethernet Private Line (EPL) service is ideal for companies that require either dedicated bandwidth or greater data privacy, or indeed both. The service operates at the Open Systems Interconnection (OSI) model layer 2 and, as a result, it gives companies the ability to control their network routing and manage their own security.

EPL is delivered over Telstra Global’s extensive cable assets using Synchronous Digital Hierarchy (SDH) technology and can be set up in point-to-point or pointto-multipoint configurations, with a

How cost-effective and reliable are Telstra solutions?

EPL provides support for jumbo frames, which enable better transport and bandwidth efficiency. The service is very flexible and can be set up in both point-to-point and point to- multipoint configurations. VLAN and protocol transparency means customers can customise and send traffic according to their own business rules.

Customers can also select from a number of different protection/restoration options, to gain a high level of service resilience, backed by service level agreements.

Due to the ubiquitous nature of Ethernet, organisations can typicallybuy inexpensive Ethernet equipmentfor their Wide Area Network (WAN)or re-use their existing Ethernetequipment. In addition, Ethernetlocal access is often more cost effectivethan many other WAN technologies,contributing to a lower totalcost of ownership.

How is Telstra making connectivitysimple to accessacross networks?

Secure links between offices TelstraGlobal IPL’s are ideal for companiesthat require dedicated bandwidth andgreater data security. Telstra GlobalIPL’s provide organisations with theability to control and manage theirown network routing, protocols and security. Delivered using SynchronousDigital Hierarchy (SDH) infrastructure, IPL’s can be configured to ensure fault tolerance andservice restoration, designed toprovide service availability in abnormalsituations. n edit@varindia.com

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INDUSTRY WATCH

Securing the Lifeblood of your Business D

ata is the lifeblood of a business in this information age. One who loses sight of the importance of data in business does at their own peril. Data is what gives one a competitive edge. Data is everywhere.

end users,” says Rahul Agarwal, Executive Director, Commercial Business Segment, Lenovo India.

Edgar Dias, Regional Director, India, Brocade, says “Just a few years ago, security could be accomplished with a combination of user credentials and physical access control to a wired network port. But today, with the average user carrying three or more wireless devices with increasing levels of sophistication, protecting assets from malicious attacks can present significant challenges to IT. Fortunately, there is a broad range of security options available from Brocade “out of the box” or from any of the diverse eco-system of security providers from Brocade that enable organizations to confidently meet their security policies and objectives.”

It is a truism that security is becoming complex with the each passing day. A decade earlier businesses were happy by giving their employees logins to the

Vamsicharan Mudiam Country Manager, Cloud Solutions, IBM, India/South Asia Since the coming of the IT to the forefront of conscious attention, the IT security landscape is undergoing seachanges. Naturally enough, the rapid evolution of the security landscape is the order of the day. This had led to a situation where security products and solutions have also witnessed changes over the years.

In the past, it was an easy proposition to keep corporate data protected by keeping it within an established perimeter— protected by established access controls and passwords. With the mind-boggling increase in the traction of smartphones and tablets that model has been broken asunder. Added to this, file sharing services which empowers users with accessibility and usability is adding to the concerns of information security managers. These are not trends that organizations can ignore at their disadvantage. They urgently need solutions to help secure confidential data and limit access.

While supporting BYOD; securing data resources of the enterprise will continue to be the biggest concern for CIOs and CTOs. “Hence we see higher implementation of enterprise grade mobile computing devices (for eg: The X1 Carbon business ultraportable or Lenovo ThinkPad Tablets), as they afford the same level of user experience with added security features to

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Rahul Agarwal Executive Director, Commercial Business Segment, Lenovo India

networks and asking them not to divulge their passwords to anyone. That was the end of security advice.

Needless to say, the security scene is far more complex and IT managers are under pressure to secure the company’s digital assets and network. With the cloud computing becoming preferred choice of the business more so in uncertain economic landscape, these are hey-days for the cyber villains who find cloud as greener pastures for making money by hacking cloud infrastructure.

Over the last 10 to 15 years, threats have transformed from connection-based

to content-based. Traditional security technologies have not kept up with this evolution and are no longer able to differentiate between malicious and legitimate content.

Need for Innovation Looking at the ongoing trends of the malware, and other cyber-attacks, it is more than important that you have a special team which constantly monitors the internet and the infection vectors, to mitigate the attacks carried by malware writers; you need to be one step ahead of them.

As the incidence of security breaches grows, it is resulting in the increasing adoption of the latest security solutions even further. R&D plays an important role in the innovation process which is increasingly vital for the organization to position their product as the most trusted.

A quality investment in R & D activities results in the advent of innovative technology that propels new products and services to the market place which all set to rule the roost.This drives the demand for right technology investment so that it may be possible to swiftly discover and blunt the catastrophic effects of a breach before loss of critical data becomes a reality. Here comes the role of an innovative framework of security controls.

“This being said you need to have an infrastructure to carry on R & D on these attacks. We have experienced skilled people who do R & D on ongoing malware trends and help developing methods to mitigate those attacks,” says Govind Rammurthy,

Yogesh Sawant Director, Partner Sales and Field Alliance Organization, India, Hitachi Data System

INDUSTRY WATCH Best Practices for IoT: • •

•

Tarun Kaura Director, Technology Sales, India & SAARC, Symantec MD & CEO, eScan. eScan has innovated eScan Security Network, which adds another layer in anti-virus protection. This additional layer of protection ensures a prompt response and an unprecedented detection level that enhances the overall protection. eScan Security Network falls in as one of the most prominent feature within our SOHO products, continuously monitoring and providing analysis of real-life threats on a global scale, thus protecting all connected eScan users against new and emerging malware.

Underscoring the need of R&D, Sunil Sharma - VP Sales, India & SAARC at Cyberoam, says, “Innovation is a part of Cyberoam’s DNA. Hence, Cyberoam attributes its proactive product development to its ability to innovate by understanding market needs. Cyberoam ensures that required infrastructure for research, analysis and re-creating or simulating the needed scenario is available.

Cyberoam’s R&D process enables us to deliver a product of global quality that helps us address our customers’ needs and challenges efficiently and pro-actively.

Cyberoam’s R&D process involves a process comprising of 4 stages, namely Requirements Gathering, Evaluation, Planning and Development Cycle.

Cloud Security Companies are increasingly aware of the business value that cloud computing brings and are taking steps towards transition to the cloud. But despite opening up some new possibilities for businesses, it is also throwing up new challenges. These challenges range from the implementation of cloud technology, to securing application and infrastructure, ensuring interoperability and governance at the same time. Fundamentally it is important for the cloud services providers to be able to assure the security of these new models in order to build trust and confidence.

Vamsicharan Mudiam, Country Manager, Cloud Solutions, IBM, India/South Asia,

•

Perform an audit of what devices you own. Just because a device doesn’t possess a screen or a keyboard, doesn’t mean that it isn’t vulnerable to attacks If something you own is connected to your home network, there is a possibility that it accessible over the Internet and thus needs to be secured.Your router/modem is what stands between your devices and the wider world. Securing it is of paramount importance Pay attention to the security settings on any device you purchase. If it is remotely accessible, disable this feature if it isn’t needed. Change any default passwords to something only you know. Don’t use common or easily guessable passwords such as “123456” or “password”. A long combination of letters, numbers and symbols will generate a strong password Regularly check the manufacturer’s website to see if there are updates to the device’s software. If security vulnerabilities are discovered, manufacturers will often patch them in new updates to the software

says, “The key to establishing trust in these new models is choosing the right cloud computing model for your organization.

Place the right workloads in the right model with the right security mechanisms.”

IBM offers a broad portfolio of security

Rajesh Awasthi Director Telecom & Cloud Service Provider, NetApp India

products and services to help build more secure cloud environments with more intelligent security policies.

IBM Security solutions provide layered protection and deep insight across the infrastructure, when deployed in private and hybrid cloud environments.

Capabilities such as federated single signon and privileged user management help provide simplified access and control across multiple cloud services for potentially millions of users. Database monitoring and web application scanning help reduce data and application vulnerabilities.

IBM solutions also support security compliance with patch management for endpoints and virtualized machines. What’s more, these solutions increase visibility and enhance auditing of cloud activity within multi-tenant environments.

Over the past year, we have seen a steady growth of cloud adoption in India.

Almost all IT vendors in India have already made their presence felt in the market

with their cloud offerings. Even global players operating in India have tailored their cloud offerings to suit the domestic market. Cloud has been successful in India for multiple reasons. One of the most significant reasons is the demand from global companies, which is met by the IT industry in India. The micro, small, and medium businesses, which tend to be budget-constrained when it comes to hiring information technology (IT) professionals and building IT infrastructure, find cloud computing beneficial in bringing down the cost of ownership. Productivity gains and cost savings are other factors driving adoption of cloud in India.

Ace Data Devices is in the business of providing data backup, archival, storage and disaster recovery solutions that are specifically suited for business environment. Neeraj Mediratta- CEO, Ace Data Devices Pvt. Ltd, says, “Our cloud solution is fully secure with FIPS certified AES 256 bit encryption before moving the data out of the customer’s network.

This helps us ensure that data is secure.

The encryption keys are defined by the customer’s system administrator. Apart

Govind Rammurthy MD & CEO, eScan

from these key software features, our environment is protected with firewalls,

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INDUSTRY WATCH security tools and anti-virus tools being updated regularly to ensure that the data is safe.”

BYOD and Encryption The popularity of BYOD is increasing fast. The advent of BYOD has allowed application availability at anytime, from anywhere, and helps business slash procurement costs. This is because organsiations are in the process of allowing employees to bring their personally owned computers, smartphones, and tablets into the workplace and access corporate applications.

However, the increasing popularity of these devices has the potential of creating several problems for IT departments as they attempt to mitigate risk, and this signals a tough future for PC and laptop manufacturers. When it comes to BYOD, one of the most overriding threats is the loss and theft of these devices.

In order to address the balance between usability and security, organizations are taking a variety of steps. Apart from the vulnerability of the devices, the sensitive company data residing on these devices is also at risk. Here, encryption software can play a part in mitigating risks.

Most of the security threats plaguing BYOD are also common in mobility. There is a need on the part of the companies to encrypt data at the device level. Companies should also ensure that the user is not allowed to override it.

Rajesh Awasthi, Director Telecom & Cloud Service Provider, NetApp India, says “Since we are primarily a storage and data management company, which is where customers keep their data be it enterprise data or business applications they are hosting, their concerns are twofold basically.

As part of infrastructure, one of the things which they want from us from

when the data is on the move, they should also be secure when they are in the move.

When it is stored in the disk drives of the storage system it should be secure. Here NetApp supports encrypted disk drive so the data that get stored on encrypted disk drive is safe. Only those people who are authorized can have access these data.

When it comes to data in motion, for SAN Access we have a technology which we license to one of our partners, called Brocade who encrypt the data."

Ensuring Data Recovery “Our tools run background verification checks for all the data that we backup.

Apart from the continuous regular checks, we do additionally run data integrity and restore validation processes to ensure that the data is recoverable. All our customers enjoy regular recovery drills of the data and methodology of their choice to ensure data recovery,” says Neeraj Mediratta of Ace-Data.

Neeraj Mediratta CEO Ace Data Devices Pvt. Ltd

De-Duplication

Edgar Dias Regional Director, India, Brocade

security perspective is that their data should be secure when it is in play (at rest). And

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As part of our ongoing effort to help customers further optimize their storage capacity and better manage large and ever increasing amounts of data, Hitachi Data Systems also plans to introduce a purpose built backup appliance later this year. This appliance will be based on de -duplication IP developed by Hitachi Data Systems that enables faster, more reliable and more costeffective data protection. We have strong relationships with our current partners in the area of de-duplication and will continue to leverage their technology to help our customers overcome the challenges they are facing with rapid data growth. We see the HDS purpose built backup appliance as complementary to our current deduplication product line. Our perspective is that a broad portfolio of solutions gives us the freedom to solve our customers’ issues with the most effective technology.

Sunil Sharma VP Sales, India & SAARC Cyberoam We will provide more details on our PBBA at a later date.

Internet of Things (IOT) “Internet, ‘Network of networks’ may very well be termed as one of mankind’s finest inventions and ‘Internet of Things’ (IoT) could be pitted as the optimal enablement of this invention, owing to its scale and utility. Internet is visibly making every object or machine around us smarter, right from connected smart televisions, medical equipment, security cameras,routers, trash-cans, baby monitors, toothbrushes, sports gear with embedded sensors and smart refrigerators. We will soon live in an ecosystem where these ‘dumb devices’ would acquire intelligence through an inbuilt OS enabling the devices to get connected with other paired/ authorized devices.

The dynamism of the Internet of Things is one of its most challenging features as most of us in our day-to-day lives might come across many of these smart devices, yet be unaware of the consequences that might pop-up if they are not secured appropriately. More the connected devices, greater is the range of "significant" security challenges across data privacy and physical security that have the potential to disrupt functionality of consumers and businesses in new ways.

“Essentially there needs to be a twostep approach to mitigate the security risks posed through connected devices.

First, an embedded security software for in-device security can enable devices to filter, as well as prevent proliferation of threats. Secondly from a manufacture’s perspective, major software vendors should figure out how to notify customers and provide patches for vulnerabilities.

Manufacture of devices that connect to the Internet need to notify customers of an oncoming security problem and also design user-friendly ways to apply patches,” says Tarun Kaura, Director, Technology Sales, India & SAARC, Symantec. n edit@varindia.com

FACE TO FACE

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Cybersecurity Policy Guidelines 21st-century organizations are set up with the latest infrastructure and techniques to make the life of their organization as well as their vendors and customers easy and safe.

Sophisticated SCM and ERP systems are now coupled to Cloud giving the best response and efficiency. Organizations today are spending a fortune on the infrastructure to ensure that they can attract customers and make them aware that they are in safe hands.

For over a decade, I have been watching organizations scaling on their infrastructure and making necessary upgradation in their software to be called as an ideal company.

With the advancement of technology, organizations have scaled up but failed to realize if their guidelines set according to the laws of the land or simply made it easier by saying that the guidelines are, indeed, according to the government standards.

I remember in late 2009, a 12-billion dollar company in Pune became a scapegoat of not following the compliancy and had to face the wrath of law. The organization, one of the premiers in its sector, was having the best of the infrastructure but lacking compliance.

Although they had compliancy in place, but it was according to the US norms, which is not permissible or applicable in the Indian scenario. The organization had a security policy in place, but it was never followed.

They had their network and systems audited from time to time, but never followed the procedures. They had a proper code of ethics and best business practices in place, but never implemented. They had a robust system and Internet usage policy, but never knew what it meant when it came to follow it. The net result was that the organization, after spending more than Rs.2 crore, never realized that one day the law will catch them on the wrong foot.

In all this mess, an employee took the benefit of the situation and used the organization’s system to create a fake and obscene profile of a girl and posted it on the Facebook, not realizing that he could be caught. On a complaint by the girl’s father, the system from where the obscene profile was created was tracked. The cops, after doing an indepth investigation, knocked at the organization’s door and made the organization,

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– Need of the Hour

Dr. Harold D’costa Advisor Law enforcement agencies Cyber Crime its Vice-President and the Managing Director as accused. The charges framed against them were that they never had security and cyber policy according to the Indian guidelines. The systems were checked for vulnerability, but never tested on some mock cases. As a net result, the organization was chargesheeted.

Eventually, the employee who had posted the fake profile was caught, but that doesn’t mean the liability of the organization was relaxed or taken off. For keeping the system open for doing the crime, an offence was registered against the organization.

From October 27, 2009, a special provision has been introduced in the IT Act, which says failure to protect the data, failure to implement proper security practices, failure to prevent the data from unauthorized access are offences and the organization will be considered a co-accused and a compensation of up to Rs.5 crore has to be paid to the victim affected.

Cybercrimes have now taken a different dimension and most of the modern crimes are now handled through mobile and computer network. In order that the organization does not become a scapegoat, the following guidelines have to be followed on a warfooting basis: • Get network, servers and systems scanned and check for vulnerability

• Fix the vulnerability and ensure that before the network is made alive, have a mock test done • Audit the network on a periodical basis, ideally every 3 months • Get a non-disclosure agreement signed with the employees • Create an awareness among the employees and explain the importance of security to them • Have a robust information and cybersecurity policy guidelines in place • Get the network and the system audited only through CERT-empanelled organizations • Maintain a log sheet of each and every transaction done through the network • Have a Disaster Recovery policy in place. Maintain a hot site to ensure that the data is not lost • Have a contingency plan and risk assessment to be done, in case there is any fatal attack on the network • Follow the laws of the land • Ask vendors whether the hardware and the software they supply are compliant according to the law of the land prevailing in the country.

• Monitor the network traffic and have a proper IDS in place • Before investing in the firewalls and UTM, ensure that the threats are monitored and filtered by them

All said and done, there is a golden chance for every vendor today to provide an array of services. One of them is providing consultancy and guidelines on effective monitoring and prevention of malwares entering in the network. Also, there is a need for every vendor to realize that the legal implications and if they can provide these additional services, then there is no doubt that customers shall rely on such type of vendors who give them additional support to be protected from the clutches of law.

Finally, organizations may have the best hardware, software and technology in place, but without security to the systems may attract criminal liability, loss of image, loss of customers, and getting the business back is a herculean task in today’s modern world. n

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Panasonic has an ambitious project to boost sales in India E

ven though the Indian smartphone market is on a high-growth path, the country still offers a vast scope for newer players to enter and garner the best of the prospects offered by this space. In line with this, after an in-depth understanding of the consumer requirements, Panasonic conducted a thorough study of the marketplace and with its strong focus on India, it marked its entry in the smartphone market with the launch of P51, targeting the young generation. Post this launch, Panasonic took a step further by unveiling three new smartphones – P11, T21 and T11. These smartphones are designed to deliver on Panasonic’s brand promise of “Smart Solutions for Smart People”.

Reinforcing its commitment to deliver superior smartphone experience to its consumers in India, the fifth in the series of Panasonic’s series of smartphones, was T31. Through this latest offering, Panasonic reiterated its commitment to offer superior quality smartphone experience at an affordable pricing. Manish Sharma, Managing Director, Panasonic India, talked more on the Company’s proficiency to innovate and offer its customers with unique software and hardware, with the VARINDIA team. Edited excerpts:

Panasonic has adopted a 360-degree approach when it comes to channel presence and penetration. Taking into consideration the rising trend of purchases being done from modern retail, especially in the mobility space, 25 per cent of overall Panasonic Mobile phone sales come from the Modern Retail channel.

India being a price-sensitive market and more than half of the population of the country comprising of “masses”, what is your strategy to connect to this section of customers? How do you plan to tap the Feature phone market?

Continuing with our focus on the mobility segment and following up on the recent success in the smartphones category, we have already launched two Feature phones priced at Rs.1,790 and Rs.1,350. With an aim to deliver an affordable mobile experience, these are a perfect solution for customers purchasing a low-priced phone without having to sacrifice on the reliability aspect. With these new offerings, Panasonic is focussing on expanding beyond the metros and delivering a remarkable mobile experience to the Indian mass consumers in the tier-II and tier-III cities.

The low-cost tablet market is on the rise in India. What do you How do you try to be at the have to say to this sudden surge cutting-edge amidst hundreds of and what are your plans for this other homegrown Indian brands? particular market?

India has been one of the most important For a price-conscious market like India, we observe that it is about owning a combination device, meeting the needs with one device instead of two. Also, the return charges on low-cost seven-inch tablets have been unexplainably large. This is the reason as to why we see a growth on the low-cost tablet market today. As for Panasonic India’s plans, currently Panasonic does not have any tablet in the existing product basket, but the work on the development of a product is under progress .

How much of Panasonic’s sales come from the Channel, Retail and e-commerce media? Which one is flourishing for you at present?

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countries and potential growth market for Panasonic and we have an ambitious project to significantly increase sales in India. While there is severe competition in the market, we offer a blend of technologies and designs which make our products of smart utility.

Manish Sharma Managing Director, Panasonic India

We are offering performance superiority, operational efficiency for extraordinary user experience. Furthermore, we are also innovating upon the build quality and overall consumer satisfaction. continuously working on enhancing the ASC network and quality of service being provided by them.

What are your future plans for the Indian mobile device market?

India is a strategic market for Panasonic.

What is your strategy around Continuing with our focus on the Indian support? mobility space which is fast growing, Panasonic is known worldwide for its quality and customer focus, continuing on the same principles. Panasonic Mobile phones in India are currently being supported by 500 Authorized Service Centres (ASCs) spread across the country, including tier-II and tier-III cities to provide our consumers with high-quality after-sales support. We are

Panasonic will aggressively continue to launch Smart devices in the mobility space designed specifically for Indian consumers and market which is quite different from the global market. The Feature phone is another space where Panasonic is aggressively enhancing the product portfolio. n satinder@varindia.com

VAR MOBILITY

iBall Andi Uddaan: The “Safety Phone” for Women T

argeted at women’s security, the new iBall Andi Uddaan is essentially a girly gadget having hearts and crystals studded on to the pink and ivory body, as well as the home screen. The display size of the phone is 5 inches and the display resolution is 540 x 960 (qHD). This gives users pixel density of 220 per inch.

Spilling the beans, the new iBall Andi Uddaan is powerpacked with a 1.3 GHz Dual-Core A7 processor with 512MB of RAM and 4GB of internal storage, expandable up to 32GB. Talking about the software, it is powered with the Google Android 4.2 Jellybean OS. As far as the display is concerned, it has 5-inch IPS HD display. It is also studded with a front 5MP camera with auto focus and a rear 8MP camera, also with auto focus and a Dual LED flash.

A cherry on the cake is its dedicated and exclusive SOS button present on the rear side of the phone. In case of any emergency, users can simply press the SOS button which will then set off a loud alarm, alerting people nearby. Moreover, calls and text messages will be made automatically to five persons pre-defined in the emergency contacts. That is not all. It also automatically updates the victim's Facebook page asking for help. Besides the brand new SOS button on the iBall Andi Uddaan, the device also has a pre-installed application – ICE (In Case of Emergency), allowing users to enter their vital information such as blood group, medical history, details of people to contact in case of emergency, and other features – again triggering an alert in the event of an emergency situation.

The tracking facility in the phone allows the users to add their daily route on the map and authorize up to 10 people to track her movements live on the map.

It also comes with a few free accessories such as a flip cover, extra back cover, scratch guard and even a cute little pink purse, which entices women. So besides the genuine price and great looks, these freebies make Andi Uddaan a unique proposition.

Spice Smart Flo Mettle 5X Mi-504 T

he Spice Smart Flo Mettle 5X Mi-504 is a fairly decent and inspiring 5 inch large-screen Android Phone that offers users perks in the form of good battery and performance. It has Dual SIM support with Dual Standby and has 2G (EDGE) connectivity. It has metal body.

Running on Android Jelly Bean 4.2, it is powered with 1.3 GHz Dual core processor and 512MB of RAM. On the camera front, Spice Smart Flo Mettle 5X Mi-504 packs an 8 MP auto focus rear camera. The smarphone comes equipped with an LED flash that has been attached with the camera in order to facilitate low light photography.

Besides it comes equipped with a 1.3 MP front camera that has also been provided to enable you to perform video chatting over Wi-Fi or 2G. The Spice Smart Flo Mettle 5X Mi-504 houses a 4GB of internal storage, which can be expanded further up to 32GB with the help of memory card slot present.It comes pre-loaded with BBM and has 8 unique unlock styles including Voice Unlock, 4 unique launchers, 3 feather touch keys, Flip to mute feature, power saver app and more. It comes with a free flip cover.

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VAR MOBILITY

Nokia launches Nokia X Android phone in India

N

okia has launched its new family of Androidbased smartphone - the Nokia X in India. The phone runs on the new Nokia X software platform, which is based on Google's Android.

However, the other two models in the Series - X+ and XL have not been unveiled yet.

“India is one of the fastest growing markets for smart phones in the world. With the launch of Nokia X, we are adding more ammunition to our smartphone portfolio. We believe Nokia X is a unique combination of Nokia quality and experiences, Microsoft services and Android™ apps. It will resonate with consumers and set a great precedent for the level of quality that can be achieved in the fast-growing, affordable smartphone segment,” said P Balaji, MD, Nokia India.

The phones under the Nokia

X family are not pure Android phones; these phones instead run a variant of Android. Nokia has taken the open-source elements of Android and has pulled in other elements of Asha and Windows Phone to offer its users a different experience.

Out of the box, consumers can enjoy signature Nokia experiences including free HERE Maps, with true offline maps and integrated turn-by-turn navigation, and Nokia MixRadio for free music streaming and downloadable playlists.

Kunhar Heros clinches TAIT IT Cup Trophy

T

he IBall TAIT IT Cup was held on 9th March, 2014 being held in a completely new avatar. It saw a huge turnout at the Khalsa College Ground, Matunga. The enthusiasm which was built up for over 3 weeks culminated into a nail biting finish which saw the Kunhar Heros walk

away with the majestic winners trophy.

IBall was the Title sponsor and they also gave away lucky draw prizes of their cricket pen drive every hour. ADATA pitched in as the Apparel sponsor while Toshiba, Digisol, Powersage and Kyocera were the Associate sponsors.

The tournament saw a total of 15 games being played out

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by the 8 teams. There were 2 groups of 4 teams each.

Group A had Shakti Lions, Pacific Warriors, Kunhar Heros and Twinkle Royals while Group B comprised of Creative Daredevils, Aarvee Knightriders, Sound Stallions and Benchmark Panthers. The top 2 teams from each group qualified for the Semi Finals.

P a c i f i c Warriors, Kunhar Heros, C r e a t i v e Daredevils and Aarvee Knightriders were the semi-finalists.

Kunhar and Pacific teams played for the coveted trophy where the Kunhar team swung the match by slamming 2 towering sixes in the final over and clinched the title with 3 balls to spare. Vijay from the Kunhar team was declared the Man of the Match. Rahul Panchal from the Aarvee team walked away with the Man of the Series cup for his explosive batting which saw replacement of quite a few balls.

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Spice launches Super Slim Android

S

pice Retail Limited has unveiled its all-new superstylish smartphone, the Smart Flo Poise Mi 451 targeting the ever-demanding youth of the country.

The smartphone comes with a classy Smart Flip cover that allows the user to answer calls without flipping the cover.

This 8.7mm superslim Dual-SIM (2G + 2G) smartphone supports and offers super-fast speed and seamless experience with its 1.3 GHz Dual-Core Processor.

With 11.43 cms ultrabright IPS display, Smart Flo Poise features a 3.2-megapixel rear camera with LED flash. This smartphone is packed with outstanding features like Spice Cloud, G Sensors, 3.5mm jack, etc and brilliant quality earphones that take your audio experience notches above. The IML back cover adds to the style quotient of this smartphone.

Commenting on the launch,

T. M. Ramakrishnan, CEO – Devices, Spice Retail Ltd., said, “Smart Flo Poise is the perfect mix of the two with its premium looks and a slim body. The new smartphone features ultra-bright IPS display which makes it stand out and builds on our promise to constantly empower our users with superior technology. With strong market intelligence, we have launched Smart Flo Poise for an enhanced overall user’s experience.”

Smart Flo Poise is an 8.7mm thin device that comes with large 11.43cm ultra-bright IPS display and is powered by 1.3 GHz Dual-Core processor which will help one to achieve desired tasks much faster. The Smart Flip cover works wonders in terms of usability as it allows the user to answer calls without having to flip the cover. The IML back cover offers durability and resistance to the device.

Durga Computers conducts Partner Training Program

D

urga Computers, Tiguin master partner & BLACKBOX Data Safe Partner Development Centre for Mumbai region have recently organized a partner training & familiarization event that was attended by 50+ System Integrators and Tech Consultants.

Limesh Parekh, CEO & Managing Director of Enjay IT Ltd, makers of Enjay Tiguin Linux Operating System announced support of Tally 64bit on Linux enhancing existing capabilities and explained 4 new features of Enjay Tiguin Linux. Parekh not only spoke on product features but also guided partners on marketing, scenarios, sales process and competitive positioning on how to bid and clinch the deal.

Focused on building Linux specifically to suit Indian markets, Enjay Tiguin Linux has built a product that can run Tally.

At the event, Pravin Rege, CEO of Durga Computers

announced partnership with BLACKBOX Data Safe. "We bring SMB customers a choice and partners a platform to leverage power of alternative technologies that have been around for a while and proven their strength time and again," he said.

Kshitij M. Kotak, makers of BLACKBOX Data Safe presented live demonstration of server failover. Partners saw live demonstration of undisrupted business operations and employees continuing to work normally on systems even as server was physically plugged out.

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EMC2, EMC, and the EMC logo are registered trademarks or trademarks of EMC Corporation in the United States and other countries. Š Copyright 2012 EMC Corporation. All rights reserved.

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60 pages including cover

60 pages including cover