"Information is the oil of the 21st century, and analytics is the combustion engine." - Peter Sondergaard, Gartner ResearchWith e-commerce leading the way, there is an explosion of data from buying and non-buying habits; the Indian retail industry has undergone a major transformation over the last decade. With urbanisation and fast economic growth both organised and un-organised retailers are facing tremendous competition. For a change, the competition is largely home-bred, set off by the ascent of technology. With the spiralling growth of mobile devices, e-tail has seen some early success and is fast expanding. To remain competitive, the traditional brick-and-mortar retail sector has to embrace technology with the intensity that's been powering E-commerce companies recently. Technology and data insights sit on top of the pyramid for digital first and offline companies.To keep a robust supply chain and improve customer experience, technology plays a key role in remaining competitive for the offline world. A retailer has to embrace powerful tools to understand customer-buying behaviour patterns. Today, all retailers need one important tool - data analytics, which could prove critical to the longevity of Indian retail. Companies that are agile and open to the power of data are more likely to fight off the E-commerce wave by offering superior customer satisfaction. According to a recent KPMG report, nearly 40% of the world's retail contribution will come from India and China. Companies that take a data-driven approach to decision making will thrive.The data comes from various sources and various channels. It is important to collate them together in order for a retailer to gain valuable insights that can improve the way in which they merchandise to how they target with optimal communication and how to maximise both sales and profit. This is applicable both to online and offline shopping.The business implications of offline dataRetailers should start by studying customer choices. Why does a customer prefer to turn left as soon as they enter the store? Why pause at an item and not the other? How much time is spent considering a purchase, which is then not purchased? What goes in a typical basket? What is the shopper profile - do they shop weekly or fortnightly? What are the general colour preferences of products in the basket?All these details are captured as unstructured data either by camera footage, sensors in baskets or detecting the volume of products on the shelves with the help of IoT devices. With analytics, this raw indecipherable data is mined and analysed. Then it's structured in an understandable format which can be used to cater to the kind of patterns that are prevalent to that geographical area.For example, residents of a particular locality may be more likely to stock up on perishable products because the closest super-market is about 4km away. A retailer would want to ensure that they have perishable commodities that have a longer shelf-life. To break this down further, the retailer can arrange their supply chain in a manner that allows them to sell ripe mangoes at one store and unripen mangoes at another. This data-driven insight allows companies to make smarter decisions based on offline buying behaviours.It is estimated that less than a handful of companies are already using data analytics to monitor customer purchasing behaviour. Loyalty cards and vouchers are simple examples of the traditional ways of tracking how a customer cashes in. The potential to capture data in the online world is far greater in this regard. However, things get a bit more complex in the offline world. But this can also be an advantage as customer feedback is immediate. All the customer data should then be on-boarded to a data sifting platform that makes sense out of the input.Making data the centre-piece of strategyInformation from offline channels like call centre data, point-of-sale data are invaluable. If the customer has taken the effort to make that call, he is all the more inclined to give valuable feedback about your product. The call centre representative can capture this information in easy, simple-to-use software. Data collected is then transferred to a platform that keeps unstructured data and gives actionable insight. In the past, all information was about purchases, but never about the journey taken to arrive at the buying decision. That should be the domain of data - giving insight into what motivated a customer to buy the product, or not. Understanding why a customer chose to 'not' buy, is all the more valuable, because despite your precise targeting, the demographic is not responding favourably to the product. This has a direct impact on the retailers marketing, merchandising and product strategy.Data comes in many formats. For example, Wi-Fi hotspots can interact with customer and video cameras can provide heat-maps of what is of interest to customers. All this can be used to map customer behaviour. One of our studies in the US found that 62 percent of shoppers keep their Wi-Fi switched on while walking into a store.By just keeping their Wi-Fi on, retailers can read the digital footprint of a customer. For example, is the right side of your outlet seeing weak traffic? What's the demographic of shoppers visiting your store? Can you make it mandatory for shoppers to pass through the right side to arrive at the product that sees the most traffic? Thus, data gives scope to make smart and informed decisions. With retailers vying for customer footfalls and eyeballs, being able to give a customer a fulfilling and personalised experience gives the extra edge to companies. Only technology and digital data can help the marketing team achieve this task. It's ironical really - to serve the best offline experience, you have to take it online first. It's no surprise that Data Management Platforms are much sought after, but are yet to unleash their truest potential.Integrating offline and online is still an unconquered frontier. Since so much data is being captured and monitored, companies have to build trust with their customers, and everything starts with having a robust security framework. But the one thing that's definitive for any organisation - data can make or break a business. The author Subramanian Gopalaratnam, is global head of innovation and technology for Xchanging
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AT&T has selected Juniper Networks Contrail Networking to provide software-defined networking capabilities in its AT&T Integrated Cloud (AIC) infrastructure.As part of the AIC, a foundational element of the company’s software-centric network, AT&T will use Contrail Networking to help automate and virtualize the network to rapidly scale and accelerate the deployment of new services.It is a platform capable of handling the scale and rigor of the most demanding cloud environments, bringing added benefit to the AIC.With Contrail Networking, based on OpenContrail, AT&T can quickly incorporate new capabilities into its network while decreasing development time and cost. Contributing to the open source community is crucial to driving the software shift at AT&T and within the industry.“Juniper and AT&T share a common vision for a customizable cloud network experience that is highly scalable, secure, automated and can readily adapt to customer needs,” said Ankur Singla, corporate vice president and general manager of Cloud Software at Juniper Networks. “Juniper is pleased to be working with AT&T to help them usher in the future of networking, while embracing the open source community.”(BW Online Bureau)
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AMD joined hand with with Oculus and Dell to equip Oculus Ready PCs with AMD Radeon GPUs, starting at $999.These PCs are designed to deliver stunning gaming performance and enable spectacular VR experiences for consumers around the world by leveraging AMD’s VR leadership with LiquidVR™ and Graphics Core Next architecture.Roy Taylor, corporate vice president, Alliances and Content, AMD, said,“I’m confident that with Dell and Alienware, we can enable a wide audience of PC users with extraordinary VR capabilities powered by AMD Radeon GPUs.”In March, AMD announced an initiative to deliver the ultimate VR experience for developers and users enabled through AMD LiquidVR™ technology. AMD LiquidVR™ enables low-latency VR performance that maintains reliable comfort during your VR experience, and plug-and-play compatibility with VR headsets. AMD GPU software and hardware subsystems are a major component in making AMD LiquidVR™ a reality and in turn allowing for developers and content creators to enable a life-like presence in VR environments.(BW Online Bureau)
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Yes. In the breakneck, cut-throat universe of e-commerce, Rokitt Inc, a US based technology company, is transforming the lives of ordinary people (in India and the US) through a slew of new-edge products with a sense of punch and grandeur not often witnessed. Products that challenge conventional wisdom to positively disrupt the way we work, think and play. Products that don’t just anticipate, but fulfil, emerging need gaps. Products that forge one-to-one relationships with customers. Products that delight through innovation.Rokitt’s Co-founder and CTO, Rohit Mahajan captures the driving spirit behind Rokitt succintly: “We are passionate about innovation, transformation and empowerment, and we do everything with these tenets in mind! We look at various industries through the lens of market disruption and develop intuitive products that will transform and improve the way technology works for humanity.”Rokitt’s Research Labs - immersed in technology and software engineering - develop and play with next-gen engineering, prototype ideas and engineer algorithms. The company has already developed and delivered leading-edge products is in the domains of Mobile and Web Products, Augmented Reality Experiences, Enterprise Data Recovery, Testing & Security Solutions, Consumer Marketing Applications, Entrepreneurial Portals and Marketplaces, and Financial Services. Oksana Sokolovsky, Co-founder and President of Rokitt Inc., puts things in perspective: “Yes, Rokitt is a start-up but it’s different from any other. We are a dynamic, energetic and dedicated team that strives to make a difference. The Rokitt culture combines the spirit of a start up with years of professional maturity. Our products and solutions impact the everyday lives of consumers as well as global enterprises and governments around the world,”Rokitt is also creating digital technology professionals with hands-on skills through its popular Bootcamps in the US and India. These are professionals who will take on decisive roles in tomorrow’s workplaces, and inform the shape of things to come.Headquartered in New York and with offices in Kiev, Dubai, Bangalore, Chennai, Hyderabad and Gurgaon, Rokitt Inc. is well and truly ready to rock the industry. Stay tuned.Digital technologies are expected to add $1.3 trillion to the global economy by 2020. With over ten innovative products in the pipeline, buzz in industry circles is that Rokitt Inc’s valuation is set to soar. Though currently the organization is self-funded and has not been actively looking for investments, there is a feeling that with such ambitious expansion plans, several venture capitalists and institutions will try to step in the fray and try to acquire a piece of the action. The company spokesperson offered no comment.
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Cyber Security & Malware Protection company FireEye teamed up with F5 Networks to defend against the evolving security threats to the enterprise.Customers will benefit from comprehensive security solutions that integrate application delivery infrastructure from F5 and advanced threat protection from FireEye Network Security. The agreement also includes a unified approach to worldwide sales, deployment and support, thereby helping to ensure the best possible end-to-end experience for customers.“Our partnership with F5 addresses critical business issues for our customers across the Asia Pacific region – matching IT growth and security to support the business,” said Bryce Boland, chief technology officer for Asia Pacific at FireEye. “We are bringing together leading application delivery technology with advanced threat protection to help Asia Pacific firms fend off today’s advanced threats.”Enterprise IT departments are challenged with supporting cloud-based applications and mobile environments while maintaining network reliability, security, and speed. The partnership between FireEye and F5 will feature the integration of key application delivery technologies with advanced threat management platforms to accelerate application deployment, performance, and security. Customers will also benefit from the following:“Pervasive trends like cloud, mobility and the Internet of Things, together with the growing complexity of the threat landscape, demand a shift in security approaches in Asia Pacific,” said Manu Bonnassie, senior vice president, F5 Networks. “The partnership between F5 and FireEye goes beyond technology integration to combine engagement and solution delivery to address the increasingly sophisticated security challenges of enterprises in Asia Pacific.”(BW Online Bureau)
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According to a study by Gartner on 'Adoption of Cloud ERP, 2013 Through 2023', which extensively investigated about companies ranging in size from $10M to $10B across North America, EMEA, APAC and Latin American markets, has revealed that cloud ERP is the potential replacement for aging core ERP systems that are out of support or running on an old technology platforms such as mainframes. Although ERP remains the backbone of IT operations for many organisations, whether to move it to Cloud remains a challenging questions for many CIO's today. While some basic service like HR, CRM which may have limited impact on an organisation have been moved to cloud, enterprises are still not confident of moving their core ERP solutions supporting financials or supply chain management to cloud.Implementing ERP is a high-cost, multi-year, complex project for many organizations and the success rate of ERP has been as low as 60% in many countries. ERP till date has been hosted and implemented on -premise at the client location. In 2000 we saw evolution of hosted model where the platform can be off-site. However cloud has revolutionized the ERP space and we have witnessed top ERP providers like SAP and Oracle offering their services on cloud which has multiple benefits of lower cost and reduced implementation cycle. However, the question remains is cloud suitable for all enterprises irrespective of their company size, business complexities or security needs?Gartner report Predicts 2014: The Rise of the Postmodern ERP and Enterprise Applications World, Gartner predicts that by 2018, at least 30% of service-centric companies will move the majority of their ERP applications to the Cloud.Benefits of moving your ERP to Cloud 1. Cost: Cloud based ERP services are provided on pay-as-you-go model and it reduces the initial upfront capital expenditure of purchasing the software. Also the implementation and operational costs can be paid through subscription and are much lower than traditional ERP implementation, maintenance and hosting. This helps the CFOs to turn the ERP cost from Capex to Opex2. Ease of deployment: Traditional ERP takes months and often years to configure the system and make the company ready to implement the ERP solution, whereas cloud-based ERP systems have ready frameworks that drastically reduces the time required to GO LIVE. 3. Flexibility & Scalability: Cloud allows to add new features and business functionalities easily into the software without going through the traditional challenges of buying or configuring new software add-ons. For example, both SAP and Salesforce.com, offers applications such as advanced analytics, collaboration, finance management, through Web-based app stores like any other consumer apps. This makes cloud more attractive and apt for today's changing business requirements.4. Easy upgrades and access to latest software: Companies that have adopted ERP on Cloud can easily take the advantages of upgradations or enhancements in the system or whenever the service provider launches a new version without the cost or hassle associated with upgrading on-premise ERP software.5. Free Maintenance: Companies who have adopted hosted ERP solution, don't need to run their own software and hardware, thus getting rid of regular maintenance costs. They can focus on their core business without taking the hassles of managing in-house servers or hiring IT staffs for upkeep and maintenance. 6. Better Integration Through Other Systems: The cloud has been purposefully created for simple interoperability that complements the option for present or future utilization of extra products.7. Data Back-Ups: Third party cloud service providers takes utmost measures to ensure that there is no data loss. They come with redundancy plans which means the data is copied in minimum two locations. They provide better data security and disaster recovery plans.Challenges of Moving your ERP to Cloud1. Ensuring Data Security: It still remains the topmost concern while moving to cloud. ERP supports several departments and deals with critical financial/accounting, sales, customer data. Moving this data to cloud means less control of the enterprise on their data, exposure of the sensitive data to third party vendors. Though cloud providers guarantee stringent security measures and also bound to adopt the guidelines of various regulatory bodies, organizations should assess the vendor's security and regulatory policy and formally train their employees to mitigate risks.2. Limited customizations & integrations: Cloud may not be suitable for enterprises which needs highly tailored ERP packages to match their complex business processes. Also organisations with legacy ERP may face multiple challenges in integrating individual applications and data to support business processes."You should never assume that adopting cloud applications will magically provide value; it's essential to link business objectives to your ERP strategy to ensure value is realized, whether adopting on-premises or cloud applications," as said by Carol Hardcastle, research vice president at Gartner. The benefits of moving ERP to Cloud are undeniable particularly for medium and small businesses. There are several factors that an organisation should consider before moving to cloud such as:o Industry typeo company sizeo solution complexityo security needs Enterprises that require basic functionality, minimal customization, and limited integration are particularly appropriate for cloud-hosted solutions. As new technology disrupts the status quo, the once cutting-edge tools, processes, and business models get retired and Cloud Computing adoption in the ERP arena is witnessing rapid incorporation. Large enterprises with legacy ERP systems may not be able to move their processes overnight, they need to adapt over a period of time. Some companies may benefit from so-called hybrid models, where some ERP functionality is retained in a traditional hosted environment while other applications are implemented through the cloud. A large company with complex supply chain requirements, for example, might continue to maintain its customized ERP solution while using a cloud provider for selected business processes, such as talent management. To be successful in ERP adoption organizations need to develop a multi-year strategy for all significant business applications. The author, Hitendra Shinde, is Business Head - India, Blue Star Infotech
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WinMagic, a data security company, organised a roundtable on IT Security: ‘Are we leaving the main door open?’ which was chaired by Mark Hickman, Chief Operating Officer, WinMagic and Vipin Kumar, Group CIO, Escorts.The discussion was an effort towards understanding enterprise security landscape in India from CIO’s and security services provider perspective and centred on latest security trends both globally and in India. Various key trends pertaining to adoption of security solutions in different areas like cloud, BYOD, Internet of Things (IOT) and IT security scenario in India were discussed. During the discussion, Mark Hickman, Chief Operating Officer, WinMagic stated, “World has understood the importance of securing data as it the most valuable commodity. At WinMagic, we excel in securing your data through encryption and key management. Globally, the trend that has evolved over the years has been of adoption of cloud solutions for most businesses. The coming years will see the notion of security being a secure platform - rather than a series of point products or devices on the network – gaining traction. The expectation on security professionals will be to deliver a secure platform that allows the business to confidently run multiple applications, in a secure environment. He further added, “We will be happy to partner with Government of India for their various programs including Digital India.”Vipin Kumar, Group CIO, Escorts Ltd commented, “CIOs always are interested to choose best of breed solutions to secure data for their organization. WinMagic’s capability of offering efficient, robust and seamless solution is remarkable. As a CIO I also foresee the key trend in the coming few years will see a shift towards cloud solution, be it private, public or hybrid.”Rahul Kumar, Country Director and Manager, WinMagic India stated, “India is yet to see great innovations in the IT security space, but the trends that we are seeing now are also encouraging. The key trend in this domain is that customers are also looking forward to adopt cloud security services. The major drivers for security that we would notice in India will be across wide sectors like banks, FSIs, IT/ITES, manufacturing sector etc. One can see more budget allocation towards security equipment, and a shift towards overall comprehensive security.”(BW Online Bureau)
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Google usually announces new hardware around fall after announcing its major Android update at its annual Google I/O developers conference around summer time. Following its tradition the company made a bunch of new announcements and has introduced some exciting new products which includes the highly anticipated Nexus smartphones, new Chromecasts and a sleek looking Android powered Pixel C convertible tablet. Apart from hardware, Google has also announced official rollout dates for Android Marshmallow, updates to Google Music streaming service and the Chromecast app. Nexus 5X and 6PAs the rumours suggested, Google announced two new smartphones in the Nexus lineup and since it has got almost all the numbers covered, it has named them the Nexus 5X and the Nexus 6P. The Nexus 6P is a direct successor to the last year’s Moto Nexus 6 and this year it is made by Chinese OEM, Huawei. It is also the first Nexus smartphone with a fully metal body. The features of the smartphone include a 5.7-inch QHD (2560x1440) AMOLED display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 octa-core processor, 3GB of RAM, a new 12.3MP rear and an 8MP front HDR-enabled camera, USB Type-C port with fast charging, a 3450mAh battery and of course a rear mounted fingerprint scanner which Google calls 'Nexus Imprint.' The Nexus 6P will come in three colour options, Aluminum, Frost, Graphite with prices starting at $499 (Rs. 32,000) for the 32GB version while the 64GB model is $549 (Rs. 36,000), and the 128GB model priced at $649 (Rs. 42,000) The Nexus 5X is an update to the Nexus 5 and is yet again made by LG. This has a slightly lesser powerful, yet a respecteable list of specifications that includes a 5.2-inch full-HD (2560x1440) display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 808 six-core processor, 2GB of RAM, the same 12.3MP rear and an 8MP front camera combo as the Nexus 6P, a USB Type-C port with fast charging, a 2700mAh battery and the same rear mounted fingerprint scanner. The Nexus 5X will also come in three colour options Carbon, Quartz and Ice with prices starting at $379 (Rs. 25,000) for the 16GB version $429 (Rs. 28,000) for the 32GB version. Pre-orders for the both the devices begin today from the Google Store in the US, UK, Japan and Ireland from today with other countries to follow soon. The Google Store is now officially highlighting the new devices and prices start at Rs. 31,900 for the 5X and Rs. 39,999 for the 6P. ChromecastThe Chromecast streaming device has been Google’s most popular and efficient devices ever since it was launched in 2013 and it was high time that the company brought something new. Google introduced an all new Chromecast which has a brand new design with an HDMI cable running out of a round compact disc that is easy to carry around. The updated version has a faster hardware and supports 2.4GHz as well as 5GHz connections. It will also be coming two new colours, yellow and red apart from the standard black. The new Chromecast app was also shown off which will be more intuitive and offer a huge range of app support including Spotify, as well as better recommendations and faster predictions. Also, there is the Chromecast Audio. This version of the Chromecast aims at converting any speaker into a streaming device. It can easily hook onto a speaker via a standard 3.5mm audio jack and through Wi-Fi you it will let users stream any sort of music wirelessly. Google says that it is better than Bluetooth as it doesn’t require any pairing and doesn’t interrupt the experience when one gets a phone call or notification. Users will also be able to easily control the music via any device on the same network from any app that the users is playing the music from. Both the Chromecasts will retain the price tag of $35 (Rs. 2,500) and will be available from the Google Store and other retail partners next month. Pixel CGoogle had announced a high end Chromebook earlier this year called the Pixel Chromebook which brought in high-end design and hardware the Chromebook lineup. While Chromebooks are slowly gaining popularity, they are still not the best productive devices. Keeping the DNA of the Pixel alive, the company showed off a very slick looking convertible tablet called the Pixel C. Running on the new Android 6.0 Marshmallow update, the tablet will come with a thin metal design and a keyboard that sticks to the main tablet via magnets. The keyboard itself is quite innovative as it comes with a stand where the tablet can stick and be tilted to any angle. It will also be charged via the tablet through induction and would never require an external power source. Other features of the tablet include USB-Type C port, a 10-inch display with 2560x1800 resolution display with 308ppi, an NVIDIA Tegra X1 processor with Maxwell GPU, and 3GB of RAM. The Pixel C will be available in the coming months starting at $499 (Rs. 32,000) for the 32GB version and $599 (Rs. 38,000) for the 64GB version. The keyboard on its own will cost about $149 (Rs. 9,600) Google MusicFollowing the footsteps of Apple, Google updated its music streaming service and introduced a family plan where up to six members of your family will be able to access Google’s library of songs at $14.99 (Rs. 960). Sadly though the Google Music streaming service has not officially launched in India but there is a high possibility that Google might announce it soon as Apple Music has been making a buzz in the country. Android MarshmallowGoogle didn’t announce any new features of Android 6.0 Marshmallow, but gave a brush up of the new features that are expected to arrive and which will be featured on the new Nexus smartphones including Google Now on Tap, new app permissions, Doze battery saving feature and more. The update will hit owners of the Nexus 5, 6, 7, 9 and the Nexus player from next week. With its new products, Google is going back to its roots. It has made a point that they don’t want to aim for flagship devices or premium services, rather the focus is on providing a great experience at an affordable cost. The new Nexus smartphones look promising and the Pixel C tablet just might be the Nexus tablet that we deserve.
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