HPE enables cloud-enabled COVID-19 Test Labs and OPD Centers Cognizant buys Collaborative Solutions

AMIDST PANDEMIC ‘REMOTE WORKING WITH DAILY WEBINARS’- THE NEW TECHNOLOGY TRENDS FOR 2020 PG 31

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www.varindia.com May 2020 1 COVID-19 suffocating your business performance?

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2 May 2020 www.varindia.com For more information, reach out to iValue [email protected] | [email protected] AWS Announces Major Enhancements to Amazon Macie Ingram Micro to distribute Check Point’s security solutions in India

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VOLUME XXI ISSUE 09 MAY 2020 PRICE Rs. 50 SUBSCRIPTION COPY NOT FOR SALE “OUR TOP PRIORITY IS PROVIDING INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO HELP INDIA WIN THE ONGOING CRUSADE AGAINST THE PANDEMIC” 45PG Facebook Invests In Reliance To Access Into Data Goldmine COVID-19 suffocating your Facebook buying a 9.99% stake into ENTERPRISE-LEVEL STORAGE business performance? Reliance Jio Platforms for $5.7 billion(Rs INFRASTRUCTURE FOR MID AND 43,574 crore deal ), comes along a lot of SMALL-SIZED ENVIRONMENTS. concerns related to the future of the Indian and digital ecosystem. It is the Make uninterrupted business operations possible even as employees work from home. largest FDI in the Indian tech sector. This is going be a deeper impact in the business of Airtel and Vodafone Idea. It would be one of the largest Leverage iValue's range of solutions to achieve seamless and safe connectivity and access to the investments across the world for a organization's applications and resources in the cloud or datacenter. minority stake in the technology sector by Facebook. Both Facebook and Reliance Hitachi Vantara's New VSP G130 possess humongous amount of user data. A simplified and efficient storage tool custom- Therefore, it is important to pay attention to built to complement the SMB environment iValue can deploy a smooth remote work environment for your organization through. out how exactly the data-sharing agreement which is easy-to-install and has minimum between these two tech giants will affect the operational complexities, combined with the entire digital landscape of India. security, stability and reliability of enterprise- Tailor-made for faster deployment, level storage solutions. From the technology improved performance and WHO’s Chief Scientist feels hub of Hitachi Vantara, a brand with a cost-effectiveness. formidable reputation in building reliable, it is commendable that stable and simplified solutions. A single, unified client for A Zero Trust policy that Centralized visibility, Assured scalability. access that operates exactly secures the access configuration and policy Having a solution that is India keeps COVID-19 cases the same way whether you regardless of the management. Also, secure but slow to are accessing an app in the location of the user, with analytics to help respond or doesn’t scale, lower than other countries cloud, establishing a VPN device and application. tune the deployment. is not effective in a Soumya Swaminathan, World Why VSP G130? connection or trying to modern business network. Health Organisation's Chief Scientist access internal resources has commended India for keeping the through any other medium. coronavirus cases and deaths very low compared to other countries and said it will play an important role in the development of a vaccine for COVID-19. She said the Why trust iValue? whole world has to be prepared for the Tool-less setup Simplified GUI Reduced TCO Supports data tiering Affordable pricing We are a leading provider of secure access, with a single client for access, centralized management for all access and ongoing transmission of infection for many visibility across your network. Plus, our solutions are built for hybrid cloud. We are the trusted partner for over 80% of many months and for perhaps years to the Fortune 500 to protect their networks with secure access solutions. Also, providing a dual-mode solution which lets come. Get connected with us at iValue Infosolutions, the official distribution partners of Hitachi Vantara to know more. you have the choice to deploy VPN-based secure remote access and move to SDP when you're ready. Swaminathan said it is not just enough to develop and test the vaccine, but it is also crucial to manufacture it, scale-up procurement and get health systems to vaccinate populations. All participants, including Science and Technology Minister For more information: Write to us at: [email protected] | Visit us at: www.iValue.co.in Follow us on: Harsh Vardhan, addressed the conference iValue operates in 12+ locations across India, Kenya, Singapore, Dubai and Srilanka. online. According to the World Health Organisation, as on Monday there have been Network Access Control Solution Networking Switches Zero Tolerance Solution 39,76,043 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 2,77,708 deaths.

www.varindia.com May 2020 3 For more information, reach out to iValue [email protected] | [email protected] HELLO INDIA

INDIA’S NEW JOURNEY INTO MANUFACTURING

The continuing debate whether or not India will emerge as the alternative manufacturing to China grossly ignores certain ongoing success of manufacturing business & number of significant facts of India. Today India holds the world’s largest mobile manufacturing plant which is operated by Samsung, the biggest complete indigenous 2 wheeler manufacturing company in the world and second biggest mobile phone manufacturing base in the world. To the biggest surprise mobile manufacturing in India offered the best of the quality ever achieved in the world and best cost parameters of Asia as claimed.

There are two major drivers for establishing a manufacturing plant and selecting a location for any global company, one is the access to a large market and second one is ease of having an uninterrupted local supply chain management (SCM). The SCM of the new location should enable the protection and mitigation of single sourcing risks. The size and growth of India consumption and economical dividend have a major differentiation. India is continuously enriched by hi-tech, digital & IT development hub for the last two decades.

Having around $300 bn worth of technology developments plus 3 and known as Scheme for Promotion of manufacturing of Electronic million IT workers it offers one of the best talent pools in the world. The Component and Semiconductors (SPECS) definitely has ignited a massive compelling need of manufacturing setup is to be future ready with Industry positive interest for global giants. Capital subsidy, ease of repatriation and 4.0. India is now having the lion's share in development, optimization & having simultaneous setup for SEZ (Special economic zone) for export & adoption of the same by many global companies, who are building it from DTA (Domestic Tariff Area) for India business is a tremendous business here. Plus all major technology houses have their own R&D and product enabler. developments in India. A major hidden success story of local manufacturing in India is always Industry 4.0 is the new AVTAR of manufacturing with a change unnoticed with the US $ 135 bn incumbent automobile market success. In the way it works today. It is the complete digital version of traditional addition to this the automobile segment is doing an annual average export manufacturing blended with the power of big data, high computing of US $15 bn. A state-of –the-art high technology and unmatched quality capacity, artificial intelligence and analytics with an ultimate goal of with lowest cost in the world became the hallmark identity of Indian production excellence. A new $150 Bn of investment due to this is automobile segment. awaited and strengths of India makes it the best place with the finest ecosystem. Take the example of Boeing, who is developing the same with Today the consumer electronics market in India has surpassed US IISC Bangalore. There are more than fifteen giants doing the same from $12 bn and is expected to reach $20 bn in next two years. Korean brands India. There is a systematic growth in high value components in getting successfully read this market early and harvested their dividend by entering manufactured in India. India around 2009-10 strongly. In the last couple of years Japanese brands rejigged their strategy to be India centric and recently we are seeing an Post COVID world the preference of the manufacturing landscape immense traction from Taiwan companies. has changed. It is futile to think now; China is going to be invincibly the world's most favorite destination for manufacturing. Based on scientific India has a magic and miracle left to experts to explore & decode. In and factual deep due diligence and analysis it’s found outside of China, addition to this India offers lowest corporate tax and ease of repatriation India offers the best alternative place for manufacturing. There is a vivid of dividend as compared to anywhere in the world. contrast to China. The product to be sold in China in most cases needs to be a Chinese brand. In India the global brand largely leverages the local Lastly, the next gen manufacturing and intelligent manufacturing is market and also utilizes it as a base for the global market. The volume perhaps having the best available support systems in India more than growth brings the cost advantage with benefits and ease on reverse anywhere else in the world. logistics management. This also gets enhanced by the most reliable & qualitatively well educated resource factors. In India the technical resource with experience costs lower overhead cost as compared to anywhere else.

The ESDM ( Electronic Systems Design & Manufacturing ) segment in India is very robust. In the last couple of years from US $1 bn it has reached an annual US $10 bn mark with the presence of all global leaders like Foxconn, Flex, Jabil, Sanmina & Wistron etc. The recent Industrial manufacturing incentives package by the Central Government launched

4 May 2020 www.varindia.com www.varindia.com May 2020 5 CONTENTS

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Publisher: Deepak Kumar Sahu Editor: S Mohini Ratna Executive Editor: Dr. Vijay Anand Sub - Editor: Aparna Mullick Correspondent: Lopamudra Das CLOUD Tech Analyst: Brajendu Das Art Director: Rakesh Kumar TRANSFORMATION Network Administrator: Ashok Kumar Singh Visualizer: Ravinder Barthwal PROJECTS TO DRIVE Manager-IT: Subhash Mohanta Manager-SEO: Bidyadhar Behera BUSINESS AND BUSINESS: TECHNICAL BENEFITS Commercial Manager: Amit Kumar Jha Sr. Marketing Manager: Ashok Ranjan Dash Circulation Executive: Manish Kumar

CORPORATE OFFICE: VAR House, A-84A/3 Rose Apartment, Paryavaran complex, IGNOU Road, New Delhi - 110030 Tel: 011-41656383, 46061809 Email: [email protected] SURAJIT SEN CHIEF OF STAFF, MODERN DATA Bangalore: Bureau office Marketing Manager: S. Kamala kar CENTRE-APJ, DELL TECHNOLOGIES Correspondent: L. G. Swami D-103 G.F., Ashish JK Apartments Thubarahalli Extended Road Bangaluru- 560066 23 “Our Growing Focus is to Cater Tel: 080-49530399 | Mobile:09886280836 REGULARS E-mail: [email protected] to The Demand of Photography Our Data Center Round About 08 Enthusiasts Who Want to Mumbai: Bureau office Locations Channel Guru 10 Graduate from Smartphone Regional Manager (West): Anil Kumar Mumbai Sr. Correspondent: Mamta S. Channel Chief 12 Photography” Delhi Anurag Residency, 203 - “B” Wing, Plot No-5, Hot Bytes 13, 14 Bangalore Sector-9, Kamothe, Navi Mumbai-410 209 VAR CORPORATE Hyderabad Tel: 022-65561292, Mobile: 08108017479 On the Ramp 15, 16 E-mail: [email protected], [email protected] 24 CtrlS Emerging as World’s Largest Voice N Data 17 Chennai: Bureau office Rated-4 Hyperscale Datacenter Branch Manager: K. Parthiban Channel Buzz 18 Player F1, Meadows Green Apartments, 64, Chetty Street Movers & Shakers 46 1st Cross, Mel Ayanambakkam, Chennai - 600 095 Product of the month 21 Cell No. : 98400 55626 LEAD STORY Our Upcoming Hyperscale Rated 4 Datacenter Facilities in India E-mail: [email protected] Hyderabad: Bureau office FACE TO FACE 28 A Billion Dollar Question: Does Branch Manager: Sunil Kumar Sahu Work From Home & Cyber 32-161/3, 202 Neha Paradise, Nr. Maissamma 19 Acer Leveraging its E-Store Facility Security Go Hand In Hand? Temple, Venketeswara colony to Serve Customers amidst Ramakrishna Puram, Hyderabad - 500056 Pandemic Telangana, Tel: 040-32989844/ Cell No. 08100298033 COVER STORY E-mail: [email protected] 20 Sophos Continues to Support and 36 Most Popular Partner Program Kolkata: Bureau office Safeguard Its Customers from Marketing Officer: Sunil Kumar CIO OUTLOOK Correspondent: B Kiran Dutta Cyber-Attacks During Megatherm Electronics Pvt. Ltd. 32 AMIDST PANDEMIC ‘REMOTE Second Floor, Megatherm Building, Unit -E, Plot - L1 22 Brightcove leverages Cloud WORKING WITH DAILY Block GP, Sector V, Salt Lake, Kolkata - 700091 Solutions to Enable Customers to Mobile: 08100298033, E-mail: [email protected] WEBINARS’- THE NEW Mobile: 09903088480, E-mail: [email protected] Save Costs, Increase Revenue and TECHNOLOGY TRENDS FOR 2020 to Transform User Experience Printed and Published by Deepak Kumar Sahu on behalf of M/s. Kalinga Digital Media Pvt. Ltd. and Printed at Pushpak Press Pvt. Ltd. Shed No. 203 - 204, DSIDC Complex, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase-I, New Delhi-110020 and Published at A-84A/3 Rose Apartment, Paryavaran complex, IGNOU Road, New Delhi - 110030, Editor - S Mohini Ratna. For Subscription queries contact: [email protected] Subscription: Rs. 500(12 issues)Rs. 1000 (24 issues) 45 VAR SECURITY All payments favouring:

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www.varindia.com May 2020 7 ROUND ABOUT

CAN COVID-19 SPRING A SURPRISE TO HUMAN CIVILIZATION?

The sinister impact of the pandemic is lingering on bringing mankind to their knees and forcefully keeping billions of people under confinement. The governments and civil society are on their toes. From the day it started from Wuhan, the news on Covid-19 assumed several dimensions, which no other incident in the recent times would have demonstrated. From localized epidemics, it soon crossed to other countries, with more severity and intensity. Till date, that is continuing without any abatement, infecting millions and ending the lives of close to 200,000 people...

Admittedly, Covid-19 is a life time experience, which will stick on to the psyche of the people. The only country, I am told, has escaped from the virus, so far, is Lesotho in Africa, according to the available information. I am sure, if that is the case, Lesotho, which may not be known to many outside Africa, will be a case study and can unravel many unknown facts about the killer virus, particularly what prevented the virus to penetrate into that small country, while its bordering countries have incidences of viral infection.

An account that I read in the newspaper columns, though gory, but still significant, are the comments of the people managing burial grounds across the country, which I am sure, can be extrapolated to the rest of the world also. They say mortal remains brought for cremation of people, who have succumbed to diseases other than Covid-19 have considerably come down. The number of people dying on account of road accidents and cardiac problems have considerably reduced thanks to pollution free environment, non-existence of traffic jams and other unsavory incidences that an ordinary person living in a city or town has to undergo on a daily basis. The other day, I have seen a clear photograph of snowy mountains of Himalayas shot from some vantage point in Delhi. That is for certain not a fake photograph since it had appeared in a serious daily with the byline of the photographer. creed. That only can give them immunity against the virus. This would Does it mean Covid-19 saga is not all that fraught with negativity? It mean that more than 7 billion vaccines have to be developed to cater to has taught people many lessons; of being how helpless he or she is, how the world population. No country should be left out. There should not important is leading a healthy and disciplined life; how one can recreate be any lag in giving vaccination since in a short time virus can assume Mother Nature; how one can keep the city clean and air pure, which menacing proportions. Therefore, a focused attention should be given for people always considered as a byproduct of development. If Covid- 19 the mass scale production of vaccine and its efficient distribution across has taught us many lessons, the post Covid-19 world will not be the same. the world. That will be a real challenge the medical science has to face once the vaccine is developed and tested successfully. Did the world forecast about the holocaust? Indeed, the film Contagion has many similarities to this pandemic. The only difference is that it was There is a concern also being expressed from various quarters. That shot in 2011, when the pandemic was never even dreamt of. If someone is about greater degree of mutation of the virus and with each stage feels that there is resemblance between what is happening now and the of mutation, the virus strain is assuming newer properties. Therefore, story line of the film, pray that what is foretold in the reel should not even if an oral medicine is evolved, the efficacy of that medicine for happen in real life, for that would cost mankind dearly. The storyline in the universal application is something, which can keep virologists and medical film has also its speculative twists and turns. There are quakes, who made practitioners in a quandary. I believe that we have seen, so far, only the a killing by selling fake medicines and spreading fake news. It also portrays hard and sinister side of the pandemic. I sincerely feel that it may have a governments, which are staring at the catastrophe helplessly putting us in positive side sooner or later. a dilemma between reel and real life. The change the pandemic can bring to the medical science will be When will be the pandemic end or tamed? No one has a clue.There mindboggling. I feel by the time the Covid19 makes its full exit, billions of are reports about vaccines at various stages of trials. Almost every country tests would have been done across the continents to find the traces of the is engaged in that. India is not an exception. Serum Institute of India, virus. The blood and swab samples of that many people would have been in close cooperation with Oxford University is conducting trials. The tested in the laboratories. This would be a huge reservoir of data that can initial report is that it is incrementally progressing. Few days ago, a US be put into data mining to establish correlations between many attributes company Moderna announced positive interim Phase 1 data for its such as habits and diseases, races and incidence of diseases, dietary habits mRNA Vaccine (mRNA-1273) against Novel Coronavirus. When will the and diseases, how the virus would mutate and the circumstances in which vaccine be developed still remains to be a trillion dollar question. Many proliferations happen and a whole lot of other things, which medical see it could be expected only by the end of this year since it has to meet science never had an opportunity to do research. These insights are going with stringent standards set by the FDA and similar organizations. Once to be of considerable importance to the medical science in understanding the vaccine is tested successfully, that will be the beginning of a new disease patterns, treatment profiles, preventive care etc. The greatest challenging phase. Experts are of the opinion that every individual across beneficiary is going to be the future generation, who will witness a spate the world should be given vaccination irrespective of their age, color and of radical changes in the societal behavior and outlook towards life.

8 May 2020 www.varindia.com www.varindia.com May 2020 9 CLOUD TRANSFORMATION PROJECTS TO DRIVE BUSINESS AND TECHNICAL BENEFITS Dell Technologies’ mission is to help its customers embrace IT transformation and make them succeed in their digital transformation journey. Those organisations who strive to improve their IT will always have a competitive advantage over others and will also derive better business results. Channel partners have been an integral part of Dell Technologies business and the company puts in a lot of efforts to ensure that they stay up to speed and have the resources they need to grow and reach their end customers. In a chat with VARINDIA, SURAJIT SEN, CHIEF OF STAFF, MODERN DATA CENTRE-APJ, DELL TECHNOLOGIES discusses about

CLOUD-FIRST TO MULTI- consideration by businesses along with cost. This coupled with the increasing amount of data CLOUD STRATEGY brought about by mobility, artificial intelligence (AI), analytics, Internet of Things (IoT), edge The data management landscape has changed computing, along with traditional workloads, is driving demand for multi-cloud model. and rapidly moved from a siloeddatacenter to “Going forward, the market will be in need for more consistent and standardized automated a multi-cloud world. Now organizations are cloud resources to enable developers and line-of-business to execute at speed and in a more cost- building their datacenter for not just storing data effective manner. Therefore, to be future ready, Indian organizationswill aim for a multi-cloud model but also to use it for decision making. - where the same ease, simplicity, manageability, auto-provisioning and orchestration can be achieved Organizations are adopting multi-cloud at a lower cost. Additionally, this will enable them to experience a new way to build and consume IT strategy as cloud is easy to use and simple. This services while driving innovation and growth,” predicts Surajit. shift by organizations is not surprising. However, multi-cloud does come with its own set of BENEFITS OFTHE ESG REPORT FOR THE challenges, one of them being its complexity. PARTNERS AND VAR COMMUNITY Elaborating on this, Surajitsays, “We Explaining the ESG report, Surajit says, “The ESG report, titled ‘The Cloud Complexity understand this and therefore, we launched Imperative’ provides an understanding of the concept of management simplification for the Dell Technologies Cloud last year. This solves organizations adopting multi-cloud strategy. ESG’s research shows that more than nine out of multi-cloud complexity by being the operational ten organizations (91%) work with IT vendors, system integrators, value-added resellers, to help hub of a customer’s hybrid cloud, delivering architect and implement cloud infrastructure projects. This research gives inroads to partners/ consistent operations and infrastructure, with VAR communities to derive maximum benefit out of the cloud for the customers. While cloud workload placement flexibility- from edge to core transformation projectswill drive dramatic business and technical benefits, organizations would be to cloud. It offers an integrated set of software well served to explore partnerships with cloud solution architects who can help remove the friction and hardware solutions that can be deployed in from these transformations rather than doing it alone.Additionally, the report does say that only 5% a variety of edge locations, core private cloud of organisations are experiencing the benefits of cloud, meaning many firms are potentially missing datacenters – allowing organizations to deploy out on supercharging their computing power. Hence, partners must counsel customers to get the applications using vSphere-managed virtual most out of their clouds by having management consistency.” machines or Kubernetes managed containers and functions. PREPAREDNESS FOR COMBATING THE EMERGING CHALLENGES Additionally, our solutions allow At present people are working from home due to social distancing and lockdown norms. This organizations to have ultimate control over has led to an increase in cloud usage. As cloud provides the benefits of scale as per use, organizations their data and applications,while also reducing are widely adopting cloud services. overall cloud deployment and management He says, “Due to social distancing and lockdown norms, there is a need for organisations to complexity – in order to keep them ahead of the enable their employees to be able to work from home and ensure data security at the same time. With competition.” almost all the organizationsallowing their workforce to work remotely,there has been an increase in the cloud usage.Organizations are increasingly adopting cloud services as it provides them the GRID CLOUD ability to scale as per the need and also provides them with the option of renting computing power. Talking about the upcoming Grid cloud, However, in the long run, companies who are dependent on cloud for their businesses will need to Surajit says, “Dell Technologies is playing a opt for cloud services that are cost-efficient. crucial role in helping organizations build In fact, our cloud infrastructure solutions helps organisations in removing any complexities which multi-cloud environments, by allowing them to they might face and offers consistent infrastructure while reducing operational costs. Additionally, leverage consistent infrastructure and consistent Dell Technologies has rolled out solutions like Unified Workspace, Virtual Desktop Infrastructure operations across various cloud platforms. This and many more – to address the challenges emerging at this time.” would enable organizations to accelerate their cloud adoption. Grid Cloud is another facet INITIATIVES TAKEN TO HELP PARTNERS of a multi cloud environment. Dell would be a To help its partners survive this critical time, Dell has come up with various initiatives like key enabler for Grid Cloud through it’s industry financial relief packages along with free training and certifications etc. leading technology and go to market program “As a part of our commitment towards partners, Dell Technologies recently unveiled financial for Telcos and Service providers.” relief package to help its partners preserve capital and cut costs and help their customers. The financial relief package, together with free training and certifications, will help Dell Technologies’ BUSINESS MODEL TO partners improve cash position and build stronger capabilities for the future. Additionally, we have SUSTAIN LONGER also rolled out Working Capital Solutions (WCS) Programme and Dell Financial Services (DFS) At present, need for speed from IT and which will help partners plan and strategize for the future to support their customers,” elaborates improved security are the major factors for Surajit.

10 May 2020 www.varindia.com 50 MOST TRUSTED BRANDS IN INDIA

MOST TRUSTED & ADMIRED BRANDS CHOSEN BY THE CUSTOMERS TO BE UNVEILED OVER A LARGE TECHNOLOGY CONFERENCE TO BE HELD ON 19TH, FRIDAY, JUNE 2020, NEW DELHI

Last Date for Confirmation: 15th April 2020

KEY HIGHLIGHTS

• GTM strategy of 100 • Women leadership in Technology Brands Technology

• Top Brands in the Indian • Tech for Good ICT Industry • 50 Most successful Start-ups • Indian Market Landscape • 10 Solution Partners in India • Eminent CIO’s of India CIO/CTO Outlook • 10 Digital PSUs in the country

• Icons of India

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www.varindia.com May 2020 11 CHANNEL CHIEF

RED HAT ENDEAVOURS TO STRENGTHEN ASSOCIATION WITH PARTNERS BY CONTINUING TO ADD VALUE TO THEIR BUSINESS

IN A CHAT WITH VARINDIA, NEERAJ BHATIA, THE RED HAT PARTNER PROGRAM IS DESIGNED DIRECTOR - CHANNEL TO HELP OUR PARTNERS DEVELOP SUCCESSFUL AND PARTNER ALLIANCES, HYBRID CLOUD PRACTICES AND SOLUTIONS TO DEAL WITH “EVOLVING CHALLENGES RED HAT INDIA AND THAT DIGITIZATION ENTAILS. OUR PROGRAM OFFERS A FLEXIBLE STRUCTURE DESIGNED TO SOUTH ASIA DISCUSSES ACCOMMODATE OUR PARTNERS’ INDIVIDUAL ABOUT THE IMPORTANCE BUSINESS MODELS WHILE ALSO PROVIDING THEM ACCESS TO A VARIETY OF BENEFITS THAT OF CHANNELS, PARTNER HELP DEVELOP OUR PARTNERS’ EXPERTISE AND IMPROVE THEIR CAPABILITY TO SELL PROGRAM AND HIS AND DELIVER RED HAT TECHNOLOGIES EXPECTATION FROM CHANNEL ECOSYSTEM

With the key responsibility to develop a partner ecosystem, enabling their capabilities, empowering partners meet customer needs better, for cloud- them to offer services and solutions to help their customers, Neeraj believes” in leading with optimism based technologies. Another successful program and faith. we launched is the Red Hat OpenShift Practice “I believe in “leading with optimism and faith so together we create an honest, transparent and Builder Program, designed to better position passionate environment”. It is imperative for organizations to keep their people and ecosystem SIs to meet customers’ increasing interest equipped and empowered with the latest skills, aligned to business needs, in order to meet market for containerized application development demands of today’s digital economy. In line with this, my key responsibilities are to develop the and platforms that can support cloud-native partner ecosystem, strengthen their capabilities, enabling them to build services and solutions to help workloads to become more efficient in delivering their customers innovate faster and stay ahead of the competition. This also provides a career growth innovative solutions,” elaborates Neeraj. path to all Red Hat associates while building on Red Hat’s leading position as an enterprise open source technology to customers across all industries and segments.” EXPECTATION FROM CHANNEL CHANNELS The open source technology helps Red Hat Red Hat believes in strategic partnership which ensures customer success. It aims to build to offer customer’s need in such a way which partnerships which will help the company to deliver digital transformation the open source way. The differentiates the company from competition. An partners of Red Hat helps the company to reach a wide range of customers. In the growth trajectory increasing number of customers are embracing of Red Hat, partners play a crucial role. Red Hat offerings to transform business. “As technology advancements continue to disrupt business models, organizations need to adopt Red Hat along its partners want to help more new technologies, such as cloud, integration, containers to transform their business and innovate. customers who are thinking to start their hybrid We at Red Hat, believe in strategic partnerships which are fundamental in ensuring our customers’ cloud journey. “Our endeavour is to strengthen success. Our endeavour and motto is to “build partnerships that deliver digital transformation the our partnerships further by continuing to add open source way”, by enabling partners with the right skills and resources to provide solutions that value to their business by building capabilities speed development, testing, deployment & re-engineering thereby improving performance, and and resources to address their customers’ needs maximize return on investment for the enterprise customers. Our partner ecosystem allows Red Hat better. technology to be a part broad range of solutions and ultimately allows us to reach a larger customer For Red Hat, Open source technology gives base. We partner with OEMs (such as HPE, IBM and Cisco), Global System Integrators (TCS, us the ability to deliver what our customers Infosys, Accenture), ISVs (SAP, Mindgate, Intellect, FSS), and value-added partners like Taashee, need in a way that differentiates us from our Keen & Able, VDA Solutions, Sonata and Team Computers and many more. Therefore, partners competitors. Application development teams play an integral role in our strategy to grow with both existing and new customers,” explains Neeraj. using Red Hat OpenShift have, on average, three or four times more product deployments, PARTNER PROGRAM equating to more features launching to our end Red Hat feels that there are tremendous opportunities for partners who can identify the hybrid users faster. Our investments in Kubernetes cloud opportunity and build a service delivery capability. With the right skills and offerings partners engineering and community leadership offer can retain customers, grow their business and achieve higher returns as well as grow their customer our customers confidence to unleash new base. For instance, partners skilled in the concepts of kubernetes, containerization, automation and application capabilities and digitally transform mobility would be able to implement their expertise and foresight in making more informed transitions their business. With more and more customers and fulfil the role of system integrators while providing services to their consumers. embracing Red Hat OpenShift, we see this as the “The Red Hat Partner Program is designed to help our partners develop successful hybrid cloud first milestone in a much bigger transformation practices and solutions to deal with evolving challenges that digitization entails. Our program offers happening across every industry. With this we a flexible structure designed to accommodate our partners’ individual business models while also want our partners to help open more doors with providing them access to a variety of benefits that help develop our partners’ expertise and improve customers looking to start their hybrid cloud their capability to sell and deliver Red Hat technologies. Our philosophy is for a dual role for partners journey, we expect hybrid cloud strategy to gain where they are enabling solutions for customer as a systems integrator and (or) delivering solution traction in BFSI, ITES, MFG & distribution frameworks while themselves consuming Red Hat Technologies provider. and IT Services (Captives and developers) in Our partner program, Red Hat Partner Connect offers a structured enablement and development the region. As we support organizations in their path designed to accommodate the partners’ business models while also providing them access to a digital transformation efforts, we will continue variety of benefits that help them develop expertise and increase their capability to sell and deliver Red to add new channel partners to further the open Hat technologies. Our Red Hat Certified Cloud and Service Provider program is designed to help our hybrid cloud ecosystem,” says Neeraj.

12 May 2020 www.varindia.com HOT BYTES

CyberArk buys Identity as a VMware hosts Connect 2020, Service company – Idaptive wishes to acquire Octarine CyberArk announced it has acquired Santa Clara, California-based VMware has made two key announcements during Connect 2020, IDaptive Holdings, Inc. (Idaptive). Together, CyberArk and Idaptive will the company’s annual cybersecurity user and partner conference (hosted deliver modern identity platform with a security-first approach. virtually by VMware Carbon Black): As organizations move IT resources to hybrid and multi-cloud environments, and accelerate automation and digital transformation • The intent to acquire Octarine, whose innovative security initiatives, the number of privileged credentials associated with human, platform for Kubernetes applications helps simplify DevSecOps application and machine identities continues to grow exponentially. And and enables cloud native environments to be intrinsically secure, so do the risks. In modern IT environments, all identities can become from development through runtime. privileged under certain conditions, based on the systems, environments, • The creation of a Next-Gen SOC Alliance along with , applications or data they are accessing, or the types of operations they are IBM Security, Cloud’s Chronicle, Exabeam, and Sumo performing. Logic. The alliance empowers SOC teams with visibility, This new reality requires a new kind of Identity Security platform. prevention, detection and response capabilities that can uniquely Through the acquisition, CyberArk and Idaptive will deliver a leverage the VMware fabric. comprehensive Artificial Intelligence (AI)-based, security-first approach to managing identities that is adaptive and context-aware, and architected on the principles of Zero Trust and least privilege access, to dramatically reduce risk.

Microsoft announces acquisition Protecting workloads is critical to the security of applications and data inside every organization. The unique properties of the cloud of Metaswitch Networks (speed, agility, scale) mean that developers are increasingly using has inked a definitive agreement to acquire UK-based Kubernetes and containers to modernize applications and changing Metaswitch Networks, a provider of virtualised network software and the nature of workloads that need to be secured. As with any major voice, data and communications solutions for operators, for an undisclosed technology adoption, attackers are not far behind, looking to take sum. advantage of new risk areas. The convergence of cloud and communication Microsoft Teams, Zoom, Google Meet networks presents a unique opportunity are the new hacker weapons for Microsoft to serve As many people are using video conferencing tools like Zoom, operators globally via Microsoft Teams or Google Meet, due to pandemic strike, hackers have continued investment in Azure, registered domains according to a new report from a well known research Yousef Khalidi, Corporate Vice President, Azure Networking says paper. The domains could be used to pose as official links, potentially that this announcement builds on their recent acquisition of Affirmed tricking people into downloading malware or accidentally giving a bad Networks, which closed on April 23. Metaswitch's complementary portfolio actor access to personal information. of ultra-high-performance, cloud-native communications software will In just the last three weeks, for example, 2,449 Zoom-related domains expand their range of offerings available for the telecommunications have been registered, the research paper determined that 32 of those industry. domains are malicious and 320 are “suspicious.” And in one instance of As the industry moves to 5G, operators will have opportunities to attempted phishing, hackers sent an email that looks like an official email advance the virtualization of their core networks and move forward on a from Microsoft Teams, but a button in the email to “open” Teams was path to an increasingly cloud-native future. actually a malicious URL that downloaded malware to the user’s computer. Microsoft aims to leverage these two organisations -- extending the Hackers are also sending phishing emails posing as the World Health Azure platform to both deploy and grow these capabilities at scale in a way Organization with an attached file that downloads malware when clicked, that is secure, efficient and creates a sustainable ecosystem. the research paper said. AWS Announces Major Enhancements Indian traditional PC Shipments sees to Amazon Macie a fall by 17% YoY in 1Q20 inspite of has announced a series of major enhancements to Amazon Macie, delivering important new features, greater availability demand from Enterprises, IDC India worldwide, and substantially reduced pricing. The new features include According to new data from the International Data Corporation (IDC) updated machine learning models for more accurate detection of Personally Worldwide Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker, the India Identifiable Information (PII), support for customer-defined data types, traditional PC market inclusive of desktops, notebooks, and workstations and native multi-account management with AWS Organizations. As of declined by -16.7% year-over-year (YoY) in the first quarter of 2020 (CY today, Amazon Macie expands to 17 AWS Regions worldwide, with more 1Q20), with a total of 1.8 million shipments. regions coming online over the next few months. And, new Amazon This decline was registered across all product categories and can Macie service optimizations enable customers to discover and protect their be attributed largely to the supply issues faced by the vendors due to sensitive data in AWS at an 80% or greater discount compared to previous COVID-19, which impacted the manufacturing and logistics arms of pricing. There are no additional charges or upfront commitments required vendors in China. The nationwide lockdown in India from the second half to use Amazon Macie, and customers pay only for the data processed and of March aggravated the problems further for PC vendors since it resulted Amazon Simple Storage Service (Amazon S3) buckets evaluated. in a complete halt of retail and commercial orders. As organizations continue to manage growing volumes of information, Notebooks recorded a -16.8% decline due to significant YoY they need to identify and locate their sensitive data to ensure it is properly contractions in the consumer and education segments. The private sector, protected and being maintained in accordance with various regulatory however, posted much better results with companies advising their compliance requirements. employees to work from home in March.

www.varindia.com May 2020 13 HOT BYTES

HPE enables cloud-enabled COVID-19 McAfee joins hand with Atlassian for Test Labs and OPD Centers advanced security capabilities Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) has announced of deploying of McAfee has announced collaboration with Atlassian, to bring advanced four COVID-19 Test Labs and four Outpatient Department (OPD) data security and threat protection to common customers looking to Centers across the country to assist the Government of India and state accelerate their move to the cloud. As a result of this collaboration, governments in their efforts to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. These Atlassian customers can now leverage the power of McAfee MVISON facilities have been established in order to provide additional authorized Cloud to apply their security policies to their use of Atlassian services. testing facilities and isolation beds to manage the increased demand across MVISION Cloud provides visibility and control for Software-as-a-Service the country. (SaaS), Platform-as-a-Service (PaaS), and Infrastructure-as-a-Service Donated as part of HPE’s commitment to India announced last July, (IaaS) environments, across Content Management systems and DevOps the HPE COVID-19 Test Labs are designed to enable quick and clean testing of individuals who suspect they may have contracted COVID-19, and will be based on the specifications provided by the Ministry of Science & Technology. The Test Labs will be run and managed by the concerned government agency including installing testing equipment, deploying paramedics and technicians, providing broadband connectivity, PPEs and medical supplies. Som Satsangi, MD – India, HPE, says, “As the COVID-19 environments, via a unified security platform which helps customers pandemic continues to challenge get comprehensive control over their cloud services from managed and local communities across the world, unmanaged devices. we are responding with initiatives to The need for solutions that are designed to secure the cloud are further support the communities where we validated within a recent McAfee report that found the average enterprise live and work. The deployment of organization uses 1,400 different cloud services. As more organizations HPE COVID-19 Test Labs and OPD move their operations to the cloud and to remote work environments, they Centers will support the government’s must evolve their security measures to meet the challenges of unintentional efforts to prevent, detect and respond data uploads, device usage outside traditional network parameters, insider to COVID-19.” threats from rogue employees, application misconfiguration and more.

Pitney Bowes confirms second Zoom acquires Keybase to focus enterprise ransomware attack in seven months end-to-end encryption offering Pitney Bowes, Package and mail delivery giant, has suffered a second Zoom Video Communications and Keybase announce that Zoom ransomware attack in the past seven months, as per a news report. The has acquired Keybase, a secure messaging and file-sharing service. incident came to light after a ransomware gang known as Maze published a The acquisition of this exceptional team of security and encryption blog post claiming to have breached and encrypted the company's network. engineers will accelerate Zoom’s plan to build end-to-end encryption The Maze crew provided proof of access in the form of 11 screenshots that can reach current Zoom scalability. Transaction Marks Key portraying directory listings from inside the company's computer network. Milestone in Zoom’s 90-Day Security Plan. "Recently, we detected a security incident related to Maze ransomware. Eric S. Yuan, CEO of Zoom, comments, “There are end-to-end We are investigating the scope of the attack, specifically the type of data encrypted communications platforms. There are communications that had been accessed, which appears to be limited," a spokesperson said. platforms with easily deployable security. There are enterprise-scale "At this point, there is no evidence of further unauthorised access communications platforms. We believe that no current platform offers to our IT systems," Pitney Bowes said, while also adding that "the all of these. This is what Zoom plans to build, giving our users security, investigation remains ongoing." ease of use, and scale, all at once. The first step is getting the right team together. Keybase brings deep encryption and security expertise to Zoom, and we’re thrilled to welcome Max and his team. Bringing on Cognizant buys Collaborative Solutions a cohesive group of security engineers like this significantly advances IT service company, Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp has taken our 90-day plan to enhance our security efforts.” over Collaborative Solutions which specialises in Workday enterprise cloud finance and human resources services. This move will help Cognizant to add news finance, HR and implementation services to its existing cloud offerings, Cognizant said in a Philips plans to invest Rs 300 crore, statement. However, the company did not disclose the acquisition amount. “Collaborative Solutions, with its rich expertise and leading position in a part of Make in India initiative the Workday ecosystem, expands our opportunity in a cloud by establishing Philips India in order to expand its manufacturing facilities has plans a new practice area in this large, fast-growing market,” Greg Hyttenrauch, to invest around Rs 300 crore and hire around 1,000 people as part of that President for initiative, a top company official said. Digital Systems As a part of Make-in-India initiative, the company is expanding its and Technology at manufacturing facility at Chakan near Pune. Philips, celebrating its 90th Cognizant, said. anniversary in India, has already started to ship out its Affiniti range of The company ultrasound machines from there and has also planned to roll out magnetic also says that the resonance imaging (MRI) components from the expanded facility. transaction is expected The company has started manufacturing of MRI consoles, Magnetic to close in the second quarter of this year, pending requisite approvals. US- Resonance Imaging etc. It is also exporting MRI components to various based Collaborative Solutions, which was set up in 2003, says its Workday markets. services platform helps deliver successful client outcomes in the finance Make in India is a “strategic initiative for Philips”, which is becoming and HR spaces. The company says it has over 1,000 employees across stronger from this investment in the expansion of the manufacturing countries including the US, Canada, Australia and the UK. capacity.

14 May 2020 www.varindia.com ON THE RAMP

Lenovo’s ThinkBook, taking Dell Technologies brings open flexibility and collaboration to a new source networking solutions league for today’s workforce Enterprise SONiC Distribution Lenovo’s new ThinkBook, dedicated to small and medium-sized Dell Technologies is announcing Enterprise SONiC Distribution by businesses (SMBs) comes with new technologies that take flexibility Dell Technologies, a new set of fully supported open source networking and collaboration to a whole new level. It boasts intuitive features that solutions that help enterprises modernize and modernises multitasking and redefines personal productivity. simplify the operations and management of Given the current COVID-19 scenario, modern workers need a their data centers at scale. streamlined laptop they can use to collaborate from nearly any remote As organizations increasingly rely on location. No other modern hybrid cloud models to do business, group leverages smarter the historically monolithic and proprietary technology to enhance approach to networking has created productivity quite like inefficiencies and unneeded complexity. the smartphone-literate Dell Technologies is building off the work workers. Nearly 60 Microsoft spearheaded as part of the Software percent of the “new workforce” have grown up working, creating and for Open Networking in the Cloud (SONiC) open source project. By communicating online with stylish devices that make a statement. integrating SONiC into the DNA of the Dell EMC PowerSwitch Open Millennials and Gen Z, who comprise of the two generations of modern Networking hardware, Dell’s Enterprise SONiC Distribution removes workers crave meaningful employment and expect company devices that complexity and creates an agile and flexible network through an approach blur the lines of work, life, passion and purpose. built on open standards. ThinkBook is specially designed for SMBs buying laptops for perceived “Our customers tell us that, while a hybrid cloud approach is critical to design and price advantages, but also miss out on business grade features their success, they struggle to maintain and scale their networks, and manage and security in the process. them to effectively avoid multiple points of failure,” says, Tom Burns, Senior VP and GM, Dell Technologies Integrated Products & Solutions. DE-CIX India brings DirectCLOUD service DE-CIX, the internet exchange operator, is coming up with Red Hat accelerates open Hybrid DirectCLOUD service at their DE-CIX Mumbai location. Customers can access the DE-CIX Cloud Exchange and can connect to the global cloud Cloud technologies with new services provided by and Google Cloud. Amazon Web Services will soon be available. offerings to fulfil customer needs “This is the first step in building an extensive Indian cloud ecosystem, Red Hat announced new offerings to help organizations of all sizes which will feature both global and local service providers. We are looking and industries optimize, scale or simply protect IT operations in the face forward to go beyond peering and bring our customers more value for their of shifting global dynamics. existing accesses to DE-CIX. More and more business-critical workloads Red Hat has long championed technology evolutions and wants to are running in the cloud; thus, enterprises have an increasing need to get enable customers to build any application and deploy everywhere with a robust, secure and private connection to these cloud infrastructures. the consistency and flexibility an open hybrid cloud foundation provides. Therefore, DE-CIX offers a Cloud Exchange with some of the most Building on this vision, Red Hat’s new offerings are designed to improve important Cloud Service Providers available allowing customers by using the delivery, accessibility and stability of critical services and applications one physical infrastructure to access all the Cloud Service Providers they on a worldwide scale on the backbone of the hybrid cloud. are using,” says Sudhir Kunder, Senior Vice President and National Head Paul Cormier, President and CEO, Red Hat says, “Perhaps more than Sales at DE-CIX India. ever before, the unique needs of every organization are in sharp focus - some need to scale operations immediately to meet relentless services demand while others seek to strengthen and maintain core IT operations. Intel brings in 10th Gen Intel Rather than only provide technologies to address one need or the other, Red Hat provides a flexible, fully open set of solutions to our customers, Core vPro Platform meeting them where they are with what they need.” Intel has introduced its new 10th Gen Intel Core vPro processors, built to power the next generation of business computing innovation for the increasingly remote workforce. The new mobile and desktop Vertiv launches Liebert cPDU a compact, PC processors deliver increased productivity improvements, connectivity, security features and pre-packaged power management system remote manageability – all to empower IT to Vertiv has introduced Liebert cPDU, a reliable and affordable power deliver amazing experiences, helping employees management solution for critical computer rooms, LANS/WANS, stay connected, more productive, more secure and communication facilities and manufacturing divisions. Housed in a single, in the flow with minimal interruptions. self-contained cabinet, the system combines distribution, computer-grade Stephanie Hallford, Intel vice president of grounding, and branch circuit power monitoring to provide clean and the Client Computing Group and general manager of Business Client monitored power to vital electronic equipment. The Liebert cPDU is Platforms, comments, “Built for business, the Intel vPro platform is a available in India, in 20-80 kVA capacities. comprehensive PC foundation for performance, hardware-enhanced The Liebert cPDU’s combination of performance features, including security, manageability and stability. With our new 10th Gen Intel Core custom tailored power system, and compact footprint, make it ideal for vPro processors, we’ve enhanced that solid PC foundation to help tackle delivering monitored power in a wide range of applications from IT and not only today’s challenges, but also those of future work environments manufacturing, to retail and banking, financial services and insurance across the PC lifecycle.” (BFSI). It offers the benefits of a custom-tailored power system, with the For more than a decade, the Intel vPro platform has empowered IT convenience and cost savings of a pre-packaged, factory tested unit. to help businesses, that dedication continues to expand through the latest Fully compatible with the non-linear loads of modern computer Intel vPro platform, powered by 10th Gen Intel Core vPro processors, to systems and other electronic equipment, the Liebert cPDU automatically deliver uncompromised productivity, hardware-based security features and establishes a single point ground to meet the grounding recommendations a foundation for computing innovation. of major electronics manufacturers' and the National Electric Code.

www.varindia.com May 2020 15 ON THE RAMP

Citrix extends Remote PC Access offerings Oracle enables HR teams to Citrix Systems has announced that it is extending its globally leveraged Remote PC Access solution to the cloud, making it available as part of boost performance with its Citrix Desktop Service and Citrix Desktop Essentials. The move enables organizations of all sizes to deliver a familiar virtual desktop and high- Analytics for Fusion HCM performance experience that empowers employees to safely access all the Now more than ever, organizations need to draw actionable apps, information and resources insights from their data to enhance decision making and boost business they need to perform at their best performance. To help HR teams achieve that goal, Oracle announced its while working remotely. Analytics for Fusion HCM. Mark Bowker, senior analyst The new self-service analytics capabilities help customers maximize for Enterprise Strategy Group, the value of Oracle Human Capital Management (HCM) Cloud. Built on comments, “Businesses that Oracle Analytics Cloud and powered by Oracle Autonomous Database, rush solutions to accommodate Oracle Analytics for Fusion HCM provides HR teams with deeper insights remote work face security risks, into workforce management by enabling a comprehensive view into data questionable impact to productivity, and unknown network issues. As from across the organization. “In today’s volatile business environment, companies work through addressing any shortcomings, now is an ideal HR has become a key strategic business partner for the organization,” time to consider VDI and other digital workspace technologies that can said T.K. Anand, Senior Vice President, Oracle Analytics. “With Oracle deliver a secure and productive experience for employees who are working Analytics for Fusion HCM, customers are now able to leverage out-of- from home.” the- HR analytics to gain unprecedented intelligence and reduce the A Simple, Secure and Reliable Solution organization’s reliance on IT. This allows for closer collaboration between With Citrix Remote PC Access, IT organizations can quickly and easily HR and other key business units—such as finance—to help our customers deliver a full virtual desktop experience to employees by installing a small navigate uncertain times and position them for sustained business growth.” client (VDA) that allows users to securely remote into their Windows or PCs from anywhere using virtually any device. UiPath Announces ServiceNow integration UiPath has announced an integration with ServiceNow to extend the Nutanix brings VDI service to help value of automation across the enterprise. Leveraging the companies’ deep and dynamic integration to easily and securely automate complete and promote telework adoption complex workflows in and around ServiceNow, UiPath and ServiceNow Nutanix announced a new VDI service to help promote telework enable organizations to achieve business-wide digital transformation to adoption among Indian organizations. Nutanix ‘FastTrack for VDI’ brings improve efficiency, innovate to remain competitive, and reimagine the IT, together Nutanix HCI and software with selected partners to accelerate employee and customer experience. and optimise a VDI service in just a few weeks. In a bid to support, end-to-end hyperautomation platform with the As the nation’s businesses continue to battle the impact of COVID-19, ServiceNow Now Platform and products to help enterprises become many still struggle to enable their workforces to operate and function digital businesses faster, Worldwide, companies are focused on delivering remotely while still maintaining access to the same tools and applications great customer and employee experiences. And behind every great they require to be productive and efficient. Hence, the increasing interest experience is a great workflow. With its bi-directional integration, UiPath and importance of VDI. and ServiceNow are making it easy for employees and customers to quickly Building VDI environments to effectively maintain core business and and easily make decisions, solve problems, find answers, and automate technical operations frequently takes up to a few months. But, Nutanix tasks – making their lives at work simple, easy and convenient. ‘FastTrack for VDI’ can reduce that to a matter of weeks. Nutanix FastTrack for VDI helps to address these challenges while supporting local businesses to continue their DX journey in these times of Veeam enterprise-ready Cloud uncertainty. It allows remote access to critical business applications, even via BYOD devices and strict security policies can be implemented and Backup and Recovery Solution for managed through its simple management console. Microsoft Azure now available Veeam Software announced the general availability of NEW Veeam NETGEAR brings one year Insight Backup for Microsoft Azure, an enterprise-ready cloud backup and recovery solution. This new offering will enable customers and service Management Solution providers to move more NETGEAR has announced the inclusion of a free one-year Insight applications and data subscription with the registration of selected list of Insight Managed to Azure, and to cost- switches, wireless Access Point and Routers. The offer applies to all effectively, securely, devices added on or after April 27, 2020, for both new and existing Insight and easily protect cloud accounts. applications and data NETGEAR Insight is an industry-first remote network and device in Azure. In addition, management solution that provides easy plug-and-play set-up and Veeam’s portable backup format enables complete Cloud Mobility management using its cloud portal or the intuitive Insight mobile app. – including backup, recovery, and migration – across a multi-cloud The Insight cloud-based application, designed for remote network environment. management is especially well suited for the current environment that Public cloud Infrastructure-as-a-Service (IaaS), such as Microsoft both IT teams and managed service providers are now required to address. Azure, continues to rapidly grow in adoption for production IT Providing a broad variety of configurations and network scenarios, the workloads. Even with public cloud IaaS, while the uptime of the Insight application supports everything from the most basic of networks, infrastructure is guaranteed by the service provider, the customer is still through to multi-tenancy and multi-roles. responsible for not only their data, but also protecting that data against Marthesh Nagendra, Country Manager India, ME & SAARC, threats such as ransomware, accidental deletion, data corruption or NETGEAR comments, "At NETGEAR, our key focus is to meet the rogue users, just as it is with customers’ on-premises data. With NEW demands of our customers and provide businesses a platform where they Veeam Backup for Microsoft Azure, Veeam extends its broad platform can manage numerous customers remotely which makes it possible for support with a comprehensive, enterprise-ready solution for added the SMEs to seamlessly access all the information to ensure the business backup and recovery controls of Azure apps and data hosted on Azure is running smoothly." virtual machines.

16 May 2020 www.varindia.com VOICE-N-DATA

General Atlantic to invest ` 6,598.38 Apple acquires virtual reality crores in Jio Platforms company NextVR Reliance Industries Limited and Jio Platforms Limited have announced According to a news report, Apple has an investment of ` 6,598.38 crore by General Atlantic, a leading global purchased NextVR, which is best known for its growth equity firm. This investment values Jio past work with the NBA. The two had worked Platforms at an equity value of ` 4.91 lakh crore together to produce and broadcast basketball and an enterprise value of ` 5.16 lakh crore. games and highlights in virtual reality. General Atlantic’s investment will translate Apple didn't disclose the terms of the deal, into a 1.34% equity stake in Jio Platforms on but a report last month estimated the company a fully diluted basis. With this investment, had paid $100 million to acquire NextVR. It's Jio Platforms has raised ` 67,194.75 crore not clear what Apple plans to do with NextVR's from leading technology investors including expertise, but that same report from 9to5Mac Facebook, Silver Lake, Vista Equity Partners said Apple had asked NextVR's engineers to and General Atlantic in less than four weeks. relocate to Cupertino. Mukesh Ambani, Chairman and Managing For the past several years there have been rumors that Apple has been Director of Reliance Industries, says, “I am working on an augmented headset, but that device has yet to materialize. thrilled to welcome General Atlantic, a marquee In fact, aside from its ARKit framework, which developers can use to global investor, as a valued partner. I have known General Atlantic for create augmented reality experiences for iOS, the company has mostly several decades and greatly admired it for its belief in India’s huge growth been quiet on the VR and AR front. potential. General Atlantic shares our vision of a Digital Society for India and strongly believes in the transformative power of digitization in enriching the lives of 1.3 billion Indians. We are excited to leverage SC announces WhatsApp Pay to be General Atlantic’s proven global expertise and strategic insights across 40 years of technology investing for the benefit of Jio.” launched only after RBI nod WhatsApp has assured the Supreme Court that it would not launch its payment gateway, WhatsApp Pay, before getting the approval of the Vodafone Idea offers customer Reserve Bank of India. Kapil Sibal, Senior Advocate has service on WhatsApp through VIC made the statement on behalf of the Vodafone Idea launched VIC - a revolutionary AI-powered digital messaging platform, before a bench customer service and support virtual assistant for its customers. It is now headed by Chief Justice of India SA live on the Websites, My Vodafone and My Idea Apps, and on one of the Bobde. The three-judge bench then most popular messaging app, WhatsApp. clarified that there was no stay on The service has been developed for Vodafone Idea on cutting-edge WhatsApp’s application pending with technology by ORISERVE, a start-up in stealth mode. Through this the government. initiative, Vodafone Idea has further simplified access for customers to get The Supreme Court was dealing their queries, service requirements catered to, from the comfort of their with a petition filed by NGO Good homes. VIC enables Vodafone and Idea customers to get instant response Governance Chambers, seeking on a host of service requirements including bill payments, recharges, VAS, to restrain the government from plan activation, new connection, data balance, bill requests and much more. allowing WhatsApp and Facebook VIC is intuitive, simple-to-use, secure and allows customers to to operate payment gateways. The converse with Vodafone Idea by leveraging the power of tomorrow’s petition claimed that the reach of WhatsApp and Facebook represented technology, today. With people confined to their homes, life has moved on a real threat to the security of financial information that would pass on to the virtual/digital plane for people across demographics. In response to them. The court recorded Sibal’s statement, and issued notices to the to the needs of the times, Vodafone Idea VIC Virtual Assistant can be National Payments Corporation of India, the RBI and the government accessed 24x7, providing seamless service addressal and uniform customer seeking their formal legal stand on the issue. They will have to respond experience for both, Vodafone and Idea customers. within three week. Despite controversy, BSNL places 4G Airtel inks multi-year deal with equipment order with Nokia, ZTE Nokia to enhance network capacity As per news report, Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) has decided to place a new order for 4G equipment to Nokia and ZTE in and customer experience order to upgrade over 49,000 2G and 3G sites across the country. Nokia and Bharti Airtel (“Airtel”) announced a multi-year agreement The move follows recent obstacles faced by the ailing BSNL related to to deploy Nokia’s SRAN solution across 9 circles1 in India, helping Airtel its phase nine 4G expansion tender for 50,000 new to enhance the network capacity of its networks, in particular 4G, and 4G sites. improve customer experience. The home-grown vendors via their representative The rollout, which will also lay the foundation for providing 5G body TEPC (The Telecom Equipment and Services connectivity in the future, will see approximately 300,000 radio units Export Promotion Council) had alleged that they deployed across several spectrum bands, including 900 Mhz, 1800 Mhz, were not consulted before the operator floats this 2100 Mhz and 2300 Mhz, and is expected to be completed by 2022. tender. They said that terms of this tender exclude Gopal Vittal, MD & CEO (India and South Asia) at Bharti Airtel, said, them from bidding, and favours Chinese vendors “Airtel has consistently topped network performance charts in studies like ZTE, besides flouting the Indian government’s conducted by multiple global experts. We are committed to continuously ‘Make in India’ norms under the Public Procurement invest in emerging network technologies to provide a best-in-class (Preference to Make in India) Order 2017. experience to our customers. This initiative with Nokia is a major step in After this, the tendor has been put on hold. India’s Commerce Ministry this direction. We have been working with Nokia for more than a decade asked the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) and the state-run now and are delighted to use Nokia’s SRAN products in further improving telco, BSNL to do so. the capacity and coverage of our network as we prepare for the 5G era.”

www.varindia.com May 2020 17 CHANNEL BUZZ

Pitney Bowes celebrates its 100 Years Ingram Micro to distribute Check Pitney Bowes marks 100 years of delivering innovative products and solutions to drive commerce. The 100th anniversary is a remarkable Point’s security solutions in India milestone for a company that began in 1920, when Arthur Pitney, the Ingram Micro India has inked an agreement with Check Point inventor, and Walter Bowes, the promoter, first met and put their ideas Software Technologies. Given the rapidly increasing velocity together to invent the first postage meter -- the award-winning Model and complexity of cyber-attacks, Ingram Micro aims to provide M, creating the “metered mail” market and a new industry with it. organizations in India even more choice to find security solutions Marc B. Lautenbach, president and CEO, comments, “Throughout that are best suited for their requirements. our 100 years, we have supported millions of clients around the Commenting on the engagement, Navneet Singh Bindra, world, contributed Executive Director, Advanced Solutions at Ingram Micro significantly to our India & SAARC remarked, “Data is the most valuable asset communities where we live and work, and invented industries and business models that have endured and evolved for decade. Today, we are leveraging our core mailing and related financial services capabilities to provide shipping and strategic capital to help our clients grow their business. You don’t reach 100 years in business without of organizations in today's digital economy and they need facing challenges, disruption and uncertainty at one time or another. to protect themselves from cyber-attacks designed for data Throughout our long and storied history, we have confronted difficult theft. Cybersecurity is critical for businesses as it provides times, including the Great Depression, World War II, the Great comprehensive digital protection from a wide range of threats. Recession of 2008, and each time we have come out stronger. The We are pleased to offer Check Point cybersecurity solutions pandemic has disrupted every sense of normalcy around the world, spanning network, data, endpoint, cloud and mobile technologies impacting the lives of many. Our primary concern remains protecting that can be leveraged by channel partners to protect their the welfare and safety of our employees, especially our ‘essential critical customers against the most advanced attacks.” infrastructure workers’ who serve our clients every day. Through this Check Point Software Technologies’ solutions protect global crisis, our teams continue to carry great pride in the work they customers from 5th and 6th generation cyber-attacks with do to power commerce and secure the foundation we’ve built for our an industry leading catch rate for malware, ransomware and second century.” advanced targeted threats. It also offers the most comprehensive and cutting-edge cyber security technology across network, data, endpoints, cloud and mobile. RP tech India's Green & Orange Zone Offers gave Impetus to Channel Business: Partners RP tech India’s Green and Orange zone offers received an Endpoint Protector boosts its overwhelming response from channel partners across India. Over 500 partners in more than 250 cities benefitted from the offers announced Channel Partner Program to increase between 4th-16th May. Appreciating RP tech’s proactive step, partners said that the initiative provided an impetus to the channel business the adoption of DLP Solutions during Corona crisis and subsequent lockdown. Endpoint Protector by CoSoSys strengths its ‘Channel Partner RP tech India successfully concluded Green and Orange Zone Program’ to bridge connect and establish understanding on why the offers for all India Data Loss Prevention Solutions are business-relevant and should be in channel partners. Under the offers, priority. The company plans to focus on several industries, such as the partners were BFSI segment, IT, Manufacturing, Healthcare, and Pharma, where the eligible for various adoption of the right technology is a complete must. rewards on the With a customer-first vision, the program aims to strengthen and achievement of widen its existing network across India and educate all partners with the certain turnover right guidance, to accelerate the adoption of a data protection strategy from RP tech that works for enterprises. Regular Virtual engagement activities and during the offer training sessions with the channel partners are planned to establish a period. Valid on Peripherals, Components and Accessories brands healthy relationship and work together during this worldwide Crisis. from RP tech Portfolio, the offers were divided into the various slab to Filip Cotfas, Channel Manager at Endpoint Protector by CoSoSys ensure maximum participation from partners. says, “With Covid19, businesses have never been more at risk of Akhilesh Goyal, Proprietor of Hubli based Goyal Infotronics, said, data breaches. The Crisis today has taught businesses worldwide the “The Orange zone offer helped me to restart business and reduce importance of Data Loss Prevention solutions, and how its right losses I incurred in the last 2 months. I am thankful to RP tech India’s adoption can help seamless functioning in any given situation. Taking local team for their support in the timely delivery of material. These the cues, from the current situation, Endpoint Protector by CoSoSys, kind of offers are essential to boost confidence of channel partners with its Educational framework, aims to reinvigorate the adoption of and help them sustain in the business. I thank RP tech for the steps the Data Loss Prevention solutions in India.” they have taken to support channel partners during the COVID -19 crisis.” With this, Endpoint Protector by CoSoSys plans to amplify its Sanjay Sharda, Proprietor of Sangali based Sun Art Studio, said, presence in India, by tapping into untouched regions, where adding “The offer helped me in getting my business back on the track. Their more channel partners would be a big leap for businesses. The company prompt material delivery and service support helped me get good shall lay special emphasis in the BFSI sector, being the most vulnerable, business during the offer period. The initiative was fantastic, however, especially in the current situation where the country is seeing the I would appreciate if they provide clarity on products availability and increased data breaches surrounding the COVID19 pandemic. offer multiple SKUs options in future.”

18 May 2020 www.varindia.com FACE TO FACE

ACER LEVERAGING ITS E-STORE FACILITY TO SERVE CUSTOMERS AMIDST PANDEMIC

In this unprecedented time when the At this intense situation, Acer is bracing up entire nation is undergoing a lockdown to to increase the operations so that it can fulfil curb the spread of global pandemic, the novel the requirements of its buyers and sellers. Coronavirus, Acer is leveraging its e-store to It is also enabling its partner’s business and facilitate its customer’s omnichannel through workforce by making products available for partners. This initiative will help customers consumers and provide contactless delivery. to purchase products easily, keep partners and customers safe, and promote business “Acer is preparing to scale up operations continuity. to meet the requirements of its users, both buyers and sellers. We are serving hundreds “As one of the top ICT companies, our of sellers and thousands of small businesses channel strategy is always aimed at providing across India and helping them prepare their a clear vision and many others. During this business and workforce to make products volatile time, we are leveraging our e-store to available for consumers in this time of need further accelerate our customer’s omnichannel and provide contactless delivery. through our partners. This special initiative is In a chat with VARINDIA, built to ensure ease of purchase, keep partners We see a strong pipeline of orders and customers safe, and promote business for laptops and desktops and work-from- Chandrahas Panigrahi, CMO, continuity. This is a future-ready experience home accessories such as headsets, mouse, and Consumer Business enabling our customers and channel partners notebooks, etc. Our seller support team is Head, Acer India mentions in the post-COVID world. We have always providing guidance and on-ground support to relied deeply on our channel partners for sellers on our platform to help them resume how Acer is leveraging its engaging with our potential and already operations. Considering the current situation, e-store facility, scaling up existing customers. Hence, we are committed our supply chain team continues to maintain an its operations to help its to ensuring that there is no disruption to their intense focus on safety and health procedures partners and their workforce competence to run business and serve their in our facilities and staff that will support the customers,” says ChandrahasPanigrahi, CMO, movement of products for sellers,” highlights to meet the demands in this and Consumer Business Head, Acer India. ChandrahasPanigrahi. severe time

www.varindia.com May 2020 19 FACE TO FACE

SOPHOS CONTINUES TO SUPPORT AND SAFEGUARD ITS CUSTOMERS FROM CYBER-ATTACKS DURING WORK FROM HOME

AS WORK FROM HOME IS BECOMING THE NEW NORMAL FOR MILLIONS OF INDIAN PROFESSIONALS, SOPHOS IS ENSURING THEIR CUSTOMERS’ SAFETY AND SECURITY FROM ALL KINDS OF CYBER-CRIMINAL ACTIVITIES AMIDST THIS PANDEMIC. WITH 25 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN IT & TELECOM INDUSTRY, SUNIL SHARMA - MD SALES - SOPHOS INDIA & SAARC HAS SHARED HIS VALUABLE OPINION ON THE BUSINESS CONTINUITY, ENABLING SECURITY FOR THE EMPLOYEES WHILE WORK FROM HOME IN A CHAT WITH VARINDIA.

SUNIL SHARMA MD SALES SOPHOS INDIA & SAARC

ENSURING BUSINESS CONTINUITY AMIDST CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK There are a lot of companies which are right now providing work from home for employees. Sophos is ensuring that all of their customers are safe and secure from all kinds of cyber-criminal activities. During COVID-19 and the content which we deliver.We are adding to the knowledge and our time, researchers have found that activities of the cyber criminals have happiness is over the moon.” increased. TO BOOST THE ECONOMY FURTHER On ensuring security, Sunil says, “All kind of threat and phishing emails, which are primarily today being targeted around COVID-19. Sophos is Sunil feels Sophos is a small cog in the wheel of Economy. Sophos is there to secure them with the help of our product profile, portfolio, which trying to keep the economy alive while they are working from home. is cloud based security. Primarily, we are offering our customers Sophos Sharing his observations on the economic perspective Sunil says, “I Central, Intercept X advanced, which is on top of any basic antivirus or think it all depends on the worldwide economy, on how Indiacan start anti ransomware anti exploit. We are preventing and making sure that our working early. The situation is pretty bad in terms of infections, no customers are not being impacted.” solution, there is no destination available and so it will take a bit of time. Even if you look at the International Monetary Fund about almost $9 CHALLENGES AND SUPPORT FOR WFH trillion to impact and the worldwide economy will be shrunk by 3%. There In a normal circumstance when usually employees work from office, is no doubt; this is going to be a huge impact. I may not be an economist then they are being secured by their local firewalls and local area network to give the right figures for India.” settings, done by the local IT admin. But as employees work remotely neither their access point is secure nor the laptop as they might be working MESSAGE TO PARTNERS off their personal laptop where endpoint security is not available. VPN Delivering a message to his partners Sunil wishes them for a healthy connectivity is also a major challenge for the remote employees. and safe life and boosts them in this unprecedented time. Through this Praising his team Sunil comments, “Sophos and I are so proud that message Sunil Sharma not only boosts the partners but also shows a way we have our brief sales team across the country, our support staff across to survive in this tough time. the globe and we are supporting our customers 24x7. Different challenges In his concluding words Sunil says, “All my partners stay safe and stay are being faced by customers while working from home in comparison healthy and never ever give up. We are going through some tough times. to what they used to while working from office. All our team members And there are more tough times ahead. But keep moving. Keep talking to are available from 9-9:30 to 7-7:30 every day. They are continuously, your customers and keep helping them. These are unprecedented times. consistently working with 3rd parties, with our partner, webinars etc. we Keep helping them and have a smile. I also understood from one of the are doing a lot of work. It is multiple webinars running at one time. And story that when you go through a pain and if you have a smile, it releases that is been a roaring success for us, which we were able to do. Primarily a chemical called dopamine in your body which actually helps you to get for our emotional connect with our partners, they are so excited about relief from that pain. We have to do that job.” n

20 May 2020 www.varindia.com FACE TO FACE

GEARING UP FOR THE EVOLUTION OF INDUSTRY 4.0 Industry 4.0 has assumed a critical aspects but also strategic objectives such as consideration in the overall scheme of go-to-market. This proves that Industry 4.0 things of the business ecosystem in general has advanced to assist product launches at and industrial as well as the manufacturing optimum cost reduction ratios. The purview domain in particular. What started as of Industry 4.0 now extends beyond support connecting the unconnected i.e. the physical to assume a consultative role to the extent components transformed into a digital that businesses are able to redefine their ecosystem through the use of IIoT, has now revenue modules altogether. evolved to reach a scale that goes well beyond the first generation of Industry 4.0. Additionally, with change being the only constant, the requirement of businesses For instance, business demands or rather has evolved as well with parameters such as expectations from Industry 4.0 encompass scalability challenges, diminishing role of aspects such as work environment safety, humans, and uncertain return on investments industrial analytics, optimum supply chain faced by manufacturing players assuming By Dr. Keshab Panda management, pre-empting cyber-attacks, and high priority. These are being addressed by CEO and Managing Director, enabling smart factories to cite a few. Thus Industry 4.0, by adopting a solution-based, L&T Technology Services Industry 4.0 is now expected to possess human-centric scalable approach to smart capabilities that not only enhance operations factories. but also institutionalize business excellence. focus on Digital Manufacturing Solutions The next generation of Industry 4.0 integrating Product Lifecycle Management, The evolved version of Industry 4.0 involves an approach that is more human- Manufacturing Operations, Manufacturing includes under its purview use of new-age centric and RoI-driven including making it Engineering, Asset Management and Product concepts such as 3D printing that have the possible to scale digital even in a factory setup. Information Management thereby creating a capability to score high on not only operational The evolved version of Industry 4.0 puts value-based digital transformation roadmap.

PRODUCT OF THE MONTH STYLE MEETS EFFICIENCY CA-WCHP - USB-C Docking Station with Wireless Charging

Cadyce provides a plethora of reliable networking solutions and hardware devices that efficiently WHY SHOULD YOU CHOOSE work in the most demanding business and mobile environments. The extensive line of products CADYCE? offered includes Serial Communication Cards, Internet Cameras, Presentation Devices, USB Priced at INR 6999, Cadyce’s CA-WCHP Accessories, Apple accessories, and the like. wireless charging dock has a plethora of Mobile phones have become an important part of our daily lives and if it is running out of advanced features. If you are looking for a charge while we are on the go then it becomes very difficult. To prevent such a mishap, wireless one-stop hassle-free charging solution for your charging docks have proved to be a blessing in disguise. smartphone, Cadyce’s CA-WCHP wireless charging dock is your go-to option. The multiple ERA OF THE WIRELESS: slots for cables, excellent HDMI resolution, Wireless charging docks allow users to charge their devices in the absence of a charging port or power outlet. Power is transferred to the users’ mobile devices without any connecting cable. This is done with the help of a power transmitting pad and a receiver, which is attached to the mobile device or in-built. Electricity is modulated to make sure that the charging pad and the battery can communicate with each other. In this way, the charger verifies that a valid battery is in place before power is transmitted. Wireless charging allows easy and fast charging without the hassle of USB cables, adapters, and power outlets. People do not have to depend on the availability of power outlets or wired charger while on the go. Cadyce’s CA-WCHP wireless charging dock is based on Qi technology and adds HDMI and USB ports to computers and charges compatible smartphones wirelessly. ● The device uses inductive charging technology ● It supports 5W/7.5W/10W Max output. ● It is compatible with both Windows OS as well as Mac OS. ● Cadyce’s CA-WCHP wireless charging dock can charge phones without even having to convenient dimensions, LED indicators, and remove the phone cases. Moreover, the device has an anti-slip surface, which provides maximum various compatible operating systems set it protection from the device falling or slipping. apart from other wireless charging docks in ● CA-WCHP is small and handy. It is about 8.5 cm x 0.7 cm and weighs around 125g. With the market. Being certified by CE, FCC, RoHS, LED indicators, the device quickly notifies the users about the status of the operation. It is a solid it is one of the best wireless charging docks white while the charging is on, and the white light flashes when an incompatible device is connected. available in the market.

www.varindia.com May 2020 21 FACE TO FACE

BRIGHTCOVE LEVERAGES CLOUD SOLUTIONS TO ENABLE CUSTOMERS TO SAVE COSTS, INCREASE REVENUE AND TO TRANSFORM USER EXPERIENCE

An online video platform, Brightcove provides cloud solutions for online video streaming to broadcasters, publishers, brands, content creators, e-learning companies, e-commerce organizations. With technologies like AI, ML and a specific technology called Context Aware Encoding, which is Brightcove’s patent pending technology, Brightcove is regulating the opportunity to save costs on bandwidth and storage. In a chat with VARINDIA, Vinit Mehta, Country Manager-India, Brightcove has spoken up about the surging use of videos, technologies used by the company and its global standpoint.

INCREASING USE OF VIDEO STREAMING Brightcove being a global leader in the Online Video Platform (OVP) space is a pioneer in this space. In Vinit’s words Brightcove was founded a whole year before YouTube was formed. In terms of video technology and the video expertise, Brightcove is looked upon as the torch bearer of any innovation as well, in video streaming. If an OTT platform, an enterprise, a brand, an e-commerce or e-learning platform users want to stream video while making sure the economics, VINIT MEHTA the price and affordability are within their range. Brightcove is very conscious of innovating with Country Manager-India, Brightcove technology that will enable their customers to save costs, to increase revenue or to transform the user experience such that their customers get the most seamless experience when they hit the play button. Brightcove Beacon, where if you’re a content Delving deep in the use of online video streaming Vinit Mehta discusses about this platform. owner and want to launch an OTT platform in According to him, media and entertainment is the bread and butter. “Video does very well in the media and entertainment space, we enable media and entertainment but now we’re also finding out that enterprises along with e-commerce you to launch apps on their website, mobile and e-learning guys are increasingly using video. They have been using videos for employee on- phone, smart TVs really fast. boarding, training, interviews, CEOs, subject matter expert analysis, so on and so forth. There is PRODUCTS USED BY a video use case emerging in pretty much everything in life and the current situation is only giving THE COMPANY it a boost.” Brightcove Video Cloud is the fundamental GO-TO-MARKET STRATEGY ON GLOBAL STANDPOINT product around which the other products are built around. It serves as the backend in the Primarily based in Mumbai and Chennai,Brightcove claims to be upwards of $170 million in cloud which manages your workflow. On top sales business wise. With more than 650 employees, in 14 countries across the world the company of that, the company has different product is headquarteredin Boston. stacks like Brightcove Live which is a product Vinit points out, “Our go-to market has traditionally been media organizations such as news grade based live streaming solution. It enables channels, broadcasters, online publishers and OTT platforms. Now, over the last one and half broadcasters and publishers to stream live to two years, we have seen increasing interest from e-learning and e-commerce portals as they events or 24x7 live channels online. want video on their site to communicate product knowledge and information. In the US, we Vinit elaborates, “We also have Brightcove have Home Depot as a customer, which shows people using different tools. Home Depot is the Engage. If you’re an organization and you want largest vendor of tools which can be used in Do-it-Yourself or DIY projects. The US is the largest to communicate with your employees through market for DIY projects. They have video which depict different tools which can be used to make video. Then you can launch apps which have a bed or a chair. Many companies in India are approaching us to use video in innovative ways to a single sign-on and security required for communicate a message.” enterprise and you can have training videos, employee on-boarding videos, live townhalls FOR ENTERPRISES all on an app. Without developing an app you For enterprises the company has recently launched a suite of products which enable businesses can actually launch an app within two or three to manage business continuity operations in these times. Brightcove comes with secure video weeks with this technology. Brightcove Engage workflows managing communications, events. In terms of scalability and security, Brightcove is gives you a white-labelled app which you can one of the best in the business. It engages viewers with interactive elements and provides security give to employees, with your company name and analytics all bundled in. That’s an offering called Brightcove Continuum. It is a suite of video along with videos, so they feel connected to the products owned by us which will enable businesses ensure continuity by having video tools at organization. Brightcove Continuum is meant their disposal. primarily for internal communications. With all our offerings, companies can have live events, ON LAUNCHING OTT PLATFORMS very quickly.” Brightcove helps customers launch websites, mobile apps, smart tv apps really fast. Brightcove AT LAST Beacon is meant for customers who want to launch an OTT platform. Usually, testing and launch periods in such cases is at least six months. Brightcove Beacon is a plug and play product which In his concluding words Vinit says people gives users the front end and the back end for video streaming called Video cloud as well as the come to Brightcove for their experience in payment partner to enablethem to launch the OTT app within 10-12 weeks max. video cloud and video streaming. They have an innovative product line and top experts On launching videos, Vinit comments, “The CDN bit or the last mile delivery bit is getting on board which have helped several large commoditized a little bit, in terms of the bits delivered. But we always try and innovate as organizations leverage video streaming which seen with products such as Brightcove Continuum. There’s another product we have launched is simple to use, seamless and scalable. n

22 May 2020 www.varindia.com FACE TO FACE

“OUR GROWING FOCUS IS TO CATER TO THE DEMAND OF PHOTOGRAPHY ENTHUSIASTS WHO WANT TO GRADUATE FROM SMARTPHONE PHOTOGRAPHY”

IN A CHAT WITH VARINDIA, C SUKUMARAN, DIRECTOR - CONSUMER SYSTEM PRODUCTS DIVISION & IMAGE COMMUNICATION PRODUCTS DIVISION, CANON TALKS ABOUT THE PRESENT PHOTOGRAPHY LANDSCAPE OF THE COUNTRY, HOW HIGH-END SMARTPHONES WITH RICH CAMERA QUALITY AFFECTING DIGITAL CAMERA MARKET, PRODUCT PORTFOLIO, CHANNELS STRATEGY ETC.

What is the current scope of a smartphone. For instance, one of the unique photography in India? What advantages of a conventional camera against a smartphone, is the presence of an ecosystem of kind of future do you foresee? diverse lenses and accessories that heightens the Photography as an art has grown by leaps and user experience manifolds. bounds, and it continues to grow. It has become Could you throw some light a part of our everyday life as our eagerness to keep preserving memories has been one of the on Canon’s camera offerings most vital factors in the growth of photography, in India? What are some of both as a hobby and as a profession. This the best performing cameras has in fact contributed towards the evolution by Canon in India? of photography as we have so many genres sprouting from an art form, both established At Canon, we are focused on increased and emerging such as wedding, wildlife, lifestyle, innovation in alignment with our customers’ fashion, documentary, cinema and more. changing demands and preferences. We are a customer centric business and our strategy Furthermore, the massive adoption of social is based on consumer buying patterns and media and video blogging in India has acted as a insights, hence we have what is called a ‘full catalyst in the growth of photography industry. lineup strategy’. As part of this strategy, we want The proliferation of imaging culture has led to to cater to all of the demands in the market, so an increased demand of new and innovative we have mirrorless and DSLR, which combined C SUKUMARAN products in the industry, as users are constantly over 60+ lenses and range of speedlites DIRECTOR - CONSUMER SYSTEM PRODUCTS looking for breakthrough technologies to meet completes the EOS system, thereby aiming to DIVISION & IMAGE COMMUNICATION their photography requirements. This proves to plug the gap and suit customer demands across PRODUCTS DIVISION, CANON be a great opportunity for us and the industry product options and price bands. From a user brand presence and therefore considered as our at large, thereby making it a responsibility of segmentation perspective, we offer a wide array extended family. Given this, we work closely camera manufacturers like us, to keep innovating of products across genres that cuts across with our channel partners and Value-Added and expand our product portfolio to suit the segments from beginners to professionals. Resellers in all the major cities for our product evolving needs of our vast consumer base. Among the popular models are the legendary portfolio and large consumer base. We plan to How has the proliferation of high- and ground-breaking professional cameras reach out to tier I tier II and tier III markets end smartphones with impressive EOS 1DXMKIII and EOS 5DMK IV. In the through sustained marketing campaign, easy camera features affected the rise mirrorless category, EOS R along with our new finance offers and add-on solutions. Currently, Canon camera products are available at over of the digital camera market? range of RF lenses is gaining huge popularity among professionals. 150+ exclusive Canon Image Squares (CIS), In the past few years, the penetration of 1200+Multi Brand Outlets (MBOs) and over smartphones in India has increased significantly. In the mid segment, both EOS 80D and the 550+ National Retail Chains outlets. While the intent was to keep people connected, new EOS 90D are the superheroes while the How do you try to transform eventually camera became the key selling point mirrorless EOS RP is now breaking new sales your channel from time to for the majority of smartphone brands. This records. in fact led to a noticeable contribution to the time through new channel propagation of imaging culture in the country, In the consumer category, EOS 200DMKII, initiatives and programs? as consumers heartily responded with their EOS 1500D and EOS 3000D are our best With the rapidly evolving channel industry, intent to explore visual expression. However, in selling products. it is imperative for us to keep in line with the case of smartphone photography, the scope and new technologies. Since digital cameras as the opportunities are limited and this is where Canon has maintained No. 1 share of the specialized products, training plays an important DSLR and Mirrorless Camera photography global market for 17 consecutive years (2003- role in keep our partners updated with the latest comes in. Smartphone photography is exactly 2019) in interchangeable lens digital camera technologies. We organize both classroom and the right kind of hook for people to explore their category. online training on both products and our latest love for photography, while their passion for technologies. photography is satiated by DSLR and Mirrorless What is your retail and channel Cameras. As one of the leading imaging brands strategy for the camera Canon also supports select outlets with globally, our growing focus is to cater to the portfolio in 2020? How do you trained in-shop demonstrators to explain demand of photography enthusiasts who want plan to expand it further? features and to provide live demos to customers. to graduate from smartphone photography. From a product perspective, cameras are Channel Partners are considered as one of Affordability is key and Canon in tie-up with equipped to offer unique imaging aesthetics and the most key elements of Canon’s ecosystem leading banks provide the facility of easy EMI are always a value-add for a user, as compared to in India. They are an extension to our overall through select retail outlets. n

www.varindia.com May 2020 23 VAR CORPORATE

CTRLS EMERGING AS WORLD’S LARGEST RATED-4 HYPERSCALE DATACENTER PLAYER

TODAY, DATA CENTERS ARE THE ENABLERS OF INDIAN DIGITAL ECONOMY. THEY WILL PLAY A KEY ROLE IN ENABLING THE NETIZENS IN INDIA AS ALL CLOUD PLAYERS, E-COMMERCE PLAYERS, BANKS, INSURANCE COMPANIES, GAMING, OTT PLAYERS ARE HOSTED IN THIRD PARTY DATA CENTERS

Sridhar Pinnapureddy Founder and CEO CtrlS Datacenters Ltd.

How is the datacentre industry growing worldwide, Could India to be the next hub for massive growth of Data center in Asia? What kind of growth you see and do you think there is demand supply gap?

World over there are an estimated 7.5 million data centers. This includes on-premise as well as service provider data centers. However, there are just about 500 Hyperscale data centers globally and we own six of them in India. Secondly, India is well endowed with a 1.38 billion population, hence consumption is driving the economy. COVID-19 has certainly disrupted us at the moment, but once we recover from the same, India’s consumption will continue to grow.

24 May 2020 www.varindia.com As far as the demand-supply is concerned, India enjoys a data center footprint of 5.9 million square feet.

What is your take on data centers as the key enabler to success of India’s digital economy?

With 450 million social media users, 627 million internet users, we are amongst the largest consumers of internet, which is why you Netflix, Hotstar, Amazon Prime have become a household name in the country. Applications such as WhatsApp, PayTM, Google Pay have revolutionized the way we communicate and transact money. India also has the highest average data usage consumption per smartphone at 9.8 GB per month.

Our per capita data consumption is estimated at 11 GB per month and this is likely to grow to 30 GB in less than five years. This very growth will RATED-4 DC-3 | MUMBAI | LAUNCH: DEC 2020 see rise in online transactions, e-commerce purchases, social engagement, watching movies online, internet based education, where schools are now delivering education through e-learning, telemedicine will also witness rapid growth. This will give rise to two things digital consumption and With this increasing going remote, digital more and more global entities attempting to attract Indian consumers communication becomes more of a necessity. online. Regular employees are going for WFH (Work Today, Data centers are the enablers of Indian Digital Economy. They From Home) and given ayccess to use data will play a key role in enabling the Netizens in India as all cloud players,e- connectivity to communicate with each other. commerce players, banks, insurance companies, gaming, OTT players are How CtrlS is seeing this as opportunity? hosted in third party data centers.

India is now emerging as one of globe’s largest contact less economy There is surging demand for edge data centers, due to COVID-19. Coronavirus is a lethal virus. It has already consumed which is emerging at faster speed, How are close to 400,000 people across the world and over six thousand in our you prepared to take this as an opportunity? country. This has led to lockdown thereby compelling business to enforce work from home. This perhaps will be a new normal in the next six months. We too are planning to ensure that at least 80% of our staff works With 290 million internet users in rural India, and that number likely to from home permanently, so that they enjoy safe health. double in the next five years due to changes in consumer behaviour, there is an anticipate demand for OTTs, online gaming, distance education, Likewise, all major businesses have implemented work from home e-commerce, financial transactions, access to mobile apps etc. To ensure solutions, We have had the privilege of supporting around 1,000+ the servers are accessed with minimal latency, there is a compelling need to business in enabling their work from home solutions through our Desktop move data to the edge, giving rise to edge data centers in the country. This as a Service combined with Cloud and Data Leakage Prevention (DLP) is very much an opportunity and we are planning 1,000 edge data centers. software. We see COVID-19 as an opportunity. In fact, our work from We will be rolling out edge data centers in about 20 locations in smaller home has led to growth of productivity by 60%. cities of India.

UPCOMING HYPERSCALE DATA PARK MUMBAI - 2 MILLION SQFT | 250 MW www.varindia.com May 2020 25 VAR CORPORATE

BANGALORE DC - SOUTH INDIA'S LARGEST NOIDA DC - INDIA'S 1ST & ONLY 100% QUAKE RATED 4 HYPERSCALE DATACENTER PROOF AND POLLUTION FREE DATACENTER

The data centers have multi-layered and digital economy while keeping data secure locally. constantly-upgraded security systems in How do you see another billion dollar opportunity? place to prevent data theft. Can you share the uniqueness of Six Rated-4 Datacenters in India. India’s Personal Data Protection Bill 2019, has laid down the guidelines for storing of personal data, sensitive personal data and critical We are India’s 1st and only Rated-4 data center who is certified on all personal data. This will lead to large growth of data storage in India. four parameters such as Architectural, Electrical, Mechanical and Telecom. India data centers will see a large surge of demand from cloud players, We are also World’s 1st LEED Platinum certified v4 O+M certified Green financial services players, telecom operators, OTT, e-commerce, gaming, Data Center. education, manufacturing, retail and other sectors resulting in data centers contributing heavily to the Indian economy besides fuelling employment As far as uniqueness is concerned, our Hyderabad facility is India’s first opportunities in the country. Tier-4 (Now Rated-4) data center, Mumbai is Asia’s Largest Rated-4 Data center. Our Noida data center is India’s 1st and only 100% Quake Proof Plus 100% pollution free data center. This is very special, as NCR region suffers from air pollution and the sulphur content is extremely high with a tendency to corrode (rust) the metal eventually leading failure of servers and storage. We therefore took the opportunity to build an air filtration plant which processes the contaminated air, scrubs it and releases clean air into the data center – which is both good for IT infrastructure and human lungs . High capacity data centres offer much higher uptime compared with a legacy setup that an organisation might have internally. Demand for Flexibility is always on demand, What are the readiness from CtrlS, in terms of building capacity for the future?

Today we own and operate around 1 million square feet of Rated-4 data center space in the country and serve 60 of the Fortune 500 and 108 of the ET 500 companies in India. To address the anticipated growth in the country, we are planning an additional 5 million square feet of Rated-4 data center space in India. By, 2024 we will be operating 6 million of Rated-4 data center space in India powered by 600 MW of power and with a capacity of 125,000 plus racks.

There is an exciting time ahead with the demand MUMBAI DC 2 - WORLD'S FIRST for localised data centers, which hold the key to SOLAR PANEL COVERED RATED 4 the future. It will provide impetus to the global HYPERSCALE DATACENTER

26 May 2020 www.varindia.com GLOBAL SERVICE PROVIDERS PARTNER WITH FORTINET TO DELIVER SECURE SD-WAN SERVICES

Fortinet announced continued momentum with network service providers who have chosen to leverage Fortinet Secure SD-WAN to scale and grow their business, deliver new value-added services, and limit overhead.

With the recent increase in remote workforces, network service providers are facing unprecedented demand for highly scalable VPN service offerings. Additionally, as the SD-WAN market has matured, these same SPs are beginning to offer security services as new customer demands and deployment efficiency call for advanced and integrated security. In fact, all participating service providers in a recent MEF (Metro Ethernet Forum) survey identified security as an essential value-added service they were either planning to offer or have already started offering on top of their SD-WAN solution.

With advanced routing, security and SD-WAN functionality in a single solution, Fortinet Secure SD-WAN has emerged as a top choice for network service providers to offer new and differentiated value-added services to their customers. Heightened by one of the broadest API ecosystems in the industry, Fortinet enables service providers to customize highly scalable secure SD-WAN services that can be quickly added to their offerings and easily deployed at customer sites. Rajesh Maurya, Regional Vice President, India & SAARC, Fortinet says, “Service providers are increasingly turning to Fortinet’s security-driven networking approach to SD-WAN Fortinet Secure SD-WAN as the favored solution to deliver empowers service providers with the ability to deliver highly scalable services that standout from competitors and achieve faster and VPN services for business continuity. This approach also gives SPs better ROI. Because Fortinet takes an integrated approach the ability to build a complete security services platform with next- that combines advanced routing, security and SD-WAN in a generation firewall capabilities such as web filtering, anti-malware, single solution while also providing an open and extensible and threat protection, including deep SSL inspection, and even API-driven ecosystem, SPs that partner with Fortinet are able further expand to SD-Branch for complete consolidation of branch to simplify their service offerings and gain a huge competitive services. advantage in the market.”

YOUR DATA IS AT RISK THROUGH TIKTOK

The security flaw in China’s TikTok app was found. It lets card.If you will go to the Privacy policy it has clearly mentioned ,they hackers use text messages to control accounts. TikTok — owned by will collect all the information from your social media connections Chinese company ByteDance. TikTok has been sued in California for and it uses HTTP server but not HTTPS ( Secure server). It uses AI, accusations of data transfers to china. as its parent company Bytedance is strongly in Artificial Intelligence and working strongly in Algorithm. TikTok has got “multiple” security vulnerabilities. Hackers could take control of As china wants to be the super power in TikTok accounts and manipulate the content, AI by 2030, The fact whenever you are using upload and delete videos and reveal personal TIKTOK, you are just using a survey and information such as a private email address, empowers its software. And you are constantly as per checkpoint.The cybersecurity firm feeding them information like what you like found that it’s possible to send a standard and don’t like. All of this information is going text message to any phone number on behalf to China. With this feeding we are simply of TikTok. On the app’s own site, there is a supporting China’s version of the internet. function that lets users send a text message to It means privacy on the internet is very big themselves so they can download the app. question mark, because everything comes with a cost. There was also a vulnerability in a TikTok web domain which allowed attackers to insert Hence, no service is free, when we use any a malicious code. This was used to retrieve free service then we are the product and our personal information of users. Check Point data is our currency. Experts says, if you are said, it disclosed the findings to TikTok and using any Chinese made app, then it is advised they have been patched. not to use UPI or any net banking apps there and secondly when creating an account, it is never advised to use It locates your position and accordingly send the videos based on Google to sign in. Hence for create a new account and use a different your locations,by not specific to ur language selections, you will get password. Reason being Cyber theft, identity theft, data leaks are location based videos.It means TikTok is using the data from ur SIM real. Keep changing passwords and keep your emails safe.

www.varindia.com May 2020 27 LEAD STORY A BILLION DOLLAR QUESTION: DOES WORK FROM HOME & CYBER SECURITY GO HAND IN HAND?

THE ONGOING PANDEMIC, VARIndia managed to share a thought with a COVID-19 HAS CHANGED few managing heads of various companies about THE LIFESTYLE AND WORK their strategy for WFH and Cyber Security. Each STYLE OF MILLIONS OF narrative has something to say. Here’s straight PEOPLE ACROSS THE WORLD. from the horse’s mouth: TO CURB THE SPREAD OF While new threats are emerging all the time, THIS PANDEMIC, PEOPLE ARE there are three areas - Remote-work, Supply LOCKED DOWN IN THEIR chains &IT and OT convergence; Tenable India is focusing in particular, says Diwakar Dayal. HOUSE AT PRESENT AND ARE FORCED TO ADOPT THE 'NEW According to Dayal, the sudden shift to a DIWAKAR DAYAL NORMAL' OF WORK FROM remote-work model means that new assets like Managing Director HOME. BUT AT THE SAME employees’ personal laptops and phones are being Tenable India introduced into the enterprise IT environment. TIME, THIS IS ENDANGERING This influx of personal technology expands the ENTERPRISE DATA AS THE attack surface and presents cybersecurity risks to operational. Many instances of cybercriminals SYSTEMS LACK STRINGENT organisations. trying to exploit the health crisis by targeting SECURITY AS IN OFFICE “We’ve already seen a number of phishing individuals and organisations to infect network, SETUP. THESE DAYS WE scams, misinformation and fraudulent work- as such, any failure or interruption could impact ARE OBSERVING A LOT OF from-home opportunities making their way this ability to operate. CYBER ATTACKS HAPPENING around the internet. These could potentially put As more organisations interconnect their OT AROUND THE WORLD the wider corporate network at risk if accessed”, and IT networks to create greater efficiency and AND CYBER CRIMINALS said Dayal. efficacy, they also expand the cyberattack surface, ARE TARGETING PEOPLE It is imperative to have a cyber-resilient supply enabling bad actors to easily move between WHO ARE PRESENTLY chain to keep the critical infrastructure secure and the digital and physical worlds. Security teams overseeing IT and OT networks must, therefore, WORKING FROM HOME. 28 May 2020 www.varindia.com assess and prioritise vulnerabilities based on risk Bad actors were apparently attracted by networks and likelihood of exploitation. that are more open to incoming traffic due to remote working arrangement adopted by many “Cyber hygiene practices such as maintaining businesses. Globally, there was a six-fold increase systems, blocking malicious sites and IP in RDP connection attempts in March compared addresses, enforcing multi-factor authentication to February” and using encryption is a good place to start. It’s most crucial during this time for security teams “We also saw a surge in scam and malware to understand their distributed attack surface” campaigns using the pandemic as a lure, trying concluded Dayal while taking about avoiding to capitalize on people’s fears and hunger for cyber attacks. information”, said Walia. Speaking about Cyber attacks and how would Aside from the threat that is exploiting the they provide protection, Surendra Singh’s words pandemic, our researchers have also highlighted were: some of the top threats and malware in our Q1 2020 ESET Threat Report. Forcepoint X-Labs, the custodian of threat and behavioral intelligence, in its latest reporton a There are various things that people can do PARVINDER WALIA three-month trend analysis of the web and email to stay safe at home, from the way that they work ESET Sales & Marketing Director traffic reported a 358% jump in the number of to securing their device. Remember to: for Asia Pacific & Japan malicious emails, in the week of March 23. The number of malicious emails is traditionally lesser i) Avoid clicking on any links or the device, the domain and all services and than spam emails. Forcepoint Labs blocked over downloading any attachments in unsolicited applications. Set inactivity timeouts to log out half a million spam emails every day mid-March emails or texts from unknown sources, or even when not in use. onwards. in trusted sources unless you are certain that the ii. Implement full disk encryption to message is authentic. We encourage organizations to use modern ensure that even if the device were to fall into the ii) Ignore communications that ask for data protection strategies that focus on wrong hands, the company’s data is inaccessible. your personal information. If necessary, verify protecting users and data everywhere. With data iii. Always use a VPN to connect to the the content of the message with the apparent and applications moving beyond the traditional organization's internal network to prevent man- senderor the organization that they (seemingly) enterprise data centers and into the cloud, in-the-middle attacks. represent, and do so via a different medium than ‘people’ have now become the new perimeter iv. Utilise Multi-Factor Authentication the received message. from cybersecurity perspective. (MFA) to ensure that access, whether to cloud- iii) Be especially wary of emails that add based services or full network access, is by In this ‘new normal’, organizations need to the sense of alarm and urge you to take authorised users only. to have an approach that protects critical data immediate action or offer COVID-19 vaccines v. Most importantly, do an audit on-premises, data-in-motion and data in-the- or cures. of all home devices to ensure there are no cloud, as people access it from multiple devices iv) Control access to video conference vulnerabilities among connected devices and (including BYOD) and from anywhere. For by setting a password (do not embed it in the the network. Ensure that all firmware has been IT leaders, it’s important to have visibility and meeting link) and hold participants in a ‘waiting updated to the latest version and all passwords control of their users’ activity into the cloud. A room’. If file transfer is needed, then consider are updated and kept secure. clear understanding of the cloud applications limiting the types of files that can be sent; for people use and how they use them enables example, don’t allow executable files (such as .exe J Kesavardhanan, believes, As COVID-19 IT teams to mitigate risks and better protect files). continues to dominate headlines even in the world sensitive data. v) Use reputable multi-layered security of cybersecurity, we still see standard phishing software that includes protection against At an individual level, employees must focus attacks that claim to be messages from the WHO phishing. on the following to keep themselves secure as or other credible sources, to mislead people into they scale the work-from-home model: activating a malicious payload. But the efficacy Aside from that here are a few tips about how of such attacks decreases as awareness increases, to secure your device as you work from home: • Use encrypted VPNs to keep themselves, so we are now seeing cyber threats evolve to prey and the company intellectual property, safe on people’s financial anxiety and social isolation i. Enforce strong passwords to access and secure. as lockdowns are extended. • Be skeptical while clicking on any link or A real threat is an SMS that claims to be opening emails to avoid phishing attacks. from the Income Tax authorities and notifies the Regular education by IT teams can help recipient of a refund, but actually steals banking employees understand what to look for in a credentials and installs OTP stealing malware. phishing attack. • Use two-factor authentication for any Finally, we have also noticed an increase in company logins, be it internal applications or attacks on Tier-2 and Tier-3 cities. Employees SaaS-delivered ones. working from home create a lucrative opportunity • Avoid the use of unknown USB thumb for cybercriminals as they access critical business drives as there have been countless incidents data and networks, but do not have adequate from unknown USB drives infected with cybersecurity at home for protection. malware. OUR ADVICE TO AVOID Parvinder Walia feels that, Since work from CYBERATTACKS IS: home began, an increase of cybercriminal a) Install all patches and updates from activity is been seen. Due to anxious population hardware and software vendors and vulnerabilities resulting from the increase b) Install a good cybersecurity product and usage of remote access as well as home networks ensure it is updated and devices, cyber crime is uprooting. SURENDRA SINGH c) Practise good cyber hygiene, such as using Senior Director & Country unique and tough passwords, and “We witnessed large scale password guessing Manager, Forcepoint d) Exercise caution and scepticism when attacks on Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP). viewing messages or websites and think twice

www.varindia.com May 2020 29 LEAD STORY

actors. Spear phishing messages were sent by the actor to China's Ministry of Emergency Management as well as the government of Wuhan province, where COVID-19 was first identified.

HEALTHCARE OPERATIONS, RELATED MANUFACTURING, LOGISTICS, AND ADMINISTRATION ORGANIZATIONS, AS WELL AS GOVERNMENT OFFICES INVOLVED IN RESPONDING TO THE CRISIS ARE INCREASINGLY CRITICAL AND VULNERABLE TO DISRUPTIVE ATTACKS SUCH AS RANSOMWARE.

KESAVARDHANAN JAYARAMAN The sudden and unanticipated shift of many GOVIND RAMMURTHY Founder and CEO workers to work from home status will represent Managing Director and CEO K7 Computing an opportunity for threat actors. Organizations eScan will be challenged to move quickly to ensure before opening an attachment, clicking a link, or sufficient capacity, as well as that security controls employees to stay at home and work. But with installing an application. and policies are in place. this, it is necessary to look upon measures to While speaking on new normal- Work From In order to adapt to a remote and distributed protect the customers and educate them about Home Govind Ramamurthy noted, “With the workforce, organizations need to focus on Cyber security. Companies are taking preventive latest WFH trending these days, cyber attacks protecting identities and applications regardless measures to protect their customers from Cyber are heard much. Benign looking emails with of whether they are in the corporate network or criminals. malicious links are being used as a medium to the cloud. The below mentioned tips offer a step According to Dayal, “At Tenable, our conduct a phishing attack where the user or in the right direction to keeping operations both customers are central to everything we do organizations data through the user could be secured and productive. so we’ve developed thoughtful procedures compromised.” that enable us to respond to emergencies and • Organizations must implement MFA Users are worried about cyber attacks during maintain high business standards.” on all external corporate resources to reduce the time of global crises, and cyber criminals the ability of network and application access Tenable is not just available to our customers are using this fear to execute various Covid-19 through credential spraying, password stuffing 24 x 7, but our research team is working related scams for their own benefit. and phishing attacks. around the clock to publish the latest research Awareness about cyber attacks has always • Many organizations lose visibility into on cyberattacks, phishing attempts and other been the key towards constructing a safer work malicious activity targeting remote workers. opportunistic behaviours so that our customers environment, whether in office or away. Organizations should deploy a multi-layer can stay informed, said Dayal. endpoint agent on all employee endpoints. Security teams in tandem with the internal Forcepoint offers Dynamic Edge Protection • Cloud services are an important communications and the Human resources (DEP), a new cloud-native platform, to deliver resource for remote workers and can contain department can conduct a weekly security training advanced web, network, and application access sensitive corporate data. Ensure that teams are session to educate their employees on the various from the cloud. It implements receiving logs from cloud providers and regularly threats that the digital world is exposed to. On the SASE model, weaving together advanced reviewing them for unauthorized access and data the other hand, users can observe basic hygiene, capabilities such as firewalling, intrusion exfiltration. when it comes to the digital world. prevention, web content inspection, malware • Implement corporate alternatives, scanning, URL filtering, application access, and organizations can ensure that corporate data is SOME TIPS FOR THEM ARE AS more. This converged approach eliminates gaps protected and monitored by corporate security and redundancies to stop attackers consistently, FOLLOWS – controls. For example instead of cloud use third- • Be very vigilant and avoid clicking on no matter where your people are working. party solutions for note taking, file storage and any unknown links or downloading documents document management. Organizations today are trying to navigate from untrusted sources. • Provide security awareness training through what is arguably unchartered business • Instead of clicking on unverified links for remote workers. In addition to computing territory as their global workforces have shifted for information, always bank on trusted sources hygiene topics such as phishing and password to a large-scale remote work model seemingly and find them by with the use of a trusted search guidance, train employees on physical security overnight. At Forcepoint, we have pivoted to a engine. topics such using a privacy screen, limiting work virtual strategy and already kicked off various • Do not fall for advertising baits on confidential material in public spaces and marketing programs such as virtual events, digital that seem too good to be true, or which offer securing physical computing assets. roundtables, digital workshops and webinars, information that requires a user to click on a link • Restrict off-network communications etc. to support our customers come out on the to know more. from virtual desktops to limit exposure. If some other side stronger and more secure than before, • Organizations should have training external network access is required, maintain a concludes Sureinder Singh campaigns on how to reduce the click-through whitelist inclusive of only necessary, approved rate. In ESET, “Digital transformation creates resources. • Do not share any personal information additional considerations for cybersecurity. • Users should be provided the necessary over the site that looks untrustworthy. Globally, businesses have adapted by embracing equipment and trained on privacy best practices, technology to provide connectivity to networks, including privacy screens, device locks and Adding to the discussion Shrikant Shitole, video conferencing, collaboration tools and endpoint hardening. further says, Given that COVID-19 is the cloud services. The company foresees that the • Organizations should consider the undoubtedly the overwhelming concern of way that they currently work will form the basis potential for laptops to be lost or stolen. governments worldwide for the time being, we of the new normal. anticipated targeting of government, healthcare, WFH shall sooner or later become the new Throughout this entire transition period, biotech, and other sectors by cyber espionage norm, as a few companies are allowing their ESET has been continually monitoring and

30 May 2020 www.varindia.com so is by extending the free trial duration of now offers customers instant deployment our consumer, SMB and enterprise solutions. across their cloud infrastructures, and further Through this initiative we hope that businesses capabilities in security analytics through FireEye and employees will benefit from increased Helix and advanced threat detection through security and awareness during this period of FireEye Detection On Demand. work from home”, said Walia. Building upon the FireEye cloud solutions Looking ahead, we will continue to develop portfolio, Cloudvisory is a cloud-native security new solutions that aim to meet the evolving solution that gives security team’s unified consumer and business needs, as well as address control over cloud sprawl and infrastructure the evolving threat landscape. In addition, we misconfiguration. Unlike legacy and one- hope to place more emphasis on cybersecurity off security tools that introduce deployment education to ensure that businesses and complexity and fail to scale in the cloud without consumers are better informed of the current greater investments in talent, the Cloudvisory threats and how to deal with them. solution is designed to: • Provide central single-pane visibility Walia further added that ESET is currently SHRIKANT SHITOLE into assets, workloads and associated security offering free online cybersecurity training at www. Vice President and Country controls and events across an organization’s eset.com/in/business/cybersecurity-training/ Head for India, FireEye cloud infrastructure which is designed to educate employees on • Remediate compliance failures, without how to stay secure while they work from home. any need for extra deployment components such In addition to that, we have also put together a if the customer has any queries regarding as agents, appliances and functions comprehensive package containing useful guides cybersecurity, with the help of our partners we • Block and quarantine attacks using and checklists for IT administrators to set up and get in touch with the customer and resolve their cloud-native micro segmentation ensure safe remote workforce arrangement. query. At FireEye, we understand the importance As a global cybersecurity solutions provider, WE WRITE A LOT OF INFORMATION of an effective cyber security solution and believe ESET is also constantly monitoring and ABOUT DIFFERENT SUBJECTS AND in constant testing to validate the solutions researching the threat landscape at a global scale, TOPICS ON THE CYBERSECURITY deployed by our clients. In light of this, last for any new developments. DOMAIN AND POST IN ON OUR year we made strategic investments to build new Moving forward, we will continue to educate BLOG, WHICH CAN BE ACCESSED capabilities in our solution portfolio including our customers by regularly updating our blog THROUGH OUR COMPANY’S OFFICIAL security validation to help the customers to with new content as well as being available for WEBSITE. WE ALSO ENGAGE IN get more from their security investments. The any service-related queries that they may have in DIRECT COMMUNICATION WITH OUR Mandiant Security Validation (formerly known the future, confirms Walia. CUSTOMERS THROUGH OUR SOCIAL as Verodin), helps organizations demonstrate MEDIA CHANNELS AND WE TRY AND the value received from security through a data- The K7 Labs analyse hundreds of thousands SOLVE THEIR QUERIES. WE USE THE driven, evidence-based approach. It enables of malware samples a day and we distribute customers to continuously validate their frequent threat definition updates to ensure that SAME MEDIUMS TO EDUCATE A WIDER cybersecurity controls, identify and mitigate our products are updated, and our customers are AUDIENCE INTO KNOWING WHAT configuration issues, and optimize their people, always protected from the latest cyberattacks. THREAT COULD DO WHAT KIND OF HARM TO THEIR DIGITAL EXISTENCE processes, and technology. We have also published a COVID-19 Cyber AND TIPS ON HOW TO SECURE As the cloud grows, FireEye is growing Threat Report that dives deep into pandemic- THEMSELVES. with our customers to ensure that emerging themed cyber threats and countermeasures to technologies are not an attacker’s playground. spread awareness on what the ‘new normal’ As we said, awareness goes a long way To do this, our products and services protect cyber threat landscape looks like, says J in avoiding digital threats and we take every traditional on-premise workloads from being Kesavardhanan. possible step. leveraged for cloud attacks, and natively integrate We are conducting many webinars to With the rapid escalation of COVID-19, with cloud providers to add protection, detection, accelerate the spread of cybersecurity knowledge organizations have to rapidly adapt to limit and visibility for existing cloud workloads. As targeting both the consumer and enterprise contact and person-to-person contamination, environments and attackers change, FireEye markets. We have created industry-specific said Shrikant Shitole. continues to innovate to help our customers webinars for enterprise customers to address Over the past several weeks, organizations meet those new security challenges. the diversity in the enterprise cybersecurity around the world have instituted remote, The age of remote work is upon us. space.We also regularly publish blogs to keep work-from-home policies. Business units and Companies around the world are letting their users updated on the evolution of cyber threats functions that have never been done remotely employees work from home, with many and how they can protect themselves against are now required to operate in a fully remote cunning cybercriminals. making the shift in a matter of days and some mode. During these rapid changes, security announcing plans to keep the policy going for K7 has always been prepared to take on experts are rightly pondering what new risks the rest of the year -- or even indefinitely. any cyber threats irrespective of the scenario may be introduced. Though Work From Home may seem a that we have been presented. We have various We at FireEye, are taking steps to ensure the permanent option for many, there are a few technologies that can aid users and organizations safety of our clients. We have launched multiple precautions to be taken. to secure their data even in the current work reports and acquired additional solutions that from home scenarios. We have a very adept aid to the resources we currently have to offer Experts say they have seen a surge in marketing team that works round the clock. to our clients. We are also going the extra mile "phishing" attacks targeted at people working We take on a multi-pronged approach when it to keep a watch on how the threat actors are from home, where clicking on a link in an email comes to educating our customers and spreading evolving in the current scenario. One of these or message could lead to installing malware on awareness about digital threats. steps is the acquisition of Cloudvisory in one’s device. Precaution is the only cure at this We get in touch with our partners through January 2020, as a means of combining cloud point of time. As any longer, will make things various mediums and educate them and they visibility with unrivaled insights into the threat slip out of hands. The end of global pandemic is in turn pass on the knowledge to our loyal landscape. Fully integrated into the broader unknown; VARIndia requests its employees and customers first hand. In such a situation even FireEye cloud security portfolio, Cloudvisory clients to Stay safe, work safer. n

www.varindia.com May 2020 31 CIO OUTLOOK

AMIDST PANDEMIC ‘REMOTE WORKING WITH DAILY WEBINARS’- THE NEW TECHNOLOGY TRENDS FOR 2020 Now-a-days fast-moving, cross-functional teams of people from different parts of the organization experiment and innovate together to deliver new products and capabilities at an unprecedented pace. CIO roles and responsibilities have been changing over the last decade, especially at companies that have been leading the way in the digital transformation of their businesses. Many CIOs at leading companies have evolved their job descriptions and their position’s reputation beyond roles like “digital enabler” and “technical operator” to become change agents who champion business model innovation. The organizations are spending more on the digital transformation of their companies even in this unprecedented time to fight against the coronavirus. And the CIOs are the executives most likely playing a top role in digital transformation, particularly in ideation and strategy.

According to the IDC Worldwide Semiannual Digital Transformation Spending Guide, the global annual spending on technologies and services is about to hit a whopping $2.3 trillion as forecasted. The spending on digital transformation (DX) is at an estimated compound annual growth rate of 17.1% for a period of five years (2019-23). In the post-digital world, along with digital realities, related products and services will be hyper-personalized.

Due to the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic, every sector - education, hospitality, pharmaceuticals or even in entertainment sector is running through a critical stage. Every company is now depending on remote workforce as employees are working from home. In this unprecedented time every industry is busy to save their business with their own digital transformation. In the following paragraphs we will find how industry leaders are taking this challenge and leading in this hard time.

ARIJIT GUPTA Head-IT, Rupa & Company Ltd.

“Nowadays most employees are set enough in working from home with devices and internet. A big push with BIG Data analytics people are more safe to think and plan accurately in a relaxed environmental, lot of IT initiative takers have understood & tested the importance of this key platform. The best practice is the use of general sense towards generating a support call or request. Nothing should be attended or honored unless a meaningful description / particulars are there. Here AI has a role to identify the issue almost accurately from a layman. It is to develop an application to start playing after any automated platform analyzing the supportive requirements. We have adopted RPA in various practices and hopefully the implementation of this would help us to cope up with the current situation very soon.”

32 May 2020 www.varindia.com DR. SUSIL KUMAR MEHER Director-IT, All India Institute of Medical Sciences

“AIIMS New Delhi is a Govt. funded institute. As it is a Medical institute but has strong believed in transformation of technology. Since 1960 AIIMS has the IT set up for heal care research, training and health care services that why IT department has big budget as compared to other dept or intuitions.

Many OEM are approaching different types of offers replacement of San and NAS storage which is out of life free if they scale up our storage. What we got the offer we have 2 PB NAS storage which will be upgraded to 4PB with the change of 2 PB with latest product.Similarly if the servers are out of life same type of offer has been pushed. But AIIMS is always following the CVC guideline for procurement.

We have followed the direction of Govt. of India. The entire Group A officers supposed to come to office everyday but the Group B and C has to attend physically 50% and rest 50% has to work remotely. If the Group A unable to come to work place due to stick lock down then they have to take permission from the higher authority to work from home. If any major meetings required then we do tele-meeting and take the decision. Team members are working remotely to maintain server, storage, networking, security and applications. The key priority of organization are :Setup a good Telehealth/Telemedicine/mHealthapplication,Cloud based Infrastructure in the campus, An advanced Data backup and recovery solution,Enterprise PACS & VNA on Open Source Platform, Adopting IOMT in medical instruments, Endpoint Security Solution, Replacement of Wi-Fi of AIIMS campus, High Performance Computing, Sensors and wearable technology, Remote monitoring tools, Real-time locating services and Robotics Solution for patient care services.”

DR. RAJEEV PAPNEJA Chief Growth Officer, ESDS Software Solution Pvt. Ltd.

“We have always believed in offering niche solutions and are positioned very uniquely in the market. ESDS is not just a datacentre player or cloud service provider, rather its strength lies in its strong R&D team and managed services expertise, backed by the value of creating lifetime relationship with everyone who crosses our path, be it our team members, vendors or customers.

There are many ways to look at market share and the fact is that as it stands today, no one has even come anywhere close to the market share that ESDS holds for enabling Govt organizations and Banks to reap benefit of Cloud technology & solutions running on respective community clouds by ESDS. We also have a huge market share of SAP HANA catered by our SAP HANA Community cloud.

While the vendors are focusing on offerings, we have come up with a marketplace (www.spochub.com) that bring various SaaS offerings grouped by business verticals at one place, fulfilling two important needs: a) Providing market reach for ISV’s who have great products but lack visibility and b) Providing options for organizations to make quick decisions on selecting the offerings, with the peace of mind that they are backed by ESDS. We have recently launched “AA+ Covid Detection” solution on SPOCHUB, an AI based Covid testing tool that can detect whether a suspect is infected or not simply by an X-ray within few minutes, along with the probability percentage score. It has already been fed with more than fifty thousand x-rays and has achieved an accuracy of above 96%.

Our focus is to make SPOCHUB the HUB for all relevant business software offerings that will not just be technologically advanced, but also add value to the customers’ business. Organizations do not want to spend time in experimenting with new technologies and spend hefty amount on trial and error of new technologies. They are looking for quick solutions that are readily available built on emerging technologies, but backed by a strong technology provider like ESDS.

While work from home or from remote places is a norm in our kind of business, major policies such as use of VPN for security, and different tools for collaboration etc were already in place. Since this was a different kind of work-from-home situation, our HR team had to be more active to make sure the staff stays motivated and healthy so as to perform optimally. Managers took the initiative to modify the KPI’s of their team members to make the team comfortable while sailing through the crisis. Since people would rarely have much physical activity, our CEO took the initiative of starting Yoga classes daily at 7:00 am led by him to make sure that staff remains active and healthy. Daily webinars has become a new norm where various departments are sharing their new initiatives and achievements amidst lockdown which is serving as a great knowledge exchange mechanism and assisting in cross skilling of resources.

More or less the policies have been designed in a way to keep the staff on similar routines as they were while working from office, so that when the time comes to start coming to office, no one should experience a cultural shock. Happiness Infuser team at ESDS has taken many initiatives to make sure that staff says comfortable and stress free during lock down period and do not burn out working long hours.

Being an innovation led organization, with a vision of creating a technology advanced Greener planet, teams at ESDS are on a constant exploration drive to keep researching and implementing newer technologies. With the security loopholes that were discovered in the collaboration tool ‘Zoom lately, we have realised that we need to have an indigenously developed collaboration tool. We have already built the tool ‘eNlight Cloud Meet’ that supports all the basic feature’s required for limited number of users to collaborate. The next versions would be optimized to support a scale that is necessary for SMB’s. With staff using heterogeneous personal devices to carry on their work remotely, security is definitely going to remain the biggest challenge. We are enhancing our SOC portfolio with the latest AI/ML based solutions that not only detect/prevent attacks but also predict the patterns of future attacks by taking feeds from various different sources available globally. We are researching extensively on bringing in more automation using AI/ML to get significant boost in productivity for organization as a whole. One of our products ‘Robo HR’ is under development and is a step towards this initiative.”

www.varindia.com May 2020 33 CIO OUTLOOK

SANJEEV AGARWAL VP & Head – Customer Operations, ONEOTT iNTERTAINMENT LTD (OIL)

“ONEOTT iNTERTAINMENT LTD. (OIL) was able to face the initial brunt of spikes in internet usage when the Lockdown began. However, we realize that a good service experience is paramount, and we had to scale as per the increased traffic requirements. We have Network insights & analytics solutions being pitched by various OEMs which will allow us to turn Network Data into Actionable Insights to improve our service experience resulting in segmented offerings and lower attrition rates.OIL falls under the essential services category and as such we have colleagues who are in the field 24 x 7 servicing the customer needs. We also have our colleagues in business support functions, who are not required to come to office or visit the customer’s place but play a crucial role in keeping the flag of Customer Responsiveness flying. We trust our employees and hence it was not difficult for us to allow our support functions to ‘Work-from-Home’. On the technology front, we had subscribed to G-Suite services and this crisis made us realize the true potential of this office productivity suite. Happy to say that Gmail, Drive, Calendar, Docs and Meet have transformed the way we work. All our meetings happen over Google Meet, even our National Sales Meets with over a 100 + participants are happening over Meet. This has improved our productivity, strengthened employee engagement and kept the morale of WFH warriors intact. Our Call Center colleagues are running Voice, Email and Chat processes remotely.For the employees, it has taken out the uncertainness about their work future. OIL has upgraded its website functionality to enable prospects to find out whether OneGigaFiber is available in their buildings.This is enabled for Mumbai right now and we will extend it across all cities. We are also looking to minimize the need for physical interaction between our Staff and customers. We are modifying our CRMs to have an online web capture of the fields & documents required to process the customer order. This is in the works as well.”

DR. ASHISH BHARADWAJ Director - IT, Digital & Innovation, BML Munjal University “In my view, as far as possible I like to look at vendors more as partners - contributing in a strategic way to the organization and business rather than purely transactional. For one to enter the consideration set, they must have a product/service offering that solves a problem in an efficient manner. For this reason we have worked with a number of start-ups, addressing specific needs within our organization, adopting their products/services and in the process working with them to help them shape their solutions. A key factor to consider is the approach taken by the service provider to understand our business/organization and to be able to go the extra mile when needed to ensure the product/service works in our context. This, of course is within the framework of evaluating the best price-performance ratio for any product/service that I intend to use in my organization. The performance side translates to comparing products/services in terms of features and the cost side evaluating the total cost of ownership (TCO.) We had adopted a cloud-first strategy for the past several years. Over this period we had moved communication & collaboration, operational systems and key teaching & learning systems to the cloud. As part of this we had also done a network revamp significantly increasing not only the bandwidth but also improving resilience across locations. The combination of these factors made us face relatively fewer problems from an infrastructure and applications perspective. Yes, there was an accelerated change management process that went in and the entire organization had to rapidly adapt to working remotely. For most, this was an easy transition as they had been doing an element of remote working previously. For others it was a dramatic shift - especially where the nature of job had been based on in-person interaction. The other challenge was around mental health as for short periods of time being isolated is one thing. When that extends to weeks and months - as has been the case with the pandemic - it becomes an important issue to address. We were able to do this through a series of initiatives that included frequent team check-ins almost on a daily basis, online social gatherings and activities. People were encouraged to follow good practices for online interaction to emulate in-person interaction as far as possible. A lot of the in-flight projects have been proceeding normally - as they comprise geographically scattered teams. We are looking at some interesting initiatives around AI & ML, data science & analytics, and improving the digital experience. Several key security initiatives are also planned that include work around privileged access management, DLP and cloud security.”

MEETALI SHARMA Risk, Compliance & Information Security Leader, SDG Corporation

“When it comes to choosing a particular vendor or the OEMs on their offerings, a key point to be kept in mind is the current threat landscape of your organization and the need of the particular tool. Decision to implement a tool needs to be based on the risk assessment of the organization and not because it is an in “thing” in the market. The offered tools/solution/technology must be robust, flexible, user-friendly, adaptable and easy to integrate with the existing systems within the organization. Tools and technologies have been enabled for remote working for all employees. Employee awareness and training programs are being conducted on frequent intervals. Daily standup calls are being conducted by task force (specially created to manage pandemic). Task force ensures that employee issues are handled effectively during remote working with minimal impact to customers and business operations. A technology roadmap has been prepared; tools are being evaluated for security as well as their functionality. Once the risk assessment report is completed for each of the tools, they would go through multiple approvals before being deployed.”

34 May 2020 www.varindia.com GYAN PANDEY CIO, Aurobindo Pharma Ltd.

“We are in Pharma manufacturing business and are in export business. Our business is mainly driven from the demand from the overseas market. Of the overseas market, our 70% sales come from US only. We are in B2B business. As such we manufacture and supply based on the advance form orders from our overseas subsidiaries which in turn do the business Make to Order (MTO). Due to COVID , there is no significant impact on our sales , but indirect impact on the revenue is there because lock down lead to lower productivity and efficiency and logistic challenges in shipment of goods , At times, we have to opt for Charter flights for the shipment , which has raised the logistic cost very high and eroding margins drastically.

Before lockdown, we have very minimal foot print of VPN users and post lock down this requirement increased by multifold times. We as a manufacturing organization don’t have any WFH as a policy nor do we have a culture of working from Home in the past. But lock down mandated to do the continuous business we need to enable our workforce to get connected in a secured and fast way. We opted different solutions for those who are having company assets and those who need to be enabled on their own devices (BYOD). We scaled up from 300 users to 1800 users in ¾ days.

We Created 2 setups for WFH a. Company provided assets Desktop and Laptops with which users connect corporate firewall via VPN for with security policies in place by providing access only to required services according to his profile, all assets are tracked with company applied policies by asset management tool and end point security which is monitored on daily basis. b. Users Personal Assets used for WFH, for these users we built a separate firewall with a separate internet link connecting to External firewall with access to LAN only on RDP protocol. Security and comforters of user are considered as main focus. A user using this setup can only connect to his office desktop on RDP protocol and work as if at office, security settings related to data transfer to and from office PC to Personal computer and vice versa are being restricted via group policies on his office desktop As IT team were also working remotely and many of the users are first time users and with all diverse sets of devices (because of BYOD), we have to do lot of handholding to ensure that all users are getting the access of applications and are working effectively. We established 18/7 IT Helpdesk team and ensured aggressive support and resolution time so as users should get their issues addressed in shortest possible time. We also created a ready ref for common issue to our Helpdesk engineers for issue resolution.For reporting purpose, we used multiple tools for access control and activity duration for each user.”

PARNA GHOSH VP & Group CIO, Minda Industries Ltd.

“Due to the COVID-19 global pandemic most of the businesses are now struggling to preserve cash and make maximum utilization of existing assets and resources. Similarly, all the IT Departments are supposed to reduce their Budgets and make optimum use of It resources. Collaboration and Communication Tools are number one in the list of promoters or business leaders as during these lockdown and also for future, virtual communication and collaboration will be a key element in business transactions. As far as the vendor / OEM products and services are concerned, key to gain market share would be that all the products and services should be - low cost, high degree of features / functionalities, scalable, easier payment terms, zero lock-in. we are keen and interested for all IT products and services which have the above features. Robust, scalable, ease of use, feature oriented, low cost and easy payment options are preferred. We have engaged all the employees through our communication / collaboration platforms (35000 meetings so far during lockdown); town halls were organized for all geographies and all level of employees (9 town halls covering 3500 employees), optimum use of online trainings were used (15 trainings covering 2500+ employees); MindaCare Mobile Health App for all 10000+ employees (same as Arogya Setu) to capture health condition of each employee and created live dashboard for HR & Security to take appropriate action. Our organization’s focus is to develop digital capability across looking at the New Norm (WFH and beyond). Major focus areas are Shop floor process automation.”

LG Electronics brings in the ‘Try and Buy Offer’ for Its G8x ThinQ Dual Screen Phone LG Electronics India has unveiled the ‘Try and Buy’ offer for its Electronics says, “The LG G8X ThinQ is one of our premium products Premium LG G8X ThinQ smartphone with Dual Screen. By availing this and has become very popular in India among the premium smartphone offer, a participant will be given a 7 Day trial period for using the LG G8X range. We hope to create the best user experience, which is difficult to ThinQ and will have the option to either buy or return the mobile along enjoy through an advertisement. Henceforth, by introducing this offer we with all accessories & box at the end of the trial period. The Promotional are allowing users to make an honest decision by completely immersing offer is valid from 1st June till 14th June 2020 at selected resellers. themselves in the product before resorting to buy it. We hope to reach This offer is valid for all adult Indian citizens and the participant will larger audiences, through this initiative for people who have only heard have to pay a refundable security deposit of Rs. 99/- through a credit card of us but are yet to fully experience the innovative technology we offer.” while availing it. At the end of the trial period the participant will have The LG G8X ThinQ Dual Screen Phone released in 2019 is a part the option to buy the product or return it, upon which the deposit will be of its G series smartphone that shares the identical 6.4-inch display of refunded. An extension period of three days can be rewarded in the case LG Dual Screen for double the Multitasking, productivity and fun. An in- of public holidays, strikes or personal emergencies etc. Loss or damage to display fingerprint sensor makes locking and unlocking the LG G8XThinQ the product is liable to be charged by LG Electronics. easier than ever, even with the Dual Screen folded back. and includes an After Purchase of LG G8X under this offer customer can also claim additional 2.1-inch Cover Display and 32 MP Front Camera. The Dual Jabra Elite 65t at Rs. 1, 999. Screen also adopts a new 360 Freestop Hinge to allow for viewing at any Advait Vaidya, Business Head - Mobile Communications at LG angle, just like a laptop.

www.varindia.com May 2020 35 COVER STORY

GROWTH IS THE DRIVING FACTOR OF EVERY BUSINESS AND FOR THAT A SUITABLE ALLIANCE IS HIGHLY REQUIRED TO FLOURISH FURTHER. CORPORATES ARE ALWAYS ON A HUNT FOR AN APPROPRIATE PARTNER TO EXPAND ITS BUSINESS.

A PARTNER PROGRAM IS EXTREMELY ESSENTIAL FOR BOTH CORPORATES AND PARTNERS TO PUSH BOUNDARIES AND ACHIEVE SUCCESS. PARTNER PROGRAMS ARE DIFFERENT FOR EVERY COMPANY AND IT DEPENDS ON VARIOUS FACTORS LIKE THEIR SIZE, VOLUME AND EXPERTISE. EVERY YEAR, CORPORATES SPEND A MAJOR CHUNK OF MONEY TO GROW PARTNER BUSINESS.

A SIMPLE AND TRANSPARENT PARTNER PROGRAM HAS ALWAYS BEEN A DESIRE FOR THE IT PARTNER ECOSYSTEM. COMPANIES CHALK OUT THEIR UNIQUE PARTNER PROGRAM EVERY YEAR WITH A VISION OF EXTENDING THEIR FOOTPRINT, ACQUIRING NEW CUSTOMERS ETC. FEW CORPORATES FOLLOW THE GLOBAL AGENDA AND FEW CUSTOMIZE PARTNER PROGRAMS ACCORDING TO THE NEEDS OF ITS PARTNERS IN DIFFERENT REGIONS BY EMBRACING PARTNERSHIP AND COLLABORATION STRATEGY FOR ITS DEVELOPMENT.

PARTNER PROGRAM IS A TOOL TO EMPOWER ITS PARTNERS SO THAT THEY CAN LEVERAGE THE TECHNOLOGICAL EXPERTISE OF A COMPANY TO ACCELERATE THE GROWTH. ON THE OTHER HAND RIDING ON THE BACK OF THE PARTNERS, THE CORPORATES LEVERAGE PARTNER’S COMPETENCIES AND RESOURCES TO DELIVER ITS BUSINESS TRANSFORMATION GOALS. IT IS TRUE THAT PARTNERS ARE A MAJOR CONTRIBUTOR TO THE COMPANY’S REVENUE.

36 May 2020 www.varindia.com ASHISH SIKKA DIRECTOR- CHANNEL AND SMB, LENOVO INDIA

“As our current situation seems to be extremely dynamic, it would be inappropriate to make any long-term strategy for the future of businesses. However, we at Lenovo, are 100% dedicated to listening, taking action and improving to build a true win-win partnership. With most of Lenovo’s shipments coming through our channel partners, we are driven to equip our partners in the fight to stay relevant, as well as future proof their business. As a part of this, we have launched a few partner programs out of which we recently introduced the AP Lenovo Partner Program to streamline all engagement and operations with our channel partners into one single platform. This portal provides useful sales and management tools, as well as training and marketing content, allowing our channel partners to experience how Lenovo adds value to the partnership with just a single log-in. We at Lenovo, understand their challenges and provide extensive and customized programs, from incentives to rebates to co-marketing to help channel partners sell more and reap greater rewards, gain expertise, and receive support. There are several challenges we are facing presently. Channel partners in India cited that their biggest challenge is how margin pressures are impacting their profitability in the current scenario. Hence, we have we have put in place some of the measures for our channel partners, enabling them to align in the right direction and this year’s partner programs are mainly focused on tackling these challenges by providing extensive and customized programs. Also, this year, we focus on the programs that are different in several ways to encourage BP to drive a right mix of PC, Services and S&P attach depending on customer requirement. We are aiming to grow faster than the market. Strong and loyal channel base will help us capitalize the new opportunity that is getting created due to changing business requirement like WFM and PC penetration due to growing online communication.”

SOM SATSANGI HEWLETT PACKARD ENTERPRISE (HPE) INDIA’S MD

“India has come a long way in enabling remote work, thanks to innovation, and much of this is possible today because of the mobile and data revolution of the past decade. “We are prioritising the things that are within our control— protecting our team members and their families, focusing on innovation and efforts to support our customers, and rising to the challenge of supporting the communities where we live and work. We are focused on helping customers and partners maintain business continuity, manage cash flow and financial health and are deploying solutions to meet immediate challenges and unexpected demand. Business continuity is a vital focus area for our enterprise customers who cut across several verticals including banking, insurance, telecom, chemicals, oil and gas, state and central governments, and so on. Several of these organisations have mature IT practices. HPE has robust business continuity plans and with the activation of HPE Crisis Management Team in place we are confident we will mitigate disruptions, meet partner and customer demands, and protect HPE team members. We are working closely with more than 200 suppliers to continue to minimise the impact on partners and customers. To help manage cash flow and financial health, HPE’s Financial Services arm (which is an IT captive finance company, managing $13 billion in portfolio assets in more than 50 countries) can help. We are also releasing capital from existing infrastructure, providing pre-owned tech equipment to relieve capacity strains or delivery delays. We recently announced that we would defer or reduce expenses through payment deferral, so customers can delay payments for 90 days. Through the 2020 Payment Relief Program, customers can pay only 1 percent of the total contract value each month for the first eight months, deferring over 90 percent of the cost until 2021. This can help businesses navigate the financial impact of Covid-19 in the short term.”

MURLI MOHAN VICE PRESIDENT, UIPATH INDIA

“The global outbreak of COVID - 19 has pushed organizations, today, to fast track their digital transformation and has given rise to new opportunities to reimagine work and business continuity. We recently conducted a joint study with Zinnov on the adoption of automation by Indian enterprises which clearly showed that Hyper Intelligent Automation (HIA) will become key to accelerate outcomes in the wake of COVID-19. We, at UiPath, believe that only with strong partnerships to scale training, expedite deployment, and innovate new solutions, can we seize these opportunities and deliver value to our customers. The UiPath Partner Program is designed to accelerate our partner’s ability to guide their customers through their digital transformation, preparing them for the future of work. We also support them to leverage the platform internally to help reinvest their core services and achieve workforce gains, co-develop innovative new services solutions that exploit RPA capabilities, guide themselves and their clients on how best to leverage RPA with a Center of Excellence, and deploy RPA solutions as part of a broader business process optimization initiative. Our Partner Program also provides easier access to information and tools, at-the-ready marketing, sales and technical resources, campaigns and event kits. In addition to this, we also provide transparency and standardization around benefits, requirements, and constant support from our customer success team. In the coming year, we will continue to support our integrated partner ecosystem by upskilling them with our learning platform called Academy for Partners.”

www.varindia.com May 2020 37 COVER STORY

ANIL SETHI VICE PRESIDENT & GENERAL MANAGER, CHANNELS, DELL TECHNOLOGIES, INDIA

“The India region, in the past year, emerged as one of the largest channel regions for Dell Technologies and we have been consistent with our channel strategies, which are very critical for us and our partner’s success. We are fully committed to supporting the partner community navigate through the changing environment. Our world-class partner program, we drive our Simple, Predictable and Profitable message, to position it as the best program in the market, providing superior value to the channel partners. Given the ongoing situation, the priorities were strategically modified to help our partners evolve and meet the business goals. In order to help the channel partner community continue to serve their customers better, we recently announced ‘Partner Relief Package’, to provide financial relief. Information technology is become more specialized and requires Partners and OEMs to build expertize, leading to a shift in the partner ecosystem. In addition to technology needs, our customers and partners have been vocal about their need for financial support in the current environment. The Global Dell Financial Services (DFS) team listened and responded with the new Payment Flexibility Program (PFP). One of the best in the industry, the program offers more choice and predictability for our customers. The Program is built on the strong foundation of DFS and our end-to-end portfolio. Dell has also announced $9B in financing available this year to cater to their critical technology needs. We are committed to helping our customers and partners drive business continuity in this new normal. Dell Technologies has always focused on raising the bar towards its promise of delivering a simple, predictable, profitable partner program. Our FY20 partner program focused on making it easier for partners to achieve gold status and also introduced a simplified market development funds (MDF) process. The strategy and plan for FY21 needed an upliftment, given the ongoing scenario. Partners are looking up to us to maintain business continuity and to mitigate fluid situations. Financial support and capital are of utmost importance for our partners to adapt to the rapidly changing environment. Many of our partners needed help in this area to device a strong plan as they try to serve their customers better. Keeping this outlook in mind, we recently announced ‘Partner Relief Package’, with the intent of providing immediate financial relief to our metal partners. It is helping them to strengthen their capabilities and build pipeline for the future. In addition to this, Dell Technologies Working Capital Solutions (WCS) Program is working on ways to continue supporting our partners, to help them support their customers. We are also introducing new team-based pricing options for solutions providers to make all training more affordable for our partners’ teams. • MDF (Marketing Development Funds) validity extended till end-July 2020 – thus giving partners more time to plan and execute (up to 3 months more than the current 6 months window) • Option of advance withdrawal – up to 50% of their earned MDF – to ease cash flow • Free training and certifications – for solution deployment capabilities • Digital Marketing Tool – enabling partners to execute Digital Marketing – the best tool in current contact-less economy to run customer outreach marketing activities • Attractive Working Capital Solutions – minimizing the financial burden and working capital pressure for partners – when they transact with Dell.”

MANISH ALSHI DIRECTOR, PARTNER SALES, VMWARE

“VMware launched its new partner program, VMware Partner Connect on February 29th, 2020, which is a new, dramatically simplified, and flexible program designed to enable partners to do business with VMware in a way that aligns with their business models under a single, unified contract. The program empowers partners with the flexibility to meet customer needs, making VMware technologies and services opportunities more accessible. Partners now have an enhanced experience that delivers simplicity, choice, and innovation, while recognizing and rewarding partners based on the value they bring to customers. The new VMware Partner Connect program has been welcomed and widely appreciated by our Partner community.

VMware Partner Connect reiterates our commitment to dramatically improve the partner experience, helping them drive customer success and digital transformation. Designed to deliver simplicity, choice, and innovation, Partner Connect aligns with our Partners’ business model so that they can optimize profitability. While the earlier partner program was a cluster of multiple programs focused on resell-based transactions, the new Partner Connect Program brings in an increased strategic focus on value delivery across the full customer lifecycle. The program was developed by a cross-functional team representing a broad set of perspectives incorporating both, VMware internal teams as well as partner teams. The Partner Advisory Council continues to provide feedback regarding various aspects of the program. VMware Partner Connect offers a simplified, consistent experience designed to provide clearer paths to our partners towards profitability, whether they want to resell software or services, manage or host services, or provide value- add services to their customers.

There are three key Incentive and Investment Programs within Partner Connect: Advantage+, Solution Rewards, and Development Funds. • Advantage+: VMware’s sales incentives program to drive bookings, pipeline visibility and deal advantage • Solution Rewards: VMware’s back-end rebate program focused on rewarding partners who have demonstrated their dedication to selling and delivering VMware solutions • Development Funds: VMware’s pre-sales investment to drive incremental demand and increase strategic partners’ capacity and for VMware technologies The new Partner Connect program rewards partners for growing their business, achieving solution competencies & master services competencies, and progressing to Advanced or Principal tiers within the Partner Connect Program. Incentive eligibility is determined and applied by the program tier level, market maturity, and business model.”

38 May 2020 www.varindia.com DEBASISH MUKHERJEE VP, REGIONAL SALES – APAC, SONICWALL

“For the year 2020-21, we will continue making our headway in the enterprise market along with immense focus on the expansion of our channel partner program. We will be working towards adding greater capabilities and intelligence to our partner community and collaborating with them to chart out our business plans. We are also investing in: • Sales and technical resources to assist our partners find more opportunities • Channel enablement tools and content to keep our partners up to date on the latest SonicWall innovations • Innovative products and technologies to continuously improve our offerings

SonicWall recently unveiled an enhanced version of its SecureFirst Managed Security Service Provider (MSSPs) Program to provide the licensing models, resources and tools needed to help MSSPs profitably scale and accelerate their managed security services business, leveraging SonicWall’s award-winning technology. In India, this program will commence from June 2020. Built on the SonicWall SecureFirst Partner Program, the enhanced three-tiered MSSP program offers benefits such as flexible pricing options, tailored premier technical support access, access to MSSP field sales and technical specialists, increased access to co-marketing funds as well as specialization training and assessments for sales and technical staff. Due to the unprecedented need to quickly and efficiently deploy security to rapidly expanding remote workforces, SonicWall will include its Secure Mobile Access (SMA) solution for MSSPs, allowing managed security service providers to swiftly deploy and scale on-demand security and connectivity at costs based on the number of concurrent users.

Specific to the MSSP program tiers — MSSP Protect, MSSP Powered, MSSP Powered Plus — partners will be offered new program benefits including: • Expanded annual and monthly pricing model licenses • Aggressive volume-based pricing based on assets under management • Priority access to Premier Support tier 3 engineers • Increased access to MDF, including accruals for Powered Plus partners • Support from a new and expanding MSSP strategic account management team, globally • Addition of Secure Mobile Access (SMA) to MSSP portfolio Participating MSSPs will continue to be required to meet annual revenue requirements, have an operating NOC or SOC with Help Desk L1/L2 support capabilities, as well as sales and technical staffing criteria. Authorized MSSPs will need to be established in the SecureFirst program at the Silver level or above.”

NEERAJ BHATIA DIRECTOR - CHANNEL AND PARTNER ALLIANCES, RED HAT INDIA AND SOUTH ASIA

“Our partners play a significant role in our go-to-market strategy and our overall success. Year over year, our partners have brought invaluable ability and resources for the benefit of our customers by being true ambassadors of Red Hat and our enterprise open source solutions, from automation to hybrid cloud infrastructure, Openshift based containerisation and beyond. In response to the current events, we have been working on identifying new ways to help our customers and partners to navigate the challenges and forge a path forward. Our approach is to meet our customers wherever they are in their journey - whether it is adopting a virtual- first footing or scaling up to make remote workforce productive. Open source exists for times like these, working together to solve shared problems is fundamental to our business. These current challenges are unfamiliar and new to all of us. As we embrace new ways of working, we believe that open source and subscription based models will become more appealing for customers. It has been established that organizations who have been adopting agile methodology, optimised infrastructure like automation, devops, mobility built on hybrid cloud, are better prepared to operate effectively during these unprecedented times. The requirements of social distancing and the need for restricted movement has further accelerated the adoption of automation by organizations across verticals to continue day-to-day operations. In line with this, below are some of the initiatives we have undertaken for our partners: ● We have launched Ansible Automation Platform Certified Partner program to help our partners build automation practice and capitalize on growing adoption of hybrid / multi cloud by customers. The program entails several benefits for partners including increased rebates. ● Our existing partner programs like Red Hat Partner Connect , Red Hat Certified Cloud and Service Provider program, and Red Hat OpenShift Practice Builder Program are already designed to help partners meet customer needs for cloud based technologies, containerized application development and platforms. ● In order to create awareness around our SMB business, we initiated an exclusive program called Red Hat Baazigar (partner incentive program) for select partner representatives to drive new business opportunities for Red Hat. ● Red Hat Training & Certification is delivering live virtual training classes, extended timelines for using Red Hat Training Units and the exam window by three months for those who are not in position to cancel or reschedule previously scheduled classes or exams.”

www.varindia.com May 2020 39 COVER STORY

PRAKASH KRISHNAMOORTHY DIRECTOR, ARUBA INDIA

“Aruba partners include distributors, resellers, managed services providers, and OEM partners for whom we have a partner program initiative known as “Partner Ready for Networking”. Distributors can have the full portfolio of Aruba products and services to distribute. They earn rebates based on what they resell, and depending on various factors. Managed service providers (MSP), service providers (SP) and system integrators (SI) are partners recognised with different business model. MSP/SP/SI generally is the asset owners of our technology who deliver “As a Service” to the customers in single tenant and multi-tenant solutions. OEM partners integrate HPE and Aruba products with their own intellectual property to deliver a unique value proposition as part of the go-to-market strategy. This has resulted in an ecosystem of partners utilizing HPE and Aruba innovations. Over the last 12 months, we have delivered both consumption and subscription options for partners to resell and/or to use as-a-service. Combining our complete portfolio of products, services and financial offerings, partners have a greater array of options to buy, consume and pay for network needs including HPE GreenLake for Aruba, a subscription service where the campus or corporate network is used and paid for on a predictable payment plan over a period of 3 or 5 years. In response to COVID-19, HPE recently provided additional benefits to partners that include: • Rebates - HPE and Aruba has made it easier for partners to earn rebates. • Settlement incentives - Aruba is offering early settle incentives for partners, encouraging them to take advantage of this incentive to improve their working capital and cash positions. • Extended Credit & Early Settlement Terms – We have provided up to 60 day credit terms in May with enhanced early settlement incentives being offered for payments from May through July for distributors. • HPE Partner Ready Programs Revenue Threshold Suspension - To provide stability for partners facing financial uncertainty, HPE has suspended the revenue threshold targets required for current partners to maintain their equivalent status for 2021 eligibility. • HPE Financial Services (HPEFS) offerings - HPEFS is enabling resellers to recommend to their customers these offerings to reduce their financial risks (available in all countries except Vietnam and AEC), which include: o Payment Relief Program (defer >90% of the cost until 2021) o Support to convert existing IT assets into capital including a buy back scheme o A new payment deferral option is available on new technology purchases o A phased deployment program that allows them to acquire compute and storage capacity now with the flexibility to configure, test, and stand up systems before paying o Short Term Rental of pre-owned HPE technology to empower a remote working set up (available in selected countries for data center assets only).”

HARSHAVARDHAN KATHALEY DIRECTOR, CHANNEL SALES (INDIA & SAARC), JUNIPER NETWORKS

“For Juniper and our partners, customers are at the center of everything that we do. Our mission has been to build a strong partner ecosystem to be able to help our customers succeed and together with our partners, become part of customer’s success stories. To that end, Juniper’s partner program has evolved over the years to support and fulfill the technology innovation to deliver Juniper solutions through our partners. At its core, the program is simplified yet covers all the aspects of Skillset & certifications, Marketing & demand creation, business acceleration tools, sales enablement and most importantly profits & rewards for our partners. AN OVERVIEW OF JUNIPER’S ENHANCED PARTNER PROGRAM PROVIDES: New specialisations: With Juniper’s recent acquisition of Mist Systems, the new joint Juniper-Mist Specialisation enables partners to deliver AI solutions into the enterprise, while the new SaaS and managed services specialisations are designed to incent and enable partner transformation into recurring revenue models. Partners can choose their specialisation based on their competitive differentiation and unique business models. Following is the list of various specialisations available for our partners - Security, Routing, Data Center, AI Access – Mist, Cloud Software, Services, Managed Services Incentives and rewards: New incentive programs are designed to help partners who are co-investing with Juniper to grow their enterprise business: incentives focused on driving growth of Mist and Juniper solutions and paying double-digit rebates on growth technologies such as software, cloud and SD-WAN. Additionally, Juniper is making incremental investments in partners who invest in building technical, sales and service expertise in Juniper technologies. As our partners stack up their specialisations, they earn stackable rebates. Demand creation: Juniper is providing programs and campaigns, as well as joint marketing funds, to create a demand for new business and to expand existing accounts. Our partners have access to on-demand, customised and turn-key marketing campaigns focused on differentiated product solutions and targeted vertical segments in the enterprise. Sales enablement: To help partners upskill in emerging areas like AI, cloud, wired assurance and managed services, Juniper is providing a new sales enablement curriculum to accelerate partner success. Given the ongoing outbreak, there will be an accelerated focus and more investments in the healthcare sector, throughout every aspect of that industry – from hospitals to pharmaceutical companies, to essential commodities production and distribution, to retail and e-commerce, among others. The government is expected to lead this charge in India, followed by the private sector. Furthermore, ISPs have witnessed unprecedented increase in demand due to the recent work-from-home practices, which is also expected to have an impact on future work culture. Just like work-from-home; there shall be back-to-office scenarios leading to a need for implementation of SOPs e.g. Contact tracing-inside the premises, social distancing alert systems etc. Juniper’s AI enabled solutions are already being examined by customers for these applications. Cloud adoption will continue to gaining further momentum to provide opportunities right from Data Center build or expansion to multi- cloud rollout and management.” 40 May 2020 www.varindia.com NICK TIDD VICE PRESIDENT - GLOBAL CHANNEL SALES, POLY

“Recently, we launched a new Poly partner program – we have reimagined our program to encourage participation from a broad range of partners and made it more beneficial to partner with Poly. Our partners consistently tell us that their success depends on their ability to differentiate based on reputation, service delivery capability, and complementary skills. Our goal is to help all partners successfully stand out in the market. The new program, which brings together more than 15,000 partners around the world between Plantronics and Polycom, is designed so partners of all sizes can more easily deliver the most compelling and customized solutions to their customers. The Poly partner program shifts the evaluation of partner levels from a focus on revenue to an emphasis on involvement with Poly to support innovation and mutual growth. The model is built around three categories: • Capabilities, ensuring a deep knowledge base through training and enablement; • Commitment, a demonstrated focus and investment in Poly; and • Contribution, which expands beyond just revenue and provides opportunities for bonuses for our partners. Additional benefits include a single instance of deal registration, performance dashboards, and a real-time scorecard to make it easier to track partner standing. Additional features of the Poly partner program include: • A new Poly partner portal launching on April 10 which will replace Polycom Partner Connect and Plantronics Plantro.net. The portal offers an interactive and collaborative space to easily connect partners to Poly, support technical expertise, sales, marketing, and continuous real- time learning. • The Poly partner portal will also provide a comprehensive library of images, marketing assets and co-brandable templates so partners can effectively and efficiently market to customers. • Poly University provides a full suite of curriculum by specialty to help partners satisfy certification and specialization requirements as well as elective learning. A robust certification program provides individual sales and pre-sales training in various product and service categories. • Sales tools offer customer testimonials, videos, promotions and a demo discount program to help drive business. Poly’s new partner program offers new tools, business opportunities and a refreshing business mindset for the Polycom and Plantronics partners, Poly Partner Program and Portal Registration All Polycom and Plantronics partners will receive access to the Poly partner portal on April 10, 2020, which will be available in North America, EMEA and APAC regions. Other interested partners may register here to become a Poly partner today.” LATA SINGH EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR IBM PARTNER ECOSYTEM & CSI, INDIA/SOUTH ASIA

"Theworld is dealing with the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and number of our clients and partners have had to re-evaluate their IT strategy in the short and medium term. IBM is committed to support our clients via multiple digital platforms of engagement in these times of social distancing. We have launched a special set of offerings to cater to the increased demand for Cloud solutions, Cybersecurity, Remote Workforce and Business Continuity Planning and some specifically to assist our channel business partners. IBM is offering an extended financial stimulus package for our customers through IBM Global Financing. IBM Systems globally has added millions of dollars into the incentive portfolio which will be available for distributors and all partners in India. The Q2 performance incentive for Power and Storage has been increased. The funding for eligible digital co-marketing activities in Q2 has been increased from 50% to 100%. Clients will be given option to pay in quarterly installments at zero percent interest for any hardware purchases in Q2 subject to terms & conditions. We have suspended CVR Sales / Sales Assist, CVR Solution revalidation for 2020 allowing partners’ additional time to prepare and complete necessary testing. The revalidation grace period for IBM Partnerworld program has been extended from May 5, 2020 to January 1, 2021 so that partners will not decrease in program level or lose a competency during this time. IBM provides resources to plan/prospect and progress leads, run a digital workshopwith the Digital Technical Engagement team and incentives if the workshop is done with a client. We are providing access to key virtual selling tools, remote training tools, guidance and resources to make sure learning never stops. My Digital Marketingis the new digital marketing platform which IBM launched in Feb for our partners to quickly access an array of 'ready-to-execute' digital campaigns. With it partners will be able to plan, personalize, execute and measure their next digital marketing campaign, and identify what does and doesn’t work as our lines of communications shift to more virtual channels. We provide 24/7 access to solution demos, webinars and more at IBM Virtual Client Center. IBM has launched a special 90-day software offerings and trials at no cost for Cloud & Cognitive Softwareand defined a distinct set of focus solutions for IBM Power, IBM Security, IBM Storage, IBM Z and LinuxONEthat will help both partners and customers. We will continue to push more content to the Seismicplatform - a central repository for all sales enablement materials on demand - with additional programmatic digital enablement sessions. Business Partner Connectoffers both IBM and Red Hat partners the ability to discover new collaboration opportunities, by leveraging Watson's matching technology to help find the right tools for shifting business needs.IBM digital badges and professional certifications are now available on IBM Skills Gateway. Since we have a strong services team we are sharing with our partners details on our service offerings as well as best practices. Partners looking to expand their service offerings can seek advice from our experts as well as take the IBM service offerings to their Clients. We are also keen that our partners leverage IBM Cloud for their client needs from bare metal to SaaS offerings. On top of it all, we are hosting the IBM Think 2020and PartnerWorld conference digitally on May 5-6. It will be an exciting combination of live streamed content, interactive sessions and certifications, highlighting IBM’s technology and industry expertise for Business Partners and developers. The focus on building skills on solutions for the post COVID time remains most important."

www.varindia.com May 2020 41 COVER STORY

KAUSHAL VELURI DIRECTOR – CHANNEL ECOSYSTEM, NETAPP INDIA

“A few months back, the question on new partner programs would have been answered differently. With the advent of COVID 19, this is a testing time for the entire ecosystem. As businesses slowly come back to normal over the next few months, cash flow is a significant issue for our partners. To help address these challenges, NetApp is currently extending partner credit terms by 30 days for direct purchasing partners (distributors and direct resellers), extending eligibility for achievement in partner growth programs, delaying our next compliance review by three months and extending all certification expiries by six months. As we look to the future, supporting our partners as they discuss their customer imperatives in the “new normal” is our core priority. NetApp’s Partner programs have focussed on three tenets of Simplicity, Acquisition & Knowledge and helping partners with initiatives in alignment with these strategies. We have made it simpler for our partners to earn the rebates they are eligible for by making the process claimless. This has helped our partners to focus on market outreach and customer acquisition without worrying about missing out on rebates. This simplicity met with great response from our customers. To help our partners acquire new customers, we expanded our marketing support to help them with their demand generation activities through initiatives like Marketing Concierge where they can seek help to run an integrated marketing campaign. At the same time, we support partners through back end rebates for acquiring new to NetApp customers and competitive customers through our Run-to-NetApp programs. As we embrace the new normal due to the COVID-19 pandemic, vendors will need to provide customers innovative, flexible technologies with the choice of how to use and consume these technologies to meet evolving business requirements.

Achieving this simplicity will be the foundation for companies as they look for growth opportunities in the new world

• Buying patterns are shifting as customers brace themselves for the workload demands on critical applications. The need of the hour is to support remote workers with End-user computing (EUC) and virtual desktop infrastructure (VDI) solutions for wide-scale deployments without sacrificing performance while making data and applications available and ensuring optimal performance. o With 5G we see AI-driven IoT becoming a reality, edge computing environments are also primed to become even more disruptive than cloud was. In preparation for the widespread emergence of 5G, maturing AI applications and lower-cost sensors will be leveraged to build compute-intensive edge environments, laying the groundwork for high bandwidth, low latency AI-driven IoT environments with the potential for huge innovation o The adoption of hybrid multicloud as the de-facto architecture for enterprise customers has led to tremendous pressure to modernise the infrastructure and deliver tangible business value around data-intensive applications and workloads o Hardware-based Composable Architecture will have less short-term potential against commodity hardware and software-based Infrastructure Virtualisation. Majority of organisations that need to transform within 2020 will be best-served by the combination of modern HCI architectures (including disaggregated HCI) and software-based virtualization and containerisation.

NetApp has always recognized that our success depends on the success of our partners and that we can all accomplish more by working together than we ever could on our own.”

SAMEER BHATIA DIRECTOR OF ASIA PACIFIC CONSUMER BUSINESS GROUP AND COUNTRY MANAGER FOR SAARC & INDIA, SEAGATE TECHNOLOGY

"We have been seeing a strong and continuous growth in India, not only on the consumer side but also enterprise. Our leadership position in storage space in the country has been possible with the constant support of our distributors and channel partners. Working towards our partners’ business success across all the cities in India is one of the key focus areas for us at Seagate each day. We believe in nurturing our partner ecosystem by understanding their needs and guiding them with all the product knowledge and tools to enable their success in competitive environment. We connect with our customers and partners in the markets through the Seagate Insider partner program. This year, we will continue to focus on providing comprehensive training sessions and seminars as well as working on co-marketing initiatives to better identify evolving opportunities in the changing norms currently. With the emergence of IT 4.0, our focus for this year is to help partners drive profitability by enabling them to embrace and monetize the new opportunities around edge computing and artificial intelligence (AI). We connect with our customers and partners in the markets through the Seagate Insider partner program. In addition to regular products and technology trainings, Seagate also provides its partners to better understand evolving opportunities. Our India-market specific SkyHawk Partner App is a great example of how we empower our partners and customers. The total downloads of the app are now nearly 13,500 from 10,000 users in late November 2019 – a 35% increase in over four months. The total app registrations also increased from over 4,000 users in November 2019 to over 5,600 users now. This year we also redesigned and opened a hi-tech Lacie Showroom in March to provide better tech experience to our customers. With the increase in the number of connected devices there has been an exceptional growth in the creation and consumption of data. We believe that the next wave of data growth will come from “embedded devices”, and with the advent of IT 4.0, our focus is on helping partners drive profitability by enabling them to embrace and monetize the new opportunities around edge computing and artificial intelligence (AI). As mentioned earlier, with the growing business opportunities, our focus continues to be on engaging with the partners and distributors network. Our channel ecosystem continues to grow in numbers and reach as we better understand evolving opportunities and double down on our efforts to engage with our partners and customers more closely than ever.”

42 May 2020 www.varindia.com AMARISH KARNIK DIRECTOR – CHANNEL SALES, ALLIANCE (INDIA & SAARC), VEEAM

“We at Veeam are committed to enabling our partners with the right set of tools, resources, and opportunities to ensure business continuity for our customers. As a reflection of the commitment, we launched Veeam PartnerPerks Program earlier this year. The entire program is designed to build trusting and long-lasting relationships that result in meeting the demands of our customers, repeat transactions, encourage focused products and solutions adoption. At the same time, also rewarding our partners for their focused approach towards boosting sales and ensuring Veeam solutions reach the market faster. Veeam also launched the enhanced Veeam Accredited Services Partner (VASP) programme in 2019 to strengthen its partners’ capabilities to sell, deploy and support Veeam solutions, and ensure customer satisfaction. We are a 100% channel centric company and for the year 2020-21, we will continue to help partners at every sales stage. Right from the opportunity generation, to doing proof of concept and to deal closures, we help partners build extensive profitable portfolio by enabling competencies at partner place. In addition to that, we help partners talk industry/vertical specific language which enables us to achieve better business acceleration and velocity. With the programs like PartnerPerks, we will continue our efforts in enabling our customers across industries to have uninterrupted access to data, at all times, with the right set of Veeam Backup and Recovery solutions. We are expecting unique challenges and opportunities for our channel partners as there is likely to be change in revenue models at the customers end. There will be a robust requirement to develop different sales models to stay relevant to our customers. Below are the top three opportunities that the channel community should prepare for in the coming time: a) Need for data mobility and portability will fuel Cloud Data Management adoption: Businesses are going through a monumental change at the moment and are looking for new methods of making data more portable within their organization and it can only be achieved through a robust CDM strategy. This change is leading them to look at cloud data management (CDM) to ensure the availability of data across all storage environments, including private, public and hybrid cloud. The channel community must leverage the demand for CDM as an opportunity to go to the market with scalable solutions. b) Pay-as-you-go model over CapEx purchases: The current business environment is shifting the IT spending to a pay-as-you-go model over CapEx purchases. Business are opting for cloud-friendly consumption models, where they only pay for what they use, when they use it. c) Organisations will replace, not refresh, backup solutions: The trend towards replacement of backup technologies over augmentation will gather pace. Businesses will prioritise simplicity, flexibility and reliability of their business continuity solutions as the need to accelerate technology deployments becomes even more critical. The channel community must be agile to respond to this trend in 2020.”

JITENDRA GHUGHAL DIRECTOR CHANNELS, INDIA & SAARC, FORTINET

“Customers need strategic counsel and guidance more than ever now to navigate through new challenges brought about by the current reality. As organizations transform their networks, security plays a critical role and also needs to evolve to keep up with new business demands. Recognizing this Fortinet has designed new enablement initiatives and specializations, allowing partners to take advantage of digital innovations and the changing business landscape. The recently announced Engage Partner Program provides greater flexibility on partner engagement with Fortinet, offers customized support to partners’ business models and allows partners to specialize in emerging areas through tailored training and certifications.

Expanding Partner Opportunities Through New Partner Program Fortinet’s Engage partner program addresses the required technology and sales skills needed from new network ecosystems, such as next-gen branch offices and dynamic cloud environments comprised of multi-cloud and hybrid cloud. The new program is based on three main concepts, including: • Specializations: Partners are able to select an area of specialization to receive additional support and benefits in their chosen areas. These include: Dynamic Cloud, Secure Access and Branch, Secure SD-WAN and Data Center. Customized training and certifications are available for each of these specializations to help partners upskill in emerging areas, further enabling partners to capitalize on growth opportunities. • Business Model: Fortinet offers specialized support for partners that fit the following three business models: MSSP partners, Market Place partners and Traditional Integrator partners. By offering customized support for these unique business models, Fortinet is evolving its partner program to further embrace growing business areas such as the selling of managed services. • Engagement: Partners have greater flexibility when determining the level of engagement they want to have with Fortinet. They’re able to select the type of expertise they want developed, the benefits and the revenue stream. This allows partners to select how they want to work with Fortinet to grow their business. As a result, there are four new levels of partnership outlined in the program ranging from Fortinet Advocate, Fortinet Select, Fortinet Advance and Fortinet Expert. The new partner program is designed to provide an expanded set of benefits to partners, such as training and certification so they can leverage a wider range of Fortinet consumption models. This not only enables partners to better meet the dynamic and expanding needs of customers it also enhances their ability to “land and expand.” With the new Fortinet program a single opportunity can be easily expanded to a long-term relationship. When partners are armed with a broad portfolio of integrated solutions, tools, and platforms available in any form factor, and solutions designed to operate natively in and between any networked environments, they have the opportunity to radically change the nature of relationship with their customer. And significantly expand business and revenue opportunities. Building on our investment in our partners, the new program offers specializations, updated enablement initiatives and tailored support for unique business models to further partner success.”

www.varindia.com May 2020 43 COVER STORY

JAGANATHAN CHELLIAH DIRECTOR, MARKETING, WESTERN DIGITAL INDIA

“We continue to reinvent the way we work with our partners, considering the current environment, we are heavily focused communicating digitally with our partners and helping them further communicate with their customers in a best and most effective way. Our rewards initiatives and programs are uniquely designed for each set of channel partners to help them grow, maximize profitability, and, most importantly, delight their customers. Western Digital works to create an environment for data to thrive and continues to make constant efforts for its channel partners to get robust insights into the technologies, product design etc. using an app-based training module for channel partners called TechTalk. The organisation is committed to its partners' growth and success in today’s volatile and dynamic environment. We also use the WhatsApp business platform to engage with channel partners and stay connected. The platform allows us to communicate easily from understanding their queries to resolving them and understanding the market trends observed. Channel partners are encouraged to use the platform and are constantly rewarded via our reward initiatives. While the mindset is what we roll out from our programs is to give the partners an opportunity. Partners recognize the value that Western Digital brings along with the product portfolio. Appended are various partner programs planned for the year – WhatsApp for Business - To engage in constant communication with our partners we use the WhatsApp business platform. The platform allows us to communicate easily from understanding their queries to resolving them and understanding the market trends observed. TechTalk - An app-based training module for channel partners that provide them with robust insights into the technologies, product design etc. It provides them training modules on different products of eight-minute followed by a quiz and then they have a leaderboard, accordingly, everybody gets rewarded. SanDisk League of Heroes (SLH) - SLH is created for recognizing and rewarding the best performing channel partners in the consumer segment. Each quarter represents a mission consisting of a number of stars that can earn the partners attractive rewards. The SLH program consists of rewards, booster rewards, and medallions that can earn exciting prizes. Western Digital Elite Partner Promo - This program is for enterprise SIs and VARs who provide complete storage solutions to the customers. It is an annualized rewards program with quarterly rewards based on performance for the channel partners who sell Western Digital Ultrastar HDDs, SSDs and storage platforms and server portfolio that includes our JBOD, JBOFs, Ultrastar Serv24-A, and Ultrastar Serv60+8. myWD Partner Program - myWD Partner Program is a highly successful rewards program that engages with partners within the IT and surveillance channel. Under this campaign, ~6000 partners participate under a timebound, two-way communication-based rewards platform and get trained on select, WD-branded products.”

CHANDRAHAS PANIGRAHI CMO AND CONSUMER BUSINESS HEAD, ACER INDIA

“COVID-19 has changed the framework of our work, the way we approach to the partners and the customers as well. However, being one of the top ICT companies and a global PC brand, Acer believes in the growth of our channel partners on two aspects – innovation and upskilling. As always, we believe in supporting them by introducing new innovative and interactive measures. To offer the best to our channel partners and customers during this challenging time, we have come up with an Omni-channel solution. This will help our partners serve their customers with an integrated experience by connecting at multiple touch points to provide a seamless experience to the customers. The customers also have an option of getting their products home delivered keeping social distancing in mind. The service comes with a unified and contextual customer experience through Acer e-store platform. The lockdown has created a rush of remote working culture across, we are seeing a spike in the demand for laptops, PCs, monitors, and other peripherals at Acer. Whether it’s an organisation or an educational institution, we can see that remote working and online learning has emerged as the new normal. In addition to this, many people have been pushed behind doors and therefore, a huge chunk of people are engaging in online gaming as well. In fact, gaming has also become a viable career option for many of the folks across. Hence, we are observing a surge in gaming devices and accessories. To cater to this increasing need, we are focusing on our supply chain and are looking to fulfil orders as quickly as possible. As an organization, we are also looking at up-skilling ourselves as per the ongoing situation so that the current catastrophe can be turned into an opportunity wherein, we emerge more productive and stay ahead of the situation.”

SANJAY ZADOO COUNTRY MANAGER CHANNEL, VERTIV

“Vertiv partner programs are focused on keeping our partners updated about recent technology updates in the IT infrastructure domain. To enhance the partners’ knowledge about how various Vertiv offerings address customer challenges, we have arranged numerous online trainings during this current pandemic, to make the best use of their time and availability.

Our partners have been leveraging training to acquire new customers through online platforms, in addition to retaining our existing customers. With the partner community being highly responsive to our initiatives, we see tremendous growth potential in the times to come.”

44 May 2020 www.varindia.com “OUR TOP PRIORITY IS PROVIDING INNOVATIVE SOLUTIONS TO HELP INDIA WIN THE ONGOING CRUSADE AGAINST THE PANDEMIC”

IN THE ONGOING CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC CRISIS, PRAMA HIKVISION IS WORKING ON SECURITY TECHNOLOGIES AND SOLUTIONS TO HELP ITS CUSTOMERS. THE COMPANY HAS OFFERED INNOVATIVE TEMPERATURE SCREENING PRODUCTS AND CONTACTLESS FACE RECOGNITION SOLUTIONS TO RESOLVE THE CHALLENGES RISING IN THIS UNPRECEDENTED SITUATION. IN A CHAT WITH VARINDIA, ASHISH P. DHAKAN, MD & CEO, PRAMA HIKVISION INDIA HAS DISCUSSED ABOUT THE CURRENT SCENARIO, ITS LATEST TECHNOLOGIES AND THE COMPANY’S STEPS DURING THIS CRISIS.

SECURITY TRENDS IN INDIA Being at the forefront of research and development Prama Hikvision is offering innovative temperature screening products and contactless face recognition solutions to resolve the challenges emanating from the ongoing pandemic crisis. Ashish feels, “Significant changes have shaped the security industry during the last decade, and more exciting innovations should be expected in the 2020s. Emerging technologies and applications THE FIGHT IN THIS CRISIS – such as multi-dimensional perception, UHD, low light imaging, artificial intelligence, and cloud At PramaHikvisionthe employees are technology – open new possibilities for the security industry. At the same time, millions of cameras striving hard to enhance the customer experience and other security devices are being connected into networks, making the security industry a very at every touch point. Their customer centric important part of the future IoT world.” approach has always opened new opportunities, but they are sure this pandemic crisis will need extraordinary efforts and teamwork. “We are THE LATEST TECHNOLOGIES FOR CUSTOMERS ensuring that the customers are attended by our Prama Hikvision has a variety of innovative security technologies and solutions to help its representatives of the respective departments customers, which includes Flexible Temperature Screening solutions through Thermographic and their queries are resolved in a shortest Camera based on thermal technology and AI detection, Temperature Screening with Access Control possible time. We are contributing and helping through Facial Recognition, Deep Learning, AI and Thermal Technologies, Security Check through the Government and semi government bodies Temperature Screening Metal Detector Door (Thermal,AI & PI (Pulse Induction)Technologies), through our channel partners by offering our Patient Monitoring through EZVIZ Camera Series (Smart IP Technology). innovative products and solutions to combat In the Access Control segment the company has two innovative products i.e. Temperature the pandemic crisis. In these times, resilience Screening with Access Control and security Check (Touch-free Temperature Detection with Access and relevance of technologies, products and Control with MinMoe Temperature Screening Terminal (Special Feature of Mask Wearing Alert) and solutions in resolving the challenges matters the (Temperature Screening Metal Detector Door). The Patient Monitoring solution through EZVIZ most. Our top priority is providing innovative Camera Series (Two Way Communication and Alert System) and Hikvision VDP solution for solutions to help India win the ongoing crusade Hospitals and clinics are being developed to help the healthcare facilities and patients to overcome against the pandemic.” says Ashish. the challenges posed by the pandemic. Ashish claims, “With PramaHikvision’s innovative products and solutions, customers can replace the old access control protocols and systems with new temperature screening thermographic TO CONCLUDE solutions and face recognition access control solutions. These innovative solutions are extremely Ashish feels the mega stimulus package of helpful in managing organisations with large number of employees and people.” Rs. 20 Lakh Crore and Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan (Self Reliant India Movement) announced by the Prime Minister recently is a STEPS TO FIGHT CORONAVIRUS OUTBREAK big boost from the government to the MSMEs Ashish P. Dhakan depicts resilience as the new normal for now and the future. The strict and other key sectors of Indian economy. The adherence to, health and safety guidelines will be a new norm for survival in India. The key strategy key focus of the announcements has been will be resilience and hyper-localised containment at every phase. He is quite sure that they will aimed at protecting employment, providing overcome the odds and win over the pandemic. According to him it is critical to be vigilant in their liquidity and ensuring business for the MSMEs, response to the activities that make up their daily operations. They need to implement the right encouraging ‘Make in India’ by providing giant strategies, tactics and protocols to ensure the business continuity and well-being of their clients, fund for expansion of business. employees and community. Talking about manufacturing facility, Discussing about the steps taken by PramaHikvision, Ashish says, “Our first step was to ensure Ashishconcludes, “PramaHikvision has a long the wellbeing of employees, their safety and health is our top priority in these challenging times. term commitment to ‘Make in India’ vision We had announced ‘Work From Home’ (WFH) policy for all our employees as per the government and local manufacturing.Our ‘Make in India’ guidelines with immediate effect. We had ensured that our employees are working from home manufacturing facility is a remarkable milestone and taking care of their roles and functions in the organisation. They had served the business in our decade long journey and we are committed continuity objective in a mission critical mode. Our focus continues to be minimizing the supply to expand our ‘Make in India’ mission further by chain disruptions. We are ensuring by all means that despite the ongoing situation, supply chain manifesting our maxim ‘Made for India, Made disruptions and therefore prolonged lead time are kept to a minimal.” by India, Made in India’.” n

www.varindia.com May 2020 45 MOVERS & SHAKERS

DIGISOL Systems ropes in Sarvesh Mishra Ajay Kaul joins AWS Ajay has a accountAjay Kaul joins as the India States & Local Govt. as the Head of Sales and Marketing Leader with AWS. Before this Ajay was working with Dell Technologies as DIGISOL Systems has appointed Sarvesh Mishra as the Head of Sales the Director and GM, Head Government Business. Ajay served Dell over and Marketing. In this role, he will be responsible for developing sales 18 plus year for Dell. & marketing strategies and driving growth by focusing on In his present role , he was heading the Government emerging market opportunities. business in India , which is said to be the very important Sarvesh is an Industry Veteran with 25 years of division for the growth of Dell Technologies, earlier it was experience in the Networking & Telecommunications DELL EMC. Before this he had worked for Dell India Pvt. Industry, with a diverse experience of various key Ltd. as the Director & GM- North Geo, he was responsible domains including Sales and Marketing, BD and Product for heading North Commercial business P&L across all Management of which 14+ years are with Schneider lines of business & verticals and he had also served for the Electric India Pvt Ltd. and early career stints with the Global Commercial Channels-India as the Director & GM. companies like WIREWORKS, SUBEX SYSTEMS LTD, With digital transformation happening at an accelerated NEW VIDEO LIMITED (SHAW WALLACE GROUP rate, the Indian Government is also trying to achieve its CO.) vision of Digital India. Accordingly, from apps on the cloud Sarvesh Mishra, Head of Sales and Marketing said, “I to analytics for better service delivery, every government am excited to be part of a leading made in India IT networking brand- department is looking to leverage the power of technology to significantly Digisol that has been digitally empowering business across India. In this transform the way it functions of delivers service and Dell Technologies is new role, I am looking forward to working with the team and contributing a unique family of businesses that provides the essential infrastructure for to accomplish business goals and objectives.” organizations to build their digital future. OnePlus India positions Navnit Nakra FarEye names Amit Bagga as new CRO FarEye has announced the appointment of Amit Bagga, a seasoned as VP and Chief Strategy Officer leader with a track record of driving transformative growth across OnePlus announced the appointment of Navnit Nakra as the Vice geographies, as its Chief Revenue Officer (CRO). The announcement President and Chief Strategy Officer for OnePlus India. As part of the comes as the company gears up for the next level of growth and plans OnePlus senior leadership team, Navnit will spearhead the company’s to expand aggressively in the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific after its corporate strategy plans in the India region. recent announcement of a successful funding round. As part of this role, Navnit will be leading the strategic Bagga joins FarEye’s leadership team and will drive operations on the Red Cable Club, OnePlus’ marquee one of the most critical functions in a tech-first company digital lifestyle membership initiative, and will also drive key like FarEye. In his role, Bagga will focus on leveraging strategic partnerships that are vital to the India business. key revenue opportunities across sales and operations, Prior to OnePlus, Navnit worked with Apple as the enhanced customer experience, marketing, and partner Head of Affordability in India for over three years. Navnit strategy, all of which will help pivot towards a customer- led the strategic initiatives on devising effective consumer first focus for the company. and enterprise finance offers across categories ranging from Prior to joining FarEye, Bagga has successfully led the smartphones, tablets, and laptops, to watches and accessories. growth for Blue Yonder (previously JDA Software) Asia Navnit also previously worked with Citibank N.A. for Pacific, Oracle’s on Demand solutions, and held various nearly 15 years. At Citibank N.A., Navnit held a variety of roles at HP. Under Bagga’s leadership, Blue Yonder leadership roles across Consumer and Institutional Banking. captured the key challenges that the supply chain industry During his later years of tenure at the company, Navnit was the National faced in APAC and delivered tangible value with the help of artificial Head for Liabilities and Regional Lead for the E-commerce segment across intelligence and machine learning solutions. India, Greater China and Korea within commercial banking. Nutanix elevates Christian Alvarez Microsoft veteran Cesar Cernuda as Head of Worldwide Channels joins NetApp as President Nutanix announced that it has promoted Christian Alvarez to Senior VP NetApp has announced the appointment of Cesar Cernuda as of Worldwide Channels effective immediately. As the worldwide channel President of NetApp, reporting to CEO George Kurian, effective in July. and partner sales leader, Alvarez will have oversight of the strategic direction He will lead our global go-to-market operations spanning sales, marketing, of Nutanix’s channel partner ecosystem, fostering strategic relationships and services, and support. Cernuda joins NetApp from Microsoft, where he was developing global sales and distribution programs for value- President of Microsoft Latin America and Corporate Vice added resellers (VARs), distributors, original equipment President of Microsoft Corporation. He brings with him manufacturers (OEMs), global system integrators (GSIs), extensive experience in leading business transformation, and Telco/XSP partners. building diverse, high-performing teams, and driving a “Nutanix has aligned the right resources, investments successful cloud business. In his role as president, Cernuda and expertise behind its award-winning product portfolio, will continue to evolve the NetApp go-to-market strategy enabling our partners to add new services and expand and organization to accelerate growth by transforming their market share to drive accretive revenue streams,” how we approach the changing customer landscape and said Alvarez. “I am honoured to lead Nutanix’s worldwide capture new growth opportunities, particularly in cloud. partner organization through our next phase of growth George Kurian, Chief Executive Officer, comments, while helping our partners improve profitability with “As we look to accelerate our cloud and software strategy, professional, managed and cloud services. The opportunity Cesar’s experience in successfully transforming large global ahead of us continues to be vast as we carefully adapt to organizations will strengthen NetApp’s position as a leader today’s unprecedented market dynamics.” Alvarez helped lead the roll-out in cloud data services and drive value for our shareholders. I’m excited for partners of new solutions and offerings to help partners in the trenches to welcome a leader of his caliber. I look forward to him bringing to the deploy technology for end-users faster and more simply, including FastTrack team his passion for strong results, his commitment to building diverse, for VDI and Xi Frame Test Drive. He also led the development of the high-performing teams, and his experience in business transformation as Nutanix Special Financial Assistance Program to offer immediate financial we continue to evolve our go-to-market strategy to reflect the changing support to partners by helping to alleviate cash flow concerns and increasing customer landscape.” financing flexibility. 46 May 2020 www.varindia.com launches New partner program for 2020

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