IT training PCQuest TruePDF march 2019

Advantage Of AI In Efficient And Personalized Learning `125 10 Tips For A Safer And More Secure Cyberspace www.pcquest.com VOL 32 | ISSUE | MARCH 2019 UNDERSTAND s CHOOSE s IMPLEMENT IT SMB TALK “We are working to see if our solutions can be used outside of data centre” — Anjani Kumar, Raritan GAINING MOMENTUM Use cases for AI applications in business is building up Special Subscription offer on page 60 76 pages including cover The BIBLE of Indian IT t Readership of 3,25,000 t 3.5 million (dqindia.com) page views and million unique visitors every month t More than 10,000+ social media followers makes Dataquest the most talked about IT media t CIOs/CTOs/IT decision makers of large enterprise t MDs/CEOs/Top Mangement of ICT companies and ICT eco-system t Deep Dive Insights through our referral - T-School Ranking, DQ Top20 & CIO Handbook STEER YOUR GROWTH MANIFOLD WITH DATAQUEST • Online • Market Research • White Papers • Lead generation • Custom Events • Branded Events • Video Case Studies • Content Marketing • Thought Leadership • Blogs • Webinars • Newsletters • Print For Partnership Opportunities, write to us: Rajiv Pathak, +91 8010757100, marketing@cybermedia.co.in www.dqindia.com Contents 8-9 COVER STORY TECHNOLOGICAL DISRUPTION IS THE FUTURE: A BIRD’S EYE VIEW ACROSS INDUSTIRES SMB NEWS 28 Karix Mobile Announces Partnership With Whatsapp 28 Blaupunkt Launches Exclusive Range of Personal Audio 28 Ingram Micro Bolsters Cloud Marketplace To Drive ISV Growth 28 Juniper Networks Integrates Platforms With Sonic 29 Microsoft Launches AI School For Business Leaders 29 Tally Solutions Emphasizes On The Need Of Technology 29 Google Assitant Comes To Android Messages 29 New Trihund Software Incorporates Robotic Solutions 30 Ad Fraud The Biggest Setback To Digital Advertising PCQUEST M A R C H 30 Tata Tele Business Services Introduces Smart VPN Solutions 30 Kingston Launches New Data Center 500 Seires SSD 30 Wipro Is CMMI Maturity Level Globally 31 Huawei To Adopt OCP’s Open Rack Across Public Cloud 31 Volkswagen Deepens Cloud Computing Partnership with MS 31 Alibaba Cloud Unveils Data Intelligence Products 31 IBM Makes Watson Available For Competing Cloud Services 32 Google’s One Of The Most Used Apps Gets A Fix A ‘High Severity’ Exploit 32 Accops Is Now A Proud Partner of TSanet 32 Tech Mahindra Aims For 50% Revenue Share From Digital Business TECH TALK/TECH MIRROR 38 “We Offer The Same Technology, But At A Better Price” - Super Plastronics 40 “Out Aim Is To Empower As Many Business As Possible Irrespective Of The Volumes That They Deal With” Limelight Networks 42 “Our Mission Is To Help Companies Make Better Decisions Every Day” Absolutdata 45 Industry Predictions About Surveillance 48 10 Tips For A Safer And More Secure Cyberspace 50 Latest Threat To Digital India pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in MARCH 2019 SMB CORNER/SMB TALK 10 AI And ML Creates Multifold Efficiency By Optimizing Facilities In Real-Time 12 Seeking A Quick And Efficient AI-Driven Enterprise Solution? A.C.T Now! 14 Impact Of AI On Assessing Individual’s Creditworthiness 16 Advantage Of AI In Efficient And Personalized Learning 18 How Can AI Adoption Change The Perception Of Education? 19 AI In Healthcare: Enormous Opportunities 20 How AI And Machine Learning Helps In Up Skilling To Better Career Opportunities 22 Gartner Debunks Five Artificial Intelligence Misconceptions 24 “We Are Working To See If Our Solutions Can Be Used Outside Of A Data Centre” Raritan 52 ICT An Media And Enterainment Sector 54 Data Is The New Oil - And The Right IT, The Lubricant 56 Why Should SMEs Look At Cloud Technology? 58 Why Is It Important To Emphasize On Data Security Now More Than Ever? 62 Your Step Sales Process: Ways To Be Efficient 64 International Women’s Day 66 The Technologies Of Future Are Digital Twins And Immersive Technology 70 Why Internal Communications Is At The Center Of Digital Transformation? 72 Customer Intelligence: The Next Phenomena In 2019 27 Go4GST: Easing GST GADGETS CORNER 34 Oppo F11 Pro Review: The Best Smartphone Under 25K Budget 35 Zebronics Zeb-Peace Earphones MOBILITY 36 best action games on Android FORM IV (See Rule) Statement of ownership and other particulars about the Magazine PC Quest to be published in the first issue every year after the last day of February Place of Publication : New Delhi Periodicity of Publication : Monthly Printer’s Name : Pradeep Gupta Whether Citizen of India : Yes Address : D-74, Panchsheel Enclave, New Delhi – 110 017 Publisher’s Name : Pradeep Gupta Whether Citizen of India : Yes Address : D-74, Panchsheel Enclave, New Delhi – 110 017 Editor’s Name : Rajneesh De Whether Citizen of India : Yes Address : Flat No 26A, Liliac HSC Society-I, Sec-40, Gurugram Names & addresses of individuals who own the : Cyber Media (India) Limited newspaper, and partners or shareholders holding D-74, Panchsheel Enclave, more than one percent of the total paid-up capital New Delhi – 110 017 List of shareholders holding more than 1% of the paid up capital of the company as on 15th February 2019: Pradeep Gupta, Sudha Bala Gupta, Dhaval Gupta, Kriti Gupta, Vimgi Investments Pvt Ltd, SAL Advisor Pvt Ltd, Hemali Prakash Mehta, Mahesh Dinkar Vaze, Mahendra Girdharilal I, Pradeep Gupta, hereby declare that the particulars given above are true to the best of my knowledge and belief pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in Sd/Publisher MARCH 2019 PCQUEST UNDERSTAND s CHOOSE s IMPLEMENT IT CORPORATE OFFICE EDITORIAL GROUP EDITOR - Ibrahim Ahmad ASSOCIATE EDITOR : Shrikanth G CORRESPONDENT: Divya Bishi DESIGN MANAGER: Nadeem Anees Cyber House, B-35, Sec-32, Gurugram (NCR Delhi) 122001 India email us pcquest@cybermedia.co.in call us +91-124-482-2222, fax us +91-124-238-0694 CYBERMEDIA LABS MANAGER LAB: Ashok Pandey OUR OFFICES BENGALURU Asst Edtior (SPECIAL PROJECT): Ankit Parashar BUSINESS Sr Vice President: Rachna Garga (rachnag@cybermedia.co.in) NORTH: GM: Harminder Singh 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pcquest@cybermedia.co.in Tech Musings Shrikanth G, Executive Editor shrikanthg@cybermedia.co.in Taming The Nexus Of Forces E Emerging tech is the new normal in IT It brings people, machines, data and organizations together in a large ecosystem very enterprise in order to survive and thrive in the digital economy needs to have a well-meshed emerging tech strategy They need to seamless integrate the new with the old, and in some cases completely overhaul legacy IT Emerging tech is the key spoke in the digital hub Let’s see how CIOs can approach a tech like IoT and navigate the complexities The emergence of new technolgies will require CIOs to be a partner in shaping and executing business strategies With the potential for disruption to existing business models, many organizations will be susceptible to new competition from players in adjacent spaces, including existing partners and from start-ups The CIO will need to help seed ideas, collaborate in defining an overall emerging strategy and ensure that the organization has access to the necessary capabilities to execute this strategy The CIO has to ensure that funded new tech initiatives have a clear business case – in terms of operational efficiency and/or new revenue opportunities This may include considering how connected products can be monetized and how the value of emerging technologies can can be leveraged More than having a long-term roadmap, experts say that it is more beneficial to take an agile approach, which facilitates rapid cycles of experimentation and evaluation Experts also say that many of the organizations they work with are creating cross-functional and multi-disciplinary groups focused on rapidly developing and evaluating prototype products The main purpose of CIOs would be on business outcomes CIOs would be the crucial catalyst for organizations for capturing and to harness the potential of IoT They should ideally have the following priorities: s)DENTIFYBUSINESSOUTCOMESANDSUBSEQUENT2/)S s%VALUATEANDEXPANDEMPLOYEESKILLSBASEDONNEWTECHNOLOGY s#ONCERNABOUTSECURITYANDDATAPRIVACYRELATEDISSUES s!LIGNORGANIZATIONALOBJECTIVESWITHSKILLSETSREQUIRED Clearly, emerging tech is the new normal in IT It brings people, machines, data, and organizations together in a large ecosystem CIOs need to play a significant role in enabling emerging tech in their organization with advanced support, equipment, infrastructure and skill sets as it is reshaping enterprise IT, requiring CIOs to be more visionary, more collaborative and more business-minded !CCORDINGTOEXPERTS )4 /4INTEGRATION WHICHMEANSINSTEADOFHAVINGSEPARATE)4INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY AND/4OPERATIONALTECHNOLOGY SYSTEM THEREISANINTEGRATEDPROCESSANDINFORMATION flow, while the CIO and engineering organizations need to define a roadmap for the organizations For instance, IoT is having a significant impact on the OTs and in the way IT operations is monitoring them CIOs and IT leaders need to adapt skill sets, processes, and tools to monitor IoT availability and performance in order to support business initiatives "OTH#)/SAND#8/SAREREALIZINGTHEINTERPLAYANDPOTENTIALOF!) but without letting anyone gaze at the clock for even a nano-second It was, after all, a scenario that involved patients and new-borns; and, at times, a life-and-death situation Compliance and data-preservation mandates inserted heavy footnotes here so while data had to be agile it also had to tick the right boxes on storage Scalability was another non-negotiable criterion, given the nature of operations and expansion-roadmap of the organisation We are talking about data that was enormous, constantly throbbing and growing every minute This could mean that a heavy upfront investment into the right facility was inevitable In short, what was needed from IT was an unprecedented and deft juggling act Give staff access to data ‘on-the-fly’, ensure that new hospitals that get opened get aligned seamlessly into this pipe, iron out the data well for regulatory needs, keep pace with rapid data growth without any errors or slip-ups and accommodate the formidable variety of data sources as well as formats Data could be just the oil to power its nerves and activate its business/regulatory arteries but how to keep this oil in the right trickle without spill-overs or squirts? Could Cloudnine find someone who would sweep in as a flow-expert and spare it the heavy-lifting of arduous investments and internal-IT? Lubrication Arrives After approaching and evaluating a number of vendors, Cloudnine managed to hit the nail on its head when it came across Hitachi and NxtGen “We found these answers best as these solutions offered a flexible architecture with almost-zero capital investment.” Shrivastava explains The solution was not only highly- scalable but also furnished benefits on content mobility, easy data management, Private Cloud Services and Data Protection-asa-Service (DPaaS) features The attributes that NxtGen Hitachi Content Platform, Hitachi Data Ingestor provided were precise, sturdy and enduring for the multi-pronged needs that the hospital had put on the table The hospital went ahead with the opex model that was offered and avoided spending any unnecessary bucks The model was streamlined in such a way that the organization could enjoy the service as a monthlypackage for three years and thereafter, assume ownership exclusively Migration begun first with nine hospitals and progressed to five more as the solutions deepened its roots and users got comfortable in the new habitat Today the hospital is migrating to the rest of the hospitals and harnessing all the outcomes it expected, was promised – plus the ones that came as adjunct-surprises “This has enabled seamless patient data access and is a huge process improvement in digital patient care for us “” Jitendra Shrivastava Senior Manager – IT Cloudnine Hospitals All Is Fluid Now It is a pay-per-use model, but the impact is straddled across all nooks and stakeholders of the organization and its ecosystem The staff now enjoys swift and deep access to data for greater service to expectant mothers The patient-records are safe and capped well for compliance needs on retention and preservation All this is happening in a scalable way and at a reduced cost (specially with all the capex burden of an in-house storage infrastructure that has been wiped away) The networks and other data areas are being managed by the serviceprovider leaving the shoulders of the hospital light for the tasks it is supposed to focus on Internal resources not have to be on a stand-by for steering this new solution Future expansion is on the anvil and even that would happen without spurring any hidden, or new, costs or resources It is a future-ready infrastructure that stresses on cost savings, scalability, resource optimization, service delivery, privacy of patient data and augmentation of the end-to-end patient experience As Shrivastava underlines, the compression quality and reporting speed is simply compelling, more so when we look at the speed, pixel-grade and ratio of reports available in doctor’s hands now As the demand for 24/7 data availability from anywhere grows and as data insights continue to offer a means for organizations to innovate faster and gain competitive advantages, the cloud has changed the way agility and business transformation need to be looked Hemant Tiwari, VP & General Manager, Hitachi Vantara India says, “We, as a technology partner, are committed to developing best-fit, Hitachi-powered, cost-effective, as-a-service alternatives that can help customers accelerate enterprise cloud deployment and transform their businesses Hitachi Content Platform with NxGen Data Protection-as-a-Service (DPaaS), delivered via cloud, enabled Cloudnine Hospitals to reduce capital expenditure, improve staff access to data, meet government-compliance requirements for retention and allow greater stability for their future expansion.’’ IT is turning out what it should ideally be A good nurse quick-footed, well-armed Invisible, but alwaysthere Cloudnine is on Cloud Nine pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in MARCH 2019 PCQUEST 55 Mirror WHY SHOULD SMEs LOOK AT CLOUD TECHNOLOGY? Priya Dronadula, VP-IT of Sodexo BRS India “U ltimately, the cloud is the latest example of Schumpeterian creative destruction: creating wealth for those who exploit it; and leading to the demise of those that don’t.” — Joe Weinman Hailed as ‘modern day electricity’, cloud technology is revolutionizing the face of business, offering innumerable opportunities to enterprises who desire to optimize their resources As the term suggests, ‘Cloud 56 PCQUEST M A R C H Computing’ involves the combined use of the internet and computers to create, manage, and store data on the ‘cloud’, eliminating the need to conduct these activities via physical hard drives But what started out as an experimental technology for data storage has quickly morphed into a thriving industry offering a myriad of computing-related solutions How SMEs’ benefit from adopting cloud computing? Well, primarily it’s an economic necessity—with pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in cloud deployment services, small businesses don’t have to invest in expensive onsite computer facilities or IT expertise The advantages of data storage, zero downtime, security, latest software use, CRM management, and an on-demand model means substantial saving of time, effort and money—empowering small businesses to grow rapidly Instead of having to constantly upgrade traditional IT infrastructure capabilities, cloud technology provides updated access that is ideal for growing businesses Versatility: Cloud providers offer a range of information deployment products such as remote storage and development platforms Vendors offer services including Infrastructure-as-a-service (IaaS), Softwareas-a-service (SaaS), Platform-as-a-service (PaaS) and Database-as-a-service (DBaaS) In addition, based on specific IT needs, a business could choose to use a public, private, or hybrid cloud Usually, to start, SMEs opt to use the cost-effective public cloud Scalability: Cloud-hosted infrastructure follows a pay-per-use, on-demand model wherein the users get quick and automatic access to desired IT resources in a costeffective manner Businesses need to pay only for the utilized server load, support, or expertise, thus affording an optimized solution in terms of resource management Productivity: Collaborative work environments have gained increasing significance with cloud-based office systems Moving away from traditional project activities which involved emailing files back and forth, IaaS services allow for real-time access across multiple locations and devices The ability of employees to work simultaneously not only saves time but enhances efficiency for SMEs Brick-and-mortar savings: Thanks to cloud technology, having to setup location-dependent workspaces is unnecessary, which again translates to significant cost-savings With greater convenience by way of telecommuting, employees are allowed the necessary support and flexibility to work remotely Enhanced Security and Privacy: Small businesses tend to have concerns regarding security, but data stored on the cloud is known to be The importance of accessing big data can no longer be ignored by small companies either, since it provides a better CRM tool, assisting in building market strategy and customized solutions for their target audience By using cloud user-friendly interfaces like DBaaS, SMEs circumvent the technical challenges and costs associated with processing large quantities of information a better alternative to traditional means, especially in the event of natural disasters, system breakdown or any other crisis Real-time data backups on the cloud offer a superior defense against security threats that are evolving at a pace far quicker than a small business is equipped for in terms of critical infrastructure and IT skills Big Data: The increasing popularity of big data in decisionmaking has led many cloud providers to offer big data analytic services The importance of accessing big data can no longer be ignored by small companies either, since it provides a better CRM tool, assisting in building market strategy and customized solutions for their target audience By using cloud user-friendly interfaces like DBaaS, SMEs circumvent the technical challenges and costs associated with processing large quantities of information Does the cloud-fueled evolution affect the future of SMEs? Yes! These advantages, though seemingly small, are key to success in the marketplace, more so for small businesses SMEs make up a major segment of the global economy, which is why cloud providers are continuously working towards providing diversified products, greater security, and legal certainties regarding privacy for them Thus, in the days to come, cloud technology will offer improved reliability and innovation, empowering SMEs to focus on their core competencies pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in MARCH 2019 PCQUEST 57 Mirror WHY IS IT IMPORTANT TO EMPHASIZE ON DATA SECURITY NOW MORE THAN EVER? Dr C Vidya Raj, HOD, Computer Science And Engineering, The National Institute of Engineering College, Mysore E lectronic systems are ubiquitous today in the world of business as well as in our daily lives The electronic systems generate a humongous quantum of data and these data need to be protected Hence, a reliable electronic system of any kind needs to ensure adequate data security Digital India and digitalization With India embarking on digitalization through Digital India, data security is that much more of concern in the country today With much of our personal data being online, the stakes are high The current generations’reliance on electronic devices leaves them exposed to the possibility of their personal information or data being leaked Terms like Big Data, Artificial Intelligence, IoT are the buzz today Our lives have been consumed by the Internet Today we live in an era of zettabytes i.e the seventh power 58 PCQUEST M A R C H of 1,000 bytes Every day we generate about 2.5 quintillion bytes (sixth power of 1,000 bytes) of data – ranging from texts to multimedia Impact of infrastructure Our most critical infrastructure is changing how we live in today’s world The fruits of technology, ranging from those that make our daily life easier and free up our time is a blessing Some of the modern devices like medical devices, satellites, automobiles, televisions, traffic lights, drones, baby monitors, building fire/security systems, smartphones and tablets have revolutioned the way we work and learn, to the way we deal with healthcare While technology has been improving our personal lives, on a macro scale, it has been vital to every other front Technologies are vital to our safety The advanced military weapons systems, industrial control systems support power plants and the electri- pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in cal grid, manufacturing plants and water distribution plants, emergency response systems, banking and financial systems, and transportation systems need utmost protection Every time we transfer money, stream movies or play online games, we expose ourselves to personal data leaks Sensitive information, credit card details, banking details and passwords are vulnerable as computers, tablets and mobile devices are all targets of cybercriminals Everyday systems are breached and personal information leaked This is because we leave our digital footprints online When the Aadhar card details were reportedly leaked, the whole nation went into a frenzy When Facebook was rumoured to have been selling personal information of those on the platform, the reaction was similar A breach of medical data in a hospital leads to chaos Data security is more vitalin our daily lives than we can even imagine The consequence of big conglomerates compromising data can be disastrous; the impact will be immeasurable.When businesses lose data, they lose their reputation, customers, revenues, competitive advantage and productivity With data breach, building the lost reputation and client trust can prove to be a huge challenge It is important that we control and protect our personal information at every level Data security, the practice of securing data from corruption and unauthorized access using various hardware and software technologies and elaborate algorithms - antivirus, encryption, firewalls, two-factor authentication, software patches, updates, etc., Data security crucial for following reasons: t
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&OGPSDJOH EBUB QSPUFDUJPO SFHVMBUJPOT XJMM IFMQ to protect data from the scourge of corruption and unauthorized access Innovations in technology does make us more productive and help us solve difficult and challenging Wearable devices will be able to record real-time emotional state With devices tracking hormone levels, heart rates, facial expressions, voice tone, and more, the Internet now touches the most intimate aspects of human psychology These technologies allow people’s mental, emotional, and physical states to be tracked — and manipulated problems, entertain us, allow us to communicate and provide unimaginable benefits These new technologies also have a blind spot risking our property, our privacy, our security and, in some cases, our lives Businesses can secure themselves, making it harder to steal useful information by encrypting data, protecting it from unauthorized access, and controlling how information travels Future technologies will be powerful models capable of predicting — and manipulating — the behaviour of individuals and systems accurately IoT is everywhere, cybersecurity becomes “security” and essential to daily life Wearable devices will be able to record real-time emotional state With devices tracking hormone levels, heart rates, facial expressions, voice tone, and more, the Internet now touches the most intimate aspects of human psychology These technologies BMMPX QFPQMFT NFOUBM FNPUJPOBM BOE QIZTJDBM TUBUFT to be tracked — and manipulated Connected In future, most things and most people will be connected to digital networks Data security will be seamless for everyone —individuals and businesses and will encompass technology and people Corporations and governments will beable to predict human behaviour.Memories will be storable, searchable, shareable, and changeable.Public-private partnerships will provide security for cities, regions, DPVOUSJFT BOE UIF XPSME (PWFSONFOUT XJMM CF NBKPS players and will be more influential than their armies in technology-driven scenarios All these changes will require data security more than ever The reasons to list out the ‘why; looks seamless for future pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in MARCH 2019 PCQUEST 59 UNDERSTAND  CHOOSE  IMPLEMENT IT Subscribe To PCQuest To Know More About Latest • Tech Products • Gadgets • Product Reviews EASY WAYS TO SUBSCRIBE Visit: subscriptions.cybermedia.co.in/pcquest.aspx Through Cheque/DD in favour of ‘CyberMedia (India) Ltd’ Bank Transfer via RTGS/NEFT Bank Details: ICICI Bank Limited, A/c no 017705000132, Branch & IFS Code: Gurgaon, ICIC0000177 Call: 0124-482-2222 For any subscription related query please email: rsepcquest@cybermedia.co.in Digital subscription available on Magzter, Readwhere, Readly, Wink & Paperboy Period Issues Price for New Subs Price for Renewal Your Benefit Zone Save 10% on renewals Save 10% on renewals Save 10% on renewals I want to avail premium service of receiving my subscription copy by courier Tick which ever is applicable `500/- year, `950/- years, `1400/- years OR Bank Name: ICICI Bank Limited A/c No 017705000132, Branch & IFS Code: Gurgaon, ICIC0000177 Signature Order can be faxed to: Sarita Shridhar, Cyber Media (India) Ltd, Cyber House, B-35, Sector 32, Gurgaon - 122001 Tel: 0124 - 4822222 Terms & Conditions: Mirror YOUR STEP SALES PROCESS: WAYS TO BE EFFICIENT Are you using your resources in an optimum way and more costs need to be allocated to the sales process? Tejas Goenka, Executive Director, Tally Solutions I f you evaluate your sales process, you will be able to break it down largely into the following parts: Step 1: Order Management This begins as soon as your customer places an order This may include you delivering a quotation for your goods or services and receiving the order for final purchase from your customer Whether the order reaches you via an e-commerce platform, via an email to your sales team, or via a verbal notification to one of your sales boys, you become responsible to fulfil the order as soon as the purchase is confirmed Given that this is your first contact with a potential life-long customer, it is important that the experience is seamless, so that you don’t lose them How can automation help here? If you automate your order management system, a set of action points will automatically be triggered in other departments, the moment you receive a sales request Doing that will ensure that all new orders are aligned properly, and the relevant parties are notified immediately to ensure accurate and timely order fulfilment Step 2: Credit management As a seller, a lot of customers will expect you to extend credit to them For the sake of sustaining business relations, you will be extending credit to them, but at the same time, it is important to keep track of the credit extended, and the parties involved, to safeguard your working capital The process of credit approval is imperative before a transaction is com62 PCQUEST M A R C H pleted How can automation help here? One of the top advantages of automating your credit management process is that it helps you to prevent issues related to credit early in the sales cycle In cases where credit is applicable, every first-time customer will automatically be sent through a credit approval process, and the system can auto-approve or auto-deny requests Returning customers, on the other hand, could be sent directly to the fulfilment stage In short, an automated credit management process makes your accounts receivable, easier and ensures that you provide credit only to your most valued customers Step 3: Order fulfilment This is when your product is prepared for shipment and then delivered to the customer Any business should have a seamless process for obtaining products out of stock, prepare the same for shipment and finally ensure a timely delivery to the customer Not having orders delivered on time, is probably one of the quickest ways to lose a customer How can automation help here? Automation can be of great help while you are fulfilling your orders To begin with, your inventory count should be updated in real-time, so that you automatically avoid accepting orders which cannot be fulfilled All orders which make it to fulfilment, should follow a standard digitized format, so that any person working on that order can clearly understand all the relevant orders As much as possible, you should look pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in to avoid manual order records, which invariably lead to inaccuracies and bottlenecks Step 7: Payment collections Order shipping, to a large extend, completely depends on your product logistics, and thus, the shipping portion of your sales cycle needs to be regularly audited to ensure that it meets the high standards and demands of your customer Often perceived as the toughest part of your sales cycle, collecting the payment is not an easy task, unless you keep a close tab on overdue accounts A timely reminder to your customers, go a long way in preventing a slightly late payment to become a severely late payment Tracking your payments collection cycle also helps you to identify any deficiency in your billing process How can automation help here? How can automation help here? In this case, automation can play an important role in updating the data from the order fulfilment process to the shipping team, so they can plan shipments, carrier pick-up schedules, modes of transportation etc and ensure that orders reach the customer on time Have you ever faced a situation, when you ended up asking a customer for payment, when the payment was already made, but the information had not reached you? This is a major cause of friction across most businesses, and can be avoided, if accurate payment collection data is automated and tracked On the other hand, the system should also be able to track those cases, where the customer steps into the overdue period, so that their credit can be put on hold Not just that, automating your payment collections will help you avoid inaccurate cash estimates, which can prevent any incorrect decisions Step 4: Order shipping Step 5: Customer invoicing This involves generating and delivering an invoice for goods and services to the customer One of the key steps here, is to ensure that your customer gets his bill on time Additionally, you must have a clear-cut payment policy and all your customers need to understand the payment terms before the completion of the sale Any confusion should be cleared right at the beginning, to avoid late and missed payments in the future How can automation help here? One of the key ways in which automation can help here is by integrating your invoices with cash forecasts When accurate invoices are sent out as per timelines, your accounts department can plan for estimate cash inflows and expenses accordingly For that to happen, all data points, such as order details, costs, credit terms, order dates, shipping dates etc need to be fed into the invoicing system, so that invoices can be issued without any delay Step 6: Accounts receivable Tracking outstandings is one of the biggest challenges for any business As a business owner, you should closely track accounts receivables which emerge from sales, since it impacts your cash inflows and working capital How can automation help here? An automated accounting system will help you to flag your outstandings at specified times, before they are overdue Not just that, an automated system will not only keep you informed, but also trigger an automatic payment reminder to your customers, as per what you configure Step 8: Reporting and data management Last but not the least, you need to have a periodic view of your sales cycle, in form of meaningful reports Are you using your resources in an optimum way; more costs need to be allocated to the sales process; discounts given, error rates on order fulfilment, volume of ageing accounts etc – data for all factors, needs to be managed and consumed as a report, so that you can take effective decisions How can automation help here? Interconnected systems can track the performance at every stage of your order to cash process By analysing the same, you can have a bird eye’s view of how the overall flow of your sales cycle, affects everything else in your organization This includes key factors, such as – your relationship with your customers, the length of your sales cycle etc In conclusion, it can be said that successful automation of your sales process and order to cash cycle, will help you to efficiently deliver value to your customers and receive timely payments against sales which you make Technology can not only help you improve your sales process, but also free-up time for you and your resources, so that you can focus on the most important task of providing your customer a happy purchase experience pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in MARCH 2019 PCQUEST 63 Mirror INTERNATIONAL WOMEN’S DAY: HOW ENTERPRISES OF TODAY ARE PROMOTING WOMEN - INCLUSIVE WORKPLACES PCQ Bureau T he theme of this year’s International Woman’s Day is #BalanceforBetter, promoting the idea of a gender-balance world Employment or mere access to employment avenues go a long way in the genesis of a world that is balanced and inclusive For generations, women have struggled to make their way into the sprawling corporate corridors However, that story is changing as women claim their share in the workforce of today Furthermore, several leading enterprises have been supporting the ambition of women by coming up with favourable policies and initiatives for the female workforce As we celebrate the International Women’s Day 2019, let’s discover the women-friendly initiatives and policies helmed by the leading enterprises in India: 64 PCQUEST M A R C H Cybage: 32% of women propelling the engineering force Women in tech is a rarity but not for the technology consulting organization, Cybage Determined to create a transparent, unbiased, capability-driven ecosystem in the workplace, the engineering force of Cybage flaunts 32% representation of women a number that has consistently and consciously increased year-on-year In addition to the limited representation of women in tech, another hard-hitting fact is a gender wage gap However, Cybage attempts to rectify the same with a performance-driven appraisal system, ensuring equal pay for equal work To further ensure proper work-life balance for women employees Cybage offers benefits such as close-by daycare facilities, pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in flexible maternity leave policies, late-night transport services and the provision of additional shadow resources Ensuring safety at the workplace, the company swears by a zero-tolerance sexual harassment policy in place with a special committee to ensure the enforcement of the same Cybage further aspires to achieve a 1:1 ratio in its workforce However, the dream is difficult to achieve with only 29% of engineering graduates being females in India Thus, to further the education of girls in the STEM field, the company actively works through its CSR arm, CybageKhushboo CybageKhushboo has sponsored thousands of students for their higher education, specifically giving birth to a new generation of female engineers with an aim to reduce the gender gap at a country-level and achieve a balance for better Satya MicroCapital: All-Women Managed Branches Another field that largely snubs women workforce is banking and finance However, India’s leading NBFC-MFI, Satya MicroCapital has dedicated branches that are only managed by the women workforce Furthermore, these branches are based in the hinterlands of India, in cities like Azamgarh, Varanasi, Balia, Gorakhpur, Sultanpur, Jaunpur, Ghazipur, and Chandauli The employees across all of these branches and various zonal business teams are women, including Entrepreneurship Development Officers (EDOs), Branch Heads and Assistant/Deputy Credit Managers, with each team member working in tandem to ensure quick and efficient decision-making and credit disbursements The all-women officers in the Easter Uttar Pradesh branches serve as catalysts for uplifting less-privileged women and households socio-economically In addition, the network of branches and officers also play a crucial role in helping uplift economically backwards and vulnerable women across as many households as possible Zoomcar: #SheDrives campaign to ease women’s access to personal mobility Another populist stereotype insists upon claiming women to be bad drivers However, Zoomcar is challenging the same stereotype, while easing women’s access to personal mobility On the occasion of the International Women’s Day, the self-drive car rental company has launched a campaign titled #SheDrives The campaign encourages more and more women drivers to hit the roads by helping them complete In the industrial workspace of today, there is increasing awareness that women should have much greater acceptance in not only the lower and middle range levels but also in the top decision making layers, however the perception about women’s efficiency has to change positively the entire spectrum of learning how to drive via their neighbourhood licensed driving school and helping them own a car by subscribing to one Inviting women to conquer the roads, Zoomcar is providing 10 women with months’ free car subscription from ZAP Subscribe And that’s not all! Those women who wish to subscribe to a car and have procured a driving license in the past months can have their fee reimbursed from Zoomcar as well, simply by showing the receipt of the driving school MG Motor: 31% of women in an Auto Major Carmaker MG (Morris Garages) Motor India has, time and again, showcased its commitment towards diversity and community development Right from top management to basic job titles, MG has given wings to women by hiring 31% women employees, more than any other auto major At the corporate office of MG, 166 out of 400 workforce are women on the shop floor From marketing to product engineering, women workers are charging several pivotal tasks at MG Motor India The enterprise has also partnered with PeopleStrong to increase the participation of female professionals across the board ahead of the launch of MG Hector, the brand’s first India-centric product, in Q2 2019 Currently, total women employees are 31% out of 1,200, compared with 26% earlier, and MG plans to take it to 1,500 MG Motor India also signed MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with IIMPACT, an NGO engaged in providing quality education to the girl child through its learning centres in remote villages across the country Under the programme, MG Motor India will adopt and support 30 learning centres run by the NGO across India pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in MARCH 2019 PCQUEST 65 Mirror THE TECHNOLOGIES OF FUTURE ARE DIGITAL TWINS AND IMMERSIVE TECHNOLOGY Dr Jai Ganesh, Sr V P &Head,NextLabs,Mphasis Physical & Virtual Digital Twins The technology workforce today faces various technological issues due to increased complexities, versions, dependencies, and obsolescence At the same time, a variety of forums and knowledge modules provide contradictory advice which leads to severe confusion for users This presents an opportunity for firms to enhance operational efficiency 66 PCQUEST M A R C H by leveraging Digital Twins for complex problems by leveraging Artificial intelligence techniques based on real-time events data Replicas of physical and virtual assets, people, environments, eco-systems, technologies and devices, Physical and Virtual Digital twins enable enhanced problem solving and decision making, simulate possible outcomes and accelerate learning and adaptability based on domain, process pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in and technology knowledge Digital twins are built to work through complex code related, technical, architectural, infrastructure, standardization, functional as well as non-functional queries and automatically suggest relevant answers, suggested actions, precedents, cautions and trade-offs Employees can derive contextual and temporal recommendations across scenarios such as search, domain support, code insights, testing, risk analytics and complex code analysis It provides relevant answers, suggested actions, precedents, and trade-offs for various queries Digital Fortresses, Darknet, Cyber Security & Privacy According to former President Barack Obama, cyber monitoring by governments is “more like basketball than football,” there’s no clear line between offence and defence.” Businesses are investing in setting up digital fortresses which prevent and thwart intrusion attacks Several prominent cyber intrusions such as the one on Sony Pictures Entertainment, Morgan Stanley, and the hacking attack on Target through their HVAC vendor and Home Depot has pushed the topic of security, high up the corporate priority list The rapid growth and adoption of sensors, IoT and Immersive Multi-modal User Experiences and wearables means many devices including medical devices, pacemakers, power stations and vehicles are Human area networks The retail industry with increasing competitive being connected to the internet, many of which are pressures, need to differentiate, expand their reach being managed by software which are vulnerable to to the consumer, improve conversion, attacks Advances in digital offers and sustain customer loyalty With opportunities across technology non-store retail sales poised for strong The rapid growth and adoption and business model innovations of sensors, IoT and wearables growth, retailers are seeking answers to counter the threat posed by means many devices including to challenges such as differentiating breaches in the security of conmedical devices, pacemakers, user experience, improving convernected machines and people This power stations and vehicles is a business opportunity around sion rates on the website, sustaining are being connected to the security and privacy Innovations consumer loyalty etc Therefore, there internet, many of which are around self-healing systems could is a dominant need for technologies being managed by software which blurs the line between what’s in the future predict, detect and which are vulnerable to real and what’s computer-generated repair affected computer netattacks by enhancing what we see, hear and works feel Since immersive technologies inThree key concepts which are tersperses the real and virtual worlds, it presents new finding traction in the industry and government are challenges in the ways of conventional user interachomomorphic encryption, differential privacy and tion design methods Going beyond the technologicompartmentalisation Homomorphic encryption is cal complexity of building immersive systems, there a technique which facilitates computations to be caris the larger challenge of involving various system ried out on data while they are in an encrypted state stakeholders during the system design process Existing systems not allow this with them requirNext gen technologies such as AR can help entering the need to decrypt data for them to be analysed, prises find answers to some of these pressing needs which makes them vulnerable to attack HomomorAR implementations span between virtual environphic encryption results in drastically slow processing ments and reality AR systems are able to spatially speeds, which is a key deterrent to its widespreadaintegrate virtual objects into the physical world doption Differential privacy attempts to tackle the thereby providing to the users a very rich and interacproblem of attacks based on data co-relation and tive environment There is a high potential to extend linked data immersive user experiences across multiple interfaces While technologies like automation, artificial intelsuch as PC, TV, Mobile devices, head mounted devices ligence, machine learning, deep learning and robotics and retail kiosks This opens up new opportunities for have dominated the technology narrative for 2018, enterprises to extend, replicate and re-use immersive it is imperative to focus on developing them Adexperiences across multiple user screens Treading ditionally, Next gen technologies should be pursued the path of providing immersive user experiences, to deliver innovative solutions This is a good time differentiating user experiences, increasing reach to for enterprises to explore opportunities and pave the consumer, maximizing conversion, and sustaining way for more innovative measures that will lead to consumer loyalty needs to be supported by robust improved efficiencies design methodology pcquest.com twitter.com/pcquest facebook.com/pcquest linkd.in/pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in MARCH 2019 PCQUEST 67 ... belief pcquest. com twitter.com /pcquest facebook.com /pcquest linkd.in /pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in Sd/Publisher MARCH 2019 PCQUEST UNDERSTAND s CHOOSE s IMPLEMENT IT CORPORATE OFFICE EDITORIAL... the IT strategy, but also the business strategy and business enabling IT, aver experts pcquest. com twitter.com /pcquest facebook.com /pcquest linkd.in /pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in MARCH 2019 PCQUEST. .. http://linkd.in /pcquest http://gplus.to /pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in pcquest. com twitter.com /pcquest facebook.com /pcquest linkd.in /pcquest pcquest@cybermedia.co.in Tech Musings Shrikanth G, Executive Editor