IT Next The Big Benefits of Big data Analytics (June 2015) pdf pdf
technology Feature pg 20
10 Mobile Computing Insights
f o r t h e n e x t g e n e r at i o n o f c i o s Opinion
WHY ARE YOU BEING APOLOGETIC ABOUT
BEING IN TECH?
PAGE 04 THE BIG
Strategy Feature THE CHALLENGES OF ALIGNING IT AND BENEFITS THE BUSINESS PAGE 26
OF BIG DATA ANALYTICS With businesses already deriving big benefits out of their big data and analytics efforts, and many still figuring out the whys and wherefores of data science, here is an account of the big picture of analytics in India and the innovative initiatives that are helping companies save millions.
June 2015 | `100 | Volume 06 | issue 05 | A 9.9 Media Publication
EDITORI A L
1 ITNEXT Get Ready for the Digital Business Rapid changes in the Indian business environment are driving new expectations—and demands—from the IT department. More and more business units are
keen to utilize the latest advances in technology to deliver new services to customers, improve productivity and accountability, increase revenues, boost customer satisfaction—or to keep up with competition.
While budgets for many of these new initiatives are becoming available, the big challenge for the IT department is to prepare the infrastructure and processes to support these escalating enterprise expectations. And to deliver results quickly. To do this, IT leaders will need to hone a brand new set skills that will enable them successfully drive digital innovation.
At the top of the list is the ability to create and deploy mobile enterprise applications. The demand is being driven both by employees and customers—and the urgency is real. But, delivering on mobility can be tricky—given the wide variety of hardware and software platforms, security considerations, and the brisk evolution of the mobile eco-system. So, go out and learn more about the technologies that enable the mobile revolution—and be prepared to re-think your internal processes and systems.
Closely linked to mobility is the delivery of user experience. Technology users now expect—and demand—great convenience and ease of use. They want systems that are intuitive and adaptive, and have little patience for desktop screens that have been merely re-sized for the mobile platform. Responsive design is just not enough—users expect true mobile apps. To do this, you will need to work with business units to re-design information flows, delivery mechanisms and user interactions. So, read up on user experience design. discover useful correlations from the vast amounts of data that your organization has been collecting, your business users will be delighted. Even better, put the tool into their hands and train them to use it. Check out how big data technologies can help you do this.
Finally, keep a close watch on how Internet of Things (IoT) is evolving. You may be able to deliver great value to the organization by connecting and integrating information from a wide variety of smart devices and sensors.
Write in, and let us know how you are getting ready for digital business.
R G I R I D H A R “ IT leaders will need to hone a brand new set of skills that will enable them successfully drive digital innovation.”
Blogs To Watch! Devops- is a concept dealing, among other things with software development, operations and services. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ Devops it operations – Devop http://www.intland.com/ solutions/by-discipline/devops/ Devops definition: Best explained by what it’s not http://searchsoftwarequality. techtarget.com/ news/2240176588/Devops- definition-Best-explained-by- what-its-not Devops & it Management partners http://electric-cloud.com/ partners/devops/ CONT E NT JUNE 2015
V O L U M E 0 6 | I S S U E 0 5 F O R T H E L AT E S T T E C H N O L O G Y U P D AT E S G O T O I T N E X T. I N
COVER STORY
12 The Big Benefits of Big Data Analytics an account of the big picture of analytics in india and the initiatives that are helping companies save millions.
38 Disruption Is the New Normal | Attempting to apply
old-school approaches and invoke protectionist practices in today’s ever-changing business environment is a recipe for disaster
STRATEGY Fa c e b o o k : h t t p : // w w w. f a c e b o o k . c o m / h o m e . p h p # / g r o u p . p h p ? g i d = 1 9 5 67 5 0 3 0 5 8 2 tw i t t e r : h t t p : // t w i t t e r. c o m / i t n e x t l i n k e d i n h t t p : // w w w. l i n k e d i n . c o m / g r o u p s ? g i d = 2 2 6 17 7 0 & t r k = m y g _ u g r p _ ov r THE BIG BENEFITS OF BIG DATA ANALYTICS With businesses already deriving big benefits out of their big data and analytics efforts, and many still figuring out the whys and wherefores of data science, here is an account of the big picture of analytics in India and the innovative initiatives that are helping companies save millions. F O R T H E N E X T G E N E R AT I O N O F C I O s June 2015 | `100 | Volume 06 | Issue 05 | A 9.9 Media Publication www.itnext.com | facebook.com/t | @itnext_magazine TECHNOLOGY FEATURE 10 Mobile Computing Insights PG 20 Opinion WHY ARE YOU BEING APOLOGETIC ABOUT BEING IN TECH? PAGE 04 Strategy Feature THE CHALLENGES OF ALIGNING IT AND THE BUSINESS PAGE 26
15 Big Data Momentum Intensifies pulak ghosh, an analytics expert who is currently in the panel of un’s big data group, talks about the current state of affairs as far as big data adoption is concerned in india.
18 ‘Machine Learning Help Us Save Millions’ navin Manaswi, a data scientist and a big data specialist with a u.S.-based food company shares insights on how they leverage data science to forecast demands of products.
COVER Design: peterSon pJ
12 Page
2 ITNEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 5
ITNEXT.IN MANAGEMENT Managing Director:
Dr pramath raj Sinha Printer & Publisher: vikas gupta
Chief Operating Officer - 9.9 Tech: Krishna Kumar
How CIOs Can Ensure EDITORIAL
Their IT Teams Are a Good Fit Group Editor: r giridhar
Online Editor: Mastufa ahmed
Page DESIGN Sr. Creative Director:
Jayan K narayanan Sr. Art Director: anil vK
30 Associate Art Director:
anil t Sr. Visualisers: Shigil narayanan & Sristi Maurya Visualiser: nv Baiju
Sr. Designers: haridas Balan, charu Dwivedi STRATEGY TECH INSIGHT peterson pJ, Manjith pB & pradeep g nair
26 The Challenges
20 Why You Must Leverage ONLINE & MARCOM DESIGN Associate Art Director: of Aligning IT and the these Mobile Insights
I If you Shokeen Saifi Sr.Designer:
Manoj Kumar vp Business
I The issue of aligning bet on mobile computing, these Web Designer: om prakash
IT with the business isn’t really insights will help you PHOTOGRAPHY a clear-cut business, IT or
Sr. Photographer: Jiten gandhi management problem, it’s often
TECH INSIGHT SALES & MARKETING a feeling that people experience. Product Manager: 24 “IoT Needs a New Network Maulshree tewari (+91 9717597903)
Sales Director: Mahantesh godi
Architecture”
I To handle the Regional Sales Manager - North: STRATEGY demands of the IoT environment,
Deepak Sharma (09811791110)
38 Between a Cyber-Rock and
Huawei has extended its enterprise West:
Samiksha ghadigaonkar (09619189019) a Risk Place With the board of
| networking product line
Dushyant Mehta (0091 98 192 87928) directors asking questions about
South: abhijeet ajoynil (09741414154) security readiness, CIOs are under assistant product Manager-Digital: Manan Mushtaq Ad co-ordination/Scheduling:
Kishan Singh
TECH INSIGHT
pressure to assess their organization’s 35 “The Implications of Net ability to respond to threats
PRODUCTION & LOGISTICS Neutrality
I The Implications for Sr. GM. Operations:
Shivshankar M hiremath Manager Operations: rakesh upadhyay
Internet users and SMBs Asst. Manager - Logistics: vijay Menon
ESDS Executive Logistics: nilesh Shiravadekar
CONFERENCE Production Executive: vilas Mhatre
REPORT Logistics: Mp Singh & Mohd. ansari
36 Innovations Simplify DC Management | Latest advances OFFICE ADDRESS REGULARS Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx Pvt Ltd
ease resource management, and Editorial _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 01 A-262 Defence Colony, New Delhi-110024, India ensure reliable service delivery Opinion _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 04
Certain content in this publication is copyright Ziff Davis Enterprise Inc, Indulge _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ 40 and has been reprinted under license. eWEEK, Baseline and CIO Insight are registered trademarks of Ziff Davis Enterprise Holdings, Inc.
Published, Printed and Owned by Nine Dot Nine Mediaworx Private Ltd. Published and printed on their behalf by Vikas Gupta. Published Page at A-262 Defence Colony, New Delhi-110024, India. Printed at Tara Art Printers Pvt ltd., A-46-47, Sector-5, NOIDA (U.P.) 201301.
22 ADVERTISER INDEX
Accenture
IFC p l e aS e Delta 5 r ecyc l e t h i S Vodafone 10,11 M aga z i n e a n D Samsung IBC r e M ov e i n S e rtS Huawei BC B e Fo r e © a l l r i g h tS r eS e r v e D : r e p r o D u c t i o n i n w h o l e o r i n r ecyc l i n g pa rt w i t h o u t w r i t t e n p e r M i S S i o n F r o M n i n e D ot n i n e M e D i awo r x p v t lt D i S p r o h i B i t e D.
J U N E 2 0 1 5 | ITNEXT 3 A good CEO must know the strengths of the CIO and he should not interfere with the decisions in his functional area.
M
IT. No one can argue otherwise. But that does not translate to being sorry about technology. Shyamanuja Das heads business research practice at Juxt SmartMandate, an analytics and research firm based in Gurgaon.
the demands on the cio to be knowledgable about business is on the rise. that does not mean that the cio has to be ashamed about his tech core competence and give it up completely.
But why did Mehboob—known in the industry for his life-size ego—listen to a 27 year old? Reason No 1: his ego notwithstanding, he was a
While it is director who explains the situation; the mood that he wants; the expression that he expects; sometimes even recommends the play- back artist; he has no business telling the com- poser to change a note here or use a dholak instead of pakhawaj for the beats; certainly not in a com- manding tone. The responsibility of producing a good tune is the composer’s.
The CEO-CIO combination is much like a director- composer relationship. At the end of the day, it is the CEO who is responsible to the shareholders just as the director is responsible for the film’s overall success. In India, music plays an important role in that success.
A pro respects a pro…
was direction and not music. Mehboob’s answer was clear from thereon — never to enter the music room again, and I did all the films unfettered.”
OPINI O N | ShyaManuJa DaS
Sheryl Sandberg examines why
women’s progress
in achieving leadership roles has stalled. She explains the root causes andoffers compelling
solutions that can
empower women SUGGESTION BOXWhy is a CIO ashamed of his core function? I myself have argued so many times the need for an understanding of business and appreciation of business outcomes expected from application of
other India , Amar, Aan, Andaz, Anokhi Ada, Anmol Ghadi… what is common to these all- time classics, apart from being musical superhits? They are all movies made by Mehboob Khan, with music com- posed by Naushad. Mehboob-Naushad combina- tion is one of the most successful director-composer associations in the history of Hindi cinema.
What is worrying is that some CIOs have unwittingly started believing in this. They are almost apologetic about the fact that they come from a technology background; they try to play
Translated to our lingo, a good CEO must know the strengths of the CIO, must respect him/ her. While being ruthless in getting the business outcomes is needed, he should not interfere with his decisions in his functional area.
great professional. Reason No 2: he had immense faith on and respect for Naushad. Anmol Ghadi was a 1946 movie; they went on to produce many super hits after that. Almost all the names that I mentioned in the beginning were made later.
M A N AG E M E N T
Why are you being apologetic about being in tech?
I peered through it and asked the people around to move the table to the left, a chair to the right. Mahboob caught me by the ear and said, ‘Your job is music, direction is my job’. I said that was the very admission I wanted from him, that his job
This is the incident as described by Naushad himself in an interview, which happened in the beginning of their association. ‘Anmol Ghadi’, he asked Noor Jehan to change a note, add a stress there. He was the boss. The next day I purposely went on to the sets while the song was being filmed. Mehboob welcomed me saying ‘Look at your song being shot!’ “May I see through the camera?” I asked. He allowed me.
But why am I getting into musicology here? Because I believe something that happened between the two has valuable lessons for all of us—in this case CIOs.
Both Mehboob and Naushad were towering figures in their own areas. Mehboob was the first showman; Naushad turned Hindi film music into a genre by itself.
4 ITNEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 5
The power behind competitiveness Ultimate availability without compromising power efficiency Delta Modulon DPH Series, 25–800 kW The modular UPS ideal for medium-sized datacenters
- Advanced fault tolerance design
- Self-redundancy of control mechanism, power and cooling modules
- Hot-swappable key modules and components
100
- Fully rated power factor (PF=1, kVA=kW)
- Excellent AC-AC efficiency up to 96%
95
- Vertical scale up to achieve N+X redundancy in a
75 single rack
- 19” rack-based design fits perfectly into Delta InfraSuite datacenter solutions
25
5
- +91 9999992084 www.deltapowersolutions.com
I N
d u s t r y
trenDS DealS proDuctS ServiceS peopleUPDA T E
comes with different configuration capabilities, thus allowing develop- ers to test their apps for different configuration of hardware capabili- ties and Android platforms..
Jar of Beans android emulator
Jar of Beans is an Android emulator that runs on the Jelly Bean version of the Android platform and is sup- ported by Intel Hardware Acceler- ated Execution Manager (HAXM), for hardware acceleration and improved performance..
Bluestacks android emulator
Bluestacks is very much an
With the usage
Android app player that allows
of web from
5 Free Mobile Device
you to run Android apps on your
smartphones
Windows PC or Mac. However,
and other
you can also link it with Eclipse
Emulators smart devices
to test your apps. Also you can
escalating, it’s tech trenDS
| A mobile device emulator allows you to test the respon- install the apk file of your app and
important to siveness and functionality of your app across platforms including iOS, test it using this tool. test run your Android, and Windows without actually having the devices with you. apps on multi-
WindoWs Phone emulator ple platforms native android emulator
The windows phone SDK comes
before you set
Android SDK comes with a virtual mobile device emulator that allows with its own emulator that
off your journey
developers to test and run their apps without having a physical device. It allows developers to test their apps on a virtual device. The default memory allocated to the tool is 512 MB so that you can
cfo-cio: a Growing collaboration ss
test your apps for lower memory
Busine gy phones available in the market.. strate insufficient understanding of IT 44% issues among finance executives nokia s40 emulator
The absence of a clear set of key performance indicators (KPls) that link 42%
Nokia Asha SDK 1.2 comes with
financial performance and he IT agenda
an emulator for testing apps
Processes and tools are incompatible
targeted for Nokia Asha 502
36% across the two functions
phones. Emulator comes with
Lack of finance resources to
full UI interaction, messaging
34% dedicate to the IT agenda
features and network commu-
Our organisational structure prevents
nication features. This emulator
31% this kind of collaboration
helps developers run and test their apps without having a
I do not perceive any barriers 11% physical device. 6 ITNEXT | J U N E 2 0 1 5 Source: ey.com
sony xPeria m4 aQua micromax canvas doodle 4 hooQ, online streaminG The phone has the new ‘cap-less’ uSB port The Canvas Doodle 4 has a 6-inch HD service for charging. The micro-uSB charging slot display with 720 x 1280 pixels resolution. Singtel, Sony Pictures Television and on the left side of the device The smartphone has a quad-core 1.3 GHz Warner Bros have teamed up to launch is the uSP. M4 Aqua is can processor and runs Android this streaming service. be submerged in up to 1.5
5.0 Lollipop. It has an 8 MP Hooq will be available in metres of water. It is priced rear camera, and is priced at India from june for ` 199 at ` 23k (approx) ` 9,499 a month.
Significant Increase in DDoS Attack Activity tech tiDinS
| Accoding to and office devices—including
Akamai, Q1 2015 set a new record routers, media servers, web for the number of DDoS attacks cams, smart TVs and printers— observed across the PLX routed to allow them to discover each network--a jump of more than other on a network, establish 35 percent over the last quarter. communication and coordinate
Not only has the volume of activities. If left unsecured and/or attacks increased, the profile has misconfigured, these home-based, also changed. Last year, high Internet-connected devices can be bandwidth and short duration harnessed for use as reflectors. attacks were the norm. But in Q1
Gaming has remained the most 2015, the typical DDoS attack was less Akamai’s quarter, Simple Service Discovery targeted industry since Q2 2014, than 10 gigabits per second (Gbps), latest Internet Protocol (SSDP) attacks accounted consistently being targeted in and endured for just over 24 hours. security report for more than 20 percent of the 35 percent of DDoS attacks. The There were eight mega-attacks in Q1, identifies new attack vectors, while SSDP attacks software and technology sector each exceeding 100 Gbps. threats from were not observed at all in Q1 or was the second most targeted
During the past year, DDoS
IPv6 Q2 2014. SSDP comes enabled industry in Q1 2015, with 25 attack vectors have also shifted. This by default on millions of home percent of the attacks. quicK Byte arounD the worlD Attacks on Mobile Wallets and Virtual currencies on Rise
New research from F-Secure warns of Growth in Extortion Malware. The company has witnessed SMS message steve Jobs (1955 –2011) sending trojans and ransomware attacks
“That’s been one of my on Mobile Wallets and Virtual currencies mantras —focus and on rise in the H2, 2014. According to simplicity. Simple can the report, both Android & iOS have be harder than complex; you have to work hard to experienced malwares which have tried get your thinking clean to to attack the banking applications and make it simple.” mobile wallets in H2, 2014. J U N E 2 0 1 5 | 7
ADV. PRASHANT MALI
pho t o/ill uS tra tion/iMa ging creDit 8 | J U N E 2 0 1 5 UPDA T E TeCH TIDInGS | Government IT spending
in India will reach $6.8 billion US dollars in 2015, an increase of 5.7 percent over “IT services, which includes consult- ing, implementation, IT outsourcing and business process outsourcing, will be the largest overall spend- ing category throughout 2019 within the government sector,“ said Dr Anurag Gupta, research vice president at Gartner. Inter- nal services IT spending will increase 8.8 percent in 2015 to reach $1.6 billion USD in 2015.
IN 2015 TO REACH $860
Cyber Law & Cyber Security Expert SOFTWARE SPENDING WILL GROW
Till September 2014, 15k sites were reportedly hacked in the country; a majority of the cases have been filed under the IT Act. What’s the message for the CSO from this? India and Indian organisations are on con- stant radar of malicious attackers. I advise that every large organisation or large group should have its own CERT . This CERT can have parallel relationships with other CERTs across countries. This brings better resilience to a scenario like “Zero Day Exploit” or mass “Cyber Attacks”. intervieW
What’s your advice for CSOs to have smooth sailing with regard to imple- mentation of best practices keeping in mind regulations, compliance, etc? The CSOs should have compliance chart ready encompassing ISMS, IT Act, 2000, SEBI, Companies Act and other rules and regulations his organisation is subjected to. He needs to become “Security Hawk” in the organisation because he has a legal responsibility and he is also responsible for the legal risk his organisation gets exposed.
IT Act 2000 & the Companies Act 2013 have made the CISO as statutory designa- tion --designation recognized by law that makes all organisations to hire CISO or designate one for them. They have become important resource in organisation and security has become the board matter.
In the wake of IT Act 2000 & the Com- panies Act 2013, has the rule of the game changed for CISOs?
From data center to boardroom, how do you see the responsibilities of CSOs evolve? CISO now shares common responsibility of all cyber crimes committed in his organi- sation. For example, if an organisation is traced via its IP address for a cognizable offence and the organisation lacks reason- able security practices by not finding the right accused, the CISO is implicated as accused. The dominant trend is to rely on security solutions vendors --to shift the responsibility on the solution offered by vendor, which is a sad state. Security needs holistic approach backed by strong man and machine policies.
DDoS. The software can can be flex- ibly deployed on SDN switches and routers to provide security capabili- ties to network element devices. The software firewall supports many popular virtual environments including VMware, KVM, XEN and UVP, as well as Netconf, REST- ful and OpenStack architectures. It employs Intel’s latest Data Plane Development Kit using Single Root I/O Virtualization (SR-IOV) tech- nology to deliver compresehnsive security for cloud environments, and the software pattern-matching engine is claimed to deliver up to 40 Gbps performance.
The devices are equipped with reputation system and multilayer inspection technology, and can inspect over 180,000 files per day.
Huawei Tackles Security Threats with a New Strategy
Government in India to Spend $6.8 Billion in 2015
The Huawei USG6000V series of virtualized cross-platform soft- ware firewalls integrate multiple security functions including tra- ditional firewall, VPN, intrusion prevention, antivirus, DLP and anti-
Huawei’s FireHunter security sandboxes are designed to detect and defend against APT attacks. The devices are equipped with reputation system and multilayer inspection technology, and can inspect over 180,000 files per day.
Software spending will grow 10.2 percent in 2015 to reach $860 million USD, up from $781 million USD in 2014, led by growth in vertical spe- cific software (software applications that are unique to a vertical industry. These are stand-alone applications that are not modules or extensions of horizontal applications). Leveraging its deep relation- ships and expertise in the telecom services industry, Huawei has announced an APT security solu- tion that aims to provide compre- hensive protection to the cloud, pipe, and devices. The solution combines Huawei’s FireHunter security sandbox products, a Cyber- security Intelligence System, and a software firewall product. Huawei has also announced plans to form a Cloud Clean Alliance that will pro- vide real-time cleaning services for denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks.
Internal services refer to salaries and bene- fits paid to the information services staff of an organization. The information services plan, develop, implement and maintain information systems.
10.2 PERCENT
MILLION USD,
9 J U N E 2 0 1 5 | UPDA T E
TeCH TIDInGS | Honeywell launched the
first digital dashboard designed to proac- tively monitor, measure and manage cyber security risk for control systems for refin- eries, power plants and other automated production sites throughout the world that are at increasing risk of cyber attacks. The Honeywell Industrial Cyber Security Risk Manager, is designed to simplify the task of identifying areas of cyber security risk, providing real-time visibility, under- standing and decision support required for action. It monitors and measures cyber security risk in multi-vendor industrial environments.
The threat of cyber attacks on industrial targets is a major concern according to a global survey on cyber security conducted by Ipsos Public Affairs in September 2014 on behalf of Honeywell. More than 5,000 adults in 10 countries were surveyed about the threat of cyber attacks on critical indus- tries in their countries. Three quarters of respondents said they were fearful that cyber criminals could hack into and control major sectors and elements of the economy. Two- thirds of those surveyed thought that the oil and gas, chemicals and power industries were particularly vulnerable to cyber attacks.
Risk Manager uses advanced technolo- gies that translate complex cyber security indicators into clear measurements and key performance indicators (KPI), and provides essential information through an easy-to-use interface. The intuitive work- flow allows users to create customized risk notification alerts and perform detailed threat and vulnerability analysis so they can focus on managing risks that are most important for reliable plant operations.
Honeywell to Manage Risk for Industrial Sites
Health care providers in India are expected to spend $1.2 billion uS Dollars (uSD) on IT products and services in 2015, an increase of 7 percent over 2014, accord- ing to Gartner. This forecast includes spending by healthcare providers (including hospitals, as well as ambulatory service and physicians practices) on internal services, software, IT services, data center, devices and telecom services.
Internal services will achieve the highest growth rate amongst the spending categories with a 17 percent increase in 2015 to reach $297 million uSD. Internal services refer to salaries and benefits paid to the information services staff of an organization. The information services staff includes all company employees that plan, develop, implement and maintain information systems. Software spending will grow 6.2 percent to reach $103 million uSD in 2015, up from $97 million in 2014, led by growth in verti- cal specific software (software applications that are unique to a vertical industry. tech trenDS healthcare Providers in india to spend us $1.2 Billion on it in 2015
The Honeywell solution is designed to simplify the task of identifying areas of cyber security risk
‘Nasscom Cyber Security Task Force’ aims to make India the hub for cyber security related research, training and products. Led by NIIT chairman Rajendra Pawar, the task force is going to form a comprehensive cyber security plan within the next 12 weeks.
NEWS @ BLOG NASSCOM’S TASK FORCE FOR CYBER SECURITY
Source: nasscom
1 0 | J U N E 2 0 1 5 Thanks to the changes that are sweeping the business landscape, enterprises were rediscovering new use cases for already established technology tools. Video conferencing, for example, is providing a whole new set of business values. Judicious selection of a partner is key to optimize that value creation.
Vodafone Managed Video Conferencing: Solutions for the New Era powered by Vodafone
B usinesses are increasingly realizing the power of collaboration. Technologies that catalyze collabo- ration and enhance the quality of collaborative processes are now being looked at with new expectations.
Video conferencing stands right on top of the list of such tools. To be sure, video conferencing is not new at all. It has existed in large enterprises for long—as a replace- ment for travel. The ROI for such systems were initially justified comparing the investment with cost incurred on travel. Those ROIs are still largely valid.
But that is not the reason why businesses are look- ing at video conferencing with renewed interest. From a cost save, video conferencing has transformed itself into a value creator in the new business regime.
There are multiple ways businesses are using it to derive value. Some of them are as follows Improving efficiency:
The traditional ROI justifier; by reducing the requirement to travel, video conferenc- ing not just saves on travel cost but also on travel time. That contributes to enhanced efficiency in the organization.
Real time collaborative processes: Whether it is a product development or a classroom teaching; decision making or a professional discussion, video conferencing closes the distance gap between teams and individuals. Verticals from health care to educa- tion; services to government have found their own
"From a cost save, video conferencing has transformed itself into a value creator in the new business regime." Satish Mittal Sr. VP, Vodafone Business Services
J U N E 2 0 1 5 | 1 1 innovative use cases. The value derived from these collaborations—not possible without the technology—goes far beyond the cost savings.
Vodafone managed video conferencing solution provided full high-definition (HD) video quality for near real experience.
As sweeping changes happen in business and technology environments, enterprises have to keep pace. And that should reflect in their choosing a technology solution. As the technol- ogy strategy of businesses moves more towards buying technol- ogy as services, those with experience of delivering high quality services would be natural allies.
Of course, the managed services model allows the users to avail of pay per port as they grow and protects investments. Vodafone, with its years of experience as a service provider, understands delivery side issues very well. It also understands the new needs arising out of demand for mobile access.
Recording for non-participants and analysis: Recording is becoming another much sought after feature. Vodafone video conferencing solution incorporates features for on-demand recording.
Easy manageability: One of the nightmarish experiences of the old-age video conferencing is managing the meetings and application. Vodafone managed video conferencing solution provides web self-care portal for scheduling and reporting.
Anytime, Anywhere connectivity: In the age of bring your own device (BYOD), one of the most important user demands for any enterprise application is accessible from mobile phones and tablets. As many are now using video conferencing to do on-demand instant meetings to speed up decision making, mobile connectivity is a must. Video conferencing solution from Vodafone is device agnostic and supports all major mobile devices.
Heterogeneous network connectivity: Video conferencing has to work in all types of network—be it corporate multi- protocal label switchng (MPLS) virtual private netwrk(VPN) or a public Internet or a small integrated services for digial netwrok (ISDN) connection in a branch office. The Vodafone video conferencing solution is network agnostic.
Smooth experience: Today’s consumer technologies—led by Apple—have thrived by creating better than expected experi- ence. No user is going to compromise on quality of experience.
Why should the decision wait? This is a fairly new application of video conferencing. Mobile has revolutionized the way businesses work.
Here are some of the more sought-after features being looked for in a video conferencing system.
There are questions that need to be answered before embark- ing on a video conferencing journey. For example, how will the video conferencing be used in the enterprise? Is it for specific applications or enterprise-wide? What will be the usage volume? Will it be used simultaneously by many groups? What kind of information would be exchanged? How to plan for bandwidth based on estimated usage? Will the meetings be required to be recorded? How will video be integrated with other communica- tions tools/devices in the enterprise? Once the answers to these basic questions are obtained, the actual solution has to be decided based on careful evaluation of some basic as well as newer expectations.
While investment protection and easier manageability come naturally with managed services, choosing a right partner for managed services is a little different from choosing a traditional product vendor. Product features keep changing frequently but a partner without the requisite “services” experience creates problems in the long run. This has resulted in many businesses turning to their trusted telecom partners.
Choosing a Solution Changes in technology and business environment have made enterprises look for hassle free management and investment protection while choosing a technology solution. It is no surprise many of them are choosing managed video conferencing solutions.
VCs, law firms and other such professional firms where indi- vidual teams by and large work on their own, are using video conferencing to share knowledge. Needless to say, no organi- zation would do these meetings if travel were required!
Just hanging out: However strange it may sound, a few knowledge enterprises are now having video conference just to keep each other abreast of what is happening, in what is called no-agenda meetings.
With connectivity and power coming to mobile devices such as phones and tablets, one is never too far from one’s colleagues, partners, clients or vendors. So, why should a decision wait? Increasingly, there is expectation that users should be able to smoothly join a video confer- encing from device of his choice. A hassle free mobile video conferencing capability is increas- ingly becoming important while choosing video conferencing applications and vendors.
VODAFONE | CUSTOM SERIES
COVER STORY
| Big data & analytics` 1 2
THE BIG BENEFITS OF BIG DATA ANALYTICS
By Mastufa ahmed Design by Haridas Balan | Illustration by Peterson PJ with businesses already deriving big benefits out of their big data and analytics efforts, and many still figuring out the whys and wherefores of data science, here is an account of the big picture of analytics in india and the innovative initiatives that are helping companies save millions.
INSIDE 15 | Big Data Momentum intensifies
18 | ‘Machine learning helps us Save Millons’
1 3 COVER STO R Y | Big Data & analyticS
ig data and analytics is all the rage business model gave them an impetus to their initiatives today with several big initiatives of doing more business with the existing customers. taken by Indian businesses Analytics transcends beyond the walls of business delivering results already. Among verticals in terms of its use case scenario. The those who’re reaping the benefits biggest election victory, in over three decades, for from their data-driven efforts include banks and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) resulted from the ecommerce companies. Etailing players who were in process of capturing and analyzing humongous data.
B
the league of early adopters have transitioned from Auto makers such as Tata Motors, Maruti Suzuki just analyzing customer sentiments to betting on data India, and even Hero MotoCorp are all in the process and analytics to a deeper level to leapfrog to the next of sieving through data pools amassed through level. FlipKart’s analytics report, for instance, is being customer interactions to rev up their decision making leveraged by over 200 decision makers on a daily and advance efficiency of selling more vehicles. basis. So are Amazon and Snapdeal. Adoption of analytics is also picking up in Indian
Coming to large banks, analytics have proven healthcare. Fortis and Apollo are some of the to be a crucial ingredient of success with banks healthcare providers that bet on analytics. Apollo like ICICI, CITI, having their own analytics wings Hospital seeks consultations on project basis in areas comprising of data scientists and statisticians. like resource optimization, dashboard analysis and
Quality of data makes the case for the banking segmentation of patients. A fresh new concept called industry to invest on big data and analytics. The ‘health eCommerce’ starts gaining traction recently. largest commercial bank of India, State Bank of India We spoke with the Pulak Ghosh, a big data and has recently started a vertical on analytics with a analytics expert who is a professor in IIM-B in the group of experts comprising of statisticians, banking Quantitative Methods and Information Systems professionals and computer scientists to develop area. Ghosh is also a member of United Nations’ advanced analytics methods. This new data-driven big data group and he lectured extensively on how business can benefit from data-driven efforts.
This month cover story gives you a big picture of big data and analytics in India, how it all started and what is the current level of adoption. This is
Why e-commerce companies
an in-depth analysis of why and how analytics is set to gain momentum with an exponential rate
deploy big data solutions
soon. This also features in some of the top issues
Snapdeal deploys Big Data for better consumer experience. they have and challenges facing data science including the moved their systems from relational Database Management System to dearth of professionals. a real time in-memory noSqlDB with Big Data capabilities to empower So, if you are seriously contemplating over betting on the Snapdeal portal with scale, speed and real time information. the other your stored customer data pool, this piece will provide
technology that has been implemented at Snapdeal is the recommendation you some insights on how you can leverage the same.
engine; the Big Data element of the engine provides intelligent recommen- Navin Manaswi, a data scientist and a big data- Vishal Chadha, vice president, Market Development, Snapdeal food companies in India, saves millions of dollars using machine learning algorithms.
the recent mobile-first move of the ecommerce giant FlipKart is an experi- Navin discloses how they leverage data science ment underpinned by insights from the data they gather everyday. Seventy practices to forecast demands of products and save per cent of FlipKart’s traffic comes from the mobile app. Plus, app can money. The data wizard also gives some advice serve users’ request better than mobile sites. So, if the top priority of the for IT managers on how to identify strengths company is to add on to the user experience and grow their business, then and limitations of all popular machine learning the top driver for them to enable this change is analytics. algorithms and do classification, clustering,
- Ravi Vijayaraghavan, VP- Analytics, FlipKart prediction, associate mining, optimization and
mathematical modeling, to be able to help business 1 4 leaders take better decisions. BIG DATA MOMENTUM
INTENSIFIES How do you see big
Pulak Ghosh, an analytics expert who data and analytics initiatives being is currently in the panel of un’s big embraced by businesses? data group, talks about the current
While the potential
state of affairs as far as big data
benefits of Big Data are real and significant, and some initial successes
adoption is concerned in india.
have already been achieved, there remain many technical challenges that
By Mastufa Ahmed
must be addressed to fully realize this potential. Big data is supposed to be a $25 billion industry and India has the great opportunity to take a large share from it. However, Big data is in a nascent stage in general and more so in India and many believe that this technology is about large volume of data. While this is true and has always been there, what compounds its intricacy is the nature of data which is mostly ‘unstructured’. The real value of big data is combining off-line (structured) and on-line (unstructured) and making the inference real-time.
Firms in India are yet to combine the two in this real-time fashion. Either they are doing analytics on the massive data or they are doing analytics on social media data (mostly very simple negative- positive sentiment analytics only), but separately. While some start-ups are moving in this direction, the wave is yet to become a tide. Heterogeneity, scale, timeliness, complexity, and privacy at all phases of the pipeline that can create value from data. In India, analytics is mostly service based and very few are product-embedded. Companies here are weighing in its benefits while many eTailers are already storing data to underpin their likely future initiatives. They may not be cashing in on the data insights yet, but this is what big data tackling warrants to start with, and then move onto advanced analytics initiatives. 1 5 COVER STO R Y | Big Data & analyticS
What are major drivers of big data and analytics and who’re the frontrunners in india?
Another area which is being leveraged by almost all firms having a presence across social platforms is ‘social media analytics’. This move transcends
Source: www.purdue.edu
Overall system
The Big Data Analysis Pipeline. Major steps in analy- sis of big data are shown in the flow at top. Below it are big data needs that make these tasks challenging
Aggregation/ Representation Analysis/ Modeling
Acquisition/ Recording Extraction/ Cleaning/ Annotation Integration/
Privacy
Human
Collabor ationHeterogeneit y Scale Timeliness
Hospital seeks consultations on project basis in areas like resource optimization, dashboard analysis and segmentation of patients. A fresh new concept called ‘health eCommerce’ starts gaining traction recently. Former CEO of iGate Phaneesh Murthy is launching an online healthcare marketplace.