Guest Arena Changing Channel Ecosystem Channel Strategy | p12 E-Commerce and AI | p8 Make in India Meeting Competition | p11 VIBHOR AGARWAL CEO Supertron Electronics KANNAV THUKRAL MD BlackZone Mobiles TTHHEE HHIIGGHH TTIIDDEE Exploring the rise in the IT market in India xploring the rise in the IT market in India Dinesh Dhanapathi Symmetrix Systems Toshi Matthew ABC Systems Zakir Hussain Rangwala BD Software Basant Mehta BlueBell Computers Ashu Mahajan Gathr Data DR. SOMDUTTA SINGH Founder & CEO Assiduus Global, LP Angel Investor & Ex-Member, Niti Aayog www.dqchannels.com 20 pages including cover Rs 300 Vol. 26 l No. 3 l April 2024 l Subscriber copy not for resale RNI NO-DELENG/2005/15197. Published on 1st of every month Posting Date: 4 & 5 of every month. Posted at Lodi RMD HPO DPR NO. DL(S)-17/3077/2023-2025 Licensed to Post WPP. U(SE)03/2016
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A CyberMedia Publication 3 April 2024 n DQ CHANNELS Festival greetings friends! Easter and Eid both are the occasion to leave the past and walk into the new light, turning a corner on the journey of our ventures. In a sense, Holi also symbolises the end of cold season and the celebration of the colours of Spring. It appears that the 2023-24 has been a time for the IT sector to turn a corner and emerge into the new light. The market is optimistic and let’s hope that 2024 will bring new vibrancy in the business of technology. GenAI is now emerging as a force behind the tech business and new products and services will integrate it more and more. There is news that organisations may spend more on digitisation and on hardware to go along with it. All this is good news for the market. The elections may be a watershed moment in India and after the elections, the trends in tech business shall be set properly. These are turbulent times and the waters will take a while to settle down. Meanwhile, this is the time to profit from the high tide while it is still there. I am sure this issue will bring positivity among our readers by giving them valuable insights. Read, download, share and comment. www.dqchannels.com For subscription queries contact our reader service executive at [email protected] or call on 0124-4822222 extn 156 For Subscription For editorial queries: [email protected] For sales queries: [email protected] Printed and Published by Pradeep Gupta, on behalf of CyberMedia (India) Ltd at D-74, Panchsheel Enclave New Delhi - 110017 Printed at M/s Archna Printers, D-127, Okhla Industrial Area, Phase 1, New Delhi-110020 Associate Editor: Dr. Archana Verma All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced by any means without prior written permission from the publishers. Cover Design: Nadeem Anees OUR OFFICE ADDRESSES DELHI/NCR/GURGAON: Cyber House, B-35, Sector 32, Gurgaon - 122003 Ph: 0124-4822222, Mobile: +91-9953150474 BENGALURU: 205-207, Sree Complex (Opp. RBANMS Ground) # 73, St John’s Road, Bangaluru - 560 042 Ph: +91 (80) 4341 2000, Fax: +91 (80) 2350 7971 MUMBAI: INS Tower, Office No. 326, Bandra Kurla Complex Road, G Block BKC, Bandra East, Mumbai – 400051 Mobile: +91 9969424024 WHAT’S INSIDE DQ CHANNELS THIS MONTH DQ CHANNELS THIS MONTH Archana Verma EDITORIAL Managing Editor: Thomas George ([email protected]) Group Consulting Editor: Ibrahim Ahmad ([email protected]) Editor: Dr. Archana Verma ([email protected]) Associate Editor: Supriya Rao ([email protected]) Sr. Asstt Editor (Special Projects): Ankit Parashar ([email protected]) Sub-Editor: Manisha Sharma ([email protected]) Content Executive (Website): Ayushi Singh ([email protected]) Contributing Columnist: Swaminathan Balasubramanian DESIGN & LAYOUT Manager: Nadeem Anees Guest Illustrator - Ashok Hemmige ONSITE & DIGITAL COLLABORATION Dr Archana Verma ([email protected]) MARKET RESEARCH SERVICES Vice President Research: Anil Chopra ([email protected]) CYBERMEDIA LABS Sr. Manager: Ashok Pandey ([email protected]) MARKETING Sr. Manager: Rajiv Pathak ([email protected]) PRINT AND ONLINE ADVT/COMMERCIAL PUBLICATION Sr. Vice President: Rachna Garga ([email protected]) Associate Vice President: Harminder Singh ([email protected]) Sr. Manager: Sudhir Kumar Arora ([email protected]) (North & East) Sr. Manager: Shubhadeep Sen ([email protected]) (South & West) PRINT CIRCULATION Sr Manager: Alok Saxena ([email protected]) Executive, Circulation Network: Kusum Sharma ([email protected]) Executive, Circulation Network: Aalove Thakur ([email protected]) ACCOUNTS & COMMERCIAL Manager: Ashok Kumar PRINTING Press Co-Ordinator : Rakesh Kumar Gupta Turning a Corner NEWS CHANNEL ..............................15-16 DQ Channels Exclusives Select what you want!!!!! l For news, views, analysis & latest updates visit: dqchannels.com l For daily updates transferred directly to your mail box, subscribe: DQ Channels Newsletter-Everyday To share your inputs and raise your voice follow us on: You have something interesting to say or feel strongly about the topics of relevance to the channel community. We welcome your valued articles. Write to [email protected] DQW NEWS .....................................17-18 COVER STORY ................................4-6 The High Tide MARKETS | INDIA..............................7 IT Consumer Spending in India to Reach US$44B in 2024 GUEST ARENA ...................................8 E-Commerce and AI SMART TECH.....................................9 GenAI – Possibilities and the Way Forward HARDWARE ..........................................14 Confluence of Innovation and Collaboration CHANNEL STRATEGY........................12-13 Changing Channel Ecosystem CHANNEL PULSE PERSPECTIVE .......................................10 Unleashing India’s Tech Potential with Edge Computing MAKE IN INDIA .....................................11 Meeting Competition KANNAV THUKRAL MD BlackZone Mobiles ANURAG SANGHAI Principal Solution Architect Intellicus Technologies DR. SOMDUTTA SINGH Founder & CEO Assiduus Global, LP Angel Investor VIBHOR AGARWAL CEO Supertron Electronics SHRIKANT NAVELKAR Director Clover Infotech Dinesh Dhanapathi Ashu Mahajan Toshi Matthew Basant Mehta Zakir Hussain Rangwala
DQ CHANNELS n April 2024 4 A CyberMedia Publication COVER STORY including states like Delhi, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Punjab, etc. Delhi NCR has become one of the significant cities propelling the expansion of its sector in north India. The need for IT infrastructure has increased due to the abundance of IT enterprises and a flourishing corporate environment. Haryana, particularly Gurgaon and Manesar, has developed into a significant centre for the production and assembly of IT equipment. This covers servers, workstations, laptops, and networking hardware. Haryana is a desirable manufacturing place due to its location and advanced infrastructure. Datacentre Server The Indian datacentre server market is estimated at USD 5.2 Bn. Its growth is projected at 7.7% CAGR. According to Mordor Intelligence report on datacentre server market in India, the segment’s exponential growth over the last few years is primarily driven by affordable tariffs, wider availability, roll-out of Mobile Number Portability (MNP), expanding 3G and 4G coverage, evolving consumption patterns of subscribers, Government’s initiatives towards bolstering India’s domestic telecom manufacturing capacity, and a conducive regulatory environment. To further expedite digital connectivity, the Government has approved the auction of IMT/5G spectrum for deployment of 5G services within the country. This auction was successfully held by the end of July 2022 and crossed USD 18.77 billion. Mordor Intelligence report further says that rack servers are compact and efficient devices that can handle a variety of computing tasks and are commonly used in datacentre environments where space is at a premium. The advantages of a server rack include increased scalability, maximised airflow when coupled with a cooling system and ease of regular computer maintenance and diagnostics. In India, various end users prefer rack servers due to the above advantage, and with increasing digitisation, the market is expected to increase. Applications such as databases, telco edge, web servers, caching services, media encoding, and video gaming streaming will benefit from increased cores, faster memory access, higher performance per watt, scalable power management and the new cloud security features. Cybersecurity Indian Cybersecurity market is estimated at USD 7 Bn. Its growth is projected at about 10% CAGR. Products still hold a slight edge over services, the division being roughly 60% share of products After a long time, the tide seems to be turning. The dark tunnel seems to have been left behind and several segments of the IT sector seem to have registered a growth in 2023-24. This has been reported by the market research data as well as the business leaders and the partners we talked to. IT Hardware The IT hardware market is estimated at USD 19.77 Bn in India. The growth is projected at 7.0% CAGR. Mordor Intelligence growth trends of Indian hardware market says that India has seen rapid growth in the gaming and E-sports sectors. High-end gaming consoles, PCs, peripherals and accessories are purchased by gamers. Companies that specialise in gaming, such as Logitech, Acer and Asus, are leading the way in this market. Sensors, IoT gateways and related hardware are in high demand due to the growing use of smart home appliances and industrial IoT solutions. Both international companies and Indian entrepreneurs are actively involved in this quickly growing industry. Mordor Intelligence report further says that recently, PC shipments in India have been driven by increased demand from government agencies, educational firms and institutes. The growth was propelled by government-driven education projects and purchases of upgraded PCs and workstations. The demand for enterprise PCs surged toward the end of 2022 as companies slowed down on device procurement due to saturation and rising inflationary concerns. Growing trends of artificial intelligence and manufacturing automation are crucial for the rise in consumer awareness regarding technology advancements and their applications across multiple sectors. Industry 4.0 stimulates investments in research and development, technology infrastructure, and manufacturing processes to increase the production efficiency of various IT hardware, including PCs and workstations. The Indian IT hardware business largely depends on north India, The High Tide [email protected] [email protected] The IT sector seems to have turned a corner in 2023-24 DR ARCHANA VERMA SWAMINATHAN B Major Reasons for the uptrend in IT Hardware Market in India – • Rise in the popularity of gaming and E-sport, IoT and sensor enabled products • Rising demand from the government institutions • Rise of AI • Growing demand in North India, particularly in Delhi-NCR
A CyberMedia Publication 5 April 2024 n DQ CHANNELS COVER STORY Partners Speak DINESH DHANAPATHI Symmetrix Systems Organisation’ business growth in last one year We had a good 7-12%% growth overall in the last business year in different segments. Customer expansion in metro and non-metro cities We are based in Bangalore and majority of our clients are from metros. Which products were more in demand? The key products in demands were the accessories which includes headsets, docking station/multi-device connectors/monitors and computers, networking and surveillance products. How does the coming year look to you from the business angle? With the new working trends, I predict that accessories (headsets, docking station/multi-device connectors/monitors) will continue to be the biggest opportunity. Cloud solutions interms of migrating from on-premise to the off-premise Cloud will increase, as the customers in SMB will look for solution for data backup. Network andsurveillance will be the other opportunities as the AI integrated surveillance solutions is expected to pick up momentum. TOSHI MATTHEW CEO, ABC Systems Business growth in last fiscal year Last fiscal year was good. We had 20% growth in our organisation. Customer expansion in metro and non-metro cities Being headquartered in commercial city like Kochi and clients spread across, we feel that 5% growth has happened in metro and 15% in non-metro locations. Which products were more in demand? In the last financial year, we found products of networking and surveillance models had worked well. How does the coming year look from the business angle? The next financial year is very bright and we are optimistic on the growth aspects. ASHU MAHAJAN VP, Engineering, Gathr Data Business growth in terms of % in the last 1 year It has grown more than 300%. What is the strength and expanse of your clientele in metro and non-metro cities? 80%+ of our customers are in metro cities. These cities typically are tech hubs and so most of the customer personas we work with are located there. In India Specifically our customers are spread across Bangalore, Mumbai, Delhi NCR, Hyderabad and Pune. Which products were more in demand? Most customers have adopted the SaaS and marketplace offerings given their journey to the Cloud. The SaaS and marketplace offerings are also extremely feature rich and GenAI powered. How does this year look from the business angle? With the growing demand for data analytics and data management; and the rising interest of the enterprises in GenAI, the future looks very bright. ZAKIR HUSSAIN RANGWALA CEO, BD Software Business growth % in last one year BD Software Distribution has grown over 35% in 2023-24. We have been focussed on our market, our partners and customers and this has resulted in regular growth of BD Software. Customer expansion in metro and non-metro cities As businesses grew into metro and non-metro cities, the demand for cybersecurity solutions surged,
DQ CHANNELS n April 2024 6 A CyberMedia Publication COVER STORY and 40% share of services. According to DSCI – NASSCOM report, the major drivers for cybersecurity market are adoption of Cloud and AI, IoT and 5G, increasing use of digital techs by BFSI, government and PSU organisations and the growth of IT/ITeS. Among the services, security operations take the lead, at more than USD 1050 Mn, followed by security implementation at USD 500 Mn and security testing at USD 450 Mn. GenAI GenAI is an emerging segment, but is fast growing in India. EY India conducted a survey across India in the industry sectors. According to its report, 56% felt that GenAI having a high significant impact on their business, 26% felt it had a medium impact and 18% felt it had a low impact on their business. The most important aspect they felt would be impacted by GenAI was customer experience at 75%, followed by driving innovation at 68%, cost reduction at 51% and revenue acceleration at 40%. The preferred mode for Gen AI implementationis by partnering with external tech providers at 73%, followed by developing in-house capabilities at 57% and exploring strategic alliances at 46%. The EY India report says that businesses are leveraging the AI technology to unlock unprecedented insights, optimise decision-making processes and usher in a new age of efficiency and innovation. According to the EY India report, Gen AI holds the promise of fundamentally reshaping industries. In certain sectors, it is poised to revolutionise not just businesses but their entire operating models. This revolution manifests as an accelerated wave of new product releases, a transformation of the value chain and a fundamental shift in the under lying economic dynamics. In other sectors, Gen AI is set to trigger a new digital transformation wave - frictionless customer. presenting a ripe opportunity for BD Soft. With the excess of digital transactions and remote work, organisations faced heightened cyber threats.We ensure robust cybersecurity measures for both metro and non-metro clients. Which products were more in demand? We are continuously collaborating with leading cybersecurity companies to enhance threat detection, response capabilities, and infrastructure protection. Most in demand were Endpoint security solutions, DLP and MDM solutions across SMB andenterprise and in metros and non-metro locations. Zero trust and threat monitoring were very much in demand in the enterprise segment. How does the coming year look from the business angle? Our foremost objective is nationwide coverage, reaching every corner of India by recruiting top talent in Tier 1, 2, and 3 cities. Recognising the upcoming growth surge in tier 2/3 cities, we’re poised to expand our presence across the country and venture into new markets abroad. This expansion entails onboarding over 2000 active system integrators to bolster our network. We’ve recently partnered with new OEMs offering cutting-edge solutions tailored to the Indian market. We’re committed to enriching our product range with top-tier cybersecurity solutions, aligning with market demands. Moreover, we plan to establish four additional offices nationwide and also double our team size. Hence, this year looks very promising to us. BASANT MEHTA MD, BlueBell Computers Business growth in 2023-24 The year 2023-2024 was phenomenal for us. We decided to expand beyond Rajasthan and get customers from pan-India. Our quantitative sales have been from such orders. Beside, our regular sales, our business growth for this year remain at hefty 35%. One interesting thing to note was that when you play at national level, you find many avenues with multiple vendors and it obviously increases your power of negotiations as well. It also resulted into the increase of margins over our local sales. Expansion in metro and non-metro locations In this year we managed to develop a sales arm into metro cities – Mumbai and Bangalore initially. Products most in demand The mobile workstations, laptops and AIOs were in most demand. Besides, networking products and accessories were in good demand this year, which indicates that more customers are working in collaboration mode and the business of Cloud computing is going to be the next buzz word for us in coming years. How does the coming year look? If you continue to cater to your existing and old customers with maximum integrity & commitment, the saying is true – satisfied customers always bring more customers. The IT is a never ending business, provided you keep your eyes open on the customer requirements, which are changing with time. Hence, we feel the coming year is promising. Cyberattack Pathways Email 90.6% Third Party Software 71.9% Web Applications 65.6% End Point Devices 62.5% Cloud Based Pathways 59.4% Software Supply Chain 59.4% Individual 53.1% Mobile Devices 50.0% Network File Servers 31.3% Remote Access Portal 331.3% Network Application Servers 25.0% IoT Devices 25.0% GenAI – Some Important Points to Note Businesses feeling GenAI would have a high impact on business 56% Customer experience to be most beneficial aspect from GenAI 75% Preferred mode for Gen AI implementation is by partnering with external tech providers 73% Source – DSCI-NASSCOM Source – EY India Interestingly, state sponsored attackers are the 2nd largest, at 53.1%, coming only after cyber criminals, who are at the top at 62.5%
A CyberMedia Publication 7 April 2024 n DQ CHANNELS MARKETS | INDIA I n 2023, despite economic headwinds and uncertainty, Indian enterprises continued to invest in digital to increase customer engagement and satisfaction, launch new products and services, and improve operational efficiency to drive revenue growth and profitability. They allocated their budgets mainly to software, application development and cloud migrations, a reflection of their judiciousness to make their hardware assets work longer and elongating refresh cycles. Digitisation Drives Growing Expenditure According to IDC, exclusive consumer IT spending in India for 2024 is expected to grow 11% year-on-year (YoY), reaching USD $44 billion in 2024. This was presented by IDC to CIOs and senior IT leaders from across India during the thirteenth annual edition of the India CIO Summit themed The Future of IT: Rethinking Digitalization for an AI Everywhere World. As India’s digital economy continues to thrive in 2024 and beyond, IDC expects IT exclusive consumer spending in India is to accelerate at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 9.9% over the coming years to cross the USD $59 billion mark in 2027 with the software market consistently showing double digit growth across the forecasted years. GenAI as a Driver GenAI will continue to accelerate AI adoption in India with more leading organisations exploring or investing in GenAI use cases. As technology leaders realise AI’s pivotal role in their digital-first strategies, IDC forecasts that investments on GenAI by 2027 will be 26% of the overall AI spend in the country or a CAGR of 101.6%. The India CIO Summit by IDC and Foundry, throughout its 11-year run, is considered by India’s visionary technology leaders as the most significant event where they can discuss and collaborate with industry and technology experts and peers. This year, the event seeks to empower attendees with insights on how they can further realize the transformative power of AI to significantly enhance digital innovation, customer experiences, operational efficiencies, and sustainability to propel forward-thinking governments and digitally driven organisations toward an AI Everywhere mindset. “Indian industry’s shift to digital systems continues unabated as enterprises march aggressively towards an AI Everywhere future. We can clearly see this in the growth of AI investments from Indian enterprises,” says Vasant Rao, MD, IDC India and South Asia. Steven Frantzen, Head of WW Strategy and Senior VP & Regional Managing Director (EMEA), IDC who delivered a presentation on Rethinking Digitisation for an AI-first World says, “Even with economic headwinds and uncertainty in 2024, we anticipate that global ICT spending will expand by more than 6% (3x of projected GDP growth), as we enter a new era of accelerated digital innovation, driven in part by greater investment in automation and generative AI.” Source - IDC IT Consumer Spending in India to Reach US$44B in 2024 [email protected] Exclusive consumer spending in India to grow 11% YoY, according to market research DQC BUREAU Indian industry’s shift to digital systems continues unabated as enterprises march aggressively towards an AI Everywhere future. We can clearly see this in the growth of AI investments from Indian enterprises. —Vasant Rao, MD, IDC India and South Asia NEWS CHANNEL UiPath and Google Cloud Expand Strategic Partnership to Accelerate Access to Gen AI and Cloud-based Automation DUiPath, an enterprise automation and AI software company and Google Cloud have announced an expanded partnership to extend customers’ ability to transform their enterprise with AI-powered automation. UiPath, a partner of Google Cloud, is now available on Google Cloud marketplace, making it easier for Google Cloud customers to purchase the UiPathbusiness automation platform and reliably deploy and scale their automation initiatives on Google Cloud infrastructure. “UiPath automation brings AI directly into business processes to help enterprises execute on whatever ideas and innovations they can imagine. Our partnership with Google Cloud is an essential part of our strategy to help joint customers achieve AI-powered automation across the business,” said Kelly Ducourty, Chief Customer Officer at UiPath. He continued, “This expanded partnership reinforces our shared mission to bring the transformative force of AI to life in the enterprise through advanced technologies that automate all knowledge work, integrate intelligence into everyday operations, and deliver solutions that help people work smarter.”
DQ CHANNELS n April 2024 8 A CyberMedia Publication GUEST ARENA E-Commerce and AI [email protected] Where is AI reaching in digitising E-commerce? AI’s disruptive influence spans multiple industries, offering unparalleled levels of efficiency and innovation. From personalised recommendations to predictive analytics, AI is fundamentally altering the way businesses engage with customers and manage their operations. As we enter the next phase of E-commerce, AI emerges as a pivotal force in driving the digital transformation. AI-Driven Customer Engagement The emergence of AI-powered chatbots, exemplified by ChatGPT, has redefined customer interactions in e-commerce. These chatbots engage customers in natural conversations, providing real-time assistance and personalized recommendations. The chatbot market is expected to reach USD 14-16 billion by 2028, underscoring the widespread adoption of this technology. Furthermore, AI-driven customer engagement extends beyond chatbots. Machine learning algorithms analyze vast amounts of customer data to predict preferences, behavior patterns and trends. These insights enable businesses to personalize marketing messages, product recommendations, and offers, creating a tailored experience for each customer. By leveraging AI in customer interaction, businesses can foster stronger relationships, increase customer satisfaction, and drive repeat purchases. Enhanced Returns and Exchange Processes Something that is absolutely necessary for both customer satisfaction and retention are streamlined returns and exchange processes. Customers don’t want to wait on a call or wait for an email response. They want their queries answered as quickly as possible. AI-powered solutions have emerged as a game-changer in this realm, streamlining these processes and effectively resolving an estimated 60% of returns and cancellations. By automating these procedures, AI not only alleviates administrative burdens but also accelerates resolutions, ultimately leading to heightened levels of customer satisfaction. Furthermore, the analytical capabilities of AI extend to return data, enabling businesses to identify trends and patterns that can be leveraged to enhance product quality and reduce return rates over time. Dynamic Pricing Optimisation The same can be said about pricing optimisation, which is another crucial aspect of E-commerce, especially given its competitive nature. AI-driven pricing solutions have emerged as a cornerstone in this domain. The power to dynamically adjust prices based on a multitude of factors, including demand and competitor pricing, has too many advantages to name. These solutions leverage vast troves of data to discern pricing patterns and optimization opportunities, ultimately working towards maximizing profitability. AI’s capabilities can also extend to assisting businesses in identifying pricing strategies that align with distinct customer segments, enabling targeted pricing and promotions that effectively stimulate sales and drive revenue growth. Lead Engagement and Retargeting Keeping loyal customers is one thing, finding new loyal customers is another. Most e-commerce business owners will agree that attracting As businesses navigate the dynamic landscape of online commerce, AI is reshaping the industry landscape, offering innovative solutions that redefine customer engagement and operational efficiency. —Dr. Somdutta Singh, Founder & CEO, Assiduus Global, LP Angel Investor & Ex-Member, Niti Aayog DR. SOMDUTTA SINGH potential customers and converting them into buying customers is one of the most critical challenges they face. Here, again, AI can make a huge difference. AI-powered strategies, including chatbots and email marketing campaigns, can provide personalized recommendations and promotions based on customer preferences and behavior. There are studies that have indicated that these strategies can increase customer retention by nearly 30% and significantly enhance conversion rates. AI can also analyze customer interactions to identify potential leads and customize marketing messages to their preferences, augmenting the likelihood of conversion. Future Outlook As AI algorithms and technologies progress, the E-commerce landscape will undergo further metamorphosis. Businesses that embrace AI will gain a competitive advantage, reaping the benefits of heightened efficiency, enhanced customer satisfaction and improved profitability. However, as AI becomes more prevalent in e-commerce, businesses must also address ethical considerations, such as data privacy and algorithmic bias, to ensure the responsible and transparent use of AI. Concluding Thoughts AI’s role in E-commerce transformation is poised to expand significantly in the coming years. By leveraging AI-driven customer interaction, streamlined processes, dynamic pricing strategies, and lead engagement tactics, businesses can unlock new opportunities for growth and differentiation in the digital marketplace. As technology continues to evolve, embracing AI will be crucial for staying competitive and meeting the evolving demands of consumers. The author is First-Gen Serial Entrepreneur, Founder & CEO, Assiduus Global, LP Angel Investor & Ex-Member, NitiAayog NEWS CHANNEL G7 CR Technologies Simplifies AI Integration – Launches AI Apps Programme G7 CR Technologies, a Cloud and AI service provider, has announced the launch of its AI Apps Programme. This innovative programme empowers businesses to harness the power of AI by seamlessly integrating it into their existing applications within just four weeks. The programme offers a fast and cost-effective way for businesses to leverage AI and gain a competitive edge. Speaking on the launch, Jesintha Louis, CEO, G7 CR Technologies said, “We are excited to introduce our AI Apps Programme, which represents a significant step forward in popularising AI and making it more accessible to businesses of all sizes. Many businesses recognise the potential of AI but struggle with the complexities of implementation. Our AI apps programme eliminates these barriers, providing a streamlined path to build and launch AI-powered solutions that deliver remarkable results.” In the March 2024 issue of DQ Channels, p 8, Harinder Salwan’s designation went in as Secretary, ISODA. His correct designation is MD, Tricom Multimedia and Founder, ISODA. The error is regretted. ERRATA
A CyberMedia Publication 9 April 2024 n DQ CHANNELS SMART TECH GenAI – Possibilities and the Way Forward DR ARCHANA VERMA [email protected] Anurag Sanghai, Principal Solution Architect, Intellicus Technologies on the challenges and opportunities of GenAI of these fields. Through these efforts, Intellicus is poised to empower users with accessible and transformative data insights, pushing the boundaries of Business Intelligence. How does Generative AI enhance the user experience and accessibility of business intelligence and data analytics tools for non-technical users or those without specialised data science expertise? GenAI substantially improves how users interact with and access our BI tools, elevating both usability and accessibility, particularly for nontechnical users or those without specialized data science expertise. Our automated insights empower non-technical users to comprehend complex data through narrative summaries and visualizations, facilitating effective communication of key findings. The integration of natural language query capabilities democratises access to data analysis by enabling users to ask questions in plain language and receive data visualisations and insights. Furthermore, automatic visualisation functionalities enable the generation of best-fit visualizations based on the data and user intent, saving time and allowing users to focus on interpreting the insights. GenAI also excels in anomaly detection by learning normal data patterns and identifying deviations, expediting root cause analysis. Our AI-backed tailored dashboards and reports deliver personalized analytics to individual user preferences and roles, enhancing user experience. What are the ethical considerations and potential implications of incorporating Generative AI into data analytics; and how does your company ensure ethical usage and transparency in its implementation? Incorporating GenAI into data analytics raises significant ethical considerations. GenAI models can inherit and amplify biases from the data they’re trained on, leading to discriminatory or unfair outcomes. Additionally, as GenAI models are often viewed as “black boxes”, it becomes challenging to understand how they arrive at their outputs, which can erode trust and trust and make it difficult to identify and address biases. Furthermore, the ability of GenAI to generate realistic data raises concerns about misinformation and the creation of “deepfakes” that could be used to manipulate public opinion or financial markets. The potential for compromising customer information and data leakage from public language models gives rise to data security and privacy concerns. Intellicus leverages GenAI to transform business intelligence by generating synthetic data without risking real-world data to facilitate risk-free exploration of “what-if” scenarios and hypothesis testing, leading to deeper insights at a faster pace. We focus on XAI techniques to improve transparency, enabling users to understand the reasoning behind AI-generated insights. Moreover, we’re developing features and best practices to help users assess and mitigate bias in their data before using it to train generative models. We adopt a human-in-the-loop approach, believing that AI should augment rather than replace human expertise, empowering users to critically evaluate and interpret AI-generated insights. What are the primary challenges or limitations that your company has encountered in implementing Generative AI within Business Intelligence and how have you addressed these challenges? GenAI models rely heavily on the quality of the data they’re trained on. Issues like inconsistent data, missing values or biases within the data can result in inaccurate or misleading insights. GenAI models can also be difficult to interpret, leading to concerns about transparency and trust in how they reached certain conclusions. Moreover, ethical considerations, especially with text-based applications, where misuse can lead to generating harmful or misleading content, also arise. Costs associated with infrastructure, like robust hardware, cloud services and high-quality data for model training, and uncertainty surrounding return on investment highlight the complexities of adopting GenAI technologies. Lastly, implementing and maintaining GenAI solutions requires specialised technical skills that may not be readily available within all organisations. To overcome these challenges, organisations can explore several potential solutions. Focusing on high-quality data is paramount, necessitating robust data governance practices to ensure accuracy, completeness and consistency. Employing techniques such as de-biasing algorithms can help mitigate biases in the data. Investing in explainable AI, or XAI, tools can enable the visualisation of the decision-making process of generative models and foster a better understanding of their reasoning, enhancing trust in their insights. Building internal expertise or partnering with external AI consultancies can bridge the technical skill gaps. Establishing clear frameworks for developing and deploying GenAI solutions is critical for ensuring ethical and responsible use. Implementing data encryption, access controls and clear guardrails for GenAI usage are crucial for addressing data security and privacy concerns. Custom private language models can also be considered to enhance data privacy. Evaluating cost-benefit trade-offs, exploring solutions like transfer learning or model compression, conducting thorough cost-benefit analyses, assessing long-term ROI and aligning GenAI projects with business goals can further contribute to cost efficiency. In what ways do you see Generative AI evolving in the context of business intelligence and data analytics in the near future; and how is your company preparing to stay at the forefront of these advancements? Our commitment to research and development ensures seamless integration of GenAI capabilities within the Intellicus platform. Partnerships with leading AI research institutions and niche players enable us to explore collaborative development and leverage an integrated product and solution. Community engagement through discussions and workshops ensures our solutions evolve to meet the dynamic needs of our users. Additionally, our focus on talent development includes acquiring skilled professionals and fostering internal programs to build expertise in AI, machine learning and data science, allowing us to remain at the forefront
DQ CHANNELS n April 2024 10 A CyberMedia Publication PERSPECTIVE Unleashing India’s Tech Potential with Edge Computing In a nation as diverse as India, where connectivity challenges persist in certain regions, edge computing emerges as a strategic solution to bridge the demographic and digital divide As India strives for comprehensive digital transformation, edge computing emerges as a powerful ally in enabling the country to seamlessly transition to a decentralised IT infrastructure. By enabling real-time data collection and processing, strengthening data security; and supporting decentralised infrastructure, edge computing is poised to propel India into a new era of technological innovation. The Essence of Edge Computing Edge computing represents a departure from traditional cloud computing models, bringing computational power closer to the source of data generation. Rather than relying solely on centralised Cloud servers, edge computing distributes processing capabilities to the edge of the network, significantly reducing latency and enhancing real-time data processing. In a nation as diverse as India, where connectivity challenges persist in certain regions, edge computing emerges as a strategic solution to bridge the demographic and digital divide. How does Edge Computing Empower the IT Landscape? Following are some ways in which edge computing is useful – Reducing Latency in Connectivity - Traditional Cloud computing relies on centralised datacentres, often leading to latency issues. Edge computing brings computational resources closer to end-users, minimising latency and improving the overall performance of digital application and services. Enabling Real-time Data Processing and Faster Decision Making - In critical industries such as healthcare, manufacturing, or automotive, real-time data processing is crucial. Edge computing allows for instant analysis of data at the source, enabling faster decision-making and response time. This is particularly valuable in scenarios where delays can have significant consequences. Supporting IoT Growth –The proliferation of IoT devices generates massive amounts of data. Edge computing facilitates the processing of this data at the device level, reducing the burden on central servers and networks. This scalability is vital for the successful deployment of IoT applications across industries. Optimising Bandwidth Usage – Edge computing minimises the need for transmitting large volumes of raw data to centralised datacentres for processing. Instead, only relevant or processed information is sent, thereby ensuring efficient network utilisation. Empowering Rural Connectivity – Ina country as vast as India, edge computing brings computational capabilities closer to these remote locations, enabling the delivery of digital services even in low-bandwidth environments. This is crucial for inclusive growth and reducing the urbanrural digital divide. Enhancing Cybersecurity – Edgecomputing introduces a decentralised approach to data processing, which inherently enhances cybersecurity. By distributing security measures across the network, it becomes more challenging for malicious actors to compromise centralized systems. To summarise, the adoption of edge computing is not just a technological upgrade but also a strategic move to revolutionize how Indian manages and processes data. By building a more responsive and distributed digital infrastructure, we can harness the true potential of emerging technologies and drive sustainable growth in this digital era. The author is Director, Clover Infotech By enabling real-time data collection and processing, strengthening data security; and supporting decentralised infrastructure, edge computing is poised to propel India into a new era of technological innovation. —Shrikant Navelkar, Director, Clover Infotech SHRIKANT NAVELKAR [email protected] NEWS CHANNEL L&T Technology Services Accelerates Generative AI Adoption L&T Technology Services a provider of digital engineering and R&D services, plans to deliver scalable AI solutions to enterprises around the globe. NvidiaNeMo is an end-to-end platform for developing custom generative AI, including tools and microservices for customisation, retrieval-augmented generation (RAG), data curation, model evaluation and more. Part of this platform, NvidiaNeMo Retriever is a set of microservices that enable accelerated RAG to boost the precision and reliability of generative AI models by integrating data from external sources. The LTTS training initiative is aimed at building a formidable pool of AI specialists and practitioners. Furthermore, LTTS will implement AI solutions across various sectors, including manufacturing, automotive, and healthcare. “Training our associates on Nvidia software will allow our engineers to deliver innovative, scalable generative AI solutions across the entire industry. We aspire to solve real-world challenges and create significant value for our global customers,” said Amit Chadha, CEO and Managing Director, L&T Technology Services.
A CyberMedia Publication 11 April 2024 n DQ CHANNELS MAKE IN INDIA Meeting Competition DR ARCHANA VERMA [email protected] Kannav Thukral, MD, BlackZone Mobiles talks about his largely Made in India venture and the strategy to forge ahead in this market What % of this mobile is manufactured in India and what components are imported and assembled here? As a proud Made in India brand, we can say that 75% of our mobile devices are manufactured in India. While we continuously endeavor to increase this percentage, certain components need to be imported to meet the technological specifications of our products. These imported components are then assembled locally to ensure quality and efficiency. Currently, only 25% of the mobile parts, such as [specify components], are imported and assembled here. Are you investing in R&D for developing your mobile or are you collaborating with other companies for procuring the technology? While our primary focus lies in investing significantly in R&D to develop our phones, we remain open to joint collaborations and partnerships to enhance the technology in our mobile devices. Our strategy integrates in-house expertise with external collaborations to ensure that our products remain innovative and competitive in the market. What kind of funding resources do you have for investing in mobile manufacturing? Currently, we are a bootstrapped firm with no immediate plans for external investments. Our funding primarily comes from strategic NEWS CHANNEL HP to Sell Poly Products through its HP World Stores Across India HP has announced the availability of Poly products in select HP World Stores across India, offering customers a wide range of cutting-edge audio solutions. The range of Poly products available in these stores include earbuds, wired headsets, wireless speakerphones, wired speakerphones and wireless headsets. This strategic initiative aims to provide Indian consumers with unparalleled access to premium audio devices designed to enhance their communication and productivity experiences. Currently, Poly products are accessible in over 130 HP World Stores strategically located across India, with plans to extend availability to 750+ HP World Stores soon. To make the products more accessible to consumers, the Poly products in the HP World Stores are available at a discounted price. Pricing • Poly Voyager 5200 Mono Wireless Headset worth Rs. 15,485 is available at Rs. 8,699 at HP World Stores • Poly Voyager Free 60 Carbon Black Earbuds worth Rs. 29,676 is available at Rs. 19,099 at HP World Stores • Poly Blackwire C5220 UC USB-A wired headset worth Rs. 15,609 is available at Rs. 9,999 at HP World Stores • Poly Sync 20 wired speakerphone worth Rs. 21,933 is available at Rs. 13,499 at HP World Stores • Poly Voyager Focus 2 UC headset worth Rs. 45,163 is available at Rs. 30,999 at HP World Stores • Poly Voyager 4320-M UC headset worth Rs. 29,676 is available at Rs. 19,999 at HP World Stores partnerships and revenue generated from product sales. These resources enable us to sustain our operations, invest in R&D and to effectively expand our manufacturing capabilities. How do you strategise to compete in this very intensively competitive mobile market, especially against MNCs? Our competitive advantage stems from our deep understanding of the Indian market. Having evolved and thrived within this market, we have a well-defined target audience and strategic approach. Our products are tailored for the masses, focusing on delivering high-quality products at affordable prices. Additionally, our extensive network of distributors allows us to penetrate Tier 2, 3, and 4 cities, as well as towns and villages, ensuring accessibility even in remote areas. We capitalize on our strengths, including innovative product features, agility in market responsiveness, competitive pricing strategies, robust distribution channels, and unwavering commitment to customer satisfaction. By leveraging these elements, we aim to secure a significant market share and establish ourselves as a formidable competitor in the industry.
DQ CHANNELS n April 2024 12 A CyberMedia Publication CHANNEL STRATEGY Changing Channel Ecosystem SWAMINATHAN B A N SRI RAM [email protected] Vibhor Agarwal, CEO, Supertron Electronics, a distributor for many MNC brands, talks about the changing channel scenario and the strategy to navigate through it additional buying. Discounting is stopped because the demand was more and supply was less. This created an opportunity for the partners to make huge money. This here we see a growth and now it is 6.8 million. So, industry has grown and partners’ margins have grown. After COVID, the cost of the products has increased. What are your thoughts about it? The brands had an opportunity to capitaliseon the demand supply scenario. They forced the high priced brands where the margins are high. Earlier, we were saying India is evolving, IT is penetrating so people have to buy a laptop/desktop, trying to give them good cost proposition, looking at Celeron and AMDs, giving less than I3%with DOS and mainly looking at FTUs (First Time Users). With Covidthe customers were not only FTUs, but there How do you see the role of channel partners changing in the last 10 years? Channel partners are always an integral part of India IT Industry and they will be so. Worldwide also, the online business shares about 30-35% of the market, the rest beig dealt with by the partners.In some countries like Australia, the LFR on online play a bigger role, but in India, looking at the geography, length and breadth the country has the indirect sales model. Hence, the channel sales will always be the most important parameter of the business. The industry is evolving, the products are changing, the buying behavior is changing. Olline is rising in popularity especially in large cities. Similarly, the partners have to understand that their profile is not just limited to selling components or selling specific products. They have to extend their portfolio and add services to it. We can see that the online is the ultimate option. However, the remaining market share is for the partners only. What is the role of AI in the channel business? AI is the new buzz word today. Something new is emerging daily and expectations are also high. Customers are much more aware and they ask for their specific needs. AI is a technology which is coming in multiple products now like AI Graphic Cards, AI based mobile phones, cybersecurity and will be an integral part of everything which is evolving.How well we improve our offerings along with AI to a customer is our value addition. What are the pre covid and post covid situations amongst the Indian dealer fraternity? Pre Covid (2019-2020) India were around 4.2 million as an industry size passing through a tough phase. Without Covid, we would have been somewhere with 10-15% growth. During Covidit went up drastically. Because of work from home, learn from home, the business went up. When the demand supply delta is large, the industry goes for a huge correction in terms of payments. The entire eco system started getting corrected, because there was a demand, stocking level went down, the money which is used to be invested in stocks got invested in the
A CyberMedia Publication 13 April 2024 n DQ CHANNELS CHANNEL STRATEGY NEWS CHANNEL CrowdStrike and HCLTech Announce Global Strategic Partnership for Enterprise Cybersecurity Crowdstrike has announced a new strategic partnership to power HCLTech’s managed detection and response (MDR) solutions with the AI-native CrowdStrike Falcon XDR platform. The partnership will empower HCLTech to deliver the breadth of the Falcon platform, assisting organizations in cybersecurity transformation across device, identity, cloud, data, next-gen SIEM, and beyond, led and managed by HCLTech. “Delivering a Dynamic Cybersecurity Posture is core to our solutions and engagements, and the partnership with CrowdStrike will further strengthen our commitment to accelerate this journey for our customers,” said Amit Jain, Executive VP and Global Head, cybersecurity, HCLTech. “The proven CrowdStrike Falcon XDR platform will fuel our existing managed services solutions as we join forces to unleash a powerful defense against cyber threats. This partnership amplifies HCLTech’s leadership in Cybersecurity Services, reinforcing our dedication to delivering a resilient Digital Foundation for our global customers.” were people whohad 2 or 3 laptops but wanted to buy one more, because more people in family needed laptops. Thus, 8 GB rose to 16 GB, regular hard drive gave space to SSDs. Now, it has become a defacto standard, because when a person works on multiple applications, speed has to be fast, booting has to be fast, screen size should be bigger and memory has to be larger in capacity. What are the trends in the payment structures of T2 and T3 Partners? Industry is not unorganised now. We are slowly moving towards a matured industry level. Distributors are committed to pay the vendors on time. Brand is doing the branding. Our job is to take the product to the length and breadth of the country and to provide credit and logistic support for the business to evolve. India is a vast country. Any national distributor cannot bill more than 100 partners. Managing credit for 60 or 100 partners directly also requires a lot of work. So, you have to have a sub distributor where they cater to the remaining market for which they have their margins as well. For that, they have to give credit and it is purely with them to assess the credit worthiness of T3 partners on whom to give, how much to give etc., Basically, a sub distributor is playing a role of a distributor for the set of partners he is asked to address. It could be either region wise or even city wise. There is no credit challenge. We provide channel financing facilities to channel partners who are directly associated with us. They run programmes for partners who are buying from us. We give commitments to our channel financing companies that if a partner is going bad, they should inform us and we will stop supplying products to them. In some cases, we also help them recover the money from the channel partners. So, partners are getting advantage of getting an easy working capital. If they are really structured and want to improve their business and increase their turnover, there is an opportunity available. There is no restriction. They can also sign with 7+ financing companies. What are your top 3 predictions in the channel IT markets for the next financial year? First, whatever tough timethere was, it has already passed and this year industry will definitely grow at 5-10%. Second, from the perspective of Supertron, there are 2 ways of growth viz.,organic andinorganic. Organic growth happens by its own pace. If industry is growing, we are also growing. The inorganic growth will happen in B,C and D class cities because, we have to proote the brands in all corners of the country.There should also be a partner who should be engaged with us to represent the products that we are doing. Will you be having one more layer of partners in the supply chain? It would be desirable. When we go to the remote area, we find that there is a limited number of partners who are doing everything. So, it is good to have a better partner strength there and engage with them for all our product categories. Because, they want to evolve, they have good face value which is more important than our face value. In these areas, people still want to work with human sellers and not just go online. We are among the pioneers in getting the 5G implemented in India. Penetration of internet is excellent. UPI has become a buzz word worldwide. Looking at the size of our country and the way educated people are aware of the technology today, digital money has become the buzz word. This will help the partners. There are new people entering the channel business. How do you see the trend? New partners from other businesses are not coming in. There is an end road for the partners because surveillance and IT has become an integral part like mobile and IT. Lot of electrical gadgets traders have seen that surveillance is the new buzz word which is booming like anything. Now, they are slowly coming into IT because both of them are getting overlapped. Unfortunately, there is nobody to guide and that is the biggest problem. Both T1 and T2 have to be very vigilant and careful because when the demand in the industry increases, many new people will come in because they feel there is easy money available. But, sustaining the growthis very difficult. New partners who are coming in, still the system of credit, insurance at T3 level from T2 it is not happening but it has to happen. In coming years, people have to be more cautious and more vigilant in extending credit to T3 partners who are new in the system, due diligence should be done. It should not be just an open credit which will result in bad debts. How can a T1 or a T2 partner predict the payment discipline of new partners? Weneed to set our systems and processesin place. T2 partnerswho were billing in thousands earliernow are billing lakhs to a partner. They will have to sit and set your systems and processes in place. If you want to grow you have to invest. That investment is not happening at all levels. If T2 will invest then they will automatically start filtering the right set of T3s who can do the business with them. Can you share about the value added distribution model you are engaging? There are 2 sets of partners. One is into pure trading who are already there with us in stock and sell. Then there are system integrators and solution providers. System integrators have their own customer base. They don’t get the exposure for the technical knowhow. Besides, they don’t have somebody technically sound to go, do the pre-sales to the customer. They also don’t have credit available to take the stock and give it to the customer. For these three reasons, we have created the value added vertical. Our team will go and give the pre-sales and pitch the technology, give credit and the system integrators benefit from it. We are more concerned about smaller system integrators. We are providing them hardware and services.
DQ CHANNELS n April 2024 14 A CyberMedia Publication HARDWARE Confluence of Innovation and Collaboration Indian IT business leaders should prepare to use HPC tech and exploit its demand in the foreign markets Confed ITA, Tamil Nadu’s major association of the IT dealers, recently concluded their 16th edition of the ‘CONFED ITA Summit’ in Coimbatore. The event brought over 400 channel partners, including resellers, solution providers, prominent IT associations and vendors. Supertron Electronics was the Title Sponsor. AMD, ASUS, Lenovo, Bloom computers, Dell, Compstore were some of the other sponsors. The event was organised by the association leadership including K Suresh Kumar (President), TSivakumar (Vice President), KNagarajan (Secretary) , R Mahesh (Treasurer) and other members. Founded in 2006, CONFED ITA is one of the prominent associations that work for the welfare of the IT sector across the region. The forum has been organising partner and vendor summits year-on-year to boost the growth of the entire community. Forum is known for its tough stand against many vendors in the past to save the welfare of dealers and distributors. Innovate, Collaborate, Transform The theme of the summit, ‘Innovate, Collaborate, Transform,’ set the tone for insightful discussions and knowledge-sharing sessions throughout the event. The summit kicked off with an electrifying atmosphere as industry leaders, experts, and enthusiasts gathered to explore the latest trends, technologies, and strategies shaping the future of IT. Vibhor Agarwal, CEO, Supertron Electronics, made his keynote address. On the industry overview he said, “During Covid, the market for the IT sector was good. The demand was much higher than what the availability of products was. Currently, the industry has grown by 60% + over the period of the last 3 years. Definitely, there are lots of opportunities visible and the business is growing globally. So, we should feel lucky that we are part of that industry, which is growing.” Other players from among the OEMs provided valuable insights into emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence, cloud computing, cybersecurity, and digital transformation. These sessions not only informed the audience about current trends but also inspired them to adapt and innovate in an ever-evolving industry landscape. The summit also featured a lot of inputs focusing on key areas such as business transformation, customer experience enhancement, sustainability initiatives and leveraging data analytics for informed decision-making. Networking Opportunities Another significant aspect of the 3 days summit was the networking opportunities. Attendees had the chance to connect with industry peers, forge new partnerships and strengthen existing collaborations visiting their stalls. This facilitated meaningful interactions, fostering a sense of community and camaraderie among participants. In addition to the knowledge-packed sessions and networking opportunities, the summit showcased the latest innovations and solutions from leading IT companies. Exhibitors demonstrated cutting-edge technologies, innovative products and services that are revolutionizing the way businesses operate and interact with their customers. The CONFED ITA Summit 2024 served as a platform for showcasing thought leadership, fostering collaboration and driving digital transformation in the IT sector. It brought together stakeholders from across the industry ecosystem, including channel partners, vendors, associations and experts, to collectively envision the future of IT and chart a path towards sustainable growth and innovation. As the IT landscape continues to evolve rapidly, events like the CONFED ITA Summit play a crucial role in driving conversations, fostering collaboration and empowering industry professionals to navigate challenges and seize opportunities in a rapidly changing digital world. The event also witnessed the hand-over of the new office-bearers’ team under the leadership of Vasudevan from the Kumbhakonam association. The success of the 16thITA Summit underscores the resilience, creativity, and collective spirit of the IT community as it continues to shape the future of technology and business. This three-day event was a testament to the growing importance of collaborative efforts and innovation in the dynamic landscape of the IT industry. SWAMINATHAN B MITHRAN SRI RAM [email protected]
A CyberMedia Publication 15 April 2024 n DQ CHANNELS For more about Partners Strategies, log on to www.dqchannels.com NEWS CHANNEL CMDA Organises Business Informative Session Fulcrum Digital, an enterprise AI organisation, has announced the appointment of Sathish Raghunathan as its new Chief Financial Officer (CFO). Sathish joins the company with a distinguished career spanning over two decades, marked by strategic financial leadership and transformative growth in the IT sector. Commenting on the appointment Dhana Kumarasamy, CEO of Fulcrum Digital said: “We are exhilarated to welcome Sathish to our leadership team as we continue to scale our platform engineering, digital services and AI Platform assets. His proven track record of driving financial strategies amidst growth and challenges aligns perfectly with our vision for the future. We are confident that his leadership will further strengthen our financial foundation, investment in innovation and merging technologies, and drive sustainable growth. “I am excited to join the Fulcrum Digital team during this pivotal phase of growth and innovation,” said Sathish Raghunathan, CFO of Fulcrum Digital. “The company’s cutting-edge platform engineering capabilities, coupled with its deep tech expertise in digital transformation, present immense opportunities for value creation. I look forward to partnering with the leadership team to strengthen financial discipline, operational rigor, and drive strategic initiatives that fuel our trajectory as an industry leader.” Fulcrum Digital Appoints Sathish Raghunathan as Chief Financial Officer CMDA-Delhi organised a business informative session for their members at Indian Habitat Centre on 16th March,2024. The event was very important for partner business. Rajiv Chawla, Chairman of IamSME was the speaker for the event. He briefed the members about the various SOPs provided by the government under MSME as well about the new controversial payment issue faced by the entrepreneurs. The event was vastly attended by various media personal as well by PCAIT and CAIT executive body members. Post the informative session, members had a fun filled evening over good food and music. Manoj Khanna, Secretary, CMDA said, “Members of CMDA and our friends from PCAIT and CAIT found the infomative session very beneficial. Payment issues have become quite complicated nowadays with cyber theats and platforms like PayTM running into problems. Hence, such informative sessions are useful for the entrepreneus.” TPV Technology Appoints Redington as its Distribution Partner for India Lexar holds Pan India Channel Roadshow to Expand Retail Network TPV Technology, an LCD manufacturer, has announced the appointment of Redingtonas its strategic distribution partner for India. This collaboration aims to strengthen the distribution network for AOC in key North and East Indian markets. Through this partnership, TPV aims to enhance its presence in the region by strategically organising, constructing and actively expanding its partner network across the country. Commenting on the partnership, Carol Anne Dias, MD, TPV Technology, AOC and Philips Monitors said, “We are thrilled to introduce our world-class high-end non-gaming as well as gaming monitor solutions. For Philips the focus will be on its entire range of monitors, our gaming range comes with 100 Hz, focus will be on pure monitors all above 22 inches in the Indian market. We aim to establish a strong foothold across the nation and capitalize on the burgeoning gaming and professional monitor display sector. Through our partnership with Redington, we are confident in our ability to provide unparalleled access to our innovative products, empowering users with cutting-edge technology and immersive gaming experience.” Lexar, a provider of memory and storage solutions, joined its national distributors Redington, Creative NewTech and New Colour India Films to organise an extensive pan-India channel roadshow. Spanning major metro cities such as Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, and Chennai, the roadshow aimed to bolster and broaden Lexar’s distribution network in India. Commenting on the event, Fissal Oubida, GM, West Asia, Africa and the Indian Subcontinent, Lexar said, “Lexar’s market share is steadily expanding across India. This clearly reflects our commitment to meeting the evolving needs of our Indian clientele. We are actively establishing a strong position in components, SSD and DRAM segments. The market dynamics and evolving technology landscape suggest a promising future for our innovative solutions. As India continues to embrace digital transformation and technological advancements, we are excited about the potential for Lexar to make a meaningful impact in the lives of Indian consumers and businesses alike.” Sathish Raghunathan
DQ CHANNELS n April 2024 16 A CyberMedia Publication NEWS CHANNEL For more about Partners Strategies, log on to www.dqchannels.com GlobalLogic, a Hitachi Group company working Digital Engineering, has announced the opening of a new satellite office in Mahbubnagar, Telangana dedicated to its content engineering business operations. This initiative marks the introduction of their hub-and-spoke model, strategically positioning themselves to tap into tier II/III cities near existing hubs and talent hotspots.As part of its expansion strategy, GlobalLogic has also partnered with the Telangana Academy for Skill and Knowledge, a not for profit organisation from the Government of Telangana focused towards skilling the youth of the state and making them more employable. The inauguration ceremony witnessed the presence of PiyushJha, Group VP & MD, APAC, GlobalLogic, along with senior leaders from the organisation present at the event. The new 18,000 sqft facility, located in Mahbubnagar, has a seating capacity of 180 and will serve as a hub for innovation and technological advancement. With a dedicated focus on Content Engineering, the new site is designed to facilitate high-quality work in various domains, including data and GIS solutions, and cuttingedge Gen AI projects. Mindsprint has appointed Nitesh Mirchandani as the company’s Chief Business Officer. In Nitesh’s role as the Chief Business Officer, he will lead the strategy and execution for Mindsprint’s growth in their targeted markets, invest in building strong relationships with the customers, strengthen the partnerships with key technology and domain players and focus on building Mindsprint’s brand across the ecosystem. Collaborating closely with technology and delivery teams, his role entails developing the go-to-market strategy for the evolving needs of customers. Nitesh has over two decades of experience encompassing diverse roles and sectors. He possesses an extensive background in engaging customers, transforming businesses, and managing teams successfully. Commenting on Nitesh’s appointment, Dharmender Kapoor, CEO of Mindsprint said, “At Mindsprint, we are dedicated to innovating purpose-built digital solutions to enable our customers to be future-ready. Nitesh’s appointment is a key milestone in advancing this commitment. In his role as the Chief Business Officer, he will be responsible for the P&L, growth strategy, key market analysis and most importantly, building and investing in our customer relationships. We are confident that his leadership will enable us to unlock new possibilities for our customers, empowering them to transform and succeed. We look forward to Nitesh’s valuable contributions to our journey of innovation and expansion.” Vertiv Joins the NVIDIA Partner Network RAH Infotech Joins Hands with Vivotek to Expand its Security Product Distribution Network Vertiv, a provider of critical infrastructure and continuity solutions, is now a Solution Advisor: Consultant partner in the NVIDIA Partner Network (NPN), providing wider access to Vertiv’s experience and full portfolio of power and cooling solutions. “Vertiv has collaborated with NVIDIA in research, development and engineering for multiple years, designing innovative products and solutions that support the deployment of NVIDIA technologies globally,” said Giordano (Gio) Albertazzi, CEO at Vertiv. “We have combined our leadership in power and cooling solutions with NVIDIA’s cutting-edge platforms to help meet the demands of the most compute-intensive applications and support the deployment of AI infrastructure across the globe. Now, we are collaborating to build state-of-the-art liquid cooling solutions for next-gen NVIDIA accelerated data centers powered by GB200 NVL72 systems.” RAH Infotech, an Indian leading value-added distributor and solutions provider of technology products and digital transformation solutions and services, has announced their partnership with Vivotek, an IP security solution provider. Vivotek has developed comprehensive IP surveillance solutions, including a broad range of network cameras, PoE switches, network video recorders and video management software. “We are happy to be associated with vivotek. With this association we look forward to utilising our market reach and Vivotek’s technology to help optimize security solutions for various sectors in India,” said Ashok Kumar, Founder andMD at RAH Infotech. “We are greatly pleased to collaborate with RAH Infotech. We believe that our future collaboration will open up more opportunities to work together and create a safer environment,” expressed Sanjeev Gulati, India and SAARC Country Director at Vivotek. Mindsprint Appoints Nitesh Mirchandani as Chief Business Officer GlobalLogic Expands Presence in India with New Satellite Office in Mahbubnagar Nitesh Mirchandani
A CyberMedia Publication 17 April 2024 n DQ CHANNELS Samsung announced the launch of Galaxy Book 4, bringing next level connectivity, mobility and productivity for customers. Featuring a large 39.62 cm Full HD display, Galaxy Book4 is encased in a metal body that weighs just 1.55 kg, making it one of the sleekest devices in the segment. Galaxy Book4 is available in two vibrant colours viz., Gray and Silver. Galaxy Book 4 comes with AI-Powered Photo Remaster tool, allowing users to breathe new life in to old photos as well as lowquality images, while making edits such as removing unwanted light and shade from photos. It also comes with Galaxy Video Editor, allowing users to unleash their creativity. ZOWIE has announced the XL2546X gaming monitor featuring Fast-TN panel and exclusive DyAc 2 technology with new dual backlight design for clear motion and precise FPS gaming. The all-new design for the 240Hz XL2546X also provides a higher level of comfortable ergonomic adjustability, and the updated XL Setting to share enables convenient automatic in-game color mode selection. Commenting on the launch, Rajeev Singh, MD, BenQ India and South Asia said, “At BenQ, we are dedicated to developing professional grade gaming monitors that empower E-sports athletes to reach new heights in their gameplay. The XL2546X combines cutting-edge technology with ergonomic design elements to offer E-sports enthusiasts an unparalleled gaming experience. We believe the new XL-X series from Zowie will revolutionise the way athletes compete in the E-sports arena. Galaxy Book 4 Ricoh Color Intelligent MFPs are top contenders in the Indian market, offering a comprehensive solution to the evolving needs of modern workplaces. Whether it’s the compact efficiency of the IM C 2010 and IM C 2510 or the high-volume capabilities of the IM C 3010, IM C 3510, IM C 4510, and IM C 6010, Ricoh MFPs are poised to elevate productivity, security and sustainability in any office setting. Equipped with a 10.1” Smart Operation Panel and powered by Android OS 10, these devices ensure a smoother user experience. Boasting eco-friendly features like reduced plastic packaging and post-consumer recycled materials, they also incorporate advanced security measures such as WPA3 authentication and TPM 2.0. With improved hardware options including faster scanning speeds and SSD storage, along with seamless integration with digital workflows, Ricoh MFPs are poised to streamline operations in the modern workplace. Ricoh Printers for Hybrid Workplace Gaming Monitor XL2546X from Zowie ViewSonic Projectors The LX700-4K Laser Projector from ViewSonic has true 4K HDR and a massive 300-inch screen projection, to offer clarity and brightness hit by every ball. This projector uses advanced laser phosphor technology, which provides a longer-lasting and more efficient alternative to traditional lamps, ensuring up to 30,000 hours of usage. The LX700-4K’s brightness, colour accuracy and contrast ratio are second to none, making it an ideal choice to set-up a stadium at home. Price – Rs 4,50,000/- Consistent Infosystems launches a new range of versatile and stylish Gaming cabinets. Built with a classic brushed-finished high-grade metal chassis, the all-new gaming cabinets are compatible with all-size motherboards. The cabinets are built for all sizes of ATX motherboards and are equipped with necessary cooling fans for intake and exhaust to keep the interior hardware cool for effective functioning. Commenting on the newly launched Gaming Cabinets, Yogesh Agrawal, CEO and Co-Founder of Consistent Infosystems said, “We at Consistent always try to bring the best of class products for our customers with the amalgamation of latest technologies. With the launch of these new gaming cabinets, we are expanding our gaming portfolio with updated and advanced products to provide our customers with exceptional user experience.” Gaming Cabinets from Consistent Infosystems
DQ CHANNELS n April 2024 18 A CyberMedia Publication SRS-XV500 packs with powerful sound, built-in lighting and a long-lasting battery – you can even plug in a karaoke mic and sing the night away. Following are the features – • Powerful Sound SRS-XV500 packed with the Powerful sound you can carry around with clear and deep bass • Built in Battery & Quick Charge Now you can enjoy music non-stop upto 25hrs of battery life, with 10 min Quick Charge you can get 2.5hrs playback • Ambient Lighting Illuminate the floor with colorful ambient lighting • Splash proofWith an IPX4 splash resistance rating, the XV500 speaker can stand up to splashes and spills, so you can enjoy the party with no worries • Karaoke & Guitar Input You control the lighting and turn it on/off. You can also use motion control gestures on your smartphone screen • Bluetooth Connectivity Streaming connectivity makes it simple to stream your party playlist • X Balanced Speaker A unique Sony-developed speaker unit allows for rich, powerful bass and higher sound levels while maintaining clarity • Sony Music Center App &Fiestable Control the party with the Sony | Music Centre app Price – 31,990/- Netgear introduces its latest unmanaged switches, the GS108X and GS108MX, designed to address the evolving demands of expanding businesses and the escalating speeds of connected devices. Both models feature 8 Gigabit Copper Ports, ensuring non-blocking uplink capabilities over extended distances. While the GS108X incorporates a 10Gig SFP+ Port, enabling highspeed connections spanning over 100 meters, the GS108MX offers a versatile 10G/ Multi-Gig Port, automatically adjusting to accommodate device speeds ranging from 100M to 10G, including increments of 1G, 2.5G, and 5G. Lexar, a provider of global brand in memory and storage solutions, highlighted its comprehensive range of next generation memory solutions at the 12thComputer Expo 2024, taking place from March 20thto 23rd, 2024, at Kanchenjunga Stadium, Mela Ground, Siliguri. This event is Northeast’s largest technology expo and is organised by North Bengal IT Traders Organisation (NITO). Commenting on the announcement, Fissal Oubida, GM and Global MD, Middle East, Africa and India, Lexar said, “Lexar’s latest wide range at the event represents our commitment to delivering high-performance, reliable and secure memory and gaming products. By using nextgeneration manufacturing technologies, we have been able to specifically develop innovative features such as advanced encryption.” “Lexar’s active participation at NITO’s 12thComputer Expo, further clearly shows their commitment to the North Bengal technology market. We are proud to have partnered with Lexar,” added Suresh Bhagat, Partner, Polaris Infotech. N E W S GS108X and GS108MX 8-Port Gigabit Switches from Netgear Memory Solutions from Lexar Sony SRS-XV500 Speakers Monopoly Series Earbuds and Neckbands from U&i U&I has announced the launch of its latest breakthrough in wireless audio technology, the U&i Monopoly Series True Wireless Earbuds and Super Series Wireless Neckband. These audio devices are engineered to deliver an immersive audio experience, exceptional battery life, and unmatched versatility, setting a new standard. Price is Rs3,699/- U&i Super Series Wireless Neckband is a blend of functionality and comfort. With a music time of 30 hours and standby time of up to 250 hours, these neckbands keep you immersed in your favourite tunes all day long. They are powered by Bluetooth version 5.3. The neckband offers talk time of 30 hours, ensuring uninterrupted conversations on the go. Price is Rs1,299/- U&i Monopoly Series True Wireless Earbuds and Super Series Wireless Neckband can be purchased from U&i outlets and other leading retail stores across India. Asus Motherboards Asus announced BIOS updates that enable support for up to 256 GB of memory on its Intel 700 and 600 series motherboards that use DDR5 modules. Such models with four DIMM slots can now support up to 256 GB of memory, while models with two DIMM slots can now support up to 128 GB. These features offer multitasking potential, aiming to give smooth computing. AMD AM5 motherboards from Asus do not require a BIOS update to enable support for up to 256 GB of DDR5 memory modules.
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