C-suite movements

Key recent C-suite movements to watch

by | Dec 11, 2020 | C-Track

Here is a quick update on the key recent C-suite movements in the areas of information security and information technology in India.
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Here is a quick update on some key recent C-suite movements in the information technology and information security technology areas in India.

11 December 2020 Update

Jagdip Kumar roped in by Lohia Group as CIO

Jagdip Kumar, General Manager, IT, left Cosmo Films to join Lohia Group as CIO. In this new position, Kumar will lead the digital transformation efforts of the Lohia Group.

Lohia Group is a diversified manufacturing company that produces various products such as flexible packaging, threads, plastic components for automobiles and machines.

Kumar has over 19 years of experience and has earlier worked with AMW, VE Commercial Vehicles, and Welspun.

Puneesh Lamba joins Shahi Exports as Group CIO

Puneesh Lamba, Group CIO of CK Birla Group, has moved to Shahi Exports as their Group Chief Technology Officer (CTO). Lamba will directly report to the Board of Directors of Shahi Exports.

Shahi Export is India’s biggest apparel manufacturer and exporter and has several manufacturing units across nine Indian states and over 100,000 workforce. In the new role at Shahi Exports, Lamba will spearhead its digital transformation and cloud-based tech-innovation initiatives.

Lamba is a seasoned IT professional with a strong experience of over 27 years. He has previously associated with firms such as BILT, Punj Loyd, GE Capital in leadership roles.

Kapil Madan is Spark Minda Group’s new CISO

Spark Minda Group has appointed Kapil Madaan as its new Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). The company has a strong presence in the global automotive sector, catering to a passenger vehicle, commercial vehicle, two-wheelers, and off-road vehicle manufacturing.

Madan has previously worked with Max Healthcare as a cybersecurity leader.

Rohit Kilam moves to CMS Info Systems as CTO

Rohit Kilam has joined CMS Info Systems Ltd as Chief Technology Officer (CTO). CMS Info Systems is India’s top Cash Management and Payment Solutions company. In his new role, Rohit will lead to several process transformations and tech-innovations at CMS Info-Systems.

Rohit has earlier worked in a gamut of challenging assignments in Digital Transformations, IT Strategy, IT Performance Management, Building Digital products, Operating Models, M&A IT Integration, Outsourcing Governance, Tech Product development, and ERP implementations.

He has earlier worked with companies such as Adani Enterprises, Masan Group, and IBM in leadership roles

20 September 2020 Update

Shuvankar Pramanick, CIO, Columbia Asia Hospitals

Shuvankar Pramanick has been appointed as the new CIO of Columbia Asia Hospitals Pvt. Ltd, a group of multi-specialty hospitals that operates in cities like Bangalore, Ghaziabad, Gurgaon, Mysore, Kolkata, Patiala, and Pune.

Bringing 20+ years of experience, Pramanick will focus on building new tech innovations in the healthcare sector while leading the IT team of the group. Pramanick has previously held senior IT leadership positions Paras Healthcare, Fortis Healthcare, and Asian Institute of Medical Sciences.

Marc Concannon, CTO, Cubic Telecom 

Marc Concannon has joined as CTO of Software IoT (Internet of Things) and connectivity management company, Cubic Telecom. In this new role, he will focus on Cubic’s software product roadmap and growth strategy. With over 20 years of experience, Concannon has previously served as the CTO at ClavisInsight, LogEntries, and Edge by Ascential.

Kamal Hathi, CTO, DocuSign

DocuSign has roped in former Microsoft veteran Kamal Hathi as their new CTO. With over 25 years of experience leading technology and product teams at startups and global multinationals alike, Hathi will oversee the development and execution of DocuSign’s technology roadmap, and support product expansion.

San Francisco based DocuSign help organizations manage and automate electronic agreements.

 

24 July 2020 Update

Munish Mittal, Group HeadIT & CIO leaves HDFC Bank

Munish Mittal, Group Head-Information Technology & Chief Information Officer at HDFC Bank has exited HDFC Bank. He had joined the private lender in 1996 as IT Manager. During his 24 years tenure at HDFC, he spearheaded various roles, including managing the IT strategy of the bank and its associated companies, HDFC Securities, and HDB Financial Services. Mittal has not disclosed his future plans yet.

A Shiju Rawther roped in by Poonawalla Finance for CIO role

A Shiju Rawther has been appointed as the CIO of Poonawalla Finance. In his new role, Rawther will lead IT functions and strategies, and be responsible for designing the digital roadmap of the organization. He will also spearhead the company’s analytics function. Rawther has moved from IIFL Finance where he was the Executive Vice President–Technology. He has over two decades of experience in driving digital transformation, innovation, and analytics in various multinationals.

Dr. Jai Menon joins the Advisory board of IndiQus Technologies

Dr. Jai Menon, the former Group CTO of HT Media, has joined the advisory board of IndiQus Technologies, a leading telecom cloud monetization platform provider. Dr. Menon is a global technology leader with over three decades of global experience across the US, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia. He is largely known for his various technology leadership roles at Bharti Airtel. In his new role at IndiQus, Dr. Menon will play an active strategic role in IndiQus’s product evolution and the company’s expansion plans.

Gaurav Kataria joins Sai Life Science as Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO)

Gaurav Kataria has joined Sai Life Sciences as Chief Digital and Information Officer (CDIO). He was previously working as Vice President of Digital Strategy and Solutions (Aerospace & Defense) at Cyient. In his new role, Kataria will be driving the digital and IT strategy for Sai Life Sciences, a full-service Contract Development and Manufacturing Organization (CDMO). Sai Life Science works with innovator pharma and biotech companies globally to accelerate the discovery, development, and manufacture of complex small molecules.

Amit Waghmare takes up CIO role at DB Corp

Amit Waghmare has joined DB Corp as the Chief Information Officer (CIO). Amit has moved on from Page Industries where he was heading IT for more than two years. DB Corp, formerly known as Dainik Bhaskar, is a leading media organization headquartered in Bhopal. Waghmare has over 17 years of work experience in the IT sector with a demonstrated history of working in the Media, Power, Textile, Pharma, Real Estate, Luggage, Apparel, and fashion industry.

09 June 2020 Update

Unique Kumar joins CK Birla Group as Group CISO
Unique Kumar has been appointed as Group CISO of CK Birla Group, a diversified $2.4 billion conglomerate with over 25,000 employees and 41 manufacturing facilities.

Kumar joins the CK Birla group from Max Healthcare, where he was heading Digital Innovation and Cybersecurity. He has also held leadership positions with Aviva Life Insurance, Aptara, and Idea Cellular.

Manish Shetty moves to Diageo India as CIO
Manish Shetty is Diageo India’s new CIO. Shetty was earlier working as Director–IT at Tata Consumer Products. Prior to that, he was CIO at Sanofi and before that Director–IT at Tata Global Beverages. Shetty has also held leadership and managerial positions at companies like Birlasoft, Radian, KPMG US, American Express, and Larsen & Toubro Information Technology.

Diageo plc is a British multinational alcoholic beverages company, with its headquarters in London, England and offices in six continents.

Sun Life names Laura Money as new global EVP and CIO
Sun Life Financial Inc has announced the appointment of Laura Money as Executive Vice-President and Chief Information Officer effective 29 June 2020. Laura will report to Kevin Strain, Chief Financial Officer and Executive Vice-President, Sun Life. She succeeds Mark Saunders, EVP, and Chief Information Officer, who announced his plans to retire at the end of April next year.

Sun Life is a leading international financial services organization providing insurance, wealth, and asset management solutions to individual and corporate clients. Sun Life has operations in a number of markets worldwide, including Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Hong Kong, the Philippines, Japan, Indonesia, India, China, Australia, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Bermuda.

31 May 2020 Update

Jayanta Bhowmik joins Kesoram Industries as group CIO
Kesoram Industries is a part of the BK Birla Group Of Companies. The company is engaged in the manufacturing of cement, tyres, tubes, rayon, paper, heavy chemicals, and spun pipes. Bhowmik has moved from Usha Martin, where he served as a Senior Vice President of IT and Group CIO. In his earlier stints, he had held senior leadership positions at Appejay Surrendra Group, Tega Industries, HCL Technologies, and ABP.

Ranjit Satyanath, Head of Technology Operations at Croma, quits
Satyanath had joined Chroma in August 2014, and successfully led the IT strategy and digital initiatives at Croma, one of India’s largest consumer electronics and appliances retailer.

Manish Mimani quits Aviva Life Insurance to become an entrepreneur 
Manish Mimani, CIO for Aviva Life Insurance, has moved on to pursue an entrepreneurship path. Mimani has launched a new cybersecurity firm, Protectt.ai Labs, with an aim to build next-generation mobile security and real-time fraud management solutions.

14 May 2020 Update

Anis Pankhania joins Capgemini as Senior Director – Security Operations and Compliance.
Pankhania is based in Pune and joins Capgemini from Vodafone Idea, where he was heading Security Compliance and Data Privacy. In his new role, Pankhania will lead a team of specialized IT security and risk professionals. Pankhania has earlier worked in senior IT security roles in companies such as Aircel, IBM, and Airtel.

Mihir Joshi joins HDFC Pension Management and HDFC International Life and Re as CISO
In his new role, Joshi will be managing the operations and administration of various IT security devices, solutions, technologies, and processes deployed to enhance the security posture for HDFC Life, HDFC Pension, and HDFC LifeRe. Immediately prior to this, he was with Ares Management Corporation where he set up the Cybersecurity practice from scratch.

BNP Paribas appoints Mannan Godil as Director & India Head, Information Security & Business Continuity Management
Mannan Godil has joined BNP Paribas as Director & India Head, Information Security & Business Continuity Management. He has been roped in from Edelweiss Financial Services where he was working as Senior Vice President, Head – Information Security / CISO. Previously, he had also served in companies, such as eClerx Services, Zener Electronics, Stream Tracmail, and S.S. Nirban Enterprises.

Rajesh Hemrajani is the new CISO at Paytm Payments Bank
Rajesh Hemrajani has been appointed as CISO at Paytm Payments Bank. Prior to this, he was CISO at IDFC First Bank. Previously, he has held several leadership and roles at companies like RBS, Nomura Securities, Emirates Airlines, and Dubal.

Manish Bhatia joins Lendingkart as President – Technology, Analytics & Capabilities
Manish Bhatia has been roped in by Lendingkart as President – Technology, Analytics & Capabilities. In his previous role, he was the CTO at Amazon Pay India. He was also the Co-founder and CTO at Buymaxo, and previously served in organizations like Education Finance Partners, FedEx Office, and JP Morgan Chase.

If you think we’ve missed out featuring any other key recent C-suite movements/appointments in the above list, please feel free to drop a line to us at betterworld@bmnxt.com

MORE FROM BETTER WORLD

Chandresh Dedhia, Head – IT, Ascent Health

Chandresh Dedhia, Head – IT, Ascent Health

In Focus

Chandresh Dedhia

Head of Information Technology
Ascent Health

There is a strong emphasis on touchless behavior and hence on AI-based touchless technologies.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has persisted, businesses have responded with due precautionary measures, while making a swift transition from the traditional physical work environment to an virtual work ecosystem as much as possible. For a majority of enterprises, the remote-working model was implemented almost overnight and turned out to be a massive experiment during the first phase of lockdown. 

In India, the work-from-home (WFH), was earlier mostly limited to privileged users. However, the pandemic introduced a significant and extraordinary change. Now, many companies have extended the complete WFH policy for their employees until June 2021. Today, all eyes are on the technology leaders who have assumed an enormous responsibility to devise and execute a differentiated tech strategy to embrace this new normal as part of a process.

In a recent interaction with Jatinder Singh of Better World, Chandresh Dedhia, Head of Information Technology, Ascent Health, outlines the top technology trends and challenges that the businesses are facing in the wake of COVID-19 pandemic. He also shares some of the best practices and technology implementations that could lead enterprises to deliver an exceptional customer experience with minimal disruption. Excerpts.

On the new normal and learnings
In today’s highly fluid situation, the business and IT landscapes are becoming more and more complex. Traditional models and architectures have lost their sheen. The longer the pandemic stays, the stronger the chances are that we will not go back to the pre-COVID normal. The last few months have helped us learn and unlearn many things, and these learnings will pave the way for the new model. Things have changed, people have transformed, and mindsets have changed. There is an indelible impact on almost everyone.

Moreover, because of the new operational dynamics, organizations have altered their policies. They are now focusing more on innovation and agility. Digital transformation is high on the agenda. The current crisis has given a growing sense of belief and visibility to enterprises on the best ways to tackle any future disruptions.

On technology trends and business order post COVID-19
I feel that there is a natural push towards the implementation of new-age technologies such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, business analytics, and robotic process automation (RPA). Until now, the adoption was happening at an unhurried pace. Now, digital transformation is no longer an option but a competitive advantage. The new normal is here to stay for a very long time, and no organization will like to be stuck because of its traditional ways of working. Enterprises have understood that they will need to explore ideas and means to ensure that the business continuity remains intact. Of course, given the fact that businesses have managed to stay afloat in the last four months, most of them are well equipped to plan their working models for the future.

There is a strong emphasis on contactless behavior, and this is likely to remain in place for an unspecified time. The pandemic has compelled us to keep focusing on social distancing, and hence enterprises will have stringent policies around contactless behaviors. Much focus will be on AI-based touchless and remote monitoring technologies implementation. So, the traditional model of working will be replaced by new working ways. Technologies like video and web-conferencing will continue to witness tremendous traction.

It is also expected that most of the organizations will invest a significant amount in multiple cloud environments to keep disruption at bay. The hybrid cloud model is likely to gain substantial traction businesses across sectors.

Going forward, companies will evaluate if they can save costs by reducing real-estate, and heavily relying on the new-age technologies for scaling-up. Technology is a great enabler, and ultimately all these benefits will be passed on to the employees. Organization can enhance the existing CCTV setups to accommodate social distancing, face masks, and hand gloves algorithms.

On balancing the short-term revenue requirements against long-term technology investment: 
It is natural for any organization to rationalize its investments. We are no exception either. Every technology investment is being seen in the long-term horizon of, say, three to five years. Anything less than that is technically not a tech investment. For instance, there might be days when manufacturing costs may outweigh any tech-implementation decision. However, that doesn’t mean that the company won’t invest in the required technology. Yes, at times, you’ve to face such tests, but tech investments always have their significance, and decisions are taken based on the value that the technology provides. For instance, let’s say an organization needs to invest in a face-scanning or a retina-based attendance system. Probably before the pandemic, there was no urgency to implement this technology. But in the current environment, everyone understands the long-term benefits of such contactless technologies.

On challenges related to security threats
Remote working has become a new reality, and in a way, the new normal. The COVID-19 pandemic has created a concept of work from anywhere. Not just thousands but lakhs of people have shifted to WFH almost instantaneously. Hackers are always game to take advantage of such unparalleled situations. And for enterprises, it has become challenging to monitor and analyze the behaviors of employees who are accessing corporate data and networks remotely. Much focus will soon be on combining detection tools with machine-based cyber threat intelligence. Organizations will strengthen their capabilities to monitor behaviors and applications accessed by employees. Enterprises will continue to revisit their security policies and solutions to reduce risks to IT infrastructure. It is the need of the hour for businesses to consistently evaluate their readiness for supporting remote working as they scale up. There will be growing pressure on implementing a very sophisticated information security policy. Even SMEs will move away from free security tools and focus on robust and advanced information security solutions.

Chandresh is an IT business transformation leader with experience in digital, IT infrastructure, enterprise applications, information security, and IT governance and compliance. He has won numerous awards for his wide-ranging work in the domains of IT infrastructure and security.

An eloquent speaker and writer, Chandresh is also a marathon runner, environmentalist, and fundraiser. He has been associated with the Umeed Foundation for last three years and has raised more than Rs 6 lakh for education of needy children.

Expertise

  • Warehouse management and automation
  • Data virtualization on Denodo
  • Robotic process automation (RPA)
  • Software-defined WAN (SDWAN)
  • Mobile application development (Low Code)
  • Information security management
  • Cloud-based services on Amazon AWS and Google GCP
  • Enterprise applications and integrations
  • ERP implementation and support
  • B2B application support
  • DevOps and data engineering

Education

  • Global CIO Programme, Digital Innovation, Indian School of Business
  • MBA in Business Management, Marketing and Related Services from ITM and Southern New Hampshire University
Crypsis buy will augment Palo Alto’s AI-driven offerings

Crypsis buy will augment Palo Alto’s AI-driven offerings

Global cyber security major Palo Alto Networks has signed a deal to acquire The Crypsis Group, a consulting firm that operates in incident response, risk management, and digital forensics. Palo Alto will pay $265 million in cash for the purchase. The acquisition process is likely to finish during the quarter ending 31 October 2020.

Palo Alto Networks already has the capability to provides prevention, detection, and response capabilities through Cortex XDR, its ambitious artificial intelligence (AI)-based cyber security solution that natively integrates network, endpoint, and cloud data. Launched in 2019, XDR is an open-standard solution that harnesses technologies such as AI and machine learning (ML) to rapidly detect and respond to threats across an enterprise and its network.

Post Crypsis acquisition, Palo Alto plans to incorporate the Crypsis Group’s processes and technology into Cortex XDR. This integration will help Palo Alto strengthen its security consulting and forensics capabilities to collect rich security telemetry and to analyze, manage breaches, and initiate rapid response actions.

“The proposed acquisition of The Crypsis Group will significantly enhance our position as the cybersecurity partner of choice while expanding our capabilities and strengthening our Cortex strategy. By joining forces, we will be able to help customers not only predict and prevent cyberattacks but also mitigate the impact of any breach they may face,” said Nikesh Arora, chairman and CEO of Palo Alto Networks in a company statement.

The Crypsis Group boasts of managing some of the most complex and significant cyber security incidents and manages over 1,300 security engagements every year, serving organizations across the healthcare, financial services, retail, e-commerce, and energy. As part of the agreement, post-acquisition, all of Crypsis Group employees and the CEO, Bret Padres, will join Palo Alto Networks.

Big opportunity

The COVID-19 pandemic has put enterprises under severe stress, and they are continuously redefining their business continuity plans for enabling their remote workforce to deliver exceptional results for clients. In such a scenario, their IT assets, cloud systems, departmental servers, and data centers have become all the more critical. (See: What it takes to secure IT in the COVID-19 era)

With a remote working environment becoming the new normal, there has been a growing risk for businesses to face new and advanced threats while they focus on agility and manage the scale. (See: Combating threats in the new normal)

“As threat actors continue to professionalize and grow in sophistication, the risk of revenue and the reputational impact of a security breach increases dramatically. To focus on the health and growth of their business, organizations need trusted partners to not only quickly and efficiently respond to and contain attacks but also leverage their learning and insight to prevent future attacks,” said Palo Alto in its release mentioning the Crypsis Group buy.

The current uncertain environment has given cybercriminals a lucrative opportunity to invent novel attacks for data theft. Given the fact that enterprises have accelerated their digital transformation plans and all operations are expected to move into a virtual environment, businesses cannot afford to take risks and are hence expected to invest massively in cyber security solutions in the next few years.

IT security players like Palo Alto are making full use of this opportunity and fast-tracking their capabilities to capture a significant share in the growing market. Since its debut in 2005, the company has expanded its horizons significantly and is offering a diverse set of solutions such as next-generation firewall, endpoint protection, and malware prevention to enterprises. Its acquisition spree in the last two years includes CloudGenix for $420 million in March 2020; micro-segmentation company Aporeto in December 2019; and cloud security companies PureSec (June 2019) and Twistlock (July 2019).

Driven by the work-from-home requirements, Palo Alto reported robust fourth-quarter 2020 financial results. Palo Alto’s non-GAAP net income for the period was $144.9 million, with revenue growth of 18% year-on-year at $950.4 million.

Palo Alto competitors in the market include FireEye, Fortinet, Check Point Software, CrowdStrike, Juniper Networks, and Cisco, among others.

Tech majors extend work-from-home to keep pandemic at bay

Tech majors extend work-from-home to keep pandemic at bay

Cloud software major Salesforce has joined the list of companies who’ve extended their work-from-home policies. Salesforce has announced an extension until July 31, 2021. Top technology companies such as Google and Facebook have already extended their work-from-home policies for employees till mid-2021. Other tech majors, such as Amazon, Apple, and Microsoft, have announced remote working until January 2021.

“Over the past few months, we have been working diligently to support our employees as they navigate this difficult time. The safety of our employees and communities remains paramount. And while we continue to work on plans to re-open our offices safely, the timing of when we bring employees back will be unique to each office — and we will continue to make those decisions in a way that’s consistent with local government guidelines and the advice of our medical experts and local leadership team,” said Brent Hyder, Chief People Officer of Salesforce in the company’s blog.

The San Francisco headquartered tech-major has also announced to give an additional $250 financial support to each of its employees for buying office supplies. The company had provided similar assistance to its employees earlier this year as well. Earlier this month, consulting major EY had also announced similar financial support of US$200 to each of its employees.

Besides, Salesforce employees who are parents will be entitled to take six additional weeks of paid leave. “In all situations where schools have been closed, and students are learning remotely, parents and guardians will be allowed to work from home, even if that date extends beyond our offices re-opening,” Hyder added.

The last six months have been challenging for a majority of companies and leaders. The uncertainty brought in by the COVID-19 pandemic has made it extremely hard for both employees and employers to focus on work solely. People are dealing with issues such as social distancing, remote working, job-loss, elderly care, and ambiguity around almost everything.

As such, enterprises are finding several ways to motivate their talent and prevent burnout. Financial assistance, work-flexibility, and paid leave are some of the measures that companies are offering to support and attract employees.

The new normal is here to stay

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, the majority of the companies would offer work-from-home to a very particular set of people on a rotational basis. At that time, In India, the remote-working model was mostly viewed as pointless, with much suspicion from employers. Companies were reluctant to experiment, and employees too were not attuned to an entirely virtual work-environment. However, things changed in a short time. The pandemic has suddenly pushed people to transform their behaviors and compelled them to adopt the new normal quickly.

See also Work-from-home even after Covid-19?

Most of the enterprises and employees have successfully navigated this transition and are looking forward to remote ways of working even after the pandemic subsides. For employers, the new normal is a significant opportunity to save substantial real-estate costs and translate the cost benefits to their employees. For employees, it’s a way to be more productive by reducing travel time while staying connected with their families.

According to a recent study, Technology and the Evolving World of Work by Lenovo, the majority of those surveyed (72 percent) confirmed a shift in their daily work dynamic in the last three months. Employees feel more connected and more productive than ever before as they work from home, but the data shows financial, physical, and emotional downsides for the global workforce.

There is no doubt that the experience of the physical work environment is vital to develop strong teaming and diverse skillsets and hence cannot be completely evaded. To balance that, companies could be mulling to rotate days or weeks of in-office presence for their employees in future, especially in the services sectors.

Can OnwardMobility make Blackberry bloom again?

Can OnwardMobility make Blackberry bloom again?

After a massive downslide in the last decade, the erstwhile dominant enterprise smartphone maker is eyeing an ambitious comeback in 2021. Will Blackberry bloom again?

The enterprise smartphone maker has collaborated with OnwardMobility, a US-based company in the mobile security space, and Taiwanese multinational electronics contract manufacturer Foxconn to design and develop a new 5G Blackberry Android smartphone with a physical keyboard. According to an announcement by OnwardMobility, BlackBerry has given OnwardMobility the right to create, engineer, and bring to market a BlackBerry 5G mobile device. The new phone is likely to arrive in the first half of 2021.

“BlackBerry is thrilled OnwardMobility will deliver a BlackBerry 5G smartphone device with a physical keyboard leveraging our high standards of trust and security synonymous with our brand. We are excited that customers will experience the enterprise and government level security and mobile productivity the new BlackBerry 5G smartphone will offer,” said John Chen, Executive Chairman and CEO, BlackBerry in a statement released to analysts and media.

John Chen, who is widely credited as having earlier saved Sybase from the verge of a bankruptcy, was brought at the helm in 2013 and has since then stayed put.

See: CEO John Chen has pressed the BlackBerry restart button, actually!

Also read: With selloff shelved, BlackBerry hinges even more by Watsa

Return of the Motion?

The iconic Canadian smartphone maker once ruled the mobile market, with over 50% of the US and 20% of the global smartphone market share. However, it started losing the grip after the arrival of the iPhone4 in 2010 and its inability to foresee the rapid shifts in the market and the reluctance to transform swiftly. Today, the company is struggling with a share of less than 0.5% of the total smartphone market.

One of the biggest letdowns for Blackberry enterprise users was the company’s failure to develop a robust app store like Android and iOS. Besides, a delayed approach in introducing modern-day features such as dual camera and dual SIM also paved the way for its accelerated collapse.

In 2016, when Blackberry finally lost all hopes to reclaim its market share, it decided to move away from designing smartphones and awarded the development contract to TCL Communication. The not-so-fruitful association with TCL came to an end early this year, and the new covenant has now been given to OnwardMobility. The last flagship Android-based Blackberry phone launched by TCL was KEY2 LE, which received a lackluster response from the market. It would be interesting to see if OnwardMobility can make Blackberry bloom again.

Banking on the new normal

Due to the recent COVID-19 situation, a significant part of the population is working from home today. This trend is likely to remain in place even after the pandemic subsides. Most of the enterprise technology leaders are beefing up their network security architectures to support end customers and employees efficiently.

Despite losing its numero uno position in the enterprise mobility market, Blackberry continues to attract a specific set of users because of its classy physical keyboard and focused approach on privacy and security. As such, the new normal can present a unique opportunity for Blackberry to explore a wild-card entry in the smartphone market.

“With the increasing number of employees working remotely with critical data and applications, coupled with the constant threat of cyberattacks, there is an absolute need for a secure, feature-rich 5G-ready phone that enhances productivity. Employees are demanding better workplace technology experiences, and organizations are facing increasingly complex challenges in selecting, deploying, securing, and managing devices to meet expectations and maximize employee productivity,” says the joint statement from Blackberry and Onwardmobility.

The announcement may be surprising for many industry onlookers who wrote the obituaries for Blackberry Mobiles early this year after the termination of Blackberry-TCL collaboration. The move, however, is pleasing for the loyal Blackberry enterprise customers who have trusted its capabilities time and again.

“Enterprise professionals are eager to secure 5G devices that enable productivity without sacrificing user experience. BlackBerry smartphones are known for protecting communications, privacy, and data. This is an incredible opportunity for OnwardMobility to bring next-generation 5G devices to market with the backing of BlackBerry and FIH Mobile,” adds Peter Franklin, CEO of OnwardMobility.

It would be interesting to see if Franklin’s confidence can  translate into a renaissance for Blackberry in the post-COVID world.

For other articles related to telecom/smartphones, click here.

Facebook entices creators as it eyes the online events market

Facebook entices creators as it eyes the online events market

Social media conglomerate, Facebook, has recently launched a new paid event feature that will enable Facebook page owners and event managers to create, set up, and collect payments for virtual events. While there are many platforms available to host online business events today, Facebook’s new feature is a first of its kind, which is completely free and doesn’t charge a commission, at least for now. Better World is of the view that with this launch, Facebook entices creators in a very emphatic way.

“With social distancing mandates still in place, many businesses and creators are bringing their events and services online to connect with existing customers and reach new ones,” said Facebook in a blog statement.

“By combining marketing, payment and live video, paid online events meet the end-to-end needs of businesses. Pages can host events on Facebook Live to reach broad audiences, and we’re testing paid events with Messenger Rooms for more personal and interactive gatherings,” it added.

The feature comes free to all web and android users. iOS users, however, will have to pay a 30% app store tax as part of Apple’s tax policy. All apps on Apple’s platform have to use its payment system for the in-app payments and required to pay 30 percent tax for the same.

“We asked Apple to reduce its 30% App Store tax or allow us to offer Facebook Pay so we could absorb all costs for businesses struggling during COVID-19. Unfortunately, they dismissed both our requests and SMBs will only be paid 70% of their hard-earned revenue,” Facebook clarified in the blog post.

A tactical strategy

Facebook says users in 20 countries, including India, will be able to take advantage of this new paid event feature initially. What makes this announcement exciting is that businesses and professionals can launch, promote, accept payments, and build their user base through a single Facebook page. Event promotions can be done online by targeting specific users on the Facebook platform itself, who can pay and watch the event online.

This means that all kinds of events, from Yoga and dance classes to insightful knowledge sessions, can be hosted on Facebook for free.

Facebook is tactically marketing this new initiative as SMB-focused. The company is well aware that SMBs are the growth engines in many developing and emerging economies. By offering an exclusive and highly specialized service, it can create a vast market for itself in the post-COVID work environment. Simultaneously, by providing the services for free, it will be able to test the waters with less noise.

“In our most recent State of Small Business Report with OECD and World Bank, we found that access to cash continues to be the most common ongoing challenge for SMBs. Only 19% of surveyed businesses were getting any financial help (down from earlier in a pandemic). Many businesses are struggling, and every cent matters. Shifting in-person events to online is costly enough that companies shouldn’t have to worry about fees charged by platforms,” Facebook said.

Early this year, Facebook had also announced the launch of Facebook Shops. This initiative was to enable businesses to display and sell their products directly to Facebook users across its ecosystem, including Instagram. (See: Facebook Shops shake-up marketplaces)

A low-hanging events opportunity

The online events industry has suddenly become more lucrative due to a burst in demand, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 scenario. With work-from-home and physical distancing measures likely to remain in place for an unspecified time, businesses will continue to focus on digital avenues for meetings, conferences, and customer interactions.

Tech giants like Google and Microsoft, among others, are already putting more research and development efforts to enrich their solutions and increase their share of a lucrative online events market with good upside potential. Various studies pegged the current market size of online events at around $100 billion, slated for a five-fold increase in the next six to eight years.

Facebook, with its vast network and community of over 2.7 billion users, stands a unique chance to create a niche in the online events space. Additionally, Facebook’s Oculus division, which it acquired in March 2014 for US$2.3 billion, specializes in virtual reality hardware and software products. In future, the social giant could very much leverage the Oculus base for creating an ecosystem around virtual-reality conferences, aka events 2.0.

Tech M to use AI-based upskilling to build a ‘Fit for Future’ workforce

Tech M to use AI-based upskilling to build a ‘Fit for Future’ workforce

Tech Mahindra, a leading provider of digital transformation, consulting, and business re-engineering services and solutions, said it would leverage artificial intelligence (AI)-based learning platform to create a ‘Fit for Future’ workforce. The initiative aims to accelerate new-age skill development for over 60,000 employees globally.

Powered by New Age Delivery (NAD), this upskilling-as-a-service (UaaS) program is aimed at enhancing employee competencies across emerging technologies like 5G, cloud, big data, and robotic process automation. The learning platform leverages AI to provide interactive, on-demand, contextual, and hyper-personalized upskilling to employees in self-service mode to make them fit for future. UaaS enables employees to access world-class content and assessments from across 30+ partners along with cloud-based practice platforms and deployment avenues. The platform empowers employees for seamless transition to digital jobs. The platform is also helping Tech Mahindra tide over the Covid pandemic by facilitating more learning interventions accelerating skill development as per changing business landscape.

Harshvendra Soin, Global Chief People Officer and Head of Marketing, Tech Mahindra, said, “As a global digital transformation leader, we continue to leverage digital technologies to enhance human experiences and talent development to meet changing business and market requirements. Upskilling as a Service platform is empowering our associates to identify and pursue their career aspirations at a speed of their preference, while also giving the tools to work with renewed passion and confidence to create future-ready workforce ‘today’.”

UaaS deploys Skill Knowledge Unit (SKU), a set of related skills cutting across various roles, aimed at providing holistic learning for employees across multiple technical as well as functional (domain), behavioral, and professional skills, thus grooming well-rounded professionals with entrepreneurial and solution-oriented mindset. The platform further recommends relevant career paths and SKUs to the employees based on their current skillset, time to upskill and opportunities available.

Vaishali Phatak, Head – Technical Learning Services & Global Head of Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) said, “UaaS (upskilling as a service) is enabling our employees to continuously upskill and take charge of their growth and relevance to business throughout their journey with Tech Mahindra. The platform is helping us deliver value to our customers by grooming employees in full stack/ end to end professionals for current projects as well as future assignments. We plan to extend the platform to academia, thereby helping college students become future ready by the time they graduate.”

Tech Mahindra developed this upskilling platform in-house to create an ecosystem for higher scale and speed of skill development and fulfil people supply chain needs of the organization amidst dynamic business environment. As part of its TechMNxt charter, Tech Mahindra is betting big on next gen technologies to solve real business problems of the customers by delivering innovative solutions and services. The organization plan to leverage Upskilling as a Service platform along with aggressive industry-academia partnerships, Fit for Future re-skilling and research programs to develop digital capabilities like AI, IoT, AR/VR, and cloud to create workforce of the future.

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