Cisco to invest bilion dollar for UK's digital growth

Cisco has declared a series of strategic commitments for UK's digital growth. The company will invest over $1 billion in next three to five years. 

It will be followed by $500 mn commitment made by Cisco in 2011, which has contributed in excess of $5 bn in technology and manpower to the UK economy through initiatives such as the British Innovation Gateway (BIG) that helps to grow and nurture UK innovation and entrepreneurship.

The commitment of $150 mn for Internet of Everything UK start-ups and venture capital equity investments will focus on key priorities for Cisco and the UK. These include applications of Internet of Everything (IoE) technologies across financial technologies, retail, and healthcare industries, and smart city development. In addition, corporate investments will also accelerate innovation in cybersecurity solutions.

John Chambers, Chairman and CEO, Cisco said that they are pleased to make their next series of strategic commitments, totaling over $1Bn, to support the next phase of the UK’s digitization plans.

As a part of Cisco’s new financial commitment, capital will also be available for further strategic acquisitions by Cisco in UK, which over the past five years has included acquisitions in wireless software, next-generation video delivery, and cloud-based security technologies.

The new activities form part of Cisco’s global ‘country digitization acceleration’ programme, whereby select countries across the world receive major strategic investment to accelerate existing government goals for driving economic growth through high-tech innovation.

In recognition of the productivity challenges faced by UK and the necessity to increase the level of students utilising science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) skills, Cisco will also invest to promote innovation and entrepreneurship with its Networking Academy education programme

Jatin Bakshi joins Citrix as the Business Head, Cloud Networking, India

Citrix has appointed Jatin Bakshi as Business Head of the Cloud Networking portfolio for the India Subcontinent. Jatin will be responsible for performance of Cloud Networking portfolio at Citrix for Indian and SAARC markets. He would be working closely with customers and partners to accelerate adoption of Citrix’s innovations in Application Delivery networks, WAN optimization & Virtualization as customers are looking at virtualizing their data center networks.

Commenting on this appointment, Parag Arora, Area Vice-President & Country Head – India Subcontinent, Citrix, said, “With disruptive technologies like mobile, cloud and analytics transforming business applications, optimizing application delivery strategy becomes critical for user experience and business success. Jatin’s appointment strengthens our focus on the networking segment and his rich experience will be an asset to Citrix’s Indian business.”

Jatin Bakshi, Business Head – Cloud Networking, India Subcontinent, said, “I am thrilled to be a part of the Citrix team and looking forward to my journey here. The IT networking teams are dealing with two paradigm shifts happening in terms of networking architectures. One is network virtualization based on SDN & NFV is getting mainstream and the other is how to deliver applications securely and maintaining user experience as more and more users use mobile for application consumption. Citrix has a tremendous suite of technologies to help customers adapt to these paradigms and I look forward to working with customers, technology partners / OEMs and partners to create success.”

Jatin holds an MBA degree from IIM-Ahmedabad. Jatin was associated with Amazon Web Services in a business development role, where he worked with leading technology start-ups. His core responsibilities during the time included leveraging cloud to deliver the scalability and innovation that was required by start-ups to support exponential business growth. Jatin has handled sales and product management responsibilities at Oracle, NetApp, British Telecom and Avaya. 

Rahul Agarwal new Managing Director for Lenovo India

Lenovo announced the appointment of Rahul Agarwal as the Managing Director for Lenovo India, effective June 29, 2015.  Rahul takes over from Amar Babu, who will now take on a regional mandate as COO, Lenovo, Asia Pacific and Chairman, Lenovo India.

Rahul Agarwal takes charge at a time, when Lenovo is gearing up for its next phase of growth, diversifying beyond PCs into the smart connected devices while maintaining a strong PC focus. The company is transforming into a global consumer technology brand differentiating itself on innovation and design. India plays a key role in this transformation and therefore is an extremely critical market for the company. Rahul’s extensive and multi-functional experience will help in India’s continued growth and increased contribution to Lenovo’s global success.

“Rahul’s wealth of experience has been instrumental in driving Lenovo’s growth and making him the natural choice to take over from Amar Babu,” said Roderick Lappin, president, Asia Pacific, Lenovo, “India, under the stewardship of Amar as India head and Rahul as the head of commercial business, has seen phenomenal growth over the last few years. This growth has not only made our business stronger here, but has also contributed to our global success. As the brand takes on bigger challenges in India and globally, we look forward to Amar and Rahul to play a decisive role in our future successes.”

Rahul, over the last 3 years, has led the Commercial Business successfully and steered its tremendous growth which significantly contributed to Lenovo India’s overall success. During the last 10 years at Lenovo, Rahul managed many roles in sales and marketing and has contributed significantly in growing the brand in the country.

With the integration of Motorola Mobility and IBM x86 business being complete, Lenovo will have the scale and efficiency to operate more effectively in this highly-competitive and dynamic market as an end-to-end devices player. Lenovo’s recent launch of a whole range of enterprise and consumer devices in the region shows the company is poised to make India a growth engine in the enterprise and consumer technology market.

Rahul Agarwal Biography

Rahul Agarwal has been the Executive Director, Commercial & Enterprise Business, Lenovo India, and has been heading the Commercial Business since April 2011. Post the acquisition of IBM’s x86 server business in 2014, Lenovo’s Commercial Business also includes the server division. Combining the strengths of its PC and EBG (Enterprise Business Group) teams, the Commercial business is now known as Integrated Named Commercial Business, with Rahul at the helm. Before the current role, Rahul played several key roles including heading the Lenovo marketing and leading Lenovo’s global marketing hub in Bangalore. Prior to Lenovo, Rahul was associated with IBM’s PCD (PC Division). He holds a management degree from the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad.

MCU design contest 2014-2015 conducted by Texas Instruments

Texas Instruments India concluded the second edition of its MCU (Micro Controller Unit) Design Contest, a unique event which looks at expanding the technical knowledge of hardware design engineers across the country. Through this platform, TI has once again facilitated creators to showcase the top engineering projects from across India displaying innovation, design proficiency and technical adeptness. The contest running in three different phases enabled contestants develop designs using any one of TI’s microcontrollers - MSP430, C2000, TIVA or the Hercules.

This year's contest saw over 1000 engineers submitting their initial proposals, leveraging the Analog and Power portfolio of TI. Eight teams and their ground-breaking projects were selected for the grand finale of this contest basis the creativity exhibited in creating an innovative design, ensuring the adoption of TI MCU Launchpads to develop their prototypes.

From a Speech Controlled Wheel Chair with a Robotic Arm which involves a speech recognition module, to a Pressure control system for Brace Treatment of Scoliosis,and then to a PLC and Wi-Fi Based Home Automation Solution; proficient engineers from across the country demonstrated their skills in presenting innovative solutions which can be replicated in a real-world scenario.

“This contest is about testing your imagination and innovation. The MCU Design Challenge encourages participants to disengage from their thoughts and build cutting-edge embedded systems using at least one TI microcontroller. Apart from demonstrating innovation & creativity, through this contest, TI provides a platform which helps engineers showcase their skills related to design optimization and real-time utility of applications, reflecting their overall technical merit,” said Praveen Ganapathy, Director, Texas Instruments India

Senior Project Managers, Swapnil Khandave and Aditya Pogade from Maven Systems won the First Prize for their unique Solar Power based Wireless Automated Irrigation System design. Maven Systems had also won the first ever TII MCU Design Contest in 2012 for their innovative ‘Wireless Security Hub.’

Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery Launches Version 7

Stellar Data Recovery one of the world’s leading data recovery solutions providers, today launched version 7 of their flagship data recovery product ‘Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery’.The new version gets back lost data from ‘Time Machine’ backups and from‘Encrypted File Systems’ apart from recovering data that is either rendered inaccessible due to severe volume corruption or lost due to accidental deletion or formatting. It is all-in-one data recovery solution that gets back lost datafrom storage devices like internal/external hard disks, SD Cards, USBs, CDs/DVDs etc. This new version efficiently recovers all data such as files, folders, photos, music, videos & more.

The user interface of Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery Version 7 has received a complete overhaul. It has an improved scanning engine that has enhanced its data recovery capability significantly. The file preview feature has been updated with which previews can be seen even while scanning is in progress without impacting the scanning speed. Support for NTFS, HFS, HFS+, ExFAT file systems has been enhanced therefore, recovery capability is now more advanced.

“Technology evolves with time. With it, new techniques of data storage and backup are developed. With these advancements, complexity of retrieving useful information after data loss events increases. Foreseeing our consumer’srequirements we have added functionalities and features in the latest version of Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery to make it more capable and stronger than ever”, said Mr. Sunil Chandna, CEO, Stellar Data Recovery.

Pricing & Availability:

‘Stellar Phoenix Mac Data Recovery v7’ is available FREE as a try-before-buy software from:http://www.stellarinfo.com/mac-osx-recovery.php. Free version allows you to scan and preview all recoverable data. To save data, full version can be purchased from: http://www.stellarinfo.com/disk-recovery/mac-data-recovery/buy-now.php.

Priced nominally at just $99.

German, French, Dutch, Spanish and Italian versions available.

Transcend introduces high-speed SATA SSD

Transcend, a leading manufacturer of storage and multimedia products, is proud to recommend its 2.5" high-speed SATA Solid State Drives (SSD) SSD370S, SSD340K, and aXeRam™ memory kits for PC gaming enthusiasts. These extreme performance solutions operate at astonishingly fast speeds to help run graphic intensive games and offer the lag-free responsiveness and stability necessary for high-end gaming systems.

For Graphic Intensive Games: SSD370S

 Transcend's SSD370S SATA III 6G/s SSD boasts impressive sequential read and write speeds up to 560MB and 460MB per second, and lightning-fast 4k random file write speed up to 75,000 IOPS. With large capacities of up to 1TB, SSD370S also features a compact and lightweight design, great shock and vibration resistance, and supports DevSleep mode. Equipped with high transfer speeds, IOPS and 4K random speeds, the SSD370S is the best choice tailor-made for graphic-intensive games.

For Advanced Multimedia Computing: SSD340K

Transcend's SSD340K is built using high-quality synchronous multi-level cell (MLC) NAND flash memory for enduring performance and features a next-generation SATA III 6Gb/s interface, a DDR3 DRAM cache, and a powerful controller. As a result, the SSD340K reaches reach blazing fast read and write transfer speeds up to 550MB and 330MB per second, making everyday computing tasks, such as booting up your computer, launching multiple applications, and transferring data, quicker than ever before.

Boost Gaming Performance with aXeRam Memory Kit

Transcend’s aXeRam DDR3-2400 and DDR3-2133 memory kits are designed for hardcore gamers. aXeRam modules are equipped with Intel^® Extreme Memory Profile (XMP) technology, a time-saving feature that allows users to instantly tune their system for optimum performance by automatically configuring their memory with aXerRam’s built-in aggressive speed-maximized profiles. Transcend’s aXeRam memory kit is a must-have to achieve significantly higher frame rates and a considerably smoother gaming experience.

Dell India and HCL Infosystems in Strategic Partnership

Dell, the world’s fastest growing large integrated IT company, along with  HCL Infosystems Ltd., India’s premier IT Services and Distribution Company, today announced a  strategic distribution partnership. Under the partnership, HCL Infosystems will leverage its pan-India network of partners to distribute Dell’s entire Hardware & Software Products.

The strategic partnership will significantly widen the reach of Dell’s products especially in tier 2 and tier 3 locations across the country. The partnership also involves comprehensive Go-to-Market initiatives and activities.

Speaking on the strategic partnership, Mr. Premkumar, Executive Vice-Chairman and Managing Director, HCL Infosystems Ltd, said, “In line with our mission to add the utmost value to our Customers, we are committed to bring to market leading edge Technologies and Productivity Solutions. Dell’s acclaimed Computing Products and Solutions provide the perfect fit and leverages our National presence very meaningfully”.

Mr. Alok Ohrie, President & Managing Director, Dell India said: “We are committed to our vision of taking our products and solutions across the country. The spate of partnerships with various leading distribution partners, including HCL Infosystems, stand testament to our aggressive focus on this. This partnership will for the first time include Dell’s software solutions portfolio, further expanding opportunities for our channel and distribution partners across Dell’s complete solutions portfolio - from the device to the datacenter.” 

Since the launch of the new GTM, Dell has been strengthening its distribution network across the country, engaging in partnerships with leading distributors for the sale of its products. The strategy has worked well for Dell, significantly increasing its customer base and strengthening channel partnerships in India. 

This partnership, would also enable HCL‘s Partner Network to service back-to-back needs of its customers but also provide augmented availability through the stock-and-sell route. HCL Infosystems as a leading Enterprise Distributor has been strengthening its portfolio by adding more OEMs (Original Equipment Manufacturer’s) to offer a comprehensive offering and choice to its partners and customers. Both Dell & HCL are committed to expanding the range of solutions and reach in the marketplace in order to expand the customer base and depth of client relationships. 

Office 365 reduces expenditure by 25% , Nous Infosystems

Nous Infosystems, an IT solutions provider, has adopted Microsoft Office 365 to improve collaboration among its workforce.  Deployed across three offices for 600 employees, the cloud-based solution has enhanced communication and collaboration with stakeholders in and outside the organization using tools like Skype for Business, OneDrive and Exchange Online. As a result, Nous Infosystems is expecting to reduce overall operations expenditure up to 25% by 2018.

The Office 365 solution has helped Nous Infosystems two-fold.  It has simplified its IT operations and freed up IT resource time from performing routine tasks which are now run out of Microsoft’s secure cloud datacenters. For employees, the deployment has made it easier for them to deal with the torrent of data the business creates and stores every day, while also enabling and helping to promote real-time conversations, document sharing and video conferencing.  Expenditure savings for Nous Infosystems range from simple operational costs, through to a significant reduction in travel costs.

Venkitaraman G, Senior General Manager, IT & Operations, Nous Infosystems said, “We have seen significant benefits of adopting Microsoft Office 365 and our expenditure as a result of this adoption is forecast to reduce by 25% over the next three years.” “The line-up of Office 365 solutions has helped us choose the right mix of services for all our employees across levels. It has enabled the IT teams to communicate better, focus on their core competency, and as routine jobs move to the cloud, add more value to the business.”

Alok Lall, Director Microsoft Office Division, Microsoft India said, “Our cloud-based Office 365 solutions are helping customers do more with less, faster than before. It is encouraging that Nous Infosystems is taking advantage of our product line-up, and is successfully offering enterprise-grade solutions to fuel better collaboration and communication.”

Prashanth S, Executive Director, Quadrasystems.net India Private Limited said, “We have been working with several companies to help address their communication requirements with Microsoft Office 365. The flexible, pay-as-you-use model of Office 365 is helping us deliver scalable, tailored solutions that meet the rising expectations of our customers. Small businesses are increasingly seeing the value in such cloud-based solutions and Nous Infosystems is an appropriate example of enterprises benefiting from such solutions.”

Wipro inks digital partnership with Lawn Tennis Association

Wipro Digital, the digital business unit of Wipro Ltd, a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company, today announced that it has been appointed by the Lawn Tennis Association (LTA) as its official digital technology services partner for three years.

LTA, the governing body for Tennis in Great Britain, is looking to develop an IT and digital roadmap to drive its strategy, which focuses on increasing participation in the sport of Tennis. Wipro Digital will assist LTA in achieving its strategy and high performance vision - to build the future of British Tennis - by enabling its digital transformation. Both parties will work together to identify areas where they can collaborate.     

Wipro’s digital expertise is centered on driving customer experience through the intersection of strategy, design and technology to deliver end-to-end solutions for its customers, starting from conceptualization, service design to implementation.  

Commenting on the partnership, Rajan Kohli, Global Head – Wipro Digital said “We are delighted to be associated with the LTA and the exciting sport of Tennis.  There is no doubt that our association with one of Tennis’s foremost associations will be highly rewarding. In addition, we are confident that our unique 'Customer Journey Engineering' methodology will enable LTA to identify, build and shape talent, and contribute to its larger vision of redefining and reimagining the future of British Tennis.”   

Michael Downey, Chief Executive, Lawn Tennis Association said, “We are thrilled that Wipro is our partner to transform our ability to use digital methods to connect with players, coaches and the public. Wipro is a leading global company who delivers world class services that puts their customers at the heart of everything they do. Their expertise in IT and Digital solutions will allow all areas of British Tennis to better support our mission of getting more people playing Tennis more often.” 

Integrated Applications and Infrastructure Services will be provided by Wipro to T-Mobile

Wipro Ltd. a leading global information technology, consulting and business process services company today announced that it has won a contract from T-Mobile Poland  to provide integrated Applications and Infrastructure services.

Wipro has committed to T-Mobile a significant improvement of its legacy application consolidation & rationalization, transforming its operating model from application-focus to domain-focus leading to better customer service.

Over the next five years, Wipro will help T-Mobile systemize and standardize the IT architecture and operations of their Polish entity. A significant portion of the services will be provided from Wipro’s Delivery Center in Warsaw as a part of their development strategy for Poland.

Anil Jain, Senior Vice President & Business Head-Global Communications and Media, Wipro Limited, said: “We are delighted to have been chosen by T-Mobile in Poland. This is a large transformational deal and a significant win for us. We look forward to supporting T-Mobile enhance their business performance through increased operational efficiency.

Milan Zika, Board Member, Chief Technology and Innovation, T-Mobile Polska, said: “We are very pleased to have brought a business partner aboard that understands where we want to be as a company and has the expertise to help us achieve our goals.”

PHICOMM launched their flagship smartphone Passion 660

PHICOMM who launched their flagship smartphone PHICOMM Passion 660 recently, debuted today at 11 am on Amazon India to a fabulous response. The android smartphone priced at Rs. 10,999/- was sold out within seconds.

Those who missed out on today’s opportunity to grab a PHICOMM Passion 660 can log on to Amazon India for another sale at 11 am on Tuesday, 16 June 2015.  

PHICOMM Passion 660 specifications:

Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 615 processor with octa-core 64-bit capable CPU at speeds up to 1.5 GHz and 4G LTE.
Dimension	139×69×7.3 mm
Display	5.0" FHD(1920*1080) IPS,441ppi
Memory	2GB+16GB
Ext. Memory	Micro SD max. 64GB
Camera	13.0MP AF + 5MP
Bluetooth	Bluetooth 4.0
WLAN	802.11 b/g /n, Wi-Fi direct
Navigation	GPS/A-GPS
Sensor	G-sensor，L-sensor，P-Sensor, E-compass, Barometer, Step-counter sensor, Gesture sensor
Keypad	Softkey (Menu, Home, Back)
Side key	Power, Volume
Ext. port	Micro USB, 3.5mm Audio Stereo
Battery	2300mAh
SIM Card	Dual Sim (Micro+Nano/SD)
OS	Expect OS 5.0 on Android 4.4.4
Color	Black, White

GIGABYTE launches FM2+ motherboards

 

GIGABYTE TECHNOLOGY Co. Ltd., a leading manufacturer of motherboards and graphics cards is proud to announce that its lineup of FM2+ motherboards is now compatible with the newly launched Godavari APU from AMD. Featuring 12 CPU and GPU compute cores (4+8), the latest AMD A-Series APU brings great support for exciting new technology such as AMD FreeSync™, DirectX™ 12 and also Windows 10 64-bit support. Paired with the connectivity featured on GIGABYTE FM2+ motherboards, the combo offers the best platform capable of delivering great processing performance, smooth high framerates in the most popular online game and a path to easy upgrades with many of the latest technologies available for today’s desktop PCs.

AMD FreeSync™ Technology

GIGABYTE FM2+ series motherboards now support AMD FreeSync™, a technology which resolves the communication issues between the processor and the monitor to eliminate image tearing and choppiness. By adjusting the frame refresh rate of the monitor to the same speed as the processor’s frame creation rate, AMD FreeSync™ helps provides the fluidity needed for the smoothest graphics during gameplay.

AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics Technology

The AMD FM2+ series platform showcases AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics technology, allowing users to further boost 3D graphics performance by adding an additional discrete AMD Radeon™ graphics card to the system. This unique AMD Radeon™ Dual Graphics technology means users can enjoy higher frame rates on the latest gaming titles, utilizing the processing power of both discrete and integrated graphics processors.

AMD Eyefinity™ Technology

Supporting multiple independent display outputs simultaneously, AMD Eyefinity™ technology delivers innovative graphics display capabilities enabling massive desktop workspaces and ultra-immersive visual environments for the ultimate panoramic computing experience.

To ensure your GIGABYTE FM2+ socket A88X, A78, A68H and A58 chipset motherboards can support the latest Godavari APU from AMD; make sure to update it to the latest BIOS which in the download section of GIGABYTE website: http://www.gigabyte.com/support-downloads/download-center.aspx?ck=2

Church on the Move Transitions to Full HD Production with Hitachi Z-HD5000 Cameras

Church on the Move of Tulsa, Oklahoma, has been redefining the worship environment for the past decade. With an eye toward increasing appeal to younger generations, longtime Pastor Willie George spearheaded a movement toward more dynamic, engaging services that heavily relied on professional video production, audio and lighting gear. That effort continues today with a recent facility-wide upgrade that includes seven Hitachi Z-HD5000 HDTV cameras.

“Church on the Move is fairly typical of a large church in the Midwest, with a large congregation that fills a spacious sanctuary,” said Andrew Stone, production manager, Church on the Move. “Pastor George’s vision to reach out to younger generations has driven Church on the Move to deliver a concert-type experience with live cameras and video, big sound and immersive lighting that remains positive and family-oriented. Hitachi has been a significant part of that seachange over the past 10 years.”

Since joining the staff in 2005, Stone and his team of in-house personnel and church volunteers have relied on the rugged durability of Hitachi cameras. Until recently, Stone had been using Hitachi SD cameras while gradually upgrading the surrounding infrastructure to HD. The continued high performance of the Hitachi SD cameras allowed Stone to focus on upgrading video walls, LEDs and studio gear, and later invest in high-quality HD cameras once his budget replenished.

Stone made the decision to invest in Z-HD5000’s following a site visit from Hitachi. In addition to the Z-HD5000’s versatility and exceptional image quality, Stone was impressed with the care Hitachi took to ensure the most ideal camera for his production needs.

“Hitachi flew the cameras here at their expense, and configured them in our sanctuary to simulate how they would perform during real-time services,” said Stone. “They took the time to steer us toward a product that was sensible and cost-effective for us. I’ve built my career on relationships, and Hitachi definitely stands out from the other camera manufacturers.

“For us, consistency and versatility are also vitally important, and Hitachi has paid attention to these points on the user side,” he continued. “Most of our operators are volunteers, and these cameras are simple to operate and resilient. The Z-HD5000 has the same rugged design as Hitachi SD cameras, and a feature set that brings together what really matters in live production. New volunteers are up and running within a few rehearsals. That short learning curve is a huge benefit in a worship environment, where volunteers may be here today and gonetomorrow.”

The Hitachi Z-HD5000 signals run through a Barco FSN-1400 switcher that retains the exceptional image quality captured by the camera operators. Stone calls this a future proof architecture that ensures a seamless transition from 720p to 1080i should Church on the Move upgrade again.

Cisco Install Security To Prevent Cyber Threats

Cisco today announced new offerings to embed security throughout the extended network – from the data center out to endpoints, branch offices, and the cloud – for pervasive threat visibility and control. By integrating security everywhere, enterprises and service providers gain the ability to deliver the threat-centric security requirements demanded by today's dynamic threat landscape and capture emerging business opportunities created by the rise of the Digital Economy and the Internet of Everything (IoE).

The IoE market is expected to generate $19-trillion in value to organizations over the next decade, and represents a $1.7-trillion opportunity to service providers (Cisco Consulting Services, 2013).  Additionally, according to the 2015 Cisco Visual Networking Index™ (VNI) Forecast, the number of IP-connected personal devices and M2M connections online will grow from 14 billion in 2014 to more than 24 billion by 2019. However, cybercrime is simultaneously becoming increasingly sophisticated and industrialized such that the financial opportunity for cybercriminals also is rising and valued at an estimated $450-billion to $1-trillion (Cybersecurity: Assessing Our Vulnerabilities and Developing an Effective Response, Hearing before the Committee on Commerce, Science, and Transportation, U.S. Senate, March 19, 2009).

Security Everywhere for Enterprises and Service Providers
To minimize the complexity of managing security across a distributed organization and to increase threat visibility into the farthest reaches of the enterprise and global service provider infrastructures, Cisco is embedding security throughout the extended network. Cisco is adding more sensors to increase visibility; more control points to strengthen enforcement; and pervasive, advanced threat protection to reduce time-to-detection and time-to-response, limiting the impact of attacks. With security everywhere, Cisco provides scalable threat protection covering the broadest range of attack vectors and throughout the entire attack continuum – before, during and after an attack.

Expanding Security Solutions for Enterprise Organizations
Cisco is launching the following set of solutions across the entire networking portfolio:

• Endpoints: WithCisco AnyConnect® Featuring Cisco AMP for Endpoints, customers using the Cisco AnyConnect 4.1 VPN client now can easily deploy and significantly expand their threat protection to VPN-enabled endpoints to continuously and retrospectively guard against advanced malware.
• Campus and Branch:FirePOWER Services solutions for Cisco® Integrated Services Routers (ISR) provides centrally managed Next-Generation Intrusion Prevention System (NGIPS) and Advanced Malware Protection (AMP) at the branch office integrated in the network fabric, where dedicated security appliances may not be feasible.
• Network as a Sensorand Enforcer: Cisco has embedded multiple security technologies into the network infrastructure to provide broad threat visibility to rapidly identify users and devices associated with anomalies, threats and misuse of networks and applications. New capabilities include:

o    Broader Integration between Identity Services Engine (ISE) and Lancope StealthWatch:  Enterprises can go beyond just mapping IP addresses to identifying threat vectors based on ISE's context of who, what, where, when and how users and devices are connected and access network resources. This provides greater contextual threat visibility with StealthWatch for accelerated identification of threats.

o    NetFlow on Cisco UCS®: Extending Cisco's network-as-a-sensor capabilities to the physical and virtual servers, customers now have greater visibility into network traffic flow patterns and threat intelligence information in the data center.

Using the new embedded security capabilities, Cisco networks now have the ability to automate and dynamically enforce security policies. Customers can segment applications and users throughout the network – across the extended enterprise to use policy to define which users can get which applications and what traffic can traverse the network then automate security operations.

o   TrustSec + ISE and StealthWatch Integration: StealthWatch can now block suspicious network devices by initiating segmentation changes, providing rapid response to identified malicious activity. ISE can then modify access policies for Cisco routers, switches, and wireless LAN controllers embedded with TrustSec technology.

In addition to the solutions above, Cisco also is announcing:

• Hosted Identity Servicesprovide a secure, 24/7, cloud-delivered service for the Cisco Identity Services Engine, a security policy management platform that unifies and automates secure network access control. The new hosted service speeds time to deployment, supporting business growth and providing role-based, context-aware identity enforcement of users and devices permitted on the network, streamlining enterprise mobility experiences.
• pxGrid Ecosystem: Eleven new partners have joined thepxGrid Ecosystem with the addition of several new ecosystem technology categories, including cloud security and network/application performance management. pxGrid is Cisco's security context information exchange fabric that enables security platforms to share information to drive better threat detection, mitigation and overall security operations.

Securing Evolved Programmable Networks for Service Providers
Cisco's service provider security solutions represent a unique approach designed for service providers' business requirements. It offers threat-centric security that protects workloads as they are provisioned — and elastically distributed — across physical, virtual, and cloud environments.

To address service provider needs for an open, flexible and programmable infrastructure, Cisco is expanding advanced threat-centric protection for its Evolved Programmable Network (EPN). The Cisco EPN is the foundation for its open network architecture, designed to advance the adoption of Software Defined Networking (SDN) and Network Functions Virtualization (NFV) and to accelerate time to revenue, while reducing the costs and complexities of deploying new services.

Cisco's new service provider security solutions include the following:

• Cisco Firepower™9300 Integrated Security Platform is a carrier-grade, high-performance, scalable and modular multi-services security platform purpose-built for service providers, that can scale security for increased data flows due to accelerated service demands and carrier class requirements.
• Expanded Advanced Orchestration and Cloud Capabilitiesenable Cisco's new security solutions to easily integrate with the Cisco architecture and third-party SDN/NFV solutions, as well as Cisco's Adaptive Security Appliance Virtual (ASAv) with Cisco's Network Service Orchestrator (NSO) and Application-Centric Infrastructure (ACI). These orchestration and cloud capabilities also include open APIs for integration with orchestration, Operation Support Systems/Business Support Systems, and Cloud Security-as-a-Service solutions.
• Advanced features such as secure containers to accommodate future security services and applications. Additionally, Cisco ASA firewall and third-party DDoS mitigation from Radware are currently supported, with additional capabilities planned for the second half of 2015.

15-fold increase in innovations by Tata companies over 10 years of Tata Innovista

The Tata Innovista is a group-wide programme, held annually by the Tata Group Innovation Forum (TGIF) to encourage, recognise and showcase outstanding innovations done by Tata companies. Started in 2006, Tata Innovista has become an indicator of the success of the innovation drive in the Tata group — and of the inherent capabilities of its people.

Tata Innovista 2015 received 1580 projects under the Promising Innovations category as compared to 101 in 2006, signifying a 15-fold increase. The Promising Innovations category recognises innovations that have been successfully implemented during the year. Out of these 1580 projects received, the top 60 innovations are expected to deliver an estimated financial benefit of $1.1bn annually and are likely to touch the lives of 35 million people, globally, over a 5-year period.

The Promising Innovations category has six sub-categories: New Products, New Services, Core Processes, Support Processes, Services Enabling Customer and Social. The Promising Innovations awards went to:

• New Products
  • Jaguar Land Rover for ‘New Discovery Sport Pedestrian Airbag System’
  • Metahelix Life Sciences for ‘MC 13, a path breaking Seed in Bold Rice Segment’
• New Services
  • Tata Consultancy Services for ‘iON Digital Evaluation’
• Core Processes
  • Tata Consultancy Services for ‘Robotic Process Automation’
  • Tata International for ‘Reactive filler for leather from hazardous waste’
  • Titan Company for ‘Seamless - Journey towards world-class’
• Support Processes
  • Tata Consultancy Services for ‘Automation for enhanced learning & graded assessment’
• Services Enabling Customer
  • Tata Consultancy Services for ‘SmartZoom5 - A smart digital microscope’
  • Tata Consultancy Services for ‘TCS SIAM - Maestro of the multi-supplier symphony’
• Social
  • Tata Consultancy Services for ‘Creating tomorrow's leaders, today: STEM initiative’

From a total of 75 Tata companies from across 18 countries who submitted their projects in Tata Innovista 2015, 38 Tata companies reached the regional rounds. The projects at the regional rounds, held in Delhi, Mumbai, Bengaluru, Jamshedpur, London, Washington DC, and Singapore, were judged by eminent external experts. 78 teams from 26 Tata companies were shortlisted for the final global round that took place in Mumbai on April 23-24, 2015.

In the finals, apart from Promising innovations, awards were also given under three other categories:

The Leading Edge – Proven Technologies

620 projects were received under this category, which recognises and rewards the most innovative technology that is being developed and piloted, but is yet to be commercialised. This year, The Leading Edge awards went to:

• Jaguar Land Rover for ‘Polar 3 Ultra Wide Ratio Transmission Demonstrator’
• Tata Steel for ‘Graphene from natural source’

Dare To Try

Showcasing a growing culture of risk-taking and perseverance across Tata companies, the Dare To Try category at Tata Innovista saw 314 projects. The Dare To Try category recognises and rewards most novel, daring and seriously attempted ideas that did not achieve the desired results. The awards went to:

• Tata Technologies for ‘Seats with changeable orientation’
• Tata Consultancy Services for ‘TCS Insurance Fraud Detection Solution (IFDS)’

Design Honour

Design Honour seeks to promote the focus of Tata companies on design thinking. More than 250 projects were received in this category. The awards went to:

• Titan Company for ‘Zyra’
• Tata Technologies for ‘Tata IRIS Design Mark’

(Details of the winning entries under all the above categories are enclosed in Annexure 1)

Mr. S. Padmanabhan, Executive Chairman, Tata Quality Management Services (TQMS), Tata Sons, said, “Over the past decade, Tata Innovista has visibly enabled a culture of innovation and risk-taking in the group.  The fact that across its four categories, – Promising, Leading Edge-Proven Technologies, Dare To Try and Design Honour – Tata Innovista 2015 saw over 2700 projects coming from 75 Tata companies spread across 18 countries bears testimony to this growing culture, and greatly enthuses us at the Tata Group Innovation Forum to further strengthen our efforts to encourage and celebrate the spirit of innovation in the Tata group. Also, this year, over 130 projects were collaborative, indicating that Tata companies are increasingly able to come together to leverage the synergies a diverse group like ours offers.”

According to Dr. Mukund Rajan, Member – Group Executive Council and Brand Custodian, Tata Sons, “Innovation, which has always been a part of the Tata DNA, has in recent years taken on a fresh impetus with the Tata group’s effort to democratise it and make it a continuous and ongoing process. Tata Innovista and the Tata Group Innovation Forum (TGIF) over the past decade, true to their mandate, have been able to successfully create a nurturing eco-system which encourages, inspires and promotes innovation in Tata companies – a 15-fold jump in innovations is just one indicator of how Tata companies are making innovation a way of life to address their customers’ needs and differentiate themselves from their competition. As we look ahead, the focus on technology and innovation will continue to play a key role in helping us achieve our global ambitions.”

Speaking at the press briefing, Dr. Gopichand Katragadda, Group Chief Technology Officer, Tata Sons, said, “Technology differentiated innovation will position the Tata group for future growth. In its technology journey, the group has presently identified four focus areas – Sustainable Energy, Food and Wellness, Consumer Electronics and Factory and Fleet Digitisation. Given the group’s ability to scale to market needs and recent advancements in technology, it is a great time to be an innovator at the Tata group.”

In 2006, the Tata group started the process of capturing and celebrating innovations of Tata companies through Tata Innovista. The objective of this programme is to capture innovations in Tata companies, encourage innovators and innovations in Tata companies, share the levers used by them to identify and execute innovation projects, and create a culture of risk-taking. In order to support Tata companies in their journey of innovation, Tata Quality Management Services (TQMS), a division of Tata Sons, formed the Tata Group Innovation Forum (TGIF) in 2007. The objective of TGIF is to encourage, inspire and help create a culture that promotes innovation in Tata companies. Over the past ten years, TQMS, under the guidance of TGIF, has been connecting Tata companies all over the world, stimulating innovative thinking and encouraging collaborative research.

Mark J. Barrenechea: Results-Oriented CEO of the Year

OpenText, a global leader in Enterprise Information Management (EIM), today announced that CEO World Awards has named Mark J. Barrenechea, president and CEO of OpenText, the Results-Oriented CEO of the year. As a Gold CEO winner, the prestigious CEO World Awards recognize Mark’s leadership and innovation in attaining results for the company and its customers.

“I am honored to be named among this year’s CEO World winners and this is a recognition of our 8,000 employees who are focused on making a difference every day,” said Mark J. Barrenechea, president and CEO of OpenText. “OpenText is helping customers enable a Digital-First World and increasing their competitiveness through information management, connected networks of business processes and predictive analytics.”

As CEO of Canada’s largest software company, Mark upholds the company’s position at the forefront of the industry. Under his direction, the company has grown both organically and through strategic acquisitions, into a $1.6 billion technology company. His unwavering commitment to innovation, combined with a dedication to customers’ needs, led him to successfully realign the company’s products and transform OpenText into an EIM leader.

OpenText EIM provides the foundation for a cohesive information management strategy that leverages existing assets, meets urgent needs and establishes a fast path to the future while reducing information risks. Available on-premises and in the cloud, OpenText EIM solutions include managed cloud services, subscription pricing, private, public and hybrid-cloud hosting models in local, secure and discrete data zones.

Presented annually, the CEO World awards recognize the world’s best in leadership, innovation, organizational performance, new products and services, CEO case studies, and customer satisfaction programs from every major industry in the world. Organizations from all over the world are eligible to submit nominations including public and private, for-profit and non-profit, largest to smallest and new start-ups.