Each one of us would have encountered the situation where you wanted a Movie/MP3 or any other file from a friend but wanted the easiest & fastest way out! Carrying a charging or USB OTG cable is never an ideal option. So, you are left out with Transfer using Bluetooth or WiFi Direct. Due to better throughput, data transfer over WiFi is always the best option even if your data is in GB. This is where a powerful app like Xender can come in very handy !!
Xender, a file transfer and sharing application, has announced the launch of its new version- with comprehensive functions and better user experience. Xender has maintained a leading position as the world’s fastest, most convenient mobile sharing tool at zero cost.
Supports Android, IOS, Windows, PC/ Mac cross-platform transferring
No need for USB connection and PC software installation
Over 100 million files transferred daily
Play all music and videos
Wifi file transfer master
Xender offers seamless transmission between Android, iPhone, Windows Mobile, Windows PC and Apple MAC systems. Xender currently has 330 million cumulative global users, with over 110 million users from India alone. Over the next 3 years, Xender aims to achieve a global user-base of 800 million.
Installation Size Reduced
The new version of Xender has been reduced to 4.5 MB which gets further compressed in the absence of WiFi. Sharing of Xender is now more rapid and convenient.
Interactive Management Made Convenient
Xender does not need a USB connection or PC software installation. It can be used to transfer files anywhere, anytime-from documents, music, pictures, to videos and apps or any other file types of unlimited file size. It also allows users to view, move or delete files received and even to make a backup copy whenever needed to clean the phone storage.
No Replacement Trouble
You can also switch mobile data like contacts, SMS, pictures, music, videos, games and any other files from your old phone to the new one in one simple step.
Friendly Design
Xender satisfies all operating needs with functions related to transfer of files:opening, installing, uninstalling, deleting, viewing etc.
Sliding Mass Map : Connect two mobile phones and browse photos at the same time. Smoothly share photos with just a slide Search : Use the search function and search for any file Hidden Files : Protect your privacy and hide anything from prying eyes
Unlike other apps like Flash Transfer that is not available on Play Store and needs side-loading; transfer of data over Xender is fast & secure. There are no limitations on transfer size or restriction on transfer speed or number of devices on which transfer can simultaneously happen. Cross Platform Sharing is another important feature where Xender scores over apps like Flash Transfer.
You can download Xender from Google Play. If you have used Xender (which I am sure you would have), then please leave your experience in the comments section…
About Xender
Xender is a comprehensive app for all file sharing needs. It allows users to share any type of file, at any time, without any mobile data usage. Xender supports Android, iOS, Windows, PC/ MAC cross-platform transferring with over 200 times Bluetooth transfer speed. For more information, please visit www.xender.com
Ruckus Wireless Inc., now part of Brocade have announced Ola Cabs has deployed a fast and reliable Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi network to improve and grow its cab network in India.
Ola Cabs is an online cab aggregator, providing a range of cab services from economy to luxury travel, and has a network of over 200,000 cars across 85 cities. As Ola Cabs continued its growth in India, it needed to ensure it could on-board new cars as quickly as possible at its attachment centres. However, Ola’s employees were experiencing connectivity issues when trying to attach new cabs to the network using the legacy 3G cellular connection.
Shwetank Singh, network and infrastructure engineer at Ola Cabs said
When a new driver or vehicle owner wants to join our transport network, we need to complete an operational and functional level audit to ensure the vehicles pass our requirements to validate their road worthiness and are of an appropriate standard. The problem was, the 3G wireless connection we typically use to support our token management system was not providing the speed and reliability we were expecting for connecting to our main server. Signal drop-outs, interference and limited range were commonplace, creating frustration amongst staff and drivers, as well as slowing down the attachment process.
Ola Cabs reached out to 3in IT Solutions to find a solution that offered the performance, security, ease of management, coverage and reliability required to overcome the challenges in the cab attachment process.
Proof of concept tests were conducted using Ruckus Wireless and a competitor’s wireless access points (APs) to determine which performed better in the outdoor environment. Following the tests, Ola Cabs selected Ruckus Wireless.
Shwetank Singh, network and infrastructure engineer at Ola Cabs adds
What really stood out during the testing phase was Ruckus’ patented smart antenna technologies. Its adaptive antenna was a real advantage, particularly over omni-directional antennas, as it provided greater connectivity, performance and stability, while reducing interference on the network.
Ola Cabs has deployed Ruckus ZoneFlex T301 dual-band 802.11ac outdoor APs across its outdoor cab attachment areas to support all the staff using tablets and laptops to log cab attachments. ZoneFlex T301 APs enable focused Wi-Fi coverage in the most challenging outdoor environments by mitigating interference and providing unmatched capacity and reliability, through the Ruckus patented BeamFlex technology.
Key to the success of the installation is our patented BeamFlex Smart Wi-Fi antenna array technology. It monitors the environment and dynamically adjusts the signal to the best performing path, automatically steering around interference and obstacles. This ensures the strongest signal, highest throughput and least interference, enabling Ola Cabs staff to on-board vehicles over the Wi-Fi network quickly and efficiently, without the fear of drop-outs.
Ola Cabs has also deployed the Ruckus ZoneDirector 1200 to centrally manage its Wi-Fi network. The ZoneDirector 1200 can be deployed and operated by non-wireless experts and installed quickly and easily. It has been specifically designed for small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs) with limited IT staff and budget, enabling them to create a robust and secure multimedia WLAN in a matter of minutes.
Shwetank Singh, network and infrastructure engineer at Ola Cabs adds
Since deploying Ruckus, we have seen significant improvement in terms of performance, coverage and reliability and it has also been easy to manage using the ZoneDirector. Being cab aggregators, the more cabs we attach the more our business grows. By deploying Ruckus Smart Wi-Fi, we have seen an uplift in our day-to-day business operations, as the frequent network problems slowing down the attachment process have been removed. Now with Ruckus in place, on boarding is happening at pace and is resulting in growth in the business.
Following the deployment in Bengaluru, Ola Cabs is looking to replicate the system in all its cab attaching centres across India.
If you are a kid of the 1980’s or 1990’s, you would surely remember the then-breakthrough “Sony Walkman” which created a huge wave not only in India but across the world. In fact, during those days you would see every other person carrying a walkman. Sony Walkman was successful since it was the very first product in a new category – Personal Stereo. It enjoyed a dream run selling more than 40 million units in the first ten years. It also enjoyed the “First Mover Advantage” till the time; rapid technological innovations changed the entire consumer electronics industry!!
Being the first mover is just the initial step since it becomes essential that the X-factor is communicated well to the customers in order to take the advantage of the first-mover status. Consider the case of Tata Nano, the tag of “World’s Cheapest Car” completely backfired and its sales hit a Plateau. Customers do not want “Cheap” products, rather they want “Affordable” Products and this is where Tata Nano suffered a setback since it marketed Nano as Cheap and not an Affordable Car!!
First Mover is not only limited to Tech companies but the same also applies to real-estate Companies that innovate on their Offerings, Product Placement, Pricing Model etc. One such company is Sobha Ltd that has taken a leap forward in the residential real-estate sector with its new project Sobha Dream Acres. So, you may ask what is so special about Sobha Dream Acres? Well, Sobha Dream Acres is the first residential that is built using the Precast Technology. The primary advantages of using Precast are Quality, Speed of construction and value-for-money product.
We had an interaction with Mr. Raj Pillai, Executive director of Sobha Ltd in his office and the discussion was centered around Core values of Sobha, Exemplary focus on customer service, his journey with Sobha, Precast Technology, Pros & Cons of being the first mover in Business, Housing for all and much more…
These are the edited excerpts from of the Q&A with Mr. Raj Pillai
Note: ‘I’ in the interview refers to Mr. Pillai and ‘We’ refers to Sobha Ltd. Before we start the Q&A, let me share a quick pic of myself with Mr. Pillai (L)
Raj Pill (L), Himanshu Sheth (R)
Can you please share some details about key pillars of Sobha Ltd
Sobha has mainly three businesses:Real Estate, Contracts, and Manufacturing. Real Estate contributes to ~80% of our business and when you talk about Real Estate, we have two models : Luxury (Prices > 1 crore) and Ultra-Luxury (> 3 crores).
We have built upon this model for more than 20 years and we have improvised the model YOY. We always ensured that there is Backward Integration. We need to understand the core values of Sobha since that is where the seeds of the startup were sown by Founder Chairman of Sobha who has more than 40 years of experience in the Middle East which has some of the best constructions in the world.
The very first project from Sobha Ltd was in the outskirts of Bengaluru i.e. in Jakkur. Our founder had the vision that if the Quality of our construction is good and our Product is of Superior Quality, it does not matter where you are located since customers would definitely come to you!! In order to build Quality Product, Sobha has ensured that we have world-class manufacturing unit so that Quality Check & Control is in our hands. Unlike our competitors, we never encourage the Chalta Hain Attitude and aim for perfection. Our factories have world class machinery and we have invested significantly in it over a period of time. In fact, we have more than 8K skilled “certified” tradesmen (either employed with Sobha or working on contract).
There is a huge level of commitment from Sobha’s top-level management and this shows their seriousness in the business. So, these are the key qualities of Sobha and irrespective of the nature of work, all of us at Sobha abide by those qualities since that is what constitutes the Sobha Brand.
Can you shed some light on the Precast factory built by Sobha for Sobha Dream Acres?
I am sure that you would have loved the Precast factory when you visited our Sobha Dream Acres Campus. A huge amount of hard work has been put to turn our chairman Mr. Ravi Menon’s dream into Reality!! So, let’s look into the details of the Precast factory:
The factory was built in a record period of 6~8 months. We strongly believe in the 10,000-hour work-rule that is mentioned in the book Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell
It takes roughly ten thousand hours of practice to achieve mastery in a field.
Over the last 3 years; Sobha’s high-level management, myself and other senior managers have spent innumerable hours (~8,000) to ensure that we build a world-class Precast Factory. This is the kind of commitment you would see from all employees at Sobha Ltd. The Quality Manual of Sobha Ltd lists down on how we closely look at each & every aspect of Quality to ensure we have a Happy Customer!!!
Sobha Ltd is not only the preferred real-estate brand from consumer point-of-view but it is the most preferred employer for real-estate professionals. Below are the results from BrandX Report 2015~16
What are your views on Affordable Housing and some factors that might turn it into reality?
Affordable Housing is the new buzz-word in the Housing sector but it is the most misused word in the world. Affordable is highly relative and it is not something which is cheap.
In fact, in my opinion, Affordable is something which you are able to buy, it is technology driven and remains affordable for the entire life-cycle of the building i.e. no leakage etc. which means the minimum amount is spent on the repairs of the house.
In fact, we learnt a lot from our trip to Finland (where 6 months of the year it is snowing and hence, they have half the time to get things right) & Singapore (where you would see awesome buildings) trips and we took the positive learnings out of it.
We brought international experts onboard to set up the Precast Factory so that we are able to deliver Affordable Houses (with exceptional quality and no compromise on safety) for our customers. According to us, Sobha Dream Acres is an ideal example of affordable homes since the repeat-costs for the customers would be very low!!
What are the kind of challenges you faced to convince higher management from Sobha Ltd to use Precast Technology (for Dream Acres)?
Initially, it was very difficult to get a buy-in from the entire management team since it was a big & risky Leap forward for Sobha Ltd. There were a lot of doubts mainly w.r.t Technology & its feasibility (as well as Durability) and since we had international experts onboard, we were able to clear all the doubts lingering in the minds of our higher management.
They believed in our vision as well as conviction. In my opinion, if we have to improve the quality of the construction in our country, we need to get rid of Plastering since Precast is much more affordable and at the same time durable. You would be surprised that we use 300 million tons of cement in our country out of which 10% of it goes into Plastering. They believed in our vision and we at Sobha Ltd believe that Precast would change the entire construction (specifically residential) industry.
Can you share some details about factors that are very critical in Precast?
First, all of us need to understand that “The Quality of concrete is very important in construction and it is much more important in Precast”. I am aware of projects where other companies have put up a good plant and equipment but they compromised a lot on something termed as “Batching Plant” (this is where the concrete is batched).
In the case of Sobha Dream Acres, we got the best Batching Plant so that the construction is of very high quality. Also, since Sobha Dream Acres customers also have similar doubts about Precast; to address them we have set up one of the biggest Marketing Offices at Sobha Dream Acres. Interested customers are first given a tour of the Precast Factory to remove any doubts left about the technology.
For more information on Precast Technology, you can refer to Understand Precast Technology Series (Part-1, Part-2). To summarize, Precast is about achieving the best construction Quality in a shorter duration of time (due to an overall reduction in Slab Cycle Time) thus minimizing the overall Delivery Time. Sobha Dream Acres is definitely Ahead of Time.
What are the approximate savings you would get if Precast is used?
In terms of plain numbers, you would easily get 20~25% savings keeping in mind all the tangible & intangible benefits. But it is very important to note that the savings are not for us, but it is for the customer.
Customer gets the following savings : 1) On-Time Delivery & Sobha has been very particular about it for all the projects 2) Sobha Dream Acres is not an Affordable Home but a Tech-Home and the Life Cycle Cost on this home would be minimum.
The strength of the concrete is so high w.r.t life of the building that customer’s cost on the building is minimized (keeping leakage, seepage etc. into account).
Buying a flat in Sobha Dream Acres is like buying a high-end luxury car at the most affordable price.
How has Sobha Ltd been able to communicate the actual USP of Sobha Dream Acres to its customers?
To answer your question, I would first tell you about our other project Sobha Indraprastha and the technology used in Indraprastha. The entire construction in Indraprashta is done using ‘Self Dynamic Concrete’ and there is no external plastering in that building.
We had communicated to our customers of Indraprashta about advantages of Self Dynamic Concrete and every customer highlighted that point. So, communication is the key when newer technologies are adopted by any company.
Coming back to Sobha Dream Acres, we want our customers to know about Precast Technology since that will answer most of their queries around pricing, durability etc.
Every customer who visits Sobha Dream Acres campus is first taken for a virtual tour of our Precast Factory so that they understand the inherent benefits of Precast and customers have taken it very positively.
The entire sales team involved with Sobha Dream Acres have received training about Precast Technology so that they are able to solve Customer Queries in the shortest amount of time.
Educating the customer about Precast Technology has become primarily important for us & our team is doing really great to communicate this message!!
How important is Post-Sales Support important and what are Sobha’s methodologies to provide best Buying Experience to Sobha Dream Acres’ customers?
We have a unique model. We have a huge CRM team that does the hand-holding and ensure that the customer is excited about their dream home.
Sobha Ltd has a very interesting program called Sobha Connect where we are reaching out to all our old customers (even those you purchased a Sobha Home 15 years back) to get the prospective reference(s). Out of more than 25K Sobha customers, many of them are repeat customers and that goes to show that we are fanatic about Customer Delight
It takes a lot of courage to go back to older customers and Sobha Connect is that Bold Step taken by Sobha Ltd (since we have complete confidence in our construction.)
Most of the real-estate companies have Celebrity Brand Ambassador, why isn’t that Sobha Ltd does not have a brand ambassador?
You need to have a celebrity Brand Ambassador when you are not able to sell the core value proposition. As mentioned in the earlier point, existing Sobha Ltd customers are our brand ambassadors.
Our endeavor has always been to get our product right and our entire Sobha team is paranoid about Perfection
Though brand ambassadors help in the marketing push but in today’s time (where information spreads like fire on Social Media), if you do not have a good product even a Celebrity Brand Ambassador cannot save its fate!
Your thoughts on the Real Estate Regulatory Act Bill?
With the Real Estate Regulatory Act [RERA] Bill, adherence to standards would no longer be a choice for the builders (irrespective of whether a builder is Grade A/B/C etc.) but adherence would be a Compulsion. RERA would be an important milestone in the construction business!
Can you comment on the PM’s mission of Housing for All?
The biggest problem in India is ‘Timely Execution’. However, a technology like Precast is the way forward in order to achieve this mission. I am part of the ‘National Building Code 2016’ committee and due to PM Modi’s charisma, government officials are working on par with other officials of the world.
National Building Code would definitely be a game-changer since it would be the best document to refer if anyone needs to know about the construction industry.
In my opinion, Precast is definitely the way forward if homes have to be of Supreme quality, exceptional Durability and need to be delivered with strict deadlines.
I thank Sobha Ltd for inviting me over for the interview & Mr. Pillai for patiently answering all our questions! If you are an existing Sobha Customer or aspiring to buy a home in Sobha Dream Acres, please leave a comment in the article or share your queries to himanshu.sheth@gmail.com
India or should we say India aspiring to become Digital India is changing and so are the citizens of this country. Be it an urban Indian (living in Tier-1/Tier-2 city) or a rural Indian (living in the villages), one thing that has changed the lives of millions of Indians is The Internet.
According a NASSCOM report titled ‘The Future of India*’ launched in association with Akamai Technologies, India’s Internet user base is the second largest after China. As per the report, India is expected to have around 730 million Internet users by the year 2020 (up from 230 million in 2016). Globally, the number of Internet users is expected to touch 4170 million by 2020. Internet has created a massive impact across all the sectors and it has changed the way we work and interact socially with our friends! [*Source]
Increasing mobile penetration, reduction in data rates, introduction of 4G etc. are expected to develop this market further! Along with the changing habits of the consumers, it became critical for brands to change the way they interact with their customers. Gone are the days when brands could blast a TVC and expect better engagement (and ROI). Brands have become more conscious about their ad-spends and increasing internet penetration has enabled many of them to capitalise on the growth of Digital Marketing & Social Media Marketing. When was the last time, you purchased a product by watching the TVC (without doing a thorough online review) 🙂 The evident NO answers why Digital is such a crucial medium!
Off late, this sector has attracted large investments and there is a sky-rocketing growth in the field of Digital Marketing & Social Media Marketing. In fact, Digital is the new Mainstream communication & engagement medium!! Engagement, Social Reach and Visitor Growth Rate are the key social media metrics tracked by social media savvy brands these days.
The massive growth in the Digital Marketing sector has not only attracted investments but has also led to rise of entrepreneurs who have ventured in digital marketing sector. Months before 1st July, 2015 when PM Mr. Narendra Modi set the foundation of Digital India, two common lads (Vikalp Kumar and Gaurav Sharma) from modest backgrounds residing in non-metropolitan cities were bitten by the Entrepreneurship Bug. They foresaw the upcoming boom that was to happen in the country on Digital Front and so RippleDME was founded!
For Vikalp & Gaurav, there were tons of challenges lying ahead, with new agencies mushrooming in the metros, having a market foot-hold among the giants of the game was a task. To provide cost effective digital marketing solutions seemed a distant dream when even breaking even looked like a farfetched goal. However, entrepreneurs never give up and they looked for strength within.
RippledMe : Humble Beginning
They set up RippledMe’s pilot office in their hometown in Allahabad the first of its kind, at a time when people didn’t even have any clue about digital marketing. Getting the right people to work for them was a herculean task. But they believed and they trained those people, developed the required skills in them and polished their talent till it was up to the mark for the job in hand.
RippledMe : Up-hill task of Ob-boarding
Though getting like-minded people on-board, training them & involving them in the eco-system was a tough task, they had a tougher task at hands. In order to sustain and grow their business they required Clients. They had to first sell their vision to on-board employees and now they had to repeat that task to signing up new Clients.
Clients in the metros wouldn’t believe that a new agency, with the team size in single digits and no prior experience could deliver, that too when the agency wasn’t even located in their city. So the RippledMe team took a bottom-up approach in their execution. Providing services to small business and startups with meagre budgets and yet they delivered, against all the odds around them and all the inexperience around them. Slowly, with time a corner turned. They associated with a startup with initial level of VC funding. With some money in the kitty, they were able to put the client on the map and even beat some of the established players with bigger budgets.
RippledMe : Perseverance pays off, ENDOCON2016 milestone
With experience, a lucrative portfolio and positive references, they started to climb up the ladder and latched on to bigger projects. With time, the clients realized that distance wouldn’t be a factor as far as spotless delivery and honest consultation is concerned. With bigger projects, came the opportunity to set industry benchmarks.
One such benchmark was ENDOCON2016. A top rated, annual, medical conference of Gastroenterologists. Usually there isn’t much noise about such events but RippledMe added the needed bling to it and gave it an online viewership of over 1 million. The first time any medical conference, held on Indian soil, was able to achieve that number [Source]
Along the way they accomplished distinguished tasks such as getting 5000 registered app for a client through integrated Offline and Online activities with CPA half of industry average. Also, proving a new business model for a client, right from the start of its marketing and channelising those efforts to transactions, thereby proving the complete working and functioning of a business idea.
With so many achievements in such a short span of time, RippledMe is a story of how average-joe entrepreneur(s) defeated all odds to create a brand in RippledMe. We caught up with Vikalp Kumar, Co-founder of RippledMe to share his insightful story to our readers. Let’s have a chat with him about RippledMe, their foray into Digital, future plans etc.
Q. How did you come up with idea of RippledMe ?
A. We realized that internet penetration in India stands at around 10%. With the oncoming of the entrepreneur boom, there are new businesses, ventures, prospects, etc grooming up across the whole landscape of India. Marketing is an expensive thing. It can’t be expected that each of these new ventures would have sufficient funds to undertake high-end marketing measures like TV ads, or Radio Ads or Print Ads.
Digital Marketing is the cheapest and the most effective way of marketing as it allows you to reach a very targeted audience and you can measure results for every penny you spent. The entrepreneur generation is teach savvy and digitally educated, hence to make them understand its benefits is easier and it also suits well to their budgets providing instant returns, which is basically the dream for any new business venture.
Q. Brief us about yourself and other founders ?
A. Company is founded by Vikalp Kumar and Gaurav Sharma. Both engineering graduates and classmates till their final day of education. After college, both went separate ways. Vikalp set up a new venture in software development. Gaurav turned towards job in mechanical sector. Both had their own mind sets at the time. Vikalp wanted a better market understanding, so according to him, the best way to do that was by being in the market.
RippledMe Founders – Vikalp(L) & Gaurav(R)
Gaurav on the other hand wanted to learn more about actual work flow in industry. After about 18 months, with different experiences under their belly, they teamed up again for a new venture, bringing their unpolished expertise and little experience in a joint team effort. Vikalp having been in business knew better what mistakes to avoid for the new venture and the way forward. Gaurav having been in service knew how to manage the operations and build a composite, self-sustaining teams.
Q. What has RippledMe set out to become ?
A. We want to be the go to name for Digital Marketing In India.
Q. Have you received any institutional funding ?
A. The company is bootstrapped. No outside investment or bank loan has been availed. We might look into external funding at later point in time. Our priority is growth, growth & growth 🙂
Q. How has been the overall response to RippledMe
A. The response has been encouraging. We believe that if we provide exceptional service, our clients will become our promoters and advertisers themselves. They’ll recommend us to others and word-of-mouth, no matter how small, but is still the most influential and believable source of marketing. Google employed it, so did One Plus One.
We are trying to be on the similar guidelines. First year was tough but no business is easy from the word go. We streamlined our processes, eradicated bottlenecks, trained unpolished talents and now are more hungry than ever.
Team RippledMe
Q. Can you guide our readers to some good resources on Online Marketing, Social Media?
Well, there is tons of information available freely on the internet. We, at RippledMe have an up-to-date blog on Social Media, Mobile Advertising, Online Marketing etc. They can refer & subscribe to RippledMe Blog here
Q. What is future road-map of RippledMe
A. With base built on new ventures, businesses and medium scaled prospects, we want to reach out to the already established brands and show it to them how they are being conned by digital marketing big shots.
Also, we want to develop a bigger base of trained talent pool. People who are apt in creative designing, eye-popping campaigns, analytics, research, communications etc. For this we plan to start short digital marketing courses in tier II and tier III cities so that youth can take advantage of this boom and can make Digital India a reality.
Q. Your thoughts on Digital India, Startup India and other initiatives taken by the government?
A. To keep it very simple, these are the best initiatives announced by the government. Driving License, PAN Card and other documents can now be safely stored on the DigiLocker Cloud. Startup India is an excellent initiative by PM Modi to boost entrepreneurship in India since entrepreneurs are the one’s that would shape India’s future 🙂
RippledMe’s story is indeed a story of Blood, Sweat & Perseverance which is what startup is all about !! If you are a startup looking for Digital Marketing services, do have a look at RippledMe a shot.
If you have any questions about RippledMe or have any questions for Vikalp, please leave them in the comments section…
IBM in association with Venturesity, is conducting a first of its kind Career Challenge for students. The initiative was launched across many leading educational institutions in India in partnership with Venturesity and IBM India’s University Relations team.
Online registrations started on July 15, 2016 and conclude with a finale that will be held across cities in the first week of October, 2016. So far close to 11,800 students across India have registered for this online challenge.
Most engineering graduates in India are considered unemployable in their domain due to the lack of market-relevant skill sets. With a view to bridge the skills gap in emerging technology areas, engineering students across India can register to be a part of engaging workshops in the areas of mobile app development, cognitive computing including IBM’s Watson technology and data analytics.
The workshops will be held in 8 regions throughout India for a total of 24 workshops. The tutorials focus on training include interactive workshops on IBM’s Bluemix Cloud Platform as- a- service (PaaS) that will enhance their practical skills. Following the workshops, students will be invited to take part in a Hackathon where they will develop innovative apps using these emerging technologies.
According to Mona Bharadwaj, Senior Manager, Strategic Initiatives, University Relations, IBM India/South Asia
The main focus of this initiative is to help make students industry ready, therefore more employable and to serve as an open platform enabling hidden talent across the country to have the opportunity to be spotted. If these preliminary sessions are any indication, the goals are already being met.
This initiative is a great way for companies to introduce themselves and their technologies to the student community. It also helps them to build a rapport with the community before visiting campuses for recruitment purposes and drives.
DibakarBala, a participant from one of the workshops, says that this was the first time he was given the opportunity to train for a hackathon and that he was really thankful to both IBM and Venturesity. He said that this has helped him overcome his fear of participating in hackathons since he felt that he was not as skillful as the other coders. He also feels that his experience in the hack camp will stand him in good stead.
Before attending the workshops, students will be required to take part in a small online quiz that will test their preparedness. Over 11, 800 students have already cleared this preliminary challenge. Six workshops have already been conducted over the weekend of 27th and 28th August, 2016, with over 1600 students attending the same. The workshops were mentored by industry experts and experts from IBM.
At the end of the challenge, participants get to win prizes and stand a chance to have their resumes reviewed by IBM India’s recruitment team for potential placement interviews and internships.
About Venturesity
Venturesity is a peer learning and challenge platform where companies can discover top talent through challenges. Challenges from Venturesity are in the form of Hackathons, Codes sprints, Code jams and Online Contests. They also host workshops, Learn-ups, and other learning resources to help students get through these challenge. For more information, please visit VentureSity
Since the turn of the century have seen unprecedented change to the way organizations and their customers do their business. And the old saying ‘evolve or die’ has never been so apt. Companies of all shapes and sizes now face the mission critical and constant of adapting new technology to improve their efficiency and productivity. Below are some of the more important trends we think you need to embrace in order to future-proof your business, and stay ahead of the field as this chaotic century continues apace!
This article is contributed by Murali Urs, Country Manager of Barracuda Networks Our/We in the article refers to Barracuda Networks
Social Media
The rise of social media and its impact on how businesses interact with their customers has been one of the most seismic shifts in recent years. The numbers say it all; while a Times Square signage advertising can expect nearly 1.5 million impressions each day, Facebook had 1.71 billion monthly active users!
Increasingly, people expect to be able to interact with your business publicly, in real-time. Social media represents an amazing opportunity to reach more people, promote your business, deliver outstanding customer service, and resolve consumer grievances to minimize churn.
Our top tips for dealing with the social craze are:
1. Ensure you have a well-branded presence on Facebook and Twitter.
2.Create a social media calendar so you can plan your content output and campaigns in advance
3. Monitor the channels regularly and make sure you respond to all comments and messages- good and bad!
Responsive Design
Another earth-shattering development over recent years has been the staggering growth of mobile devices. Whereas back in Y2K you’d be most likely to use your phone purely for calling and texting (with the occasional game of Snake thrown in…) we now use mobile devices everywhere, and for pretty much everything. Invariably, customers now expect a truly consistent experience, whichever device they use to reach your business.
That’s why it’s absolutely vital to ensure that you’re using responsive design on your website. Responsive Design just means that your website recognizes which device a viewer is using and displays an optimized version for that device.
Go Paperless
Going paperless is not only an amazing thing to do for the environment, it can make a difference to your bottom line. The average employee prints an astonishing 10,000 sheets of paper every year which is an unnecessary expense you could surely do without!
Going paperless is also a great way to streamline your processes and manage projects more efficiently. Cutting down on the amount of paper in your business ensures important decisions and processes are no longer informed by flimsy scraps of paper and manual spreadsheets- while providing the peace of mind that your important documents are securely backed up and protected.
File Storage
The days of huge filing cabinets jamming up your office space are surely a thing of the past! There are too many advantages to mention when it comes to cloud storage. It’s inexpensive, saving you the expense of costly backups, and, since your data is encrypted, it’s infinitely more secure. It is also easy for the relevant people to gain access, great for collaboration and of course-saves your physical space.
With such a wide range of affordable options available, it seems crazy that businesses continue to run the risk of losing precious documents as a result of fire or flood.
Security
A lot of things have changed over the years, but unfortunately cyber threats have been one, unwelcome constant. Security techniques have certainly evolved, but then, so have the risks. It’s absolutely vital that you take precautions to keep your business safe.
According to a report by PWC, in 2015, there were 38 percent more security incidents detected than in 2014, causing catastrophic financial damage. In 2015, companies saw an average of 160 successful cyber attacks per week, more than three times the 2010 average of 50 per week, according to a report by the Heritage Foundation.
There are a number of things to consider to ensure you are protected, from firewalls, to anti-virus scans, and encryption of your sensitive data. Success often boils down to planning; how are you meeting the threats that are ‘out there’ and do you have a contingency plan to put into action if the worst happens-an early response can hugely mitigate the impact of an attack!
eSignatures
As technology has soared over recent years, many processes have been simplified and streamlined. But, bizarrely, the act of getting a document signed up is as sluggish and inefficient as ever, with businesses still relying on archaic methods to get the job done.
Using eSignatures, you can forget about the printing, signing, scanning, mailing and above all -Waiting, associated with the old-fashioned techniques. eSignatures are legally binding, just like real signatures, and they allow your staff, clients and partners to sign documents digitally (across multiple devices) and have them back to you in a matter of minutes.
PNG Jewellers celebrated Dajikaka Gadgil’s 102nd Birth anniversary by launching its new app. The PNG app was launched by Mr. Girish Bapat – Cabinet minister & Guardian Minister of Pune on the occasion of Think Pure awards.
The latest PNG app will update customers on latest gold prices, Gold investment schemes & discounts, loyalty points, locate stores and update customers on the status of their order. The app will serve as a boon to customers to get all updates without having to call time and again to the customer care to respond for relevant info. Basically it’s an extended customer service app so that customer don’t have to call everytime or wait for customer care to respond for relevant info.
On this occasion, Saurabh Gadgil C.M.D. P.N.G. Jewellers stated
Customers have to call the store and check on latest gold rates, status of their order, etc. Many a times we are unable to respond to everyone’s queries, hence we thought of launching a new app that will enable everyone to check multiple things through the touch of a button. Nowadays everyone has access to Internet, additionally customers can also view a wide range of jewellery available at their nearest store. Also it will help them to get contact and store address of their nearest stores.
In continuation to PNG Jewellers dedicated commitment towards bettering its customer service experience, PNG App has been launched for its discerning and loyal customers. PNG App has been developed out of sheer and genuine necessity for getting real time , relevant information pertaining to – knowing ones product order status, accumulated loyalty points, active jewellery schemes, Precious metal rates, etc. It also gives the convenience of locating the stores and seamlessly connecting to the PNG e-store shopping site. Its a pioneering initiative taken by PNG Jewellers and coming a step closer in giving that omni experience of jewellery shopping.
About PNG Jewellers Pvt. Ltd
PNG Jewellers is one of the most reputed jewellers with 184 years of excellence in creativity and their warm service for customers across the world that have helped a woman discover her beauty. Under the leadership of Mr. Saurabh Gadgil a strong visionary, PNG Jewellers Pvt Ltd is creating a brand that caters to the taste of modern Indian women.
DigitalOcean, the cloud for developers released High Memory Droplets (cloud servers) to continue to support more advanced workloads and applications at scale. While DigitalOcean’s standard Droplets make it easy for developers to deploy a healthy balance of RAM, CPU and local SSD-based storage, High Memory Droplets enable developers and businesses with specific use cases, typically running large-scale databases or distributed in-memory caches that require more RAM such as MongoDB, Cassandra and Redis.
This is another example of the company’s focus on ensuring developers and businesses can seamlessly launch, scale, and manage any size production application.
The next generation of applications need high memory to be intensely high performance, predictive and provide an exceptional user experience. In-memory, data structure platforms such as Redis can then take advantage of the available DRAM to meet a diverse set of processing and analytical needs, with the simplest possible developer experience.
We are constantly evaluating the service options we provide our customers to ensure they are getting the most value from DigitalOcean. By offering High Memory Droplets, developers now have an optimal solution for larger, high-performance databases that demand aggressive memory caching for data file management. High Memory Droplets also allow for scaling up vertically versus horizontally.
DigitalOcean is launching five new High Memory Droplets plans that start at $120 per month or $0.18 per hour and scale from 16GB to 224GB of RAM while maintaining an appropriate amount of local storage and CPU. The per-gigabyte cost of RAM is 25% less than DigitalOcean’s standard Droplet plans. High Memory Droplets are the first optimized Droplet type that DigitalOcean has released.
To learn more about DigitalOcean’s High Memory Droplet plans, please go here
About DigitalOcean
DigitalOcean is a cloud infrastructure provider focused on simplifying web infrastructure for software developers. The company is headquartered in New York City with data-centers throughout the world. For more information, please visit DigitalOcean
