A new eight-nation APAC study conducted by Boston Consulting Group [BCG] shows that spending on the public cloud and related services is growing at a compound annual rate of 25%. This is much faster than similar growth across the US and Western Europe and points to the region’s readiness to invest in cloud initiatives that are accelerating the pace of innovation, growth, and customer engagement.

Titled ‘Businesses in Asia-Pacific Can Find Resilience and Growth in the Cloud‘, the study notes that capturing the full potential of the cloud may help companies successfully navigate through the current and post-COVID-19 environment.

The April 2020 BCG study was developed in collaboration with Amazon Web Services [AWS] and covers Australia, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. It shows that companies in these countries are dedicating an average of roughly 5% of their IT budgets to cloud expenditures, a figure that is expected to double by 2023.

The study finds that growth in the public cloud could have a positive economic impact of more than $450 billion across the region. It highlights the case of Australian Airways, which saved $40 million per year in fuel costs by using cloud-based analytics to improve thousands of flight routes.

Luc Grimond, MD at BCG, said

One of the main benefits of cloud computing is access to innovation and agility. We are seeing in the current COVID-19 crisis that more companies are shifting workers to virtual environments and employing end-user computing, using the cloud to quickly roll out essential collaboration tools.

Cloud investments will have longer-term benefits as well, such as risk reduction, the ability to provide new and better services to business stakeholders, and improved personalization of product and service offerings.

Rajiv Gupta, Managing Partner and Senior Partner, said

Across APAC region, spending on the public cloud and related services is growing at a CAGR of 25%, much faster than in the US and Western Europe. It is interesting to note that while variabilization of cost [against the fixed cost of data centres] has been a traditional driver of cloud adoption by companies, a large majority of respondents we surveyed in APAC region said that they are pursuing the cloud as a way to propel growth.

We are seeing in the current COVID-19 crisis that more Indian companies are shifting workers to virtual environments and employing end-user computing, using the cloud to quickly roll out essential collaboration tools and provide access to data. Our study also found that growth in the public cloud could contribute to a total economic impact of more than US$450 billion across six major markets in APAC [Australia, India, Indonesia, Japan, Singapore, and South Korea] from 2019 through 2023.

Barriers to Greater Growth

But there are also factors contributing to delayed adoption and, as a consequence, forcing some companies to maintain on-premises legacy infrastructures rather than migrating to the cloud. Chief among these is the fact that many businesses in the region demonstrate weak alignment between business and IT, despite many business leaders understanding the potential of cloud computing, such as the ability to deploy new services 30%~60% faster.

Furthermore, few companies outside of the financial services and industrial goods industries have adapted their monitoring, procurement, risk practices, and governance to the cloud. Without a coherent cloud-operating model, these companies struggle to integrate cloud capabilities in their core business and deliver sustainable outcomes. They are also burdened by a lack of IT professionals with deep experience in engineering and coding, and who are able to design and implement business-focused use cases that demonstrate the value of cloud computing.

Ultimately, companies that are able to integrate cloud computing into their technology initiatives can unlock strategic value in ways that go well beyond cost savings to speed innovation, find new ways to engage with end users, and grow their bottom lines. The BCG study provides valuable insight into the advantages of cloud computing, outlining the six steps companies can take to adopt the cloud more quickly and increase return on their IT investments.

A copy of ‘Businesses in Asia-Pacific Can Find Resilience and Growth in the Cloud’ can be downloaded here.

Amidst this dreaded ongoing pandemic, UBON, brings yet another ‘first’ and elite product viz. protective gear thereby expanding and diversifying its product line. The brand has set up a new facility to manufacture preventive face shields for the healthcare and medical fraternity to fight the Coronavirus.

This face shield is a multi-functional, full transparent screen cover which protects eyes, nose and mouth from the virus. The newly launched UBON face shield can be worn concurrently with other face PPE like masks for better protection and hence, is convenient to wear without any discomfort.

This 180-degree face isolation protection shield also has adjustable elastic headband which is very convenient and covers the full face from the front as well as sides in order to prevent virus from invading.

This medical face shield from the house of UBON has premium quality optical visors for prolonged usage which acts as a perfect shield to protect from the virus. This face shield comes in a superior and comfortable fit sizes for all compared to other shields available. This protective gear also helps to block the droplet and the aerosol particles with special anti fog material which is used in this face shield.

Commenting on the launch of this new protective face shield, Mandeep Arora, Co-Founder, UBON said

The whole world is suffering from COVID-19 pandemic which has affected many people worldwide. We are proud to announce that apart from manufacturing premium consumer tech products, our team is now focused and fully geared to manufacture and launch this shield to serve our nation during this difficult phase. At UBON, we believe that it is our utmost responsibility to contribute to all corona warriors who are actually fighting to prevent us from this pandemic.

The shield is developed considering the growing demand of the protective gears to fight the COVID-19. This newly launched protective face shield is cost-effective and can be used multiple-times. UBON Face Shield is priced at INR 399 and available in Delhi.

Nutanix has announced a partnership with Udacity, the global online learning platform, resulting in a new Hybrid Cloud Nanodegree program. This program will enhance learning opportunities in the emerging cloud technologies market that are essential for organizations to upscale their IT infrastructure. As part of the collaboration, Nutanix will also sponsor 5,000 scholarships to help IT professionals advance their knowledge with this initiative.

As more services move to the cloud, IT teams require the knowledge and expertise it takes to properly manage these infrastructures that increasingly stretch across on-premises and public cloud in a hybrid model. Although hybrid cloud technology continues to grow and evolve, educational opportunities in this field remain at a standstill. In Nutanix’s recent Enterprise Cloud Index survey, 85% of respondents said that hybrid cloud is the ideal operating model. However, 32% of respondents reported a lack of in-house hybrid cloud skills.

To fill this educational gap, Udacity and Nutanix have collaborated closely to develop a Nano-degree program that will advance the knowledge of seasoned IT professionals. To strengthen professional development in this space, the Nano-degree program will cover modern private cloud infrastructure and the design of hybrid application deployment. Ideal students are those managing traditional business applications, legacy infrastructure, or cloud-native applications on public cloud infrastructure.

Wendy M. Pfeiffer, CIO at Nutanix, said

One of our primary goals at Nutanix is to ensure that cloud technology professionals continue to stay on the cusp of innovation in this developing field. We are excited to have worked closely with Udacity to develop the Hybrid Cloud Nano-degree program, and now open access to thousands of leading cloud professionals through this scholarship program.

To ensure all participants looking to increase their education within the cloud environment have an opportunity to do so, Udacity is opening applications to the Nutanix Hybrid Cloud Scholarship program. For the first phase of the scholarship program, Udacity will select 5,000 applicants to participate in the Hybrid Cloud Fundamentals course. From those 5,000 students, 500 high-performing students will be awarded a full scholarship to the Hybrid Cloud Nano-degree program.

Gabe Dalporto, CEO, Udacity, said

At Udacity, we strive to empower professionals with the most demanded, forward-looking skills in their fields. We are delighted to team up with Nutanix, a pioneer and leader in the cloud computing field, to create the new, cutting-edge Hybrid Cloud Nano-degree program.

The Hybrid Cloud Nano-degree program will focus on four subject areas

• Modern Private Cloud Infrastructure – Learn to configure and manage a hyper-converged infrastructure cluster, providing a scalable, distributed storage, network, and compute fabric for virtual machines and advanced services.
• Hybrid Cloud Application Design – Learn about the evolution of hybrid cloud workload management and design for multiple infrastructures.
• Automating Private Cloud – Create a scalable web application and life cycle operational model with governance to enable on-demand, self-service workloads on-prem with fiscal oversight and quotas.
• Designing Hybrid Cloud Infrastructure – Learn public cloud concepts, manage hybrid workloads, and drive to global load balancing of workloads.

More information on the Hybrid Cloud Nano-degree and Scholarship program is available here.

The chat bot is created to help address all the queries around COVID-19 outbreak and is developed and implemented by Jio Haptik Technologies Limited, one of the world’s largest conversational AI platforms and a subsidiary of Reliance Industries Limited [RIL].

One can access the chatbot by sending a Whatsapp message to the number +91 9013151515. The idea is to have the right information at the touch of a button while preventing the spread of this pandemic across the country by following basic hygiene practices.

This Chatbot has been developed by Jio Haptik for free of cost, and updated on real time, as per instructions from NeGD and MyGov [both under MEITY].

The real time updates will curb circulation of false information that can cause mass hysteria while educating the population about the present scenario. Equipped with verified data from the Ministry of Health, the chatbot can resolve FAQs pertaining to the novel coronavirus. This includes necessary precautionary measures, symptoms, correct & incorrect facts, helpline numbers, affected cases in the region, Government advisories [including travel], informational videos, etc.

Jio has announced eSIM service support on the recently launched Motorola Razr, which is the first-ever clam-shell style foldable display smartphone in the world.

Jio’s eSIM service allows Motorola Razr users to make and receive calls, use data and applications on the Jio network, without a physical SIM card. All Jio prepaid and postpaid customers can use the service at no additional cost. eSIM enables seamless device setup experience, without the need to insert or replace a physical SIM card.

Motorola Razr users on the Jio network will get

• An additional 1-year of unlimited services absolutely free-of-cost
• Double data benefits when recharging with the Jio Rs.4999/- annual plan [Get 350 + 350 GB High speed data without any daily capping + another year of unlimited voice and 700 GB data. This amounts to a saving of Rs. 14,997/-]

The iconic Motorola Razr is available in Black Noir colour variant for pre-booking, starting 16th March and will go on sale starting 2nd April 2020 at Reliance Digital at a remarkable price of Rs. 1,24,999

Amid the worsening situation due to COVID-19, Amdocs has taken a major step to allow all its employees to work from home, until the health situations are under control. To support the employees work remotely, Amdocs has launched a platform – Virtually Together website.

This will provide a wide range of solutions for employees, like:

• Remote Work Solutions – Support development teams working from home and solutions for virtual teamwork, including remote management, advanced multi-participant video conferencing and real-time content sharing, as well as a variety of digital and collaborative learning platforms. managers training dedicated to addressing the challenges of managing employees at times of crisis and uncertainty.
• Well-being Solutions – A variety of stress-reducing tools and content to deal with the unknown, including a series of videos and virtual lessons, as well as daily exercises that incorporate positive thinking, health tips, mindfulness, nutrition and ideas for raising the mood.
• Solutions for Parents – A digital kit including activities for and with children, including remote programming classes, a variety of home experiments and artwork ideas, special meditation exercises, cooking, baking and other activities. These are not easy times: the need to stay home for long days, the change in routine, the need to cancel plans, maybe even miss important events, take their toll.

Staying away from family and friends can cause a feeling of loneliness. The solutions we have incorporated into Virtually Together can help our employees stay part of the corporate community while maintaining a work routine and a healthy body and mind.

Talking about this, Shucky Sheffer, Amdocs President & CEO, said

In view of the coronavirus outbreak…we are evaluating our guidelines to determine how to best adjust our working routines in the office to the new evolving reality, while keeping our mind on our employees’ health and safety and our business continuity.

For more details refer this link.

Enterprise Cloud OS leader, Nutanix is providing an enhanced free trial of its Frame, Desktop as a Service [DaaS] solution, to businesses across Asia – as they struggle with declining productivity due to the inability of staff to make it to the office.

The announcement came as businesses across the region face further restrictions on staff travel and congregation in response to the continuing COVID-19 outbreak.

Nutanix Frame is a cloud-based solution providing a virtual desktop. It provides flexibility, safety, security and access without relying on, nor consuming, any internal hardware. There is no doubt cloud technology has helped with business continuity. The adoption of public, private and hybrid cloud services has meant that the access to, and availability of, critical data has been maintained.

At the same time, the transition from hardware-based to software defined infrastructure has meant that physical access to data-centres is no longer required and central operations can be handled remotely or by a skeleton staff. Thus, the heart of many organisations has continued pumping.

As Frame is cloud-based, virtual work-spaces for individuals, teams, customers, and partners can usually be up and running within an hour. Isolated staff can then have safe and secure access to any application simply from their home web browser, with no software download or upgrade required.

But, the true benefit for the enterprise is that DaaS provides mobility and flexibility for personnel without compromising business security, productivity or performance.  It lets staff work from anywhere, on any device with secure and complete access to their work desktop, files and network.

Matt Young, Head of Asia Pacific and Japan at Nutanix, said

We are trying to play our part in making sure Asia’s businesses and economies keep moving during these unpredictable times. The safety and security of staff remains the primary concern, but we can help keep them active, engaged and productive through easily available and accessible software.

The Nutanix offer will see the company provide Asia businesses with a free 30-day trial for unlimited users.

Asia plays a critical role as the world’s economic engine and there is a great deal of local, national and international pressure on the region’s businesses. So, Nutanix is looking to ensure they have access to the latest technology to help them navigate this unprecedented time.