Category: Digital

KYC

Centralized KYC System: Yet a dream in India!

June 13, 2019

The centralised KYC, designed to reduce the burden of producing KYC documents and getting verified every time when the customer creates a new relationship with a financial entity; has been under the scanner due to its high costs and hybrid model of physical + digital verification . Additionally, data protection concerns of the banks and other institutes has never allowed it to take the growth curve, it was expected to. However, the advantages offered by the centralised database can never be denied.With CKYCR a number of risks can get mitigated as unlike Aadhaar (which offered similar KYC functionality), the CKYCR does not include biometric information, which reduces potential data protection risks. What needs to be acknowledged here is that CKYCR was meant to be interoperable without sensitive personal information sharing. It falls under the rules of data protection framed under the Information Technology Act and the proposed data protection law provided that data collected from a customer can only be used for the purpose to which the customer consented to. Nonetheless, large banks remain wary about making the public database accessible since they will be the biggest contributor of data and are also fixated on security concerns and misuse of data by small FinTech’s or regulators –that can threaten the reputation of the bank providing the data. While the industry players/FinTechs are still juggling with different options as an alternative of paper-based KYC verification; a number of brands are banking on these innovations. Tata Mutual Fund has launched “video KYC” as a digital solution to KYC verification. Evidently, video solution comes as one of the most secure, efficient and accurate form of verification that caters to most of the concerns stated above. Open banking is already in use as a collaborative model in which banking data is shared through APIs between two or more unaffiliated parties. APIs have been used for decades, particularly in the United States, to enable personal financial management software, to present billing detail at bank websites, and to connect developers to payments networks like Visa and Mastercard. To date, in India however, these connections have been used primarily to share information rather than to transfer money. Given the little justification for repeating the same KYC procedure across different financial products and the time and cost this entails –dedicated API as developed by NCPI could instead be used for the benefit of investors. Answer comes in the form of DigiLocker as well. It can leverage synergies towards a better KYC and can also be used beyond identity-related documents. Many banks have already started using it for various purposes, including reviewing documents for loan applications. Recently, ICICI Bank has integrated its retail internet banking platform with DigiLocker. In a recent event at MCCI Fintech Forum 2019, Shri Deepak Kumar, CGM-In-Charge, Department of Information Technology, Reserve Bank of India said, “As a technologist, I have no doubt that options beyond Aadhaar based KYC has any limitations in execution. However, compliance issues still remains a key challenge. The sooner it gets solved, the better it is”. As banks continue to refrain from sharing KYC data in the absence of mutual benefits the Government has allowed non-banking firms to verify customer data through offline Aadhaar verification, which can be done by the use of KYC XML or QR code. Though the process is still evolving, the year 2019 can be a deciding one. Keep your eyes open!

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Why API Integration Is A Must For Digital Banking Growth In 2019

May 30, 2019

The banking industry is currently overwhelmed by technological disruptions and heightened customer expectations, with non-traditional players such as Facebook, PayPal, Google, and others quickly usurping roles previously played by banks. Non-traditional players have access to cutting-edge technology, which results in excellent user experience (UX) and innovative financial solutions. Customer expectations cannot be met by traditional banks which restrict themselves to digital solutions such as mobile apps or 24/7 customer service. However, banks can choose to be savvy and make the right choice of opening up their APIs to these third-party products and applications. According to one survey, 55% of financial institutions believe that API integration is critical to business strategy. Banks need to collaborate with newer and non-traditional players and open up their APIs in order to remain competitive and witness growth. API integration is an urgent need Behavioral changes and customer preferences have vastly changed over the years, with millennials and Generation Z expecting more from their banks than older users. Providing excellent customer service and a great mobile application are simply not enough anymore, because of the innovative disruptions initiated by non-traditional players. According to a report published by Intelligent Finance, Baby Boomers (or those born between 1946 and 1964) considered poor face-to-face customer service as a major determinant to exit a bank, while millennials revealed they would exit a bank not only if they disliked its smartphone app but also if it suffered from security breaches. Younger customers are also likely to quit a bank if they are unable to use their bank accounts on third-party applications and products. This is a gap that non-traditional players have capitalized on, and is an existential threat to traditional banks. People aged between 18 and 34 are two times likelier than older customers to use mobile payments and P2P lending products. In addition, the same demographic group prefers to receive constant updates via preferred channels such as text message, app notifications, etc. As Millennials grow older and more affluent, and as Generation Z takes the place of the millennials, the importance of digital banks providing a holistic financial ecosystem consisting of third party products and services used by customers become more apparent. Here are some successful examples of API integration: People with financial difficulties in the USA have started to use P2P lending tools such as Earnin and PayActive. It is now possible to consolidate debt too, thanks to debt aggregators. Marcus from Goldman Sachs and SoFi are often cited as examples for non-traditional lenders. Often, these tools are integrated with e-commerce sites or food delivery apps so that people can purchase what they need on credit, bypassing banking lending rules. Credit unions are a non-traditional alternative to bank loans. Walmart MoneyCenters are extremely popular today because they offer a borrowing alternative to people with poor credit histories. If banks integrate their data with these products, customers can continue to make payments for P2P loans without canceling their accounts. One of the best examples of API integration is when PayPal decided to integrate its API with Siri. iPhone users can send and receive money via PayPal by speaking to Siri. Wave is an invoicing and accounting software used by businesses and individuals. Wave uses banking APIs to help users control all their business finances in a single place. It collects as much data as possible from various sources and even markets loans provided by OnDeck on its platform to eligible users. Larger banks have started to offer data aggregation services to their customers. For instance, HSBC recently launched its Connected Money app, on which customers can view their account details in 21 other banks without ever leaving HSBC’s application. Facebook Messenger payments allow Facebook users to transfer money to their friends without ever having to leave the network. Facebook currently has integrated the APIs of PayPal, Stripe, Visa, MasterCard, American Express and others. If traditional banks do not understand the metamorphosis that has already taken place, they stand to lose more of their existing and future customers to non-traditional players. Specific reasons for API integration In order to survive technological disruption, banks need to engage in business model reinvention, which includes open banking and partnering with the newer third-party apps and products. While the producer market consists of banks and other financial enterprises that create products and services, customers can access these products and services on third-party applications, websites and or use voice control. Capitalizing on these distribution channels by opening up APIs is very important for banks survival. E-commerce and on-demand services such as Uber and Airbnb have spurred a customer-centric demand for always-on banking Internet of Things (IoT) enabled devices have led to a growing need for smart solutions and banking services available on intelligent devices Omni-channel banking experience requires data exchange between apps, and customers take this facility for granted now What kind of apps need integration? New services and applications that need API integrations with banking applications include: Payments, clearing and settlement services Mobile and web-based payment applications Digital currencies (DCs), Blockchain and Distributed Ledgers Deposits, lending, and capital raising services Crowdfunding Market provisioning services such as smart contracts and e-aggregators Emerging technologies such as Big Data, cloud computing, Artificial Intelligence (AI) and robotics (Robo-advice) Electronic trading and insurance API Integration can prove to be challenging If you thought your in-house developers can release an API along with the application, you will be disappointed to learn that in 2019, it is a very complex situation. Developing an integration workflow consumes the most amount of time during API Integration, and requires special skills. Event Driven Integration is far more complex than simple API integration, as it needs to provide real-time status updates to customers. Real-time status updates are crucial in today’s financial market. APIs are not always uniform and there are no industry standards at the moment. 70% of the developers work with REST APIs, which makes it a wise choice for API Integration. However, REST APIs will not work for all kinds of applications and

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When Technology Met Traditional Banking

April 3, 2019

Digitization has transformed and challenged every traditional business. Therefore, New Age Banking is nothing but digitization of traditional banking procedures. That means, now you can skip those long queues and can be click dependent! During the course of digitization in India, team Indus Net Technologies have played a predominant role in digitizing products and services for several financial organizations, allowing them to be accessible 24X7 for client servicing and acquiring new businesses. Today, we have a wide plethora of digital products and services and this article takes you through the process of digitization in banking. Online Lending Traditional lending always drove off customers, owing to the cumbersome procedures. However, financial institutions identify lending to be an effective revenue channel for which, banks are also putting effort to minimize the time and effort for a customer to avail loan or cards. Therefore, online lending eases customers to avail of the lending services in no time. Following points brush through the Unique Selling Points (USP) which are used by banks for lending Pre-approved personal loans Paperless transaction Seamless and short online journey Instant disbursal The digital lending process thus simplified the complications of lending and removes the human resources thereby helping banks to maximize their profit. Use case: IndusInd Bank provides pre-approved loans to their customers from their portal where ETB users can log in and get lending’s instantly if eligible. They also have a portal for providing Loan Against Securities and services to provide Consumer Durable Loans. FOREX Foreign currency exchange is something that was served by only aggregators and offline shops till recent times. Digitization of foreign currency exchange is one of the hottest trends sweeping the industry. “Multi-currency Travel Card” is another product in their bouquet. Today, the complete act of end-to-end foreign currency exchange has become hassle-free. And that’s what technology is meant to be! Following USPs are used by banks for foreign currency exchange Hassle-free onboarding Paperless transaction Complete online journey Airport/Kiosk based delivery With respect to the product “Multi-Currency Travel Card” banks today, eased the seamless card buying and reloading process, allowing the customer to opt for the product over cash. Security is another aspect that allows the customer to choose “Multi-currency Travel Card” as their travel buddy. Following USPs are used by banks for channelling customers for “Multi-Currency Travel Card”. Hassle-free reloading Encashment of leftover currency Currency conversion Door Step delivery Airport/Kiosk based delivery & reload Use case: IndusInd Bank has facilitated a dedicated portal for providing existing and new customers with foreign currency exchange, purchase and reloading Multi-Currency Travel Card. The best part about digitization is the end-to-end delivery of the service. That means not just the product became handy, but also the delivery process! Banking Services Banking services is a mandate for the bank customer to visit a branch of a bank. Owing to ease off the ‘request service’ procedure and providing a response to the request, banks are attaining the requests via their service request digital platforms. Different digital platforms are created by banks via web and mobile platforms which allows customers to login with their information and place their service request. The information in turn is processed digitally by the banks and is implemented as per request. USP’s for digital service request processing are Hassle-free requesting placement Less cost of the request processing Customer satisfaction WHAT’S IN STORE FOR TRADITIONAL BANKING’S FATE? Looking forward, digitization is gradually changing the course of human interaction with the bank with respect to our requirements. Though the expectation from a bank remains the same the interaction procedure and channels would completely transform. That way, our future is pretty clear when technology will replace traditional bank visits for whatsoever purpose.   Following transformation in traditional banking could be predicted  Increase in customer on-boarding via the mobile medium Digitization of the products and processes Targeting Non-Banking Financial Company (NBFC) level customers Less investment in process and more investment in digitization

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outstaff-outsourcing-case-study

Out-Staffing Vs. Outsourcing: Is There A Better Approach?

February 28, 2019

Outsourcing product development as a concept took off sometime during the 1990s when the digital revolution enabled client companies to waive off their software development projects to service providers who would then realize it internally. Primarily, the clients can choose a fixed cost per project which is agreed upon a mutually agreed deadline (Fixed Cost Project model). Otherwise, they can also hire developers from a staffing agency who would be managed by the client’s internal teams. Outsourcing is primarily associated with the Fixed Cost Project model, whereas out-staffing is associated with the Full-Time Equivalent model. Both the models have pros and cons, but the success of its implementation depends upon your project and staffing requirements. Here is a quick comparison between the outsourcing and out-staffing models. What’s outsourcing all about? In an outsourcing scenario, a particular project (e.g. Software development) is dished out to a service provider, who remains responsible for execution and delivery. The service provider is responsible for the successful completion of only the project. The provider manages the end to end execution, and can also hire talent if required. Apart from that, the client doesn’t need to take any added responsibility to complete it. This allows the client to focus on core business activities and delegate specific project(s) to the chosen service provider(s). Advantages Talent Acquisition responsibilities are taken care of by the service provider. Eliminates overhead costs associated with the completion of the project. A client does not have to manage the project or the service provider’s team. Disadvantages Client loses quality control of the project. Communication with the development team is not direct and lucid. Pain points may not be communicated with the offshore team accurately. Costs can soar if additional projects are added along the way. Case study: A manufacturing company based in New York City intended to launch a mobile application to manage its field staff. The company outsourced the project to a client based in India. While the quality of the application was excellent, the company realized that it needed IoT sensor integration as well. The service provider agreed, but this resulted in additional fees to the client. What went wrong? This scenario could have been avoided through transparent and ease of communication between the client and the service provider. Lesson: The outsourcing model is great for simple single one-off projects. With more complex projects on the sleeves, a more flexible model is required. How is out-staffing different from outsourcing? In an out-staffing model, remote workers who are employed by another company are recruited temporarily to perform certain tasks. The external agency acts as the employer of the remote team and is responsible for their salaries, bonuses, and equipment etc. The client provides and manages the assignment directly. This is a great model to choose when the client company has begun a project and requires specific assistance from professionals with certain skills that are not available in-house. Herein, lies the advantage because you can hire a top level talent for a fraction of the full-time hire.  Additionally, the client company’s managers oversee project management and completion. Advantages This model is perfect for ongoing projects. Specific skills that are required only for a short duration could be hired based on specific projects. Direct access and control of remote workers either onsite or offshore. Disadvantages Client bears the management responsibilities. Communication channels need to be of high quality and transparent. Deliverables are the client’s onus. Case study: A San Francisco Bay Area software company required to execute Python-based projects. Unable to acquire in-house talents, they decide to hire two skilled Python developers from an out-staffing company. While the projects were completed in time satisfactorily, the company realized it needed to complete more projects in other newer technologies such as Kotlin. This resulted in the client having to hire more remote workers from a different out-staffing agency. What went wrong? Hiring multiple remote workers could have been avoided if the client company hired from the same agency and paid for the development time, rather than for the number of workers. The client also didn’t receive the necessary guidance. Lesson: Out-staffing model is suited for a large IT company that already has well-defined processes and management but is looking for specific skills temporarily. It is not suitable for companies with dynamic requirements. What a flexible model looks like? A flexible model combines the outsourcing model with out-staffing services and adds IT consultancy to the mix. Most outsourcing and out-staffing models fail because consulting is often ignored and the fact that project requirements change along the way is taken for granted. Software development and digital requirements are always dynamic and cherry picking projects and remote workers can both prove to be expensive. Dedicated hiring is a flexible and dynamic solution that erases constraints placed by traditional models such as outsourcing and out-staffing. It combines the advantages of traditional project outsourcing and remote workers with that of consultancy so that businesses only pay for skills used and services rendered. Most importantly, businesses do not have to squander temporal and financial resources on multiple project outsourcing and parallel remote hiring. Advantages of a flexible model As project requirements and skill demands can widely oscillate, a flexible model is leaner and cost-effective Such a model gives the client company access to developers, designers, digital marketing consultants, security experts, project managers, ScrumMasters, etc. It also stresses on the importance of an agile framework, which helps businesses to scale down or scale up depending on their evolving needs. Dedicated hiring can be understood as an amalgamation of the benefits of outsourcing and out-staffing models with added benefits of IT consultancy. This is a flexible model that allows businesses to manage projects the way they want while having access to a multi-disciplinary team of IT professionals and consultants. Key takeaways The traditional outsourcing model focuses on project completion by an external service provider Out-staffing model focuses on hiring remote workers to fill specific gaps temporarily Dedicated hiring addresses the pain points associated

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How To Hold A Sprint Meeting With Your Remote Team

January 29, 2019

While close to 71% of businesses choose Agile approaches to manage projects internally, the same methodology can be used to manage external teams as well. To begin with, it is important to choose a remote team that already has an agile framework in place. To educate them on Sprint meetings and how they are done would defeat the purpose of outsourcing work to an external agency. Assuming you are already working with an agile vendor, it only makes sense to manage your remote teams via Sprint meetings. In this article, let us take a look at how you can hold Sprint meetings with your remote team to enhance productivity. What is a Sprint meeting? A Sprint meeting is a quick and collaborative congregation of team members and is a crucial part of Scrum. Part of the Agile framework, Scrum helps you manage knowledge-based work efficiently. It gives you the power to track progress, address vulnerabilities, reduce workload and enhance productivity, all at once. The gist of Scrum philosophy is that quality trounces quantity and that employees are more productive when they work less. While Scrum-based strategies (and Sprint meetings) are often used in-house, Scrum-inspired management techniques help you remotely manage your offshore teams as well. Scrum is renowned for time-boxed iterations called Sprints Sprints consist of time-managed meetings spread across a month, fortnight or a week Progress is tracked daily via 15-minute stand-up meetings known as daily Scrums. Now, let us take a look at how you can start holding Sprint meetings with your offshore team in order to manage them better. Start with the Sprint planning meeting Make an agreement with your vendor to confine all work cycles to iterations or Sprints of 2 weeks. A month-long is a little too much and just a week would probably not give enough time for your team to complete tasks. Define the goal of each Sprint and work towards developing features of an application or tool that are most essential. As with all Sprint meetings, get your offshore team members to speak more than you will. Purists would advise that a manager should never speak and only the team member should. However, in the case of an offshore situation, this is not possible as you probably will conduct these meetings via video or web conferencing tools. Before you begin to hold your daily Scrum meetings, it is important to start with the Sprint Planning Meeting. Make a hierarchy of features and tasks that need to be prioritized for the product iteration. Product and Sprint backlogs can be managed effectively at the review stage. Here are a few things to consider before you begin your daily Sprint meetings with your offshore team: Define who the ScrumMaster is. The ScrumMaster facilitates the meeting and it is usually advisable to assign this role to someone who can regularly coordinate with an offshore team. Identify the purpose of each meeting and list everyone who will attend these congregations. Plan the Sprints well in advance and set KPIs to measure attainable and relevant goals. Ensure that all the participants have access to good project management tools such as Trello or Nozbe. It is also important to use Slack or another instant messenger which can be used across devices. Decide where the meetings will take place and ensure that your conferencing hardware and software tools are up to date before initiating meetings. Add items to a backlog and make sure that they can be completed within two weeks. While management expert Bob Sutton (Twitter) explains that “4 is the optimal size for a combat team as evidenced by U.S. Navy Seals”, products analytics company Amplitude suggests a growth team should have 5-10 members. If your offshore team has more members, break them up into smaller teams. Hold daily Scrum meetings The most crucial aspect of Scrum meetings is the daily 15-minute meeting with all team members involved. As offshore teams are located far away and you cannot be physically present to oversee project completion, daily Scrum meetings are a non-intrusive and effective way to quantify and measure your progress. Make a small and limited list of questions to ask your offshore team and ensure that the questions track the progress made the previous day, what needs to be done on that particular day, and what obstacles are preventing your offshore team from completing the tasks in hand. Aaron Bjork (Twitter), a group program manager at Microsoft’s Visual Studio Online often asks his team members“What does leadership make you do that is slowing you down”, in order to rectify managerial mistakes. Traditionally, all the team members stand up during the meeting and list what they accomplished during the previous day, what they plan to carry out on the day of the meeting, and the hurdles they currently face. As the meeting will most likely take place over a video or web conferencing tool, nobody has to stand up. Instead, work with the development team and your product manager to assign a random numerical order to each member so that they type/talk only when their turn arrives. Daily Scrum meetings help you to closely work with your offshore team and break barriers often associated with outsourced projects. A well-planned Scrum meeting will ensure that your offshore team communicates with you effectively on a daily basis. Here are a few things you need to do in order to make your daily meetings a success: Maintain a Sprint task list to keep track of completed and pending work Create a Sprint burndown chart to track the progress of your project List all possible obstacles and impediments that stop your offshore team from excelling. Fix those issues on priority Make sure the daily meetings take place at the same time on the same web conferencing or instant messaging tool. Allow everyone to speak without fear and identify vendor managers who seem to act like gatekeepers when you interact with offshore team members. Address this issue, if required. Richard Hackman (Harvard University), an

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Indus Net Technologies (INT.) Collects Its First Review on Clutch!

December 10, 2018

We offer digital solutions to our clients with passion, commitment, and care. We help clients expand their businesses digitally. Most importantly, we help clients save money by leveraging the power of the internet. Our digital services range from web development to digital marketing. In any area of our expertise, we want to ensure we provide our clients with the highest quality work. That’s why we joined Clutch, a B2B ratings and reviews platform that assesses the quality of our work. Through market research, Clutch is a platform that helps prospective buyers make an informed decision when selecting their next service provider. Clutch’s evaluation of a company’s market presence takes into account their social media presence, industry expertise, and, most importantly, former client projects. By having a profile on their site, we’re opening ourselves up to the Clutch team that will actually call and speak with our business partners to get a firsthand account of what it’s like working with us. We’re happy to announce that Indus Net Technologies (INT.) has ranked highly in Clutch’s analysis; we’re rated amongst the top mobile app development companies in 2018. While this is a great honour, we’re most proud of our client reviews, without which we never would have achieved this recognition. Here’s a glimpse of the first review we’ve collected on our Clutch profile since joining their site! We’re thankful to our former clients for providing these reviews of our work. Because of our high rankings on Clutch, we’re also featured on their sister website, The Manifest, as one of the top PHP developers in 2018. It’s been amazing getting the third-party recognition! In today’s digital world, businesses can’t afford to not have a functioning mobile app. Whatever your technology needs, whether it be a mobile app or a website, we want to provide you with the best technology services. Now that you’ve seen our favourable third-party reviews for yourself, don’t hesitate to reach out to us for your next digital project. We’re proud of our high rankings on Clutch and The Manifest, and we thank all those who have helped our company grow in these past years. We look forward to facing the challenges of the upcoming new year by continuing our award-winning services to new and ongoing clients.

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Power of Digital DNA

September 27, 2018

Making a Foray Internet came to India in 1995. I got introduced to the Internet in 1996 when I entered college and wanted to send an email to a friend. On deeper exploration and on using tools like Lynx, IRC, and Email; I felt a sense of connectivity with the world. I could make friends worldwide sitting right here in Kolkata, that too in real time. I took an immediate liking to it. I soon ventured into digital business in 1997. I started with domain registration, web hosting, and website design. Fast forward to 2000, when I returned to India after my post-graduation, the local market for technology services were in doldrums due to the dot-com crash. I again revisited the digital toolbox, and this time for digital marketing, and built a business which was born in India, but grew up in the globally connected Internet world. We were soon working for clients around the world and running our entire operations on the Internet – starting with marketing, sales, development, delivery, billing, and payments. We have a partnership approach. We become part of our client’s business – in their good and bad time. We work as a team to make the most of the leverages they have and find solutions to the problems they face. We strongly believe in – If our client wins, we win. We have the intrinsic ability to build scalable, secure and properly functional projects and products from our global clients. At no times, the ability to simply deliver projects as per the promise is a big differentiator, because it is as common as we may think. It is important to understand that the culture inside the company, reflects in the perceived brand outside the company. This has been our biggest differentiator – a humble, grounded, customer focussed, honest, technically sound business, which works behind the scene to make its client win. Ahead of Competition We operate out of all major metros of India, thus can provide seamless pan-India servicing to our clients and have the most extensive service range under one roof, making us a full-service provider. Thus, you do not need to coordinate between multiple agencies to get a simple project done. Our major delivery hubs are in Kolkata and Chennai, which helps us rationalize the costs, and hence enable us to pass the benefits to our clients. Last, but not the least, we are fundamentally a digital company since inception; hence carry the DNA for digital. It is unlike many companies, who jumped into the bandwagon when the buzz of “Digital” became loud. We are fundamentally a digital company since inception; hence carry the DNA for digital. It is unlike many companies, who jumped into the bandwagon when the buzz of “Digital” became loud. Industry Outlook Digital industry has grown exponentially. It has been phenomenal. However, we are still seeing the tip of the iceberg. Digital is synonymous with the transition at par with the agricultural age, industrial age, for mankind. The markets are maturing. However, we still get very excited at times, without thinking about the practical implications, and hence get into the hype (boom) and depression (bust) cycle. I think it will continue. At one point in time, it was big vs. small, then it became fast vs. slow, and now it will be digital native vs. non-digital. The industry still needs to educate the talents and businesses in digital in the right way to make the most of this wonderful disruption, else they stand disrupted. The Indian market has been a follower, but it is picking up. In India, most businesses still consider technology to be an “Expense” in their P&L books. It has to change to “Investment” in their Balance Sheet. However, things are changing for good. The change is visible, albeit slow.  East Calling We believe that eastern India is now on a growth curve compared to that of the rest of India. In fact, East India has the most to gain from digital forces, as they are great levelers. It provides the same benefit to all its users, and the onus is on the user to use it effectively. To help businesses and professionals use it in the right way, we have started organizing Digital Success Summit. We organized the first edition of the summit at Hyatt Regency Kolkata on 10th August earlier this year. The next year’s event is planned for 8-9th August. Key Challenges The two major challenges we face as a global technology service company from Kolkata are : 1. Getting the right talent for strategic roles 2. Trust in a low trust world, in a low-entry-barrier industry, which results in   some poor performers to bring a bad name to the entire industry Improving Bottlenecks It is critical that the education system is revamped. If it is not done in time, the demographic dividend will become a demographic disaster. Besides this, we must teach each citizen about their responsibility to represent their country in a globally connected world. No two incidents are independent anymore. Every action by everyone has an impact on the other person – small or big. Goals to Cherish My organizational goal is the work on continuous improvement of the Indus Net group of businesses by getting like-minded people together, forging partnerships in new geographies, excel in quality and explore newer horizons as the industry evolves. We are also looking at decouple revenue-manpower growth which is a hallmark of IT service companies. We will do it through moving up the value chain, invest in IPs and Product development and create unique propositions which are business critical in select business verticals. I plan to keep learning, do some trekking and write a few books! Future Environment The future is digital. And we will be playing a critical role for ourselves and our clients in shaping the future. The future is also about pluralism and one single organization will not be able to control or shape it. Therefore, we believe in our

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How Data Influences Media and Marketing Today

September 27, 2018

Market research has always been the basic tool to design and develop strategies and campaigns. However, traditional market research consumes a lot of time and requires special skills to process and analyze and to derive insights. Marketing campaigns in the past weren’t accurate because market samples did not truly represent a population, and both advertising and marketing strategies weren’t quite accurate. Campaign failures and losses can be tied down to incorrect insight or partial insight into a market’s needs and demands. In addition, most marketing agencies depended on print and TV to disperse marketing messages until the recent past. Digital media changed all that and democratized the process of marketing and advertising, while contemporary data techniques have taken digital marketing to the next level. Thankfully, newer data analytics techniques have not only reduced marketers efforts to crunch data but have also ushered in a new era in which marketing campaigns are highly personalized, scalable and democratic. In this article, let us take a look at how data has influenced media and marketing, and how there has been a complete paradigm shift. Integration of tools Software integration has led to richer insights and predictions, as there is a larger sample of data to analyze. Cloud-based solutions have helped companies to implement affordable integration solutions across departments. Integration has also brought together disparate software solutions such as CRM, ERP, and HRMS which help businesses to access more detailed data and predict outcomes accurately even on the go. Current marketing and advertising initiatives depend on such an integrated approach to make the correct move. An increasing number of agencies use MarTech solutions to predict better campaign outcomes, and this is possible because of modern data analytics. MarTech consists of marketing automation tools such as Marketo, HubSpot, MailChimp, SalesForce, and Insightly. It also includes data and intelligence tools such as FullContact, Cloudinary, Decibel, among many others. In addition, predictive analysis tools help us make better predictions and foresee campaigns even before campaigns are launched. This allows us to have defined outcomes in mind. Some of the most important predictive analysis tools used today are Microsoft’s Azure Machine Learning Studio, SAP Predictive Analytics Software, IBM Predictive Insights, among many others.  These tools can be integrated with each other, or with other enterprise software solutions for richer insights. Personalized marketing and advertising Earlier, personalized marketing was a challenge and a number of efforts never yielded the desired results. However, thanks to social media, it is easier to curate customers and people with specific interests and capture their sentiments easily. All this data can now be crunched and analyzed for better insight, leading to highly specific marketing and advertising campaigns. There are a number of marketing automation tools that help you personalize advertising. HubSpot and MailChimp can be used by both small and medium-sized businesses to personalize campaigns, while Marketo is a value addition for larger organizations. All these tools use data to take personalization to the next level. In addition, you can use Google Optimize 360, which helps you create custom segmented customer experiences. Forbes also listed Clearbit, Kickbox, Quickmail, Buzzstream, and other tools in its list of tools that help personalize marketing and advertising. In short, these tools help to gain better insight about customers and market, which helps personalize marketing and ad campaigns even at the micro level. The advent of MarTech and AdTech In the last couple of years, technologies that assist in automating and turbocharging marketing and advertising processes have been given the terms of MarTech and AdTech. Both these technologies have helped thousands of agencies to provide better campaign results, automate most marketing processes, and process data in a useful manner. The advent of MarTech and AdTech has also resulted in marketing Big Data. Various market-related data is constantly added to Big Data, and data analytics continue to derive richer insights. Most importantly, MarTech tools like GetResponse, Autopilot, iContactPro can be integrated with ERP and CRM for more coherent insight. After all, both frontend and backend need to be in sync with marketing campaigns for the message to reach effectively to the right audience. It is important to note that while marketing technology tools can up your data game, it is really up to you how to use the insight your derive. For example, integrating a digital asset management (DAM) with Adobe Creative Cloud can provide insights into how designers influence the marketing process. Or, you can choose to integrate Oracle Eloqua with an ERP like Sage 100 ERP or SAP Business One to better understand how order processing trends can improve future campaigns. Data helps launch hybrid and omnichannel marketing campaigns Most marketing campaigns tend to take a hybrid approach, combining online with offline. A survey conducted by Vistaprint Digital showed that 29% of businesses ignore either offline or online marketing practices, favoring one practice more than the other. However, a hybrid approach that uses both the practices is always more beneficial. Some of the ways you can use data analytics to spur offline marketing success are by analyzing QR code usage, proximity marketing using Bluetooth technology, and tracking URLs and web traffic generated from offline visits to actual stores. Using data analytics to track these behaviors will help to launch more cohesive omnichannel marketing campaigns, which bring an integrated shopping experience to customers. Facebook and Google have come up with tools which help advertisers to understand the effect of online advertising on offline sales. They can predict and track online to offline conversions. Data is here to stay for the long haul As you can see, data tools have changed the game when it comes to marketing and utilizing media tools. While we are no longer reliant on traditional media platforms, and digital platforms have long become mainstream, data analytics has ensured that digital marketing will continue in a forward path in the months to come. All these trends will help agencies to develop and implement marketing and ad campaigns quickly across digital media platforms. Dissemination of marketing communication

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How Technology and New Media Are Shaping the Future of Advertising

September 10, 2018

In recent years, the advertising industry has experienced often painful changes and has found it difficult to keep up with the pace of technology. What used to be dominated by TV (video format) and print, is now increasingly chaotic, and different media are used to reach the target audience. Usage of data and personalization of data to create more specific ad content has forced many agencies to get into a survival mode. The future of ad agencies and advertising as a profession lies in the ability to swim in the direction of technology while remaining creative at the same time. Of course, this is no easy task, and there are multiple ways technology is shaping the future of advertising every moment. Let us take a brief look at the future of advertising shaped by technology, and the new media you might want to consider if you are an agency looking to advertise. Here are the top trends. Location data to influence advertising Currently, location data is mostly used for marketing purposes. However, in the near future, more advertisers will look at launching campaigns specifically based on location data. GDPR may work out in favour of advertisers because many people do give permission for their location data to be used. What was earlier a grey area will now be a clear pathway to target people in specific locations and send them ads. Mobile devices will spur location-based advertising further afield and will help predict trends as well. In fact, ad strategy will begin to rely on location data more than ever before. A paradigm shift from offline to online Digital advertising has actually caught up with TV advertising. The share of advertising budget by channel is exactly equal to each other at 41% for TV and digital ads. Print comes at a distant 10% in ad budgets. What this really tells us is, there is a paradigm shift taking place in the ad industry, where campaigns are now written by default for digital channels, and TV and print are going to become after-thoughts. What we will also witness is the convergence of digital and traditional advertising, which actually has taken place if you notice the figures. In the near future, the share of TV is likely to fall further, with a potential for print to increase. Richer graphics and return to creativity offline With online advertising getting busier and more serious, creative will find more freedom to experiment in print. Online advertising has already become mainstream and is subject to decision makers’ opinions and strategy, leading to less elbow room for creative professionals. On the flip side, print will see a gradual return to creativity, and more expensive ad campaigns may actually be run via print media, simply because those who still tend to stick to print medium tend to be better educated and more affluent. In other words, digital will encourage print to become more niche, and that is not something bad. Application-based advertising Digital advertising is fueled by mobile users, and it is no surprise that the future of advertising will depend on how agencies tap into this medium. App usage has increased dramatically even in the last few months when we consider emerging economies like Brazil and China. In the US and Europe, much of advertising growth has taken place in the realm of mobile applications, and this is something that cannot be ignored. In-app ads and users’ geo-location together can transform the way we understand advertising today. Ads are going to be personalized further Much of the changes taking place in the ad industry due to technology is because of data. Data is helping ad managers to access insight that was previously impossible, and that’s leading to a greater degree of personalization. Personalization of ads is also important because digital ads rarely enter the periphery of perception of web users. Many of them have begun to use ad-blockers and to make sure that an ad reaches the intended viewer, personalizing it is very important. Without personalizing, you stand the risk of being blocked or just being ignored. Focus on content Finally, another important trend is the quality of the content. As content developed for online usage is searchable, it is very different from creating ad content for print or TV media. Advertisers will need to focus on the quality of content and ensure that they are filled with rich media in order to attract the attention of consumers. In fact, ad content will tend to become more informative and realistic than persuasive. Persuasive and creative campaigns may find better use in print media offline. Here are some new media to consider Location-based mobile technology While mobile ads are nothing new, you might want to focus more on location-based mobile ads in the future. Consumer lifestyle is defined by mobile usage, and people move from one place to another, and they are always connected via their mobile phones. This makes location-based advertising very important and crucial to ad success. Focus on developing ad campaigns that take this into consideration. Use location data to create ad campaigns that are super specific and targeted. In fact, using predictive analytics may even help you predict when the intended target audience is going to be in a particular location. In-app advertisements The most important of all the new media are the applications themselves. Mobile applications present a challenging but very lucrative medium to advertise. In-app advertisements can very well race past TV ads and they come in a number of types. However, making in-app ads attractive to consumers while also being non-intrusive depends on the ad interface designer. Make sure that in-app ads focus on user interface and intuitiveness so that consumers do not feel intruded upon. App usage tends to be a private activity and the perceived intrusiveness of your ad can seriously affect your campaign. Social media advertisement Without a doubt, social media advertising will continue to remain the most important platform for advertisers. Ad agencies will need to

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Digital Success Summit: Learning to Achieve Digital Success in India

August 8, 2018

Digital adoption in India has been phenomenal, and the rate at which emerging technologies are embraced by Indian businesses is equally impressive. Part of the reason why the Indian market is more amenable to digital adoption is the fact that it is the hub of software development and outsourcing since the early 1990s. From those early days of information boom to today’s Blockchain development and mobile eCommerce, India has come a long way and is much ahead of other nations. Yet, digital adoption needs to take place at the grassroots level and most Indian businesses today have not exploited the infrastructure and services available to them to bring their products and services to the global market. There are some important reasons why Indian businesses in general, have not adopted technology to boost their ROI, unlike their tech counterparts who offer technology-related services and products to a global clientele. While the Indian eCommerce industry is growing at a rapid pace, regular businesses, stores, and enterprises are still treading slowly when compared with global peers. This unique dichotomy exists not only in India, but also in other emerging countries where a certain tech-savvy section of the business community adopts digital, while the rest of the business and enterprise community does not make use of the facilities, services, and infrastructure readily available to them. Why are Indian businesses slower in digital adoption? To the casual observer, India seems like the hub of all software and technology related activities. After all, India serves as both the backend and frontend of the world’s technology-based economy. Yet, in its own backyard, businesses are slower in adopting a technology, and a closer inspection will reveal that most small and medium businesses in India’s hinterland are simply not made use of the digital tools available to them easily. This is mostly because : Non-availability of information Much of India is rural, and even in the larger cities, business owners do not have information related to digital technologies available to help boost their businesses. There aren’t many outreach programs for business owners to refresh them about the latest technologies such as IoT, artificial intelligence, Blockchain, or even various facets of cloud computing and automation. The result is, businesses still use outdated marketing techniques, spend more money and time on campaigns that do not fetch the results they seek, and traffic that simply doesn’t convert. Inaccessible services and products While Indian tech companies virtually run much of the global economy, back home, businesses do not have access to services and products available to their international peers. Businesses have still not adopted eCommerce technologies, many still use manual methods in place of automated solutions, and advanced conversion rate optimization techniques, etc. are still unheard of. Making existing digital facilities available to Indian businesses is crucial to digital adoption in India. Both cloud infrastructure and marketing automation solutions are widely available for international businesses, but yet out of reach for most Indian businesses simply because they are not easily accessible. Lack of guidance and support While there are several technical consultants in larger cities of India, the consulting guidance and support available to businesses are not adequate. There simply isn’t a cohesive network of technology service providers dedicated to bringing digital solutions to Indian businesses. Regional digital summits are crucial in helping raise awareness about facilities and infrastructure available to businesses of various statures to lunge forward. Regular summits can help businesses to not only understand the products and services available to help them adopt digital solutions but also to scale quickly. Absence of digital-first culture While lack of information and inaccessibility of digital solutions can be blamed for slower adoption among Indian businesses, there is also an absence of digital-first culture among many businesses. Many businesses still hold on to legacy systems and operations which are not relevant anymore. these methods, tools, and technologies simply hold them back, while their competitors who adopt newer tools and methods achieve success quickly. With this in mind, there need to be more digital events, summits, and conferences which normalize digital adoption among the Indian business community. The Digital Success Summit, 2018 It is with all these reasons in mind that the Digital Success Summit has been organized. The summit brings together a variety of speakers, keynote presenters, and workshops to participating businesses and entrepreneurs, to help them adopt digital solutions quickly and efficiently. The Digital Success Summit 2018 will be held in Kolkata, West Bengal, on the 10th of August. The summit will help business owners to adopt the most useful digital strategies to achieve success and growth. The conference will help businesses to Understand how the internet works and is governed Choosing the right domain name for your business Understanding what cloud computing is all about, and which cloud hosting to choose If you should get a mobile app developed or not Use marketing automation and marketing KPIs to drive more sales Maximize online leads to sales conversion rate Learn how to create viral content and engage in influencer marketing Choosing the right CMS for your website, and using conversion rate optimization (CRO) tricks Using paid marketing to drive eCommerce transactions and creating trust using personal branding How to bring a digital culture shift in organizations, and making sure that every business is safe from cyber attacks Understanding IoT and analytics The Digital Success Summit has been specifically organized to help Indian businesses to overcome the hurdles in adopting digital solutions, and get past their cultural barriers to embrace a brave new world which will lead them along the path of competitive edge, global success and business efficiency. From digital infrastructure to media and advertising, and from business enhancing catalysts to KPIs and analytics, the summit has got all things digital covered for businesses to achieve success.  

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